History Characters / PokemonVillainAetherFoundation

* {{Expy}}: Of [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger Queen Zeal]]. Both are very AbusiveParents to their younger daughter and son. Both of them also have a love from an alien creature that wants to consume the world. Both are also heads of massive companies in the game in which they are the BigBad. They also have both been brainwashed by this alien creature accompanying them and had tragedy due to their husbands missing from their life due to the alien creature.

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Aside from being fightable at Aether Paradise in the post-game, he's also one of the potential challengers to the player's title of Champion.]]

* ManipulativeBitch: Lusamine's twisted perception of love is psychologically manipulating anyone she's fond of to keep them in line so she can continue to use them as puppets, and employs this on her children. She also sponsored Team Skull and convinced them to do her dirty work by taking advantage of their financial difficulties and personal turmoil, and [[VillainWithGoodPublicity used the Aether Foundation’s benevolent image to present herself as a good person]]. [[spoiler:But in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, while her manipulative nature is still in place, her reasons are more altruistic, only needing Cosmog to open the Ultra Wormhole to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light, and having the Aether Foundation stop anyone who gets in her way to make sure no one can interfere with, what she feels, is what needs to be done.]]
* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in ''Ultra Sun and Moon'', where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do. It is implied that in ''Sun and Moon'' her earlier behavior is a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]

* LivingDollCollector: She has a collection of Pokemon that she cryogenically froze to preserve their "beauty and perfection". She also treats her own children as dolls rather than people in ''Sun And Moon'', expecting them to look and behave however she wants them too, and viciously discarding them when they display the slightest bit of independence. Gladion likens living with her to being a "living ornament" instead of a person.

* BrokenBird: Once a paragon and a loving mother, Lusamine underwent a tragedy - namely [[spoiler:the loss of her husband and the father of her children to an Ultra Wormhole]] - that changed her personality for the worse, turning her into a controlling mother. Even in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' where she's less abusive and doesn't descend into insanity, Lusamine is motivated to defeat Necrozma not out of altruism, but rather [[spoiler:for her own self-satisfaction, believing it will help her overcome the helplessness she felt when she lost Mohn.]]

* NoblewomansLaugh: Often does one when she's mocking Lillie. It is also her speaking animation in the overworld.

** In ''Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon'' [[spoiler:she contrasts N. Both are the most altruistic villains in Pokémon and believe their actions will be for the benefit of Pokémon. However, N wanted to use a Legendary Pokémon to separate people and Pokémon in an incorrect view that they are better of that way and thought of himself as a hero when his actions were detrimental to both humans and Pokémon. Lusamine is trying to stop a dangerous Legendary Pokémon from destroying Alola and if she succeeded, she actually would have been a hero.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiHero motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma. This exchange between Hau and Gladion describe her best.]]
-->'''Hau:''' Miss Lusamine is out there trying to keep Alola safe, right? I knew she was a good person!\\
'''Gladion:''' I guess... She's always convinced that what she's doing is right and she's really kind of selfish, but... But, I think she really just wanted to find our father, who disappeared into an Ultra Wormhole.

[[folder: Tropes that apply to the whole group]]

* CardCarryingVillain: Mostly subverted but one employee mentions that he's "embraced the darkness in his heart". [[spoiler:This same employee is implied to be the one that defects to Team Rainbow Rocket with Fabba in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: By means of a CallBack. Their uniforms (particularly their caps) resemble pallet swapped versions of Team Rocket's. This gives you an early hint that they're EvilAllAlong in ''Sun and Moon''. This trope is downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' as they are genuinely good.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the post-game of ''Sun and Moon'', after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession and infliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the protagonist can visit the Aether Foundation again. The Foundation is still around, but is now attempting to save and conserve Pokémon for real, with Gladion as their president. Further enforced by the animation set used by Aether Foundation employees in the Battle Tree being much friendlier than those used during the infiltration of Aether Paradise. [[spoiler:Similarly in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' once Lusamine fails in protecting Alola, she admits she was wrong to take Nebby and the Aether Foundation goes on to trust in the protagonist to stop Necrozma.]]

* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. After the intro where Aether employees were chasing Lillie with [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]], was anybody really buying that they were a benevolent company, on a mission to help all Pokémon? However, it is implied that the majority of employees don't even know what's going on and are hostile only due to you being an intruder. In the post-game, once Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts and infliction with Nihilego's neurotoxins has been dealt with, the Aether Foundation really ''does'' become a benevolent company that helps Pokémon. This trope is also subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:as they are a benevolent company that helps Pokémon but kidnap Nebby in a effort to stop Necrozma from stealing Alola's light.]]

* UnwittingPawn: Most of the lower ranking members have no idea about ''Sun and Moon's'' version of Lusamine's plans and only attack the player because they were told they were trying to steal Pokémon.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Whenever you see them on the second and third islands, they're celebrated by the populace, and work closely with trusted authorities. Because the protagonists took them down by storming their secluded headquarters before they can kickstart their leader's plan, most Alolan citizens are LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding their true intentions, though some important [=NPCs=] are hinted to knew this but keep it secret for some reason. It helps that they undergo a HeelFaceTurn after Lusamine is taken down. This trope is subverted in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''.

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego who causes this behavior with it's neurotoxins, before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiHero who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as [[ParentsAsPeople genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma]], and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]
* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Her Mismagius from the originals was switched out for a Lopunny in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. Due to her obsession with Nihilego and being inflicted with it's neurotoxins no longer being present in these games, she never fuses with one and thus her Motherbeast form also does not appear]].

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be a kind and helpful woman when she is introduced, but she is anything ''but'' that. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when her kind and helpful nature is revealed to be genuine this time, as she is only harsh to Lillie and Gladion for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, since they were both needed for more heroic purposes this time, and she only disowns them out of feelings of genuine betrayal and hurt disappointment. Her earlier behavior in Sun and Moon is implied to be a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins]]

* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do. It is implied that in Sun and Moon her earlier behavior is a result of Nihilego's neurotoxins.]]

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After she is revealed to be a HeroAntagonist, a lot of these moments she has in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' substitute her [[KickTheDog crueler moments]] in the original games. First off, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until now, instead of saying that she'd betrayed her, and then when Cosmog is trying to resist, she takes pity on it instead of being annoyed for making too much noise and commends its bravery and love for Lillie.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: One employee mentions that he's "embraced the darkness in his heart".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: By means of a CallBack. Their uniforms (particularly their caps) resemble pallet swapped versions of Team Rocket's. This gives you an early hint that they're EvilAllAlong.
* HeelFaceTurn: During the post-game, after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession has been dealt with, the protagonist can visit the Aether Foundation again. The Foundation is still around, but is now attempting to save and conserve Pokémon for real, with Gladion as their president. Further enforced by the animation set used by Aether Foundation employees in the Battle Tree being much friendlier than those used during the infiltration of Aether Paradise.

* LightIsNotGood: In contrast to the [[DarkIsEvil mainly-black Team Skull]], their main colours include white and gold, and they're just as much villains as the former. However, they become good in the post-game after Lusamine's Ultra Beast obsession has been dealt with.

* ObviouslyEvil: Subverted. After the intro where Aether employees were chasing Lillie with [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiles]], was anybody really buying that they were a benevolent company, on a mission to help all Pokémon? However, it is implied that the majority of employees don't even know what's going on and are hostile only due to you being an intruder. In the post-game, once Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts has been dealt with, the Aether Foundation really ''does'' become a benevolent company that helps Pokémon.

* PunchClockVillain: With the exception of [[TheSociopath Lusamine]] and [[SmugSnake Faba]], most of the employees are really just doing their job and protecting their research from intruders (i.e. you). [[spoiler:Subverted with at least one employee in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', who joins Team Rainbow Rocket and aids Faba in a multi battle]].

* UnwittingPawn: Most of the lower ranking members have no idea about Lusamine's plans and only attack the player because they were told they were trying to steal Pokémon.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Whenever you see them on the second and third islands, they're celebrated by the populace, and work closely with trusted authorities. Because the protagonists took them down by storming their secluded headquarters before they can kickstart their leader's plan, most Alolan citizens are LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding their true intentions, though some important [=NPCs=] are hinted to knew this but keep it secret for some reason. It helps that they undergo a HeelFaceTurn after Lusamine is taken down.

** [[spoiler:Heavily downplayed in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. While she does keep some of her controlling tendencies and temporary disownment of her children, she isn't as abusive to them, just more of a case of being a tough parent struggling with her grief for losing her husband. Not to mention, some of her crueler dialogue is replaced with kinder dialogue.]]
* ActionMom: She is easily one of the strongest characters in the game, and could easily put Gladion or Lillie back in their place. Unlike most examples though, she's far from benevolent.
* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiVillain who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as [[ParentsAsPeople genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma]], and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]
* AdaptedOut: [[spoiler:Her Mismagius from the originals was switched out for a Lopunny in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''. Due to her obsession with Nihilego no longer being present in these games, she never fuses with one and thus her Motherbeast form does not appear]].
* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', her friendliness is shown here to be rather genuine, despite being revealed to be a villain, unlike the original games. First, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until it was captured. Then she takes a moment to show pity for Cosmog's pain, and acknowledges its love for Lillie. After she was defeated in Aether Paradise, instead of ranting like a bratty teenager like in the original games, she becomes impressed with the player character's strength in battle and compliments him/her. Finally, she feels genuinely touched by Gladion's concern for her, and takes a moment to reassure him that she'll be fine when she goes to stop Necrozma.]]

* AntiVillain: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is motivated by a desire to save the world and all the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, as well as the desire to avenge the loss of her husband, rather than out of totally insane selfishness. That said, she still goes through with nearly killing Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole, and she still wants the world's Pokémon for herself.]]

* AxCrazy: In ''Sun and Moon.'' Be it innocent bystanders or her own children, she doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. To put things into perspective, even Guzma, the guy who calls himself "destruction in human form", thinks she's too far gone to be reasoned with, though this is admittedly after her mental state has gotten a lot worse.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be a kind and helpful woman when she is introduced, but she is anything ''but'' that. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when her kind and helpful nature is revealed to be genuine this time, as she is only harsh to Lillie and Gladion for stealing Cosmog and Type: Null, respectively, since they were both needed for more heroic purposes this time, and she only disowns them out of feelings of genuine betrayal and hurt disappointment.]]

** Lusamine compares and contrasts with the BigBad of [[PokemonXAndY the prior game]], Lysandre, in quite a few ways. Both of them are wealthy philanthropists who are introduced to the player long before their official reveal as villains, but Lysandre is a DevilInPlainSight whereas Lusamine's a BitchInSheepsClothing. Lysandre directly leads his game's main villainous team while Lusamine serves as a MysteriousBacker to hers. The methods and motives of the two are parallel but also differ in some important ways: both want to destroy the world after spending years trying to better it, but Lysandre is convinced that mankind as a whole can't be saved because it's fundamentally flawed, while Lusamine rejected humanity because she can't comprehend why a select few - her family - never showed her what she believed to be love. Both of them are also very fixated on the concept of beauty, and have a significant but antagonistic relationship with the player's closest ally (Professor Sycamore for Lysandre, Lillie for Lusamine). Admittedly Lusamine's goals can be seen as more a rejection of the world and wanting to leave it behind rather than any desire to destroy it, indeed the only explicit destruction she mentions is being okay with the Ultra Beasts wrecking the islands if it makes them happy. Otherwise she is content to just stay in another dimension, unlike Lysandre who decided the world should change for him.
** She's also one to the BigBad of [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the game even further back]], Ghetsis. Both of them lead a team who claim to look after the common welfare of Pokemon whose true agendas are absolutely ruthless and self-serving. They're also very AbusiveParents. However, Team Plasma's ruse was paper-thin and it was clear that Team Plasma couldn't be trusted since they blatantly steal Pokemon from trainers to "free" them. The Aether Foundation does a ''much'' better of hiding its shadowy intentions, using far more professional strategies and having far more resources to carry out their plans. While Ghetsis was driven only by love for himself while harboring callous apathy or even outright contempt for others, Lusamine is driven by a self-serving insanity that she mistakenly believes is pure love and a desire to give love and affection to others she deems worthy of receiving it. Both Ghetsis and Lusamine became physically ill by the end of their story arc, but while Ghetsis remained irredeemable to the last, Lusamine seeks to make amends, according to Lillie.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Ultimately subverted. She secretly serves as this to Guzma in the first half of the game, because while she doesn't directly get involved in Team Skull's schemes, she ''is'' their secret financial backer. Later on, she takes Guzma's place as the BigBad of the game, thus becoming much more involved in the plot as the true main antagonist.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiVillain motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma. This exchange between Hau and Gladion describe her best.]]

* LivingDollCollector: She has a collection of Pokemon that she cryogenically froze to preserve their "beauty and perfection". She also treats her own children as dolls rather than people, expecting them to look and behave however she wants them too, and viciously discarding them when they display the slightest bit of independence. Gladion likens living with her to being a "living ornament" instead of a person.

* MaskOfSanity: Lusamine's vicious insanity is very carefully masked behind an empathetic and loving facade. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where her empathetic and loving nature is genuine this time, to the point where she'll do anything to protect all the Pokémon in existence, no matter what she has to do.]]

** The plant she's named after (the garden balsam or ''Impatiens balsamina'') is a beautiful ornamental plant with healing properties, fitting her benevolent appearance. However, it's also bitter and slightly toxic upon ingestion - which fits with [[BitchInSheepsClothing her true nature.]]
** Her English name keeps the above reference but brings to mind the Latin ''lux'' (light), in keeping with her appearance and status as head of the seemingly good Aether Foundation. Of course, LightIsNotGood in this case.
* MoralMyopia: In her present state, Lusamine suffers almost from a BlueAndOrangeMorality where she cannot and does not comprehend that she and her actions could be wrong in any way, and makes her so disconnected from reality that she perceives situations in which she's hurt others and so those others acted in response to her abuse as one would reasonably expect them to as her victims being in the wrong for rejecting her "love" and rebelling against her wishes and showing her any sort of opposition, making them "ugly" and no longer worthy of love, whereas ''she'' is the victim who's being hurt by ''them'' and never did anything wrong to deserve such treatment. After losing to the player character for the first time, she even asks him/her, without a hint of irony, "How can you be so ''awful?''" When later confronted by the player character and Lillie in Ultra Space, she actually states to her own daughter that she will never forgive her for stealing Cosmog from her, which really rings hollow considering that she tortured Cosmog into opening up multiple Ultra Wormholes against its own will.
* MotiveRant: A brief one after Nihilego's first appearance, as she filibusters about sharing her love with the Ultra Beasts and all the other Pokémon in the world. [[CerebusRetcon It becomes much darker in hindsight]] once her TrueColors are revealed and the player learns just how twisted Lusamine's concept of "love" really is.

* MyBelovedSmother: This is at least part of the reason Gladion ran away; according to him, he was "like an ornament" to her, wearing whatever she told him to wear, and acting however she wanted him to act. It's also why Lillie is so timid and lacks confidence.

* NonActionBigBad: Zigzagged -- she's plenty active in the story and battles the player twice, but after fusing with Nihilego and taking on a surely-stronger OneWingedAngel form... she still uses her Pokémon to fight the player, rather than battle them directly.

** It's subtle at times, but the game implies pretty heavily that most of Lusamine's villainy is/was prompted by the disappearance of her husband Mohn, followed by both of her children running away from her due to her abuse of them. It becomes most obvious by the end of the Aether Foundation story arc, where, having been abandoned by her entire family, all she wants is to be left alone with the Nihilego in Ultra Space for the rest of her life because they'd become her gold standard for beauty, perfection, and worthiness of receiving her love.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:After she is revealed to be a villain, a lot of these moments she has in ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' substitute her [[KickTheDog crueler moments]] in the original games. First off, she thanks Lillie for keeping Cosmog safe until now, instead of saying that she'd betrayed her, and then when Cosmog is trying to resist, she takes pity on it instead of being annoyed for making too much noise and commends its bravery and love for Lillie.]]

* ReplacementGoldfish: She became obsessed with bringing Ultra Beasts into the world and joining them in their own world after her husband disappeared, even more so after her children ran away.

* SanitySlippage: The loss of her husband did a number on her sanity, causing the obsession driving her during the story's events.

* SlasherSmile: In ''Sun and Moon'', she tends to pull them off whenever she's plotting, and one could argue that even her regular smile counts as a subdued example of one. By the time she's been definitively revealed as a villain, it's pretty much become her default expression.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: In ''Sun and Moon''. This is a woman who [[AbusiveParents abused her children]] and tried to micromanage every aspect of their lives down to what clothes they should wear, [[IHaveNoSon declared that they weren't her children]] and eventually attempted to ''murder them'' when they tried to rebel against her control, freezes the Pokémon she adores so that they'll stay the same forever while they remain on display for her, is willing to hurt and even kill anybody or anyone to further her schemes, Pokémon or otherwise, and in general cares about absolutely nothing but herself and the things she desires. This is all in contrast with Team Skull's [[LaughablyEvil general ineffectual goofiness]] and Alola's cheerful and bright atmosphere.

* WalkingSpoiler: It's nearly impossible to talk about her without spoiling that she's the villain.

* WhenSheSmiles: [[spoiler:In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', she sports this during her PetTheDog moments after she is revealed to be a villain, and it's oddly quite touching to see. Because she is not as bad this time, this is basically her default expression. This is in stark contrast to the original games where she sports a SlasherSmile during her KickTheDog moments.]]
* WindowsOfTheSoul: One of the earliest hints she's a villain for those paying attention to the art style are her eyes. Most everyone else has noticeable white highlights in their eyes. Lusamine's by contrast are flat, dull, and effectively lifeless looking from the moment she's introduced, giving her a creepy UncannyValley effect.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: In ''Sun and Moon''. It's stated that Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts stemmed from grief over the disappearance of her husband Mohn in an Ultra Wormhole, and that at least at first she was looking for a way to get him back, and possibly seek vengeance upon the Ultra Beasts using Type: Null. Lillie reminisces that her mother was fun-loving and kind to her before that incident, after which her obsession with finding Mohn and the Ultra Beasts is implied to have twisted her into a gradually worsening sociopath, which eventually resulted in Gladion fleeing from her, later followed by Lillie herself. Ultimately, all Lusamine wanted was to have the love of her life back, but in her psychosis forgot how to care for her children and played with forces she didn't understand, and as a result both she and her family suffered the consequences that she was too obsessed to even consider in the first place.

* IronicName: Her name is one letter away from the word "wicked". [[TokenGoodTeammate She is one of the few non-antagonistic members of the Aether Foundation, supports both Lillie and Gladion in opposition to their insane mother, and even heals your team when you storm Aether Paradise.]]

* NiceGirl: In the initial trailer that revealed the Aether Foundation, both Wicke and Lusamine were built up to be sweet and motherly characters. In the game proper, Wicke actually ''is'' as nice as the trailer made her out to be, in stark contrast to Lusamine.

* SheepInSheepsClothing: Wicke really is as nice as she appears to be, unlike Faba and Lusamine.

* NumberTwo: To Lusamine in the Aether Foundation.

* ArchnemesisDad: GenderFlipped: she's this for Gladion and Lillie, especially for the latter. The player and Hau are mostly just along for the ride in the main storyline, with Lusamine's children being the primary force when it comes to taking her down.
* AsleepForDays: After being released from Nihilego, Lusamine falls into a coma. However, Lillie tells you after you beat the Pokémon League and during the celebration that Lusamine had recovered from her comatose state and even tried to come to the celebration as well.

* AxCrazy: Be it innocent bystanders or her own children, she doesn't care who she has to hurt to get what she wants. To put things into perspective, even Guzma, the guy who calls himself "destruction in human form", thinks she's too far gone to be reasoned with, though this is admittedly after her mental state has gotten a lot worse.

* BadBoss: Faba and Guzma are shown to be scared by her and think she's gone off the deep end. She also uses both of them as pawns and seemingly has no care about them.

* BeautyIsBad: A deceptively beautiful woman secretly plotting to go to Ultra Space even if it means unleashing Ultra Beasts on Alola.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Is unhealthily obsessed with [[EldritchAbomination Nihilego]] and the other Ultra Beasts. Considering that Nihilego is based on a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxobolus_cerebralis Myxozoa]], which brainwashes the fish it infects, her obsession and insanity might stem from mind-control.

* ClimaxBoss: While not the FinalBoss, the battle with Motherbeast Lusamine concludes the game's primary storyline, with only the Pokémon League left afterwards. Fittingly, the fight is one of the most difficult in the game.

* DeathGlare: In the final battle, all of her 'mons except Bewear have these expressions when given a Totem aura.

* DragonInChief: Nihilego is not considered sentient as it doesn't seem to have actual malice and is motivated on self-preservation. Lusamine is the one with the plan.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Her apparent "fusion" with the Nihilego she captured leaves her somehow an even more wrecked individual than before; that is, until she's knocked out of her senses by Solgaleo/Lunala and the Nihilego is off her. Information given about Nihilego in the post-game implies that this is basically what its neurotoxins always do to a host that it latches onto, and that Lusamine's repeated exposure to said toxin left her in a lingering case of sociopathic madness.
* DyingAsYourself: Downplayed. While she doesn't actually die, she apparently returns to her former self before losing consciousness and entering a temporary coma.

* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: In contrast to most other ObviouslyEvil team leaders, she looks perfectly innocent and helpful (even resembling Gen [=IV=] BigGood Champion Cynthia to some degree), but is one of the most psychotic characters in the series.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Like Ghetsis, in the Japanese version, she continues to speak in an overly polite manner even after she drops her charade.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: She is visibly annoyed when Hau mentions Lillie, and has a sinister grin when everyone else is freaking out over Nihilego's first appearance.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In her pre-battle animation as Motherbeast Lusamine, she throws her Ultra Ball and flies right towards the camera while pulling off a NightmareFace.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: How she presents herself, and allegedly had been before she went insane. As of the present, she's anything ''but''.

* FusionDance: Performs this with her Nihilego before the final boss battle. This also gives all her Pokémon Totem Boosts. In reality though, this is very well likely how Nihilego further parasitizes on its host, and she ends up with a nice heaping load of neurotoxin in her system.

* HalfHumanHybrid: She fuses with Nihilego to create this.

* HeavySleeper: According to Wicke in the ''Sun and Moon'' post-game, the Nihilego's neurotoxins still in Lusamine's body are causing her to have issues with waking up[[note]]Wicke specifically says "the President is having issues rousing herself"[[/note]], implying that the neurotoxins side-effects include something akin to narcolepsy.

* {{Jerkass}}: While she seems nice the first time you meet her, Lusamine is revealed to be nothing but an extremely [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish]] ''bitch''. She is also abusive to Lillie and Gladion, and even [[IHaveNoSon disowns them as her children later on because they dared to reject her "love".]] Not to mention she even tried to ''[[OffingTheOffspring kill them!]]''
* JerkassHasAPoint: She wasn't wrong about the fact that you can put additional Pokemon in the PC, so technically they ''can'' be replaced if they aren't strong enough (interestingly Sun and Moon introduced a method to make any Pokémon have perfect [=IV=]s, making her argument less true).

* KickTheDog: Minor one, but when Nebby cries out in pain after being used to open a door to Ultra Space, she yells at it for making too much noise.

** Averted in Ultra Sun and Moon where she takes pity on Cosmog's pain and briefly hesitates when Lillie again emphasizes that what she is doing could kill it.

* LackOfEmpathy: When Lillie begs her not to use Nebby to open the Ultra Wormholes, warning her that doing so might kill it, Lusamine informs her that she knows that might happen, but as long as it does what she wants it to, she doesn't ''care''.

* LaserGuidedKarma: In Ultra Space she ends up being defeated by the evolved Cosmog, [[TheDogBitesBack the same Pokémon she sent goons to chase after and ultimately abused it nearly to the point of death for her own selfish desires]].

* LightIsNotGood: She's angelic in appearance, though ''definitely'' not in behavior. [[WomanInWhite She wears mostly white with gold]] with blonde hair and she's the biggest KnightOfCerebus since Cyrus as she outcasts two of her family members as tools for her will and when they defy her she decides to try to kill them (only when her madness reaches its peak though). She also is willing to [[ColdBloodedTorture torture "Nebby" to death]]. She states very clearly that if everyone doesn't agree to her standards then [[OmnicidalManiac everyone can die by her will]]. She's also a BadBoss who uses her minions as pawns.

* OneBadMother: ''Motherbeast'' definitely qualifies.

* SlasherSmile: Tends to pull them off whenever she's plotting, and one could argue that even her regular smile counts as a subdued example of one. By the time she's been definitively revealed as a villain, it's pretty much become her default expression.

* TheSociopath: To a disturbing degree, especially considering she's a main villain in the original games, both which are intended for children. Her grasp of concepts like love and social interaction in general are extremely warped, with Lusamine's particular brand of "love" consisting of forcing control on anybody and anything which shows her the slightest bit of affection and whom she deems worthy of receiving her own affections - and reacting violently when they reject her. She's also quite self-absorbed, generally treats others like objects and/or tools to be used until they're run out of purpose for her (reinforced by Gladion's comment that she's "extremely kind as long as you mean absolutely nothing to her").

* TraitorShot: In her first appearance, when talking about Ultra Beasts, the camera zooms in on her eyes and her SlasherSmile.

* TheUnfought: In a sense. While you do fight her Pokémon, you don't get to directly fight her Mother Beast form.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: This is a woman who [[AbusiveParents abused her children]] and tried to micromanage every aspect of their lives down to what clothes they should wear, [[IHaveNoSon declared that they weren't her children]] and eventually attempted to ''murder them'' when they tried to rebel against her control, freezes the Pokémon she adores so that they'll stay the same forever while they remain on display for her, is willing to hurt and even kill anybody or anyone to further her schemes, Pokémon or otherwise, and in general cares about absolutely nothing but herself and the things she desires. This is all in contrast with Team Skull's [[LaughablyEvil general ineffectual goofiness]] and Alola's cheerful and bright atmosphere.
* VillainHasAPoint: When Lillie tells her that people and Pokémon aren't hers to just collect, use and discard at her pleasure, Lusamine counters that ''trainers'' (using the player in particular as an example) do that exact thing, namely switching out weaker members of their party for stronger, more appealing Pokémon. While this doesn't excuse her any of her actions in any way, her point isn't refuted.
* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed. She partly recovers after her final defeat in ''Sun and Moon'', yet she is still stuggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
* VillainousBreakdown: She undergoes a gradual one throughout the last part of the main story of ''Sun and Moon''. After her first defeat, she's annoyed by the player character's interference with her plans, but still appears relatively cool-headed. Compare this to her later appearance in Ultra Space, where she's visibly livid and angrily screaming at the player character and Lillie. This ultimately culminates in her fusing with Nihilego, which leaves her not only unable to speak coherently but also in a much more violent state of mind.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Lusamine is the president of the Aether Foundation, a well-known organization that heals Pokémon. This helps mask her true colors, as she actually experiments on Pokémon to achieve her goals.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: It's stated that Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts stemmed from grief over the disappearance of her husband Mohn in an Ultra Wormhole, and that at least at first she was looking for a way to get him back, and possibly seek vengeance upon the Ultra Beasts using Type: Null. Lillie reminisces that her mother was fun-loving and kind to her before that incident, after which her obsession with finding Mohn and the Ultra Beasts is implied to have twisted her into a gradually worsening sociopath, which eventually resulted in Gladion fleeing from her, later followed by Lillie herself. Ultimately, all Lusamine wanted was to have the love of her life back, but in her psychosis forgot how to care for her children and played with forces she didn't understand, and as a result both she and her family suffered the consequences that she was too obsessed to even consider in the first place.

* PsychopathicWomanchild: She treats her children as if they were dolls, and is prone to throwing tantrums like a bratty teenager when angry.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: While Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did... Ironically, this is the game which introduced Poké Pelago, meaning that the player knows for a fact that their boxed Pokémon are on what amounts to an island vacation, and is likely visiting them regularly -- this is brought up as a counterargument exactly never.

* TheScream: Her only verbal reaction to losing her rematch against the player is to just give a wordless scream. This also being the only noise she makes when "fused" with Nihilego.
* {{Sadist}}: She often smiles happily whenever she emotionally abuses Lillie or Gladion and inflicting ColdBloodedTorture on Cosmog. This changes when you confront her in Ultra Space; where instead of expressing any joy, she's now almost perpetually consumed by rage over what the player and Lillie are doing, with even her PsychoticSmirk unable to hide her underlying rage.

* TheSociopath: To a disturbing degree, especially considering she's a main villain in a game intended for children. Her grasp of concepts like love and social interaction in general are extremely warped, with Lusamine's particular brand of "love" consisting of forcing control on anybody and anything which shows her the slightest bit of affection and whom she deems worthy of receiving her own affections - and reacting violently when they reject her. She's also quite self-absorbed, generally treats others like objects and/or tools to be used until they're run out of purpose for her (reinforced by Gladion's comment that she's "extremely kind as long as you mean absolutely nothing to her").

** Lusamine has a huge collection of Pokémon in cryogenic stasis. Hau, Lilie, and the Player character (if s/he ever changed facial expressions) are horrified at seeing this. How many players have a huge collection of Pokémon in PC Stasis, ''just'' like her? When Lillie calls her out on treating Pokémon and people as merely things to use and discard as she pleases, Lusamine responds by asking what makes her so different from the player character putting Pokémon they no longer need inside a Box. However, this comparison rings a bit hollow in these games, where Poké Pelago provides boxed Pokemon with a place to frolic. Obviously, Lusamine doesn't know about it, otherwise she'd know where her husband is. Then again Poke Pelego also gives players an actual reason to catch lots of Pokémon beyond just filling the Pokedex.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: While Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did...except this wasn't true due to said boxed Pokémon were sent to Poké Pelago as a form of paradise, [[spoiler:ironically run by her lost husband.]]

* AntiVillain: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she is motivated by a desire to save the world and all the people and Pokémon she loves from Necrozma, rather than out of totally insane selfishness. That said, she still goes through with nearly killing Nebby to open the Ultra Wormhole, and she still wants the world's Pokémon for herself.]]

[[quoteright:125:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wicke_6.png]]

[[quoteright:142:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/faba_4.png]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Click [[labelnote:here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/motherbeast_lusamine_sm.png[[/labelnote]] to see her fused form with Nihilego]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/150px_sun_moon_lusamine.png]]

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sun_moon_aether_foundation_employees.png]]

-->'''Hau:''' Miss Lusamine is out there trying to keep Alola safe, right? I knew she was a good.. person!\\

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'', [[spoiler:she gains more likeable and redeeming qualities, such as having more [[WellIntentionedExtremist understandable]] and less completely selfish [[AntiVillain motives]], and [[JerkassRealization ultimately]] realizing [[HeelRealization her mistakes]] and [[HeelFaceTurn doing her best to make it up to her children]], as well as being more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]]. Also, she only disowns them because she felt genuinely betrayed by them when they took Cosmog and Type: Null, but she still says that she will save them from Necrozma, showing that for all of her abrasiveness towards her children, she still cares about them enough to save them from Necrozma.]]

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: A few employees were kept in the dark on the true intentions of the higher ups of the Foundation, and some of them even ended up genuinely aiding the player and their friends along the way. Some of them made it clear that they are antagonizing the player for the sake of it though.

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiVillain who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma, and finally seeing the error of her ways and changing them for the better.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:In the original games, she is a crazed, abusive mother and BitchInSheepsClothing who is willing to callously off anyone in order to live out her obsession with Ultra Beasts, specifically Nihilego before suddenly having a HeelFaceTurn offscreen. In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' she is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-meaning]], decent if flawed ReasonableAuthorityFigure and AntiVillain who is willing to do anything to save the people and Pokémon she loves from what Necrozma plans to do with Alola's light, as well as genuinely caring for her children despite not being the best parent as well as being mad at them for stealing the Pokémon needed to stop Necrozma.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' tones her down somewhat, making her more altruistic in her motives, less abusive toward her children (she still disowns them, but also says she's doing everything to save them, and some of her crueler dialogue is removed), and she ends up seeing the error of her ways and redeeming herself, never going fully insane and merging with Nihilego.]]

%%* BrutalHonesty

* EasilyForgiven: Despite all she's done, including trying to ''murder'' her children, once she's defeated and recovers from her coma Lillie says she wanted to attend the player being crowned Champion if she weren't too weak to go, implying they would have let her attend. Lillie is also comfortable letting her rebuild their relationship.

* EvilMatriarch: She's Lillie and Gladion's mother and the first female main antagonist in the main Pokémon games. [[spoiler:Subverted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she's revelaed to have a kind and helpful nature this time, as she needs Cosmog to help protect Alola's Pokémon.]]

* GoodParents: [[AbusiveParents While not so much in the main story]], Lillie states that Lusamine was a kind, loving mother before she changed.

* TheHeavy: In ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon''--her actions still cause much of the conflict, but her previous BigBad status is now taken by Necrozma.
* HeavySleeper: According to Wicke in the post-game, the Nihilego's neurotoxins still in Lusamine's body are causing her to have issues with waking up[[note]]Wicke specifically says "the President is having issues rousing herself"[[/note]], implying that the neurotoxins side-effects include something akin to narcolepsy.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: While Lillie is giving her one, Lusamine even gives one to ''the player character'' themselves. Especially to note that [[VillainHasAPoint she points out that just about everyone replaces the Pokémon in their party once they are no longer serving a use to them]]. Which is ''exactly'' what the player most likely did....

* VillainousBSOD: Downplayed. She partly recovers after her final defeat, yet she is still stuggling with the remaining Nihilego's neurotoxins in her body.
* VillainousBreakdown: She undergoes a gradual one throughout the last part of the main story. After her first defeat, she's annoyed by the player character's interference with her plans, but still appears relatively cool-headed. Compare this to her later appearance in Ultra Space, where she's visibly livid and angrily screaming at the player character and Lillie. This ultimately culminates in her fusing with Nihilego, which leaves her not only unable to speak coherently but also in a much more violent state of mind.

* WouldHurtAChild: Makes an ambiguous murder threat to the player character at the start of their first battle, an ''unambiguous'' murder threat at the start of their second battle, and then attempts to ''kill her daughter Lillie'' afterwards. [[spoiler:Averted in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, when she states that even when Lillie and Gladion betrayed and left her, she will still save them along with all the Pokémon in existence, as it is her duty as President of the Aether Foundation, even if it she has to sacrifice Cosmog.]]
* {{Yandere}}: She really, really ''really'' loves the Ultra Beasts. So much so she would literally ''destroy the world'' if it meant being able to be with them. [[spoiler:In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, this trope is completely AVERTED.]]

* TheMole: You learn in the post-game that she's now working for Interpol, and provides them with information on the Ultra Beasts.

* VillainBall: During the protagonists' second visit to the Aether Foundation, Hau asks if Faba has a key to a locked door, to which he replies yes. Hau then points out that if he had just stayed hidden, said protagonists would then be stuck and probably unable to stop said evil plans.