Pokémon Colosseum by Genius Sonority has a much more stylistic cast than the rest of the series. You can check out the character list right here.
For the main Pokémon character sheet, see here.
If you're looking for the sequel, click here.
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Protagonists
Wes (Leo)
Wes / Leo (レオ reo)
- A Sinister Clue: Wears the portable Snag Machine on his left arm. It's ambiguous whether he's actually left-handed or the Snag Machine is just designed for that hand, and he's an anti-heroic example regardless.
- The Ace: He was the best Snagger for Team Snagem prior to his Heel–Face Turn, a skill which he puts to good use throughout the game.
- Anti-Hero: Type II - he's basically an older Pokémon series hero who happens to be an ex-gangster. He steals Pokémon from trainers, some who are completely innocent and don't know any better, but only steals Shadow Pokémon to save them from their corruption.
- The Atoner: Implied by his actions throughout the story.
- Badass Biker: Rides out of an exploding base during the opening. Additionally, most of Orre seems to be arid desert, so his travelling across the region indicates that he knows how to take care of his ride.
- Badass Longcoat: It lifts up behind him as part of his walk cycle, and seems to be perpetually caught in a strong wind during battle.
- Benevolent Boss: Even before his Heel–Face Turn, he had an Espeon and an Umbreon, which requires them to have maxed out friendship. Espeon's Return starts out at max power, indicating that he evolved them from Eevee rather than trading and/or snatching them fully-evolved. Their status screens even refer to them as "Wes's old friend(s)".
- Chick Magnet: In addition to the whole deal with Rui, many female NPCs express attraction to him over the course of the game.
- Cool Bike: Its front wheel is replaced with a massive engine that looks like it was ripped out of an 18-wheeler. Also, unlike the sidecar, there's no visible hovering mechanism to keep the incredibly heavy front end off the ground. The only conclusion that can be reached is that it stays up purely due to Rule of Cool.
- Cool Shades: Usually they're pushed up to his forehead, but in the intro he apparently used them to shield his eyes during the explosion he just caused.
- Defector from Decadence: He was a member of a gang of Pokémon thieves, but for whatever reason decided to ditch them and ends up foiling the plans of the very syndicate they were secretly taking orders from.
- Establishing Character Moment: His awesome introduction. First, he announces his resignation from Team Snagem by bombing their hideout and stealing their only portable Snag Machine. Then, as he's making his escape on his absurdly cool bike with Snagem on his tail, he sets off another bomb that destroys their hideout, cripples the syndicate, and alerts the police to their location. All this while grinning like a maniac.
- Even Evil Has Standards: This is implied to be why he left Team Snagem. He didn't seem to have much problem with stealing Pokémon, but what was being done to said stolen Pokémon was clearly a bridge too far.
- Exposed to the Elements: Inverted. The guy wears a Badass Longcoat. In the middle of the desert. In a region based on freakin’ Arizona.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Subverted due to his Snag Machine (and mocked by a Team Snagem Grunt). Its color scheme is the same as that of the rest of his clothing, but it's not a normal part of his attire.
- Heel–Face Turn: Originally a member of Team Snagem, well-known within the organization for his skill at snagging Pokémon. We never find out why exactly he turned against them, though it's implied it's because he found out what the Pokémon he was stealing were being used for.
- Heroic Mime: Like any Pokémon protagonist, he doesn't speak, aside from calling out his Pokémon to force them out of hyper mode.
- Mysterious Past: His motivation and purpose are never actually explained, so what he was originally planning to do after leaving Team Snagem is never brought up.
- Never Trust a Trailer: A Nintendo Power trailer made him out to be a Villain Protagonist.
- Not What I Signed on For: It's implied he left Team Snagem because he found out about what was being done to the Pokémon he stole.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Rui.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: Sure, he's turned on Team Snagem, but he's still pretty roguish.
- Sequel Non-Entity: He's completely absent from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness along with Rui, and is at most vaguely alluded to whenever the events of this game are brought up.
- Slasher Smile: When stealing the Snag Machine in the intro.
- The Unreveal: Nothing is known of what becomes of Wes after the events of the game. Given his complete absence in the sequel game, its theoretically possible he leaves Orre altogether.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Starts off with Espeon and Umbreon.
Rui (Mirei)
Rui / Mirei (ミレイ mirei)
- Aura Vision: She can see Shadow Pokémon.
- Badass Pacifist: With no Pokémon of her own, she doesn't fight, and she's still a threat to Cipher.
- Bowdlerise: Rui's crop-top and microskirt were made longer in the US version.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Downplayed. She has no problem with other girls interacting with Wes, but she does get a little defensive if they start flirting with him.
- Damsel in Distress: Wes meets her after Trudly and Folly kidnap her.
- Girlish Pigtails: Which, when combined with her bright orange hair, make her oddly reminiscent of Misty.
- Mrs. Exposition: Her main role in the story is to tell you when there's a Shadow Pokémon and to speak for Wes' behalf.
- The Heart: Rui's sensitivity and compassion go hand in hand with her Aura Vision.
- This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Implied to have psychic powers that, nonetheless, only manifest over the course of the story as the ability to detect Pokémon who have been abused in a specific way. Granted, it's a very useful power over the course of the game, but this means she's not as active as Mind Bullets or Mind Reading.
- Morality Chain: Rui will call Wes out for targeting normal Pokémon with the Snag Machine and prevent him if he tries.
- Mythology Gag: Being a pig-tailed redhead wearing clothes designed to already gave her enough of a resemblance to Misty of Pokémon: The Original Series, but the comparison is only more natural in light of Rui being The Hero's female companion and her grandfather Eagun being a Mythology Gag about Ash Ketchum.
- Neutral Female: She's a non-combatant who is fully reliant on Wes's protection. If not for her ability to sense Shadow Pokémon, her only role would be as The Heart and the Morality Chain.
- The Not-Love Interest: Their initial meeting certainly seems like it's working up to a Rescue Romance, as Wes saves Rui from a band of kidnappers. The two team up, and Rui follows Wes everywhere. However, after that, there's not much evidence that their relationship is anything but platonic. Of course, it's hard to establish any kind of a relationship when Wes never says anything.
- Platonic Life-Partners: With Wes.
- Player and Protagonist Integration: She most likely makes up for the game not having female player character.
- Psychic Powers: Not shown to extend beyond detecting the black aura that surrounds Shadow Pokémon. On a technical level, her aura powers make her Lucario before there was a Lucario.
- Sequel Non-Entity: She's completely absent from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness along with Wes. Even her grandfather, who does appear in XD, never mentions her.
- Ship Tease:
- When Rui learns that Wes used to be a snagger, she decides that she doesn't care, since he saved her when she was in trouble.
- There's a notable encounter in Pyrite where a female Chaser tells Wes to "ditch the wallflower" for the Chaser, to which Rui takes offense and insists Wes defend her honor.
- Rui compliments Wes for being cool during the game's epilogue.
Cipher
In General
An evil organization who has took over most of Orre's economy and bent its people and economy into their favor. They are responsible for shutting the hearts of Pokémon and turning them into the killing machines known as Shadow Pokémon.
- The Corruptor: Creates Shadow Pokémon by shutting off their hearts through an undisclosed process and hijacks Orre's economy to promote them.
- The Dreaded: An absolutely reviled Shadow Dictator group who has took a stronghold in Orre. If you're trying to oppose them, be prepared to be kidnapped, beaten and possibly sabotaged/raided.
- Hate Sink: While it gets better in the sequel, Cipher in Colosseum is devoid of any redeeming qualities and their members spend every moment possible proving how unlikable they are. For each Pokémon you see them corrupt and each town they occupy to kick more dogs, you'll want their Pokémon to be snagged and the whole thing disbanded quicker.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Cipher is a shady name of its own which ties to the secretive, corrosive nature of the organization, but per tradition of Orre, most of its admins and members have really strange sounding names, on top of not being pleasant people to boot.
- The Sociopath: And boy, a whole group of them. Almost anyone in Cipher has no qualms committing terrorist acts or phyiscal violence against trainers to reach their goals.
- The Syndicate: Cipher is effectively the government of Orre and has terrorized the entirety of its populace into submission.
- Would Hurt a Child: The whole group has no qualms trying to beat or imprison children physically if they dare do anything against them. Look no further from what happened to Silva twice.
- Viler New Villain: Cipher in general is this compared to anything else before them. Team Rocket's crimes don't go near this level of bad and Team Aqua/Magma are Well-Intentioned Extremists. Even when compared to Team Galactic or Ghetsis, they still stick out.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Despite being an Obviously Evil criminal organization, the general populace of Orre seems to hold them on a high regard, and their Shadow Pokémon are well sought for by Orre's denizens.
Miror B. (Mirrorbeau)
Miror B. (Mirrorbeau)
In battle, he prefers to spam Ludicolo, using a combination of Rain Dance and Rain Dish to gradually recover his team's HP and attempting to win by attrition.
- Affably Evil: He's not as kind most examples, but he's surprisingly cheery in a pleasant way.
- Bad Boss: Folly and Trudly fear his punishment so much that they turn themselves in to the police to avoid it.
- Battle in the Rain: Given that his favorite Pokémon is part Water-type and has abilities that benefit from rain (Swift Swim and Rain Dish), it's unsurprising that he's fond of the move Rain Dance.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He spends most of his free time disco dancing, but like all the Cipher admins he's a cut above most trainers in the region in terms of battling skill. He also managed to blackmail Duking to uselessness by taking his Plusle hostage and almost managed to have his henchmen send Rui to Ein if not for Wes interferring, showing that he's not incompetent at all.
- Breakout Character: He is indisputably THE breakout character of Colosseum, so much so that he's the only antagonist from the game (aside from Gonzap) who gets to return for the sequel in XD.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Seems to exist in his own little world most of the time.
- Dance Battler: Never stops dancing during battle, a trait he shares with his beloved Ludicolo.
- Disco Dan: He wears an afro and a bright, sparkly leisure suit, and dances to catchy disco music. If that didn't qualify him, we don't know what would..
- Dishing Out Dirt: He has a Shadow Sudowoodo. Even outside of that, he has an Armaldo to replace it.
- Double Entendre: "Let the music spin!" "Let's get it on!"
- Funny Afro: It's huge, and colored in red and white halves like a Poke Ball.
- Green Thumb: His trademark Ludicolo.
- Laughably Evil: He might be a high rank Cipher Admin meaning serious business, but unlike his fellow cohorts he's so ridiculous and campy that he can be quite entertaining.
- Left the Background Music On: He appears to be aware and in control of his own theme, as it stops whenever he says "Stop the music!" and resumes whenever he says "Let the music play!". It's made even more notable in his second battle in Colosseum when he says "Never mind that" right after declaring the music, and the standard Cipher Admin battle theme plays instead of his own during the fight.
- Making a Splash: His Ludicolos' primary type (and the only type of his Golduck), plus his strategy of utilizing Rain Dance involves dishing out powered-out Water moves.
- Meaningful Name: Both his Japanese and English names are references to mirror balls.
- Morality Pet: His Ludicolo. He sure seems to have fun dancing with them, and they're his main team members.
- Non-Elemental: Has a Loudred in Colosseum that later evolves into an Exploud in.
- Opaque Lenses: His eyes are completely obscured by his Cool Shades.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He might just be the starter villain and doesn't even look or sound that threatening, but he's still the person who blackmailed Duking into uselessness and controlled Pyrite Town completely unimpeded. Not even Ghetsis has managed to successfully pull out something this impressive to even a single town in Unova.
- Recurring Boss: He is first battled in Pyrite Cave, and then fought a second time at Realgam Tower. He later shows up as the final opponent in the first round of the post-game Deep Colosseum.
- Shock and Awe: He has a Shadow Voltorb, as well as a regular Voltorb that evolves into an Electrode.
- Signature Mon: Ludicolo. In the first battle against him, his team (aside from the Shadow Sudowoodo) consists entirely of Ludicolo. His team in the second battle is a little more diverse, but still has two Ludicolo.
- Starter Villain: He's the first Cipher Admin that Wes has to deal with.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Despite the lack of variety, his first team's Pokémon are all fully evolved and have rain-related abilities Miror B. gladly makes use of. Ludicolo's typing means that outside of Fly, you won't have anything super-effective against them. This is before your Shadow Pokémon can be purified and leveled up too.
Dakim
- Benevolent Boss: Mildly, but it's there as he isn't angry with Skrub for failing to stop Wes, acknowledging the former would've been outclassed.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Has a Bug-type Forretress.
- The Brute: He's one of the only Pokémon characters to be seen physically attacking another trainer.
- Casting a Shadow: His Houndoom is a Dark-type.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: According to himself, the only people he's ever lost a battle to are Nascour and Wes.
- Dishing Out Dirt: He really loves the move Earthquake, and several of his Pokémon are Ground types. This includes a Golem, a Marshtomp (that eventually evolves into a Swampert), a Claydol, a Flygon, and a Whiscash. He also has a Solrock for the Rock-type variant.
- Extra-ore-dinary: His Metang and Forretress.
- Jerkass: He's fond of going on and on about how great and strong he is, and how puny his opponents are.
- Karma Houdini: Last seen, he's battling in the Under's Deep Colosseum; a free man.
- Making a Splash: His Marshtomp and Whiscash are Water-types.
- Our Dragons Are Different: His Flygon is a Dragon-type.
- Playing with Fire: Despite his preference for Ground-types, his Shadow Pokémon is an Entei that he replaces with a Houndoom after it's snagged. His Camerupt is both this type and Dishing Out Dirt.
- Psychic Powers: His Metang, Claydol and Solrock.
- Primal Stance: He's always hunched over like a gorilla.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Suprisingly. After losing to Wes, he acknowledges Wes's skill as a trainer and isn't angry at Skrub for losing to him previously; he even says that Skrub had no chance of winning against Wes.
- Recurring Boss: First battled during the Mt. Battle takeover, then rematched at Realgam Tower. He later shows up as the final opponent in the second round of the post-game Deep Colosseum.
- Signature Mon: His Shadow Entei. In subsequent matches after being snagged, it's replaced with a Houndoom.
Venus
- Aerith and Bob: One of the very few characters doesn't have a weird name that sounds like it's made-up.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She comes off as cheerful and insincerely sweet to the Under's population, but when off-camera, she's just as cold-blooded and evil as most of her Cipher cohorts.
- Brainless Beauty: She taunts Wes while holding the Subway Key, and then runs away... only to drop the key, allowing Wes to use the train. And while the other Cipher admins show various levels of tact and cunning by using rain or sun-based teams with moves and abilities that protect their Pokemon's allies from certain attacks in double battles, Venus' strategy consists entirely of "spam Status Effects until the enemy can barely move", which makes her team easily fall prey to Safeguard and Taunting.
- Break the Haughty: Despite being the Under's shadow dictator, she's been essentially defeated and utterly humiliated by Wes when he starts dismantling the Under's operations. And boy, does she deserve it.
- Character Catchphrase: "I'm your Venus!"
- Extra-ore-dinary: She has a Steelix in her first battle.
- Green Thumb: She's used a Vileplume, a Bellossom, and a Meganium.
- Making a Splash: Has a Suicune as her Shadow Pokémon that she replaces with a Milotic upon being snagged.
- Meaningful Name: Aside from being an obvious reference to her beauty, Aphrodite (the goddess to whom Venus is the Roman counterpart) is said to have been born from seafoam, giving her a connection to her Shadow Suicune. But more importantly with Milotic who recalls the Venus the Milo.
- Non-Elemental: She has a Delcatty, a Wigglytuff, and a Blissey.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: At different points, she's used a Banette, a Misdreavus, and a Dusclops.
- Perky Female Minion: She is a lot more cheerful than the thuggish Dakim, the cold-blooded Ein, and the downright creepy Nascour and Evice, but she's still a very dangerous threat.
- Pimped-Out Dress: She wears a large pink and white dress decorated with blue crystals. Complete with a piece that looks like a crescent moon.
- Pink Means Feminine: Her dress is also pink, and she's one of the more feminine Cipher operatives.
- Poisonous Person: Her Vileplume is Poison-type.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: She's a Cipher admin that looks like she's in her late 20s at most, but she acts like a childish Spoiled Brat who cries and runs away the moment she's defeated.
- Recurring Boss: She's first fought in The Under, and then returns for a rematch in Realgam Tower. She later shows up as the final opponent in the third round of the post-game Deep Colosseum.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After you beat her twice. ("Waaaah! I don't wanna do this anymore!")
- Shock and Awe: Has a Raichu.
- Shout-Out: Her catchphrase is a clear reference to the song 'Venus,' originally by Shocking Blue and famously covered by Bananarama. Possibly unintentionally, the melody that starts The Under's theme and plays throughout most of the rest of the song is almost identical to the bass part in the Bananarama cover.
- Signature Mon: Her Shadow Suicune. Later matches give her a Milotic as a replacement.
- Smug Snake: An insufferable woman who is prone to whining when things don't go her way.
- The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female Admin in Colosseum.
- Stealth Pun: Venus’s top is Milotic. The Milotic of Venus. Venus de Milotic... don’t think too hard about this one.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Is adored/lusted over by most of the Under's residents.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Venus' main strategy consists of crippling her opponents Pokemon by spamming numerous Status Effects. Setting up Safeguard completely shuts her strategy down.
Ein (Bolg)
- Blow You Away: Despite his Thunder strategy, a surprising amount of Pokémon of his are Flying-type such as Golbat/Crobat, Altaria, Pelipper, Mantine and Gyarados.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Has a Rhydon.
- The Evil Genius: The head scientist at Cipher and the one responsible for the creation of Shadow Pokémon.
- Evilutionary Biologist
- Hate Sink: Ein is by far the most repulsive member of Cipher, as he was the one who experimented on Pokémon and turned them into the Shadow Pokémon, who by the time you fight him have been established as being in constant pain from the modifications he's made to them.
- Hidden Depths: Subverted; despite being one of the more depraved characters in this game, his Golbat, which evolves through friendship, is seen as a Crobat in rematches. However, Ein obtaining its love and trust was most likely done for the express purpose of getting Golbat to its strongest form, so just because he treats his Crobat well, it doesn't mean he actually cares for it.
- Improbable Hairstyle: That Hair Antenna of his is pretty bizarre.
- Karma Houdini: And he makes it clear he's unrepentant, too!
- Making a Splash: Several of his Pokémon, such as Huntail, Lanturn, Pelipper, Starmie, Mantine, and Gyarados.
- The Man Behind the Monsters: He's the one responsible for the creation of Shadow Pokémon.
- Meaningful Name:
- Japanese: "Bolgios" (alt. "Belgius") is the name of a proto-Celtic lightning god. This references his use of Shadow Raikou and his abuse of the Rain Dance + Thunder combo.
- English: Ein, as in Albert Einstein.
- Our Dragons Are Different: His Altaria is a Dragon-type.
- Poisonous Person: His Golbat/Crobat is a Poison-type.
- Psychic Powers: His Starmie's secondary type is Psychic.
- Recurring Boss: Just like the rest of the Cipher Admins. He's first fought at the Shadow Pokémon Lab, then rematched at Realgam Tower. He later shows up as the final opponent in the fourth round of the post-game Deep Colosseum.
- Shipper on Deck: Unintentionally to Wes and Rui ("You've come this far. Hand-in-hand like a happy couple on an aimless stroll.")
- Shock and Awe: A couple of his Pokémon are Electric-type, such as his Lanturn, his Shadow Raikou, and the Manectric he gets to replace it post-snag.
- Signature Mon: His Shadow Raikou. It's replaced with a Manectric in rematches.
- The Sociopath: Possibly the most evil guy in all of Cipher, even more so than the leaders. They may promote the creation of Shadow Pokémon, but they're not the ones creating them.
Miror B.'s henchmen
Trudly and Folly (Troy and Heboy)
Miror B.'s henchmen.- Bumbling Henchmen Duo: In addition to being rather poor at concealing their crimes, they steal Battle CDs from Realgam Tower in XD, not realizing that they're just for simulations and they can't keep the Pokémon on them until after the fact. They hide a bug inside their boss's afro to warn them when he's coming... only to drop it right after Michael's first battle with Miror B. at the Cave Poké Spot.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: They're just two followers of Miror B. with lackluster teams in Colosseum. In XD, they're never even fought.
- Insistent Terminology: "We're no robbers! We're kidnappers! Get it? Kidnappers!"
- Self-Punishment Over Failure: After losing to Wes twice, they are so afraid of Miror B.'s punishment that they turn themselves in to the police.
Reath and Ferma (Breath and Seurat)
Miror B.'s other henchmen...er, women.- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Unlike Trudly and Folly, they don't return in XD.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Trudly and Folly.
- Only Sane Woman: Despite being counterparts to Trudly and Folly, they're far less bumbling and appear to have been higher up on the totem pole prior to their arrest.
Nascour (Jakira)
Nascour (Jakira)
- Big Bad: He is initially believed to be this, but it turns out he isn't the real leader of Cipher.
- Blow You Away: His Xatu's secondary type.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Let's just say that when you first meet him, there's no mistaking this absolutely demonic looking man for a good person.
- Diabolus ex Nihilo: Unlike most of Cipher's top brass, Nascour has almost no characterization and very little screentime.
- The Dragon: To Evice.
- Extra-ore-dinary: His Shadow Metagross.
- Genre Refugee: Nascour wouldn't be out of place in a Final Fantasy game, as he strongly resembles Sephiroth and absolutely nothing about him is played for laughs. Compared to characters like Miror B, who is sporting a giant afro and has a dance theme, down to his Signature Mon, Ludicolo, Nascour stands out even more in a Pokémon game.
- Not So Stoic: He stutters a lot when Evice steps onto the scene.
- Nothing Is Scarier: There is no music when you fight him. All you hear is the crowd screaming and cheering.
- Obviously Evil: Glaring red eyes, Sephiroth hair... yeah, him being the apparent leader of Cipher is no real surprise.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When defeated, he gets scared, and starts apologizing to someone offscreen, making Rui confused, as she thought he was the boss. Then the real boss walks in...
- Our Ghosts Are Different: His Dusclops.
- Pre-Final Boss: He is passed off as the main villain until his defeat. Then Evice, the real final boss, appears.
- Psychic Powers: His Shadow Metagross is part Psychic, and he replaces it with an Alakazam afterward. He also has a Xatu and a Gardevoir.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are solid red, with no iris or pupil to be seen, and he's the second-in-command of Cipher's Orre branch.
- Signature Mon: A Shadow Metagross. Once it's snagged, he replaces it with an Alakazam.
- The Stoic: He's incredibly calm and sure of himself for pretty much the entire game.
- We Can Rule Together: Perhaps not rule, but upon their final encounter he asks Wes if he would consider becoming a show-battle trainer for Cipher, as he has the potential to become a top star. However, he then goes on to say that while he might have made such an offer at one point, he's not so charitable as to forgive Wes's constant interference in their plans, and immediately challenges him to battle.
- White Hair, Black Heart: The guy issuing orders to the Cipher syndicate has gravity-defiant silver locks. Go figure.
The Mastermind
Es Cade/Evice (Backley/Wardack)
- Acrofatic: As old and rotund as he is, Evice is capable of doing several huge flips during his battle animation somehow.
- Artificial Brilliance:
- His Scizor won't Baton Pass out unless she's racked up at least one boost from Metal Claw, Silver Wind, or Swords Dance, and whoever receives the buffs will prefer using their physical moves until they're recalled.
- His Slowking will use Skill Swap on Slaking as soon as it gets a chance.
- To avoid Sand Stream damaging his own Pokémon, Evice's Shadow Tyranitar is always sent out last.
- Artificial Stupidity: Even with the above Artificial Brilliance, his AI doesn't really account for the possibility of using the Master Ball on his Tyranitar, as a trainer likely would have used it on Nascour's Metagross right beforehand. Thus, while such strategies as i.e. using an X Attack on his last Pokémon would make sense normally, it falls firmly into this trope if the player chooses to save it for him.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: His Machamp.
- Big Bad: The real mastermind behind the events of the game.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: His Scizor's primary type.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems like a nice guy when first met, and he even offers to help out. In reality, he's the exact opposite.
- Dark Reprise: Once he shows his true colors, his leitmotif gets replaced with a more sinister version.
- Dishing Out Dirt: The primary type of his Shadow Tyranitar. After it's snagged, he replaces it with an Aggron.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Since he's the mayor of one of the few relatively crime-free areas and only seen once, it's somewhat surprising that he was the Big Bad all along.
- Evil All Along: He appears to be nothing more than a jolly, fat mayor until The Reveal.
- Evil Old Folk: He pretends to be a Cool Old Guy, but it's just a facade.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Part of his "transformation." His two clumps of hair become long and jagged.
- Extra-ore-dinary: His Scizor's secondary type. His replacement Aggron is also this.
- Eyes Always Shut: His "mayor" persona. Once he finally opens them, the exact reason why he keeps them shut becomes very clear.
- Fat Bastard: His true nature.
- Foreshadowing: There's a lot of this leading up to his reveal if you're very observant.
- First of all: Nascour just so happens to be first seen walking outside of his house. Wes and Rui don't know about his involvement in the Cipher deal for that time being, but he's demonic-looking to the point of bordering parody, so it sticks out.
- Despite his promises, you get absolutely no help from him whatsoever in regards to the Cipher problem. If you return to his house to check in on his investigation in person, all he'll have for you is extremely old information that is readily available on the in-game news broadcasts.
- If you check his house later into the game after you've meddled a lot in Cipher's affairs, he's nowhere to be found while an old woman outside tells you that he stomped off in a rage.
- When you're fighting Nascour, the Shadow Tyranitar that Ein mentioned making for his boss is nowhere in sight...
- Generation Xerox: According to an NPC, the founder and first mayor of Phenac City was his grandfather. Though his grandfather was more than likely a much better person than he is.A long time ago, this area was barren of life. Neither people nor Pokémon could live on this blighted land. It was the mayor's grandfather, the first mayor, who founded Phenac by drawing water to this parched land.
- The Man Behind the Man: Nascour acts as leader to protect Evice's identity. And then it's revealed in XD that the Big Bad of that game is the man behind Evice; Evice was only the boss of Cipher's Orre branch, and XD's Big Bad has always been the true leader.Sherles: Five years ago, we arrested a man named Evice who we thought to be the boss of Cipher. But recently, it came to light that Evice was only the boss of the Orre region, and nothing more. In other words, Cipher's real boss exists elsewhere, and he or she is directing the syndicate. Cipher didn't collapse when Evice was caught. It was active all this time without anyone taking any notice.
- Mayor Pain: He's the mayor of Phenac City, but that's just a cover for his status as the Big Bad.
- Meaningful Name: He's evil, and he's the vice leader of Cipher, as revealed in XD.
- In Japanese, the "war" part of his name comes from "warui" (bad)
- Mister Big: The Man Behind the Man is one of the shortest characters in the game.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name is derived from the word "evil," and for good reason.
- Non-Elemental: His Slaking.
- Power Floats: He somehow floats in midair, though he only does it after shedding his facade.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes are pitch black with red pupils.
- Signature Mon: Shadow Tyranitar. After it's snagged, it's replaced by an Aggron.
- Slasher Smile: He wears a demonic grin on his face after The Reveal.
- Spikes of Villainy: After his "transformation," his hair, eyebrows, mustache, and clothes all become spiky.
- Take Over the World: States his desire to rule the world before the final battle.
- Theme Naming: Slaking, Slowking, Shadow Tyranitar, Machamp, Scizornote , Aggronnote ... the only odd one out is his Salamence, and even it has head spikes that suggest a crown. Evice is the final boss, and he'll make sure you know it.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: He tries to do this by escaping via helicopter, but Ho-Oh won't have any of that.
- Walking Spoiler: Because of his status as the true Big Bad.
The impersonator
Fein (Fake)
A Cipher Peon who is also a Master of Disguise. Angered by Cipher's defeat, he disguises himself as Wes and attacks people with a Shadow Togetic in an attempt to frame him.- Almighty Janitor: Has a very strong and high-leveled team despite being a mere peon.
- Master of Disguise: He specifically refers to himself as one after you beat him. He used this talent to impersonate Wes and make him look bad.
- Meaningful Name: Obviously derived from the word "feign." His Japanese name is just simply "Fake".
- Optional Boss: He's an optional fight in the post-game. He is only necessary if you're trying to snag all of the Shadow Pokémon.
- Post-Final Boss: He straddles the line between this and True Final Boss. Despite checking off most of the requirements for a True Final Boss, in terms of base stat totals his party is weaker than both Nascour's and Evice's, and his Shadow Pokémon has a higher catch rate than every Cipher Admin's aside from Miror B. Also unlike the other bosses in the game, he doesn't employ any special strategies that make him more challenging to fight.
- Signature Mon: Reversed. He doesn't have his own notable Pokémon; rather, he uses the replacement Pokémon for each of the Cipher Admins' Shadow Pokémon, as well as Gonzap's. While his Shadow Togetic could count as one, it's the weakest Shadow Pokémon in the game at level 20 and Fein doesn't replace it with anything during rematches.
- True Final Boss: He doesn't appear until all Shadow Pokémon except for his Togetic have been snagged.
- Where It All Began: The battle with him takes place at Outskirt Stand, the first area of the game.
Team Snagem
Gonzap (Helgonza)
Gonzap (Helgonza)
- Affably Evil: He's surprisingly pleasant for a crime boss. Even though he has every reason to hate Wes for blowing up his hideout, when they next meet he greets him like an old friend and acts as if their grudge match over the hideout is nothing personal.
- Bald of Evil: He's bald and the leader of a criminal organization.
- Bare-Fisted Monk: Has a Hariyama in Realgam Tower, and a Breloom and Machamp in his hideout.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: His Pinsir and Armaldo.
- Blow You Away: His Skarmory's secondary type is Flying, and he gets a Gyarados to replace it once it's snagged. His Salamence and Charizard in Orre Colosseum also have this type.
- Casting a Shadow: His Crawdaunt and Shiftry are Dark-type.
- Dishing Out Dirt: He's used the Rock-type Armaldo and the Ground-type Whiscash.
- Extra-ore-dinary: His Shadow Pokémon is a Skarmory, and he has one of his very own in XD.
- Graceful Loser: Unlike most members of Cipher, he takes his defeats in stride, and will step aside without complaint afterwards.
- Green Thumb: Has a Shiftry, a Breloom, a Nuzleaf (probably born from Shiftry), a Vileplume, and a Venusaur.
- Large and in Charge: He's big, muscular, and in charge of Snagem.
- Making a Splash: He has a Crawdaunt, a Gyarados after his Skarmory is snagged, a Whiscash, and a Blastoise.
- Noble Demon: A crime boss he may be, but if he makes a promise you can be sure that he'll keep it.
- Signature Mon: Skarmory. He has one as the Shadow Pokémon on his team in Colosseum. In XD, he has a non-Shadow Skarmory which is the only Pokémon that is on his team during both battles against him. Notably, the Gyarados that is meant to replace his Colosseum Skarmory isn't in any of his XD teams.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Regular battle music plays when battling him in Colosseum. This is rectified in XD, where he uses the Cipher Admins' battle theme.
- Unusual Eyebrows: They're so long, they extend off his head! In XD, they become jagged like his stache is, making them look even more crazy.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: He wears the same open red vest as his grunts do, but unlike them, he doesn't wear anything underneath it.
- We Can Rule Together: Offers this to Wes. It's naturally rejected, you can't join him even if you accept his offer.
Allies
Duking (Ginzaru)
Duking (Ginzaru)
- Beyond the Impossible: He finds wild Pokémon in Orre, the desert land where no Pokémon can exist except imported ones. By XD, he's even made Poke Spots in the middle of the desert, where a small handful of wild Pokémon can be found.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Once his Plusle was kidnapped by Miror B., he was cowered to uselessness, something that the dancing deviant took advantage of to distribute Shadow Pokémon in the Pyrite Colosseum.
- Large and in Charge: Heroic example; he's the mayor of a town known for its high thug population, and he's more competent than the 2 officers running his town in terms of stopping Cipher, that Miror B. had to make him too depressed to interfere before his schemes could take place.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Has the same model as the Bodybuilder trainer class.
Silva
Silva is a young man from Pyrite Town. He's Duking's Number One man. He's also a talented Master of Disguise when the need arises.
- Butt-Monkey: Tends to get captured by Cipher's goons whenever he tries to help out.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Accidentally. To spite Duking, he steals the gears to the Pyrite Windmill, shutting down the Colosseum. This stops Cipher's plan to distribute the Shadow Pokémon through the Colosseums.
- Demoted to Extra: In XD.
- Master of Disguise: In Colosseum, he hides as a Cipher Bodyguard in Realgam Tower.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: In XD, he gives a Suspiciously Specific Denial that he does not wear women's clothes.
Chief Sherles (Hedge)
Chief Sherles (Hedge)
The police chief responsible for Pyrite Town. He seems to have his hands rather full.- Me's a Crowd: For some reason, there's two Chief Sherles' existing at the same time during XD's ending.
Eagun (Logan)
Eagun (Logan)
- Aerith and Bob: His Japanese name is more normal than his English dub name, for whatever reason.
- Informed Ability: It's mentioned he was once one of the greatest trainers in Orre, if not the world.
- Level Drain: His Pikachu drops from level 50 in Colosseum to level 12 in XD.
- Mythology Gag: As a renowned and powerful trainer whose Signature Mon is a Pikachu, Eagun invites natural comparisons with Ash Ketchum of Pokémon: The Series. (His wife Beluh has no direct reference, but their granddaughter being a pig-tailed redhead who likes invite further comparison with Misty from the same show).
- Retired Badass: Like most of Agate Village, he was a hotshot and well-known Trainer in his younger days. Upon hearing that Relic Forest has been invaded by Cipher, he rushes off to battle them back out.
- Signature Mon: Pikachu. Or rather, as revealed with his XD fight, the Pikachu line as the whole.
- Technologically Blind Elders: His only text to Wes in Colosseum is a rambling message that gets cut off before he gets to his actual offer of a Master Ball. Five years later in Gale of Darkness he doesn't appear to have learned much: his first email to Michael is empty and the subject is spelled badly. His second and last are abruptly cut off, and he spams Michael constantly while the guy's on Citadark Isle.
- The Worf Effect: When he tries to defend the Relic Stone from Skrub (a Cipher Peon), his Pikachu loses against a Hitmontop that's 12 levels below it.
Beluh (Setsuma)
Eagun's wife and Rui's grandmother.
- Flat Character: She's there to give the tablet and nothing else. Eagun could have done that. However, then she would have been nothing at all, only existing to avert Missing Mom.
- Women Are Wiser: While we don't see a whole lot of her personality, she does seem a lot more sensible than Eagun.
Kid's Grid
Nett (Thread)
Nett is the founder of the Kids' Grid and the resident Techno Wizard of the group.- Awesome by Analysis: Nett's ability to analyze and breach computer security is essential in bringing down Cipher.
- Fanboy: Of Wes, and does in fact Squee on meeting him.
- Ascended Fanboy: Nett ultimately is as important in taking down Cipher in both games as Wes, Rui, and Michael, and becomes friends of theirs.
- Hacker Cave: He lives in one in Colosseum, as he's turned his home into one.
- He Knows Too Much: Cipher is aware of the threat Nett and the organization he founded with Secc are. But they specifically hold Nett at the same level as Wes, Rui, and Michael because of his hacking ability, to the point of jamming his communication network in Colosseum and planning one of Cipher's largest raids in XD just to recover their Data ROM in that game.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Secc.
- Hollywood Encryption: Averted, as Cipher's security is tough for him to crack in both games. In Colosseum it takes him so long to start decrypting the ROM from Ein's Lab, that once he starts sending useful data, you've already found most of those Shadow Pokémon. In XD, he's not even close to breaking through when Cipher comes a knocking to stop him. And make sure to scrub his database too.
- Magical Computer: Downplayed, as Nett DOES have some serious equipment even as a kid (which begs the question of how he acquired it, but it is Orre, the land of Rogues). In XD, he is shown to have limitations as he can only sort of recover data from when Cipher scrubs his personal databases.
- Nice Guy: Nett is legitimately one of the nicest people in Orre.
- Non-Action Guy: Nett is essential for both Wes and Michael to take down Cipher, but he's not a Pokémon Trainer and is not able to defend himself.
- Playful Hacker: Zig-Zagged, He's a white hat hacker in characterization, but in practice for the games, he's more of a grey hat since he's legitimately cracking the data of Cipher for the purposes of taking them down. Its implied, however, he's white hat when the world isn't hanging in the balance.
- Tagalong Kid: Downplayed, as Nett is actually quite helpful in both games.
- Teen Genius: And manages to avert the negative tropes associated with it. Nett's intelligence is recognized by the game but he's also the Non-Action Guy
Secc (Ren)
Secc is the kid who establishes contact with Nett in the Under. The pair act as a main source of information afterwards.- Flat Character: At least in Colosseum. In XD, Secc gets slightly more screentime as the CEO of ONBS, which reveals he's Nett's handler of sorts and prefers to work behind the scenes.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Nett.
- Hidden Depths: In XD its implied he's an audiophile based on the fact he's constantly wearing very nice headphones all the time.
- Number Two: To Nett.
Megg (Shiho)
Nett's little sister.- Damsel in Distress: She's held hostage during the attack on the ONBS building in XD.
Other Characters
Mirakle B. (Miraklebeau)
Mirakle B. (Miraklebeau)
- Loony Fan: Dresses like and is obsessed with Miror B., and his battle theme is a distorted, sped up version of Miror B.'s theme.
- Optional Boss: Shows up in Miror B.'s place in Pyrite Cave with no fanfare at all. There are official strategy guides published by Nintendo that make no mention of him. Unless you know that he's down there, you'll probably go the whole game without fighting him.
- Palette Swap: His appearance is that of a normal Cipher Peon, except he's wearing a gold suit and a half-red, half-white mask to resemble Miror B.
- Permanently Missable Content: Once the Final Boss is defeated, he'll disappear permanently.
Cail (Masa)
Cail (Masa)
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Similar to Wes in the games opening.
- Friendly Enemy: Not quite The Rival, but he resets to fight the player every time you leave Pyrite Town. He also won't give you any help unless you beat him.
- The Social Darwinist: Claims he only wanted a Shadow Pokémon because it was advertised as strong.
Agnol (Soldan)
Agnol (Soldan)
A mysterious trainer from Deep Colosseum who is often referred to as the "Deep King."- Optional Boss: The final opponent of Deep Colosseum's fifth round.
- Red Baron: The Deep King.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Has the same model as the Bodybuilder trainer class.
Battlus (Somek)
Battlus/Somek
The master of Mt. Battle in Story Mode.- Dub Name Change: Had his name changed from Battlus to Somek, but only in Colosseum.
- Olympus Mons: In XD: Gale of Darkness, he has both Latios and Latias on his team.
- Optional Boss: You don't have to fight him, but doing so does reward you with a time flute.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Has the same model as the Bodybuilder trainer class.
- Superboss: He is the strongest trainer in XD: Gale of Darkness, with all his Pokémon being Level 70. In addition, he has the Lati twins, Metagross, Salamence, Slaking and Dusclops on his team, which is one of the strongest Pokémon teams for offence and defence in the entire series. He's also completely optional and can only be fought if you've faced off against all the trainers before him.
Infin and Inity (Mugensai and Mugendai)
Infin and Inity (Mugensai and Mugendai)
The masters of Mt. Battle in Battle Mode. Infin is the master for single battles, Inity is the master for double battles.- Olympus Mons: Infin has a Kyogre on his team.
- Optional Boss: They aren't even a part of story mode. However, if you want to get Ho-oh, you have to beat one of them with a team assembled from the mons you caught in story mode.
- Punny Names: Of "Infinity" in the English version.
- Worthy Opponent: They consider you as such when you win.
