Sandbox / Pokemon Black And White Ghetsis

Main Character Index > Black and White (Team Plasma [Ghetsis])

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Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius / G-Cis Harmonia Gropius (ゲーチス・ハルモニア・グロピウス Gēchisu Harumonia Guropiusu)

^{Black 2 and White 2} 

"We shall bring back the hero and that Pokémon to Unova once again! If we can win people's hearts and minds, we can easily create the world that I—I mean, Team Plasma—desires!"

Voiced by: Sho Hayami (JP, Pokémon Generations), Patrick Seitz (EN, Pokémon Generations), Hikaru Hanada (JP, Pokémon Masters), Mick Wingert^note (Uncredited due to contractual reasons) (EN, Pokémon Masters), Takehito Koyasu (JP, Pokémon Evolutions), Armen Taylor (EN, Pokémon Evolutions)

The true leader of Team Plasma, who aims to have N "liberate" all Pokémon from their Trainers so only he can use them. Two years later, he has captured Kyruem, the third Dragon left over from Reshiram and Zekrom to freeze Unova as vengeance for his failed "near perfect" plan.

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A-L

• Abusive Parents: Not actually N's biological father, but purposefully isolated him from others to condition him for the role as King of Team Plasma. It's also implied that he was going to dispose of N once the plan to separate people and Pokémon was completed.
• Ambiguously Related: In the postgame for Black and White, Ryoku of the Seven Sages offhandedly mentions that he's not sure whether or not Ghetsis is actually N's father. Black 2 and White 2 confirm that there's no blood relation, Ghetsis merely "adopted" poor N. But more than a few fans have wondered why two men who aren't related look so much alike...
• Archnemesis Dad: Towards to N during Black 2 and White 2.
• Ax-Crazy: By Black and White 2, where he wants to freeze over the entire region — and you!
• Badass Longrobe: He wears one in Black 2 and White 2, replacing his old outfit.
• Bad Boss: In Black 2 and White 2, his Hydreigon knows Frustration, a move that gets stronger the more the Pokémon dislikes its trainer. Contrast with former villainous team leaders who tend to have a Crobat in their team near the end, a Pokémon that only evolves if it likes its trainer.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The Rainbow Rocket Ghetsis is the only one of the alternate villains to have 100% won in his universe with no drawbacks, while the other leaders have questionable fates.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: Frustration is a move that gets stronger the more its user hates its trainer. Ghetsis' Hydregion can use it at maximum power. Do the math.
• Big Bad: The main villain of the Unova duology.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In Black and White, he seems to be a good, understanding person regardless of being on the opposing side. And then you progressively discover that he's anything but that.
• Black Cloak: In the sequel, he ditches his initial outfit for a dark cloak.
• Brooklyn Rage: The main villain of a region based on New York.
• The Chessmaster: How does he plan on taking over the world? By using the actions of the previous evil teams and the compassion people have for Pokémon to convince them that humans and Pokémon need to be separated. Once that's done, he'll dispose of N and be the only one with Pokémon left and it'll be a easy takeover.
• Classic Villain: Representing Pride/Ambition. Fits all of the criteria except a Karmic Death, but he still ends up being given a karmic punishment, via losing all of the support he had save the Shadow Triad and having the plan he took years to make be completely destroyed in the first pair of games, and becoming an insane non-functioning Brooklyn Rage vegetable in the sequels.
• Climax Boss: Gets demoted to this in Black 2 and White 2. He's fought before the player reaches Victory Road at the end of Plasma's arc.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Does this to Kyurem to make it comply with terrorizing Unova. He also plans to do it to the player character.
• Combat Pragmatist:
  • In both of his fights he starts off with Cofagrigus, which will try to wear down your Pokémon by inflicting them with Toxic Poison and using Protect every other turn to avoid damage while your Pokémon rack up Poison damage. In Black 2 and White 2 it's holding the Leftovers item to ensure it takes you longer to KO it.
  • When he's confronted by the Player Character at the Giant Chasm in Black 2 and White 2, he immediately tries to have Kyurem freeze them instead of having a Pokémon battle.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: His Hydreigon is Level 54 in Black and White and Level 52 in Black 2 and White 2. Zweilous doesn't evolve into Hydreigon until Level 64.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To Cyrus. While the Team Galactic boss genuinely thought he knew what was best for the world, Ghetsis's claims of having good intentions are nothing more than a façade.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: An In-Universe example. During Black 2 and White 2, Ghetsis mentions that if N had fully become the King of Team Plasma, Unova would not have to suffer its icy fate and remain beautiful. Of course, as Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon shows, Unova DOES remain beautiful but with Ghetsis ruling it with an iron fist and everyone's Pokémon.
• Crazy-Prepared: A subtle example in Black and White, but if one takes a look at his Hydreigon's moveset, it has a super-effective attack for all of the Pokémon used by N in his battle against the player^note Dragon Pulse against either of the legendary dragons, Surf against Archeops, Focus Blast against Carracosta, Zoroark, Vanilluxe and Klinklang, the latter two of which are also weak to Fire Blast., a rather chilling display of the fact Ghetsis was fully prepared to take down N by force if the player character were to be defeated by him.
• Crystal Prison: He attempted to invoke the icicle variant on you in the second game in order to create an Ironic Hell in which you'd be forced to watch his plans unfold, unable to do anything as you slowly freeze to death. Luckily, N comes to save the day. Masters has him do this to Tornadus during the Villain Arc.
• Dark Is Evil: Half of his team is Dark- and Ghost-types, especially his most iconic mon, Hydreigon. In Black 2 and White 2, his colorful robe from the original Black and White is replaced with a mostly black one.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: His plan must end with him in charge of Unova. He will settle for nothing less.
• Devilish Hair Horns: Making him look like The Devil incarnate, especially in Black 2 and White 2 when combined with his Black Cloak.
• Diabolical Mastermind: His plan for world domination was ridiculously successful solely because he was able to lead what was essentially an N.G.O. Superpower, all while convincing everyone that they were a harmless group of eccentrics.
• Dragon-in-Chief: As the leader of the Seven Sages, he serves as this towards N. Subverted in that he was manipulating N the entire time so he could take over Unova.
• Dragon Tamer:
  • Ghetsis, the main villain of the Unova duology, has as his ace and strongest Pokémon the Dark/Dragon-type Hydreigon, who he is implied to have also abused since in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 it can use a max powered Frustration, a move that gets stronger the more the Pokémon hates its trainer.
  • In Black and White 2 he manages to take control of the Dragon/Ice-type Kyurem and has it fuse with either Reshiram or Zekrom, depending on the version, to take on the player. Masters retains this.
  • In Ultra Sun and Moon apart from his Hydreigon he also uses either Zekrom (Ultra Sun) or Reshiram (Ultra Moon) as his last Pokémon.
• The Dreaded: Has become this by the sequel, where everyone knows how bad he is. Even his Hydreigon is implied to be afraid of him.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: What allows The Hero to be the Spanner in the Works for his plan was Ghetsis never believing that they might be pure of heart enough to awaken the other Legendary Pokémon. He also didn't take the Power of Friendship into account, whether it be between humans and Pokémon or between The Hero and N, both of which factored into his downfall. He even outright says that he thinks everyone considers Pokémon tools to use as they see fit, which he himself believed. Because of this, he allowed N to interact with other people, gaining friendships and seeing the friendships between trainers and their Pokémon, which got him questioning Team Plasma's beliefs in the first place, directly leading to Ghetsis' downfall.
• Evil Chancellor: N talks about how Ghetsis acts as his "adviser" of sorts and gathered many of the elements that make up Team Plasma, including the Shadow Triad. Of course, he has other motives and is really The Man in Front of the Man.
• Evil Cripple: Ghetsis is rarely seen using the right side of his body. In the cinematic opening of Black and White, his right arm is briefly shown to be discolored, implying he might be scarred or injured. His in-game battle expressions and official artwork would seem to imply that the right side of his face is paralyzed, as well. This becomes more apparent in Black 2 and White 2, where his body appears incredibly frail, he's taken to using a cane, and his battle sprite animation shows he has to stop to breathe when he slams the cane down.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: He controls Kyurem, an Ice-type legendary, in Black 2 and White 2. "Deathly cold" is literal since he wants to use its ice power to put the Unova region under a fatal freeze, hoping to extort power and control from the terrified masses when the suffering becomes too great. He also tries to attack the hero with the freezing power of Kyurem's Glaciate attack.
• Evil Laugh: He gives one near the end as he taunts N for failing him.
• Evil Makeover: In Black 2 and White 2, since everyone now knows what he's truly like, he changes his appearance to look more like a dark lord.
• Evil Overlord: What he is to an extent, and later aspires to be. His look in Black 2 and White 2 is meant to invoke the typical dark lord, if not The Devil.
• Eye Motifs: His cloak in both games of the Unova duology are covered in eyes.
• Fate Worse than Death: By the end of it all, the events of two games and his ensuing failures causes Ghetsis to go so insane, he is effectively reduced to a non-functioning, gibbering vegetable.
• Faux Affably Evil: In the first game, he pretends to be well-meaning when his true motives are anything but. He drops this facade in the sequels. In the Japanese version, his speech is unfailingly polite, even when he's no longer pretending to be good, up until his Villainous Breakdown.
• Final Boss: The last fight in Black and White before the credits, and the first time that someone other than the Pokémon League Champion has had this position in the main series.
• Freudian Slip:
  • A few times in the game, while talking about his plans, he says "I- I mean, Team Plasma", hinting at his true nature.
  • At the climax of Black 2 and White 2, he makes his intentions perfectly clear by notably reversing and fixing the slip that he made several times in the originals:
    "The terrified people and Pokémon will bow at Team Plasma's... no... at MY feet!"
• Gameplay and Story Integration: In Black 2 and White 2, his Hydreigon knows Frustration, whose power is determined by how much the Pokémon dislikes its Trainer, and uses it at full power. Given that Ghetsis is a heartless megalomaniac, this is entirely appropriate.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In Masters, he is able to use sync moves (which are said to require a bond between a Pokémon and trainer) despite being every bit as villainous as he is in the mainline games, and even says in one bit of dialogue that he considers his Kyurem to be more of a tool than a partner.◊ This contrasts with Lear, who similarly considered his Pokémon to be tools and rejected friendship, making him unable to use sync moves despite lacking any truly villainous ambitions.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: After being defeated in Black and White, the cat's out of the bag and he now dons a black robe to show just how evil he is. N still continues to wear primarily white and gray.
• Handicapped Badass: He may be an irredeemable asshole with a nasty limp, but he's a very powerful trainer. Entire teams have been destroyed by his Hydreigon and the rest of his team is very strong, as well.
• Hate Sink:
  • Between his condescending attitude toward his adoptive son N, his total disregard for Pokémon sentience, and his general megalomania, he is one of the most despicable antagonists in the entire series alongside Volo. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon shows this very plainly, as among all the past villains brought in, he is the only one with no decent qualities and the only one who refuses to accept his defeat, opting to threaten murder on a child instead.
  • To give how much of a bastard he is, your own Pokémon in Black 2 and White 2 hate him for forcing N's Legendary dragon to fuse with Kyurem, with Ghetsis himself noticing that they're shaking in rage from their Poké Balls. It already says a lot about him that your own Pokémon hate this guy.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Played with. In Black 2 and White 2, he is revealed to be the Big Bad rather than Colress. However, Colress is fully aware of Ghetsis's true role in Team Plasma from the beginning and never actually cared about Team Plasma's ambitions.
• Hypocrite:
  • Calls N a freak without a human heart when this really applies to him. This gets noted by Cheren and Alder.
  • His rants about how trainers abuse Pokémon, when he himself only views them as tools. This was all part of his plan to take everyone's Pokémon except his own, though.
• I Am the Noun: During his Villainous Breakdown in Black and White, he goes on a short rant which includes declaring himself to be perfect.
  Ghetsis: "I AM PERFECTION!"
• Iconic Item: His red monocle. If concept artwork◊ is to be believed, it's there because his right eye is missing or heavily damaged.
• I Have No Son!: When N loses to the player character, Ghetsis publicly disowns him. Devolves into That Thing Is Not My Child! in the sequel. Played with in that the sequel reveals that N really isn't Ghetsis' son, though he did raise him.
• Insane Equals Violent: Played with. He's not really the healthiest guy mentally and is plenty violent, but his Sanity Slippage turns him into a vegetable.
• Insane Troll Logic: How he "justifies" his endgame. He sensibly points out that Pokémon and humans have endless potential together... and then uses that as the reason that he, and he alone, should wield Pokémon. Alder calls him out for it.
  Alder: You fool! That's a ridiculous idea!
• It's All About Me: His spiel about Pokémon liberation is only a front to ensure that he is the only person in Unova with Pokémon, so that he can rule over the region. Near the end, he even goes on a huge tangent over this.
  Ghetsis: "I AM PERFECTION!"
• Jerkass Has a Point: After hearing so many legendary Pokémon being referred to as "gods," it's actually kind of nice to hear someone, no matter how loathsome, say "A Pokémon, even if it's revered as a deity, is still just a Pokémon!" It still is dampened by being Right for the Wrong Reasons, considering he views Pokémon, or anything else for that matter, as tools for him to use. Given his attitude, he likely would easily be saying this about Pokémon that are not just revered as deities, but indeed deities, like Arceus. It only serves to highlight his disregard for any other life than his own.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Ghetsis only takes in N for his master plan and his claim of being for Pokémon liberation was an excuse for him to be the only one allowed to use Pokémon.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: While he manages to escape prison, the plan he's been working on for years has been thwarted, and he's left with nothing now. And if his Villainous Breakdown is any inclination, he may have lost his sanity as well. After the events of Black 2 and White 2, he is never apprehended but is still reduced to what is basically a vegetable.
• Kick the Dog:
  • As if using and abusing his own son wasn't bad enough, what he says to N towards the end of the game is downright cruel and heartless. Then there is all the suffering Kyurem has to be put through in the sequel with the implied abuse of his Pokémon.
  • Pokémon Masters has him pretend to have changed his ways just to get N's Zekrom out to force a fusion, though that doesn't work when Giovanni turns on Ghetsis. N then goes ahead and decides to side with Ghetsis with the excuse that he wants to protect Kyurem, but even after aiding Ghetsis in his escape, all Ghetsis can do as "thanks" is to gloat how N is still a tool for him.
• Large and in Charge: Even more so than his 'son', Ghetsis is six and a half feet tall, and judging by the huge metal ornament he carries around his neck in B/W probably very well-built.
• Lack of Empathy: Most of the other major villains of the series (with only a few exclusions), are trying to do something revolutionary, change the world, or fix a problem they see on the horizon. N, although not a villain, genuinely believes in the morals espoused by Team Plasma. Ghetsis, on the other hand, genuinely doesn't care. He manipulates extremists to his own end of controlling the world, is more than willing to hurt anyone in his way, and is so narcissistic in his goals that he doesn't even bother justifying them. In an alternate future from Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he succeeds in his goals, and the way he talks lacks any caring towards the damage he has done. He is one of the only villains who doesn't justify his evil acts, he gloats about it.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He more than earned his Fate Worse than Death of being reduced to a gibbering vegetable following his failure in Black and White 2.
• Leitmotif:
  • Team Plasma Sage Encounter, though heard with the other sages, is predominantly used with Ghetsis and has an ominous tone that seems to fit him the most.
  • His battle theme really lives up to his Meaningful Name. It's completely different from any other theme in the series, consisting of almost nothing but heavy, oppressive drumbeats... then it's joined by a chorus chanting his name in low, menacing tones. Really brings across the sheer evil of the character.
  • His Black 2 and White 2 theme is made up of the same sounds, but much faster-paced and disorganized, to reflect his diminishing sanity.
• Light Is Not Good: He was as one of the Seven Sages in Black and White, along with some gold and white on his original outfit.
• Luke, I Might Be Your Father: Inverted for the trope: The game makes it clear that Ghetsis and N are father and son up until the post-game of Black and White, where one of the former Plasma Sages makes a comment where he doesn't even recall how N came into play, thus implying that N might not even be Ghetsis' son (not his biological son, at least). Black 2 and White 2 also seems to confirm that they aren't related.

M-Y

• The Man in Front of the Man: In Black and White. Even though N is the official leader of Team Plasma, Ghetsis is revealed to have been using him merely as an Unwitting Pawn for his own plans. He holds a similar position over Colress, the new technical leader of New Team Plasma, in the sequels. However, unlike N, Colress is fully aware that Ghetsis is the one that's truly in charge. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he intends to become this to Giovanni.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Subverted. He speaks like a gentleman, lives in a literal castle and leads a group that consists of six philosophers. His gentlemanly demeanor, however, is skin-deep, the castle is destroyed and by the sequel, only one of his six philosophers wants anything to do with him.
• Manipulative Bastard: Very much so. It's more pronounced the first games than the sequel where everyone, except for a select few, were unaware of his true intentions. He tricks N into thinking that Pokémon as a whole are unhappy with humans for his master plan.
• Meaningful Name: "Goetis," one possible romanization of his name in the Japanese version ties in fairly well with his position as one of the Seven Sages (derived from the Greek word goeteia, meaning "sorcery") and his goal of reviving one of the legendary dragons (Goetia is the art of summoning angels or demons, and is the title of one of the most famous books on the subject — keep in mind that Reshiram has a somewhat angelic appearance and Zekrom is somewhat demonic). It's also confirmed that his name is derived from G and C-sharp, a tritone of musical notes that express disharmony and famously have Satanic connotations. Given his design, this makes all too much sense.
• Mundane Utility: And if his pre-battle animation in Black 2 and White 2 is anything to go by, his mind control staff is also an actual walking stick.
• Musical Theme Naming:
  • According to Word Of God, he's named after the G and C-sharp (or "Cis") timpanis of his battle theme.
  • His last name is Harmonia. Play G and C-Sharp on a piano. They are a tritone, which is dissonance; unstable harmony.
  • In medieval times, the tritone itself was called the Diabolus en Musica, the Devil in Music. Considering what the guy does (and how he looks, especially in the sequel), it's quite apt.
• Mysterious Past: We never learn exactly what his past is or why he feels it's his destiny to rule the world. The only real hints offered are in Black 2 and White 2, with Zinzolin revealing that he had a personal interest in the Abyssal Ruins, which are the burial grounds to an ancient king, whom he and/or N could potentially be descended from.
• Narcissist: Cares for nothing but himself, because he is supposedly "perfection".
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: For all his many faults, Ghetsis does not screw around. In Black and White, his team is designed specifically to take down N's team. In Black and White 2, Ghetsis embodies this even more so. He attempts to outright kill the player character and has a device that disables Poké Balls to prevent the player from capturing Kyurem.
• Noodle Incident: Sometime in the past, he seems to have sustained some kind of brutal injury that left him with damage to his right side — his right eye is hidden by a monocle, his right arm is disfigured or hidden, and he seems to have difficulty moving the right side of his face. What happened to cause those injuries is not known.
• Not So Similar: Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon and Pokémon Masters all go into his similarities with Giovanni; ambitious, cold, cunning, and almost gleefully evil crime bosses. However, Masters shows that even the Rainbow Rocket version of Giovanni, who has fewer of the original's Noble Demon traits, has some degree of morality, especially in regards to his son despite abandoning him as a child. In contrast, Ghestis frequently calls his adopted son a subhuman freak of nature. Silver (Giovanni's son) takes note of this difference when the two Team leaders briefly team up and manages to find Ghestis even more loathsome than his own father.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He claims to believe that separating Pokémon and humans would be best for everyone involved. This is a lie; in reality, he just wants to make it so that he has full control of all trainer Pokémon so he can Take Over the World.
• Obviously Evil: There are some telltale signs in his Black and White design, and then all ambiguity is thrown out with his Black 2 and White 2 design. Also, his team in both games consists of Pokémon that according to their respective Pokédex entries, are very violent, aggressive, and sadistic, and none of them look like anything a hero would use. It's also canon that his signature Pokémon, Hydreigon, is an Ax-Crazy Omnicidal Maniac.
• Offing the Offspring: It's hinted that he was planning to kill N after he had fulfilled his role. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as with the other villains also coming from universes where they won, this Ghetsis, by virtue of controlling Reshiram/Zekrom, is implied to have done so.
• Olympus Mons: An alternate Ghetsis succeeds in controlling Reshiram/Zekrom before being pulled into the world of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon and uses it as his ace Pokémon. It is unknown if Ghetsis took the dragon from N or if he sought it out himself. In Masters, he uses Kyurem instead.
• Pet the Dog: Offscreen, he apparently saved the Shadow Triad's lives somehow, which is way they have Undying Loyalty to him. Unlike his taking in of N, Anthea and Concordia, it isn't stated or implied that he did so with an ulterior motive in mind.
• Poison Is Evil: Along with the aforementioned Hydreigon, the most evil character in the story has two deadly-strong Poison-types — a Drapion and a Toxicroak — in Black 2 and White 2, and his Cofagrigus in all versions will try to stall out opponents using the Toxic-Protect-spam strategy.
• The Power of Hate: His ace, his Hydreigon, has a fully powered Frustration, a move that gets stronger as the Pokémon it uses likes its trainer less.
• Psychological Projection: He seems to seriously believe that everybody in the world is secretly just as bad as he is. The fact that he's wrong is basically what ruins his Evil Plan.
• Pre-Final Boss: During Episode: RR in Ultra Sun and Moon, he's the penultimate boss before Giovanni.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: In the sequel he's wearing mostly black save for the red of his monocle.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: As well as a red monocle. Also the two eyes on his robe in the first game. Applies to a good few of his Pokémon too, such as Cofagrigus, Eelektross, Seismitoad, and of course, Hydreigon itself. Interestingly, said Pokémon are the four he uses in both appearances.
• Red Right Hand:
  • If concept art is anything to go by, his right eye is either severely damaged or missing entirely. He wears a monocle to cover it.
  • It's also indicated that his right arm is disfigured. The game developers have said that both injuries occurred in a Pokémon attack sometime in the past (oddly enough, in the original games' opening, the only time his right arm is shown, it's discolored◊).
• Redemption Rejection: His response to N asking him to change his evil ways is to scream at him hysterically, hurling abusive insults all the while, at which point Ghetsis' mind snaps and he goes full-blown insane.
• Sadist: In addition to having zero remorse for any of his actions, he also gets joy from seeing others break down in despair and hopelessness when he wins.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • After N is defeated in Black and White, Ghetsis grows more and more insane as the final showdown with him goes on. By the end, he's a ranting lunatic in disbelief that his "perfect plan" has been destroyed.
  • He flat out loses it when his plan is foiled again in Black 2 and White 2. N attempts to convince him to turn to the side of good, but Ghetsis's response is to repeatedly order him to be silent and to stop talking to him in "human language," and to go and talk to Pokémon instead. He loses it so hard that the Shadow Triad remove him from the cave, recognizing that it's over. You can battle the Shadow Triad in the post game, and they state that, since Ghetsis's loss, he'd been utterly unable to function. The events of the two years, with the actions of the protagonists, the failures and betrayals of N and Colress, and the failure of his life's work, has utterly broken him.
• Self-Disposing Villain: After being thwarted in the sequels, the Shadow Triad tell you he's gone completely catatonic.
• Seven Deadly Sins: Let's see...
  • He wants everyone's Pokémon for himself, and the more Pokémon he has, the more power he will wield as a result. (Gluttony)
  • He's incredibly arrogant, doesn't care for anyone other than himself, never treats a single Pokémon of his own with love and trust and instead only thinks of them as tools for domination, and will not allow anything to stand in the way of his goals. He also can't accept defeat. (Pride)
  • He makes it look like he wants everyone to reconsider their relationships with their Pokémon and release them so that both humanity and Pokémon can be free, when in fact he really wants to have their Pokémon for himself. In Black and White 2, he instead has his minions steal Pokémon from their trainers. (Greed)
  • He mainly has those affiliated with him and Team Plasma do all the work for him. He even knew that he himself couldn't become a hero of legend due to his reviled reputation, so he emotionally manipulated N as a way of preparing him for that purpose. (Sloth)
  • He gleefully and happily admits to enjoying seeing people break down in states of despair and hopelessness and seeing the looks on their faces when they lose all hope, which is something he always lusts for. (Lust)
  • He wants to make Pokémon illegal for everyone else and become the only one allowed to have and use Pokémon, when in fact Pokémon should be for everyone to use. And for what reason would he want to do so? Selfishness, of course. (Envy)
  • He battles the player in a rage out of denial over the fact that his plans, calculations and careful schemes are failing. He also tries to have Kyurem kill the player by freezing them alive with Glaciate. When N attempts to reason with him, he violently rejects the compassion shown by him. (Wrath)
• Signature Mon:
  • His most powerful Pokémon is his Hydreigon, which has moves of four different types that all take advantage of its sky-high special attack. Its level was reduced in the sequels and it uses physical attacking moves instead of special moves, but it's still his strongest Pokémon. And even though it's his highest level Pokémon, it's still at least ten levels lower than when it normally evolves. While he still uses Hydreigon in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Ghetsis replaces it with Reshiram (Ultra Moon) or Zekrom (Ultra Sun) as his ace in Generation VII.
  • He also leads with a Cofagrigus in each version of his team.
  • In Masters, he is paired up with Kyurem.
• A Sinister Clue: His official art and battle sprites always show him with his left hand outstretched. He almost never shows his right hand. The introductory video for the originals shows that his arm is discolored and dark◊. In the sequels, he mentions that he is going to take the player down with his "own hand" in singular, instead of "hands" in plural, possibly indicating that he could have lost his right arm sometime after N's crowning, though Generations depicts him as having two hands.
• Sinister Minister: He very much looks like a priest or pastor of a church. He even goes around holding public sermons where he preaches about what should be done between humans and Pokémon.
• Sinister Surveillance: His control room on the Plasma Frigate certainly gives off this sort of vibe. The fact that it's a bunch of static indicates the player character or Hugh might have been destroying the cameras while storming the Frigate.
• Slasher Smile: Just to show you how massively pissed and insane he's become, this is now his pre-battle expression.◊
• Smug Snake: In terms of planning, he's a brilliant Chessmaster. But in terms of attitude, he's totally this, especially when his plans fall apart. Subverted by the end of his role in Black and White 2, as he's now too insane to really have any ego.
• The Sociopath: He is only interested in himself and his goals, has no regard for others, and uses superficial charm to mask his real plans, complete with frequent lying.
• Staff of Authority: It doubles as a Mind-Control Device that allows him to control Kyurem, as well as a Poké Ball jammer, which he uses to prevent the player from capturing Kyurem for themselves during their encounter in the Giant Chasm.
• The Starscream: In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he plans to turn Giovanni into a puppet ruler and take control of Team Rainbow Rocket for himself.
• Straw Hypocrite: His attempts to separate humans and Pokémon aren't born from his claimed good intentions, but from a desire for world domination.
• Straw Nihilist: He believes that concepts like family and ideals are all nothing but lies, at best. To him, the only worthwhile goal in life is to try and pursue grandeur for yourself, no matter what it costs.
• Strong Family Resemblance: With N. In Black 2 and White 2 it's subverted since it's revealed that Ghetsis adopted N, although to be fair N doesn't know where he came from and there's enough to fan-wank that Ghetsis is his biological father who temporarily abandoned him on purpose.
• Symbol Motif Clothing: Both of his outfits feature giant eyes.
• Take Over the World: His ultimate goal. He states he wishes to "rule the world utterly" and calls himself "the perfect ruler of a perfect new world." Taken to new extremes in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, where he wants to rule ALL worlds and rule over all existence.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: Subtle, but present in his Hydreigon's moveset. In Black and White, it had a purely special moveset and seemed to be built to counter N's entire team. In the sequels, however, all of its moves run off its inferior physical Attack stat.
• This Cannot Be!: After N is defeated, Ghetsis is left unable to grasp what just happened and that his plan is ruined. Him trying to beat the player may be considered denial over his perfect plan failing. After he himself is beaten, he really gets into this trope, ranting about how he can't have lost and is "perfect."
• Viler New Villain: It is notable that the previous main series villains have something sympathetic about them. Giovanni appears to care somewhat about the members of his team and takes his defeat gracefully. Archie and Maxie are Affably Evil plus reform after they see the error of their ways. Cyrus is a Well-Intentioned Extremist with a sympathetic and tragic backstory. Ghetsis has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and no known reason for being as evil and sadistic as he is, other than the fact that he is an egotist who believes he and only he deserves unlimited power.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Unlike the rest of Team Plasma, his abusive nature is played dead seriously, and he's much nastier than any previous villainous team leader. Would you like some horrific child abuse to go with your cute monster battling? Or perhaps a dessert of an attempted freezing alive of the protagonist?
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • He starts to break down even before his defeat — he's clearly gone mad after N loses to you and his challenging of you can even be taken as being in denial over his "perfect plan" failing. Even after he himself is defeated, he can't believe his plan has failed so completely.
  • After you beat White/Black Kyurem, he gets so frustrated that his battle animation shows him stamping his cane several times until he slams it so hard, it◊ plants into the ground. Afterwards he starts absolutely raving at you and N, panting from loss of breath and possible heart failure once he's done.
    "How can this be? I'm the creator of Team Plasma! I'm perfect! I'm the absolute ruler who will change the world! And I've lost to some unknown Trainer not once, but TWICE?! I can't accept this! This isn't possible! I can't be bested by fools who can't even use Pokémon correctly!"
    "Shut your mouth! Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP! Don't talk like a person, you freak! No real person could talk to Pokémon!"
  • In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, he is from a reality where he never had his original breakdown. When defeated, he has it, almost word-for-word, with some new additions for good measure.
    "Myah-ha-ha! No, no, no, no, no! You don't get it, do you? I can't be defeated! I won't be! IT. CANNOT. BE. ALLOWED!"
• Walking Spoiler: In addition to not being revealed to be the true leader of Team Plasma until the end of Black and White, at least 65% of his sheet was marked prior to Black 2 and White 2.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: As he views Pokémon as mere tools, he considers N a freak for his empathy towards Pokémon, tortures Kyurem into his personal WMD, and upon noticing your Pokémon trembling in their Balls as he pits you against Black/White Kyurem, he briefly identifies it as anger before brushing off the concept that Pokémon can feel emotions.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • In Black 2 and White 2, he tries to freeze the protagonist solid. In the originals, his dialogue before the battle against him suggests that he'll eliminate the Player Character to silence him/her from revealing that N lost the fated battle.
    "In order to rule this world utterly, in order to manipulate the hearts of people who know nothing, I will have N be the king of Team Plasma. But, for that to work, you—since you know the truth—You must be eliminated!"
  • In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon he takes Lillie as a hostage and unambiguously threatens to kill her if the player character doesn't surrender to him. What's worse is that this happens after a battle where all of his Pokémon have been knocked out, so he pretty clearly means to murder the girl with his bare hands.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Averted for the first time in the main series. Thankfully, N saves you in the nick of time. Then played straight again. After fusing Kyurem with N's dragon, Ghetsis could have ordered it to attempt to freeze the player character again, which should have succeeded this time. Instead he has it battle the player character, giving him a chance to defeat and unfuse Kyurem, foiling Ghetsis' plans.
• You Monster!: Cheren and Alder point out that he's the "freak without a human heart", not N.

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