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YMMV / Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions

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  • Base-Breaking Character: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
  • Catharsis Factor: Given what a bastard Grings Kodai is, his humiliating defeat is an absolute joy to watch.
  • Complete Monster: Grings Kodai is a powerful businessman who discovered one of Celebi's Time Ripples. Gaining its power at the price of annihilating the nearby city's plant life, Kodai used this power for his own greed. In the present, Kodai kidnapped a Zoroark's baby Zorua, importing the baby into another region and using blackmail to force Zoroark to terrorize innocents to make himself look good. He intended to renew his abilities by touching the Time Ripple again, at the threat of once again devastating the ecosystem solely for the money. Once Zoroark tracks Kodai down, Kodai threatens Zorua's life, electrocuting it with his gauntlet to almost fatal extents to prove he was serious. Upon being tricked by Zoroark, Kodai loses it and instead electrocutes Zoroark to death in his fury.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The first Generation V Pokémon revealed to the public in this movie, which takes place in Sinnoh. Pokémon Legends: Arceus features variants of Zorua and Zoroark in Sinnoh of the past, known as Hisui.
  • Iron Woobie: Over the course of the movie, Zoroark has to deal with amounts of horrors that no parent should ever have to face. She then channels it into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge that makes most legendary Pokémon in the anime look like wusses.
  • Macekre: The English dub shown on Cartoon Network was an edited version done without The Pokémon Company's knowlege. Among other things, the editing in the dub cut out plot-relevant bits, resulting in two noticeable plot holes. The Pokémon Company's dub is generally considered better, and keeps the plot and spirit of the original version.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Grings Kodai forces Zoroark to allow him to obtain the Time Ripple by electrocuting her child right in front of her. Then Kodai has his Pokémon try to kill Zoroark, since he's got Zorua in the palm of his hand, and Zoroark is defenseless so long as he does. And he manages to one up himself by trying to murder Zorua and Zoroark in cold blood when they trick him, despite the fact that he could've ignored them to absorb the Time Ripple or flee. And he actually succeeded in killing Zoroark - though Celebi saved her, it doesn't change the fact that Kodai committed, thus far, the only successful cold-blooded and on-screen murder of a Pokémon in the series. All other times were accidental or just a side effect of what the villain was doing, but Kodai killed Zoroark intentionally, and in front of the child she was in the middle of being reunited with, out of pure spite.
  • Narm: Zorua's "Meema" word. Also, there is his howling for her in the middle of the film, which sounds more like a 30-year-old trying to seduce a sailor at a bar than a young fox crying out for his mother.
  • Narm Charm: Considering that this is Pokémon, it can actually be quite endearing for some.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Zoroark, once again. However, she might have been intended to be scary at a low level.
    • Kodai, too; he shocks people, traps them in boxes, and throws them at hard objects, and he doesn't care who he does it to.
    • Kodai's electrocutions; unlike the normal Harmless Electrocution, you see the victim(s) convulsing in pain and screaming in agony. While both are scary, Zorua's is far worse, as the poor thing is just a baby suffering like that, making it rather... hard to watch.
    • When Zorua is running through a park, he's surrounded by a number of angry Pokémon such as Nuzleaf and Sunflora and when Pikachu and Piplup show up, Zorua tells them "Out of my way, I'm going to go find my Meema! Rrrrr!" The Pokémon responds by taking some more steps forward as that's why they're mad at him. Then, there's a lovely shot of the park Pokémon all getting mad and they most likely would have seriously hurt Zorua, Pikachu, and Piplup, had Celebi not intervened.
  • Surprisingly Improved Sequel: A good number of people consider it to be the best of the Diamond and Pearl films, since it's allowed to stand on its own without having to awkwardly tie into one or two prior films.
  • Tear Jerker: Zoroark's Disney Death, as well as the events that lead up to it.
    • Dub induced one:
    • When Zoroark is confronting the Legendary Beasts and senses Zorua getting hurt. While not played up, the simple fact is she's a mother who knows her beloved son is on the other side of town, being hurt, and thanks to the trio, there's nothing she can do about it. It shows in the fight, as she's trying her hardest to get enough distance to make it to Zorua, but just can't.
    • The brief look on her face when she and Zorua are stumbling towards one another. Up until that moment, Zoroark has never shown anything but pure, ferocious resolve — but for an instant, she looks close to tears.
    • Seeing Celebi, possibly one of the kindest/most benevolent Pokémon, being abused and literally choked by Kodai is quite upsetting. Thankfully it ends up okay, but Brock even had to patch the poor thing up!
  • The Woobie: Zorua, a very young Pokémon who's been kidnapped along with his mother and gets separated from her as part of Kodai's Evil Plan. Especially at the climax, when he finally reunites with her but Kodai ruins the moment by having Shuppet fire a Shadow Ball at him, forcing Zoroark to take the bullet.

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