13. Giovanni
As the final list in this trilogy, I knew I had to lead off with the OG Team Rocket gangster. Essentially as important to the series as Bowser to Mario, Ganon to Zelda and countless others; this incarnation has never disbanded his villain faction as his game counterpart did. He's been featured in numerous other games since Kanto, and continues to make appearances to this day as of Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee; as well as turning several other entries on this list into members of "Team Rainbow Rocket", a sort of "Legion of Doom" in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
12. Maxie and Archie (Tie)
One of the things I enjoyed most about Hoenn was the villains, who had threats that aimed much higher than just thievery. The respective heads of Team Magma and Aqua, Maxie and Archie intended to expand Earth's landmass or its ocean; not caring about the repercussions that either would have on the entire globe if they accomplished their goals. This was further compounded by the remakes and their appearances as part of Team Rainbow Rocket in the Ultra Sun/Moon postgame; since much has changed about the world since the release of the original games. While not the most ambitious ones in hindsight, just the idea that they would be capable of such chaos isn't much of a stretch... anymore.
11. Argus and Millis Steel (Tie)
While I may not have as big a problem with quote-on-quote "twist villains" as some other people do, I usually don't mind if the characters themselves have interesting personalities or visually-unique designs. Argus Steel and his daughter Millis, thankfully do fit that bill. As secondary villains of the Diancie movie, they definitely had some good compliments to the next entries on this list from the same movie.
10. Riot and Merilyn (Tie)
As Kalos blended a lot of concepts seen in European fantasy along with the usual Japanese style, it's only natural that the three starters would bear similarities to three of the most common character types in role-playing. Chesnaught's line represents the knight or warrior, Delphox's line represents the mage, and Greninja's represents the thief. Naturally, the latter two Pokémon and personae are taken up by the two main villains of the Diancie movie: Riot and Merilyn. Though I already talked at length how much I enjoyed them before in my full recap of the movie, I knew I would have to include them in this final list given how much they stood out at me.
9. Xerosic
While Team Flare as a whole may not be my favorite villain faction, their chief scientist Xerosic always stood out no matter what the version. Whether it's the games, the main anime, Generations or the various manga adaptations; he's a man who lacks the redeeming qualities that someone like Colress might have, and depending on the version; his character is often changed for variety. For example: in the postgame of X and Y, he's investigated by Looker and finds redemption with the help of a young girl named Emma. Neither of these happen in the anime: instead, the tries to brainwash Clemont as retribution for stopping his plans, but is stopped by Ash-Greninja and arrested by Officer Jenny. I will address how adaptations can differentiate a villain more on down this list, but it's kind of like how Thanos in the comics is a remorseless tyrant and murderer; and the movies gave him more understandable motivations for wanting to wipe out half the life in the universe.
8. Faba
Even though a lot of this has to do with personal preference, I felt the Aether Foundation handled the "corrupt corporation" angle better than Team Flare; handling a similar idea with better execution. Faba is the perfect example of that: not only does he care more for his own warped vision of scientific progress than any of the foundation's intended goals, he was the linchpin of Type:Null being driven into hiding; and has no qualms about harming children that are no older than the player characters, or even Lillie or Gladion depending on the adaptation. Whether it's the stunt he pulled in the anime (I have something prepared, you should see it as part of my final Pokémon episode recaps) or advocating for Team Rainbow Rocket in the games, it's little wonder why the other heads of the foundation effectively demoted him to square one, getting their coffee or cleaning their bathrooms.
7. Unbound Hoopa
Since I already opened the door to including villainous Pokémon in the second list, I thought I would include Unbound Hoopa just for the sake of it. In my headcanon, I saw many of the legendary/mythical Pokémon of Generation VI as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Yveltal would be war/death, Xerneas would be pestilence, Volcanion would be fear and Unbound Hoopa would be famine. I don't consider the Clash of Ages to be as bad as many others say, and this donut-guzzling genie is a monster that's as powerful as it is funny. Also kind of amusing the initial distribution was with a McDonald's tie-in. Still got nothing on that Ryuk cosplayer.
6. Charon
Since I began drafting this list, I was wondering which individual member of Team Galactic's command that I would include. However, as Platinum was the game that got me back into the series after a six-year break as a teenager; I knew that I had to give this spot to Charon. Even as a child, his journals reveal that he was every bit as cold and calculating as he is when you meet him in the story. At the very least, Cyrus had his warped ideas of perfection stem from his upbringing as a child. Charon, on the other hand, willingly chose to act the way he does and never stopped. In many ways, that's even more disturbing. Whatever happens with a potential remake of Generation IV on the Switch, I hope that Charon can be every bit as memorable as he was when he was first introduced.
5. Guzma
While I usually don't include villains that haven't been included in the anime in some way yet, in this case I will make an exception for Guzma; since he stood out at me compared to villains of the past games. His backstory and formation of the villain faction of Team Skull stems from being abused by his father as a child, and once he got big enough to fight back; he rejected the norms of the Island Challenge and became a violent criminal. The Sun and Moon saga of the manga took it even further, and regardless of what the anime decides to do with him or his lover Plumeria; I hope that Guzma continues to make his mark on the series as a fusion of American street thugs and the "yankee" archetype of Japanese delinquents. My headcanon version is influenced by the 1990 Shredder, the Jack Nicholson Joker and Boddicker from the original Robocop in terms of being a gleefully psychotic villain.
4. Ghetsis (Generations)
While I did enjoy how Episode N handled Ghetsis overall, I am aware that the disaster in Tohoku definitely had the character and Team Plasma significantly rewritten and the original plans ended up being indefinitely postponed. In the segment entitled "The King Returns," the incarnation is directly following how he is in the games: cruel, ambitious and a bold leader to boot. I don't know about the whole "strawman" argument that someone raised toward me a while ago, I think the idea was more like "knight Templar" as a way for the creators to get back at the criticism some groups leveled against the series. So, the way they were written was definitely intentional. Still, whether it's strawmen, knights Templar, or just an army of "keep left" signs, Ghetsis in the excellent Pokémon Generations miniseries makes just as much an impact on me as his other incarnations have.
3. Unown
While a relatively unremarkable Pokémon in the games (their only move is Hidden Power, and I usually only catch them for completion), the Unown in "Pokémon 3: The Movie" are far more impressive. Not only are they the true antagonists of the movie, they're ancient beings that can bend the fabric of reality to their will; kidnapping Professor Spencer Hale and his wife, and taking advantage of their daughter Molly to stem every conflict in the movie. Even though not everyone agrees about this, I submit that an adaptation can often do things that improve upon the source material and or stand on their own. This will definitely be true for my remaining entries on this list.
2. Lusamine
The president of the Aether Foundation, this entry will obviously contain spoilers for the games of Generation VII as well as the anime. If you do not wish to know what happens, this is your last chance to turn away.
While her initial intentions may seem good on the surface, the true nature of her character in the games is as a corrupt corporate executive and abusive parent who disowned Gladion and Lillie for not wanting to follow her example. Even though Lysandre was arguably the best-handled element of Team Flare, Lusamine took the ideas employed with his character and refined them. No matter what version of her bonds with Nihilego (Again, I have something ready to post as one of my last Sun and Moon recaps before I post my full look at The Power of Us).
1. N Harmonia
Of all the antagonists that I have seen in my Pokémon fandom, this is the one that still comes out as my favorite after nearly seven years since I first encountered him. Factoring in the games, manga and his appearance in the Episode N arc, his character is the most morally-ambiguous rival I have come across. As the last games to be released on the original DS before it made way for the 3DS, his role in Generation V was the perfect way for the journey in Unova to unfold; and while Lord Ghetsis may be cruel in the way he manipluated him, I am quite pleased how he was painted as a sympathetic villain. He was definitely the perfect character to take the top spot on my third and final list of my favorite Pokémon villains. I am glad to have shared this with you all, and I shall get back to work on my remaining content for the rest of this month. That is all for now, farewell.
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