Rank the Bad Guys

[Mr.RMA]

So, I'm pretty sure this hasn't been discussed yet, and, y'know, it totally should be, 'cause what's a Pokemon game without a bunch of misguided terrorists, am I right?

Anyways, the crime syndicates in Pokemon have been an integral part of the franchise from the very beginning. They've all had their varying motives, bosses and uniforms, but which ones left the greatest impact on you? For whatever reason, this is the place to rank 'em from worst to best!

• Seventh - Team Plasma (Second Incarnation)

The original Team Plasma from Gen V had a lot going for it, being a team that saw themselves as radical liberators instead of legitimate criminals. Once N was out of the picture however, they ended up losing a lot of their intrigue. They became one-dimensional bad guys plotting to take over the Unova region, though their motives for doing so are completely lacking. They just seem to be doing it for the lulz. Why would anyone think following a maniac like Ghetsis would be a good idea? And for that matter, Colress is a pretty terrible leader too, considering how quickly he changes sides without a tinge of remorse. He's basically shouting "I'M A GRAY AREA CHARACTER! AREN'T I MYSTERIOUS?" the entire game. So, yeah, Plasma 1 was great, Plasma 2... not so much​

• Sixth - Team Flare

Another gang intent on taking over the world, though their plans are at least a little more fascinating than Plasma 2's. The fact that these guys are planning to recreate the world via massive genocide definitely gives them points for ambition, but, their reasoning for creating a better world is... pretty shallow at best. They just seem to have standards they want met, and apparently if you don't meet those standards, meh, guess you're gonna die or something. Doesn't help that their plan ends up blowing up right in their faces in the process. Also, if they were attempting to keep their leader's identity a secret, they most definitely failed in that regard. I mean, good lord, it's the most obvious thing from the get-go. I'm give them another little shout-out for having one of their members in the Elite Four, but, you'd think they'd have better use for her than just a newsgirl...​

• Fifth - Team Galactic

Yet another gang of would-be world conquerors, but they tried doing it before Flare did, so, they've got that going for them. Also, their goals don't just stick to taking over the world, no no, they intend to rewrite the entire goddamned universe. Of course, that doesn't pan out so well, but, it's pretty hardcore ambition there. Cyrus is also a scary, scary dude, definitely one of the more intimidating leaders in my opinion, though considering how his subordinates look mostly like rejected circus clowns without their makeup, I guess that just helps up his creepy factor by contrast.​

• Fourth - Team Plasma (First Incarnation)

And here we have the team that actually made some people question over whether they were truly the bad guys or not... at least for part of the game. The PETA of the Pokemon World, Team Plasma brought up the long time question over the humaneness of capturing wild creatures and forcing them to fight for you, whilst being complete hypocrites and using the very same Pokemon to fight for their cause. Their hearts were apparently in the right place for the most part though, at least, when it came to their leader N, who was really just misguided by the true puppet master into thinking all humans are cruel and all captured Pokemon are hapless victims. N's one of the few boss characters with legitimate, well... character, and whether you like the character given to him or not, you've gotta at least respect the efforts Game Freak made into introducing a bad guy who didn't just want all the moneys and the Pokemans.​

• Third and Second - Team Magma and Team Aqua

These remakes have totally pushed Gen III's bad guys up on my respect chart as of late, and a big chunk of that comes from the fact that suddenly these two syndicates aren't just the same baddies but with Blue instead of Red and vice-versa. Team Magma has become something of a humanist cult, desiring to expand the land in order to create more thriving societies for people, whilst by contrast, Team Aqua has turned into a more environmentalist group, intending on, not simply expanding the seas for the hell of it, but doing so in order to clean up the pollution of the world and start it off anew, one that would be a better place for Pokemon. Both of them are too blinded by their ambitions to realize the repercussions of their actions, and eventually come to realize that both humanity and Pokemon are equally important to their world, and should be treated as such. That sort of thematic clashing between land and sea becomes a lot more intriguing in my opinion when the concepts of humanity and nature are also thrown into the mix. Personally I rank Aqua a bit higher for the sake of my Water bias (and also pirates are cool), but Magma is also real cool too, and I have to admit their hoodies are pretty badass.​

• First - Team Rocket

Wait wait wait, hear me out! I swear, this won't sound as terribly stupid as you might think! Okay, it might, but allow me to at least make my case! Yes, I've got the Rockets up on the top of this list, aside from the fact that they're likely the least ambitious of all the teams, steal Pokemon and terrorize society strictly for money, and have a boss whose Pokemon are easier to defeat than the common bug catcher, I get it, but here's the thing, they're the only bad guys who managed to actually win... at least for a time. You see, Giovanni managed to take over pretty much the entire Kanto region without a hitch, hold the entirety of Saffron city under siege, amount a massive percentage of Celadon city's economic gain through their game corner, and have control over the most notable gym in the region in Viridian City, without any police resistance, and all quite likely before your character even gets their first Pokemon. They pretty much rule the entire region without anyone knowing it, something that none of the other syndicates manage to pull off. On top of that, after you defeat them in Kanto, they simply pick up the pieces and stroll over to Johto in order to dominate that region instead! They nearly reach that point too before you manage to step in, and without their initial leader to boot. Sure, their goals are smaller than the others', but they knew their limits, and it didn't take a legendary Pokemon's interference for them to be brought down, you had to do it on your own. If Red/Leaf and Ethan/Lyra/Kris hadn't become trainers when they did, it's a good bet that Kanto and Johto would both have remained under Rocket control, under everyone's noses.
Or maybe I'm just a nostalgia-blind asshat who's trying to defend a fictional gang... yeah, that's probably it.​

Anyways, that's my list, I'd definitely like to see what you guys think when it comes to Pokemon's baddies. Who are your favorite and least favorite teams?

 

[AzureEdge]

5. Team Plasma (First and Second Incarnation)- I never really liked Ghetsis, or Colress at all. The clothes designs were disgusting, and that probably had something doing with me putting it dead last.
4. Team Flare- Eh, Lysandre could have done better in protecting his identity, and I'm really surprised on how the Kalos region, is too dumb to put two and two together. Lysandre goes to a RED CAFE, His hair is RED, Etc, etc. The designs were way better than plasma, though.
3. Team Rocket- Ah~, the most ordinary thug group, which makes Team Rocket stand out from the rest. To conquer 2 regions at once, is a feat, but being the realists they are, they never needed a legendary. And, I also liked that Giovanni was a gym leader.
2.Team Galactic- The most "Spacey" of them all has to be this team. To have their headquarters right in the open is one thing, but still I liked the admins. Also, you never meet Cyrus again after spear pillar, or the distortion world.
1. Team Magma and Aqua- I loved these buffoons. One's crazy about land, and another one water. Too much of one thing is bad, but these two didn't really realize it till the end.The clothing designs were spectacular, and redone in the remake.
Well, that's mine.

 

[Shiny Motley]

Unranked - Team Flare, purely because I never got to face them at all and thus have no idea what they're like or what their plot is like.

6 - Team Galactic. They never stood out to me for any reason, though then again the last time I played any of the Gen IV game was seven years ago, so it's also likely I just don't remember much about them. Nonetheless, they weren't memorable for me outside of their admins' funky hairdos.
5 - Team Plasma, second incarnation. Just, I don't understand why they're even a thing. I don't remember where in the plot they ever said why or how they revived, and it was just silly. Their uniforms were pretty neat, though, I'll give them that.
4 - Team Plasma, first incarnation - Deserves its own spot because their whole reason for existing is what made me actually like them. Their presence and therefore the plot of BW made quite a bit of sense and really got me thinking. N as their leader (king, whatever) was pretty neat as well~ Only thing that really didn't bring this team higher up in the rankings, though, were their terrible outfits. :/
3 - Team Rocket. I mean, Giovanni's cool, their outfits are cool, and they did some cool stuff around Kanto. Having never played the Johto games I therefore have NO IDEA what they were like there, but from my limited knowledge of Kanto, I really liked all their puzzly stuff in Silph Co. and whatnot.
2 - Team Magma. Team nerds. I really fucking love their ORAS incarnation even moreso than their original RSE counterparts. Courtney is adorable and Tabitha is silly, and Maxie... oh dear Maxie. He tries to be serious, only to have extremely hilarious moments (glasses going askew anyone?). They're just a bunch of dorks and I love them for it. Plus they have some great hoodies, and I'd love to have a hoodie myself~
1 - Team Aqua. Team bara~ And though I'd likely be part of Team Magma myself, Team Aqua is just so FUN and I it's amazing~ Archie seems like a really fun boss to be around, and Matt's just... well, he's matt. He's buff. He's great. Shelly's redesign is gorgeous and she seems like a really cool big sister figure as well~