N was the only “villain” in Pokémon history who was actually right.
N was the only “villain” in Pokémon history who was actually right.
by Aggravating-Cap-6686
10 Comments
Aggravating-Cap-6686
I can’t see the body of my post but I’ll comment it here
I just finished replaying Black/White and I can’t stop thinking about N’s philosophy. We’re taught he’s the antagonist, but if you actually listen to him, his goal of liberating Pokémon makes total sense. We’re literally trapping sentient creatures in tiny balls and forcing them to fight for sport. N is the only character who sees the inherent cruelty in the system. Ghetsis was the villain, but N’s core message was 100% justified. Does anyone else feel like we were on the wrong side of the fight?
ZA-02
N had a legitimate insight — where he went wrong was believing it to be absolutely true in all cases. He’d mostly met Pokemon who were mistreated by humans, so he didn’t understand that most Pokemon stuck beside Trainers by choice and had positive relationships with them. That made him pursue an extreme solution — separating all Pokemon from their Trainers forever, no matter how much harm it caused to both sides — instead of looking for a more reasonable answer.
Part of the point of BW is that neither side of Zekrom and Reshiram’s conflict was the “right” one. Ideas had to mix and create shades of grey.
It’s established in a few different spots that Pokemon want to maintain contact with humanity and continue their existing relationships. Drayden explains in BW that an unhappy Pokemon would simply leave its Trainer — though we can assume the obvious exception of Pokemon thieves and criminals like the various villanous team members. Gen IV also introduced the idea that Pokemon appear from tall grass to meet or test humans, rather than hurt them (though obviously encounters can still be dangerous for the unprepared).
R_110
Random but it’s always bugged me that canonically N is always depicted with Reshiram. Reshiram sided with the brother who valued truth, whilst Zekrom sided with the brother who valued ideals.
I’d say from Ns beliefs that he was more of an ideals man and the player character in BW was looking for the truth. So N and Zekrom feels more of a match.
HighSpeedDoggo
N is based
Hyper_Drud
Not really. As we’ve read he’s only been exposed to abused Pokemon during his childhood, so his perspective is skewed. There was a memory you could watch in BW2 where he questioned to himself why the Pokémon he just released had a sad expression. His heart was in the right place, his execution was terribly extreme.
Skeppio
Absolutely not. N’s entire dogma is propaganda he was fed by Ghetsis, along with Ghetsis intentionally only exposing N to Pokemon that “proved” Ghetsis right. When his entire mindset is the product of propaganda and manipulation, when even N himself questions his own motives repeatedly and ultimately drops them, it’s pretty clear he was in the wrong.
overDere
Team Magma is right there’s too much water
Yoobertje
IGN would argue Team Magma’s Maxie was also right… 7.8
MrRaven95
He was manipulated by Ghetsis into thinking that way by only being allowed to interact with Pokémon who were abused or abandoned by their trainers. If you were only allowed to meet dogs that were abused and abandoned from a young age you’d think all humans are just monsters to all dogs, but that’s far from the truth.
N was not in the right, and even starts to realize that when he travels around Unova during B/W and sees Pokemon happy to be with their trainers. That’s why when he becomes champion he holds off on giving the command for everyone to release their Pokémon and waits for you to fight him. Because he wants to see how his views that he’s begun to doubt hold up against you, one who loves their Pokémon.
fireuser1205
Ash alone proves his point and debunks him.
He proves it because when Ash releases his mons he always does it because Ash believes that Pokémon would be better off without him. The strongest example by far being buterfree and poipole.
And then Pikachu’s goodbye and Charizard come in and tell him “That is bullshit blazing”
10 Comments
I can’t see the body of my post but I’ll comment it here
I just finished replaying Black/White and I can’t stop thinking about N’s philosophy. We’re taught he’s the antagonist, but if you actually listen to him, his goal of liberating Pokémon makes total sense. We’re literally trapping sentient creatures in tiny balls and forcing them to fight for sport. N is the only character who sees the inherent cruelty in the system. Ghetsis was the villain, but N’s core message was 100% justified. Does anyone else feel like we were on the wrong side of the fight?
N had a legitimate insight — where he went wrong was believing it to be absolutely true in all cases. He’d mostly met Pokemon who were mistreated by humans, so he didn’t understand that most Pokemon stuck beside Trainers by choice and had positive relationships with them. That made him pursue an extreme solution — separating all Pokemon from their Trainers forever, no matter how much harm it caused to both sides — instead of looking for a more reasonable answer.
Part of the point of BW is that neither side of Zekrom and Reshiram’s conflict was the “right” one. Ideas had to mix and create shades of grey.
It’s established in a few different spots that Pokemon want to maintain contact with humanity and continue their existing relationships. Drayden explains in BW that an unhappy Pokemon would simply leave its Trainer — though we can assume the obvious exception of Pokemon thieves and criminals like the various villanous team members. Gen IV also introduced the idea that Pokemon appear from tall grass to meet or test humans, rather than hurt them (though obviously encounters can still be dangerous for the unprepared).
Random but it’s always bugged me that canonically N is always depicted with Reshiram. Reshiram sided with the brother who valued truth, whilst Zekrom sided with the brother who valued ideals.
I’d say from Ns beliefs that he was more of an ideals man and the player character in BW was looking for the truth. So N and Zekrom feels more of a match.
N is based
Not really. As we’ve read he’s only been exposed to abused Pokemon during his childhood, so his perspective is skewed. There was a memory you could watch in BW2 where he questioned to himself why the Pokémon he just released had a sad expression. His heart was in the right place, his execution was terribly extreme.
Absolutely not. N’s entire dogma is propaganda he was fed by Ghetsis, along with Ghetsis intentionally only exposing N to Pokemon that “proved” Ghetsis right. When his entire mindset is the product of propaganda and manipulation, when even N himself questions his own motives repeatedly and ultimately drops them, it’s pretty clear he was in the wrong.
Team Magma is right there’s too much water
IGN would argue Team Magma’s Maxie was also right… 7.8
He was manipulated by Ghetsis into thinking that way by only being allowed to interact with Pokémon who were abused or abandoned by their trainers. If you were only allowed to meet dogs that were abused and abandoned from a young age you’d think all humans are just monsters to all dogs, but that’s far from the truth.
N was not in the right, and even starts to realize that when he travels around Unova during B/W and sees Pokemon happy to be with their trainers. That’s why when he becomes champion he holds off on giving the command for everyone to release their Pokémon and waits for you to fight him. Because he wants to see how his views that he’s begun to doubt hold up against you, one who loves their Pokémon.
Ash alone proves his point and debunks him.
He proves it because when Ash releases his mons he always does it because Ash believes that Pokémon would be better off without him. The strongest example by far being buterfree and poipole.
And then Pikachu’s goodbye and Charizard come in and tell him “That is bullshit blazing”