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Giovanni
This is a page dedicated to the greatest character of all time: Giovanni from pokemon.
Who is Giovanni?
Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket, Pokemon's first evil team. Team Rocket is a criminal organisation dedicated to the kidnapping and sale of pokemon for profit, among other things which differ depending on the canon. Their motto explains their goals pretty well:
"Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket."As the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni obviously oversees its operations until he either disbands the organisation for good (rby) or exiles himself to return another day (frlg/hgss). Other than being the leader of Team Rocket, he was also the Gym Leader of Viridian City until his defeat at the hands of Red/Leaf. He gifts the player the Earth Badge and a TM (Fissure-gen 1, Earthquake-gens 3/7) after losing. In the Pokemon Adventures manga (Pokespe for short), he instead goes into hiding on two occasions, eventually re-taking control of Team Rocket both times. He also has the greater goal of world domination, much like his anime counterpart, and is responsible for the creation of Mewtwo. However, he was also behind Deoxy's creation, and by extentsion the meteor that threatened to destroy Hoenn in the Delta Episode of ORAS.
His birthday is on the first of August, he is 175cm tall (according to his scale world figure) and he has type O blood. He has a biological son named Silver and apparently looked after a young Corbeau for a bit on a trip to Kalos.
His appearance varies depending on the adaptation, but he's generally depicted as a middle-aged man with short dark hair, a widow's peak, and an affinity for suits and turtlenecks. He's typically portrayed as intelligent and intimidating, and he's always a bad guy, though the extent of his evilness is also quite inconsistent. I made a diagram to show how bad (in my opinion) the Giovannis that I know about are:
Why Giovanni?
To be honest, I'm not fully sure. He doesn't have much in the way of character, at least in the games, and what little characterisation he does get is insanely inconsistent between his appearances. In a way he's sort of like a different character in every appearance, just with the same general appearance. Despite that, he's a pretty grounded character (no pun intended), and has a simple charm to him, both in design and motivation. In a world full of colourful characters, simplicity stands out. That's why so many people resonated with Larry. It may also be a reason why I grew to adore Giovanni and gens 1 and 2 in general. He genuinely looks like a typical boomer or gen-x (or extremely unfortunate millenial) office worker I'd see on the street, with his not-overly-formal suit and receding harline, which he bravely does not attempt to hide.
Which Giovanni is your (least) favourite?
Character-wise, my favourite is Pokespe! Giovanni. He actally has a personality and more than three lines at a time so that's an instant win. His rivalry with Red is very interesting, particularly how he acknowledges and respects him as a Champion. His and Silver's story is a refreshingly different take on their relationship, and I love how although he's a clearly bad person, he's given small moments that endear the reader to him. I also like Origins! Giovanni. Since it was a mini-series meant to show off mega evolution, I cut it a lot of slack in terms of pacing. It treated Giovanni quite well with the 20 minutes it had. Aesthetics-wise, my favourites are Anime! Giovanni before he got the dictator fit in B&W and LGPE! Giovanni. He looks much better with a bit of a tan I think.
My LEAST favourite Giovanni has got to be HGSS! Giovanni. The Celebi event followed up on FRLG's changing of Giovanni's motivation, which was now world domination. It also ruined his whole thing about quitting the Mafia/Yakuza to study Pokemon, which would have been pretty cool to see. Regardless, that doesn't matter because HGSS Giovanni doesn't exist; he's a mass-hallucination imposed on us by the government to make us all hate Giovanni :). Honourable mention goes to RR!Giovanni, not cause he's particularly terrible, but because everyone seems to forget he's an alternate universe version of Gio and not the guy we met in the original and remake timelines (looking at you Pokemas).
Headcanons
I have way too many ideas about Giovanni, so hopefully these aren't too out of character.
- He had Silver with someone who wasn't affiliated with Team Rocket. It's a bit annoying when people treat the theory of Ariana being Silver's mother as fact when there's no actual evidence pointing to this
- He's very charismatic and sociable, but has very few people he trusts, and even fewer he would call a friend
- During his League days, he was closest with Koga, Sabrina and Surge (thank you pokespe for grouping them together)
- He was much more short-tempered in his youth, but has grown to better manage his emotions with time. Silver inherited his temperament
- Nanu was his childhood best friend. They aren't in contact anymore but idk maybe Giovanni runs into him again on a trip to Alola
- Anime! Giovanni was born just to inherit Team Rocket from his mum. His mum wasn't explicitly abusive or cruel by any means, moreso indifferent to him outside of his role in the organisation. He seems to have a pretty strange/messed up view of his mother considering the way he talks about her in the audio drama
- He enjoys spending time in Viridian Forest when he needs to de-stress
- As a twin myself, I like how Pokemon Pocket Monsters gave him one. I'd like to think he has a twin brother in every continuity
- He knows a lot about geology to improve his strategy as a ground-type specialist and has done fieldwork at some point in his life
- He was caught in a cave-in once when he was less-experienced, hitting his head pretty badly. Out of a sense of youthful pride, he didn't really get proper medical care for it. This made him particularly suceptible to headaches/fatigue, which is partially why he prefers staying in his office and delegating tasks over unecessarily dealing with things himself
- He never had a particularly good immune system, leaving him vulnerable to illnesses like the one he suffers from in Pokespe. This of course has not deterred him from achieving his ambitions
- On top of being cold-hearted, he just runs cold in general. He was the kind of kid who wore a jacket in the summer and in adulthood is hardly ever seen without a suit jacket/blazer or overcoat
- He is naturally somewhat tanned, but he often becomes very pale from not being outside, usually because he's unwell or too preoccupied with his duties to go and touch grass
- He can't thrive without Team Rocket just as much as Team Rocket can't thrive without him, or at least he thinks he can't. This is the case for every Giovanni, but for different reasons. Anime! Giovanni has never experienced life without Team Rocket. Team Rocket gave Pokespe! Giovanni a purpose and a family (his grunts love him and I think its pretty clear that he doesn't hate them) after his son was taken from him. Gameverse! Giovanni got to have the strength that he seems to believe he lacks on his own. His haughty declaration of being the 'strongest trainer' masks a deeply-rooted insecurity regarding his capabilities as an individual. As Silver told him, he's a coward when he's alone and a tyrant when he's with other cowards.
- Pokespe! Giovanni does have the Viridian Forest gifts, he just hides it to keep a potential advantage against his opponents
Theories
Despite his relatively low popularity, Giovanni has been the subject of a couple of well-known fan-theories. Let's go over them.
Theory 1: Team Rocket were actually the good guys
Yeah nah. Some have made the case that he wanted the silph scope to catch a ghost type pokemon and obtain the masterball to protect Kanto from being destroyed by Mewtwo. Others like to point out the Team Rocket Trio's motto in the anime, which speaks of protecting "the world from devastation". Perhaps this points to a grand scheme on Giovanni's part where he purposefully sends his most incompetent members to destabilise other evil teams. The thing is, none of Team Rocket's actions in either the games point to there being good intentions? Like, what need was there for Team Rocket to kill Cubone's mother, break into private property, steal from others, or commit extortion? Giovanni's no Corbeau, he doesn't have any hint of good intentions in his actions. Team Rocket isn't crazy levels of evil, but it's not sunshine and rainbows either. In terms of the anime, I suppose I could see Giovanni doing that, but it wouldn't be for noble purposes. Overall, I don't see it, but it's pretty fun to see pop up every so often.
Theory 2: Giovanni offed himself after his loss in HGSS
Also nope. Supporters of this theory assert that the splashing sound heard after Giovanni leaves the cave post-loss is actually him jumping off Tohjo Falls. Again, this isn't feasible. First off, the simplest explanation for the sound would be that it was meant to be static from the radio in the cave, since Team Rocket had been broadcasting their call for help throughout the interaction. Additionally, Giovanni has a Honchkrow on his team. Sure, the player fainted it, but that doesn't mean it can't fly, only that it cannot battle anymore. Perhaps the best rebuttal for this would be his appearance in B2W2's PWT, where he's alive and well (just more brooding). To be honest, I don't like this theory at all; it's just a shock theory on par with those 'the main character is just in a coma' ones.
