Giovanni
This is a page dedicated to the greatest character of all time: Giovanni pokemon.
Who is Giovanni?
Giovanni is the charmismatic leader of Team Rocket, a criminal organisation similar to the real world mafia and yakuza. Team Rocket is 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."
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Giovanni is an ambitious and calculating man who leaves little room for outward sentimentality in his life. He claims to see pokemon as nothing more than tools for his own selfish gain. Despite this, he has been known to take good care of his team, especially his Persian with whom he shares a special bond. In pokespe, he is from Viridian Forest and therefore holds a stronger connection to his Beedrill. He runs Team Rocket like a well oiled machine, to the point that the organisation falls apart without his direction.
<-- 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.
The simplicity of his character, at least on a surface level, also allows for plenty of speculation.
We don't know much about Giovanni, a handy excuse to exercise one's creativity.
Why is he such a hypocrite?
Why is he so obsessed with strengh to the point that it rubs off on his son?
How did he come to create or inherit Team Rocket?
What was his upbringing like?
Is he as old as he looks, or is it just his hairline?
This and more are questions that come to mind when pondering this enigmatic man.
In the end, I don't really mind that canon likely won't reveal anything more about him.
Giovanni's already a character that can be molded into so many different people, such that no two people likely have the same view on him.
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.
Contrary to what some believe, I don't think that pokespe! Gio is ever made out to be a heroic character.
He's more of a man intelligent enough to know that it would be impossible to rule the world if someone else were to destroy it.
Furthermore, I love how resigned he is to dying a criminal... makes me think that he doesn't think he could ever change even if he wanted to.
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.
As much as I love an unapologetically evil Giovanni, I'm also a massive sucker for redemtion arcs.
Origins! Gio is the perfect candidate for one because Team Rocket doesn't stray from their actions in the first games, which are a lot less destructive than in other iterations.
Also we got another kid Gio design which I love; poor kid was bald from the start.
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.
If Lusamine of all people can be redeemed, why can't poor Giovanni be morally grey?
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 Masters).
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 due to work
- 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
- He's Japanese on his mother's side and Italian on his father's side. His father passed away before he could share his culture with Giovanni, so he considers himself only Japanese.
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