Ash Ketchum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009) |
| Ash Ketchum | |
|---|---|
 Ash Ketchum as seen in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl series (Season 10+) |
|
| Japanese name | Satoshi |
| Voice actor(s) (English) | Veronica Taylor (Seasons 1–8)[1] Sarah Natochenny (Season 9–present) Jamie Peacock (The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon first dub)[2] |
| Voice actor(s) (Japanese) | Rica Matsumoto[3] |
| First appearances | |
| Game | Pokémon Puzzle League |
| Anime episode | Pokémon, I Choose You! |
| In-Universe Information | |
| Occupation | Roaming Pokémon trainer |
Ash Ketchum (Japanese: Satoshi (サトシ Satoshi)) is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists from the Pokémon anime. His dream is to become the greatest Pokémon Master in the world. Ash’s voice actress in the English dubs are Veronica Taylor (4Kids Entertainment) and Sarah Natochenny (Pokémon USA) and in Japanese he is voiced by Rica Matsumoto. There are also incarnations of him in a plethora of manga adaptations, of which include The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pocket Monsters Zensho, and Ash & Pikachu. He is loosely based on Red, the protagonist of the games Pokémon Red and Blue. The family name "Ketchum" is a pun on the 4Kids series' franchise's former tagline and slogan, "Gotta catch 'em all"!
Contents |
[edit] Concept and creation
Ash's is based on the main character known as Red in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, and FireRed and LeafGreen. "Ash" is one of the optional names for him in the first three games, and is a westernization of "Satoshi", taken from famous creator of Pokémon and founder of Game Freak Satoshi Tajiri. For the Game Series, Red's character design was overseen by Ken Sugimori and Atsuko Nishida. For the anime, Ash's character design was overseen by Sayuri Ichishi (OS~AG), Yamada Toshiya (DP).[4]
[edit] Appearances
[edit] In the anime
 |
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (March 2009) |
At the start of the series, ten year old Ash is starting out as a beginner Pokémon trainer in Pallet Town, his hometown. After receiving Pikachu as a starter Pokémon from Professor Oak, Ash left Pallet Town to start his journey. Since his departure, Ash has traveled the World of Pokémon, competed in many challenges, and caught newer Pokémon.
At the beginning of his journey Ash saw a mysterious flying Pokémon, which was later identified as Ho-Oh. It was believed in ancient times that Ho-Oh would appear only to a human that truly cared for his or her Pokémon, and that they would be promised eternal happiness. Ho-Oh has appeared for Ash twice more; when Ho-Oh flew towards Hoenn which gave Ash inspiration to journey there, and appeared again after Ash lost to Brandon. Ho-Oh has appeared to Ash a total of three times.
Ash has considerably improved his abilities as a trainer over the course of the series. However, his earnestness and determination remain the same. During the first season of the series, Ash trained to catch more Pokémon than his childhood rival, Gary Oak, although Gary was always shown to be the stronger trainer. He soon began to focus more on each of his Pokémon's abilities. He also impressed many trainers by winning battles in which his Pokémon has a type disadvantage. At the Johto League Silver Conference, Ash finally won a battle against Gary.
Ash's primary nemesis is a group of antagonists named Team Rocket. Ever since the second episode, "Pokémon Emergency!", two Team Rocket operatives named Jessie and James, along with a talking Meowth, have tried to steal his first Pokémon, Pikachu as well as many others, but have always failed. Despite their constant antagonism, they occasionally put their differences aside and work together against a common adversary, such as in Pokémon: The Movie 2000, where they aid Ash in retrieving the three treasures in order to save the world.
Ash's mother is Deliah Ketchum (Hanako in the Japanese version). She is a caring and thoughtful woman, though occasionally oblivious as her son, and in the English version of the anime often pesters him to change his underwear every day, a gag throughout the early episodes of the first few series.
The identity of his father has remained unknown. One reference to him exists in the anime. During a phone conversation between Ash and his mother in the second episode, she states to her amazement that he got from Pallet Town to Viridian City in one day. "It took your father four days to get there when he started Pokémon training", she says, "He'll be so proud!". Using the present tense as she is suggests he is still known to Ash, so this puts several characters, including Giovanni, out of the running for his father. A line from the play, Pokémon Live!, suggests that when Deliah was a teenager, she had a relationship with Giovanni, but this is not considered canon. That same canon states someone else is Ash's father.
He currently travels with Dawn and Brock in Sinnoh. He is working towards earning his last badge in Sinnoh--the Beacon Badge. After that, and the Sinnoh Pokemon league, it is predicted that he will compete in the Sinnoh Battle Frontier.
[edit] In the video games
The only video game that Ash has truly appeared in to date is Pokémon Puzzle League, where he tries to become a Pokémon Puzzle Master. While Ash is loosely based on Red, the protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue, the protagonist in Pokémon Yellow is based on him. Furthermore, in Pokémon Gold and Silver, Red acts a sort of "final boss" of the game, residing in Mount Silver. He carries a team comprising of Pikachu and the final evolutions of Pokémon that the player can catch without random battles in the original games (Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are starter pokémon, and Eevee and Snorlax can be obtained through special events in the main story). As a nod to how powerful Ash's Pikachu is, Red's Pikachu is at level 81. Red's Pikachu was the strongest Pokémon, level-wise, to have appeared in any Pokémon handheld game before Pokémon Platinum: in Platinum, the protagonist can fight their rival's Pokémon, whose starter is level 85.
[edit] In the manga
The portrayals of Ash in the manga The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Pocket Monster Zensho, and Ash & Pikachu, are very similar to the one in the anime. There are key differences in the manga, though. In The Electric Tale of Pikachu, it is based on Ash's journey up until the end of the Orange Islands travel. Ash is usually seen traveling by himself during the course of this manga although he is joined by Misty and Brock in Indigo sometimes. Misty is the only one to join Ash in the Orange Islands. At the end of the series, Ash travels with Gary Oak. Ash has other Pokémon in addition to the some of the ones above including Fearow and Oddish. The Ash & Pikachu manga is similar, although it has the episodes from the anime like "The Fortune Hunters" and "A Goldenrod Opportunity" combined, but with a couple of changes. In Pocket Monsters Zensho, Satoshi (as Ash is known in Japanese) starts with Charmander instead of Pikachu. The manga ends at the Indigo Plateau, where Satoshi defeats the Elite Four.
[edit] Cultural impact
In the series Kids Next Door of Cartoon Network, there was a reference to Ash in Operation: ELECTIONS. During the elections for president of 4th year, in the class room right after the judge declared numbah one guilty, there is a child who is dressed similarly to Ash in the crowd of kids.
Also, in Operation: ARCHIVE, While Numbuh One is giving his report, he speaks of the kids attempting to destroy coffee . When the KND leader unveils the neon lights showcasing the plan, it shows various kids clapping. One of the kids is wearing the same clothes as Ash [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Pokémon IMDb. URL accessed August 15, 2006
- ^ "The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon" TV.com. URL accessed August 15, 2006
- ^ Poketto monsutâ IMDb. URL accessed August 15, 2006
- ^ "Pokeani Data". http://pokeani.com/episodefolda/anime-pokemonag.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ http://www.trsrockin.com/images/KNDPokemonParody.PNG Scene episode concerning Operation: ELECTIONS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
