Character Spotlight 2 (Cyrus + Cynthia)
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heritage
Pokémon has had a slew of interesting and not so interesting characters across its many generations. With the franchise's renewed focus on Sinnoh, two characters are likely fresh on many players' minds. Cynthia and Cyrus are arguably the faces of Generation 4, which inspired Legends: Arceus in more ways than one. Today, we meet up with a few Smogon writers and ask their opinions on these iconic characters! Take it away.
| Cynthia | Cyrus |
Pikachu315111
After three generations of guy Champions, Sinnoh threw a curveball by giving us our first gal Champion, and many would say she's still the best one. But Cynthia's identity goes beyond just being the first female Champion. Some would say that she was a mixture of Steven, a researcher of their region's past, and Wallace, a descendant of an ancient group of people. I wouldn't argue against that interpretation in the original Diamond & Pearl (and their remakes). In those games, all she had was her cool design—fashionable but mysterious, sexy but authoritative, her fair complexion and blonde hair complementing her all-black attire—and a heck of a Champion battle. However, Platinum gave her a nudge into her own identity by making her an active agent against Team Galactic... like Lance with Team Rocket in Generation II. HERE, though, is where she differs from the action hero that Lance was. Her most notable moment was the odd decision to let the player battle Cyrus in the Distortion World while she stood behind. Many jokes have been made how she could have defeated Cyrus easily, and she likely would have, but look at it from her perspective. Cyrus wasn't the only one there: so was Giratina, a Legendary Pokémon even mysterious to her, and it was angry. Everyone was in the center of its dimension, whose physics it controlled. The player had proven themselves against other trainers, so she let them take on Cyrus while she kept an eye on Giratina. This showed Cynthia to not just be a powerful trainer but also a critical thinker and one concerned for others. Both she and the player could defeat Cyrus, but if Giratina went wild, only Cynthia could defeat it.
Shadowshocker
Cynthia plays the same role Steven did in RSE: the major NPC who's a significant spectator before they're revealed to be the final boss. It's an approach that didn't really work for Cynthia in DP, simply because she wasn't as involved in the game's conflict as much as Steven was. Disappearing after the Celestic Town section only to reappear at the Sinnoh League meant she left even less of an impression on me than Steven did.
What Cynthia does leave behind is a legacy as one of the series's most enduring Champions. Blue was the obnoxious rival of the player. Lance was a Dragon specialist. Steven had a bit more diversity with Steel-types and fossils. Cynthia takes their formulaic teams and tosses them out the window, instead filling her team with one of the most varied combinations of her generation's strongest creatures. This trend has been followed by all Champions since then, even Cynthia herself, with said team made even more difficult in the Generation IV remakes. Just like the trendsetter she is, Cynthia radiates style, with a sleek, eye-catching ensemble that's fashionable and badass. With the visual appeal and her reputation as one of the toughest endgame challenges, even future generations weren't out of her reach. A holiday home in Unova, cameos in the trading card game's SM era, traveling to the Alola region to obtain her Sygna Suit Kommo-o, serving as one of the world's reigning champions in Pokémon Journeys—Cynthia might be one of the franchise's most cross-platform characters, with a legacy celebrated by Trainers worldwide.
Bandkrook
I personally really enjoy Cynthia as a character, especially in Platinum. She is perfectly integrated into the story, showing up just at the right times, aiding you in various ways. She hands you HM01 Cut so you can defeat Jupiter at the Eterna Galactic Building, and she gives you a Togepi Egg that can eventually grow into Togekiss, one of the best Pokémon you could ever ask for. She helps you get to Celestic Town by giving you the Secret Potion, and she gets hands-on with Team Galactic this time, heading up to Spear Pillar and entering the Distortion World with you. If that's not enough, she also has an amazing team that is balanced and strong, with heavy-hitters like Lucario, Togekiss, and her iconic Garchomp, and walls like Spiritomb and Milotic giving her some backbone. She's the perfect champion to me: integrated into the story without taking the spotlight away from you, and she's still able to kick your ass when it's time for you to face her.
Blitz
Cynthia... Cynthia... where do I begin? I believe Cynthia both blatantly succeeds and fails as a Champion of the region she resides in. As far as successes go, she's straightforward: being the first female Champion with one of the most powerful in-game teams of all time alongside future game appearances, where she reprises her role as a mighty challenger, makes her incredibly memorable in the eyes of many. However, outside of her battling prowess, her role as a Champion is not great. She offers very little help versus the threat of Team Galactic proper. This especially stings because the player character has already had a few encounters with them that establish them as dangerous to the region, and this is evident in her first encounter with the player in Eterna City, with her ignoring the very prominent building in the city that houses them. She still does nothing even after a Galactic Bomb was planted in the Great Marsh, and she gives the trainer a seemingly meaningless errand (that she could have done herself) to Celestic Town, where, after the player defeats the Grunt threatening to blow up the place, she finally decides that they're actually worth investigating. And... nothing changes. Lake Verity gets blown up and she is nowhere to be found, even when she was by the lakefront wondering what was going on prior. The player then storms Veilstone HQ practically by themselves, where she is STILL nowhere to be seen... 'til the climax of the game at the top of Mt. Coronet. If you played the originals, this is the end of her involvement, and she doesn't even aid in capturing the Legendary Pokémon. In Platinum, she helps you navigate the Distortion World and puts herself as a last resource in case you fail versus Cyrus or Giratina. A little too late, but nonetheless the expectation for the big Trainer of the region. So, while I do think Cynthia is definitely overrated as one of the greats, the challenge of pretty much all of her in-game battles does make up for her story uselessness and makes her stand the test of time as a memorable Champion.
Kaiju Bunny
Here's an unpopular opinion: I don't understand the major hype surrounding Cynthia c': It was a breath of fresh air to have a female Champion for once, but really that's about it. She certainly checked off all the boxes for what I'd consider a good Champion, but I feel for how cool and collected she was, her battle was surprisingly lackluster to me. This is odd because I always hear from others how difficult she was. While she was a pretty easy opponent for me in Diamond, I will say her difficulty certainly spiked in Generation 5 in her Undella Town battle. Maybe I'm being too critical here; I do think she's a good character, but I feel there could maybe be something to make her more memorable.
ausma
Cynthia is most known for her infamously egregious Champion fight and has become an icon of modern Pokémon; however, I would be remiss to toss aside the other things about Cynthia that make her so fucking cool. Her multi-faceted character, unparalleled aura, and commanding vibe that no character in the series can replicate, passion as an archeologist, and status as defender of Sinnoh, all while still feeling like a genuine ally, all add up to make for a very memorable and tangible character outside of being the final roadblock on your Sinnoh Champion journey. I think this combination of traits especially shines in Platinum, as she gets more opportunities to get involved, particularly when she confronts Cyrus and his beliefs directly as a foil to his extreme apathy. She and Cyrus are in a way parallels of one another, and I think that is something that's highlighted a lot, whether it's indirectly or directly.
Ivy
I'm sure we're all familiar with how much simping there is for Cynthia, especially with the current Generation 4 revival going on. In BDSP, she's bestowed with not two but THREE different teams of increasing difficulty, a first among the Pokémon League rematches, ultimately showing up Red's Pikachu with her level 88 Garchomp! However, Cynthia is not the first to introduce herself early as a Trainer, and she's less directly involved than Lance, sticking to lore and research for most of the game. Cynthia's relatively distinct research and battle personas are certainly an interesting facet of her character in DPPt, but it's in Legends: Arceus where this contrast really shines. Fascinatingly, she's the only character to have two ancestral tie-ins in Volo and Cogita. The latter gives Volo and the player a multitude of insights into Hisui's/Sinnoh's lore later on in the game, but she is never seen battling; instead, she befriends special Pokémon who happen upon her, learning what she can from them. Volo, on the other hand, battles the player early on and eagerly grows both his guild's mercantile prowess and his own battle abilities throughout the course of the story, carving a path in life through self-determination. Where Cogita stumbles upon mythical artifacts and is blessed to live in what would eventually become Celestic Town, Volo has had to fight and earn appreciable accomplishments in life himself; this contrast serves well in keeping these characters distinct while furthering their connection to the Cynthia we know and love. While Cogita and Volo's relationship is not known, it's certain they are a part of Cynthia's lineage: if not genetically, then in spirit!
deetah
Ah, Cynthia, our first ever female Champion and arguably the best! She is absolutely iconic with her long blonde hair and signature Garchomp, there's no doubt about that. I vividly remember little 6-year-old me wanting to be just like her when I grew up. Pokémon Diamond was my first ever Pokémon game, and it holds a very special place in my heart. (Wow, I can't believe it's been that long, holy crap!) She's both stylish and fierce: an extremely formidable opponent with a team chock-full of Sinnoh threats. I was very glad to see her make future appearances in both Generation V and Generation VII. Overall, I'd say she is an extremely memorable Champion and character that deserves all the hype surrounding her.
Magnum
I know this is a very strange way of putting it, but Cynthia almost feels like a second mom in the Sinnoh games, or an older sister perhaps. She helps you out in numerous ways throughout the games and pays attention to your growth as a trainer throughout your journey, and, similarly to Steven, is revealed to be your final obstacle at the end of it. Cynthia's team always intrigued me as well, containing a large amount of fan favorites like Garchomp, Lucario, and Weavile while being an extremely unique and powerful squad. Most importantly, she had the DOPEST Sygna Suit in Masters, and with KOMMO-O?? That's so rad, and I want that outfit in mens and in real life.
Clorodulce
Well, Cynthia for me is the type of person that makes people scared of them, but when you finally meet her, she's a kind one. I saw her for the first time in a cameo in the Unova anime, where she was helping Ash and his friends take care of Meloetta, letting them borrow her house for a while. In Sinnoh, she couldn't pick an ice cream flavor, which is so funny because Team Rocket's plan was to steal her Garchomp when she picked a flavor, but she kept deciding all day until Team Rocket suddenly fell asleep. Cynthia also has great communication with her Pokémon, especially Garchomp, and loves all the Pokémon that she meets. Why do I say that? Because, when she was in a battle against Paul, she saw that Paul was hostile to Chimchar, and that bothered her. We don't see that characteristic in the games, but at least we know that she wants to destroy Team Galactic because they planned to summon Giratina. In the games, Cynthia has always been a difficult battle, of course, because she's the last battle in the story—except in Black and White, where she appears after we finish the story. (For me, that one was so difficult because I only had one Pokémon that outleveled hers, and it was a Lilligant without Quiver Dance.) She was always at least decent, but I love that later games made her more complex, giving her Pokémon more competitive moves and natures. However, in these games, our Pokémon can survive attacks with 1 HP and Cynthia's Pokémon could fail a lot of moves for no reason, so her battles there are kind of easy. I look forward to getting Pokémon Brilliant Diamond to experience how difficult she is there, and also just to play the game. It'll be fun!
romanji
Cynthia is mainly known as the Champion that gave many children nightmares on their first playthroughs of Diamond and Pearl due to her difficult team and infamous Garchomp, which was even buffed in the more recent Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl games. Her influence has also broken past the boundaries of Sinnoh, as she's appeared in multiple games outside of it. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she appears in the Sinjoh ruins, looking for information on Arceus and the creation trio, even giving out a Level 1 Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina if the player has an Arceus in their party. Cynthia also gave many trainers in Unova's Undella Town a big surprise, since they thought they would see Caitlin at her villa. She even made it to Alola, although in a much lesser extent at the Battle Tree. In conclusion, her appearance in many different games throughout the series has definitely shown why she is so popular and so well loved.
heritage
Cyrus, Cyrus, Cyrus…where should I even begin with you? When I was a child, I thought Cyrus was the most boring villain imaginable. I still think his design is pretty lackluster aside from the very sharp eyes and cheek lines making him appear malnourished. Other than that, nothing special, and honestly his outfit doesn't help him look too intimidating. I think it's a little dopey. Sure, his design's goal isn't truly to look intimidating, since his ambitions do that already, but it looks like he's coming from a cheesy '80s space movie, and I can only suspend those thoughts for so long. Over time, however, my opinion of him has shifted ever so slightly. The feeling of him being a bit too generic still lingers, but part of me believes it's Team Galactic's fault. Every member of Team Galactic mindlessly thinks of him as some sort of god and will follow him everywhere, not truly understanding his plan and not realizing they'll probably just die if he completes it. But the threat he poses of obliterating all of reality with a blink is quite intimidating and scary. His deadpan speech patterns help that case as well, showing that he cares so little for the people still living in his world. He's so set on his ideals and the thought that he's in the right that he's willing to do anything for it. Frankly, the most intriguing thing to me about his character is how he flat out vanishes after you defeat him, implying he stayed in the Distortion World. The animated series, Pokémon Generations, follows up on this, and it makes his character much deeper as a result. While I often prefer villains with heart, it's interesting to see a take on one with none at all. He's at least become more memorable to me over the years.
Lumari
As someone who feels Platinum's version of the final wave of Team Galactic showdowns (starting in Canalave Library) is the greatest story arc in any video game ever and will defend this take to her dying breath I'm probably not the most unbiased party to comment here but... I don't really understand all the criticism Cyrus gets. Or rather, I don't get the focus they take on his ambitions. To get that out of the way first though: okay yes even I can't deny that, especially compared to someone like N, his goals basically boil down to the generic good old "world domination", and that rather than trying to mitigate this lack of complexity the game actually seems to steer into the skid through Team Galactic's "I do not know our boss's ambitions but I'll fight for him anyways!!!" running gag. Cyrus's actual motivations as we know are rooted in "wanting to rid the world of annoying irrational emotions", which... isn't bad but is also hardly unique. It certainly helps reinforce his deranged scientist persona, but its potential is mostly wasted when we learn nothing at all about where exactly this hatred is coming from.
However, thankfully I'm writing this specifically from an in-game perspective, so it also makes a lot of sense to evaluate Cyrus from his in-game context. To keep it short, the main point I want to drive home is how much of a rat race Platinum's Galactic arc is compared to anything else the mainline Pokémon games have ever done. Starting off with a literal bang it quickly turns into a rescue mission of your friend through deep caves and blizzards, even entirely absorbing the seventh Gym in the process, and it just does not stop until we're facing off Giratina in a literal alternate dimension. Such an arc needs the strong boss it sets us up for, and Cyrus's emotionless design and resulting ruthless determination make him the optimal candidate for sure. The arc's design only amplifies this further. While the first encounter is a generic "boss fight at the end of HQ" like usual, this actually isn't the end of him; cornering him on a legendary mountain is not the kind of thing we get to do to run-of-the-mill bad guys, and the fact that we have to chase him down all the way to the bottom of the Distortion World and take him out in the most difficult fight of the game shouldn't come as a surprise at all with the lengths he's willing to go to to achieve his goal. This guy is not going down without several fights and finds his place in the games storywise as one of the toughest foes to finally crack.
I don't believe GF went for anything else with Cyrus other than just an intimidating "final" boss. And it worked.
Pikachu315111
Returning to one villainous team after the previous generation gave us two was going to be a tall order. Odds were, if someone didn't like both Generation III teams, they would like at least one of them, but Team Galactic had no such safety net. If they weren't liked, the player wouldn't feel they had a serious threat. It would all come down to the personalities of their leaders; while the grunts remained goofy as ever, the Galactic Boss and the Commanders would be a sharp contrast. Cyrus was no laughs, no smugness, and no losing face when taking a loss. He was supposed to come off as uncaring and unnerving, eerily robotic in tone. However, this can be difficult to do even in games with voice acting, and sadly Cyrus came off as rather bland and overshadowed by the Commanders. Game Freak took notes, because Cyrus in Platinum is almost a different character. Still the same goals but, instead of leaving him with an emotionless tone, they included more interactions with him that revealed cracks in his façade. While trying to get answers from Cynthia's grandmother he showed anger, he took a twisted glee in lying to his subordinates after giving them a grand speech, when he summoned both Dialga and Palkia he gave a much more impassioned rant, and finally he completely broke down in the Distortion World after the player quelled Giratina's anger. This breakdown gave the player a cathartic feeling that was missing in Diamond & Pearl, and it in turn made Cyrus a better character. The inclusion of his grandfather in Sunyshore City telling you about Cyrus's rough childhood further added depth and complexity, making a character whom was once as bland as his design be intriguing and evoke a sense of pity.
Shadowshocker
My initial opinion of Cyrus wasn't great. Coming off the "two evil teams" approach RSE had, Team Galactic returned to the roots of "ineffective villainous team drives the game's plot by committing miscellaneous misdemeanors", and the goofy outfits didn't help this tired routine either. Cyrus, on the other hand, is a good bit more complex in retrospect. Where Giovanni was greedy and Maxie/Archie were environmentally extreme, Cyrus gave the franchise its first nihilistic villain—and gave him a rather relatable backstory to go with it. How many of us were asocial when we were younger, had difficulties when interacting with our peers, came into conflict with others over clashing opinions, and longed for another world that made sense to us?
It's easy to write Cyrus off as an ineffective edgelord, but consider what Cyrus has done by the start of the game: he's already established a legal corporate presence, with several Galactic buildings in major cities and, has stayed beyond the eyes of law enforcement while his commanders did his dirty work. He also does succeed in his plan to harvest the lake trio's power and summon the respective deity of the space-time continuum. For his time, Cyrus was the most competent villain boss, stymied only by the same emotions and sentiments he had rejected because he himself had experienced rejection. And he's got the style to match: a stark gaunt expression, a stern and commanding official art pose, Rick Sanchez's impressive silver mane, and the swagger to give you the obligatory Master Ball, claiming he doesn't actually need it. Team Galactic might look like the weird backup dancers for a "Space Age" 1980s troupe, but they're led by a respectable ringleader. (Come to think of it—between the dimension obsession and hair, is Cyrus Pokémon's Rick Sanchez?)
Kaiju Bunny
When I first saw Cyrus as a kid, I just sorta saw him as the stereotypical "Ah yes, ok, so he is meant to be the BIG big villain. Good to know." He didn't exactly stand out too much to me until I started realizing how serious he was about his goals. This shouldn't come as a surprise, but when an evil leader's ultimate goal is to eliminate the entire world, it can be pretty intimidating and maybe even confusing inside a children's game. What was further unnerving was Cyrus being arguably far more serious and cold compared to previous evil leaders. Unfortunately for Cyrus's case though, I don't personally think this direction was a wise choice, as I felt it made him pretty boring all things considered. :c Overall, I don't have any strong feelings about him, sadly.
ausma
Cyrus is not a deep character, nor is he really relatable or emotionally stimulating. However, Cyrus absolutely excels in establishing atmosphere, which is displayed in his emotionally detached apathy juxtaposed against his incredibly extreme goals. I've always found it interesting how his goal is to create a world without spirit, but his spirit is what drives him to create a new world. I also believe this conflict is why Platinum is bar none his best showing, especially when his goal is, in a twisted way, fulfilled, but all that's left for him is pure nothingness. The open-endedness of his arc in Platinum makes you wonder if he really is content in the Distortion World, and possibly if he condemns himself for feeling anything at all, whether he's happy or not. The irony and juxtaposition of his writing is really what makes him feel so interesting to think about, alongside the fact that he is done justice as a terrifying and capable villain regardless.
avarice
Cyrus is a unique villian with his goal of eliminating the world rather than choosing to dominate it in some form. The nihilistic approach can seem boring but honestly feels refreshing given the rest of the villains in the pool to compare it to. Cyrus's dull design can be upsetting but ultimately is the most fitting for his goals. An antisocial pessimist is not too difficult to relate to either. The meticulous nature of Cyrus's stages of summoning the legendary Pokémon was nice. The flashy villainy to stomp out is still present with Team Galactic, but having the secretive element in regards to the leader was done better here than in XY. I also liked the ominous end to Cyrus staying in the Distortion World in Platinum. It makes one wonder how similar it felt to the world created by Cyrus in USM, where he succeeded with his plans.
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