Shadow Triad - A case of Adaptational Villainy or elaborate Red Herring?

[lolipiece]

Well, I made this and I wanted to know what you people think. The clues are there, and I've been gathering them for a while now.

This has nothing to do with the games, and is strictly for Pokemon Adventures.

And yes, this has been done to death, but not for this manga. I don't care if you don't believe them to be the Shadow Triad, it's just a theory and that's all it is until their true identities are revealed.

Sorry if the images are too big, just wanted to get all the info.

    Spoiler:- Shadow Triad 1 - An brief explanation:

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    Spoiler:- Shadow Triad 2 - Bad puns ahoy:

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    Spoiler:- Shadow Triad 3 - Caught them Red, Blue, and Green handed:

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    Spoiler:- Shadow Triad 4 - He's got the monkeys, let's see the monkeys:

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    Spoiler:- Shadow Triad 5 - A New Hope:

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So, what do you think? Is there any holes in this that you like to point out? (No, I don't care about spelling errors)

Any ideas you'd like to add?

[Maxim]

You know what? I think that Kusaka himself doesn't know if it's a red herring and not. It's probably just his guess of those guys' identity. But he may waiting for Grey to reveal their identities.

If Grey indeed reveals them and it turns out that they AREN'T Striaton Brothers, then we'll just be supposed to act like we've never seen any "hints" at all (and their look will probably get slightly altered for tankobon version, to remove these false hints).

But if the game DOES reveal them as the Brothers or doesn't reveal/hint their identity at all, then those will indeed end up being Striaton Brothers in PokeSpe.

Kusaka probably just want to stay on the safe side.

[matt0044]

Perhaps if Grey doesn't reveal the Triad as the brothers, Kusaka will make them them on in the same anyways. He made Lt. Surge, Koga and Sabrina members of Team Rocket so why not?

[Platinum fan.]

I never cared about the Shadow Triad=Striaton Brothers, I always considered it the fanbase over thinking a situation. The games never mention Cilan, Cress, and Chili as the Shadow Triad, they are always a mystery, and why would the Gym Leaders help N and Team Plasma in the first place? Perhaps Grey will shed some light on this if they do confirm it to be true. Still Adventures is making it look very convincing so if it's confirmed true I would simply like to know why? That is all.

[pika09]

I, for one, think this is all just one big herring. After all, Kusaka can be a bit of a troll. Plus, the Shadow Triad seems a little too buff. XP

[Red_the_knight]

Here's what I think:

#1, Masks. I never notice that each are different, but I can see a bit different depending by a shade of color: Blue is darker, Red is Light, and Green is moderate. But their hair styles changed to all white hair colors, and yes Shadow Traids should be hooded, not white headed.

#2, Pokemon: Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour. Busted, guys. You can never fool lolipiece that easy.

#3, Mannerism. A pose? They do look like the same poses as Cress, Chili, and Cilan. Gentlemen, you got some explaining to do.

Okay, for this thought, I do believe they have to be the Shadow Traids. I do agree with Maxim and matt. For not backing them up against the Shadow Traids, you nearly got yourself caught without a good excuse. Plus, these guys need to practice well as Shadow Traids by not exposing their pose and Pokemon, like how Masked Man didn't exposed himself as Pryce with Delibird, Houndoom, Gastly, and Ariados, and Gold busted him.

And finally, are they doing it as undercover agents or actually working for N? My guess, agents. How else did the gym leaders knew this was ganna happen?
So, okay. This myth is confirmed.

[ReiZerou]

I believe in this theory. The hints are just too obvious and I really want it to be true.

[00poke_maniac]

Hmm Pod certainly gained more muscles though...they all did. It's hard to tell but being a major fan of the sweet!Sanyo boys I hope it's a red herring.

Even if they are "villains" I'm pretty certain they'll turn good at the end. Will, Karen, E4 (not sure with Agatha), Lance, Pryce (at the end), Lt. Surge, Koga and Sabrina did. I see no reason why these guys can't.

Also here's a thought What if in PokeSpe the Striaton Trio are undercover agents for the League/Gym leader association? I think that's be an epic twist given by how everyone feels they blew their cover xD

PFFT I'll just keep telling myself this

[Yeul]

I hope Grey (which could get a possible announcement this weekend, Masuda stated) will shed some more light on the Shadow Triad, because it certainly feels as if it's going to be even more plot heavy than Black and White themselves. Besides, Kusaka's the one who writes it, it's his own decision whether or not he wants to troll us or is a believer himself.

[TheViolentTomboy]

Oh Kusatroll, you. Always sowing the seeds of chaos among the Pokemon fandom.

Now the question is whether or not they're double agents or something.

[lolipiece]

I, for one, think this is all just one big herring. After all, Kusaka can be a bit of a troll. Plus, the Shadow Triad seems a little too buff. XP

Not exactly, Cilan, Cress, and Chili all wear baggy clothing, so it's hard to tell how their arms truly are.

[Kaiserin]

Either seems equally likely at this point. My money's on Adaptational Villainy, or even a possible spoiler for Gray, but maybe there's something ridiculous being planned no one could even hazard a guess at.

Wasn't it a popular fan theory even before the manga actually got off the ground with the B/W chapter, though?

[Red_the_knight]

Hey, save your Grays until it comes out. This is about either Cilan, Cress, or Chili are evil or not. I'm saying they're just undercover agents to get information for the Gym Leaders.
Adaptational Villainy: Busted.
Red Herring: Confirmed.

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Either way, the fact that we're even having this discussion shows that we've been trolled, no matter how it turns out.

[Tomato-kun]

Personally I'm guessing this is what they're getting at. It seems obvious - even more so after you made me notice the poses.

Pokespe has a habit of making random characters into antagonists. If they need a saving grace they can just say the trio is repaying Gheetis for saving their lives.

[Dreamingflower]

I also had suspicions that those three are the shadow triad. It's not the first time a gymleader is a badguy. I'd think that's be cool if they really are and Lolipiece's hints made it more obvious for me.

[DaAuraWolf]

That actually does clear up why in the world that they were not with the other Gym Leaders at Plasma's Castle in the end of the games. Though this could just be one of these Special only villain roles like we have had in the past. Like Pyrce being the Mask of Ice in the GSC arc and Archie turning out to be Gullie Hideout in the Emerald arc. But hey , This would probably be just a conspericy for right now since that Gray could clear it up is if that was the main reasons why they weren't at Plasma Castle in the games.

[Ememew]

Are the Triad ever seen smiling from the front? I ask because the triplets have fairly distinctive smiles (especially Cilan). It's sort of hard to tell from a side-smile if they have similar smiles to the triplets or not, and the pics I've seen of their faces from the front tend to have less-than-happy expressions.

Anyway, I have to agree that I don't think it's quite set in stone in the manga itself yet. If they are revealed to be the triad/left ambiguous, then there will have been foreshadowing, otherwise the hints will have been a red herring (hopefully with a scene involving the other leaders suspecting the triplets only for the triad to appear). As was mentioned earlier by Maxim, this way plays it safe. They wouldn't want to have the triplets and triad show up in the same scene only to discover they are the same people later in the games, or otherwise reveal them to be the triad only to have the 3rd version show them fighting against each other or something. Anyone else think it's a little odd that even real manga authors have about as much to go on for their stories as the average fan-fic author? You'd think that those with real, licensed manga would get a little advanced info or something.

EDIT:

Here's the cover image, courtesy of Dogasu.

Well, in this image, it certainly looks like the Shadow Triad member with the Liligant has Cilan's smile...

[Dreamingflower]

Are the Triad ever seen smiling from the front? I ask because the triplets have fairly distinctive smiles (especially Cilan). It's sort of hard to tell from a side-smile if they have similar smiles to the triplets or not, and the pics I've seen of their faces from the front tend to have less-than-happy expressions.

Anyway, I have to agree that I don't think it's quite set in stone in the manga itself yet. If they are revealed to be the triad/left ambiguous, then there will have been foreshadowing, otherwise the hints will have been a red herring (hopefully with a scene involving the other leaders suspecting the triplets only for the triad to appear). As was mentioned earlier by Maxim, this way plays it safe. They wouldn't want to have the triplets and triad show up in the same scene only to discover they are the same people later in the games, or otherwise reveal them to be the triad only to have the 3rd version show them fighting against each other or something. Anyone else think it's a little odd that even real manga authors have about as much to go on for their stories as the average fan-fic author? You'd think that those with real, licensed manga would get a little advanced info or something.

EDIT:


Well, in this image, it certainly looks like the Shadow Triad member with the Liligant has Cilan's smile...

Now they only need to take off those wigs and masks XD.

[ReiZerou]

These two cover images are similar in style, with those guys in front and people on the background. Do I hear Kusaka and Yamamoto laughing or are they serious?
    Spoiler:- "[IMG139:

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[lolipiece]

According to what Yamamoto-sensei said on Twitter, this is what they look like unmasked.

[matt0044]

According to what Yamamoto-sensei said on Twitter, this is what they look like unmasked.

LOL. I can tell he's joking since they look like a Dugtrio.

[Rex Kamex]

You know what? I think that Kusaka himself doesn't know if it's a red herring and not. It's probably just his guess of those guys' identity. But he may waiting for Grey to reveal their identities.

If Grey indeed reveals them and it turns out that they AREN'T Striaton Brothers, then we'll just be supposed to act like we've never seen any "hints" at all (and their look will probably get slightly altered for tankobon version, to remove these false hints).

But if the game DOES reveal them as the Brothers or doesn't reveal/hint their identity at all, then those will indeed end up being Striaton Brothers in PokeSpe.

Kusaka probably just want to stay on the safe side.

That's what I most likely think too. Have that plotline potentially ready.

[matt0044]

^Or he can reveal the Traid to be the Striaton Brothers in his own canon even if it's not from the games.

[Ememew]

^Or he can reveal the Traid to be the Striaton Brothers in his own canon even if it's not from the games.

The problem with that is that if the games actually confirm them to be separate people (through a Triad vs Triplets battle or something), then that would be awkward for a manga adaptation that explicitly made them one in the same.

If the game confirms that they are the triad or, as I suspect, leaves their identities ambiguous, then he has nothing to worry about in making the Striaton Triplets and the Shadow Triad the same people. It's just the possibility that the games could confirm that they aren't that he has to dance around at the moment. Not that he couldn't still make them the Triad even if the games confirm otherwise, as they are two separate canons, though.

I still think it's weird that even authors of official, licensed manga have as much to go on for the Triad's identity in the games as the average fan does.