Which main character got shafted the most while they were on the show?

[Angel~]

she was most there as nothing more than a third wheel on a guys day out or another kid for Brock to babysit. Though we were spoiled with her presence, she didn't really develop a whole lot. Misty was already a gym leader and she just kinda decided to tag along.

So in other words, you're saying her traveling with Ash & Brock did nothing for her. She's explored many parts of Kanto, Orange Islands, and Johto that she had never seen before. She met Lorelei, her idol. She has come into contact with Legendary Pokemon. She placed top 8 in the Prestige Whirl Cup which was the shows most blatant Water Themed Tournament, won the Seaking Catching competition, Won the Alto Mare Water Race. She battled a Gym Leader in an underwater Gym. It doesn't seem like you've been watching? She has made a great deal of progress in achieving her goal, even if it wasn't to the extent of May & Dawn. She caught pokemon too. Horsea, Politoed, and Corsola. She sure was focused more than Brock. Needless to say, She would not have done any of that if she stayed in Cerulean. She got over her long time fear of Gyarados and surprisingly caught one. As well as receiving character development. So she did catch pokemon, learned many things, met many people she interacted with & became a much better trainer since her debut.

[CyberCubed]

I suppose the difference is both Misty and Brock only caught one pokemon for all of Johto. I can't imagine going through an entire region and only capturing one new pokemon each, (Corsola and Pinceo).

Looks really odd looking back at it...

[An00bis]

Most shafted to least:

Max - Accomplished absolutely nothing of merit through two regions.
Brock - Caught a lot of Pokemon. Was allowed to do nothing with them.
Tracey - Accomplished his goal in record time, shallow though it be.
Misty - Lots of screen time for an early companion but little actual growth.
Cilian - Lots of screen time. Has yet to really accomplish anything.
Iris - Has had her share of wins and losses controversial as they be.
Dawn - Struggled more then the average girl then suddenly got better.
May - Seemed to live a rather charmed life and enjoyed immense popularity.

[CyberCubed]

I think this poll proves that the amount of episodes you're in doesn't make a difference.

[An00bis]

Ah. I didn't see the walking Pokemon.

Here we go.

Togepi - Wasn't treated like a Pokemon for the majority of its run.
Pansage - Seems to have been forgotten in favor of Cilian's other Pokemon.
Axew - Had promise, but seems to have been cursed by being a Walking Pokemon.
Piplup - Pikachu's story, abridged. Piplup enjoyed everything except an evolution.
Pikachu - Is pretty well rounded, but seems to have reached the pentacle of his growth.

With the sole exception of Togepi I think that the Pokemon were generally treated better then their Trainers.

[1rkhachatryan]

Lol May has more votes then Brock?? What show were you guys watching O_o?!

[CyberCubed]

Lol May has more votes then Brock?? What show were you guys watching O_o?!

The same reason Dawn has 2 votes for being shafted...I guess.

[Angel~]

Interesting how May has more votes than her little brother.

[An00bis]

Lol May has more votes then Brock??

Brock gets to do something every day ...

Cook Dinner.

[1rkhachatryan]

Brock gets to do something every day ...

Cook Dinner.

Hey hey hey!!! May got to whine everyday lol.

[ludiloco]

Poor Tracey, he just got 1 season because of that Brock's stereotype problem, then when it got cleared he got Oaked like Ash's pokemon and he's destined not to put a foot outside of kanto ever again.

I wonder if his family misses him in Orange Islands xD

[pokemonsquared]

Brock gets to do something every day ...

Cook Dinner.

And lunch, and do the laundry, and breakfast, and be the pack mule, and cook pokemon food, and be the walking strategy guide, and did I mention cooking?

[An00bis]

Brock lived such a fulfilling life as Ash's servant caretaker that they devoted two episodes to showing just how awful wonderful his life was.

In other news Tracey is winning this Poll. What more could Tracey have done?

Thinking back he seemed to have a pretty impressive amount of screen time for only being there 30-some episodes.

[CyberCubed]

I'm a-getting the feeling there are a lot of troll-voting in the polls. The only possible way anyone can think May was shafted was probably that she didn't get any special episodes in Johto, because I can't think of anything else.

What I liked about the way May was handled, was that she was one-step above the level of a sidekick character but she wasn't shoved down our throats as much as Dawn was as a full co-star. You never felt like May was stealing the show away from Ash, as opposed to Dawn who literally took center stage for a large chunk of DP until the tail-end. But you also never felt like May was too ignored for long to the fact that it felt like she wasn't doing anything.

Probably helped matters that most Max-centered episodes somewhat involved her too in some form.

[I am Lu]

It came down to either Max or Tracey for me. I decided to pick Max as the most shafted because Tracey at least got the Chronicles episodes. Max didn't even get a speaking cameo in DP; he was mentioned in passing several times by May and that's it.

I agree with you Cyber in saying that May wasn't really shafted as a character. She was the transition between Misty as a sort of background character to Dawn's role as a co-star. I am frustrated she didn't get a special for the Johto Grand Festival, though.

[CyberCubed]

I agree with you Cyber in saying that May wasn't really shafted as a character. She was the transition between Misty as a sort of background character to Dawn's role as a co-star. I am frustrated she didn't get a special for the Johto Grand Festival, though.

Admittedly I would have liked to see May participate in some more non-coordinator events like Dawn did. However we did see May:

- She competed in the Pokeringer
- She battled in the Winstrate family household
- She battled Wattson's Assistant with her Skitty in Mauville Gym
- She competed in BF's Orienteering competition

Still its obvious Dawn got to do more battle-centric events than she did, Dawn got to battle Lucian, Maylene and two tournaments such as DP's tag battle and BW's Junior CUp.

Granted May did get more on-screen Contests though, they actually made more Contest episodes in AG than they did in DP. May competed in 16 on-screen Contests and two Grand Festivals while Dawn got 11 on-screen Contests and one Grand Festival.

[WhyHelloThere]

Lol May has more votes then Brock??

Snivy and Oshawott have more votes than Leavanny in your strongest Unova pokemon thread.

These little polls don't exactly mean much.

[An00bis]

I just figured that May not doing more Tournaments went hand in hand with her decision to be a Coordinator over a Trainer.

Which makes the idea that she empathized the battling aspect of coordinating over the artistic value absolutely hilarious.

[Caseydia]

May wasn't shafted at all. I think she did a wonderous job being that she had two regions and alot of accomplishments. Max deserves the title since he had no pokemon all together.

[pokefandt]

I just figured that May not doing more Tournaments went hand in hand with her decision to be a Coordinator over a Trainer.

Which makes the idea that she empathized the battling aspect of coordinating over the artistic value absolutely hilarious.

Wasn't more or less because of Ash's influence?