Giovanni (Pokémon)

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Character
Name: Japanese: サカキ (Sakaki)
English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Indonesian, Brazilian Portuguese, Turkish: Giovanni
Thai: ซากากิ (Sakaki) (GO and TGC) & ซาคากิ (Sakaki) (manga)
Korean: 비주기 (Bijugi)
Chinese (Mandarin): 阿桔 (Bǎnmù) & 坂木 (Bǎnmù) (simplified)
(more on Bulbapedia)
Occupation: Yakuza
Pokémon Gym Leader
Relationships: Silver (son, mother never mentioned in canon, fans speculate it's Ariana)
Fandom: Pokémon
Other: n/a
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Giovanni is a Pokémon Gym Leader from Pokémon Red and Blue. He is the boss of Team Rocket, the first of many evil teams in the Pokémon series who aim to generally be evil. In Team Rocket's case, it's an organized crime syndicate similar to the Yakuza. He also makes appearances in Pokémon Masters, PokéAni, Pokéspe and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, always as a villainous character. He is a fan favorite, though not too many fanworks exist which primarily focus on him.

The Pokémon Giovanni is most associated with are Persian, Mewtwo and Nidoking.

Canon Overview

[characterization, story role, further important appearances]

TBA

Relationships

The majority of his most common relationships are with protagonist characters from Generation I and other Pokémon villains.

Giovanni x Villain

Giovanni x Protagonist

Giovanni x Other

  • Giovanni is also shipped with Nanu, forming CatLoverShipping, which is Boys' Love. While the coupling doesn't appear to be shipped in Japanese-speaking PKMN fandom, it has a loyal following in English-speaking PKMN fandom. In Japanese, this is most often called [x].
  • Many works focus on Giovanni's troubled relationship with his son Silver. Most focus on Silver's end and are labelled as Giovanni & Silver and/or [x] in Japanese. This also applies to Silver (Pokémon Special).

Less Popular Relationships

...And these are just the A's! More can be found on Neverending Romance, a community-created relationship name list.

Popular Tropes & Fanon

Early works did not always have Giovanni be Silver's father, as that was only canonized after the release of Heart Gold and Soul Silver.

Subjects of Fannish Interest & Meta

[discourse, trivia, popular memes, character analysis, fan reactions, really anything]

He's Short, Isn't He?

It may be canonical to his Gameverse interpretation. As of the 2010s and 2020s, it's somewhat popular fanon that Giovanni is shorter than average. Much of his official artwork, (especially for Pokémon Let's Go! Pikachu and Let's Go! Eevee,) make him seem short. In Pokemon Masters, he's taller than only Rose and Maxie[2]. But he's not short in much official media before this period.

Mobster or Yakuza?

His English name Giovanni gives off Italian mobster vibes, but he was built from the ground up as a Yakuza by Game Freak. Most fanworkers takes aspects of both interpretations into account when making works featuring him.

Is he Ash Ketchum's Father?

Although it will never be canon, many speculate that it would be interesting if Giovanni was Ash's father. Many fanworks, espeically fanfiction and meta, explore the concept in depth. While to some it's considered a theory, to others, it's considered headcanon. It has its own section on TVTropes.

[Name of Subject #]

TBA

Example/Notable Fanac

Fan Communities/Fan Events

Fan Art

Collections

Meta

References/Further Reading