Contrary

(This article was written to come right after the Iris one. So if this was published before that one, it might seem weird in some aspects.)

Moving away from the girls (and Tracey), let's focus on someone who's just as fabulous as them. The first replacement for Brock since Tracey, this guy brings a distinct flavor to the show. But was he a fresh new ingredient, or did he leave a bad taste in my mouth?



It's Examination Time, Cilan!

Character Overview
People think Cilan was made to correct a few problems that faced his predecessor, Brock: he had more spotlight, he battled more, and he had many interests to keep him from being a one-note character. He displays an interest in a wide variety of fields, including Pokemon Connoisseur work, science, trains, detective work, and fishing.

Character Interaction
One thing I'd like to note is that most of Cilan's interactions with characters relate to people reacting to his flamboyancy, or because of contrast. Many characters have qualities that contrasts Cilan's, and their differences add a lot toward how they act around him.

Ash

The reason why Cilan joined Team Twerp was because he was enamored with Ash's unique and creative strategies, which he usually came up with on the fly. Cilan wanted to break away from his old, stuck life and learn what other new and exciting things this mysterious boy might know.

That was the plan. Since that day, Cilan has become the Brock of the group, pointing things out to Ash from the sidelines, You see, when there isn't a newbie trainer in the twerps, Ash has to be the one who acts like a n00b so the show's nuances can be explained to the younger audience. With Ash being a newb again, Cilan doesn't have much to learn from him. Thus, this dynamic crumbles.

It's okay, because Ash and Cilan work well as friends. We've seen them engaged in double battles three times, and they work...reasonably well. Their first match, against the Subway Bosses, ended badly. But after that, the two work well-ish, complimenting each other a little more in battle.

Iris

Probably one of Cilan's more notable relationships, Cilan shows off his kindest side towards her. Even after all her snarky remarks, or her calling him out on being annoying, or any other flak she gives him, he really won't fight back. He truly does care for her and will help her out any time he can, without any insulting or bitterness. Because their friendship is a lot like mine and @Piplup;'s; I tease Piplup all the time about his stupid loser crushes and mock his dumb interests relentlessly, even though we have the same interests. Our friendship is pretty good because we're open enough to insult each other freely, and we know what comments are just snarky jokes. Piplup never actually means it when he says he'll kill me, anyway. :3c

Note how Cilan doesn't seem to mind Iris's comments. But when Dawn makes such comments, he punches her in the face.

Oh yeah, and the contrasts. Wildness vs calmness, nature vs yadda yadda. Their contrasts are obvious and I probably covered them in the Iris review, so why bore you with what you already know?

Burgundy

An accurate portrayal of their relationship

I've covered a bit about their relationship below when I talk about Cilan's darker side. But what I should mention is, no matter how much she screams and insults him, even though she prays for his losses, despite punching him in his sleep and then running away, he still wants to help her. He supports her Connaisseuse education and talents, and when he sees that she's getting uncomfortable in their duel in the climax of the Club Battle, he ends the duel.

Much like his relationship with Iris, Cilan gladly takes Burgundy's comments with good nature and a smile, and offers to help her anyway. Either he sees her as a friend and doesn't take her comments seriously, he's afraid that she'll snap if he lashes back, or he's genuinely a nice guy. Any of these options offer a different view of his character - is he just that helpful, is he just that scared of her, or did he evaluate Burgundy and knows what she's really like, on the inside?

Character Development


Cilan joined Ash because he wanted to learn more about Ash's unexplainable strategies. While a few episodes do show him learning a few things, Cilan is pretty much the same no matter the consequence. He's already an A-Class Connoisseur, one step below mastering S-Class. The problem is, he's probably too knowledgeable and developed in that regard, because he doesn't have much room to develop. If he reaches S-Class, he pretty much realized his goal and wouldn't really have a reason to stay with the group. (Aside from, you know, friendship.) But aside from his goal, he does have a few interesting quirks.

Cilan the Teacher With every one of his battles, he tries to educate his opponent in order for them to better themselves. This is most notable in his match with Luke: Cilan analyzes Luke's weak points in the match and tell him how they can be exploited. His advice gets Luke to use more creativity and strategy in his match to counter Cilan's Stunfisk's power.

A few of his other matches are also vehicles to teach others: his match against Chili was a way for Cilan to teach his brother about diverse movepools and type advantages; his match with Skyla was about trying to get her to see the joys of battling and taking her role as Gym Leader seriously. He battles Iris briefly to help Axew master Dragon Rage.

Pride His vanity and shit.

Cilan's darker side When we first meet Burgundy, we're supposed to believe that her view of Cilan is wrong. Her view, by the way, is of him being a creeper who laughs maniacally as he looms over his cowering prey. We soon see from their match that her view of him is not unfounded; he comes off as sadistic, cold and calculating, to say nothing of his evil expressions.



His darker side is a really great idea, since it shows that there's more to him than a bubbly personality and wackiness. Plus it allows for more Death Note jokes. Unfortunately, this aspect of his personality isn't really touched upon much after this. I'm not saying that they should whore this quirk out, but acknowledging it once in a while wouldn't hurt. And without this side being on display more often, Burgundy looks more petty and immature.

Detective Cilan One of Cilan's biggest interests, and probably the one that gets the most attention, outside of fishing. Honestly, it's a really nice idea, allowing Cilan to explore more of his interests so they feel less one-note. The problem is, the episodes that focus on his detective skills aren't anything special. Sure, there are some mysteries. But almost all the mysteries are the same simple things we've seen before. They're not any different from past series episodes, so Cilan's detective skills seem pointless. In fact, in one episode, he was pretty inconsequential to actually solving the mystery. But his detective skills were put to great use in two episodes. Even if the mysteries are weak, at least his detecitve skills can brighten up an otherwise dull episode.

Has Cilan's Character Changes Been Good?

This is sort of a difficult question, since Cilan really hasn't changed. He has traits added to him (his talents and interests, his fear of Purrloin and his darker side.) Many episodes develop his interests and his personality, but not very many episodes develop him as a character. A better way to explain it is to picture a one-story house, a bungalow. The bungalow is being renovated. Instead of having another floor built on top of it, Cilan's bungalow is getting extensions from the sides - new wings to his house. Maybe even a pool. Cilan isn't building up, but growing out.

Now, I've heard people say that, because Cilan's a sidekick, character development shouldn't be an issue with him. But I disagree. I think his lack of development is what makes him start to feel one-note and stale. Throwing in a bunch of interests and talents do add spice, but only for a short time. In the end, Cilan doesn't seem to have grown, and that hurts his believability as a character.

Cilan is an otherwise good character on his own, but development would make him great. Aside from giving him a lot more focus than Brock, there's rarely any risks taken with this character. He's just there.

Team

Have you seen this Pokemon before? Well, you'll be seeing a lot of it soon

Honestly, there's nothing to say about Pansage, other than it being a watered-down clone of Cilan. Stunfisk is a jerk, but we can tell he's softening up to the group, because he's less antagonistic lately and doesn't seem to mind being around them. Other than that, there's not much to say about these two.

Now Crustle, there's the moneymaker. Originally a shy, and insecure Pokemon with a caring side, it grew under Cilan's care. It's gimmick as a Dwebble was that it seemed meek and gentle, but it would show its deadly skills in the heat of battle, usually after getting an offensive power-up from using Shell Smash. But now that it's Crustle, it's gimmick is just steamrolling over everything.

Unlike Ash and Iris, who have a few Pokemon that steal the spotlight (Ash's starters and Iris's Excadrill and Dragonite), Cilan sole screen-stealer is Crustle, with two losses under its belt and 8 or 9 some-odd wins (not to mention the little scenes outside matches.) It's not that Crustle is a bad Pokemon, not by any means It's really enjoyable, cute, and a good addition to Cilan's team. It's just an overused Pokemon, one that might have too many wins to its name, one that might be hogging the show while Pansage and Stunfisk slowly rot.

Is Cilan Memorable/Is Cilan a Good Character?

Of course he is! Cilan can get dull at times. People may find his exuberance a little insufferable. But to his fans, he's also very fun. He's zany, he's bizarre, and kooky, but he's also mature, respectable and powerful. He was given more focus and battles than the other male sidekicks, and it's very easy to ship him. The fact that he is fabulous is gonna draw in fangirls, and we all know it. He isn't a depressing character, and he does try to entertain the audience. He may not be the most deep or well-written character, but he really does brighten up the show.

How They Rank


He's great comic relief and he's a good battler, so he's much better than Tracey. He's more entertaining and original than Dawn, though she had more development and change. But I'm going to have to say that May beat him here; the idea of a Pokemon Connoiseur is more original than a Coordinator, but May went through more changes and development, her character grew more, and I find her generally more tolerable.

(Look at me, going on about character development as if I know what I'm talking about.)

1. May
2. Cilan
3. Dawn
3. Misty (ties with Dawn)
4. Tracey

If I had to sum up Cilan in one word: Ephemeral.
Cilan is great while he's here and he will be missed when he leaves. He's here now but will leave soon. This also related to his gags: At first, everyone adored Cilan and his gags. But over time, as we got used to them, the glamour faded.

Next time: hell if I know.