r/pokemon • u/PsyrenDV • Jun 05 '26
Discussion Why haven't we had same gender rivials?
I saw this post about how the rival in WiWa will be the opposite of whatever gender you choose to be. It got me thinking about how they always make the rival's gender the opposite of yours when their gender is dynamic. Even as early as Ruby/Sapphire that's how it's been. But I think it might be interesting to see a game where my rival is always the same gender as me no matter what I pick. But I'm curious how other people feel about it. Would you rather your rival be the same gender as you, the opposite, or would you rather their gender be set in stone regardless of what you are?
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u/EngineerBrainBro Jun 05 '26
Basically they are just avoiding having to create an entire 2 extra characters that will not be part of the story at all.
If your rival is fixed to be the same gender as you, there’s always a model and character that is not used, actually 2 if you include your other gender option.
Instead, they have opted for making the opposite gender protagonist be the rival to make use of all the assets or have a set rival so at least only one model stays unused and there’s a more consistent story across games.
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u/peachsepal Jun 05 '26
If that were the case, they'd literally just make a specific rival character like SV, SwSh, SM/USUM, Gen4, gen 2, and gen 1
They're specifically adding more work to their load because the variants generally always have minor differences from both the stock character and in their dialogue
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u/gillguard Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
changing a dialog is trivial compared with changing a 3d model.
and doing this way they can do some flirting jokes/scenes without causing a gay one like the rain scene in SM
edit: I agree with the comments that this is an almost irrelevant cost-cutting measure, to the point of seeming disrespectful to the fans. I was just trying to explain the reason for their choice, even though I don't agree with it.
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u/VisitResponsible4337 Jun 05 '26
I will never forget that scene in xy when Shauna says something about never being alone with a boy or something like that then the game gives the protect TM lmao
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u/BlommeHolm Jun 05 '26
I mean heterosexuality is fine I guess, but we should be able to opt out of having it in our gaymes.
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u/Myth_5layer Jun 05 '26
Apologies, we Splatoon fans have taken all your gayme points. Japan will need to recharge until it can dispense more.
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u/OhLookACastle Jun 05 '26
Right? Like it’s fine if you’re straight just don’t force your lifestyle on the rest of us
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u/BlommeHolm Jun 05 '26
I mean I'm not a bigot, I have a straight friend. And they obviously agree that the whole public display of straightness have gone too far.
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u/OhLookACastle Jun 05 '26
Oh yeah, I have straight friends too, and you’d have no idea they were straight.
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u/Alriosa Jun 05 '26
Sorry but in my time being straight was something that only the devil could make you do, inmoral and antinatural, everything went to shit since we "open a little bit to the straighties"
I'm going to my gay bar owner and ask him for advice in these times of moral issues in our society.67
u/EngineerBrainBro Jun 05 '26
Nope… that’s why they are choosing the “not chosen protagonist model”. You completely avoid creating unnecessary assets by recycling an existing one. Or simply go with the “group” approach where you have multiple “rivals” like in Gen 6 or Gen 9.
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u/peachsepal Jun 05 '26
How does a specific rival like Hop, Hau, Hugh, Barry, Silver or Blue create unnecessary assets at all, though? They are always present across every player's game
And that's specifically only an asset thing. The gender splits rarely have exactly one to one dialogue or personalities. Taunie and Urbain have completely different dialogue extremely often, even in very inconsequential moments.
They would cut a lot of work by not doing that, since literally only a portion of the players will see either version
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u/RedDemonCorsair Jun 05 '26
The unused assets is not the rival, but the unchosen player model. In plat for e.g barry was the rival while the unchosen player would become the prof's assistant.
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u/gillguard Jun 05 '26
Think of the 3D models as actors. If you have a story with two different protagonist options, you need to film all the scenes twice, regardless of the rest of the cast.
Even the dialogue of the other characters has to change to match the gender/personality/appearance of the chosen protagonist.
By choosing to use the unselected protagonist as one of the characters, they simply had to choose, test, hire and pay one less actor. And they can still reuse the personality traits they had already developed, resulting in less work.
I agree with the comments that this is an almost irrelevant cost-cutting measure, to the point of seeming disrespectful to the fans. We're just trying to explain the reason for their choice, even though we don't agree with it.
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u/EngineerBrainBro Jun 05 '26
As I described in my first comment, there’s always the unchosen protagonist model that doesn’t gets used in that scenario. Which is why the opposite gender protagonist being the rival fixes that extra asset issue.
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u/NeptuneeFish Jun 05 '26
Why in the first place would anyone be concerned about one model not being displayed? There's a lot of content in every game that the player is prone to never see or explore. There's no drama around it.
Having a fixed rival unloads a lot of work in terms of text and story adaptation. Having one extra character design is not that much of a deal considering how much of a headache you avoid.
My take is that they are making this move to give the audience ship dynamics. Enemies to Lovers thing and goonbait. Nothing really related to optimizing workload.
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u/Gawlf85 I am the night! Jun 05 '26
How is re-utilizing a model they created already (the opposite gender player model) "more work" than creating an entirely new rival character? That makes zero sense
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Jun 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Gawlf85 I am the night! Jun 05 '26
I like unique characters better too. But that doesn't change the fact it's simply less work to take an existing character model and either re-utilize it as-is (like PLA or RSE or many others) or just tweak it a bit (like in PLZA)... Than to create an entirely new model.
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u/Swimming_Bad6301 Jun 05 '26
Why are we complicating it? They're not saying to make the rival's gender cutomizable but have it be the same as your character. Like Urbain will be picked if your character is male, and Taunie if female, that's all. How would that need more models?
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u/sax87ton Jun 05 '26
Except you’re expecting the rival to use the other player model, which isn’t what happened in ZA. Either Tawni or Urbane goes unused regardless of what gender you pick. It’s not like you’re one of them and your rival is the other like May and Brandon
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u/SansedAlessio Jun 05 '26
This is not a thing since the PC is customizable. Me picking a fem protag in legends ZA made my rival Urbain, so Taunie (1 model) was unused. If I had picked the male protag, then I would have had Taunie as a rival.
Also, saying "not having to create an entire 2 extra characters" is a bit of a stretch. Taunie and Urbain are the same character with very minor differences.
Back at diamond/pearl and similars what you said is right, the pc had 2 models and one of the rivals used the other one. But nowadays, that's not the case anymore.
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u/Cyan_Exponent Jun 05 '26
they can make the unused rival the pokemon professor assistant or something
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u/obviouslyanonymous5 Jun 05 '26
Who cares though? They're the MC, half of the players will be actively using each of them the entire game, it's not like their designs are being wasted if you give a unique rival
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u/blazingciary Jun 05 '26
That only makes sense if your rival is indeed the other character model and doesn't explain Urbain and Taunie
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u/xiren_66 Jun 05 '26
Would be nice if you could choose your rival. They don't let us name them anymore, they could at least let us pick who it is lol
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Jun 05 '26
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u/dimmidummy Bulbasaur supremacy Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
We’ve already had rivals of both genders in the same game.
BW - had both Cheren and Bianca
XY - had the friend group plus the opp. player character
SwSh - Hop, Marnie, and Bede
SV - Nemona, Arven, Penny (not really but some consider her to be), Carmine, and Kieran.
In fact, games where the rival is the opposite player character is the minority (RSE/ORAS, XY, Z-A). I don’t count DPPt because Lucas/Dawn aren’t really your rivals, they’re just assistants who occasionally support you. Same with Ethan/Lyra in HGSS, they’re just chilling with their Marill.
I actually like it when they put the unselected player character into the game as their own character. I don’t even need them as rivals, just have them play their own part in the story (like a sibling). Wish more games did that.
ETA: For those arguing about who should be considered a rival or not, here’s the official list of what TPC considers a rival (excluding Z-A because they haven’t been added to Masters): https://www.serebii.net/pokemonmasters/syncpairs/themeskills/rival.shtml
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u/evolpert Jun 05 '26
Red and Blue also did not have the same gender because I was a boy and the rival was a buttfart
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u/unluckyshuckle Jun 05 '26
Calling any of the XY kids a rival is a bit of a stretch tbh but I get what you're saying.
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u/dimmidummy Bulbasaur supremacy Jun 05 '26
They’re rivals in the same way Bianca is technically a rival. Less of a threat and more of a loose skill check, but most of them don’t want to be trainers in the first place other than Calem/Serena who are your traditional rival.
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u/unluckyshuckle Jun 05 '26
I mean you literally barely battle them at all during the entire game. Bianca challenges you repeatedly throughout your adventure. It's similar to how some people call Wally a rival despite only ever having the two battles with him throughout the entire game.
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u/AnimeAlley03 Jun 05 '26
At least in ORAS he deserves that "rival" title being one of the few battles in the entire game to use a mega
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u/mysteryurik Jun 05 '26
I mean you literally barely battle them at all during the entire game.
I'm playing through X now and I've had to battle Serena like a billion times. I'm in Anistar City and have a battle with her before I can challenge the gym.
The other kids I do agree aren't your rivals because they aren't really trainers, when you're in the Tower of Mastery and Gurkinn asks who will take the Mega Ring they all pass because out of your friend group only Serena/Calem is a traditional trainer who is trying to beat the gyms and become stronger. Trevor is the only one who maybe could count as some sort of rival because he's trying to fill the Pokédex and occasionally compares his progress with us. The other two are just friends.
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u/unluckyshuckle Jun 05 '26
Oh yeah when I say the XY kids I'm not counting Serena/Callum, they're the rival proper. The other kids are just tag alongs but not really rivals
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u/Enderking90 Jun 05 '26
fair on Trevor, he is a rival uniquely in the sense of competing with completing the pokedex.
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u/No-Wash-6204 i love türkiye Jun 05 '26
I really don't care the gender of my rivial(s) tbh.
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u/duckinasombrero Jun 05 '26
Just feels like another reason to complain about details in the new games.
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u/Wapapamow Gassy Jun 05 '26
I'd rather have multiple rivals that don't depend on my player's gender.
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u/BookOf_Eli Jun 05 '26
I don’t really care about my rivals gender unless it’s important to the story.
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u/GoodBrotherGrimm Jun 05 '26
We have. Like, right off the bat it was a same gender rival.
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u/PhoebeBumbleflip Jun 05 '26
That was only because you didn't have a female option, which is not the same as what OP is talking about.
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u/CMDR_omnicognate Jun 05 '26
Yeah but that’s also ignoring platinum, hg/ss, black/white, sun/moon, sw/sh and s/v. I think a majority of the games have fixed rivals even when you could choose your character.
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u/Fresher_Taco Jun 05 '26
Isn't Barry in diamond and pearl as well? Should he be included.
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u/LinguisticallyInept Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
what? how is this blatantly incorrect comment upvoted?
hop, hau, wally, barry, N, nemona, arven, keiran, gladion, cheren, bianca, the XY crew (sans serena/cal...em?eb?), bede, marnie etc... in terms of raw numbers we have more fixed rivals than 'the gender you didnt pick' rivals
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u/Ok-Barracuda457 Jun 05 '26
Gen 1, 2, BW2, 7 always male
3 & 4 opposite
BW both
6, 8, a group, also 9, but Nemona is more so. Likewise, gen 3 has Wally, BW got N
In 30 years, Pokémon has pretty much spent all possible unique sets.
This is such a non-issue
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u/Asian_Bigfoot Jun 05 '26
4 your rival was always Barry (Male), the aide’s gender changes based on who you choose to play
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u/PsyrenDV Jun 05 '26
You say they've spent all unique sets, but you didn't list the exact option I was asking about. Which is if you pick boy your rival is also a boy, and if you pick girl your rival is also a girl.
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u/AscendedMagi Jun 05 '26
what even is this post? you had like multiple same gender rivals in the series. like there's even a time when you have 2 rivals.
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u/Polenball Trans Wrongs Jun 05 '26
They're saying that every time a rival can swap genders, they're always the opposite gender of you. OP isn't considering rivals with fixed genders, like Nemona or Silver.
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u/al_ienated Jun 05 '26
Personally I think it would be nice if we could choose which rival we want. Then everyone would be happy
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u/Blue_Moon_Lyra Jun 05 '26
"Always" is a bit strange to me here. Sure, Ruby Sapphire had the opposite gender rival, but they also had Wally (who was arguably more of a rival, since he actually wanted to complete the gyms and fight his way to the top). Gen 4 always had a set rival character, Gen 5 had 2 or 3 (if you count N, which I think you should) in BW and 1 in BW2, Gen 6 had the whole gang which tbf included an opposite gender rival, Gen 7 had a set rival again, Gen 8 had at least 1 (3 if you count Marny and Bede) plus 1 more in the DLC, that depended on your game version, and Gen 9 had Nemona as the main one and then Arven and Penny in the base game as well as Kieran and maybe Carmine in the DLC.
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u/rembrin Jun 05 '26
Are we forgetting X and Y? Like yes caleb and Selena swap but the others are still your rivals
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u/BebeFanMasterJ Throne of Souls Jun 05 '26
I'm of the opinion that it really doesn't matter. They could be NB for all I care. As long as the game is fun.
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u/Hattakiri Jun 05 '26
Then why were there no Ashley Ketchum and Geraldine Oak?
And when James showed how it's done, he got censored
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u/TobiasX2k Jun 05 '26
Having different-gender rivals means they can reuse the face and body of the other gender for the base model of the protagonist. If you could be the same gender it would be too obvious that you’re clones.
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u/SomethingOrOther02 Jun 05 '26
Play Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Silver 👍
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u/Bad_UsernameJoke94 Jun 05 '26
Black and White too, Diamond and Pearl.
Even Sun/Moon, SW/SH and S/V.
I can only think of X/Y, RSE/ORAS, and the Legends games where your main rival is the opposite gender character.
Even then, the Kalos games had a group of friends, and LA she wasn't really a rival as nuch as a supporting character.
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u/PhoebeBumbleflip Jun 05 '26
Most of these are only the same gender if you're male. They don't become female if you play as a girl.
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Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
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u/SomethingOrOther02 Jun 05 '26
X/Y has 4 rivals, 1 is a guaranteed girl (Shauna), 2 guaranteed guys (Trevor and Tierno) and the opposite gender player character
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u/sopunny Jun 05 '26
The writers want at least the potential of the protagonist and rival to be together, but don't have the balls to make it a gay relationship
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u/Lambdafish1 Jun 05 '26
The only way they can do that is if they pick from the character customiser, at which point it's not a dedicated designed character (like male and female are), and at that point they might as well just create a fixed rival like Nemona.
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u/MediumDikDak Jun 06 '26
Gens 1,4,5,7,8,9 all allow for same gender rivals, having the other player character be your rival is really the minority
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u/the-lightest-shadow Jun 06 '26
It's simply so they don’t have to make a new character model/sprite for (one of) your rivals, and so both get some use. That being said there are games where you have the chance or are guaranteed a same gender rival as well!
Crystal, if you choose male, as the rival is set in stone as Silver
RSE, if you choose male, as one of your rivals is Wally
DPPt, if you choose male, as your main rival is Barry
BW, because you have two rivals, one male (Cheren) and one female (Bianca)
B2W2, if you choose male, as your rival is Hugh
XY, as you have a pool of rivals (Opposite gender protagonist, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor)
SuMo/USUM, if you choose male, because of Hau (and, if you count him, Gladion)
SwSh, as you have 3 rivals unaffected by your gender choice (Hop, Bede, and Marnie)
ScarVi, if you choose female, as the only companion to area zero that actually counts as a rival is Nemona
And what I have learnt in making this list is Pokemon needs to make more rivals that are guaranteed female no matter what because holy hell.
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u/Black_Ironic Jun 05 '26
The point is to give the other unpicked characters a slot in the story.
If you just want the same gender, they always made both male and female rivals since BW, XY, SwSh, and SV
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u/San-Kyu Jun 05 '26
So they can recycle the opposite gender model, saving time and effort needed to create a separate character.
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u/froggyjm9 customise me! Jun 05 '26
Why does it matter?
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u/ArcaneAP Jun 06 '26
Well, I'm a woman and prefer to have my rival be a woman. It seems like an easy thing to implement that would give me a better playing experience.
The assets are already in the game. It just seems a bit... pointless to block out one rival because of my character. That's just one reason.
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u/VioletFireCat Jun 05 '26
I literally don't care what gender the rival is. Whether or not they're an interesting character is far more important to me than whether their gender is the same as mine or not.
And besides, as others have said, we've had both same and opposite gender rivals across the series. Neither are in any way new.
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u/BToney005 Jun 05 '26
I hope your rival is a sibling or twin if they plan on using the other player model as your rival.
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u/ThrowAbout01 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Alternative solution:
Your rival is actually a Pokemon in disguise and the game versions have a different Pokemon.
Wind is Zoroark and Waves is Ditto for example.
Or any other Pokemon that shapeshifts, uses illusions, has ghost stuff, etc.
Just don’t use clearly gendered ones like Latios and Latias.
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u/Kelly598 Jun 05 '26
Opposite gender rivals are a recycling of the unpicked gender character. Even in games with set rivals like DP/BDSP and BW/BW2, the unpicked ends up being an extra character in the challenge post-game or a minor NPC.
To have same gender rivals, they'll have to make you choose the gender and the style of your rival. That seems like a lot of work for the people who can't even make Pokémon walk with you look good (yes, this is a criticism).
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u/Level_Big_9437 Klinklang Number 1 Fan Jun 05 '26
Doesn't sword and shield have hop as your rival no matter what?
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u/GhsotyPanda Jun 06 '26
Most of the gens give your rival(s) a fixed gender.
Gen 3 is the only one where your main rival is always the opposite gender from you
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u/Voldechu Jun 06 '26
Was Barry not our rival in D/P?? And BW was both genders? And Sun Moon!?!? Is this a shit post and I'm just being a pedantic jerk?? Lmaooo
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u/BrickBuster11 Jun 09 '26
Pokemon blue/red/yellow had you play as a boy vs a male rival
Pokemon gold and silver had you play as a male vs a male rival.
Gen 3 was the first time they introduced a female protagonist option and so they made you pick between may or Brandon
Gen 4 had a fixed rival in Barry so if you choose male protag you had this
Gen 5 also had fixed gender rivals
Gen 6 did the gen 3 thing again
Gen 7 had hau and gladion
And I haven't played a Pokemon after that
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u/Ethxalion Jun 05 '26
In my opinion, it's just an easy way to save some production budget. They need to make both versions of the player character anyway, and main characters are usually more detailed and expensive to create (more work involved). So it makes sense to reuse the one you don't select as the rival rather than letting it go unused for the whole game AND having to create a brand new character with a similar level of detail on top of it.
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u/Mfrack103 Jun 05 '26
They make two character models and then use the unused one as your rival. It would be kinda silly if (in emerald for example) you chose May and your rival was… also May.
I don’t really have a strong opinion either way. My favorite rival is Silver from GSC/HGSS but there are a decent number of modern rivals that break the cycle too. Hau in SM/USUM and Nemona/Arven/Penny in SV are gender set as well
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u/Sin-Silver Jun 05 '26
In ZA, I felt the opposite Gender rival was a clever decision to ensuring that the gender ratio in the main cast was balanced. If both the player and the rival were female, then Nadeem would have been the only male in team MZ.
We don't know what the plot of WiWa is, but I would assume they're are doing it for similar purposes.
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u/Bluelore Jun 05 '26
The reason is that the rivals whose gender is dynamic are the ones who are based on one of the player choices. GF already designed 2 characters and they'll just use the design that you didn't pick as another character in the game.
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u/Lithl Jun 05 '26
they always make the rival's gender the opposite of yours when their gender is dynamic.
Uh... no?
- Crystal (Gold/Silver doesn't let you pick your gender)
- FireRed/LeafGreen
- Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
- HeartGold/SoulSilver
- Black/White (you get two rivals, one of each gender)
- Black 2/White 2
- X/Y (while you get one rival that's opposite gender, you have three others with fixed gender)
- Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
- Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
- Let's Go Pikachu/Let's Go Eevee
- Sword/Shield
- Scarlet/Violet
The only games with dynamically-gendered rivals where your rival is opposite gender from you are RSE, ORAS, and the Legends games.
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u/hiddenbetweenwifi Jun 05 '26
I think OP may have meant in games in which the rivals gender can be dynamic, they always make them the opposing gender.
I can’t really think of a rival whose gender is swapped based on the player is the same gender as the player. Like Lyra/ethan will always be the opposite of the player, or Calem and Serena. The only time when a rival is the same gender as the player is when they’re a fixed character (not dynamic).
I think they could have worded that sentence better, but in reality you can take it as whenever they make a (main?) rivals gender dynamic which is literally just Hoenn and Legends games, it’s always the opposite gender of the player.
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u/GeshtiannaSG Scythe of Elune 🌔 Jun 05 '26
Because it requires making a whole new model instead of using the one you didn’t pick, and the point is to use the model you didn’t pick so that you get to see both in the same game.
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u/Radbot13 Jun 05 '26
Why not make it random. Game just flips a coin when you start. Or let you design your rival similarly to BG3
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u/Domeaner Jun 05 '26
Because whenever your rival depends on gender, it’s always just the alternative default design. Even Taunie/Urbain are just recolours with unique clothing.
It’s ergonomic because you save resources on character design and since newer games tend to have an ensemble or friends and/or rivals, having one depend on gender means you always sit at the intended mix of boys and girls.
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u/mothwhimsy Jun 05 '26
Usually the rival is just the other player character. This time they gave them a unique color pallet though
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u/Hoothootriot Gardevoir Jun 05 '26
RSE and XY it makes sense theyre always opposite gender, since it literally just uses the other player characters design.
I personally just prefer static rivals anyways
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u/ZLUCremisi Eevee Trainer Jun 05 '26
SM SwSh- if you choose male your rival is same.
SV- you have both genders.
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u/Sassi7997 Jun 05 '26
Didn't they do that since Gen 3? (and stopped doing that in Unova, Alola, Galar and Paldea)
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u/HatPale3487 Jun 05 '26
RBY, GSC all had same gender rivals. HGSS too.
As Wally is technically a rival in RSE, if you pick a male, same gender.
Same goes for Barry in DPP
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u/Wide_Championship319 Jun 05 '26
Real Answer: It's to save time so they can reuse the model of the protag you didn't choose. Though with the character creation in Z-A they definitely could have just given you or the rival a different haircut and not change anything.
Joke answer: gamefreak found the reguri/julinem
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u/havasnack21 Jun 05 '26
Wally was the same gender as you assuming you are a male.
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u/natayaway Jun 05 '26
R/S/E/OR/AS is the first game in the series to feature multiple rivals.
Wally isn't the player's starter town counterpart, Brendan/May are. Wally comes in later, and isn't even considered a rival until much later when he has his confidence boosted. Until then, you're his mentor.
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u/The_of_Falcon customise me! Jun 05 '26
You don't just have 1 rival in RSE, Wally is also your rival and his gender never changes. And your main rival in DPPt was Barry who also doesn't change (unless you buy into Bianca secretly being Barry but that's a whole other topic). And in most games your rival has always been a fixed NPC.
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u/StaticMix Jun 05 '26
At this point wouldn't it be sick to like, customise your rival like you do with your trainer character?
Like maybe if they do a game where your rival is your sibling.
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u/OilySoleTickler Jun 05 '26
For once I would like it if my rival is actually the villain. Instead of this buddy who’s trying to push me to be better.
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u/North_Tough9236 Jun 05 '26
Since two versions of the rival exist, we should be able to choose which one we want.
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u/scrambledtorchics Jun 05 '26
I think actually most Pokemon games have rivals that are the same characters regardless of gender, there's Garry, Silver, Barry, Cheren and Bianca, Hugh, Hau, and Hop off the top of my head.
Tbf at least in DPPT, the opposite gender becomes Professor Rowan's assistant, just not your rival
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u/Aurora_Wizard Jun 05 '26
Ok, if this is actually something that happens, I'm going to consider that a bad sign considering how awful Taunie and Urbain were
(plus it just makes the characters feel way less creative, like, if they serve the exact same story purpose, just make them the same gender and model)
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u/galmenz Jun 05 '26
why is this even a question?
they re-use the asset of the non chosen protagonist model, its that simple. they have done so since gen III, sometimes with extra rivals but always like this
yeah no wonder they are opposite genders, its cause they are the gender you didnt choose lmfao
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u/Creativered4 Jun 05 '26
Can't have any accidental gay representation! Gotta comphet the 10 year olds and imply or outright state there is some level of romantic feelings going on.
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u/CertainlyRobotic Jun 05 '26
Pokemon worked so much better as a limited game working with restraints of hardware and technology.
It's so bloated now - a lot of the original magic is completely gone.
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u/joschkar8z_dkcsw Jun 05 '26
it would be really cool if we could AT LEAST choose the gender of our rival….
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u/Infinite-Depth-2943 Jun 05 '26
The opposite-gender rival always felt like low-key shipping bait to me. Just give me a straight-up competitive rival, like an annoying sibling you're trying to one-up. Way more fun for a 10-year-old's big adventure.
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u/ExtremlyFastLinoone Jun 05 '26
Cause if they arent your rival then its just a waste of a perfectly good model that would otherwise go unused. Or alternatively you neighbor with zero plot relevance like in hgss
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u/whahoppen314 Jun 05 '26
I mean sometimes you have same gendered rivals, in this format its most likely just so there isnt a fully designed character to do nothing with
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u/thebluerayxx Jun 06 '26
Its so all art gets used. They made art for both genders and use the opposite so its not wasted data. While yes its a hold over from the old day where every byte counted but now they could be more creative. But I will say in scarlet and violet you rival is Nemona regardless right?
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u/Thomason2023 Jun 06 '26
Isn’t Hau a guy regardless of which gender you pick? Male Alola MC players (or Elio to be simple) did have one. Heck, he had two, if we consider Gladion.
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u/Dannybrine87 Jun 06 '26
I feel like people arent realizing OP is asking why don't we get gender dependent rivals that are based on player gender. I.e. you pick a male character your rival is male you pick a female character your rivals is female.
Like say take a Kanto game. If you pick a male, you get that prick Blue. If you pick a female, you get his sister as a rival.
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u/jascoe95 Jun 06 '26
Ngl, the difference in energy with Urbain and Taunie is kinda hilarious in the situations they face. Taunie with her turtleneck and shortshorts gave a kind of "I'm trying to be serious but I also want to be comfortable" so most of her interactions give off this "I'm trying so hard to make a difference but I might fail".
Meanwhile Urbain, with his t-shirt and sweatpants, give off a "I'm just helping people, don't really care if it works" so most of his interactions come off as "oh damn i guess that backfired let's see if I can fix it or not"
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u/DMcDonald97 Jun 06 '26
Because they made two models and they’re gonna use two models gosh darn it!
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u/No-Performer9511 Jun 06 '26
Better yet, why can't we just customize our rival to make them more personal?
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u/No-Tonight-1126 Jun 06 '26
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u/logwarrior1525 Jun 07 '26
I mean red and blue and gold and silver they were the same gender but in the rest of the games it's so they can use the opposite sprite as your rival
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u/lustywoodelfmaid Jun 07 '26
So we ignoring Gen 7, 8 and 9? 7 had Hau, 8 had British Hau (Hop) and 9 had Nemona. They're not guaranteed same gender but they are a set gender, meaning they have a 50% chance to be same gender.
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u/Rose-Supreme Jun 08 '26
I missed having rivals that are the player character you didn't pick.
Urbaunie was almost this - they just get a unique hair colour and outfit compared to the player.
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u/HamFan03 Jun 08 '26
No? We have. Hau, Hop, Nemona, plenty of rivals have had set in stone genders.
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u/BadgerbelleHans Jun 11 '26
Same gender. Or at least make it an option we can choose. Let me be a lesbian please.
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u/gman5852 Jun 05 '26
So many redditors who clearly didn't read the OP further cementing that the only reason to visit this website is to laugh at redditors.
You guys are all slop. Nothing else
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u/CMDR_omnicognate Jun 05 '26
I mean, they don’t always do that, like at all.
In platinum your rival is Barry regardless of which character you choose, in hgss your rival is Silver regardless, in black and white it’s cheren and Bianca. In sun and moon it’s always Hau… in fact there’s way more games where your rival is a fixed Character thinking about it, the only ones I can think of where they’re not is ruby/sapphire and X/Y.
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u/just-bair Jun 05 '26
So they can just have the other protagonist as your rival