With over 20 years worth of episodes under its belt, the Pokemon anime has seen its fair share of characters come and go from the series. While Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket have remained staples since the first few episodes, many side characters have come and gone as the years have gone by, some more memorable than others.
Some of these characters verge on ridiculous when the focus is left on them for too long, as they either bring into question the exact nature of the Pokemon World by their mere existence or they portray the kind of person that isn't the most kid-friendly personality the writers could have come up with.
10 The Ghost of Maiden's Peak
One of the first truly haunting episodes in the Pokemon series was a ghost story named "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak," where the spirit of a dead woman lured men into her old home in order for them to stay with her for all time, replacing her dead husband who sailed off to war centuries earlier. The ghost in question, however, turns out to be a rather nasty Gastly which, aside from being able to create realistic illusions, could also talk just as well as Meowth. There's nothing about this Gastly that isn't completely insane, but, unfortunately, it has only appeared in one episode.
9 Tommy The Wild Boy
The Pokemon anime, particularly in its first few seasons, drew from several well-known story sources, including, but not limited to, Godzilla, Frankenstein, and Tarzan. When it comes to the latter, this is portrayed in the episode "The Kangaskhan Kid," where wild boy is raised by a group of Kangaskhan in a similar way to Tarzan being raised by gorillas. The premise is somewhat ridiculous, though not as crazy as some other episodes in the original series. What brings it all together is the fact that Tommy's parents end up giving up their life of luxury to live in the wild with their son and his surrogate family.
8 Harley's Wigglytuff
There are several crazy recurring characters in Pokemon that stick around a particular Pokemon theme, such as Ducplicta and her obsession with Ditto, but one of the crazier, and sometimes creepier, is Harley, one of May's contest rivals during the Hoenn series. While his signature Pokemon, Cacturne, is quite menacing, it's his Wigglytuff that really takes the cake.
Unlike every other Wigglytuff shown in the anime, Harley's looks like it's constantly out for blood and will fight far more aggressively than most others in its species. Not only is it unnerving, but it is also quite powerful, being able to hold back May's Eevee and Munchlax on their own before finally falling to a well-placed Focus Punch.
7 Jigglypuff
A recurring character for the first few seasons of the anime, Jigglypuff first appeared in the aptly titled "The Song of Jigglypuff," where it was looking for someone to be able to listen to its song without falling asleep. While the premise for this Pokemon returning in future episodes wasn't too crazy, the fact that they followed Ash and his group not just throughout Kanto, but to the Orange Islands, Johto, and Hoenn as well brings into question just how powerful this Pokemon is. It also shows why no one in the group thought to catch it after Misty gave up in their first encounter.
6 Kaiser, The Safari Zone Warden
For many viewers who watched the English dub, Ash suddenly having an entire herd of Tauros came as a shock since the episode where he caught them was banned for showing a large number of scenes where Ash was being threatened with a gun. The man who did the threatening, Kaiser, doesn't seem to be the most stable individual in the series, which is saying something when Ash and his group are constantly being chased by Team Rocket. He has no issue sticking his pistol in Ash's face whenever he feels mildly annoyed at the newbie trainer.
5 The Ancient, Giant Pokemon
The first season of Pokemon is full of insane Pokemon encounters, such as the giant Dragonite in "The Mystery of the Lighthouse," the talking Gastly in "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak," but most notably, the ancient Pokemon in the episode "The Ancient Puzzle of Pokemopolis." In this episode, not only does the group accidentally release a giant Alakazam and Gengar from some very old-looking vessels, but also a giant Jigglypuff to sing them back to sleep so they don't destroy the world with their psychic powers.
4 Lysandre
In the Pokemon X & Y games, Lysandre gets a lot of flack for being a bit of a weird evil team leader, especially coming off of the back of Black & White's excellent evil team with Team Plasma and Ghetsis. In the anime, Lysandre gets more time to shine and flesh out what he actually wants in the end, but that doesn't make his plan any less insane.
In a nutshell, Lysandre is obsessed with beauty and thinks that the world can't be beautiful unless it is destroyed, hoping to use the power of two Zygarde to get his way. While he is clearly unstable, he is also an incredibly powerful trainer as he was nearly able to defeat both Ash and Alain despite the pair being in the Kalos League finals together.
3 Korrina's Lucario
There have been several disturbing Pokemon in the series so far, but none are as unnerving as Korrina's Lucario after it first gained the ability to Mega Evolve. Unlike other Mega Evolutions, Lucario has to balance its aura with its newfound power and will be driven insane if it can't control itself. In its first battle against Ash and Pikachu, Lucario nearly killed both Ash and Pikachu and was only stopped by the timely intervention of Korrina's grandfather and his own Lucario.
2 Tobias
When the Sinnoh League was first getting underway, the main conflict that was being set up was between Ash and Paul, whose rivalry had been ongoing even before Paul released his Chimchar for Ash to capture. In the background, however, another trainer, Tobias, was being set up as a potential threat to both of these trainers as his Darkrai was apparently powerful enough to sweep through every trainer by itself. It wasn't until Ash got his chance to battle Tobias that the audience could see just what he was capable of, as he was revealed to also have a Latios, bringing into question what other legendary Pokemon this random trainer must have in his possession.
1 Sabrina
Of all the dark characters in the original series, none are as crazy as Sabrina. Aside from being able to force her Abra to evolve in the middle of battle, her psychic powers also nearly resulted in Ash and his group dying halfway through the series, as she shrunk them down to the size of dolls and nearly squashed them under a ball while "playing" with them. While her personality has reverted to a far less insane version of herself, it's hard to forget her first battle with Ash and the fact that, somewhere in Kanto, there are trainers who weren't so lucky after losing to her.