So the Pokémon series finally gets a black character, but is she too black?

Meet Aloe, the first black character in the Pokémon franchise. She’s not just black, she’s Aunt Jemima black. Big ol’ hair, 70’s headband, and even an apron. She looks like an anime "Mammy" caricature ready to serve up some fried chicken and cornbread. Is this really what Japan thinks of African Americans?

[EYEamNUMBER1]

here we go... i know where this is going already -__-

[DORMIN]

Wow this article just made me realize there were never any black characters in Pokemon.
I just never noticed it over the obsessive collecting and animal enslaving silly that is pokemon.

Anyways no one should be surprised, JRPGs and black people seem to be culturally polar magnets =/

[ingiomar]

brock is black -.-

[Paradise]

Yeah brock is pretty dark

[Jrome]

Yeh wtf...the first thing that came to my mind was brock lol...unless he just has a really good..permanent tan...

[telekineticmantis]

Wow

[-Alpha]

Jinx was black too (depicted black women) but the Pokemon was SO black that they had to make it purple. It offended people because the Pokemon was stereotyping black woman of some kind or something.

[presto717]

I'm not surprised by this. NOT AT ALL.

[writersblock]

Brock's black?

I thought he was some sort of hispanic

[Newtype]

brock is okinawan.

[Army_of_Darkness]

You got a black person in the game now, but the dude has complaints of her being too black?!?! WFT?! just shut the F#@K up! be happy and catch'em pokemon's already!

[HolyOrangeCows]

She looks like Mammy from Gone with the Wind, but with a blue afro. Kind of an outdated stereotype.

[fatstarr]

Just noticed really wow...
brock is just the tan char that was there to hold space.

he could be Spanish, Black, Indian etc.

soon will be the day when the main char will be black
cant wait to see.

[ExplosionSauce]

Brock aka Takeshi, is not black! Look at his eyes, he's Asian. He's able to have spiked hair. Also his original name is Japanese, along with his parents'.
http://archives.bulbagarden...

And no, his tan isn't permanent.
http://archives.bulbagarden...

He was even removed from the Orange Islands story arc because they thought Americans would find his eyes a "racist stereotype". Thankfully, there wasn't enough stupid people here to make a big deal out of it and they put Brock back in the series next season.

End-o-story :)

[D4RkNIKON]

I prefer this kind of black anime http://www.alwayshustle.com...

[gtsentry]

lmaooo

[PS3Freak]

The Boondocks = win.

[fatstarr]

rofl the fried chicken episode on Sunday was so funny.

[Persistantthug]

Seriously,

What's wrong with Japanese game developers?

[gumgum99]

lmao, gotta catch those pancakes!

Wow, this topic is getting hairy...>.>

[Kamikaze135]

AND is father sold rocks for a living. Nice innuendo there, lmao.

[R2D2]

She's chocolate Mocha

[Darkstorn]

I'm not even going to TOUCH this one...

[panasonic23]

No sh!t ofcourse japan believe in the american streotype of africans look at anime mr popop

[Nappa]

Mr popo is evil.I wouldn't dare mess with him!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

OH GOD HES SCARING ME VAGETA!!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[DasTier]

MR POPO!!!!!!!!

[TheFaggot_]

Fuck you man that scared the living crap out of me

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

I just watched that and my dog looked at me like 'WTF'

[Tainted Gene]

obvious there is more at the end of the video since the indicator shows about 10 sec left, still funny.

[El-Fenemeno1213]

=O that's a cool fro =D So it's black enough for me to not ignore this game =D

[XxBarretxX]

Brock is Native American...not black

[washingmachine]

i thought brock was a tanned japanese or some sort cross breed lol. anyway,why would you want a gangsta girl ina pokemon game?

[LightofDarkness]

I don't believe using the term "too black" is appropriate...

[Qui-Gon Jim]

I think the "too black" is more about that she reads as a stereotype. I agree that the phrase doesn't come across well, though.

[Optical_Matrix]

This article in itself has hints of racism be even though it's not intentional. "Too black"? Wtf is too black? I find that incredibly offensive being black myself. And the stereotype of "ready to serve up chicken and corn bread" (Which I hear is common with black americans)...I mean come on. Black people are stereotyped in western media as well. Look at the Coal in Gears of War is portrayed! Aloe looks black the same way the trainers you play as look white :/ Don't know why this is getting called up.

The problem with society is everyone is trying too hard to be PC. So what if a black guy has an afro in a game (Sazh in FFXIII)...afro's are black haircuts. Going by that logic having a character with blonde hair and blue eyes in a videogame is a stereotype of white people. What a stupid article

[HelghastKid]

Lmao come on man im black too but that is pretty damn funny. And i dont know about you, but I've never met a person who doesnt like fried chicken and cornbread lol.

On topic- I believe that japan has gotten better with portraying blacks in there games. Just look at FF7, Barett was the early version of Cole. Now look at FFXIII, Sazh seems like just an average guy who happens to be black. He isnt ghetto or anything like that. Though i dont think anyone else in the cast has the ability to say "Get it Girl!" like he can :p

[Qui-Gon Jim]

And i'm a white guy from Minnesota.

[LightofDarkness]

It is true, cornbread and fried chicken are both delicious. And I'm Irish. And very, very white :p

[HelghastKid]

lol exactly! and I love meat and potatoes though that is supposedly Irish food. If only certain types of food could be eaten by certain races id be pretty mad lol. Love food to much

[Optical_Matrix]

You missed my point. I'm black and I love friend chicken, but how can they be calling up on stereotypes then using one in the opening of their article?

But I agree with you. I find it so ridiculous how pc everyone tries to be. And the harder they try, the bigger deal these "stereotypes" become even though they're not a problem to begin with. Like I said, Sazh had an afro but it doesn't make him a stereotypical black person. Afro is a black mans hair cut. Same way short blonde hair is a white mans hair cut. Yet when we have short blonde haired videogame characters, no one ever calls "OHHHH STEREOTYPE OHHH!!"

[HelghastKid]

True i see what you are saying, but white characters have been in games forever. Blacks on the other hand are still extremely rare. The game designers just try to play it safe and go by how the media portrays blacks as loud, ghetto, semi educated people when that is not the case(Cole)

[ECM0NEY]

I dont think white people can be stereotyped as easily bc its a generic race.
The only one I can think of is a Red Neck.

[LightofDarkness]

Agreed, I can understand that perhaps they don't mean "too black" so literally, as in a negative slant on the over-abundance of African culture presented. What they should have said, perhaps, was "... is it exploitative?"

Regardless, clearly a little editorial foresight would've gone a long way here. Using terms like these conjure up images of the sort of puritanical views brought forth by the cultural elites, during an age of a much "whiter" America, vainly grasping at their vast, crumbling pillars of social dominance in an era not long past. This article's poor choice of wording, whatever it's intent, will surely serve only to tarnish the site's reputation, as it has certainly has all ready with myself.

[TheoreticalParticle]

It's because there's no balance. I mean, aside from Trauma Center: New Blood, I can't think of a Black female character in a game that isn't supposed to be some booty-quaking (ass-kicking or not) mamma-jamma who could easily leave her job in the game world and be featured in the video for "Baby Got Back".

Maybe if they had some Black characters that weren't supposed to be the loudmouthed sidekick, it would be fine. Throw some Black NPCs into your game first. Black shopkeepers, that kind of thing.

BTW, "Too Black" is when you take the bits of information about some Black people, and lump all those things into the ONE Black character. I don't know too many Black women that are super into rap music, love cooking fried chicken, wear aprons all the time, have giant afros, and have "junk in the trunk".

It's the same for other cultures. Your character's "Too Mexican" when he has an irrational love of tacos and soccer, wears a sombrero, takes siestas, references tequila all the time, and drives around in a lowered hoopty with tires that extend from the car and hydraulics.

[TheTwelve]

...seriously?

12

[120FPS]

Way to go to get some hits - There have been quite a few articles on this site in recent times about games "stereotyping" black characters - How exactly can a black character be created without recieving the wrath of someone?

I think no matter what happens they will always be some moaning bastuard.

[writersblock]

Creating an article on PS3 vs 360 is fishing for hits
An article bashing a popular exclusive is fishing for hits

This is a legitimate article

[Gue1]

I wrote something but black people are too prejudiced so I deleted it...

[writersblock]

Stfu

[gypsygib]

Clearly you're prejudiced about black people being prejudiced.

[SpaceFox]

Brock tends to wear an apron, but I have to agree. She sticks out like a sore thumb in a world full of Japanese people with green hair.

[silvacrest]

what is to black?
is there a to white as well?
or to asian?

[PS3Freak]

to black, or not to black, that is the question.

I think you mean "too"

[TheoreticalParticle]

Yes.

Look at the new Predator movie for a perfect definition of "too Asian". You have all the guys from different military walks of life. What's the Asian guy? Yakuuuuuuzaaaaa. No body armor, tatted up, uses a katana. Yeah. That's "too Asian".

"Too White" guy shows up in foreign movies, but he's usually just "Too American" guy.

[telekineticmantis]

Aunt Jemima with an attitude. I guess it was easier to do it that way.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

I hope she has a partner named Vera.

[Brklynty1]

why does this matter? Pokemon is japanese! someone show me a black native born japanese person please!

[TheFaggot_]

This is stupid.
I've seen blacker people than that. also, the author of this article is racist.

[BeastModeYMOB]

I find it funny that white ppl try to be "too black" themselves by tanning all year. U will never be brown or dark brown, just orange or white.

[Aquarius]

lmao

[writersblock]

I want to take a black friend to japan, videotape the hyjinks and release a movie called "Black man in Japan Land"

[nilamo]

be sure to take him to roppongi, tokyo. So you can call it "black man among other black men in japan land".

[jetlian]

i'm thinking of going to japan next year. My friend too he's a little japanese and a lot of mexican

[Convas]

Yeah, too black? There's such a thing as "too black"? So you can be "too" white, asian, hispanic, etc?

This is silly. Everybody knows that Black people really don't live in Japan, so when they do (if ever) make a black character, they have to do research and usually end up making a character chalk full of stereotypes.

[TheoreticalParticle]

Over half the people I know that went to Japan as English teachers on the JET program were Black, and the majority of Japanese people there avoided them. That's why they don't know anything about them, it's willful ignorance.

[iceman06]

Hate to bust your bubble...not literally...but I am black AND I lived in Japan for 3.5 years. You do realize that the Japan still has a large US military presence right? There are bases spread all over the place. Which means that there are indeed black people in Japan. When I first moved there, at age 12, we lived off base. There was a guy that looked like a typical black guy, but in fact was mixed. He spoke no English. Probably the result of his mom hooking up with some military guy or something. Either way, it was strange to see this.
As far as the stereotypes, when I was there the culture was still catching up. About the only thing that they knew about black people was Michael Jackson. They actually had T-shirts with graphics that depicted Mammy and Sambo styled characters. They even had a restaurant called Golden Skillet. It was a fried chicken fast food joint and the marketing surrounded a cartoon man in black face that sounded like Louis Armstrong and licked his over-sized lips as he sucked on chicken bones. While this was a tad funny, it was also extremely inappropriate. But, they just didn't realize it.
On Topic: I think that this is probably just an example of the above. The Japanese love the cultural aspects of blacks (music, dancing, food, etc.) but they don't truly understand the culture.

[Rashonality]

if you really aren't a racist you shouldn't care if there's a black/white/purple/whatever character or not
i mean if you really aren't a racist you shouldn't even think about race in the first place

[Sagetech]

Here we go again with the racism thing.Im black, i dont see a problem with this.It's japan dammit, how many pink haired kids do you see everyday? (lightning from FF13 and sakura from naruto). OH NOES ITS RACIST BCUZ NOW EVERYONE IS GONNA THINK THAT PINK HAIRED PEOPLE ARE OVERLY EMOTIONAL!!!! The afro thing? Its a culturally black hair style, how many caucasians do you see with an afro? answer is probly not alot, if they made them look exactly like everyone else it could just be a pallete swap for all they care. People just need to shut up til you hear a game say 'Nigga, you should be back in chains" or something like that.

[FF7numbaone]

I guess they were expecting her to look like Alicia Keys.

[ebgeer]

Its not like Japan doesnt over exaggerate expression in every sterotype possible...just look at when Japan devs make ajapanese person...they have slits as eyes...come off it..it happens...its a great way to portray a race and have it known. And voice acting whites..it comes out like a monotone business professional from 1950s. These things are all over Japanese games.

[Redempteur]

everyone does that ... american animetion studio does overexagerate the expression of everyone else ... just look at the cartoons !!

And europeans animation studios does the same ..

[Moerdigan]

I clicked on the link and saw the outfit...wow.

At least she's not overweight to off. Oh, lawd!

[Redempteur]

WHAT a stupid article ...

First black characters appeared in the pokemon anime and it was no problem
Second .. there nothing as "too black " seriously .. thats' racism
third what's the problem in including black people in a fictionnal city ?

Afros are used in many cultures in the past , AND pokemon is in a fictional world ..what's the problem really ?

[Quickstrike]

um....I know it's been said already, but Brock says hi. You know, one of the first original main characters that traveled along with Ash?

[CaptainPunch]

Lol I never knew Brock was black, I just thought he was always tan.

[Snert]

First of all there is really no such thing as a white or black person, thats something caucasians/europeans made up. There's nothing wrong with the afro, that's people of color natural hair style & we have other styles to like braids & dread locs.

[CyrusNightshade]

Either way people are going to complain, If their not "too black" their not "black enough" There is no middle ground when it comes to this. People just love to shout "RACIST" any chance they get, I mean looks at RE5 last year

[MidnightScott]

Let me guess, the author of the story is black? She doesn't look like a Jemima caricature. Also, how do you know that's her hair, it could be a headband ala Brendan in R/S/E... Also, she isn't fat from what I can tell...

Her clothing looks like a gardeners clothing, and since her name is ALOE, I assume she is the grass gym leader, so the clothes fit.

People always look for stuff that just isn't there.

[cult_of_N]

Hello all... i'm a long time reader, but this is my very first post. I am a black american who has played pokemon since its initial release, so this article really got my attention.

If i might be so bold:

1. Brock is not black. LMAO
2. Aloe will be the THIRD black character in the pokemon series. Hoenn's Ghost Trainer in the Elite Four would be the first. There is also a black female trainer in the Battle Frontier.

As a black man i appreciate this article and it's authors passion, but i do not agree. Since when are afro's, aprons, and headbands negative black stereotypes? Aloe, so far, appears to be nothing other than a black woman with green hair. She's dark, but nothing compared to the original Jynx. She does not look a "Mammy", a "Sambo", or "Aunt Jemima".

We should wait for the character's actually dialogue before we judge so harshly.

[JJFNIGHTS80]

ENOUGH WITH THE RACISM THING HERE ALREADY DAMN. And I don't think anyone here even know who's the new character or what race their are for BLACK & WHIRE.Can we just enjoy your NEW POKEMON GAME jeeze.

[cult_of_N]

oh don't get me wrong jjfnights80, i am definitely going to enjoy this one