Ash Ketchum (seasons 1-13, 17-25)

Ash Ketchum (Japanese: サトシ Satoshi) is the main protagonist of the Pokémon series, mostly the anime. His signature Pokémon was always a Pikachu. He is also the anime counterpart of Red, the player character of the Gen I games.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) Ash made a lot of really good friends in the past seasons; especially in the original series.
 * 2) His Pikachu was iconic to the point it became the Pokémon franchise's mascot.
 * 3) Ash's Pokémon, such as Pikachu, Charizard, Heracross, and Greninja are awesome (especially Charizard and Greninja).
 * 4) He only got more mature as the episodes went on.
 * 5) He has saved many lives and many legendaries.
 * 6) He won the Battle Frontier and was wanted for Frontier Brain, but he turned it down so he could keep travelling the world, which was a great and adventurous choice.
 * 7) He believes in treating Pokemon with respect and gets angry at anyone who abuses their Pokemon.
 * 8) He starts fresh each time he goes to a new region with brand new Pokemon (with the exceptions of Pikachu, Aipom and possibly any others), which shows that he likes to play fair.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Ash in the Black & White seasons was not well received as he got flanderized going from mature to immature.
 * 2) He rarely wins in Pokemon leagues, the only leagues he won were the non-canon Orange League and the Alola League.
 * 3) He has done a lot of stupid things and made a lot of bad mistakes in the past.
 * 4) He can be rude towards his friends at times.

Trivia

 * His English name, Ash is derived from his Japanese name Satoshi as those letters came from that name (Satoshi).
 * In turn, he is named after his creator, Satoshi Tajiri.
 * In fact, his Japanese name meant "wisdom" or "reason".
 * His outfit varies as he travels through regions (His Kalos/Gen VI outfit pictured).