Ranking Pokemon Sinnoh Gym Leaders (And Elite Four) Designs

A good generation for husbandos.
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Music used: Carpe Diem by Kevin MacLeod
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[@troperhghar9898]

Please draw yourself and your sister as gym leaders

[@nerdinahoodie7972]

I absolutely love this series and can't wait for Gen 5. Hopefully, one of the boys can take the top spot with such strong contenders as Grimsley and Drayden.

[@-ongLeVietanha]

“Fire or McDonald’s” that part make me laugh

[@bobi200samatar6]

Massive appreciation for using the nice 2d art over the plain and stiff BDSP models for the intro for each character

[@twiinsiink]

Broooo! The BDSP models are so disappointing!

[@PanzerIVAE]

I absolutely love this series. Its always itching at my brain for the next part. Also I'm absolutely glad Fantina got a perfect grade because she is incredibly underrated for how great her design is

[@astereotypicalgamer1708]

Notes to the Pokemon Company: know which characters Twiins has crushes on and start merchandising the hell out of them.

[@Lord_Moldybutt]

Damn, I also had a huge crush on Roark back then. His design is peak "just some guy", but that's all you need sometimes lol 😅 Also yeah, Cynthia as #1, expected but not unearned. I don't want to say GameFreak had lighting in a bottle for Cynthia, but the champions that came after her definitely had some big shoes to fill.

[@sethgriffin3754]

This was fun video can't wait for black and white some of the most detailed and best designs in Pokemon

[@hollowfox213]

I'm sad Byron is so low, but that's just because I think he's hot. Sometimes all someone needs is their construction worker step son and their dressed-like-a-hobo husband.

[@yourlocalyanfei]

Lucian has been my favorite character design for years now. I’m not sure why I like it. Maybe it’s the simple yet effective color pallet, or the tinted glasses. Whatever it is, he’s my fav

[@yourlocalyanfei]

Also, for some reason, I used to think that he was a girl because of his hair. Idk why I thought that, but it’s ironic to me now since I have almost the exact same hair style, just minus the purple hair.

[@indiana47]

Cynthia has some of the best drip I have seen.

[@mirramirraonthewall]

Something I’d love to see when you’ve done each gen is how you might go about redesigning the bottom looks from each gen, especially since character design is kind of your jam

[@slipskolt7300]

I pretty much agree with this ranking honestly, I would not change much. A lot of people rag on Cynthia for being "overrated" which is fine, everyone has their preferences of course, but there's a few distinct reasons that she's the most popular Pokemon character to exist and one of those reasons is her design. Her silhouette is iconic, her blonde hair and black outfit create a great contrast in her design. I reckon if you were to take the two main colours from every champion, most people would be able identify Cynthia first. Like you said, her dark colours, the coat and the hair over the eye really evoke that mysterious nature of her character whilst tying into the fact that she's an archaeologist studying mythology. Her outfit is also warm for the cold weather of Sinnoh too its just like goddamn bruv, they struck a gold mine with this character. Honestly my only complaint is that there just doesn't feel like enough of Garchomp in her design. You mentioned the headpieces she has but that definitely reminds of Lucario more than Garchomp (which I wouldn't be surprised if that was initially going to be her ace) but that still works because she has a Lucario! The design might not fit Garchomp but it certainly matches a lot of her other mons. It's elegant like Roserade and Milotic, with the fluffy sleeves emanating Roserade's bouquet and the teardrop zipper ties in with Milotic and Gastrodon. Her dark colours and asymmetry on her faces matches Spiritomb extremely well. Oml, I could go on. I think the biggest reason you can tell that Cynthia has a great design is that she's the only Sinnoh character who doesn't feel outdated. I was so excited for a DP remake but I sorely lamented the fact that they weren't gonna update the designs like bro??? HOW ARE YOU GONNA REMAKE THE GAME AND NOT UPDATE AARON??? 😭 I was devestated broo. I noticed too that the other female champions seem to take a degree of inspiration from Cynthia too, with the exception of Iris who wasn't originally conceptuallised to be champion to begin with. Diantha has the coat, Geeta with the long hair and dark tailored suit, both with this calm demeanour but like, I honestly think they missed the mark and I kinda wish they tried something different with them. Apologies for the long wall of text, I just love this character and this gen, both are easily my favourites loololl, like Cynthia is partially why I wear my hair the way I do (I was mainly inspired by Rosalina from Mario tho lol). Can't wait for gen 5. Imo, I think Alder's design is nearly as strong as Cynthia's but I'll have to see where you put him

[@indiana47]

She's got great drip.

[@arraneeno]

I was legit just watching the other 3 of these videos last night wondering when you were gonna get to my favourite gym leaders 😂

[@superserg4763]

Damn you Twiins, as soon as I heard Candice, I was about to make the joke. Alas.... I am stopped in my tracks ;-;

[@twiinsiink]

You and excalibur are the problem, lmao! 🤣

[@superserg4763]

@@twiinsiink You know it 😂

[@nishant9289]

What's interesting is, in my opinion, Cynthia's design seems to reflect a lot of her team: Black drapery? Spiritomb! Eyes? Look a lot like that of Roserade! Hair Clips? Quite reminiscent of Lucario! Tall and Slender design? Milotic! Though I can't figure out for Gastrodon, Togekiss and Garchomp. EDIT: Well, I guess the clips work for Garchomp too

[@Pop5chan]

“rorak may look like silver wearing a hat” took me out 😂 love these videos

[@Whosthathufflepuff]

Oh hell yeah I love these videos. No notes. I can’t wait for the next one - there are so many in Unova!

[@flyingfist4203]

3:33 Aw god I feel old XD

[@miatx6818]

To be honest if Aaron only had one big longer more hair on his head next to the other it actually represent his bug type cuz they look like bug antennas. Also if he had some yellow or orange hexagon patterns on it it could look like beehives. Which will look cool enough

[@Eintracht-uy3cz]

My favourite gym leader overall is Kanto's Erika. I honestly never played any Sinnoh game and just enjoy this series. Judging by what you present, Gardenia seems best imo. There seems to be something about Grass type girls... they all seem so graceful, beautiful and full of character.

[@Mr.Cynical]

It's crazy how these designs could have easily been remade and improved upon (or probably worsened) if the remake that looks like a late 2000's mobile game didn't decide to be so faithful that we couldn't even get a new look for them. Jesus.

[@nathanblackburn1193]

Pretty sure the gen 5 vid will be the longest with Chilli Cylan and Cress, and the Black 2 & White 2 gym leaders replacing the trio, Lenora and Brycen plus Drayden and Iris being gym leaders in each version and Iris's champion role in Black 2 & White 2, so like 8 gym leaders + the other two brothers and Iris making 11 gym leaders + the three new gym leaders on B2 & W2 making 14 gym leaders 4 elite four and 2 champions for a total of 20 designs

[@twiinsiink]

Chilli Cylan and Cress will probably get lumped together, kinda like Tate and Liza. I just don't think there's really any good reason to separate them when they'd probably just end up right next to each other anyway if I did. But yeah, Kalos and Alola both have a lot going on, lol

[@mray4784]

Volkner seems like the Pokemon version of Minato Namikaze.

[@jorgegonzalez7199]

I'm so happy right now

[@PaytonPaw124]

That's the thing that's why it's Cynthia is known as one of the best champions because you know her team is a total nightmare not to mention she is a killer when it comes to nuzlocks not to mention in journeys she is almost a touchable but of course cuz of Ash besides the point it's hard to get around her

[@bbgunz1705]

So, next is Gen 5, which should be a lot of fun. I do have some questions about it. 1. How are rankings going to work for characters whose appearance changes between Black/White and B2/W2 (Elesa/Iris/Cheren)? 2. Is N going to be in the ranking? He does beat the Elite 4 and Alder so he's kind of champion (and also, you'll probably get tons of people asking what you think of his design considering he's one of Pokemon's most popular characters)

[@twiinsiink]

1. Elesa and Iris will have each different design ranked separately (so technically they both will appear twice in the ranking). I'll only be including Cheren's design from BW2, when he's a gym leader. 2. No, he never takes the title of champion. For what it's worth, I really like N's design. It's immediately recognizable and does a good job of making him look a little like an outsider, while still successfully looking like he belongs.

[@RoseGarden17]

The Bo Burnham bit with Lucian😆

[@martinlee1179]

I hope you do the Gym Leaders from the rest of the regions soon!

[@fishnewt1331]

I can’t believe I am late to this. Months late. T-T This was my favorite Gen. Completely agree with this list.

[@mrsora16]

I agree that candice didn't strike me as a ice type gym leader at first, also her whole schoolgirl look might've been one of the reasons I had crush on her in the past 😅.

[@CoralPallet]

Number 3 has me feeling like Para -pa -pa -pa ~

[@justsomemajor8923]

Unpopular opinion but I would actually put Cynthina in 3rd in the list since while I think the design is amazing imo her choice of exclusively black doesn't do a great job at portraying that she dosent use a specific type in fact if I didn't know better I would've thought she was a dark type user (or at least a ghost type) Both Flint and Fantina represent both theur type and personality extremely well despite not being as slick as Cynthia's Though that's my 2 cents and I agree with pretty much the rest of the list

[@mono-watermatt3894]

I really like this series and am excited for the Unova one. It will be a long monster, but I am hype.

[@mimigigihere]

lucian kinda looks like diane keaton to me. i love it

[@bbgunz1705]

Yeah, Sinnoh is one of my favorites. While I never played the original Gen 4 games, there's a lot I love. Gen 4 is probably my favorite generation of new Pokémon introduced, with Gen 6 being 2nd place. It's most well-known for giving us a bunch of new, and well-needed, evolutions for older Pokémon, and I think them and the original 'mons created are really good. I also grew up with the Sinnoh anime and it is still my personal favorite. Dawn is best girl and her journey felt almost as important as Ash, Brock probably got the most focus in that series more than any other, and the story with Paul and Infernape is still one of the best in the anime with an immensely satisfying ending. And this gen also gave us Cynthia. What's not to love? Great ranking. Cynthia and Fantina both being in the top 2 makes perfect sense (they really are fabulous), and I appreciate seeing Gardenia so high up, because I also agree that she is very underrated. Overall, this was fun and I can't wait for the next one. Also, I think Volkner's name is supposed to be pronounced with a long 'o' like 'volt.'

[@lucad9667]

One of my favourites is Byron, let me explain. His son Roark, as you said, is decked out in professional mining gear, all prim and proper put together, everything is in it's place and he pretty much looks like he took great care about his attire. Notice how it's all looking clean and undamaged too. Byron on the other hand looks a lot less put together, a little bit more casual. Both father and son wear construction worker's pants with reflective stripes, but Byrons are visibly more used and worn down than Roark's. His boots are similar to older miner boots that were made of brown leather, whereas Rourke has more modern looking ones. They both have a typical worker's tank top, with Byron opting for white/light grey to reflect his steel type along with his large metal belt buckle, while Roark wears a darker colour without a visible belt. Also, Byron doesn't wear a helmet and ditched the coat that is part of a miners uniform. That strikes me as a guy that has a lot of experience and is a lot more easy going with his gear, like "Nah, it's fine. I've worked here quite some time now, the helmet is overrated". I definitly know some older workers who think like that. Roark on the other hand is quite literally a rookie, he's on his best behavior like someone who's trying not to get fired in his first week. The only part that I agree is weird in Byron's design is the cloak, but I think it makes him look cool.

[@lanutellaanonima823]

maylene is a close call for my favorite but flint can't be beaten i love him and when i was younger i had a crush on him and he is still my favorite

[@MagillanicaLouM]

It seems the even numbered gens are where you keep sucker punching me lol. Candice at the bottom, but unlike with Karen I just don't really see what you brought up as negatives. Except the teacher thing, I get why you'd have that misconception cause of her anime portrayal, but in the games she doesn't have that role, she was designed to represent a genki, energetic archetype, which she does in spades. She's like a pokemon-ified class rep, but unlike Roxanne's A-type take on one, she's the bubbly, mostly lighthearted but still responsible take. Also I never once got water type from looking at her personally, but your eyes, your list and all that lol. Aside from that, good analysis as always.

[@Electrosa]

Cynthia's hair decs are Lucario's aura sensors.

[@mitsunitaiko1742]

great video but I'm really curious about gen 5. I would like to know if you'll judge BW1's designs, BW2's designs, or both? If you judge Gen 2 I'd like to advocate for my favorite design though that's completely up to you of course. If so, my favorite design would be BW2 Iris because of how well thought I find her design for an ellipse design and a dragon champion design. There's of course the fact that her first outfit has been changed for a dress-kimono thing to reflect her new champion status but that's just the bottom of the iceberg. I absolutely love her yellow tiara that both reflects her BW1 hair knots and really look like dragon eyes. Her two big hair loopies on the side look like Haxorus' blades on the sides of its head, which is even more neat considering Haxorus is her ace. The top of her hair makes me think of an hydreigon's hair and her big ponytail of a... well, dragon tail in general So I just love her design particularly for these things but also in general. Of course I won't ask what you think of her because that's the point of the gen 5 video! I hope I did well advocating her though, though I'll accept if you disagree with me of course!

[@krowqueen4497]

I honestly much prefer Byron’s design over Roark’s I think it’s because of the cape and his posing in game

[@dpickle557]

Sinnoh is definetely my least favourite of the series, only really Cynthia, Wake (and *maybe* Flint) truly stick out to me. Also I find it hilarious Ryme and Tyme are just... objectively more interesting than Agatha and Bertha.

[@phobiawitch835]

I gotta say it but yeah, I agree with Candice being a Water, or even Flying, trainer. Her colors match Wingul and Pelipper! She should have had grey or black elements to replace the white and orange, to get closer to Frosslass, or some greens with greys instead of Orange to get Abomasnow

[@3ds_fellgod-myhopewillneve617]

Sinnoh is definitely my favorite Pokémon region when it comes to character designs in general. With a few exceptions, all of them live rent free in my head.

[@LA-be8fu]

If you continue this concept, recently Pokemon and Hatsune Miku entered a collaboration, making designs for Miku as a pokemon trainer of all 18 types. When they all come out, telling us your opinions on them and how they rank up could be fun!

[@juliagiles1547]

Flint being 3rd best and Candice being 3rd worst physically hurt…but I respect your opinion :’)

[@cecelia5031]

Hey Twiins, if you were a leader what would your main be?

[@twiinsiink]

Hmmm, I like houndoom a lot, but I think I'd want to be a fighting type leader. So I'll go with Sawk!

[@cecelia5031]

@@twiinsiink I looked him up and, oh mah God. His eyebrow and nose are connected!

[@twelfthknight]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of most of Sinnoh's designs largely because they felt like they wer just carrying on from Hoenn. Sure, there are still great desgins there and some are definitely iconic, but I don't feel like as a whole they convey a setting but rather are just... ya'know agnostic Pokemon designs, I guess.

[@PMbarbieri]

This video is another testament to how much I hate the Sinnoh remakes: there are plenty of things I don't like about them, but what I find to be the most unforgivable is that they didn't redesign the characters. Some of them really needed it. In my personal list, Byron is at rock (heh) bottom for one reason alone: that damn purple five o' clock shadow. He's supposed to be stereotypically manly, like Jecht from Final Fantasy X, if you want to keep that hair color, give him a proper beard, not that Elder Scrolls Oblivion style face-dirt. His face being so wide doesn't help either.

[@xmaswolf8733]

This was really good list For me, my top 3 are Cynthia, Fantina, and Gardena But other then that, I will attempt I actually don’t really like Sinnoh, and (except for a select few) I find so many of the important characters either bland or forgettable (Aside from Lucian, Gen 4 easily has my least favorite elite 4 in all of Pokémon)

[@crimson1194]

I blame Roark for starting my prefrence for glaces on charaacters at age 7 Evil

[@Fairyslash]

>vawkner

[@pokepress]

Candice might have benefited from having some sort of sports connection worked into her outfit. “Generic Asian Schoolgirl” isn’t doing her a lot of favors.

[@romulusnuma116]

Lots of just a guy energy for some of these designs

[@giboit.]

I'm going to be honest. I'm not the biggest fan of Maylene's design. She looks like a total pushover. Specially among other fighting type specialists. It doesn't help that her anime debut starts with Maylene's lucario training her (and not backwards) because she was too weak as a gym leader. Followed by a flashback where Paul (Ash's rival in Sinnoh) says to her face that the gym badge she got after defeating her is as light as her skills. I do think it's cool that she supposedly can use Aura (an ability that some fighting type specialist/lucario trainers have) and I like the contrast of the small girl being the fighting type gym leader but she still kinda looks like a pushover by comparison. I think Bea portrays the female fighting type gym leader better. Having an outfit that does looks like a fighting type user, a stoic personality that makes her look, competent and competitive but also having a soft side that you can see in the games in the way her expression changes to a more peaceful look after defeating her. And with her secret love for sweets mentioned in her league card (where you can also see her smiling) and in the anime. I know anime appearances aren't exactly related to the design but they're related to their character. And unlike Maylene, Bea was portrayed as a much more competent female fighting type user there and in the twilight wings mini series as well. Fun fact: The anime also shows her having a friendship with Korrina, the fighting type gym leader from Kalos. I agree with your opinion on Brawley but I like him a lot even if does look a bit like a water type trainer.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Well i mean, gonna ignore her getting over that slump in the anime and giving Ash and Dawn battles to remember? Plus in the games one way she trains is by running through the blizzard covered routes in just the clothing we see her in, pushover she is not lol.

[@giboit.]

@@MagillanicaLouM I mean, I'm not ignoring it. It just isn't enough for me to not see her as a pushover because even after that I don't see her beating any of the other fighting type gym leaders or any other prominent fighting type user for that matter. And considering Paul comes from Sinnoh it would be ironic if it turns out that when Paul said that he was offered to become a gym leader it's because they're replacing Maylene.That would be tragic but also kinda funny. Specially after what he said to her.

[@personperson4571]

:)

[@skyslasher2297]

1:43 Don’t worry Quinton Reviews of Quinton Reviews fame ruined the joke because he couldn’t get it right. Like wake up Mr Reviews it’s not that hard to say. That was a joke itself I just never found either funny. Btw this isn’t really a dig at Quinton I like his content fine enough even if I disagree with some of his takes like Brocacho Trina and Lewbert are awful characters. He just has a fun name and I take that and roll with that.

[@IoAKAIolite]

This was actually a horror video I watched with horrible mounting anticipation as I realized she was gonna put Cynthia in the top spot and there was nothing I could fo to avert it

[@brani9504]

Maylene got robbed. Also don’t think Lucian beats out Roark either. Also think both Roark and Maylene beat out Gardenia.

[@PunishedPrince]

Maylene is the only like little cute girl fighting Pokémon trainer tho? bea is shredded, eiri is tall as hell and shredded and korina is like average. Her carefree personality with the rollerblades define her more than being a young girl

[@PunishedPrince]

sinnohs designs gotta be the weakest out of the 9 generations so far