Giovanni is the cruel-hearted father of Ash Ketchum (Yuri Lowenthal/ Rica Matsumoto), ex-husband of Delia Ketchum (Veronica Taylor/Masami Toyoshima) and is the head of Team Rocket, and formerly served as the Gym Leader of Viridian City's Gym, known officially as the Viridian Gym.
While Giovanni very rarely takes the role of antagonist directly, his agents often have him in mind during mission, due to the chance of power, be it through promotion or other means necessary. This gave him a unique series of appearances, mainly during the Hoenn saga, where Meowth (Rob Paulsen/Inuko Inuyama R.I.P. Gilbert Gottfried, Maddie Blaustein and James Carter Cathcart) often imagined how the Pokemon in each episode could be used to help Giovanni and win the trio promotions. These boss fantasies never show his actual personality and occasionally even show Giovanni in chibi form, but every time that they failed, they get nothing but punishments for their failures.
In the original series, the Kanto saga in particular, Giovanni appeared as the mastermind behind a number of conflicts, though he rarely saw the battlefield, instead of letting his underlings carry out his orders. His first appearance was in Battle Aboard the St. Anne, showing to have a Persian as his "top cat" over Meowth, and talking to Jessie (Grey DeLisle-Griffin/Megumi Hayashibara R.I.P. Rachael Lillis), James (Eric Stuart/Shinichiro Miki) and Meowth through a TV screen. His face always remained hidden within the shadows, usually with only his mouth visible. In Island of the Giant Pokemon, it was revealed that he owns the theme park Pokemon Land and the giant mechanical Pokemon in it. He was not happy to hear that it had been destroyed, seething with anger and he pounded his desk out of frustration. He later reappeared in The Breeding Center Secret, where he checked on the progress of Butch (Eric Stuart/Takehito Koyasu) and Cassidy (Megan Hollingshead/Masako Katsuki)'s breeding center scam. He then congratulated them for their work and said he would choose out of the stolen Pokemon later.
Up until his appearance in The Battle of the Badge, his voice was altered with a vocoder effect, masking his identity, the only exception being the Japanese version of Island of the Giant Pokemon, most likely because he was speaking on the phone at that time. It can be inferred that they were trying to initiate the games, as in Generation I, it is not outright revealed that Giovanni, the Team Rocket boss, is the Viridian Gym Leader. As this episode corresponds to the point at which players of the games would discover that the two were the same person, Giovanni finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing his face during a Gym Battle against Gary Oak (Thomas F. Wilson/Yuko Kobayashi), and eventually utterly defeating him using Mewtwo (Dan Green/Masachika Ichimura R.I.P. James Earl Jones). After the battle, Jessie, James, and Meowth presented Misty's (Grey DeLisle-Griffin/Mayumi Iizuka) Togepi, which they recently stole, but he was unimpressed because that Togepi couldn't fight in a battle. Togepi slipped away while he was scolding them for wasting his time.
Unexplained events in the episode, other than that the events in question necessitated the use of Mewtwo caused Giovanni to abdicate his position as the Viridian Gym Leader, handing the Earth Badge to the Team Rocket trio that constantly follows Ash Ketchum, his own son to battle, although that his orders implied that he wanted the trio to defend the Gym from a possible attack. Through a combination of their own incompetence and Ash's willpower to win the Earth Badge, the Viridian Gym was destroyed at the end of the episode. Due to this, and perhaps some other circumstances, Giovanni permanently resigned as Viridian Gym Leader on Agatha (Ellyn Stern/Kazuko Sugiyama) of the Kanto Elite Four had taken over the Gym temporarily when Ash next returned to Viridian City after his journey in Hoenn in The Scheme Team.
In It's Mr. Mime Time, Giovanni was seen scolding Jessie, James, and Meowth on their failures and told them to bring rare Pokemon. Afterwards, he said that they'd never find a Pokemon as rare as Mewtwo. In Showdown at the Po-ke Corral, Giovanni's building was blown up by Mewtwo. He and his Persian survived the explosion; and he angrily told Jessie, James, and Meowth to do their job (ironically, they were about to quit).
In The Evolution Solution, Giovanni was on vacation at a beach resort in order to relieve the stress of his headquarters being destroyed and Mewtwo escaping. He also gave Jessie, James, and Meowth an assignment to break into the laboratory of Professor Westwood and steal information from it. He later appeared in A Scare in the Air, claiming that he was assigning Jessie, James, and Meowth to Team Rocket's elite dirigible division. In reality, he had enough of their failures and assigned them to an old, unreliable blimp that he hopes will crash so that he can collect its insurance policy, the trio's survival not concerning him.
Giovanni appeared near the beginning of Mewtwo Strikes Back, as he was the one who had Mr. Fuji (Tom Kenny/Minoru Inaba) clone Mewtwo for him. After Mewtwo destroyed the lab, Giovanni told Mewtwo that he saw him as a valuable partner, putting armor on Mewtwo and using him to defeat Trainers in Gym battles (including Gary's Nidoking and Arcanine, as seen in the anime) and help Team Rocket in their attempts to steal Pokemon. Eventually, Mewtwo confronted Giovanni about its treatment and Giovanni admitted that he didn't see Mewtwo as a partner but as a servant. This enraged Mewtwo and it was this incident which drove it to destroy Giovanni's base, allowing it to escape.
Giovanni was the main antagonist in Mewtwo Returns, where he sought out Mewtwo, who by this time was living in peace with the cloned Pokemon at Mount Quena. Once Giovanni discovered it, he tried to recapture it by threatening to use Mewtwo's cloned Pokemon friends in their experiments, experiments that he also claimed would certainly result in their death. He used two machines to try to make Mewtwo submit to his will, but though Mewtwo stepped into the orb, it was still unwilling to serve Giovanni, threatening to destroy his body first. Ash and the others were able to stop the machines, and it was around this time that they faced off against Giovanni and several Team Rocket soldiers. Their Pokemon fought as a distraction so Ash could get Mewtwo into the spring. Once Mewtwo was healed from its injuries, it moved the spring under the mountain to protect it, and then erased the memories of Giovanni and the other Team Rocket soldiers (excluding Jessie, James, and Meowth) of it, making him forget entirely about Mewtwo. Standing next to Domino and Persian wondering what they were doing, he got the strange feeling as though he had been utterly defeated.
He also made cameo appearances in The Fortune Hunters, where Butch and Cassidy gave him an update on their latest scheme; and Due's and Don'ts, where he begrudgingly accepted Jessie, James, and Meowth back into Team Rocket after their membership had been revoked because of unpaid dues and loans.
In Pokemon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, Giovanni himself played a minor role and the majority of his appearances were relegated to Meowth's boss fantasies. Beginning in A Ruin with a View, Giovanni oversaw Jessie, James, and Meowth's efforts to set up a base of operations in the Hoenn region, with the secret intent of learning about Team Aqua and Team Magma, the villainous teams residing there.
In A Three Team Scheme!, Giovanni was contacted by the trio for an update on their progress, but he was disappointed by their results. They did tell him that they had secured a Secret Base, however, and Giovanni told them to oversee its completion.
In Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend, he was informed by the trio that their Secret Base got destroyed. This caused him to threaten to send Butch and Cassidy to Hoenn in their place if they continued their failure streak.
In The Scheme Team, Giovanni listened to the trio's final report about their progress in Hoenn, where they claimed Team Aqua and Team Magma disbanded because of their efforts. Though he didn't believe them, he gave the trio a new assignment and pogo sticks as new equipment.
Giovanni's presence and role were once again minor and mainly relegated to Meowth's boss fantasies. When Team Rocket called him from Sinnoh, Giovanni hastily and un-enthusiastically approved the trio's plan to set up a new Team Rocket base in Two Degrees of Separation!.
In The Thief That Keeps on Thieving!, Giovanni was in his office when two grunts informed him about a special delivery from Sinnoh; the trio had sent him a Yanma. After learning they had already received a large supply of Yanma, he sent it back to the trio.
In Memories are Made of Bliss!, Giovanni was finally impressed with the trio when they claimed to be behind the defeat of Team Galactic. He subsequently allowed his secretary, Matori (Lisa Edelstein/Kiyomi Asai), to recruit the trio for an important mission.
In Pokemon the Series: Black and White, Giovanni took on a far more significant and antagonistic role than before, now being in regular contact with Jessie, James, and Meowth and assigning them on various missions throughout the Unova region. His outfit changed from his regular orange business suit to a darker, more militaristic suit. He often appeared alongside Matori, who helped him give orders to Jessie, James, and Meowth. Giovanni traveled to Unova in A Venipede Stampede! in order to collect the Meteonite. He was set to appear again in two following episodes, where he would use the threat of the Meteonite's power. This would have created power as a means of him extorting control over the Unova region from a gathering of elite business-people and politicians at a party in Castelia City, only for the Meteonite to be swiped by Team Plasma. However, these episodes never aired. He did not make any more appearances for a long time afterward, with Matori explaining that he was too busy to be in regular contact with Jessie, James, and Meowth anymore. During this time, his role as the trio's leader was filled by Dr. Zager.
After a long absence, Giovanni returned in Unrest at the Nursery!, making a brief appearance in his office. He then appeared in Meloetta and the Undersea Temple!, spearheading Team Rocket's Operation Tempest, a mission to capture Meloetta and use it to take control of Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus to conquer Unova. For the first time in the history of the series, he battled Ash directly, with Persian defeating Pikachu. He then captured Ash and Pikachu so Meloetta would have no choice but to go with him. They all went to the ruins in preparation for the next stage of the mission, using Meloetta's song to summon the Reveal Glass in the temple. In the beginning of Unova's Survival Crisis!, he used the Reveal Glass to summon the Forces of Nature and transform them into their Therian Formes before setting them against Ash, Iris, Cilan, Ridley, and Cynthia (Nicole Oliver/Tomo Sakurai). However, during the battle, Meloetta was dislodged from the mechanism controlling the trio's power. After a powered-up Electro Ball from Pikachu struck the ruins, all of Team Rocket was sent flying, with Giovanni in particular getting blasted by the Reveal Glass, causing him to be possessed, declaring against his followers' wishes that he would destroy Unova instead of conquering it, as originally intended. With the power of the Forces of Nature, he began freezing the land in ice, but he was saved from the possession by Jessie, James, and Meowth. On Dr. Zager's advisement, he then ordered a full retreat from the Unova region. He was last seen flying off in his airplane to return to Kanto with Jessie, James, Meowth, and Dr. Zager, contemplating how his worst instincts nearly brought about his own end.
In Farewell, Unova! Setting Sail for New Adventures!, Giovanni congratulated Jessie, James, and Meowth on their good work in defeating Team Plasma before telling them to continue doing their best for Team Rocket.
Giovanni appeared in The Dream Continues! alongside Matori with a new outfit: a dark business suit. After again praising Jessie, James, and Meowth for defeating Team Plasma, he wanted to know what they had accomplished since then. With Jessie and James having nothing to show for their time, Meowth quickly improvised and claimed that the Woobat, Frillish, Yamask, and Amoonguss Jessie and James had used in Unova were for him, and he accepted them.
In Pokemon the Series: XY, Giovanni's role was reduced to the Team Rocket trio's benefactor during their assignments in the Kalos region. He appeared in A Battle of Aerial Mobility!, where he told the trio to work hard in Kalos. In Heroes - Friend and Faux Alike!, Jessie and James reported their progress in capturing Pokemon with their obtaining of Inkay and Pumpkaboo. Pleased with their report, Giovanni told them to keep up their work.
In An Explosive Operation!, the trio contacted Giovanni to tell him of their latest activity. They told him of an organization wearing orange suits, which he was already familiar with, and of the existence of Squishy. He became alarmed after learning said organization could hinder Team Rocket, and ordered the trio to investigate them. Later, after fighting with Team Flare, the trio contacted him again to tell him that another Zygarde Core transformed into a much more powerful form. Intrigued by this, Giovanni assigned them a mission to claim Zygarde's power for Team Rocket.
In Battling with a Clean Slate!, Giovanni received information on Team Flare's demise, and was visibly pleased upon being told by the trio that it was all thanks to their actions. He asked them to prepare a detailed report on the matter.
In Till We Compete Again!, the trio sent him a video of their role in the Team Flare incident, in which they made it appear as if they had a larger role. He congratulated them on their success in Kalos, and ordered them to return to Team Rocket HQ.
In Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon, much like XY before, Giovanni primarily served as the trio's benefactor during their assignments in the Alola region, though his appearances were more frequent. He appeared in a flashback during Loading the Dex!, where it was revealed that he had sent Jessie, James, and Meowth to Alola in order to capture the rare Pokemon that inhabit the region. He had another new outfit, a variation of the dark business suit.
Giovanni appeared again in The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair! during an argument the trio were having with Matori over their lack of reports on their activity in Alola. They immediately fell into line upon seeing him and showed him Mimikyu, as well as Bewear, who they lied about having captured. Though he was initially skeptical of their claims while examining data presented to him by Matori, he ultimately praised them and told them to continue doing well for Team Rocket.
In Acting True to Form!, Giovanni contacted the trio and took an interest in the Alolan Meowth. He later contacted the trio again after the Alolan Meowth arrived at the headquarters.
In Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?, Giovanni informed the trio that they can acquire a Z-Ring from the Ula'ula Island kahuna Nanu, an old acquaintance of his. In Tough Guy Trials!, he phoned Nanu. After expressing surprise that Nanu had become both a police officer and an island kahuna, he asked for information about the "Blinding One", though Nanu lied and claimed to know nothing. When Ash arrived to see Nanu, he hung up on Giovanni.
In Filling the Light with Darkness!, Giovanni contacted Matori and Gozu as they approached Alola by helicopter for a mission. Matori informed him that a small Ultra Wormhole had opened in Alola, meaning that their target could appear. Giovanni asked her if their target could be the "Blinding One", and Matori responded that finding out the answer was the purpose of her mission. He replied that he had high expectations of her.
In Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!, Giovanni contacted the trio with orders for them to return to the HQ, having grown tired of their lack of results in Alola.
In Ivysaur's Mysterious Tower!, Giovanni quizzed Jessie, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet on Team Rocket's purpose before sending them out on a mission to capture Pokemon all over the world. For this mission, he promised them the use of a new weapon, the Rocket Prize Master, designed to aid them.
Prior to Radio Lulled the Mischievous Stars!, Giovanni sent Jessie, James, and Meowth on a mission to recruit new members of Team Rocket through a radio program.
In This Could be the Start of Something Big!, Giovanni met with Jessie, James and Meowth, who informed him that they had found the world's strongest Pokemon while undercover at the World Coronation Series Masters Eight Tournament, alluding to Pikachu. When he asked them where this Pokemon could be found, they told him it was within their grasp and that they could obtain it any time they wished, prompting him to place his faith in them to accomplish this mission.
In Rocket Revengers!, Giovanni sent Delibird to bring Jessie and James their Pokemon they had previously left at Team Rocket HQ. Speaking to them through a statue brought by Delibird, he ordered them to take care of the Pokemon.
In the Legacy of Chris Thorndyke,
And he is voiced by Clancy Brown in the English dub and reprised by Akio Otsuka in the Japanese dub.
THEMES[]
- Main Menu 1 (Marvel Nemesis) - The fortress of Team Rocket/Arriving Viridian City
- Rise (Skillet) - Giovanni!/Giovanni's Theme
- Meet your Maker (Marvel Nemesis) - Vs. Giovanni - Phase 1 (Viridian City)
- King Bowser - Main (Super Mario Galaxy) - Giovanni's Violent Breakdown/Ash Ketchum is in Peril!
- Turn the Tables on Plankton! (SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) - Turn the Tables on Giovanni!/Ash's Chance to Shine!
- Mr. Sandman - Game Over (Punch-Out!!) - Victory over the ruthless Rocket Boss!
- Dr. Neo Cortex (Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped) - Vs. Giovanni - Phase 2 (Tournament)
- The Evil King Bowser (Super Mario World) - Vs. Giovanni - Phase 3 (Mewtwo Returns)
- Ganondorf Battle (The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time) - Vs. Giovanni - Phase 4 (Rainbow Rocket)
- Boss - Bowser (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door) - Vs. Giovanni - Final Phase (King of Pokelantis' Palace)