I have always made it abundantly clear that Serena from the Pokemon Anime is my least favourite character as her actions and personality are not of my preference, and I usually do this by subtly humiliating her in stories.

I have received criticism on other platforms for my opinions on this character. I believe, as long as opinions don't include offensive stereotypes or are harmful or belittling, everyone is entitled to one.

Therefore, in these next few paragraphs I will explain to the best of my ability why I believe this character was a waste of what could've been a valuable protagonist.

If you already feel angry towards me and know that you won't like to read this, it would be easier if you don't read it at all.

 I have tried my best not to be controversial here and this took a lot of effort, but I apologise if I upset anyone who reads.

How she treats Ash

Now you may be thinking how absurd it is that Serena's treatment towards Ash is seen as a negative way. To my knowledge, most fans of the series have noted how 'sweet' and 'caring' she is. In all fairness, she is a good friend to which I agree to an extent, but there are certain things she has done at points in the anime which I think expose her toxic character.

First of all, we can see at the start of the anime that Serena recognises Ash on TV in the episode where he jumps off Prism Tower. She recognises him from a summer camp that she and Ash attended when they were younger. In her flashback we can see that Ash fixes her leg with a handkerchief that she still has.

Some, and probably a majority of fans see this as a love gesture. In my opinion, the fact that she kept a handkerchief after all those years is a little strange, especially for something so simple as a handkerchief. Then again, everyone has their sentiments.

My problem with this concept was that when she gave the handkerchief back when she met him again, she expected him to remember her immediately and was disappointed when he didn't. To be honest I find it quite unrealistic of her to expect so much out of such an insignificant memory. She acted as if he made some sort of promise to remember one person from one memory in his childhood. 

This brings me to my next point. From what I can gather from the anime, Serena tends to expect too much out of Ash and reacts unnecessarily when he doesn't meet these expectations. In this book, I have written a story where, in the episode where she attacks Ash with snowballs until he falls backward, that he actually hit his head and almost froze to death. You could say this is just me over exaggerating, but I believe that in reality this would be too possible.

In that time, Ash was depressed and frustrated. He needed time to himself to think. Ash is known for being optimistic and the one who always cheers the group up, but he's human and can't be expected to fill that role every second of his life. The fact that Serena thinks it's acceptable to throw a tantrum like she did seems entitled to me. 

I would like to point out that in the episode where Serena herself was frustrated and blew up at her Pokemon before running away, Aria had to come to her and tell her it was wrong. None of the group followed and attacked her like she did to Ash. Ash didn't even get angry at anyone before Serena kept pushing him instead of leaving him alone, he simply left on his own without saying a word. Serena on the other hand threw a tantrum and stormed off like a child.

A lot of people say that Serena was helping him in that case, but I think he could've regained his courage just as easily without that happening.

Another example of when she expects too much out of him is when she does things like sigh after he fails to notice hints of romance in any case. Ash might be dense when it comes to those things, but he isn't perfect and I think she has a hard time realising that. His naivety is a part of his personality, and there are a lot of suggestions as to why he is this way. For example one of my suggestions is because due to his parents' separation, he tries not to pay attention to relationship-related things because of how much he has suffered from his father's absence and perhaps doesn't want his mother's pain for himself.

The decisions she makes/ how sensitive she is

I mentioned earlier how she doesn't react kindly when she doesn't gets her way and her unrealistic expectations, but her decisions I think are a major part of her character that says a lot about her.

For instance, her first loss. She wanted to pursue a career in being a Performer and did her first showcase with Fennekin. Of course, it being the first showcase she would be inexperienced. After she lost, she ran to the docks and cried. People react differently to things and in all fairness I think it's still very valid that she was upset.

I felt for her until I saw that she cut her hair and changed her whole look. To me, cutting your hair is a big thing, especially since I am from China where growing long hair is traditional, and I think it was very unnecessary. I have heard the thought that it was a part of her 'character development', which I think she has very little of. But Ash, for example, has lost several leagues and battles before, and he has cried every once in a while, but never did he completely change his appearance as a reaction. And I know, they are different characters and Ash is known for great physical and emotional pain tolerance, and he is strong and positive. But to me when she went to the extent of cutting off more than half her hair, she made it completely meaningless. 

Another example of her stupidly impulsive decisions was during the Kalos Crisis when the Megalith was approaching her, Mairin and Bonnie. Instead of at least trying to run, which she had a good opportunity to do, instead she stands in its path, practically waiting for it to run her over. It was just her luck that the Megalith was stopped at that moment. Had it been any later than that, she would've put her own life and other lives in danger. 

Now, if you've known me as a writer you know that my favourite character of all time in the anime is Ash. And I might write a separate part to talk about that, but he also has a habit of making impulsive decisions that put his own life in danger. However, this is the only thing he puts at risk, and usually to save others. The only time I can think otherwise is when he, Serena and Bonnie leaped off a cliff, but they agreed to it and were safe in the end. Mairin and Bonnie and clearly younger than Serena and so naturally they'd trust her to keep them safe, which she, by circumstances out of her control, was able to do. 

Another example of her sensitivity is her reaction when something triggers her feelings towards Ash, like the dance party or when Miette teases her. I can't help but cringe when she blushes and sometimes screams or gets angry. I'm not blaming her for having feelings, of course. What I don't like is how out of proportion she takes things. Sometimes I like to think that Ash is ignoring her on purpose, to which I don't see a problem with. Just because someone shows they have feelings for him it doesn't mean he has to respond. Not that he is playing her and ignoring her being cruel, but that he sees these little things happening and pays no mind to them because they aren't a priority, and they don't have to be. To me, she acts like they do.

Barbie-Doll stereotype 

This part of my argument might be difficult to write seeing as, if you know me, you know I stand by the belief that gender doesn't mean shit. I have seen others argue that she is setting a bad example for girls, to which I agree to in my own way, but I would rather prefer to say she it setting a bad example for children.

For me it is mostly her clothing and how she is presented. Going back to the Snowbelle episode, some say it was so selfless how she ran around in the cold to find Ash, but I already argued how that was unnecessary and also it wouldn't have been so cold had she covered her legs like the rest of them. Everyone should be able to wear what they want and shouldn't feel ashamed into doing otherwise as long as they aren't harming anyone, but it's her own fault if she thinks black thigh high socks are enough to protect her from the cold, which it could be, but if it was, the idea that it was selfless of her to run around looking doesn't seem valid to me. 

That opinion of mine in all fairness might be slightly bias as if it was Clemont for example I might have not had that much of a problem with it and could've seen it as a gesture of love. Additionally, had she handled the situation differently I would've thought it was okay what she did. But given the circumstances she wasted time and energy in my opinion. 

Another stereotype I don't like is how Tierno falls for her (I have seen fan art of others falling for her as well). Again, this could just be a tendency to be bias as she is my least favourite character, but when someone is just thrown towards the direction of meaninglessly having a crush on her it irritates me.

I'm going to be fair here, everyone has their good attributes. Serena is good at making food, is somewhat determined when she really wants something and her skill in performing seemed to have improved throughout the series. But for me there aren't enough visibly attractive parts of her personality to fall for her. And I'm not saying you can't fall for someone just for their looks. I never judge people for their lifestyle or preferences of others. But most characters in the Pokemon Anime (to my knowledge, sorry if I am wrong) have blue eyes and her hair colour alone isn't that impressive. 

I especially did not like the episode in the XYZ series that featured Moltres, when Trevor was amazed when he saw Serena and said how good her hair and clothes are looking. I just feel like it could have he impression on children that you'd have to look specifically like that to be attractive. And before anyone argues about the characters that are attracted to Ash, I don't mean to be rude or anything but even Serena herself shows that she is attracted to Ash for his personality, how brave he is. I've never seen a case where someone was attacked to Ash for his looks. And I don't think it's a good impression on children that having good hair and clothes like that is all that matters in a relationship.

Everyone is beautiful, but an animated character is nothing if all they have is their face and body. I talked before about how much a lack of development there is in Serena's character and she doesn't seem to me a nice person, so having just her barbie-doll looks to make her attractive makes her as a character useless. Again, I don't judge people's lifestyles. Whether you're a stripper or whatever I love you for who you are, and to me it's okay to depend on your looks as long as you know you're worth and know how good you are without your looks. I know I sound contradicting right now, but all I'm trying to say is I don't want children to watch what I think was Pokemon's best series and see this character making people have hearts for eyes, then thinking that's all there's worth to a person, because that's all I've seen from Serena in the anime.

That's all I have for now, I might edit and add to it later, but hope you got something out of reading, whether it be you were interested or you understand things from a different point of view. I'm not doing this to tell people what to think. I just want to share my opinion and, despite everything I have said, like I said before she does have some good things. Besides I have seen people completely destroy Ash with words, so I guess it's okay for me to do that to characters I don't like.

I tried my best not to be controversial here. This thing took some effort, however if any of my content upsets or disheartens anyone I am deeply sorry and that is not my intent. I've always wanted to write about things like this as I like sharing ideas but I never mean to hurt anyone. 

I might write some other article after this. Until then, I hope you stay safe, inside and wash your hands. I insist on entertaining you guys during my hiatus (and everyone's quarantine)

https://www.thetoptens.com/worst-serena-moments-pokemon-xy-anime/

:)