Lysandre Labs

On Lysandre's outward persona

I make fun of him for it because it’s funny, but the way Lysandre snaps when you defeat him for the last time is so meaningful to me. In the games, he’s shown not to emote that much, he’s very stiff, and though he does laugh (and probably smile) and gradually gets more agitated as time goes on in the HQ, the reactions we’re shown directly are always very measured, what with how he’s barely expressing surface level disappointment in his end of battle animations. Even when he cries, it’s like... single manly tear shit. But then, for the last encounter, he’s going all out, he throws his glasses in anger and shouts and screams, and it’s very good. To see his cold, calculated appearance crack...

The dichotomy is very interesting to me because he’s fire-themed, and he does go on tirades, and it’s easy to imagine that he might behave closer to that unhinged energy from the HQ in private when he’s less reliant on this public persona, but there’s definitely a disconnect there. Augustine praises him for his warmth and passion, and he’s obviously got that well-liked reputation as a benefactor, but I do think his outward demeanor is supposed to come off as at least partially acted, not necessarily in a manipulative way (because when he cracks it’s obvious that he does believe in what he’s saying, his methods notwithstanding) more in a "learned this was how to better appeal to others" way. Which makes sense because he is a businessman.

It does make the times when he behaves horrendously and says weird shit even fuckier, though. Like when he’s being rude to Diantha, or admitting to his fascination with the ultimate weapon and how it ended the war, etc. Like does he realize how he comes off and doesn’t care... does he not realize... is he up his own ass and convinced he’s right anyway. ← Likely.

IOne way to look at it that I think is fascinating is to see the way he behaves as like. Symptomatic of him already having crossed the line separating the passionate benevolent entrepreneur wanting to better the world, from the omnicidal stubborn asshole who throws a fit and chooses death rather than defeat, but because we meet him when it’s already "too late" as it were, we don’t have anything to compare it to. Which makes it less poignant, unfortunately, though I do think there’s something to be said there (especially when considering what Augustine + NPCs have to say about him.)

IThere was really no way to show a gradual shift with the scope of a pokémon game, unless you did it in multiple parts, I guess, which they’d never do lol, and it’s pretty clear that he’s already succumbed to despair before you even met him, but still...

Originally posted on Tumblr,
June 5th 2023.