Ogerpon

Ogerpon is the overarching protagonist of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, Part 1: The Teal Mask. She is a diminutive Pokémon who, despite her kindly personality was feared by the residents of Kitakami, forcing her and her companion to isolate themselves for most of the year. However, a kind mask maker would soon make 4 exquisite masks for the duo, allowing Ogerpon to pose as a child and attend the yearly festivals.
Unfortunately, these masks would attract the attention of three bandits and their leader, who would presumably kill her companion and stole 3 of Ogerpon’s masks. Outraged, she hunted down and killed the thieves in self-defense, the villagers unaware of what truly happened ostracized her further, forcing her to continue living alone in the mountains with only the mask maker’s family knowing her true nature.
==Personality==
Ogerpon has a kind, gentle, curious and mischievous personality. 
She appears to long for companionship, as evidenced by her tentatively approaching the ongoing Kitakami Festival, attempting to blend in with the villagers while wearing a mask. When her face is initially seen by the player and their friend, she's understandably shy due to being shunned by humans long ago. 
After being saved by the player following the return of the Loyal Three, she warms up to them over the events of The Teal Mask. As a result, she often mischievously ignores Carmine's orders, and only listens to the player. It's clear that Ogerpon thinks about her previous companion even after warming up to the player, with the companion being implied to have fallen at the hands of the Loyal Three. 
Her experience of being seen as an outcast when initially coming to Kitakami had an impact on other characters such as Carmine, (following the reveal of her true history) who was initially cold to outsiders coming to her village. 
Although Ogerpon is hunderds of years old, her behavior is still very resembling of that of a human child, she often doesn't listen to humans she doesn't trust and can be rather mischevious and naive. Because of this Ogerpon is often mistaken to be a kid when she wears her mask in public. 
She also has a deep grudge against Pecharunt for everything it and the Loyal Three did to Ogerpon and her partner in the past. 
==Biography==
=== Origins ===
A long time ago, Ogerpon and her companion came to Kitakami from a foreign land. They were shunned by the villagers of Kitakami due to their unusual appearance, so they lived in a nearby mountain, away from the villagers. Although it saddened the pair that the villagers were not welcoming, they were happy to live quietly with each other.
The village mask-maker took pity on the pair and crafted four masks, wearing masks is already a tradition in which made it easier for them to walk among villagers without any concern, which made the pair overjoyed. 
During the village festival, the villagers were attracted by their masks, due to them being adorned with Tera Crystals. 
Word of mouth regarding the Masks spread to distant lands due to their popularity. However, this also attracted the attention of Okidogi, Munkidori, Fezandipiti, and their leader: Pecharunt who traveled to Kitakami to take the masks for themselves, infiltrating the cave where Ogerpon and her companion resided.
While Ogrepon was away, the man tried to protect all of the masks, but the trio stole three of them: the Wellspring Mask, the Hearthflame Mask, and the Cornerstone Mask, with the man only holding onto the Teal Mask. When Ogerpon returned, she saw her home in ruins with no traces of her companion, presumably killed or forced to flee, or the other masks, leaving only the Teal Mask. 
Donning the Teal Mask with a kanabō at her hand, Ogerpon set out to search for her friend, but instead found the three Pokémon gloating over the masks they stole. Enraged, she brutally attacked and outright killed the thieves for attacking her home as well as avenging her companion. Ogerpon also noticed the trio's leader Pecharunt and attacked it as well, though Pecharunt managed to survive the attack by hiding in its shell and rolling into the forest out of Ogerpon's reach.
However, the villagers witnessed Ogerpon's vicious attack against Pecharunt's Retainers, and unaware of the context behind Ogerpon's anger, became fearful towards her, mistakenly believing that Ogerpon was a malevolent ogre that was going to attack the village and that Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti perished protecting their home.
As Ogerpon left the village, alone, ostracized, and in sorrow, the villagers named the trio the "Loyal Three", and put their bodies to rest. 
The Loyal Three's remains were buried near the village, and a monument dedicated to honor their "sacrifice" was erected on top. The surrounding area would be known as Loyal Three Park, later renamed to Loyalty Plaza. 
Over the course of generations, the fake story of "three brave heroes who gave their lives to defend Kitakami from a rampaging ogre" was passed down, masks depicting Ogerpon as a malicious nefarious "Monster" and the Loyal Three as noble "Heroes" were produced to be used as part of the traditional festival of Masks.
Although the village mask maker desperately who gifted Ogerpon and the man with the masks— understood what had happened between the Loyal Three and Ogerpon, he tried to explain the truth, but nobody in the village took him seriously as they dismissed him as a heretic for attempting to explain the truth. In order to prevent further generations of his family from being persecuted for the truth much like he was, he passed down the true story as a family secret, which later made its way to his descendants: Carmine and Kieran.
Ogrepon was left alone in her cave, saddened by the events that had transpired. She mainly resided in the Dreaded Den for many years. After time passed, Ogerpon took to visiting the Festival of Masks again by wearing her Teal Mask, as she would once again be able to blend with the villagers as just another kid wearing a mask.
=== The Teal Mask ===
The player character was invited to a field trip to Kitakami which would coincide with the yearly Festival of Masks. While having fun at the festival the player noticed Ogerpon who was visiting the festival as usual. The player and Carmine mistook her for a human child, Ogerpon was scared and accidentally dropped her mask. The player tried to return the mask, but Ogerpon ran away after being seen at the outskirts of the festival. Once the two realized what they had witnessed was in fact the Ogre from legends they decided to keep what happened secret from Carmine's younger brother Kieran, who happened to be a massive fan of the Ogre. 
The following day Carmine's grandfather told her and the player about the true tale of how Ogerpon was the real victim while the Loyal Three were nothing more than thieves. He also requested them to bring a Tera Crystal from Oni Mountain so he could repair the mask that had been damaged the previous night so they could return it to Ogerpon. An infuriated Carmine wanted to tell everyone the truth but was stopped by her grandfather who pointed out that no one would believe that the tradition they've followed for centuries was a fraud. 
Kieran overheard the conversation and found out the player was lying about meeting Ogerpon. In a fit of rage, he stole the mask and brought it to the monument of the Loyal Three, wanting to battle the Paldean student for betraying his trust. 
After losing the battle, Kieran punches the monument. Unknown to everyone, an ominous purple mist was briefly seen in his fist after punching the monument in anger while Kieran reluctantly hands back the stolen Teal Mask before leaving. 
Just as Carmine and the Player was about to leave, the ground begins to shake as monument begins to shine as a purple-pinkish beam of light bursts out from the ground, awakening the Loyal Three.
The Loyal Three immediately headed to Kitakami Hall where the other masks were kept. The residents, thinking that their heroes had returned, gladly handed over the masks and fed them Kitakami mochi, making them grow exponentially larger and become stronger, before they headed off to the Dreaded Den to attack Ogerpon. 
The Loyal Three were harassing Ogerpon who was defenseless before the player, Kieran, and Carmine intervened, causing them to run off after a battle. 
The player and Carmine returned the Teal Mask to Ogerpon. Kieran attempted to do so initially, but presumably due to being saved by the player and meeting them initially at the festival, she only accepts the mask when done so with the player.
Following this, Ogerpon now walks alongside the player wherever they go in Kitakami. Initially when brought to the village, she appeared scared of entering even with the player and their friends, due to the trauma of being shunned by the villagers years ago. She's suggested to stay outside the village whilst Kieran, Carmine and the player gathered clues about the Loyal Three's current whereabouts, though only does so after the player makes the suggestion themselves, much to Carmine's chagrin and Kieran's increasing jealousy. 
After enough clues have been gathered as to Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti's locations in Kitakami, she watched the player and Carmine's Multi battles against the now titanic-sized members of the Loyal Three, happily posing in pictures after each mask is retrieved. 
After retrieving the masks, Kieran told the player, Carmine and Ogerpon to return to Mossui Town. Once they arrived, they learned that their grandfather and Kieran worked together to tell the truth to all the villagers, which led them to profusely apologizing to Ogerpon, despite her initial hesitation to enter the village, but she forgives them after they realized that The Loyal Three were never "Heroes" and that Ogerpon was actually the victim of their misdeeds. 
The villagers denounced the trio: Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti as the "Lousy Three" or using their original name in a more sarcastic manner, while welcoming Ogerpon to the village, who is no longer feared as an Evil Ogre, now being praised as the "Hero" she is all along. 
The group returned to the Dreaded Den to bid farewell to Ogerpon, but she ran over to the player and implied that she wants to travel with them. This irritated Kieran, who, after having dreamed of meeting Ogerpon since he was a small child, challenged the player to a battle to win her affection, despite Carmine's reminder that it's Ogerpon's choice as to who she decides to travel with. 
After his Kieran's defeat, Ogerpon now was ready to test her strength against the player. During their battle, she demonstrated her ability to Terrastalize her Hearthflame Mask, Wellspring Mask, Cornerstone Mask and Teal Mask in four consecutive battles with no interruptions, with the masks gaining power due to Ogerpon's strong memories and determination following their journey with the player. The Teal Mask in particular invokes the memories of her former companion from many years ago for a final boost in strength, before allowing herself to be captured by the player, where she entrusts them with the Hearthflame Mask, Wellspring Mask, and Cornerstone Mask. 
The next day Carmine requested a battle against the player in which Ogerpon is required to be part of the player's team. 
The Player Character can now choose Ogerpon to be in their party whenever they want.
==== The Indigo Disk ====
Though Ogerpon doesn't play any role in the story, if she is used in battle against Carmine, she will happily greet her and wonders if she missed her that badly. 
On the other hand, during the Champion match with Kieran, his accumulated bitterness will lead to him lashing out against Ogerpon and telling the player they have some nerve for taunting him by using "the ogre" against him in battle.
==== Mochi Mayhem ====
Though Ogerpon doesn't play any role in the story, if the player sends out Ogerpon during the battle against Pecharunt, she will recognize it and react with extreme distress and anger, yelling out at Pecharunt for all the suffering it caused to her and her companion long time ago.
==Trivia==
*Ogerpon being a female-only species and the masks she wears are a reference to the Hannya Masks used in traditional Japanese theatre.
*Ogerpon's signature weapon is a kanabō, a spiked two-handed club used for war primarily during Feudal Japan era.
**Ogres in popular media are typically depicted as wielding kanabōs or similar types of spiked club weaponry.
*Ogerpon also shares similarities with Koraidon & Miraidon and Team Star:
**Like Koraidon & Miraidon, she is a Legendary Pokémon who wields incredibly strong and unique powers, but is also a docile timid creature who slowly warms up to the player overtime and is afraid to participate in battles due to emotional traumas until her relationship with the player allows her to overcome said trauma.
**Like Team Star, she is a victim who attacked her wrongdoers in self-defense, but due to unfortunate circumstances, she was wrongfully framed as the aggressor of the incident and labeled as an evil menace by the lands inhabitants with only a few knowing the truth behind what actually happened.
*Ogerpon, the Loyal Three, and Pecharunt reference the Japanese folktale of Momotarō albeit with the heroes and villains' roles reversed. The tale relates the titular Momotarō, a boy born from inside a peach, who traveled alongside a talking dog, monkey, and pheasant to fight a band of oni (a Japanese folkloric creature commonly equated to ogres in translations).
*Ogerpon is always guaranteed to have the Lonely Nature when caught, this nature is locked due to her living alone for years after being ostracized since the incident caused by Pecharunt, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti.
*Ogerpon is the first Pokémon in the franchise to be canonically confirmed in-game to have unambiguously killed another Pokémon. 
**Death in the franchise is generally avoided by having characters' fates be left ambiguous when they face would-be fatal incidents. The only other time the intentional murdering of a Pokémon has been confirmed in the franchise was the Marowak mother of Lavender Town, who was killed by Team Rocket leaving her spirit to haunt the local graveyard in search of her child.
**While Ogerpon did kill Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti in a fit rage, this is justified since they killed the man who was protecting the masks Pecharunt and the trio were trying to steal.
**Curiously, Ogerpon's means of killing the Loyal Three was by bludgeoning them to death with her signature attack Ivy Cudgel, which according to game mechanics the Poison-Type Loyal Three should be resistant against.
Category:Pokémon Heroes
Category:Legendary
Category:Female
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Honorable
Category:Strong-Willed
Category:Animals
Category:Science Fiction Heroes
Category:Heroes from the Past
Category:Protectors
Category:Mascots
Category:Status Dependent on Version
Category:Successful
Category:Tragic
Category:False Antagonist
Category:Falsely Accused
Category:Karma Houdini
Category:Fighters
Category:Elementals
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Archenemy
Category:Victims
Category:Adventurers
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Chaotic Good
Category:Optimists
Category:Selfless
Category:Immortals