Marina: The Johto Coordinator Born from a Game Avatar

Marina didn't come out of an anime script: she came out of a cartridge. The character is modeled on Kris, the Trainer you could play as in Pokémon Crystal, and the mini-series The Legend of Thunder! finally gives her a voice, a personality and an ambition. Her official profession is Top Coordinator, but her real goal fits in two words: Pokémon Idol.

Contents

• From a Selection Screen to a Character
• Wani-Wani, Jigglypuff and Misdreavus
• Pokémon Idol: Contests, Runway and Modeling
• Hostage, Then Spectator: Her Two Roles on Screen
• Marina at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

From a Selection Screen to a Character

Kris is the Trainer the player can choose to play as in the Crystal version. Marina is her on-screen adaptation: same region, same starting point, but everything a cartridge of that era couldn't write — lines of dialogue, bursts of enthusiasm, a personal arc.

Personality is the real added value of the move to animation. Marina is eccentric and showy, prone to the same weakness as Brock around someone she's attracted to, except that, for her, the trigger is a guy in a cape. Her feelings for Jimmy are a secret she keeps far less well than Misty keeps hers for Ash.

A rare symmetry rounds out her profile. Marina is the only character in the animated series based on a playable avatar to have met her male counterpart: that boy is Jimmy, and he's modeled on Ethan, the other face the same generation of games offered the player.

Wani-Wani, Jigglypuff and Misdreavus

Like Jimmy and Vincent, Marina started out with a visit to the lab of Professor Elm, in New Bark Town. She left with a Totodile, one of the three first partner Pokémon that the cartridge she's drawn from offers its player.

This Totodile has a nickname, Wani-Wani, and it doesn't stop at the first stage: it becomes Croconaw, then Feraligatr. It's her go-to Pokémon, and its moveset never strays from its element, from Water Gun to Aqua Tail.

Two other Pokémon round out the roster: a Jigglypuff that alternates between Sing and Psychic, and a Misdreavus that relies on Perish Song and Psybeam. Neither of them is a pure battle tool — singing, sleep and Psychic-type attacks make up a repertoire that suits the stage at least as much as the battlefield.

🎈 Marina's Jigglypuff has its own section: see everything we have for Jigglypuff.

Pokémon Idol: Contests, Runway and Modeling

Marina isn't aiming for the League. Her ambition is to become a Pokémon Idol, in other words a Trainer carried by a fan base: a goal that puts her on the side of showbiz and fame, not rankings.

That takes two parallel paths. She enters Pokémon Contests, and she also works as a model. Her official title is Top Coordinator, which makes it clear that the first path paid off.

That fame keeps her around in the background long after her mini-series. During the Diamond and Pearl series, she turns up in the pages of a magazine, then on a TV screen, then printed on a passerby's T-shirt. Three appearances without a single line, which establish her status better than any dialogue could have.

Hostage, Then Spectator: Her Two Roles on Screen

The Legend of Thunder! places her in a plot that isn't hers: Jimmy's fight against Attila and Hun, two Team Rocket members. Marina throws herself into it without the slightest hesitation, and it's precisely that commitment that puts her in danger.

Attila ends up capturing her, tying her up and gagging her. Part of the story therefore plays out with her as a hostage, until Jimmy and his friends come to free her later in the same adventure. It's a thankless role, but it gives the plot its simplest driving force.

The series didn't leave her there, though. She returns much later alongside Jimmy and Vincent, in an episode of the Journeys series: the trio watches the first round of the Masters Eight Tournament on TV, where Lance takes on Diantha. A mere spectator appearance, but it neatly brings the New Bark Town trio full circle.

Marina at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Marina in the Pokémon anime?
  A Coordinator from New Bark Town, in Johto, who first appeared in The Legend of Thunder! mini-series. Her official profession is Pokémon Top Coordinator, and she also works as a model.
• Which game character is Marina based on?
  Kris, the Trainer the player can choose to play as in Pokémon Crystal. Marina is even the only animated series character based on a playable avatar to have met her male counterpart, Jimmy, who is himself modeled on Ethan.
• Which Pokémon does Marina own?
  Three. Wani-Wani, the first partner Totodile she received from Professor Elm, which evolved into Croconaw and then Feraligatr; a Jigglypuff; and a Misdreavus. Feraligatr is her go-to Pokémon.
• What is Marina's role in The Legend of Thunder!?
  She backs Jimmy up against Attila and Hun, two Team Rocket members, before being captured by Attila and held prisoner. Jimmy and his friends free her later in the same adventure.
• Does Marina reappear after her mini-series?
  Yes. She's glimpsed in the background during the Diamond and Pearl series, in a magazine, on TV and on a T-shirt, then she returns with Jimmy and Vincent in an episode of the Journeys series, watching the broadcast of the Masters Eight Tournament.

In short

Marina holds a special place in the gallery of supporting characters: she's on-screen proof that a game avatar can become somebody. Kris had neither a voice nor a personality; Marina has both, plus a career, a nicknamed Feraligatr and a dream of stardom that she pursues outside of Gyms. A playable heroine turned Top Coordinator, and the only one to have crossed paths with her own male counterpart.