About

Cynthia is a recurring character in the Pokémon series. She first appeared in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl as the Champion/Final Boss of the main game and is associated with the Pokémon Garchomp. She is somewhat infamous for one of the toughest NPCs in the Pokémon series, particularly due to a surprise post-game encounter that players have with her in Pokémon Black and White in which she is usually more powerful than the player and defeats them. She has gained popularity in the community with various fan art and images being made of her.

Origin

Cynthia first appeared in 2006's Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl. During the game, she explains the lore of Sinnoh alongside helping out with the defeat of Team Galactic. After the player beats the Elite Four, she appears as the Champion. Her Pokémon are some of the strongest the player faces before the post-game, with her highest level being level 66 (62 in Platinum and then 78 after Stark Mountain).^[1]

Spread

Cynthia has appeared in a number of Pokémon content since her introduction, including the anime and spinoff games.

Pokémon: Black & White Appearance

Cynthia makes a surprise return in Pokémon: Black & White within a villa at Undella Town. At this point in the game, players have already beaten the Elite Four and are completing the game's "post-game" content. If a player enters the villa, they are locked into having a battle with Cynthia. Like in DPPT, she is one of the strongest NPCs the player faces, all of her Pokémon being level 75 (sans her Garchomp which is 77). The player is likely under-leveled for this encounter, as the Elite Four trainers prior to the Cynthia encounter have maximum Pokémon levels of 50.^[2]

Online Presence

Her appearance in Black and White has been parodied on social media in numerous ways, as players will often lose this encounter. In videos, people will often pair her theme music with characters reacting in horror. For example, on May 2nd, 2020, YouTuber YungMagribino paired her Black and White appearance with a Dancing Pallbearers meme, gaining over 109,000 views (shown below, left). YouTuber DarkGerson posted a Hank Hill Listens To parody with Cynthia's theme, gaining over 2.4 million views (shown below, right).

Cynthia is commonly drawn by Pokémon fan artists across social media, particularly on sites such as DeviantArt^[3] and Reddit^[4] (examples shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References