Lusamine

"If you're not beautiful enough to be worthy of my love, then I don't NEED you!"

- Lusamine

Lusamine is the main antagonist of the 2016 video games Pokémon Sun and Moon. She serves as the president of the Aether Foundation and the ultimate betrayer.

Biography
Lusamine is introduced as the president of the established Aether Foundation, an organisation that takes care of injured and hurt Pokémon, and later revealed as the mother of Gladion and Lillie. At first, Lusamine is shown to be a "good lady with good intentions", and is first seen when the player and their rival, Hau, arrive in Aether Paradise, the base of the Aether Foundation, as well as being an artificial island. They first come across Lusamine when she is seen comforting a few Pokémon before greeting the player and Hau, whom she discusses the purpose of the Aether Foundation with and says she will "shower all Pokémon with love" in a motherly sense.

After talking with the two, a mysterious portal appears, and an Ultra Beast known as "UB-01" appears from it, shocking everyone. Lusamine, however, seems pleased. UB-01 then disappears and Lusamine bids farewell to the player and Hau as they leave for the next island.

After the rise of the villainous organization Team Skull and the kidnapping of Lillie, the player's companion and good friend, Hau, the player and a Team Skull member named Gladion head to Aether Paradise, where Gladion claims that is where Lillie must've been taken. He states that he wants to keep her and Nebby safe—a small and vulnerable Pokémon Lillie has been trying to keep hidden and safe. Once they arrive to Aether Paradise, they're confronted by several Aether Paradise members who reveal their true intentions, along with their dark side. It was revealed that Team Skull had been working with the Aether Foundation, who had been sponsoring them. After the player, Hau and Gladion discover the experiments the Aether Foundation conduct, they head to Lusamine's chamber where they find her talking with a frightened Lillie. Surrounding Lusamine are several frozen Pokémon, preserved perfectly as part of Lusamine's "collection". She asks the player what she thinks of her collection, showing a slightly evil grin on her face. Upon arguing with Gladion and Lillie, she reveals to the player and Hau that they're her children, accusing them of stealing Type: Null (an artificial Pokémon created by the Aether Foundation that Gladion stole) and Nebby from her. Picking up a chest that Nebby is trapped inside, she questions how many Ultra Wormholes (portals connected to the Ultra Beasts) she will open before unleashing Nebby's power, opening a few portals around the Alola region. Lillie exclaims that if she uses too much of Nebby's power, it will die. Lusamine doesn't seem to care though, and she is ultimately the true villain. Once she battles the player, she proceeds to travel through the portal into Ultra Space, disappearing in there after it closes.

She had been obsessed with the mysterious "Ultra Beasts" after her husband ventured into the Ultra Space (where the creatures reside) and vanished. Lusamine dressed herself to resemble one of the Ultra Beasts known as Pheromosa, and also dressed her daughter Lillie in clothes that looked a lot like Nihilego (UB-01). When Lillie and the player reach Ultra Space, they come across an insane Lusamine. She recalls that Lillie once was "adorable" to her, and notes that she has now "turned ugly" due to her befriending the player, and then proceeds to place accusations upon the player. Lusamine sends out Nihilego and reaches her arms out above as it fuses with her, becoming "Lusamine-Nihilego", then battling the player with her Pokémon. After being defeated, Lusamine-Nihilego is seen to be furious. Before she is able to crush the player with her bare hands, Lillie calls out the Sunne Pokémon Solgaleo/Moone Pokémon Lunala (depending on the version), who then blasts Lusamine-Nihilego with their special power. Lusamine-Nihilego then detach and return to normal.

Lusamine collapses to the ground, visibly tired. Lillie rushes to her aid and seemingly forgives her mother, whom wonders when her daughter had "started to become beautiful".

It was later revealed that Nihilego emitted neurotoxins that affected Lusamine. It didn't possess or brainwash her though; Lusamine still had her own free will. When Lusamine was intoxicated, she acted as if Nihilego was her own child, and loved it more than Gladion and Lillie. Lusamine's obsession with the Ultra Beasts may have stemmed from trying to find her lost husband according to what Gladion speculates post game. However Nihilego's neurotoxins amplified it, to the point of insanity. After her defeat, Lusamine fell into a deep coma.

It was mentioned post-game that Lillie had taken Lusamine to Kanto in the hopes of reviving her mother.

In the anime
Lusamine's only appearance in the anime so far is in episode 8 of the Sun and Moon series, where she was shown in a picture along with her children Lillie and Gladion. She is right now in work.

Trivia

 * Lusamine is the first female villainous team leader in the main game series, as well as the first female main antagonist.
 * Lusamine is similar to four other villains:
 * Ragyo Kiryuin from Kill La Kill. Both are obsessed with beauty, become fully devoted to creatures from other worlds, and they are abusive towards their daughters. The only obvious difference is Lusamine never sexually abused her children.
 * Father Balder from the Bayonetta series. Both of their colors involve white and gold, they are the parent of a protagonist in their respective games (Lusamine is the mother of Lillie and Gladion and Balder is the father of Bayonetta/Cereza), are both driven to evil from another force (Nihilego intoxicates Lusamine, while Loptr slowly corrupts Balder).
 * Sofia Lamb from BioShock series. Both are obsessed with creating a world where there is only them and the others.
 * Finé from Senki Zesshō Symphogear. Both she and Lusamine have similar designs (white-skinned with long blonde hair in hime cuts, and yellow eyes) and clothes (short dresses with stockings and high heels). Both are self-centered, sadistic to an extent, abusive to the teenagers in their care (though Finé and Chris are not blood-related) which they throw away when they become useless to them, and whom eventually turn on them and play a crucial role in their defeat; both are obsessed with the idea of another world (Lusamine with Ultra Space and Finé with the world she will rule), head scientists of a large organization that secretly dabble in unethical experimentation, started their research and thus descent into villainy because of the loss of a loved male figure (Lusamine her husband and Finé the god she worshipped), become fused during their final battle with the protagonist(s) (Lusamine with Nihilego, Finé with the three complete relics of Durandal, Nehushtan, and Solomon's Cane), and harness control over their series' mascot monsters (Lusamine Pokémon, Finé Noise).
 * Lusamine mentioned to Hau that although she looks young, she is over 40 years old. It is possible that she could have absorbed something (such as an elixir) that would make her look young, such as "eternal youth".