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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
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| “ | My desire to meet Arceus cannot be contained any longer! I need to know what it is! I MUST know what it is! If I can meet Arceus myself, then I may also be able to subjugate its power... And using that, I will attempt to create a new, better world! Of course, if I create a brand-new world, then this Hisui region that we currently exist in will be undone and returned to nothing. You, everyone you know, and all the Pokémon living here will vanish in an instant, as if you'd never been. | „ |
| ~ Volo revealing his true nature before the final fight against the player. |
| “ | Giratina! Strike him/her down! | „ |
| ~ Volo summoning Giratina to attack the player, his most infamous quote. |
Volo is the main antagonist of the 2022 action role-playing game Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
A member of the Ginkgo Guild, he at first assists the player in their journey through the Hisui region. However, near the end of the game, he is revealed to be a selfish cultist that seeks to find Arceus, so he could use its powers to destroy the world and create the one he deems perfect.
In Pokémon Masters EX, he was voiced by Yoshimasa Hosoya (who also voiced Reiner Braun in Attack on Titan, Kaigaku in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Peter Ratri in The Promised Neverland, Wave in Akame ga Kill!, and Herrscher of the Reason in Honkai Impact 3rd) in Japanese, and by Cory Yee (who also voiced Hermes in Record of Ragnarok and Sigma in Bungo Stray Dogs) in English.
Appearance[]
Volo strongly resembles the modern-day Sinnoh champion Cynthia, suggesting (but not outright confirming) that he is her ancestor. He also bears striking similarities to Cogita, but their relationship is unknown.
Volo is a tall and slender young man with gray eyes and long blonde hair that covers his left eye. He wears the Ginkgo Guild uniform, consisting of a blue and yellow hat, a blue long-sleeve shirt with yellow fluff around the sleeves and collar, a white apron painted with a yellow ginkgo leaf, blue pants, and brown boots. He carries a large brown camping bag on his back.
After revealing his true colors, Volo changes his outfit to a white toga with golden outlines, golden bracelets, golden sandals, green pants, and a gray teardrop-shaped brooch around his neck. His hair curves upwards at the sides and outwards in the back in a vertical wave pattern, resembling Arceus' mane. This outfit is known as "Sinnoh Outfit" obtainable in game after catching Arceus and upgrading the shop.
Personality[]
Volo first appears as a curious man intrigued with the lore of the Hisui region, knowledgeable about Pokémon both regular and legendary. Underneath his friendly facade, Volo is an egotistical, ambitious and malevolent man obsessed with finding Arceus. His desire to meet Arceus, the god that created the world, is so strong that he declares that nothing will stop him in his path. He tried to achieve this with Giratina's help, creating a space-time rift in order to enrage the gods of time and space, Dialga and Palkia. After his defeat, he refuses to accept his loss and swears that he will have his hands on Arceus even if it takes him centuries to succeed.
Volo is also exceptionally selfish, a trait shown even before he's exposed as a villain such as not telling Irida and Adaman about crucial information before the last minute, with said aspect of himself being amplified when he's revealed as he gleefully acknowledges that his desire would kill all life in the universe, taunting the player to oppose him.
Biography[]
Pokémon Legends: Arceus[]
Prior to the events in the game, Volo obtained the Spooky Plate from Giratina in its plan to get revenge on Arceus for its banishment. The reason of their alliance is that, similar to the Pokémon, Volo too resented the supreme deity. Eventually, Volo became obsessed with finding Arceus and obtaining its powers to achieve his goal.
Volo then meets the player, who finds themselves in the Hisui region from a space-time rift, and manipulates them under a friendly façade to gain their trust, often calling the protagonist "his favorite customer" and "one of our guild's loyal customers." Using his knowledge of Pokémon both common and legendary, he assists the player in guiding them in the right direction to find Plates, as collecting all could lead to a direction to locate Arceus. When meeting him at the Celestica Ruins, Volo explains that his desire for a new world comes after facing painful hardships through his life. There, he also mentions Giratina and its imprisonment in the Distortion World. After collecting seventeen of the eighteen regular Plates, Volo says that the player would find the last plate in the Temple of Sinnoh, the most fitting place for Giratina to appear.
At the Temple of Sinnoh, Volo reveals his true intentions to the player. He wants to combine all the Plates to create a portal to Arceus' realm, having manipulated the player with his knowledge of Pokémon, so they would gather all the Plates and give them to him. He also had the missing Plate all along and demands the player surrender theirs. Volo challenges them to a battle when they refuse, threatening to destroy the world should they lose the battle.
The player ultimately defeats Volo's team. Refusing to accept his defeat after everything he accomplished, Volo summons Giratina from the Distortion World and orders it to strike the player down. But the player prevails and defeats Giratina in both of its forms, making it retreat. This makes Volo realize that the player was the one chosen by Arceus, not him. He cries out in vain to Arceus, asking what qualities it sees him as lacking, and wondering if his defeat means the world does not need to be remade. He then gives the player the Spooky Plate, claiming that this defeat marks the end of his story. When the player receives the missing Plate, the Celestica Flute to turn into the Azure Flute. Volo then takes his leave, but not before declaring that he refuses to stand by while the player gets to face Arceus, swearing to come back and conquer Arceus one day.
Later on, Professor Laventon reveals to the player that Volo visited him and encouraged the completion of the Pokédex, as well as revealing Giratina had soothed its wrath and did not flee back to the Distortion World. Additionally, after the player acquires all eighteen regular Plates, Cogita mentions having learned of Volo's true nature. However, she chose not to dwell on it, knowing that he let his passion consume him. After that, Volo is not seen or mentioned again.
Pokémon: Hisuian Snow[]
Volo makes a brief cameo in "Fiery Reflections in Snow", where he is seen at the docks of Prelude Beach talking with another Ginkgo Guild member.
Pokémon Masters EX[]
Volo reappears in the present day in Pasio supposedly through a Space-Time Distortion.
Pokémon Legends: ZA[]
While Volo himself is nowhere to be seen, his Sinnoh Outfit is seen in a museum along with other Hisuian relics, where a man nearby comments that allegedly, the garb's wearer personally donated it to the museum, gazing at Professor Laventon's sketches with nostalgia as well. This, along with Volo's vow to conquer Arceus no matter how long it takes, might imply that he is somehow still roaming the earth to this day.
Quotes[]
| “ | Oh? What a curious getup you have there. I can already tell you're quite the character! | „ |
| ~ Volo. |
| “ | I'm Volo of the Ginkgo Guild, the go-to choice for any of your mercantile needs here in Hisui! | „ |
| ~ Volo. |
| “ | I see! You were given the plates when you impressed Wydeer and Kleavor? | „ |
| ~ Volo. |
| “ | You gain plates when you quell frenzied nobles-and when great Pokémon recognizes you as worthy of bearing isn't that right? | „ |
| ~ Volo. |
| “ | You know, I've been wondering.... the ancient hero- Their powers are supposed to have come from almighty Sinnoh itself. | „ |
| ~ Volo. |
| “ | I've been looking all over for you, you know! What would do if I were to lose one of my favorite customers? | „ |
| ~ Volo after the player was wrongfully kicked out when the rift intensifies. |
| “ | THAT'S ONE OF THE PLATES WE WERE LOOKING FOR! Ahem. Apologies. That's indeed one of the plates that we've been searching for. | „ |
| ~ Volo after obtaining the Pixie Plate. |
| “ | This crumbling statue once was the figure of a Pokémon–one that was equal to both Dialga and Palkia, yet banished from our world...The great Pokémon Giratina! It was banished for its violence, left to dwell in a world on the reverse side of our own. It is a being that has lain in wait for the chance to bare its fangs in defiance and tear down Arceus itself. Now tell me, if this Giratina desires more than anything else to challenge almighty Arceus... where do you think it might appear? "Exactly! Where one is closer to the heavens than any other place in Hisui! ...And where the space-time rift first opened! Huhuhuh... HAHAHAHAHA! I can feel it... We are getting closer to uncovering the secrets of this world! I daresay the excitement is loosening my lips more than it should, but... You see, ever since I was young, whenever I met with something painful or heartbreaking... I couldn't help but wonder why life was so unfair. Why I was cursed to live through such things. Of course, I imagine we all go through something like that. Eventually, I chose to direct all my energy into my own natural curiosity and ambition. And what tickled my curiosity more strongly than anything were the mysteries to be found in legends, in history, in ruins... You see, I fancied that by unraveling these mysteries, I could find out how the world itself came to be–and with that knowledge, maybe even forge a new, better world! Now, if we can find the realm that exists on the reverse side of our world...and meet the creator's unwanted child banished therein... perhaps then we'll be able to understand the nature of almighty Sinnoh itself! Don't you want to see it with your own eyes?! We must make for the Temple of Sinnoh at Mount Coronet's peak! Dialga and Palkia both appeared from within the rift that once gaped open there, didn't they? If these plates can call anything at all, it seems likely that is where it would appear! | „ |
| ~ Volo telling the player about Giratina, his backstory, and slightly his plans. |
| “ | Turning tail and running? From this puny human? Pathetic! | „ |
| ~ Volo after Giratina is defeated in the Temple of Sinnoh. |
| “ | Someday, I'll solve every riddle in the legends of Hisui's Pokémon. And on that day, I'll stand before Arceus at last- No, I will CONQUER it! No matter how many years, how many decades, how many centuries it takes me! | „ |
| ~ Volo swearing revenge on the player following their defeat at their hands, showing that even despite his surrender, his ambitions remain. These are his last lines in the game. |
Trivia[]
- Volo's name is based on "Volō", which is Latin for "I wish". It is also the root of the English word "volition."
- In all other languages, Volo's name holds analogous meanings.
- "Volo" also happens to be the Italian word for "flight".
- All of Volo's Pokémon (including Giratina) have serious natures.
- Volo is heavily implied to be an ancestor of Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh, along with Cogita.
- Mission 20, where the player must meet up with Volo, is called "The Researcher of Myths", a title by which Cynthia also refers to herself.
- Both of them have blonde hair with bangs that cover their left eye; same with Cogita, except she has white hair.
- Volo's boss theme is an arrangement of Cynthia's theme.
- Five of Volo's Pokémon are shared with Cynthia's team in Pokémon Platinum. The only exception being Milotic who is absent in Pokémon Legends: Arceus and instead replaced with a Hisuian Arcanine.
- Additionally, Togekiss serves as his ace Pokémon and not Garchomp.
- Both start their battle with Spiritomb.
- The teardrop-shaped brooch Volo wears resembles the teardrop-shaped ornament that Cynthia wears on her coat, and Cogita on her dress.
- Volo is the first main story antagonist in the main series to be fought in the post-game. He is the second in the franchise, counting Darkrai from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-off series.
- He is also the first main antagonist of a main series game to not be affiliated with a villainous team or equivalent organization like the Aether Foundation or Macro Cosmos, as the Ginkgo Guild does not have any role in his scheme and his only ally is Giratina.
- Volo's claim that he's willing to even take centuries to locate and conquer Arceus, and his goal to subjugate Arceus in order to create a peaceful new world alludes to Cyrus and his ambitions as Team Galactic's leader.
- After being defeated, Volo claims that the blood of Ancient Sinnohians runs through his veins, implying to be a descendant of the people of Celestica, that inhabited Hisui before the arrival of the Clans.
- Volo describes himself as fundamentally different from the player, as they battle alongside Pokémon while he is a Pokémon Wielder, implying that he only sees Pokémon as tools.
- Despite this, three out of the six members of his team evolve through friendship (Togepi, Riolu and Budew).
- One of the pictures outside of the Photography Studio depicts Volo with his Togepi.
- According to the official Pokémon Legends: Arceus artbook, Volo is 190cm tall, which is roughly 6'3" feet.
- Volo's ace Pokémon, Togekiss, can be a reflection of his goal. In its Pokédex entries, it is said that it only appears where peace reigns. Furthermore, Togekiss's typing is an inversion of the typing of Garchomp, the ace of Volo's possible descendant Cynthia, furthering the fundamental difference between the two.
- In Pokémon Legends Z-A, the Lumiose Museum has Volo's Arceus themed outfit on display in an exhibit, which an NPC nearby explains that it was personally donated by its wearer. This heavily implies that Volo gained immortality at some point and is still alive centuries after the events of Legends Arceus.
External Links[]
- Volo on the Pokémon Wiki
- Volo on the Pure Evil Wiki
[]
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