Reviewing Pokemon's Human Characters - Hisui

Holy heck, it has been some time since Legends Arceus came out, huh? To you guys, this article would come out somewhere in mid-to-late-2023, but this specific article has actually been drafted ever since I was about to finish with my let's play of Legends Arceus, which would be in September 2022! It's just that a lot of real life stuff, combined with the fact that I was waiting for any potential new human artwork, ended up making this take a bit longer than it otherwise would... and then I got distracted editing the Generation IX Pokemon reviews and tidying up the Generation III-IV move reviews... so yeah, this article took more than half a year since I first wrote it to when I published it. Oops!

Anyway, a brief background to you guys who aren't too well-versed with the Legends: Arceus game... the game itself takes place several hundred years in the past of the region of Sinnoh, the setting of Diamond & Pearl, the fourth-generation games in the franchise. The region was still called Hisui, and the terrain isn't exactly the same as it is in the present-day Sinnoh we all know and love. All the humans here are a group of settlers clustered within Jubilife Town, as well as two indigenous tribes (the Diamond and Pearl clans, roughly inspired by real-world Ainu tribes) and there's definitely a sense of an 'unexplored frontier' going on with how a lot of them face the land of Hisui. Your character mostly gets involved with the Galactic Team, which survey the land and collect data on the Pokedex.

The interesting thing is, a lot of these characters look similar to what we can presume to be their descendants, which... makes for interesting 'expy' situations. Obviously we're going to have to follow the rules of anime trait passing-down rules here, because there ain't no way some of these hairstyles are actually genetic traits. But still, it makes for a unique 'reviewing human characters' article for us this time around. 

Oh, and I normally mention every unique or plot-relevant character, but it is rather impossible to do with Legends Arceus considering the sheer amount of generic-model, one-off characters that give you quests in the city. So other than the characters that are obviously main story characters, I'll only cover quest-givers if they have a counterpart in present-time Pokemon games. 

Click here if you need a refresher on Sinnoh's characters, of which the bulk of the characters here will reference. 

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Rei & Akari

• Position: Protagonist / Rival
• Japanese Name: Teru & Sho

So, as usual, you can pick between two protagonists, one of each gender, and... it's really interesting what goes on here. Legends: Arceus is probably the singular Pokemon game that has the most characterization given to its characters with how much dialogue they have, and I think the only one that might come close to beating it would be the Alola games. Both of these are basically just Lucas and Dawn, the protagonists from the Diamond/Pearl/Platinum games, but with designs that fit the terrain a bit more. They've got a vaguely kimono-esque outer outfits and skintight inner clothes, the iconic scarf, and a version of the hats their Sinnoh counterparts have. Although instead of a sock-hat like Dawn, Akari has that, uh... head-band that lets her ponytail out? 

Also, something that completely caught me off-guard when I first played through the game, your protagonist is actually an isekai protagonist. Which, to all of you not as well-versed in anime jargon, means that they've been plucked from another universe and tossed into this fantastical land, with knowledge and skills that the populace don't really know. In this case, the protagonist knows how to catch and train Pokemon for battle, in a world where the majority of the population is still scared deathless of a Shinx. That is such an interesting twist on the traditional 'faceless protagonist' idea that the Pokemon franchise tended to do, and gave me a whole paragraph more than I normally have to say about the protagonists. 

Whichever protagonist you don't choose kind of becomes your contemporary, and while he/she is your 'senior' in terms of being in the Galactic Team, you quickly eclipse them in your battling skills and the achievements you do. Even as a 'rival', I don't really think she even ever gets to fully evolve her party! I'm not sure if the dialogue for the 'rival' character changes depending on the gender, but in my playthrough at least, Akari was generally bubbly and excitable and pretty loyal and stuff. 

Professor Laventon

• Position: Professor
• Japanese Name: Laven

Continuing our tradition of Pokemon Professors having tree-based names, Laventon is based on the lavender tree, and is probably one of the handful of characters with designs completely original to this game. He sure is a kooky professor, and unlike most other professors (other than maybe Galar's Sonia), Laventon actually accompanies us to the field and acts very much as our 'on-mission leader'. Now outside of main story missions this perhaps doesn't amount to much, but I am surprised at how much Laventon really brings with his excitableness. Additionally, the Pokedex in this generation is literally an hand-written encyclopedia and all the entries are personally coined by Laventon at the end of all your 'expeditions', which brings a unique flavour to Hisui's pokedex since a lot of them involves Laventon's own speculations, confusions, and discoveries. Not too much to say about him, he sure is a professor with a bowtie... but that silly Poliwhirl hat is adorable. 

It's also implied that he's from Galar, with some dex entries noting that Copperajah is native to his homeland, and his blackboard uses the alphabet from Galar. Considering that the game before Legends: Arceus was in fact Sword & Shield, it is kind of a neat little easter egg. 

Kamado

• Position: Galactic Team Commander
• Japanese Name: Denboku

Yep, okay, everyone, get your Demon Slayer jokes out of your systems. Everyone get your ichi-no-kata's out of the way? Okay? Anyway, Kamado is the Hisuian counterpart of Professor Rowan, the stern professor from Diamond & Pearl, and I am delightfully pleased that all the 'counterpart' characters aren't just convenient reincarnations of their Sinnoh descendants. It's so boring when the professor's ancestor is, guess what, an ancestor too! I actually do feel like Rowan's very stern-looking design does lean a lot to Kamado's role as the Galactic Team Commander, the highest-ranking member in the Galactic Team. And in practice he is stern and very strict, thanks to a backstory where his previous town was razed to the ground by rampaging Pokemon. 

Also, while another character takes on the role as the ultimate antagonist in the rather extensive post-game story, Kamado is the closest thing we have to a human antagonist in the 'main' story, thanks to how bullheaded and quick he is to just go "kill the otherworldly Pokemon" and even banishes our protagonist and denies him/her of all the support system that he/she had throughout the entire journey. Kamado, clad in armour, even becomes the final trainer we face before we face off against the legendary Pokemon. 

Honestly, I pooh-poo'd on Kamado a lot during my playthrough, calling him such a gigantic jackass, and... that's kind of the markings of good character writing, isn't it? Without the benefit of Kamado having all this backstory of his hometown being razed, or his illogical, insane expedition ultimately driven by his borderline-obsessive desire to protect his charges, he would've been just a pig-headed, obstructive old man a leadership role. As it is, he's a pig-headed, obstructive old man in a leadership role who has a sympathetic backstory. I still think he should've been kicked out of the Galactic Team and Cyllene or someone should've taken over, but it is, I suppose, realistic that even after a big mistake, a highly-respected leadership figure still retains his position if he says sorry enough.  

Also, he really likes sumo-throwing people as punishment. And during the climax of the story, he drops his formal way of speaking, which in the Japanese actually clues in that he hails from Johto since he has a distinct Kansai accent, and Kansai is the region Johto is based on. 

Cyllene

• Position: Galactic Team Survey Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Shimaboshi

And here's the interesting little flip! Cyllene is a female ancestor of Cyrus, the main antagonist in Diamond and Pearl. But while she is as strict as Kamado -- perhaps even stricter -- she's actually one of your staunchest allies. While Laventon and the rival character actually went against orders to aid you during your exile, Cyllene also does the same with her Abra... but more covertly, becoming kind of your 'inside man' and eventually giving you outright aid during the height of Kamado's insanity. 

By virtue of being a strict boss, Cyllene herself doesn't really have too much of a chance to show off her personality, but it bleeds through a fair bit. She does have a bit of a dry humour and a harsher mentality, but it kind of fits her role? Cyllene really does believe in the cause, and even vows to keep the Galactic Team name passed down in the future... which, of course, we know that it ironically would be led by her nihilistic descendant Cyrus. Presumably, great-great-grandma Cyllene's records of our protagonist's heroics is how Cyrus learned about things like the Spear Pillar and the Red Chain. 

Beni

• Position: Galactic Team Ninja
• Japanese Name: Mube

And we're closing this initial part of the review off with the final major member of the Galactic Team, Beni, who I've elected to put here in front with the other Galactic Team boys because of how fun he is. At the end of every Noble Pokemon mission, which tends to mark the final boss of an area and you unlocking the next, you, your rival and the Professor go to eat some potato mochi at Beni's shop. And it's such a simple yet fun little detail that, while not making Beni particularly prominent, does make him recognizable when he ends up standing in your way. 

Turns out that Beni is one of Kamado's most loyal friends, coming from the same destroyed village as him and basically being deathly loyal to him. And he's also a ninja, straight-up transforming with hand seals and stuff when he does finally decide to eliminate you in that tunnel. Yep, Beni is a hitman ninja disguised as a shopkeeper located in the busiest part of town, and it's hinted very heavily that Kamado put Beni to spy on you, the strange isekai person who dropped out of the sky and regularly carries around super-powerful evolved Pokemon. In case we get out of control and Beni needs to slip some poison into the potato mochi, if you know what I mean.

I didn't really get who Beni is referencing, but judging by his hair colour and the fact that he uses a Gardevoir and a Gallade in all his teams, he's related in some way to Wally from the Generation III games, huh? But he's in Sinnoh, right? Well, in the post-game, Beni does mention his desire to 'move to someplace warmer' so at some point Beni might've moved to Hoenn, and that would explain some of these characters, whose descendants might've migrated to these other regions. 

Adaman

• Position: Diamond Team Leader
• Japanese Name: Seki

And now we get to the two clans in the land, with the Diamond Clan first. The two clans are very pissy at each other because they both worship 'Almighty Sinnoh', the creator-god of the region... but while we, the audience, know that the real 'Almighty Sinnoh' is Arceus, the Diamond Clan only ever sees and worships Dialga, the god of time, while the Pearl Clan venerate Palkia, the god of space. And both Dialga and Palkia are Arceus's "angels", so to speak. It really does speak a fair bit about real-world beliefs and how minor details can really cause huge divergences in religion, but that's neither here nor there. 

Adaman himself seems to be a rather chill bro, well-respected by even the wackier wardens under his command and very reasonable. It does make him a bit more boring compared to Irida, who has a bunch of interpersonal relationships with her clan members, but it is kinda neat to have Adaman as a contrast as a more 'seasoned' clan leader. Interestingly, it is kind of subtly implied that Adaman's, well, adamant personality is what made him into a clan leader, because unlike Irida or our protagonist, Adaman isn't actually capable of using the Celestica Flute, preferring to let his wardens do it for him. 

Adaman doesn't actually seem to be based on any pre-existing character, interestingly, and I wouldn't mind that several of the characters have brand-new designs. Adaman and Irida both also use Eevelutions, with Adaman being associated with Leafeon, one of the two Eevelutions that debuted in Sinnoh. 

Mai

• Position: Diamond Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Yone

Yeah, I do really like the darker blues of the Diamond Clan outfit, particularly with characters like Mai who kinda customize their undershirts with these very cool-looking artwork. It's like yakuza tattoos, but they are of Pokemon like Ursaring and Stantler! Mai is the first 'Warden' that we meet, which are representatives of the Diamond and Pearl clans that takes care of Noble/Ride Pokemon, with Mai being associated with the Noble Wyrdeer. She also has an adorable Munchlax, which is the subject of a bunch of comedic moments with her and a wild Zorua in the 'Daybreak' missions. 

And... that's honestly about it for Mai. She doesn't do a lot! She does have a pretty cool design, and it's noted by other characters in the game that Mai is basically Adaman's big sister in all but blood, having raised the boisterous clan leader. Her Sinnoh counterpart is the gothic 'stat trainer' Marley, who actually is called Mai in the Japanese version. Almost all the human characters in this game have names that are derived from plants of some sort, and both 'mai' and 'yone' are readings of the Japanese kanji for rice.

Arezu

• Position: Diamond Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Hinatsu

Arezu is the warden guarding over Liligant, and she is involved a fair bit in an earlier altercation where it is assumed that she might be the culprit behind the enraging of the Pearl Clan's Ursaluna. It all ends up being a huge misunderstanding, of course, and Arezu herself is a sweet, energetic girl who was just trying to help and ended up making things worse due to some misunderstanding instead. Really do like the way her stockings are coloured, too, with the gradation from red to gray. 

Arezu's name, of course, is 'Ares'... the Greek name of the Roman war god Mars, and she herself resembles Team Galatic's Mars from Diamond/Pearl. She also moves into Jubilife Town later on, taking over the hairdresser salon. Not too much beyond that, though I do like that her design looks so smug and smarmy when she's actually a very nice person. Also, other than the Liligant that she's a warden of, her party uses Pokemon that her descendant Mars uses. Neat!

Iscan

• Position: Diamond Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Susuki

Iscan's the next warden we meet, and his whole deal is that while the other wardens have a bit of a rivalry with at least another character of the opposing clan, Iscan is in love with the other warden that he shares his area with, Palina. That's the whole crux of their relationship, and Iscan is the big-but-nervous dude. And he's pretty nervous! While he does help us when the chips are down, Iscan is constantly very terrified of Ghost-type Pokemon, particularly ironic since the Noble Pokemon he's guarding, Basculegion, is a ghost fish! This leads to a rather funny moment where he tells us to get a Dusclops and have it use a specific move, but he's so scared that he blubbers over all his words. 

Interestingly, and I just realized it as I was writing it, Iscan is yet another character who doesn't have an easy counterpart from pre-existing Pokemon games. Huh! He's also one of the handful of characters we don't ever battle, and it's implied that he doesn't even have a partner Pokemon. This concept art does show him fishing while a Gastrodon demands food like a hungry cat next to him, and if you guys are bored, do check out the concept art for these Hisuian characters! I've always loved to see the amount of concept work that goes into designing these characters, and it really is very nice to see that they have a fair amount of thought put into them. 

Melli

• Position: Diamond Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Tsubaki

And then we go from a bunch of nice Diamond Clan members to the absolutely abrasive and arrogant Melli, who is that anime trope of a character that has such a high opinion of himself. He comes into conflict with our protagonist, with other Galactic Team members, with Lian from the Pearl Clan, and even sabotages our way up Mt. Coronet! He basically is an insufferable lunatic who thinks it's best for his Noble Electrode to be enraged and be berserking because it'll show the world its pure might. Yeah, we get it, Melli. You really want to show off your giant ball. I do like that he has a cute little drawing of Electrode on his skirt, and the fact that he acts like a petulant little brother whenever Adaman steps in and puts his foot down. 

Interestingly, Melli's team is consistently comprised of Poison-types (his ace is a Skuntank, and he later adds a Skorupi and a Golbat to his team), and while Bulbapedia cited Jupiter as a possible inference, that's honestly just pairing the spares of what Diamond/Pearl character that hasn't gotten a counterpart in Legends Arceus. Some members of the fandom have cited that a possible inspiration is recurring antagonist Harley from the Generation III anime, a rival to May who has a somewhat similar flamboyant-douche personality and a hairstyle that... kinda looks somewhat like Melli if you squint? But honestly, I do think that he might just be another original design, since everyone else is kind of on-the-nose. 

Sabi

• Position: Diamond Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Wasabi

Our final warden, in charge of the Noble Braviary, is the eccentric Sabi. Sabi is a little girl and walks funny and talks funny, consistently claiming that she has clairvoyant powers (which the game keeps delightfully ambiguous about) and putting the main character through a test of traversing the icy terrain... though unlike Melli, you get the sense that Sabi is doing so out of a sense 'trolling' more than anything. 

Also, in a setting where not a lot of people are able to command more than a handful of Pokemon (there's a point that characters like Melli, your rival, Irida, Adaman are starting to add more than one or two Pokemon into your party after encountering you) Sabi randomly fights you in a straight-up regular Pokemon trainer battle, launching a Rhyperior, Magmortar and Electivire at you at the end of a long temple. It's a hilarious subversion from this otherwise air-headed little girl, and I absolutely love the surprise boss fight that she gives us. 

Sabi's design and even her dialogue references Cheryl, the stat trainer in Diamond and Pearl that got lost in Eterna Forest. She isn't clairvoyant either. 

Irida

• Position: Pearl Clan Leader
• Japanese Name: Kai

We mentioned Irida as the leader of the Pearl Clan before, and here we go. She's... an interesting design, isn't she? Her clothes almost look modern, with tube top and shorts, and also she has two gigantic, uh... how do you even describe that piece of clothing? It's like pieces of a massive dress that hangs down from her back. And then she's got a bunch of large bangles, and very interesting boots. Irida shows off a lot of skin which is especially noticeable because the Pearl Clan is based on the snowy tundra. (Irida uses Glaceon thanks to this, as opposed to Adaman's Leafeon). But I guess the Pearl Clan just has a lot of icy resistance? Irida in particular has a unique animation where she's constantly fanning herself because she's constantly feeling hot, which is implied to be the reason why she exposes so much of herself to the elements. 

Irida does go through a bit of a character arc, particularly when you deal with the Kleavor and Arcanine bosses. At first she's very indecisive about what to do, causing other characters to criticize her lack of planning and inexperience. Later on, we get to learn that her contemporary, Palina, is one of the wardens, and Irida has never quite gotten past the fact that she's saddled with higher responsibilities and expectations compared to someone of her age. Irida has been basically groomed to take over the mantle of clan leader since her mother died, while she herself suffers from an inferiority complex that the more level-headed Palina would've made a better leader. This ultimately culminates in Irida gaining a fair amount of confidence throughout the main story (although it's never quite the focus of any major quest) and ultimately she ends up becoming the most vocal in calling out Kamado's bullshit -- moreso even than our player character.

A combination of her hair colour, her hairstyle and her outfit palette did make a lot of people think she's based on May, the protagonist from Ruby/Sapphire. Or, specifically, her Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire redesign, which gave her lighter hair. And while I was totally on board with that, looking at artwork of the two side-by-side does make me think that it's a bit less likely, and I do like the idea that Adaman and Irida are original designs to this game. 

Lian

• Position: Pearl Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Kikui

Lian is the first Pearl Clan warden we meet, being in charge of the Noble Kleavor, the first rampaging Noble Pokemon we have to quell. And I think the Pearl Clan in general is meant to be shown to be more abrasive and suspicious in the early game, with Lian very much not trusting this random isekai stranger from helping him... not that him and his Goomy is going to do much good against a rampaging giant axe mantis. Lian looks particularly young, too, and I guess both clans get one 'kid' warden?

Lian is based, of all people, on Clay from Unova. The cowboy miner gym leader, remember? Lian does have the cowboy hat (albeit less obviously cowboy-esque) and a propensity for mining, which ends up becoming relevant in the final arc. 

Calaba

• Position: Pearl Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Yugao

Where all the Diamond/Pearl clan members we meet up to this point have been reasonably young, Calaba is pretty old, and as such is the one that is the most traditional-leaning amongst the Wardens. She's accompanied by a Bibarel and is in charge of the Noble Ursaluna. Other than her not liking the protagonist for being an outsider, though, she doesn't really leave too much of an impression on me. There was some conflict between her and Arezu, but it's all cleared up ass circumstantial evidence and misunderstanding. 

Her design is pretty neat, an old granny with a backpack full of herbs and two overhanging leaves that probably gives her a fair amount of shade when she walks around. I really can't say too much about Calaba. 

Palina

• Position: Pearl Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Garana

We mentioned Palina before, and she's Iscan's girlfriend. A relationship between the Diamond and Pearl clans, shock! Scandal! ...no one really actually raises a fuss in-game, but presumably the fact that they had to do this in hiding means that there probably are a lot of old people who aren't as cool as Calaba is. Palina is also Irida's good friend, pretty capable and whatnot and is someone that Irida tries to live up to. 

She's the Warden of two Hisuian Growlithes, one of whom is the son of the previous warden Arcanine. The whole storyline with her has one of the Growlithes kidnapped, and the son-of-the-previous-warden Growlithe ends up going and proving itself worthy as the 'true' Noble. Probably my favourite story out of the Noble Pokemon, though it's also the one where the actual Noble Pokemon is given an actual story instead of them being rampaging and all we have to do is to cure them. There's also some parallel between the Hisuian Growlithe coming of age as Palina and Irida's own growth, come to think of it. 

Anyway, Palina is a relatively simple design. A dress with a giant single-glass diving goggles, and another one that I don't think is meant to reference anyone? Johto's Whitney is my best guess, but that's only really just pointing out her hair colour and that's it. 

Ingo

• Position: Pearl Clan Warden / Isekai Train Conductor
• Japanese Name: Nobori

Ingo! Ingo is technically an older character, debuting in Generation V as one of the twin bosses of the Battle Train... but it's been so long since we've seen him and so long since I've did that Unova humans review that in the future, any 'repeat' characters will be reviewed with the generation that they show up in. 

Ingo, like your protagonist, turns out to be another isekai character. Or to borrow a term from Sun and Moon, a "Faller" who somehow got himself warped through space-time and landed in Hisui with amnesia. The poor guy still sometimes remembers flashes of his partner Emmett and at least one of his Pokemon from present-day Unova, Chandelure, but it's so hard for him to really remember much beyond a couple of train gestures. He got picked up by the Pearl Clan, and while he's amnesiac, he still wears his old Battle Train jacket over his Pearl Clan outfit. Poor guy is really just trying to do the best with what he has! He becomes the warden of the Noble Sneasler.

Tellingly, Ingo is the only trainer who faces you off initially with a proper three-party Pokemon and sending them out one by one. The other trainers in Hisui tended to just carry one or two, and some of them don't even battle formally until you basically introduce 'traditional' battling to them. He's also the only trainer, I think, to face you with a full party of six in the post-game rematches. It's a really unexpected and cool cameo to a relatively obscure character. 

Gaeric

• Position: Pearl Clan Warden
• Japanese Name: Hamarenge

A muscleman who goes around jumping from giant ice formations and striking bodybuilding poses, Gaeric is the warden of the Noble Avalugg, and just like Irida, parades around showing a lot of skin in a tundra weather. Maybe the Pearl Clan are just mutants? Or maybe it's their genes that allow characters like Dawn and Candace to run around Sinnoh-era Mt. Coronet with short-shorts. Actually, did Gaeric... shave his chest hair into the Pearl Clan's logo? Or is that just a tattoo? I'm not sure if this is more or less hilarious than ORAS Matt and his tanline Team Aqua symbol. 

Gaeric is the ancestor of Wulfric from XY, albeit a lot more built and muscle-toned. You also fight Gaeric a couple of times, and he always brings a party of ice-types -- or, well, just the final evolutions of the Snorunt line and the Hisuian Avalugg he's in charge of. Not a whole ton to say about Gaeric, he sure is an energetic fellow!

Volo

• Position: Gingko Guild Merchant / Seeker of Arceus
• Japanese Name: Volo

Yeah, I know I should've put Volo near the top, but I guess it'll spoil a huge chunk of the ending and if you've read this far then you probably don't care about spoilers anyway. Now Volo is introduced as a ruin enthusiast, being someone who cares to know more about the 'what' and 'why' of these phenomenons of Pokemon going berserk or god-like Pokemon descending from other dimensions instead of 'how do we stop the crisis'. And for a good chunk of the game, Volo is just there, hanging around with you and giving exposition about ancient ruins. He and one of the clan leaders end up aiding you after your exile. Now Volo is technically a member of the Gingko Guild -- this 'fourth' party of merchants that just hang around Jubilife Village and offer you wares, but otherwise he just shows up as a recurring role to give exposition and drop some dialogue that, in retrospect, ends up being just a bit more sinister than a mere 'seeker of knowledge'. 

Turns out that in the post-game, Volo is a complete and utter lunatic, who wants to seek (and domineer) the true god, Arceus, and had been responsible for making a contract with Giratina and causing all the havoc with the Noble Pokemon. He then sheds his outfit and reveals this bizarre 'cultist' outfit that basically has him cosplay Arceus... right up to Arceus's insane hair! 

Interestingly, Volo is the counterpart to Cynthia, the 'big good' of the Sinnoh games and the most powerful trainer there. So with Cyrus, the original antagonist, having a counterpart that didn't do a single evil thing, it's interesting that Professor Rowan and Cynthia's counterparts are the ones that are painted as villains. Volo does also share Cynthia's love for ruins, and five-sixths of her party (he replaces the Gastrodon for a Hisuian Arcanine), before wielding Giratina himself. His motivations is kinda-sorta like Cyrus in terms of wanting to recreate the world... albeit to meet Arceus instead of the hollow nihilism that Cyrus has. It's interesting to see how the genetics work, and whether some of Volo and Cyllene's descendants ended up intermarrying or something. 

Mistress Cogita

• Position: Lorekeeper
• Japanese Name: Cogito

Volo isn't the only Cynthia-copy, though, because Mistress Cogita is a mysterious lady dressed in an all-black dress and a huge hat that just kinda... hangs around in the woods. Volo brings the protagonist to meet Cogita, who gives the biggest reveals about Dialga/Palkia and the three lake guardians, and ends up becoming the biggest source of authority on the legends in Hisui and Sinnoh. He's not particularly fond of Volo, though the two might very well be related? There's a very otherworldly vibe about her that it caused a not-significant portion of the fandom to guess that she is a 'Faller' Cynthia herself, though I am fine with her just being an ancestor. Or, if anything, just someone with an implied connection with Arceus. 

It is noted that Cogita is one of the last of the original Celestica people that built the ruins of Arceus we see all around the region, which might be the mundane explanation to her. But her outfit and the vibe of her strange hut in the forest and her having tea all the time does bring up the image of a witch, doesn't she? She's also particularly associated with fairies, with her holding the Fairy Plate (and using it as a plate) and later being revealed to have been hanging out with the brand-new Fairy legendary Enamorus. 

Ginter

• Position: Gingko Guild Leader
• Japanese Name: Ginnan

Ginter is the leader of the Gingko Guild, and... he sure exists. I actually don't remember him doing anything other than sell wares and maybe have one or two introductory scenes with Volo? He's the leader of the merchant Gingko Guild, and he sure has a neat outfit. He's got official artwork, though he has less dialogue than probably every single no-official-artwork guys below here. His pose and his hairstyle marks him as an ancestor of Volkner... not a whole ton to say beyond that.  

Charm, Clover & Coin

• Position: Miss Fortune Gang
• Japanese Name: Omatsu (Charm), Otake (Clover), Oume (Coin)

Ah, so these guys. They are minor antagonists here and there, stealing Calaba's ruin and later kidnapping Pallina's Growlithe. They are a trio of bandits that have defected from their respective villages -- Charm from Jubilife, Clover from Diamond Clan and Coin from Pearl Clan. Their Japanese names refer to  the Three Friends of Winter, which is an art motif in traditional art that feature three plants that can persevere through winter... though it's obviously hard to translate into English, which opt for a 'luck' theme and have them call themselves the Miss-Fortunes Gang. They kinda act a little bit like cartoon Team Rocket, which is always a welcome addition. to any cast. 

Charm seems to be based on Bertha (and, by extension, Agatha), the Ground-wielding member of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and uses a Rhydon and Gengar (representing Bertha and Agatha respectively). Clover is basically just Candace in contemporary outfit, and is the most irritable and excitable of the three, and uses an Abomasnow like her presumed descendant. And Coin uses a Toxicroak, just like her inspiration, Saturn of Team Galactic. Fun that they take inspirations from completely unrelated characters!

It's pretty fun to have a bunch of wacky posing antagonists here and there, though I am actually rather surprised that we don't get a resolution to these three's discontent with their respective tribes. They leave the main story on good terms with our characters but I'm surprised considering the Pokemon games' track record that we don't get a 'everyone is one big family' at the end. 

Zisu

• Position: Galactic Team Security Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Perilla

And now we'll rapid-fire through the other NPC's in Jubilife Village that have unique models. Most prominent among this is probably Zisu, whose quest you will have to do early on. She runs the training grounds, is the leader of the Security Corps, and provides a lot of services like move relearning and tutoring. 

Not too much to say about her, she sure is a lady with a unique hairdo. She's an equivalent of Flint (of the Elite Four) and his brother Buck (the guy with a Claydol in the DP postgame) and her final team in the rematches is actually a direct copy of Flint's "Fire-expert with only two Fire-types" party from the original Diamond and Pearl. Except this time around, it kinda makes a bit more sense because type experts aren't really a thing here! 

Sanqua

• Position: Galactic Team Construction Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Sazanka

Sanqua is the leader of the Construction Corps, and is based on Gold & Silver's Karen, the Dark-type Elite Four member. One of the quests that involves her includes her thinking that she's being harassed by some sort of ghost, but it's just a Pichu that followed her home. She adopts the Pichu later on. Not a whole ton to say, though I do remember her showing up with minor things to say in the base a bit more than the others. Interestingly, while there is an Umbreon (Karen's ace) in her office, it belongs to one of her squad members and not her. 

Colza

• Position: Galactic Team Agriculture Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Nabana

Being in charge of the Agriculture Corps and a batch of farmlands that you can use to plant crops, Colza is... well, he sure is Gardenia's ancestor! But a dude with a beard! Not a whole lot to say about him, to be honest, other than to acknowledge his existence. I do like that they do put in a fair amount of thought into the lifestyle of these people in feudal-era Pokemon World. 

Pesselle

• Position: Galactic Team Medical Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Kine

Pesselle is basically the leader of the Medical Corps, which... doesn't actually run Pokemon Centers in this universe! Just go to sleep if you want to heal your Pokemon, gosh, she deals with injured humans that get broken bones or scrapes after being hounded by lightning cats and mud hippos! And honestly, while it's played more for laughs and any serious injuries relegated to backstory, you really can't envy Pesselle's job. Not when humans are being attacked by Pokemon! Yeah, Bibarel probably looks like a dork, but a beaver that size could probably tear off an entire human's arm!

Tao Hua

• Position: Galactic Team Supply Corps Leader
• Japanese Name: Taohua

Hanging out in the basement and the leader of the Supply Corps, Tao Hua is one of the guys responsible for supplying us with Pokeballs and the like. He's got a unique model and a long quest chain with the merchant Choy that stands outside of the Galactic Team base, mostly refusing to trade with him until we show up with a certain fancy new ingredient from the new area we unlock. We later learn that Tao Hua is pissed off at Choy for 'stealing his treasure'... which is an euphemism for marrying his granddaughter. 

Choy

• Position: Jubilife Citizen
• Japanese Name: Taisai

And here's Choy, whose hairstyle mark him as the ancestor to Charon, the scientist from Team Galactic. He sure is a shopkeeper! I do like that they give Choy Charon's shifty, creepy eyes, but he's a very nice guy who's only trying his best to run his business and not piss off his grandfather-in-law even further and getting you to play middleman. 

Anthe

• Position: Jubilife Citizen
• Japanese Name: Sharon
  

And we also have someone else with a unique model, Anthe, the lady who runs the clothing store. Again, not much to say here beyond the fact that she gives out a bunch of requests that 'inspire' her to make new styles (Arezu does the same with hairstyles) and her eccentric way of getting new inspiration is why you can find stuff like Cyclops from X-Men visors and modern-day Team Galactic outfits and the like. Her present-day counterpart is Darach, the butler from Sinnoh's Battle Frontier. 

Rye

• Position: Galactic Team 
• Japanese Name: Haku

I honestly am not sure to include him or not, but I guess he does have a unique model. If by unique model you mean a slightly different hairdo. But Rye and his Lucario is definitely a reference to another stat trainer, Riley, the guy with Lucario in Iron Island. I'm sorry, Rye, you have nowhere the drip that Riley has. 

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And there are a lot of other NPC's in Legends Arceus, for sure. The creepy Spiritomb boy, the Togepi lady, the guard with the Dustox, the ranch lady, those two siblings whose sister keeps getting missing in different locations... but all of them are basically generic NPC's and I think I did a reasonable job covering most of the side-quests and the interesting NPC's in my Legends Arceus playthrough, which ran way longer than I had expected it to. 

Anyway, I think I'll wait for the DLC's to fully come out before really reviewing the Paldean humans!