Hun

Hun バショウ Bashō
Hun
Gender	Male*, Female*
Hometown	Unknown
Region	Johto
Member of	Team Rocket
Rank	Officer or Higher
Partner	Attila
Anime debut	The Legend of Thunder!
English voice actor	Veronica Taylor
Japanese voice actor	Toshiyuki Morikawa

Hun (Japanese: バショウ Bashō) is a member of Team Rocket. He appeared along with his partner, Attila, in The Legend of Thunder!.

Character

Hun and Attila

Hun and Attila both seem somewhat set in their rank, and approach missions casually. They seem to keep their cool even when they lose; in these situations, they calmly retreat. Despite physical stereotypes, Hun is the dominant partner telling Attila to do things that he could do himself. Attila doesn't object or show any signs of aggravation over this role, perhaps because Hun is always polite about it. They never disagree or bicker (unlike other Team Rocket partnerships) and even when frustrated, never take it out on one another. In fact, whenever Attila occasionally expresses worry about something going wrong, Hun quickly assures him that it doesn't matter and that he has a solution. In the original Japanese, Hun states that he and Attila are from the "Profit Expansion Division."

Hun seems to be exceedingly formal, almost exclusively using the formal tense in the original Japanese, even when speaking to people he clearly considers below him (Jimmy and the others), as well as his partner, and even his Pokémon. The fact that he refers to his partner by first name only (no suffix), and is not offended by the fact that Attila never uses the formal tense when talking to him, implies that his use of the tense is not due to unfamiliarity, but simply his style of speech.

Hun is exceedingly intelligent, and never seems overwhelmed by any situation, quickly and calmly finding the best solution and acting on it without hesitation. He also seems skilled with computers, and in tracking Pokémon with them, as Attila expresses surprise at his ability to track Raikou after Jimmy takes it to the Pokémon Center. He is usually emotionless and calm, yet occasionally seems shocked or frustrated when complications arise. Additionally, he seems to be a more vindictive as time goes on. Initially he seems indifferent to the protagonists' interference; yet, by the final confrontation, seems to enjoy ordering Steelix to attack them.

Hun is one of the few members of Team Rocket who ever talks about the beliefs of the group, which he seems to agree with rather strongly. He frequently mentions the fact that Pokémon are only animals which exist to serve humans. This is consistent with part of the Team Rocket manifesto that states, "All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket." Yet, he acknowledges Raikou's intelligence, and speaks to it no differently than he does any of the human characters. It seems that he has accepted that Pokémon are sentient, intelligent creatures, yet still believes they exist only as servants to mankind. Despite this, he does not seem particularly cruel to his own Pokémon, even expressing some concern when his Steelix is knocked down by Raikou (although it is unclear whether or not this is just shock over its defeat).

Hun and Attila can be seen briefly in Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, during the narrator's introduction to the world of Pokémon. They are in the holding area with a captured Rayquaza and in the scene before, the Rayquaza could be seen flying as it tried to avoid being shot down by small missiles. This makes Hun and Attila the only Team Rocket characters known to have captured a legendary Pokémon long enough for it to be studied (with the exception of Giovanni's ownership of Mewtwo, which is still different in that Mewtwo was created by Team Rocket, not captured). It is unknown how, when or if Rayquaza escaped.

Relations to Other Members

Attila has no recorded history with his partner Hun though, while the dub states that they are new partners, their body language and the familiarity of the behavior towards each other shows that they do have some history together. Additionally, their manner of speech (tenses used, lack of name suffixes etc.) in the original Japanese also implies closeness. In the Japanese, Attila also makes a statement about Hun being "as serious as usual," all but confirming the fact this is not the first time they've worked together.

In the dub, the pair take mission orders from Professor Sebastian, but it is implied in the original that they have never met him before The Legend of Thunder!. Still, in the dub, he seems to have some kind of friendship with the professor. In the original Japanese, it seems fairly clear they have not met before, as he introduces both himself and his partner. Additionally, in contrast to the dub where he is giving orders, in the original Japanese Sebastian states that Hun and Attila are "the ones in charge," implying that he has simply made the Crystal System for use in their mission.

It is important to note that neither Hun nor Attila ever mention their rank, although the authority that Hun seems to assume with Professor Sebastian in the original implies that they are very high ranked within their department.

Pokémon

Steelix

Debut	The Legend of Thunder!

Steelix is Hun's main battling Pokémon. According to him, it enjoys "coaxing others into aggression." It was used to attack Raikou, as well as Jimmy, Marina, and Vincent. Even for a Steelix, which are known to be aggressive by nature, it seems particularly brutal and violent.

Steelix's known moves are Sandstorm, Crunch, Bite*, Rock Throw, Dig and Iron Tail.

Artwork

Ken Sugimori's design of Attila and Hun for the anime.

Voice actors

Language Voice actor Japanese 森川智之 Toshiyuki Morikawa English Veronica Taylor European Spanish María Jesús Nieto

Trivia

• The origin of his Japanese name is Matsuo Basho, considered one of the greatest haiku poets in history. As both he and Yosa Buson flourished during the Edo period, some have suspected that both were also ninja employed by the administration. This may be a reason why these names were chosen for Attila (whose Japanese name is Buson) and Hun.
• Like the other Rocket duos, his and his partner's names together form the name of a famous historical villain: in this case, Attila the Hun.
• According to concept art, Hun's design is meant to be evocative of a fox while Attila's is meant to evoke a raccoon-dog.

Issue regarding gender

Hun is male in the original Japanese version. However, his gender was supposedly changed to female in the English dubbed version. Closer analysis shows that Hun was never referred to as a female. The only pronouns are those used collectively with Attila, such as "those men" or "those guys". So, Hun may just be a male with a feminine voice. As such, Hun will be referred to as a male for this article. In the Brazilian version, however, Hun is referred to as ela and dela. Likewise, in the European Portuguese he is named Ana, which is a name that is usually given to women.

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.