Dr. Namba
| Dr. Namba ナンバ博士 Dr. Namba | |
 Dr. Namba. | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Johto |
| Member of | Team Rocket |
| Rank | Scientist |
| Anime debut | The Mystery is History |
| English voice actor | Billy Beach |
| Japanese voice actor | Ichirō Nagai |
Dr. Namba (Japanese: ナンバ博士 Dr. Namba) is a scientist of Team Rocket.
Character
Dr. Namba has often given Butch and Cassidy their mission briefings (though this was primarily as a vocal role, except for Oaknapped). Like Butch, people often get his name wrong. For example, Team Rocket referred to Dr. Namba as "Dr. Number" in The Mystery is History and Cassidy called him "Dr. Samba" in The Ole' Berate and Switch!. Dr. Namba is full of pride and has a short temper, and is very intelligent, cunning, creative, technologically capable and a skilled Pokémon Trainer. He is also extremely power-hungry, megalomaniacal, prejudiced, cruel, authoritative, ruthless, and violent.
History
Original series
Dr. Namba first appeared in the Lugia saga that focused on catching Silver and its parent. As such, he was the main antagonist of the arc.
Inside an underwater Team Rocket laboratory, Dr. Namba had some Team Rocket Grunts go to the area to spy on Lugia and report back the details of its whereabouts. The grunts did so and Dr. Namba dispatched a submarine in order to catch it. In the meantime, he had Butch, Cassidy and some other grunts to fire nets at it but Ash and his friends foiled Butch and Cassidy's plans while Oliver's Lanturn forced the grunts to retreat. Dr. Namba was then given the report by Butch and Cassidy. Afterwards, Dr. Namba wanted the duo to go get something.
After Butch and Cassidy successfully got Silver, the child Lugia, it was given to Dr. Namba who proudly stood in front of it. Butch and Cassidy arrived and discussed with Dr. Namba about a plan using Silver as a decoy to capture the parent Lugia. Dr. Namba agreed with them as he found this a scheme that was easy to execute. As the parent Lugia went on a rampage after finding out what happened to the child, Dr. Namba monitored it on the screen.
Dr. Namba gave Butch and Cassidy both a "Rage Crown" to increase their Pokémon's strength drastically. After the storm stopped, he brought out Silver who was still caged. Dr. Namba watched on as the parent Lugia went to it. As Ash and the gang failed to stop Butch and Cassidy, and the parent Lugia from going to its child, Dr. Namba successfully managed to get both Lugia, as it was a trap.
With both Lugia caught, Dr. Namba caged Ash and the gang inside the lab. Dr. Namba explained his plan to them which concerned the Rage Crown being part of his little experiment of amplifying energy, as well as manipulation. He decided to try the Rage Crown on both Ash's Pikachu and Ritchie's Sparky. However, before he could do so, Oliver came in and freed Ash and his friends. Dr. Namba then got tackled by Ash. However, before they could get away, Dr. Namba activated the alarm which summoned all of the members of Team Rocket present.
As all of the grunts were subdued by Ash and Ritchie, Dr. Namba prevented the group from freeing the Lugia and sent out his Electabuzz to battle them. Ash and Ritchie used their Pikachu to take care of Electabuzz as Electabuzz was wearing the Rage Crown. During the battle, Ash noticed the Rage Crown's weakness which was the controller Dr. Namba was holding. Sparky went to Dr. Namba and destroyed the controller with its electricity. With Electabuzz powerless, both Pikachu finished it off and Electabuzz landed on Dr. Namba. After an explosion happened in the lab, Dr. Namba was seen holding on to a piece of debris on the ocean.
Advanced Generation
Dr. Namba was mentioned in The Scheme Team where a Team Rocket Grunt told Butch and Cassidy that he had a very important assignment for them.
He briefly appeared in The Ole' Berate and Switch! where he corrected Cassidy when she got his name wrong via phone.
Pokémon Chronicles
In the Japanese version of Dr. Namba appearances on Pokémon Chronicles, Namba demanded that Butch and Cassidy capture rare Pokémon for something he calls the 'R Project', and as such, served as a recurring antagonist alongside the duo.
In A Date with Delcatty, Dr. Namba informed them in a recording to apprehend a Delcatty belonging to a little boy who lived somewhere in Cerulean City. In Luvdisc is a Many Splendored Thing, he did the same but this time wanted Butch and Cassidy to capture a Luvdisc which was located the same place as Delcatty was in.
Diamond & Pearl series
Dr. Namba appeared in Sleight of Sand! where he assigned Butch and Cassidy to capture a Hippowdon so that he could research the sand from it.
Relationships with other members
Aside from the already mentioned fact of him ordering a cadre of scientists and agents, two notable agents that he orders are Butch and Cassidy.
Known research
- Pokémon strength augmentation
- Pokérus (perhaps related to strength augmentation research)
- Hippowdon's sand
- Rage Crown (a device that attaches to a Pokémon's head and stimulates the areas of the brain involved in aggression, increasing its power and causing it to enter into a state of fury)
Pokémon
On hand
| Debut | A Promise is a Promise! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Unshō Ishizuka |
| English | Unshō Ishizuka |
Dr. Namba's Electabuzz's only appearance was in A Promise is a Promise!. When Ash and his friends, including Ritchie and Oliver, were on the run in Team Rocket's underwater base, they discovered where Namba was keeping Silver and were about to free it until Namba appeared and sent out Electabuzz.
It had a headgear on its head which made it angry, thus making it more powerful. Electabuzz used an enraged Thunder Punch to try to faint Ash's Pikachu and Sparky, but they dodged it. Pikachu tried to use Thunderbolt on its headgear, but it blocked the headgear with Light Screen, and Namba started to make Electabuzz even more angry with the controls he was holding. Pikachu and Sparky continued to fight until Sparky broke the controls, also disabling the headgear. They finished Electabuzz off with a double Thunder attack, fainting it.
Electabuzz's known moves are Thunder Punch, Light Screen, and Thunderbolt.
Escaped
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Lugia's voice actors |
| Debut | The Mystery is History |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Megumi Hayashibara |
| English | Megumi Hayashibara |
- Main article: Silver (Johto)
Dr. Namba caught Silver when he built a Lugia decoy which made Silver think the decoy was its pal.
| Debut | The Mystery is History |
|---|
Dr. Namba caught the parent Lugia by bringing out its child, Silver. The parent Lugia went to Silver but was almost stopped by Ash, Misty, Brock and Ritchie, and their Pokémon, as Butch and Cassidy defeated them using their Pokémon when they had the rage crown on.
Lugia's known moves are Rain Dance, Aeroblast and Safeguard.
| Debut | The Mystery is History |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Ikue Ohtani |
| English | Ikue Ohtani |
- Main article: Ash's Pikachu
When Ash and his friends were locked in a cage, Dr. Namba tried out his rage crown on Ash's Pikachu. Oliver managed to free the heroes in time and Ash stopped Dr. Namba from doing so.
| Debut | The Mystery is History |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Satomi Kōrogi |
| English | Satomi Kōrogi |
- Main article: Sparky
When Ash and his friends were locked in a cage, Dr. Namba tried out his rage crown on Ritchie's Pikachu, Sparky. Oliver managed to free the heroes in time and Ash stopped Dr. Namba from doing so.
Voice actors
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In the manga
In the Ash and Pikachu manga
Dr. Namba appeared in Let's Save The Lugia! and was referred to as a Team Rocket Scientist in the chapter.
Pokémon
| Debut | Let's Save The Lugia |
|---|
Hitmontop is a Pokémon belonging to the Team Rocket Scientist. He had a battle with Ash's Pikachu and dealt tons of damage to him as Hitmontop was wearing the Rage Crown that made him stronger.
Hitmontop's only known move is Rolling Kick.
| Debut | Let's Save The Lugia |
|---|
Gastly is another Pokémon belonging to the Team Rocket Scientist.
None of Gastly's moves are known.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ナンバ博士 Dr. Namba | Possibly from Namba (also known as Minami), a district within Osaka, Japan. |
| English | Dr. Namba | Same as Japanese name. |
| Chinese | 南波博士 Dr. Nánbō | From 南波 namba. |
See also
 Team Rocket
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| Rocket Game Corner • Team Rocket Hideout • Viridian Gym • Team Rocket HQ • Rocket Warehouse | |||||
| Boss | Admins | ||||
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| Giovanni (Masters • Pocket Monsters) |
Archer (Masters) |
Ariana (Masters) |
Petrel (Masters) |
Proton (Masters) | |
| Other members | |||||
| Jessie (Masters) • James (Masters) • Meowth • Team Rocket Grunts (Rocket Siblings) • Scientists (Gideon) Grey (Golden Boys) • Kaede (How I Became a Pokémon Card) | |||||
See also: Pokémon the Series • Adventures • Team GO Rocket • Team Rainbow Rocket
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
