Jessebelle
| Jessebelle ルミカ Rumika | |
 Jessebelle | |
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Eye color | Jade |
| Hair color | Red |
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Kanto |
| Anime debut | Holy Matrimony! |
| English voice actor | Rachael Lillis (4Kids) Michele Knotz (TPCi) |
| Japanese voice actor | Megumi Hayashibara |
Jessebelle (Japanese: ルミカ Rumika) was the woman appointed to be James's fiancée by his parents, and a recurring character in the Pokémon anime. She is particularly wealthy and also a doppelgänger of Jessie.
History
Pre-series
In The Treasure Is All Mine!, James revealed that he met Jessebelle when they were both children, and he was interested in her and even wrote a love letter. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after the engagement was announced that James was exposed to her less than tolerable personality, starting with her insulting his beloved pet Growlithe, Growlie.
Original series
Jessebelle first appeared in Holy Matrimony!, where James returned to his parents' mansion in Kanto after receiving word that they had died. However, this was just a hoax to lure him into marrying Jessebelle; if he did marry her, he would receive his massive inheritance. However it soon became apparent that James was absolutely terrified of Jessebelle; he explained to Jessie, Meowth, Ash and his friends how the marriage had been arranged when he and Jessebelle were young, and she had always been bossy. She would follow him around constantly tormenting him and telling him what to do and how he should do things. She was the main reason why James ran away from home.
Since he had not seen Jessebelle for years, James was shocked to discover that she had an almost identical appearance to Jessie. Jessebelle expelled Jessie, Meowth, and Ash's group from the home and chased James around the mansion's basement, threatening him with her Vileplume's Stun Spore and a long whip. Eventually, Growlie broke out from its doghouse and came to rescue James from Jessebelle. The two had a Pokémon battle, with Growlie being victorious and Jessebelle running off the estate.
Jessebelle reappeared in a flashback in The Heartbreak of Brock.
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
James still appears to not have changed his feelings on Jessebelle, who was seen in another flashback in Two Degrees of Separation!. He was happy to visit his second summer home until he was told that Jessebelle was on her way there, and he, along with Jessie and Meowth, promptly left the premises.
She reappeared in person in The Treasure Is All Mine!, where she once again fiercely chased after her eternal runaway fiancé, much to his horror. James hoped a blast off courtesy of Pikachu would allow him to escape, though Jessebelle was sent blasting off with him.
Character
Jessebelle is, as demonstrated by her debut appearance, extremely controlling and obsessive. She is a stuck-up, elitist woman with a dominatrix personality and a great affection for James.
Pokémon
| Debut | Holy Matrimony! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Megumi Hayashibara |
| English | Kayzie Rogers |
Vileplume is Jessebelle's only known Pokémon. Jessebelle has had it ever since it was an Oddish, and it evolved into a Gloom and then a Vileplume sometime after James had ran away from home. Vileplume was used in Holy Matrimony! to make sure Jessebelle could slow James down and keep him from escaping, in which it not only affected James, but also Ash, Misty, and Brock. However, with the help of Growlie, James managed to escape. Vileplume later reappeared in The Treasure Is All Mine!, where Jessebelle used it to open a blocked passageway.
Vileplume's known moves are Stun Spore and Solar Beam.
Voice actors
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Trivia
- Jessebelle's English name is both a pun on Jessie's name and a near-homonym of Jezebel.
- Also, "-belle" is a common suffix used in females' names, such as Lisabelle or Maybelle.
- The term "belle" is also used to describe a southern young woman (southern-belle), which may relate to Jessebelle's steel-magnolia accent.
- Also, "-belle" is a common suffix used in females' names, such as Lisabelle or Maybelle.
- Despite her similarities to Jessie, Jessebelle's hair color has remained red throughout the series, while Jessie's turned purple when the coloring began to be done digitally in Here's Lookin' at You, Elekid.
- Possibly because of her many similarities to Jessie, the voice actresses that have played Jessebelle are mostly the same voice actresses who played Jessie.
- In the original series, Jessebelle has jade-colored irises, but later on, in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, the eye color swapped to a more bluish tone, most likely due to the animators changing to digital coloring.
- Jessebelle is mentioned by James during the special event Blasting Off Again in Pokémon Masters EX.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ルミカ Rumika | |
| English, German | Jessebelle | From Jessie, belle, and Jezebel |
| Spanish, French, Italian | Jessiebelle | Similar to her English name |
| Korean | 루미카 Rumika | Transcription of her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 魯美嘉 / 鲁美嘉 Lǔměijiā | Transcription of her Japanese name |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 魯美嘉 Lóuhméihgā |
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
