Viren
| Viren ブルガン Bourgain | |
 Viren | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Unknown |
| Region | Alola |
| Member of | Revengers |
| Rank | Leader |
| Anime debut | The Young Flame Strikes Back! |
| English voice actor | H.D. Quinn |
| Japanese voice actor | Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi |
Viren (Japanese: ブルガン Bourgain) is a recurring character who appeared in the Pokémon anime. He is the president of Rainbow Happy Resorts (Japanese: レインボーハッピーリゾートカンパニー Rainbow Happy Resort Company) and the leader of the Revengers. He first appeared in The Young Flame Strikes Back!.
History
Viren debuted in The Young Flame Strikes Back!, where he arrived at Paniola Ranch, keen to buy the area and turn it into a resort hotel. After Kiawe and his family declined his offer to purchase their ranch, he began to harass them, which infuriated Kiawe. As a result, Kiawe challenged him to a battle, but Kiawe's unsuccessful attempt at using a Z-Move with Marowak gave Viren the win.
Viren returned the next day and had a rematch against Kiawe, but was defeated. Despite this, Viren refused to acknowledge defeat and called for his henchmen who arrived in digger trucks, ready to destroy the ranch, even when Kiawe, his family, and friends stood their ground, he wasn't fazed and told his henchmen to knock them aside. But unfortunately for Viren, Officer Jenny arrived with a warrant for his arrest, the charge against him being forging land ownership documents, with additional charges of trespassing and malicious destruction of property (both legal and private). Viren and his henchmen tried to flee, but they were thwarted by police cars and subdued by Officer Jenny's Granbull before being taken away.
In A Young Royal Flame Ignites!, Viren tried to buy out the Battle Royal Dome using the Revengers. When the Revengers were defeated by Ash and the Masked Royal, he attempted to challenge the masked fighters himself with his Pangoro, but Incineroar and Torracat swiftly sent Pangoro flying out of the ring and into its Trainer, knocking them both out.
In The Long Vault Home!, Ash encountered Viren as he was overseeing the construction of a resort known as Viren Tower (Japanese: ブルガンタワー Bourgain Tower). Two days later, the Ultra Beast Stakataka made its way into the construction site, forcing the Ultra Guardians to come and investigate the area, much to Viren's annoyance. Viren, mistaking the Rampart Pokémon for a statue stand, glued a golden statue of himself onto Stakataka, causing it to go berserk in an attempt to get the statue off. The Ultra Guardians attempted to help it out, but Viren briefly got in their way. Eventually, with the assistance of Kiawe's Turtonator, Ash made it on top of Stakataka and had his Pikachu knock the statue off, calming it down. Though the Ultra Guardians succeeded in capturing Stakataka, Viren's statue was damaged, resulting in him deciding to call off the resort's construction in favor of a baseball stadium known as Viren Stadium with its own team instead.
By the time of Living on the Cutting Edge!, the Viren Stadium and Viren Tower were completed. As a result, he and his henchmen began practicing for the inauguration ceremony of the stadium, only for a Kartana to slice the golden statue of himself in half. He later appeared on a shopping channel called Viren Shopping Network (Japanese: ブルガンショッピング Bourgain Shopping), which was broadcast from Viren Tower. He presented the Viren Steal-Proof Safe (Japanese: ブルブルガンガン金庫 Bling Bling Gold Safe), a product he described as completely indestructible. He had his Electivire and Pangoro attack the safe, inflicting no damage on it. However, Kartana appeared again and effortlessly sliced through the safe. Viren confronted Kartana with Electivire and Pangoro and demanded that it own up to its actions, but it sliced a hole in Viren Tower and escaped.
In Battle Royal 151!, Viren watched Mr. Electric and Mad Magmar as they participated in the Battle Royal preliminary round of the Manalo Conference, urging them to defeat Kiawe. However, they were promptly defeated by Kiawe's Turtonator.
Character
Viren is a greedy, egotistical man who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, regardless of how unethical or even illegal his plans are. In his first appearance, after his proposal to purchase Kiawe's family's ranch was refused, he sent his henchmen to harass them and ultimately forged land ownership documents, an act that led to his arrest. He was even willing to harm children, shown when he ordered his Electivire to use Thunder on Mimo. His greed and corruption was not lessened by his arrest, as he tried to take over the Battle Royal Dome after he was released from jail, doing so by sending the Revengers to defeat the Masked Royal by cheating in the Battle Royal. He refused to give up on this plan even when all of the Revengers had been beaten, trying to fight with his own Pangoro, and had to be personally defeated again.
He seems to take pride in being a cheater and a deceitful person. For example, when he revealed that he was the Revengers' boss and the audience started to boo him, he simply stated that their booing was more like cheering to him. In addition, he is shown to be a hypocrite, getting mad at Kiawe and Lana for interfering with a match to free the Masked Royal's Incineroar from the Revengers' Pokémon, even though the team he leads resorted to the same tactic themselves. He is a sore loser, which was first shown in his debut, when Kiawe defeated him in a battle; Viren refused to acknowledge his loss and went on with his plan to demolish the ranch, only to be stopped by Officer Jenny. This was shown again in his second appearance, when two of the Revengers' Pokémon were defeated, he sent the Revengers and their other Pokémon to gang up on Torracat. Even when they were all defeated by Incineroar's Malicious Moonsault, he still persisted, sending out his Pangoro to fight.
Even when his business plans supposedly do not involve corrupt or illegal actions, he shows incredibly high vanity. He planned to build a large golden statue of an athletic version of himself as the centerpiece of a hotel he had under construction, and when the statue became attached to the top of a wild Stakataka, Viren interfered with the Ultra Guardians' work in an attempt to protect the statue from sustaining damage.
Pokémon
This listing is of Viren's known Pokémon in the anime:
| の | This article is missing information on this character's Japanese voice actor. You can help by adding this information. |
| Debut | The Young Flame Strikes Back! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Unshō Ishizuka |
| English | Bill Rogers |
Electivire is Viren's first known Pokémon. He first used it to intimidate Kiawe's family, even firing a Thunder at Mimo. It also battled Kiawe's Marowak and won. It later had a rematch against Marowak, but this time, it ended up getting defeated by Marowak's Inferno Overdrive.
Electivire reappeared in Living on the Cutting Edge!, where it and Pangoro showed off the strength of Viren's new golden safe at his orders.
Electivire's known moves are Thunder Punch, Thunder, and Rain Dance.
| Debut | A Young Royal Flame Ignites! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | |
| English | Marc Thompson |
Pangoro is Viren's second known Pokémon. It is housed in a Luxury Ball. He sent it out against Ash and the Masked Royal after they had defeated the opponents he had hired to face them. However, Pangoro was easily defeated by a combination attack from Ash's Torracat and the Masked Royal's Incineroar.
Pangoro reappeared in Living on the Cutting Edge!, where it and Electivire showed off the strength of Viren's new golden safe at his orders.
Pangoro's only known move is Fire Punch.
Voice actors
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Trivia
- Viren's appearance resembles his main Pokémon, Electivire.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ブルガン Bourgain | From エレキブル Elekible (Electivire) and bourgeois |
| English, Italian, Spanish | Viren | From Electivire |
| French | Kablo | From Élekable (Electivire) |
| German | Tecko | From Elevoltek (Electivire) |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 布魯根 Bùlǔgēn | Transliteration of his Japanese name |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Victor | Similar to his English name |
Related articles
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
