Giovanni might just be the most recognizable villain in the Pokemon universe. The character debuted in the first set of games in the franchise, where he was the main antagonist and the final Gym Leader. Giovanni also plays a pivotal role in the anime, debuting in the first season and appearing in many others.
Giovanni is also known for having an interesting roster of Pokemon, even having Mewtwo battle under him in the first season of the anime and the series' first movie. Giovanni is also the most corrupt villain in the franchise, as most other leaders usually give-up, disband, or become one of the good guys in the end.
10 Formed Team Rocket
Gym Leaders seem to be pretty well off in the Pokemon world, but apparently, this wasn't enough for Giovanni. In order to gain more power and even more money, he decided to create a shady Kanto organization named Team Rocket, that focused on stealing Pokemon.
Giovanni's recruitment methods are mostly unknown, but based on the games and anime, the organization seems to be rather large and powerful. Even as other organizations come and go, Team Rocket tends to stick around, especially in the anime.
9 Made Mewtwo
Genetic experiments aren't something that is common in the series. While Bill has shown players that swapping bodies with a creature is possible, he never attempted to create a creature from scrap. Giovanni, on the other hand, used a piece of Mew's DNA to engineer an incredibly powerful Pokemon.
It was even shown that during these engineering attempts, several clones died due to the lab's unstable nature.
8 Tested Out Mewtwo On Young Trainers
After Giovanni watched Mewtwo decimate a lab, likely killing tons of his underlings, he made the Pokemon an offer to work with him. Mewtwo accepted, and Giovanni provided him with a suit that helped him refine his powers. Giovanni used Mewtwo in the middle of gym battles, as seen with Gary.
Most gym challengers are young children, and Mewtwo was often seen as being incredibly violent towards their partners.
7 Stole Pokemon
Giovanni was interested in having the strongest team in the world, no matter what it took. The Team Rocket leader instructs his subordinates to take creatures from trainers, both young and old. Giovanni has no problem separating children from the Pokemon that have been with them since birth.
This even extends to killing a Marowak in his team's attempt to take over the Lavender Town Tower.
6 Abandoned Meowth
Another notable thing that Giovanni has done is abandoning his once-favorite Pokemon Meowth in favor of a Persian. In the anime, Meowth is often seen fantasizing about spending time with his trainer or finding a way to make him happy but is stuck with Jesse and James to this day.
Meowth was heartbroken when he first saw that he was replaced with the Persian, a decision that did not seem to cause Giovanni too much heartache.
5 Captured Hostages
Giovanni obviously has no respect for those around him, and this is shown even more when he captures Silph Co. in the original games. Giovanni has his eyes on the master ball, a new invention that is able to capture any Pokemon without fail, including Mewtwo and the legendary birds.
While it doesn't seem like anyone was injured, Giovanni's plans were stopped before things got heated.
4 Abandoned His Son
One of the most heartbreaking parts of Gen II revolves around the origin of the red-headed rival. At first, the Gen II rival is depicted as evil when he steals a starter from the lab; soon enough, though, players learned that he was trying to take down Team Rocket as a way to get back at his father.
As shown in the special Celebi event in the remakes, Giovanni actually abandoned his son.
3 He Abuses Pokemon
Not only does Giovanni rip Pokemon away from their families, but he is also abusive towards them. It is firmly explained that Giovanni only sees Pokemon as a way to gain power and hopefully take over the world. Otherwise, he doesn't care what happens to the creatures as they are only tools to be used.
Because of this, Giovanni is able to easily dispose of Pokemon and place them in harsh training environments.
2 Gathered a Team of Villians
Giovanni returned in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon and formed Team Rainbow Rocket. This team consisted of the leaders of several other criminals organizations from other regions. To assemble this team, he ventured into universes where the player wasn't victorious and the villains one.
Giovanni wanted to use this team to take over the world, no matter how much destruction it ended up causing.
1 Used Wormholes
Not only did Giovanni learn to use wormholes to assemble his very own team of villains, but he also used it to escape. Even after defeat in the Alolan region, the corrupt leader enters into a wormhole with the intention of taking over an alternate dimension so that he can rule the world.
Despite the crippling defeats he received, Giovanni refused to change his ways or give up his crooked dreams.