Here’s Why Pokémon’s Jessie And James Are Total Bi Icons
In the 1990s, young people all over the world tapped into a larger-than-life franchise that continues to break records nearly 30 years later: Pokémon.
The Japanese media franchise began in 1996 with role-playing games and trading cards, eventually leading to the 1997 anime series. The series introduced several iconic characters, following Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, alongside their boon companions, Misty and Brock.
Throughout the series, they are frequently antagonized by Team Rocket, Pokémon’s perpetual villains and the best millennial bisexual icons. Consisting of Jessie, James, and their Pikachu equivalent in Meowth, the trio constantly defied societal norms and provided an early example of queer-coded characters. However, unlike many other queer-coded villains, Jessie and James were never a true threat to the protagonists, instead developing complex backstories while their villainy is played up for humor.
But today, they are also credited with giving millennials their bisexual awakenings, as we realize years later that we crushed on both Jessie and James. And there are a few good reasons for this queer development.
Jessie and James never complied with gender norms.
The easiest example of Jessie and James’s queerness is their consistent cross-dressing throughout the series. Neither of them cared what others thought, and as villains, they frequently had to put on disguises to get away with their antics. In doing so, they often reversed genders, presenting a gender fluidity that was inspirational to queer kids. Growing up in the ‘90s, millennials were taught that girls like Barbies and boys like trucks, girls wear pink and boys wear blue, and on and on.
Not only was Pokémon for everyone—girls and boys could love the franchise freely without judgment—but Jessie and James’s gender fluidity allowed viewers to revel in their desire to be different. In Episode 15, both dress as schoolgirls to trick Ash into going on a sea cruise. In Episode 22, James once again dresses in a skirt with Team Rocket in full Hawaiian hula attire to try to steal Pikachu. In Episode 28, Jessie wears a military-style suit while James wears an extravagant ballgown, as they narrate the moment defending their cutting-edge fashion.
Team Rocket’s gender fluidity continues throughout their more than 25 years as Pokémon’s main antagonists, proving that we don’t have to fit into societal boxes to pursue our goals. By celebrating their risky fashion choices and describing their gender-swapped attire as “flashing passion” and “chic,” queer millennials felt safe to explore their own identities that may have differed from the norm.
Jessie and James’s unconventional hair colors fits into another queer stereotype.
But even out of their disguises, their bright hair—Jessie with ruby red and James with light purple—are now considered inherently queer. People who feel different from societal norms, whether that’s in sexuality, gender, or lifestyle choices, like to make bold fashion choices, which include dying hair unconventional colors. In fact, stereotypes exist that queer people, and especially bi and pan women, dye their hair as a way to feel more in touch with their identities.
“I often change my hair when I’m feeling a bit emotionally unstable,” a pan woman, Danni, shared with Stylist. “I often feel I am very straight-passing – as a pansexual woman, I don’t radiate queerness. So, dying my hair fun colours is a way to feel more accepted in the LGBTQ+ community.” Jessie and James’ bright red and purple hair illustrates their desire to feel unique and fit in, while setting an example for young people who may feel outcast. By dying our hair, we can embrace our differences rather than continue trying to conform to norms that don’t feel authentic to who we are.
The long story of Team Rocket allowed for more complexity than many queer-coded villains.
While queer-coded villains were born out of the homophobic Hays Code, Team Rocket subverts the villainous stereotype. Throughout films and television series, villains like HIM (Powerpuff Girls), Hades (Hercules), and more were painted with queer stereotypes to villainize queerness as a whole. But Team Rocket was different. Their queerness and otherness is what made them lovable and what, at times, even endeared them to Pokémon’s heroes.
Throughout the series, we never really worry that Team Rocket will succeed. Sometimes, they are played up for humor, giving bisexuals around the world that cheeky sense of humor that allows us to deal with pain through laughter. Sometimes, they are painted as buffoons (which can feel offensive), but other times, they switch sides and unknowingly root for the good guys. They are never strictly evil, they are just misfits and outcasts who just want to feel loved and successful.
Jessie and James fall into the Team Rocket organization because they had no other options. James ran away from home to avoid marrying a “mean and overbearing” woman, while Jessie was raised in foster care before trying to fit into society as a Pokémon nurse, trainer, model, and weather girl, but not quite meeting the mark. Both fell into a life of crime and befriended one another, finding solace in their shared outcast statuses, something many queer people can relate to.
In doing so, their relationship throughout the show is platonic although there are moments of chemistry between them. Fan fiction interpretations even imagine them in a romantic relationship, although other fans are convinced that James is an asexual trans man. Whatever Jessie and James’s genders and sexualities are, their queer attributes combined with their chemistry as man and woman paint them as bisexual icons. And if anyone else grew up crushing on both Jessie and James, then let this be your invitation to join the LGBTQ+ world.
