>>50611109And honestly, I don't think I should have said the rest have no excuse.
Sure, Lusamine looks like Pheromosa for no good textual reason, but the way her daughter is dressed to resemble the object of her obsession is a masterstroke of visual story telling whether it occurred intentionally in universe or otherwise. And sure, the Kalos psychic leader looks like a robot master, like Cosmoman's mom, or an evil professor that might have been responsible for constructing such a creature in a hypothetical Megaman game, there's nothing wrong with Iris' dress. She just put on something ceremonial to have an official match as the Champion. There's nothing "unbelievable" about it. It's just that the dress in and of itself has been blown up to emphasize how "striking" it's supposed to be in universe.
I think Alder is pushing it with his ridiculous hair, but Alder himself is not very important besides being a stepping stone for N. He has a little bit of character so that he's not a completely blank slate and can elevate the conversation a bit before he's defeated, but that's all. You'll notice the central characters of that game, Hilbert/Hilda, Cheren, Bianca, and N, are all pretty subdued in their appearance.
Cynthia is a Gen 4 character and make no mistake, every aspect of her design is meant to evoke memories of Umbreon and thoughts of Lucario. It's just that her outfit is rendered in a relatively subdued way because Cynthia herself is meant to project an air of mystery and supreme womanliness.
Gen 4 also has Ronald McDonald in the Elite Four. So, I'll reiterate, none of this began with Gen 5. It was happening gradually over time and in my opinion, only became SUPER egregious in Gen 8.
