Kris (game)

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This article is about the female protagonist whose default name is クリス in the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal. For the male player character in Pokémon Crystal with the same Japanese name, see Ethan (game).
Crystal (game) redirects here. For the game titled "Pokémon Crystal Version", see Pokémon Crystal Version.
Kris
クリス Kris
Crystal Kris.png
Art from Crystal
Gender Female
Eye color Blue
Hair color Teal*, Navy Blue*
Hometown New Bark Town
Region Johto
Relatives Mom
Trainer class Pokémon Trainer, player character
Generation II, VII
Games Crystal, Stadium 2, Masters EX
English voice actor Cherami Leigh[1] (Masters EX)
Japanese voice actor Kana Asumi[2] (Masters EX)
Anime counterpart Marina
Counterpart debut The Legend of Thunder!
Manga counterpart(s) Crystal, Chris

Kris (Japanese: クリス Kris) is the female playable character in Pokémon Crystal. Her male counterpart is Ethan.

She was the first female player character in the core series games, a feature that would be carried on in subsequent game releases.

She only appears in Pokémon Crystal, while in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, she is replaced by Lyra.

In the core series

Kris's journey as a Pokémon Trainer begins when Professor Elm asks her to run an errand for Mr. Pokémon, who lives north of Cherrygrove City. Because she may encounter dangerous wild Pokémon along the way, Elm gives her a choice between three Pokémon to protect her: Cyndaquil, Totodile, or Chikorita.

Kris meets a boy watching Elm's Lab from outside. When she tries to talk to him, the boy abruptly shoves her away. The boy, Silver, will become Kris's rival, analogous to Blue in Generation I.

Kris continues onward and finally meets Mr. Pokémon and completes her errand. While there she meets Professor Oak who, upon realizing Kris's bond with her new Pokémon, gives her a Pokédex. On her way back home, Kris again meets Silver, who has stolen one of Elm's remaining Pokémon. After defeating the boy in battle, she learns his name and relays it to the police in New Bark Town. Professor Elm allows Kris to keep the Pokémon she chose earlier, and encourages her to compete in the Johto League.

From there Kris begins on a Pokémon journey in the Johto region, facing off against its eight Gym Leaders, defeating and disbanding the newly reformed Team Rocket, and becoming Pokémon League Champion by defeating the Elite Four and its previous Champion, Lance, at Indigo Plateau. Along the way she also teaches Silver to respect Pokémon as living creatures and not just as tools for battle. Kris also uncovered the mystery of the Tin Tower and its Legendary Pokémon, Entei, Suicune, and Raikou.

After being declared the Pokémon League Champion, Kris then takes a short trip on a ship, the S.S. Aqua, from Olivine City to Vermilion City in Kanto. Journeying across that region, she battles against its own set of eight Gym Leaders, including two new faces, Janine, who replaced her father Koga on his promotion to the Elite Four, and Blue, who was formerly Pokémon League Champion himself, and replaced Giovanni after the latter fled. Upon getting permission from Professor Oak in Pallet Town, Kris heads for Mt. Silver via Route 28. Her journey comes to a close when she faces the Champion from Pallet Town Pokémon Trainer Red deep in Mt. Silver Cave, who had been training there since shortly after he became Pokémon League Champion three years prior.

In the side series

Pokémon Stadium 2

Kris makes a cameo appearance during the end credits of Pokémon Stadium 2, battling Silver and his Ho-Oh with her Suicune.

Pokémon

 
Suicune

In spin-off games

Pokémon Masters EX

Main article: Kris (Masters)

Kris forms a sync pair with Totodile and its evolved forms Croconaw and Feraligatr in Pokémon Masters EX. Her Sygna Suit variant forms a sync pair with Suicune.

Artwork

  File:Game Freak Kris.jpg File:Kris Portrait.png
Walking Relaxing with Togepi Posing for a portrait

Sprites

In the core series

       
Sprite from
Crystal
Overworld sprite from
Crystal
Back sprite from
Crystal
Unused PokéGear icon from
HeartGold and SoulSilver

In other games

 
Portrait from the credits in
Stadium 2

Quotes

Main article: Kris (game)/Quotes

Optional names

Japanese English French German Italian Spanish
クリス Kris
チホ Chiho
キヨミ Kiyomi
サトコ Satoko
Kris
Amanda
Juana
Jodi
Christy
Sophie
Nicole
Jeanne
Krista
Sina
Mandy
Tabitha
Kristy
Gaia
Cinzia
Luisa
Cristi
María
Susana
Yolanda


Counterparts

 
Marina, Kris's anime counterpart

In the anime

Main article: Marina (Johto)

Marina, one of the main characters in The Legend of Thunder!, is the anime counterpart of Kris. In her debut, Marina is presented as a girl who dreams of becoming famous with the help of her Pokémon. In her latest appearances, she was shown to be a talented Pokémon Coordinator, having won the Grand Festival to become a Top Coordinator. She is friends with Jimmy and Vincent.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Main article: Crystal (Adventures)

Crystal from Pokémon Adventures is based on Kris's design. She is unique among all Pokédex holders in the sense that her primary goal is to fill the Pokédex. She is an expert in catching Pokémon and prefers to kick the Poké Balls she uses instead of throwing them.

Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys

Main article: Chris (Golden Boys)

Chris from Pokémon Gold & Silver: The Golden Boys is based on Kris. She joins Gold as a traveling partner during his journey through Johto.

Trivia

 
Screenshots of an earlier design for a female protagonist
  • Kris is the first playable female character in Pokémon games, a feature included in all core series Pokémon games since. Despite this, the female choice in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver is Lyra, who was designed from scratch by Takao Unno.
    • However, an unused PokéGear icon in HeartGold and SoulSilver, resembling Kris rather than Lyra, suggests that this was decided at a later point of development.
  • Several pre-release screenshots for Pokémon Crystal show an earlier design for a female protagonist.
  • Kris's alternate Japanese names would later be shared with Leaf, Dawn, and Lyra.
  • When playing as Kris in Pokémon Crystal, entering the cable club changes the player's appearance into Ethan and leaving changes the player's appearance back into Kris. While the reasoning could be to maintain visual consistency between players of different versions when in the cable club, as Kris's sprite assets do not exist in Pokémon Gold and Silver, this still occurs when two players using Pokémon Crystal link together.

Names

  • In the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal, the name "クリス" is the first option for both the male and female player characters. In the English version, this name was romanized as "Chris" for the boy and "Kris" for the girl.
  • The Japanese version of the Trainer's Guide released with Pokémon Crystal tells a short story where the player character named "クリス" (the same name for a boy or a girl, which may be romanized as Chris or Kris) starts their adventure. This is almost the same as the story previously released in the Trainer's Guide from Pokémon Gold and Silver, except the player is no longer referred to specifically as a boy. However, in the English version of this story, the player character remains unnamed.
  • She was named "Clis" (which is another possible romanization of her Japanese name "クリス") in at least two image files from Game Freak's Japanese website: CLIS.JPG and CLIS_2.JPG.
    • Both images used to have their modification date listed as March 2, 2001.[3] This indicates that she already had her Japanese name at the time, decades before she used it in Pokémon Masters EX. (notwithstanding the Japanese manual, which used that name for both the male and female player characters)
  • The first known use of the name "Kris" in English (aside from the list of optional names for the player character) was on the back of the American and Australian boxart of Pokémon Crystal. Unlike the Japanese manual, this specifically referred to the female player character.
  • Years later, she also debuted in Pokémon Masters EX, where she was named Kris (Japanese: クリス Kris) for the first time in-game.
Language Name Origin
Japanese クリス Kurisu From Pokémon Crystal
English Kris Same as her Japanese name
German Krista Similar to her Japanese name
Spanish Cristi Similar to her Japanese name
French Christy Similar to her Japanese name
Italian Kristy Similar to her Japanese name
Korean 크리스 Keuriseu Transcription of her Japanese name
Chinese (Mandarin) 克麗絲 / 克丽丝 Kèlìsī Transcription of her Japanese name
Chinese (Cantonese) 克麗絲 Hāaklaihsī Mandarin-based transcription of her Japanese name


References



Player characters
Core series RedLeafEthanKrisLyraBrendanMayLucasDawn
HilbertHildaNateRosaCalemSerenaElioSelene
ChaseElaineVictorGloriaReiAkariFlorianJuliana
Side series WesMichaelNateCyndy
Spin-off games MarkMintTodd SnapLucy Fleetfoot
LunickSolanaKellynKateBenSummer
HeroHeroineTim GoodmanScottieBettie


  This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.