There's certainly a lot to say about Ash Ketchum, the Pokémon anime's main protagonist with aspirations to be a Pokémon Master. Over two decades, this Pokémon Trainer has traveled the world, caught tons of Pokémon, and battled plenty of other trainers, alongside his buddy Pikachu of course.
Ash is an iconic piece of the Pokémon franchise, and his journey is far from over, though of course, he has become something of a prime target for some memes. Whether it's his brains, his age, or some of his bad habits as a trainer, these memes always land a hilarious "critical hit" on fans.
10 The Many Faces Of Ash Ketchum
Admittedly this meme's idea is a pretty simple one, replacing Ash's first name with words that rhyme or still retain the letters. That being said, the meme gets a lot of mileage out of it, while also pasting Ash's head onto just about anything, from money, trashcans, and a few Pokémon too.
"Sandslash Ketchum", "Rapidash Ketchum", and "Whiscash Ketchum" are all pretty funny, though it'd be wrong not to mention this meme's hilarious reference to My Hero Academia, where Deku is about to unleash "Smash Ketchum".
9 Impossible... Or Is It?!
For the longest time, it seemed that Ash was always destined to lose the Pokémon League no matter how many times he tried, and while it did show that it was okay to lose sometimes, it'd be lying to say it didn't get frustrating to watch Ash constantly fail.
Fortunately, Ash finally got the victory he deserved in the Alola Region. After 22 years it was truly a huge moment for the character and series, though one not everyone thought would ever happen. The Thanos meme being used here is an accurate representation of that shock to the system.
8 The Terrifying Truth
There are only so many details a figurine can get right about a character, and a few that are never meant to be looked into that deeply, but some decide to dive in and look for themselves anyway. As is the case here, where the hat of this Ash Ketchum figure is removed and reveals quite a surprising bald spot atop Ash's head.
Obviously, the hat was never supposed to be removed, but doing so creates quite a strange image for Ash that might be hard for some to unsee.
7 Red After 20 Years VS. Ash After 20 Years
Despite the anime and Pokémon itself going on for over two decades, Ash is still somehow a 10-year old kid. It makes following the continuity of the series tricky at times but has also made way for some great jokes and, of course, more memes.
However, it seems that the franchise's other iconic trainer, Red, doesn't have the same eternal youth Ash does after 20 years. The real funny part of this meme here is the "Dermatologists Hate Him" bit at the bottom, Ash really would be their worst nightmare.
6 One Does Not Simply Recognize Team Rocket
Team Rocket has been following Ash for a long time now, always out to steal his Pikachu and often using some pretty ridiculous and sometimes even obvious disguises. And yet, somehow, Ash is almost never the wiser every time they pull that trick.
This meme shows off some of Team Rocket's most glaringly obvious disguises that anyone who looked for more than two seconds could probably see-through, only for Ash (using another Thanos meme template) to not recognize them at all. Ash may be a strong trainer, but he's not always the brightest.
5 Do You Even Lift, Gary?
To be fair, it seems like the weight of the various Pokémon in the anime is different from what the Pokédex lists in the games. However, rather unintentionally, it has made all the times Ash has lifted or held some of them pretty funny when keeping those weights in mind.
In this meme, there are examples of that, where Ash can easily pick up Pokémon like Pignite and Larvitar (who weigh well over 100 lbs), so he has to be secretly buff at this point. It seems Ash is doing more than Pokémon battling when he goes to the gym.
4 What Employers Are Looking For
Sometimes getting a good job feels almost impossible. Some employers are looking for someone with years of experience, but they also want someone young too. It can be something of an impossible hurdle, though maybe less so if you've managed to stay 10 for over twenty years.
After he finally won a Pokémon League, it seems that Ash has become what the aforementioned employers are looking for. Even if Ash is (somehow) also too young to be hired by anyone the joke is still funny and depressingly relatable for some anyway.
3 Serena Used Cute Charm! It's Not Very Effective...
While Ash finds many companions on his various journies, most of them don't really go past the "good friends" territory. Serena from the Kalos Region, on the other hand, had more than just friendly feelings towards Ash during the X&Y seasons.
Still, romance isn't really a big focus for Pokémon and probably the last thing on Ash's mind at any given moment, which is why this meme isn't just hilarious as Ash remains naive to Serena's flirting, it's also a little sad.
2 Ash Ketchum, The Boy Who Lived Twice
Harry Potter, known as the "Boy Who Lived" by the Wizarding World after surviving an attack from the evil Voldemort. As most fans of the series know, the attack left Harry with his recognizable lightning bolt-shaped scar, but what if he wasn't the only one?
Since the beginning, Ash's character design has had these zigzags on his cheeks. Clearly, a stylistic choice, though one that does bear some resemblance to Harry's scar. In that context, it looks like Voldemort tried and failed to kill Ash Ketchum twice. The bottom panel sends it all over the top, with "He Who Must Not Be Named" wearing Ash's hat as the Pokémon theme song starts.
1 Growing Up
There's something to watching characters that have grown up alongside their viewers. It not only shows how much has changed since the series started but also how mature and how far those characters have come now that they've reached adulthood. Many famous anime characters (like Goku and Naruto) have done this, not just reaching new levels of strength or rank, but also becoming parents too like many who watched those anime might be.
And then there's Ash Ketchum who's stayed 10-years old after all this time. It's a running gag for Pokémon's fans to make fun of how little Ash has aged since starting his journey and at this point, it seems like he really will be 10 forever while Pokémon grow old instead.