Pokémon: Here’s Why Ash Wears His Hat Backwards
Many of us grew up playing or watching ‘Pokémon‘, and we’ve come to love the immortal, perpetually 10-year-old protagonist, Ash Ketchum. As we’ve been on this journey with him, we’ve learned a lot of things about Ash. He’s passionate about becoming a Pokémon trainer, has a strong sense of justice, is always optimistic, and won’t hesitate to turn his cap around when things get serious. Since ‘Pokémon’ is a series that has been around for 27 years, the younger generation is left scratching their heads when Ash wears his hat backward. In this article, we’ll explain this reference in detail.
The ‘Pokémon’ anime ran in the 90s – 2000s
The ‘Pokémon’ anime was released and ran during the late 90s – early 2000s. Kids back then used to think different things were “cool,” and turning your hat backward was just one of them.
Some other 90s fashion trends were acid wash jeans and wearing several shirts over your t-shirt. Putting your hat on backward was something many other protagonists in other shows did, cartoon, anime, or not. It isn’t unique to just ‘Pokémon,’ and Ash certainly isn’t the first or last character to do it.
The dying of 90s trends also explains why Ash doesn’t do this action anymore. Kids today may not get the reference because the trends have changed.
People who grew up in the ’90s and 2000s are no longer ‘Pokémon’s’ primary demographic, which is why the ‘Pokémon’ franchise has moved away from having Ash flip his hat backward. ‘Pokémon’ caters to children ages 6 – 11. Although anyone can enjoy ‘Pokémon’ no matter their age, ‘Pokémon’ is a business, and they want to appeal to their primary target audience first.
It increases Ash’s field of view when fighting
A less popular theory is that Ash turns his hat backward because it increases his field of view. After all, he typically does it when fighting another Pokémon Trainer or capturing an elusive Pokémon.
Increasing his field of view in these situations would help him follow his Pokémon’s moves in battle. A bigger field of view is especially important when he’s using his flying Pokémon to fight.
When does Ash Ketchum wear his hat backward?
Ash doesn’t always wear his hat backward and reserves it only when he heavily concentrates on his battles. Since the trend has become less popular in recent years, modern iterations of Ash never really wear their hat backward.
Still, this trend can be seen most often in the original series when Ash was on his journey through the Kanto region. When he arrived in Johto, and his journey ended, it became a rare occurrence that he would turn his hat backward.
In the advanced generation, Ash rarely ever flipped his hat around. Ash turned his hat backward so few and far between that we can count all the times he did it. Ash flipped his hat while cleaning up the dojo in Pasta la Vista! in the final finale of the ninth Pokémon film, and ‘Claydol Big and Tall’ while being dressed in an eggplant costume.
Ash turned his hat around in Diamond and Pearl on only two occasions. You can see him do it in the thirteenth Pokémon movie and when he is fighting Tobias in ‘The Semi-Final Frontier!’
Towards the start of the Best Wishes series, Ash used to flip his hat backward quite a bit. As the series progressed, he did it less often until he wasn’t doing it at all.
In the XY series, we can count when Ash turned his hat around three times. He did it while climbing Cyllage Gym’s rock wall in ‘Climbing the Walls!,’ when he successfully caught a Fletchtling in ‘A Battle of Aerial Mobility!,’ and finally when searching for berries in ‘Under the Pledging Tree!’
Why does Ash play with his hat so much?
It might be a subconscious habit for Ash to mess around with his hat. He fiddles with it a lot and makes adjustments, even if he doesn’t turn it backward.
Ash is even seen messing with his hat in the Pokémon games. From ‘Pokémon HeartGold’ and ‘Pokémon SoulSilver’ onward, Red’s sprite animations depict Ash adjusting and fussing with his hat.
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