JAPANESE NAME : Sakai
AGE AT BEGINNING : 40's
HOME TOWN/CITY : Unknown
PROFESSION : Team Rocket Boss, Pok�mon trainer, Leader of the Viridian City Gym
CHIEF RIVAL : The law
POK�MON :
* Meowth
* Persian
* Mewtwo (a Pok�mon he genetically enhanced in 'Mewtwo Strikes Back')
* Kingler
* Rydon
* Golem
* Machamp, and many more who have been collected by Team Rocket members
LIKES : Pok�mon, Butch & Cassidy
DISLIKES : Jessie & James
FAMILY STATUS : Mother - Madame Boss. She was the previous boss of Team Rocket and started the project to clone a Mew
PRIMARY GOAL : To capture all rare Pok�mon and to use them to eventually take over Indigo and then the world (in other words your typical Anime bad guy)
ENGLISH VOICE ACTOR : Ted Lewis
JAPANESE VOICE ACTOR : Hirotaka Suzuoki
FIRST SEEN IN : 'Battle Aboard the St. Anne'
At first in the series Giovanni was always in the shadows, his face blanked out by darkness, and his voice was manipulated, but now, later in the series, we've seen him totally. He generally is only in the show when he is telling Jessie and James how much they have screwed up, or in a few episodes around the time of 'The Battle of the Badge', when we saw the incredible Mewtwo for the first time.
He, although, did not set up the notorious Team Rocket, Pok�mon's equivalent of the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia). His mother, as revealed in one of the Japanese CD dramas, was the boss before he took over. He is a perfect model of an Anime bad guy. He is at the head of a multinational corporation, and has his hands in everything, from control of some of Indigo Islands major cities, like Viridian, to control of Pok�mon Land, a theme park ('The Island of Giant Pok�mon').
Also, like any good villain, he keeps the company of a cat, at first Meowth, but after failing several missions with Jessie and James, Persian became top cat (just like Bond's nemesis).
In an attempt to conquer the world, he had Mewtwo created, a Pok�mon that had been cloned from a Mew, thought to be the world's rarest and most powerful Pok�mon. Mewtwo, who's genetic code had been manipulated and enhanced by the scientists who created it, had murdered it's creators and teamed up with Giovanni as it wanted to control the planet as well. But Mewtwo had thought it would be a partnership but Giovanni told it that a Pok�mon could never be an equal to a human, so the creature left ('Mewtwo Strikes Back').
Years later, Giovanni was able to locate Mewtwo in a remote region of Johto. He gave him an ultimatum - rejoin Giovanni in his quest to conquer Earth, or stand by as he used the other genetically enhanced Pok�mon in cloning experiments they would not survive. With the help of Ash and friends, and Meowth, one of Giovanni's own Pok�mon, Mewtwo defeated Giovanni, and wiped his memory of his existence, allowing all the clones to live in peace ('Mewtwo Returns').
It's unknown if Giovanni has ever been married, but several people suspect that he may have children. Although there is no real proof, he is the most popular choice among fans for both Ash's and Jessie's father. Also, many people think Domino, a member of Team Rocket, may be his daughter because of the way she talks to him (she seems to be the only member who openly challenges him without being punished).