Team Rocket (anime)
Team Rocket (Roketto Dan in Japanese) is an evil organization in the fictional world of Pokémon which exploits pokémon for profit. Two members of this team always try to capture the main character's most prized pokémon, his Pikachu, to use for capturing other creatures. Their many attempts always end in failure. The complete organization is headed by a man named Giovanni.
The nature of the villianous trio (a strong willed, confident woman, and two loyal if not generally bright henchmen) is a common staple in anime, although due to the popularity of Pokemon in the US 'Team Rocket' is sometimes applied as an affectionate nickname by fans to any such group in a series. (see Grandis, Sanson, Hanson in Nadia)
They are complimented as the characters who ironically have the most personality development over the course of the series, and are well liked by fans (and even non-fans of the series) due to the group's dogged (albeit ulitmately futile) attempts at success. More opportunistic antagonists than real villians, even their attempts at legitimate work are usually disasters.
Jessie & James
Jessica, usually Jessie (named Musashi in the Japanese series), is the leader of the Team Rocket pair that appears the most in the TV series. Her Japanese name is a spin off of Musashi Miyamoto, a famous samurai. Jessie is intelligent and sociable, but very headstrong and dislikes being criticized. Jessie was poor as a child, and later entered Team Rocket after failing to become a Nurse.
James (Kojiro in the Japanese series), is the handsome (bishounen) but more dimwitted male half of the team. James is named after Kojiro Sasaki, a famous samurai whom Miyamoto killed. James has a beloved bottlecap collection and had quite wealthy parents, but left home after their attempts to goad him into an engagment.
Although the team often appears in disguise, a common source of fan humor is James' habit of wearing women's clothes (to contrast with Jesse, even if she is also dressed as a woman), makeup, and a history with violent domineering women. This is rumored to have played up slightly by the dub actors, although even the most teasing barbs generally assume James is, at most extreme, merely heterosexual with a penchant for crossdressing.
The two humans became friends after entering a bicycle gang.
The character Meowth (Nyarth in the Japanese series) a pokémon of the meowth variety; notable for being the only pokemon that can speak a human language, with the exception of some legendary Pokemon. Although some pokemon are said to be quite intelligent, they do not speak, and although we see Meowth teaching himself to talk and read it is never explained how he is able to or exactly how many pokemon have this potential. One apparent consequence is that Meowth seemed unable to learn standard pokemon attacks. Meowth is more overtly sarcastic than his teammates but can be easily distracted by his feline instinct. He only wishes success to engrain himself back into the good graces of his former owner, Giovanni.
If one puts the English names "Jessie" and "James", together, we can see that they were probably named after Jesse James, a famous American outlaw.
The group has a penchant for using amusingly bad puns during conversations. In the English dub, Team Rocket are the only characters in the TV show that "know" that they are in a TV show, and occasionally give remarks that show it. For example, James asked why they didn't just use Plan B in the first place, since it was better than Plan A. Jessie then replies, "We had to fill a half hour!" All the other characters are unaware that they are on TV.
Jessie and James enjoy an unfriendly rivalry with Cassidy and Butch, named after Butch Cassidy. Cassidy & Butch generally come off as much more menacing and unfriendly.
Jessie and James appear in Pokemon Yellow as in-game bosses, although the game doesn't reveal their names.
See Also: How Jessie, James, and Meowth met in the Meowth (anime character) article
External Links
Team Rocket also refers to a team made in one episode of Rocket Power, a separate television show.