Legendary Pokémon

Legendary Pokémon (伝説のポケモン, Densetsu no Pokemon), sometimes known as legendaries or mirage Pokémon (幻のポケモン, maboroshi no Pokemon), are creatures in the Pokémon franchise. All of them are rare, to the point where some are unique or god-like, and all of them have unusual or extraordinary powers, even by Pokémon standards.

In the Pokémon video games

In the various Pokémon video games, "legendary Pokémon" is a term of art; a legendary Pokémon is not simply an individual Pokémon about which legends are written, but a special sort of Pokémon, differing from regular Pokémon in key ways.

Such Pokémon are unique individuals, appearing only once per game. Generally, they are simply special Pokémon who reside in optional dungeons, but certain Pokémon, most notably Mew, cannot be obtained without having the Pokémon transferred to the game or unlocked at one of the various Nintendo-sponsored Pokémon fan events. A more recent development in the Pokémon series is to give certain legendary Pokémon a larger role in the plot; for example, Pokémon Sapphire focuses on Team Aqua's effort to use Kyogre to expand the oceans and Team Magma's (and the player's) effort to stop them.

Legendary Pokémon are also generally (but not always) exceptionally powerful; every legendary Pokémon to date has a base stat total of 580 or higher (except for Phione who has a base stat total of 480), a level of power only reached by six non-legendary Pokémon. Generally, legendary Pokémon have a very low catch rate and therefore are much more difficult to catch than Pokémon normally found in the wild, requiring the trainer to stockpile Ultra Balls or other appropriate specialist equipment. They also cannot breed, as is possible with other Pokémon. Manaphy is the only known legendary that can breed. Breeding Manaphy results in another Pokémon, Phione, which cannot evolve into Manaphy or use some of its abilities.

Since the Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions, the games have featured "runner" legendaries, which after a certain point in the game will randomly move around the world map, appearing in random battles. Once the player has their entry in the Pokédex, their location can be tracked as usual - except in Diamond and Pearl, where they are tracked with the Pokétch instead. These Pokémon typically run away from battle, making them even harder to catch. However, they retain their HP level and status condition from battle to battle, which allows players to lower their health over several encounters. (Alternatively, some players choose to save their Master Ball for use on a runner legendary.) Another option is using a move that prevents the opponent from fleeing such Mean Look or Block, so that the player can proceed to capture it normally, though most runner legendaries have good speed and may flee before the player can attack with these moves.

Although Arcanine is classified by the Pokédex as "legendary Pokémon," it is not considered to be one, due to how easily it can be obtained: by evolving a common Growlithe. In the case of Arcanine, it appears "legendary" refers to what the people in the Pokémon world think of it, a different "legendary" to the legendary Pokémon.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, the legendary Pokémon are the only Pokémon types of which there is only one. Almost all of them have a large part in the storyline, especially Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno, Groudon and Rayquaza in the first part of the game.

In Pokemon Emerald, the legendary pokemon are Groudon (found at Terra Cave), Kyogre (found at Marine Cave), and Rayquaza (found at Sky Pillar), and the three Regis (Regirock, Regice, Registeel).

First generation

In Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, the legendary Pokémon are a group of five main Pokemon: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, and Mew.

Zapdos, Articuno, Moltres and Mewtwo are found in optional areas; Moltres can be found in Mt. Ember (in FireRed and LeafGreen only--Red, Blue, and Yellow place it in Victory Road), Articuno is found in the Seafoam Islands, Zapdos is found at the Power Plant and Mewtwo in the Cerulean Cave, but Mew can only be obtained through Nintendo events, a glitch (however, this glitch, known as the Mew Glitch, is only in Red and Blue Versions, or cheating. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Suicune, Entei, and Raikou can be attained after defeating the Elite Four and your rival. None has any effect on the storyline.

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are unique birds each of a different element. Articuno is an ice bird, Zapdos is a thunder bird and Moltres is a fire bird. An interesting point of the three is that the last syllable of each of their names forms the sound of the Spanish numbers uno, dos, and tres, which is the order they are to be caught in the games.

Second generation

In the next series of games, Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, some legendary Pokémon began to have connections to others--for example, Ho-oh rules over Raikou, Entei, and Suicune. Greater emphasis was put on the differences between the versions: as reflected in their box covers, Ho-oh is the focus of Gold version, Lugia is the focus of Silver version, and Suicune has a prominent role in Crystal version. Instead of having one all-powerful non-legendary Pokémon figure such as Mewtwo, two Pokémon were created to match it. There is also the time-traveling Celebi, guardian of the Ilex Forest, that was only available through an event. In all, six new legendary Pokémon were introduced in this generation.

Third generation

Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald introduced ten new legendary Pokémon, conflicts between legendary Pokémon, and definitive domains given to some, giving them much more power: Kyogre was given power over the sea, Groudon was given power over the land, and Rayquaza was given power over the sky. They also introduced the first legendary Pokémon with genders: Latias, who is always female, and Latios, who is always male. Also introduced were the three earthen golems, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. The two special event Pokémon were Jirachi the wish Pokémon and Deoxys the Pokémon from outer space which has four forms; Attack form, Defense form, Speed form, and the Normal form. Each Deoxys form is exclusive to a game (Normal form to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Defense form to Pokémon LeafGreen, Attack form to Pokémon FireRed, and Speed form to Pokémon Emerald). Also added exclusively to Pokémon Emerald was the psychic Pokémon, Mew. The only ways to get Mew were from a Nintendo event, through trading to someone who went to said event, or by means of a cheating device (Action Replay or GameShark).

Fourth generation

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced thirteen new legendary Pokémon. Many pokémon fans believe that this is pushing the limit, as legendary pokémon are meant to be very rare. Also, the newer legendaries seem to be getting more and more complex and there appears to be a trend of giving legendary Pokémon more and more power even to the point where they are considered deities in the Pokémon universe, with Dialga having power over time, Palkia over space, and Arceus being the creator of all Pokemon. Diamond and Pearl also introduced the first legendary capable of breeding, Manaphy. Manaphy will lay an egg containing Phione, but a Phione will not evolve into a Manaphy. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf each govern over intelligence, emotion, and willpower, respectively, and are guardians of Sinnoh's three signature lakes. Heatran resides atop Stark Mountain, Regigigas is sealed inside the Snowpoint Temple and is the leader of the three Regis from the previous games, and Giratina, resides in Turnback Cave. Cresselia is the embodiment of the crescent moon, and also the opposite of Darkrai the Pitch-Black Pokémon, that has the power to cause nightmares, and Shaymin is perhaps the most benevolent of all legendaries, as it creates fields of flowers wherever it goes. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for Nintendo DS, Darkrai, Shaymin, and Arceus can only be obtained through a "special event" such as a Nintendo promotional event.

As of 2008, neither Arceus, nor Shaymin have been offered through events, although Shaymin has recently been revealed as well as its upcoming event.

In the Pokémon anime

In the Pokémon anime, legendary Pokémon are Pokémon which have been the subject of ancient legends. Such Pokémon are still often (but not always) unique and frequently very powerful. Legendary Pokémon in the anime are able to breed, meaning they do have genders (although some legendary Pokémon in the games also have genders, the majority do not and only two species can breed).

Legendaries are sometimes major creatures in their own right, often antagonists or out-of-control forces of nature. Mewtwo, in particular, is a recurring character, with a major role in Pokémon: The First Movie and its sequel, Mewtwo Returns. Unlike in the games, where catching a legendary Pokémon may be done by the protagonist to save the world, the exact opposite is true for the anime. In the anime (particularly in Pokémon: The Movie 2000), the capture of a legendary Pokémon would have deadly repercussions and is only ever attempted by human antagonists. To date, only Regice, Registeel and Regirock have been confirmed to have been captured by a trainer (Pyramid King Brandon). An Articuno did help Factory Head Noland battle Ash, but it had not actually been captured, just befriended.

To date, every Pokémon movie has centered around an encounter with one or more legendary Pokémon, often the first appearance of those Pokémon on screen. Subsequent anime episodes featuring those Pokémon are common. Excluding the fourth generation Pokémon, Raikou is the only legendary Pokémon which Ash has not seen or had some kind of connection with (although Raikou did have its own Pokémon Chronicles special and Misty's Togepi once encountered it).