Summary
Legendary Pokemon are a fundamental part of every new game and generation. It’s Legendaries that grace the covers of each installment, and they can be goldmines for easy wins. With over fifty Legendary Pokemon to date, there’s a wide range to choose from. It’s worth noting thatthere is a differencebetween Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, with not all the latter being given “legendary” status.
Choosing the best and worst Legendary Pokemon is, to a degree, an impossible task. Although objectively there might be one that’s weakest, there are a lot of other qualities that contribute to making a good Pokemon. Not all players enjoy Pokemon games specifically because theywant to be unbeatable. Some gamers are invested in the design and lore of the Pokemon too, making it a much less clear-cut criterion. It’s also likely that gamers will have personal favorites based on what they grew up with, or which game is their favorite. With all this in mind, each generation does suffer from one or two weak links in their Legendary roster.
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90
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70
Weak to
Fighting, Flying, Poison, Bug, Fire, Ice, Fairy
Wo-Chien is one of the newer Legendary Pokemon, introduced as part of the Treasures of Ruin. It’s thought to have grown from the tablets on its back, which became sentient thanks to a grudge held by its original owner.
Although the Treasure of Ruin Legendaries have interesting lore and inventive takes on creatures like fish and snails, Wo-Chein is unfortunatelyweak to seven different types, including Bug attacks which hit for 4x damage. There’s a lot of Gen 9 Legendary Pokemon and poor Wo-Chien definitely struggles the most.
80
Flying, Poison, Bug, Ghost, Fire, Ice, Dark
Calyrex is a Grass/Psychic type introduced in Gen 8 as a key part of its lore. It’s supposed to have been the ancient ruler of Galar and can communicate with humans via telepathy. It can also use the Reigns of Unity to merge with two other Legendary Pokemon: Glastrier and Spectrier.
Many players will be able to see why Calyrex is an underwhelming Legendary Pokemon: its skinny legs and balloon-like head make it look comedic. Additionally, all stats besides HP are sub-par, meaning most move slots will be filled up by stat-buffs - leaving Giga Drain as the only real offensive move. It’s also weak to seven types which solidifies it as totally useless in a real battle.
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29
31
37
Bug, Ghost, Dark
Cosmog is a Psychic-type and one of the few Legendary Pokemon that actually evolves. It will evolve into Cosmoem, then either Solgaleo or Lunala depending on whether players have Sun or Moon.
Since this is the base Pokemon for two further evolutions, it may seem unfair to criticize Cosmog’s weak attack stats and immensely low HP. However, Cosmog is a Legendary Pokemon in its own right and doesn’t need to evolve to reach Legendary status. Thedesign is cuteand leans well into its cosmic background, but ultimately it’s not intimidating in appearance or stats.
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100/100
71/121
61/81
85/95
115/95
Ice, Dragon, Fairy
Zygarde was introduced as an elusive third Legendary Pokemon in X and Y. It’s an eco-based Pokemon that can be created and evolved by collecting Zygarde Cores and Cells - which are questionably considered Pokemon.
Although its evolution isallegedly absolutely hugeand hardy, most players will need to rely on Power Construct to get the most out of their Zygarde. In its 10% and 50% form, it’s a gamble whether Zygarde will survive long enough to do any real damage. An offensive Zygarde will need a team built around it since it can be very vulnerable to certain attacks. Compared to Xerneas and Yveltal, Zygarde is too reliant on the perfect conditions to be useful.
79/79
115/100
70/80
125/110
80/90
111/121
Rock, Electric, Ice
Tornadus is one of the four Forces of Nature Legendaries and was the first ever purely flying-type Pokemon. All the Forces of Nature have an Incarnate Forme and a Therian Forme, and Tornadus represents the wind aspect of nature.
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Tornadus' strength lies in his Special Attack, but he’s so feeble that he won’t survive against high HP/defense Pokemon. U-Turn is a good choice since he can get out after landing a big hit, but if a quicker Pokemon goes first then Tornadus might go down before he even gets started. Plus, his green chicken form removes any intimidation he might’ve had, and up against the Tao Trio and the Swords of Justice, Tornadus just looks like a fool.
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160
Fighting
Regigigas is the only Normal-type Legendary Pokemon to date and is supposedly responsible for pulling the continents into place. It’s also canonically the creator of Regirock, Registeel, and Regice. Aside from that, Regigigas plays no major role in the games and is often only available to catch if players have the golem trio in their party.
In theory, Regigigas can be great for support moves thanks to its high attack stats. However, Regigigas is the only Pokemon to have the Slow Start ability, which halves its speed and attack during the first five rounds of a battle. This ability is heavily disliked by most players and is easily one of the least-helpful abilities ever.
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200
Fighting, Rock, Steel, Fire
Regice is one of the Legendary Titans - three golems respectively formed from rock, steel, and ice. Generally, the Legendary Titans aren’t very impressive, meaning any three of them could easily fill the weakest slot
Regice takes the title, however, because its poor defense and speed mean it can’t even act as a good tank. It’s vulnerable to four common types which can easily take it down by moving first, and its attack stats don’t justify having it on a team.
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75
Ground, Rock, Water
Many longtime Pokemon fans may best know Entei for his antagonistic role inthe third Pokemon movie, but originally he’s one of the three Legendary Beasts created by Ho-Oh after they perished in the destruction of the Brass Tower.
Though Entei may be a beloved character, in-game he’s really the least useful of the three Legendary Beasts. Compared to other Fire types, Entei is by no means a front-runner since a lot of his best moves have low PP. Lots of common, easier-to-find Fire-types outclass Entei in almost every way.
95
125
Rock, Steel, Fire, Electric
Articuno is one ofthe original Legendary Pokemon. It’s an Ice/Flying type bird Pokemon, first seen in Pokemon Red, Green and Blue.
Compared to its counterparts, Articuno isn’t very competitively viable. While it’s by no means the worst Legendary ever, Articuno isn’t very fast and that leaves it vulnerable to offensive attacks. Coupled with its less-than-ideal defensive capabilities, any rock, steel, fire, or electric attack could take it out with one hit.
