Pokémon has always had a special place in my heart. There’s something magical about raising this tiny magical creature into a loyal guardian, willing to lay down it’s life for your honor at your command. Well, that’s maybe over-selling it a bit, but that’s always how I imagined my Pokémon to be.
But there was something else about the Pokémon universe, something beyond the mundanity of fire-breathing foxes or electric mice. Every region of Pokémon feels unique, each with its own special history and fantastically tall tales. Not only does this make the world of Pokémon feel full vibrant but it also makes actually meeting the sources of those mythologies all the more memorable.
Legendary Pokémon are the ones that truly elevate the franchise to what it is today. These ultra-powerful, ultra-rare beasts are coveted by every master trainer the world over, however, while all legendary Pokémon are certainly more powerful than their non-legendary peers, not all legendaries stand shoulder to shoulder above all of Pokémon-kind.
Some Legendary ‘mons are simply better than others, and while their rarity may be questionable when every trainer has them, which one you choose to battle with says a lot about you as a trainer.
But before we start ranking the best from the worst, it’s important to note we’re only dealing with Legendary Pokémon and not mere Mythical Pokémon. In general, Legendary Pokémon are the ones you get during the course of the game, while Mythical Pokémon are ones that given as special events. Some may find the distinction (especially when it comes to Pokémon lore) superfluous, but I don’t. So there.
20 BEST: Mewtwo - The Second Is Always Better Than The First
It’s hard to argue with the power of Mewtwo. They (remember: Mewtwo is genderless) have been one of the most powerful Pokémon since the very first generation, and while their standing in the pack of most powerful ‘mons has fluctuated over the years Mewtwo has always remained in the top 10.
However, they cementation in the top 3 came when they got a Mega Evolution — something Mewtwo never asked for but got anyway. With two possible Mega Evolutions to choose from rather than the usual one, Mewtwo also possesses a versatility that most powerful Legendary Pokémon lack. Need a special sweeper? Mewtwo-Y is your Pokémon. Need a regular attack wall-breaker? Mewtwo-X has you covered. With a fantastic move pool and all-around bonkers stats, Mewtwo is capable of ending any Pokémon on the field.
19 WORST: Articuno - Number One At Being Useless
Back in the day, the first trio of Legendary Pokémon were pretty good in comparison to their non-Legendary brethren. Articuno especially, as the original Pokémon games had very few Ice-types making them an offensive threat that was hard to deal with.
Unfortunately, the wheel of time continued to turn and many newer Legendaries leave Articuno in the dust.
Uno-bird is relatively tanky in terms of defensive stats, and it does have access to Roost giving it a sustain-type move that keeps Articuno in the game, but they’ve become overshadowed by the far more beastly Ho-Oh.
Nowadays Articuno has trouble terrorizing even lesser non-Legendary Pokémon. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
18 BEST: Groudon - The Best Lava Lizard Around
Before there were Mega Evolutions, there was Groudon. Regular Groudon is a powerful legendary Pokémon in its own right, but give it a Red Orb and it turns into Primal Groudon on the battlefield in much the same way a Mega Evolution works.
The difference here is that Ground did it way before Mega Evolving was cool.
This guy (and I use the term “guy” in the colloquial non-gender specific sense) is simply bananas. Normally a Fire/Ground typing would make you dead to any random Water move, but Primal Groudon’s Desolate Land ability makes him immune to all Water damage. Ground-typing makes him immune to Electric attacks. Primal Groudon resists almost everything except other Ground attacks, making them very hard to damage and thus perfect to set up entry hazards like Stealth Rock or just run Rock Polish and Swords Dance to sweep enemy teams alone.
17 WORST: Moltres - In This Case, Three Is Not The Magic Number
Moltres is another first-gen Legendary bird that just hasn’t kept up with the pace of later generations. A solid Special Attack state means that Moltres is still a threat, but it’s nothing compared to the likes of Mewtwo or Zekrom.
Worse still, the Flying/Fire typing makes it quadruply weak to Rock moves, and with comparatively little HP or Defence, Stealth Rock can leave Moltres with very little health to work with. Even off-type me-first moves can put Moltres down with a solid Stealth Rock set up.
But, Moltres does get the Flame Body ability, making them a solid nanny to incubate eggs with. A bizarre outcome, given that Moltres - like every Legendary Pokémon - is completely genderless and should have no motherly instincts.
16 BEST: Rayquaza - Capable Of Cracking Every Nut
It makes sense that Rayquaza would be able to top even the mighty Groudon - after all, in Pokémon lore, Rayquaza is the heavenly ruler over both the elemental Legendary Pokémon and the only thing capable of halting their eternal battle.
And then they gave Rayquaza a Mega Evolution on top of that.
Simply put, Mega Rayquaza has more attack power than anything else out there. They can crack any nut, tear down any wall, or just one-shot entire teams all on their own. As an offensive threat, Rayquaza is peerless.
However, Rayquaza has one weakness: face Ice-type Pokémon. Rayquaza is far from a glass-cannon, but their offense is far greater than their defense, so sneaking a strong enough ice move through Rayquaza’s defenses will be enough to bring this Legendary Pokémon down.
15 WORST: Entei - The Least Beastly Legendary Beast
Entei is bad, full stop. Entei doesn’t have a single stat that is remarkable even when compared to regular Pokémon, let alone Legendary ones. Their Ability, Pressure, only works if you can survive long enough to actually run your opponent out of PP, which Entei can’t do owing to its poor defensive stats. Finally, a sole Fire-typing leaves Entei vulnerable to Water, Ground, and Rock - all moves that are commonly found on competitive teams.
With all that, what can Entei do that’s special?
Nothing. Literally nothing. There are starter Pokémon that evolve to become stronger than Entei. There are wild Pokémon that eventually become stronger than Entei. Other Legendary Pokémon laugh in Entei’s face and tell it to go back to the normal Pokémon sandbox, where even there it gets beaten up by lowly mortal Pokémon.
In short, Entei sucks.
14 BEST: Ho-Oh - Uh oh, Ho-Oh, Oh
Ho-Oh is great for a number of reasons. First, they’ve got great typing in Fire/Flying, making Ho-Oh resistant to Ice, one of the many coverage moves that people love to splash on their Pokémon. Second, Ho-Oh is a super cool giant bird thing that harkens back to the original Legendary Bird trio (Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres), only Ho-Oh doesn’t suck. They’ve also got a great pool of moves to choose from giving you tons of options in how you want your Ho-Oh to perform.
Ho-Oh’s best trait is just how tanky this bird can be.
With access to Recover and the hidden ability Regenerator, Ho-Oh is a beast that can be extremely hard to bring down, recovering HP whenever they switch out or are given a free turn by their opponent.
13 WORST: Raikou - The Second Least Beastly Legendary Beast
Entei was worse, but Raikou isn’t far behind. Raikou shares the same problems that Entei does: poor overall stats, an irrelevant Ability, and no unique moves. The only benefit they have over Entei is the Electric-typing, which makes it vulnerable only to Ground moves, but super effective against only Water and Flying types.
And like Entei, Raikou is defeated by even regular, non-Legendary Electric-type Pokémon. Magnezone is both far tankier and has access to more moves. Alola-Raichu has the Fairy-type, giving it resistances to many other types of moves. Jolteon is faster and far cooler as an Eevee-lution. Raikou is simply bad and should feel bad, which I’m sure they do.
12 BEST: Dialga - Time Defeats All
Dialga and Palkia we some pretty awesome Legendary ‘mons. With dominion over space and time, the two are basically lords of the universe just under lord Arceus, may their name live on forever. In fact, it was pretty hard choosing between the two of them just because they’re both so frickin’ cool.
But ultimately one has dominion over the other, and that’s Dialga. Why? Because the Dragon/Steel typing is just so darned good. Dialga is either resistant or immune to a whopping 10 different move-types. That’s basically half of the moves in Pokémon. Combined with a Special Attack stat that rivals some others on this list and Dialga is Legendary few ‘mons can challenge.
11 WORST: Uxie - Eyes Wide Shut
In terms of stats, Uxie is bad. It has extremely poor offensive abilities, and it’s defensive ones are passable at best. This relegates Uxie to the role of setup specialist, laying traps like Stealth Rock, or throwing down Sunny Day or Trick Room to assist other Pokémon on the team. In that role, Uxie isn’t bad, but they’re hardly anything special.
In the Pokémon lore, Uxie has a little more going for them. Uxie is said to be the source of all knowledge in the Pokémon universe, and specifically for humans, the reason why we evolved intelligence above all other animals and Pokémon. Then we caught Uxie and stuck them in a ball.
Weird how that worked.
Uxie can also wipe out your memories if they ever open their eyes - sort of like a Pokémon version of the neuralyzer from Men in Black.
10 BEST: Zekrom - Electric-Drill Your Way To Victory
As far as Dragons go, Zekrom is pretty scary. With 150 for an Attack stat and the fabled Dragon-typing to keep it safe from pesky moves like Fire and Water, Zekrom is a terror in any fight. Worse still is the ability Teravolt, which prevents opposing abilities from hindering or otherwise blocking Zekrom’s attacks. There is simply no escape from this Electric/Dragon monster.
However, Zekrom’s Speed stat sits at a relatively lackluster 90 (at least, in comparison with other Legendaries) so it’s possible to outrun Zekrom to get a move in first. Despite the mecha-inspired wings, Zekrom doesn’t actually fly so they’re vulnerable to Ground-type moves that take advantage of Zekrom’s Electric typing.
On the other hand, the electric-drill tail is kinda cool, so that should count for something.
9 WORST: Registeel - Pokémon Of Wimpy Steel
None of the golem Legendaries are particularly good, but Registeel is easily the worst of the bunch. With no offensive power or speed, and only defensive ability to speak of, Registeel is a boring old wall. The problem is that it’s not even a very good wall. Sure, with its incredible defense Registeel can old out for days, but the best Walls usually have some sort of setup to either boost themselves or their teammates, and Registeel has none.
The best Registeel can do is run Toxic and Stealth Rock, providing an entry hazard for when Registeel eventually goes down while it tries to take down what it can using Toxic and whatever offensive move you choose. And your choices are limited since Registeel gets very little in the way of offensive moves.
8 BEST: Kyurem - Be What You Want To Be
Sure, Kyurem may have been the villain’s Pokémon in Gen V, and maybe said villain planned on using Kyurem to freeze the world, but that’s hardly Kyurem’s fault. Besides, being villainous doesn’t make Kyurem bad, only evil, and nobody ever said that being evil didn’t make you powerful.
All that aside, Kyurem has something that most Pokémon on this list lack.
And that is: versatility. Kyurem can either become Kyurem-Black or Kyurem-White, depending on what mad doctor-inspired experiments you decide to perform on the poor thing, and each comes with their own special set of moves and abilities stolen from either Reshiram or Zekrom.
However, Kyurem applies a redonkulous 170 offensive stat that overpowers either of the two Legendary Dragons Kyurem steals genetic material from.
7 WORST: Virizion - The Dullest Sword
Of all the Swords of Justice, Virizion is the least enticing. First, there’s the Grass/Fighting typing which was never the most robust. Sure, you get a fair number of resistances in Dark, Electric, Grass, Ground, Water, and Rock), but you also gain a fair number of vulnerabilities, namely to Fire, Ice, Fairy, Poison and Psychic, and doubly vulnerable to Flying.
Also, your best attack moves (Close Combat and Stone Edge/Zen Headbutt) either have poor accuracy or debilitating side effects that leave you vulnerable to counterattack. On top of that, Virizion doesn’t have enough speed to reliably get the first shot off, meaning you may not even get the chance to attack.
I’d make a joke about how Virizion is a double-edged sword, but so far they only have one edge, and it points toward the user rather than the opponent.
6 BEST: Xerneas - The Dragonslayer
If you’re paying attention, you might notice there are a lot of Dragon-type Pokémon on this list. Dragons are weak to Fairy-types, which means that a Fairy-type like Xerneas has a lot to gain going up against the best Dragons in the business.
Xerneas already comes with an impressive move-pool and an admirable set of offensive and defensive stats.
Crucially, Xerneas also has a second trick up their sleeve: Geomancy. This move gives a double boost to Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed at the expense of one turn’s charging. BUT, if Xerneas holds Power Herb the charging time is removed, which means Xerneas can begin battle with speed and power to rival anyone on this list.
Then, Moonblast combined with the ability Fairy Aura is enough to bring down any Dragon-type in one blow. Behold Xerneas, the dragonslayer.
5 WORST: Cresselia - Arms Not Included
Cresselia is interesting if for no other reason than she is the first Legendary on this list to actually have a gender. Yup, Cresselia is woman, hear her roar. Well, more like mumble nasty things behind everyone’s back because she doesn’t have the chutzpah to do it to their faces.
Cresselia has fantastic defensive stats, access to the all-important Levitate ability to avoid all Ground-type moves, the Moonlight move which heals her for half health (depending on the weather) and very few weaknesses owing to her pure Psychic-typing. The problem with Cresselia is she has no offense to speak of.
That, and, well, she looks kinda dumb. Like, she has no limbs - just a bunch of weird pink auras that help her float around and telekinetically move stuff. I mean, telekinesis is cool, but so are arms. That’s why Machamp has always been one of my favs.
4 BEST: Zygarde - Hard To Pronounce, Even Harder To Beat
Upon initial release, Zygarde was kinda boring - boring stats, boring moves, and an ability that served to counter Yveltal and Xerneas without really standing out in comparison with either of them. But then Zygarde got a new hidden ability and everything changed.
Suddenly this snake-like Legendary went from moonlighting as a Naga impersonator to being the first Pokémon to be banned from Sun & Moon competitive play. Zygarde in their complete form has more HP than God (in this case God being Arceus, the Pokémon deity and creator of the universe), making them impossible to destroy. On top of that, Zygarde has the move Thousand Arrows which is a Ground-type move that can hit Flying-Type and Levitating Pokémon while also making them susceptible to other Ground-type moves later.
The only thing Zygarde fears is Ice, which will ironically melt their HP tout suite.
3 WORST: Cosmog - Phenomenal Cosmic Power, Itty Bitty Pokémon, Minus The Cosmic Power Part
Cosmog is another interesting Legendary Pokémon in that it actually evolves like any other Pokémon, going from tiny Cosmoem to either a majestic Solgaleo or a noble Lunala. The whole evolving Legendary things odd, as Cosmog generally just has the same feel as a Dratini or a Deino - almost useless in the beginning, but evolves into something huge and scary after reaching level 50 plus.
And while either end of the evolutionary chain for Cosmog is quite impressive, Cosmog itself is pretty pathetic. Even among pre-evolution Pokémon, Cosmog’s stats are awful. On top of that, it has two moves: Splash, which does nothing, and Teleport, which only allows Cosmog to escape. It’s basically the same as Abra, only it doesn’t evolve into anything useful until level 53.
2 BEST: Necrozma - Never Deny The Power Of Evil
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed there’s another pattern on this list when it comes to the best Legendary Pokémon: Evil Pokémon are stronger.
Think about it: Kyurem, Mewtwo, Necrozma - these are all very bad Pokémon that are so ludicrously strong that they blow up any other ‘mon by sneezing on them.
Necrozma-Dusk Mane or Necrozma-Dawn Wings are created by combining Solgaleo or Lunala with the special N Solarizer/Lunarizer in much the same way Kyurem-Black and White are created. And much like Kyurem, this provides Necrozma with a measure of versatility to round out any team of uber-Pokémon you can imagine. On top of that, Necrozma even has an Ultra form, which is like a Mega Evolution, only more ridiculously powerful.
1 WORST: Silvally - When You’re A Little Bit Of Everything, You’re Actually Nothing
I’m going to admit right off the bat that I actually really like Silvally. They’ve got decent stats all across the board, allowing them to perform a multitude of roles. They have an incredible move pool to draw from, further increasing Silvally’s versatility. And on top of that, Silvally just looks really cool with the whole chimera thing goin’ on.
The problem is that having generally decent stats means that you don’t excel at anything.
That’s great for playing the story, but you don’t get Silvally (or more accurately its pre-evolutionary form, Type: Null) until you’ve beaten the League Champion. There’s still some stuff to do post-game, but competitive is the real end-game for Pokémon, but Silvally finds themself vulnerable to a plethora of threats in the harsh world of competitive battling.
It’s too bad since I think Silvally would be great to play the story with. Maybe make them a starter next time.