5th Gen A Step Backwards for Legendaries

[Oryx]

Let's look at the history of legendaries from generations past.

Mew - Mew holds the genetic information of every single Pokemon. Therefore, it is the ancestor of all of them. Pretty epic.

Ho-Oh/Lugia - These two are slightly less epic, but they are the guardians of the sea and sky, respectively. Still a very large role for one Pokemon and worthy of the title of legendary.

Groudon/Kyogre - Very large role in history. The generations are moving up with their mythology and their legendaries, as these created the world and could easily destroy it.

Dialga/Palkia - Bringing out the big guns here, time and space. We can also add in Arceus here, with its god status. These are the highest legendaries possible, you can't get any better; I'm sure based on the general pattern people were dying to see what they came up with for Gen V.

But if you look at the cover legendaries from this generation...they created one region. Does this feel like a step backwards to anyone else? The mention that they created the region is even not advertised in the game much at all because it was something that I was surprised to learn about. Yes, they represent high ideals and such. But as far as what they've done? Not much compared to what we seemed to be building up to.

So, discuss - do you think that the legendaries should have had a more powerful role compared to previous generations? How could they have done that? Do you expect another buildup of power based on the idea of this being a reboot?

 

[miltankRancher]

Since time and space has been introduced already, and also the god, and the antimatter Pokemon, legendary Pokemon could not get that higher again. So I think it was expected already. By me, if not by others.

 

[echolocated]

I suppose so, but since GF already created the best they could, there's not many other "epic" things newer legendaries could have made/represent.

One region is okay though, at least they made something, right? :P

 

[Molts]

So Napoleon conquered pretty much all of Europe, well Darius the Great conquered pretty much all of the civilized world. So Napoleon was worse as a leader? Hardly.
Each legendary is unique, they are part of a legend. They don't have to be a WORLD legend, just part of any legend. Legendary pokemon are the actualization of town legends that every town did way back when.
The monster in the forest that could cleanse rivers. The beast of the sea that could cause hurricanes if you upset the balance. The beings that shaped the continents by dragging them into place. The sprites of good fortune if you behaved yourself.
They're common stories told in the real world when the world had more magic in it.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

True but they repeated yin and yang (lati@s). Actually it's possible that Kyurem is older than Arceus seeing how Wuji is the void he was born from...

 

[Molts]

True but they repeated yin and yang (lati@s). Actually it's possible that Kyurem is older than Arceus seeing how Wuji is the void he was born from...

As a note, Latias/Latios have nothing to do with Yin Yang, they're merely masculine/feminine. Which is of the same line of thought, but its more of a duality, than a real representation of yin yang.

 

[Jaiyke]

Didn't they supposedly make up parts of the Atmosphere as well?

I know Rayquaza lives in the Ozone or whatever the bawlz, but like I read somewhere they changed the atmosphere and weather and gravity.

That's pretty big. On a planetary scale at least.
Could be wrong though.

 

[Haza]

I actually like that Reshiram & Zekrom's legacy is bound to Unova. It's reminiscent of how Ho-oh & Lugia were. It makes the game make sense for taking place in that specific region you know? Because when Arceus and the like were introduced, I was thinking it could've taken place anywhere really.

 

[Oryx]

Didn't they supposedly make up parts of the Atmosphere as well?

I know Rayquaza lives in the Ozone or whatever the bawlz, but like I read somewhere they changed the atmosphere and weather and gravity.

That's pretty big. On a planetary scale at least.
Could be wrong though.

Reshiram's description says that it can change weather, and Zekrom can created localized thunderstorms. Similar to Zapdos and Moltres I guess. I wouldn't really say that changing the weather on a localized scale is big, considering things like Sunny Day can be learned by lots of Pokemon.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

Why not create legendaries that are the physical embodiements of the sun and the moon.

Well Ho-oh and Lugia are already the embodiments of sun and moon...sort of...
the tao trio also represent the extremes of matter with resh and zek representing plasma the most charged particles, and Kyurem represents the super solids, state in which atoms are barely moving...

 

[Oryx]

Well Ho-oh and Lugia are already the embodiments of sun and moon...sort of...
the tao trio also represent the extremes of matter with resh and zek representing plasma the most charged particles, and Kyurem represents the super solids, state in which atoms are barely moving...

Could you share your source on that? I haven't read that anywhere tbh.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

Could you share your source on that? I haven't read that anywhere tbh.

about lugia and ho-oh? I read it on bulbapedia I believe. Plus it's kind of obvious...with the symbolism...gold represents the sun while silver is symbolic of the moon. The moon moves the seas like Lugia. the sun is a symbol of life just like ho-oh.
Also the Unova legends aren't all that down from the past gens, they represent the balance of the world as a whole. Though I do wonder where they will go from yin and yang and wuji...

 

[Overlord Drakow]

I suppose it was somewhat underwhelming to learn the extent of what Zekrom and Reshiram represented. The way I see it though is;

Zekrom: Represents the way the world should ideally be.

Reshiram: Represents the way the world actually is in reality.

Comparing to the other generations, at an initial glance they seem pretty insignificant. The concept I described above appeals to me though since it can easily be related to real life politics and such. There are people who desire to change the world to match their ideals (like me) and then there are those who accept the world as it actually is and do not think global changes in general are necessary. That philosophical concept I think is the message they wanted to drive into the people who purchased Black and/or White.

It fits in nicely with the game as well, since you have multiple different people / organizations with their own agendas, and you fight your way through the conflicts caused by the differences in opinions between these different people / organizations. I think I've gone on a massive tangent here but this is what came to my mind.