The Legendaries

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

I couldn't care less either way, except for the fact that legendaries are a money pit if you're trying to catch the things. Usually in a game I'll just catch them, then let them collect dust in the PC box anyway. Heck, I didn't even use the B/W mascot dragon against N - I just chose to deposit it.

Too many of them don't play a critical role in the plot - they're just there to annoy you and drain you of Ultra Balls. And even the ones that are part of the plot, I really don't pay all that much attention to.

 

[The Fallen]

I feel that legendaries of new generations do not hold the same value of legendaries of the past. I understand that each region must have its own legend, but not in such large quantities. Generations 1 & 2 had it right with the amount allowed. Besides, most of these new legendaries should be deemed as powerful Pokèmon rather then legends (pseudo legendaries).

 

[Cordelia]

Keep in mind that in Japan there are categories of legendaries. There are literally legendary Pokemon, that figure prominently in legends (think Kyogre/Groudon, or Reshiram/Zekrom). Then there are illusory Pokemon, such as Mew, that are very rare (to the point that people question they exist), but that's all. And then there are the fourth generation mythical Pokemon.

This is how I see it, really... the Pokemon that are very rare, such as Mew, Deoxys, etc... they are "legends" but not literally legendary. They're just rare. Mew isn't unique and neither is Deoxys... quite a few others are like that too. They have a nice amount of "legendaries" and I think it's fun to be able to catch them in each game.

 

[MisKatelyn420]

I don't think so :) I love the legendaries!

 

[-Grayscale-]

I agree, and I think they should stop making so many. How are they legendary if there is so many of them?

 

[Zeffy]

I agree, and I think they should stop making so many. How are they legendary if there is so many of them?

That's like saying "how can the Greek gods be Greek gods if there are so many of them?". Also, I'd like to point you to Toujours' post which explains something; not all of them are legendary Pokemon, some of them are just mythical creatures, incredibly rare Pokemon, and part of each region's legend.

There are, by the way, 5 regions. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. Each of them has their own legend. There are about 200 or less Pokemon per region. If you look at it this way, there is really a reason why there are so much. Kanto has Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Mewtwo (which isn't really legendary tbqh, just a powerful clone), and Mew. Johto has Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Ho-oh, Lugia, and Celebi. Hoenn has Regice, Regirock, Registeel, Lati@s, Rayquaza, Kyogre, Groudon, Jirachi, and Deoxys. So on and so forth.

It's not that easy to explain, but I do hope you get my point.

 

[Seiren]

I don't think there are necessarily too many Legendaries, considering how many generations we're on now. I will admit that I think that they introduced far too many in the fourth generation, and that a single trio of Pokemon per generation is quite sufficient, but at the same time, as long as they don't make a habit of introducing more and more with each generation, I don't see what the problem is.

As has been mentioned, a lot of legendaries are just mythical creatures, characterised by the fact that there is only one of them and little else. I think they add character to the region; just as it is in real life, each land has their own culture, and their own set of mythological creatures and folklore to accompany them. Whilst it's on a much simpler level than it is in real life, it's a nice thing to see.

Legendaries have becomer "lamer" over time because the developers are running out of things to base them on that are all-powerful creators or elemental beings. They have deity-like figures for almost everything imaginable (or at least, those basic elements you get deities for in most JRPGs) so now they're just basing a lot of them off of mythical creatures or concepts. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing; there are hundreds of different cultures in the real world, and it's nice to see them given a Pokemon form.

I'd actually like them to branch out and cover some different aspects of ancient mythology: maybe something Norse-based next, like a trio based around Fenrir, Jormungandr and Hel, with something based on Loki as a trio master. There are a lot of fantastic concepts left for them to explore yet, and as long as they give them a reasonably good background, I don't mind if they continue to churn them out.

 

[MiTjA]

The pace is perfectly fine.
They had no clue what they were doing in gen I (or more like, if it will even get big), and after that they started actually making real stories behind them.


Note though that legendaries are not some godlike supernatural beings. They are simply exceptionally rare/strong enough that people have made up legends about them, hence the classification.
Even the big ones.

Think about it, these are all creation MYTHs. Its never stated to be historic facts. Always just myths.

That even explains why each region is oblivious about all the creation legends except theirs (ie Hoenn only knows about Kyogre/Groudon/Rayquaza, Sinnoh only about the Dimension trio and Arceus, or Unova not even having one but a tale about royal Dragons instead). It's because these pokemon live there and ancient people saw them, and came up with the local stories.

Once you realise this, I see no reason to oppose a few extra "legendaries" (which are usually 600TBS, so like another Dragonite, just final stage from start.), as long as they all have an interesting basis. (Well I think many people would point specifically to Heatran at this moment, but cmon its freaking "cool", hmpf xDD well it has more of story to it than, say the birds anyhow, who are just in some place and shoot their lazor at you.)

 

[redxguitar]

I think so too. So many legendaries suddenly becoming known.. it's just too fast and doensn't make them legendary any more..

 

[agdragonrider]

I sort of agree but I wish they'd firmly say which are legendary and which aren't.
I mean, the anime suggests that there are multiple Lugias (or at least a mother and baby).
Then there's Rotom, Manaphy and Phione: they're sort of classes as 'half-legends' or just extremely rare. And if they were to class them as 'extremely rare' then surely Shiny Pokémon are 'extremely rare' too, and therefore half-legendary????
Who knows.
D: D: :O

 

[Pokepawnd]

I think they just base the legendaries generation by generation. I love legendary pokemon :)

 

[katiedawn121]

I don't know if they're making too many ... there's 47 or 48 (which is less 10% of all Pokémon, so far). I completely agree with what you're saying though, about how Legendary Pokémon had more meaning a decade ago. What I loved about the Legendaries was the movies; it's a chance for them to show their origins and create cool storyplots (MEWTWO!). Now we're seeing the Lengendaries in episodes ... sure, Ho-Oh has been in episodes since the beginning, but I consider that an exception. Celebi was in a Pokémon Chronicles episode I just watched recently, and while it had a good storyplot, I just kept thinking "IT SHOULD'VE BEEN A MOVIE!"

Sorry for my rant, that's just my opinion on Legendaries. :)

 

[Articuɴo]

As long as 'legendary' Pokemon continue to be unique in their own aspect, I don't have any major quarrels with having more of them in future games. However, I tend to be very picky about appearances and tend to dislike it when multiple 'legendary' Pokemon look extremely similar. For example, the Kami Trio and Lake Guardians.

I realize that as time goes on and more generations of Pokemon arrive that there will inevitably be similar-looking Pokemon, it's just something that irritates me on occasion. It's probably me just being picky or something of that nature haha~

 

[oshawottlover13]

in my opinion i think thereis waaaaaay to much legendaries. including some you cant even get in any game. including mew, celebi, latias, latios, rayquaza, jirachi, deoxys, rotom, regigigas, arceus, darkrai, shaymin, creselia, manaphy, phione, victini, and the upcoming pokemon in black and white 2

 

[MiTjA]

rotom

I keep wondering. Why do people continue mistaking Rotom for a legendary?

It doesnt look like one, its stats are nowhere close to being one, you can breed it like everything else.. just because its stationary instead of wild? @_@

 

[oshawottlover13]

i keep wondering. why do people continue mistaking rotom for a legendary?

it doesnt look like one, its stats are its stats are nowhere close to being one, you can breed it like everything else.. just because its stationary instead of wild? @_@

i agree but nintendo made that choice so we just have to go with it. although it is weird it can be breeded. but its just like manaphy that makes a phione with a ditto. some legendaries can be breeded.

 

[MiTjA]

i agree but nintendo made that choice so we just have to go with it. although it is weird it can be breeded. but its just like manaphy that makes a phione with a ditto. some legendaries can be breeded.

Let me clarify: Rotom is by no means legendary. Officially and unofficially.

 

[Ach7AC]

Until a short time ago, I didn't mind, except that now a few problems rise with the sheer amount of legendary Pokemon. The first one is that they are a pain to catch, which makes legendary battles a complete waste of time. I mean, in Gen. I, that was okay since there were only 4 legendary Pokemon, which meant that aside from the trio and Mewtwo, who was an endgame mon, you didn't have to spend so much time in catching these legendaries. Nowadays, they often tend to put 10+ in one game. Another reason is that Gamefreak does nothing to most, no interesting sidequest, nothing, they just wait in the middle of nowhere waiting for a trainer. Suicune's side-quest in Crystal was interesting, why not add similar stuff to other games. Plus, there is also the fact that several legendary Pokemon are event-only, which means you have to either be lucky with the calendar or have a gameshark in order to complete the dex.

 

[luisshinyhunter]

I agree there are to many legendary pokemon and but to me most of them are more like super rare pokemon for ether having a gender or not realy being that strong.

 

[MiTjA]

Until a short time ago, I didn't mind, except that now a few problems rise with the sheer amount of legendary Pokemon. The first one is that they are a pain to catch, which makes legendary battles a complete waste of time. I mean, in Gen. I, that was okay since there were only 4 legendary Pokemon, which meant that aside from the trio and Mewtwo, who was an endgame mon, you didn't have to spend so much time in catching these legendaries. Nowadays, they often tend to put 10+ in one game. Another reason is that Gamefreak does nothing to most, no interesting sidequest, nothing, they just wait in the middle of nowhere waiting for a trainer. Suicune's side-quest in Crystal was interesting, why not add similar stuff to other games. Plus, there is also the fact that several legendary Pokemon are event-only, which means you have to either be lucky with the calendar or have a gameshark in order to complete the dex.

RBY
-stationary trio
-stationary endgame uber
4

GS
-roaming trio
-stationary uber, and a second stationary uber in the postgame
4+1

RS
-stationary trio, puzzles
-stationary uber, a second stationary uber in postgame
-an extra roamer postgame
4+2

DP
-stationary/roaming trio
-stationary uber
-postgame has a roamer, second stationary uber, 2 stationary extras (one requiring transfer of legends from past games)
4+3(+1)

BW
-stationary trio
-an extra roamer
-stationary uber, a second one in postgame (and another if you manage trading the roamer counterpart)
5+1(+1)

In a simplification, not much has changed. Current gen you come across ~3 more legends in a casual playthrough than at the sole beginning of the franchise.
Note also that mascots have had their catch rates increased to 45 or something in the last few gens.

If the regular main games of the recent generation had you catch a stationary trio, a roaming trio, 6 ubers/mascots, aaaand 7 extra postgame legends, (so like 20 legendaries) I would say you have a point. But its not half as bad and pretty much like its always been.

The only serious change is the additions of ~3 event legends that are handed out to keep the generation alive for some time. And those you don't even have to actually catch most of the time.


And about
"Suicune's side-quest in Crystal was interesting, why not add similar stuff to other games."
I thought they did... adding puzzles to solve to access golems, have Groudon/Kyogre appear and escape before you later actually encounter them, having to check out the lake guardians for the spear pillar event to take place.. and I don't know whether you got a chance to play BW2 yet, but how you meet the musketeers there reminded me particularly of Suicune.