Raikou, Entei, & Suicune: What Animals Are They Based On?

I've debated this issue countless times with every friend of mine who's been a Pokemon fan as well as others I've been acquainted with. So far, the vast majority of them conclude that Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are "dogs". However, I beg to differ since the only Legendary Pokemon in this trio who even resembles a canine is Suicune. With this being said, I took it upon myself to closely scrutinize the aesthetic appearances of both Raikou and Entei to ascertain an idea of which animals, in reality, they represent.

First off I will start with Raikou. Raikou's physique resembles that of a tiger due to it's body shape, bright yellow color and pattern of black stripes on its body. Even though tigers are more of an orange color, yellow could be conceived as the next best thing for tiger-based Pokemon with regards to the color coding used to represent Electric-type Pokemon. Another quality that leads me to believe that Raikou is a tiger is it's facial features: It has large defined cheeks, is saber-toothed and has no mane framing it's face. One last quality Raikou has is that it's the fastest of this trio of Legendary Pokemon. I'm not 100% sure if that means anything but I always thought of lions as the felines with power over speed; this brings me to Entei.

Entei, in my mind, has to be a lion. It has a large feline physique which is much broader than Raikou's and it's color is of a darker hue of brown. One very distinguishing feature that stands out is it's mane: It frames and boarders it's face and flows down past it's chest area. Ability-wise, Entei is the strongest in physical attack of the trio. To me, the similarities between a Entei and a lion is uncanny. There is no way I can reason either Entei or Raikou to be "dogs".

However, it the case of Suicune, it already has the physical appearance of a canine: smaller, more slender frame, protruding mouth and nasal area, and smaller feet. If I had to guess what kind of canine Suicune would be, I'd say he was a wolf since it appears that the overlying theme of this group of Legendary Pokemon was "Kings of the Jungle".

These are my "two cents" on this subject and I stand by them. I am curious to know what you good people think on this subject. I'm sure it's come up multiple times before due to Raikou, Entei, and Suicune's peculiar looks. Thanks for reading and I hope to read your opinions on what animals these Legendary Pokemon are based on!


-Lorenzo

i always thought suicune looked like a jaguar.

....in game and in the anime they were referred to as legendary dogs so no matter how they look they are legendary dogs i am sorry

They're known as the Legendary Beasts trio. They look both canine and feline though. Raikou looks like a tiger, Entei looks like a lion, and Suicune looks like a leopard/cheetah creature.

Actually the legendary dogs are all based off the bad American haircut, the mullet
THINK ABOUT TAT

When they first were released, they were always officially referred to as Legendary Dogs, that's the reason it's my bad habit to call them dogs.

Raikou is my favourite of all Pokemon, and he looks like a Sabre Tooth Tiger, for me to call him a dog is just wrong lolz (no offense to dogs, I just mean that, if he's my favourite pokemon, I should be able to refer to him by his correct species LOL)

Gerbils totally, 'nough said. :P

Indeed!

Rilence said:

Gerbils totally, 'nough said. :P

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Guinea-pigs! Definitely guinea pigs!... With mullets. Go McGruber! I choose you! Hahahahahaha!

I personally just call them the 'legendary beasts' and leave it at that, although I have seen people call them things from dogs to gerbils and whatnot. I do like your anaylsis though, Lorenzo_Von_Matterhorn (yay mouthful ;D).

Might move this thread though as this isn't actually HGSS-specific (after all they're in GSC and Colosseum and this isn't about them in HGSS, just them in general, etc) to Pokemon General.

They're based on mythological creatures.

Raikou is a raiju (a.k.a. a tiger).
Suicne is a kirin (a.k.a. a wolf).
Entei is a shishi (a.k.a. a lion-dog fusion).



The correct term would be the 'legendary beasts', but I call them 'legendary dogs' out of habit.

That's so cool Myles!!! Thanks for sharing that. I love learning the mythological creatures that inspire Pokemon. It's so interesting!

I guess Myles have summed it up for us! But ive never really called them cats and dogs lol! I just call them the "Legendary Beasts!"

How many topics have talked about this..?

Myles said:

They're based on mythological creatures.

Raikou is a raiju (a.k.a. a tiger).
Suicne is a kirin (a.k.a. a wolf).
Entei is a shishi (a.k.a. a lion-dog fusion).

The correct term would be the 'legendary beasts', but I call them 'legendary dogs' out of habit.

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Anyways,Myles you made a Great point there :)
I always call them Legendary Dogs but they are Legendary Beasts like you said,so yeah,They are Legendary Beasts.

Pokemon: Ancient Myths and Legends

Myles said:

They're based on mythological creatures.

Raikou is a raiju (a.k.a. a tiger).
Suicne is a kirin (a.k.a. a wolf).
Entei is a shishi (a.k.a. a lion-dog fusion).

Spoiler:

The correct term would be the 'legendary beasts', but I call them 'legendary dogs' out of habit.

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Speaking of Pokemon with mythological backgrounds, the Pokemon's I love the most is Vulpix/Ninetails. These Pokemon were conceived out of the legend of Fox Spirits known as "Kitsune" in Japan, "Huli-jing" in China, and "Kumiho" in Korea. Although, their legend is not restricted to these areas; there have been narratives across Asia coming from as far as India.

It is said that Kitsune can either be good or evil (good being known as "Zenko" and evil or mischievous being known as "Yako" or "Nogitsune"), able to shape-shift, and contrive their powers from living long enough to become enlightened and earn their supernatural powers. Another interesting feature about the Kitsune is that, as they grow in power and enlightenment, the number of tails they grow increases stopping at the limit of 9: 9 tails marks the limit of their power. I think this is as much relevance as there is going to be between the legend and the Pokemon minus the ability to shape-shift. If you'd like more information on this legend, here's the Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyuubi_no_kitsune

Anyhow, on another note, I personally think it would be cool if they made a Shiny Event Vulpix or Ninetails with the move "Transform"; preferably as an anniversary marking event. It would seem overpowered but it would make for an excellent collectible.

I've always called them the beasts/dogs and left it at that. I honestly don't think that the creators were going, "Hmm. Well, Entei will be a lion, and Suicune will be a leopard..." Likely they just took the basic concept of them being "giant quadrupedal cat-dog-things" and went from there.

... Of course Myles' post would definitely prove me wrong.

Entei, Suicune and Raikou all resemble a lion's features to me. Lion + pokemon artwork, haha! That's how I honestly view them.

I see them all as just various wolfy/doggy/catty animals, but I always call them dogs, just what I'm used to.

Um, a kirin wasn't a wolf. The Kirin was a unicorn/giraffe thing, according to Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

TheShinyMew said:

Um, a kirin wasn't a wolf. The Kirin was a unicorn/giraffe thing, according to Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

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While we appreciate the addition TSM, this thread is nearly 5 years old- way past the 30 day revival limit. Please have a look at when a thread was last posted in before bumping it. Thanks!

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