Dami and Alex's top (however many there are) legendaries list!

[Fig]

So yeah. Kasumi San (Alex) and I were chatting about how the look of new critters seems to go downhill with each new release (RBY had plenty of them, GSC fewer, and RSE had, what, Absol? Gardevoir?). That conversation then went down to the legendaries, and which legendaries were cooler overall.

As a result of all this talking, we've established the following ranking of legendaries, from ugliest to best-looking. We deliberately ignored the pseudo-legends (Arcanine and Absol) due to their not being real legendaries. They'd both be close to or right in the top-5 if they were on the list, though.

1000 - Regice, Regirock, Registeel. They're ranked 1000th to leave plenty of room for fourth, fifth, sixth, etc generation legendaries, which we hope will be better than these.
18 - Deoxys
A pathetic Mewtwo wannabe. Not cool.
17 - Groudon
Is it a Dinosaur? Is it a robot? No, it's Groudon, and it's butt-ugly!
16 - Kyogre
Edges ahead of Groudon by simple virtue of being an orca, which are cooler than...thingamajig?
14 - Jirachi, Celebi tied.
They're both essentialy Mew wannabes (ie, "look at me, I'm CUTE!"), and far less well done due to their lack of simplicity compared to Mew's design.
13 - Rayquazza
Here we get in the mechanical-like legends of RSE, with weird lines all over them, and angular looks. Rayquazza is the coolest of the lot, but being top of the non-Latis RSE legendaries is just about the same as winning the special olympics/an internet debate...
12 - Ho-Oh.
It's somewhat pretty...but an oversized parrot is still an oversized parrot!
11 - Zapdos
Again, see Moltres : it's behind simply because a jagged-wings woodpecker just has something wrong about it.
9 - Raikou and Entei, tied.
See Moltres.
8 - Moltres
The legendary birds and dogs are up next, but Moltres's flame wings edges slightly ahead of the others.
6 - Latios and Latias.
They're both almost there in elegance, but they lack the menacing grace that Lugia can manage.
5 - Mew.
People tout Pikachu as the essence of pokémon cuteness, but Mew's simple design is very effective as far as cuteness goes.
3 - Articuno and Suicune
The legendary birds and dogs are sleek and elegant thing, and these two add beauty to it, edging out ahead of the rest.
2 - Mewtwo.
Mewtwo is essentialy a reinvented Frankenstein monster in terms of look, and it *works* to create a horrific yet tragic look.
1 - Lugia.
Lugia is what people had in mind when they coined the term, "deadly grace". A beautiful, sleek creature that still manages to look convincingly menacing.

Feel free to flame our ranking, or waste time coming up with your own, or whatever.

I'm posting this because there's nothing on these forums anyway.

 

[Mozz]

I think this calls for a list of all 386.

 

[Kasumi]

Would you be up to make it with us, Lou?

 

[Fig]

Could be fun to make :-D.

 

[Misty]

One could attribute this to the old theory that many of the Pokemon were pre-designed before RBY - many more than the 151 used - and Tajiri&co just picked the best ones to use. Naturally, afterwards the designs are going to decline as the best Pokemon are used.

One question though - while Manafi almost certainly falls into the "Mew wannabe" category, where would you place Lucario?

 

[Fig]

Now added between Regis and Groudon, with the caption, "Pathetic mewtwo wannabe. Not cool."

Lucario would be in the lower 10s, I think - maybe between Ho-Oh and Zapdos, or Zapdos and the dogs.

 

[Kasumi]

Misty, please don't double post.

 

[Misty]

BMG lagged like hell for a second. It was obviously accidental.

Anyway, editted my first post with a proper response.

 

[Kasumi]

I was kidding you. Well, as Dami said, Lucario/Rukario is cool, though not as cool to make it to the top 5.

 

[FabuVinny]

Well if you are going to go on looks alone you are missing the point of legendaries slightly.

I'd edge Manaphy above Celebi/Jirachi for the sheer reason that it is more successful in terms of being a "Mew wannabe".

 

[Kasumi]

Are you implying that legendaries need to be fucking ugly? I don't think so, dude.

 

[GreatLiver]

Lucario is cool, but seems a bit too much like a digimon. Manaphy also seems like a "I'm so cute" Mew wannabe but it's a baby so it makes some more sense

 

[Barb]

I don't think FabuVinny meant to imply that all Legendaries have to be ugly (although Groudon is, technically). Legendaries have awesome power and therein lies their appeal.

 

[Nomekop Oen]

Are you guys talking about aesthetics alone? Or are you also throwing stuff like concept and originality into the mix?


If we're talking about the whole package,then I'd have to say The Legendary Beasts are the best.They're not my personal favorites,but I do think they're the best ones overall.


I like that Gamefreak essentially created their own mythical beasts when they designed Entei,Suicine,and Raikou.Mythical beasts like the Griffin or the Chimera that are a combination of different animals.Most people have a varying opinion of what the Legendary Beasts are a combination of,but I believe Entei is mix of a Lion and a Bear,Suicune a mix of a Wolf and a Panther,and Raikou a mix of a Tiger and a Dog.



Entei and Raikou are probably the most confusing of the three.Raikou,while the most feline out of all of them,still doesn't look 100% cat.So there's something else that's there.And Entei because you can still make the case that it's part dog too.Awhile back I came to the conclusion that both can't be part dog,each has to be unique.I noticed that Entei is rather bulky compared to the other two,and bears are known to be these huge bulky creatures.And that Raikou's face did seem to be intentionally drawn like a bulldog's face.So then I decided that Entei is just part bear,and that Raikou is the one that's part dog.


Suicune on the otherhand is a lot easier to figure out IMO.After thinking about it for awhile you can come up with a definite mix.

 

[Komedic Konservationist]

I agree with you on Deoxys and the Regis, but I think that Moltres, Mew, and Mewtwo need to be far lower back on the list. Moltres looks like a dog's toy, and Mew/Mewtwo are freakishly half-formed and sickly looking. Ho-Oh deserves more credit than you've given it.
The only generation of Pokemon I like is the second. Kanto was blander than bark, and full of tedious cliches like Machamp (traditional muscle-bound wrestler in speedo) Alakazam (Traditional spoon-bending psychic) Charizard (Traditional fire-breathing dragon) and alot of everyday crap like Weedle and Goldeen. None of this does anything for me. Hoenn on the other hand, was overly-complex and the monsters were packed with way too much detail for there own good. They also seemed too inorganic and robotic, and I hate robots >__>
Johto got the balance just perfect. Everything was simplistically stylised with beautiful pastel colours, without looking too dull or too complex; it was all so subtle and delicate.