Why was Ho-oh kept "mysterious" even after the GS era ended?

C

Cybersai

Registered User
Joined
Mar 8, 2005
Messages
28,895
Reaction score
225
As we've seen with Ho-oh in the first ep of the series, why do you think the writers continued to keep Ho-oh as a legend that Ash sees once a series, instead of throwing it in a movie like all the other legendaries?

Even so long after the Johto saga ended, the writers still keep one of its legendaries, Ho-oh, "untouchable" in a sense, that its still never had a proper debut, even if it doesn't advertise anything anymore. The funny thing is all the Sinnoh legends are more important than Ho-oh is, yet they're all going to appear in movies or the show eventually.

Why do you think the writers purposely did not include Ho-oh in any of the movies, even 6 years after Johto has ended? On top of that, its only appearances in episodes are 8 second shots of it flying in the sky or flashbacks to the past.

I've always had the theory that the writers are saving Ho-oh for something at the end of the series, because otherwise I don't see why they didn't just put it in a movie already after so long.

I mean really, what's the point of excluding Ho-oh from a proper debut otherwise?
 
because ho oh will only appear when humans and pokemon live completely in harmony
 
Maybe they just didn't think of a proper appearance for Ho-Oh, and then when Johto passed, they had to focus on Hoenn and Sinnoh legendaries, so Ho-Oh received the shaft? It sounds more like poor plotting than anything... I'm kinda surprised you of all people aren't complaning about this, Scott. ;P

Eh, they seem content to give it the role of flying around with Mew at the end of the World of Pokémon segments and for Ash's rare "Oh, by the way I saw a Ho-Oh once and also like dozens of other legendaries but I'm not going to mention them right now" moments. As far as the anime seemed concerned for a while, Ho-oh was the most mysterious and mighty of legendaries so it was "off limits"... and then Arcues pops up and poor Ho-Oh even loses that. Poor bird. XD
 
Lil Brother said:
Maybe they just didn't think of a proper appearance for Ho-Oh,
Click to expand...

Ho-oh was one of the biggest legendaries of the second generation and it was hyped up before that thanks to the first episode. The writers even go as far as to remind us of it every generation.

We saw Ho-oh in the second to last episode of Johto, again at the Battle Pyramid, and Ash mentioned it to Dawn in DP. The fact that the writers bring Ho-oh up in each series to remind of us of it says a lot in itself.

Why wasn't it abandoned like the GS ball was? Unlike the GS ball, the writers are constantly bringing up Ho-oh. Doesn't that sound like something they are doing for a reason?

and then when Johto passed, they had to focus on Hoenn and Sinnoh legendaries, so Ho-Oh received the shaft?
Click to expand...

They did put Mew in another movie, so its not like they can't put it in a movie after its gen is over.
 
Well if Mew can make another movie appearance, surely Ho-Oh can, maybe along with Raikou(despite having it's own saga.)
 
Because it's a legendary Pokémon. It's good they're treating at least one of them like a legend. They're also probably still hoping to use its full appearance to Ash for something important, like a finale or at least an anniversary special.
 
Oh, I'm not disagreeing that Ho-Oh will make a large appearance some day. Just saying that it's required to debut new legnedaries with each movie, and they probably figure with the movies' nature of not affecting the show that much, it'd be pretty random to just give Ho-Oh some movie appearance alongside whatever new, cool or cute legendaries we're debuting this year after having kept it as the mystery figure in the show so long. Mew's popular, but it doesn't have the "mystery" status that Ho-Oh's been granted. Although they do seem fond of showing the two side-by-side at points...

Don't think they know the specifics of what's going to happen, though. Myabe some ideas, but I'm doubting anything cement.
 
Last edited:
My guess on Ho-oh's scant appearences would be that it is tied directly to Ash's growth as a character; should the anime end, a good way to show it as ending would be to properly introduce the Ho-oh that's been making mysterious appearences throughout the anime's run.

Anyway, Latias and Latios have even less appearences in the anime. They've only shown up in a single movie, not in the main anime at all.
 
It was a given some of the legends would never get episodes.

Jirachi has never been in an episode either, and I don't think it'll ever get one since it sleeps every 1000 years.
 
I've always thought that Ash would become champion, but not just in training Pokemon, but, like, in showing love and respect for Pokemon. Kind of like an example that humans and Pokemon can live together, in harmony, and it will have a proper debut in the last episode, which will take place in Ecruteak, is it? Well, the city where the towers are, anyway.
 
Scott85 said:
I've always had the theory that the writers are saving Ho-oh for something at the end of the series, because otherwise I don't see why they didn't just put it in a movie already after so long.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was going to say. Maybe they have bigger plans for it in the future, and maybe we don't yet KNOW how important Ho-oh really is.

Also, if they ever do get around to remakes of Gold and Silver, perhaps Ho-oh will be used to advertise for that.
 
I thought that it was just a plot device to show how Ash is so special of a trainer and because of that, they keep Ho-Oh as kind of an untouchable legendary Pokemon. Though, I could see them doing something more with it if they have a remake of G/S/C and Ash and his friends travel through Johto again.
 
They're saving Ho-Oh for the ending, so no luck for it to appear in a movie. Talk about Legendary what about raikou it never appeared in the episode or movie (noteL Robotic Raiko don't count)
 
Well, didn't it appear in that Legend of Thunder thingy?

And Ho-Oh is just another plot device. If it appears again, it will be when Ash decides to go on another journey to another region. Of course it would be nice to see it used for some grand finale, and it's logical too, as it was the first legendary Ash saw he seems to have somekind of bond with it. But it's just as likely that it won't appear in the ending and that there won't be any grand finale. Who knows...
 
Last edited:
It shows us that Ash is special to have this big ol mystery guiding him through life.
 
L-Z said:
Well, didn't it appear in that Legend of Thunder thingy?

And Ho-Oh is just another plot device. If it appears again, it will be when Ash decides to go on another journey to another region. Of course it would be nice to see it used for some grand finale, and it's logical too, as it was the first legendary Ash saw he seems to have somekind of bond with it. But it's just as likely that it won't appear in the ending and that there won't be any grand finale. Who knows...
Click to expand...

I totally forgot about Legend of Thunder and who knows maybe there will be an ending on Ash stories and they decide to focus on another character.
 
Please note: The thread is from 17 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom