The Pokémon series contained literally hundreds of amazing creatures right from the start, but over the years it’s gone on to amass a truly staggering amount of Pokémon that is now starting to approach 1,000. It’s been entertaining to see how the franchise has evolved and changed over the years, but one element that’s been present from the first games is the inclusion of rare, legendary Pokémon.
Legendary Pokémon have always been especially strong, but with each new game the series has to feature new legendary creatures that somehow are even more powerful or extreme than what has come before. This process has resulted in some Pokémon that are truly unbelievable in terms of their abilities. It’s been exciting that Pokémon games haven’t relented at all in this category and each new legendary is still exceptional in a different way.
15 Mewtwo Is The Product Of Scientific Tampering
Mewtwo is one of the heaviest hitters from the first generation of Pokémon games. He's certainly an outlier amongst Pokémon because he's been altered and is the product of genetic manipulation. This makes him incredibly powerful, but also a little too intelligent for his own good and capable of realizing the plight of his superiority complex.
14 Ho-oh Can Grant Life And Stun With Its Beauty
Ho-oh was such a stunning Pokémon when the second generation of the games hit. Both it and Lugia are powerful bird Pokémon that make the original Legendary trio look like jokes. Ho-oh’s big draw is that it has the ability to grant life, but it’s in a limited capacity and the Pokémon doesn’t have full control over the powerful skill.
13 Xerneas Has The Eternal Power Of Life
Xerneas hails from Pokémon X and Y and he’s really just a more powerful version of Ho-oh. Xerneas is a legendary who’s said to have the incredible power to grant life whenever it wants with there being no limit to it. Xerneas loses some impact, however, as part of his defense mechanism involves him hibernating as a tree for 1,000 years.
12 Yveltal Will Suck The Life Force From The Planet
So many of the legendary Pokémon throughout the series represent a certain duality as they are the yin and yang to each other. Xerneas can effortlessly provide life, but Yveltal is the influx of that and is a Pokémon that steals life. Consequently, when Yveltal goes into its 1,000-year slumber, it takes all of the life energy that's surrounding the area.
11 Zygarde Is A Snake-Like Salve For The Planet
Zygarde is legendary Pokémon that resembles a snake and it's almost seen as a security measure for the other legendary Pokémon, Xerneas and Yveltal. What makes Zygarde unique is that it's a Pokémon that can masquerade itself in five different forms. Zygarde's ultimate Complete form only comes together in extreme circumstances when the planet is under threat, but it becomes stronger than Yveltal and Xerneas in turn.
10 Zekrom/Reshiram Can Warp The Planet’s Atmosphere
The Unova region of the Pokémon games plays around with some powerful dragon Pokémon and Zekrom and Reshiram are sibling dragons that comprise the majority of the area's "Tao Trio." Think Generation 1's legendary trio, but this time they're dragons instead of birds. Zekrom is a master of lightning and Reshiram controls fire. However, they're so strong that their skills irrevocably change the atmosphere and physics of the planet. They're more doomsday weapons than Pokémon.
9 Necrozma Is Pure, Unbridled Energy
Necrozma comes from Generation 7 of the Pokémon games and he's a champion of light energy. While the Pokémon doesn't conventionally evolve, it can fuse with other Pokémon to take on three powerful forms. Ultra Necrozma is seen as Necrozma's true form and in this state the Pokémon is basically pure light energy. It generates a temperature of over 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit and anything that touches it will melt. Plus, it can launch out laser beams that are over 18 miles long.
8 Rayquaza Controls The Ozone And The Skies
There are plenty of powerful legendary dragon Pokémon that are out there, but Rayquaza makes its mark by how it has mastery over the planet's ozone and atmosphere. The Pokémon spends most of its time in the higher atmosphere of the planet and has no trouble up in space, either. The Pokémon has also made its way into the Super Smash Bros. franchise in a significant way.
7 Giratina Can Shift Between Dimensions
Giratina is a powerful, aggressive mix of ghost and dragon types and it acts as the unpopular companion to Dialga and Palkia. Where they control time and space, Giratina manipulates antimatter and is able to move between entirely different dimensions, which is a whole other kind of reality manipulation. It can even leave Pokémon stranded in the afterlife.
6 Groudon Is A Hot-Headed Warrior
Groudon represents one-third of Pokémon's legendary "weather trio," with Groudon being the Pokémon that pulls from the fire realm, specifically volcanos. The whims of Groudon can cause volcanoes to erupt all over the world and drastically alter the weather. On top of that, when Groudon combines its abilities with Kyogre, they can create new masses of land, permanently changing the makeup of the world.
5 Kyogre Is The Master Of The World’s Water
Kyogre is kind of the opposite of Groudon and where the latter controls volcanoes, Kyogre is the master of the ocean. Both of them are incredibly powerful, but considering the Earth is comprised of mostly water, there's really nothing stopping Kyogre from flooding the planet if it ever feels like it.
4 Celebi’s Powers Make It Essentially Immortal
The Pokémon franchise peaked somewhat early with the strength of some of its legendaries. Celebi may not look like the most powerful or aggressive Pokémon, but it has the ability to not only travel through time, but also revive itself from any point in a given timeline. In this respect, Celebi is basically immortal and so even though it can be defeated by stronger foes, it will always come back.
3 Palkia Is The Ruler Of Space Itself
It's one thing when legendary Pokémon control the elements that comprise the planet, but when it comes to Pokémon like Palkia and Dialga, they go even beyond the planet and control things like space and time. In Pokémon's lore, Palkia is seen as the ruler and creator of the very fabric of space itself. It can even alter and warp space as it sees fit.
2 Dialga Can Control Time To Its Will
Dialga is the powerful sibling to Palkia and where Palkia controls space, Dialga is able to manipulate time. Dialga can freeze time, slow it down, or speed it up to decimate its foes, which is a bad way to go out all things considered. Dialga is such a powerful Pokémon that its roar alone can distort the fabric of time.
1 Arceus Is Basically The Pokémon Universe’s Equivalent To God
It’s an interesting choice for the series, but Arceus is positioned as the most powerful of the powerful legendary Pokémon. He’s an entity that’s created everything in the Pokémon universe, including the masters of time and space, Dialga and Palkia. He’s the closest thing that the Pokémon series has to some kind of deity-like creator, but Arceus is as high as it gets.