Legendary Pokemon are the rarest, most powerful creatures in the Pokemon world. They often anchor the story of their respective games and are found in limited quantities — usually just one per game. In this guide, we cover every legendary, every mythical Pokemon, every pseudo-legendary, and every Ultra Beast across all 9 generations.
What Makes a Pokemon Legendary?
Legendary Pokemon are typically defined by being one-of-a-kind creatures in the game’s lore, having high base stat totals (usually 580 or above), having a significant role in the game’s storyline, and being obtainable only once per game file. They are different from mythical Pokemon (like Mew or Celebi), which are typically obtained through special events.
Gen 1 Legendary Pokemon – Kanto
The original legendary trio: Articuno (Ice/Flying), Zapdos (Electric/Flying), and Moltres (Fire/Flying). Mewtwo is the most powerful Gen 1 legendary, found at the end of Cerulean Cave. Mew is a mythical Pokemon and was originally only available through Nintendo events.
Gen 2 Legendary Pokemon – Johto
Johto legendaries include the legendary dogs: Raikou (Electric), Entei (Fire), and Suicune (Water). The legendary tower duo consists of Ho-Oh (Fire/Flying) and Lugia (Psychic/Flying). Celebi is the mythical Pokemon of Gen 2 and was event-exclusive.
Gen 3 Legendary Pokemon – Hoenn
Hoenn brought us the weather trio: Kyogre (Water), Groudon (Ground), and Rayquaza (Dragon/Flying). The Regi trio — Regirock, Regice, and Registeel — are also found in Hoenn. Jirachi and Deoxys are the Gen 3 mythical Pokemon. All Gen 3 legendaries return in Pokemon ORAS legendaries.
Gen 4 Legendary Pokemon – Sinnoh
Sinnoh legendaries are among the most diverse. Pokemon Platinum legendaries include the creation trio: Dialga (Steel/Dragon), Palkia (Water/Dragon), and Giratina (Ghost/Dragon). Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are the lake guardians. The sinnoh legendaries also include Heatran, Regigigas, Cresselia, Darkrai, and Shaymin.
Gen 5 Legendary Pokemon – Unova
Gen 5 legendaries feature Reshiram (Dragon/Fire), Zekrom (Dragon/Electric), and Kyurem (Dragon/Ice) — the Tao trio. Unova legendaries also include the Forces of Nature trio: Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. Electric legendary Pokemon Zekrom is among the most powerful in the series.
Gen 6 Legendary Pokemon – Kalos
Kalos legendary Pokemon include the Aura Trio: Xerneas (Fairy), Yveltal (Dark/Flying), and Zygarde (Dragon/Ground). Kalos x y legendaries are notably the first legendary Pokemon with Fairy typing.
Gen 7 Legendary Pokemon – Alola
Alola legendaries include the Tapus (Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini), Solgaleo and Lunala, Necrozma, and all the Pokemon Sun and Moon ultra beasts.
Ultra Beasts – What Are They?
Ultra Beasts are a category of Pokemon introduced in Gen 7 that come from Ultra Space — an alternate dimension. They include: Nihilego (Rock/Poison), Buzzwole (Bug/Fighting), Pheromosa (Bug/Fighting), Xurkitree (Electric), Celesteela (Steel/Flying), Kartana (Grass/Steel), Guzzlord (Dark/Dragon), Poipole, Naganadel, Stakataka, and Blacephalon.
How to get ultra beasts in Pokemon Sun: After becoming Champion, you receive the Beast Ball and can hunt them through UB missions given by the Ultra Recon Squad.
Gen 8 Legendary Pokemon – Galar
Galar legendaries include Zacian (Fairy/Steel in Crowned form), Zamazenta (Fighting/Steel), and Eternatus (Poison/Dragon). Galar legendaries also include the Galarian legendary birds: Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, plus Regieleki and Regidrago in the Crown Tundra DLC.
Gen 9 Legendary Pokemon – Paldea
Paldea legendaries are Koraidon (Fighting/Dragon) in Scarlet and Miraidon (Electric/Dragon) in Violet. The Paldea legendaries also include the four Treasures of Ruin: Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Chi-Yu.
Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon – Complete List
Pseudo-legendary Pokemon are a fan-defined category for Pokemon with a 3-stage evolution line and a base stat total of exactly 600. They are not officially called ‘legendary’ by Nintendo but are treated as the strongest non-legendary Pokemon.
All pseudo-legendary Pokemon: Dragonite (Gen 1), Tyranitar (Gen 2), Salamence, Metagross (Gen 3), Garchomp (Gen 4), Hydreigon, Goodra (Gen 5 and 6), Kommo-o (Gen 7), Dragapult (Gen 8), Baxcalibur (Gen 9).
Mythical Pokemon – Full List
Mythical Pokemon are a special category that includes: Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Hoopa, Volcanion, Magearna, Marshadow, Zeraora, Meltan, Melmetal, Zarude, and Pecharunt.
Random Legendary Pokemon Generator
Want to see which legendary Pokemon to use? Our random legendary Pokemon generator picks a legendary at random. You can filter by type (Fire legendary Pokemon, Electric legendary Pokemon, Ghost legendary Pokemon, etc.) or by region.