Category: Lists

With Pokemon Sword & Pokemon Shield just 6 days away from release, it’s fair to say that I’m pretty damn excited. Thanks to Game Freak keeping their cards relatively close to their chest this year and my painstaking effort to avoid any and all leaks like the plague, I’m going into the game this year not really knowing what to expect outside of what I’ve already seen (which is all stuff I like).

One of the main draws for new Pokemon games is the Pokemon that are designed to literally sell the games to you, the cover legendaries. These Pokemon are the ones that sit on the cover of the game (usually the feature legendary of the game) and will often have a pretty heavy hand in the marketing of the game and deciding which version people buy; unless you’re a nerd like me who always buys both.

However, in a franchise with coming up on 1000 different creatures, some were never going to capture my attention in the same way others were, so here’s my ranking of every cover legendary Pokemon.

NOTE: A couple of caveats before we begin. Firstly, the Kanto starters aren’t on this list because, although they have been on game covers, they’re not legendary Pokemon and secondly, Zyguard isn’t on this list because, although it is part of the main Kalos trio, it never made it onto a game cover for whatever reason. Finally – and this one is important – as I mentioned above, I haven’t seen any of the leaks that have come out in the past week or so, so if I say something speculative about Sword & Shield that one of these leaks has already confirmed PLEASE DON’T TELL ME because I want to go into these games as blind as possible.

Finally, if you want more Pokemon content from me, then check out my rankings of every Pokemon generation so far!

With that out of the way, onto the list.

17 – Kyurem

So there’s a couple of things that contribute to Kyurem coming in last, first is the design. Visually, I don’t think Kyurem is anything interesting to look at. There are cool elements with the jagged icicle shaped body, but that is pretty overwhelmed by the copious amount of grey that covers its whole body. I understand that it’s thematically appropriate but that doesn’t stop it being a boring colour.

Then there are the hybrid forms which admittedly improve Kyurem’s look and I like the idea of it mechanically, unfortunately, I think that both alternate forms look worse than Reshiram and Zekrom respectively so I can’t see it as much of a positive. Then there’s the fact that, for many years, Black 2 & White 2 were the only main-series games that I hadn’t played (I only bought and played a copy for the first time a month ago) so I’ve not had much of a chance to have any real experiences with Kyurem outside of Black & White’s post-game.

Kyurem has some cool points, but ultimately whenever I look at it, I can’t help but feel underwhelmed.

16 – Reshiram

Ok, I should probably mention at this point that I like Gen 5, I honestly do, but the cover legendaries were really weak.

The colour scheme can fit the theme all they like, but the fact of the matter is, one matted colour is boring, especially when it’s just white. Reshiram’s general look has a nice majestic streak to it, I think the wings could be a bit smoother but I like the overall look and I especially like the tuft of…is it hair? on the back on its head that looks like a trail of smoke. Unfortunately, the colouring pulls it down a lot for me.

On top of that, there are the feet which really don’t seem like they fit in with the rest of the design. The point of the gen 5 legendary duo is that they’re supposed to be opposed to each other, with Reshiram having a smoother, more elegant design, but the feet really jagged and seem out of place compared the rest of the Pokemon.

There’s a lot to like about Reshiram, but I just can’t get past the boring colour scheme and general lack of cohesion in the style on its body, it would only take a few minor tweaks and I really think this could’ve been a great design.

15 – Necrozma

Necrosma suffers from many of the same problems that I’ve mentioned already in the previous two entries, but there’s a couple of features that go a long way to redeeming Necrozma in my eyes.

First of all, there’s the fact of just how unbelievably different Necrozma looks compared to every other legendary Pokemon. The whole point of Necrozma is that it’s quite literally from another plane of existence, it was sealed away in Ultra Space for so long that looking at it is so very alien without being overbearing about it. Then there’s it’s Ultra form, which looks like an absolute monster, honestly, if I’d ranked Ultra Necrozma separately, it’d be near the top I can tell you that.

That said, it still suffers largely from the single colour problem that I’ve already expressed my distaste for and I’m not the biggest fan of its hybrid forms with Lunala & Solgaleo as, much like with Kyurem, I think they look worse than their original forms. I didn’t think these problems would drag it down as much as it did because I still really like Necrozma, but when I compared it to all the other legendaries, it just didn’t hold up.

14 – Zekrom

I promise this is the last time I’m going to talk about boring colours.

For my problems with Zekrom, you can pretty much just parrot what I said about both Kyurem & Reshiram, except Zekrom has a couple of nice features that those two don’t. For one thing, although it is entirely black, there’s at least more than one shade of black on its body, which is nice, then there’s this seemingly pure evil look it seems to have with the shape and expression of its face which I think looks cool.

Its hands and feet look a bit weird, but the hands at least fit in with the design of its wings, which also fit really well with the jagged design to go with its electric typing. The tail is another thing I really like, as it looks a lot like a battery where it stores most of its power and I especially like the neon blue colour it glows when it’s charging up an attack.

Ultimately, Zekrom suffers from the same issues as it’s Gen 5 brethren, but its cool factor is significantly higher in my eyes, which brings it above the pack just a little.

13 – Kyogre

This is where the order of this list gets a little iffy because I don’t have much in the way of negative things to say about Kyogre, so putting it below a few other Pokemon on this list comes down to minor elements and gut feelings more than anything else.

What drags Kyogre down for me is the relative simplicity in its design. The colours are much more favourable to that of the Pokemon I’ve discussed so far, but its body is still almost entirely a single colour, having its massive blue body broken up only by the occasional red line. That said, the colours that were chosen for this design still make Kyogre somewhat interesting to look at and it feels like there’s a lot more character behind the design than in previous entries.

Kyogre is also helped out by its Primal form, which adds a whole new layer of detail into the design and boosted it up significantly in my estimations. I really love the much deeper blue of the primal form, along with the glowing lines on its body that make it look exactly like what a creature from the beginning of the Earth’s lifespan would look like. Even without the extra form though, Kyogre succeeds at being a good looking Pokemon while staying true to its themes and origins.

12 – Lunala

One thing I really liked about the Generation 7 cover legendaries is how strikingly different they looked. In all other generations (including Gen 8) the legendaries always had the same sort of feel to them even when they’re colours were quite different, Lunala however, feels worlds away from its counterpart which is something I love.

In terms of intricacy in the visuals, this ticks the boxes. The way the gold frames its whole body while the glorious purple wings are detailed by the occasional white mark makes it look exactly like I’d imagine an embodiment of the night sky would look like. Once again, the problems I have are fairly minor. For one thing, I’m not a big fan of the shape of its body, I know it’s the Moon Pokemon, but there’s something a bit off-putting to me about how…well…round it is; silly I know, but I can’t quite get past it. Also, I don’t think the look of its face quite fits with the calmness and elegance of its design, the eyes and teeth seem a bit too sharp and evil-looking, which is something I don’t think fits the rest of the design.

11 – Groudon

Groudon suffers from almost the exact opposite problem as it’s counterpart Kyogre, as where Kyogre borders on too little detail, Groudon borders on too much.

Groudon is a very intense feeling Pokemon, everything about it is sharp and vicious, from the lines of spikes on it’s head to the very same lines of spikes on its tail, Groudon is a Pokemon that is extremely intimidating to face down. The colours help add loads to this feeling, with the red jumping out at you, being cut up by the black lines and eyes that are filled with menace. The problem I have with Groudon is that all of this detail becomes a bit much after a certain point, there are a lot of the black lines to the point of overkill and its whole body is covered in spikes everywhere you look, again, to the point of overkill.

Groudon’s Primal form is slightly different to Kyogres as instead of adding depth and detail, Groundon’s Primal form simply serves to add more boldness to everything that’s already there, ramping the intimidation factor up to 11, making Primal Groudon look like a monster to end all monsters. Groudon’s design can be a bit much, but at the end of the day, I’d rather have an over-designed Pokemon than an under-designed one.

10 – Lugia

This is where things get difficult because, from this entry onwards, I honestly adore all of these designs.

Up until now, I’ve criticised the more simplistic designs, but Lugia is the exception to this rule as I think it’s the lack of detail in Lugia that makes it so beautiful. Whoever coloured this thing knew exactly what they were doing because even though there are only three colours on its body all three are the perfect shade and in the perfect places. The white paired with the pale blue on its stomach gives this calming and majestic vibe, which goes along with how Lugia has always been presented in the Pokemon world as a fairly chill Pokemon. Then there’s the dark blue around its eyes and along it’s back that add just the right amount of sharpness to it that you still get the vibe of an all-powerful Pokemon.

The only real criticism I could level at it is that the “wings” essentially being giant hands is a tad goofy, but I find even this facet of its design somewhat endearing. Lugia proves to me that just because a legendary Pokemon has a simpler design, doesn’t mean it can’t fit the bill of a legendary Pokemon.

9 – Suicune

Suicune is a Pokemon that always feels a little out of place amongst the cover legendary group, as it’s technically a member of the secondary trio of the Johto region instead of a main-feature legendary. However, it’s on the cover of Crystal so that makes it a cover legendary.

Suicune isn’t actually my favourite of the legendary beast trio, but it’s definitely the one that I think works best for the cover of a game. The other two beasts look a bit rough compared to Suicune, Entei has a regal feel to it, but the colours don’t quite work for the cover a game and while I adore Raikou, it’s a bit sharp and messy. Suicune doesn’t have these issues though, it’s sleek and elegant in every aspect of its design.

Once again, the combination of white and a faded blue create an elegant and calming feel when you look at it, combining well with the diamond pattern along its body. The cape is a feature that would’ve worked in almost any colour, but the soft purple is perfect for creating this feeling of the wind flowing all around Suicune’s body, to the point where the cape almost looks to be in motion in every still image it features in. Finally, there’s the brilliant detail of its tails that act as ribbons along its sides. Suicune would’ve been a beautiful looking Pokemon without the ribbons along its side, but somehow the addition of such a simple feature takes the design to a whole other level.

Suicune is a Pokemon that had every element designed for a specific purpose and it all came together to make a Pokemon that could never be relegated to merely a secondary legendary trio, it had to make a cover.

8 – Palkia

If you’ve ever read anything Pokemon related by me before, you’ll know I love Generation 4 and it’s cover legendaries are no exception.

Palkia has this aura to it of a creature that is eternally angry about something. There’s something about the way its face is designed that makes it look like a Pokemon that’s absolutely furious at all times. The multiple sharp edges around its eyes and the way its body looks like it’s plated with some kind of space-metal give off this aura of an eternal guardian that’s really not happy about the whole situation.

The dark shade of pink that outlines every part of its body looks great too, it gives the white/grey that covers most of its body a greater sense of character and helps it to stand out in a legendary trio that is already very colourful. In fact, my main complaint about Palkia’s design is that there’s not enough pink on its body.

One of my favourite things about legendary Pokemon designs is how the designers are able to take the same design elements, apply them to 2, maybe even 3 Pokemon, and create Pokemon that all have the same feel while looking distinctly different from each other and Palkia is the perfect example of that. If I didn’t know Dialga & Palkia were part of a trio, I’d instantly group the two of them together because so many elements of their designs tie them together, even though Palkia looks nothing like Dialga at first glance.

7 – Solgaleo

I wasn’t until writing this list that I realised I tend to prefer quadruped Pokemon to biped ones. I’ve always preferred more animalistic Pokemon anyway and being a quadruped really adds to that feeling and Solgaleo is perhaps the best example of that.

On one level, you could argue Solgaleo is just a lion, however, I would argue that it’s actually a cosmic super-lion with a body of metal that would kill you as soon as look at you; and who doesn’t want that feeling from their legendary Pokemon. Solgaleo takes the animal it’s based on and takes the emotions and auras that we associate with that animal to whole other level, creating a beast that looks genuinely terrifying in the best way possible.

Tangentially, this is where I think the new Zacian & Zamamzenta fall down in their design slightly. I refrained from including them in this list because pre-release stuff is all we have on them so far, but right now all I see in their designs in that they’re slightly fancy wolves, they don’t do what Solgaleo does here which is amplify the design of the animal to create something special.

Solgaleo’s whole body looks like it’s been welded together, with marks and dents all over its legs that create a feeling of a Pokemon that gets in fights a lot. Then there’s the face, which has just the right amount of colouring on it to bring out the full effect of mane while keeping the ferocious look it has on its face. The semi-sphere for blue around its eyes only serve to highlight just how striking the rest of the facial design is, your eyes are instantly drawn to it before letting you take a look at everything that surrounds it.

If you’ve ever wondered what was the “right way” to design an animalistic Pokemon, this is the way to go about it.

6 – Ho-Oh

My love for Ho-Oh comes for many of the same reasons I love Solgaleo; it’s an animal I already know and love, but infinitely cooler looking.

What makes Ho-Oh so great of a design to me is the colouring. It’s bright and bold without being too in-your-face about it, it walks up to the line of garish, but stops just before it in order to make the second coolest looking bird Pokemon to ever exist (ain’t no-one surpassing my girl, Talonflame). The dark orange instantly makes it stand out, especially against its counterpart, Lugia, but its boldness is quickly softened by the white and light green on the tips of its wings, which are such a nice touch.

I never would’ve guessed that light green would’ve been the best colour to go with that shade of red/orange, but it grounds the design in a way that it definitely would’ve been missing with a bolder colour. Then there’s the golden highlights on its head and back that frame the whole design perfectly. Also, I don’t normally mention this, but its shiny form looks amazing.

Compared to most of the other cover legendaries, Ho-Oh is still a fairly simple design, but it has complexities in just the right places in order to make a Pokemon worthy of the “Gold” version.

5 – Yveltal

I did not expect that I would end up liking either of the generation 6 legendaries this much, but here we are.

Both gen 6 cover legendaries feel very different from all the others. I know that’s an odd thing to say since all of them are different, but Xerneas & Yveltal feel an extra step away than the rest. Maybe it was to do with this being the first generation to feature 3D models as standard, but whatever it is, I like it.

Yveltal is another bird Pokemon, but it’s a slightly wrong bird and it’s wrong in all the right ways…my head hurts. What I mean is, it has a lot of the elements you’d expect a bird Pokemon to have – tiny feet with sharp claws, massive wings and a pointed face – but it warps them slightly so they’re all a bit off. The wings aren’t made of feathers, their long strips that seem to be part of its body and giant claws on the end instead of talon feathers; it doesn’t have a mouth, only horns and very angry looking eyes and its tail looks exactly like its wings. It’s all slightly wrong, which makes for the feeling of a very warped Pokemon, which is exactly what Yveltal is supposed to be.

Red and Black is a colour scheme that I’ve always loved the look of and this is the perfect Pokemon for it, this Pokemon looks genuinely evil and I think it’s a wonderful design, I couldn’t think of anything better to embody death.

4 – Rayquaza

We need more green legendaries, I’m sick of the shade of red vs shade of blue versions we’ve got in all but two generations so far.

Rayquaza is a Pokemon that’s subtle in its complexity. Its body shape is incredibly simple, it’s literally just a straight line but the design is able to cram jus the right amount of detail onto that straight line that it’s got a great sense of beauty to it. I’m not the biggest fan of the colour green, but it really works here because it’s very striking in how different it is, both in comparison it’s trio-mates, Groudon & Kyogre, and against every cover legendary as a whole.

The green is highlighted by yellow, red and black, which on paper sounds like a horrible combination, but each of the colours is used sparing and in the right places to stop everything crashing and falling apart. The red on its talons that stick out act almost as go-faster stripes and then there are the yellow patters that stretch across its body, keeping with Kyogre & Groudon’s designs of the ancient & tribal looking patterns on their body.

In a twist from the Gen 3 trio, I actually like Mega-Rayquaza less than I like regular Rayquaza, the glowing golden ribbons that come off its head are a brilliant inclusion, but the rest of the design just seems a bit much to me. Outside of that, Rayquaza is an absolute winner of a Pokemon that deserves its status as the head of the weather trio. Wins the award for the best name too.

3 – Giratina

I’m going to be honest here, this top three was tough to order.

I talked a little while ago about how Yveltal looked like pure evil in its design and how Solgaleo looked terrifying. Well mash that sense of evil and terror together and that’s how Giratina makes me feel. The wonderful red & black colouring is back again, only this time it’s mixed in with grey & yellow highlights to bring a new level of pop to the design and somehow make it look even more menacing.

Its alternate form is undeniably great, but weaker than it’s origin form in my opinion. The alternate form still keeps the terrifying-looking face and I adore the design of its wings, but the shape of the body feels a bit off and I don’t think six legs quite work for the design. The origin form is a whole other story. The shape of its body changes to be that of something I can’t even really describe, with yellow spikes sticking out from a grey body that is covered with black & red stripes, as giant black and red spikes stick out from it’s back acting almost like terrifying shadow arms.

I don’t know about you, but that’s certainly way better than anything I could’ve imagined for Pokemon’s embodiment of the ruler of the underworld. Giratina manages to be all this, while still staying true to the design elements of the creation trio to form a Pokemon that lives exclusively in the nightmares of children.

2 – Xerneas

Xerneas is a prime example of a Pokemon that “grew on me” over time.

Maybe it’s because I was a stupid teenage boy at the time, but “life-giving rainbow deer” didn’t quite strike a chord with me when I first saw it, however over time I’ve come to love Xerneas as one of my all-time favourite Pokemon. Aside from the fact that it was the first Pokemon I ever had any real competitive success with, Xerneas’ design is the definition of a majestic looking Pokemon.

First things first, its horns are rainbows; quite frankly that should be all that’s necessary for an explanation, but I’ll go on. The shape of its face is interestingly designed in such a way so that it still keeps the sharp look of Yveltal’s face – thus keeping them on the same theme visually – but the narrow snout and rounded chin are able to make what is almost an identical face seem kind and benevolent instead of menacing. The darker shade of blue matches up nicely with the black of it’s lower body, where its tail is an adorable little puff of fur and its legs are shaped so gracefully and I absolutely love the way this thing moves.

While I would argue that other Pokemon on this list are more visually impressive, Xerneas’ design comes together with the theme and feel that the Pokemon is supposed to give off in order to elevate it into something better than just something pretty looking.

1 – Dialga

I mean, come on, have you ever seen a more bold, imposing and yet somehow graceful Pokemon?

Dialga flips the design from its counterpart, using the grey armour-looking material simply as detailing in this design, as opposed to Palkia, where it seems to be its entire body. I’ve always been fairly apathetic to the colour blue, but the particular shade they have for Dialga’s body here looks beautiful, made all the more brilliant by the light blue highlights all over its body.

The way the armour outlines its body makes it seem regal with its presence, like how a medieval king wears minimal armour just because it looks impressive; only, instead of ruling a small country, Dialga is the lord of time. I particularly love the segment on Dialga’s chest that houses its gem. Not only does it put the gem front and centre where it can look it’s best, but the shape of the plate stick out and forms around its body in just the right way to draw attention towards the centre of the chest.

When designing a Pokemon to represent time, it would’ve been easy for Game Freak to create a Pokemon with giant clocks of some description, but instead, they were able to create a Pokemon that I honestly hold up as one of my all-time favourites.

And that’s my list! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, I’m sure your rankings will look very different to mine so please let me know what cover legendaries you love, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back at the same time next week where I’ll be ranking every episode from Series 5 of Doctor Who!