Legendary Pokémon have long been the strongest, most powerful, and most sought-after creatures in the Pokédex. From the mighty Mew to the Pokémon god Arceus itself, Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are a common sight in the upper echelons of competitive Pokémon play. However, certain Legendary Pokémon serve as the exception that proves the rule.
For all their generally strong and impactful appearances in the anime and the games, some Legendary Pokémon fall short. Whether thanks to poor typing or lackluster stats, these creatures fail to measure up to even some of their non-Legendary counterparts. Some of these might still be beloved or fan-favorite Pokémon, but they don't quite make the grade in terms of battle prowess.
Updated July 19, 2022 by Declan Lowthian: The world of Pokémon is always in flux, and Legendary Pokémon are no exception. We've updated this list with some new surprisingly weak Legendaries, as well as removed some that have risen in viability.
10 The Lake Guardians Are Underwhelming All Around
One of two major Legendary trios introduced in Generation IV, the Lake Guardians are serviceable in battle but don't offer the same kind of awe-inspiring power of other Legendaries. The two stronger of the Lake Guardians, Uxie and Azelf, gain the upper hand by focusing on defense and offense respectively.
Uxie's low speed means it will often be outpaced, and Azelf lacks the defenses to survive long after making a single strike. Mesprit has a much more balanced stat spread, but it still falls behind in many areas. Mesprit's largest drawback is its 80 Speed, which leaves it far behind most other competitive Pokémon.
9 Regirock Is Especially Vulnerable To Special Attacks
The original three Regis all have the underwhelming Speed of 50, which instantly puts them on the back foot in any battle. While Regirock is somewhat protected from its Fighting weakness by to its 200 Defense, its meager 100 Special Defense will generally leave it exposed against Water- and Grass-type moves.
Regirock lands itself between Registeel and Regice in terms of battle usefulness and capability. Rock is supposed to be a defensive type, but its many type weaknesses render it somewhat ineffective in this role. Registeel, in comparison, has a more evenly-spread stats layout, with its typing giving it more resistances.
8 Moltres Looks Great But Can Be Quickly Undone By Super-Effective Attacks
Moltres has arguably the best design out of the three Legendary birds, with its Galarian regional variant somehow looking even cooler. However, due to the original Moltres being dual Fire/Flying type, it can be easily swept aside in battle by Rock-type moves, especially Stealth Rock. Moltres will lose a full half its health when entering a field affected by
Moltres also has relatively low defenses, so it will go down fast when hit by a Special Water- or Electric-type move. It also has a subpar Speed stat, which means that its ability to outspeed the competition and make use of its stellar Special Attack stat is somewhat limited.
7 Regice Is Helpless Against Its Physical Weaknesses Being Exploited
On paper, Regice's base stats may look ideal for a Legendary Pokémon, especially the 200 Special Defense. Unfortunately, three of Regice's four weaknesses, Fighting, Rock, and Steel, tend heavily towards physical attacks instead of special. Regice's Defense of 100 leaves it wide open to these powerful and common offensive types.
Regice's abysmal Speed stat leaves it often unable to strike back, if it survives the hit at all. It also suffers from having a relatively narrow movepool that leans heavily towards the physical side, despite Regice's Special Attack being twice as high as its Attack.
6 Entei Deserves A Better Distribution Of Stats
Entei has possibly one of the best designs for a Legendary in the entire Pokémon franchise, so it's no wonder that fans have been so passionate about it deserving so much more in terms of stats and usability. Unfortunately, it has plenty of factors working against it.
The Volcano Pokémon doesn't have a particularly diverse move-set beyond Fire-type moves, and its poor defensive stats make it particularly vulnerable. A base stat total of 580 seems very good for any Pokémon, but the distribution has to be better in order to make Entei more suitable to the title of Legendary.
5 Calyrex Isn't Meant To Ride Alone
The mascot of the Crown Tundra DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield, Calyrex is really just one piece of a more powerful puzzle. When combined with either Glastrier or Spectrier using the Reins of Unity, Calyrex takes on its Ice Rider or Shadow Rider forms respectively.
These alternate forms are spectacular, with enormous 680 base stat totals and great stats. Calyrex on its own, however, has just a 500 BST. It has 80 in each stat, plus 100 in HP, leaving it relatively unremarkable on all fronts.
4 Articuno Has Poor Speed For A Legendary, Which Immediately Puts It At A Disadvantage
Articuno has a lot of disadvantages that instantly make it one of the weakest Legendary Pokémon. Its Ice/Flying typing leaves it susceptible to Stealth Rock and sun team tactics that utilize enhanced Fire-type moves. While its base Special Defense and Special Attack stats are promising at 125 and 95 respectively, it will still be on the back foot from the start with its poor 85 Speed.
Galarian Articuno has a somewhat more useful stat spread with boosted Special Attack at the cost of some defenses. However, even its boosted 95 Speed isn't quite enough to make this Pokémon perfect.
3 Silvally Is Versatile But Not Exceptional
Introduced in Generation VII, Silvally is an experiment designed to replicate the Pokémon god Arceus. Like Arceus, Silvally has a fun gimmick whereby it can change type depending on which held item it uses. Unfortunately, this is about all Silvally has going for it.
Silvally has just 95 in each of its stats. This means it is incredibly versatile and can fulfill almost any role on a team, but it also means that it won't be good at almost anything either. Silvally is a fun Pokémon to experiment with, but it falls far short of the top tiers.
2 Regigigas's Slow Start Ability Severely Restricts Its Strength And Speed For The First Five Turns
Regigigas is supposed to be the leader of the Regis, which would suggest it would be the most powerful of the bunch. As a Normal-type, it only has one weakness in the Fighting type, and its massive 670 base stat total is among the highest of any Pokémon.
Unfortunately, Regigias's Slow Start Ability changes the equation. Slow Start causes Regigigas's Speed and Attack stats to be halved for the first five turns of a battle. While there are ways to eliminate this Ability with moves like Worry Seed or other Abilities like Neutralizing Gas, Regigigas takes a lot of work to make functional.
1 Cosmog And Cosmoem Introduced Weak Pre-Evolutions To Legendary Pokémon
Cosmog is a rare case of a Legendary Pokémon with the potential to evolve. As part of the main story in Pokémon Sun & Moon, Cosmog will evolve into Cosmoem, then later into Solgaleo or Lunala, depending on which game it is in.
Because they aren't fully evolved, these Pokémon are easily the weakest Legendaries in the Pokédex. Cosmoem has a mere 400 base stat total, while Cosmog has just a 200. Solgaleo and Lunala are great, but it takes quite a while to level these creatures up to their full potential.