Here’s the full list of legendary Pokémon through generation 8

Pokémon is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021 and the franchise hasn’t slowed down since Red and Blue. With celebration across all parts of the brand, Pokémon is on everyone’s minds and is going all-in on nostalgia in the games and in TCG sets coming out this second half of the year. 

After this many years with Pokémon, a total of eight generations have been created and there’s likely more to come. Legendary Pokemon have always been held up as special. These are the Pokémon everyone wants to get their hands on, whether it’s in the games or when collecting the cards. The legendary Pokémon are usually designed with a little extra punch and tend to be the strongest out there. Besides legendaries, there are also all the Mythical Pokémon which are usually the rarest Pokemon.  

To get a better look at all the legendary Pokémon so far. 

Legendary Pokémon list

To get the best overview of all legendary Pokémon, it’s important to look at them in order from each generation. The first generation of Pokémon is now more than 25 years old, leading all the way up to the most recent generation from the Galar region. These Pokémon are now very much known from the Sword and Shield games, but plenty of other iconic legendary Pokémon came before that. 

Generation one legendary Pokemon

The first generation of Pokémon is still the most popular of them all. Everyone who grew up with Pokémon will know this generation by heart, and so will many people who didn’t get into Pokémon until recently.

This generation had the original 151 Pokémon, among which four of them are considered legendary. The strongest of them all is Mewtwo, who has been a main character in multiple movies and was effectively the “final boss” of Red and Blue. The other three legendaries are the legendary birds, including Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos. 

Legendary Pokémon in generation one:

• Mewtwo
• Moltres
• Articuno
• Zapdos

Mythical Pokémon in generation one: 

• Mew

Generation two legendary Pokemon

After a successful first generation, Pokémon got another big boost in the second. While it seemed hard to top the first generation, Gold and Silver are held up among the best games in the series. Some of it has to do with the legendary Pokémon, with Lugia standing as a real fan favorite. The other legendary bird introduced in generation two was Ho-Oh. 

Alongside them, legendary trios were cemented as a Pokemon staple with the three legendary dogs. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou. They have many similarities to the bird trio from the first generation and are another big hit for the Pokémon fans.   

Legendary Pokémon in generation two:

• Lugia
• Ho-Oh
• Entei
• Suicune
• Raikou

Mythical Pokémon in generation two: 

• Celebi

Generation three legendary Pokemon

In the third generation of Pokémon, the number of legendaries stepped up a notch. Once again, a legendary trio was introduced with the three legendary titans Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. Furthermore, the Eon duo of Latios and Latias were also introduced and became an important part of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as the first properly rideable Pokemon. 

If that wasn’t enough, both Groudon and Kyogre were introduced as the main Pokémon for the games Ruby and Sapphire. Unlike previous legendaries, they served a critical role in the game’s story. They were replaced in Emerald by Rayquaza, who will be one of the main focuses of the upcoming TCG set Evolving Skies. 

Legendary Pokémon in generation three:

• Regirock
• Regice
• Registeel
• Latias
• Latios
• Groudon
• Kyogre
• Rayquaza

Mythical Pokémon in generation three:

• Jirachi
• Deoxys

Generation four legendary Pokemon

With the fourth generation of Pokémon being introduced back in 2006, the legendary theme took a turn and not necessarily in a good way. The gen-four legendary trio was the psychic Pokémon Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf who have largely been forgotten about compared with those of previous generations. 

As with Kyogre and Groudon, box art legendaries Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina played a large role in the stories. The generation also brought the fourth titan, Regigigas, to serve as the “master” of the trio from generation three. As with generation three, more legendary Pokemon that weren’t a part of trios were added including the fire-steel type Heatran and yet another psychic Pokémon in Cresselia. 

Legendary Pokémon in generation four:

• Dialga
• Palkia
• Giratina
• Uxie
• Mesprit
• Azelf
• Cresselia
• Heatran
• Regigigas

Mythical Pokémon in generation four:

• Phione
• Manaphy
• Darkrai
• Shaymin
• Arceus

Generation five legendary Pokemon

The fifth generation of Pokémon, also known as the Black and White era, had way more legendary Pokemon than they should have.

Zekrom and Reshiram were the two video game mascots. Pokemon Black players got Reshiram while rival N got Zekrom, and vice versa in White. Completing the Tao trio was Kyurem, which is the only dragon and ice type legendary Pokémon out there. Kyurem can also merge with either Zekrom or Reshiram to create White or Black Kyurem, both of which stand among the strongest Pokemon in the entire franchise.

Black and White also had two legendary trios of their own, instead of just one. Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion trio are the Swords of Justice trio alongside Keldeo.  There is also the Forces of Nature trio with Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. Rounding out the lineup is four mythicals, all of which are some of the most sought-after in the franchise.

Legendary Pokémon in generation five:

• Cobalion
• Terrakion
• Virizion
• Tornadus
• Thundurus
• Landorus
• Reshiram
• Zekrom
• Kyurem

Mythical Pokémon in generation five: 

• Victini
• Keldeo
• Meloetta
• Genesect

Generation six legendary Pokemon

While generation five had a boatload of legendaries, generation six only had a few. Even though there was a lack of legendary Pokémon, the XY era is still one to remember. The mascot for the Pokémon X game was the majestic Xerneas, the first legendary fairy Pokemon, while the Y game had the dark flying type Yveltal. The third and last legendary Pokémon of the generation was Zygarde, which has a unique “forme” mechanic that sees it transform from a dog to a giant snake monster to a giant mech-like creature. 

Legendary Pokémon in generation six:

• Xerneas
• Yveltal
• Zygarde

Mythical Pokémon in generation six:

• Diancie 
• Hoopa
• Volcanion

Generation seven legendary Pokemon

After a lackluster sixth generation when it comes to legendaries, generation seven had plenty. The Sun and Moon era was long and had Solgaleo and Lunala as its most iconic legendaries. These were the mascots for the two games, but instead of a legendary trio there are the four Island Guardians. They serve as an answer to the Ultra Beasts, which are essentially aliens that are invading Alola. The game also added Necrozma, which had a Kyurem-like ability to merge with either Solgaleo or Lunala to become a stronger version of itself. 

Notably, Sun and Moon’s legendaries also evolve in some cases.  Cosmog evolves into Cosmoem, then into either Solgaleo or Lunala. The Ultra Beast Poipole also evolves into Naganadel.

Legendary Pokémon in generation seven:

• Type: Null
• Silvally
• Tapu Koko
• Tapu Lele
• Tapu Bulu
• Tapu Fini
• Cosmog
• Cosmoem
• Solgaleo
• Lunala
• Necrozma

Ultra beasts in generation seven:

• Nihilego
• Buzzwole
• Pheromosa
• Xurkitree
• Celesteela
• Kartana
• Guzzlord
• Poipole
• Naganadel
• Stakataka
• Blacephalon

Mythical Pokémon in generation seven: 

• Magearna
• Marshadow
• Zeraora
• Meltan
• Melmetal

Generation eight

The most recent generation of Pokémon is still ongoing and keeps adding more legendaries to the list. It all started out with Zacian and Zamazenta who were mascots for the Sword and Shield games. As the game has progressed, The Pokémon Company has added a long list of legendaries in the game expansions, Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra. 

Isle of Armor added Kubfu, which evolves into Urshifu. Urshifu has two forms, dark-type single strike and water-type rapid strike, which became a major mechanic in the TCG. Crown Tundra expanded the titan trio with Regidrago and Regieleki, and also added the first regional variants of legendary Pokemon with Galarian versions of the legendary birds. Finally, Calyrex was the main legendary of Crown Tundra and had two unique forms where it rode on new legendary Horse Pokemon Glastrier or Spectrier.

Only one mythical Pokemon has come out so far in Zarude. But more could be coming in the near future.

Legendary Pokémon in generation eight:

• Zacian
• Zamazenta
• Eternatus
• Kubfu
• Urshifu
• Regieleki
• Regidrago
• Galarian Articuno
• Galarian Moltres
• Galarian Zapdos
• Glastrier
• Spectrier
• Calyrex

Mythical Pokémon in generation eight:

• Zarude 

It’s still unknown if or when the ninth generation of Pokémon will see the light of day but expect it to have plenty of new amazing legendary and Mythical Pokémon.