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Legendaries in Fanfic?

How do you use legendaries in your story?

  • No legendaries. None. Nada. Zip.

    Votes: 3 5.6%
  • There are legendary pokemon stories, but the legendary pokemon never show up in the story

    Votes: 4 7.4%
  • The character sees legendary pokemon, but doesn't catch them

    Votes: 19 35.2%
  • The character catches legendary pokemon

    Votes: 3 5.6%
  • The legendary pokemon contact the character about something

    Votes: 13 24.1%
  • The legendary pokemon are agents of destruction

    Votes: 12 22.2%
  • The legendary pokemon are just normal but rare pokemon

    Votes: 8 14.8%
  • The legendary pokemon are gods/godlike

    Votes: 33 61.1%
  • The legendary pokemon are animallike/not sentient

    Votes: 5 9.3%
  • The legendary pokemon are intelligent

    Votes: 32 59.3%

  • Total voters
    54

icemew

Banned
So I was wondering about how different people use legendaries in their stories.

I mean, in some stories, they're right there from the start meeting with the main character to tell them about a quest. In other stories it's they're never mentioned and don't seem to exist. And in other stories they're there, but as regular pokemon, or regular extra-strong pokemon. And in other stories they're kind of like people. And so on. And people give different advice about using them (although people usually agree that starting with a mew is a bad idea...)

So in your story, what do you do? How do you handle legendaries, or do you just avoid it?
 

Godslayer

Well-Known Member
I just owned the poll.

I use legendaries, and they're smart. Humans are pawns, just like other Pokemon.

It makes for a compelling story line, which is why they are so well used.
 

FlamingRuby

The magic of Pokemon
I treat the Legendaries as guardians/gods in the story, not to be caught. If anyone ses them, they usually have important information about the hero/heroine's adventure. Fewer still are those that tame them, and the character in question has to have a VERY good reason to own or tame a Legendary.
 

Weaver

Just a 90's Blue.
Compelling storylines can be made with or without legendaries. It all depends on how good the writer is.

In my opinion, legendaries should be used with more "caution." From what I've seen, many people overuse the legendaries, whether it's to make their characters seem cooler by owning them, or create some "mysterious" plot points. The fact of the matter is that people use them too much, and often too early.

Let's put it this way: If we had a limit to how much "legendary time" we could put into a fan fiction, Ho-oh would be burning villages right about now.

Legendaries are a great way to spice up a fan fiction, but I prefer to use them later on in the story, if at all. Having a story circle around them can be pretty neat, but, honestly, in a sense, cliched. Why? Overuse. It may or may not be the writer's fault, but that's just the way it's going to be, most of the time.
 

Godslayer

Well-Known Member
Im not saying that absense of legendaries is absense of compellingness. Like any device, I can be used or it can not be used, but it can be a tool of compellingness...(awkward)... nontheless should you chose to use it.

Legendaries are not to be caught.

They are to be obeyed.
 

PDL

disenchanted
I don't really like writing about legendaries since I don't see why they need so much special treatment from the fandom.

However, the Lati@s do feature later on... Although they won't actually appear until much much later.
 

Pink Parka Girl

I wish I could change my username
I use legendaries as non-godlike. I don't think they're gods - I think that is pure mythic exaggaration and doesn't really have a place in a story that isn't trying to be pure fantasy. One wouldn't put a unicorn into a romantic comedy, after all (without turning it into a romantic-comedy-fantasy, of course ;) ).

I do, however, treat the legendaries as "special" pokemon, none the less. I voted the ninth option on the poll because the way I see "legendaries" as being truely special and exotic is intelligence. In my fics, I write them as having more power than ordinary pokemon (some which could be called "magic," perhaps), but what truely sets them apart is a sentience that, unlike other pokemon, can somewhat approach that of humans. I don't think even legendaries can be as smart as human beings, but I certainly don't put sentience out of their reach (as I'm a bit infamously known for doing to just about all non-legendary species, which is an opinion I will not budge on, for the record ;) Pokémon are animals.)
 

Psychic

Really and truly
*finds with very amusing* Why does everyone keep bringing up these topics? XD One about starters, one about star abuse, now one about the use of Legendaries...we better not have another popularity debate thread again. XD


Anyways, Legendaries...hrm, well, there's no reason not to use them. Well, sort of.

You shouldn't go around sricking a Legendary in a fic just for the sake of it being there. Just because you have a Legendary, doesn't automatically make the fic better or more deep or more mystical.
If you have the skills, you can make the Legendaries come off as being these wonderful powerful, godly creatures who protect and defend the world. Cheshire-Cat does this wonderfully, making Mew seem divine and beautiful, yet cute at the same time.


Personally, I do think that Legendaries are the gods of the Pokémon World. They are extremely powerful beings whose power can not be matched by any mortal, nor can they be caught and tamed. I do not think they can be held in a Pokémon, and even if they were caught, I think they could easily break free, disobey and even kill their trainer if they wanted to.

They have wills and midns of their own, and are perfect in their own ways, but probably have their own flaws as well. They are very intelligent, and seem to know what is best for the world, for they are its sworn protectors, and it is their duty to do what is right and good.

I don't think a Legendary would appear to a human, either. Unless there was a message they needed to give that threatens the fate of the world or something. But gods don't have the time to mingle with mortals. Well, maybe some do, but they're really too good for that. XD
But I find the whole 'Legendary comes to trainer in a dream and tells them to do something' is a bit overdone and cliché to a point. I've seen it way too many times, and just about every time it is written badly since it is done by a newbie. So that whole concept is a bit of a turn-off for me, unless the author can show that it's really something special (I mean that it's actually written well).


I get the feeling that you want to have Legendaries in your fic, and they'll appear in a dream to the main chaarcter. I would seriously advise against it, unless you think you can really write it well, and it would be new and original, not the usual, generic stuff.


*goes off to find the original thread*

~Psychic
 

Zerodius

Eternally hating D/P
My opinion is mostly the same as Psychic's.

This means that in my stories, Legendaries are well, gods.

They're uber powerful, immortal (or if not, have a rebirth ability), and extremely intelligent.

They are not to be caught and are treated with respect (I mean... 80% of the Pokemon World population, all species included, worship them!). Those who catch them would have to deploy absolutely insane amounts of ressources... and would face some unpleasant side effects...

They are by no mean perfect however ; as they are mostly the different traits of the world in a physical and spiritual form, they have flaws of their own, sometimes being little... sometimes major.

But well, that's how I see them...
 
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Orange_Flaaffy

Jello Pokéballs
I don't use legendaries in my stories, at all. I guess it is becuase I veiw the normal pokemon/pokemorphs as so much more intresting than all powerful ones.
If I did use them my idea of a legend has always been that although they are the gods of the pokemon and more powerfull than all the rest, they are just as animal like as any other pokemon, save Mewtwo (who, being human made, is not a real legend IMHO)
 

Dilasc

Boip!
Honestly in my opinion, let legendaries be what you want them to be. Of course, avoid making them starters or the like, but they don't HAVE to be gods. I'd hate to use my story as an example, but here's how I make legendaries.

Legendaries are super-powerful and do not age. They are genderless for the most part, but they are not immortal when it comes to pain retension, though they are rather resistant to most sicknesses. Legendaries are usually guardians to help maintain balances, but they can develope in any way which they which, and don't always like being good-guys. Not all of them are from the Earth planet. Their interests and values and capabilities vary too. Heck, Moltres is a skilled literature writer, and has even had novels published. The question of how a featherbrained bird can publish eludes even me... but it happened. Meanwhile, there is evil like the Masked demon Sparkoni, who enjoys ripping chaos with the power of storms and thunder energy.


So what point does that make? It proves that there is no set standard for legendaries and what they can be and do. They can be smart, and stupid, preferably not all stupid or all supersmart. They should have character flaws and miscomings like real characters do. Just because they are near-godly doesn't make them perfect after all.
 

Ash_Junior

Irredeemable Nerd
Legendaries the most powerful Pokemon?

pfft...in my fics, even Mew is a pansy compared to the most powerful Pokemon in existence.

Okay, here's how I've got my mythos set up.

Humans destroyed each other in *this* world due to nuclear war or whatever, so a group of beings known as Titans created the POKEMON world to start over, giving humans a common enemy to unite against--Pokemon.

The Pokemon are the great balancers.

In the beginning before we got technology, we had to unite to defend ourselves against Pokemon. Then, once we got technology, Pokemon had to unite and stop destroying each other to stop us.

Then when the wars stalemated, the Titans knew that the war would either escalate, so they created a race of Pokemon they called Protectors, which would theoretically prevent a world-wide apocalypse.

First among these was Mew, with Arseus following close behind ( :p ), and Mew created the rest of the Protectors, while Arseus was to be the judge of the world (seeing as he could see everyone's point of view and all....).

However, today's level of technology has gotten to the point where humanity not only has dominance over Pokemon, but they are starting to threaten the Legendaries as well...

*bum bum bum....[dramatic music]*

but that's all Legendaries are in my fics--Protectors of the World. in fact, the Titans ignore the LEgendary title and just call 'em Protectors.

and what I said about Titans being weak--the weakest Titan is more powerful than all of the Protectors put together--but they don't interfere with the "Physical REalms" or the Pokemon World. Well, all but the uber-evil one who wants to rule everything....and I can't say anything more without spoiling the Engaran Wars Trilogy (although I'm thinking of changing it to the Jihad of Lont Trilogy :D).

EDIT: doubt I made this clear, but the Protectors were the first things made in the Pokemon world. Well, after the world itself.
 

Astinus

Well-Known Member
Depending on the Legendary, I make them god-like or not. It's really a matter of what their abilities are, and I don't mean the battle moves. It's more of what special powers do they have - bringing life back, creating life, ending life. (Dang, that's the view taken by John Locke. I actually paid attention in Philosophy class!) Only the god-like Legendaries have those powers, I believe.

That said, I have the Legendaries in my fic, but they don't really appear. Outside of the prologue, which is half-told from the POV of Ho-Oh, the Legendaries don't really appear. It's more of a spirit that appears. In my fic, the Legendaries work through the spirits. (Which is almost like what the Inuits believe...)

Before, I just had the Legendaries be captured Pokémon with a lack of intelligence. *headdesk*
 

Praxiteles

Friendly POKéMON.
Legendaries in my stories are mainly guardians or peacekeepers. They can "suggest" to mortals about what could happen and what they have to do, but very rarely do they ever directly intervene. In one example,

One certain legendary comes to earth and 'transforms' one of the mortals, imparting him with the power to do the legendary's will. Whether or not the mortal uses this power correctly is (mostly) not in the legendary's hands, he/she/it can only set up some subtle events which could communicate a message to whoever they want to talk to. And even that's very rare. It's only when the fate of every living creature or so hangs in the balance that they intervene.

In other words, they almost never associate with mortals. Though I might explore that topic sometime...
 

azurill

Well-Known Member
In the fic which I am currently writing there are 4 legendaries which play a major role in the plot, although I'm still not 100% decided about how much interaction between legendary and human will be included
 

Arcanine Royale

Well-Known Member
In my fic, legendaries are gods, of all the worlds. However, there is one pokemon of each species that is the "one-off" and is immortal. Then there's like a few dozen more of each species, their "children." Also, the legendaries breading with normal pokemon create "children" sort of things - Aerodactyl is an example of this.

For Shinou legends, they are a sort of rival pantheon...

But I think that legendaries would be gods, as they are so rarely seen and have such power.
 

Knightblazer

Memories in the Rain
Hmmm... this is quite a tough question for me to answer...

In the way I see it, I see the Legends as gods, but still, not truly gods. They are powerful, ageless, never riddled by the contrains of normal Pokemon... but yet, they can still die from mortal wounds, reproduce (which is a frecking hard thing for me to go about), and at times, blinded by their pride. They are intellgient, yes; they govern a city which has thrived for a century pior to its rebuilding, but they still, in my eyes, are mortal in a way. After all, if Latios could die, why can't the others? ><;

I'm problary not making any sense here, but meh. :/

Knightblazer ;262;
 

Elemental Charizam

Sudden Genre Shift
Meh, people use dragons and elves too much in fantasy, its hardly surprising the same goes for legendaries. It doesn't really take much away from those fics that pull it off well, so I don't really care myself.

As for the question, it depends. Not all the fics I write are in the same continuous reality, so I can explore each interpretation of legendaries. But so far, I've mostly used them as very powerful, immortal beings, but not gods.
 

Blackjack Gabbiani

Clearly we're great!
I have my character capturing two Legendaries. But that's only because it's canon that he does so. Of course, they get loose after he's had them only a few hours, but hey.
 

Mew King

It's black magic!
I believe that legendaries can be caught if they want to be caught. For example, I have Mew being the legendary Pokemon that is caught the most in my fics. However, the god Mew and most powerful Pokemon, Mew King (yes my name), knows what was going to happen so it actually told its subject Mews to go off and be captured by these trainers because the trainers need the power to stop the big baddies. Thus it is a easier and more plausable way for a bunch of kids to stop an evil team on their own.

Also, a comedic one-shot I'm doing now starts with the main character having all but one Pokemon including all the legendaries. He's missing all but a common no-evolution/no-pre-evolution and that's it. So, he goes on a wild quest to capture that one. The legendaries are just there to make the ironic point even more ironic.
 
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