But do you know what’s rarer? Shiny Pokémon. Do you know what’s even rarer than that? Shiny legendaries. There’s truly no method of increasing your chance at finding a shiny legendary Pokémon or not. All you can do is keep resetting in the hopes that you’ll get that 1 in 8,192 chance. And even with those miniscule odds, there are still some legendaries that are flat out impossible to get as a shiny! So while we’ll probably never catch those specific Pokémon, I still think it would be fun to see which shiny legendaries stand out the most. So here are, in my opinion, the best shiny legendary Pokémon ever made! Note: I’m excluding Mythical Pokémon and Ultra Beasts.
20. Ho-oh
Ho-oh is meant to be a phoenix. Its multicolored wings are meant to represent a rainbow, symbolizing new life and rebirth. While I like the use of the rainbow to represent life starting anew, I think that Ho-oh’s shiny captures the idea of a phoenix better. Not only are its wings more orange and red than red and green, but its beak and tail feathers are all an ashy grey. This means that Ho-oh literally rose from the ashes. Both designs are great, but I feel that its shiny form captures the idea of Ho-oh much better.
19. Latios
I’ve always loved both of the Latis, but Latios has always been my favorite. The fact that it looks similar to a jet and has this fierce squint of determination always made me think of Tom Cruise in Top Gun. No, I won’t explain that further. Latios’ shiny is a great example of doing a simple color swap and it working out beautifully. Instead of its usual deep blue coloring, Latios is now a gorgeous turquoise. Not only does this match its need for speed, but it also makes it completely unique. Seriously, how many turquoise Pokémon can you name? Shiny Latios looks fantastic. And while finding it takes a little more work than others, I think it would be absolutely worth it.
18. Solgaleo
I’m not gonna lie, shiny Solgaleo looks hilarious to me. What was once a noble lion-mech with the power of the sun, now has all of its cool details washed out by making everything bright red. Normally, I would try and argue that this was meant to represent the burning heat of the sun. But they did the same thing with Lunala who represents the moon. Either way, shiny Solgaleo is a Pokémon that will stand out in your brain for a long time.
17. Cresselia
Cresselia has always looked completely foreign to Earth. The rings around it and its crescent-shaped head have always given off a celestial feeling. With its shiny form, I feel like that has been more realized. Shiny Cresselia has had its blue skiing and pink rings changed to a dark purple and bright blue respectively, making it feel much more like a creature from outer space. It’s almost like shiny Cresselia is actually a whole other solar system existing in a single Pokémon! I can’t help but feel that Neil Degrasse Tyson would love this thing.
16. Yveltal
Yveltal is exactly what the first half of its name sounds like: evil. And what’s more evil than red and black? I’ll tell you: red and white. Shiny Yveltal is no longer a creature that lurks in the shadows. It wants you to see it. It’s not only going to suck out your life force, but feed off your fear as well. There’s no hope when shiny Yveltal is near. Only Despair. … Holy crap, that got dark! Sorry I’ll go back to talking about silly video game creatures.
15. Entei
Entei is easily my favorite of the legendary beasts. It has always had a much more noble look than Raikou and Suicune. Plus, it actually made me cry in the third Pokémon movie. And its shiny form really adds to its look. Not only is all of its fur darkened, but Entei’s red mask is changed to black. This may take away a little bit of Entei’s ferocity, but it makes the Volcano Pokémon seem much wiser. This isn’t an active volcano that will immediately erupt in your face. No, shiny Entei is a dormant volcano with fierce flames hidden on the inside.
14. Regirock
Another great group of legendary Pokémon are the legendary giants. When they were originally introduced, I thought that Regice and Registeel were interesting, but Regirock looked lame. It was supposed to be rock, but it looked like it was made out of styrofoam and papier mâché. This all changed with Regirock’s shiny. Instead of being mainly tan/white with red patches and shoulders, the shiny form is mainly dark brown with orange highlights. This actually makes Regirock look like an ancient Pokémon that was formed by years and years of tectonic pressure. Regirock used to look like a middle school science project. Now it actually looks like an ancient giant.
13. Lunala
Originally, I said back in my Solgaleo section that Lunala’s red coloring didn’t make sense. But as I was writing this, it hit me. Lunala is the Moone Pokémon, with an extra “e” for some reason. Well, there are many different kinds of moons! There’s a harvest moon, a blue moon, and a blood moon. Shiny Lunala is the blood moon. That’s why it’s randomly red and scary! This revelation got me so excited that I had to throw it onto this list. Sorry, Dawn Wings Necrozma.
12. Reshiram
While many Pokémon on this list are here for their new garish coloring, Reshiram isn’t. All of Reshiram’s changes are subtle, but incredibly effective. First of all, shiny Reshiram is made a brighter white, which is perfect for Pokémon Black and White. Second, shiny Reshiram is given gold rings around its neck and tail. This is a fantastic little detail that really gives it a much more angelic feel. In fact, I’d say this shiny is downright heavenly.
11. Spectrier
I really love Spectrier’s design. Being mainly black with purple highlights is a perfect way to convey that you’re a Ghost-type Pokémon, especially when your hooves aren’t attached to your body. But for some reason, I like its shiny even more! The only change that happens is that all of the purple is changed to more of a maroon. This not only still captures a ghostly feel, but the more reddish color really suits Spectrier’s insane speed. Plus, how many other maroon Pokémon are there?
10. Rayquaza
As I’ve said in many lists before this one, black works incredibly well with either red or gold. So why not put all three together on a Pokémon? Shiny Rayquaza pulls this off perfectly because the red and the gold are barely there. Red emphasizes the ends of the fins and mouth, while gold draws attention to a cool circular design. And while these normally disappear on Rayquaza’s green body, the darkness of the black really allows these design elements to pop. Rayquaza already looked pretty cool. Shiny Rayquaza is downright breathtaking.
9. Galarian Zapdos
When the Galarian legendary birds were introduced, I was immediately drawn to Galarian Zapdos. I mean, we got an awesome looking road runner that didn’t get the multiple heads gimmick. The only thing that could make me love it more was if it was still the colors of original Zapdos. And that is exactly what we got with its shiny form. Shiny Galarian Zapdos trades its red-brown feathers and black legs for bright yellow and orange. This not only captures the speed and power of Galarian Zapdos better than the previous color combination, but it also pays a perfect homage to one of my favorite legendaries of all time.
8. Primal Kyogre
The first time I talked about shiny Primal Kyogre, I talked about how it really represents the mysterious depths of the sea with its black coloring and bright highlights. It truly showed how ancient and powerful it was, while also representing the centuries of wisdom that lurk at the bottom of the sea. But do you know what I didn’t mention? Those nails! They’re bright purple, and I have no idea why. But I love it. And it deserves to be on this list.
7. Zygarde (All Forms)
For this entry, I’m including each of the different forms of Zygarde on this list – because they all have the same effect, and it works. The black is changed to white, and the bright green is made a little bit softer. It’s almost as if the regular Zygarde forms are the original Xbox, and the shiny versions are the Xbox 360. And we can all agree that both are a massive improvement over the original.
6. The Tapus
In the same vein as choosing all forms of Zygarde, I’m also going to put each of the Tapus on this list. I know, they’re all different Pokémon. But I feel ok including them because their shiny theme is completely the same: Each one has their main color turned completely black. Since they’re made to look like they’re ancient heads on a totem pole, changing them all to black makes them seem more ancient. It’s almost as if they were damaged in a fire and recovered for a museum. Not only that, but doing brighter colors on black is always a good look!
5. Kyogre
Remember what I said about Primal Kyogre’s purple nails? That goes quadruple for Kyogre, because its entire body is bright purple. Does this make its red details pop more? No. Does it better emphasize what Kyogre is all about? Also no. But do I really like bright purple? Yes!! There’s really no logical reason why I like shiny Kyogre so much. It’s just a really fun design choice, and is instantly memorable.
4. Galarian Articuno
Like Galarian Zapdos before it, Galarian Articuno’s shiny is a tribute to the original Articuno with its icy blue and white color palette. While this is an amazing color combo, the reason I love this shiny is that it completely changes Galarian Articuno’s disposition. Galarian Articuno’s species is the “Cruel Pokémon”. And I really don’t like that. But its original coloring of purple and black support it, especially with its eyes that look like a mask. However, once that black is changed to white, it becomes much more benevolent. It’s not overtly kind to everything, but it is understanding. This makes me like Galarian Articuno much more. A shiny Galarian Articuno is no longer a cruel Psychic-type. It’s the respectful ice king that I always wanted.
3. Galarian Moltres
Shiny Galarian Moltres is so high on this list not just because it looks awesome (it does), but because it looks better than any other form of Moltres. OG Moltres looked like a bird that happened to be set on fire. Galarian Moltres looks like a hotter version of Yveltal. But shiny Galarian Moltres looks exactly like what Moltres is supposed to be: a Pokémon that, when it flaps its wings, the night sky turns red. It’s wild, fearsome, and hard to control. Just like a flame. And I freaking love it!
2. Primal Groudon
Primal Groudon might actually be my favorite shiny Pokémon of all time. The black coloring really makes the magma underneath its skin pop, while also emphasizing what Primal Groudon is all about. Not only that, but it looks genuinely intimidating. Can you imagine living in Sootopolis and all of a sudden you see this volcanic behemoth appear from behind the walls? That’s some Attack on Titan terror. Primal Groudon is genuinely one of my favorite shiny Pokémon designs. However, there’s one more legendary Pokémon whose shiny perfectly encapsulates what it’s all about.
1. Giratina – Altered Form
There are a ton of legendary Pokémon that are intimidating or vicious looking. But there’s only one shiny Pokémon that genuinely scares me: Giratina. Giratina already looks creepy with its torn up wings and red and yellow coloring. But its shiny form looks genuinely disturbing. The color palette makes no sense, with sky blue, silver, and pale orange encapsulating most of its body. Combine this with its black wings and you get a Pokémon that looks like it belongs in a place called the Distortion World. Shiny Giratina is downright Lovecraftian, and unlike anything that has been seen in a Pokémon before or since.
