Legendary Pokes - One of a kind or just super-rares?

[Mulan15262]

I think that pokemon who have a unique creation (Mewtwo, legendary beasts), or those that are simply super-powerful (Regigigas, Zekrom, Arceus) would be one-of-a-kind, while those that are less significant (legendary birds, swords of justice), or who are created in such a way that many exist (Legendary Golems, Phione) are just very rare. I ignored how many times they appear in the games, although what they do within the games is considered.

My lists:

One-of-a-kind

Mewtwo
Legendary Beasts
Ho-oh
Weather trio
Lake Guardians
Cresselia
Manaphy
Regigigas
Arceus
Victini
Tao trio

Super Rare

Legendary Birds
Mew
Lugia
Legendary Golems
Eon duo
Jirachi
Creation trio
Darkrai
Phione
Heatran
Shaymin
Swords of Justice
Forces of Nature
Meloetta
Genesect
Diancie

Other

Celebi is said to have the ability to travel through time. If true, this means that one Celebi could appear whenever it wants to in time, including possibly multiple places at the same time. Due to this, it would be impossible to tell how many Celebii exist, not unless you could view all of time yourself.

Deoxys is said to be a virus from space that mutated. It could be that the some of the other viruses on other worlds mutated into Deoxys, too, or that this Deoxys is the only one. Therefore, one could not know how many Deoxys exist.

Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde lack any sort of information about whether they are the only one, or a few of a very rare species.

 

[KingHeracrossTheBug]

Combining all canons:

• Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are super-rare. In the second Pokémon movie it is stated that the legendary birds can't leave that place. Heck, even the games have about 4 of each of those guys
• Mew and Mewtwo are super-rare. There are about 3 Mewtwos on the games, and 5 counting anime and manga. There is a Mew on Faraway Island, another one roaming around on Pokemon Ranger 1, and yet another one on Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.
• Entei, Raikou, and Suicune are super rare, too. There are the dogs from G/S/C and the dogs from the 13rd movie.
• Lugia and Ho-Oh are super rare, as there are ones on Jotho and others on the Dream Radar.
• Celebi, however, is one-of-a-kind. The many Celebis are just clones from another time.
• There are 3 trios of Regis, and two Regigigas, just on the games.
• The Lati twins can have kids based on the 5th movie, so not even super-rare
• The weather trio is one-of-a-kind. The ones on HG/SS are the same ones from Hoenn, as Profesor Oak states that they came from there.
• Jirachi is super-rare. There are two Jirachis on two different Wish Caves on the MD saga.
• Deoxys is super-rare. There are about 3 of them roaming around.
• The pixies are one-of-a-kind. The ones on BW2 are the ones from Sinnoh.
• Cresselia is super rare. The Cresselia on Sinnoh cannot leave that region, so the one on BW2 is different.
• The creation trio is a special case. They're one-of-a-kind until Arceus duplicates them on HG/SS.
• Heatran is super-rare. The one on the anime can't leave its volcano, so the ones on D/P and BW2 are different.
• Shaymin is one-of-a-kind. The one on Flower Paradise touches a Gracidea and flies over the 11st movie scenario.
• Darkrai is super-rare. There is one on the 10th movie and another on NMI.
• Arceus is obvious.
• Victini is one-of-a-kind. The one on Liberty Island is the one from the 14th movie.
• Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are all one of a kind.
• The weather geniuses are super rare. There are some on the Dream Radar thing and others on Unova.
• The legendary musketeers are one of a kind, as most protagonists of legends.
• Genesect and Meloetta are super rare, while Keldeo is one-of-a-kind.
• The other ones are yet to be seen.

 

[Mulan15262]

Combining all canons:

• Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are super-rare. In the second Pokémon movie it is stated that the legendary birds can't leave that place. Heck, even the games have about 4 of each of those guys
• Mew and Mewtwo are super-rare. There are about 3 Mewtwos on the games, and 5 counting anime and manga. There is a Mew on Faraway Island, another one roaming around on Pokemon Ranger 1, and yet another one on Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.
• Entei, Raikou, and Suicune are super rare, too. There are the dogs from G/S/C and the dogs from the 13rd movie.
• Lugia and Ho-Oh are super rare, as there are ones on Jotho and others on the Dream Radar.
• Celebi, however, is one-of-a-kind. The many Celebis are just clones from another time.
• There are 3 trios of Regis, and two Regigigas, just on the games.
• The Lati twins can have kids based on the 5th movie, so not even super-rare
• The weather trio is one-of-a-kind. The ones on HG/SS are the same ones from Hoenn, as Profesor Oak states that they came from there.
• Jirachi is super-rare. There are two Jirachis on two different Wish Caves on the MD saga.
• Deoxys is super-rare. There are about 3 of them roaming around.
• The pixies are one-of-a-kind. The ones on BW2 are the ones from Sinnoh.
• Cresselia is super rare. The Cresselia on Sinnoh cannot leave that region, so the one on BW2 is different.
• The creation trio is a special case. They're one-of-a-kind until Arceus duplicates them on HG/SS.
• Heatran is super-rare. The one on the anime can't leave its volcano, so the ones on D/P and BW2 are different.
• Shaymin is one-of-a-kind. The one on Flower Paradise touches a Gracidea and flies over the 11st movie scenario.
• Darkrai is super-rare. There is one on the 10th movie and another on NMI.
• Arceus is obvious.
• Victini is one-of-a-kind. The one on Liberty Island is the one from the 14th movie.
• Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are all one of a kind.
• The weather geniuses are super rare. There are some on the Dream Radar thing and others on Unova.
• The legendary musketeers are one of a kind, as most protagonists of legends.
• Genesect and Meloetta are super rare, while Keldeo is one-of-a-kind.
• The other ones are yet to be seen.

About Shaymin:
At the end of the movie, lots of Shaymin are seen flying off at the end, so they are super-rare.

About Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina:
Could it be that Arceus had already created more than one of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina before it creates a duplicate on HG/SS?

 

[Mizuhime]

Mewtwo from the first movie, and the genesect movie are two different mewtwos, one is male and always remembers ash (shown latter in another movie) and the one in the genesect movie is a female who hates ash at first, if it was the same Mewtwo he would have rememberd ash and like him. Also in the Shaymin movie the point of it's journey is to reach a field where Shaymin gather to change into skymin, you also get to see this happen so there's more than one Shaymin

 

[Prime29]

Combining all canons:

• Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are super-rare. In the second Pokémon movie it is stated that the legendary birds can't leave that place. Heck, even the games have about 4 of each of those guys
• Mew and Mewtwo are super-rare. There are about 3 Mewtwos on the games, and 5 counting anime and manga. There is a Mew on Faraway Island, another one roaming around on Pokemon Ranger 1, and yet another one on Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.
• Entei, Raikou, and Suicune are super rare, too. There are the dogs from G/S/C and the dogs from the 13rd movie.
• Lugia and Ho-Oh are super rare, as there are ones on Jotho and others on the Dream Radar.
• Celebi, however, is one-of-a-kind. The many Celebis are just clones from another time.
• There are 3 trios of Regis, and two Regigigas, just on the games.
• The Lati twins can have kids based on the 5th movie, so not even super-rare
• The weather trio is one-of-a-kind. The ones on HG/SS are the same ones from Hoenn, as Profesor Oak states that they came from there.
• Jirachi is super-rare. There are two Jirachis on two different Wish Caves on the MD saga.
• Deoxys is super-rare. There are about 3 of them roaming around.
• The pixies are one-of-a-kind. The ones on BW2 are the ones from Sinnoh.
• Cresselia is super rare. The Cresselia on Sinnoh cannot leave that region, so the one on BW2 is different.
• The creation trio is a special case. They're one-of-a-kind until Arceus duplicates them on HG/SS.
• Heatran is super-rare. The one on the anime can't leave its volcano, so the ones on D/P and BW2 are different.
• Shaymin is one-of-a-kind. The one on Flower Paradise touches a Gracidea and flies over the 11st movie scenario.
• Darkrai is super-rare. There is one on the 10th movie and another on NMI.
• Arceus is obvious.
• Victini is one-of-a-kind. The one on Liberty Island is the one from the 14th movie.
• Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are all one of a kind.
• The weather geniuses are super rare. There are some on the Dream Radar thing and others on Unova.
• The legendary musketeers are one of a kind, as most protagonists of legends.
• Genesect and Meloetta are super rare, while Keldeo is one-of-a-kind.
• The other ones are yet to be seen.

You can't just combine anime and games and say "there's multiple". G/S/C/HG/SS did not happen along with the 13th movie. It's pretty clear that the anime and game exist in separate universes, unless you'd like to argue Ash was running around Unova while Hilbert was saving everyone.

 

[KingHeracrossTheBug]

You can't just combine anime and games and say "there's multiple". G/S/C/HG/SS did not happen along with the 13th movie. It's pretty clear that the anime and game exist in separate universes, unless you'd like to argue Ash was running around Unova while Hilbert was saving everyone.

On the anime, the Team Plasma from BW2 is the one that runs around, not the one from BW1. And Hilbert is lost on that canon.

 

[Karxrida]

On the anime, the Team Plasma from BW2 is the one that runs around, not the one from BW1. And Hilbert is lost on that canon.

The anime is a dubious source for anything related to "true" canon due to the amount of rules the writers are willing to throw out the window whenever they feel like (ame 4 de hron) or failing to research what Mons know what moves.

The reason why the BW2 Plamsa is the running around in the anime and the original never showing up was because of the cancellation of the"Plamsa vs Team Rocket" special (which admittedly sounds fucking awesome even by the anime's standards) and horrible planning/laziness on the writers' part.

The Hilbert thing was clearly facetious.

And for the love of god use a smaller picture next time.

 

[Petrico94]

-Deoxys: He's a space alien, we may never know but the movie with him had two so there must be more than one. How common they are out in space I don't know.

-Regigigas: He pulled the continents apart, either he did them one by one, there was a chain reaction or there's quite a few of them inside the Earth.

-Cresselia = Darkrai: they're ment to be a set, there's as many nightmares as there are counters to them.

-Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Keldeo: I always think of them as another form of the legendary dogs, they were created from other pokemon who died in a fire or something so there can only be a few blessed by Ho oH. Then again you have those listed as rare instead of only one so you be the judge.

-Genesect: It was made from a resurrected ancient hunter (Kabutops?) and then given a ray gun. I would assume it's just as common as the fossils but at the same time only team Plasma was insane enough to make one or five.

 

[Prime29]

On the anime, the Team Plasma from BW2 is the one that runs around, not the one from BW1. And Hilbert is lost on that canon.

Which is even FURTHER proof that the two are set in different universes.

 

[Petrico94]

Is it possible for Celebi to be in two places at once with time travel?

 

[IcyMan28]

By default, you have to combine the games and anime when discussing this issue because otherwise the answer would obviously be that they are one of a kind.

Anyway, I think it depends on the legendary pokemon themselves.

Birds: These are just super-rare pokemon. I'm sure that initially they were meant to be one of a kind what with movie 2 but later on they branched out (Nolan had Articuno, Zapdos flying around Sinnoh, etc).

Mew: There may only be one or a few Mew left, but initially I think there were more.

Mewtwo: Obviously more than one, because the ones in Movie 1 and 13 are different. It is manmade, so there could technically be limitless Mewtwo.

Beasts: Multiple. There are the 3 that were revived from Ho-Oh in Ecruteak and then of course the ones from the Zoroark movie. My impression is that they are super-rare but there are 3 of them with a specific connection to Ho-Oh, which are the three of HGSS.

Lugia: More than one, they've been shown to reproduce. Still, extremely rare and it may be that only a few of them are alive at a time, really.

Ho-Oh: Just the one, I'd imagine. Since it is a phoenix it is just reborn following its death.

Celebi: Not really sure here. There could either be one or many, but the fact that it can time travel means we'll never truly know.

Lati@s: The pokedex even mentions they travel in groups, and the 5th movie shows this.

Golems: Just the one set, ruled over by Regigigas.

Super-ancient Trio: One of a kind. The games constantly mention their cataclysmic fight, as do several pokedex entries. Rayquaza is also implied to be one of a kind.

Jirachi: Just one, and it's extremely rare.

Deoxys: Multiple, as shown by movie 7.

Lake trio: Just 1

Creation trio: Just 1 set exists, at least normally. The event in HGSS implies that Arceus can create one of the three at any time.

Cresselia / Darkrai: Multiple exist, they are just quite rare.

Regigigas: Just the one, who leads the other regis.

Manaphy / Phione: Movie 9 says there are multiple, while multiple Phione were shown in the anime.

Shaymin: Multiple, as shown in the movie.

Heatran: I'm assuming there are multiple, each associated with a volcano. The fact that there are males and females suggests this as well.

Genie and Musketeers: Just the one set of each, as their legend wouldn't make sense otherwise. Keldeo seems like the exception, since the only reason it would need to be cared for by the other musketeers is if it couldn't take care of itself. That implies it was a baby / young, which implies a parent.

Meloetta: Seems like there were once multiple, but there are now few left.

Genesect: Multiple, obviously.

Tao trio: Just one, especially considering their story coming from the original dragon.

Victini: Just one.

Mortality trio: Just the one.

 

[Karxrida]

Unless they consult Game Freak directly, the anime should never be used as a basis for any canon in Pokemon, especially since the writers are more than willing to ignore the rules of the franchise whenever the fuck they feel like.

 

[Prime29]

By default, you have to combine the games and anime when discussing this issue because otherwise the answer would obviously be that they are one of a kind.

Anyway, I think it depends on the legendary pokemon themselves.

Birds: These are just super-rare pokemon. I'm sure that initially they were meant to be one of a kind what with movie 2 but later on they branched out (Nolan had Articuno, Zapdos flying around Sinnoh, etc).

Mew: There may only be one or a few Mew left, but initially I think there were more.

Mewtwo: Obviously more than one, because the ones in Movie 1 and 13 are different. It is manmade, so there could technically be limitless Mewtwo.

Beasts: Multiple. There are the 3 that were revived from Ho-Oh in Ecruteak and then of course the ones from the Zoroark movie. My impression is that they are super-rare but there are 3 of them with a specific connection to Ho-Oh, which are the three of HGSS.

Lugia: More than one, they've been shown to reproduce. Still, extremely rare and it may be that only a few of them are alive at a time, really.

Ho-Oh: Just the one, I'd imagine. Since it is a phoenix it is just reborn following its death.

Celebi: Not really sure here. There could either be one or many, but the fact that it can time travel means we'll never truly know.

Lati@s: The pokedex even mentions they travel in groups, and the 5th movie shows this.

Golems: Just the one set, ruled over by Regigigas.

Super-ancient Trio: One of a kind. The games constantly mention their cataclysmic fight, as do several pokedex entries. Rayquaza is also implied to be one of a kind.

Jirachi: Just one, and it's extremely rare.

Deoxys: Multiple, as shown by movie 7.

Lake trio: Just 1

Creation trio: Just 1 set exists, at least normally. The event in HGSS implies that Arceus can create one of the three at any time.

Cresselia / Darkrai: Multiple exist, they are just quite rare.

Regigigas: Just the one, who leads the other regis.

Manaphy / Phione: Movie 9 says there are multiple, while multiple Phione were shown in the anime.

Shaymin: Multiple, as shown in the movie.

Heatran: I'm assuming there are multiple, each associated with a volcano. The fact that there are males and females suggests this as well.

Genie and Musketeers: Just the one set of each, as their legend wouldn't make sense otherwise. Keldeo seems like the exception, since the only reason it would need to be cared for by the other musketeers is if it couldn't take care of itself. That implies it was a baby / young, which implies a parent.

Meloetta: Seems like there were once multiple, but there are now few left.

Genesect: Multiple, obviously.

Tao trio: Just one, especially considering their story coming from the original dragon.

Victini: Just one.

Mortality trio: Just the one.

No, the answer wouldn't be one of a kind. Anime and game are COMPLETELY different canons.

 

[Mulan15262]

Is it possible for Celebi to be in two places at once with time travel?

In theory, yes, but there is no canonical evidence either way.

Also, I created a google survey that people can take so we can see how common certain legendaries are. The survey itself can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sC0NNUNYX7zzv5aUe_wMtCu0jheRQ5i1oviU3f90xDo/viewform
If you want me to remove your response,

EDIT: The document can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IYX5lnjJA-gAJ9DEsZBJ0I3E6z9GoLHpFatTUut2XGE/pubhtml

 

[Geodude6]

Is it possible for Celebi to be in two places at once with time travel?

Tough to say, time is quite a lot of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey...stuff.

 

[Lord Jesseus]

(FYI, I don't count the anime as valid in any of my opinions)

While I think it's likely that multiples exist for most legendaries, it's hard to say. Some have mentioned that the appearance of a Pokemon across games confirms it, I don't think that's necessarily true.
Sure, there is a Mewtwo in Kanto's Cerulean Cave and one in Kalos' Unknown Dungeon. But how can we be sure they're different mewtwos? Their presence is canon, but their capture is not; for all we know Mewtwo just up and moved to another region because he was sick of ten year old kids coming into his cave and beattling him!
The birds are similar. Sure they appear in three different regions, but real-world birds migrate across continents all the time! They even roam in their non-kanto appearances - like they left their homes and haven't found another place to settle since.
This is all just speculation of course, but you get the idea.

As for what I think, however:
The 5 birds, and the beasts too are likely not unique, in my opinion. They're just big animals really.
Mew's ability to reproduce is explicitly stated in the Cinnabar Journal Entries.
Mewtwo is a theoretically repeatable scientific experiment, but whether it has been repeated is unknown. It's possible that the knowledge was destroyed along with the mansion, and said destruction would likely deter other attempts.
The Regis, gigas included are artificially created golems and almost certainly have multiples.
The weather trio again just seem like big animals fighting over territory to me.
Dialga and pals would strike me as likely unique due to their godlike powers, but HGSS directly contradicts this so there you go.
Arceus is basically god, so surely...?
Heatran must be a species, since it can be of either gender.
Manaphy can breed in game, so it and phione can't be truly unique.
Shaymin is just like a tiny animal.
The Tao trio has a unique origin that makes multiples unlikely.
Genesect basically falls into the same bag as Mewtwo. Obviously the fossil it is based on was once a species though.

The rest I'm not really sure for one reason or another.

By default, you have to combine the games and anime when discussing this issue because otherwise the answer would obviously be that they are one of a kind.

That's just not a true statement and I don't really know how you arrived at that conclusion

 

[IcyMan28]

^The games only ever present you with one of each legendary, and they aren't breedable with the exception of Manaphy. I personally take that to imply that there is only one of each legendary.

The anime, of course, contradicts this.

 

[Karxrida]

^The games only ever present you with one of each legendary, and they aren't breedable with the exception of Manaphy. I personally take that to imply that there is only one of each legendary.

The anime, of course, contradicts this.

The anime contradicts a lot of things in the games. Good look up Aerial Ace's origin and distribution, then watch how the anime shows it working.

 

[Scorpio]

Well, a discussion over at the Mysteries of Pokemon board has rekindled my interest, so I'm going to elaborate on my beliefs on the matter.

Super-rare:

Hide

Note: Unless I say otherwise, all of these have been used by other trainers in-game (mostly in the Battle Frontiers)

Legendary Birds: We've encountered more than one of each throughout the games (Kanto, Sinnoh, Kalos).

Legendary Beasts: They have shinies, which all but says 'more than one'.

Golems: Regigigas could just make some whenever it gets bored.

Eon Duo: Mostly going by what I've heard about Movie 5 for this one.

Deoxys: Again, going by what I heard about the movie, where there are two of them running around.

Heatran: Encountered more than once (Sinnoh and Unova).

Genesect: Going from Movie 16; if there are five of them, it's definitely super-rare.

One-of-a-kind

Hide

Mew: Legends mention it as one-of-a-kind and such. Also, as a rule, the legendary pixies tend to be singular.

Tower Duo: They're regarded somewhat like gods, especially in HGSS. While Lugia did lay an egg, I believe all one-of-a-kind Pokemon can have a single child at a time, so when/if the elder perishes, the younger replaces it.

Celebi: A pixie.

Weather Trio: Hoenn legends basically paint them as legendary god-beasts, so yeah.

Jirachi: Another pixie.

Lake Guardians: Embodiments of spirit, emotion, and willpower.

Creation Trio: They're basically embodiments of fundamental concepts. Arceus had to create another universe to make another one.

Manaphy: Another pixie.

Arceus: The creator. Duh.

Victini: Another pixie, plus it may have been mentioned when you caught it.

Tao trio: There was one Original Dragon, and these are the result.

Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde: See Weather Trio, except replace 'Hoenn' with 'Kalos'.

Unknown

Hide

Mewtwo: Could have possibly be cloned.

Shaymin: Never elaborated upon.

Kami Trio: See above.

Musketeers: See above.

Meloetta: ^what he said

Hoopa and Volcanion: It's a little early to know, seeing as they're both unreleased, though Volcanion seems like a Super-Rare.

Sorry if I don't seem coherent, I really shouldn't be up at this time.

 

[Mackenzie]

So far the anime and game realms seem to support the fact that legendaries aren't only 1 of each. The games have several pokemon sets (err.. suicune 1, suicune 2, just look at the list of all available pokemon in the tower/ maison, subway, etc. and you'll see); so yeah, I don't think they are just one (relative to the game or not).

This points me to say that I disagree that pokemon can be said to be 'one-of-a-kind.'

They're just not 'unique' as some would think. As for the 'ubers,' no I don't think they would fit as having only one of them in existence either (goes back to page 1 with the lugia offspring from the anime).

 

[Anty]

This has probably been covered a bit. THis also might be repeated from what i said in the other thread

one of a kind

• Mewtwo, ofc, as it was a clone (by the looks of it team rocket dont want to clone another...)
• Celebii, one but due to time travel it looks like more
• Lake guardians, only 1 lake each to guard
• Dialga/palkia/giranta/arceus, 1 in their own dimension
• Regi's, brandon has some, after losing to ash he released them (?) Makes sense to be 1

• Regigigas, should be the same with other regi's as they guard gigas, who created the land and rests for 5 turns
• Swords, just 1 gang together
• Meloetta, in anime, a group of people guard it, i assume that that means only 1
• X/Y/Z, makes sense, one thing to bring death and another to bring life and a third to balance
• Diancie, there is only one currently but there is a possibility of more

rare

• Mew, there are fossils and multiple seen living rn
• Birds trio, some guard the orange islands, others roam about
• Dog trio, there have been shiny and non shiny ones (unless they where all zoroark)
• Ho-oh, same as dog logic
• Lugia, there was an egg iirc
• Latwins, some guard that cite, others roam around
• Kyogre/groudon, anime says 'a' kyogre/groudon, implying there are more than one
• Deoxys, there are two in the movie + more live in space
• Jirachi, they awake every 1000 years, there have been 2 in anime
• Phione as it can be bread
• Manaphy shown to be hatched from an egg, but i think there can only be one at a time
• Shaymin, there where a ton in the movie
• Heatran, there where shown to be more than 1 iirc
• Genesect, shouldn't be a legendary but a fossil (i guess now there are only 5)

dont know

• Rayquaza, i'm not too sure about this, although i think there is one.
• Darkrai/cress, think there is only one, cannot be sure
• Zekrom/reshirem/kyurem are weird. If kyurem is an alien (there should be multiple), who does it fuse with regular pokemon? I assume 1 but i cant be certain.
• Victini/Weather genies, I don't know enough about them

As you can see, there are more 'only' in later gens, as they appear less in anime, so i cant be sure and there are no contradictions (like with regis, they should either be owned by brandon or sealed NOT BOTH)

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

This is an interesting discussion, but I think we need to establish some basic rules and update the OP only when a poke's status is agreed upon by most people.

First off, I vote we establish what's canon. I think we should consider the games, anime, and manga 3 different universes and if there's conflict between them, we specify which universe there are multiple of the legendary and which universe it is unique within. Also, a legendary is unique until there's reasonable evidence that it is not.

Now, speaking specifically about the games, we need to establish what's canon there. I have always considered canon anything that happened in the main story (ex: Red definitely beat Blue to become Champion) is canon. Anything that happens in the post or side story could happen, but didn't (ex: there is a Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave after RBY, but Red did not capture it), unless it is confirmed in a later game (ex: Black/White did complete the Looker Story because it was referenced in X and Y). If there are contradictions between versions of a game, the 3rd title takes precedence and in Gen 5's case, both are canon but mutually exclusive (this is irrelevant for this discussion anyway). Events that do not trigger anything in game are not canon. Side games like Coliseum are not canon.

By this logic, in the games, this is my list

Unique

Hide

Weather Trio (suggested to be unique but able to be summoned to certain locations like the Cave of Origin or Embedded Tower)
Jirachi (only ever available from event)
Deoxys (only seen on Birth Island)
Creation Trio (Only available in Spear Pillar. New ones are possible, but the event that causes the eggs is not canon because it is part of a post game side quest and never happened, and the only canon Arceus was never released)
Arceus (Only canon if caught in the Hall of Origin, which was never released)
Victini (Only seen in Liberty Garden)
Musketeers (Only seen in one region)
Genies (Only seen in one region)
Tao Trio (Only seen in one region)
Meloetta (Only ever available from event)
Genesect (Only ever available from event)

Not Unique

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Legendary Birds (Seen roaming regions and in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Mew (Mentioned in journals to be in South America, but also on Faraway Island)
Legendary Beasts (Seen roaming regions and in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Legendary Golems (Seen in multiple regions and in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Eon Duo (Seen in multiple regions and in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Lunar Duo (Seen multiple regions and in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Manaphy and Phione (Mentioned in several conflicting journals)
Heatran (Available in multiple locations and seen in post game challenges like the Battle Frontier)
Regigigas (Seen in Snowpoint Temple and Twist Mountain)
Shaymin (Referenced to have multiple of its kind

Unconfirmed

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Mewtwo (Cerulean Cave and Unknown Dungeon)
Lugia (Seen in the Whirl Islands, Sevii Islands, and Shadow Lugia from XD)
Ho-Oh (Seen in the Bell Tower and Sevii Islands)
Celebi (Seen in Ilex Forrest and Coliseum)
Lake Guardians (Seen in their lakes and in the Cave of Being)
Musketeers (Seen in multiple locations in Unova

All of these are suggested to be unique, but appear in multiple locations. They are here because it is possible they simply moved around in the time between games

I left out Gen 6 legendaries because there's so little information regarding them. For now they all rank as unique.

If you disagree with my standards in any way or feel I missed something that suggests any of them (especially the third group) belong in another group, I'd love to hear it, but please don't just say "I disagree" without reasoning. I'm also not willing to bend on the "unique until suggested otherwise" policy.

Also, I am not very familiar with the anime, and have no history with the manga, so I'll leave that discussion to people better qualified.

 

[Celever]

I would have to disagree with you on Celebi, Kairyu_Gen1, because one also appears in Agate Village in Pokémon Colosseum. While I personally have a theory that Orre is an post-apocalyptic Johto, which I won't get into, there is nothing canon which states this, rather just having two Celebi in two separate regions. It is possible that the thing could be flying all over the place and time traveling, it seems somewhat unlikely...

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

I would have to disagree with you on Celebi, Kairyu_Gen1, because one also appears in Agate Village in Pokémon Colosseum. While I personally have a theory that Orre is an post-apocalyptic Johto, which I won't get into, there is nothing canon which states this, rather just having two Celebi in two separate regions. It is possible that the thing could be flying all over the place and time traveling, it seems somewhat unlikely...

I was operating under the assumption coliseum and other side games are not canon. Otherwise we'd have to move lugia as well because of the shadow lugia

The reason for this is that we have no clue where these games fit in the timeline, so at most, we could move the legendaries in them to "unconfirmed"

 

[Celever]

I was operating under the assumption coliseum and other side games are not canon. Otherwise we'd have to move lugia as well because of the shadow lugia

The reason for this is that we have no clue where these games fit in the timeline, so at most, we could move the legendaries in them to "unconfirmed"

Colosseum and XD are considered main canon in Orange Islands because it is a turn-based RPG like all the rest. This is especially apparent by its lack on the spin off tierlist a while ago.