Gotham S04E17 Review: The Curious Case of the Crown Prince of Crime

Gotham, Season 4, Episode 17: Mandatory Brunch Meeting

The titular 'mandatory brunch meeting' brings the trio of Joker, Mad Hatter and Scarecrow into the bubble of the show's other costumed villains. They show up in the Penguin's manor, ready to make a deal with a bunch of other costumed villains -- Mr. Freeze and Firefly. And while the Penguin's mostly just irritated at all of this, he's humouring Jerome enough to make him sort of the 'devil you know'.

Meanwhile, Bruce tracks down Jerome to St. Ignatius, only to find that he's already been there and left, leaving behind a principal that blows himself up. Gordon and Bullock give Bruce and Alfred a mouthful, but clearly the future Batman's not going to listen. The rest of the episode centers around the search for one Xander Wilde, an eccentric, enigmatic super-smart businessman who no one has ever met. Not even Jerome has any luck finding Xander Wilde, ending up just shooting up the company where he's supposed to work for. Bruce ends up being the key to all this, because his father has had dealings with Xander Wilde in the past, and he leads Gordon and Bullock to Xander's address. Meanwhile, Team Jerome tracks down Xander Wilde's proxy, a Ms. Ecco (sic) who... proceeds to whack Jerome and put him in a cell. That was actually hilarious.

Clearly Jerome knows who this enigmatic Xander Wilde is, and when Gordon and Bullock arrives in the very strange super-mysterious bunker, they find out that Xander is actually Jeremiah Valeska, Jerome's twin brother, separated during their childhood... which, if you don't already think Cameron Monaghan is one of the show's best actors, this will probably sell you on it. Jeremiah tells Gordon and Bullock (and us) that he was separated from birth from his family because Jerome tried to murder him as a kid... but later, when Jerome confronts Jeremiah himself, Jerome notes how all of the accusations were actually baseless -- not that Jerome minded actually doing all  of those things, now..

The actual confrontation is mostly helped by the insanely claustrophobic nature of Jeremiah's base, which includes a maze. In this episode, we get Mad Hatter and Scarecrow ready to confront the two policemen... to which Bullock just charges in like a mad bull and screams really loudly and chases Scarecrow and Hatter off. That was insanely hilarious.

The episode ends with Jeremiah coming home with the GCPD, playing the 'meek, abused brother' card while he might potentially actually be as bad as Jerome (just sociopath versus psychopath), while Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow has developed the Joker's trademark laughing gas, making Jerome's master plan actually the debut of one of Joker's most iconic aspects. That's neat, and it's nice to tell us Jerome's master plan and not keep it that much of a suspense for too long.

The B-plots of this episode is a bit more... up and down. Penguin wants his own 'crazy', and ends up meeting Grundy-Butch in a bar, and ends up promising to cure him. He shows up with a barrel of toxic waste and promises that as long as they can find Hugo Strange (yay B.D. Wong!) they can try and fix Butch. The Lee/Riddler stuff is... is neat, but at the same time I do find it rather ridiculously dumb that after freeing himself from their shared psyche, the Riddler apparently spends all his free time running a deadly game show in the Narrows. Lee manages to trick them into having to say 'I love you', but the act of admitting that would free Ed. Lee essentially just wants to bring Ed back, and that plan involves a long, long kissing scene. Not a big fan of this storyline, to be honest.

Overall, though, an extremely fun episode, especially for the Jerome storyline. Good stuff!

Lore of Hearthstone, Episode #19 - Knights of the Frozen Throne, Part 2

Part 2 of Knights of the Frozen Throne legendaries, this time detailing the death knight hero cards and other legendaries that didn't come from the Icecrown Citadel raid.

LEGENDARIES

Bolvar, Fireblood:

Bolvar Fordragon is a character we talked about back in Goblins vs Gnomes. To recap -- former paladin and regent of Stormwind City, tortured and turned into an undead warrior by the Lich King after the disastrous battle of Wrathgate. During the climactic battle in Icecrown Citadel, a tortured Bolvar, burned to death yet not truly dead due to a combination of the red dragons' life-giving flame and the undead Scourge's plagues, Bolvar was hung above the Lich King's throne, and bore witness to the fall of Arthas Menethil, the Lich King. However, there must always be a Lich King, and as Tirion Fordring was about to take on the mantle to shackle the Scourge to Northrend and prevent it from running amok over Azeroth, the broken Bolvar asked Tirion that "this last act of service" is his. Bolvar sat upon the Frozen Throne, and Tirion placed the Lich King's Helm of Domination upon Bolvar's head, transforming Bolvar into the new Lich King. Bolvar sought to keep the Scourge under control, and all present to tell the world that both the Lich King and Bolvar Fordragon were dead. While several high-ranking members of the Alliance and Horde knew Bolvar's true fate, the majority of Azeroth thought that the great paladin perished in the Wrathgate.

Lich King Bolvar

Bolvar remained frozen atop the Frozen Throne, keeping much of the Scourge at bay, for a long time after Wrath of the Lich King, until Legion. In Legion, when the Burning Legion invaded Azeroth once more, Bolvar finally stirred and made a pact with the Knights of the Ebon Blade. The Knights would serve as the new Lich King's arm of vengeance, in exchange for his aid in locating the powerful artifact weapons Apocalypse, Maw of the Damned and Blades of the Fallen Prince. Bolvar would appoint the bearer of the artifact weapon (a.k.a. a Death Knight player character) as the new Deathlord, and that the other death knights would follow his/her orders. Bolvar would instruct the Deathlord to create a new incarnation of the Four Horsemen to aid in the fight against the Legion, noting that there is a price that 'the living cannot pay'. The Deathlord and Darion Morgraine would go on a quest to resurrect past heroes of Alliance and Horde to create a new version of the Four Horsemen (the Four Horsemen, represented in Hearthstone as the four summoned by the Uther DK hero, will have their own entries below).  The Lich King would also instruct the Deathlord to slay a group of Vrykul, as well as send the Deathlord to collect a particularly powerful frost wyrm to serve as his/her personal mount. Bolvar would also instruct the Deathlord to get information out of several dragons in the Wyrmrest Temple, but when they refused, would instruct the Deathlord to strangulate them. Just how much of Bolvar is left within this new Lich King, and what his plans are with the Deathlord and the Scourge, remains to be seen.

Bolvar Fireblood's appearance is based on his burnt-to-undeath version seen in Wrath of the Lich King before his transformation into the third Lich King. His entrance quote, "this last act of sacrifice is mine" is a variant of his quote "this last act of service is mine", which he spoke when he told Tirion to place the Lich King's helmet upon his head. His attacking quote, "answer for your crimes!" is taken from the iconic Wrathgate cinematic, where a still-living Bolvar challenged Arthas to come out of Icecrown and do battle with him.

Archbishop Benedictus:

Archbishop Benedictus (not to be confused with Benedictus Voss, see below) was introduced in World of Warcraft as head of the Church of Light in Stormwind City. He was a student of the Archbishop Alonsus Faol, a hero of the First and Second War. Benedictus is a kindly soul that served as Stormwind's heart of religion throughout much of WoW. Benedictus is known as a kind and wise leader that is highly respected. He would be found in the Cathedral of Light, and would give certain quests to Alliance heroes, particularly training priests in order to better serve the Holy Light. Benedictus is a calming voice in Varian's ear, telling him about how Anduin's true path is towards the Light. Prior to the Cataclysm, Benedictus also assisted the forces of Stormwind in defending it from invading elementals. Benedictus's more sinister nature is briefly hinted when he appeared shocked that Varian survived an assassination attempt, and when Anduin refused to study his priestly skills under Benedictus, opting to study under Velen, citing that 'it didn't seem right'.

Archbishop Benedictus

This is all a facade, however, as in Cataclysm, when Deathwing returned to the world, Benedictus is revealed to be something quite sinister. The Twilight's Hammer cult was one that served Deathwing and his Old God masters well, a psychotic, fatalistic cult that sought to bring about the apocalypse. With the death of the Twilight's Hammer Cult leader Cho'gall, it was assumed that the Twilight Cult would be shattered, yet they were still operating under a mysterious hooded Twilight Father (sometimes Twilight Prophet).... who, in reality, was Archbishop Benedictus. Benedictus, under Deathwing's command, attempted to shatter the Wyrmrest Accord between the red, blue, bronze and green dragonflights. He kidnapped a blue dragon Kirygosa, and succeeded in corrupting the son of Malygos, Arygos, into attempting to claim leadership of the blue dragonflight. Benedictus also caused the corruption (and eventual explosion) of the many dragon eggs located in the Wyrmrest temple, as well as being indirectly responsible for the death of Alexstrasza's mate, Korialstrasz. Benedictus also sent an alternate-univers version of Aedelas Blackmoore to hunt down Thrall, who was attempting to reunite the four dragonflights under the directions of Ysera. Benedictus attempted to summon a mighty five-headed chromatic dragon Chromatus to do battle against the four dragon aspects, but his plans were foiled when the blue dragon Kalecgos was elected as blue dragon aspect, and Thrall successfully brought the four aspects together to do battle against Chromatus and slay him. Benedictus was nearly killed in the battle, but was spared by Deathwing due to his high position and ability to infiltrate.

Twilight Father Benedictus

In Cataclysm proper, Benedictus would engineer the near-death assassination of Thrall alongside the Archdruid of the Flame, Fandral Staghelm. Archbishop Benedictus would reveal his true colours, acting as the final boss of the Hour of Twilight instance. Adventurers would be informed by Bishop Farthing (a secret member of the Twilight Cult himself) that Benedictus had left Stormwind to help assist the dragon aspects at Wyrmrest Temple. Benedictus would serve as the final boss in the Hour of Twillight, standing in the Chamber of Aspects. Attempting to slay Thrall personally, he initially posed as an ally to the shaman before attempting to wrest the Dragon Soul from him. A shocked Thrall asked Benedictus how he could forsake the Light, Benedictus ranted about how there is no good or evil, only power... and engaged Thrall and his allies. In his first phase, Benedictus uses Light magic, while in his second phase, Benedictus transforms himself into a shadow priest, and it's this appearance that the Hearthstone artwork draws inspiration from. Benedictus would ultimately be slain. However, his involvement as part of the Twilight Cult was dismissed as hearsay by Bishop Farthing -- who himself is revealed later to be Benedictus's successor as Twilight Father.

Lilian Voss:

Lilian Voss was introduced in Cataclysm, as one of the newly-resurrected undead forsaken that newborn forsaken characters would interact with (and I definitely was delighted, considering I was playing through many of the starter experiences of WoW races back when KOTFT was announced). In life, Lilian Voss was raised by her family to be a member of the Scarlet Crusade, forced to study stealth, sorcery and martial arts to become a weapon against the undead. When Forsaken adventurers approached the newly-risen Lilian to recruit her into Sylvanas' Forsaken ranks, Lilian was the only one to refuse, running away in denial of her undead state. The Forsaken adventurer would meet Lilian several more times after this, and each time Lilian ran away in denial of her current state. However, Lilian was captured by the Scarlet Crusade and imprisoned. Her own father, Benedictus Voss (not to be confused with Archbishop Benedictus) has disowned Lilian and ordered her execution. The Forsaken adventurer came to rescue Lilian and attacked the Scarlet Crusade encampment. Lilian herself finally embraced her current form, and in anger, ignited herself in purple flames and killed her former comrade Gebler. Lilian then cut through a swathe of Scarlet Crusade forces, which the Forsaken adventurer discovers when he finds a lot of Scarlet Crusade bodies slain with Lilian's pruple flames. The Forsaken adventurer would come and team up with Lilian to storm a Scarlet Crusade base, where Lilian would strangle her own father and kill him. Lilian would then disappear, with other Forsaken members noting the string of murders with purple flames against the Scarlet Crusaders in Tirisfal Glades.

Lilian Voss (WoW)

Lilian would appear in Mists of Pandaria, in the revamped Scarlet Monastery dungeon. She initially disguised herself as a hooded crusader, directing adventurers (both of the Horde and Alliance) to take out strategic points in the Monastery. Lilian also tasks adventurers to retrieve the enchanted Blades of the Anointed, a pair of daggers that are the only ones permanently able to slay High Inquisitor Highmane, the current leader of the Scarlet Crusade. After Whitemane was slain, Lilian revealed her true identity, takes the blade and goes off to Scholomance, another revamped dungeon, but in attempting to slay the mighty Darkmaster Gandling, a Scourge necromancer, Lilian would be defeated and enslaved by the mighty necromancer. Lilian would serve as the penultimate boss of the Scholomance dungeon. The tortured Forsaken was defeated by adventurers, and would be freed from Gandling's control. Lilian struck back against Gandling one last time, before collapsing from her wounds, although she survives. The adventurers would go on to slay Gandling afterwards, who is the final boss of the Scholomance dungeon. Her Hearthstone appearance seems to be based on her boss fight appearance.

Lilian would appear in Lunarfall Inn or Frsotwall Tavern in Warlords of Draenor, giving quests to adventurers to obtain a blade that would allow her to sever the undead from their spirits. Lilian Voss would be revealed to be a member of the rogue organization of the Uncrowned in Legion, and would assist the leader of the Uncrowned, the Shadowblade (a Rogue player character), to sneak and sabotage Burning Legion operations and blow up the Lost Temple. Lilian would also reveal the existence of the homunculi demon constructs, and dispatch the Shadowblade to hunt down these homunculi.

Hadronox:

The mighty Hadronox is a gigantic bone spider (a type of spider with legs seemingly made up of bone native to Northrend) that was once kept within the nerubian city of Azjol-Nerub. When the nerubian city fell, the nerubian viziers unleashed a single spider and instilled Hadronox with a desire to avenge the fallen and challenge the undead Scourge, seeking to reclaim Azjol-Nerub from all who would reclaim it. Hadronox would be the second boss of the Azjol-Nerub instance, and as heroes of the Alliance and Horde stormed Azjol-Nerub to reclaim it for the nerubians, Hadronox wass being attacked by the Scrouge's Anub'ar undead nerubians, and the enraged Hadronox attacked the adventurers, and was eventually slain. Early in Wrath of the Lich King, Hadronox had the title 'Spawn of Maexxna', but the title was removed after Wrath came out of Beta.

Moorabi:

Moorabi is an ice troll of the Drakkari tribe that serves as the second boss in the dungeon of Gundrak, one of the instances in Northrend. Moorabi is one of the many ice troll high priests who turned on their loa gods to obtain their powers instead of serving them. Moorabi's title was the High Prophet of Mam'toth, and he had once served the mammoth loa Mam'toth. While Mam'toth destroyed himself to deny the ice trolls the ability to sacrifice him, creating a massive crater that slew a large amount of ice trolls. Moorabi nonetheless drank Mam'toth's blood to gain the loa's powers. Moorabi's battle in WoW is a simple two-stage fight, where he will transform into the Avatar of Mam'toth in the second stage. Beyond being an ice troll, however, in WoW Moorabi has nothing to do with freezing effect, instead being a simple physical fighter. Moorabi's attack quote, "I crush you, cockroach!" is taken from one of the possible quotes in his boss fight, but the other quotes are original to Hearthstone. Moorabi would be slain alongside his other treacherous Drakkari brethren by heroes of the Alliance and Horde.

Arfus:

Arfus is original to Hearthstone, and is a pun on Arthas's name as well the dog's voice of 'arf'. While ghostly dogs have been seen in World of Warcraft in the past (notably the Spirit Wolves), none have been associated with the Lich King or Arthas. Arthas's only 'pet', as it were, is his own steed, named Invincible, which he raised as an undead skeletal horse upon his transformation into a Death Knight. Also noteworthy that Arfus is the only undead beast to have the 'beast' tag, with many other undead animals -- Spectral Spider, Bonemare, Unearthed Raptor, Fossilized Devilsaur -- all not having the beast tag.

Deathlord Nazgrim:

General Nazgrim (alive)

In Legion, the new Lich King, Bolvar would task the Deathlord and Darion Morgraine to resurrect a new version of the Four Horsemen. And, despite knowing how the Alliance and Horde would react, the Lich King tasks the Deathlord to resurrect some of their most revered heroes. First of the Four Horsemen to be raised is Nazgrim.

Nazgrim first appeared in Wrath of the Lich King, as one of the orcish leaders within the Horde campaign to Northrend, with the rank of Sergeant. He was at odds with Krenna, and refused to follow her orders to attack the Alliance, knowing that their orders was to deal with the Scourge first. In Cataclysm, Nazgrim, now a Legionnaire, was tasked by the new warchief of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream, to gain new territory for the Horde, and was one of the many members of the Horde enamoured by the new warchief's conquest-minded goals. However, Nazgrim's fleet was waylaid by the naga and sunk by the mighty kraken Ozumat. Nazgrim and many other Horde warriors were enslaved, but were freed by a group of adventurers. Nazgrim would successfully lead an escape and rendezvous with other Horde ships, and with goblin technology, would lead a counter-attack to battle the naga's forces beneath the tides. Nazgrim would lead a rescue mission for those left behind, and would lead the force to kill the leader of the naga sea witch leading the assault on the watery realm, Lady Naz'jar.

Death Knight Nazgrim

In Mists of Pandaria, Nazgrim was promoted to General, and would be the one to inform Garrosh of the existence of Pandaria. Nazgrim was among the party dispatched to claim Pandaria for the Horde, and was pleased that the adventurer that aided him in Vashj'ir came alongside him. Nazgrim's gunship was shot out of the sky by the Alliance, and was among the first to encounter the native Pandaren. With the aid of the adventurer, Nazgrim would be able to successfully gain the allegiance of several pandaren, as well as a tribe of forest Hozen, and would continue to be a major quest-giver and leader throughout much of the Pandaria campaign. He was involved in brief internal political squabbles within the Horde. He would ultimately be loyal to Garrosh during the Horde Civil War, although on the eve of the Siege of Orgrimmar, Nazgrim would be approached by Thrall and Varok Saurfang. Nazgrim ordered the Kor'kron to stand down and allowed the two to enter and talk to however many orcs they can... but Nazgrim himself remained loyal. Nazgrim was bound by honour to be loyal to Garrosh, and fought against the combined forces of the Alliance and Horde when they besieged Orgrimmar. He faced off Horde leaders Vol'jin and Baine Bloodhoof, and would serve as the eighth boss of the Siege of Orgrimmar raid, although he held no hatred for the Horde adventurers, noting that they all fought for the Horde. Nazgrim was slain, and despite his death, was still considered a hero by the Horde.

In Legion, the Deathlord would come to Nazgrim's grave in Durotar, and raise the former orc hero from the dead, turning him into first of the Four Horsemen, and would accompany the Deathlord and Darion Morgraine as they revived the other members of the Horsemen. Nazgrim as a death knight had a new love for the strangulation spell, which he abused in numerous points during the death knight storyline. Nazgrim would the participate in battles against the Burning Legion abroad the Exodar as well as the Broken Shore.

Thoras Trollbane:

Thoras Trollbane (WoW0

The second Horsemen to be raised was Thoras Trollbane, the warrior king of one of the seven great human nations that joined together during the Second War, Stromgarde. Thoras was one of the kings that answered the call to form the first Alliance, and led the armies of Stromgarde against the Old Horde in the Second War. However, Stromgarde lost much during the Second War, losing the island citadel of Tol Barad and much of Stromgarde's territory was razed by the Horde when they marched towards Quel'thalas. Trollbane would personally lead his troops to cut off a group of Horde reinforcements in the Alterac Mountains, preventing them from besieging Lordaeron's capital, while he sent his nephew, Danath Trollbane (one of the playable Alliance heroes in Warcraft II) to retake Khaz Modan from the orcs, and later journey into the Dark Portal. However, once the war was over and the Horde was defeated, Thoras was indignant at the Alliance's insistence that the orcs not be executed and instead be imprisoned, and argued with his old friend Terenas Menethil about this matter -- particularly since Stormgarde had suffered much and could not afford the higher taxes needed to maintain the orcs. Thoras Trollbane would be one of the two kings, alongside Genn Greymane of Gilneas, to openly secede from the Alliance. Prior to the Third War, Thoras would be killed by his own son, Galen Trollbane. Stormgarde would eventually crumble. While a chunk of its population followed Jaina to Kalimdor, a combination of the undead Scourge, the human criminal organization known as the Syndicate, the Boulderfist ogres and the Forsaken members of the Horde caused the once-great nation of Stromgarde to splinter and fall, a pale shadow of its former greatness.

In Legion, Thoras Trollbane is raised by the deathlord as the second member of the Four Horsemen of the Ebon Blade, and after learning of his kingdom's destruction, Thoras is convinced to fight for the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Prior to resurrecting Thoras, the knights of the Ebon Blade had to deal with Thoras's treacherous son Galen, who had wanted to utilize the knights of the Ebon Blade to help him secure his own territory, but ended up being killed permanently. Thoras would join the Knights of the Ebon Blade in their fights against the Burning Legion.

Inquisitor Whitemane:

Sally Whitemane was a young human who, during the Third War, saw her entire family succumb to the plague of undeath. Forced to destroy the undead bodies of her parents and friends, she was driven with a zeal to fight against the undead, and would study the art of priesthood. She would become one of the central members of the Scarlet Crusade in WoW, a group of fanatical warriors that exists only for the sole eradication of the undead in any way, shape or form. Now known as High Inquisitor Whitemane, she is one of the greatest proponents for extremism in their fight against the Scourge, and she grew even more and more obsessed as time went on, even capturing and torturing the living, and becoming increasingly paranoid towards those who were not part of her crusade. High Inquisitor Whitemane is the final boss of the Scarlet Monastery raid, and was targeted by elimination by both Alliance and Horde -- the Horde wanting to protect their Forsaken members, while the Alliance wants to bring the fanatical Scarlet Crusade back to its original purpose.

Whitemane (undead)

However, so strong was High Inquisitor Whitemane in the force of the Holy Light and Resurrection that her first death was simply temporary (i.e. she can do what all the player characters do), and returned as the final boss of a revamped Scarlet Monastery, becoming the highest-ranking leader now that everyone else was dead. Working with new members of the Scarlet Crusade, adventurers that journey into the Scarlet Crusade, where the Forsaken rogue Lilian Voss would inform adventurers how to permanently slay Whitemane -- by thrusting the enchanted Blades of the Anointed into her corpse. High Inquisitor Whitemane was ultimately slain in this way, permanently killed and unable to resurrect herself...

Until Legion, where, after resurrecting Nazgrim and Thoras Trollbane, the Deathlord and Darion Mograine traveled to the Scarlet Monastery and brought back Sally Whitemane as the third member of the Four Horsemen. Death had gotten rid of her madness, and she would pledge her allegiance to the undead Scourge that she once fought -- finding that the Burning Legion is now the target of her hatred and seeing this as a chance for atonement for the sins she had done in her life.

Darion Mograine:

And we finally return to Darion Mograine. The story of Darion, and indeed the Mograine family, is told initially through the World of Warcraft: Ashbringer comics. Darion was the second son of the paladin Alexandros Mograine, and was brother to Renault. As he grew to adulthood, Darion would join the Order of the Argent Dawn led by Maxwell Tyrosus, one of the many paladin factions created after the fall of the Silver Hand during the Third War. His brother Renault, meanwhile, joined the far more fanatical Scarlet Crusade, and was manipulated by the leader of the Crusade, Saidan Dathoran (in reality, the dreadlord Balnazzar in disguise) to kill his own father, Alexandros. Darion would lead a rescue party to attempt to retrieve the holy blade Ashbringer from the corpse of his father, Alexandros, which had became the leader of the Four Horsemen of Naxxramas, and led a small party into Naxxramas. It ended horribly as he was attacked by the Four Horsemen, Grobbulus and Thaddius, and his entire party was slain. Darion managed to steal the Corrupted Ashbringer, however, and the voice of his father's spirit, trapped within the blade, led him to the Scarlet Monastery. Darion would confront his brother Renault, who had been driven to fanaticism by the Crusade, and Renault attempted to kill Darion and rid himself of the last vestiges of his past, only for the spirit of his father to manifest from within Ashbringer and kill Renault.

Darion Mograine

Darion then traveled through the land to attempt to free his father's spirit from the Corrupted Ashbringer, finding the exiled paladin Tirion Fordring, who noted that only an act of love can purify the blade. Darion returned to Light's Hope Chapel, the base of the Argent Dawn, to find it under siege by a massive army of the dead. Darion cut his way through the undead Scourge to challenge the mighty Kel'Thuzad himself, who was unperturbed by the blade. Darion then realized what Tirion's words meant, and thrust the Ashbringer through his own heart. This noble act vaporized the entire Scourge army, turning everything into ash and purifying his father's soul... but Kel'Thuzad returned with a prize, nonetheless, for Darion Mograine had been turned into an undead death knight in place of his father, still wielding the Corrupted Ashbringer.

In Wrath of the Lich King, Darion was made into Highlord of the Death Knigths of Acherus, an order of death knights made of newly risen warriors (i.e. player characters) that are sent to annihilate the living still remaining within the Eastern Kingdoms. Darion Mograine served alongside many other figureheads of the Scourge as a quest giver to novice death knights, and Darion himself would lead an army of death knights to besiege Light's Hope Chapel once more. However, there the Corrupted Ashbringer refused to strike down any living foe, and the massive powers of the Light wielded by Tirion Fordring and the Argent Dawn forced Darion to surrender. The Lich King (Arthas) then appeared, and ripped the spirit of Alexandros Mograine into Frostmourne once more, and gloated, noting how Darion and the newly-risen death knights were mere fodder just to bring the powerful paladins out of hiding. The Lich King tossed Darion Mograine aside, and in rage, Darion tossed the Corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion Fordring, who, in turn, purified the blade and sanctified the grounds of the Chapel, forcing the Lich King to retreat. The act also freed Darion Mograine and his army of death knights from the Lich King's influence, and thus the Knights of the Ebon Blade is formed, now opposing the Lich King and intent on bringing it down. Darion would strike an unusual friendship with his former comrade Tirion Fordring, and both would lead the Northrend campaigns and be found in numerous bases. Darion would assist adventurers to slay the mighty crypt lord Underking Talonox in Scourgeholme; help slay his 'replacement' within the Scourge, the death knight Orbaz Bloodbane; and assist adventurers alongside a group of Ebon Knights in the Cathedral of Darkness. He would lead the Knights of the Ebon Blade in the final assault into the Icecrown Citadel, and is heavily involved in the creation of the two-haded legendary axe Shadowmourne. Upon the Lich King's death, Darion would be reunited with the spirit of his father Alexandros, who is freed from the Lich King's blade, Frostmourne.

Darion would briefly appear as a questgiver in Warlords of Draenor, before once more being important in Legion. The necropolis of Acherus would move back to Northrend, and he would meet the new Lich King -- the former paladin Bolvar Fordragon. While not bound to this Lich King, Darion and the Knights of the Ebon Blade decided to join forces with him against the Burning Legion. Bolvar would direct a death knight (i.e. player character) to a powerful artifact, and would appoint the death knight as Deathlord of the Ebon Blade. Darion Mograine, more than familiar with the Deathlord from their past adventures together, was happy to secede command, having his fill with holding mighty fateful artifacts. The first task that Bolvar gave to Darion and the Deathlord was to re-create the Four Horsemen, mighty Death Knights that draw their power directly from the Lich King. One by one, the Deathlord and Darion would raise Nazgrim, Thoras Trollbane and Inquisitor Whitemane as the first three Death Knights. However, the fourth candidate for the Horsemen, Tirion Fordring, caused Darion to be angered -- Tirion was too much of a hero to be raised as into undeath. However, he eventually relented, although warned the others that 'there is no redemption for what we are about to do'. The knights of the Ebon Blade assaulted Light's Hope Chapel and fought against the paladins of the Silver Hand. Darion himself did battle with his former leader Maxwell Tyrosus, while the Deathlord fought against the blood knight matriarch Lady Liadrin.

However, as they are about to raise Tirion from his tomb, the Holy Light itself intervenes, and would have killed all the death knight present had Darion not created a portal and used Death Grips to toss the Deathlord through. While the Deathlord and the three other Horsemen survived, Darion himself was struck down by the power of the Holy Light. The other death knights note that Darion's body is too ravaged to be properly raised, but Bolvar, the Lich King, intervenes, noting how much Darion has sacrificed for the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and was raised from the dead... once more... as the fourth and final member of the Four Horsemen. Later, after an audience with the Silver Hand, the two factions uneasily bury the hatchet. Through a questline from the Paladin storyline, Darion would be persuaded by Maxwell Tyrosus to create the Heart of Corruption to allow a paladin player to transform the Ashbringer artifact weapon into having the appearance of the Corrupted Ashbringer. Darion would join the Knights of the Ebon Blade in many clashes against the Burning Legion. Darion Mograine would represent the Knights of the Ebon Blade at Krasus' Landing to discuss the Pillars of Creation with Khadgar and Velen.

Darion Mograine's TCG artwork was used in Curse of Naxxramas for the Unrelenting Rider token in the Gothik fight. Despite not wielding the Corrupted Ashbringer as a member of the Four Horsemen (and he really only wielded it through the Death Knight opening quests in WOTLK), Darion's card art in Hearthstone is depicted with it.

For non-legendary cards, click after the break.

Gotham S04E16 Review: The Team-Up Between the Clown, the Hypnotist and the Fearmonger

Gotham, Season 4, Episode 16: One of My Three Soups

After Sofia's death-coma in the previous episode, this episode of Gotham wastes no time in quickly jumping into its new premise -- a huge, all-out breakout by the classic Batman villains out of Arkham. The opening scene for this episode is insanely creepy, focusing on the one un-hypnotized guard in Arkham as she goes in to try and intimidate Jervis Tetch to submission, only to realize that her partner has already fallen under Tetch's thrall -- she gets her throat slit and it's pretty goddamn creepy.

Anyway, we get the revelation that this is the big breakout that the Joker Jerome Valeska is planning and hinting at, and his compatriots in this are the very, very entertaining Mad Hatter (who proved to be able to handle being the main arc villain pretty well) and Scarecrow (who is honestly just there as another member of the crew -- poor Crane hasn't had a lot of nice spotlights). They're insanely entertaining, with Jerome's "Composite Joker" mixture of the jolly and the fucked-up being delivered well, and both Tetch and Crane being happy to rhyme and deliver wacky lines at each other. Jerome laughably lampshades that there will be time to betray each other in the future, but for now they haev to work together.

Scarecrow actually spends most of this episode off-screen acquiring resources (mostly his fear gas) for Jerome and Hatter. Hatter ends up being the ''main" antagonist of this episode, calling Gordon and Bullock to confront him once more... but making it clear that he isn't going to go through the whole 'sadistic choice' charade again and just go straight to sadistic. It's nothing we haven't seen with Jervis Tetch in this show before, admittedly, but there are a lot of pretty great scenes. The sudden goriness of a goddamn wrecking ball smooshing a couple, Bullock rushing into a police car and locking it in to try and find the radio station Tetch is broadcasting out of, and Gordon coming up with the "save the person next to you!" to stop the mass suicide... it's all pretty competently done, but ultimately it's just a vessel and a crisis to help bring both Gordon and Bullock back together as buddies. At the end of the episode, they acknowledge that Gordon's fucked up a lot, but his status as a 'hero' of Gotham City is what the city needs. A symbol of hope -- the two of them know how Gordon's only human, but at the same time he's the best they got. Which... which, yeah, I can buy, I guess.

Meanwhile, the clear star of this show is Bruce's hero complex, as he recruits Selina (who's just eye-rolling her way through this all with a "your ego, Bruce, it's huge") to help stop Jerome. Bruce views himself responsible for Jerome being alive to cause havoc, but won't kill him -- Selina's all up for it, mind you -- which is completely the self-loathing train that Batman has. I approve. Jerome ends up confronting his uncle in order to find a piece of information, but his uncle ends up getting help from a big-ass circus  muscleman to beat Jerome and the uncle tries to shove boiling soup onto Jerome's face. The show gives Jerome a pretty sympathetic past -- his uncle's insanely abusive -- but at the same time Jerome himself even acknowledges that he's being way, way worse.

The moment when Jerome laughs as he sees how Bruce essentially got himself into way bigger trouble than he bargained for when he tried to rescue the insane murderer is so well delivered, and while no one but the evil uncle dies, it's a pretty fun scene to watch. Jerome, Bruce and Selina are extremely well-scripted and well-acted here.

Less well-scripted is the Barbara sub-plot. It's clear that Ra's Al Ghul has appointed Barbara as his successor-slash-heir-slash-maybe-a-new-body or whatever, but Barbara finally accesses the weird mystic power Ra's left within her, and that manifests in... a big glowing hand that summons the League of Assassins? Who proceed to kill all the men, leaving an all-woman group under Barbara? Just because she has a glowing hand? Yyyyeaaah. Erin Richards is a very entertaining actress and tries her best to ham it up, but nothing here really works for me. I dunno. It just feels like a silly footnote in an already jam-packed episode.

Overall, though, the entire episode turns out to just be a distraction. Jerome's plan to find out something about St. Ignatius school was the main part of the plan, while Mad Hatter's huge, flamboyant mass suicide plan is just there to distract the police (and hey, if it works, bonus!). The episode was framed as if we're going to have a villain taken down every episode, but Scarecrow and Joker break Mad Hatter out of the prison van, and they drive back out to spread even more madness. Good stuff. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The League of Shadows (otherwise known as the League of Assassins) finally make their appearance. They are, of course, the international army of secretive assassins that are spread all over the world, and have been popularized with their major role as the main arc villains of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, as well as in the Arrow TV show. 
• While I don't think any media specifically states that the League will not obey a female leader, the original comics did make it a point that Ra's scouted Batman out for a male heir to wed his daughter. 
• Mad Hatter and Scarecrow continually being a double-act while rhyming is a reference to how the two characters are portrayed in the highly-acclaimed and highly-recommended Long Halloween series. 
• Among the names of the escaped inmates that Gordon rattles off are Ephram Snow, Daedalus Boch and Erasmus Rayne, who are all pretty minor villains. Ephram Snow is a serial killer involved in the Batman: Endgame arc, who was convinced that the Joker is the incarnation of the Devil directing him to do murders. Daedalus Boch is the serial killer Doodlebug, an insane man who commits serial murders based on schizophrenic 'visions', while Erasmus Rayne, a.k.a. Death Rattle is a cult leader who worships demons. Both Doodlebug and Death Rattle appeared in the pages of Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, and were both killed in the same story they first appeared in. 

One Piece 902 Review: The End of Whole Cake?

One Piece, Chapter 902: End Roll

(Sorry if reviews are a bit spotty and/or late for the upcoming couple of days. Have just recovered from being hospitalized, so yeah. )

Well, that was... that wasn't a conventional ending at all. I get what the chapter was trying to do, and as a standalone chapter, it's pretty well-written. I enjoyed this chapter for what it is, but as the ending of an 80+ story arc, it was wholly unsatisfying. Your mileage may vary, of course, and Whole Cake Island itself has been extremely polarizing with a lot of supporters who vow up and down that it's the best arc from One Piece, and a lot of detractors who likewise vow that it's the absolute worst. I'm somewhat in the middle, thinking that it's a lot like Dressrosa -- a lot of great moments, a lot of neat world-building and setup, but bogged down by extremely poor pacing. And most of all, it suffers from Bleach-style stretching out of scenes that just dragged on and on. 

Of course, I could be wrong and this chapter might not just be the end of the chapter and we might have a multi-part ending, and the final two pages with the 'end-of-arc' narration boxes might just be yet another fake-out, but this chapter... I'm not really feeling it as a proper ending. It's certainly a way to end an Impel-Down-style "the Straw Hats leave with some completed objectives, but with huge losses", with said losses namely being the presumed deaths of Jinbe, the Fishman Pirates and the Germa 66 at the hands of Big Mom.

(Although, to be fair... I don't really give two shits about Germa 66 other than Reiju -- unlike most of the fandom, I never latched on to them just because they're related to Sanji. The brothers are all completely flat and uninteresting, Judge is a pretty generic 'evil dad' archetype, and Reiju's the only one that's likable because she's written to be the one token sympathetic character among a bunch of baddies.)

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. That was one hell of a neat little cliffhanger. No, I don't buy that any of them are going to die, especially since Big Mom's abilities involves ripping out souls instead of directly killing them, so I do actually see Big Mom like dragging these dudes around in Homie bodies and returning them to life some time in the future. That is a plausible reversal of mass deaths that still doesn't betray the fact that there are some consequences caused by Luffy and Sanji's reckless decisions, as opposed to the simple, "oh let's make the fans freak out and then just shrug it with a mildly-plausible explanation" cliffhanger that was the ending for chapter 900. I don't particularly like it that much, especially the thought of this being stretched on and on, but it's a lot more palatable. What I do like, though, is the fact that while Big Mom was certainly slowed down by the cake and all the antics, she's not actually taken out at the end of this arc in any way, shape or form -- to set up that the Yonkou like Big Mom and Kaido are equal in power and then to have Big Mom taken down like this would've been disastrous to the audience's perception of how scary Kaido (and the Yonkou in general) would be, so good on that. 

I do like the early scenes with Sanji and Carrot, with Carrot crying while also telling Sanji that he shouldn't be responsible for Pedro's death. And Sanji reminiscing about Pedro's death... man, I know that there's that one weird scarecrow Homie that Pedro fought and was swiftly forgotten about in all the chaos of the moving pieces, but I really wish Pedro was kept dead, because this is actually a very good moment. 

Something I didn't quite appreciate as much is that while the Thousand Sunny did make it out of Big Mom's territory okay, the fact that Sanji straight-up just reverts to 'cheerful cook' mode and Luffy goes straight to 'cheerful hungry man' right off the very depressing 'Big Mom kills-slash-fucks-up a lot of their allies' scene didn't feel right. I mean, I get that they wanted to have the parallel between Sanji and Zeff, and I guess on Sanji's side of things I can justify it, but really, Luffy? 

Pudding's storyline is wrapped up with a simple scene. Of course she and Sanji kissed, and she took out part of Sanji's memory because of that. It's just a bit of build-up for yet another potential ally in the future for the Straw Hats. Maybe the Big Mom pirates will be relevant in the Wano-kuni arc? I hope so, just so we don't have so many outstanding plotlines left unsolved. This does tie a neat little bow for Pudding for now, though. 

I think my favourite scene has to be Brulee and Katakuri, though, with Brulee extremely unexpectedly showing a more tender side as she takes care of her beaten brother. Brulee calls out the fact that Katakuri has fallen on his back on purpose to let Luffy 'win', and Brulee also knows Katakuri's whole 'embarrassing eating' bit before. We get a neat little flashback that explains Katakuri's 'tough enforcer dude' image, where apparently as a kid some jackasses scarred Brulee's face, causing Katakuri to adopt this tough, no-nonsense super-perfect enforcer big brother image. It's actually extremely unexpected for Brulee and Katakuri -- I think everyone assumed that Katakuri's favourite sister was going to be Pudding, making the two a tag-team of possible defectors to the Straw Hats' side, but huh. This is interesting, really. 

So yeah... it's a mixed bag, as far as endings go. On one hand, I do appreciate that Big Mom wasn't just buddy-buddies with the Straw Hats just because of a cake. Also do like the brief closing moments for Sanji, Carrot, Pudding, Katakuri and Brulee. But on the other hand... there's also a lot of shit that simply was dragged on for way too long for this arc that it really feels like this arc didn't quite deliver on all of the stories. We'll see if we skip straight to the Reverie or Wano-kuni next chapter, or if we'll have some more wrap-up. Overall, I think my feelings for this Big Mom arc as a whole has been generally positive, but I'm not going to be averse of calling out some very glaring problems that the arc has. 

Black Lightning S01E12 Review: Khalil's Dart Gun

Black Lightning, Season 1, Episode 12: The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain

This is not that impressive of an episode, to be honest. It's mostly just setup, and the reintroduction of multiple villains that were kept out of sight for the better part of the season. Tobias Whale returns, apparently recovered from his wounds, to quickly take charge. He's in bed with the ASA, but clearly has no love for them... and instead, found his new protege-slash-personal-hitman, Khalil, now transformed into kind of a cyborg with dreadlocks. It's... it's expected, but the relatively tepid buildup we've got for this character makes it nowhere as impressive as it probably should be. 

Likewise, Khalil's confrontation with Principal Jefferson Pierce and his ex Jennifer ends up feeling just rushed and without much emotion, just to establish that, hey, Khalil's completely run in with a bad crowd. A pair of rather rushed and unnatural scenes, in this case, feels rather rigid and doesn't really explain why Khalil is so dead-set on, well, essentially being a terrorist. Khalil shows up at the school in the climactic act of the episode, ignoring Jennifer's pleadings, in order to draw out Black Lightning and Thunder. Khalil apparently has super-strength... and...  he shoots weird-looking darts at the students? Yeeaaah, that's actually not very impressive, and I'm someone who gives these superhero shows a large amount of leeway. He could do like, I dunno, throw around some lockers or slam the ground to knock students out non-lethally, but the darts just look ridiculously silly. 

The rest of the episode doesn't really have much in terms of content that we haven't already seen, really. We've got a brief bit of drama between Lynn and Jefferson having a fight over Lynn wanting to 'explore all options' with Jennifer, which Jennifer takes to 'mom's working on a cure to my condition'... which, of course, ends up cleanly coming up at the end of the episode as she zaps her dad back to life with one of those cinematic-defibrillation-always-works deal. 

Although admittedly, I was really pleased by the final battle, with Syonide and Tobias Whale showing up at the school as well. Syonide's fight with Thunder was well-scripted, the panic Jennifer is seeing when she realizes how real everything just got, and the rage that Black Lightning exhibits in his one-on-two battle with Tobias and Khalil are all executed competently... but the episode just felt kind of dry as all it ends up doing is setting up the finale. We've got Khalil working under Tobias, we've got Tobias apparently behind La-La's resurrection and has some kind of keyword to bring him under his control ('the Devil deals the cards') and... and it's not bad. It's just kind of dry. 

Gotham S04E15 Review: The Climax of the Gang Wars over the City of Gotham

Gotham, Season 4, Episode 15: The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause

So this episode essentially wraps up a lot of the storylines that's been running throughout the fourth season, namely Sofia Falcone. After a neat little cold open where the Riddler single-handedly assists Martin in escaping from his interred capture under Sofia's goons, we jump straight into a pretty funky bit of double-crossing insanity that was the highlight of so many earlier arcs in Gotham. The thing is, everyone wants to murder Sofia -- Lee, Oswald, Riddler, Gordon, Bullock -- and that seems to be the unifying theme. As I mentioned in the previous episode it does seem somewhat similar to the Gotham-against-Gallavan storyline, except Sofia's slightly a bit more... inconsistent character. Actress Crystal Reed tries her best, but sometimes the requirements of the plot-of-the-week really end up painting Sofia as either hyper-competent or too volatile depending on the requirements of the episode, and thus I can't really appreciate her as much as I want to.


The thing that probably doesn't work as well in this episode and could've been run across previous episodes would be the gigantic return of multiple characters. In addition to Oswald, Riddler and Lee teaming up -- and Lee realizing that Riddler's taken over the Ed Nygma body -- we've got Solomon Grundy reverting back to Butch Gilzean (and his brief spat with Riddler). We've also got Gordon and Bullock hunting down Mr. Penn, Oswald's old secretary and actually a mole for both Falcones; we've got the return of the glorious Mr. Zsasz, who brings the Headhunter as a sidekick; we've got Team Oswald recruiting Mr. Freeze; and we've got brief side-plots with Barbara, Tabitha, the ghost of Ra's, Bruce and Selina.

Anyway, after a lot of hot potato in tracking down Mr. Penn by all sides, we get the Riddler captured by Sofia and tortured by the Dentist. Oswald and Lee end up getting Mr. Freeze to do a little trick to deliver a frozen Oswald to Sofia's doorstep... and as Oswald breaks free from his prison with one of Mr. Freeze's devices, he ends up forsaking the revenge against Sofia Falcone to save Riddler from being shot to death at the pier, thus rekindling their old partnership once more -- they both have tried to kill each other before, and now they're buddies again, and it's neat and well done.

Meanwhile, Sofia goes off and gets into a standoff against Gordon and Bullock as they try to recover Mr. Penn from a very weird "baby roleplay" fetish place, and in the ensuing shoot-out, Sofia has Gordon dead to rights but ends up being gunned down in the gut and the head by Lee Thompkins. Yay! Of course, apparently she's SOMEHOW in a goddamn coma. There's only so much disbelief that I can suspend, Gotham! Also not a particularly big fan of how Sofia was really keen on still jumping Gordon's bones even when she's about to kill him. Still, Sofia Falcone is out of the way and indisposed for now, so there's that. Lee gets to become the leader of the Narrows and has gained a mean streak, mangling Sampson's hand...

And most interestingly is the Gordon/Bullock stuff. Gordon is willing to accept his resignation, which you would remember was Bullock's condition for coming out of retirement, but Bullock tells Gordon not to -- he's too much of a celebrity hero and an inspiration to the other policemen that for him to reveal his dirty skeletons would absolutely destroy the GCPD. It's just going to be their dirty secret -- the two of them would know that the other used to be dirty in some way or other, but now they're going to try their best to be good. It's a flawed mindset, but it's a way to acknowledge how Gordon's fucked up before while still allowing him to be the hero of Gotham in a way. It's... it's okay, I guess. It's not the perfect solution, but it's a solution that flawed people like Bullock and Gordon would think up of. And I do like it.

We get some neat Bruce/Selina stuff. And I do like how their apology was a lot quicker compared to the Alfred one before. Their dynamic has been through way too much fraying throughout the past four seasons that Selina just brushing it off as "eh, Bruce, you're a dick with mood swings and I accept that about you, so long as you apologize" is hilarious but so in-character. They understandably don't get a lot of screentime in this episode, but what they got was pretty neat, especially that fun little action scene in the pawn shop.

The story with Tabitha and Butch is... just kinda there. Both actors try their best, but I'm just not really invested in Butch's return to sanity at all. Barbara's just dealing with a lot of headaches and is seeing hallucinations of Ra's al Ghul. Which is neat, even if I genuinely forgot that the whole Ra's al Ghul stuff involved Barbara at all.

Overall, the episode is an okay conclusion to the Sofia storyline, and gave us some really satisfying Penguin/Riddler, Gordon/Bullock and Bruce/Selina moments. Sofia herself had started off strong but ended up really going off the rails near the end of the season and being reduced to a pretty generic villain, but this was an okay exit, I think. It's an episode that definitely could've used a lot of trimming, though it's definitely fun enough to watch and experience. And that's what Gotham's really good for -- happy comic-book-y fun.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• The first shot of the episode features one of the goons reading a copy of Detective Comics, the comic-book series that introduces Batman and gave DC comics its name. Obviously, it's not an issue that stars Batman. 
• Mr. Freeze, the Headhunter and the Dentist all make their return after not been seen since the first half of this season. 

Gotta Review 'Em All, Part #13: Tropius to Metagross

The penultimate chunk of Hoenn pokemon. This lasted like two parts longer than I expected it to be, but eh. All's well and good. This one is also somewhat shorter, ending at the pseudo-legendaries of the third generation, because I wanted to talk about all the legendaries in one page.

Click here for the previous part.
Click here for the next part. 
Click here for the index.

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#357: Tropius

• Types: Grass/Flying
• Japanese name: Toropiusu
• Category: Fruit

Tropius feels like one of those generation II Pokemon that is just rare, found in a single route and never evolves, leaving itself to be forgotten because it's not crap enough to be made fun of, but not good enough to use competitively. But I've always had a very soft spot for Tropius thanks to the Adventures manga where Sapphire uses one. And, well, that was when I realized Tropius isn't just a banana brontosaurus. Tropius is a dinosaur mixed with a banana tree... who uses said banana tree leaves to fly. Yes, this thing is Grass/Flying, and Tropius is insanely absurd for this very reason. Honestly, just look at this thing. It's a sauropod with banana tree leaves jutting out of its back, with some neatly wrapping around the base of its neck, with actual bananas growing out of its jugular... and those banana leaves also do double duty as wings. What? Tropius is wacky as all hell, taking the trope of "lizard with leaves growing out of it" which has been repeated several times in Pokemon's history and taking such a ridiculous spin by making it a flying dinosaur.

I love this thing, and it's a shame that its pokedex entries are hilariously mundane. It flies, it has delicious fruit (because it likes to eat that exact type of fruit, I think?), it lives in a jungle. Still, while Tropius might perhaps not get much love despite the ridiculousness of his concept, I'm definitely a fan of Tropius. Such a delightful weirdo.

 4/6. 

#358: Chimecho

• Type: Psychic
• Japanese name: Chiriin
• Category: Wind Chime

Another non-evolving Pokemon, and this one is honestly one that begs for an evolution. But unlike the Qwilfishes and Kecleons of the world, Chimecho has always been memorable to me, for the simple reason of, once again, the anime. James had one, and the backstory behind his Chimecho is just one of the best-told stories that I've ever seen in Pokemon. Plus, Chimecho is just adorable. It's design is also neat, a hanging wind-chime (a furin type, specifically) with a Hoppip face? It's got a pleasant red-and-white colour that matches how actual furin chimes are generally decorated as well. I think in the anime there's a Hoppip disguised as a Chimecho at one point. Its tail-thing is also pretty adorable. I've never realized how many traditional Japanese items get adapted in this generation between the likes of Chimecho, Dusclops, Shuppet and Castform. Chimecho's a Psychic-type and I'm not entirely sure why, but hey, it works.

Chimecho's whole gimmick is that it's mostly a 'medic' Pokemon, but he's not quite as good as other healers that will actually be used in competitive play due to its slow stats. From a lore standpoint, Chimecho's dex entries mostly revolve around its ability to, well, act like a wind chime and use said chimes to communicate. Chimecho is also rather rare that I actually went through my first couple playthroughs of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald never figuring out where to capture this bugger -- he's on the summit of Mt. Pyre, but really rare. I like Chimecho a lot mostly from the anime, and while the third generation is far better at giving more of a spotlight to its own generation's pokemon compared to the second one, Chimecho is one of those that didn't get that much spotlight in the games -- thanks to Chingling's prevalence in the fourth generation I actually associate Chimecho with the fourth generation. Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes, Chimecho is a delightful little fellow. 

 5/6. 

#359: Absol

• Type: Dark
• Japanese name: Abusoru
• Category: Disaster

Absol is perhaps one of the biggest fan favourites from the third generation, and for good reason. Just look at it! Like Flygon, I first saw an Absol with a huge role in Jirachi Wish-Maker, and got a brief version of its backstory -- it's known as a harbinger of bad luck, but it's actually just a nice Pokemon that wants to help out. The pokedex entries over the years give Absol a lot of great backstory. The third-generation dexes note that every time Absol appears before people, a devastating natural disaster will occur. Emerald and the Kanto remake games also note that Absol's ability is to foretell the disasters, and its status of a 'Doom Bringer' is a misconception. In fact, its appearances as someone that tries to warn humans is how Absol is mainly portrayed in both the Jirachi Wish-Maker movie and the Pokemon Adventures manga, that the fourth generation would add that it tries to warn people of impending danger. As a neat nod to this, Absol tends to be found in locations where the player would pass prior to the big cataclysmic event of the game will happen, or in a place that a cataclysmic event has happened in the past. 

Absol is a pure Dark-type, and his amazingly crafted backstory adapts that of the Bai Ze of Chinese mythology, known as Hakutaku in Japanese. The Bai Ze a strange four-legged beast with one or two horns on its head, sometimes portrayed with the face of a human, although many, many different variations of the Bai Ze's supposed appearance exists. Apparently the Bai Ze descends from the mountains (which is also prominently featured in Absol's dex entries) to warn an emperor of China about ten thousand maladies and monsters in the world, and in a different legend, arrived before a plague outbreak happened to share its knowledge with humans. 

Of course, Absol's backstory is far, far more unique than just a carbon copy of the Bai Ze, but its design is just amazingly done. A white-and-black creature whose head resembles a rough copy of the Taoist yin-yang symbol, with sharp edges on its tail and head-horn-sickle, Absol manages to create a design that shows a majestic, intelligent-looking creature, yet one that could easily be interpreted as a demonic harbinger of doom. I've always been a big fan of Absol's asymmetry, from the scythe-like horn to the way that the white part of its forehead slopes down, to the little black gem on its head. It's still a Dark-type, but it's a misunderstood Dark-type, truly every single fan-made character you made in your youth... and you know what? Sometimes it's all right. Definitely a great-looking creature, and a highlight from this generation that definitely won me over.

 6/6. 

#360: Wynaut

• Type: Psychic
• Japanese names: Sonano
• Category: Bright

Wobbuffet gets a baby in this generation, and like Azurill, you can only get a Wynaut egg if Wobbuffet is holding the 'Lax Incense'. Wynaut is what you expect from a baby Wobbuffet, with a far happier-looking face, ears that double as hands, two stubby feet and a smaller, one-eyed version of Wobbuffet's weird eyeballed tail. And... and a weird little growth on its head? I'm not sure what that's all about. Wynaut is a neat enough baby form, although I've never found it to be that cute. You also get Wynaut egg from an event in-game, the way that you get Togepi in the Johto games. Wynaut and Wobbuffet's whole "the tail is the real body" deal is solidified with Wynaut's dex entries, which note that Wynaut will always have a happy face whatever it is really feeling, and a trainer needs to look at its tail to check its mood. Also, while himself Wynaut isn't that interesting, the secretive 'Mirage Island' in Pokemon Emerald, an island that appears only when conditions align themselves perfectly, is populated entirely by Wynauts. What is this island? Why does it only appear on the sea if you carry a specific pokemon on a specific day? Why is it populated entirely by Wynauts, with the super-awesome-for-contests Liechi Berry growing in the middle of it? No one knows. Wynaut's neat, and, unlike Wobbuffet's name, actually keeps her Japanese name-pun (Sonano is an equivalent phrase to "is that so?").

 4/6.

#361-362: Snorunt & Glalie

• Types: Ice [both]
• Japanese names: Yukiwarashi, Onigori
• Categories: Snow Hat [Snorunt], Face [Glalie]

Snorunt and Glalie are another pair that received very little attention in the game, with Snorunt only being found on an out-of-the-way area, the Shoal Cave, only on specific floors when the tide goes out (which is the only time-related thing in the third-generation games). In fact, if Glacia of the Elite Four didn't use two Glalies, it's another Pokemon that I'd honestly associate with a later generation. Anyway, Ice has been one of the types that didn't get much representation, with most ice-types being dual-typed with another type. Snorunt is actually the very first pure Ice-type in Pokemon's history, something I didn't quite realize until I was writing this article. Snorunt is based on the Yukinko, a small little child yokai closely associated to the far-more famous Yuki-onna (literally, snow-lady -- we'll talk about her when we talk about Froslass, Snorunt's alternate evolution). Snorunt's lore and appearance are pretty unique, though, with its yellow, conical appearance being based on traditional Japanese snow-suits made out of straw. While the Yukinko is a little, shivering child that will harm the passerby that tries to help it, becoming heavier and heavier until the passerby is buried in snow, Snorunt is far more benign.

It is still shivering, though, and I always look at this little thing in the 3D games and go 'no you poor thing!' Snorunts are far from harmful, and houses visited by Snorunts will prosper for the next couple of generations, and they like to gather under leaves to live together in harmony. "Rich people from cold areas all share childhood memories of playing with Snorunt", as the dex notes, and these are all a culture soup of multiple different yokai. The lore of them living under leaves is a reference to the Koro-pok-guru, a race of small people that help out humans in Ainu (a tribe in Japan) folklore. You might recognize those from Shaman King. The lore of a little child-like spirit bring families fortune while still being mischievous is a reference to the Zashiki-warashi, another popular yokai in Japan, often taking the form of a little child that enjoys pranks, but will ultimately bless a household with good fortune. Definitely a huge miss that Snorunt didn't get the Fairy-type retroactively.


Of course, all this knowledge about Japanese culture isn't necessary to appreciate how neat Snorunt looks, this little triangle-shaped Tepee  with a cute little grinning body within with the most adorable pair of hands and it's just shivering because it's cold.


And then Snorunt evolves into the terrifying Glalie, which has Snorunt swap out its tepee-like cape for a covering made entirely out of ice. Glalie also loses the cute little hands and legs, instead growing a pair of horns, and has apparently grown the ice covering to resemble some sort of demonic hockey mask. Unlike Snorunt, Glalie is definitely a hostile creature, described to use its powers over ice to "immobilize its foe in ice, then eating it in leisurely fashion". The seventh generation would add even more information about Glalie's predation -- if its prey is already frozen, like, say, Vanillite, it saves the trouble of Glalie freezing them.

Also, I'm not sure why Glalie isn't Ice/Dark. Look at that design! A lot of people note how Snorunt and Glalie's evolution don't make a lot of sense, but I've always thought that the design cues from the spherical body with an outer coating, the mouth and the blue eyes all work well as compared to, say, Remoraid and Octillery. It's not ideal, though I guess it is what happens when a Snorunt completely embraces its icy nature and becomes ice itself? The seventh generation gives us the horrifying origin of Glalie, though, claiming that the restless spirit of a distressed dying mountaineer possessed a rock, giving rise to a Glalie. That was... that was definitely unexpected.

Unlike my long talk about Snorunt's origins and the three different mythological Japanese faeries that inspire it, Glalie doesn't have that intricate of an origin. In fact, its Japanese name is "Onigori", which is apparently a pun on "oni" (demon), "kori" (ice), "onigiri" (traditional rice ball) and "gori" (goalie). Which honestly doesn't make that much sense, but Glalie's design is just so neat that I can't help but like it. Glalie's Shiny form swaps out the blue eyes for red, which makes it extra-menacing. Perhaps the progression from Snorunt into Glalie could've been worked out a little better, but for my part I'm actually a fan of these two.

 4/6. 

#363-365: Spheal, Sealeo & Walrein

• Types: Ice/Water [all three]
• Japanese names: Tamazarashi, Todogura, Todozeruga
• Categories: Clap [Spheal], Ball Roll [Sealeo] Ice Break [Walrein]

We're at the home stretch now, and the Hoenn pokedex ends in a string of Water-types before we reach the two pseudo-legendary lines and the small cornucopia of legendaries. Spheal the spherical seal is the first that we'll be talking about, and he's adorable. His rotund body and his grinning face and his stumpy little fin-hands coupled with a blue-and-white colour scheme makes such a more pleasant design compared to the far-more boring Seel... and, yes, I think Spheal is an infinitely superior design to Seel. Look at this thing! It has personality, it's cute, and it's visually attractive. I've never been bothered by 'repeat species' if they do something interesting with it, and Spheal does. While Dewgong is a more graceful line, Spheal ends up evolving into a pokemon based on a related-but-completely-different species than a seal. For its part, Spheal is an adorable Ice/Water goofball that just rolls around and does baby seal things.

Spheal evolves into Sealeo, a sea lion with perhaps one of the laziest English names out there. It's... it's all right? I've always found Sealeo to be underwhelming and they just wanted something in-between the babylike cuteness of Spheal and the far more cranky-old-man looking Walrein. Sealeo's just a fat seal with a weirdly-drawn mustache, and it's just... a seal. I do like the little detail in its Ruby dex that it entertains itself by balancing little ball Spheals on its nose, but I've never really found Sealeo that appealing.  

It evolves into Walrein as its final form, a big, fat, angry walrus with huge-ass tusks. Oh, and it gains the hind legs that Spheal and Sealeo don't possess. It's pretty badass-looking, even if its not particularly my thing. Walrein's dex entry just describes it as an angry walrus monster, though, with tusks that can break anything in its path and... nothing much beyond that. I really wished that they did something more with this line other than just designing them as 'yep, the seal/walrus evolutionary line' and shrugging it off, because I'm struck by how little there is to talk about regarding this evolutionary line. Walrein looks intimidating enough, but I really wished they did a bit more with him beyond just giving him those weird... hair-things? Overall my feelings about this line tend to lean more towards the positive because there's nothing really wrong with them... but they are kind of boring, aren't they? At least, in my opinion.

 3/6. 

#366-368: Clamperl, Huntail & Gorebyss

• Types: Water [all three]
• Japanese names: Paruru, Hanteru, Sakurabisu
• Categories: Bivalve [Clamperl], Deep Sea [Huntail], South Sea [Gorebyss]

So the third generation introduced the 'Dive' mechanic as one of the HM moves. For those entirely uninitiated to how pokemon games function, the games prior to Generation VII had "HMs", which are moves you need to progress through the game. Surf allows you to transverse water routes, Cut allows you to slash specific roadblock trees, stuff like that. Dive is a mechanic that's best spotlighted in the third generation, and, very tragically, never quite made its return as a meaningful mechanic outside of Hoenn. I've always found the idea of diving down into the depths of the ocean to wade through seaweed and finding pokemon that are so deep within the ocean that normal fishing can't dredge them up like Clamperl and Chinchou to be insanely cool. See, I really, really love deep-sea creatures. From anglerfishes to vampire squids to hatchetfishes to giant tube worms to gulper eels, there's just something so utterly bizarre about the creatures you find in the deepest parts of the ocean that is just so fascinating.

And Ruby/Sapphire brought us a pair of pokemon based on a gulper eel and a chimaera (a.k.a. ghost sharks)... but decided to implement them in a rather strange and honestly quite ridiculous method. See, Clamperl is a perfectly fine little bivalve pokemon. It's a pure Water-type, it's a colourful giant clam with a little pink pearl in it that has its main face -- that of a sleeping baby. It's different enough aesthetically from the hard, quirky feel of Shellder and Cloyster... but then when it evolves, it evolves into two eel-like fishes? It's bizarre. It's as weird as, say, having a Caterpie evolve into a Pidgeot.

Which is a shame, since both Huntail and Gorebyss are decently designed deep-sea fishes, although still nowhere as interesting as they could've been. Clamperl evolves via trading while holding a specific item -- the Deep Sea Tooth or Deep Sea Scale, and the items are, I believe, exclusive to each paired game. It's just that the evoltuion honestly doesn't make a ton of sense thematically, and feels more of a last-minute slapping together of a couple of deep-sea animal designs. Honestly, I'm surprised Relicanth didn't also evolve from Clamperl to form some sort of deep-sea-themed Eevee.


Huntail evolves from Clamperl if it's holding the Deep Sea Tooth, and it is clearly based on a gulper eel, members of the order Saccopharyngiformes, eels living deep in the sea famous for its huge, pelican-esque hinged lower jaw that allows it to gulp prey far larger than itself, a necessity in the food-scarce environments of the ocean's deepest, darkest parts. While described to be able to do that, Huntail isn't just a gulper eel, though, with huge pronounced fangs that resemble other species of eel like the more common morays, and it has these little circles throughout its body that I'm assuming are supposed to be luminescent like many deep-sea fishes. Huntail's tail also lovingly tapers off into the shape of a fish's head, using it like an anglerfish or some species of gulper eels to attract prey.

Huntail's design isn't perfect, though, because I'm not a particularly big fan of those orange fins, and I feel that between the ones that run down Huntail's spine, the weird fan-head and the ones on its lower jaw, there's one chunk of detail way too many. It's also a huge missed opportunity to not make Hunter a Water/Dark, because that is honestly what the designers seem to be going for -- Huntail learns a lot of Dark-type moves where Gorebyss would learn Psychic-types, and they're both actually listed as Dark-type and Psychic-type respectively in the spin-off Pokemon Ranger games. It's a shame. They really could've made these two far more interesting than just being pure Normal-types.

With the Deep Sea Scale, Clamperl evolves into Gorebyss, which is probably my preferred evolution, due to her design looking so much cleaner than Huntail's. I am not a big fan of the weird Disney-style clam bikini (though there is your connection to Clamperl, I suppose), but I'm a big fan of how this otherwise graceful little fish is noted to be cruel, inserting its needle-like mouth into the prey's body to drain its fluids. Yeah, Gorebyss and Beautifly should start a club of cute vampiric pokemon, huh? Gorebyss is also noted to be extra-pink in springtime.

Gorebyss' design is a mixture of several deep sea fishes, like the snipe eel (Nemichthyidae -- deep sea eels with a long, tapering beaklike mouth) or the pipefish (Syngnathinae -- which don't really live that deep in the ocean, and is a family that also includes seahorses), but current consensus seems to settle on the Chimaera (Chimaeriformes order), not to be confused with the lion-goat-snake Greek monster. Chimaera fishes are also known popularly as the ghost shark, ratfish or spookfishes, and those of the Rhinochimaeridae order are particularly known for their long, tapering shark-like nose. Most interestingly, however, is the fact that these long-nosed chimaera fishes actually take on a pinkish tint when you remove them from the deep-sea-abyss conditions that they live in.

You may note that I've been spending a lot of time talking about the gulper eels and chimaeras and not about Huntail and Gorebyss themselves. And that's honestly because... jeez, none of these are interesting despite being based on some pretty wacky animals, and they don't really do anything at all conceptually, visually or lore-wise to really make any of these three exciting. And they could have! Overall, a huge, huge missed opportunity in my books. I do like Gorebyss for its beautiful-but-insanely-bloodthirsty personality, and its design both regular and shiny look great... but as a whole the line's just a bunch of neat concepts stapled together into a package that I don't think reached the full potential of said concepts. 

 4/6 on principle, but 3/6 on execution. 

#369: Relicanth

• Types: Water/Roch
• Japanese name: Jiransu
• Category: Longevity

Relicanth! Relicanth's basis is another interesting animal, the famous Coelacanth, an order of fish that have existed all the way from the Devonian period (that's before the dinosaurs were even around) but have somehow retained their body shape and general look for 400 million years, not evolving and surviving throughout all that time, being known as a 'living fossil' because the entire order was thought to be extinct up until 1938 when a couple of living coealacanths were fished up, still alive and kicking to this day. And Relicanth is... basically just that. Its backstory is that it's a Coelacanth, but a Pokemon, a creature that people thought was a fossil, but actually is still around. It's Water/Rock, since Rock is the type associated with prehistoric fossil pokemon. It's the rare encounter while diving, and is one of the two pokemon (alongside Wailord) required for the Regi puzzle. And... and honestly that's about it. 

Relicanth a stylized coelacanth, with a brown colouring that just screams 'old', and I do like how the underbite and the shut eyes give it the appearance of a grumpy grandpa fish, but I've never quite got what that random red dot is supposed to be. It's all right and not stuck with a weird evolution line as the trio before it, but there's also not much going on with Relicanth that makes it particularly attractive to use as a pokemon in your party. He's neat, but I really wished they had actually done something with the concept. Again, these last couple of Pokemon just seem to be "hey, we have these cool water creatures, let's draw them funny!" without any real attempt to make them into actual monsters.

 3/6.

#370: Luvdisc

• Type: Water
• Japanese name: Rabukasu
• Category: Rendezvous

Hoo boy, while with Huntail, Gorebyss and Relicanth I complained about them not doing much with the concept of an interesting animal beyond adapting it wholesale, with Luvdisc... they just really didn't bother to try, did they? While I appreciate the simpleness of Luvdisc's design, it's just a fish shaped like a cartoon heart, ostensibly based on the popular discus fish, and apparently the symbol of love in the Pokemon world. There's nothing really wrong with being a simple flavour pokemon, but again, Luvdisc just ends up feeling more of a generation-two-esque 'filler' pokemon more than anything. I don't get the huge amount of hatred thrown into Luvdisc's way, although I definitely would've preferred a discus pokemon with a slightly more intricate design than just 'one shade of pink and another for its lips'. Real-life discuses look so much more attractive than this! Luvdisc's biggest claim to fame ends up being the rather bland fact that it's one of the few pokemon that naturally carries the Heart Scale item, used as currency for Move Tutors in some games, which means that, yeah, we only love Luvdisc for the stuff they carry. Poor love fish. I never minded Luvdisc as much as people do, but they definitely could've done more.

 3/6. 

#371-373: Bagon, Shelgon & Salamence

• Types: Dragon [Bagon/Shelgon], Dragon/Flying [Salamence]
• Japanese names: Tatsubei, Komoru, Bomanda
• Categories: Rock Head [Bagon], Endurance [Shelgon], Dragon [Salamence]

The third generation is unique in that it has two lines of Pseudo-Legendaries, with Bagon and Beldum's line both fitting the criteria of being pseudo-legendary (or the '600 Club', as they're apparently referred to in Japan). The first of these is the pure Dragon-type Bagon, found in the deepest chamber of Meteor Falls, and he's a little baby Pachycephalosaurus, a cute little dinosaur with a rocky head that hilariously resembles a mullet. It's just a cute little baby dragon, and I've always loved its dex entries which describes how little Bagon just wants to fly, and it hurls itself off cliffs, which thankfully doesn't kill it -- just makes its head hard. It's a bit of a shame that despite differing dex entries noting that Bagon has a rock-head or iron-clad head it's not Dragon/Steel or Dragon/Rock, though. Bagon's a cute little dude who just happens to have a rocky scalp resembling a mullet and a dream to one day fly, and while design-wise he looks generic, I do love the personality that his story gave him.

Like Larvitar, Bagon ends up forming a 'pupal' stage in Shelgon, which I've always found to be hilariously weird. This thing is still a Dragon-type, but it's really just Bagon's weird mullet-armour-head thing that wraps around its body, leaving a hexagonal face and four stubby feet. It's bizarrely weird to have a dragon go through a chrysalis stage, but I never really minded Shelgon. Most pseudo-legendaries are relatively weak in their first two stages, and having one of them be a weird armadillo-esque 'pupa' before the drastic transformation into the mighty Salamence helps to justify it somewhat. Again, I really wished that they still gave Shelgon a secondary typing, but it's no big loss.

Shelgon's final form is the mighty dragon Salamence, a Dragon/Flying monster that just looks so god-damned cool. Yes, he looks more like a lizard with its widely-splayed legs and the posture of its body, but Salamence still embodies the spirit of the western dragon, and I honestly do like the fact that they make an anatomically-lumpier dragon look pretty cool. I love everything from its angry-looking face, its blue-and-red colouring, its awesome blade-like wings, its head-spikes that resemble a salamander's gills, and the little call-back to Bagon and Shelgon by having white armour plates on its belly. Salamence is also perhaps the first dragon that just purely a traditional dragon. Salamence is portrayed as Flygon's 'evil' rival of sorts in Jirachi Wish-Maker, and while I've always thought that Flygon's design is sleeker and cooler, I can't deny how utterly badass Salamence is. Its design perhaps looks a bit unwieldy, but I do like it a fair bit. 

And I honestly love how the dex describes Shelgon's evolution into Salamence. To quote the Sapphire pokedex: "By evolving into Salamence, this pokemon finally realizes its long-held dream of growing wings. To express its joy, it flies and wheels all over the sky while sprouting flames from its mouth." Cute little Bagon's strong-held desire to fly ends up with a happy ending, because despite its tendencies to rampage around like a dragon, it still manages to be able to fly, with its desire having some hilarious Shonen-Manga-esque power-up by triggering a mutation that activates dormant genes that code for wings or something. Good job, little guy, good job. An neat-looking dragon with a neat backstory and an unconventional evolution -- what's not to love? 

 5/6.

#374-376: Beldum, Metang & Metagross

• Types: Steel/Psychic [all three]
• Japanese names: Danbaru, Metangu, Metagurosu
• Categories: Iron Ball [Beldum], Iron Claw [Metang], Iron Leg [Metagross]

While Salamence embodies a more traditional draconic pseudo-legendary, the third generation had a second pseudo-legendary that looks so much weirder and, honestly, having been introduced to Metagross first thanks to trading cards, I've always been a bigger fan of the Metagross line. It's the difference from really liking something and really-really liking something, though, so it's not a criticism about the Salamence line at all. Beldum is a Steel/Psychic Pokemon whose design is weird and only really makes sense when you look at the entire line. Beldum's design is just weird, isn't it? It's a single limb of the Metang/Metagross entity, but it still works as a weird little rocket-shaped thing with its own head and a weird eye inside a keyhole, and those silver claws looking like little boosters.

Beldum has magnetic force instead of blood coursing through its body, apparently, and it anchors itself to cliffs with its butt-hooks. They apparently also behave like sort of a hive-mind thanks to communicating with magnetism. A single Beldum is obtained in the post-game of the original Ruby/Sapphire after defeating the champion, Steven Stone, whose signature and final pokemon is Metagross. It just looks awesomely alien, but it's merely a prelude to its evolved stages. Beldum, in-game, can only learn the crappy move of Take Down before it evolves, despite having the bizarre Psychic/Steel typing, combining one of the strongest offensive and defensive types ever.

And see, this is what the likes of Magneton and Dugtrio should be, where 'multiple base pokemons combining' actually causes some sort of a difference. As much as I like Magneton, I really think that Metang is the superior 'small magnetic robots combining into a larger one'. Metang's a floating UFO-like creature with a metal horn nose, and two gigantic robotic arms formed by Beldum's main body. Presumably the Beldum heads combined and forms the giant central UFO-body, and I'm just so enamoured by this progression from a flying dumbell into a crab robot monster. Again, like Magneton, as much as the pokedex insists that "two Beldum combines into a single Metang", in practice both game and fictional depictions always depict the evolution as immediate. It's a neat way to combine the Steel-type concepts of magnetism with the Psychic ability to levitate objects, plus Metang's powerful-looking claws really look like they can fuck someone up.

Metang then evolves into Metagross, and, well, look at that thing. It's Badass with a capital 'B'. Four legs forming a spider/crab-like robotic creature, that horn forming into a cross on its face, and it really looks like it is ready to lay the smackdown. Crab-shaped robots have always looked cool in fiction, but Metagross one-ups this by revealing that it actually can fly in all depictions, retracting its arms and having them just outwards while it floats around like a UFO. And Metagross is also very smart, apparently having a brain superior than a supercomputer. It's also a predator, pinning its prey down with its claws and feeding on it with its mouth. (It has a fanged mouth under that ring on its main body) Metagross is one of the designs that I can't help but love, and I honestly am kind of sad when people like to point at Metagross as an example of 'the third generation's pokemon don't look like pokemon'. It's a weird, nondescript magnetic robot monster that also happens to look like an organic creature... it's really a unique monster that wins out in design and sheer coolness, and honestly one of the coolest-looking designs with that grayish-blue main colour scheme. Overall, really badass, and I think together with Salamence, these two are easily two of my favourite pseudo-legendaries by a long, long shot.


As a side-note... Shiny Beldum, Metang and Metagross are mainly silver with their claws and X-cross being gold, often cited as one of the best-looking shinies in the game. Nintendo apparently agreed, giving everyone a free Shiny Beldum during the original release of Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, because if there's something everyone needs, it's a silver metal-eating psionic crab robot.

 6/6.