#146: Moltres

Moltres as it appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii.

So, the third and last Kanto legendary bird is Moltres, and I have to say that its flavor is less interesting than Zapdos's and that it's generally a whole lot less impressive than Articuno. That's how I think about it nowadays, at least, because I actually disliked Zapdos as a kid, as I mentioned in the previous entry. And when I say that Moltres's flavor is not all that interesting, I mean that it's downright bland. Every flap of its wings causes a dazzling flash of flames (no shit, its wings and tail are made of fire), it can heal itself when it dives into an active volcano (not impressive either, Magmar can do that as well), and it can bring an early springtime to cold and wintry lands. Moltres is obviously based on the phoenix, a quite well-known mythical firebird creature that has little mystery to it anymore due to its appearance in several fantasy films and TV shows, most notably the Harry Potter series. It has to be said, though, that Moltres doesn't entirely go up in flames and rise from its own ashes when it dies (I don't even know if it dies at all), so it is most likely based on a combination of the phoenix and firebirds from other folklores. And there are quite a few of them, so let's get started.

I absolutely LOVE this piece of fan art of Articuno (left), Zapdos (right) and Moltres
(middle). SO AWESOME!!! 

It shares traits with the Egyptian Bennu, a deity linked with the sun, creation and rebirth that may have been the inspiration for the phoenix in Greek mythology; the Iranian legend of the Huma, a bird from Persian mytholoy that is said to live its entire life flying invisibly high above the Earth and is commonly depicted as phoenix-like; a firebird from Slavic folklore called the Zhar-ptitsa or Zhar-ptica - depending on what country in the Balkans you're visiting - that is described as a large bird with majestic plumage that glows brightly emitting red, orange and yellow light, one single feather being able to light up an entire room; and the Vermilion Bird, which is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations and is a bird from Eastern Asian mythology (it is known as Zhū Què in Chinese, Suzaku in Japanese, Jujak in Korean and Chu Tước in Vietnamese) that has a five-colored plumage perpetually covered in flames. If you google the last one in the images department, you're bound to think that was the main inspiration for Moltres, not in the least because Pokémon spawned from a Japanese game company. And Japanese folklore isn't seldom the inspiration for many Pokémon, so at least it's a very plausible theory.

Phew. And now I'm done describing each and every goddamn firebird. I don't have all fucking day, y'know.

This is so cute.
(At the request of the creator, Lyns, I'm including the link to her DeviantArt. Definitely
check it out, she's made some cute watercolor drawings, including Pokémon ones.)

As far as other fire/flying types go, Moltres is easily outclassed and outchosen by Charizard, Ho-Oh and Talonflame in competitive play; the first because it has two very useful Megas, the second because it is stronger and has a more diverse movepool (although it can only be used in the Uber tier), and the last because of its ability Gale Wings. Moltres has none of those things, so it'll have to fall back on its stats instead, which are pretty good. It has excellent base special attack of 125, very good base attack of 100 and decent HP, defenses and speed. It's too bad Moltres has such a good attack stat, because it's not gonna use it. Plus, its speed kinda needs a boost. You could surprise the opponent with the Power Herb/Sky Attack combo, but that's more hassle than it's worth, so you should focus on its excellent special attack instead. Actually, there is one way to use Moltres properly, and that is to run a Timid or Modest one with Fire Blast, Hurricane, Will-O-Wisp and Roost, holding a Life Orb or the Choice Specs. Flamethrower or Heat Wave could replace Fire Blast for some more accuracy (and therefore reliability), and Hurricane may be replaced by Air Slash for the exact same reason. Having Moltres hold the Choice Scarf is an option, but due to its very decent HP and defenses it's able to take a hit anyway, so the above set is the best option.

Moltres's official artwork.

While writing this article it dawned on me that I forgot to mention Articuno and Zapdos's abilities, but all legendary birds have Pressure as their main ability, which deducts one additional PP from a foe's move if Moltres is directly targeted by that move. In other words: it's nothing special. Unless you want their hidden abilities, but Zapdos and Moltres come equipped with Static and Flame Body, respectively, which have a chance to paralyze or burn the foe, respectively, which in turn can be more easily accomplished by just using Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp, respectively. The only interesting hidden ability may be Articuno's Snow Cloak, which raises its evasiveness when it's hailing on the battlefield, but you're generally better off with Pressure after all, as hail isn't such a popular weather condition to pull off.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll have to adjust my opinion about Moltres a little. There are a plethora of folklores and legends that have been the inspiration for its design, which I still like better than Zapdos's. But because it will never exceed Articuno as my favorite legendary Kantonian bird, I just can't give it a perfect rating. Consequently, Moltres will have to do with a 4.5-star rating, which is still nothing to sneeze at.

Rating: 4.5/5