Swords of Justice

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The Swords of Justice

The Swords of Justice (Japanese 聖剣士 sacred swordsmen) is a collective term to refer to the quartet of Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, and Keldeo. They are also commonly referred to by fans as the legendary musketeers.

The group is based on the French novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père. Cobalion represents Athos, the oldest and de facto leader of the group. Terrakion represents Porthos, the strongest, heaviest, and largest member of the group. Virizion represents Aramis, the most feminine, vain, and romantic member of the group. Keldeo represents d'Artagnan, the youngest by far and the latest addition to the group. The group has challenged humans in legends in order to protect other Pokémon from losing their homes to human expansion.

All of the Pokémon share a secondary type, Fighting-type, and all share the Ability Justified. Many of their moves refer to swordplay, something the musketeers specialized in, such as Swords Dance and their signature move, Sacred Sword.

When gathered at the Moor of Icirrus or Pledge Grove, Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion will teach Keldeo its own signature move, Secret Sword.

Similar movesets

Lv. 638.png
Cobalion
 Steel  Fighting 
639.png
Terrakion
 Rock  Fighting 
640.png
Virizion
 Grass  Fighting 
647.png
Keldeo
 Water  Fighting 
Start Quick Attack Aqua Jet
Leer
7 Double Kick
13 Metal Claw Smack Down Magical Leaf BubbleBeam
19 Take Down
25 Helping Hand
31 Retaliate
37 Iron Head Rock Slide Giga Drain Aqua Tail
42* Sacred Sword
49 Swords Dance
55 Quick Guard
61 Work Up
67 Metal Burst Stone Edge Leaf Blade Hydro Pump
73 Close Combat
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.


Base stat comparison

Pokémon 638Cobalion.png
Cobalion
639Terrakion.png
Terrakion
640Virizion.png
Virizion
647Keldeo.png
Keldeo
HP
91
91
91
91
Attack
90
129
90
72
Defense
129
90
72
90
Sp. Attack
90
72
90
129
Sp. Defense
72
90
129
90
Speed
108
108
108
108
Total 580 580 580 580


In the anime

The Swords of Justice in the anime
Main article: Swords of Justice (M15)

The Swords of Justice all made their anime debuts in Kyurem VS. The Swords of Justice. Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion train their youngest member, Keldeo, but before the Colt Pokémon finishes its training, it decides to test its strength against Kyurem. The Boundary Pokémon proves to be too much for Keldeo who flees from the battle, but is actively pursued by Kyurem who wants to finish their match. Keldeo is then found by Ash and his friends who help it to defeat Kyurem.

In the manga

Virizion, Cobalion, and Terrakion in Pokémon RéBURST

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Virizion was the first to debut in Pokémon Adventures, appearing in A Direct Attack and a Daunting Defense, where it attacks Black and White as they cross the Skyarrow Bridge, cutting up their clothing. Black later decides to capture the Swords of Justice to battle against Team Plasma and seeks out Virizion, having seen it before. He manages to find both Virizion and Terrakion near Mistralton Cave with the help of Shōko and Trish, where he battles against both of them with Buoh. Trish decides to battle with her Heatmor but is interrupted by Cobalion showing up and knocking everyone down. Trish's torch causes an explosion inside the cave, and the three Pokémon work to get everyone out, then kidnap Trish and Shōko's Pokémon. Black tracks them using Musha's dream eating abilities, and he manages to free the girls' Pokémon after telling the three legends that Trish and Shōko truly love their Pokémon. Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion then disappear into the distance, much to Black's disappointment since he never captured them.

In the Pokémon RéBURST manga

The Swords of Justice, excluding Keldeo, are captured by the organization Great Gavel and turned into Burst Hearts. Their Burst Hearts are then given to the three generals: Amu, Ganku, and Rovy.

Trivia

  • Apart from Arceus when holding the Fist Plate, they are the only quadrupedal Fighting-type Pokémon.
  • All of the musketeer members have HP and Speed stats of 91 and 108, respectively.
    • They also have base stat values of 72-90-90-129, distributed differently.
    • Each member of the quartet specializes in a certain stat, with Cobalion in Defense, Terrakion in Attack, Virizion in Special Defense and Keldeo in Special Attack.
  • Cobalion, Virizion and Keldeo all share a type combination with only one other Pokémon: Lucario, Breloom and Poliwrath, respectively. Terrakion has a unique type combination.
  • The Swords of Justice have their own battle transition like the Tao trio and the Kami trio. The screen will pause, fade to black and then a sword will slash through the screen and then a glass will break into pieces and the battle starts.
  • Three of the members share their heights with the legendary beasts:
    • Entei and Cobalion are both 6'11".
    • Suicune and Virizion are both 6'07".
    • Raikou and Terrakion are both 6'03".