Swords of Justice: Difference between revisions

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.

The Swords of Justice share a secondary type, Fighting-type, and the Ability Justified. A number of their moves refer to combat and swordplay—something the Musketeers specialized in—such as Swords Dance and Sacred Sword. The latter move was the signature move of the Swords of Justice in Generation V.

When gathered at the Moor of Icirrus^BW, Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion will teach Keldeo its own signature move, Secret Sword. This method has been changed in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, as Keldeo needs to be taken to Pledge Grove to examine the rock in order to learn Secret Sword.

Similar movesets

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

Base stat comparison

Pokémon	Cobalion	Terrakion	Virizion	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 Sword 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 end the battle with Kyurem.

In the manga

Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion in Pokémon Adventures

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Main article: Swords of Justice (Adventures)

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. After learning about the date of the Pokémon League's date being pushed up, Black decides to capture the Swords of Justice in a desperate attempt to convince Drayden to give him entry into the League without an eighth Gym Badge. His travels take him to Mistralton Cave, where he meets Shoko, a young girl who's friend, Trish, had gone into the cave to capture the Swords of Justice herself.

When they hear a cry of pain, Black and Shoko enter the cave to find that Trish had been defeated and captured by Terrakion and Virizion. Black manages to get Trish out of Terrakion and Virizion's grasp with the help of Bo. When Trish wakes up, she decides to battle and capture the two Pokémon again, but is interrupted by the third Pokémon, Cobalion. Cobalion's appearance startles Trish into dropping her torches, causing a fire to start inside of the cave. Using teamwork, Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion put out the flames as well as capture Shoko and Trish's Pokémon so that they can be freed from their Trainers. 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 Shoko truly love their Pokémon. Cobalion, Virizion, and Terrakion then disappear into the distance, much to Black's disappointment since he never captured them.

Later, the Swords of Justice are seen communicating with each other through telepathy as they travel towards Pledge Grove to meet their apprentice, Keldeo. During their journey, the Shadow Triad catch sight of them and recognize them before planning to catch them, but Cobalion uses Metal Burst on the Shadow Triad before leading Terrakion and Virizion to safety. They meet Keldeo as promised, and teach it the move Sacred Sword, allowing it to leave a cut on the stone and complete its training. After Keldeo accomplishes this, Cobalion decides that all four of them would apprehend the Shadow Triad, as it knew that the Shadow Triad are up to no good and cannot be ignored.

They travel to the P2 Laboratory, where the Shadow Triad and the Striaton Gym Leaders, Cilan, Cress, and Chili, are locked in combat. From the expressions on each sides' Pokémon, Keldeo determines the Striaton Gym Leaders to be the good side. Keldeo rushes in to defeat the Shadow Triad's Pokémon, but gets captured in the process. Fortunately, Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion come to the rescue by swinging their swords at both trios, defeating both sides before deciding to leave. Although defeated, the Shadow Triad refuse to back down and activate the P2 Lab's doors and have their secret weapon fire a laser at Keldeo. Keldeo is protected by its three mentors, who are frozen by the laser and proceed to sink into the waters below.

Two years later, Keldeo was encountered by Blake and Whitley during a run to fill the Pokédex with data. After having been lured out by Whitley's Foongy's Sweet Scent, Keldeo lashed out at the two and attacked them with its sword. Blake managed to dodge, but accidentally stepped too far and fell down a cliff. A while later, Keldeo agreed to join Blake's team, and is nicknamed Keldemaru.

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

• The Swords of Justice have their own battle transition, like the Tao trio and the Forces of Nature. The screen will pause, fade to black, and then a sword will slash through the screen as the glass breaks into pieces and the battle begins.
• The senior trio share their heights with the Legendary beasts:
  • Entei and Cobalion are both 6'11" (2.1 m).
  • Suicune and Virizion are both 6'07" (2.0 m).
  • Raikou and Terrakion are both 6'03" (1.9 m).

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 聖劍士 Singgimsih Mandarin 聖劍士 / 圣剑士 Shèngjiànshì Dutch Zwaarden der Gerechtigheid French Épées de la Justice German Ritter der Redlichkeit Italian Solenni spadaccini Korean 성검사 Seonggeomsa Polish Miecze Sprawiedliwości Portuguese Espadas da Justiça Spanish Espadachines místicos