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Posted by: rt117 Aug 15 2009, 09:03 PM

After watching the second movie I noticed that although Lugia is supposed to be a bird, it's only referred to as the 'Beast of the Sea', and the only true bird-like characterstic are the wings. Otherwise, it has a long tail, long neck and fang-like teeth, displayed on dragons. It also bears somewhat of a resemblance to Latias/Latios, which are also dragons.
So what do you think? Do you think Lugia closer to a bird, or a dragon?

Posted by: Jewely Aug 15 2009, 09:08 PM

I voted for both. Maybe it's a combination of a bird and a dragon. xDD

Posted by: Little Peanut Aug 15 2009, 09:13 PM

I think it is mostly a dragon, but is bird like in its wings

Posted by: Glowing Raichu Aug 15 2009, 09:26 PM

I would say Dragon. The wings, though birds have wings, have what appears to be hands. Making it more dragon like than a bird. I think all the other bird pokemon have wings, like any normal bird.
I say that Lugia looks completely like a dragon. He [or it rather.] has the long neck, teeth, long tail with the spikes and claws [like most dragons have] some dragons arms also serve to be wings as well. Also being called "beast of the sea" that makes me think of a dragon [or some other beastie] not a fluffy bird [[[I have like 28 birds at home XD]]]

that is what I think anyway XD

Posted by: Arkinine Aug 15 2009, 09:41 PM

Dragon. Looks more like one than a bird.

Posted by: LiquidStar Aug 15 2009, 09:57 PM

Dragon. Lugia has almost all the characteristics of one, plus even his wings resemble more of 'hands' than feathers (as stated before me).

Posted by: Azure Butterfly Aug 15 2009, 10:12 PM

A wyvern.

A dragon with legs and wings in place of arms, like a bird.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyvern

(Voted for both.)

Posted by: mlmiii Aug 15 2009, 10:28 PM

Wyvern.

Posted by: chubby choco Aug 19 2009, 05:58 PM

I almost said bird, ut it lacks the basic characteristics of one - feathers, a beak, the feet, and so on. It might have the basic design of one, but consider this: chimpanzees have the 'basic design' of humans. That doesn't make them humans...in fact, as much as I love animals, it kinda freaks me out.

Maybe birds are freaked out by Lugia.

Posted by: Scrooge Aug 20 2009, 01:10 PM

It is neither a bird, nor a dragon.

Although I'm a bit rusty, it's water/flying type, right?
It's a common misinterpretation that flying = bird
Flying just means that, well, they're capable of flight.

You may say that it has a long tail and neck like dragons, but dragons also tend to be scaly, have forked-toungues and breathe fire, as well as having bat-like wings. (Also, I don't see how having what appear to be fingers at the end of its wings make it more like a dragon. If anything, it gives it arms rather than wings, which kinda screws everything up.)

Posted by: bluestarfish Sep 5 2009, 12:08 PM

Wow what a narrow definition of what constitutes a dragon.

I don't know what Lugia is, it could pretty easily fall into "prehistoric bird" or dragon, or bird, or both, or none I guess.

I guess prehistoric bird just adds another count to dragon though, since most "dragons" in the real world were fossils thought to be the bones of dragons back in the times of old.

Posted by: draconitas Sep 12 2009, 01:48 AM

Bulbapedia has this to say:
"Lugia is based on Ryūjin, a dragon who was the Shinto god of the sea, and lived on the ocean's floor. "

I used to identified Lugia as a bird, because Ho-oh is a bird, and Legends from the same gen (well, way back then) were all similar - the previous Bird trio, Mewtwo and Mew, the Dog? trio. It made sense for Lugia to be a bird, just as Ho-oh. I never thought of the wings as hands, though - the feathers just seemed to be thicker, more stylized as a whole. The whole underwater-dwelling thing screwed up the bird ideal, though.

I refuse to call it a dragon, though. Dragons, to me, have four legs/arms + 2 wings, 6 limbs total. If its front limbs are also its wings (i.e. 4 in total), it's a wyvern to me. Lugia isn't enough of a dragon, but it might, at a stretch, be a wyvern.

Posted by: Hinata Hyuuga Sep 12 2009, 02:16 AM

I say bird since it's counter part (Ho-oh) is a bird

Posted by: Chatot Fanatic Sep 12 2009, 03:03 AM

I think it looks more like a dragon. I just don't think it looks enough like a bird.

Posted by: m e s p r i t Sep 16 2009, 05:54 PM

The fact remains that Lugia is based off of a dragon that was the god of the seas.
Other than the fact Lugia lacks scales [not counting the ones on it's back], I'd say it's more of a dragon/dinosaur type of Pokemon then anything.

Posted by: Romuldo Sep 16 2009, 06:02 PM

seems to be a bird to me xP

Posted by: Night Spectre Sep 19 2009, 10:40 AM

It was probably just made to be psychic/flying to counter Ho-oh's fire/flying type(even though there's no type advantage over either)

It being of the psychic type supports it's ability to talk through telepathy, the flying part, probably because of the wings(or hands XD)
Maybe they didn't want a dragon-type legendary just yet. If they had planned ahead the third or fourth generations, it might have made sense...

I support lugia as a dragon, though. Always will.

Posted by: kaygirl101 Sep 19 2009, 11:02 AM

I say lugia is more of a dragon. The wings don't even really look like a bird's, but more like hands with thumb and fingers, although it doesn't use its wings for grabbong things like hands.

Posted by: methuselahalchemist Sep 26 2009, 10:18 PM

Huh. I've never thought of Lugia as a bird. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what animal I thought of it as. lol But looking at it now, I say it's a furry wyvern. Eastern dragons have fur, so it doesn't seem too strange. It has a barbed tail like a wyvern, as well as 'fingers' on it's wings. lol So I voted for dragon.

Posted by: Focus Aipom Sep 26 2009, 10:28 PM

It looks more like a dragon to me however there are bird like features present on it. I'd say that it is both.

Posted by: TheIgDemon Sep 27 2009, 12:15 AM

I'm gonna say it's a bird-like dragon.

Posted by: Bluey Oct 3 2009, 06:07 AM

Despite it being one of my favourite Pokemon I've never really questioned its appearance. In my mind Lugia's always been a bird. Although the dragon arguments are extremely persuasive (and I agree!) I can't think of it as anything else.

When Silver came out everyone I knew referred to Lugia as a "legendary bird", so let's call it childhood mental conditioning and leave it at that.

Posted by: cookie lord pulser Oct 3 2009, 06:18 AM

this is argued a lot but most off the time its put as a phionex but may be argued still a bird/dragon at the end as a phionex is a bird off fire but most off the time ho-oh and lugia are put as the legendary phionex's as th birds and beasts have already been taken by the the two first trios but may be put as the bigger trio off johto including celebii into it but i just call lugia a phionex

Posted by: berry314 Oct 4 2009, 11:05 AM

It could be both, but seeing how it does not have a beak, or bird-legs like the legendary birds trio, I think it is closer to a dragon.

Posted by: Neko Wolf San Oct 6 2009, 03:19 PM

If a Lugia was real it would be really weird if it looked something like a seagull or a parrot, however I voted for both bird and dragon; it looks like a combination of both anyways.

Posted by: Blak99Psy Oct 6 2009, 03:38 PM

I voted both, since it holds both bird and dragon characteristics. I figured that it was somewhat like Altaria, which is clearly a bird, even though it is classified as a Dragon type. Just like methuselahalchemist said, it is most likely a variation of a Wyvern.

Posted by: eevee64 Nov 17 2009, 08:22 PM

I think lugia looks more like a dragon if you ask me.

Posted by: wenganator Nov 17 2009, 08:25 PM

Hmm. I've never heard about Lugia being called a 'bird' (not that I don't doubt what you know...) But anyways, if you asked me, I would say totally a dragon. >_>

Posted by: MiTYH Nov 19 2009, 11:05 PM

Surprised to see so many Dragon votes... I went for bird, personally. Like Ho-oh, I think they're both just giant birds, like Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Rayquazza is a dragon.

Posted by: Keith Nov 20 2009, 03:00 PM

Its more bird-like to me.

Posted by: Nari Dec 3 2009, 12:54 PM

I see Lugia as more of a dragon than a bird. Though it definitely has qualities of both. It reminds me of Haku in his dragon form in Spirited Away. He had a somewhat furry appearance in some places and his face looked more mammalian than reptilian. So dragons can take many different forms than just being a big, scaly, flying lizard.

Posted by: rt117 Dec 6 2009, 10:37 PM

Lol, I'm surprised this thread has lasted as long as it has, but anyways:

True, but then again, Amphitheres have feathered body and wings (and a lack of arms and wings), and Lindworms and Drakes tend to lack wings. It's mainly the fact that Lugia has teeth but no beak, no visible feathers and 'spike-like' appendages on its tail make me think less of it as a bird.


Again, Dragons come in many different shapes as I mentioned above. And also Wyverns are a type of dragon.

Posted by: gabite92 Feb 10 2010, 05:39 PM

I for one say Lugia is a dragon,but Lugia is in fact a flying,psychic type.So its hard to say but it is much closer to
a dragon than any old bird pokemon.

Posted by: Max2 Feb 11 2010, 07:58 AM

For some reason, he's always seemed to me like a Dragon-Penguin mix, probably because of the movie.

So... I think he's both. It's not really the first time they've Mixed-and-Matched Animals.

Posted by: Unholy Shadow Feb 14 2010, 04:47 AM

He is clearly bragird.

Posted by: Unskilled78 Feb 24 2010, 01:38 AM

If I had to put it in otherworldly categories, I'd put it with the Wyvern.

Posted by: Nymphadora Feb 24 2010, 01:58 AM

Birds cant swim, some dragons, on the other hand, can swim. Lugia looks more like a Dragon.
I voted for Dragon. "Wyvern" isn't mentioned, it has always been Dragon/Bird

Posted by: FDSuprema Feb 24 2010, 02:33 AM

I've personally always seen it as a giant bird, but I can see where the dragon arguments are coming from.

Technically, Lugia, as a psychic type, doesn't have to swim. It likely uses it's psychic abilities to survive and 'fly' through the water, similar to Celebi and Mew.

Posted by: Nymphadora Feb 24 2010, 02:34 AM

Yes, but he is the Guardian of the sea...even if he wasn't psychic he would still swim. :P
"The guardian of the sea" thing would be poitless if he couldn't.

Posted by: FDSuprema Feb 24 2010, 02:51 AM

It would but that has no relevance to this. The fact that he is a psychic type remains, and proves he has no need to swim, thus making the swimming argument null and void. The thing is, he wouldn't be able to live underwater if not for his psychic power. If Nintendo was actually gonna have him swim they would have made him a water type2 instead of psychic.

Posted by: IceColdGlaceon Feb 24 2010, 05:53 PM

I'm more inclined to call Lugia a Dragon rather than a Bird.

Posted by: Mephistopheles Mar 16 2010, 03:07 AM

Yeah.
I think Lugia is more dragon than bird.
Birds have feathers. I dont see any on Lugia :S

Posted by: Kingstar Mar 16 2010, 03:08 AM

Lugia's more like a dragon than a bird

Posted by: Tiamat Mar 17 2010, 06:26 PM

Guys, Lugia has feathers--the Silver Wing is a feather that dropped off of its body. It's just very sleek, like any oceangoing bird; remember how penguin feathers look? Exactly.

That aside, I'd say it's a feathered, beaked (creatures with mouths like that tend to have beaks, and more primitive beaked dinosaurs had teeth as well) dragonthing.

...Holy crap, it's a ~*~Dragonbird~*~ meaning that you could call it a legendary bird and still be right.

Now give me my "both" poll option. >C

Posted by: SkarmorySquadron Mar 25 2010, 02:20 PM

How about something like this?

Posted by: Ulquiorra Mar 25 2010, 03:32 PM

Lugia is said to be based on the Japanese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ry%C5%ABjin, meaning "Dragon God". The Ryujin was the Shinto god of the sea, and lived on the ocean's floor. So this, I believe is the origin of Lugia's concept. In short: it is a dragon, not a bird. Or at the very least, some kind of wyvern?

Posted by: Marth41 Mar 25 2010, 03:47 PM

Dragon, all good legendaries are dragons.

Posted by: Draikette Mar 25 2010, 04:05 PM

After looking at this illustration, it could arguably be both...

Posted by: CM Punk Apr 16 2010, 08:50 PM

I always see Lugia as some sort of mixture of both, but more dragon than bird.

Posted by: TTD Apr 16 2010, 09:08 PM

It's typing states bird to it, but it looks more like a Dragon.

Posted by: Thale Apr 16 2010, 09:58 PM

I always thought Lugia was a sort of mutant seagull with Aeroblast in its moveset.

Posted by: mtn otter Apr 17 2010, 12:52 PM

To be honest, I never thought of it as either. It's just.....Lugia.

Posted by: Queezle Apr 27 2010, 01:08 PM

I actually think of a feathered wyvern. Both, bird-like and draconic. As far as I remind, the 'Silverwing' was a lugia's feather, too.

Posted by: IceBlader98 May 4 2010, 02:29 PM

I think its a bird like dragon. Maybe its a cross? But then again its pokemon so it could be both. Well techniclly its not a dragon type. I guess to answer this question is if the pokemon has feathers or not. Its hard tell whether a pokemon has feathers/fur on it.

Posted by: Zaltys May 12 2010, 01:09 PM

Considering that the games are from Japan...

Dragon and phoenix.
Masculine and feminine.
Emperor and empress.

They're two halves of a whole. Since Ho-oh is obviously a phoenix, it's extremely likely that Lugia is meant to be a dragon.
(Also take note of the wings. Five-clawed dragon is the symbol of the emperor.)

Posted by: Samoo May 12 2010, 01:15 PM

Also, birds don't have a long tail and features like Lugia

Posted by: Zaltys May 12 2010, 01:33 PM

Furthermore, in Japanese mythology, dragons are usually associated with water and stormy weather.

Lugia's PokeDex entries? "It is said to be the guardian of the seas. It is rumored to have been seen on the night of a storm.", "It slumbers at the bottom of a deep trench. If it flaps its wings, it is said to cause a 40-day storm.", etc.

Stereotypical Japanese dragon. It just, um, doesn't exactly look like one.

Posted by: DeathUmbreon May 12 2010, 02:25 PM

Lugia is a Psychic/Flying type but can learn water type moves and not all dragons breathe fire,some may breathe ice.


Lugia's body makes it look like a dragon but the wings make it look like a bird.Since people are saying Lugia is a Wyvern,I have to agree with them.But aren't Wyverns related to or a species of dragon?

Posted by: Pokemancer May 12 2010, 04:45 PM

I've always thought of it as a Dragon-type, and that it's wings ARE arms and it uses Telekinesis (Psychic Powers) in order to fly.
That is all.

Posted by: ShadowZoroark May 16 2010, 04:03 AM

I'm sure that Lugia's a Dragon, but has similarities to a bird. So, Lugia's like a mix between both.

Posted by: Vampire Princess Mitsuki Jun 19 2010, 11:25 AM

Lugia's my fave Poke ever, but it's never really crossed my mind which one he is... Lets just say he's a mix of both, but I think he's mostly a dragon! Whether he's a bird or a dragon, his fans will always love him!! <3

Posted by: Master Element Jun 19 2010, 12:15 PM

Really, he hasmore dragon votes?

He isn't, he's a bird. Easy as that

Posted by: JohnRichard1991 Jun 19 2010, 03:19 PM

Bird. It is not Dragon type.

Posted by: Royolis Jul 1 2010, 01:55 PM

Bird because I call it a penguin that can fly. I call it a penguin because it spends most of it's time in the water, like penguins. My logic is simple.

Posted by: MagicFantasy Jul 1 2010, 02:20 PM

yea it looks more of a dragon that it does a bird..

Posted by: Lil Bit Jul 1 2010, 02:24 PM

Personally, I always thought of it as a bird, mainly because of the movie and the entire thing with Ho-Oh also being a bird, and the other three birds of the elements being a big part of its story.

Maybe it is a combination of the two, I'd like to think so, there are types of dragons that have feathers or fur instead of just scales, after all.

Posted by: Cubone6792 Jul 7 2010, 11:26 AM

= Dragon= =

Posted by: Kradiocan Jul 16 2010, 06:26 PM

is a dragon. Sure, he's flying and not dragon, but most dragons in their highest evolution that aren't dragon/ground or something are flying....maybe they just wanted the Flying/Flying to and Ya know?

Posted by: King Gumball Jul 21 2010, 05:55 AM

I always thought of Lugia as a bird thingy

Posted by: AvalonKnight Jul 23 2010, 06:59 PM

Compare Lugia to Ho-oh

Ho-oh:Has Plumage, Beak, and talons.

Lugia:Has beak(kinda), has no plumage or talons, usually is not very active and like to hide itself, as most dragons do.

The above leads me to believe that Lugia is more dragon than bird.

Posted by: Black Ice Jul 23 2010, 07:21 PM

I've always considered it a bird and I'm not going to stop.

Posted by: steelTitan Jul 24 2010, 05:59 PM

Its more like a dragon, but with bird wings without the feathers.

Posted by: Jtao Jul 28 2010, 01:53 PM

I think it was supposed to be a Dragon, but they still wanted it to be flying and psychic types, as it could fly.

I think in this generation it would have been Dragon/Psychic with the Levitate ability. Who knows?

I voted bird.

Posted by: Drunkenwhale Aug 24 2010, 10:19 AM

Dragon.

Take note, Gold/Silver/Crystal and even more so in HeartGold/SoulSilver the game is exploring the pokemon as worshiped deities.

They never have stated that Lugia was a bird pokemon, fans gathered that because Lugia is the leader of the legendary birds. It's like saying Ho-Oh is a cat/dog/beast because it's the leader of the legendary beasts.

The reasons for it's typing seem to be a mystery. Flying would help make it a counterpart to Ho-Oh, as well as establishing Aeroblast as the perfect signature move. Psychic could be because of it's status as a deity, being enlightened (Ho-Oh being Fire/Flying because of the Phoenix motif). It's not Dragon type because out of the two, Lugia would be the obvious choice if it was, abilities were not yet implemented in the system to make it Psychic/Dragon with Levitiate, and it would lose STAB from Aeroblast if it wasn't flying, meanwhile it would be 4X weak to Ice if it was Dragon/Flying, the 4X weakness to Ice something in common with pseudo-legendaries. And I have no idea why it can't be a Water type considering Ryūjin is the Dragon god of the sea.

Posted by: Knightrunner Aug 26 2010, 07:12 PM

Although Lugia is based off of a dragon, it never fell into the draconic category for me.

It may have 'hand-like' wings, but there's a type of bird that lives in the Amazon that's actually born with a claw on it's wing. It uses the claw to grasp branches and the like to prevent it from falling to the ground. When they fledge they loose the claw. But there are birds out there with claws.

Also, there are a lot of birds that 'swim': Penguins, Cormorants, and to a lesser extent some ducks and sea birds.

Lugia for me would count as a bird. The shape of it's mouth to me personally reads 'beak-like'. Look at Lugia's head and imagine what the shape of it's skull would be.

There are long-necked birds out there, look at Ostrich, Swans, Emus and most water-wading birds (herens and egrets).

The tail argument is a little tougher. I'd say the tail was made to echo that of a whale or dolphin. This way it actually can swim using it's tail more so then it's wings, the same argument can be said about its 'paddle-like' feet.

The very existence of the Silver Wing in the video games says that it has feathers. Look at other bird pokemon: just because Piplup doesn't have visible feathers in it's sprite doesn't mean it doesn't have them! Even to a lesser extent Torchic, who has fluff on it's neck but no 'visible' fluffiness (not talking about the crest but the orange down) on it's head doesn't mean it has a bald head and body!

Posted by: Far east Aug 27 2010, 07:01 PM

It suppose to be a Legendary bird... It is even a bird type.. but it seems it was based on a dragon.. looks a lot like one....

It's a though choice so I call it both.. A wyvern.. i think..

Posted by: Ashisogi Sep 18 2010, 04:04 PM

My logic is that since it is paired up with the legendary birds in the movie, it should be a bird too
But now that I think about it, it should be a dragon because it is like the master of the other three...
But then again, shouldn't it be a bird because it is paired with Ho-oh?
Or maybe it's a dragon because it is the opposite to Ho-oh...
I'm confusing myself

Posted by: Zero Gravity Dec 10 2010, 01:44 PM

I'd prefer he where a bird...

But then again if he was a Dragon it would be "Dragon vs Phoenix"

Posted by: BarkAtTheMoon Dec 10 2010, 09:06 PM

I assumed he was a bird, but I never really thought much about it. He looks more birdlike to me. Dragon pokemon tend to be kinda clunky looking, lugia is pretty sleek. Meh...

Posted by: JSG Dec 10 2010, 10:31 PM

Durragon. When its being reffered as 'beast', dragons are basically like mythical/mystical beasts. With power. Many say flying types would be a bird, but alas, they are half right. Most flying types are birds, like Pidgey or Starly. But sume flying types are not birds. Some aren't even close, like Gyrados or Shinboraa.

Although, if it was called 'bird type' then I'd might go with bird.

Posted by: Zenith of Regulus Dec 10 2010, 11:01 PM

Bird..
Why?
because he has feathers...(silver wing)
and most of the dragons have arms or front legs which lugia doesn't have (even though he's wings looks like hands sometimes)
even if it is a dragon why doesn't he learn any dragon type moves...

the based off thing it's only the appearance not the pokemon entirely...

well that's my logic...

Posted by: Fencingwolf13 Dec 12 2010, 11:13 AM

Neither really, but it has more dragon features than that of a bird.

Posted by: Little Alien Girl Dec 17 2010, 01:34 PM

I guess I never even thought about it, I just always saw him as a bird. The face suggests more dragon but the rest of him seems more bird like.

You must remember that birds are said to have evolved from dinosaurs in real life so it's not horribly unrealistic that a bird may look more like a mythical reptile than just a bird.

Posted by: okpo May 10 2011, 10:35 AM

I think he`s a dragon

Posted by: Le Dernier Absoul May 31 2011, 07:08 AM

I think it's a hybrid! o3o

Posted by: shea4bigred Jun 4 2011, 07:22 PM

After looking at Lugia closely, I didn't get why they said Lugia was a bird, and I didn't get for these reasons. First Lugia does not have feathers, plus he doesn't really have wings. He has hands. He has spikes on his back, and he can learn many Dragon type moves. In the end, Ho-Oh is clearly more of a bird than Lugia will ever be.

Posted by: DarkAsh Jun 5 2011, 01:12 AM

I think it like a dragon than a bird

Posted by: Zaltys Jun 9 2011, 01:25 PM

Dragon.

Most flying-type Pokemon are birds, but not all.
Charizard is Fire/Flying, Gyarados is Water/Flying, Emolga is Electric/Flying, etc.

Furthermore, Lugia learns Dragon Rush. Only three other Pokemon learn it by levelling up: Dragonite, Garchomp and Hydreigon. All dragons.

...and dragon vs. phoenix is common theme in Japanese mythology.

Posted by: Joxer Oct 4 2012, 03:35 PM

I think a bit of both. most bird i think

Posted by: SilverLugia456 Nov 26 2012, 06:02 PM

This is something that I have often thought about when it comes to Lugia since its my favorite pokemon, to me I think it might be both because it has dragon features like its tail and the body figure but at the same time it maintains bird like features for example for the potential feathers and wings.

Posted by: Chrome Nov 26 2012, 08:29 PM

Dragon, I didn't' even know it was a bird until I looked closely at its mouth.
Which turned out to be a beak, and then I remembered about Ho-Oh..

Posted by: Tehpikachu Nov 26 2012, 09:44 PM

Then I suggest you play a little game called "Dragon Cave", where you'll some breeds to be quite the opposite!

Like this little cutie:

Posted by: Wolf Link Nov 26 2012, 10:05 PM

I'd say it's a dragon with bird wings, explaining the Silver Feather. But they're so fine that they're not seen, I guess.

Posted by: Fang Oerba Jan 5 2013, 07:53 PM

I think it looks more like a Dragon, because of the tail, the face and most of the body. Only the wings make it looks like a bird.