Lugia: guardian of the seas

Too strong for the surface

The two original Pokédex entries tell you most of what you need. Pokémon Gold: "It is said that it quietly spends its time deep at the bottom of the sea because its powers are too strong." Pokémon Silver: "It is said to be the guardian of the seas. It is rumored to have been seen on the night of a storm" (Bulbapedia).

In the games it lives in the Whirl Islands. The lore says it moved there after the Brass Tower in Ecruteak City was destroyed 150 years earlier, and you need the Silver Wing to reach it (Bulbapedia). It is on the box of both Pokémon Silver and, years later, SoulSilver.

Born from a movie script

Here is the part most people do not know. Lugia started as a film idea, not a game one. The anime's chief writer, Takeshi Shudo, was writing the second movie around a character called "Pokémon X" — described as a creator of all life that symbolized ocean currents, and a maternal figure. That role was eventually filled by Lugia, with its name and design created by someone else. Lugia was not even in the 1997 demo of Gold and Silver; it only showed up in the 1999 one (Bulbapedia).

In that film, The Power of One, Lugia is at the centre of the legend of Shamouti Island. When the three legendary birds fight over territory, Lugia is the only one who can calm them — and it cannot do it alone. It needs a partner. It speaks to humans by telepathy and can calm or create storms (Bulbapedia).

The designs behind it are a mix: a sea dragon from Shinto myth called Ryūjin, herons, grebes, and possibly the beluga whale, whose name and white body may have fed into Lugia's own (Bulbapedia).

On cardboard

Lugia's first English card is Neo Genesis #9/111, illustrated by Hironobu Yoshida, and it carries that Gold Pokédex line about hiding at the bottom of the sea (Bulbapedia). Neo Genesis had a 1st Edition print run, so check for the stamp under the left corner of the artwork before you do anything else. Our note on 1st Edition, Shadowless and Unlimited shows what to look for.