Okay i often hear about raikou entei and suicune and that they are dogs. I respectfully disagree. First i beleive Nintendo calls them beasts and I beleive they are more feline than canine. Here is why.

Raikou: hmm where to begin. Okay raikou has three defining features that make me say cat. Ill explain one on entei since it supports him more than raikou. First his teeth. Those are sabertooth fangs and that was a cat. Dogs do not have teeth that big at all. The second is the design on raikou's legs. They look kinda like stripes and tigers have stripes not dogs. Hence I feel that raikou was based off a tiger.

Entei: Okay first off look at his head. He has a sort of mane which is a lion's look. Second is his build and his stance which both resemble a lions (raikous also resemble a tiger). Next his legs (this also is a point for raikou). They are bulky and designed to hurt not run (the same can be said for raikou and his legs). Dogs in particular run a lot and those are not running legs they are fighting legs or feline legs.

Suicune: Sigh i do not have a good debate for suicune since it has sort of a dogs build and is posed running on serebii. The most I can say is leopard, since its pose sort of resembles the way a leopard runs and in the anime it was shown to run like a cat not a dog. That and its face says cat not dog. The only other thing i can think of is that why two cats and one dog? Wouldn't three cats make more sense.

Well post whether you think they are dogs or cats.

Gerbils. Big fluffy gerbils.

They're called The Legendary Beasts, canonically, for a reason, you know.

And anyway, PokeMon are PokeMon, NOT Earth species their designs are vaguely based on.

I think the beasts are an amalgam of different carnivora features. Not quite dog-like, not quite cat-like. Bits of both gobbled together. (shrugs)

I know they are called the beasts, but i always here them as dogs so i am arguing they are more feline (which I do beleive)

Dogs. Always have been dogs, always will be dogs. There's no cat resemblance at all. To me, anyway.

I just call them beasts, because they have similarities to both. Why does it always have to be one or the other for people?

This is like an argument I once saw about whether Arcanine was feline or canine. It's similar to both and really its neither because it's something entirely different.


If I were forced to say which they were more similar to:

Entei looks closer to feline because of his short muzzle and "mane." Although somewhat canine, considering some dogs do have that kind of muzzle structure.

Raikou looks closer to feline because of the short muzzle, sabertooth fangs, stripes, and face structures that resemble whiskers.

Suicune looks mostly canine because of the longer muzzle. The rest of the body and the patterning is rather feline though.

Damn it, I thought I would be the first to call them the gerbils

For that is what they are - The three legendary gerbils

D. O. G. S.
Always have been, always will been.
[no, no typo]

I've never seen the reffered to as legandary cats before Yes, they do have some feline traits, but thats why we call them beasts, not dogs or cats. Or at least I do anyway.

Hm... Now I think that they're half-dogs and half-cats. xD

Meh, let's just call them beasts. lol

what dogs do you see them as? Im curious.

A saber tooth tiger, lion, and panther are dogs now? News to me

They're GERBILS

They will always be Gerbils. I see no Cat or Dog Resemblance.

I say that they're mixes of both cats and dogs.

They are beasts after all.

For me it looks like they are a mix of both. But raikou's butt reminds me of a baboon XD .

ive honestly never heard them called the legendary BEASTS, just the legendary DOGS

I've heard these Pokemon called different things during the course of time since they've been out. Legendary Beasts, Dogs and Cats.

Perasonally, to me, they're BEASTS. Yes, they look like felines, so I think they are based off of them, but there are dog like features to them as well, especially Suicune. So, instead of calling them dogs or cats, Nintendo just picked Beasts because that's pretty much what they are. A mixture of cats and dogs... therefore they are beasts.

But, I guess you can call them anything you like. It's your choice on whether they are cats, dogs or beasts. It's all in how you see them.

I think that they're all different?
I think Raikou is based off of a saber-tooth tiger. Long teeth and claws etc. (Thundercat? xD)
Entei is based off of a dog even though he lacks a muzzle. His feet don't have claws and to me they way he is built is more dog-like.
Suicune is like a mixture of both. The body is built cat-like with dog paws.
So to me they're beasts since they each look different. c:

I think the artist in charge of designing them just scribbled a bunch of different features together to make them look cool. Mabey Entei is bear based, Raikou is tiger based, and Suicune is a wolf? They're beasts though. Go ahead I dare you to draw 3 mammal like beasts without them looking like any animal in particular : P

Sorry, but I have always thought it quite obvious that Entei is a Lion, Raikou is a Tiger, and Suicune is a Wolf.

I see the lion in Entei now!

Okay first i must know; where did the legendary beasts=gerbil thing happen? Next i debate suicune as a wolf because lets look at wolfs for a second. Granted on the legs (though lots of cats have thin legs such as leopards, cheetahs (i do not believe suicune is a cheetah due to base speed), and panthers (which i beleive suicune is). First there are two pieces of evidence which point to suicune not being a wolf. The first is its speed. Wolves are fast, suicune, not so much. Second all the non-uber legendaries come in trios: three birds, three beasts, three golems (that's what i think the regis are), and three pixies. 2 cats and a dog? Breacks the mold dont it?

They're felines. I hardly see any dog resemblances in them, except Suicune.

They're obviously gerbils.

Really, they have both feline and canine characteristics. I've always called them the Legendary Gerbils Dogs, though.

Suicune is definately a dog, raikou half and half, entei more a big cat. Id still regard them all as dogs though.

They are THE THREE LEGENDARY DOGS....you cant change that because you think they look like cats.
<.<

Hmm. Dogs, though Suicune looks more like a cat.

Sorry for posting on such a old post, but I thought bring this up rather than start a new one, right?

To me, they are cats. Always have been and always will be. I cannot comprehend how someone can see them even remotely like dogs, and it ticks me off to constantly see Suicune portrayed as a wolf. What the hell are the leopard spots, if not for decoration, are for if he's a wolf, hm? Raikou is a tiger in my mind, with entei a lion, and suicune a leopard. I could go on and on and argue all day, but I can't change someone's mind, and I know that (if it isn't obvious, I hate dogs). For me, Raikou looks most obviously like a tiger, a big cat, and why would the other two be dogs if he was a big cat? Everything in Pokemon comes in threes nowadays- triple battles, Legendary trios, three starters, three evolutions...one cat/two dogs...um...

Which brings me to, beasts. Like Beast from Beauty and the Beast. He doesn't look like either cat or dog, so he's a beast. So the cats are beasts. I'll still view them as cats, though. Unless they're all hyenas... A zoo told me once that people mistook hyenas for either a cat or dog...when they're neither both...hmm...

While I will admit they look more like cats then dogs, they are known as the Legendary Beasts, and have qualities of both animal species.

I have always heard them referred to as dogs by the few people I know who like pokemon, but I always thought they looked mor elike cats.

I guess beasts makes more sense

Entei: puppy
Raikou: Saber toothed tiger kitty
Suicune: a Cog or a Dat

I don't see why it matters what you call them, really. They're just Pokémon. I just refer to them as 'Johto's legendary trio' or 'Entei, Raikou, and Suicune'.

From my point of wiew, they are more feline-like. Suicune is very leopard-like, while Raikou definetly resembles a sabre-toothed tiger and Entei a Lion of some kind. But again, its JUST MY POINT of wiew. Arguing is worthless because they were designed to have both canine and feline features, even though fans have chosen to call them "The Dog trio".

According to bulpedia, they resemble, first of all, a Quilin and I agree Let 'em be beasts.

In my opinion it looks like they are a mix of both, dog and cat.

They are meant to have the characteristics of both canines and felines. It doesn't really matter to me what they look like.

I consider them to be hyenas. Hyenas look like cats, but upon closer inspection, they're dogs. They have both feline and canine characteristics.

yay i finally get to debate xD

first off I strongly believe they are Cats, why? because what kind of dog do you know of that roars? also their eyes, I'm pretty sure they have cat eyes. Also they look like they don't have tails but as you can see all three of them have tails right on their back, Long, Flowing Tails! you can see Raikou has a tail and so does Suicune well he has 2 lol and Entei has one like a long haired cat a big fluffy tail. and Lastly you can obviously see the way that their legs are built big bulky and furry like larger cats

Raikou: what dog has black stripes and big teeth, and whiskers? none cause I'm pretty sure they don't. he's more like a Tiger or Saber tooth Tiger.

Entei: also Entei roars as you see in the 3rd pokemon movie, and dogs don't roar they growl and bark, plus he has a mane like a Lion and big paws.

Suicune: OK he was a little hard to see at first but now I see him as a Leopard or a Cheetah cause of how skinny he is and the way he runs, well he sprints more than runs, at first he looked a little like a bobcat cause bobcats have spots and hair on their chin...also when he roars in the Celebi movie it does sound like a bark or a howl, but I listened closer and he sounded more like one of those rare Asian Leopards when they roar.

well this was fun...I know for a fact these are big cats not just because I love cats but you can see a lot of cat in them than dog...and it ticks me off cause I see a lot of these forums and see the people explaining what breed of big cat these pokemon look like but for some odd reason NO ONE has explained what dog breed they think they look like so if you know or think of a breed to call these pokemon let me know cause I would love to know xP

I think they are dogs

I call them beasts. They have characteristics of both. I used to call them dogs but they do have more big cat-like characteristics.

Going by Bulbapedia they're each a hybrid of a mythological creature and an animal. Raikou is a Raijū/saber-toothed tiger, Entei a Chinese guardian lion/regular lion, and Suicune a Qilin/cheetah (or leopard). There are a few other influences as well but those are the main ones.

So yeah, they were based on creatures that were a mash of animals to begin with, haha. The Qilin alone has traits of giraffes, deer, big cats, AND unicorns.