The 10 Absolute Best Past Paradox Pokemon [Ranked]

Great Tusk

Great Tusk is my personal favorite Past Paradox Pokemon. It has a fantastic prehistoric look that makes it feel like it could be an ancestor for Donphan. It looks and feels right out of the ancient past.

Its direct counterpart, Iron Treads, is one of the best Future Paradox Pokemon, but between the two, it's hardly a competition as Great Tusk is just that much better than Iron Treads.

This Pokemon has seen a whole lot of use in competitive play, making it one of the best competitive Pokemon in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet era.

Great Tusk has a lot of cool points: top notch design, it's a very powerful Paradox Pokémon, and a totally unique type combination. With great moves like Headlong Rush and Close Combat.

Great Tusk has everything it needs carve out a very successful niche for itself as one of the strongest Paradox Pokémon.

Great stats and an awesome movepool make Great Tusk an easy choice for the best Past Paradox Pokemon.

Koraidon (Winged King)

The box art Legendary Pokemon for Pokemon Scarlet, Koraidon is a past Paradox form for Cyclizar, much like its direct counterpart from Pokémon Violet, Miraidon.

Koraidon is one of the best lizard Pokemon too, but its strong Paradox design has let it rank highly here as well. Koraidon looks like an ancient dinosaur, if that dinosaur was also somehow a motorbike. It's a weird design choice, but I like it.

The vestigial tire on its neck is a weak point of the design, but it does help make Koraidon fit nicely into its family of Pokemon.

And Koraidon is a very powerful Paradox Pokemon. Unique to Pokemon Scarlet, Koraidon plays a major role in the story and plot of Pokémon Scarlet and also serves as the player character's constant companion, allowing players to traverse the wilds of Paldea with ease on the back of their very own Paradox Pokémon.

Walking Wake

Walking Wake is one of the best Paradox Pokemon period. This past Paradox Pokemon is seemingly an ancestor to the extremely popular Legendary Pokemon Suicune, and in Pokemon Scarlet it's received a totally awesome prehistoric make-over.

For me, Walking Wake is a great design, taking the elegance and sophistication of Suicune and giving it a brutal twist. This is an awesome Paradox form because it looks like the original but goes in a different direction, giving it space to be unique.

Released in a pair with Iron Leaves, a future Paradox Pokemon counterpart for Virizion, Walking Wake has by far the better design and typing.

For me, the Pokemon Scarlet Paradox Pokemon designs almost all outclass those from Pokémon Violet, and the difference between Walking Wake and Iron Leaves shows this off really well. Walking Wake adds something different to the original design, while Iron Leaves just make it a bit robotic.

That's why Walking Wake gets the third place spot on this list!

Slither Wing

Slither Wing is one of the best Bug type Pokemon due to its great movepool and nice typing. This Paradox Pokemon from Pokemon Scarlet is a great choice in a range of scenarios.

It has a fantastic design, one which really shows off its lore as it just looks like a Pokemon that could one day become Volcarona.

I like Slither Wing because it feels halfway between Larvesta and Volcarona, while offering something new. Its Bug and Fighting type moves are really great, and its high Attack stat makes it great in battle.

Its Pokemon Violet Future Paradox counterpart, Iron Moth, is also great to use against Grass type Pokemon.

Flutter Mane

Flutter Mane looks like a Misdreavus that forgot to get its hair cut, but honestly, I'm here for it. This is a fun design which captures the look of the original Pokemon while giving it a nice little redesign.

And Flutter Mane gets a powerful new type to go with its new look, being a dual type Ghost and Fairy type Pokemon. Fairy type is a really good type, with some good type advantages against powerful types like Dragon type.

Flutter Mane has three type immunities, and its phenomenal Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed stats make it an insanely powerful Paradox Pokémon. This Pokemon is great in battle, with a nicely varied movepool.

Roaring Moon

Roaring Moon has a really great design, bringing back a fan favorite Mega Evolved form and wrapping it up in a brand new Pokemon. Roaring Moon looks like Mega Salamence but with all the flair expected from a past Paradox form.

For me, Roaring Moon is great, and I like it much more than Mega Salamence. The Mega Form design was a bit too clean in my opinion, but Roaring Moon has just enough extra to make it feel right.

And its fantastic Attack and Speed make it great to use in battle, especially with its very nice movepool, and it just looks awesome. Many players use Roaring Moon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raids, where it can be a fantastic choice.

Brute Bonnet

Brute Bonnet is probably one of my least favorite Paradox Pokémon. That said, Brute Bonnet has a niche of its own in competitive play, and it's a good Pokemon.

It's just not one of my favorite Paradox Pokémon designs to come out of either Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet. It feels a little bit lazy, especially compared with other great Paradox Pokémon like Walking Wake or Slither Wing.

But Brute Bonnet has a good Attack stat and its defense stats make it reasonably bulky. Added to its ability to use great utility move, Spore, and Brute Bonnet sees decent use in doubles formats.

Raging Bolt

Raging Bolt's reveal was marred by controversy as some fans thought the design was absolutely ridiculous and ruined the overall look and feel of the Pokemon. That's totally valid, because it is absolutely ridiculous, but for me, Raging Bolt is a great Pokemon with a whole lot of charm.

Its silly long neck gives this Paradox Pokémon a whole new feel to its counterpart, popular Legendary Pokemon Raikou.

The design elements are great, from its long neck to the ruff around its head that looks like a storm cloud. It's not how I would have designed a Paradox Raikou, but I love it anyway. As Paradox Pokémon go it's pretty fun, and it gets a Signature Move in the form of Thunderclap, too.

And it blows its competition, Iron Crown, from Pokemon Violet clear out of the water.

Scream Tail

Scream Tail is basically just a Jigglypuff on a bad hair day. But that's okay, since it's a cute and adorable Pokemon and its new Psychic type gives it a new use case.

And it's way more powerful than Jigglypuff is, even being stronger than Jigglypuff's evolution, Wigglytuff.

So for fans of Jigglypuff Scream Tail is an absolute win. It has a decent movepool but its attacking stats are quite frankly, bad. Still, its defensive stats are better, which means Scream Tail can have a bit more utility defensively.

Although even then Scream Tail is a Paradox Pokémon that's just not that useful compared with its fellows.

Sandy Shocks

For me, Sandy Shocks represents a rare miss. This Paradox form has decent utility and fun lore, but its overall design fell flat.

Most Paradox Pokémon from Pokemon Scarlet are pretty great, with a strong design theme, but Sandy Shocks is one of the Paradox Pokémon which just didn't do it for me.

It has a high Special Attack and a nice movepool, with a fun new Ground type, but it just doesn't stand out in what's a very stiff competition, leading to its low spot on this list.