Ferrothorn have long been used throughout Unovan history as palace guards, for there are few pokemon more adept at scaring assassins. Not only is touching a Ferrothorn itself extremely painful, but these pokemon possess strong defenses and many techniques such as leech seed, which compound the damage of their touch. Even bold schemes such as sneaking Wailord into the moat often end in failure against these pokemon, for their attacks harm all creatures almost equally.

The only reliable way to take out a Ferrothorn is fire, and although royals have long acknowledged this weakness, they have paid it little mind, for there is a far better way to use fire to kill a man; why bother sneaking in a fire-type to confront Ferrothorn when you can burn the whole palace down? Anti-fire tactics have therefore typically relied on moats and firemen, although some paranoid men have included Rain Dance and Occa Berries to enhance their guard's defenses to great success.

Ferrothorn bodyguards were typically not kept in poke balls, but worn as body armor, with another lightweight metal sheet in the way to protect the wearer from their spikes. These creatures were disguised as part of the outfit – an easier feat in that age of heavy grey clothing and body armor – and their vines, painted a metal gray, were understood as straps. They would shift to absorb the first blow any assassins offered, injuring their fangs or breaking their blades in the process, and then leap from their king into a battle from which their unprepared opponents more often than not failed, and rarely won if they fought on.

Although it was once widely thought Ferrothorn were abolished with either gunpowder, the end of plate mail, or republican democracy, scattered rumors continue of controversial politicians protecting themselves with these pokemon.