Was looking for where this was said. I actually would like to see what people think about Hariyama. I like stuff with fat HP, hence Drufblim and why I mentioned AV Wailord elsewhere. Also why I've at least thought about Wigglytuff, even if I found it to be lacking. I don't like pink blobs very much, but other high HP stuff sure.
Anyways, Haritama has three nice abilities in Guts, Thick Fat, and Sheer Force-none of the other fightings mentioned or really any fightings have three good abilities. 144/ 120/ 60/ 40/ 60/ 50 stats are kinda odd, but I think good overall. A high HP can make up for defenses that are low but not absurdly so, and base 120 Atk hits plenty hard even if other fightings have more. And don't forget possible Sheer Force elemental punches. Spe is low, but at least a tiny bit higher than Conk.
Move pool wise Hariyama is good but doesn't have too much over the other fighting types. It has Belly Drum, but Bullet Punch instead of Mach Punch for priority so it's not that great, and has to compete Azu and I suppose Slurpuff for the Sitrus Berry. Any fighting type pretty much has Counter, but high HP and fairly low Def mean Hari is the best user of it.
Other than that, the main move is Whirlwind. I've never used Hari, and so I'm not gonna argue for it. It just looks relatively good and I wanna kno if other peeple think it has potential. It clearly sees like no use, and I'd like to kno why.
I think in singles Hari is nearly 100% outclassed by Conkeldurr. Conkeldurr also has Sheer Force and the Elemental but prefers the better Iron Fist if you're not going Guts. It's defensive stats besides are honestly pretty pathetic (same as a Mienshao's) and make it 2hkoed by most neutral attacks. It's also a pain to make ev spreads for those type of pokemon. Hariyama can handle Charizard Y better because of Thick Fat but doesn't like Charizard X. I don't think the extra speed is very helpful; all it does is make you tie with Mawile and Azumarill things you don't want to fight anyway. While 120 Attack is fine it's coverage moves are pretty weak and Close Combat isn't incredibly powerful without a boosting item which are very hard to run on it. I honestly don't see a reason to run a slow fighting type besides Conkeldurr in singles.
In doubles Hariyama actually has a small niche as a fighting-type Fake Outer with Guts but is still usually outclassed by Scrafty or even Hitmontop.
The quote was me, Omastar. :P
Hariyama doesn't have much reason to use Sheer Force; Force Palm gets a solid 118 Base power with no Def drops, but at the same time is still 62 points under Close Combat, and it's afraid of Burns, and it doesn't wall quite as much. Lack of LO recoil is cool though.
So it's mostly used for tankish, Thick Fat + AV sets, or in Doubles it's commonly seen as a nuclear Guts + Flame Orb TR wrecking ball with Fake Out support; but that's basically only seen in Doubles, I can't imagine justification in Singles.
Whirlwind isn't used much by simple virtue of Hariyama's massive 4MSS, plus high AV usage also kills it.
Conk is for Drain Punch / longivity / physical bulk. Hariyama is for Thick Fat and massively superior Special tanking capability. Most neutral physical attacks will often 2HKO Hariyama lacking Sitrus Berry though, yes. It does hit enough to dodge the 2HKO from Jolly Lum Chomp though:
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Hariyama: 93-109 (42.4 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
But as I've said before, this is also true on Conkeldurr; it depends on Drain Punch recovery to survive a lot of the time and can be 2HKO'd on a switch in just as easily as other fat Fighting mons. The only fighting type that walks into Kangaskhan's Return and isn't 2HKO'd before they ever land a non-priority hit is Cobalion. Which is not a good pokemon in general, and dies to EQ / Low Kick anyway.
Conk and Hariyama both are completely demolished by +1 Char-X Outrage. I can't really count that against Hariyama. In fact, the ability to outright laugh at Char-Y, while basically forcing Char-X to lock itself into Outrage even at +2 thanks to Thick Fat, would be more in favor of Hariyama overall.
The bulk is much, much better than Mienshao; I'm stumbling over the comparision.
252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 135-160 (75 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hariyama: 191-227 (87.2 - 103.6%) -- 10.2% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mienshao: 191-227 (136.4 - 162.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
I wouldn't say it's a pain to EV though. Gargantuan HP and low Def/Sp. Def just means you invest in Def/Sp. Def instead of HP. Same reason bulky Rotom-W sets run max HP; shit HP + high defenses = invest in HP.
Doubles, Hariyama is the hyper offensive option for Trick Room Fake Out Fighting mon. Scrafty and Hitmontop are the much, much less offensive, bulkier / support options. TR is usually pretty offensive during those precious few turns.
But if we want a tl;dr just run Conk unless you need the Fire + Ice resists.
