Top 10 Greatest Bug-Type Pokémon

True to its name, Beedrill is a Pokémon that resembles a bee or hornet with large drill or lance-like stingers for forelimbs. A Bug/Poison type, Beedrill’s deadly sting has been felt by many a trainer. As one of the first fully evolved Pokémon players can get in the first games, Beedrill is not especially strong, but its status as a teaching tool for inexperienced trainers and its simple, striking appearance is nostalgic for many Pokémon fans. Beedrill did get a significant upgrade in power though when it received the ability to Mega evolve into an even pointier form. Hell yeah.

A spongy sort of creature encased in a hard shell, Forretress is a bug with cannon-like protrusions encased in a hard outer shell, that lives up to the impenetrability of its name. Blessed with the fantastic Bug/Steel typing and strong defense, this Pokémon may not have the flash of some of our other entries, but it remains one of the most consistently popular “walls” in the series, able to tank hits and set up support moves with impunity. Just don’t let it anywhere near fire!

What if a leaf insect was really a combination of a leaf and an insect? Leavanny is a Bug/Grass Pokémon that resembles an upright version of the walking leaves of the real world. Sporting a leafy “coat” and sunny yellow face with a permanent grin, Leavanny is a Pokemon that doesn’t excel in one area in particular, but is a good all-rounder. Its general usefulness and endearing design and charming personality is on full display in the anime, where the perpetual protagonist Ash had a particularly memorable Leavanny of his own.

If real dragonflies looked like this pocket monster, we’d be afraid to step out the bloody door!
Yanmega is an enormous Bug/Flying Pokémon boasting a badass design. The monstrous dragonfly features excellent special attack and speed, making it a formidable opponent to fight and a great asset to have on any trainer’s team. Its formidable abilities and appearance even helped the never-ending joke that is Team Rocket with some moderate success - so you know it’s gotta’ be pretty good!

We’re drawn to this Pokémon like moths to a flame! Volcarona seems to have been built around that adage, since it’s a Bug/Fire type. This flame moth has a contradictory appearance, as it manages to look simultaneously threatening, with its six large, red wings and strangely shaped eyes, and kind of cute, with its itty-bitty legs and fluffy body. D’aww. It’s also a special powerhouse, with great special attack and defense, and a move set to back it up. Given all this, along with its, so far, unique typing, it’s not hard to see why so many love this bug.

The fusion of a once extinct Pokémon and advanced technology, courtesy of Team Plasma, Genesect combines the past and the future to make an awesome Bug in the present. Another Bug/Steel type, Genesect embodies that combo better than most, with its robo-creepy crawly getup. Blessed with the highest total stats on our list today, Genesect boasts excellent attack and special attack that can put its cannon to good use.

A counterpart to Beedrill, Butterfree is another early Bug Pokémon that taught us all what evolution was. However, while Beedrill received a lot more renewed attention due to its mega evolution, Butterfree remains pretty mediocre in battle, at least by comparison to most entries on our list. That’s not to say it doesn’t have plenty of use early on though, as this Bug/Flying type has good special attack and plenty of powder moves to entrance its foes. All in all though, Butterfree’s adorable appearance and synonymy with the typing means that it remains near and dear to many Pokemon fans’ hearts.

Resembling a pissed off stag beetle, Pinsir and its namesake pincers are formidable indeed. This purely Bug type Pokemon features a monstrous attack power, burly defense, and some impressively strong moves, making it a real powerhouse. Its ability to mega evolve only serves to grant it the ability to fly, a stronger ability, more spikes, and make it look even MORE PISSED! With its plain, but distinctive look, surly disposition, and great strength, it’s hardly surprising that Pinsir remains a popular Bug for players to scoop up.

Okay, okay, this is the last Bug/Steel type, we promise! (Seriously though, that’s an awesome combo) Anyway, Scizor looks like a mix of a praying mantis, a crab, and a damned robot; making for a fantastic Pokemon design. As strong physically as Pinsir, but with the added bonus of a more defensive typing, Scizor can also mega evolve to increase its power and its coolness to even greater heights. Scizor is just an all-around spectacular Pokémon, though it’s lacking in one area that our next entry may have over it.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
VespiquenN
Ninjask
Buzzwole

Shaped like a rhinoceros beetle, Heracross has a minimalistic appearance and is rather cute too, in a goofy sort of way. A Bug/Fighting type, this Pokémon, like our last few entries, has great physical attack and defense, and those strengths get turned up to ridiculous when it mega evolves; increasing almost as much as its horn size. Heracross combines power and adorable appeal into one potent package, so it’s only natural that the blue beetle battler is our pick for the best Bug Pokémon of them all.