Ranking All 151 Original Pokémon From Worst To Best

1. Charizard

Can I possibly get away with just writing "Charizard is the greatest Pokémon in generation 1 because it just very obviously is"? Probably not, but what follows is largely just a fleshing out of that concept.

Charizard is not the best attacking Pokémon, or the quickest, or the toughest. It doesn't learn the best moves or have several different applications in competitive battles. It isn't the most famous or the one you'll see front and centre of toy lines or billboards. You did not have a Charizard lunchbox when you were little, and you don't have one on your keyring now. However it just doesn't matter, Charizard is the greatest Pokémon in generation 1, possibly even ever.

Ask anyone who has played the games or watched the show who their favourite is and 9/10 they'll give you this name without even thinking about it. Maybe it's because in a game where even the most ferocious creatures carried typical Japanimation designs, Charizard was not only based on a European-style dragon but genuinely distinctively mean.

It was the mascot for Red and then later for pretty much the entire first gen, its original trading card now auctions for between $5000-$6000, and without ever being "the best" in any department its still a firm favourite of players two decades after its debut in the game series.

Charizard is the greatest Pokémon In generation 1, because it just very obviously is.

--

What are your top 10s? Let us know in the comments!