158: Totodile
Totodile may be my least favorite among these three, but I find it much more appealing than Squirtle. Crocodiles are rad as hell and are one of the instantly recognizable animals, perfect for a starter Pokemon. It's almost a surprise Gen 1 didn't have any crocodiles, but ey. Can't get all the animals.
I like how excited Totodile is usually portrayed. The big mouth and wide eyes just make it look like an exaggerated baby lizard. Especially with how a marking on its eye looks a bit like an eye socket, which its actual eye is popping out of. Gives Totodile a very excitable energy, which was definitely its personality back in the day especially.
Personal Score: 7/10
159: Croconaw
I think Croconaw is the first true "awkward teenager" stage that plagues Starter Pokemon to this day. It's relatively inoffensive on its own, but it sticks out like a sore thumb between Totodile and Feraligatr. The shorter snout is an odd addition that's thinking a bit outside the box for a crocodile creature, for sure, but it does at least somewhat feel like that removes a lot of its gator-ness and makes it a somewhat generic lizard.
It also has a caveman motif? With a stereotypical, Flintstones-like leotard with spots on it, a strap that only goes over one shoulder, and everything. Why? This isn't a theme present in Totodile or Feraligatr either, so it's just weird being here.
Personal Score: 5.5/10
160: Feraligatr
160: FeraligatrThankfully Feraligatr bucks the trend... at least in the sense that I like it just about the same amount that I like Totodile. It's a fairly competently made anthropomorphized crocodilian design with a lot of patches over its body which look a lot like bony plating, or scales. Its saurian aspects definitely fit in with the 'gator look, simply because crocodiles are pretty ancient animals that have changed very little over the course of millions of years. Especially vs. actual dinosaurs, which became birds over just a few million years, comparatively.
That said, I'd like Feraligatr better if it was still more like its old self. Yes, another old sprite vs 3D model comparison, but look at the difference in physiology. Classic Feraligatr looks so much more hunched over and meatier, so much STRONGER, even. "Chonky" as the young'uns call it, I suppose. Compare that to new Feraligatr, which lost so much of its mass, isn't leaned forward as much, even had its head and mouth shrink, and looks overall less monstrous and cool because of it. What seems like such minute changes can make a world of difference, and Feraligatr's a really good example of that.
As a more general issue, I'm really not sure what the "V" on its pelvis is meant to be. It looks a little too artificial to organically mesh with the rest of the design, and I really would've prefered if it just had a yellow underbelly instead.
This is another one that the Gen 2 starter turns into a stretch, annoyingly enough. But what seems to be the overarching theme of Water starters is weaponry. If not utilizing a weapon itself, then at least having a notable weapon motif on it somewhere. This gets way more obvious with future generations, but Blastoise obviously has the cannons on its shoulders. Feraligatr, like Typhlosion, is the odd one out where you kinda have to stretch it to get it to fit. But given the strength of crocodile bites, there is reason to believe it takes after a beartrap in this regard. Either that, or clawed brass knuckles given how oddly human-like its claws are.
Personal Score: 7/10
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