Ranking of the Starters by Generation

1. Gen III - I love every single one of these starters and I also love every form of their evolutions.
2. Gen I - Ahhh... The originals. These are the ones that I grew up on. However, I'm not too fond of the 2nd evolution of all of these.
3. Gen V - I love the full evolution of Snivy and Oshowott. I don't really like the Tepig evolution.
4. Gen IV - Turtwig, Piplup, Infernape, Empoleon, and that's all.
5. Gen II - I love the Cyndaquil evolution and Tododile.
6. Gen VI - Honestly, I don't like any of the Gen VI starters. Maybe Froakie...

In terms of looks, it would have to gen one > two > six > four > three > five. Fifth-gen starters are my least favorite, because, well, I just don't feel that they've put enough effort into their designs. If they tried a little harder, then I'm sure they would have turned out better. And competitive-wise, it would have to be generation three > one > gen six > four > five > two. Swampert was introduced in gen three, which was quite a heavy staller. Not only that, but gen three had Blaziken as well—it was a great sweeper. Due to these reasons, generation three deserves the first spot. d:

Generation 2 - Love all the starters and each of their evolutions. Yes, shame that they're not dual typed but I've never had any complaints.

Generation 3 - The only one I don't really like out of like all three lines that much is Sceptile. Overall though they're also really amazing okay yes good.

Generation 1 - Nostalgia maybe? But I really so love the starters in this generations especially the midevos which to me are the most important hahaha. Guess you can put me in the minority or something there.

Generation 6 - Froakie Froakie Froakie Froakie Froakie. The other two are amazing as well and I love their typings.

Generation 4 - These guys have grown on me since I first played Generation 4 but... compared to the generations before I guess I just don't like 'em as much?

Generation 5 - In all honesty I really only like the entirety of the Snivy line. Tepig line? Only Tepig. Oshawott line? Only Dewott I guess. I like more of the gen 4 evolution likes than these guys ngl.

Hmm, seems tough to rank, but I'll try.

1. Gen III - My favorite batch of starters; I'd consider all nine of them pretty high up there in my favorites.

2. Gen II - This is the only generation in which I can't choose a favorite (or least favorite) starter.

3. Gen V - I grew to like all of them with a bit of time. Watching some LPs of PokéPark 2 helped a lot.

4. Gen VI - Great batch! I especially love Chespin's entire family. Fennekin's is pretty good too. Froakie's alright, but I think they're way too serious for me.

5. Gen IV - I like them, but I think the only ones I can consider favorites are Turtwig and Torterra. Conquest helped me like Infernape a bit better, solely because of its mischievous grin. :P Empoleon's pretty cool too.

6. Gen I - Blasphemy! I actually grew up with this generation, but I guess I grew kinda bored with these starters over the years. I still love Squirtle though!

I've never really knocked starters. I've always liked and used them on my teams. But for me, it'd have to go:

1) Gen 1: Blastoise will always be my favorite. Charizard is great. Venisaur isn't bad either. Gen 1 is perfect in my eyes.

2) Gen 4: I actually, really love Gen 4's lineup. Chimchar, Piplup, and Turtwig each have beast final evolutions in my opinion and great types.

3) Gen 3: Sceptile's design is the coolest. Blaziken and Swampert are nice too.

4) Gen 2: I too feel like the second gen. has some kind of "meh" starters, but I have a soft spot for Tododile.

5) Gen 5: I don't seem to care too much for the starters in this gen. They're not bad, but they just feel dull, so to speak.

6) Gen 6: The reason I put it so low, is because I haven't played X or Y yet. Looking forward to it, but I can't judge what I haven't seen. They do look like great starters though.

Okay, here's my take on the starters for each generation:

1st place: Kalos - All of their stats & movepools are actually done correctly. Two of them are fast & powerful (Fennekin & Froakie lines) & the third, the Chespin line, is a good physical tank. I would definitely see myself using all of them if I could.

2nd place: Sinnoh - I friggin' loved the Chimchar line. With proper breeding, I've made them into very flexible attackers that'll only roll over & die in the face of psychics, namely Alakazam & Lati@s. Turtwig lineup's a nice tank as well, but the Piplup lineup is rather lackluster, despite the final evo having a robust typing in water-steel.

3rd place: Hoenn - The one thing that surprises me the most in Gen 3 is me falling for the Treecko line. It has what few grass-types have: speed & power. The Mudkip lineup makes for a great bulky water. Torchic lineup is a bit on the lackluster side, as much as I hate to admit it...

4th place: Kanto - The first starter that I fell for was Charmander, but once Chimchar came along, it proved to be a stiff competitor. Still, I like the Charmander line. The other two don't really fit the bill when it comes to my core play-style.

5th place: Johto - The Cyndaquil line is a bit worse than the Charmander line, namely because it's a bit slower & doesn't have a second type. Then again, not having a second type can prove to be beneficial in some ways. Totodile lineup is a bit too slow for my liking, & all Chikorita could do is absorb special attacks.

Last place: Unova - All I've got to say about the Unova starters is, none of their stats make any sense. Snivy lineup has high speed, but also high defensive stats, which don't mix very well at all. Tepig line has lots of HP, but no defenses to back that up, & Oshawott has high Sp. Atk. but not much speed. A complete flop, if I say so myself.

& there you have it.

I love these kind of threads.

6. Gen V
My least favorite group of starters. I feel like there wasn't a lot of thought or creativity put into any of them and they came off as rather dull. The Oshawott line would probably be my favorite, but in use he proved to be kind of useless. Also, as much as I like Samurott, his stage in this evolutionary line makes no sense design-wise whatsoever.

5. Gen VI
I love this generation and I really do like the starters, but overall it places fifth. I love Froakie's evolutionary line, it's my favorite of the three. However, Braixen FTW! Still trying to adjust to Chespin's evolutions, but Chestnaught's Spiky Shield is cool! Quilladin is still embarassing to me.

4. Gen II
Don't get my wrong, I like all three of the Johto starters and I praise the second gen for having some of the best designed Pokémon. However, with no dual type they come off as pretty bland. Also, I honestly think the middle stages of all three are the ones that shine the most in terms of design. Totodile's evolutionary line is my favorite though followed by Cyndaquil's.

3. Gen IV
Originally, I wasn't much a fan of Monferno and Infernape. However, as time went on and I actually used it in-game and competitively, I really began to like it. I was already a big fan of Torterra and Empoleon from before so this just boosted up my likeness for this generation's starter Pokémon a lot. Torterra is still my fave though.

2. Gen I
There's nothing like the classics and I've always loved the Kanto starters. Although, like Gen II, it's their middle stages that I kind of like the best. That doesn't stop me from getting my Blastoise in the end though!

1. Gen III
Fun fact, I never used to like Treecko's evolutionary line. Like, never. Then I saw it in the anime followed by its evolutions and I fell over hard for it. Blaziken has only gotten better ever generation (hello, Ubers!) and Swampert really shines competitively; it's Water/Ground typing is genius. Design-wise, I find them to be the most creative, colorful, and original. I feel like Pokémon really hit its peak with the starters this generation.

**1** - Gen 3. Sceptile. SCEPTILE. My baby. My love. Sceptile is love, Sceptile is life. I can't live without him. Blaziken is really good, but I still love Sceptile the most. I never really liked Swampert.
*2* - Gen 1. Blastoise was my favorite. I found him to be really good defensive wise, and used him mostly as a wall, however when the time came and he HAD to be used offensively, I had a super-powered moveset that would punch through anything that stood before him.
3 - Gen 4. Infernape. Flaming Fireball Ninja Monkey? Yes.
4 - Gen 2. I didn't really enjoy Gen 2 at all. The starters where meh, and everything else was meh. But that Suicune. Did introduce my baby Houndoom to me, however. Will give them that.
5 - Gen 6. I haven't played it yet, but from what I've seen, Gen 6 is better than 5.
6 - Gen 5. I didn't like neither the games, nor the starters. Gen 5 was just bad. It sucked. I have at least 100 hours in every other gen I've played. 5 only has 50.

So, yeah. Gen 5 sucked.

Gen IV- Infernape is my all time favorite starter out of them all. It's an awesome monkey. xD

Gen III- Mudkip. That's all I need to say.

Gen II- Cyndaquil is adorable. And it's also a fire type. 2 of the best things. xD

Gen I- Bulbasaur. It's cute and cuddly. It also turns into the awesomeness that is Venusaur. :3

Gen VI- I didn't really care for these. They were cute and I liked them until they evolved. I actually do like all 3 of them until they do. Which is why they're so low on the list.

Gen V- The worst of the worst. My least favorite gen for the starters. We got a pig, a snake, and....the water type. They just did not appeal to me in anyway.

6 - Generation IV. The first stages looked kiddie and forgettable, and the final stages were garishly decorated with spikes, stripes, and markings that didn't belong there. Oh, and a Fire/Fighting starter that didn't even come close to living up to the fantastic design of Blaziken.

5 - Generation V. Yawn. That's how I can best sum up the designs (as well as the usefulness) of the starters. A third Fire/Fighting starter emerges, and this one's the worst of the bunch. Even the garish Infernape was cooler than this loser. The water starter was... there..., and while Snivy was extremely cool and showed potential, its evolutions were only meh.

4 - Generation VI. This is a mixed bag for me. For the first time in a while, the starters all have interesting type combinations. Chesnaught is especially cool, and is a nice Grass/Fighting defender. Greninja is... okay, I guess, if not a bit overrated. The reason this is so low is that I really don't like Delphox. First off, it's odd to see a Pokemon that's 85% male wearing a dress. And then there's the weird head shape. Weird eyes, huge ears, just an odd design overall, and not really in a good way.

3 - Generation I. This is a meh generation to me. Yeah, they're decent, but honestly, neither of the three stands out to me that much. While I quite like Venusaur, I'm indifferent to Charizard and dislike Blastoise. This nudges out Generation VI because I prefer Venusaur to Chesnaught, I guess.

2 - Generation II. Yeah, the lack of secondary types is unfortunate. But the designs themselves are so damn good. Well, Typhlosion's and Feraligatr's, at least. Meganium's not my cup of tea. Bayleef's okay, though. But seriously, a badass alligator and a fire weasel.

1 - Generation III. In what other generation does every starter become a complete badass? I mean, Sceptile resembles both a king and an assassin, Blaziken's a fire eagle that kicks the crap out of opponents, and Swampert looks like some kind of mutant reptile. Plus, they are all at least decent fighters. This, to me, is the best of the best.

1. Gen VI - Despite my indifference to Greninja (I do love Froakie though), I was really pleased with the latest gen's starters. This was probably the toughest choice I've had to make in any of the games, I couldn't decide from the moment they were revealed up until I finally bought X. Even then, I had to start again after my first play through when I realised who I should've started with. All three are adorable in their first stages and Braixen is by far my favourite second stage starter, I even like Quilladin! The Fennekin line is my personal highlight from this gen. I also love that each has a dual typing in its final stage and they have a good set of move pools.

2. Gen I My original starter dilemma as a kid, these starters will always have a special place in my heart. When I was younger, Charizard was my first and most consistent choice of starter. However, I have used each of the Kanto starters at one point or other and enjoyed it each time. Taking away the final stages, I've always found it tough to choose between them as first stage pokemon.

3.Gen III Although its a great set of starters all in all, I don't like the design of Blaziken and I'm not a fan of its typing. I don't agonise over choosing between them, yes because they're all quite impressive but also because I don't have a particular attachment to any of them.

4. Gen II I really like the Totodile line but I'm indifferent to the others and rarely use them. Chikorita is adorable though.

5. Gen IV I love Piplup and its evolutionary line. However I do not like Turtwig and Chimchar or their evolutions.

6. Gen V Oshawott was mostly chosen by default of typing, although I like Dewott I didn't like Samurott. Tepig is very cute but I don't like its evolutions and I almost completely forgot Snivy. For me, these are the least memorable of the starters.