When you think of the cutest characters in all of gaming, your mind might not go straight to creepy-crawlies like bugs and arachnids. That being said, anything can be cute with the right design and big enough eyes. Even some of the scariest and most phobia-inducing creatures have been given an adorable makeover by some game designer somewhere.
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Take our eight-legged friends, the spiders. They’re pest control experts, master architects, and they like to hang out in your bathroom and spook you when your guard is down. If spiders can exist in real life and in cartoons that are downright cute, why not video games? The cutest little web-spinners that gaming has ever had would like to change your mind about spiders.
10 Joltik - Pokemon
The fifth generation of Pokemon games brought in a lot of well-loved Pokemon. While Nintendo has been known to cook up some pretty intimidating spiders, Joltik is one of the cutest that’s ever come out of a Nintendo title.
This Pokemon is a Bug and Electric type, and its over-sized evolution is still surprisingly adorable despite its size. Its original Pokedex entry describes Joltik as the smallest Pokemon in existence. While Joltik has been beaten in tininess by a few others, it’s still winning in the cute department.
9 Spider-Drone - Spider-Man
The Spider-Man game for PlayStation 4 begs a very important question: is a spider still scary if it’s a chunky little robot? The answer is no, it’s an adorable chunky little robot. They may not be real spiders, but Peter Parker’s Spider-Bots are hard to not pack-bond with and show some love.
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From the sounds they make to the actual help they give you in-game, these little GPS enabled robo-spiders are as adorable and lovable as they are useful. Peter’s tech skills didn’t miss with this one.
8 Spiders - Don’t Starve
How cute you find the spiders in Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together depends on how many times you’ve been absolutely wrecked by them. The spiders and spider warriors may be fierce foes that can be hard to handle, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still super stinkin’ cute.
The Shipwrecked DLC gives them a fuzzy new look that’s just as adorable. If you’re playing as the humanoid spider character Webber, then you can get up close and personal with the little arachnoid blobs and even use them as allies.
7 Muffet - Undertale
Muffet, a boss character added to Undertale from the kickstarter, is living proof that spiders have an adoring fanbase. She is one of the cutest characters in the whole game, even though she is a formidable boss and a bit of a trickster.
Her bake sale is impossibly expensive, and despite this, she blows a fuse any time someone refuses to buy her overpriced goods. Her well-dressed design is so undeniably cute that no one can stay mad at her for very long, though.
6 Tarountula - Pokemon
It’s hard to even think of this happy little yarn ball as a spider. Tarountula is a bug-type Pokemon and one of the first Pokemon you encounter in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. It’s cute enough to make you drop your Switch and go thank Orb Weavers for existing.
Besides its big round rump and tiny little face, the way they trot around and hang from the branches of trees is satisfying to look at. Tarountula’s evolution, Spidops, is a little more serious-looking, but Tarountula itself is one of the cutest spider Pokemon in the series.
5 Fryder - Bugsnax
In just about every inch of the Bugsnax world, you’re sure to find something that’s heart-wrenchingly adorable. Of course, if you’re making a game all about bugs, you’re going to have to do a lot of work to make everyone like them. Bugsnax delivered, though, and the deep-fried arachnid, the Fryder, is a big hit.
It’s got a condiment cup for a head and even has two little french fry fangs underneath. Its yam-based cousin, the Sweet Fryder, is just as much of an adorable little potato-bug.
4 Scuttlebug - Mario
The Mario series is known for making some pretty infuriating enemies for you to face. Out of all the arachnid-adjacent enemies in the Mario games, the Scuttlebug is the cutest one they’ve ever thrown at you. While its Nintendo 64 design is a little unsettling, the Super Mario version of them never fails to make fans laugh.
Luckily, this is the version Mario uses the most. What’s it doing with all those boxing gloves on its little legs? It doesn’t need that many punching hands.
3 Kwookie - Bugsnax
Snaktooth Island is home to all kinds of creepy-crawlies that have been hybridized with food. When you make bugs edible and turn them into things like fruits and cheeseburgers, it turns out that they’re a lot more enjoyable and lovable.
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The Kwookie may be based on a Huntsman spider, but it doesn’t share the same level of threatening that its real-life cousin does. This cute cookie sandwich on legs is a fast runner, but it can’t escape the hungry inhabitants of the island for long.
2 Puppet And Marionette Spiders - Monster Hunter Rise
Monster Hunter Rise gives you the opportunity to use Endemic Life as little helpers to complete different kinds of tasks. Though most of the spiders in Monster Hunter range from creepy to utterly horrifying, the Marionette Spider and its close cousin, the Puppet Spider, are adorable little friends.
Besides their fluffy cuteness, they’re important spiders to have on your team of small assistant creatures. The Puppet Spider allows for some extra actions with Wyverns and other monsters, and the Marionette Spider is a hardcore silk producer.
1 Buddy - Webbed
The cutest spider that’s ever been in a video game goes to the one who got her very own game. Webbed follows Buddy, a Peacock Jumping Spider on a mission to rescue her boyfriend from a big scary Bowerbird.
This pint-sized Australian hero is as cute as can be, and being able to play as a determined little spider is ridiculously fun. Webbed shows that courage can be found in even the tiniest of places, and it also gives us a tale of love and loss through the eyes of one of nature’s most misunderstood creatures.
NEXT: Video Game Villains Who Are Way Too Adorable To Be Evil
