I'm not a huge fan of bugs, myself. Obviously Pokémon are a bit of a different matter, but if I'd never seen a centipede, I might be a bit creeped out by a Weedle. It's all in what you grow up with.
It really doesn't make sense for her, except that bugs are creepy and crawly, as she puts it. It at least made more sense for Iris to fear Ice types, since she is a Dragon type Gym Leader and Champion, and Ice is strong against Dragon.
I guess it depends, Pokémon are shown in cartoon form so none of them come of as horrific in design but if we saw them in our own lives and much the bugs we already do have and it makes a lot of sense (imagine realistic pinsir, that's gotta be nightmare inducing). I am biased in this because I live in one of the most prevelant places for exposure to horrific crawlies. But I can be thankful that none of them are similar in size to an entire human so I think Misty has a point there. I couldn't really understand the aversion to caterpie though, since it's actually very cute, doesn't appear to have any way of causing her damage via a stinger or beak, is small, and even though she describes it as slimy it didn't appear to be so anywhere I could see in the story. I think it was just convenient to the plot because how else could they force ash to go through his supposed emotional growth around looking after metapod etc,
Because girls don't like bugs, stereotypes are always popular and a girl not liking bugs just goes along with that. It probably wasn't a fully thought out detail but girls being girls.
Because COMEDY!!!!!! But seriously, I don't remember any serious reason to that fear other than to make a gag out of it. And this was back in the day of stereotypes so... Another serious reason (Theory Time!) is that maybe she had a traumatic experience from bug Pokémon. Just a shot in the dark~
It was funny, mainly. But she's a girl and girls often don't like bugs. My wife has arachnophobia. Like she goes crazy at the mere sight of a spider, and they're much smaller than a caterpie that's half as long as your arm. It was also an interesting character trait. A Pokémon trainer who ends up being one of the best in Kanto can't stand an entire subgenre of Pokémon.
Maybe because Misty likes water types. And water types find it hard to defeat grass types? Bugs are somehow related to grass types, maybe? I also despise some bug Pokémon, actually.
'Cause bugs are creepy, that's why. Personally speaking, some insects tend to freak me out, particularly the ones that bite and sting and hurt like hell. Wasps being the worst offenders.
Most girls just don't seem to like bugs. My girlfriend freaks out every time she sees a spider. But hey, I hate wasps myself. I guess we're all afraid of something.
Fear of bugs is common, it's a common trope for females to be scared of bugs, bug type Pokémon are much..MUCH larger than real bugs and more dangerous (Even Caterpie could cause harm to humans, even if it was just a horrible stench back in Gen 1..now it can do BUG BITE). Living in a world where bugs, which are everywhere, are huge..can cause harm, possibly kill a unprepared human.. I'd be terrified too!
Scolipede is eight feet and two inches of giant centipede with poisonous stings, razor jaws, and a snarky look on it's face. EIGHT. FEET. And even Pinsir is 1.5 meters tall, with scary-ass teeth. I'm just saying, Misty is not dealing with daddy-long-legs spiders. She is dealing with monsters that clearly have the power to maim her. Just saying. #MissingNo
Didn't Misty once get lost in a forest full of Beedrill as a kid? If I had a bunch of gigantic insects swarming toward me with drill-sized stingers not just on their abdomens but their ARMS, I'd have a fear of all insects.
It's a phobia, as in 'an irrational fear of something'. It doesn't need to make sense because the phobias usually don't.
I remember something akin to this. I am not sure if it is the exact same story, but there was a reason. Besides that, it is a common trope.
Being afraid of bugs is a common fear even in RL, although she does seem to get slightly better doing the course of the anime even if it was kinda rare for the group to really encounter bug pokémon.
