5. Krabby

Krabby
Image: Nintendo/The Pokémon Company

Can be found in: Pokémon Sword & Shield

The prototypical video game crab, Krabby is... well, he's a crab. Long before Pokémon got really inventive and weird with its real-life animal designs, we had Pokémon that were just literally the animal, like Goldeen (goldfish), Caterpie (caterpillar), and Ekans (snake). Krabby is cute, for sure — and he evolves into Kingler, which is just... a bigger crab — but at the end of the day, he's just a crab in a world of ninja frogs and sentient ice cream.

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4. Craba Is You

Baba Is You Crab
Image: Arvi Teikari

Can be found in: Baba Is You

Baba Is You is a surprisingly tough puzzle game in which you can redefine the meanings of "Baba" and "You". You can be crab. Baba can be crab. Crab can be goal. Crab can be wall. There is no limit to what crab can be. Crab is free to be whatever crab wants. Good job, crab. Crab is good.

3. Shantae's Crab Form

Shantae's Crab Form
Image: WayForward

Can be found in: Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

We've covered a lot of enemy crabs, and even a couple of friend crabs, but what about crabs that are YOU? Shantae has a lot of different "forms" that let her do different things in the game, including monkey, elephant, bat, and mouse — but we all know that CRAB is the best one.

Crab form lets Shantae go underwater, get into small gaps, and tuck her body into her shell to become invulnerable. It also makes her go really well with butter.

2. Breath of the Wild's Delicious Crabs

BOTW Crab

Can be found in: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Most crabs in games exist to snip us to ribbons, or at the very least, cause trouble in some way. Breath of the Wild's crabs exist to get in our bellies. With three different crab types, and four crab-focused dishes (plus several more seafood-related dishes) we can safely say that Breath of the Wild is a game about how crabs are yummy.

1. This Crab From Super Mario 3D World

SM3DW Crab
Image: Nintendo

Can be found in: Super Mario 3D World

Oh, LOOK AT HIM. He's so little!!! He may not be the biggest or the most fearsome, but he certainly does have what it takes to be the CUTEST LIL CREB IN THE WORLD. The Super Mario 3D World, that is. Bowser's Fury has nothing on this guy.

Super Mario 3D World's crabbo is just the best crabbo. No one can argue with this. He is best. All hail tiny crab.

Well, there you crab it: the best crabs in video games. We've missed out quite a few, of course — but as we mentioned before, there's a whole comment section below to tell us about your fave side-stepping claw friends.

This article is one of our Switch Essentials guides which cover a wide variety of genres, including the Best Switch FPS Games, the Best Switch RPGs, the Best Switch Games For Kids, the Best Switch Couch Co-Op Games and the Best Switch Fitness and Exercise Games. We can also help out hunting down the Best Switch Horror Games, the Best Switch Racing Games, the Best Switch Action-RPGs, the Best Nintendo Switch Roguelikes, Roguelites and Run-Based Games, the Best Free Switch Games, and even Games to Play After You've Finished Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Whatever your favourite genre, we've got you covered: Strategy Games, Metroidvanias, Puzzle Games, Party Games, Online Multiplayer Games, Local Wireless Multiplayer Games, Shmups, Visual Novels, Fighting Games, Hidden Gems, 2D Platformers, 3D Platformers, Run and Gun Games, Sports Games, Beat 'Em Ups, Chill Games, Family Games, Retro-Inspired Games, Short Games, Card Games and Deck-builders, Flight Sim and Space Combat, Point and Click Adventure Games, and the Best Switch Exclusives, as well as Every Arcade Archives Game, Every ACA Neo Geo Game, Every SEGA AGES Game On Switch, and the Best Switch Collections And Compilations.

If you're looking for the best Switch games regardless of genre, our reader-voted selection of the Best Nintendo Switch Games should help you out, and you can also find the Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. And finally, if you're interested in other Nintendo consoles and retro games, check out the Best Game Boy Games, Best Nintendo DS Games, Best Nintendo 3DS Games, Best SNES Games, Best N64 Games, Best GameCube Games, and Best Wii Games, as well as Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game and Every Nintendo Switch Online SNES Game.