Fighting-Type Pokemon Weaknesses and Resistances

Photo courtesy of The Pokemon Company.

Throughout every Pokemon game, whether it was a Gym Leader or a member of the Elite Four, players will inevitably run into a Fighting-type Pokemon specialist. These Pokemon are defined by their high physical attack and bulk, fitting for a type of Pokemon that often draws inspiration from the martial-arts masters of our world. Whether you have a Fighting-type Pokemon you want to use, or are trying to defeat a Fighting-type specialist, this article will give you a guide to the strengths and weaknesses of Fighting-type Pokemon.

Fighting-Type Weaknesses

While many Fighting-type Pokemon are quite intimidating in their design, these Pokemon still have their weaknesses.

Fighting-type Pokemon receive super-effective damage from moves of these types:

  • Fairy
  • Flying
  • Psychic

Fighting-type attacks are not very effective against these types of Pokemon:

  • Poison
  • Flying
  • Bug
  • Psychic

Fighting-Type Strengths and Resistances

There's a simple way to remember the Pokemon types that Fighting-types are good against: they are all things that could be fragile to break, or things you would want to fight to keep away.

Fighting-type moves are super-effective against these types of Pokemon:

  • Dark
  • Ice
  • Normal
  • Rock
  • Steel

Fighting-type Pokemon tend to be able to learn physical moves from a wide variety of types. Even though Fighting-type Pokemon are weak to flying-type Pokemon, many Fighting-types are able to learn Rock-type moves that help support this weakness. Many are also able to learn Dark-type moves, which helps with their weakness to Psychic-type Pokemon.

Fighting-types receive half-damage from moves of these types:

  • Bug
  • Dark
  • Rock

Best Counters for Fighting-Type Pokemon

While Fighting-type Pokemon can certainly pack a punch, there are many Pokemon that know how to hit them right back. Fighting-type Pokemon tend to not have the best special defense, and all the types they are weak to tend to specialize in special attacks. A strong Fairy, Psychic, or Flying-type Pokemon with a good special attack will be of great help to you in taking down an opponent that specializes in Fighting-type Pokemon.


Those interested in learning more about Pokemon types should check out our type guides: