Charizard

Charizard

National Pokédex Charmeleon - Charizard (#006) - Squirtle
Series	Pokémon series
First game	Pokémon Red and Blue
Designed by	Ken Sugimori
Voiced by	Shin-ichiro Miki

Charizard, known in Japan as Lizardon (リザードン, Rizādon^?), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Charizard first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Charizard is voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki in Japanese and English. Known as a Flame Pokémon, Charizard are violent yet honorable creatures that fly proudly around the sky and constantly seek powerful opponents to quarrel with.

Charizard is featured in the Pokémon anime series with the most recurring being from the main character, Ash Ketchum. It is featured in printed adaptations such as Pokémon Adventures, in the possession of Blue, one of the main characters. Charizard has received positive reception from the media, with GamesRadar describing it as "hands-down one of the coolest Pokémon out there". Charizard is the version mascot of Pokémon Red and FireRed versions, and makes an appearance on the boxarts of Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Ranger, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.

Concept and characteristics

The design and art direction for Charizard was provided by Ken Sugimori, a good friend of Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri.^[1] The name "Charizard" originates from the words "charcoal" or "char" and "lizard".^[2] Whereas its pre-evolutions Charmander and Charmeleon are ground-bound lizard like creatures, Charizard resembles a large traditional European dragon.^[3] Despite the resemblance, Charizard is explicitly a Fire/Flying-type, not a Dragon-type.^[4] During an interview, The Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara stated Charizard was expected to be popular with North American audiences because of their preference for strong, powerful characters.^[5]

Charizard have two wings that are blue, while the back is orange, as with the most of its body. Its belly and soles are cream-colored, while their eyes are light blue in color. The video games describe Charizard as having wings that can carry them close to an altitude of 4,600 feet,^[6] flying proudly around the sky and constantly seeking for powerful opponents to quarrel with.^[7] They can breathe intense flames that can melt any material, but will never torch a weaker foe.^[8] If Charizard become angry, the flame at the tip of their tail can flare up in a whitish-blue color.^[9] Because of their reckless behavior, Charizard are known to unintentionally cause wildfires.^[10]

Appearances

In video games

Charizard made their video game debut in 1996 with the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Blue.^[11][12] It is available only through Pokémon evolution from the starter Pokémon, Charmander.^[13] In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and their remakes, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Charizard is used by Red, who acts as the games' final boss.^[14] Charizard has made appearances in many other Pokémon games. It appears in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team' on a team with an Alakazam and Tyranitar, who play a significant role in the story.^[15] In Pokémon Ranger, Charizard is a boss Pokémon who becomes attached to the player's character and assists him or her throughout the game.^[16]

Charizard has appeared many times throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. Charizard first appears as a non-playable character in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, as one of the Pokémon which can appear if a player throws a Poké Ball. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Charizard is now playable, under the command of the Pokémon Trainer.^[17] The Trainer has a Squirtle and an Ivysaur, all three of which can be switched between; unlike the other fighters, these Pokémon become fatigued and consequently weaker, and must be switched out long enough to recover.^[17]

In anime

In the anime, the most notable Charizard is one Ash Ketchum has had since he was a Charmander abandoned by his former owner.^[18] Ash's Charmander evolved into Charmeleon during a battle against an army of Exeggutor, and his personality changed completely,^[19] becoming a disobedient Pokémon and fighting only when and how he pleased. Charmeleon evolved when Ash summoned him for protection from wild prehistoric Pokémon, though it initially refused to help. When an Aerodactyl attacked him and which intended to devour Ash, Charmeleon evolved in order to fight the Aerodactyl more effectively. Ash was ultimately saved by Charizard.^[20] Charizard still did not obey Ash and only battled Pokémon that would pose a challenge, but through his willfulness he often inadvertently helped Ash reach his goals, particularly against Gym Leader Blaine.^[21] At one time though, his refusal to obey Ash led to his loss in one of the Kanto League matches.^[22]

Charizard became loyal during the Orange Islands arc after Ash battled a trainer with a Poliwrath and Charizard was frozen solid. Because of Ash’s continuous self-sacrificing efforts to save Charizard from certain death, he began to obey Ash and defeated the Poliwrath in a rematch.^[23] He remained on Ash's team and contributed to his wins in the Orange League^[24] and parts of Johto. He eventually stayed behind in the Charizific Valley, a reserve where wild Charizard battle and train to become stronger. This was likely due to meeting Charla, a female Charizard for whom he developed a fondness.^[25] Charizard, like many of Ash's other Pokémon, has returned on a temporary basis to battle at Ash’s side, typically when Ash faces a particularly powerful Pokémon.^[13] Charizard has saved Ash's life on more than one occasion, as seen in the film Spell of the Unown, where he battled against Entei.^[13][26] Charizard returned for Ash's first Battle Frontier battle, where he took on Noland's Articuno at the Battle Factory and won thanks to an unorthodox strategy.^[13][27]

Charizard has its own DVD that contains three episodes featuring it: "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon", "Charizard Chills", and "Charizard's Burning Ambition".^[28] This DVD is part of the 10th Anniversary Box Set; in the Box Set's "10 Most Wanted Pokémon" countdown Charizard is listed as the third most wanted, beaten only by Pikachu and Jigglypuff.

In printed adaptations

In Pokémon: Pikachu Shocks Back which loosely parallels the storyline of the anime, Ash catches a Charmander, and it ultimately becomes a Charizard and battles in the Pokémon League tournament. Despite his catch, he has trouble controlling it.^[29] Ash brings Charizard to the Orange Islands and trains it diligently since the near-disaster. He then uses it to battle Dragonite in the final showdown with the Orange Crew Supreme gym leader Drake.^[30]

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Blue receives a Charmander from his grandfather Professor Oak. It evolves into a Charmeleon, and when Blue is possessed by a Gastly in the Lavender Tower, so is Charmeleon. Blue's Charmeleon is eventually released from its possession only to be faced down by an Arbok, owned by Koga. Charmeleon tricked Koga by using a zombie Psyduck to deflect Arbok's acid attack before literally slicing the Arbok in half with his tail. Blue later appears with an evolved Charizard and gains access to Saffron City by helping to disable a barrier created by a Mr. Mime.^[31] Later, Red and Blue face off against Koga's Articuno and are frozen by its Ice Beam, but they ultimately defeat the Team Rocket Executive with Charizard's Flamethrower.^[32] It then teams up with Red's newly evolved Venusaur, Saur, and Green's Blastoise, Blasty, to defeat Sabrina's monster Pokémon. They end Team Rocket's control of Saffron City, splitting apart the three birds in the process.^[33]

Blue's Charizard re-appeared during the final match of the ninth Pokémon League, against his longtime rival Red. Despite the type advantage, Charizard battles against Saur and is nearly knocked out. As the battle progresses the two trainers send out their first Pokémon to battle again, when Saur binds Charizard from attacking. Suddenly, thunderclouds form from the attacks of Poli and Pika, and Saur submerges a vine into the cloud, shocking Charizard and knocking it out.^[34] When the "FireRed and LeafGreen" volume of the manga began the original protagonists – Red, Blue, and Green – return to fight the newly formed Team Rocket and the Deoxys under their power. The three trainers become trapped inside the Trainer Tower in the Sevii Islands, battling the main computer of the building and the Deoxys Divides. After struggling to co-ordinate Blasty, Saur, and Charizard, the three trainers manage to focus the angle of the three powerful attacks – Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant – to free Mewtwo, who in turn destroys the Trainer Tower.^[35]

Charizard appeared as the main Pokémon in the short novel, Charizard Go! Adapted by Tracey West, the novelisation retells Ash's journey with his Charmander, and it reaches its climax as Ash and Charizard battle in the Pokémon League at the Indigo Plateau against his good friend Richie. The story covers Ash and his companions finding the abandoned Charmander, the battles in which Charmeleon did not listen to Ash, and Charizard's battle against Blaine's Magmar. Charizard Go! is the sixth novel in the Pokémon Chapter Books series.^[36] Another chapter novel, All Fired Up: Pokémon the Johto Journeys, adapted by Jennifer Johnson, covers the portion of Ash's journey near Violet City and the Characific Valley. In the novel, Ash wonders if Charizard should leave his team forever; it covers the capture of Ash's Cyndaquil, his new fire Pokémon.^[37]

Reception and legacy

Described by the media as "a lean, ferocious, fire-breathing dragon [...] sleek, powerful, and utterly destructive", Charizard has been noted as one of the franchise's most popular characters.^[38] Retailers have attributed the high sales of merchandise related to the character to the popularity of the character's dragon-like design with children.^[39] Interviewed children have stated similar; they attributed its appeal to its "cool looking" appearance and associating the character with the concepts of stubbornness and power.^[40][41][42] GamesRadar described Charizard as "hands-down one of the coolest Pokémon out there", heavily praising its character design and calling it "one of the coolest" designs of the entire series.^[43][44] IGN editor "pokemonofthedaychick" called Charizard "certainly the most popular and perhaps the most well-balanced of any of the current starting Pokemon".^[45]

In the book "Dragonlore: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry", author Ash Dekirk describes Charizard as resembling a classical dragon of Europe.^[46] The book Pikachu's Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon cited Charizard as popular with older male children who tend to be drawn to "tough or scary" characters,^[47] and compared the character's evolution from Charmander into Charizard with the loss of "cuteness" as one leaves childhood.^[48] The book Rebuilding Attachments With Traumatized Children stated psychiatrists utilized the character as an empowered character traumatized children who were fans of the Pokémon series could relate to.^[49] In 2005, search engine Yahoo! reported Charizard as one of the top Pokémon-related web searches.^[50]

Due to Charizard's appeal, it has been featured in lines of soft toys and action figures in the Pokémon franchise, made by Hasbro, and Tomy.^[51] In 2004, the "Charizard Medium Plush" was part of a major recall of 13 plush toys due to a manufacturing fault where tips of needles were being found with the stuffing. This caused Tomy to replace the toys with compensation or replacements.^[51] Charizard appears often in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, most notably in the series' initial release. Cards featuring the character have been stated to be the most desired of the series, quickly rising to high prices amongst collectors and retailers.^[39][52] These cards were overpowered and knocked out opponents in one hit.^[53]

References

External links

• Official Pokémon website
• Charizard on Bulbapedia