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Charizard (Lizardon in original Japanese language versions) is one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise. In Pokémon games, anime, and manga, Charizard battles wild Pokémon and Pokémon owned by other Pokémon trainers, and may be caught by Pokémon trainers like all wild Pokémon. Charizard was designed by Ken Sugimori, and debuted in 1996 in Pokémon Red.
In the Pokemon franchise, Charizard starts out as a Charmander, which, as it gains battle experience, becomes Charmeleon, then Charizard. Upon evolving, it develops a pair of powerful wings, which supplement the fiery breath it gained in its earlier evolutionary forms. The flames which Charizard produces are hotter than those produced by Charmeleon; at full intensity, they are stated to have the power to melt solid rock or large glaciers. According to its back story, Charizard in the wild focus on finding worthy challengers, however in the games it is generally impossible to find in the wild due to its status as a starter Pokémon. According to the Pokédex, they possess a strong innate sense of honor, relying on only claws and strength to hunt or ward off lesser foes and using their flaming breath only against opponents whom they would consider equals. Additionally, the Pokedex states that the power of their flame attacks is volatile enough that accidental or careless use can cause forest fires and other disasters.
Video games
Charizard first appeared in Pokémon Red and Blue, and is the final form in the Charmander evolutionary line. Charizard evolves from Charmeleon, which evolves from Charmander. There are three Starter types of Pokémon - Charmander (Fire), Bulbasaur (Grass), and Squirtle (Water). Each Starter Pokémon has an advantage and a disadvantage to one of the other Starters - Grass is weak to Fire, Water is weak to Grass, and Fire is weak to Water. These advantages and disadvantages remain in their evolved forms as well. Charizard is only available without trading in three games - the above mentioned Red and Blue, Pokémon Yellow, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (the latter two being remakes of the first game).
Charizard has made several appearances in Pokémon spin-offs and in other series, including Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, and Pokémon Ranger. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Charizard acts as a non-playable character and as a member of a rescue team led by Alakazam, a primary character in the games. In Pokémon Ranger, Charizard is a wild boss Pokémon who becomes attached to the player's character and assists him or her several times throughout the game. Charizard also appears in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee as a Pokémon which will appear out of a Pokéball and attack opponents of the player who summoned it. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Charizard will be playable through the Pokémon Trainer character, who rotates between it, Squirtle, and Ivysaur.
Pokémon anime
In the anime of the franchise, Charizard is arguably the main character Ash Ketchum's strongest Pokémon surpassing both Pikachu and Sceptile. Ash's Charizard started out as a Charmander which had been abandoned by another trainer. As the series continued, Charmander became loyal to Ash, then evolved into a Charmeleon. Charmeleon refused to obey him, which within the world of the franchise is something that Pokémon who become "stronger" and more experienced than their trainers sometimes do when they lose their respect for their trainer. Charmeleon evolved when Ash summoned it for protection from a wild Aerodactyl which intended to devour him. Ash was ultimately saved by Charizard, but it remained unclear in the series whether Charmeleon evolved to rescue Ash or just to fight Aerodactyl, which had injured it. Charizard did purposefully swoop down to catch Ash as he fell, however.
Originally, Charizard, like Charmeleon, did not obey Ash, and only battled Pokemon that would pose a challenge, mainly other Fire-type Pokemon, but through its willfulness it often inadvertently helped Ash reach his goals, particularly against Gym Leader Blaine. However at one time, its refusal to obey Ash led to his loss in the Kanto League Finals. It 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 it from certain death, Charizard began to obey Ash, and ultimately defeated the Poliwrath in a rematch. It remained on Ash's team, contributing to his win in the Orange League and part of Johto. It eventually stays behind in the Charizific Valley, a reserve where many wild Charizard battle and train to become stronger, likely due to meeting Charla, a female Charizard that it develops a fondness for. 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. Charizard has also saved Ash's life on more than one occassion, as seen in the film Spell of the Unown.
Manga
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, which loosely parallels the storyline of the anime, Ash evolves his Charmeleon into a Charizard to battle in the Pokémon League tournament. He has trouble controlling it, however. Ash brings Charizard to the Orange Islands, and, having trained it diligently since the near-disaster, uses it to battle Dragonite in the final showdown with Drake, the Orange Crew Supreme gym leader.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Blue, originally Red’s rival and later the Viridian City Gym leader, owned a Charizard which evolved from a Charmander he received from his grandfather, Professor Oak. In Chapter 28, "Peace of Mime", Blue used his to gain access to Saffron City, and ultimately help disable the Barrier, being created by a Mr. Mime, with the help of Red's Pikachu, Pika. In Chapter 31, "The Art of Articuno", Red and Blue face off against Koga's Articuno and are frozen by its Ice Beam, but ultimately defeat the Team Rocket Executive with Charizard's Flamethrower. In Chapter 33, "The Winged Legends", it teamed up with Red's newly evolved Venusaur, Saur and Green's Blastoise, Turtley, to defeat Sabrina's Zapmolcuno (a merged form of Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno) and destroy Team Rocket's control on Saffron City, splitting the three birds in the process.
Blue's Charizard re-appeared next in Chapter 40, "A Charizard... and a Champion", during the final match of the Ninth Pokémon League, against his longtime Rival, Red. The battle began with Red's Saur and Blue's Charizard facing each other. Charizard tried to use Fire Punch, but was hit by Saur's Poison Powder. Charizard was nearly knocked out, despite the type advantage. As the battle progressed, Blue's Ninetails used Fire Blast to send Pika and Red's Poliwrath, Poli, flying towards the ceiling. The two trainers then used their first Pokémon to battle again, Saur binding the Charizard from attacking. Suddenly, thunderclouds, formed from the attacks of Poli and Pika, began to form above the battlefield, and Saur submerged a vine into the cloud, shocking Charizard and knocking it out.
When the "FireRed and LeafGreen" volume of the manga began, Red, Blue and Green, the original protagonists, returned to fight the newly formed Team Rocket and the Deoxys under their power. In Chapter 24, "FireRed and LeafGreen", the three trainers were trapped inside the Trainer Tower in the Sevii Islands, battling the main computer of the building and the Deoxys Divides. Due to the prior battle between Red and Team Rocket, most of his team were near death. This causes Blue to trade his Charizard with Red's Saur, since Blue was the person who was leading the fight to free Mewtwo from the binds. After struggling to co-ordinate Turtley, Saur and Charizard, the three trainers managed to focus the angle of the three powerful attacks, Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon and Frenzy Plant, to free Mewtwo, who in turn, destroyed the Trainer Tower. Red now wields Charizard in his battle against Giovanni.
In chapter 179, Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur have been called back by Red, Blue and Green as they recalled back the Legendary Pokémon into their Pokéballs to fight their last battle against Pryce's ultimate weapon.
Card game
Charizard appears often in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a powerful Stage-2 Fire Pokémon, including appearances in the Base Set (reprinted in Base Set 2 and Legendary Collection), Team Rocket (as Dark Charizard, normal and holographic versions), Gym Challenge (as Blaine’s Charizard), Neo Destiny (as Shining Charizard, a Basic Pokémon), Pokémon Neo 2 Binder (Japanese only, reverse holo), Pokémon *VS (as Lance’s Charizard, a Basic Pokémon, in Japanese only), Expedition (twice, including a holographic version), Skyridge (as a Colorless Pokémon with the "Crystal Type" Poke-Power), EX Dragon (as a secret holographic card), EX FireRed & LeafGreen (as Charizard EX), and EX Crystal Guardians, as a Lightning- and Metal-type Delta Species Pokémon. The latest edition of Charizard is Charizard *, an incredibly rare card, as a δ species Dark-type Basic.
When the Pokémon Trading Card Game became widespread in North America, the Base Set Charizard card was very popular and always in high demand, due to its high HP value and its powerful Fire Spin attack. In trading card magazines, the card’s value often exceeded $60.
Other media
Due to Charizard's appeal, it has featured in many lines of soft toys and action figures in the Pokémon franchise, made by Hasbro, and TOMY. In 2004, the "Charizard Medium Plush" was part of a major recall of 13 plush toys due to a manufacturing fault involving tips of needles being found with the stuffing, causing makers, TOMY, to replace the toys with compensation or replacements.
Charizard also has its own DVD that contains three episodes Charizard is in; "Attack of the Prehistric Pokemon", "Charizard Chills", and "Charizard's Burning Ambition". This DVD is part of the 10th Anniversary Box Set, and in the Box Set's "10 Most Wanted Pokemon" countdown, Charizard is #3, beaten only by Pikachu and Jigglypuff respectively.
Charizard also appeared as the main Pokémon in the short novel, Charizard Go!. The novelisation, adapted by Tracey West, is the retelling of Ash's journey with his Charmander, and 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 didn't listen to Ash, and Charizard battling Blaine's Magmar. Charizard Go! is the sixth novel in the Pokémon Chapter Books series. 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 which Ash wonders if Charizard should leave his team forever. It also covers the capture of Ash's Cyndaquil, his new Fire Pokémon.
Charizard has appeared as one of the Pokemon that appears from a Pokeball in the Super Smash Bros game series. When released, Charizard uses its Flamethrower attack to either side, alternating over and over until it disappears. Opponents take a lot of damage if they touch Charizard directly and are thrown high into the air. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Charizard, along with Squirtle and Ivysaur, is now a playable character under the new character Pokemon Trainer.
See also
- Charmander
- Charmeleon
- Starter Pokémon
- Ash Ketchum
- Pokémon (video games)
References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold and Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.
External links
- Original text from Wikipedia
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia’s article about Ash’s Charizard