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Charizard

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Charizard
File:6charizard.png
National Pokédex
Charmeleon - Charizard (#006) - Squirtle
Johto Pokédex
Charmeleon - Charizard (#231) - Squirtle
Hoenn Pokédex
Charmeleon - Charizard (#208) - Squirtle
Japanese nameLizardon
Evolves fromCharmeleon
Evolves intoNone
GenerationFirst
SpeciesFlame Pokémon
TypeFire / Flying
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight200.0 pounds (90.7 kg)
AbilityBlaze

Charizard (リザードン Lizardon in Japanese, Glurak in German, Dracaufeu in French and 리자몽 Rijamong in Korean) is a fictional character from the Pokémon media franchise (a series of video games, anime, manga, trading cards and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri). Charizard is notable as one of Ash Ketchum’s Pokémon, as well as one of the most desirable cards in the first set of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Charizard resembles a dragon with two horns on its head. Unlike its evolutionary predecessors Charmander and Charmeleon, Charizard has a pair of powerful wings, giving it the ability to fly at altitudes approaching 4,600 ft, supplementing the fiery breath it inherits from its earlier forms. Charizard’s breath is even hotter than Charmeleon’s though: at full blast (which turns its tail-fire white-hot) its blasts of fire can melt solid rock or 10,000 ton glaciers. Wild Charizard tend to focus on finding worthy challengers. Charizard have a strong sense of honor, relying on their claws and strength to hunt or ward off lesser foes and using their flaming breath only on opponents they see as equals. Nevertheless, Charizard have such powerful flames that accidental or careless use of their flame has been known to cause forest fires and other disasters.

Charizard’s name is a portmanteau of char and lizard. The Japanese name, Lizardon, is probably a combination of the word “lizard” and the Japanese word don.

In the video games

Charizard plays a key role in the original Pokémon video games. These were RPG strategy games created by Satoshi Tajiri for the Nintendo Game Boy (originally in Japanese but translated into other languages). Worldwide, these games and their sequels have sold over 143 million units, making them the one of Nintendo’s most popular game franchises, second only to the adventures of Mario[1]. The games are divided by release into generations (each with three or more games, often only subtly different), which follow the same basic plot in different areas of the Pokémon world, each generation building on the game play mechanics with new features. As the main character, the player’s task is to direct his or her Pokémon to battle the opponent’s Pokémon, creating a scenario which has been likened to cock fighting. However, in all media, Pokémon emphasizes the nature of these fights as competition rather than brutality.

Charizard, as one of the first-generation Pokémon, is commonly used in Player vs. Player battles (battles between two players, via the Link cable). Commonly, it is used for its high attack statistic, making its physical attacks very strong. While it also has strong and varied fire attacks, these are often used less than its physical ones in these battles. It reached its period of greatest popularity between the release of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokémon Emerald.

In particular, some players like to use a setup known as “Bellyzard” which utilises the attack, “Belly Drum” to greatly increase its offence while lowering its health points by half. Dropping the health to half or below activates the Bellyzard’s "Salac Berry", which increases its speed. With high speed and high attack, it proceeds to defeat each opposing Pokémon in turn before the enemy can use any kind of counterattack, known as “sweeping” in competitive Pokémon parlance. A less effective, but still powerful, technique is to use "Belly Drum" as before and then "Rest", an attack that heals health points. In FireRed and LeafGreen, Charizard is also capable of learning "Blast Burn", an extremely powerful attack that is comparable to "Hyper Beam". Like Hyper Beam, Blast Burn has a very high attack power, but requires skipping one turn of battle after its use. Only Charizard can learn this attack from the move tutor.

There are seventeen different Pokémon types (a special attribute determining strengths and weaknesses of each species), offsetting each other in a complicated series of rock-paper-scissors relationships. Charizard is a Fire/Flying type so its attacks are particularly effective against Grass-, Bug-, Fighting- and Ice-type Pokémon, but Water- and Rock- attacks are particularly effective against it. Attacks of the Fighting-, Fire-, Ice-, Bug- and Grass- types do little damage to Charizard, and Charizard does little damage to other Fire-, Rock-, Dragon-, Electric- and Water- types. All other types have no particular advantage or disadvantage when facing Charizard. Also because of Charizard's Fire/Flying combination, Ground-type attacks are totally futile against Charizard.

Charizard can only be obtained in the games by evolving a Charmeleon, which in turn can only be obtained by evolving a Charmander. Therefore, the availability of Charmander (which are not found in the wild) dictates the availability of Charizard. Because of their toughness, rarity, and perennial popularity, Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard are often bred in-game for trade to other players.

Charizard also appears in the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap, in the Volcano area. It has minor cameos in the Super Smash Bros. series; first in Super Smash Bros. as one of several Pokémon which may emerge from thrown Pokéballs, spewing fire left and right with Flamethrower; then reprising that role in Super Smash Bros. Melee while also appearing as a trophy.

In the Pokémon anime

Various Charizard have appeared in the anime, the most notable of which was the one on Ash Ketchum’s team for much of the first half of Pocket Monsters. Starting out as a Charmander which had been abandoned by another trainer and became loyal to Ash, it evolved into a Charmeleon. Charmeleon refused to obey Ash, something that Pokémon who become “stronger” and more experienced than their trainers sometimes do, since they lose their respect for their trainer. Charmeleon evolved when Ash summoned it for protection from an Aerodactyl which intended to devour him. Ash was ultimately saved by Charizard, but it remained unclear whether Charmeleon evolved to rescue Ash or just to fight Aerodactyl, which had injured it.

Originally, Charizard, like Charmeleon, did not obey Ash, but through its willfullness it often inadvertantly helped Ash reach his goals. The most notable example of this behaviour was in the Indigo League tournament when Ash was battling his new friend Richie. Ash, down to his last Pokémon while Richie had two remaining Pokémon, was desperate to even the score and called out Charizard. Although Charizard easily won against Richie’s Charmander, it refused to battle Richie’s Pikachu, leading to Ash’s defeat. Charizard, at various isolated instances, showed signs of loyalty (for example, in The Power of One), but remained mostly disobedient until Ash battled a trainer with a Poliwrath and Charizard was frozen solid. Because of Ash’s continuous and self-sacrificing efforts to restore its health, Charizard began to obey Ash. Charizard, from that point, became the “power” Pokémon on Ash’s team, acting as a warrior and always continuing to battle despite the odds and any accumulated injuries. However, Charizard is sometimes overconfident and was once beaten by a cunning Chikorita which had managed to knock it off balance.

Charizard remained on the team until Ash and company reached the Charicific Valley, a home to many other Charizard. Charizard remained in valley to train. 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, such as Claire’s Dragonair, Entei, Gary Oak’s Blastoise, and Noland’s Articuno. Of all of Ash’s former team members, Charizard has made the most appearances after leaving the team.

Charizard returns from the Charicific Valley in the Battle Frontier Saga to battle in the first Frontier battle against Noland’s Articuno, but returns to the Valley after winning the battle. This gives Charizard the distinction of being the only “ordinary” Pokémon in the anime to defeat a Legendary Pokémon in single combat. Other Charizard include Mewtwo’s Charizard clone (which has reddish-orange stripes on its back, limbs, and face), one that James used in his Pokémon League Entrance Battle Exam, one used in the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest, and an elderly one named Don who could no longer fly or breath fire in an episode of Pokémon Chronicles. Numerous wild Charizard live in the Charicific Valley, along with Charla, a female Charizard owned by the valley’s warden, Liza (not to be confused with the Hoenn Gym Leader of the same name). Ash’s Charizard apparently has a crush on Charla.

In the Pokémon Trading Card game

Charizard appears often in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a powerful Stage 2 Fire Pokémon, including appearances in the Base Set (and 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 *VS (as Lance’s Charizard, a Basic Pokémon), Expedition (twice plus a holographic version), Skyridge (as a Colorless Pokémon with the “Crystal Type” Poke-Power), EX Dragon (as a secret holographic card), and EX FireRed & LeafGreen (as Charizard EX).

Charizard is generally considered the most influential of all Pokémon in the card game. Its original appearance in the Base Set (reprinted in Base Set 2 and Legendary) sported the “Energy Burn” Pokémon Power, and the “Fire Spin” attack (which does 100 damage). In this base set, Charizard was a very rare and hence desirable card.[2] Charizard EX is similar in structure, but it is worth noting that Charizard EX carries what is undoubtedly the most expensive and powerful attack in the entire TCG: Burn Down. It takes five fire energy and requires five fire energy attached to be discarded in order to do 200 damage that is not affected by weakness, resistance, Poké-powers, Poké-bodies, and any other effects on the Defending Pokémon. It does have one more attack, Slash, which takes three Colorless energy to use, but doesn’t require any to be discarded. It also has the Poké-Power Energy Flame, which causes all energy attached to Charizard EX to become fire energy. Charizard EX has 160HP, a weakness to both Water and Electric, no resistances and a two colorless energy retreat cost.

When the Pokémon Trading Card Game became widespread in North America, the Base Set Charizard card was very popular and always in high demand. In trading card magazines, the card’s value sometimes exceeded one hundred dollars. This may have influenced the value of all other Charizard cards, because, in these magazines, Charizard prices are always higher than those of other equally elusive and strong holographic cards such as Venusaur or Zapdos.

In the Pokémon manga

In Pokémon: Electric Pikachu Boogaloo and Surf’s Up, Pikachu!, manga which loosely parallel the storyline of the anime, Ash evolves a Charizard to be his “secret weapon” in the Pokémon League Tournament – but he has trouble controlling it, and it almost kills Richie’s Charizard, Charley. 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 Gymleader.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Blue, originally Red’s rival and now the Viridian City Gym Leader, owns a Charizard which evolved from a Charmander he received from his grandfather, Professor Oak. Charizard played a major role in the confrontation at Silph Co., when the protagonists battled Team Rocket. However, Blue gave Charizard to Red during the FRLG saga for good in the battle against Deoxys.

References

Notes
  1. ^ “Pokemon [sic] Franchise Approaches 150 Million Games Sold”, PR Newswire. URL accessed on 2006-02-28
  2. ^ "Economics lessons the Pokémon way", BBC. URL last accessed on 2006-04-11.
Publications
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0439154049.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 130206151.
  • Nintendo, et al. Official Nintendo Pokémon Snap Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 1999. ASIN B000CDZP9G
  • Nintendo Power. Super Smash Bros. Melee Official Nintendo Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 2001. ISBN 1930206194
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
  • Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0761547614
Manga volumes
  • Ono, Toshihiro. Pokémon: Electric Pikachu Boogaloo Graphic Novel. VIZ Media LLC, April 5 2000. ISBN 1569314365
  • Ono, Toshihiro. Pokémon: Surf’s Up, Pikachu Graphic Novel. VIZ Media LLC, June 2000. ISBN 1569314942
  • Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 2: Legendary Pokémon. VIZ Media LLC, December 6 2000. ISBN 1569315086
  • Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 3: Saffron City Siege. VIZ Media LLC, August 5 2001. ISBN 1569315604
  • Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 4: The Yellow Caballero: A Trainer in Yellow. VIZ Media LLC, January 9 2002. ISBN 1569317100
  • Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 5: The Yellow Caballero: Making Waves. VIZ Media LLC, April 2002. ISBN 1591160278
  • Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 7: The Yellow Caballero: The Pokémon Elite. VIZ Media LLC, January 2003. ISBN 1569318514
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