It is no secret that the Pokémon community has a bit of an obsession with Charizard. It is a Pokémon that gets a lot of love in the anime, games, and even in non-Pokémon centered titles like Super Smash Bros.
Honestly though, what is not to like about Charizard? Its a dragon. Not Dragon-type, but lets be real . . . it's a dragon in every other way. The design is reminiscent of European dragons that fantasy fans love to see in media. Not only that, but Charizard is the ending evolution of one of the first starters in the series.
With how popular this Pokémon is, many would think they know all there is to know about Charizard. However, do you know these ten facts?
10 Charizard Shares Their Category Name With Other Pokémon
A category name is like how Pikachu is the "electric mouse" Pokémon. In Charizard's case, it is the "flame" Pokémon. This is definitely a more general category name, and because of that, Charizard is not the only one. Other Pokémon that share the title of Flame Pokémon include Moltres, Flareon, and Infernape.
It is not very creative, but a lot of fans do not pay attention to these names that only appear in the Pokédex entries.
9 It Was The First Pokémon To Appear In The Japanese Pokémon Anime
The first Pokémon Japanese audiences got to see in the anime was Charizard. Outside Japan, the opening changed a little and opened with Mewtwo. The games came before the show, so it wasn't exactly the first time people saw a Charizard, but it as a pretty big deal for fans at the time. With how popular Charizard was, the anime was definitely putting its best foot forward.
Mewtwo may have been added on in preparation for the first movie.
8 Charizard Is Atsuko Nishida's Favorite Pokémon
Nishida is a graphic artist that worked alongside Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri and artist Ken Sugimori. She can be thanked for many of the designs for Pokémon (most notably, the cute ones like Pikachu). She is also a fan of Eevee and created some of its most popular evolutions such as Espeon, Umbreon, Sylveon, Glaceon, and Leafeon.
Charizard may be a little less cute, but it was also designed by Nishida and she has mentioned that Charizard is her most favorite one of all.
7 Charizard (And One Other) Is The Only Pokémon With Two Mega Evolved Forms
Mega evolution was introduced generations later, but it made Charizard get even better than it already was. Pokémon were lucky enough to get mega evolutions, but Charizard was special. Charizard got two different kinds!
Mega evolution was introduced in Pokémon X and Y and depending on which game you got, you could Mega Evolve Charizard into different forms. Like the games, the forms were called the X and Y mega evolution forms of Charizard. The only other Pokémon that got this special treatment was the legendary Mewtwo.
6 It Inspired The Scientific Name For A Real-Life Bee Species
Pokémon fans are everywhere and many of them are adults. Thanks to that fact, we have a scientific bee name that was inspired by Charizard! They are called "Chilicola charizard."
They were named by a Canadian scientist, Spencer K. Monckton. When he found and classified a distinct species of bee in Chile, he got to name them. The avid Charizard fan decided to give them the name "Chilicola charizard."
5 Charizard And Typhlosion Have The Same Base Stats
Typhlosion is similar to Charizard in that it is a final Fire-type starter evolution. It is even in the neighboring region from Kanto, Johto. So its like Charizard's neighbor in a sense.
They have even more in common than casual fans would think though. For example, they have the exact same base stats. This actually is true for their entire evolution lines as well.
4 Charizard Can’t Learn Fly In The Original Pokémon Games
Charizard has wings, but the games did not make use of that fact for a while. Maybe they were afraid that letting one starter know a move of such utility would make it outranked the others too much?
Whatever the case, Charizard eventually could learn Fly. In the Sun and Moon games, one even works as your flying taxi throughout the game.
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Out Of all Pokémon In The Anime, Charizard Has Used The Most Moves
Charizard is not only popular due to the games. The anime has done its piece as well. Early fans still have not forgotten the episode where Ash first meets Charizard as an abused little Charmander. They have come a long way since. In fact, Charizard is arguably one of Ash's strongest and best Pokémon. It certainly is where moves are concerned, as it has broken the record as most moves used in the series.
2 Charizard Was Voted As The Most Popular Generation I Pokémon In A 2020 Poll
No one was surprised by this result. A 2020 poll done by the The Pokémon Company sought to rank all Pokémon. Obviously, Charizard did well. It was voted most popular in its generation (which is kind of a big deal because it outranked Pikachu). It wasn't the most popular of all time though, that title went to Greninja. Charizard took fourth place with Lucario and Mimikyu also surpassing it.
In total, Charizard got 93,968 votes.
1 Mega Charizard Y Has The Highest Base Special Attack Stat Of All Fire-Type Pokémon
Not every player cares about stats, but Pokémon definitely has its competitive players. This is why many competitors either love or hate a mega evolved Y Charizard depending on whether they are using one or getting beaten up by it.
This is because out of all the Fire-types out there, the mega evolved Y Charizard has the highest base Special Attack stat.