Pikachu

Pikachu (ピカチュウ) is a fictional species of the Pokémon media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which were released outside of Japan in 1998 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. Pikachu is a yellow, mouse-like creature with electrical abilities. It is a major character in the Pokémon franchise, serving as its mascot.

Pikachu is widely considered to be the most popular and well-known Pokémon species, largely due to its appearance in the Pokémon anime television series as the companion of series protagonist Ash Ketchum. In most vocalized appearances Pikachu is voiced by Ikue Ōtani, though it has been portrayed by other actors, such as actor Ryan Reynolds, who portrayed Pikachu in the live-action animated film Detective Pikachu. Pikachu has been well-received by critics, with particular praise given for to its cute design, and it has been regarded as an icon of both the Pokémon franchise and Japanese pop culture as a whole.

Overview
Pikachu is a fictional species of Pokémon created for the Pokémon franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the series began in Japan in 1996 with the release of the video games Pokémon Red and Blue for the Game Boy. In these games, the player assumes the role of a Pokémon Trainer whose goal is to capture and train creatures called Pokémon. Players use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon, and some can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution.

Pikachu are based around the concept of electricity and they attack primarily by projecting electricity from their bodies at their targets. Within the context of the franchise, Pikachu can transform, or "evolve," into a Raichu when exposed to a "Thunder Stone." In Pokémon Gold and Silver, "Pichu" was introduced as an evolutionary predecessor to Pikachu. Pikachu's appearance differs by gender; male Pikachu have a straight end to their tails, while female Pikachu's tails have a heart-shaped appearance.

Pikachu's design was initially pudgier in build, but changed overtime to have a slimmer waist, straighter spine, and more defined face and neck; Sugimori has stated these design changes originated in the anime, making Pikachu easier to animate, and were adopted to the games for consistency. The design, nicknamed "Fat Pikachu" by fans of the series, was revisited in Pokémon Sword and Shield, where Pikachu received a special in-battle "Gigantamax" form resembling its original design.

Ikue Ōtani has voiced the character since it first appeared in the Pokémon anime. In the anime series, Pikachu only speaks using its name. Ōtani records new lines for many of Pikachu's reappearances, and stated that despite the similar dialogue “If you don’t have a clear understanding of what you want to say in the scene and come up with a plan for your performance, you won’t convey anything... Because, if there’s the same nuance, then it would just be OK to use [previously] recorded material.” Initially, it was planned for Pikachu to slowly become more adept at human speech as the series progressed, but these plans were dropped during production of the series. Ōtani voiced the character in the main series video games starting in Pokémon X and Y, though her voice was replaced by Pikachu's original digitized "cry" in the main series since Pokémon Legends: Arceus. This cry had previously been used to represent Pikachu audibly in the main series games prior to X and Y. Ōtani voices the role in all languages which is unlike other Pokémon voice actors, where the actor is different in each country's anime dub. According to series director Junichi Masuda, Pikachu's voice was kept consistent across languages so Pikachu's name would be universal across the world. Ōtani reprised the role in every installment of the fighting game crossover series Super Smash Bros..

In video games and anime
Pikachu has appeared in all main series Pokémon video games with the sole exceptions of Pokémon Black and White and its sequel. Pikachu features prominently Pokémon anime series and films, which focus on the adventures of series protagonist Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu is initially disobedient, but after Ash saves it from a flock of Spearow, it warms up to Ash, and the pair become friends. Ash journeys to train and capture Pokémon while the members of the villainous organization Team Rocket attempt to steal Ash's Pikachu.

The game Pokémon Yellow features a Pikachu, which is given to the player as their first Pokémon. Based on Ash Ketchum's Pikachu from the Pokémon anime, it refuses to stay in its Poké Ball, and instead follows the main character around on screen. The player character can speak to it, and it displays different reactions depending on how it is treated. Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, which are inspired by Yellow, have Pikachu as a starter in one of its two versions. This starter Pikachu has access to several secret techniques and exclusive moves, which are used to progress throughout the game. Seven forms of Pikachu, which wore caps belonging to Ash Ketchum across different seasons of the anime, were released in the games Pokémon Sun and Moon as well as their Ultra versions via special event distributions, with another round of distributions in Pokémon Sword and Shield additionally adding one with Ash's cap from Pokémon Journeys: The Series.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire introduced five new forms of Pikachu, labelled "Cosplay Pikachu" which wore different outfits and could be used in in-game competitions known as "Pokémon Contests." Pokémon Sun and Moon games also released two Z-Crystals exclusive to Pikachu, which allow Pikachu to use special, one-time use attacks that are more powerful than standard attacks.

Outside of the main series, Pikachu stars in Hey You, Pikachu! for the Nintendo 64; the player interacts with Pikachu through a microphone, issuing commands to play various mini-games and act out situations. The game Pokémon Channel follows a similar premise of interacting with the Pikachu, though without the microphone. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure and its sequel, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, features a Pikachu as the main protagonist. The game Detective Pikachu features a talking Pikachu who becomes a detective and helps the protagonist Tim Goodman to solve mysteries.

Pikachu appear the games Pokémon Snap and its sequel, New Pokémon Snap, games where the player takes pictures of Pokémon for a score. A Pikachu is one of the sixteen starters and ten partners in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Pikachu has appeared in all five Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting games as a playable character, and in the Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament, in both its normal form and as "Pikachu Libre", based on "Cosplay Pikachu" from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Pikachu has also appeared in other games, such as Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Rumble World, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon Café Mix.

Following the anime season Pokémon Ultimate Journeys, which concludes the story of Ash and his Pikachu and retires them as main cast members, another Pikachu named "Captain Pikachu" was introduced as a major character in the follow-up series Pokémon Horizons, which featured an entirely new cast of characters. Ōtani portrayed the role of Captain Pikachu. Taito Okiura, the vice president of marketing for The Pokémon Company International, stated that Pikachu would "continue to have a significant presence in the animated series and remain an icon for the brand".

In other media
In the 2019 film Detective Pikachu, a detective Pikachu is voiced by Ryan Reynolds. For the 2019 live action film Detective Pikachu, the titular character was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds performed the character's voice work, and also did motion capture for the character's face and movements. Due to not being on set, co-star Justice Smith would often act his scenes out to an eyeline representing Pikachu, such as a puppet or a tennis ball. Pikachu's visual appearance in the film was built as if the character was an actual animal, with the visual effects team creating detailed skeletal and muscular systems for the Pokémon. They visited zoos and consulted animal experts in order to ensure Pikachu's movements were accurate to real world animals. Pikachu initially started with rabbit-like movement, but eventually evolved movement-wise to have characteristics of multiple species, namely those of marsupials and marmosets. Its eyes were inspired by those of the sugar glider. In order to ensure the design maintained a line between realism and uncanniness, Pikachu's fur frequently changed design. The team would often bring patches of fur to filming locations to see how the colors would respond to the area's lighting. Hidetoshi Nishijima portrays Detective Pikachu's voice in the Japanese dub of the film. Pierre Tessier voices the character in the French dub of the film. Ōtani voiced the character in a brief cameo appearance. This appearance was retained in all language versions barring the German dubbing of the film, which used a slightly deeper and more out of breath version of the dialogue.

Pikachu is featured in a 2021 Katy Perry music video, "Electric". In the Pokémon Adventures manga, main character Red owns and uses a Pikachu. Other manga series, such as Electric Tale of Pikachu, and Ash & Pikachu, feature Ash Ketchum's Pikachu from the anime series. In Electric Tale of Pikachu, Ash gives him the name "Jean Luc Pikachu", a reference to Jean-Luc Picard from the Star Trek franchise.

Concept and design
During the development of Pokémon Red and Blue, lead designer Ken Sugimori felt that the game needed more "cute" designs and sought the input of female Game Freak staff such as Atsuko Nishida. Nishida was tasked with developing the Pikachu species and its evolutionary line with specific gameplay guidelines in mind: its role as an Electric-type, that it evolved twice, and that the final form "look strong". Nishida stated that the initial concept, done in sprite form, resembled a "daifuku with ears sticking out of it." Its yellow coloring was selected in order to emphasize the electricity motif in its design.

Nishida stated that she was fond of squirrels at the time of Pikachu's conception, and so designed several elements of Pikachu to resemble squirrels, such as Pikachu's cheek pouches, which resembled a squirrel's. Pikachu's tail was shaped like a lightning bolt, being based around both a squirrel's tail and the concept of a lightning bolt. Series creator Satoshi Tajiri named the creature. The name is derived from a combination of two Japanese onomatopoeia: ピカピカ (pikapika), a sparkling sound, and チューチュー (chūchū), a sound a mouse makes. Developer Junichi Masuda noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort of wanting to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences. Koji Nishino worked with Nishida in the development process, and grew fond of Pikachu as a result. He thus made it more difficult to find in-game; however, its rarity only made it more popular with players.

Originally after evolving into Raichu, Raichu was then going to evolve into a Pokémon called "Gorochu." Gorochu was cut due to cartridge space concerns, leaving Raichu to be Pikachu's sole evolution through use of the game's "Thunder Stone" item. The American staff responsible for bringing Pokémon Red and Blue to the United States initially pitched to the team to redesign "cute" Pokémon in order to appeal to an American audience, with Pikachu being suggested a redesign described by Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokémon Company, as "something like a tiger with huge breasts. It looked like a character from the musical Cats." This suggestion was scrapped, and Pikachu used the same design in the west as it did in Japan.

Initially considered alongside Clefairy as lead characters for franchise merchandising, Pikachu emerged as the mascot of the animated series due to its popularity amongst schoolchildren and appeal to both boys and girls. It was also selected for the role due to the fact that picking one of Pokémon Red and Blue's three starter Pokémon- Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle- would've created a "gap" with children who did not select the one used in the anime.

Pikachu has been voiced by several other voice actors since its debut. Kaiji Tang portrays Detective Pikachu in English in the video games Detective Pikachu and Detective Pikachu Returns. Tōru Ōkawa portrays the character in Detective Pikachu in Japanese, while Koichi Yamadera portrays the character in Japanese in Detective Pikachu Returns. Kate Bristol briefly portrayed the character in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, in a scene where Pikachu speaks to Ash. Bristol stated that she did her best to mimic Ōtani's performance for the scene. Abby Espiritu additionally voiced Pikachu in the short web series Pokémon: Path to the Peak.

Promotion and merchandise
As the mascot of the franchise, Pikachu has made multiple appearances in various promotional events and merchandise. In 1998, then Topeka, Kansas Mayor Joan Wagnon renamed the town "ToPikachu" for a day, and the renaming was repeated in 2018 by Mayor Michelle De La Isla with the release of the Pokémon Let's Go games. Another promotional stunt, to promote Pokémon's debut in the United States, involved dropping 700 Pikachu plushes into a field by plane, while skydivers leapt from the planes and drove off in Pikachu themed cars. A "got milk?" advertisement featured Pikachu on April 25, 2000. A Pikachu balloon has been featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2001, with different balloon designs being introduced since. Pikachu was the subject of an internet meme, known as "Surprised Pikachu," where a screencap of Pikachu looking shocked in an episode of the anime is used as a reaction image.

Collectible cards featuring Pikachu have appeared since the initial Pokémon Trading Card Game released in October 1996, including limited edition promotional cards. One of these collectible cards was "Pikachu Illustrator", limited to about 20-40 printed in 1998, and was auctioned off for about $55,000 in 2016, and then $375,000 in 2021. Another card, sold in 2022, went for nearly a million dollars. For the franchise's 25th anniversary, The Pokémon Company announced special trading cards in 2021, each featuring 25 Pikachu drawn by 25 artists. A promotion at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam featured exclusive Pokémon Cards of Pikachu wearing Van Gogh's grey felt hat. It was pulled from the exhibition due to safety concerns after scalpers mobbed the store when it came out. Several employees at the museum were suspended due to reported embezzlement of a large number of the cards. The card was later restocked in an attempt to dissuade scalpers, who had been re-selling cards at high prices. The character has also been used in promotional merchandising at fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King.

Pikachu and ten other Pokémon were chosen as Japan's mascots in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. ANA Boeing 747-400 (JA8962) planes have been covered with images of Pokémon including Pikachu since 1998. In 2021, the first Pokémon Jet (Boeing 747-400D) featuring entirely Pikachu debuted.

Critical reception
Pikachu has been well-received by reviewers; it was ranked as the "second best person of the year" by Time in 1999, who called it "the most beloved animated character since Hello Kitty". The magazine noted Pikachu as the "public face of a phenomenon that has spread from Nintendo's fastest selling video game to a trading-card empire", citing the franchise's profits for the year as "the reason for the ranking", behind singer Ricky Martin but ahead of author J.K. Rowling. Pikachu has consistently been considered one of the most notable and influential anime, cartoon, and video game characters since its debut. The character has been regarded as the Japanese answer to Mickey Mouse, with Polygon writer Tracey Lien noting that its ubiquity and iconic design helped endear it to audiences, allowing it to attain significant popularity. It was noted as being part of a movement of "cute capitalism". In 2024, a poll conducted by BAFTA with around 4,000 respondents named Pikachu as the twelfth most iconic video-game character of all time. Zack Zwiezen of Kotaku praised the simplicity of Pikachu's design, describing it as "possibly one of the most iconic characters on the planet" due to the design's appealing features and "instantly identifiable" design. Dale Bishir of IGN described Pikachu as the most important Pokémon that impacted the franchise's history, and further stated that "Its irresistible cuteness, merchandising power, army of clones in every generation... if your mom calls every Pokémon 'Pikachu', then you know in your heart that it is the most important Pokémon of all time." Pikachu's resemblance to a cute pet was cited as making its design appealing. Its usage of the color yellow made it easy for children to recognize due to being a primary color. Additionally, the only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh, which helped Pikachu's popularity significantly. The book 100 Greatest Video Game Characters noted that Pikachu's cute design and the emphasis on friendship in its various appearances across Pokémon media helped with making Pikachu a memorable character in the minds of fans. Time Magazine named Pikachu as one of the twelve most influential video game characters of all time, lauding its appearance as the "most recognizable and beloved sidekick in pop culture."

Pikachu's role in the anime has been subject of praise and analysis. Pikachu's friendship with Ash has been analyzed for its similarities to Aristotle's values of friendship, with the reciprocal friendship between the two being highlighted due to the equality between them being the reason for their success. Pikachu's voice has been analyzed for its ability to convey emotion despite only speaking one word, with children being able to determine the emotion of the character based off of how the character sounds. Writer Kallie Plagge, writing for GameSpot, criticized Pikachu talking in a scene in the film Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, stating that it undermined the "literal unspoken bond" between Ash and Pikachu, and that Pikachu was able to effectively communicate with Ash without the need for spoken dialogue. Ash's Pikachu's departure was also met with positive responses, due to the fact that its departure alleviated concerns about how its strength would be handled as the series progressed. The hashtag "#ThankYouAshAndPikachu" trended on Twitter following the announcement of their departure.

In 2016, it was announced that the name of Pikachu and other Pokémon in Hong Kong would be changed in order to unify the names of Pokémon across the various Chinese languages. More than 6000 people signed a petition to keep the names of the Pokémon the same, citing the decision as ignoring Hong Kong's culture, with activist group Civic Passion stating that "Pikachu has been in Hong Kong for more than 20 years... It is not simply a game or comic book, it is the collective memory of a generation." Protests were held, deriding the change in name. Nintendo's Hong Kong office responded by stating that all Chinese Pokémon fans should adopt the unified pronunciation. A later statement clarified that they did not intend to limit pronunciations, and that despite the unified pronunciation being the "official" one, they stated there was no limit on how people could pronounce the character's name.

Kotaku writer Patricia Hernandez criticized Pikachu's over-representation in Pokémon-related media, highlighting Pikachu's constant usage in marketing for the franchise. She stated that Pikachu's overuse detracted from other Pokemon in the series, while also criticizing the overuse for its lack of originality. She further compared it to Mimikyu- a Pokémon who mimics Pikachu in an attempt to be loved- stating that the reason for Mimikyu's popularity inherently lay in how much people were subconsciously aware of Pikachu's overuse. TheGamer 's Stacey Henley cited similar sentiments, believing Pikachu's consistent presence in marketing had made it an uninteresting Pokémon and an ineffective mascot, disliking its consistent presence in games over other Pokémon.

Cultural impact
In 2008, a ligand believed to provide better visual acuity was discovered by the Osaka Bioscience Institute Foundation and named "Pikachurin", in reference to the nimbleness of Pikachu. The name was inspired due to Pikachu's "lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects". In 2021, the Chilean independent politician Giovanna Grandón famously went to many protests during the 2019–2021 Chilean protests dressed in an inflatable Pikachu suit. She went on to be elected as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 2021–2022, and is known as Aunt Pikachu (Tía Pikachú). In July 2021 during the Group of Seven climate summit, a group of protestors dressed as Pikachu demonstrated on Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth, while in November 2021, a group of activists dressed up as Pikachu to protest Japan's refusal to reduce coal consumption at COP26.

In 2016, the Pikachu, also known as the Pokemonument, a fiberglass sculpture depicting Pikachu by an unknown artist, was installed in Lower Garden District, a New Orleans neighborhood. The 5 ft statue of the Japanese icon was erected as an apparent tribute to Pokémon Go on July 31, 2016, in a decommissioned fountain along Terpsichore Street. and was a fiberglass sculpture coated to look like bronze. Within a few days, the sculpture was vandalized by someone with a baseball bat, but repaired. Some two weeks after its placement, the "Pokemonument" was removed, and an online statement from the artist said that the artwork would be auctioned to benefit restoration of the park's fountains.