User:Jerichi/Charizard

Charizard (リザードン) are one of the 493 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, like all pokemon. Charizard was designed by Ken Sugimori, and debuted in 1996 in Pokémon Red.

The name Charizard is a combination of the words char, referring to the act of incinerating objects with flames, and "lizard". Charizard evolve from one of the three species of Pokémon players can choose from at the beginning of their adventure in the Pokémon Red and Blue (and their remakes, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen) versions of the Pokémon series. The name Charizard refers to both the overall species, and to individual Charizard within the games, anime and manga series.

Biological characteristics
As depicted in the Pokémon metaseries, Charizard is an evolution of Charmander. As it gains levels, Charmander 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 have the power to melt solid rock or large glaciers. Charizard in the wild focus on finding worthy challengers. 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 power of their flame attacks is volatile enough that accidental or careless use can cause forest fires and other disasters.

Video games
Charizard, as one of the more powerful first-generation Pokémon   (along with Blastoise and Venusaur), are regularly used in player vs. player battles via the link cable. They are commonly used because of their high special attack statistic, which makes their wide variety of special attacks very strong. They also have a decent attack statistic, since they have a large physical attack pool, and a much smaller special move pool, players usually rely on physical attacks. Charizard's special moves consist of only a few attacks like Flamethrower and Dragon Claw, while their physical movepool, include Earthquake, Rock Slide and Swords Dance. It should be noted, however, that these standards have changed in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, where some formerly physical attacks are now powered by the special stat rather than attack and vice-versa.

Although Charizard is not available from the start in Pokémon Yellow, as Charmander is not a choice in the beginning of the game, it can be found by speaking to an in-game character after some progress in the game.

An NPC Charizard also appears in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon playing the role of a protagonist to support other Pokémon and reveal more information in their quest. However, if the player selects playable Charmander at the start of the game, he/she will later be able to evolve into a Charmeleon, and then into a Charizard.

Charizard also play a major part in Pokémon Ranger. The protagonist and his or her partner investigate the Challenge of Fire in the Jungle Relic, which will cause massive calamities within the Fiore region if it is completed with the other three challenges by anyone (the Water, Wind and Destruction challenges)-no matter who it may be. When they look inside the Challenge, they see a Charizard suffering. The Go-Rock squad suggests capturing the Charizard to calm it down. Only after capturing it do they find out that this completes the challenge and brings calamity to the region. The same Charizard also appears before the Fiore Temple.

In particular, some players like to use a setup known as "Bellyzard" which utilizes a move called Belly Drum to greatly increase their Attack power while lowering their HP. Dropping the health to 25% or below activates a hold item called a Salac Berry, which increases the speed of the holder. With high speed and high attack, these players proceed to defeat each opposing Pokémon in turn before the enemy can use any kind of counterattack, known as "sweeping".

Charizard can only be obtained in the games by evolving a Charmeleon, which in turn can only be obtained by evolving a Charmander. Charmander evolves into Charmeleon, its Stage-1 (middle) form, at level 16, and Charizard, its Stage-2 (final) form at Level 36.

Charizard also appear in the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap, in which players assume the identity of Todd Snap, a Pokémon photographer. At the request of Professor Oak, Todd sets out to photograph and catalogue the 63 diverse species of Kanto Pokémon that live in varied environments on "Pokémon Island". In the third level, "Volcano", a Charizard can be photographed at the end of the level by knocking a Charmeleon circling a lava pit into it, which causes the Charmeleon to evolve into a Charizard and spread its wings. Charizard also makes minor cameos in the Super Smash Bros. series, first in Super Smash Bros. as one of several Pokémon which may emerge from thrown Pokéballs and attack players that come near either side of it with Flamethrower, then reprising the role in Super Smash Bros. Melee, in which it also appears as a trophy. Also in the the third sequal Super smash bros. brawl Charizard akes a major apperance as the final member of the playable character pokemon trainer's team.

Curiously, in all the Game Boy consoles games, Charizard's cry is identical as Rhyhorn's cry. In fact, many first generation Pokémon had this case when they were created. The reason, however, is unknown.

In early games, Charizard is unable to learn the move "Fly", despite its large wings and flight in the anime. This was fixed in Yellow.

Pokémon anime
The Pokémon anime series and films are a meta-series of adventures separate from the canon that most of the Pokémon video games follow, with the exception of Pokémon Yellow, a game based on the anime storyline. The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum, an in-training Pokémon Master, as he and May, as well as several other companions ), travel around the fictitious world of Pokémon along with their Pokémon partners. Various Charizard have appeared in the anime, the most notable of which was on Ash Ketchum’s team for much of the first half of the Pokémon anime.

Ash's Charizard started out as a Charmander which had been abandoned by another trainer. As it traveled with him, Charmander became loyal to Ash, then evolved into a Charmeleon. Charmeleon refused to obey him, 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 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 willfulness it often inadvertently helped Ash reach his goals. In Episode 59, "Volcano Panic", Ash faced Gym Leader Blaine to obtain the Volcano Badge. Charizard proved to be a mighty opponent against Blaine’s strongest Pokémon, Magmar. However, Charizard seemed to have decided to battle Magmar mainly to test his strenghth against it. The most notable example of this behavior was in Episode 81, "Friend and Foe Alike", during the Indigo League tournament when Ash was battling Richie. Ash was down to his last Pokémon, while Richie had two remaining Pokémon. He 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. It showed signs of loyalty in The Power of One, in which it helped save Ash from the legendary birds, but remained mostly disobedient until Episode 107, "Charizard Chills", in which 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.

It remained on Ash's team, contributing to his win in the Orange League and later helping him win the Zephyr badge from Falkner by defeating his Pidgeot in Episode 133, "Fighting Flyer with Fire", until Episode 136, "Charizard's Burning Ambition", in which the gang reached the Charicific Valley, a reserve where many wild Charizard battle and train to become stronger. The warden of the reserve, Lisa, invites Ash and his friends to the valley, where Ash's Charizard meets Charla, a female Charizard, who atttracts Charizard. Charizard battles Charla in an attempt to be accepted into the reserve, but is easily tossed into the nearby river by Charla. To prove that it truly wants to improve itself, it stays in the river for the night, despite its flame nearly going out. With the help of Team Rocket, Charizard is then accepted into the Charicific Valley, leaving Ash's team.

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, Gary Oak’s Blastoise, and Noland’s Articuno. It first returned to Ash of its own volition in the 3rd Pokémon movie, Spell of the Unown, saving his life once again and later battling an imaginary Entei and the unstable Unown. Much later, it was summoned from the Charicific Valley once more in the Battle Frontier Saga in Episode 413, "The Symbol Life" to battle in the first frontier battle against the legendary Ice Pokémon Articuno, but returned to the reserve after winning the battle. This gives Charizard the distinction of being the only "ordinary" Pokémon in the anime to defeat a powerful Legendary Pokémon in single combat. Ash later summoned his oldest Pokémon to battle against Pyramid King Brandon. However, Charizard lost against Brandon's Dusclops.

Another Charizard, featured in Episode 405, "Shocks and Bonds," was used in the Hoenn Pokémon League preliminary rounds against Ash's Grovyle and Glalie. It was owned by a trainer called Clark, nicknamed "The Conductor" because of his style of battling, who also used a Quilava in the battle. Grovyle and Glalie knocked out Clark's Quilava easily, but Charizard used a Steel Wing sneak attack, throwing Grovyle into a wall, and out the battle. Glalie, in an attempt to stop Charizard from attacking it, created ice pillars on the field, bouncing off them with its head to pick up speed. Glalie knocked out the Charizard with a Headbutt, elevating Ash to the Victory competitions.

Jessie, of the Team Rocket trio, was given one by Team Rocket's Delibird in Episode 453, "Brock and Ash! Defend Pewter Gym in Tag Battle!", to aid her in catching more Pokémon for Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket. Jessie uses her Charizard, and James his new Aggron, to try and take over the Pewter City gym, formerly run by Brock. They are defeated, however, by Ash's Donphan and Brock's Steelix and Geodude. Delibird took the two Pokémon back, because the Charizard and Aggron were meant for Butch and Cassidy. Another Charizard, featured in Episode 250, "One Tricky Phoney", was used by Team Rocket against Ash at the Battle Park near Blackthorn City. The three villains broke into the closed arena and pretended to be "the strongest trainers" in an attempt to steal Pikachu from Ash. James used a Venusaur against Ash's Cyndaquil, defeating it, but Ash's Totodile defeated Jessie' Charizard, partly because she had no idea how to use Charizard against Totodile.

A recurring character, Casey, helped an elderly Charizard regain the ability to breathe fire and fly in Pokémon Chronicles Episode 18, "Those Darn Electabuzz!". Don, the old Charizard, was owned by Tsuyoshi, the former star pitcher of the Electabuzz Baseball team (of which Casey is a huge fan). Don regained its power to battle, and Tsuyoshi regained the ability to pitch for the Electabuzz team. Other Charizard include Mewtwo’s Charizard clone, which has dark red streaks on its body. This Charizard has made several appearances, all alongside Mewtwo, among the other clones. Numerous wild Charizard live in the Charicific Valley, along with Charla, and Ash's Charizard.

Pokémon 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 to fight their last battle against Pryce's ultimate weapon.

Pokémon Trading Card Game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game similar in goal to a Pokémon battle in the video game series. Players must use cards with individual strengths and weaknesses in an attempt to defeat their opponent by "knocking out" all of his cards. The game was first published in North America by Wizards of the Coast in 1999. Nintendo USA took over North American publication of the series in 2003.

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 *, a incrediably 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. In trading card magazines, the card’s value often exceeds 60 US dollars.

Charizard in 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.

A Charizard action figure was released in the "Pokémon Action" series as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Pokémon franchise. The toy featured posable features and two "flaming" projectiles that were fired out of the Charizard's mouth. Alakazam and Medicham, Weezing and Seviper, and Mudkip and Marshtomp sets were also released simultaneously. A similar figure was released alongside a Cacnea figure, called the "Charizard Deluxe Figure With Cacnea". The set featured the same projectile action as the "Pokémon Action" Charizard, but was sold with a card detailing the evolutionary process of a Cacnea. A Blaziken and Taillow set were also released, with a similar projectile action.

A Pokémon battle simulator, which was released in several different variations, was bundled with a Charizard figure attached. The system pits the player against 47 different trainers and gives the player the ability to catch up to 200 Pokémon while becoming a Pokémon Master. Earning more experience powers up the Charizard figure, allowing it unleash its most powerful attacks. The system was also bundled with a Pikachu figure, allowing the player to complete the same objectives and power up the THINKCHIP+ base figure. Various other Pokémon, including Blaziken, Salamence, and Venusaur. were made into figures which could be bought seperately.

Charizard was also featured on one of the twelve limited edition pillows released, as part of the "Pokémon 10th Anniversary" featured series. The plush pillow was released in the month of May, and was designed to be available for one month. Among others, Skitty, Mew, and Kyogre pillows were also released,.

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.