This one's easy for me.
Back when I first started playing Pokemon, I began the first game in my Red version with Charmander, a decision that would affect me a great deal. My friends back then basically thought that Squirtle was the best, but somehow Charmander appealed to me more and I took it. Oddly enough, I got stuck in Mount Moon until Charmeleon was at a much higher level than he would normally have been, and I clearly recall Charizard being level 46when I was challenging Erika's gym. When the Elite Four were defeated and all was said and done, Charizard had grown to level 67. With Charizard already being my prime battler in most of my games afterward, I tried starting one with Bulbasaur. It wasn't the same, and I wound up restarting yet again with Charmander.
The anime was at least somewhat of an influence on my liking Charizard, as the third episode I saw was "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon" in which Ash's Charmeleon evolved into Charizard and would probably have destroyed both Aerodactyl and Ash if Jigglypuff hadn't put Charizard to sleep. That scene was pure awesome in its own right, and was even more so to me, having used Charizard so much myself.
Later on, I started a game in Pokemon Crystal with Cyndaquil. It was alright, but even then I wound up trading an old Charizard from my Yellow version to get him back in the game. Afterward, I actually hacked my games to get a Charmander at the beginning rather than having to choose one of the newer starters.
Even this year, after playing Leaf Green with Charizard, I went to the trouble of breeding him with a Ditto and trading a Charmander egg to Ruby before I started it. I borrowed both of these games from my friend, but I'm planning on getting back into generation 3 someday. And when I do, it'll be with Charizard, you bet. As for Generation 4, I've yet to think of how to get a Charmander in the early game.
In short, ever since the beginning, my favorite Pokemon has been Charizard and always will be. Powerful, fast, and deserving of a lot of respect, in my opinion. Is Blaziken better? Probably. Do I care? No! (Plus, 2x STABed Aerial Ace+Swords Dance=dead Blaziken). Charizard learning Swords Dance is just icing on the cake for me.
Anyhow, my planned moveset for R/S/E:
Flamethrower
Swords Dance
Aerial Ace
Earthquake
w/Leftovers
Quirky nature or whatever raises stats evenly.
I'm still not a big fan of the newer EV system though, as I prefer Charizard as a mixed sweeper. I'm not letting that 317 Special Attack stat go to waste, but I'm still going to use Swords Dance due to its potential.