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-   -   Why is Pikachu the mascot for Pokémon? (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=174857)

.:Kanto:. April 11th, 2009 12:23 AM

Why is Pikachu the mascot for Pokémon?
 
..well umm.. this is a question I've wanted to know for a while.. Why is Pikachu the mascot of Pokémon..?

Was it the anime that made Pikachu the mascot? or was Pikachu always the mascot?

Alexithymia~ April 11th, 2009 1:09 AM

Pikachu was ash's first and favourite Pokemon. I'm hoping I'm not wrong on that.

Bibliophibian April 11th, 2009 1:20 AM

Actually, according to Bulbapedia...

"Pikachu was not the original Pokémon mascot. It was supposed to be Clefairy, but this was changed because of the popularity of Ash's Pikachu."
(Pikachu's article, in the Trivia section)

"Clefairy was originally going to be the official mascot of Pokémon, but Pikachu's continuing popularity caused it to be chosen instead."
(Clefairy's article, Trivia section)

In the Pocket Monsters manga, the character had a Clefairy, which is why it was picked out I believe, but he also had a Pikachu, so...

Superjub April 11th, 2009 3:23 AM

Since Clefairy is more aimed at girls (to some people), they decided to go with Pikachu instead. I personally thought it should have been Charizard, Blastoise or Venasaur, to go with Red/Blue/Green but meh, I guess Pkachu will always be the mascot. I think anime also helped Pikachu become the mascot.

kingofjokers April 11th, 2009 6:00 AM

It was because well it was one of the 1st Pokemon to be shown on the animie

Shen April 11th, 2009 6:10 AM

Pokemon's fame really came from the anime and the games do so well because of that. It brought Pokemon to non-gamers and made it as famous as it is. Who's the main Pokemon? Pikachu, ergo: mascot.
As much as I dislike Pikachu, it was good that they chose it over Clefairy. Don't get me wrong, I like Clefairy. But the ones who would be most into Pokemon are boys, so they couldn't choose something as girly as Clefairy.

Ŧøry vs. M£A†¥³ April 11th, 2009 6:57 AM

Well, if that's what Satoshi Tajiri wants, that's what Satoshi Tajiri wants. He enjoyed collecting bugs during his childhood life. So do you think that Ash's main Pokemon would of been a insect or something? That would be questionalble if the insect Pokemon would of been better then Pikachu or not. It really Depends.

Legobricks April 11th, 2009 7:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espeon~ (Post 4526286)
Clefairy is more aimed at girls (to some people),

To everyone. This was 1995 remember.

randomspot555 April 11th, 2009 8:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by オレンジ (Post 4526914)
To everyone. This was 1995 remember.

And before Pokemon technically had genders except for the Nido-whatever family.

Haza April 11th, 2009 8:27 AM

It was either Pikachu or Clefairy. They went with Pikachu to break the mold from Japanese franchises, with the use of cute pink mascots. Pikachu is very recognizable and different so they went with it.

Miyukii April 11th, 2009 8:29 AM

Correct, randomspot. Actually, I do have another point. Mainly, I think that Pikachu is a character who ACTS like a good team leader, has a very curious nature, (and is SUPER adorable) and that's about it.

You see, if you were to think about other Pokemon, you would say that they were hard to remember. So what I'm saying is: Pikachu is a character who is like good for people to memorize of. Say, by this whole "bug" collecting, do you think you could remind yourself of Pokemon just by looking at a Yanmega?

I don't think I could.
Sometimes, I do ponder on this question... :s

randomspot555 April 11th, 2009 8:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miyukii (Post 4527204)
Correct, randomspot. Actually, I do have another point. Mainly, I think that Pikachu is a character who ACTS like a good team leader, has a very curious nature, (and is SUPER adorable) and that's about it.

You see, if you were to think about other Pokemon, you would say that they were hard to remember. So what I'm saying is: Pikachu is a character who is like good for people to memorize of. Say, by this whole "bug" collecting, do you think you could remind yourself of Pokemon just by looking at a Yanmega?

I don't think I could.
Sometimes, I do ponder on this question... :s

Yeah, Pikachu has been treated fairly well and has many traits that other Pokemon just don't have (with a lot of credit going to the anime to feature it):

An exclusive item (Light Ball)
Family line knows an exclusive move (Volt Tackle)
Tons of events, including event exclusive moves like Fly (3rd gen only) and Surf (3rd and 4th gen)
Featured in every regional Pokedex
Usually prominently featured on promotional materials

coolcatkim22 April 11th, 2009 9:17 AM

Because Clefairy was too girly.
Are you happy now?

I Laugh at your Misfortune! April 11th, 2009 9:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randomspot555 (Post 4527182)
And before Pokemon technically had genders except for the Nido-whatever family.

maybe, but Clefairy's design doesn't exactly scream "masculine", does it? By choosing it as the mascot, a lot of male fans would have been lost. :\

Miyukii April 11th, 2009 9:29 AM

But I thought you could only find Clefairy in Sinnoh...
But am I wrong?

The Hero Without a Name April 11th, 2009 9:38 AM

I heard that Ash's first Pokemon was Pikachu because the creators saw that he was the first "elemental" Pokemon after the starters.

True Reign April 11th, 2009 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:Squirtle:. (Post 4526017)
..well umm.. this is a question I've wanted to know for a while.. Why is Pikachu the mascot of Pokémon..?

Was it the anime that made Pikachu the mascot? or was Pikachu always the mascot?

Pikachu is the mascot as it was Ash's very first Pokemon. Also the fact that it was the 'backup' starter because he was late ment that it was kind of special in a way.

I Laugh at your Misfortune! April 11th, 2009 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miyukii (Post 4527462)
But I thought you could only find Clefairy in Sinnoh...
But am I wrong?

Clefairy debuted in Generation 1. So you could find it in Kanto. :\

hank jones April 11th, 2009 11:28 AM

Evolution!
 
He fits just what they need!
1. He's cute
2. He evolves
3. He needs a thunder stone to evolve, so he can level up infinitely and he won't evolve.
4. It had to be a pokemon that wasn't too rare
5. I think thunder types are pretty powerfull, and versatile.
6. What other pokemon of the originals could he have???

Legend Of Time April 11th, 2009 11:48 AM

Pikachu is The Mascot Because Of It Being Ash's First Pokemon

In My Opinion Pikachu Is Overrated and If after 3 Generations It Gets To sinnoh And gets Beat By some Newbie It Cant Be All That Good Now Can It

There Should Be A New Mascot

lolwut April 11th, 2009 11:55 AM

i would rather a pikachu then a clefairy and like a lot of other people mentioned, clefairy is more aimed at girls

randomspot555 April 11th, 2009 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legend Of Time (Post 4528028)
There Should Be A New Mascot

Please explain how Pikachu, the most popular and most widely recognized Pokemon, isn't doing well as a mascot. Then explain how whatever Pokemon you replace it with isn't as popular as it is and doesn't have the recognition it has (amongst fans AND amongst the average public)

solaris knight April 11th, 2009 1:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Legend Of Time (Post 4528028)
There Should Be A New Mascot

I defy you to imagine the franchise without Pikachu.
I'd miss the little yellow fuzzball if they got rid of him. It would be like Nintento quitting on Mario, or Sega giving up on Sonic-It just doesn't work.

coolcatkim22 April 11th, 2009 5:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miyukii (Post 4527462)
But I thought you could only find Clefairy in Sinnoh...
But am I wrong?

I just hit my self in the face.

Stronkadonk April 11th, 2009 5:31 PM

The original Mascot was going to be Clefairy, but I don't know why.

Pikachu was chosen to be the Mascot because everybody loved Ash's Pikachu.

Nnoitra Jiruga April 11th, 2009 6:33 PM

I'm sorta glad it was Pikachu and not Clefairy. I can't stand pink >__>

Beedrill Lover April 11th, 2009 6:41 PM

beedrill as mascot wooooooooo

Zennerick April 11th, 2009 6:53 PM

There was an epic dual among Clefairy and Pikachu. The winner was Pikachu because Clefairy epically failed with Metronome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bibliophibian
Actually, according to Bulbapedia...

"Pikachu was not the original Pokémon mascot. It was supposed to be Clefairy, but this was changed because of the popularity of Ash's Pikachu."
(Pikachu's article, in the Trivia section)

"Clefairy was originally going to be the official mascot of Pokémon, but Pikachu's continuing popularity caused it to be chosen instead."
(Clefairy's article, Trivia section)

In the Pocket Monsters manga, the character had a Clefairy, which is why it was picked out I believe, but he also had a Pikachu, so...

End of thread.

WriteThemWrong April 11th, 2009 11:22 PM

Now that pikachu is the mascot, i couldn't see any other pokemon as the mascot, its easy to catch and likeable so it works, especially for the kids

~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~ April 14th, 2009 8:53 AM

I think it should be Mew because it was the first Pokemon trade marked after all


:t354:TG

randomspot555 April 14th, 2009 1:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~*!*~Queen Boo~*!*~ (Post 4539571)
I think it should be Mew because it was the first Pokemon trade marked after all


:t354:TG

But no one knows who Mew is. With it's availability being in ONE main game (and one Wii ware title), that'd be about the worst choice for a mascot one could possibly make

Sloofish April 14th, 2009 1:38 PM

It was supposed to be Clefairy, and they would've LOVED to make it Polywhirl since that's the creator's favourite Pokémon. But, needless to say, fans strongly prefer Pikachu..

Pikachu's almost the mascot of JAPAN. Or all Asian culture now--certainly the mascot of Anime. People can't get enough of the adorable little thing. I think there are tons of other Pokémon that personally, I like better than Pikachu.

However, I praise them for picking the fans over personal opinion or no one would even know what Pokémon was. o___O..



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