Controversial Post Warning! Charmander

[TheMCButterfly]

Charmander.
CHARMANDER.
Let me get started.
So, Charmander's alright. It's a firey-lizard thing. There's nothing wrong with it. I just think it's a little dull.
Charmeleon isn't noticed very much. Again, it's nothing spectacular, but it's not BAD.
Charizard. It's literally just a dragon. WOOP WOOP. So original. 10/10. Why does it get to have TWO mega evolutions, when the other Kanto starters only get one? It's not fair. Why do people like it so much anyway? I don't understand...

Well, this is gonna get a LOT of angry hate comments from Charizard/Charmelon/Charmander-ers.

 

[Commander Saturn]

I think that the reason is because it is a little lizard that evolves into a dragon. Dragons have always been popular as they are seen as beautiful, mystifying. When the first generation came out, of course most wanted what would evolve into the dragon because they wanted to have the most bada*s Pokemon. So Nintendo knowing this, just marketed Charizard higher and gives him a lot of spotlight as they know he is a surefire sell.

 

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah I think the reason is just it turned into a dragon back in the day so nowadays because a lot of people have used it it's nostalgic and Nintendo just plays that up. Plus Charizard has appeared several times throughout the anime, appearing in at least four regions alongside Ash. So I think it's just dragon plus nostalgia and also recognizability.

 

[CiCi]

I've always really liked the Charmander line. Fire, lizards, dragons; what's not to like? At least imo. But I will admit that the overzealous attention Nintendo has given Charizard in recent years has put me off. Same with Pikachu. Way too much hype, too much pandering to nostalgia; but it makes Nintendo and Game Freak good money so they're going to keep doing it. Which sucks because a lot of my favorite Pokémon get pushed to the sidelines. :/

 

[Venheart]

If it were me back then, Charmander wouldn't have been a starter Pokemon. A lot of Jhoto Pokemon sprites existed during Red and Green, so if Cyndaquil's family did, I'd have used them, but for Charmander, I would've had them be catchable later in the game, and have Charizard be Fire/Dragon. Would've been nice to have more than 1 Dragon type in the end, though I also would've had Dragonair be a branching evolution from Dratini. Have Dragonair be more special and Dragonite more physical. Also maybe try and get Kingdra in gen 1 if his sprite existed so that there were 4 Dragon options at least.

 

[Zeostar]

I've never been fond of the Charmander line. So it's now a bit surreal seeing others turn on it, when I've felt like the minority for years.

There's nothing wrong with Charizard. It's very monsterish looking. Yet Charizard is not what I find appealing about a Pokemon resembling a dragon. Which is strange because I like Salemence and they aren't terribly far apart.

 

[Palamon]

I love Charizard, but does it deserve two mega evolutions and a Gigantamax form? No, of course not. Although, I don't see what's so controversial about your opinion...there's honestly plenty of people who don't like the Charizard line. While I like Charizard, I can see why people are annoyed about it getting more attention than the rest of the Kanto starters.

Also, I don't think anyone is going to send comments over this. It's your opinion, don't worry.

 

[pkmin3033]

You'd be better off asking Japan these questions, because the Japanese audience is the only one that TPC really cares about when it comes to these things.

But I don't think you're alone in these sentiments - Charizard has been a point of contention for a while now in certain segments of the fandom, for it's excessive use in the anime and popularity in the games. Whether it's deserved or not depends on how much like Charizard I guess, but plenty of people clearly like it enough...and others don't. Which is absolutely fine.

 

[Taemin]

I've always guessed it was just that dragons in media have always been very popular. If there's a dragon in a franchise, it's probably gonna get a fair amount of notice. Fair to say that Gamefreak maximizes on that with Charizard and always has. As someone who also has always loved dragons and Charizard, and loved his Mega Evolution, I can't really fight against the current for that one.... but, I totally see how it's annoying for people that don't care much for that guy or his evo line.

 

[SiegeGoatRevenge]

The reason Charizard was so popular, was because it was the most conventionally coolest Pokemon there was at the time, especially since you can get a Charmander at the start of the game.

 

[Fairy]

I also like the Charmander line, but for real where's the love for Cyndaquil???? The over saturation of Charizard is just kinda boring now.

 

[Bellsprout]

If I think back to when Pokemon was THE thing Charizard was depicted as strong and cool. It was Ash's strongest Pokemon. I'm pretty sure it fully evolved before all his others minus Butterfree. I remember collecting Pokemon cards and everybody wanted to get a Charizard card. I remember wanting to get a Pokemon game so I could get Charmander because it was a dragon and it breathed fire. People generally like dragons, they think they're cool. I think Charizard would be loved regardless of when it debuted, but being in the first generation has definitely helped it stay loved and relevant for so long. Ask someone who vaguely knows anything about Pokemon and they probably either know Pikachu or Charizard. Hence why it still gets extra attention from the developers.

 

[colours]

I also like the Charmander line, but for real where's the love for Cyndaquil???? The over saturation of Charizard is just kinda boring now.

i'm not particularly a fan of most fire types, but Cyndaquil and Quilava are one of the more underrated fire types to me. ._.