Why Pikachu???

Satoshi Tajiri had no say in this - his favourite pokemon is Poliwhirl.
Pikachu seemed ideal because:

-it would be popular among both boys and girls.
-the Japanese public tend to prefer the smaller pokemon like Pikachu and Meowth as opposed to the American public, which tend to prefer the big, beefy pokemon like Charizard and Dragonite
-its small so it can sit comfortably on Ash's shoulder (you can hardly make the same impression with Charizard)
-its easy to make it look friendly and appealing

Basically, Pikachu sells better.
 
u r 1, angry, anry person/ i should smack u 4 being so angry.

omg. sum person put dat in their siggy. my god.

i still dont like pikachu. raichu ownz all! :D
 
Lady Nicole said:
-it would be popular among both boys and girls.
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*is a boy who hates Pikachu*
Lady Nicole said:
-the Japanese public tend to prefer the smaller pokemon like Pikachu and Meowth as opposed to the American public, which tend to prefer the big, beefy pokemon like Charizard and Dragonite
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*dislikes Charizard and Dragonite*
Lady Nicole said:
-its small so it can sit comfortably on Ash's shoulder (you can hardly make the same impression with Charizard)
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*sits Charmander on Ash's shoulder, then shoves them both off a cliff*
Lady Nicole said:
-its easy to make it look friendly and appealing
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So is every first-evolution Pokemon in existence. They don't suck any less.
Lady Nicole said:
Basically, Pikachu sells better.
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Because squealing girls outyell pissed off guys.

[PokeCommunity.com] Why Pikachu???
 
Basically Pikachu is Pokemon's mascot because it's the most popular Pokemon and Pikachu happens to sell Pokemon merchandise. Nintendo is all about making money, and putting Pikachu's face on everything related to Pokemon makes small children and Pikachu fans (which makes up probably 80% of the Pokemon fanbase) to buy the product.
 
Art_Critic_Cubone said:
1. Pikachu is a character that is "cute" enough that girls will like it, yet shoots lightning bolts, which the guys like.
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*clap*
:D

I think you're right, though. Pickachu is an all-around Poke. And it's so easy to come up with a Pikachu biteoff. :P
 
cute?! CUTE?!!?!?!
whoever thinks that can have therir own opinion, but saying pikachu is cute is a freaking JOKE!!!!!
im a girl and my least favorite pokemon is pikachu. so there. if pikachu's face was on a pokemon related product, that would probably b the reason y i WOULDN'T buy it.

omg. sum1 put my post about sum1 elses post being in their siggy put it in their siggy. wow. that was a mouthful.
 
raichuchika said:
cute?! CUTE?!!?!?!
whoever thinks that can have therir own opinion, but saying pikachu is cute is a freaking JOKE!!!!!
im a girl and my least favorite pokemon is pikachu. so there. if pikachu's face was on a pokemon related product, that would probably b the reason y i WOULDN'T buy it.

omg. sum1 put my post about sum1 elses post being in their siggy put it in their siggy. wow. that was a mouthful.
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Um, not to be the idiot here, but that is one weird post. Most people veiw pikachu as cute, which is why Nintendo picked it in the 1st place. A joke? Pikachu sure is cuter than nidoking, TTar, Mence, Gyarados, Scizor, steelix...and so on. I mean really, the pika is annoying now, but it isn't a joke people think it's cute. It's simply an opinion. I like raichu better, but many people, especially the little ones, love that electric mouse. 95% of pokemon's audience can't say they never liked pikachu...you being in the other 5%:)
well, yeah. It isn't too big a deal. Pikachu is hated because of Ash and the TV show that was butchered years back IMO. Nintendo's marketers aren't stupid, we learned that from both pokemon and the Wii, which has now outsold the 360. So yeah, Nintendo knows how to suck in people to buy their stuff.
 
Ash's Pikachu is overpowered...the only possible way that could've happened is if it had 31 DVs across the board and maxed EVs in spd and spAtk...while holding a Light Ball...or two...

Anyways, on topic. As much as it pains me to admit it, I have trained many pikachus throughout my Pokémon game-playing career...They're just soo darn cute and have fairly decent stats for early game battles. I almost always end up shoving all but one into the computer and evolving the last one to finish the game...>_>

Point is...even though they're overpowered in the anime and SSB games (seriously Pikachu easily beats Mewtwo in SSBM!!), pikchu will always be the image of the Pokémon franchise. Why? He's the most appealing of the basic-level spatk based typed pokémon other than the three starters from RBY. When the competition included Gastly, Seel, and Abra, it's easy to see why...
 
PokeWarped said:
*clap*
:D

I think you're right, though. Pickachu is an all-around Poke. And it's so easy to come up with a Pikachu biteoff. :P
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Yeah, exactly. I saw this whole issue in an interview with Satoshi Tajiri.
The only reason some people hate Pikachu is because they're too damn proud to like the same as everyone else. They think they're being clever by shouting about it.

It reminds me of the fact that men who refuse to wear pink shirts are always the ones who are terrified of losing their masculinity and are always the ones who don't have enough masculinity. The ones who wear pink shirts without a fuss are the ones who are manly. Believe me, I've seen this for myself all too often. It's just a Westernized thing anyway; loads of races don't think pink is for girls because they haven't grown up with that, so it's perfectly fine for a boy to have a pink bedroom. Men who hate (and I mean hate it to the nth degree) pink have learned that pink is for girls and are extremely conscious of the fact they're trying to be real men, unless they really hate pink at heart. It's so pathetic but it's true. I NEVER bother with men like that. I like the ones who aren't afraid to be themselves, the ones who aren't artificial or addled by peer pressure.

If Pikachu weren't so popular these people probably wouldn't mind it so much. I don't see any Bulbasaur or Clefairy-hating threads around here, only Pikachu and it could just as easily have been Clefairy. So what? I'm not fussed on Pikachu but I don't go around shouting about it just because it's so popular. I mean, I love the Rachmaninoff piano concerto no.2 but I wouldn't refuse to play it in public just because it's overplayed. Jesus Christ. I wish some people would grow out of this crap about hating everything popular. It's all just human psychology. I know loads of people like that and all I can say is "why can't they be themselves?". People are so afraid to be the "typical." I don't mean to offend anyone and I don't know how many times I've said this to people but you don't have to act like that to be different, you know.
 
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yep, I'm in the other 5, all rite. i hated pikachu when i was 4, and 1st saw him. well, i was a bit of a tomboy at 4, so, yeah. eevee was my fav back then. i actually remembered brock n' misty more than ask and pikachu when i watched pokemon w/ my bro when he was a pokefan.
 
Good question. Well, I really don't like Pikachu. 2 words: Too Overated. Ash should have gotten an Eevee or something as a starter. If he got a Clefairy though, he would have been extremely unmanly, so, uh yeah. I prefer Raichu. Not y fav, but defanatly up there. I must have Japenese blood in my though, because I prefer small over big, it seems.
 
~Dawn~ said:
I must have Japenese blood in my though, because I prefer small over big, it seems.
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No, that was just a general public survey between the Japanese and the Americans. There are always loads of people who didn't pick the same answer as everyone else in a survey.
Stereotypes are wrong but that is what it said on the survey, yeah.
 
pikachu is the mascot because the writers chose to make him the mascot.
if they had chosen someone else im sure we'd still be here wondering why the chose *insert random pokemon name here*

end of discussion....
 
J Dog said:
pikachu is the mascot because the writers chose to make him the mascot.
if they had chosen someone else im sure we'd still be here wondering why the chose *insert random pokemon name here*

end of discussion....
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Yes, that's very true. Did you know a seven-year old boy managed to sell loads of pokemon products using Ash and Pikachu? Yeah, that's another comparison Nintendo made between the Japanese and the Americans. The products with only Pikachu on them sold better in Japan and the products with both Ash and Pikachu on them sold better in America. I think it's fascinating, but there we are.

Sorry if I was being all emotional and angry on yesterday's post I made on this thread - it turned out I accidentally overdosed on Northisterone tablets (female hormones). Oh dear, I didn't realize, I'm really sorry. I'm alright now, though, I think...

It's just I get really touchy about people using the word "hate." It's a very strong word, you know, and I really do believe it should only be used with a great deal of caution and thought behind it. I wish hate didn't exist at all. I really can't bear to hear someone talking about how they hate something, it disturbs me a lot. I hope you'll understand.
 
You have a good point, Lady Nicole. Hate is a strong word. I rarely use it. Eevee would have sold well... also, I wish Ash got a Squirtle as his starter... an Eevee would have been even better.
 
Prob becoz Pikachu was the first Pokemon made.
How can a Pikachu beat a Riachu...E.G Ash vs Lt. Surge, i dont think just coz his faster that wuld beat him
 
I see, Lady Nicole. Hate isn't a good word.
I wonder what would happen if Ash got a Rattata as a Starter. Then there would be 20 Pika-clones.
 
Because when there were only 150 pokemonf there wasnt much to choose from and pikachu was the one polemon they could use their overstocked yellow fabric to make plushes for relly cheap.
 
Obi-Wan Jerkobi said:
Because when there were only 150 pokemonf there wasnt much to choose from
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Oh, I remember those days.
*sigh*
We all thought Red and Blue versions were amazing, even though the whole thing was only in Red or Blue or in some cases - black and white - and the graphics were really bad.
They were the best games of their time, though. I went to a talent show when I was nine and I said the name, number, height and weight of every pokemon at the time.
And when Yellow version came out, the fact it was in colour was like the latest technology.

You have a really good point, though, about the fabric, lol.
 
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