Charmander protecting the flame on its tail from the rain
Charmander is a bipedal,reptilianPokémon with a primarily orange body and blue eyes. Its underside from the chest down and the soles of its feet are cream-colored. It has two small fangs visible in its upper jaw and two smaller fangs in its lower jaw. A fire burns at the tip of this Pokémon's slender tail, which has blazed there since Charmander's birth.
The flame can indicate Charmander's health and mood, burning brightly when the Pokémon is strong, weakly when it is exhausted, wavering when it is happy, and blazing when it is enraged. It is said that Charmander would die if its flame were to go out. However, if the Pokémon is healthy, the flame will continue to burn even if it gets a bit wet and is said to steam in the rain. Charmander can be found in hot,mountainous areas. It has been recently seen living in theTerarium ofBlueberry Academy. However, it is found far more often in the ownership ofTrainers. As seen inPokémon Snap andNew Pokémon Snap, Charmander exhibits pack behavior, calling others of its species if it finds food and watching the flames on each other's tails to ensure they don't go out. As shown inPokémon Sleep, Charmander is known to sleep while curled up. Supposedly, it draws warmth from the flame on its tail. During quiet nights, the sounds of its flame can be heard by listening carefully while Charmander sleeps.[1]
PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure: Charmander is one ofPikachu's best friends. After falling through the mysterious tunnel, he almost lands into a pool of molten lava, only to be saved by theLava Zone leader,Blaziken, who takes him in as his pupil and trains to become stronger. After he's been found, he journeys to theMeeting Place, where he helpsPiplup mend the balloon and makes fireworks. He later accompanies Pikachu to theSky Pavilion along withPiplup andChikorita, where he meetsMew. Once theSky Prism has been restored, Charmander celebrates by firing off the fireworks he made.
The flame on its tail shows the strength of its life force. If it is weak, the flame also burns weakly.(Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) The flame on its tail indicatesCharmander's life force. If it is healthy, the flame burns brightly.(Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers whenCharmander is enjoying itself. If thePokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.
The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.
Charmander live together in groups so they can all watch each other’s tail and make sure the flames never go out. If you can only see one Charmander, look around—its friends are sure to be nearby.
When it curls up to sleep, it's thought to be drawing warmth from the flame on its tail. On quiet nights, it feels like you can almost hear the sound of the flame burning if you listen hard enough.
Charmander physically debuted inCharmander - The Stray Pokémon, whereAsh,Misty, andBrock found him after he was abandoned by hisTrainer,Damian, who only cared about raising strong Pokémon. At first, Charmander refused to leave the spot he was at, believing Damian would return for him. However, when a rainstorm picked up, Charmander grew ill and Ash took him to aPokémon Center. Charmander eventually realized that Damian had been abusing him, and allowed Ash tocatch him. He later evolved into Charmeleon inThe March of the Exeggutor Squad, and then into Charizard inAttack of the Prehistoric Pokémon.
Ash's Charmander also appeared inI Choose You!, which is set in a different continuity fromPokémon the Series. In this continuity, it previously belonged toCross and evolved into Charmeleon after defeating aJigglypuff inbattle. It later evolved into Charizard while battling Cross'sIncineroar.
InThe Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!, a Charmander was part of Professor Oak's demonstration of the Kanto first partner Pokémon during theKanto Fair. Another Charmander was owned by theKanto Fair host. Seeing it inspired Ash to bring his Charizard back onto his team.
Minor appearances
Charmander made its debut inPokémon - I Choose You!, where Ash dreamed about one as his prospective first partner Pokémon.
InThe Breeding Center Secret, a Charmander was seen evolving on TV for a commercial aboutCassidy's andButch's breeding center, while another one appeared in said center.
InPokémon Pocket Monsters,Red's rival,Green, chose Charmander as hisfirst partner Pokémon. Green's Charmander is mischievous and has a rivalry withRed's Clefairy. Green's Charmander has evolved intoCharizard. It seems to be able to skip theCharmeleon stage, as it was seen evolving directly into Charizard. Although it has devolved back to the Charmander stage, it currently seems to have permanently evolved back into Charizard.
The capture of Ash's Charmander diverges considerably fromPokémon the Series. In the manga,Damian seems to have abandoned his Charmander at the beginning of the chapterPikachu's Excellent Adventure, but it turns out that he had just been injured and went to the hospital.
Ash is shown to own a Charmander despite this, his own Charmander first appears inYou Gotta Have Friends. Ash's Charmander's capture is not shown in the manga, instead, when Charmander first appears from itsPoké Ball, it is simply stated that "Ash has been busy since the last comic".
"A Lizard Pokémon. It just downright likes hot stuff. The always-burning tail indicates its mood--waving gently when content and burning intensely when angry. If the tail were to go out, it would be the end of Charmander's life. Its tail is believed to emit steam when it rains. Charmander evolves into Charmeleon by leveling up."
Charmander,Cyndaquil, and their respective evolutionary lines have exactly the same base stats in the same distribution.
Niue released a one-dollar coin featuring Charmander as part of a commemorative promotion for thePokémon franchise, with Charmander on one side and the nation's coat of arms on the other.
Charmander's design was based on Charizard in such a way that it was surprising to see it evolving into the latter Pokémon.[4] In particular, Charmander was designed as alizard.[4] Based on its name, Charmander is also based on asalamander, which are amphibians that physically resemble lizards.In folklore and mythology, salamanders are often thought of as fire spirits capable of surviving in extreme heat or flames. As Charizard is based on aEuropean dragon, Charmander's lizardlike design seems to reference how Western dragons in folklore are heavily inspired by lizards and other reptiles, as well as how various types of lizards are likened to (and named after) dragons due to this connection. Its bipedal design resembles a babytheropod dinosaur.
Name origin
Charmander is a combination ofchar (to burn) andsalamander, as stated in the January 1999 "POCKEMON JOURNAL" on the officialGame Freak website.[5] Alternatively, in a 2016 interview withTsunekazu Ishihara by INSIDE, Charmander is stated to be a combination ofcharcoal (carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood) andSalamandra (a genus of salamander including four species of fire salamander).[6]
Hitokage may be a combination of 火hi (fire) and 蜥蜴tokage (lizard), forming together the word 火蜥蜴hitokage (mythical salamander).
This Pokémon article is part ofProject Pokédex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Bitter Berry (100%)
For other sprites and images, please seeCharmander images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
Red and Green sprite
Generation I back sprite
Generation I art
Key art
XY series art
Corporate art
