Charmander Family
CHARMANDER
Charmander is possible the most popular of the starting Pokémon in the original games. What is there not to love about this fire-breathing little lizard. I did not pick Charmander on my first play through of Pokémon but I did on my second. In my review of the Bulbasaur family I mentioned how I went with Bulbasaur over the other choices partly because Charmander was so popular and I always avoided doing what I thought made me a crowd follower. When I did use this little fire breather I learned to love it despite its popularity.
Charmander is the best starter to pick on second play troughs of the original games as he adds an additional level of challenge that the other choices do not. This is because as a fire type it is at a disadvantage against the first two Gym Leaders which function in game as boss challenges. Charmander and his evolved forms are also more frail than the other two choices meaning even in battles absent of type advantages a player requires greater mastery to keep their partner healthy in the battle. This frailty is reinforced by the lore — if the flame on Charmander’s tail ever goes out it will die. Anyone who has ever tried to light a match on a windy day knows how difficult it can be to keep a little flame alive. This little bit of lore turns your mini-dragon into a baby in need of your protection. Aawwww.
I believe that Charmander can be seen as an allusion to the mythical Salamanders of ancient European lore.
In folklore Salamanders were thought to have an affinity with fire. Ancients thinkers such as Pliny and Augustine believed salamanders to have an affinity with fire. Later during the Renaissance even Leonardo da Vinci wrote “ This has no digestive organs, and gets no food but from the fire, in which it constantly renews its scaly skin. The salamander, which renews its scaly skin in the fire, — for virtue.” Charmander is a lot deeper than would appear on the surface.
Charmander gets a solid thumbs up from me.
CHARMELEON
Look at this bruiser. Doesn’t he just look like your friend’s older brother who went through a weightlifting phase in his late teens? Who thought he was so muscular but in reality was just to young and gangly to have any real girth? Well, that is this middle evo right here. Most middle stages are rather awkward and Charmeleon is no exception but it wears it with so much confidence that it becomes something of a character defining attribute. The Pokémon anime plays this up well. Charmeleon’s boost in power made him into a rebellious teenager and instantly the fan favorite of all of Ash’s Pokemon.
On a deeper look I think the long arms are meant to signify Charmeleons use of physical scratching attacks. I imagine in the wild without the guidance of human trainers Charmeleons fight for intra-tribal dominance with scratch and slash attacks rather than the softer less effective (on each other) fire attacks.
Charmeleon gets a thumbs up from me.
CHARIZARD
What can I say about Charizard’s popularity? What can I say about Charizard’s ever presence in the franchise? This beast is just cool. Now, I don’t want to talk too much about its ‘coolness’ — that’s been done. But what I do not love about Charizard is its lazy ‘let’s-make-a-dragon’ design aspects to it like the wings just stapled to its back. Shouldn’t its arms be it’s wings?
Charizard essentially become a hexapod (six limbed) where it was once a quadruped (four limbed). A more ‘realistic’ design would have had Charmeleon’s stronger arms be the basis of its flight upon evolution. Maybe Charmeleons brawl among themselves in order to build their muscles for flight.
However, I think the wings are not true wings at least they were not intended to be at first. Remember, Charizard is a lizard.
Lizards of the Draco genus also known as flying dragons are a group of lizards that can extend their rib bones outward. The ribs and connective membranes form wings that allow the lizard to glide considerable distances. I believe Charizard’s wings are not true wings but rather extensions of it’s ribs. This is why Charizard could not learn any flying type attacks in the original games. This understanding seemed to be missing in the anime which often depicted Charizard in flight and then this ‘corrected’ understanding was adapted into the main series games first in Pokémon Yellow version which was based on the anime. Charizard bears no fault in this tragedy; it became a hexapod due to a misinterpretation if its design across media formats.
Another aspect I love about Charizard is its stupid face and beer-belly. Charizard looks like my Dad when he’s watching action movies. I also love that its skin returns to Charmander’s orange coloration rather than Charmeleon’s red. I think a part of becoming an adult is re-embracing those childish aspects of yourself that you may have rejected or embarrassed of as a teenager.
Charizard gets a thumbs from me.
MEGA CHARIZARD X
Does anyone else think Mega Charizard X is a huge Linkin Park fan? And wants his mother to stay out of his room? It’s misunderstood!
It’s hard not to love Mega Charizard but I don’t. I like it. But I don’t love it. Mega Charizard doubles down on the dragonic aspects of Charizard while also taking it to a ‘dark’ place. The constant blue flames (which are often hotter than orange or red flames) pouring out of its mouth is a fascinating character building feature. It makes it seem as if this monster is only just in control of its flames that it will lustfully and gleefully spew forth.
The skin color change undoes an aspect I loved about the original Charizard and makes Charmeleon’s red color less unique.
Yet another thing I dislike most about Xis that where the other members of the family flirt with the idea of dragons X loses its flying sub-typing and becomes a dragon type. This may have been foreshadowed however in Charizard learning to fly and then learning dragon type attacks in games after the first generation. I guess you may as well give the people what they want.
X here also seem to have lost some weight — unfortunate.
I don’t hate it but I don’t love it. Mega Charizard X gets a thumbs down from me. Sorry X. :(
MEGA CHARIZARD Y
Mega Charizard Y is the alternative choice to X. And why wouldn’t Charizard have two mega evolutions? He is the most popular of the final starter Pokémon across the generations.
When I first saw the two of these forms I thought X was more visually appealing but over the years I have learned to love Y more as my fondness for X diminished. Y does not depart into fan service as much as X does and so if you don’t look close enough you may not even realize it is not a basic Charizard. Though Y has lost even more weight than X has it more than makes up for it in his purity of form. The weight loss even makes sense if you think of Y as a Charizard adapted for flight. I love its wings that invoke the look of flames. They seem as fragile and fleeting as a candle flame.
Generally I hate Mega Evolutions but Mega Charizard Y is an exception. Mega Charizard Y gets a thumbs up from me.
The Charmander Family
I am surprised at just how much there was to say about the Charmander family. This article is a week late simply because I ended up wanting to discuss more and more about them in my limited free time. The round-about fashion the family takes through ancient fire Salamanders and Draco species of lizards to arrive at a Dragon is one of the more wonderful but severely underappreciated aspect of the Pokémon franchise. I love it.
The Charmander Family gets a solid thumbs up from me.
