Ash's Charizard

Ash's Charizard is a /-type Pokémon owned by Ash. He is Ash's 5th and arguably most powerful Pokémon he ever captured, winning some of his most difficult battles. He is voiced by Shin'ichirō Miki in both the Japanese and English-language version of the Pokemon anime.

Kanto
Charizard was first introduced as a young Charmander in the episode IL011: Charmander - The Stray Pokémon. He belonged to a Trainer named Damian who had promptly abandoned him, calling him a pathetic and weak Pokémon. Despite this, Charmander's loyalty to Damian still existed to such a degree that he resisted being captured. He sat on a rocky outcrop, waiting for Damien to return, not knowing that Damien had long since given up on him. When a storm emerged, Charmander remained outside, clinging to a large leaf for shelter despite the flame on his tail getting dangerously low (probably due to the harshness of the weather taking a toll on his health). To make things worse, a flock of Spearow started attacking him. Thankfully, Ash and his friends arrived, saving Charmander with Pikachu and driving the Spearow away although Ash and the others got shocked in the process.

Ash and company got Charmander to a Pokémon Center and handed him to Nurse Joy for treatment. She later emerged from the examination room with good news; Charmander would pull through. Next morning though, Charmander had disappeared! A worried Ash theorized he had gone back to the rock to wait for Damian. Team Rocket soon arrived on scene, causing more trouble for Ash and the others by capturing Pikachu after Ash and the others fell into a hole. Charmander arrived and thanks to Meowth translating, ordered James and Jessie to "give Pikachu back or else." Team Rocket ignored the threat, ordering Charmander to beat it or else. But Charmander had the last laugh as he released a very powerful Flamethrower on them, roasting them and causing Team Rocket to retreat.

Damian, having witnessed the scene returned, hoping to get Charmander to rejoin his team as he planned to fulfill his "promise" and attempted to recapture Charmander. However, Charmander realized that Damian was a selfish trainer who would never care for or respect him and as such, refused, using his tail to send the Poke Ball flying back where it hit Damian in the face. Damian attempted to crush Charmander with every Pokémon he owned, but Charmander responded by giving his former trainer a Flamethrower. Pikachu joined him with a ThunderShock and Damian was forced to flee. Humiliated, burnt and shocked to within an inch of his life, Damian fled while Charmander chose to join Ash's team and became the newest addition to the young trainer's party.

Calling upon it on numerous occasions, Charmander would become one of Ash's most valuable and trusted Pokemon.

In the episode after he had been captured, Ash used Charmander's help to get them through a cave. On the St. Anne ship, he joined forces with a group of Charmander to successfully defeat a group of Team Rocket grunts. He helped Ash and his friends, after they formed a reluctant alliance with Team Rocket, to escape the sunken wreckage of the ship. Once back in the open, he, along with Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Meowth, Ekans and Koffing, was briefly separated from Ash, thanks to a disastrous encounter with a group of Gyarados, and marooned on an island with giant pokemon. It was eventually revealed to be Giovanni's Pokemon Land theme park after they accidentally wrecked the park by destroying the robotic Pokemon there. The two were reunited along with the other Pokemon.

Once the group had arrived in Lavender Town, Ash, hoping to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon so that he could beat the Saffron City Gym Leader, Sabrina, chose Charmander to lead the way through the tower. Unfortunately, a Haunter living in the tower paralyzed Charmander by using Lick, forcing Ash to recall him.

Charmander's next chance to shine came when Ash chose him to go up against Primeape who had evolved from a harmless Mankey. After enduring a brutal beating at Primeape's hands, Charmander learned Rage which gave it the opportunity to knock Primeape out after unleashing a powerful Flamethrower which finally enabled Ash to capture it.

Charmander got the chance to take part in his first-ever Gym Battle when Ash went up against the Celadon City Gym Leader, Erika where he fought Erika's Weepinbell. It stopped Weepinbell's Razor Leaf with a Flamethrower, causing Weepinbell some discomfort as Grass-type Pokémon hate the Fire. Charmander knocked Weepinbell out with a Skull Bash, giving Ash the win but Charmander lost after battling Erika's Gloom due to the fact that the stench Gloom gave off was so disgusting that it caused Charmander to hold his nose before fainting in disbelief. Although the battle was suspended due to Team Rocket attacking the Gym, Ash eventually won the Rainbow Badge after saving Gloom's life.

Ash used Charmander again in his battle against the Fuchsia City Gym leader, Koga with Charmander fighting Koga's Venomoth before Team Rocket interrupted the battle.

After Team Rocket had blasted off, Koga sent out his Golbat to deal with Charmander. Despite the fight not going in Charmander's favor at the beginning, he was eventually able to beat Koga's Golbat thanks to a combination of Ember and Fire Spin that gave Ash the Soul Badge.

Charmander went up against a Golem owned by a biker named Poke Ball were so powerful that Golem was even burning and even after Chopper recalled it, the heat continued to go through the Poke Ball.

Charmander was chosen to stop a group of rampaging Exeggutor and he did so but Ash and the team were in for a surprise when Charmander evolved into Charmeleon.

Unfortunately, the Charmander's happy personality and loyalty disappeared upon him evolving into Charmeleon, the reason being that Charmeleon's own skill level excelled that of Ash's and as such, he didn't respect him. During a practice battle in which Ash sought to help a Paras Cassandra owned evolve into a Parasect, he responded by going against Ash's orders and ruthlessly attacked the Paras, causing it to flee in tears. Ash tries to recall Charmeleon, but Charmeleon accidentally used a Flamethrower on Ash and when he rounded on Brock and Misty, Brock commented that Charmeleon was way out of control. Luckily, though, Pikachu, intervened and used a Thunderbolt to knock Charmeleon out, enabling Ash to recall him.

Charmeleon still ignored Ash, until an Aerodactyl had insulted him. When he evolved into a Charizard, he defeated the Aerodactyl, but accidentally used Flamethrower on Ash, apologize to Ash for his pride. Upon being released from his Ball, he accidentally simply shot out flames onto Ash again, and ignored his orders

However, he actually battled against other fire types. He listened to Ash in his battle against Blaine's Magmar, and won with Seismic Toss after a hard battle. He also battled Ritchie's Charmander, and easily crushed it. Unfortunately again, his laziness against all other types of Pokémon cost Ash his match against Ritchie in the Pokémon League because Charizard fell asleep after battling Ritchie's Charmander.

Orange League
In the early part of the series, Charizard retained his disobedience. He defeated a trainer's Tauros in one hit, only to go on a rampage that was only contained by Elite Four member Lorelei. He also used Flamethrower on Ash while he was trying to make a sled to use against Danny. Ash dodged (somewhat), and the Flamethrower made the perfect sled, helping Ash win the round. As he won the round, Charizard embarasses Ash, but eventually apologized to him.

However, when Ash saved him after being frozen by Tad's Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard's loyalty to Ash returned in full force; the best part of Charmander's pre-evolved personality was back. He had a rematch with Tad, and won with his new Dragon Rage and what would become his signature move: the Seismic Toss.

Charizard helped Ash in his battles with Luana and Drake, fighting alongside Pikachu against Luana's Marowak and Alakazam. Narrowly defeating Drake's Electabuzz with Seismic Toss, Charizard then battled Drake's Dragonite. Even with the damage he had taken in his battle with Electabuzz, he held his own against the more experienced Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. In the end, their Dragon Rages collided. Although Dragonite was injured by the explosion, Charizard fainted and Dragonite still had enough energy to defeat Ash's Squirtle and Tauros before finally being defeated by Pikachu.

Johto
Charizard was used in Ash's first Johto Gym battle, and defeated Falkner's Pidgeot with Seismic Toss. Charizard was also used in Ash's trainer battles, easily winning every battle.

When Charizard entered the Charicific Valley, he immediately challenged one of the many Charizards that were there, only to be humiliated at his constant losses and severe injuries. Charla then threw him out and into a lake. Team Rocket respected Charizard as a "fellow loser," and kept him alive while he was in the lake. Next Team Rocket "attacked" the valley, but Charizard defended the valley, just as they planned. They say some encouraging words and saluted Charizard before he sent them blasting off. Team Rocket's plan was to use that scene to make Charizard look like a hero and get accepted in, and it worked. Ash gave Charizard the option to stay and train if he wished to, which Charizard agreed and was given an assurance from Ash that he wouldn't be abandoned. Ash didn't want to leave Charizard but he knew it was for the best for Charizard.

However he later returned to Ash and helped him and Clair calm a rampaging Dragonite. After that it battled Clair's Dragonair by evaporating the pool, which was her protection, with Flamethrower. He then dodged Iron Tail twice and won using a unique combination of Fire Spin and Seismic Toss, both of which were used inside Dragonair's Dragon Rage to give them more power. Charizard's victory over Dragonair earned Ash the Rising Badge. He returned to Charific Valley for a little while before he returned to Ash again for the Johto League.

In "Spell of the Unown," after watching footage of Ash running after Entei who'd kidnapped his mother, Charizard left the Valley to head straight for Greenfield. He arrived in the nick of time, rescuing Ash and Pikachu who were just about to fall to their deaths after stumbling off a cliff. Charizard fought Entei and managed to hit it with a Fire Spin that was strong enough to cause the Legendary Pokémon to roar with pain, despite the fact that Fire Spin would not normally do much damage to a fellow Fire type. Although Charizard had grown stronger in the Charicific Valley, displaying the agility and power to dodge and counter many of Entei's attacks. Fortunately young Molly Hale ordered Entei to stop just before Entei was about to kill Charizard with Fire Blast.

Charizard later returned in the Silver Conference when Blastoise and Scisor had cut the team down to just him. He battled and defeated Gary's Scizor and Golem. Gary's Blastoise put up a better fight, and maintained an adavntage, by using Hydro Pump to negate Charizard's aierial advantage. Thinking outside of the box, Charizard used Flamethrower to burn the battlefield and when Blastiose used Hydro Pump to cool down the burning field, Charizard used the smoke to get in close, ensuring that Blastoise couldn't aim its cannons. Blastoise ducked under Charizard's Dragon Rage and used Bite on his shoulder but Charizard ignored the pain and smashed Blastoise into the ground with Seismic Toss. Blastoise managed to stand but after glaring at Charizard for a few moments it collapsed and fainted. This caused Ash to move to the top 8 and resulting in Gary's elimination from the Johto League.

Charizard was then used against Harrison's Blaziken in the quarterfinals. Charizard had never battled a Blaziken before and Ash had only encountered the Pokemon once when Harrison used it to catch his Sneasel. Therefore both Charizard and his trainer were caught off guard by Blaziken's speed and power. Even Charizard's Seismic Toss wasn't enough to defeat Blaziken, though it crippled him badly, but when Charizard attempted to use another one it was caught off guard by Blaziken's Blaze Kick. Blaziken tried to finish Charizard with Flamethrower and Charizard countered with Dragon Rage resulting in an explosion which caused both Pokemon to collapse. Charizard and Blaziken managed to stand up but when Ash ordered Charizard to use another Flamethrower, the pain from Charizard's injuries overwhelmed him and he fainted. However Charizard injured Blaziken badly enough to prevent Harrison from using it in the next round which caused Harrison to lose his next battle.

Hoenn
It appeared in the episode The Symbol Life, where Ash used Charizard to battle with Noland's Articuno. Despite his type advantage, Articuno had the upper hand throughout most of the battle, recovering from Flamethrower and DragonBreath remarkably quickly and dodging all of Charizard's other attacks. It also revealled that it could use Water Pulse to counter its weakness to Fire types and froze one of Charizard's wings with Ice Beam. Charizard used Overheat to melt the ice on his wing allowing him to regain full mobility but Articuno still managed to land a Steel Wing which very nearly defeated the exhausted Charizard. However when Articuno attempted to finish Charizard with another Steel Wing Charizard grabbed both wings and hurled Articuno to the ground with Seismic Toss, almost knocking itself out in the process. Articuno managed to get up and the referee was about to announce that it had won but Noland told him to wait until he was sure the battle was over. Articuno fainted as Charizard got to his feet. Charizard was the first non-Legendary Pokémon in the anime to have defeated a Legendary Pokémon and won Ash the Knowledge Symbol before he returned to the Charicific Valley. As of then, Charizard's power rivals that of legendary and elite four Pokémon.

Charizard was also used during Ash's final battle with Pyramid King Brandon, where he battled Brandon's Dusclops. Dusclops proved to be Charizard's equal, countering Flamethrower with Will-O-Wisp and using Mean Look after being hit by DragonBreath. When Charizard used his newly learned Steel Wing, Dusclops grabbed onto one of his wings and used Confuse Ray. Ash was unable to recall Charizard because of Mean Look allowing Dusclops to hit Charizard with Shadow Punch and Will-O-Wisp. Charizard snapped out of his confusion with some encouragment from Ash and hit Dusclops with a powerful DragonBreath. Dusclops struck back with Will-O-Wisp but by that time both Pokemon had become tired. Ash ordered Charizard to inflict what would have been the finishing blow if Dusclops hadn't been a Ghost type but it turned out that ordering Charizard to use Seismic Toss was a huge mistake. Due to Dusclops' immunity to Fighting attacks, the Ghost type escaped from Charizard's grasp and smashed him with a final devastating Shadow Punch. However Ash still managed to win the Brave Symbol with his three remaining Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu and Charizard then returned to Charicific Valley.

Unova
In The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!, Ash is at a Kanto Festival and remembers his Charizard and all the good times they had together. He goes to Professor Oak and exchanges in his Unfezant for his Charizard. When he arrived, Ash was happy to see him, and Charizard gave him the usual Flamethrower greeting. While being introduced to the other groups' Pokémon, he develops a fiery rivalry with Iris' Dragonite, which leads the two to battle. Iris is confident in her Dragonite, but does not know how outmatched she was. Charizard was able to overpower her super effective Thunder Punch with Wing Attack, but after Dragonite hit Charizard with Dragon Rush, Iris thought she had won. Iris' hopes were quickly crushed when Charizard emerged unscratched from the attack and roared loudly. Dragonite, now knowing what it was going up against, retreated in the sky, but Charizard easily caught up and hit Dragonite with a super effective Dragon Tail, dealing serious damage. However, the battle was called off by N, because Dragonite was injured from the fall. Iris was surprised that Dragon Rush didn't knock Charizard out, because she believed that it was super effective. After N is done laughing at her, Ash corrects Iris, though she doesn't believe them until Ash's Pokedex clearly stated that Charizard is a Fire/Flying type. Afterwards, Ash decided he wanted Charizard to return to his party, and get him back on the grid which Charizard gladly accepted.

In Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation!, Charizard is used to battle Dragonite again, who is now being controlled by Colress. While Charizard was more than a match for Dragonite under the control of an inexperienced Iris, Colress's machine enhances the power of Pokemon, which makes it a much harder battle. Charizard's Slash scores a hit, and Charizard quickly dodged the upcoming Ice Beam. Flamethrower is blocked by a powered up ThunderPunch, but Dragonite takes a small amount of damage, despite the enhanced power. Dragonite's enhanced speed allowed it to dodge Charizard's Dragon Tail, but the battle ended when Colress's machine is destroyed.

In Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!, Charizard is used to help Pignite, who has something blocking his nostrils. Charizard, however, simply throws Pignite with Seismic Toss, which does not work.

In Farewell, Unova! Set Sail for New Adventures!, Ash uses Charizard, Krookodile, and Oshawott, to get Ash and N out of the bottom of a pit. It used a spinning Dragon Tail to break through the ground, while Oshawott used Hydro Pump to soften it, allowing Krookodile to Dig out. He also was used to battle Team Plasma, where he easily withstood several attacks, and then Pignite and it launched a devastating double Flamethrower. However, Ash had to recall all of his Pokémon, including Charizard, once Colress turned his mind control device on them.

In The Path That Leads to Goodbye, Charizard was also used to fight against some pirate Pokémon.

Voice actors

 * Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese and English as a Charizard)
 * Michael Haigney (English 4Kids dubbed as a Charmander)
 * Eric Stuart (English 4Kids dubbed as a Charmeleon)
 * Tom Wayland (English PUSA dubbed as a Charmander and a Charmeleon)

Trivia

 * Charizard as Charmander is Ash's first fire type starter to be abandoned by its original trainer.
 * Charizard is one of the few Pokémon Ash owns that temporary disobeyed him (albeit only after evolving into Charizard due to rapid evolution), the others being Pikachu and Primeape.
 * Charizard is one the three Pokémon owned by Ash to battle and defeat a Legendary Pokémon, the other two being Pikachu and Sceptile. Charizard defeated Articuno, Sceptile defeated Darkrai and Pikachu battled to a draw with Latios and defeated Regice.
 * Charizard knows more moves than any other of Ash's Pokémon - 19.
 * In the episode Snow Way Out, he had a Charmander, but a few episodes before, it was Charizard. This is because in Japan, Snow Way Out aired before he evolved.
 * When he first entered, Charizard is smaller than the other Charizards found in the Charicific Valley. Now, he has reached the same size as them.
 * Since he evolved from Charmeleon, Brandon's Dusclops is the only Pokemon that had not reached its final stage of evolution to have ever defeated Charizard. It should be noted however that Dusknoir was not revealled until after the episode was first broadcast.
 * Shin-ichiro Miki who voices James in the Japanese version and who also plays Brock's Zubat/Golbat/Crobat as well as Misty's Staryu in both the Japanese and English-language versions of the anime voices Charizard in both versions as well. In the English series, Charmander and Charmeleon were voiced by Michael Haigney and Eric Stuart respectively while Miki continued voicing both Charmander and Charmeleon in the Japanese version.
 * Charizard is Ash's first Pokemon to learn a Dragon-type move.
 * Charizard is universally considered Ash's strongest Pokemon.
 * Despite staying in Charific Valley, Ash receives Charizard from Professor Oak in BW118, but this is due to Charizard's Poké Ball being sent from Charicific Valley to the lab.
 * Originally, Ash's Charizard seemed only average in his species' height (5'7"). Since training at the Characific Valley, he has become considerably taller. This is noticeable as originally he was almost half the size of Liza's Charla, but during his next appearance, Charizard was slightly taller than Charla. This probably due to Charizard growing stronger during his long absence. Standing roughly equal in height to Iris' Dragonite, it is presumable that Charizard stands roughly 7'3."