Charizard

Charizard (Lizardon (&#12522;&#12470;&#12540;&#12489;&#12531; Riz&#x101;don) in Japanese, Glurak in German, Dracaufeu in French) is a fictional character from the Pokémon franchise. Unlike its evolutionary predecessors Charmander and Charmeleon, Charizard has the ability to fly; it also possesses Charmeleon's fiery breath, which it uses as its primary attack weapon. Charizard's fiery breath is hot enough to melt rock, and it has been known to cause forest fires unintentionally.

Name origin
Charizard's name is probably a portmanteau of char and lizard. The Japanese name, Rizaadon, is probably a combination of a pronunciation of the word "Lizard" and the Japanese word "don."

Availability
Charizard can only be obtained in the games by evolving a Charmeleon, which can only be obtained by evolving a Charmander. Therefore, the availability of Charmander dictates the availability of Charizard.

Anime Appearances
Various Charizards have appeared in the anime, the most notable of which being the one on Ash Ketchum's team for much of the first half of Pocket Monsters, which had evolved from a Charmander.

Although the gender of Ash's Charizard was ambiguous while it was still a Charmander and briefly as a Charmeleon, it was implied, and made explicit, that Charizard is male.

As a Charmander which had been abandoned by another trainer, Charmander was very much loyal to Ash. However, Charmander's attitude quickly took a turn for the worse once it had evolved into a Charmeleon, the reasons remaining unknown. Many speculate that Charmeleon saw Ash being weak for using him as often as he did (although teammates Squirtle and Bulbasaur did not complain), especially in an episode where Ash is hypnotized to capture a large group of Exeggutor. Whatever the cause, Charmeleon refused to obey Ash. Charmeleon evolved in an episode where Ash and Team Rocket discover a group of Pokémon that were thought to be extinct, Charmeleon was called to duty to help protect Ash from an Aerodactyl which intended to devour him. Ash was ultimately saved by Charizard, but it remained unclear whether Charmeleon evolved to rescue Ash or to fight Aerodactyl, which had injured it during this process.

Originally, Charizard, like Charmeleon, did not obey Ash, but often helped Ash in the task he was undertaking in the process through his defiance. The most notable example of this behaviour was in the Indigo tournament's round of 16, where Ash was battling his new friend Richie. Ash was down to his last Pokémon against Richie's two Pokémon, and desperate to even the score, he calls out Charizard. Although Charizard easily won against Richie's Charmander, it refused to battle Richie's Pikachu, leading to Ash's defeat. Although Charizard, at various isolated instances, has showed signs of loyalty (for example, in Pokémon 2000), Charizard remained disobedient until an episode where Ash battled a trainer with a Poliwrath, where he was frozen solid. Because of Ash's continuous effort to prevent Charizard from certain death, Charizard began to obey Ash. Charizard, at that point, acted as the "large monster" Pokémon on Ash's team, being a warrior and continuing to battle despite the odds and despite any accumulated injuries. However, Charizard is sometimes overconfident in its abilities - in one episode he was defeated by a cunning Chikorita which had managed to take his legs out from underneath him.

Charizard would remain on the team until Ash and company reach the Charisific Valley, a valley home to many other Charizard. Charizard would leave partially due to the valley being the perfect training round, and partially because it had fallen in love with another trainer's Charizard, a love that was reciprocated. Like many of Ash's other Pokémon, Charizard has returned on a temporary basis to battle with Ash, typically when Ash faces a particularly powerful Pokémon, such as Claire's Dragonair, Entei, and Gary Oak's Blastoise. Of all of Ash's former team members, Charizard has made the most appearances.

Charizard now resides in Charisific Valley, where he continues to train.

While originally an act of defiance (see Charmeleon in the anime), Charizard often introduces himself to Ash whenever it returns by using a Flamethrower attack on his face. It also has a finishing move of sorts in its Seismic Toss attack, as most of the more powerful Pokémon that Charizard has defeated have been defeated in such a fashion. Few Pokémon have been known to escape it, them being Drake's Dragonite in the Orange League championship (in which it was reversed), Claire's Dragonair in Ash's final Johto Gym Battle (in which it was reversed, although Dragonair would fall to it a second time), and Harrison's Blaziken in the Silver Conference quarterfinals (in which Blaziken managed to break its fall). Many other of Charizard's defining character traits have been established while it was disobedient.

Other Charizards include the one Mewtwo cloned, one that James used in his Pokémon League Entrance Battle Exam, and one used in the Verdanturf Town Pokémon Contest.

Manga Appearances
In Pokémon Adventures, the Viridian City Gym Leader, Green Oak, owns a Charizard which is evolved from a Charmander he received from his grandfather, Professor Oak. Green uses Charizard on his Gym squad.

Trivia

 * With Charizard's total stats at 1767 in all Pokémon games except Red/Blue/Yellow, Charizard has the highest total stats of the three fully evolved forms of the original starter Pokémon (as compared with Blastoise's total stats at 1759, and Venusaur's at 1749).
 * When the Pokémon Trading Card Game first started to become widespread in North America, the Base Set Charizard card was very popular and always in high demand. In trading card magazines, the card's value sometimes exceeded one hundred dollars.