Why Pikachu?
- Thread starter Escapefromwhatever
- Start date
pokémon yellow followed the anime so pikachu fitted right in there, wh he was made mascot was probably something to do with him being electric type and that sort of fit in with grass/fire/water. heck when it comes to legendary bird/dog trios electricity REPLACES grass.
P.S. If you own Pokémon Yellow HOW did you people beat the first gym leader with pickachu(and maybe a bug/normal pokemon too)
P.S. If you own Pokémon Yellow HOW did you people beat the first gym leader with pickachu(and maybe a bug/normal pokemon too)
ok so,flashback, in the original games you got one of the three regular starter pokemons, and in the show as i remember it, he was late or special or whatever and the prof gave him pikachu instead, lightning bolt "hilarity" ensued. and i guess they did it for the weakness/strength lesson they wanted their students to learn
The Japanese are obsessed with cute mascot characters and Pikachu fits the bill pretty well. Plus it was a rare pokemon, and it doesn't evolve automatically. So for the show it's ideal since Ash can keep him forever with no one wondering why he doesn't evolve. This also allows them to change up Ash's roster to keep up with the game releases, since he always acquires the various starters. It would be more difficult to avoid evolving a starter like charmander and then keep it all through every season.
For the anime he's a lovable sidekick and partner for Ash, and that's fine. In the games I hate pikachus, they're trash; there are so many better electric types.
For the anime he's a lovable sidekick and partner for Ash, and that's fine. In the games I hate pikachus, they're trash; there are so many better electric types.
That episode with that team rocket guy and his growlithe is incredibly depressing..Uszi said:I always thought that if I could, Growlith would be my side kick.
No as Iconic as Pikachu though.
Maybe it's the red cheeks?
To answer your question I guess why not Pikachu? He seems designed for the part (and probably was) he appeals to boys and girls he isnt some humongous death dealing monstrosity from the depths of pokemon hell. Its tough its yellow and shoots lightning and can say Pika in a cute squeaky voice and cuddles up next to you. It is literally perfect for the job.
I honestly cannot think of a pokemon that meets that perfect medium to appeal to boys and girls. And even so his gang still represents the extremes Brock is masculine and Misty was the feminine.
I don't think Nintendo really intended for Pikachu to become Pokemon's mascot. I'm thinking he was elevated to that position due to the sheer popularity of it among fans, and so it stuck.
Hell, maybe the anime had something to do with it. I can't remember what came first; Pikachu becoming the mascot, or the anime. I'd love to know (with sources to back it up).
Hell, maybe the anime had something to do with it. I can't remember what came first; Pikachu becoming the mascot, or the anime. I'd love to know (with sources to back it up).
They didn't have any problems keeping Squirtle and Bulbasaur in their original forms.Hubilub said:
First off, the main character in an anime is traditionally characterized by either the fire or lightning element. It's also good that they didn't have Ash choose any of the starters from the game, because it would have caused players to gravitate towards one instead of picking the one that they actually liked. Ruling out Magmar, Electabuzz, Magnemite, and Voltorb for general unlikeability (and Vulpix and Growlithe for being fairly mono-gendered) and you have Pikachu remaining. A pokemon that appeals to both genders, is cute but capable of being tough without looking weird/funny, and is generally likeable.
There's something so very wrong about the entrance to that Pikachu...Flour said:Small improvement?temporalcrux said:Fixed it for ya.Cpt_Oblivious said:
[small]D'aww lookaddit[/small]
I think it's the whole mouse thing. Mice are cute in cartoons, just look at the one in Spirited Away, or Jerry from 'Tom and Jerry'. That, and it'll fry things, which makes Jessie and James easy to defeat without killing them outright.
On the other hand, I'd have Cubone as my starter. It's just adorable!
The point of the question was asking why they decided upon that.undyingdh777 said:
Timeline below:
I-----Nintendo---------------------------Pikachu becomes popular-----------------I
Choose Pikachu
OT: I'm gonna go with the they didn't want to do favoritism to the proper starting pokemon, and pikachu is woefully underpowered so it works as an underdog.
Eevee would have been a good mascot. (S)he's more............unique.
Otherwise, I always liked the water types like Starmi(sp?) and Lapras.
Otherwise, I always liked the water types like Starmi(sp?) and Lapras.
Head out west from Vermillion, search the grass until you find a Mankey, capture it, train it until it learns a fighting-type move.Josh12345 said:
OT:
It's most likely that they chose Pikachu so as to not be biased towards a particular starter. Naturally the three starters at that time would have already had their own fanbases, so Ninty didn't want to play favourites with the fans - hence they chose something neutral (although, I think the Pokemon manga had the main character, Red, chose Charmander).
My favourite of the Gen1 starters would be Charmander and it's subsequent evolutions.
Gen2 would be Cyndaquil/Quilava/Typhlosion.
From that point on the fire-type starters became unappealing (Torchic and Combusken are stupid-looking, but Blaziken is pretty awesome - nothing in the world would make me want to use that stupid monkey).
Actually, Red gets bulbasaur in the manga. Blue, Oak's grandson get Charmander and Squirtle is stolen by the third Pallet Trainer Green.LOZFFVII said:
OT: Pikachu is a pokemon that appeals to both boys and girls. (I use my pikachu keychain to get little kids to stop crying at the daycare I work at.) I agree that eevee would have made a good mascot as well, since it now has 7 different evolutions.
Well, the reason is Red goes in to Oak's lab to talk to him about getting a pokedex, and accidentally releases all of Oak's pokemon while looking around. Oak catches him, and they have to go catch all of them, including Bulbasaur, who has wandered all the way to Viridian and is hanging out in the gym. They are attacked by some seemingly wild pokemon, and Red uses his Poliwhirl (His true first pokemon) to protect bulbasaur. Because of this, bulbasaur takes a liking to Red, and Oak gives bulbasaur and a pokedex to Red, along with the mission to completely fill the pokedex.
Also, notice that the trainer's names match their pokemon's weakness.
Also, notice that the trainer's names match their pokemon's weakness.