Charmander

The Lizard Pokémon
#004 - Charmander
Evolve	Charmeleon
Debut	Pokémon: Red Version Pokémon: Green Version
Species Info
Type	+
Height	0.6 m (2'00”)
Weight	8.5 kg (18.7 lbs.)
Color	Red
Gender Ratio	7♂ : 1♀
Ability	Blaze
Hidden Ability
Egg Group	Dragon / Monster
Icon		Sprite
		File:004sprite.png
Footprint
30px
Base Statistics
Hit Points	39	Speed	65
Attack	52	Sp. Attack	60
Defense	43	Sp. Defense	50
Training Info
Catch Rate	{{{cat}}}	Hatch Steps	{{{hat}}}
Base Exp.	{{{exp}}}	Effort Points	{{{e1}}}
Happiness	{{{hap}}}
To Lv.100	{{{100}}}

Kanto #	Johto #	Hoenn #	Sinnoh #
< 004 >	< 229 >
Unova #	Johto (IV) #

Charmander is one of the original three starter Pokémon offered by Professor Oak in the beginning of Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen Versions.

Information

Charmander is a lizard-like Pokémon known for the flame on the back of its tail, and naturally it prefers to live in hot habitats. The flame and its intensity reflect Charmander's emotions, for example wavering when it is happy and blazing when it is enraged. The flame also reflects the Charmander's life force and will be weak if the Charmander is weak, and a Charmander will die if its flame exhausts. But the flame is resilient and will burn even if it gets a little wet, and it produces steam during rainfall.

It evolves into Charmeleon after reaching Level 16. While it learns all the attacks that its evolutions learn, it learns them much sooner. Therefore it can be advantageous to prolong it's evolution in order to learn moves sooner.

Choosing Charmander in the original games essentially determines the game's difficulty. Choosing Charmander will cause the first gyms to be harder than if the player chose Bulbasaur or Squirtle, as fire-type Pokémon are weak against Brock's Rock-type Pokémon and Misty's Water-Type Pokémon. However, after the first two there are no other gym leaders specializing in types advantageous against fire (with the exception of Giovanni), and the fire start is particularly effective against Erika's Grass-types.

Appearances

Mainstream Games

Charmander is one of three optional starter Pokémon offered by Professor Oak in the Red, Green, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen versions. The only other game in which Bulbasaur is obtainable is Pokémon: Yellow Version, where a Charmander is given to the player by a trainer along Route 24 who believes he is a bad trainer (loosely based on how Ash got his Charmander in the Pokémon anime).

One of the Pokémon Ritchie uses in Pokémon Puzzle League is a Charmander nicknamed Zippo. In Pokémon Pinball, Charmander can be caught in Pallet Town, while in Pokémon Snap they are found in the Volcano course. Charmander also appears in Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2. In Pokémon Stadium, Charmander can be awarded to the player by Professor Oak after the player completes Gym Leader Castle. Charmander could then be transferred to any of the four first generation games.

In Pokémon Trozei!, Charmander can be found in Huge Storage 5 or Mr. Who's Den. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Charmander is one of the starter Pokémon that the player is transformed into (depending on their personality), and it also can be found in the Fiery Field's fifth through eight floors. In Pokémon Ranger, Charmander is found in the Jungle Ruins.

Other Games

• In Super Smash Bros., Charmander makes random appearances from the Silph Co. elevator in the Saffron City stage, and attacks anyone nearby with Flamethrower.

Other Media

• In the anime series, Ash gets a Charmander during a first season episode after he convinced it that its former trainer no longer loved it, as the former trainer had left the Charmander out to die. Near the end of the season, Charmander evolved into Charmeleon and then Charizard, at which point it become unruly and rebellious. Charmander was the only first generation starter Pokémon Ash owned that ever evolved. The character of Ritchie also owned a Charmander that was nicknamed Zippo, which later evolved.