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Charmander ヒトカゲ Hitokage #004
Artwork from FR/LG
Type Fire ' Unknown Unknown Blue-Striped Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown	Category Lizard Pokémon
Ability Blaze Blue-Striped -----	Exp. at Lv. 100 1,059,860
Regional Pokédex numbers Kanto #004 Johto #229 Hoenn #206 Sinnoh — Unova Not in any regional Pokédex
Regional Browser numbers Fiore R— Almia R— Oblivia
Height 2′00″ Imperial 0.6 m Metric 2′00″/0.6 m Red-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m Blue-Striped 0'0"/0.0 m
Weight 18.7 lbs. Imperial 8.5 kg Metric 18.7 lbs./8.5 kg Red-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg Blue-Striped 0.0 lbs./0.0 kg
Dex color Red	Catch rate 45 (5.9%)
Body style Blue-Striped	Footprint      Blue-Striped
Gender ratio Gender unknown Unknown Gender unknown
Breeding Monster and Dragon groups 1 cycles (255 minimum steps)
EV yield HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 Base Exp.: 65 Battle Exp.: 651*
External links On Smogon Pokédex: Generation I Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII Generation VIII Generation IX Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Charmander (Japanese: ヒトカゲ Hitokage) is a Fire-type Pokémon. Along with Bulbasaur and Squirtle, it is one of three starter Pokémon the player receives at the beginning of Pokémon Red, Pokémon Green, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

Charmander comes with the Ability Blaze, which increases the power of Fire-type attacks by 50% once the Pokémon has less than one-third of its maximum HP.

Charmander evolves via level, into Charmeleon starting at Level 16, then into Charizard starting at Level 36.

Biology

Physiology

Charmander is a reptilian creature resembling a bipedal salamander with some dinosaur qualities. Its most notable feature is the flame burning on the tip of its tail, which is there even at birth. It is said that if this flame goes out, the Pokémon dies, although this has never happened in either the Anime, Manga for video games. It could perhaps be distantly related to some Dragon-type Pokémon, and also Magmar, due to both Pokémon possessing a flame at the tips of their tails, but Charmander seems to only be closely related to its evolutions .

Despite the small size of its claws, they should be regarded with caution, since even they are strong and sharp enough that a Charmander can learn to use Slash.

Gender differences

Unlike some other Pokémon, Chamander does not have any differences between the members of the male and female genders.

Special abilities

Charmander can breathe fire, which allows them to use a wide range of Fire-type attacks. However, the strength of these are very closely connected to the strength and health of the Charmander, since it draws on the life force which fuels the flame on its tail to fuel the flames of its attacks. With time, it can learn powerful Fire-type techniques like Flamethrower and Fire Blast. It can even learn to breathe the blue flames of Dragon Rage, but this Charmander can only learn this move in the Second Generation games and beyond. It can also use the flame on its tail to attack by swinging it about. However, these attacks are usually weaker than those from the flames Charmander breathes.

Behavior

Charmander is easily the most mild-mannered of its evolution line. Its health and emotions can be easily read by paying attention to the flame on the tip of its tail. For example, if the flame grows suddenly, the Charmander is probably angered, and perhaps even using a Rage attack. It is scarce in the wild. Most are domestic Pokémon, raised to be distributed as starters by Professor Oak. As such, they are regarded as well-behaved Pokémon. It is often regarded as the most difficult Pokémon to start with because it has a disadvantage against the first two Gym Leaders in Kanto (Brock and Misty)

There are some who choose it anyway under the impression that it is stronger than Bulbasaur or Squirtle. However, while a Charmander can certainly grow to be a very powerful Pokémon, its strength in battle is very closely connected to its condition and health. Therefore, like a real fire, it must be tended to regularly and not strained or neglected. Most trainers shouldn't have a problem with this, though impatient ones who expect it to be very strong right off the bat will have severe difficulty raising this Pokémon. In Charmander the Stray Pokémon, a trainer named Damian abandoned his completely because of this.

Habitat

Charmander is rarely found in the wild. Sometimes they can gather in extremely hot areas, such as active volcanoes. They can also thrive in craggy mountains. Their final evolution, Charizard, also inhabitat the Charcific Valley. However they are found far more often in the ownership of trainers.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

Their diet is the usual omnivorous diet of a Pokémon. The few places where Charmander can be seen in the wild, they usually hunt and gather in small packs, and will call others over if any sort of food is found.

In the anime

In Charmander the Stray Pokémon, Ash, Misty, and Brock came across a Charmander which had been abandoned by its trainer, Damian, who only cared about strong Pokémon. At first, Charmander refused to leave the spot it was at, waiting for Damian to return. However, when a rainstorm picked up, Charmander grew ill and Ash took it to a Pokémon Center. Charmander realized that Damian was no good, and joined up with Ash. It has since evolved into Charmeleon and then Charizard.

Ritchie owned a Charmander named "Zippo" which debuted in A Friend In Deed. Sometime before the Whirl Islands Story Arch, Zippo evolved into a Charmeleon.

In Journey to the Starting Line, Gilbert was intended to start his journey as a Pokémon Trainer, but the trio of Kanto Starter Pokémon were scared off when Ash's Tauros stampeded through Professor Oak's house. Professor Oak, Tracey, Delia and Gilbert split up in order to find the three missing Pokémon. The Charmander was the first one to be found. Tracey attempted to save the Salamander Pokémon from falling in a river, but Mimey saved both of them by using Psychic to lift them on to dry land.

A Charmander also stars in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate! as the leader of Team Go-Getters.

In the manga

In Pokémon PiPiPi Adventure, the sickly trainer Peanut has an abrasive Charmander who is always getting into fights with other Pokémon.

In Pokémon Zensho, Satoshi is given a Charmander as his starter Pokémon, while Shigeru chooses a Squirtle.

In the Pocket Monsters manga, Green (the rival) has a mischievous Charmander that goes along with whatever his trainer wants him to do. It tends to be very antagonistic toward Red's Clefairy.

Ash's Charmander is shown once or twice in the Electric Tale of Pikachu. Oddly enough, it appears to be an entirely different Charmander than the one owned by Damian, as Damian and his Charmander were reunited.

Pokémon Special

Charmander debuted in the first round of the Red, Green & Blue chapter, A Glimpse of the Glow, as one of Green's first Pokémon, likely received from his grandfather Professor Oak. It has since evolved into Charmeleon and then Charizard, and is part of his Gym team.

In the TCG

Thirteen Charmander cards have been released.

• Base Set: Charmander
• Team Rocket: Charmander
• Gym Heroes: Blaine's Charmander
• Gym Challenge: Blaine's Charmander
• Expedition Base Set: Charmander and Charmander
• EX FireRed and LeafGreen: Charmander, Charmander, and Charmander
• EX Crystal Guardians: Charmander
• EX Crystal Guardians: Charmander δ
• EX Power Keepers: Charmander
• POP Series 5: Charmander δ

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Base stats

Type effectiveness

Template:DP type effectiveness

In Generation I, the effectiveness of Ice-type moves is 100.

Learnset

Template:Learnset introMoves in Italics aren't STAB for Charmander, but are for some/all evolutions.

By leveling up

By TM/HM

By breeding

By tutoring

In Pokémon FireRed, Pokémon LeafGreen, and Pokémon Emerald:

• Body Slam
• Counter
• Double-Edge
• Mega Kick
• Mega Punch
• Mimic
• Rock Slide
• Seismic Toss
• Substitute
• Swords Dance

In Pokémon Emerald Only:

• Defense Curl
• Dynamicpunch
• Endure
• Fire Punch
• Fury Cutter
• Mud-Slap
• Sleep Talk
• Snore
• Swagger
• Swift

Side game data

Template:Side game

Evolution

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow		Red (Ja)	Green	Back
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal				Back
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald		FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum		HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back
V	Black	White	Black 2	White 2			Back

For other sprites and images, please see Charmander images on Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

• Everything points out that Charmander will die if the flame on its tail goes out.
• Some believe Charmander is the most mischievous out of the three original starters, although in the anime, Bulbasaur and Squirtle seem more troublesome then Charmander is.
• In the film Austin Powers in Goldmember, in the scene where the 'Godzilla' moves about destroying everything, a guy in a Charmander suit runs across the screen.

Origin

Charmander may have been inspired by the mythical salamanders, which were fire-spirits in the shape of lizards who were said survive in extreme heat or flames.

Name origin

Charmander is a combination of the words char, to burn, and salamander. Hitokage, on the other hand, comes from 火蜥蜴, which is also salamander. 火 hi and 蜥蜴 tokage separately means "fire lizard".

In other languages

• German: Glumanda - Derives from Glut (ember) and Salamander.
• French: Salamèche - Salamandre means salamander and mèche means match.
• Korean: 파이리 Pairi
• Chinese (Taiwan): 小火龙 Xíao Hűo Lóng
• Chinese (Hong Kong): 小火龍 Xíao Hűo Lóng ("small fire dragon")

Related articles

• Ash's Charmander
• Zippo
• Charmander (PiPiPi)
• Charmander (Pocket Monsters)

External links

• Article on Wikipedia
• Charmander Fan, the fanlisting for Charmander at The Anime Fanlistings Network

First partner trios

Kanto

Bulbasaur

Charmander

Squirtle

Johto

Chikorita

Cyndaquil

Totodile

Hoenn

Treecko

Torchic

Mudkip

Sinnoh

Turtwig

Chimchar

Piplup

Unova

Snivy

Tepig

Oshawott

Kalos

Chespin

Fennekin

Froakie

Alola

Rowlet

Litten

Popplio

Galar

Grookey

Scorbunny

Sobble

Paldea

Sprigatito

Fuecoco

Quaxly

See also: player's first Pokémon

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This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.