Pikachu is not just the face of Pokemon, it is the mascot of Pokemon. Initially the Pokemon company were thinking about having a Pokemon as their mascot. By then, they'd just designed a few 'mons, and among them, they shortlisted pikachu and clefairy.
The youngsters who had played the Pokemon games were attracted to Pikachu. The reasons to why Pikachu, out of all the other Pokemon, could be because of its characteristics. Ikue Otani (voice of Pikachu) responded in a similar way when asked the same question: Why do you think Pikachu is so popular with young people?
It’s appropriate, then, that Pikachu became Pokémon’s mascot given that he also directly benefited from an element of mystery that left some fans speculating that his appearance may have been a myth or some kind of rare phenomenon. How rare is Pikachu in the original Pokémon games?
Pikachu’s best defensive stat is its Sp. Def, and even that is pretty awful. If the opponent has a Ground-type Pokemon that isn’t weak to Surf or Hidden Power Ice (e.g. Swampert and Quagsire), can outspeed Pikachu, can take a hit, predicts what you’re gonna do, or if Pikachu even thinks about switching into something, you’re as good as dead.
Pikachu was Ash's Starter Pokémon, given to him by Professor Oak. Ash showed up late to pick his first Pokémon, so he got stuck with Pikachu. Though he detested Ash at first, they quickly became friends when Ash demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice himself for Pikachu's safety.
TIL Pikachu was chosen as the Pokemon mascot in the last stage of development it was supposed to be Clefairy. Because GameFreak apparently felt that Clefairy would appeal only to girls while Pikachu would appeal to everyone.
Pikachu Was Chosen as the Mascot Near the End of the Game's Development. While Pikachu may nowadays be the worldwide mascot of the Pokemon series, the original mascot was actually going to be Clefairy.
So, why did Pikachu become so popular? Well, first off, he's just an appealing character. Like classic cartoon icons such as Mickey Mouse, Pikachu is mostly made of circles. That roundness gives him a soft, inviting, and charming look.
According to the reality, he was supposed to get a Clefairy and this very Pokemon was actually going to be the Mascot of Pokemon but seeing Pikachu's popularity in the audience, this plan was rejected and Pikachu was selected as Ash's first starter Pokemon and become the Mascot of Pokemon.
Clefairy: The Original Pokémon Mascot.
Like many of the characters in the game, Pikachu is loosely inspired by real-life animals — in this case, the pika (genus Ochotona). The interpretation is loose, leaving out some of the most badass characteristics of the pika.
To better showcase some of the coolest Pokemon out there, the following list has been updated to include even more entries.1 Pikachu.2 Charizard. ... 3 Suicune. ... 4 Mewtwo. ... 5 Rayquaza. ... 6 Xerneas. ... 7 Milotic. ... 8 Ditto. ... More items...•
It is officially male! After reading through the entirety of the Bulbapedia Article on Ash's Pikachu, specifically the Trivia section, it is confirmed that Ash's Pikachu is in fact male: In Where No Togepi Has Gone Before! it was confirmed that Pikachu is male.
1. The first Pokémon ever designed. It may be entry #112 in the Pokédex, but according to Ken Sugimori – the primary designer for the Pokémon games – Rhydon was the first Pokémon ever created.
I'll take the bait. Originally, Clefairy was going to be the "main" mascot of the show "Pokemon", but it was later changed to Pikachu after some last-minute changes put Pikachu into the anime as Ash's starting Pokémon and the popularity of the anime led to Pikachu gaining its top mascot status.
Also, pikachu is very gender neutral in everything. Clefairy wouldn't have been.
How rare is Pikachu in the original Pokémon games? The numbers have never been confirmed beyond any doubt, but most information suggests you have a pretty good chance of finding one near the Power Plant (where Pikachu may have a 50% appearance rate). However, that area isn’t discovered until much later in the game, and many players might not even need an electric Pokémon by that point.
If any Nintendo character could ever replace Mario as Nintendo’s mascot, it would have to be Pikachu. For over 25 years, Pikachu has served as the face of the Pokémon franchise in a way that makes it easy to imagine someone instantly identifying the electric creature even if they’d never played a Pokémon game.
Interestingly, Pikachu’s low appearance rate wasn’t just a happy accident that eventually contributed to his legacy. According to Masuda, one of the Pokémon planners was scoping out some of the new creature designs when they spotted Pikachu. They were so impressed with the character’s looks that they immediately mentioned the creature was too cool to be common. Masuda suspects that they just wanted to be the only one with a Pikachu and didn’t want too many other gamers naturally discovering one ahead of them. In one of the most adorable bits of executive interference ever reported, the developers agreed to keep his appearance rate low.
After all, he wasn’t on the original game covers, he wasn’t one of the starter Pokémon offered at the beginning of the first games, and between you and me, the original version of Pikachu wasn’t even particularly powerful.
That’s especially interesting considering that one story suggests that Nintendo felt Pikachu needed to be “ bulked up” for the international release of the game, but the character was actually eventually “trimmed down” in comparison to its original design (aka “fat Pikachu” who was designed to resemble a squirrel).
In fact, Pikachu’s status as one of gaming’s greatest mascots has embedded itself so deeply into our collective pop-culture consciousness over the years that many of us probably never stopped and thought how odd it is that Pikachu earned that status in the first place. After all, he wasn’t on the original game covers, he wasn’t one of the starter Po kémon offered at the beginning of the first games, and between you and me, the original version of Pikachu wasn’t even particularly powerful. So how did he become one of the most popular video game characters ever?
In fact, the popular version of this story suggests that Clefairy was supposed to play the role that eventually went to Pikachu in the anime. Why was such a dramatic change made at the proverbial last minute? There are several reported reasons that could help explain how Clefairy lost its mascot status so quickly.