Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard
And now I get to be a bit of a hater…
But not too quick cuz I actually like Charmander a good amount. A cute little lizard that accidentally starts forest fires and dies in the rain is a good vibe for everyone. Charmander as he is now is great. But I really dig the way his early art looked where there was a little spine on the back that made it look like budding wings - which makes sense for the later evolutions.
Like just for this art he gets an extra half a star. Or ball or whatever. The fire looks a little more out of control here too, I just noticed. It’s funny remembering how rad the fire tail was cuz Charmander was literally the first anything design I saw with that. At this point it’s pretty played out, but like… it’s still a cool concept.
Also he was my technically first starter so there’s nostalgia points for that.
I remember thinking Charmeleon was cool but I cannot for the life of me see it anymore. The design is fine. It’s very classic Pokemon. But I don’t have the same affection for the look anymore. I dunno. Charmeleon is mid, now. Sorry to any fans. I guess I like that he’s a moodier Charmander? But the eyes don’t do it for me, and while he looks more vicious, it mostly just makes me miss the earlier look.
I’m a Charizard hater. I like lizards and I am bummed when lizards become dragons, which is a trend in this game that started with Charizard. I never understood why he was so popular when he looks just like… a dragon? There’s nothing interesting about him. He’s not even a cool dragon.
The early Charizard art was cooler to me with his big head and more hunched posture. As it is now, Charizard kinda walks like a person in a suit and weirdly rigidly upright holding his hands awkwardly curled in front of him. But rather than making me more excited about him, like Charmander’s earlier art - this art makes me sad for what we’ve lost as Charizard continues in his weird role as one of the most popular mons of all time. Whatever.
I almost like Charizard Mega Y, but eh. Mega X is dumb and Gigantamax is silly at best. They just seem like relatively uninspired slight variations, like almost as if they should be regional versions instead.
Between a giant frog tree and a turtle with guns, a pretty stereotypical dragon that’s just a little bit more on fire than normal never really stood out to me.