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This question might seem like [Why didn't Ash release
Charizard?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/62421/58903) but it is not.

I know anime logic is very illogical, but for some time I've had a thought
about it. Many times in the anime, Charizard has been shown to be Ash's worst
Pokémon. Why specifically is Ash's charizard shown to be so weak? Remember I
am talking about Charizard, not Charmander or Charmeleon.

Points where he is shown to be strong:

  1. He defeated Magmar and Poliwrath.
  2. He defeated half of Gary's team

Points where he is shown to be weak:

  1. First of all, is it seriously possible that Charizard can't lift Ash? He lifted him in the Aerodactyl episode and in "Charizard Chills", so why not in "Charizard's Burning Ambition"?

  2. Why did they make Charizard disobey Ash? They could have evolved Bulbasaur or Squirtle instead and made them disobey?

  3. Charizard did not obey Ash and Ash lost in the Indigo League because of it.

  4. Charizard was arguably the strongest in Ash's Orange Island team, however the most damage to Dragonite was done by Tauros and Pikachu.

  5. In the banned episode "The Mandarin Island Miss Match", because of Charizard releasing flame all around Ash, his reputation in front of Prima decreased (a point taken from the other question).

  6. Ash's Charizard wasn't even able to defeat a miniature Chikorita, who had a size disadvantage as well as a weakness to fire, but still didn't lose.

  7. You might remember the three episodes in which Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard were released (or removed from Ash's party for some time). Bulbasaur was released in "Bulbasaur The Ambassador" where he was shown to be very strong and was able to control all Pokémon - not at first, but as the episode went on. In the episode in which Ash gave Squirtle to Officer Henny, when the Squirtle Squad were with Ash's Squirtle they won the tournament, even defeating their evolved form, the Wartortle Team. For that matter, take any episode in which a Pokémon was released. Butterfree defeated Team Rocket and impressed his female mate in "Bye Bye Butterfree". Pidgeot was released in a episode in which he defeated Fearow. Primeape was removed from Ash's ownership in the episode in which he won the P1 fighting championship. Everyone was considered as a hero in their releasing episode except for Charizard. Charizard was first shown as unable to fly properly, then as unable to lift Ash, then as being smaller than other Charizard, then he even lost against the weakest Charizard, all of which embarrassed him. Why not let Charizard too have a good day in his release episode?

  8. In "Ash v Harrison" Charizard was not able to defeat even a single Pokémon and lost against Blaziken, where even unevolved Pokémon like Totodile and Pikachu won.

  9. Even though Charizard beat Articuno, this doesn't show he is very strong. [As claimed by this answer](https://qr.ae/pGPFVt), Infernape could also have defeated Articuno. Edit: I didn't read quora all answers sorry this should had been a advantage as Charizard can defeat Articuno but Infernape can't defeat Articuno

  10. Charizard wasn't even able to defeat one Pokémon in the Battle Frontier whereas the unevolved Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were able to defeat at least one, showing Charizard is weaker than them.

These points are made by me until the end of season 9. Easily one can say
Ash's Charizard is quite weak. So why did the Pokémon creators choose to
depict Ash's Charizard in this way? I know some of my points are just
ridiculous but many are good enough to prove Charizard is more times proved
weak than strong.

Is it due to the reason that in the Porygon episode, they were criticised
because of the flashing red lights giving children eye problems, so they are
taking revenge on Charizard as he is Red's starter? I know it is a very bad
theory but I too would have done the same if I were the developer.

**What is the real reason that they don't want Charizard to be depicted as a
strong Pokémon?** I am asking this question because Charizard is not my most
favourite but is in place of my favourite lists.


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pokemon
Why is Charizard depicted as weak?


(Note: this is personal speculation, not an official statement from the
anime's creators, and so it may not be what you're looking for.)

This is likely the result of a narrative device that TV Tropes calls "The Worf
Effect". Essentially, in order to establish an antagonist as a credible
threat, you have them defeat someone the audience knows to be strong. In the
case of Pokémon, this ends up being Charizard, who the audience _knows_ should
be strong based on his appearance and its depiction in the games.

Of course, like any narrative device, the Worf Effect can be over-used. When
the same character gets Worfed too often, it has the opposite effect: it makes
them look weak and pathetic. This appears to be what happened with Charizard:
the writers used it to demonstrate the power of Ash's opponent on too many
occasions, creating the impression that Charizard was weak, and by
"Charizard's Burning Ambition" they decided to just go with it and say, "Yes,
Ash's Charizard _is_ weak by Charizard standards".

TV Tropes [specifically
lists](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheWorfEffect/AnimeAndManga#:%7E:text=overcharged%20with%20electricity.-,Ash%27s%20Charizard,-is%20regarded%20as)
three of your examples - the Orange League, the Battle Frontier, and
"Charizard's Burning Ambition" \- as examples of Charizard being subjected to
the Worf Effect.


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F1Krazy has given a good answer, so I just want to answer by objecting to the
premises of this question.

> I know anime logic is very illogical

No, anime is not in general illogical. Many shows use different premises for
reality, but logic has nothing to do with that; as long as there is no
contradiction, it is logical. Maybe you meant _the anime_ , as in Pokémon
specifically. In which case, I'd agree.

>   1. First of all, is it seriously possible that Charizard can't lift Ash?
> He lifted him in the Aerodactyl episode and in "Charizard Chills", so why
> not in "Charizard's Burning Ambition"?
>

This is conflating two different meanings of "strength". Someone may be
considered to be strong if they are adept in martial arts or if they can shoot
a twelve foot cone of fire out of their mouth, so long as they're able to win
fights with this "strength". On the other hand, if we're specifically talking
about "physical strength", then ability to lift is all that's important. When
we talk about Charizard's "strength" though, it is very clearly the first
kind. Hence, while physical strength is a component of that, by making this
point about Charizard being unable to lift Ash to prove Charizard is weak, you
are misleading by changing the definition being used.

Points 2-5 don't have anything to do with strength. Disobedience does not
disprove Charizard's strength. 4 is about how much damage other Pokémon
inflicted, which doesn't prove Charizard is weak (at most it proves those
others are stronger than it). 5 is again about disobedience and, for some
reason, reputation.

>   6. Ash's Charizard wasn't even able to defeat a miniature Chikorita, who
> had a size disadvantage as well as a weakness to fire, but still didn't
> lose.
>

Yes, this one is actually a good point. It does point to Charizard being weak.

>   7. ... then as being smaller than other Charizard, then he even lost
> against the weakest Charizard, all of which embarrassed him. Why not let
> Charizard too have a good day in his release episode?
>

This is the only part of 7 that really matters. And yes, it is another very
good point. Charizard was shown to be weaker than all the other Charizards in
Charicific Valley, which prompted it to want to train there. Though if I
recall, after all the training, it was able to beat the strongest Charizard
there.

>   8. Charizard wasn't even able to defeat one Pokémon in the Battle Frontier
> whereas the unevolved Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were able to defeat
> at least one, showing Charizard is weaker than them.
>

>   10. Charizard wasn't even able to defeat one Pokémon in the Battle
> Frontier whereas the unevolved Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were able to
> defeat at least one, showing Charizard is weaker than them.
>

More good points.

>   9. Even though Charizard beat Articuno, this doesn't show he is very
> strong. As claimed by this answer, Infernape could also have defeated
> Articuno.
>

Firstly, you're basing this on speculation on a forum. However, I will accept
the premise that Infernape could defeat Articuno. In which case, this does not
lessen Charizard, but merely proves Infernape is also capable of this
incredible feat. In the anime, legendaries almost never go down, and the anime
also seems to have a vendetta against type advantages (I've got no statistics,
but it honestly seems like Pokémon at a type advantage lose more often than
they win). Just look at Tobias: with his Darkrai, he was able to sweep every
one of his league matches except the one against Ash, and for that one he had
a second legendary to take care of the rest (that makes Tobias a giant troll,
by the way, especially since the anime shows that catching legendaries is also
basically impossible). As such, defeating Articuno is an incredible feat for
any Pokémon. In other words, Infernape and Charizard are both strong if they
can beat Articuno.

> This question might seem like [Why didn't Ash release
> Charizard?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/62421/why-didnt-ash-
> release-charizard) but it is not.

Your question hits on all the same points, including some very specific and
very strange ones, and ignores every impressive thing Charizard was able to do
in the same manner as the other question, so I'm very skeptical. You probably
will want to read the answers there.


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answer


Satoshi (Ash) did not personally catch Hitokage (Charmander). Another trainer
called Daisuke (Damian) did. Thus it counts as a traded Pocket Monster. In the
original GameBoy games, traded Pocket Monsters would gain experience points at
a much faster rate. I'm not sure if their stats were worse, but I think they
were.

Another gameplay mechanic was that earning badges would make it so traded in
Pocket Monsters would obey you for certain level caps. So if you didn't have
enough badges, but a traded in Pocket Monster that gained experience at a
faster pace, it would eventually reach a high enough level to disobey your
commands in battle.

The anime was merely being faithful to the game in this regard.


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