Charizard: the dragon that is not a Dragon

A dragon on paper, not on the type chart

Its original Pokédex entry, the same in Pokémon Red and Blue, keeps it simple: "Spits fire that is hot enough to melt boulders. Known to cause forest fires unintentionally" (Bulbapedia).

It looks like a dragon, and it was meant to. Bulbapedia notes that Charizard may be based on European dragons, which European folklore ties closely to fire, with some lizard, dinosaur and the mythical salamander mixed in. The name is likely "char", to burn, plus "lizard". Its Japanese name, Lizardon, likely joins "lizard" with "dragon" or "-don", the Greek-derived suffix for "tooth" found in the names of prehistoric animals (Bulbapedia).

For all that, Charizard has always been Fire/Flying, not Dragon. It took Mega Evolution for that to change: Mega Charizard X turns black, breathes blue flames and becomes Fire/Dragon (Bulbapedia).

Charizard, its earlier forms and Mega Charizard X were all designed by Atsuko Nishida. Bulbapedia notes that Charizard is her favourite Pokémon (Bulbapedia).

The Charizard that would not listen

In the anime, Charizard was a problem before it was a hero. Ash's Charmeleon evolved into Charizard mid-fight with an Aerodactyl, and then simply stopped taking orders. It kept ignoring him until the episode Charizard Chills. Later it met Charla, the Charizard belonging to Liza of the Charicific Valley in Johto, where wild Charizard make their home (Bulbapedia).

It was also the very first Pokémon anyone saw in the Japanese version of the show, because it opens the title sequence. Outside Japan, that spot went to Mewtwo (Bulbapedia).

On cardboard

The card that made it famous is Base Set #4/102, illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita. It had 120 HP, the highest of any card at the time. Its Pokémon Power, Energy Burn, turned every Energy attached to it into Fire Energy, and its attack, Fire Spin, hit for 100 (Bulbapedia). At the height of the craze it was widely regarded as the best card ever made (Bulbapedia).

The Base Set Charizard was printed as 1st Edition, Shadowless and Unlimited, and the three are worth very different amounts. Check your copy against our note on 1st Edition, Shadowless and Unlimited before you do anything else.