Why is Pikachu so damn popular!!!???

[CyrusTG]

Pikachu is the 2nd coming of Peyton Manning. That enough should answer your question.

And he can't play (fight) under pressure.

 

[t.z0n3]

(First post. o.o)

To be honest, when I first played Pokemon Blue, I'd never seen the anime, or anything. I loved Pikachu because it owned the heck out of Misty- even though my Bulbasaur could have done it too, but hey, I like a little shock here and there. I eventually evolved it, but I always liked the way Pikachu looked as opposed to Raichu (smaller, more nimble... Raichu honestly looks kind of fat.) In any case, that's stuck with me, and I always catch a Pikachu in every game I play, not because the franchise infected me, but because the thing just WORKS. It's a great pokemon. ^_^ And it doesn't look quite as ridiculous as some of the other pokemon either.

 

[domesticshorthair]

Maybe they just drew out of a box and got Pikachu?

 

[Scarlet Devil]

I think it's because a cute yellow mouse brings attention to people, same as Dora brings attention to little kids

but, I would like a Shinx to be a mascot too XD

 

[Sleet]

They did not want to make Ash choose one of the starters for neutrality's sake. They choose Pikachu because it was cute enough to be popular, a believable Pokémon to be owned by a new trainer, and has far more interesting powers than most of the Pokémon that fit that bill. And the anime is where his popularity came from.

 

[Bumba]

I don't see why Ash doesn't evolve pikachu already. Was he unable to find a damn thunder stone through his whole entire journey or what?

I also wonder what level its at now!

 

[Hector]

I don't see why Ash doesn't evolve pikachu already. Was he unable to find a damn thunder stone through his whole entire journey or what?

I also wonder what level its at now!

Ash carried around a thunder stone for about 500 episodes, and never used it (nurse joy gave it to him after pikachu lost to Lt. Surge's Raichu way back in the first season. Team Rocket eventually stole it from him in like season 9 or 10, but Ash didn't care. Pikachu has always chosen not to evolve)

And Pikachu is probably level 376 by now.

 

[Cloud354]

(First post. o.o)

To be honest, when I first played Pokemon Blue, I'd never seen the anime, or anything. I loved Pikachu because it owned the heck out of Misty- even though my Bulbasaur could have done it too, but hey, I like a little shock here and there. I eventually evolved it, but I always liked the way Pikachu looked as opposed to Raichu (smaller, more nimble... Raichu honestly looks kind of fat.) In any case, that's stuck with me, and I always catch a Pikachu in every game I play, not because the franchise infected me, but because the thing just WORKS. It's a great pokemon. ^_^ And it doesn't look quite as ridiculous as some of the other pokemon either.

I agree with you cause Raichu is more about power rather than speed so evolving it would sooner would punish the speed stats in the long run, so i never evolve the first pikachu i get if i want a raichu i catch another pikachu.

And Pikachu is probably level 376 by now.

It's probably close to lvl 90 or so.

 

[Shinx3000]

Ash carried around a thunder stone for about 500 episodes, and never used it (nurse joy gave it to him after pikachu lost to Lt. Surge's Raichu way back in the first season. Team Rocket eventually stole it from him in like season 9 or 10, but Ash didn't care. Pikachu has always chosen not to evolve)

And Pikachu is probably level 376 by now.

Yeah, Pikachu wanted to be strong as it is and prove it can be just as strong without evolving.

And I don't think game levels count for anime pokemon, more based on power, speed strength etc...

 

[Sleet]

From a game standpoint, Raichus are still faster than Pikachus. The only reason to never evolve a Pikachu is so it can use a Light Ball. But in the anime, they don't really work the same way.

 

[pikachu200]

I don't know I'm guessing it's the appeal maybe because it has cute black beady eyes or those red cheeks were the sparks from the electric type moves come from but even so it was the first pokemon mentioned in the anime so maybe that's why it's a popular pokemon character

 

[ShinyAeon]

Why is Pikachu so popular? Because it's A) cute, B) cuddly, C) yellow, and D) kicks butt.


Cute: That, it certainly is. Big button eyes, ears that can assume many expressive positions (including the OH so cute-tastic "one ear up/one ear down" gesture, usually accompanied by the deadly head-tilt), a teeny widdle black nose, and a small but mobile mouth. Its paws are very dainty and yet its body is roly-poly. Its tail is a chibi lightning bolt. Its body shape calls to mind chubby little critters like newborn puppies or Guinea pigs...or, heck, human babies. It's mobile and easy to draw in various poses but never loses its cuteness in any position. It hangs comfortably off a shoulder or perches winsomely atop an Official Pokémon League Expo hat. It can curl in a darling little ball to sleep and it springs bouncily over the ground. It's small and portable even outside a Pokéball. It has freakin' round red cheeks. Pikachu is the personification of cute.


Cuddly: Pikachu has fur. Fur, with no difficult hard bits like Cubone's skull or the Nidorans' spikes and large claws. (Pikachu's claws are small enough not to count.) But it's mostly the fur. Do not underestimate the power of fluff! It is nuzzleable, strokable, brushable, warm, and soft. Squirtle has big, soulful eyes...Bulbasaur has a darling smile...Charmander has a round little head and a sweet, inquisitive look...but they are all reptilian. They don't gots da fur. Cuddling them would be like hugging a leather pillow...not without its own charm, but it just ain't in the same league as a fuzzy ball of fur. Scales are scratchy, bare skin is either icky or too human-like, feathers are only pleasant when they're fluffy-chick down (in other words, like fur), and plant surfaces are...well, just not cuddleable. We are mammals, and we suffer from mammalcentrism. Fur is the nicest thing about mammals that AREN'T us: it's warm, cozy, and soft...we wants it, Precious, we WANTS it...! And Pikachu has it.


Yellow: Pikachu is yellow. It's the color of sunshine, buttercups and lemon drops, and it's the brightest color that isn't white. Pikachu will stand out among any natural setting, and against most peoples' clothes as well (including Ash's). Misty understands the appeal of yellowness, but peoples' eyes are relentlessly drawn upwards to her hair, with its darker, fiercer, more fiery color, and so she doesn't get the full benefit of her yellow clothing choices. But Pikachu is ALL yellow. Yellow is also genderless...pink is for girls, blue is for boys, but back in "the old days" when it was impossible to know the gender of your coming infant, the most popular choice to decorate your nursery in (beating out lavender and green, which both have girlish tendencies) was yellow. Yellow is neuter, but still has personality. Yellow is not-too-tough, not-too-wussy, but it contains echoes of the richness of gold and the joy of morning. Bright lemon yellow is an unnatural color for a mammal in the real world, but it's close enough to blond to not look too bizarre in animation. Yellow is the color of bananas, which are the farthest thing from a depressing food that you can get. Yellow is the color of smiley-faces and Volkswagen Bugs, which are retro-cool. Yellow implies "light," with all the positive metaphorical qualities that we non-nocturnal primates associate with it. Yellow is happy. Yellow is bright. Yellow is the panacea of primary colors.

Kicks butt: All the cuteness in the world won't win you too many points in an adventure setting if you're useless. If everyone else always has to protect you, viewers will get annoyed real fast (IMHO this was Togepi's real sin, the reason why it was so hated: babies are cute, but they're a serious hindrance when running and/or fighting for your life, and eventually you just want to dump the little beggars off with someone who seldom has to do either. And if you can't get rid of them, you start to resent the helpless little pains). Pikachu as a species aren't all that powerful, so the animé writers gave it an extra level of badass just to make sure it could cut the mustard, and it worked. Pikachu is not without its weaknesses (vulnerability being vital to sympathetic characters) but when the chips are down and the plot is at the darkest hour, Pikachu comes through in a (literal) blaze of glory. It causes pain to the bad guys (but non-fatal, non-injurious pain) and occasionally to the good guys as well, but even that only increases its awesomeness (Pikachu don't take no s*** from its trainer, it's THAT cool). Pikachu's butt-kicking skills help to offset its cuteness among those who don't care about such things, and yet also somehow enhance its cuteness among those who really dig that. Pikachu is the ultimate equalizer, making attack power both cool AND adorable, and thus striking across any and all culture-, gender- or role-based barriers to become a truly universal icon: a symbol of the small creature with great inner strength who prevails by pouring its heart and soul into one final, desperate effort, one that will leave it drained, exhausted, perhaps even seriously injured...yet victorious.

And who among us cannot identify with that? Pikachu is everything we all wish we could be: strong yet loveable, cool yet approachable, cute yet formidable. In Pikachu is embodied qualities usually considered opposites, paradoxical and oxymoronic, yet (paradoxically) in Pikachu they are perfectly melded, yin with yang in blissful balance, many diverse things made One.

Cuteness, Cuddliness, Yellowness, and Strength. Pikachu has it all. And because of it, Pikachu has all (or almost all) of us...our hearts wrapped around its crooked little (but still adorable) chibi-lightning-bolt tail.

 

[Rishi]

Why is Pikachu so popular? Because it's A) cute, B) cuddly, C) yellow, and D) kicks butt.


Cute: That, it certainly is. Big button eyes, ears that can assume many expressive positions (including the OH so cute-tastic "one ear up/one ear down" gesture, usually accompanied by the deadly head-tilt), a teeny widdle black nose, and a small but mobile mouth. Its paws are very dainty and yet its body is roly-poly. Its tail is a chibi lightning bolt. Its body shape calls to mind chubby little critters like newborn puppies or Guinea pigs...or, heck, human babies. It's mobile and easy to draw in various poses but never loses its cuteness in any position. It hangs comfortably off a shoulder or perches winsomely atop an Official Pokémon League Expo hat. It can curl in a darling little ball to sleep and it springs bouncily over the ground. It's small and portable even outside a Pokéball. It has freakin' round red cheeks. Pikachu is the personification of cute.


Cuddly: Pikachu has fur. Fur, with no difficult hard bits like Cubone's skull or the Nidorans' spikes and large claws. (Pikachu's claws are small enough not to count.) But it's mostly the fur. Do not underestimate the power of fluff! It is nuzzleable, strokable, brushable, warm, and soft. Squirtle has big, soulful eyes...Bulbasaur has a darling smile...Charmander has a round little head and a sweet, inquisitive look...but they are all reptilian. They don't gots da fur. Cuddling them would be like hugging a leather pillow...not without its own charm, but it just ain't in the same league as a fuzzy ball of fur. Scales are scratchy, bare skin is either icky or too human-like, feathers are only pleasant when they're fluffy-chick down (in other words, like fur), and plant surfaces are...well, just not cuddleable. We are mammals, and we suffer from mammalcentrism. Fur is the nicest thing about mammals that AREN'T us: it's warm, cozy, and soft...we wants it, Precious, we WANTS it...! And Pikachu has it.


Yellow: Pikachu is yellow. It's the color of sunshine, buttercups and lemon drops, and it's the brightest color that isn't white. Pikachu will stand out among any natural setting, and against most peoples' clothes as well (including Ash's). Misty understands the appeal of yellowness, but peoples' eyes are relentlessly drawn upwards to her hair, with its darker, fiercer, more fiery color, and so she doesn't get the full benefit of her yellow clothing choices. But Pikachu is ALL yellow. Yellow is also genderless...pink is for girls, blue is for boys, but back in "the old days" when it was impossible to know the gender of your coming infant, the most popular choice to decorate your nursery in (beating out lavender and green, which both have girlish tendencies) was yellow. Yellow is neuter, but still has personality. Yellow is not-too-tough, not-too-wussy, but it contains echoes of the richness of gold and the joy of morning. Bright lemon yellow is an unnatural color for a mammal in the real world, but it's close enough to blond to not look too bizarre in animation. Yellow is the color of bananas, which are the farthest thing from a depressing food that you can get. Yellow is the color of smiley-faces and Volkswagen Bugs, which are retro-cool. Yellow implies "light," with all the positive metaphorical qualities that we non-nocturnal primates associate with it. Yellow is happy. Yellow is bright. Yellow is the panacea of primary colors.

Kicks butt: All the cuteness in the world won't win you too many points in an adventure setting if you're useless. If everyone else always has to protect you, viewers will get annoyed real fast (IMHO this was Togepi's real sin, the reason why it was so hated: babies are cute, but they're a serious hindrance when running and/or fighting for your life, and eventually you just want to dump the little beggars off with someone who seldom has to do either. And if you can't get rid of them, you start to resent the helpless little pains). Pikachu as a species aren't all that powerful, so the animé writers gave it an extra level of badass just to make sure it could cut the mustard, and it worked. Pikachu is not without its weaknesses (vulnerability being vital to sympathetic characters) but when the chips are down and the plot is at the darkest hour, Pikachu comes through in a (literal) blaze of glory. It causes pain to the bad guys (but non-fatal, non-injurious pain) and occasionally to the good guys as well, but even that only increases its awesomeness (Pikachu don't take no s*** from its trainer, it's THAT cool). Pikachu's butt-kicking skills help to offset its cuteness among those who don't care about such things, and yet also somehow enhance its cuteness among those who really dig that. Pikachu is the ultimate equalizer, making attack power both cool AND adorable, and thus striking across any and all culture-, gender- or role-based barriers to become a truly universal icon: a symbol of the small creature with great inner strength who prevails by pouring its heart and soul into one final, desperate effort, one that will leave it drained, exhausted, perhaps even seriously injured...yet victorious.

And who among us cannot identify with that? Pikachu is everything we all wish we could be: strong yet loveable, cool yet approachable, cute yet formidable. In Pikachu is embodied qualities usually considered opposites, paradoxical and oxymoronic, yet (paradoxically) in Pikachu they are perfectly melded, yin with yang in blissful balance, many diverse things made One.

Cuteness, Cuddliness, Yellowness, and Strength. Pikachu has it all. And because of it, Pikachu has all (or almost all) of us...our hearts wrapped around its crooked little (but still adorable) chibi-lightning-bolt tail.

Eloquently stated! I completely agree with you. =)

 

[Midnightsun63]

I think Pikachu has been overworked a bit too much why cant another pokemon take the spotlight for a change? Instead its the yellow electric mouse all the time. I thought for a mascot they would use one of the original starters such as Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squrtile or maybe even Eevee. But who could not love that cute little electric mouse Pikachu?

 

[fate]

HOLY WALL OF TEXT BATMAN.

I think it's just popular because it was cute and was marketed. Right thing at the right time, essentially.

 

[Hector]

Why is Pikachu so popular? Because it's A) cute, B) cuddly, C) yellow, and D) kicks butt.


Cute: That, it certainly is. Big button eyes, ears that can assume many expressive positions (including the OH so cute-tastic "one ear up/one ear down" gesture, usually accompanied by the deadly head-tilt), a teeny widdle black nose, and a small but mobile mouth. Its paws are very dainty and yet its body is roly-poly. Its tail is a chibi lightning bolt. Its body shape calls to mind chubby little critters like newborn puppies or Guinea pigs...or, heck, human babies. It's mobile and easy to draw in various poses but never loses its cuteness in any position. It hangs comfortably off a shoulder or perches winsomely atop an Official Pokémon League Expo hat. It can curl in a darling little ball to sleep and it springs bouncily over the ground. It's small and portable even outside a Pokéball. It has freakin' round red cheeks. Pikachu is the personification of cute.


Cuddly: Pikachu has fur. Fur, with no difficult hard bits like Cubone's skull or the Nidorans' spikes and large claws. (Pikachu's claws are small enough not to count.) But it's mostly the fur. Do not underestimate the power of fluff! It is nuzzleable, strokable, brushable, warm, and soft. Squirtle has big, soulful eyes...Bulbasaur has a darling smile...Charmander has a round little head and a sweet, inquisitive look...but they are all reptilian. They don't gots da fur. Cuddling them would be like hugging a leather pillow...not without its own charm, but it just ain't in the same league as a fuzzy ball of fur. Scales are scratchy, bare skin is either icky or too human-like, feathers are only pleasant when they're fluffy-chick down (in other words, like fur), and plant surfaces are...well, just not cuddleable. We are mammals, and we suffer from mammalcentrism. Fur is the nicest thing about mammals that AREN'T us: it's warm, cozy, and soft...we wants it, Precious, we WANTS it...! And Pikachu has it.


Yellow: Pikachu is yellow. It's the color of sunshine, buttercups and lemon drops, and it's the brightest color that isn't white. Pikachu will stand out among any natural setting, and against most peoples' clothes as well (including Ash's). Misty understands the appeal of yellowness, but peoples' eyes are relentlessly drawn upwards to her hair, with its darker, fiercer, more fiery color, and so she doesn't get the full benefit of her yellow clothing choices. But Pikachu is ALL yellow. Yellow is also genderless...pink is for girls, blue is for boys, but back in "the old days" when it was impossible to know the gender of your coming infant, the most popular choice to decorate your nursery in (beating out lavender and green, which both have girlish tendencies) was yellow. Yellow is neuter, but still has personality. Yellow is not-too-tough, not-too-wussy, but it contains echoes of the richness of gold and the joy of morning. Bright lemon yellow is an unnatural color for a mammal in the real world, but it's close enough to blond to not look too bizarre in animation. Yellow is the color of bananas, which are the farthest thing from a depressing food that you can get. Yellow is the color of smiley-faces and Volkswagen Bugs, which are retro-cool. Yellow implies "light," with all the positive metaphorical qualities that we non-nocturnal primates associate with it. Yellow is happy. Yellow is bright. Yellow is the panacea of primary colors.

Kicks butt: All the cuteness in the world won't win you too many points in an adventure setting if you're useless. If everyone else always has to protect you, viewers will get annoyed real fast (IMHO this was Togepi's real sin, the reason why it was so hated: babies are cute, but they're a serious hindrance when running and/or fighting for your life, and eventually you just want to dump the little beggars off with someone who seldom has to do either. And if you can't get rid of them, you start to resent the helpless little pains). Pikachu as a species aren't all that powerful, so the animé writers gave it an extra level of badass just to make sure it could cut the mustard, and it worked. Pikachu is not without its weaknesses (vulnerability being vital to sympathetic characters) but when the chips are down and the plot is at the darkest hour, Pikachu comes through in a (literal) blaze of glory. It causes pain to the bad guys (but non-fatal, non-injurious pain) and occasionally to the good guys as well, but even that only increases its awesomeness (Pikachu don't take no s*** from its trainer, it's THAT cool). Pikachu's butt-kicking skills help to offset its cuteness among those who don't care about such things, and yet also somehow enhance its cuteness among those who really dig that. Pikachu is the ultimate equalizer, making attack power both cool AND adorable, and thus striking across any and all culture-, gender- or role-based barriers to become a truly universal icon: a symbol of the small creature with great inner strength who prevails by pouring its heart and soul into one final, desperate effort, one that will leave it drained, exhausted, perhaps even seriously injured...yet victorious.

And who among us cannot identify with that? Pikachu is everything we all wish we could be: strong yet loveable, cool yet approachable, cute yet formidable. In Pikachu is embodied qualities usually considered opposites, paradoxical and oxymoronic, yet (paradoxically) in Pikachu they are perfectly melded, yin with yang in blissful balance, many diverse things made One.

Cuteness, Cuddliness, Yellowness, and Strength. Pikachu has it all. And because of it, Pikachu has all (or almost all) of us...our hearts wrapped around its crooked little (but still adorable) chibi-lightning-bolt tail.

This is win. 100% agreement, and I wish that I could write that good of an essay for anything, let alone a forum.

 

[Amazed4587]

Yellow in general is a huge attention getter, cautious color, unisex, and such energtic color and I completely agree with ShinyAeon. Put Pikachu in line with other Pokemon, Pikachu would stand out from the rest. And since it can be held, and be so cute, and fierce. Cannot say anything else.

 

[domesticshorthair]

Cute: That, it certainly is. Big button eyes, ears that can assume many expressive positions (including the OH so cute-tastic "one ear up/one ear down" gesture, usually accompanied by the deadly head-tilt), a teeny widdle black nose, and a small but mobile mouth. Its paws are very dainty and yet its body is roly-poly. Its tail is a chibi lightning bolt. Its body shape calls to mind chubby little critters like newborn puppies or Guinea pigs...or, heck, human babies. It's mobile and easy to draw in various poses but never loses its cuteness in any position. It hangs comfortably off a shoulder or perches winsomely atop an Official Pokémon League Expo hat. It can curl in a darling little ball to sleep and it springs bouncily over the ground. It's small and portable even outside a Pokéball. It has freakin' round red cheeks. Pikachu is the personification of cute.


Cuddly: Pikachu has fur. Fur, with no difficult hard bits like Cubone's skull or the Nidorans' spikes and large claws. (Pikachu's claws are small enough not to count.) But it's mostly the fur. Do not underestimate the power of fluff! It is nuzzleable, strokable, brushable, warm, and soft. Squirtle has big, soulful eyes...Bulbasaur has a darling smile...Charmander has a round little head and a sweet, inquisitive look...but they are all reptilian. They don't gots da fur. Cuddling them would be like hugging a leather pillow...not without its own charm, but it just ain't in the same league as a fuzzy ball of fur. Scales are scratchy, bare skin is either icky or too human-like, feathers are only pleasant when they're fluffy-chick down (in other words, like fur), and plant surfaces are...well, just not cuddleable. We are mammals, and we suffer from mammalcentrism. Fur is the nicest thing about mammals that AREN'T us: it's warm, cozy, and soft...we wants it, Precious, we WANTS it...! And Pikachu has it.

Yup! You're right on the expression and power of fluff. That's why I'd like to do nothing but hug my cat all day. She has soft fluffy fur. Pikachu walks like a little...kitty or puppy. You just want to pick it up and hug it. Very well said.

 

[1337R34P3R]

You do realize that you're asking why a bright yellow, electricity spewing, sqeaking mouse is considered "cute" by a bunch of little kids, right?

 

[ShinyAeon]

You do realize that you're asking why a bright yellow, electricity spewing, sqeaking mouse is considered "cute" by a bunch of little kids, right?

ROTFL!

I think I just hurt myself laughing...


And thank you, all you who had kind words for my impromptu essay. I had enormous fun writing it. Gracias.