One fan artist from the Pokemon community redesigns the Charizard evolution line, taking inspiration from unused Gen 1 concept art.
Highlights
Charizard, the iconic Fire-type Pokemon, has received custom redesigns based on unused content from the original Pokemon games and real-world influences.
These redesigns incorporate black spots and markings inspired by the fire salamander, adding a realistic touch to the retro design of Charizard.
Despite Charizard's enduring popularity, some fans have grown tired of its prominence, especially with over 1,000 different Pokemon species now available.
Charizard has remained one of the most iconic and popular Pokemon since the first Pokemon games, but one extremely dedicated fan artist has offered their own redesigns for the creature and its entire evolutionary line based on some unused content from the earliest titles in the series. Such redesigns aren't a rare sight to see shared among the Pokemon community, especially those that focus on the many iconic starter Pokemon that have been accompanying players on their adventures, some for nearly three decades.
Even those who have never been particularly keen on Pokemon will no doubt recognize the Fire-type lizard Pokemon Charmander and its final evolution, Charizard. The names and appearances of these Pokemon species are almost as popular as Pikachu, the mascot of the franchise as a whole. It's no surprise that Charizard and the other Kanto starters have such a reputation within the gaming world, as these Pokemon represent the very first critters that even the longest-time Pokemon fans would've befriended almost 30 years ago.
With these original Pokemon Red and Green games in mind, one committed artist from the Pokemon community known as vomitfrog has set about making their own custom tweaks to the designs of Charmander and its subsequent evolutions. These design alterations were made based not only on both official and unused sprite art from the original Gen 1 games, but also aspects of Charmander's real-world counterpart, the fire salamander. The results of this animal's influence on these designs are a number of black spots and markings which mirror those found on the bodies of the real-world creatures. Even with the realistic and retro design influences incorporated into these redesigns, the artist also took into account the more modern design aspects of Charizard as well.
Despite Charizard frequently appearing in fan art and official games alike, its massive popularity has ironically led to the Pokemon's growing unpopularity over the years. Perhaps it's not all that surprising to find one side of the Pokemon community growing tired of the Fire and Flying-type Pokemon after its many years in the spotlight, especially when there are now more than 1,000 different species of Pokemon to meet.
Thankfully, it wasn't just the Kanto region's starter Pokemon to get special treatment in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games, as the Gen 9 titles allow players to transfer and battle with any starter Pokemon from any generation. Players that own the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC can even encounter and catch any of these starter Pokemon in the wild in Blueberry Academy, though this will require the Terarium biomes to be upgraded first.
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.