Pokemon Cosplay Humanizes Charizard

Charizard remains one of Pokemon's most popular pocket monsters, and you've never seen one of these dragons quite like this.

Charizard might not be as popular as Pikachu when it comes to the Pokemon franchise, but the flame-spewing dragon remains a fan-favorite of the many pocket monsters that helped introduce fans to the universe in Pokemon's First Generation. Since Ash Ketchum has stepped aside, Charizard hasn't been as featured as a part of Liko and Roy's entourage as the new kids on the block, even though Captain Friede wields one. Despite this fact, fans are still paying tribute to the mega evolution of Charmander with one cosplayer humanizing the beloved pocket monster.

While Charizard was the third phase of Charmander's evolution, it wasn't technically the ultimate form for the fire-type Pokemon. In the anime and game series, we've seen Charizard evolve even further via Mega Charizard, Gigantamax Charizard, and Tera Charizard. The "Mega Evolution" was introduced as a part of the Pokemon X And Y entry in the franchise, making Pokemon go beyond their previous evolutions and powering them up in the process. For Gigantamaxing, Pokemon trainers can evolve their pocket monsters even further to make them kaiju-sized for a limited time before they revert back to normal. Finally, "Terastallization" allows a Pokemon to change their appearance along with their "type", with Pokemon's anime seeing Friede's Charizard transformed into a dark-type. 

Charizard Reigns Supreme

While this cosplayer creates a live-action Charizard, Pokemon fans did witness the dragon on the silver screen in the past when it comes to a live-action adaptation. Detective Pikachu featured a Charizard bearing down on the pocket monster voiced by Ryan Reynolds and showed the size and scale of the beloved Pokemon in comparison to regular people. Even as Pokemon continues to introduce scores of new pocket monsters with each generation, the tried and true Pokemon like Charizard will remain being a part of the franchise.

Captain Friede has been the perfect avenue for highlighting some first-generation Pokemon, as the supporting character of Pokemon Horizons has both in his roster. As it stands, it seems that Liko and Roy are here to stay, though executives responsible for the Pokemon anime haven't shied away from the idea that Ketchum might one day make a comeback.

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