Pikachu
Encyclopedia
is one of the species of Pokémon
creatures from the Pokémon media franchise
—a collection of video games, anime
, manga
, books, trading card
s, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri
. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series. Pikachu is among the most recognizable Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character
in the Pokémon anime
series. Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, is regarded as the official mascot
of the Pokémon franchise
, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years.
Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu are often found in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants
), on most continent
s throughout the fictional world
. As an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu can store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks.
Pikachu is the evolved form of Pichu
, and evolves into a Raichu
with a "Thunderstone".
. According to series producer Satoshi Tajiri
, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese sounds: pika, a sound an electric spark makes, and chu, a sound a mouse makes. Developer Junichi Masuda
noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences.
Standing 1.04 ft tall, Pikachu are mouse
-like creatures, and were the first "Electric-type" Pokémon created, their design intended to revolve around the concept of electricity. The appear as mouse
-like creatures that have short, yellow fur with brown markings covering their backs and parts of their lightning bolt shaped tails. They have black-tipped, pointed ears and red circles on their cheeks, which can spark with electricity. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
, gender differences
were introduced; a female Pikachu now has an indent at the end of its tail, giving it a heart
-shaped appearance. They attack primarily by projecting electricity from their bodies at their targets. Within the context of the franchise, a Pikachu can transform, or "evolve" into a Raichu when exposed to a "Thunderstone".In later titles an evolutionary predecessor was introduced named "Pichu
, which evolves into a Pikachu after establishing a close friendship with its trainer.
Initially both Pikachu and the Pokémon Clefairy
were chosen to be lead characters for the franchise merchandising, with the latter as the primary mascot to make the early comic book series more "engaging". However with the production of the animated series, Pikachu was chosen as the sole mascot, in an attempt to appeal to female viewers and their mothers, and under the belief that the creature presented the image of a recognizable intimate pet for children. Its color was also a deciding factor, as yellow is a primary color
and easier for children to recognize from a distance, and with consideration to the fact the only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh
. Though Tajiri acknowledged that the character was relatively popular with both boys and girls, the idea of Pikachu as the mascot was not his own, and stated he felt the human aspect of the series was overlooked by Japanese children who embraced Pikachu by itself more readily.
, it refuses to stay in its Poké Ball, and instead follows the main character around on screen. The trainer can speak to it and it displays different reactions depending on how it is treated. An event from April 1 to May 5, 2010 allowed players of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
to access a route on the Pokéwalker which solely contained Pikachu which knew attacks that they were not normally compatible with, Surf and Fly. Both of these attacks can be used outside battles as travel aids.
Aside from the main series, Pikachu stars in Hey You, Pikachu!
for the Nintendo 64
. The player interacts with Pikachu through a microphone, issuing commands to play various mini-games
and act out situations. The game Pokémon Channel
follows a similar premise of interacting with the Pikachu, though without the microphone. Pikachu appear in almost all levels of Pokémon Snap
, a game where the player takes pictures of Pokémon for a score. A Pikachu is one of the sixteen starters and ten partners in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
games. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure features a Pikachu as the main protagonist. Pikachu has also appeared in Super Smash Bros.
, Super Smash Bros. Melee
, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl
as a playable character.
The Pokémon anime series
and films feature the adventures of Ash Ketchum
and his Pikachu, traveling through the various regions
of the Pokémon universe. They are accompanied by a group of alternating friends, including Misty
, Brock
, May, Max, Tracey, and Dawn.
In the first episode, Ash Ketchum receives his Pikachu from Professor Oak as his starting Pokémon. New trainers are given a starting Pokémon; in Ash's homeland of Kanto this is often Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur, but Ash slept in and got Pikachu instead. At first, Pikachu largely ignores Ash's requests, shocking him frequently and refusing to be confined to the conventional method of Pokémon transportation, a Poké Ball. However, Ash puts himself in danger to defend Pikachu from a flock of wild Spearow, then rushes the electric mouse to a Pokémon Center. Through these demonstrations of respect and unconditional commitment to Pokémon, Pikachu warms up to Ash, and their friendship is formed. However, it still refuses to go into its Poké Ball. Soon after, Pikachu shows great power that sets it apart from Pokémon, and other Pikachu, which causes Team Rocket to constantly attempt to capture it in order to win favor from their boss, Giovanni.
Other wild and trained Pikachu appear throughout the series, often interacting with Ash and his Pikachu. The most notable among these is Richie's Pikachu, Sparky. Like most other Pokémon, Pikachu communicates only by saying syllables of its own name. It is voiced by Ikue Ōtani
in all versions of the anime. In Pokémon Live!
, the musical stage show adapted from the anime, Pikachu was played by Jennifer Risser.
series. In Pokémon Adventures
, main characters Red and Yellow both train Pikachu, which create an egg that Gold hatches into a Pichu. Other series, including Magical Pokémon Journey
and Getto Da Ze also feature Pikachu while other manga series, such as Electric Tale of Pikachu, and Ash & Pikachu, feature the most well known Pikachu belonging to Ketchum in the anime series.
Collectible cards
featuring Pikachu have appeared since the initial Pokémon Trading Card Game
released in October 1996, including limited edition
promotional cards. The character has also been used in promotional merchandising at fast-food
chains such as McDonald's
, Wendy's
and Burger King
.
As a mascot for the franchise, Pikachu has made multiple appearances in various promotional events and merchandise. In 1998, then-Mayor of Topeka, Kansas
Joan Wagnon
renamed the town "Topikachu" for a day, and a "got milk?
" advertisement featured Pikachu on April 25, 2000. A Pikachu balloon has been featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
since 2001. The original balloon was flown for the last time publicly at the Pokémon Tenth Anniversary
"Party of the Decade" on August 8, 2006 in Bryant Park
in New York City, and a new Pikachu Balloon that chases a Poké Ball and has light-up cheeks debuted at the 2006 Parade.
During the first episode of the eleventh series
of Top Gear, presenter Richard Hammond
compared an image of the Tata Nano
to one of Pikachu stating "they've saved money on the styling 'cause they've just based it on this." In the third season of Heroes
, Hiro Nakamura
is nicknamed "Pikachu" by Daphne Millbrook, much to his chagrin. He is called this again by Tracy Strauss
, after which he excuses himself before punching her in the face. A Pikachu spoof called Ling-Ling was a main character in the Comedy Central
show Drawn Together
. An image of Pikachu has also been featured on the ANA
Boeing 747-400
(JA8962).
Pikachu has appeared multiple times on The Simpsons
. In the 2002 episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade
", Bart Simpson
has a hallucination while taking a test in class and envisages his classmates as various television characters, one of which is a Pikachu. Maggie Simpson
appeared as a Pikachu in a couch gag during the opening animation of the 2003 episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season
". The couch gag was utilized a second time for the 2004 episode "Fraudcast News
". In the 2010 episode "Postcards from the Wedge
", Bart is distracted from his homework by an episode of Pokémon. After watching Ash Ketchum talk to his Pikachu, he muses how the show has managed to stay fresh over the years.
Pikachu was ranked as the second best person of the year by Time
in 1999, who called it "The most beloved animated character since Hello Kitty
". The magazine noted Pikachu as the "public face of a phenomenon that has spread from Nintendo's fastest selling video game to a trading-card empire", citing the franchise's profits for the year as the reason for the ranking; behind singer Ricky Martin
but ahead of author J.K. Rowling.
The character placed eighth in a 2000 Animax
poll of favorite anime characters. In 2002, Ash's Pikachu received fifteenth place in TV Guide
's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time. GameSpot
featured it in their article "All Time Greatest Game Hero". In 2003 Forbes
ranked Pikachu as the eighth top-earning fictional character of the year with an income of $825 million. In 2004 the character dropped two spots to tenth on the list, taking in $825 million for a second straight year. In a 2008 Oricon
poll Pikachu was voted as the fourth most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Solid Snake
. The character has been regarded as the Japanese answer to Mickey Mouse
and as being part of a movement of "cute capitalism
". Pikachu was listed 8th in IGN's "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time". Nintendo Power
listed Pikachu as their ninth favourite hero, stating that while he was one of the first Pokémon, he is still popular to this day. Authors Tracey West and Katherine Noll called Pikachu the best Electric type Pokémon and the best Pokémon overall. They added that if a person were to go around and ask Pokémon players who their favourite Pokémon was, they would "almost always" choose Pikachu. They also called Pikachu "brave and loyal".
A newly discovered ligand
believed to provide better visual acuity
, discovered by , is named "Pikachurin
", borrowed from the nimbleness of Pikachu. The name was inspired due to Pikachu's "lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects".
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
creatures from the Pokémon media franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
—a collection of video games, anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, books, trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri
Satoshi Tajiri
is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Pokémon and the founder of development company Game Freak, Inc. An avid fan of arcade games, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming fanzine Game Freak with Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the...
. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series. Pikachu is among the most recognizable Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Pokémon anime
Pokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
series. Pikachu is widely considered the most popular Pokémon, is regarded as the official mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of the Pokémon franchise
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
, and has become an icon of Japanese culture in recent years.
Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Pikachu are often found in houses, forests, plains, and occasionally near mountains, islands, and electrical sources (such as power plants
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
), on most continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s throughout the fictional world
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. As an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu can store electricity in its cheeks and release it in lightning-based attacks.
Pikachu is the evolved form of Pichu
Pichu
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Pichu first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. There...
, and evolves into a Raichu
Raichu
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Raichu is the evolution to Pikachu, the mascot of the series. It was originally conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori. Its name comes from the Japanese kanji "rai," meaning thunder,...
with a "Thunderstone".
Concept and design
Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Pokémon series began in Japan in 1996, and features several species of creatures called "Pokémon" that players, called "trainers", are encouraged to capture, train, and use to battle other players' Pokémon or interact with the game's world. Pikachu was one of several different Pokémon designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by artist Ken SugimoriKen Sugimori
is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is most famous as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew all of the original 151 Pokémon...
. According to series producer Satoshi Tajiri
Satoshi Tajiri
is a Japanese video game designer best known as the creator of Pokémon and the founder of development company Game Freak, Inc. An avid fan of arcade games, Tajiri wrote for and edited his own video gaming fanzine Game Freak with Ken Sugimori, before evolving it into a development company of the...
, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese sounds: pika, a sound an electric spark makes, and chu, a sound a mouse makes. Developer Junichi Masuda
Junichi Masuda
is a video game composer, director, designer, producer, and programmer best known for his work on the Pokémon franchise. He is a member of the Game Freak board of directors, and has worked at the company since 1989. He helped compose the music for games like Mendel Palace and Smart Ball before...
noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences.
Standing 1.04 ft tall, Pikachu are mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
-like creatures, and were the first "Electric-type" Pokémon created, their design intended to revolve around the concept of electricity. The appear as mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
-like creatures that have short, yellow fur with brown markings covering their backs and parts of their lightning bolt shaped tails. They have black-tipped, pointed ears and red circles on their cheeks, which can spark with electricity. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the enhanced remake Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...
, gender differences
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
were introduced; a female Pikachu now has an indent at the end of its tail, giving it a heart
Heart (symbol)
The heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past, also intellectual core of a human being...
-shaped appearance. They attack primarily by projecting electricity from their bodies at their targets. Within the context of the franchise, a Pikachu can transform, or "evolve" into a Raichu when exposed to a "Thunderstone".In later titles an evolutionary predecessor was introduced named "Pichu
Pichu
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Pichu first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. There...
, which evolves into a Pikachu after establishing a close friendship with its trainer.
Initially both Pikachu and the Pokémon Clefairy
Clefairy
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Clefairy first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise...
were chosen to be lead characters for the franchise merchandising, with the latter as the primary mascot to make the early comic book series more "engaging". However with the production of the animated series, Pikachu was chosen as the sole mascot, in an attempt to appeal to female viewers and their mothers, and under the belief that the creature presented the image of a recognizable intimate pet for children. Its color was also a deciding factor, as yellow is a primary color
Primary color
Primary colors are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. For human applications, three primary colors are usually used, since human color vision is trichromatic....
and easier for children to recognize from a distance, and with consideration to the fact the only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
. Though Tajiri acknowledged that the character was relatively popular with both boys and girls, the idea of Pikachu as the mascot was not his own, and stated he felt the human aspect of the series was overlooked by Japanese children who embraced Pikachu by itself more readily.
In the video games
In the video games, Pikachu is a low-level Pokémon, which has appeared in all of the games naturally without having to trade. The game Pokémon Yellow features a Pikachu as the only available Starter Pokémon. Based on the Pikachu from the Pokémon animePokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, it refuses to stay in its Poké Ball, and instead follows the main character around on screen. The trainer can speak to it and it displays different reactions depending on how it is treated. An event from April 1 to May 5, 2010 allowed players of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
are enhanced remakes of the 1999 video games Pokémon Gold and Silver. The games are part of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS...
to access a route on the Pokéwalker which solely contained Pikachu which knew attacks that they were not normally compatible with, Surf and Fly. Both of these attacks can be used outside battles as travel aids.
Aside from the main series, Pikachu stars in Hey You, Pikachu!
Hey You, Pikachu!
Hey You, Pikachu!, known in Japan as , is a Nintendo 64 video game developed by Ambrella and published by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 1998, and in North America on November 6, 2000....
for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. The player interacts with Pikachu through a microphone, issuing commands to play various mini-games
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
and act out situations. The game Pokémon Channel
Pokémon Channel
Pokémon Channel, released in Japan as is a virtual pet video game for the GameCube, developed by Ambrella. Its focus is the adventures the player has with Pikachu, most of them involving a new television network...
follows a similar premise of interacting with the Pikachu, though without the microphone. Pikachu appear in almost all levels of Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap
is a first-person rail shooter and simulation video game developed by HAL Laboratory with Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is part of the Pokémon series, and one of the first console games based on the Pokémon series...
, a game where the player takes pictures of Pokémon for a score. A Pikachu is one of the sixteen starters and ten partners in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
- Manga :*Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team, manga adaption of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team*Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team, manga adaption of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky.-...
games. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure features a Pikachu as the main protagonist. Pikachu has also appeared in Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros., known in Japan as , is a fighting game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was released in Japan on January 21, 1999, in North America on April 26, 1999, and in Europe on November 19, 1999. Super Smash Bros. is the first game in the Super...
, Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
as a playable character.
In the anime
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
and films feature the adventures of Ash Ketchum
Ash Ketchum
Ash Ketchum, known as for all appearances in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise owned by Nintendo. He was created by, and named after, Satoshi Tajiri as the protagonist of the anime and manga series, as well as on various merchandise related to the franchise...
and his Pikachu, traveling through the various regions
Pokémon regions
There are several regions that have appeared in the various media of the Pokémon franchise. Each of the five generations of the main series releases focuses on a new region. Moreover, several regions have been introduced in spin-off games, and one in the Pokémon anime, though most of these are...
of the Pokémon universe. They are accompanied by a group of alternating friends, including Misty
Misty (Pokémon)
Misty, known as in Japanese versions, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise. She has appeared as a Gym Leader in the Pokémon video games, several seasons of the Pokémon anime, The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, the Ash & Pikachu manga, toys, books, and other media.-Design:Misty's...
, Brock
Brock (Pokémon)
Brock, known as in Japanese versions, is a video game character in the Pokémon franchise. In the Pokémon video games, he is the Gym Leader of Pewter City and mainly uses Rock -type Pokémon; in the anime series, he left his position as a Gym Leader to travel alongside Ash Ketchum and become a...
, May, Max, Tracey, and Dawn.
In the first episode, Ash Ketchum receives his Pikachu from Professor Oak as his starting Pokémon. New trainers are given a starting Pokémon; in Ash's homeland of Kanto this is often Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur, but Ash slept in and got Pikachu instead. At first, Pikachu largely ignores Ash's requests, shocking him frequently and refusing to be confined to the conventional method of Pokémon transportation, a Poké Ball. However, Ash puts himself in danger to defend Pikachu from a flock of wild Spearow, then rushes the electric mouse to a Pokémon Center. Through these demonstrations of respect and unconditional commitment to Pokémon, Pikachu warms up to Ash, and their friendship is formed. However, it still refuses to go into its Poké Ball. Soon after, Pikachu shows great power that sets it apart from Pokémon, and other Pikachu, which causes Team Rocket to constantly attempt to capture it in order to win favor from their boss, Giovanni.
Other wild and trained Pikachu appear throughout the series, often interacting with Ash and his Pikachu. The most notable among these is Richie's Pikachu, Sparky. Like most other Pokémon, Pikachu communicates only by saying syllables of its own name. It is voiced by Ikue Ōtani
Ikue Otani
is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, most famous as the voice of Pikachu in the Pokémon anime series and products and the voice of Tony Tony Chopper in the manga and anime series One Piece. She is currently attached to Mausu Promotion...
in all versions of the anime. In Pokémon Live!
Pokémon Live!
Pokémon Live! was a musical stage show that toured the United States from September 2000 to January 2001. Plans for some 2002 performances in the United Kingdom were also made, but later canceled. The musical was based on the Pokémon anime series, using similar characters, clothing, and story...
, the musical stage show adapted from the anime, Pikachu was played by Jennifer Risser.
In other Pokémon media
Pikachu is one of the main Pokémon used in many of the Pokémon mangaPokémon (manga)
There are various Pokémon manga series. The manga are usually published in Japan by Shogakukan, and translated into English in North America by Viz Media and Chuang Yi in English in Asian countries...
series. In Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures, released in Japan as , is a Pokémon-related manga based on the video games. Satoshi Tajiri once stated that the Pocket Monsters Special series is closest to what he imagined the Pokémon world to be:...
, main characters Red and Yellow both train Pikachu, which create an egg that Gold hatches into a Pichu. Other series, including Magical Pokémon Journey
Magical Pokémon Journey
Magical Pokémon Journey, known in Japan as , is a shōjo manga series set in the fictional universe of the Pokémon franchise. The manga is by Yumi Tsukirino and serialized by Shogakukan in the manga magazine Ciao, and collected in ten bound volumes.The main character, Hazel , sets off to catch...
and Getto Da Ze also feature Pikachu while other manga series, such as Electric Tale of Pikachu, and Ash & Pikachu, feature the most well known Pikachu belonging to Ketchum in the anime series.
Collectible cards
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
featuring Pikachu have appeared since the initial Pokémon Trading Card Game
Pokémon Trading Card Game
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon video game series, first introduced in Japan in October 1996, then North America in December 1998...
released in October 1996, including limited edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
promotional cards. The character has also been used in promotional merchandising at fast-food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
chains such as McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
and Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
.
Promotion and legacy
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
Joan Wagnon
Joan Wagnon
Joan Wagnon is an American politician. She was mayor of Topeka, Kansas from 1997–2001.She was Topeka's first and so far only female mayor. She was the Secretary of Revenue for the state of Kansas from January 13, 2003 until January 2011...
renamed the town "Topikachu" for a day, and a "got milk?
Got Milk?
Got Milk? is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of cow's milk, which was created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 and later licensed for use by milk processors and dairy farmers. It has been running...
" advertisement featured Pikachu on April 25, 2000. A Pikachu balloon has been featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
since 2001. The original balloon was flown for the last time publicly at the Pokémon Tenth Anniversary
Pokémon: Tenth Anniversary
Pokémon: Tenth Anniversary was a special celebration that took place in 2006 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the debut of the Pokémon Red and Green video games, whose introduction in Japan, on February 27, 1996, launched the Pokémon franchise....
"Party of the Decade" on August 8, 2006 in Bryant Park
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre privately managed public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan...
in New York City, and a new Pikachu Balloon that chases a Poké Ball and has light-up cheeks debuted at the 2006 Parade.
During the first episode of the eleventh series
Top Gear (series 11)
The 11th series of Top Gear was broadcast between 22 June 2008 and 27 July 2008, in show's usual time slot of 8pm on Sunday on BBC Two. The series consists of six episodes. This series included a revised title sequence, following the same visual style as with the sequence used for Series 8 through...
of Top Gear, presenter Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
compared an image of the Tata Nano
Tata Nano
The Tata Nano is an inexpensive, rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by the Indian company Tata Motors and is aimed primarily at the Indian domestic market....
to one of Pikachu stating "they've saved money on the styling 'cause they've just based it on this." In the third season of Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
, Hiro Nakamura
Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional character on the NBC fantasy drama Heroes who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time. Previously, his ability allowed him to teleport, stop time, or travel through time, but recent events in the series have prevented...
is nicknamed "Pikachu" by Daphne Millbrook, much to his chagrin. He is called this again by Tracy Strauss
Tracy Strauss
Tracy Strauss, portrayed by Ali Larter, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. She has the ability to freeze anything that she touches. As the series progresses, her ability evolved to include water mimicry. Introduced in the third season, she is an adviser to the...
, after which he excuses himself before punching her in the face. A Pikachu spoof called Ling-Ling was a main character in the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
show Drawn Together
Drawn Together
Drawn Together is an American animated television series, which ran on Comedy Central from October 27, 2004 to November 14, 2007. The series was created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting...
. An image of Pikachu has also been featured on the ANA
All Nippon Airways
, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
Boeing 747-400
Boeing 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a major development and the best-selling model of the Boeing 747 family of jet airliners. While retaining the four-engine wide-body layout of its predecessors, the 747-400 embodies numerous technological and structural changes to produce a more efficient airframe...
(JA8962).
Pikachu has appeared multiple times on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. In the 2002 episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade
Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade
"Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade" is the third episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. It aired on November 17, 2002.-Plot:The family is bored with the terrible reality shows inundating the six major networks, so Bart has a suggestion: buy a satellite dish...
", Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
has a hallucination while taking a test in class and envisages his classmates as various television characters, one of which is a Pikachu. Maggie Simpson
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
appeared as a Pikachu in a couch gag during the opening animation of the 2003 episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season
'Tis the Fifteenth Season
Tis the Fifteenth Season is the seventh episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season. This episode is notable as being the first to make reference to Lisa's Buddhism, to which she converted in an earlier Christmas episode, "She of Little Faith".-Plot:...
". The couch gag was utilized a second time for the 2004 episode "Fraudcast News
Fraudcast News
"Fraudcast News" is the 22nd and last episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season, first aired on May 23, 2004 in the United States on the FOX network...
". In the 2010 episode "Postcards from the Wedge
Postcards from the Wedge
"Postcards from the Wedge" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 14, 2010. In the episode, Homer and Marge once again try to discipline Bart after Mrs...
", Bart is distracted from his homework by an episode of Pokémon. After watching Ash Ketchum talk to his Pikachu, he muses how the show has managed to stay fresh over the years.
Pikachu was ranked as the second best person of the year by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
in 1999, who called it "The most beloved animated character since Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty
is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States...
". The magazine noted Pikachu as the "public face of a phenomenon that has spread from Nintendo's fastest selling video game to a trading-card empire", citing the franchise's profits for the year as the reason for the ranking; behind singer Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
but ahead of author J.K. Rowling.
The character placed eighth in a 2000 Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
poll of favorite anime characters. In 2002, Ash's Pikachu received fifteenth place in TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
featured it in their article "All Time Greatest Game Hero". In 2003 Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
ranked Pikachu as the eighth top-earning fictional character of the year with an income of $825 million. In 2004 the character dropped two spots to tenth on the list, taking in $825 million for a second straight year. In a 2008 Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
poll Pikachu was voted as the fourth most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Solid Snake
Solid Snake
Metal Gear, initially released in 1987, introduces Solid Snake, the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by team leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue his missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" mentioned is, and...
. The character has been regarded as the Japanese answer to Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
and as being part of a movement of "cute capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
". Pikachu was listed 8th in IGN's "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time". Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
listed Pikachu as their ninth favourite hero, stating that while he was one of the first Pokémon, he is still popular to this day. Authors Tracey West and Katherine Noll called Pikachu the best Electric type Pokémon and the best Pokémon overall. They added that if a person were to go around and ask Pokémon players who their favourite Pokémon was, they would "almost always" choose Pikachu. They also called Pikachu "brave and loyal".
A newly discovered ligand
Ligand (biochemistry)
In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. In a narrower sense, it is a signal triggering molecule, binding to a site on a target protein.The binding occurs by intermolecular forces, such as ionic bonds, hydrogen...
believed to provide better visual acuity
Visual acuity
Visual acuity is acuteness or clearness of vision, which is dependent on the sharpness of the retinal focus within the eye and the sensitivity of the interpretative faculty of the brain....
, discovered by , is named "Pikachurin
Pikachurin
Pikachurin, also known as protein-like polysaccharide and EGF-like, fibronectin type-III and laminin G-like domain-containing polysaccharide , is a polysaccharide that in humans is encoded by the EGFLAM gene...
", borrowed from the nimbleness of Pikachu. The name was inspired due to Pikachu's "lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects".