Even with Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet taking the franchise in some bold directions when it releases next year, there's one iconic Pokémon that it couldn't possibly omit. Pikachu's enduring appeal as the cute, lovable franchise mascot has proved so strong that a special Flying Tera Type version is being offered as a bonus for those who pre-order the title.
Pikachu is more than just a cute mascot though. There's tons of trivia about the iconic electric type that ranges from the surprising to the outright hilarious. From its food-based origins to its strange biology, these are the funniest Pikachu facts.
Pikachu Lost Weight Early On
These days, Pikachu can often be seen moving swiftly and with deadly agility in Pokémon battles so it's strange to imagine a time when it didn't have a lean, mouse-like body. However, those who remember the marketing for Pokémon in 1996 or who've seen older pictures of Pikachu floating around online might remember a time when this wasn't the case.
In fact, Pikachu was once a far more rotund figure than it is now with a much rounder silhouette. NintendoLife reports that character designer Ken Sugimori's explanation for the move away from "Chubby Pikachu" was that they were influenced by the anime, which wanted a smaller, more physically expressive design.
Pikachu Was Originally Based On A Snack
A lot of the earliest Pokémon designs were for tougher-looking ones like Gyarados and Lapras so it fell on designer Atsuko Nishida to come up with some cuter ones. In an interview reported by Siliconera, she revealed that she was only told to come up with a cute electric type Pokémon and not any specific animal to base it on.
As a result, she based the first prototype for Pikachu on daifuku, a Japanese confection consisting of a round rice cake with a sweet filling inside. As this blobby creature wasn't cute enough for what they wanted in the end, the only part of the original daifuku-like design that remains is Pikachu's dark ear tips.
Pikachu Has A Long History Of Loving Ketchup
There's no Pikachu more famous than Ash's one in the Pokémon anime and it influenced a lot more than just the Pokémon's design. In fact, a lot of Pikachu's most famous traits actually come from the anime and that includes its love of tomato ketchup. Not just a pun on Ash Ketchum's name, Pikachu has actually been obsessed with the sauce for a long time.
The official Pokémon Twitter account revealed just how long this "love story" goes back, tracing it to the 1998 episode "Showdown at Dark City." Pikachu may be one of Ash's strongest Pokémon but ketchup definitely brings out its silly side, even singing an entire song about the tomato sauce.
Scientists Named A Protein After Pikachu
Pokémon is one of the biggest video game franchises in the world so it's no surprise that it has fans everywhere. That includes the world of science where, in 2008, the discovery of a rather unique new protein led to it being named "Pikachurin" after everyone's favorite rodent Pokémon.
Inventor Spot reported on the discovery and explained that this protein was particularly energetic and there was no better way to reflect that than by naming it after the lightning-fast electric Pokémon. Whilst the discovery of the protein had interesting implications for those studying it, its name is a hilarious reminder that Pokémon fans are everywhere.
Pikachu Is Surprisingly Scary
Pikachu may be adorable but it can almost make for some incredible Pokémon battles. That's because Pikachu packs a massive punch which is also what makes it unexpectedly scary. Pokédex entries already hint at the kind of power it carries around, describing how they can be dangerous to be around because of the lightning strikes and storms they can cause.
However, the short video A Sneak Peek at Pokémon went further and put an actual number on Pikachu's electrical power, saying that it amounted to no less than 1000 amperes. For perspective, OSHA warns in their electricity guidelines that a current of just 10 amps is likely to be deadly to a human.
Pikachu Almost Had A Big Evolution With Large Fangs
It's hard to imagine a world where Pikachu has another evolution after Raichu but it almost happened. In her interview in Siliconera, designer Atsuko Nishida revealed that they originally planned another evolution for the first Pokémon title, which was to be a horned creature with large fangs, a far cry from the more cutesy Pikachu and Raichu.
Even more surprisingly, this idea wasn't scrapped because it didn't fit with the theme of its predecessors but simply because of issues with keeping the game balanced. As a result, Gorochu, as the third evolution was to be called, sadly never got the chance to show the tougher side of the Pikachu family.
Pikachu's Name Has A Funny Origin
In the same interview where Nishida revealed Pikachu's scrapped next evolution, she also explained another funny part of Pikachu's origins. Since the "chu" in Pikachu comes from the sound a mouse makes in Japanese, it would make sense that this was chosen because of how much Pikachu looks like a mouse.
In reality, it was the exact other way round. Nishida didn't yet know what Pikachu would look like but, once she thought of the name, its rodent-like appearance naturally followed. The "pika" part, meanwhile, comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia "pika-pika" which means to sparkle.
Pikachu Needs Its Beauty Sleep
Just like anyone, Pikachu just isn't the same if it hasn't slept well the night before but it does a lot more than just make it grumpier. According to its Pokédex entry in Pokémon Ultra Moon, Pikachu uses its sleep to generate electricity to store in the sacs in its cheeks which it can discharge to give a powerful shock.
It goes on to explain that, if Pikachu doesn't get enough sleep, it will only be able to use very weak electricity. Since electricity is crucial not only to their attacks but also to the way they communicate, a Pikachu with a weak electric charge just isn't the same and that's why it's important that they get plenty of sleep.
Pikachu Beat Out Clefairy To Become The Franchise's Mascot
While it's obvious now that Pikachu is the perfect representation of the Pokémon franchise as a whole, there was another extremely cuddly Pokémon that held the mascot role first. Den Of Geek outlines how Clefairy was once front and center in the game's marketing, taking a similar role in the manga for Pokémon Red as Pikachu later would in the anime.
In the end, it's not entirely clear why Pikachu took over that mascot role from Clefairy but it seems likely it was just due to having a more appealing design. It turned out to be the right decision as Pikachu has gone on to become one of the most recognizable non-human characters in fiction.
Pikachu Is A Viable Power Source
Naturally, since Pikachu is a Pokémon that produces a ton of electricity quite literally in its sleep, someone would think to try to use it as a source of power but what's hilarious is that this has been confirmed as a possibility multiple times. Perhaps the most famous example of this is when Nurse Joy shows Ash their backup "Pika-power source" in an early episode of the anime.
The hilarious image of a dozen Pikachu on a conveyor belt running whilst staring blankly ahead may have felt slightly unintentionally dark but it's not even the only time someone has thought to use them in this way. In Pikachu's Pokedex entry in Pokémon Sun, it mentions that there are plans to gather many Pikachu and make an entire power plant.