Can anyone explain WHY Pikachu is the go-to mascot?

[Blood Red Absol]

I think the original mascot Pokemon was meant to be Clefary, but it was considered to "girlie" so they wanted to use a more neutral Pokemon, another reason they choose Pikachu was because there where not as many yellow mascots, this made them stand out a little more.

 

[PrismaticPrincessAnna]

Well, Pikachu IS the first PKMN Ash ever had and its pretty special, nya~

 

[SoManyWynaut]

Wait, was it decided that Pikachu'd be the mascot after Ash caught him in the series? Because I thought Ash was originally going to have a Clefairy.

 

[deoxysdude94]

Pikachu with light ball is better than Raichu. So, comparing the two isn't very smart.

 

[randomspot555]

Wait, was it decided that Pikachu'd be the mascot after Ash caught him in the series? Because I thought Ash was originally going to have a Clefairy.

Pikachu became the mascot due to its popularity stemmed from the series. Ash was originally going to have Clefairy be his starter due to influence from one of the first manga series, but that doesn't translate into "Clefairy was the original mascot"

 

[Lady Umbreon]

Because if Pikachu wasn't the mascot and it was something else, then we've have the exact same question.

Can anyone explain WHY Sandshrew is the go-to mascot?
Besides it being popular in the manga/TV show, can anyone really tell me why it seems to be the go-to Pokemon mascot? From a trainer's viewpoint, its stats are sub par (even Sandslash isn't that much better) and if cuteness sells, I can list at least 10 more who are cuter and have better stats.

Pikachu wasn't the mascot, I doubt you'd have any issue with it. It's only because Pikachu is seen to be the 'poster child' of pokemon that you have any real issues with it. You wouldn't be objecting if it just happened to be any other pokemon.

Agreed. No matter what was chosen people would complain about it. I believe part of the reason Ash got a non-traditional starter was to avoid complaints from Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle fans.

Children are interested in things that are powerful and scary. They use fiction to feel powerful themselves and work out their fears. Sure, Pikachu is a cuddly little mouse but it controls something that scares children - lightning. In the real world this thing could easily kill people. In the make-believe world they sit on kids' shoulders and snack on ketchup. It's all about the imaginary power trip.

 

[Blood Red Absol]

Pikachu with light ball is better than Raichu. So, comparing the two isn't very smart.

I like Raichu batter because of appearance

 

[DarkOverlord777]

Wait, was it decided that Pikachu'd be the mascot after Ash caught him in the series? Because I thought Ash was originally going to have a Clefairy.

Ash with a clefairy as a starter? Dang. As weird as that sounds, the infinite possibilities of the moves that metronome can turn into would be quite entertaining.....

Personally, I believe that either dunsparce, shuckle, or smeargle should've been the pokmeon mascot. They don't get enough love, if any at all.......

 

[ParaChomp]

Meh, as long as he's a good fighter in Super Smash Bros, who cares? The cartoon is just kids' filler anyways.

 

[Steampunk]

as people have said, it was supposed to be clefairy but they changed it to pikachu.
which in my opinon was a good move cuz i like pikachu a million times more than clefairy.

 

[Dragalge]

I am fine with Pikachu, although Clefairy would have been kinda interesting more in my eyes.

 

[Plus side down side]

Think about this... could you imagine what would happen if they DID change the mascot now?

First off, it would be stupid from a marketing perspective. When people think of Pokemon, generally the first thing they think of is Pikachu. Pikachu has become a cultural icon, and it would be the equivalent of Disney deciding to dump Mickey Mouse as the mascot: it would hurt sales.

Now let's just say that they did chance mascots for real. They would probably use the same criteria that got Pikachu elected: cute, marketable, gender neutral. Let's just say they went with Riolu, who not only fits that criteria, but evolves into the very popular Lucario. It seems like a good idea on paper, but I truly believe that Riolu would become even more unpopular that Pikachu, because everyone would be divided into different camps.
-The ones who welcome the change.
-The ones who think they blew an opportunity to choose a better Pokemon.
-People who say that their childhood is ruined.
-Those who begin to hate Riolu because it becomes too overused and loved (what happened to Pikachu)
-People who legitimately preferred Pikachu.
-Parents who have trouble buying toys because the sudden change makes it harder to choose toys.

Fact is, Pikachu was chosen for a reason. You don't have to like it, but it isn't going to change any time soon.

 

[Zachmac]

Children are interested in things that are powerful and scary. They use fiction to feel powerful themselves and work out their fears. Sure, Pikachu is a cuddly little mouse but it controls something that scares children - lightning. In the real world this thing could easily kill people. In the make-believe world they sit on kids' shoulders and snack on ketchup. It's all about the imaginary power trip.

...?

I remember I just played pokemon cause I thought using that power was cool. It didn't have anything to do with working out fears...in fact, I think a lot of those guys are cool today.

Personally, I believe that either dunsparce, shuckle, or smeargle should've been the pokmeon mascot. They don't get enough love, if any at all.......

They're all second generation, and the first two look a little to weird to be the mascot.

I'm not saying there is anything weird with you liking them, but most kids would of cocked their heads at a bumblebee-snake.

First off, it would be stupid from a marketing perspective. When people think of Pokemon, generally the first thing they think of is Pikachu. Pikachu has become a cultural icon, and it would be the equivalent of Disney deciding to dump Mickey Mouse as the mascot: it would hurt sales.

Now that I think about it, Disney is an excellent example. Oswald the Rabbit didn't work, he was kicked out. Micky Mouse worked, they decided to keep him.

Pikachu worked the first time, they decided to keep it. It's that simple, really.

 

[ChickenDoughnut]

I like Raichu batter because of appearance

Pikachu and Raichu are fine, nothing exceptional though. Pichu, though..... what were they thinking? X_X
A barely usable Pokémon (unless you're skilled), that evolves through happiness?!
It's stats are horrible, then mediocre, then barely pushing decent as Raichu.

But in all honesty, Raichu looks awesome, Pikachu will always appeal to us as the default 'mon of choice, and as people have said before, it's not always about, stats, but looks and personal preference, too

 

[Shayminslicker]

Pikachu was just more popular before it was the mascot

 

[Mononoke Hime]

Raichu is very good looking, but I'm sick of Pikachu.

 

[OceanicLanturn]

Here are two reasons (one is supposedly real and the other is personal assumption)

a) Like what almost everybody else said, Clefairy was intended to be mascot, but Pikachu was chosen instead due to popularity or something.

b) Think about it, they had to choose from the original 151 at the beginning of Pokemon. Admit it, Pokemon has always been more catered towards audience. And that rules out a lot of stuff that they can use since little children like cute stuff, such as Voltorb/Electrode (which wouldn't make the best mascot anyways) or Magmar. Another thing that held them back from using starters was the heat from other starter fan... So I guess that's why they didn't use starters. After two eliminations, you are left with a bunch of other stuff that can be too girly like Jigglypuff or Clefairy. Some were, I guess, shafted because they're less marketable, like Geodude. So that leaves you with very little choice. I guess they could've gone with Eevee, but it made sense since they gave Eevee a centric role in Yellow.

Like I said, a bunch of points in B are just assumptions, so don't take it too seriously xD

 

[Dr.Chaos]

I'm not saying there is anything weird with you liking them, but most kids would of cocked their heads at a bumblebee-snake.Now that I think about it, Disney is an excellent example. Oswald the Rabbit didn't work, he was kicked out. Micky Mouse worked, they decided to keep him.

Pikachu worked the first time, they decided to keep it. It's that simple, really.

Actually didn't Walt Disney ask for a pay raise and when they denied him that, they took the rights to Oswald the Rabbit? I remember that happening sometime. And Walt Disney came up with the Mickey Mouse character on the train ride back home so that his brother wouldn't be disappointed.

 

[pacman000]

Actually didn't Walt Disney ask for a pay raise and when they denied him that, they took the rights to Oswald the Rabbit? I remember that happening sometime. And Walt Disney came up with the Mickey Mouse character on the train ride back home so that his brother wouldn't be disappointed.

Your right, though there's some debate as to wether-or-not Walt actually designed Mickey; some people think Ub Iwerks designed him. Iwerks was a better animator, but I won't challenge Disney's story. It's too late for that; you can't get evidence anymore.

 

[SBaby]

That's a tough one to explain. If I were to venture a guess though, I'd say it was probably completely by accident. Initially, there were no real plans to make Pikachu as big as he is now. From what I read, it seemed like they originally wanted Clefairy to be the mascot, since it was so popular in Japan (and still is popular there, apparently). I do always get a chuckle thinking about how the Anime would've played out if Clefairy HAD become the mascot instead of Pikachu.