History Characters / PokemonTheSeriesPikachu

* BigBrotherInstinct: When it comes to younger and inexperienced Pokémon, Pikachu has taken on this role.

* CelibateHero: Seems to feel little but embarrassment about Buneary's and Togedemaru's attraction to him.

%%* CassandraTruth: Regarding [[HeelFaceMole Team Rocket's Meowth]], and he speaks from experience; it's just that Meowth's stint that time took far longer and almost convincing.

* EasilyForgiven: Similar to Ash considering Team Rocket's obsession with capturing him. It was almost subverted after Meowth's HeelFaceMole scheme, which infuriated Pikachu. Still, by ''XY'', it is clear that, despite knowing the inevitable, he will always submit to his conscience and give Meowth a second chance.

* TeamDad: Pikachu is often trying ''real'' hard to guide & care for all the younger (or just less experienced) Pokémon, and is highly protective of them - from babies like Togepi, to rookies like Axew, to even his buddy Piplup. In fact, it's likely part of the reason he was so infuriated by Meowth's reveal as a HeelFaceMole in [=BW047=].

* ThisIsUnforgivable: Was ''livid'' when Meowth turned out to be HeelFaceMole in ''Best Wishes'', to the point Ash had to calm him down. Granted this didn't stop them from reverting to their FriendlyEnemy dynamic in many later episodes.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: This happens at least once per series, where Pikachu gets brainwashed by some villainous source and make him attack his friends. His behaviour differs the depending on the brainwashing, e.g. he can be rather quite monotone (Malamar's brainwashing), very aggressive (several brainwashings done by Team Rocket or Team Plasma) or even utterly AxCrazy (Blue Orb). Most of the time, his bond with Ash will help him breaking out of the mind control, but there are a few times where it doesn't work.

* ExtraOreDinary: Knows [[WhipItGood Iron Tail]], a Steel-Type attack that was originally taught to counter Rock-Type Pokémon, notably Roxanne's, and has since become Pikachu's go-to move for when his electric attacks are ineffective or compromised.

* SignatureMon: Unmistakably Ash's most iconic Pokémon partner for the entire series. While Ash has often got himself [[TheAce an ace Pokémon]] that defined his regional team like Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja, and Lucario, Pikachu has remained a consistent and reliable team member in all of them. In fact, Pikachu was the Pokémon that delivered the final victory for Ash in the Orange League, the Battle Frontier, the Alola exhibition match against Professor Kukui, and [[spoiler:the Master 8 Tournament, the last of which made Ash the World Champion.]]

* RocketPunch: In "''The Punchy Pokémon''", Pikachu seemed like he was delivering a rocket-powered boxing punch towards Hitmonchan, but it turned out [[SubvertedTrope a weak punch]] fueled by [[ImagineSpothis imagination]].

* UnskilledButStrong: When Pikachu achieves his massive Gigantamax form in [=SS013=], he's powerful but [[MightyGlacier cumbersome and slow]] in battle. Having to exchange his once [[LightningBruiser lightning fast attacks]] for brute-strength, he's now out of his element. Pikachu never uses the form again after this (barring a fake out in [=JN082=], where he grows to massive size after ''eating'' Opal's Gigantamax Alcremie's G-Max Finale), and Gengar takes over as Ash's Gigantamax user.

* RedBaron: Supplementary materials for the Masters Eight [[spoiler: finals]] dub Pikachu ''Pallet Town's Yellow Flash''. He also was noted as the ''Flaming Bolt of Lightning'' and ''Greatest Partner'' during the battle with Steven Stone.

%%* RocketPunch: In "''The Punchy Pokémon''", although he was just [[ImagineSpot imagining]] that he delivered one.

'''Major Characters:''' [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesMisty Misty]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesBrock Brock]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesDawn Dawn]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesPaul Paul]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesIris Iris]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesSerena Serena]] | [[Characters/PokemonTheSeriesGoh Goh]] \\

* DefrostingIceKing: A non-romantic one. When first introduced, Pikachu is an aggressive jerk towards everyone, [[ApatheticPet especially to Ash]]. After he tries to protect him from a flock of enraged Spearow, however, he warms up to him and becomes nicer overall.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the game series, Pikachu is a rather frail Pokémon with a good moveset and speed stat, [[FragileSpeedster but awful base stats and horrible bulk]] due to it not even being the evolutionary line's final form. In the anime, Ash's Pikachu has defeated multiple legendaries and has withstood multiple powerful attacks that it would never be able to withstand in the games. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as Ash's Pikachu has always been considered exceptionally powerful for his species.

** He's normally Badass, winning major battles quite often. He won Ash's battles against Lt. Surge, the Team Rocket trio (substituting for Giovanni as the Viridian Gym Leaders while borrowing his Pokémon), Luana, Drake, Whitney (against THAT Miltank, though only in a rematch), Pryce (via a forfeit), Roxanne, Wattson (that was a CurbStompBattle), Tate and Liza, Juan, Lucy, Anabel, Brandon, Burgh, Elesa, Roxie, Trip, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Totem Gumshoos, Hala, Mimikyu (as part of the Thrifty Megamart trial), Hapu, Guzma, Visquez, Volkner in the World Coronation Series, Wallace, and [[spoiler:Steven]], let alone the fact he contributed to the wins against many other Gym Leaders, Totem matches, League Matches, and World Coronation Series battles with knock-outs. [[spoiler:He notably took down two of the three Pokémon in Ash's league victory in Alola, along with finishing off the exhibition battle against Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko.]].

* SignatureMove: Originally, it was simply the [[ShockAndAwe Thunder-based variants]], but as the series went on, [[FoeTossingCharge Volt Tackle]] (which was later replaced by Electro Ball) and [[TailSlap Iron Tail]] have become his game clincher moves. In Alola, he can now use the Z-move Gigavolt Havoc as his FinishingMove. Later on, Pikachu has access to the Z-move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt - which is a unique move that only he can use.

* DemotedToExtra: During the battle against Gary in the Johto League, Pikachu is ''not'' part of Ash's full team (Tauros, Heracross, Muk, Bayleef, Snorlax and Charizard) and is just a spectator in the stadium. The same thing is implied when Ash battles Conway in the Sinnoh League, since besides having Noctowl, Donphan and Gible in his team, he also had Infernape, Torterra and Glalie at the beginning of the episode, which were the original line-up against Conway, and Pikachu is seen being with the other spectators rather than with Ash.

** Some clarity is given in the ''Sword and Shield'' anime, where the first episode shows him as a Pichu, and shows him evolving into Pikachu. It does not, however, show how he came into Professor Oak's possession before being granted to Ash.

* TookALevelInBadass: Learning Agility and Quick Attack in "Electric Shock Showdown", for starters.
** He has Iron Tail, for times when that doesn't work, as well as Volt Tackle and Electro Ball.
** In [=SM076=], he learns Electroweb, replacing Electro Ball, and uses it as a shield to block Mimikyu's Z-Move, Let's Snuggle Forever.

** While Pikachu's strength [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe varies wildly from episode to episode]], nearly every series will make it clear by the end that at his peak, he truly is Ash's most powerful Pokémon. The anime almost always makes sure the final major battle of the generation [[{{Bookends}} ends with Pikachu]]: examples include Drake's Dragonite, Brandon's Regice, Tobias's Latios, Lysandre's Gyarados, [[spoiler:Tapu Koko, and Leon's Charizard]].

** While Pikachu's strength [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe varies wildly from episode to episode]], nearly every series will make it clear by the end that at his peak, he truly is Ash's most powerful Pokémon. The anime almost always makes sure the final major battle of the generation [[{{Bookends}} ends with Pikachu]]: examples include Drake's Dragonite, Brandon's Regice, Tobias's Latios, Lysandre's Gyarados, and [[spoiler:Tapu Koko]].

** [[spoiler:The finale of the Masters Eight solidifies him as this, whereas the rest of Ash's team all score one KO before going down and have to pull through a lot of effort for each win, Pikachu manages to defeat both Leon's Cinderace and his own undefeated ace, Charizard, firmly crowning himself as Ash's ultimate ace.]]

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: [[spoiler:The first Pok&eacutemon ever to outright defeat Leon's up-to-this point undefeated Charizard and by extension, Leon.]]

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in his time, not to mention several psuedo-legendary Pokémon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and not one, not two, but ''three'' Metagross, [[spoiler:including Steven's Shiny Metagross]].

** He's normally Badass, winning major battles quite often. He won Ash's battles against Lt. Surge, the Team Rocket trio (substituting for Giovanni as the Viridian Gym Leaders while borrowing his Pokémon), Luana, Drake, Whitney (against THAT Miltank, though only in a rematch), Pryce (via a forfeit), Roxanne, Wattson (that was a CurbStompBattle), Tate and Liza, Juan, Lucy, Anabel, Brandon, Burgh, Elesa, Roxie, Trip, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Totem Gumshoos, Hala, Mimikyu (as part of the Thrifty Megamart trial), Hapu, Guzma, Visquez, Volkner at the World Coronation Series, Wallace, and Steven, let alone the fact he contributed to the wins against many other Gym Leaders, Totem matches, League Matches, and World Coronation Series battles with knock-outs. [[spoiler: He notably took down two of the three Pokémon in Ash's league victory in Alola, along with finishing off the exhibition battle against Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko.]].

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: He's defeated several Legendary Pokémon in his time, not to mention several psuedo-legendary Pokémon including Dragonite, Tyranitar, and not one, not two, but ''three'' Metagross, including Steven's Shiny Metagross.

* HurtFootHop: In "The School of Hard Knocks", after falling off a treadmill he was playing on, Pikachu angrily kicked it, only to end up hurting his foot.

** He's normally Badass, winning major battles quite often. He won Ash's battles against Lt. Surge, the Team Rocket trio (substituting for Giovanni as the Viridian Gym Leaders while borrowing his Pokémon), Luana, Drake, Whitney (against THAT Miltank, though not at first), Pryce (via a forfeit), Roxanne, Wattson (that was a CurbStompBattle), Tate and Liza, Juan, Lucy, Anabel, Brandon, Burgh, Elesa, Roxie, Trip, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Totem Gumshoos, Hala, Mimikyu (as part of the Thrifty Megamart trial), Hapu, Guzma, Visquez, Volkner at the World Coronation Series, Wallace, and Steven, let alone the fact he contributed to the wins against many other Gym Leaders, Totem matches, League Matches, and World Coronation Series battles with knock-outs. [[spoiler: He notably took down two of the three Pokémon in Ash's league victory in Alola, along with finishing off the exhibition battle against Professor Kukui and Tapu Koko]].

** While still a main character, he received less attention in the XY series in comparison to Greninja.

* OvershadowedByAwesome: At first he was Ash's go-to Pokémon for everything, but in ''XY'' he falls victim to it himself and gets overshadowed by Greninja. Keeping in mind Pikachu is no less competent than before, and played as large (if not as flashy) a part in the league and gym battles.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the game series, Pikachu is a rather frail Pokémon with a good moveset and speed stat, [[FragileSpeedster but awful base stats and horrible bulk]]. Considering he's not even technically fully evolved, this is to be expected. In the anime, Ash's Pikachu has beaten legendaries like Regice and tied with Latios one on one and has withstood multiple powerful attacks from Pokémon, like Infernape and Dragonite. Attacks that Pikachu would never be able to survive in the game.

** While still a main character, he received less attention in the XY series in comparison to the Froakie family.

* TheAce: While Pikachu's strength [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe varies wildly from episode to episode]], nearly every series will make it clear by the end that at his peak, he truly is Ash's most powerful Pokémon. The anime almost always makes sure the final major battle of the generation [[{{Bookends}} ends with Pikachu]]: examples include Drake's Dragonite, Brandon's Regice, Tobias's Latios, Lysandre's Gyarados, and [[spoiler:Tapu Koko]].

** In the opening for the first movie, Ash's opponent tries to gang up on him with three Pokemon at once. Pikachu downs them all with one Thundershock before they can even attack.