Pikachu
[ pee-kuh-choo ]
Who is Pikachu?
Pikachu is a popular Pokémon character who’s yellow and resembles a mouse. The creature’s signature features include red cheek pouches that store electricity and a tail that’s shaped like a lightning bolt. Pikachu is one of the most recognizable Pokémon characters, rising to fame through the 1997 anime TV series Pokémon. It was one of the original 151 Pokémon introduced in 1996 and has since become the face of the franchise.
Pikachu has become a lasting icon of Japanese pop culture, appearing on Pokémon playing cards, in the Nintendo Pokémon video game series, the Pokémon Go mobile game, the 2019 live-action film Detective Pikachu, and even a 2021 music video for Katy Perry’s “Electric.”
Where does Pikachu come from?
Pikachu, which is a trademark of Nintendo, was introduced in 1996 with the Japanese video games “Pokémon Red” and “Pokémon Green.” In 1998, the games were released in North America as “Pokémon Red” and “Pokémon Blue.” When lead designer Ken Sugimori decided the game needed some cuter Pokémon characters, he tapped Game Freak staffer and graphic designer Atsuko Nishida for ideas. Nishida drew inspiration from daifuku, a Japanese mochi dessert, and added squirrel-like cheeks that stored electricity.
To create the name Pikachu, Nishida combined pika, referring to a flash of light, with chu, the sound of a mouse squeaking. Despite the name, Nishida said she wasn’t thinking of a mouse when she designed the character, but it was officially classified as a Mouse Pokémon by video game designer Satoshi Tajiri.
Examples of Pikachu
The cutest Pikachu I’ve seen today is hungry Pikachu 🥹💛 ~ hope you had a beautiful weekend PokemonThreads 🌻
Pikachu is such a kind little good boy. ⚡💛
the collab we never knew we needed 🥹 A Pikachu plush just spent 67 days orbiting the Earth while traveling as part of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot’s mission. The collaboration between The Pokémon Company and the ESA was done to celebrate World Space Week in October 🪐
Who uses Pikachu?
Pikachu‘s massive popularity has given the character a wide-ranging online footprint and fanbase. On social media, you’ll find Pikachu content including images, videos, memes, and screenshots. On Reddit, fans have established non-official forums to discuss all things Pokémon, which naturally includes plenty of chatter about Pikachu.
NOTE
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Pikachu like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Pikachu that will help our users expand their word mastery.
