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Bulbasaur (フシギダネ, Fushigidane in original Japanese language versions) is the first of the Template:Pokenum species of the children's product line known as Pokémon. The creatures from the multi-billion-dollar Pokémon media franchise were created by Satoshi Tajiri. Pokémon is one of Nintendo's flagship game franchises, which has sold over 143 million copies worldwide as of 2007. Their enduring popularity has led to many incarnations of the Pokémon story and of its Bulbasaur character. Designed by Ken Sugimori, the character's first appearance took place in 1995 in the first ever Pokémon video game, Pocket Monsters, as one of three starter Pokémon the player receives at the beginning of the game. The character was portrayed by a two-dimensional sprite; in later releases Bulbasaur's appearance has been conveyed by a computer-generated image. Like all Pokémon, Bulbasaur fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series.

The name Bulbasaur is a combination of "bulb" and "saur", the Greek name for "reptile". The Japanese name Fushigidane is a combination of the Japanese words for mystery or miracle (不思議, fushigi) and seed (種, tane), and can additionally translate to "Strange, isn't it?" (不思議だね, Fushigi da ne).

Bulbasaur are one of the first Pokémon that can be obtained in a number of Pokémon video games and they appear often in the Pokémon anime. Additionally they have been featured in both noncanon Pokémon games and non-Pokémon video games. Bulbasaur has also been used in promotional merchandising at fast-food chains like McDonald's and Burger King.

Conception and creation

The character was created by Ken Sugimori for the Pocket Monsters Aka (ポケットモンスター 赤, Poketto Monsutā Aka, "Pocket Monsters Red") and Pocket Monsters Midori (ポケットモンスター 緑, Poketto Monsutā Midori, "Pocket Monsters Green") Game Boy games in Japan.

In the Japanese version of the anime, Ash's Bulbasaur is voiced by Megumi Hayashibara, while May's Bulbasaur is voiced by Miyako Itō. In the English version, they are both voiced by Tara Jayne until season seven, then in season nine they are both voiced by Michelle Knotz. In the Spanish version, Bulbasaur is voiced by Eduardo Garza.

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Characteristics

In the Pokémon franchise, Bulbasaur are small, squat, vaguely reptilian Pokémon that move on all four legs, and have light blue-green bodies with darker blue-green spots. As a Bulbasaur undergoes evolution into Ivysaur and then later into Venusaur, the bulb on its back blossoms into a flower. A CNN article remarked on the flowering of the character's bulb and suggested that it was "perhaps the Carmen Miranda of Pokémon figures".

In the video games, the Pokédex, a fictional Pokémon encyclopedia, says that the seed on a Bulbasaur's back is planted at birth, it then sprouts and grows larger as the Bulbasaur grows. The bulb growth continues during evolution into Ivysaur and then Venusaur, and as Bulbasaur evolve, they become stronger and more powerful. The Pokédex also states that the bulb absorbs sunlight which makes it grow, for this reason, Bulbasaur enjoy soaking up the sun's rays, and can survive for days without eating because the bulb stores energy. Because of its unusual physiology, scientists can't tell whether Bulbasaurs are plant or animal.

In the anime most Pokémon cannot speak and are only able to communicate with body language and by repeating syllables of their species name, using different pitches and tones; Bulbasaur make sounds like “bulb”, “bulba”, and “saur”.

Appearances

Video games

Bulbasaur made their first video game debut in the first generation games. Along with a Charmander and Squirtle, it is one of three starter Pokémon available at the beginning of the games with the exception of Pokémon Yellow. Bulbasaur's grass type is in contrast to Charmander's fire type and Squirtle's water type. Games after the first generation require trading to obtain it. Bulbasuar also appear in spin-off games, such as the Pokémon Stadium series and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

Anime

The Pokémon anime series and films are a set of adventures separate from most other versions of Pokémon, featuring Ash Ketchum as the main character, and following his quest to become a Pokémon Master. To this end, Ash and his friend May have each trained a Bulbasaur. Ash first captures his after it challenges him after rescuing it and the girl temporarily taking care of it. He continues to use it frequently until the end of the Indigo League tournament. Afterwards, he mainly uses it in other tournaments. May captures hers in a forest, and mainly uses it in various Pokémon contests featured in the series. Since May's Bulbasaur fell in love with Ash's Bulbasaur, both Bulbasaur are now with Professor Oak.

Other media

Bulbasuar are featured in the various manga adaptations of the series. Ash Ketchum uses one in the series such as Pokémon: Pikachu Shocks Back that loosely parallel the storyline of the anime; and Red of Pokémon Adventures recieves his from professor Oak, and names it "Saur". In the Pokémon Trading Card Game, most Bulbasaur cards are of the “common” frequency and can generally be found with relative ease. Bulbasaur is also the main character of two children’s books, Pokémon Tales, Volume 3: Bulbasaur’s Trouble and Bulbasaur’s Bad Day, that were published in 1999 and 2000 respectively by Sagebrush.

References

• The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness And Hey You Pikachu.

DVDs

• Pokémon, Vol. 15: Charizard!!, Viz Video., February 2000. ASIN B00004DS9J.
• Pokémon, Vol. 18: Water Blast!, Viz Video., May 2000. ASIN 6305844674 .
• Pokémon - The First Movie, Warner Home Video., October 2000. ASIN B00004WIB2.
• Pokémon, Vol. 26: Friends and Rivals!, Viz Video., January 2001. ASIN B0000541UG.
• Pokémon The Movie 2000, Warner Home Video., May 2001. ASIN B00005A3O6.
• Pokémon 3: The Movie , Warner Home Video., October 2001. ASIN B00005NMW3.
• Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns, Warner Home Video., December 2001. ASIN B00005OW0I.
• Pokémon Master Quest 2: Quest 2, Viz Video., February 2005. ASIN B0002IQD2Y.
• Pokemon 10th Anniversary, Vol. 7 - Bulbasaur, Viz Video., October 2006. ASIN B000HDR8D2.

Footnotes

1. "Pokémon Franchise Approaches 150 Million Games Sold". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
2. David (2005). "Nintendo reveal sales figures". Australia's PAL Gaming Network. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. "Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire Review (page 1)". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
4. "Pokémon (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
5. "Pokémon banished from another playground," Cnn.com, October 8 1999. URL Accessed on July 31 2007.
6. Pokédex entry on the Red, Blue and Leaf Green video games; "A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this POKéMON."
7. Pokédex entry on the Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald video games; "BULBASAUR can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger."
8. Pokédex entry on the Yellow video game; "It can go for days without a single morsel. In the bulb on its back, it stores energy."
9. MacDonald, Mark; Brokaw, Brian; Arnold; J. Douglas; Elies, Mark. Pokémon Trainer's Guide. Sandwich Islands Publishing, 1994. ISBN 0-439-15404-9. (pg73)
10. Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 1: Desperado Pikachu, VIZ Media LLC, July 6, 2000. ISBN 1-56931-507-8.
11. "Official Pokémon TCG site". Retrieved 2007-05-24.

Publications

• Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
• Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
• Nintendo, et al. Official Nintendo Pokémon Snap Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 1999. ASIN B000CDZP9G
• Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X

Websites

• "Statistical analysis of Bulbasaur". PsyPoke. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• "Individual anime episode summaries". Serebii.net. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

Manga volumes

• Ono, Toshihiro. Pokémon: Pikachu Shocks Back Graphic Novel. VIZ Media LLC, December 6 1999. ISBN 1-56931-411-X
• Ono, Toshihiro. Pokémon: Electric Pikachu Boogaloo Graphic Novel. VIZ Media LLC, April 5 2000. ISBN 1-56931-436-5
• Ono, Toshihiro. Pokémon: Surf’s Up, Pikachu Graphic Novel. VIZ Media LLC, June 2000. ISBN 1-56931-494-2
• Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 1: Desperado Pikachu. VIZ Media LLC, July 6 2000. ISBN 1-56931-507-8
• Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 2: Legendary Pokémon. VIZ Media LLC, December 6 2000. ISBN 1-56931-508-6
• Kusaka, Hidenori, & Mato. Pokémon Adventures, Volume 3: Saffron City Siege. VIZ Media LLC, August 5 2001. ISBN 1-56931-560-4

External links

2. Part 2

Template:Contains Japanese text Template:PokeLinks

• Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistical analysis
• Bulbasaur in The Pokémon Encyclopedia
• Bulbasaur at Bulbapedia
• Template:WikiKnowledge

• Starter Pokémon
• Basic Pokémon
• Fictional dinosaurs
• Ash Ketchum's Pokémon
• Grass Pokémon
• Poison Pokémon