Charmander Weakness (2x)
Water Ground Rock
#004 · Fire · Lizard Pokemon · Gen 1
The lizard Pokemon, and the most popular of the Kanto starters. Charmander starts from a Fire type and a 309 base stat total — a modest opening to a line that ends at Charizard.
BST 309
Abilities: Blaze · Solar Power (hidden) · Evolution stage: initial
From the full 18-type grid on the Pokemon Type Chart.
Water Ground Rock
Fire Grass Ice Bug Steel Fairy
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Pokemon stats and facts
Charmander is Pokemon number 4 in the national dex and the Fire-type starter of Kanto. It begins as a pure Fire type on a 309 base stat total, grows into Charmeleon at level 16, and ends as Charizard at level 36 — one of the most recognizable final forms in the whole franchise. Blaze is the ability it always carries; Solar Power waits in the hidden slot. Three stages, one region, and a spot in the original starter lineup.
Defensively the card stays simple: Water, Ground and Rock hit for double, and Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy all land at half power. Six resistances against three weaknesses is a good trade for a starter, and the resist list covers types the early routes actually use. Everything else lands neutral, and a single typing keeps the whole list short enough to hold in your head.
Monotype Fire keeps the job description short: everything this line does on offense flows from one very recognizable attack. Ember is available from the start, Flamethrower arrives later, and few early-route enemies want to stand in front of either. The counterplay is old and familiar: Water and Rock enemies, easy to see coming and worth planning a switch for.
The numbers point the same direction as the typing. Speed 65 is the highest number on the card and Sp. Atk 60 is right behind it, which together say "special attacker" before you even open the move list. Attack 52 is the footnote: physical sets exist, but they start a step behind. For a starter, that is a clean brief — hit from the special side, and hit first often enough to make it count.
Read the six numbers and the shape explains itself: 39 HP, 52 Attack, 43 Defense, 60 Sp. Atk, 50 Sp. Def, 65 Speed. Speed leads and Sp. Atk follows, and everything else sits under both, which is why sets get built around those two. The number worth respecting is HP 39 — every stray hit lands harder than you expect, so this is not the Pokemon you leave in to eat one and answer. If it has to take a hit anyway, the 50 in Sp. Def is a softer landing than the 43 in Defense.
The catch is that 65 Speed only looks fast next to the rest of this card; by evolved standards it usually takes the hit before it answers. The line levels that out: Charmeleon arrives at 405 base stats, and the family runs 309 → 405 → 534 from first stage to last. A typical first-stage spread sits near 304, so 309 lands right on the mark — an average start with the payoff stacked at the end. Build around the Speed, patch the HP, and the trade is clear: tempo now, durability later.
In practice, the weakness list is the to-do list: Water, Ground and Rock are the threats that get dangerous fast. The resist list is the payback — Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy all land soft, which turns half the route list into free switches. Hand the Water and Ground matchups to a teammate and the line does its job without depending on luck.
If only one of the two lists sticks, make it the weak one — it decides the switches, the teammate picks, and the fights where it has to sit out. The other list is where the value quietly compounds: every Grass or Bug attack sent its way is a turn the rest of the team does not have to spend. Cover the three bad types, and the rest of the chart is routine.
Nuzlocke players know the drill: weigh the weak list against the route ahead before the first badge, not after the first loss. The Nuzlocke Team Builder sets the rules, and the Random Pokemon Picker fills any empty slot with one clean draw. Level 36 is the whole plan — everything before that is escort duty: play it safe, keep it healthy, and switch out early. When the route plan runs out of answers, the Pokemon Wheel Spinner makes the call.
Later in a run the line stops being a project and starts being an answer. The Pokemon Team Picker lays the six out and spots the shared weaknesses before a gym can punish them. If Mega plans are on the table, the Random Mega Pokemon Generator digs out the X and Y forms — one wants a Jolly physical spread, the other a Modest special one. Hunting for a shiny? Pokemon Shiny Odds has the numbers, and the Random Shiny Pokemon Generator does the rolling. The Blog carries the longer reads on natures, odds and challenge rules.
FAQ
Charmander is a Fire type: doubled damage from Water, Ground and Rock, half damage from Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy, neutral from everything else. That is the entire defensive picture, and both lists are short enough to remember without the card.
Water, Ground and Rock, all at double damage. On the other side, Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel and Fairy all come in at half power, and the rest of the chart is neutral. Re-check the matchup card before a gym, a rival battle, or any fight that actually matters.
Charmander evolves into Charmeleon at level 16 and into Charizard at level 36 — three stages on two fixed checkpoints. The typing shifts at the final step, so the weaknesses it carries now are not the ones it keeps forever. In a run, that makes the road through the thirties the part of the plan to protect.
Blaze is the standard ability and Solar Power is the hidden one, and they pull in different directions: Blaze rewards a Pokemon that fights from behind, while Solar Power trades the safety net for extra special attack in strong sun. Most playthroughs only ever see Blaze, since hidden abilities take special routes to find. Build for the ability you actually have.
Three stages end to end: Charmander, Charmeleon at level 16, and Charizard at level 36, with the base stat total climbing 309 → 405 → 534 along the way. Charmeleon is the bridge stage, carrying the line through the middle stretch until Charizard takes over.
Speed at 65 is the highest number in the spread, and it is the one the line is built around: hit first, hit from the special side, let Sp. Atk 60 do the talking. The rest of the card is there to keep that plan standing.