How does Charmander breathe fire?

Question

Charmander is a small lizard-like Pokémon. It is a fire-type Pokémon, and is capable of breathing fire.

Charmander burning an Exeggutor

How do Charmander and its evolved forms do this? Is there any biological basis for it, and is it ever explained in canon?

http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species:_Charmander might have some usefull information about that — Dimitri mx, Apr 27 '13 at 00:02
I doubt you could answer that question with logic. It's like asking where Squirtle is stockpiling all that water he is shooting. It would physically be impossible to store all those gallons in that tiny body of his. — Peter Raeves, Jun 30 '14 at 22:08

score 25 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 09 '15 at 17:38

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I don't think our known biology can be applied to Pokemon. Blastoise has cannons, for instance, and Pikachu can shoot electricity (is not the same be able to create electricity to shock predators that attack you and actually shooting it).

I mean, we could make theories about how they can do all those things, but the designers just didn't think about it. It would be an interesting pastime, but pretty pointless, because they would be just that, theories.

edited Jul 09 '15 at 17:38

Ero Sɘnnin

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answered Apr 29 '13 at 20:18

Elfangor

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Yeah, the physics/biology is _waaaayyyy_ out there: Pokemon can travel through time, hypnotize large numbers of people, are less dense than styrofoam/helium, wear their mother's skull.... – Clockwork-Muse Apr 29 '13 at 23:43
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"We are right in the dessert. Snorlax, use Surf!" One of the things I'll never understand. – looper Apr 30 '13 at 06:20
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the mangaka from ranma 1/2 said: "I don't think about those things, neither should you" at one point in an interview when a fan asked if girl ranma can get pregnant. – ton.yeung Aug 12 '13 at 21:05
I would just like to coin the phrase, "Theory of Pokevolution". That is all. – Daz C Sep 17 '13 at 19:05

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 15 '13 at 18:47

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It might hard to elaborate with a canonical explanation. The only things I can think of are:

Charmander might store methane gas in his stomach, like other living things do.
His stomach might be specialized for compressing gases numerous times (enough to breath fire )
His throat or digestive system might include something that can make sparks, which would bring the fire from his belly.
Methane is lighter than air, so it can be presumed to be one of the reasons that Charizard can fly.

edited Sep 15 '13 at 18:47

Makoto

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answered Sep 15 '13 at 02:50

Naing Lin Aung

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I'm pretty sure Charizard can fly because he has wings and not because he is full of methane on the inside. – krikara Sep 15 '13 at 06:51

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 31 '14 at 16:30

I read an article a while back which theorized that Pokemon were beings composed of energy rather than matter.

This also explains how they can be stored in computers and Pokeballs.

See this video it's not the original article that I read but it covers the basic idea.

How does Charmander breathe fire?

3 Answers3