Charizard (SSB4)

Charizard in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mega Charizard X

“	Charizard Fires It Up!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Charizard (リザードン, Lizardon) returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4. It was revealed with Greninja in a trailer during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct.

Charizard is once again voiced by Shinichiro Miki, who provided new voice clips that are notably less bestial than in Brawl and more resembling to those in the anime.

Attributes

Charizard fits the archetype of a powerful yet slow heavyweight with remarkable reach. Like Ike, it also possesses some fast attributes, most notably its dashing speed and a useful combo game. One of Charizard's strengths is its huge array of KOing options, which include three of its specials (Flare Blitz, Fly, and Rock Smash), all of its smash attacks, its forward tilt, three of its aerials (up, back, and down), and its up throw. As already mentioned, Charizard also has some moves that combo rather well, such as its neutral attack and forward aerial. It also has a decent recovery, as Flare Blitz, though somewhat situational, covers a large amount of horizontal distance quickly while providing respectable damage and very high knockback. Fly covers a decent amount of vertical distance while providing super armor and high base knockback. Charizard's biggest asset is its grab and throw game: its grab is one of the longest non-tethers in SSB4, its up throw can potentially KO below 95%, and its down throw is a good combo starter.

However, Charizard has noticeable flaws. One flaw is its lack of a very useful projectile; although Flamethrower can inflict massive damage, interrupt approaches, and gimp recoveries, its sub-par range and moderately fast decay can prevent it from aiding Charizard significantly. Charizard also is easy to combo and generally hit due to its size and weight. Its poor air speed can also hinder its recovery and comboing ability. Arguably, its biggest flaw is its out of shield game; despite having some of the best out of shield options available, like Fly and its up throw, they are hindered by Charizard's exceptionally poor traction, which is the second worst in the game after Luigi's.

Overall, there is significant debate for whether Charizard is a viable character or not. While most say it is not a consistently viable character, some players such as ZeRo and Omega Tyrant claim the opposite. Overall, its strengths are about equal with its weaknesses.

Custom moves address some of Charizard's shortcomings. Dragon Rush is arguably its best custom, as it is a high-pressure rush-down option that has less lag, no recoil and cannot be blocked by opponents when recovering. Fly High slightly improves its vertical recovery, although it loses one of its fastest punishing moves in the process. The other up special alternative, Rising Cyclone, sacrifices some recovery height for very high launching power that can KO most characters via the upper blast line around as low as 56%.

Changes from Brawl

Charizard has received a mix of buffs and nerfs from Brawl, but it has been nerfed overall, despite the buffs to its up and down throw. Most notably, the removal of gliding has made Charizard's recovery much worse. Additionally, its new side special, Flare Blitz, has only situational use for recovering, unlike gliding in Brawl. The rest of its moveset has been rebalanced in other ways: its faster attacks (such as jab, neutral aerial and forward tilt) are slightly weaker, and many of its KO moves are strengthened at the cost of speed. As a heavyweight character, Charizard benefits greatly from the addition of rage, particularly with its post-1.0.8 patch up throw; in fact, the recoil from Flare Blitz is something of a double-edged sword, as it can bring Charizard into rage mode sooner. Charizard is now its own fighter, no longer being a part of Pokémon Trainer. This provides both a buff and a nerf; while Charizard does not have to contend with running out of stamina, it can no longer switch to other Pokémon better suited for specific matchups. Charizard is said to work best as a punishing-type character, using its stronger yet slower attacks to take advantage of openings and flaws in the opponent's play.

Despite the large amount of buffs, they are not enough to compensate for the intensity of the few major nerfs received as Charizard has overall decreased damage output (especially with Rock Smash) and some of its attacks are less reliable (e.g. down tilt, back aerial). As a result, it is commonly agreed that Charizard has not improved significantly from its changes in SSB4 apart from the removal of Pokémon Trainer's stamina mechanic; prior to the 1.0.8 patch, it in fact seemed to be heavily nerfed. Charizard has little to no tournament representation, and was considered one of the poorest characters in the game in early SSB4 competitive play. While the 1.0.8 patch buffs have made it a slightly more balanced character, it is still considered underused overall due to its laggy, punishable attacks, ironically poor aerial mobility, and poor vertical recovery, especially if customs are off. However, players (such as Trela and Bloodcross) have been able to show some dominance in Charizard's meta game even without customs, showing that Charizard is somewhat viable.

Aesthetics

• Charizard's skin is a brighter shade of orange, its fangs are smaller, and its proportions are more in-line with its recent 3D appearances in the Pokémon franchise.
• Charizard now flaps its wings while dashing.
• Without Pokémon Trainer, all of Charizard's victory poses have changed.
• Charizard is now ambidextrous.

Attributes

• Charizard is heavier (110 → 115).
• Charizard walks faster (0.7 → 1.2).
• Charizard dashes faster (1.8 → 2.0).
• Charizard's air speed is slower (0.987 → 0.87).
• Charizard's jumpsquat is now 1 frame longer (frame 6 → 7)
• Charizard falls faster (1.35 → 1.4).
• Charizard's traction has decreased (0.055 → 0.04), going from the second worst to being right above Luigi's.
• Without Pokémon Trainer, Charizard is no longer affected by stamina.
• Type effectiveness no longer applies, thus removing Charizard's water weakness and grass resistance.
• Charizard, along with Pit and Meta Knight, can no longer glide.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack is significantly faster.
• Neutral attack deals 1% less damage (14% → 13%).
• Forward tilt is slightly faster and one of its previous sourspot hitboxes is now a sweetspot hitbox.
• Forward tilt's sourspot deals 3% less damage.
• Down tilt deals 2% less damage (12% → 10% (head), 8% → 6% (neck)), is slower and has lost its KOing power.
• Down tilt now has a windbox that pushes opponents away from Charizard.
• Forward smash is now a single hit attack that is stronger and has more horizontal range.
• Forward smash losing its multi-hit properties means that it now deals 5% less damage (22% → 17%).
• Down smash now sends opponents horizontally and is stronger.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial now deals consistent damage throughout and is significantly faster, now auto-canceling from a short hop.
• Neutral aerial deals less damage and knockback.
• Forward aerial is now a claw slash that deals greater damage and knockback.
• Back aerial deals 1% more damage (5% → 6% (wing), 7% → 8% (tail), 9% → 10% (flame)), has greater reach and is significantly stronger, KOing earlier than some smash attacks.
• Back aerial has added start-up, no longer auto-cancels from a short hop and has more landing lag.
• Up aerial deals 3% more damage (10% → 13% (clean), 7% → 10% (late)), has an altered animation, provides partial intangibility, and is significantly stronger.
• Up aerial has added start-up and has lost its lingering hitbox.
• Down aerial has an added lingering sourspot that is significantly weaker with horizontal knockback. This gives Charizard a new edge-guarding option and a few more follow-up options when aerially fighting opponents, but makes it easier to punish at lower percents.

Throws/other attacks

• Charizard has a new up throw similar to Kirby's up throw, which is based on either Seismic Toss or Sky Drop. It was drastically buffed in terms of knockback in update 1.0.8, becoming the strongest up throw in the game and one of the strongest throws overall in the game.
• As of update 1.0.8, Charizard's down throw has significantly reduced knockback, making it a much better combo starter. It can no longer reliably KO, but this was compensated for in the same update with Charizard's up throw. The throw can be followed up consistently into a forward aerial on most characters until about 60%, and it can even lead into a KO around 80% when followed up with an up aerial and if the opponent DIs vertically.

Special moves

• Charizard has a new side special, Flare Blitz. It is an extremely powerful but laggy attack with recoil damage. It also gives Charizard both a new horizontal recovery option and another KOing option.
• Rock Smash is now Charizard's down special instead of side special.
• Starting on frame 5, Rock Smash now grants Charizard 22 frames of launch resistance.
• Rock Smash deals less damage (18% → 14% (headbutt), 5% → 3% (fragments)) and knockback.
• Fly covers more vertical distance. The first few hits also connect better and the final hit is much stronger.
• Charizard has a new Final Smash, Mega Charizard X.

Update history

Charizard has been noticeably buffed via game updates. Most notably, update 1.0.8 drastically improved two of Charizard's most useful moves as well as its grab game. Its neutral attack connects more reliably and its neutral aerial is much faster, so much so that it can auto-cancel from a short hop, which greatly increases its utility in spacing. Its up throw now has far more knockback, making it the second strongest up throw in the game and one of the strongest throws overall in the game. However, it is easier to mitigate with DI due to the trajectory. Additionally, its down throw has been re-purposed into becoming Charizard's best combo starter, which can occasionally lead into a KO when followed up with its up aerial. In spite of Charizard's horrendous out of shield game, changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 also help it due to its moves' high hitlag and damage outputs.

1.0.4

• Five frames of intangibility have been added to Charizard's head in certain situations.
• Dragon Rush deals 4% less damage: 15% → 11%.
• Some properties of what appear to be the headbutt in Rock Hurl and Flamethrower have been adjusted.

1.0.6

• Up throw's damage increased: 6% (hit 1), 2% (throw) → 8% (hit 1), 3% (throw).
• Flare Blitz deals 1% more recoil damage: 4% (no collision), 9% (collision) → 5% (no collision), 10% (collision).
• Forward aerial's sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes switched.
• Fly's knockback increased.
• Down tilt's start-up and endlag decreased.

1.0.8

• Neutral attack's hits connect better.
• Forward aerial's hitbox size increased and it lasts longer.
• Up throw's knockback increased, making it both the strongest up throw in the game and a viable KOing option.
• Down throw's knockback decreased, making it Charizard's best combo starter at low percents. Although it is less reliable as a KOing option, this is completely mitigated due to the same update's aforementioned buff of Charizard's up throw.

1.1.0

• Forward tilt's sweetspot deals 1% more damage: 10% → 11%.
• One of forward tilt's three sourspot hitboxes has become a sweetspot, which essentially makes its overall sweetspot larger.
• Down tilt has a windbox that pushes opponents inwards (pre-animation modifier frames 6-9), which allows it to connect better.
• Back aerial's landing lag decreased: 36 → 33.
• Down throw's end frame decreased: 72 → 70.

1.1.1

• Sinking Skull's damage increased: 10% → 12% (ground), 9% → 10% (air).
• Sinking Skull's endlag decreased by 5 frames.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Slashes twice with its claws followed by striking with its right wing. The third hit has high knockback. The inner part of the wing sends opponents vertically, while the tip sends opponents horizontally.
			4%
			5%
Forward tilt			11% (flame), 7% (tail)	Sweeps its tail forward. Sweetspot is at the tip of Charizard's tail, which has a flame effect. Useful for spacing. Can KO at 148% when sweetspotted.
Up tilt			8%	Stabs upward with both of its wings. Charizard's wings are intangible as long as the hitbox is active.
Down tilt			10%	Headbutts forward at the ground in front of it. Good horizontal knockback, though not as much as in Brawl.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 8% (late)	A running side kick. Can be used to catch landing opponents.
Forward smash			17% (clean, late body), 14% (late head)	Sweeps its head forward from bottom to top. Charizard is invincible during the active frames of this attack, even when hitting explosive items. High ending lag. Can KO at 91% when clean.
Up smash			5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	Bats its wings upward, hitting twice. First hit does not link very well into the second, requiring the opponent to be almost touching Charizard to reliably connect. It has the lowest ending lag of all of Charizard's smash attacks. Can KO at 115%.
Down smash			16%	Stomps the ground once with both feet, causing the ground to erupt from either side of it. As its hitboxes are mostly grounded, it can be difficult to hit an aerial opponent with it. It also has high ending lag. Can KO at 132%.
Neutral aerial			10% (flame), 7% (tail)	Spins its entire body in a somersault, hitting with its tail. Sweetspot is at the tip of Charizard's tail, which has a flame effect. Can autocancel in a short hop.
Forward aerial			11% (early, clean arm), 12% (clean tip)	Slashes the air in front of it. Pretty good knockback and relatively quick, and also autocancels in a short hop, but has high landing lag.
Back aerial			10% (body), 13% (tail), 15% (flame)	Charizard swings its tail backwards. Very strong, with similar power to King Dedede's dash attack, but has high landing lag.
Up aerial			13%	An upwards headbutt. Very strong, though it has thin horizontal range. Charizard's head is intangible during the active frames of this attack.
Down aerial			14% (clean), 8% (late)	Charizard stomps downward with one of its feet. A very powerful meteor smash on the first three active frames, with its lingering hitbox sending opponents either vertically or at the Sakurai angle.
Grab			—	Grabs its opponent with its mouth. Good range.
Pummel			2%	Bites the opponent. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw			10%	Spins the opponent once with its mouth, then throws them forward. Fairly high knockback and can KO near the edge at 147%.
Back throw			10%	Throws the opponent backwards with its mouth, sending opponents at the Sakurai angle. Does not have much ending lag, meaning that at low percents, Charizard can pursue a thrown opponent with a dash immediately after, or even a short hop/full hop Flare Blitz in some cases. Like its forward throw, it has fairly high knockback, but due to its launching angle it KOs later than the former near the edge, at 155%.
Up throw			8% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Soars with the foe skyward to the upper blast line, then zooms back down and slams them against the floor. It is based on Seismic Toss, making it similar to Meta Knight's. Can be followed up by Flare Blitz at zero percent. Drastically increased knockback as of the 1.0.8 update, and it is now the strongest up throw in the game (though DI is more effective against it than Mewtwo's), reliably KOing at 134%.
Down throw			1% (flames, continuous), 1% (throw)	Pins the opponent on the floor, and then breathes fire on them. Does poor damage. Prior to the 1.0.8 update, it had high knockback and could KO enemies at high percents near the edge, starting at 125%. It now deals severely reduced knockback as of the 1.0.8 update, which is a buff overall due to it becoming a good combo starter at low percents.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings tail backwards, then headbutts forward.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets up performing a half-circle claw swipe.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Similar to the back floor attack.
Edge attack Edge getups			8%	Gets up and headbutts.
Neutral special	Default	Flamethrower	2% (clean), 1% (late)	Expels a stream of flames from its mouth that gradually weakens if the attack is held, similarly to Bowser's Fire Breath. Unlike Fire Breath, Flamethrower's far-ranged hitboxes will still make the opponent flinch.
	Custom 1	Fire Fang	2% (flames), 8% (finish)	A short-range, fire-breathing attack that hits quickly. Releasing the button finishes the move with a small explosion.
	Custom 2	Fireball Cannon	3% (clean), 2% (late)	Expels fireballs that travel far and will not weaken over time, though they deal less damage than Flamethrower. In addition to having more start-up, Charizard must fire three fireballs before the move can end.
Side special	Default	Flare Blitz	4% (collision), 15% (explosion)	Does an intense and fiery corkscrew tackle that causes recoil damage at the beginning of the move and again on contact. Has heavy armor (14%).
	Custom 1	Blast Burn	4% (collision), 5% (explosion loop), 9% (explosion last)	A slower, short-ranged version of Flare Blitz that deals more damage to both Charizard and its opponent. Has heavy armor (14%).
	Custom 2	Dragon Rush	1.2% (per hit)	Does multiple hits with less power overall, but Charizard takes no recoil damage and will not stop moving if it hits an opponent, improving its recovery. Generally considered the most versatile of Charizard's side special variants, as it cannot be interrupted unlike Flare Blitz or Blast Burn, and is a good KO move near the edge when used against opponents that recover high.
Up special	Default	Fly	5% (hit 1), 2% (loop hits), 4% (last hit)	Flies upward in a corkscrew motion. The final hit has great knockback and can KO opponents at mid-high percents near the top blast line. Grants super armor at the start of the move.
	Custom 1	Rising Cyclone	4% (hit 1), 2% (loop hits), 6% (last hit)	Recovery distance is reduced, but Charizard can suck in opponents and launch them. The final hit is also noticeably stronger. Like the default version, it grants super armor at the start of the move.
	Custom 2	Fly High	0%	Deals no damage, but covers more vertical distance. Like the default version, it grants super armor at the start of the move.
Down special	Default	Rock Smash	14% (headbutt), 3% (fragments)	Pulls out a boulder and headbutts it, breaking it into pieces. Grants Charizard super armor before breaking the boulder (on frames 5-22).
	Custom 1	Sinking Skull	10% (ground), 12%/9% (air)	Omitting the rock, Charizard headbutts the opponent. If landed, it causes them to get buried. It meteor smashes opponents below Charizard if it hits them with his head.
	Custom 2	Rock Hurl	8% (headbutt), 2% (fragments)	The boulder fragments fly farther, but deal less damage. Like the default version, it grants super armor.
Final Smash		Mega Charizard X	2% (charge loop), 10% (charge last hit), 5% (blast collision), 1% (blast loop), 5% (blast last hit)	Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X from Pokémon X and Y. Mega Charizard X consistently hovers around the stage, similarly to Super Dragon. As Mega Charizard X, it has two attacks: Fire Blast, a powerful projectile, and Dragon Rush, a powerful drilling charge. Unlike the Dragon Rush custom move, Mega Charizard X's Dragon Rush can move in any given direction.

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Stomps and roars to the sky while flapping its wings.
• Side Taunt: Faces the camera and stomps and growls while flapping its wings once.
• Down Taunt: Stomps violently while facing the camera.

On-Screen Appearance

Charizard is released from a Poké Ball, then stomps.

Victory Fanfare

A small excerpt of the music that would play on the title screen of Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions, a track which would go on to become the Pokémon Main Theme, which also appears as a standalone track in Brawl. It is shared with Pikachu, Lucario, Jigglypuff, Greninja and Mewtwo.

Victory Poses

• CharizardPose1WiiU.png
• CharizardPose2WiiU.png
• CharizardPose3WiiU.png

• Roars and does a pose.
• Stomps forward, then roars upwards with flames coming out of its mouth and then poses.
• Uses Flare Blitz into the ground and then poses.

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Charizard	1311	1313	1331	1333	1113
	1211	1213	3311	2311	1321

Notable players

•  Bloodcross
•  Trela

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Brawl: Charizard is one of the opponents fought in this event. All characters debut from Brawl and reappeared in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Fire-Type Frenzy: Charizard must defeat Greninja, Lucario, and Pikachu all appearing after another.
• Pokémon Battle: Greninja must defeat a team of Pikachu, Charizard, and Lucario in a 1 stock battle.
• The Falchion's Seal: Robin must defeat a giant Charizard using his Final Smash, Pair Up. Defeating it any other way causes it to respawn.

Co-Op Events

• Poisonous Planet: Olimar and Samus (under the flowering effect) must defeat a team of 2 Charizards in a 200HP battle before their health is depleted.
• Pokémon Multi Battle!: Pikachu and Charizard must defeat a team of Lucario and Greninja, then a team of Pikachu and Charizard each appearing after one opponent is defeated.
• Robots vs. Dragons: Mega Man and R.O.B. must defeat a team of giant Yoshi, giant Charizard and Ridley in a stamina battle.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select characters and must defeat the entire roster.

Reveal Trailer

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Trophies

Charizard

The iconic Fire/Flying-type Pokémon. Charizard's scorching breath can melt anything in its path. It soars through the air, seeking only worthy foes to test itself against. In Smash Bros., Charizard unleashes the destructive Flare Blitz special move— a move so strong, it even injures the user!

Charizard, a Fire- and Flying-type Pokémon, can burn through anything with the flames it breathes. It is constantly on the lookout for powerful opponents. And where better to find them than in this game? Its huge build and special moves mean it can inflict massive damage, and its Flare Blitz is so powerful, it even hurts Charizard itself!

: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Charizard (Alt.)

Charizard's Flamethrower attack can be sustained by holding the button. The flames will gradually die, but a short break will recharge them. Charizard's down special Rock Smash crushes a rock and hits foes with the pieces. Charizard won't flinch while crushing, but others can break the rock...

When using Charizard's Flamethrower move, hold the button to keep breathing fire. The flames gradually die down, but you just need to rest for a bit before doing it again. If you get hit while you're using the down special Rock Smash, you won't flinch, but someone else can break the rock instead, making your attack fail.

: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Mega Evolution (Charizard)

In this powerful Final Smash, Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X and takes to the air. In this form, it can charge violently in any direction or shoot horizontal blasts of fire that launch foes. Mega Charizard X isn't invulnerable, though-in fact, taking damage will actually reduce the time you can stay transformed.

For this powerful Final Smash, Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X and takes to the air. In this form, it can charge violently in any direction and shoot horizontal blasts of fire that launch foes. Mega Charizard X isn't invulnerable, though - taking attacks will reduce the length of time it stays transformed.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• CharizardAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Mega Charizard X

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Charizard's splash art.

• 

  Charizard's amiibo.

• 

  Charizard and Pikachu atop a cliff, overlooking various Pokémon.

• 

  Charizard's new aerial attack, slashing Mario in the air.

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  Charizard using Flare Blitz.

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  Landing lag of back air.

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  Defending against Mario's F.L.U.D.D..

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  Footstool jumping on Yoshi.

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  Sidestepping against Little Mac's attack.

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  Being attacked by Greninja.

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  Striking a pose.

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  Under the sleep effects of Bellossom's attack with Lucario.

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  Glaring at Kirby after copying Charizard's Flamethrower.

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  In front of the Prism Tower in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  With Pikachu.

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  Mega Charizard X.

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  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

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  Charizard using Flare Blitz, along with knockback recoil.

Trivia

• Charizard is the first veteran in SSB to receive splash art and a unique pose (that is, different from the pose in its official artwork) in its introduction, the others being Mewtwo, Lucas, and Roy. It is also the first veteran to be introduced as a challenger in a trailer.
  • It is the only non DLC fighter to do so.
• Charizard is the only Pokémon character to receive new voice clips while retaining its voice actor.
• Charizard knows six official Pokémon attacks in SSB4, which is impossible in the main series Pokémon games, where the maximum is four.
  • Apart from Flamethrower, Rock Smash, Flare Blitz and Fly, which are its standard special moves, it can also use Dragon Rush and Fire Blast in its Final Smash.
• In the PAL version of the 3DS version, one of the tips about Rock Smash refers to Charizard using masculine pronouns: "Right before smashing a rock, Charizard gets super armor, meaning he won't even flinch if he's attacked!"