Ash's Charizard/Personality and characteristics

The emotional turmoil of being abandoned by Damian defined Ash's Charizard when it was a Charmander. Despite the scorn it received from Damian, it remained loyal to him, convinced that it had a good relationship where in fact none existed. Even when made to sit through a rain storm in hunger and fatigue and Ash and Brock showing true kindness towards it, its loyalty never wavered and Charmander almost lost its life doing so. Only a violent confrontation revealed to it the unhealthy nature of and its relationship with Damian. Charmander struggled with this abandonment, as seen in Island of the Giant Pokémon, it became discouraged when suggested that Ash had abandoned them all.

Despite being one of Ash's most often used Pokémon, Charmander's evolution saw Charmeleon grow distant from Ash, scorning all of its former friends and seeking power alone. Charmeleon had grown to become like Damian, obsessed with power and reputation while ignoring the value of friendship, loyalty and kindness. Charmeleon's battle with was purely based on a bruised ego, just as Charizard's later battles with, Zippo and the clone Charizard were. Despite this, however, it did, to an extremely small extent, retain some respect and loyalty to its master, made especially apparent when Ash was petrified trying to stop Mew and Mewtwo's battle, where it was seen weeping for Ash before its tears restored him.

Once Ash made the selfless act to save Charizard from freezing, Charizard finally shook off the poisonous personality traits left by Damian and regained full loyalty to Ash. Its ability to work as part of a team was still hampered but when working together with to defeat Luana, it finally managed to overcome that difficulty. Since this point, Charizard has been willing to assist Ash in any battle, ranging from Casey's Chikorita to Falkner's Pidgeot with no complaint. However, Charizard maintained the rebellious Flamethrower attacks as a sign of affection for its master and while Charizard was loyal, its love of power and reputation remained. This was shown significantly in its departing episode, where it brashly challenged each of the wild Charizard at Charicific Valley even though it was defeated every time.

During its training on the Charicific Valley, Charizard has been shown to have significantly matured while retaining its fiery nature and fierce battling spirit. This was shown in A Pokémon of a Different Color, where it attempted to act as a peacemaker between Clair's and Iris's Dragonite, despite failing.