Who designed Pikachu’s original character concept for the Pokémon games?

Atsuko Nishida designed Pikachu’s original character concept for the Pokémon games. She created the initial design while working at Game Freak during development of Pokémon Red and Blue.

Nishida was asked to develop a cute Electric-type Pokémon. Her early work drew inspiration from a daifuku, a Japanese sweet, and later from squirrels. The squirrel influence helped shape Pikachu’s cheek sacs and body design, while Satoshi Tajiri later specified that the creature should be understood as a mouse Pokémon.

Ken Sugimori finalized Pikachu’s artwork and gave it a consistent finished appearance alongside the rest of the original Pokémon. This division of work is why both Nishida and Sugimori are associated with Pikachu’s creation, but Nishida is credited with the original character design.

Pikachu’s role expanded after the games were released. The anime selected it as Ash’s partner because it was cute, expressive, and appealing to children of different genders. Pikachu eventually became the franchise mascot, even though it was not one of the three starter choices in the original games.