Despite Pikachu’s official classification in the Pokedex, the original design for the popular Pokemon wasn’t a mouse.
Atsuko Nishida, a character designer and graphic artist who worked at Game Freak, revealed she based the creature’s design for Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green on a squirrel. “At that time, I was really into squirrels, so I wanted the character to have puffy cheeks,” Nishida told Yomiuri (translation via Kotaku).
“Squirrel tails are cute (so I wanted it to have a tail). However, I wanted the character to have a lightning element, so I made it shaped like lightning,” she added.