Atsuko Nishida

About

Atsuko Nishida joined Game Freak's graphics team for the 1994 title Pulseman alongside Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori — and ended up designing four of the most recognisable characters in pop culture: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu. Her original Pikachu was based on the round shape of daifuku, a Japanese rice-cake sweet; she later redesigned it after a squirrel obsession, and that is where the electricity-storing cheek pouches came in. She is the only person credited as a Pokémon designer in every single generation of the franchise, and is famously private — she sat through her 2018 Pokémon Company interview hidden behind a giant Pikachu plush.