Charmander, Charmeleon and Charizard

#004 Charmander

 Charmander: The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, its tail burns intensely.

Type: Fire

Stats:
HP         Attack     Defense
39            52            43

Speed     SpcAtk   SpcDef
65            60            50

Growth Rate: Medium Slow

Hatch Steps: 5,000

Evolution: Level 16

Weaknesses: Water; Ground; Rock

Strengths: Fire; Grass; Ice; Bug; Steel

Charmander is in my experience the favorite starter of the 3. He's not necessarily my favorite, but he is a good choice. He learns ember by level 9, which is very useful in battle and a very powerful move to have at the beginning of any game. It has always felt to me like Charmander levels up a little slower and is harder to raise. His move set is really good though, and with move like metal claw or iron tail he can take down rock pokémon, but he's pretty exposed to water and ground type weaknesses, especially with such low defense and special defense. His attack is high enough to keep him going, but if he misses and gets hit he'll go down pretty quickly. 

#005 Charmeleon

Charmeleon: In the rocky mountains where Charmeleon live, their fiery tails shine at night like stars.

Type: Fire

Stats: 

HP        Attack     Defense

58            64            58

Speed   Spec Atk  Spec Def

80             80            65

Growth Rate: Medium Slow

Hatch Steps: 5,000

Evolution: Level 36

Weaknesses: Water; Ground; Rock

Strengths: Fire; Grass; Ice; Bug; Steel

Looking at it stats, Charmeleon definitely takes the cake with speed and  Special Attack, but his defense and HP are a little lacking. He'll last longer than Charmander of course, but still, one would want to avoid too much damage in a battle with this guy. Unlike Ivysaur, Charmeleon learns an awesome moveset with moves like Dragon Rage (lvl 17), Fire Fang (lvl 28) and Flame Burst (lvl 32) and those can help to make up a little for his lack of HP and Defense.

#006 Charizard

Charizard: It is said that Charizard's fire burns hotter if it has experienced harsh battles.

Type: Fire/Flying

Stats:

HP        Attack     Defense

78            84           78

Speed  Spec Atk  Spec Def
100         109          85

Growth Rate: Medium Slow

Hatch Steps: 5,000

Evolution: Final Stage

Weaknesses: Water; Electric; Rock

Strengths: Fire; Fighting; Grass; Bug; Steel; Ice
(Ground Type-No Effect)

Charizard, the fire breathing bad a** of the first generation. As you can see, Special Defense jumps up a bit from Charmeleon's, helping Charizard pretty significantly in battle. Charizard's high speed and even higher special attack help to make up for his lower HP and Defense, and he's a great pokémon. I think he's a little over-rated in the fan community, but I do love Charizard and would agree that he's a boss. He looks cool and has a cool pose and great moves. This is a great offensive battling pokémon, and can deal a good amount of damage. His speed is hard to match, but its never a good idea to pit this guy up against a weakness. 

In Summary, this trio of fire breathers are great with their attack and speed, but they have a huge weakness with HP and defense. Charmander can take a little more time to evolve, Charmeleon has a great moveset, and Charizard is hard to beat, but keep him well away from water, rock and ground.