I think it's cute XD

..as for the question...

Lucario's a 'gateway character' so to speak. Most of us here had SOME character/s that made us go "whoa..." when we were small.

Some common ones I recall:

• Disney's Robin Hood
• The Lion King
• Lola Bunny
• Balto
• Pokemon/Digimon
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Krystal

In a few years, we'll have kids coming in from Zootopia, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train your Dragon, My Little Pony...

It's all part of the Circle of liiiiiife!

For me, it was the Lion King. there were plenty of other shows in that era that helped feed me: Duck tales, TMNT, Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, Thunder cats and the whole slew of other 80's/90's nostalgia.... but most furries have ~some~ character they locked onto like that.