Editing Lucas

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'''Lucas''' ({{ja|リュカ|Ryuka}}, ''Lucas'') is a character in the {{uv|EarthBound}} universe. He is the protagonist of the Japan-only ''[[Mother 3]]'' for the Game Boy Advance.

Lucas' existence had been documented long before ''Mother 3'' was actually finished and given a proper release. A design for the character was first revealed in January 1997 through magazines<ref>Weekly Famitsu 1/31/1997 page 108</ref> and a Satellaview broadcast, and a redesign that looks more like his final design was revealed the following June through magazines<ref>Weekly Famitsu 6/27/1997 page 103</ref> and E3. The design he ended up having was unveiled with the game's release in April 2006.

The son of {{s|wikibound|Flint}} and {{s|wikibound|Hinawa}}, Lucas is characterized as more timid than his twin brother, {{s|wikibound|Claus}}. Despite being young, however, he was forced to face a broken family following the death of Hinawa and the disappearance of Claus. While playable briefly during the {{s|wikibound|prologue}} of ''Mother 3'', he is an NPC for the first three chapters of the game, with Flint, {{s|wikibound|Duster}}, and {{s|wikibound|Salsa}} being the main characters of those chapters. After reappearing in the climax of {{s|wikibound|Chapter 3}} against the {{s|wikibound|Pork Tank}}, he becomes the main playable character after the three-year time skip to {{s|wikibound|Chapter 4}}, and retains this role for the remainder of the game.

While he initially leaves his hometown of {{s|wikibound|Tazmily Village}} to locate Duster, he quickly becomes involved in a greater struggle against the {{s|wikibound|Pigmask Army}}. He learns {{s|wikibound|PSI}}, and his ability to use {{s|wikibound|PK Love}} sets him into a chase against the {{s|wikibound|Masked Man}} to pull the {{s|wikibound|Seven Needles}} to awaken the {{s|wikibound|Dark Dragon}} living under the {{s|wikibound|Nowhere Islands}}. Lucas' main party of allies includes [[Kumatora]], Duster, and his beloved pet dog [[Boney]].

In battle, Lucas fills the same archetype as his predecessor [[Ness]] did in ''EarthBound'', being somewhat slow, but having a strong basic attack and access to a variety of PSI techniques such as stat boosts, {{s|wikibound|Lifeup}}, [[PK Flash]], and the aforementioned PK Love. Whereas the previous ''Mother'' protagonists wielded {{s|wikibound|baseball bat}}s, Lucas generally wields {{s|wikibound|stick}}s.

 

Lucas' appearances in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series have helped considerably boost his public image but not to the same extent as Ness, though this can be attributed to Lucas appearing only since ''Brawl''. Despite this fact, Lucas became more or less of a mainstream character in gaming culture rather than remaining a curious cult character who would be known only to the highly devoted Nintendo fandom.

[[Masahiro Sakurai]] planned to replace {{SSBM|Ness}} with Lucas in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''. This did not happen since ''Mother 3'' for the Nintendo 64 was cancelled, and Ness was retained in ''Melee'' instead.

 

{{cquote|Actually, at first, I planned to change him [Ness] into the protagonist of Mother 3 [Lucas], but for various reasons during the delay, I settled back on the original idea. ({{ja|実は当初、MOTHER3の主人公に変更する予定でしたが、いろいろあって遠回りしながら、元のさやに収まりました。}})|cite=Masahiro Sakurai|source=[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/0717/ Smabura-Ken Ness page (Japanese)]}}

 

Both Ness and Lucas would ultimately appear as playable characters in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''.

[[File:Lucas SSBB.jpg|200px|thumb|Lucas, as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''.]]

Lucas makes his [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]] debut, and by extension his international debut, in ''Brawl''. His [[special move]]s are similar to {{SSBB|Ness}}, but with some key differences. For example, Lucas' [[PK Thunder]] goes through opponents and can deal multiple hits, whereas Ness' version disappears on contact. Lucas' [[Final Smash]] is [[PK Starstorm]], which he shares with Ness. Lucas also has near-identical physics to Ness. However, the majority of Lucas' moves completely differ from Ness, thus rendering him as a pseudo-[[clone]] of his fellow ''EarthBound'' series fighter.

Lucas is ranked 30th out of 38 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the E tier. His lower mid-tier placing is primarily due to the additional 10 frames he gets when grab released (a trait he shares with Ness), which makes him vulnerable to [[grab release]] follow-ups from every character, including [[zero-death]] [[chain grab]]s from {{SSBB|Marth}} and {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}.

|image=Lucas - Brawl Trophy.png

|desc-ntsc=The younger of twin brothers living in Tazumili Village in the Nowhere Islands. He's a kind boy who can communicate with animals, but he's shy and never really got over the tragedy that struck his mother. He fights a warped dictatorship, hunts the Seven Needles, and crosses swords with his missing brother, Claus. In the end, the young boy with psychic PSI powers grows up.

|desc-pal=The younger of twin brothers living in Tazmily Village in the Nowhere Islands. He's a kind boy who can communicate with animals, but he's shy and never really got over the tragedy that struck his mother. He fights a warped dictatorship, hunts the Seven Needles, and crosses swords with his missing brother, Claus. In the end, the young boy with psychic PSI powers grows up.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1=Mother 3|release1=Japan Only}}

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! Fighter(s)

| {{StickerHead|Ness|Lucas}}

[[File:Lucas SSB4.png|thumb|200px|Lucas, as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. 4''.]]

Although Lucas was not present in the final roster upon ''Super Smash Bros. 4'''s initial worldwide release, he was later released as a [[DLC]] character on June 14th, 2015. Prior to this, his non-fighter trophy appeared in both versions of the game, while his special moves became available as [[character customization|custom variations]] for {{SSB4|Ness}}' respective specials.<ref>http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=129810755&postcount=3317</ref>

Lucas is ranked 28th out of 55 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the C tier. In addition to tying him with {{SSB4|Ness}}, this placing renders him as a high-tier character. Like Ness, Lucas no longer possesses the 10 extra grab release frames, a main contributor to his lower mid-tier position in ''Brawl''.

[[Rope Snake]] has become significantly more useful in two ways: the changes to hitstun canceling grant his modified down throw excellent combo potential, while his [[tether recovery]] is more reliable thanks to ''SSB4'''s new edge mechanics preventing [[edge-hogging]]. On a related note, update [[1.1.3]] presented a significant upgrade to Lucas' grab game, as now his tether grab has noticeably less ending lag, making it reasonably fast for a grab of its nature.

{{main|List of SSB4 trophies (EarthBound series)}}

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|name=Lucas

|image-3ds=LucasDLCTrophy3DS.png

|desc-ntsc=The younger of the twin brothers from Nowhere makes his triumphant return to the game of Smash. Hailing from the Japan-only game Mother 3, Lucas's specialty is psychic projectile attacks. He can use these PSI attacks to do things like absorb enemy projectiles and deal supernatural damage!

|desc-pal=Lucas, the younger of twin brothers from Tazmily, comes originally from the Japan-only game, Mother 3, and now makes his triumphant return to Super Smash Bros.! Here he makes great use of his PSI powers with lots of projectile attacks, and can use his faster attacks on anybody who gets too close.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1={{iw|wikibound|Mother 3}}|release1=2006 (JP)}}

}}

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|name=Lucas (Alt.)

|image-3ds=LucasAltTrophy3DS.png

|image-wiiu=LucasAltTrophyWiiU.png

|desc-ntsc=Lucas's up special PK Thunder can hit enemies multiple times, but if you hit yourself with it, you can then tackle and launch opponents! Lucas's up smash has the strongest launch power of any fighter's up smash. The range for this attack is wide, and it's strongest right after Lucas unleashes the attack.

|desc-3ds-pal=Lucas's up special, PK Thunder, can either hit enemies multiple times, or hit Lucas himself to push him into a powerful charge attack. Meanwhile, his up smash attack is the most powerful launching move in the entire game, so make good use of it! It's a wide-range attack that has the most effect right after Lucas unleashes it.

|desc-wiiu-pal=Lucas's up special, PK Thunder, can either hit enemies multiple times, or hit Lucas himself to push him into a powerful charge attack. Meanwhile, his up smash attack is the most powerful launching move in the entire game, so make good use of it! It's a wide-range attack that is most effective right after Lucas unleashes it.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1=Mother 3|release1=2006 (JP)}}

 

|image-3ds=LucasTrophy3DS.png

|image-wiiu=LucasTrophyWiiU.png

|desc-ntsc=Before adventuring, Lucas was a timid, cautious boy. His journey has made him a stronger person. Maybe he met someone to spend his life with... Hang on—we're moving way too fast! For now, remember that Lucas and Ness are favorites in the hearts of EarthBound fans.

|desc-pal=Once upon a time, Lucas was a bit of a cry-baby. You might even say he was a wimp. But then, well...he had more than his fair share of rough times and toughened up a bit. Who knows what he's up to now? Whatever he's doing, his story – much like Ness's – lives on in the hearts of all Mother series fans.

|gamelist-pal={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1=Mother 3|release1=2006 (JP)}}

[[File:Lucas SSBU.png|thumb|200px|Lucas, as he appears in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.]]

Lucas returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' as fighter #37. Unlike his previous appearances, he is now an unlockable character.

In his transition from ''SSB4'', Lucas has received a mix of buffs and nerfs. His combo game was toned down due to his down throw having more end lag and footstools being [[tech]]able. He has received buffs, however, such as [[PK Freeze]] launching opponents horizontally making it a lethal edge-guarding technique, furthermore ''Ultimate''{{'}}s engine indirectly buffed him as the return of directional [[air dodge]]s allow Lucas to have a reliable mixup in place of [[PK Thunder]].

Initially, Lucas's results and representation were scarce, especially compared to his fellow {{Uv|EarthBound}} fighter {{SSBU|Ness}}. However, his playerbase has slowly expanded as the metagame has progressed, with the likes of {{Sm|Mekos}}, {{Sm|ChocoTaco}}, {{Sm|Remi}}, {{Sm|WhYYZ}}, {{Sm|Nitox}} and {{Sm|Regalo}} achieving respectable results at regional and even national tournaments.

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SSBU spirit Lucas.png|564. '''''Lucas'''''

*None of Lucas' special moves are used by him in ''Mother 3''. Rather, they are all learned by Kumatora instead. This is similar to Ness, who uses [[PK Fire|three]] [[PK Thunder|special]] [[PSI Magnet|moves]] that he could not learn in ''EarthBound'', but were instead learned by [[Paula]] and [[Poo]]. However, Lucas's up smash closely resembles the animation used in ''Mother 3'' for him pulling the Seven Needles, a skill associated with PK Love, his signature move.

*Lucas is the only character to have been a [[starter character|starter]] (''Brawl''), [[DLC]] (''SSB4''), and an [[unlockable]] character (''Ultimate'').

**He, [[Pokémon Trainer]] and the [[Ice Climbers]] are also the only starter characters to have been cut, and additionally, he is the only character to have been cut from a roster without skipping an installment.

*In Japanese, Lucas' name is read "Ryuka", which is derived from the French pronunciation of the name, [lyka] ("Lu-ka"). However, the Japanese versions of each game consistently use the English pronunciation /ˈluːkəs/ ("Lu-kis"). This is unlike similar characters such as [[Lucina]] and [[Richter]], whose names use differing pronunciations in Japanese.

*Although ''Mother 3'' never released outside of Japan, Lucas is ironically voiced by Lani Minella, an American actress.

*Lucas, [[Ness]], [[Min Min]] and [[Kazuya]] are the only characters to have a [[Reflection|reflector]] outside of [[special move]]s. Coincidentally, all (except Kazuya's) are a [[smash attack]].

*In all of his playable appearances, Lucas is the only character so far with a move (Up smash) that grants both [[intangibility]] and [[invincibility]] frames.

*Lucas was the most recently debuted playable character at the time of ''Brawl''{{'}}s release, with a debut of April 2006.

*[http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/characters/lucas.html Lucas' Smash Bros. DOJO!! (US) page]