Pichu (SSBM): Difference between revisions

'''Pichu''' ({{ja|ピチュー|Pichū}}, ''Pichu'') is a [[Pokémon]] character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. Pichu is the "baby" pre-evolution of {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, and in ''Melee'', Pichu has a nearly identical moveset, making it a [[clone]].

Pichu is currently ranked 22nd in the D tier. Pichu has solid overall movement, complemented with some very quick attacks and an excellent neutral air, along with good [[chaingrab]]bing ability. However, all of Pichu's strengths are severely outweighed by its weaknesses. It has abysmal range and very poor endurance due to its light weight, and is unusually prone to chaingrabs itself despite its small size, due to the high amount of hitstun it sustains as a result of being the game's lightest character. It also takes [[recoil damage]] from its electric-based moves, including its own recovery move [[Agility]], further hampering its defensive game. As a result, Pichu suffers from abysmal matchups- with nearly the entire cast taking advantage of its fragility and poor range. Historically, Pichu was considered to have the worst matchup spread in the game, with no universally agreed upon winning matchups. However, its perception has mildly improved over time due to developments in the metagame- partially because its unexpectedly fast frame data was undervalued. Regardless, Pichu's survivability remains absolutely atrocious, drastically hampering the effectiveness of any metagame developments.

Pichu has a rather high technical learning curve compared to many other low tier characters, frequently requiring particularly fast reaction time and taking advantage of small fringe benefits it has- such as being tied with [[Fox]] for having the best [[ledgedash]] GALINT ('''g'''rounded '''a'''ctionable '''l'''edge '''int'''angibility) in the game.

Although no longer considered a contender for the worst character competitively, Pichu was intended to be a sub-par character in general, with its trophy descriptions mentioning Pichu as "''top of the class in weakness''" and "''best suited for handicapped matches.''" This was confirmed in a development news update, shortly after the game's release.<ref>''[http://sourcegaming.info/2015/09/24/meleepichusite/ News Flash! Smash Bros. Dojo: Pichu]'' (translated 2015-09-24; [https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/1211/index.html original] posted 2001-12-11)</ref>

Pichu, as a character, falls under the archetype of being nimble, yet relatively fragile. Due to its high traction and average falling speed, Pichu has a rather short wavedash; additionally, its quick and low-lag aerials also give Pichu a good SHFFL. As such, Pichu can easily maneuver around stages, with very low landing lag, a small frame and a rather fast dash, as well as decent jumping power, making it surprisingly difficult to hit in the hands of a capable player. However, its poor endurance due to its very light weight ensures that opponents will not have to find too many openings against it to secure KOs.

Pichu's smash attacks are all short range, but overall possess good knockback and damage relative to its frame data. Pichu's up smash and forward smash are able to KO characters reliably at as little as 70 to 80 percent, while its down smash semi-spikes opponents and has invincibility frames. Pichu also has decent throws; its forward and back throws can knock opponents off stage or set up combos, while its up and down throws can chain throw fastfallers and tech chase characters respectively.

Pichu's best tool is its neutral aerial, becoming active in just three frames and has minimal landing lag, especially when L-canceled. This move serves as a viable [[approach]] option, can rack up respectable damage with long strings of just itself, and can create a pseudo-[[wall of pain]] if the player can complete a string of hits off-stage. Pichu's up aerial complements neutral aerial's utility, allowing it to juggle enemies into the air. Most of its other aerials are situational in use, but these two moves alone give Pichu quite a force in the air.

Pichu also boasts an excellent recovery. Its up special, [[Agility]], can travel in many different directions and cover very large distances; while Pikachu's [[Quick Attack]] is superior in speed and distance, Agility is still a solid recovery tool in its own right. Pichu's [[Skull Bash]] also further aids its horizontal recovery, with surprising power and distance when charged; at full power, it deals a massive 39% damage and guarantees KOs at very low percentages. With Agility being able to seamlessly mix up edgeguarders, and Skull Bash's potential strength serving as a direct deterrent to attempted edgeguards, Pichu has one of the best recoveries in the game.

A key weakness of Pichu is its poor range. All of its best and most powerful attacks are very close to its body, and it lacks a full set of tools to consistently approach enemies to make use of these moves, making it very difficult for Pichu to KO or even find any openings against its opponents (especially against characters with disjointed hitboxes). Its neutral aerial and [[Thunder Jolt]] projectile are among its only reliable options, making Pichu's overall [[neutral game]] play very predictable; the latter also inflicts [[recoil damage]] to it, making it unreliable long-term. Pichu's grab game is also heavily hampered by its short range, at the third shortest in the game, making it difficult for players to consistently take advantage of Pichu's decent throws. Many of Pichu's poorest matchups stem from it struggling to deal with some individual moves of characters (such as {{SSBM|Fox}}'s neutral air or a large portion of {{SSBM|Marth}}'s moveset) because it lacks tools that have enough range to counter the attacks.

Pichu's defensive game is also notoriously poor. Although it has a rather large shield for its size, it is saddled with short tech rolls and a slow, short ledge roll, making it very easy for enemies to extend punishes on Pichu with little that the Pichu player can do to escape. Furthermore, despite being a lightweight, Pichu is also quite vulnerable to combos (some of which are either infinite or [[zero-death]], such as {{SSBM|Ganondorf}}'s chain throw) due to its abnormally high hitstun and average falling speed. These traits exacerbate Pichu's range issues; its problems in the neutral game are very reminiscent of Pikachu's, but Pichu is punished harder for losing exchanges by several orders of magnitude, making the risk-reward of its approaching heavily skewed against it in the vast majority of situations.

Finally, Pichu suffers from the infamous recoil damage it receives while using almost any move involving electrical hitboxes. Several of Pichu's moves, especially those that involve electricity, add at least one percent of damage to the user. For example, using both segments of Agility to recover adds four percent to Pichu each time it is used. While most of Pichu's best moves do not use electricity, making this less of a problem at higher levels of play, the threat of recoil damage reduces the utility of its electric-based attacks, and there is no way for Pichu to avoid recoil when recovering. If players are not careful with balancing Pichu's electrical and non-electrical attacks, the recoil damage can add up quickly, which can be especially crippling to Pichu. With the lowest weight in the game (being lighter than ''Jigglypuff'') and average falling speed, Pichu's survivability is already among the worst in the game, even without recoil damage. Additionally, the extra damage taken also reduces how long it can utilize [[crouch cancel]]ling.

Overall, Pichu is a very poor character at all levels of play, with its advantages being thoroughly outweighed by its numerous deficiencies. While Pichu could potentially pose a threat to the opponent with its decent frame data, evasion, and chain grabs, its horrific survivability heavily counters any benefits over higher tiered characters. The vast majority of the ''Melee'' cast can outrange and out-punish Pichu in many instances. This is amplified by Pichu's need to sometimes win vastly more neutral interactions than the opponent to be victorious, owed to Pichu being easily comboed and knocked out at low percentiles. As such, Pichu is almost never seen at any level of play.

{{incomplete|Missing a lot of differences in overview. A few references to Pikachu from the Attributes section need to be migrated here.}}

Pichu performs significantly worse than Pikachu, being largely outclassed in most areas by its counterpart. A key change is the added [[recoil damage]] on several of its moves, making such moves less rewarding to land and mildly punishing the user for choosing the option, regardless of whether or not it connects. Pichu is also smaller than Pichu, while also having a shield that protects its body more consistently than Pikachu's. Both traits culminate into a character that is significantly harder to hit than its evolved form- although its lighter weight counteracts these benefits.

Asides from some of Pichu's recovery options dealing recoil damage, the movement of Agility is slower and has no attack hitboxes unlike Pikachu's version. Pichu however has the ability to wall jump. With wall jumping being a rather situational option, this makes Pikachu's recovery superior.

As a result of its major flaws, it is arguably the worst clone in the game, and overall one of the worst clones in the series.

|ftiltname=Pichu Kick ({{ja|りょうあしげり|Ryo Ashi Geri}}, ''Double Foot Kick'')

|ftiltdesc=Plants itself on its upper paws and kicks both its feet forward. Low range and knockback, though a fast move. This attack can be angled up and down.

|dtiltname=Tail Sweep ({{ja|あしばらい|Ashibarai}}, ''Foot Sweep'')

|fsmashname=Thundershock ({{ja|ショートでんげき|Shōto Dengeki}}, ''Electrical Short'')  

|dsmashname=Spinning Mouse ({{ja|こうそくかいてん|Kōsoku Kaiten}}, ''Rapid Spinning'')

|fairname=Electric Drill ({{ja|でんげきドリル|Dengeki Doriru}})

|uairname=Tail Chop ({{ja|しっぽはたき|Shippo Hitaki}})

|dairname=Electric Screw ({{ja|でんげきスクリュー|Dengeki Sukuryū}})

|bthrowdesc=Does backwards somersaults with the opponent, then flings them behind itself.

|desc-1=Jumps while looking side to side.

Pichu was developed as an intentional joke character, and has historically been seen as such by the competitive ''Melee'' community. From the start, many noted that it was completely outclassed by {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, who was already considered a below-average character at the time. With its poor [[approach]] coupled with many attacks that damaged itself, including its own [[recovery]], as well as its terrible overall [[reach]], extremely light [[weight]], and difficulty in putting [[pressure]] on the opponent, many professionals doubted that Pichu could ever develop a deep metagame or gain any notable professional players. Because of this, Pichu has been almost never seen outside of sandbagging or low-tier exhibitions. Pichu's initial placements on each [[tier list]] reflected its stance, typically shifting between 25th and 26th for over a decade of ''Melee''{{'}}s lifespan, competing with characters such as {{SSBM|Bowser}}, {{SSBM|Kirby}}, and {{SSBM|Mewtwo}} for the lowest placement on the tier list, before placing 24th on the twelfth tier list in 2015.

While still considered to be an awful character and is nearly unused outside of [[sandbagging]], players began to recognize Pichu's strengths, namely its agility and decent set of normals. Several professionals, such as {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|Armada}}, believe that while Pichu is still unviable, they believe that other characters, like {{SSBM|Kirby}}, {{SSBM|Zelda}}, and {{SSBM|Bowser}}, are even worse than it, [http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2014/may/02/kirby-and-zelda-are-two-worst-characters-melee-pichu-highly-underrated-mew2king-discusses-his-super-smash-bros-tier-list-pt-1/ ranking it 19th] and [https://youtu.be/17n7Tcjrifg?t=264 22nd], respectively. Pikachu's rise in the competitive scene also helped Pichu's ascent out of the bottom tier, with players noting that Pichu shared a few of the tools that ultimately made Pikachu a viable pick. Despite Pichu's barren results, most players believed that the former was attributed to a different metagame and the latter has other bottom-tier characters that have also failed to achieve significant results.  

With its strengths being recognized better, it is currently ranked 22nd on the current tier list. While universally not considered a contender for the worst character in the game, Pichu is still widely considered to be a non-viable choice in the metagame with a terrible matchup spread, with its playerbase and results only marginally improving compared to the early metagame.

*Pichu, along with {{SSBM|Ganondorf}}, {{SSBM|Mewtwo}}, Young Link, and {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, are the only unlockable characters in ''Melee'' seen in the [[opening movie]].