Hero (SSBU)

Hero in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Dragon Quest
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Gigaslash
Tier	B- (44)

“	The Hero Draws Near!	”
—Introduction tagline

Hero (勇者, Hero) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the second fighter from Square Enix after Cloud. He was announced during the E3 Nintendo Direct alongside Banjo & Kazooie on June 11th, 2019 as the second downloadable fighter from Fighters Pass Vol. 1.

The default Hero is the Luminary^[1] from Dragon Quest XI, while Erdrick^[2] from Dragon Quest III, Solo from Dragon Quest IV and Eight from Dragon Quest VIII also appear as alternate costume characters like the Koopalings and Alph. Unlike the Koopalings and Alph, however, they are all listed simply as "Hero". Hero was released as part of Challenger Pack 2 on July 30th, 2019 and is classified as Fighter #72.

The Luminary is voiced by Mitsuki Saiga, who also voices him in the Japanese version of Dragon Quest XI S. Nobuyuki Hiyama, Takeshi Kusao and Yuki Kaji also debut as the voices of Erdrick, Solo and Eight, respectively, in all versions of the game.

Hero is ranked 44th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the B- tier. Hero is one of the most unusual characters in the game, boasting the single most amount of moves for a single character, thanks to his down special in Command Selection and variants of the rest of his special moves. Hero has amazing strengths in having a lot of disjointed range in his aerials, such as forward air, neutral air, and back air. He also has good ground speed and drift to aid his mobility. In addition, his smash attacks are notorious as they have a 1 in 8 chance to critical hit, with devastating KO power and damage. Hero's special moves are arguably his biggest asset. His side special, Zap, most notably its 2nd form in Zapple, is a solid long-range poking tool to attack opponents at bay. His down special Command Selection gives him an extensive and dynamic amount of options, with some spells ranging from buffing his normals or speed (Oomph, Psyche Up, Acceleratle), an active reflector (Bounce), the easiest recovery back to the stage (Zoom), powerful KO tools (Hatchet Man, Flame Slash, Kaboom, etc), or instant KO moves that have a chance to KO extremely early (Whack and Thwack). All in all, this makes Hero one of the scariest characters to fight if he has the right options for the right situations.

Despite these strengths, Hero has several weaknesses. His spells rely on his MP Gauge, which can only be reliably replenished by hitting opponents with non-special moves: if he is very low on MP, he has a lot of trouble in neutral since he is unable to use most of his beneficial spells. Hero also has below average frame data overall, making most of his attacks easy to parry or hold shield against. His disadvantage state is pretty mediocre as his recovery is easy to intercept since it lacks a hitbox in the ascent, and he also has trouble landing or getting back on the ground due to his limited options. Finally, the sheer unpredictability of Command Selection means that Hero cannot reliably roll for his strongest spells, with some being devastating to use by accident (eg. Kamikazee, Kaclang).

Overall, Hero remains to be one of the most unpredictable characters in the game and a contentious character to debate on, with a lot of X factor and upset potential due to how much he relies on RNG. While his normals offset his specials, Hero is a force to be reckoned with in the right hands. Hero's representation in competitive play is fairly limited and rare but he has seen success from players, such as Akakikusu and BeastModePaul, taking him far in tournaments with the right luck and bracket.

Attributes

Hero is a tall, middleweight swordsman. As a result, he has long range and his overall damage output is fittingly above-average, but he is prone to being hit easily and is very susceptible to combos. Hero has respectable overall mobility: he has a slow walking speed, slightly below-average air speed and poor air acceleration, but his dashing speed, initial dash, traction, falling speed, and fast falling speed are all either average or above-average.

Hero has a good defensive game. Similar to the three Links, Hero actually sports two shields: the standard shield action that every fighter has, and another equipped on his left arm most of the time. Hero's shield can block projectiles while he is standing idle, walking, or crouching. The wearable shield also affects the first hit of Hero's forward tilt by granting invincibility to his left arm, head and left leg because of this shield's position, similarly to Palutena's dash attack and back aerial.

Hero possesses a unique fighter ability called the MP Gauge, which has a maximum of 100 Magic Points (MP) and will deplete whenever he uses a special move. MP is restored whenever he hits opponents with attacks, and also restores gradually over time. Although his special moves completely rely on the MP Gauge, they possess tremendous utility. His neutral special, Frizz, is a fireball that travels fast, far and deals decent damage, allowing Hero to disrupt enemy approaches. In addition, unlike other Frizz spells, Frizz has low vertical knockback, making it possible to start juggles or even true combos. Frizz can be charged into Frizzle, which can beat other projectiles and KO near the ledge at reasonable percentages, or Kafrizz for even more damage, knockback and traveling distance, turning it into a viable KO move even at mid percentages.

Hero's side special, Zap, has good range for its start-up, deals respectable damage and KOs at very high percentages. Zap can be charged into Zapple, which grants even more range and damage while being a vertical KO move at high percentages, or Kazap, which results in a attack that sacrifices speed and range for power, being able to KO most opponents center stage at a mere 50%. Additionally, Kazap has damage-based armor that withstands up to 15%, allowing it to resist oncoming attacks. Zap and its variants are disjointed melee attacks, giving them excellent range and, contrary to their appearances, all the lightning bolts generated on hit are immune to reflection and absorption.

Hero's up special, Woosh, is a quick recovery move and is also Hero's fastest and most reliable out of shield punish. Woosh can be charged into Swoosh, granting more vertical distance and horizontal mobility, or Kaswoosh, which provides tremendous vertical distance. Additionally, all Woosh spells leave behind tornadoes, which serve as lingering hitboxes that can damage opponents and gimp opposing recoveries or setup into devastating setups from below the ledge. Finally, his down special, Command Selection, gives Hero a list of four random spells which offer a wide variety of effects. Most of these spells have significant advantages and little disadvantages, which can be seen here. The Command Selection can be canceled by inputting the shield button or by jumping, allowing Hero to repeatedly switch the menu of spells until he has an ideal set of them.

Hero's smash attacks all share a unique perk: they have a 1/8 chance of striking with a critical hit, doubling their damage output and significantly increasing their knockback, allowing them to KO at extremely early percentages. In addition, they cause the smash attacks to cause more shieldstun, making them slightly safer on shield. Even without this perk, Hero's smash attacks have some utility: his forward smash is his strongest smash attack in both damage and knockback, having large range to boot, making it terrific for hard reads or punishes, his up smash has high vertical range, being a reliable anti-air option, good for halting aerial opponents' approaches while remaining a good KOing tool (though it suffers from nonexistent horizontal range, being unable to hit grounded opponents), and his down smash is his weakest smash attack, though it is also his fastest and can be used to punish rolls or spot dodges. Thus, it is a reliable edge-guarding attack in its own right.

Hero's other grounded attacks still possess utility, even if they are less overwhelming than his smash attacks and special moves. Neutral attack has a respectable start-up, damage output and good range, making it good for both damage-racking at low percentages, spacing and for warding off immediate pressure. As stated earlier, forward tilt's first hit has blocking capabilities, making it a defensive option that can beat other moves or projectiles and then be followed up with a second hit—a sword slash—which offers better range, identical speed, and more power, allowing for setting up edge-guards or outright KOs near the edge.

Up tilt has wide range, a respectable damage output and decent start-up lag; these traits make it a fantastic anti-air option, a serviceable KO option at high percentages, and a much more consistent alternative to up smash. Down tilt has good range—superseding Hero's neutral attack—while offering the same speed and launching vertically; it can be used to hit opponents hanging on the edge and start set-ups. Dash attack boasts high power for an attack of its type at the cost of its high overall lag, being able to KO at 80% from the edge. Lastly, Hero's up and down throws sport some utility. Up throw is his strongest throw and has situational utility as both a combo starter and KO option, being able to KO before 200%, unlike his other throws. Conversely, down throw is a good combo starter at low to medium percentages, and can lead into dangerous set-ups.

Hero's aerial moveset, while not as good as that of many other swordfighters, is impressive nonetheless. Neutral aerial has wide range around him and launches at a diagonal angle, being a situational combo starter and useful shield poking option. Forward and especially back aerials are both slow (with back aerial being among the slowest of its kind), but they are respectably strong and KO middleweights beginning around 100% and 85%, respectively. Up aerial has the lowest lag out of any of Hero's aerials and deals very low damage and knockback, enabling it to effectively initiate combos into itself or other moves, or even set up KO confirms at varying percentages. Lastly, down aerial is Hero's most damaging aerial, but also one of his slowest. Its clean hit is capable of meteor smashing opponents, leading to KOs as low as 20% on offstage foes.

But for all the strengths that Hero has, they do come with a price. His access to his special moves is restricted by their reliance on MP. Without enough MP, he is unable to cast any spells, which may put him in great danger offstage as Woosh will only give him a very small boost without MP. While his Command Selection is very versatile, its random nature means that a desired spell is unlikely to be available. Command Selection also renders Hero unable to move when the menu is open, with his only options being to jump or shield, both of which cancel the move and creates a new set of spells when he uses the move again.

While this often is not an issue due to most of the spells having quick startup and good range, as well as the Hero player being able to select the spell quickly, this can sometimes pose a problem if the opponent is in a prime position to punish Hero, which can force the player to sacrifice an ideal set of spells by canceling the move or potentially cause them to panic and use the wrong spell altogether. On top of this, some of his spells have very little utility (such as Metal Slash, which deals 1% and extremely low set knockback against non-metal opponents), while one of them, Hocus Pocus, grants any one of a slew of effects, albeit with detrimental ones outnumbering and outweighing the possible benefits.

Many of Hero's attacks suffer from slow start-up lag (dash attack), high ending lag (up tilt, down tilt, and the second hit of forward tilt), or both (forward and back aerials). Due to being a tall middleweight with slightly above-average falling speed and a lack of any fast or invincible attacks, Hero is also very susceptible to combos. This weakness may be exacerbated further through Hocus Pocus' giant effect, and Oomph applying a 1.2× damage multiplier to attacks that hit him.

Hero's below-average frame data, high raw damage output and attacks' high knockback values also collectively give him a limited combo game; only certain attacks (particularly neutral aerial, up aerial, up throw, and down throw) can successfully generate true combos. Even then, the fast start-up of Hero's grabs is offset by their very short ranges, while up and down throws' combo potentials wane noticeably past low and medium percentages, respectively. Up aerial suffers from poor range and down tilt suffers from aforementioned high ending lag, preventing it from performing any true combos.

Overall, Hero has many strengths and many weaknesses. While he does have a plethora of magic spells at his disposal, a high overall damage output, and a healthy number of strong KO options, he suffers from sluggish frame data, a susceptibility to combos, a reliance on random chance, a limited combo game, and finite resources that are slow to recharge. While there is some potential and strategy in Hero's normal moveset, victory or defeat will frequently come down to resource management and luck. While players such as Salem and Akakikusu have shown Hero's potential at tournaments, his representation has been below-average overall. As such, his viability remains up for debate.

Update history

Hero received a mix of buffs, glitch fixes and a single nerf via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. Kaboom and Magic Burst's linking hits became more consistent thanks to gaining more more hitstun, while Gigaslash's ending lag was decreased significantly. The only nerf Hero received was to Kafrizz: its final hit can now be reflected, absorbed or blocked by passive shields.

Overall, Hero fares mildly better than he did when he was first released. Due to the other changes he received being strictly quality-of-life adjustments, Hero's competitive reception has remained virtually unchanged since his release.

5.0.0

• The ending lag after bouncing when prone has been decreased to be in line with the rest of the roster.
• The final hit of Kafrizz can now be reflected, blocked by passive shields and absorbed.
• Magic Burst's looping hits deal more hitstun (0 → +2), preventing opponents from escaping them by using moves with intangibility at the start.
• Using Zoom while under the effect of a Super Mushroom no longer expire until the end of the move. This prevents cases where Hero would become stuck in the animation indefinitely.
• Fixed multiple issues with the initial hit of Gigaslash not granting opponents intangibility; it is no longer possible to perform the following glitches:
  • Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to take damage near a stage hazard, such as lava.
  • Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to lose 2 stocks if KOed at high percents. It no longer puts opponents in combat with no stocks remaining.
  • Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to grapically stuck remain in the Final Smash aura.

6.0.0

• Gravitational Pull and Pocket can no longer affect the explosion of Kafrizz.

7.0.0

• Kaboom's first hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 40), making it less likely to knock the opponent out of range of the explosion at higher percents.

8.0.0

• Kaboom's first hit has gained a hitstun modifier of 4, preventing opponents from shielding or dodging the second hit afterward.
• Hero’s placement in All-Star Mode is changed from being fought before Byleth to being fought between Mega Man and Daisy, matching the release date of Dragon Quest III rather than Dragon Quest XI S.

11.0.0

• Changed the length of vulnerability when crumpling to be consistent with other fighters.

13.0.0

• Gigaslash has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 16).

Moveset

• Hero has a unique fighter ability called the MP Gauge. His Magic Points (MP) are depleted whenever he uses his special moves, with the amount varying on the spell used. The MP Gauge has a maximum of 100 MP, and it is restored over time (at a rate of 1 point per second) or when damaging opponents with normal attacks.
  • If Hero attempts to use a spell without the required MP, he will still perform the animation, but without the actual spell being performed. In the case of Zap, it still possesses a hitbox that deals 2%. Additionally, the "failed" sound effect from Dragon Quest will play when this occurs.
  • If Hero hits an opponent or a shield with a normal attack, he will gain MP equal to 0.8× of the hitbox's or throw's base damage output; aside from shield damage, no other mechanics (such as the extra damage from charging smashes) will be applied. As shields receive 1.19× more damage from attacks, hitting shields will generally restore more MP unless the attack has reduced shield damage, such as his Critical Hit smash attacks. A resource for how much is gained can be found here.
• While Hero is standing still, walking, or crouching, any incoming projectiles that hit his equipped shield will simply push him back slightly instead of inflicting damage. It can block any amount of projectiles, regardless of their power.
• Hero's smash attacks have a 1/8 chance of inflicting a Critical Hit, which triggers a Special Zoom and deals twice as much damage. This subsequently increases their knockback by a significant amount, although forward smash and down smash have lower base knockback values as a slight compensation. Against shields, Critical Hits have negative shield damage outputs equal to the moves' base damage; this causes them to deal the same damage to shields as the standard versions and thus prevents them from easily breaking shields. However, Critical Hits still inflict more shieldstun due to their higher base damage outputs, making them safer on shield.
  • The negative shield damage does not necessarily make a Critical Hit and a standard hit inflict the same amount of damage to a shield. This is due to the formula for damage to shields adding the shield damage after applying the stale-move negation/freshness multiplier, but before applying the 1.19× shield multiplier. The damage variation between a Critical Hit and a standard hit is roughly equal to the stale/fresh multiplier; thus, a fresh Critical Hit will inflict more damage, but a stale Critical Hit will inflict less damage.
  • Hero cannot inflict a Critical Hit in the Home-Run Contest.
  • A Critical Hit's sound effect varies depending on the Hero who inflicts it, although Erdrick and Solo share the same one. These sound effects are sourced directly from their respective Dragon Quest games.

For a gallery of Hero's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	An upward slash, followed by a downward slash, followed by another upward slash. Comes out on frame 6, making it slow for a neutral attack, but its disjointed hitbox makes it fairly useful for poking safely and warding off immediate pressure.
			3%
			4%
Forward tilt			5%	An outward shield bash followed by an outward slash. Decent start-up, with the first hit coming out on frame 9. Hero's shield grants the first hit invincibility, like Palutena's dash attack and back aerial; in his case, it is granted to Hero's head and front leg on frame 9, as well as to his arm and shoulder on frames 9-11. The first hit does not rebound, leaving the opponent open to the second hit if the first hit blocks an attack. The second hit can KO at around 130% near the edge. However, it has 39 frames of ending lag if the second hit misses, making it highly punishable. The first hit resembles Blockenspiel, whereas the second hit resembles the Luminary's short-range greatsword attack in Dragon Quest XI.
			8%
Up tilt			11% (blade), 9% (body)	A hopping, overhead arcing slash, similar to Toon Link's up smash. It has large range and respectable power (especially if Oomph and/or Psyche Up are active), which make it a potent anti-air attack and serviceable KO option. However, it has noticeable ending lag, which results in it lacking any true combos.
Down tilt			7%	A crouching front kick, similar to Lucario and Ganondorf's down tilts. It comes out on frame 6 like his neutral attack, but has slightly more range than it does and lowers Hero's hurtbox, which make it a slightly safer poking option. Although it launches vertically, it is a fairly unreliable combo starter because of its rather high ending lag compared to many other down tilts. It lingers for a few frames, allowing it to be slightly better at starting combos if it hits during its final frames, much like Cloud and Sephiroth's down tilts. It resembles Leg Sweep.
Dash attack			15% (blade), 13% (body)	A jumping downward slash, similar to Link's dash attack. It is powerful enough to KO at around 80% from the edge. However, it has very high start-up (comes out on frame 21) and ending lag (29 frames). Based on the Luminary's long-range standard sword attack from Dragon Quest XI.
Forward smash			18% (blade), 16% (body), 36% (Critical Hit blade), 32% (Critical Hit body)	A two-handed downward slash, similar to Ike and Ganondorf's forward smashes. Comes out on frame 17, but has 46 frames of ending lag, making it very unsafe. There is a chance of a Critical Hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move; if this happens, it becomes the strongest forward smash in the game, KOing every character while near the edge at 0% when fully charged.
Up smash			16% (blade), 14% (body), 32% (Critical Hit blade), 28% (Critical Hit body)	An upward thrust, similar to Marth's up smash. Has decent vertical range, but extremely poor horizontal range, being unable to hit grounded opponents. There is a chance of a Critical Hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move; if this happens, up smash is powerful enough to KO as low as 30% when uncharged. However, it has 37 frames of ending lag, making it very unsafe.
Down smash			13% (blade), 11% (body), 26% (Critical Hit blade), 22% (Critical Hit body)	A kneeling inward slash in front of himself followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself, similar to Link's down smash. There is a chance of a Critical Hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move. It is Hero's fastest smash attack, and is useful for punishing rolls. Despite also being his weakest smash attack, it can KO at reasonable percentages upon landing a Critical Hit or if Oomph and/or Psyche Up are active.
Neutral aerial			9%	A semi-circular slash in front of himself, starting from above his head to directly behind himself. It launches at a diagonal angle, which grants it slight combo potential. However, its combo potential becomes much more noticeable while Acceleratle is active, as Hero can follow up with forward aerial at high percentages for a KO confirm. It resembles the first portion of The Real Decoy, a Pep Power in Dragon Quest XI.
Forward aerial			12% (blade), 10% (body)	A downward slash, similar to Roy's forward aerial. Slow start-up for an aerial of its kind (comes out on frame 14), but is strong enough to KO at around 100% at the edge. It also covers a wide arc, making it a good spacing and approaching tool.
Back aerial			14% (blade), 12% (body)	An upward slash behind himself, similar to Toon Link's back aerial. One of the strongest back aerials in the game, it boasts excellent power, KOing at around 85% near the edge. It also covers behind Hero very well, and is even able to hit slightly above him. However, it is one of the slowest back aerials in the game, hitting on frame 18. If both Oomph and Psych Up are active, it can break a full shield in one hit when fresh.
Up aerial			7%	A stretch kick, similar to Lucario's up aerial. Hero's fastest aerial in terms of start-up, ending and landing lag, and the only one that can auto-cancel with a short hop. However, it has extremely short range and is fairly weak. Overall, it is fairly useful for combos, such as being a follow-up from down throw and immediate set-up into neutral aerial at low percentages and, upon auto-canceling, an immediate set-up into forward aerial and back aerial for a KO confirm at high percentages. Can also serve as a last ditch KO option with Psyche Up and/or Oomph active.
Down aerial			16% (clean), 10% (late)	A downward thrust. The clean hit meteor smashes opponents powerfully and makes it his most damaging aerial. However, it has high start-up (comes out on frame 16) and landing lag. At mid percentages (30%-65% for middleweights), hitting with the meteor hitbox on a grounded opponent can lead into up smash for a potential KO confirm if up smash inflicts a Critical Hit, or if Oomph is active at 50%-60%. The attack's animation upon landing on the ground resembles the pose Erdrick assumes on Dragon Quest III's Super Famicom box art.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out with his left hand. Hero's grab range is very short, being the second shortest in the game.
Pummel		Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット)	1.3%	A knee strike. Average power, but it is marginally slower than other similar pummels due to its higher hitlag. He shares this distinction with Sephiroth.
Forward throw			7%	Plants his sword into the ground and then throws the opponent away. Low knockback, making it suited primarily for creating space or setting up an edge-guard. However, Oomph and/or Psyche Up grant it KO potential at high percentages while at the edge.
Back throw			9%	Performs the tomoe nage,[3] a judo throw. Like forward throw, it is suited primarily for creating space or setting up an edge-guard. However, Oomph and/or Psyche Up grant it KO potential at very high percentages while at the edge.
Up throw			7%	Heaves the opponent upward, similarly to Mario's up throw. Due to its low ending lag, it can combo reliably into neutral and up aerials at low percentages. It is also Hero's strongest throw in regard to overall knockback; unlike forward and back throws, it can KO at very high percentages (albeit primarily on platforms) without the need for Oomph and/or Psyche Up. Although it is rather weak for a KO option, Oomph, Psyche Up and/or rage will improve its KO potential noticeably.
Down throw			6%	A one-handed body slam. A good combo starter that can lead to either forward aerial or up aerial at low to mid percentages. It can also lead into Kafrizz or forward smash on larger targets at very low percentages.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself. Due to floor attacks having high shield damage, if Hero is buffed by Oomph and Psych Up, his floor attacks are able to break full shields if both hits connect.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Slashes in front of himself, then behind himself.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Climbs up and slashes inward.
Neutral special		Frizz / Frizzle / Kafrizz	Frizz: 9%, 6% (late) Frizzle: 9% (hits 1-2) Kafrizz: 19% (hit 1), 3% (hits 2-5), 10% (edge), 8% (edge, late)	A fireball that can be charged up to become Frizzle and Kafrizz, which are stronger variants that travel increasingly farther and faster. Unlike most chargeable moves, Hero will always begin charging from the beginning if he cancels the move. He is also unable to launch the projectile if he lacks MP, forcing him to recharge his MP and use up any existing charge before he can use weaker variants again. Frizz: A small fireball that is produced when the move is uncharged. It is quick to throw, but travels very slowly and is very weak. Frizz is the only variant of the Frizz spells that suffers from damage falloff, which means that it gets weaker and slower after traveling a certain distance. Like Fireball, its quick start-up makes it decent at both spacing and, at low percentages, setting up a dash grab to initiate a down throw combo. Frizz costs 6 MP to use. Frizzle: Two intertwined fireballs that appear when the move is partially charged. Frizzle is faster and stronger than Frizz. The two fireballs can actually break-off into separate fireballs if an opponent or attack lands on top of one of the fireballs. Frizzle is decently powerful, being able to KO at 135% near the edge. Frizzle costs 16 MP to use. Kafrizz: The strongest version of Frizz that appears when the move is fully charged. It is a large, multi-hitting fireball deals extremely high damage and knockback, KOing at around 60% near the edge. It also deals considerably high shield damage. Kafrizz has noticeable ending lag, though, so it can be reflected and punish Hero easily. Kafrizz costs 36 MP to use.
Side special		Zap / Zapple / Kazap	Zap: 3% (bolt), 2% (sword, no MP), 5% (sword + bolt), 12%/5% (lightning strike), 2.5% (lightning strike, high) Zapple: 6% (hit 1), 14%/10% (hit 2), 5% (hit 2, high) Kazap: 12% (lightning strike, high), 10% (lightning strike), 4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2, front and back), 12% (hit 3, front), 10% (hit 3, back), 8% (hit 3, edge), 16%/12% (last), 6% (last, high)	A series of lightning spells that can be charged to become Zapple and Kazap. Zap: Hero swings his sword upward to emit a burst of electricity in front of himself. It has the fastest start-up and ending lag, but has the shortest range and is the weakest. The sword itself also has a hitbox during the swing, which enables it to deal extra damage, similarly to Wolf's Blaster. This also means Zap can still somewhat be used without MP, although the sword swing deals only 2%. Zap costs 8 MP to use. Zapple: A long-ranged bolt of electricity that is fired when the move is semi-charged. Has considerable range and deals great damage, making it an excellent move for spacing. It has respectable power, as it can KO at 155% from the center of Battlefield and even earlier near the edge. Zapple costs 18 MP to use. Kazap: Hero raises his sword in the air so it can be struck by and after a lightning bolt, after which he performs a spinning outward slash around himself, similarly to Spin Attack. Kazap is very strong, as it can KO around 60% from center stage and around 40% near the edge if all of its hits connect. Kazap also has deceptively low ending lag in spite of its power, as well as damage-based armor that withstands up to 15%. However, it costs 42 MP to use (the highest out of all Hero's spells), and has noticeable start-up lag. All variations of Zap's sword attacks are disjointed hitboxes and not projectiles. As a result, they cannot be reflected or absorbed. Despite their appearances, none of the lightning bolts generated on hit can be reflected or absorbed either.
Up special		Woosh / Swoosh / Kaswoosh	Woosh: 7% Swoosh: 3% (hits 1-3), 4% (last) Kaswoosh: 3% (hits 1-5), 4% (last)	A series of tornado spells that Hero uses for recovery. Can be charged to become Swoosh and Kaswoosh. Woosh: A small and weak tornado that launches Hero slightly upward. It is very quick (comes out on frame 7), making it a good out of shield option. Woosh has set knockback, meaning that it will inflict the same amount of knockback regardless of the opponent's damage. Woosh costs 5 MP to use. Swoosh: A larger tornado that hits multiple times and grants a better vertical and horizontal recovery. Swoosh costs 9 MP to use. Kaswoosh: Two large tornadoes that hit multiple times and grant a much higher vertical recovery, making it a potent recovery move. Can KO at 148% from the center of Battlefield. Kaswoosh costs 18 MP to use. While Kaswoosh offers the best vertical recovery of the three options, Swoosh offers the best horizontal recovery; that said, all three versions still have lackluster horizontal movement, especially at the apex of the launch. All versions of Woosh launch opponents in the opposite direction the Hero is facing, which can lead into gimps, stage spikes, and KOs, especially with Swoosh and Kaswoosh. All variants of Hero's up special are considered projectiles; as a result, opponents with reflectors can deal significant damage to Hero while he is attempting to recover simply by getting close and reflecting the tornado.
Down special		Command Selection	(see below)	Hero chooses between a variety of four randomly-selected spells from a pop-up menu. These spells require MP to use. Shielding or jumping will close the menu, canceling the move and allowing Hero to open it again for a different set. By pressing the opposite direction when selecting a move or tilting the right stick in the opposite direction to select a move, Hero will turn around before unleashing the move, similarly to B-reversing.
Final Smash		Gigaslash	7% (trapping hit), 33% (cinematic)	Performs an upward slash. If it successfully hits an opponent, the seven non-playable Dragon Quest Heroes appear and bring their respective weapons together, which discharge a combined stream of electrical energy that is infused into Hero's sword. Hero then proceeds to perform Gigaslash while surrounded by the non-playable Heroes.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height	Empty landing Lag
Value	101	1.88 – Initial dash 1.84 – Run	0.98	0.11	0.008	1.01	0.01 – Base 0.045 – Additional	0.094	1.57 – Base 2.512 – Fast-fall	3	29 - Base 15.5 - Short hop	31	4

Command Selection spells

Spell	MP Cost	Relative odds of appearing	Chance of appearing in top slot of fresh menu	Damage	Description
Bang	9	16	≈5.8%	1.5% (spark) 14%/12% (explosion)	A small, spark-like projectile that generates a small explosion after a set distance or on contact with opponents. Deals decent knockback, KOing vertically starting at around 130%. Cannot appear alongside Kaboom.
Kaboom	37	20	≈7.3%	2% (spark), 26%/21% (explosion)	A small, spark-like projectile that generates a large explosion after a set distance or on contact with opponents. The instant before the explosion pulls opponents in if they're close enough. Possesses high knockback and a very large explosion hitbox, KOing around 85% vertically. Cannot appear alongside Bang.
Sizz	8	16	≈5.8%	1.5% (bolt), 12% (flames)	A fiery, bolt-like projectile that travels quickly. On impact, it spreads out very briefly. Lacks KO potential onstage, but can KO opponents offstage. Cannot appear alongside Sizzle.
Sizzle	20	20	≈7.3%	3% (bolt), 22% (flames)	A fiery, bolt-like projectile that travels quickly and spreads out into brief flames on impact. Deals high damage and travels very fast, being Hero's fastest projectile. Deals high knockback, KOing around 100% near the edge. Cannot appear alongside Sizz.
Flame Slash	12	18	≈6.6%	22% (blade), 17% (flames)	A quick slash with Hero's sword cloaked in flame. Deals considerable damage and knockback, especially in regard to its blade hitbox, and has notable range both horizontally and vertically. It can KO middleweights at 90% from the center of Final Destination.
Kacrackle Slash	11	18	≈6.6%	17% (blade), 13% (frost)	A quick slash with Hero's sword cloaked in frost. It freezes opponents, with its blade hitbox freezing them for considerably longer than the frost itself.
Hatchet Man	15	18	≈6.6%	35%	A delayed downward slash which resembles his forward smash, triggering Special Zoom and a Critical Hit sound effect on hit. Has considerable start-up, but possesses extremely high damage and knockback output, making it capable of KOing early, around 45% from center stage and much earlier near the edge. It can also instantly break a full shield, similarly to a fully charged Shield Breaker.
Snooze	16	17	≈6.2%	–	Hero extends his hand forward to launch a spherical, pulse-like projectile that sends opponents to sleep if it connects. It can pass through multiple opponents, but can also be blocked. The projectile puts opponents to sleep for longer at close range, but becomes larger the farther it travels. Infamous for its ability to grant Hero a free charged forward smash, and therefore an early KO, if it hits a grounded opponent at mid percentages. Snooze can affect aerial opponents, which can KO offstage opponents should they be too far to maneuver towards the stage. However, opponents in the air are put to sleep for a much shorter amount of time, due to them receiving 40% of the knockback growth of the grounded hitbox. As a result, Snooze's clean aerial hitbox puts opponents to sleep for less time than its latest grounded hitbox. The projectile will not disappear until its active frames conclude, so it can be thrown at edges to affect recovering enemies.
Whack	10	8	≈2.9%	1%	Hero swings his hand forward to launch a slow-moving dark purple sphere. Has a chance to instantly KO the opponent, with a higher chance for it to occur the more damage the opponent has; the formula for Whack to instantly KO is 1 + (pt - 20) / (300 - 20) * 200 + 20 * (pH / 300), where pt is the target's damage pre-hit limited to between 20% and 300%, and pH is Hero's damage limited to 300% or less. As a result, the final rate is always 1% when the opponent is below 20%, and scales up to 100% when the opponent is just below 160%, with a maximum extra 20% chance if Hero is at 300%. The move is notoriously difficult to reflect, as the speed and direction of the reflected projectile depends on the speed and direction the erratically moving projectile was travelling at the moment of reflection. As such, it will often deflect into the ground or up into the air, and in some cases will move so slowly that it seemingly stays in place. Cannot appear alongside Thwack.
Thwack	30	12	≈4.4%	3%	Hero swings his hand forward to emit a large, dark purple blast directly in front of himself. Has a chance to instantly KO the opponent, with a higher chance for it to occur the more damage the opponent has. It has a very large hitbox, and a windbox around it which pulls nearby opponents in. However, it also has considerable start-up lag, a minimal damage output and weak knockback. It can also be reflected, absorbed, and shielded. Cannot appear alongside Whack.
Metal Slash	6	7	≈2.6%, ≈10% (metal opponent), ≈0.5% (Spirit Battle)	1%	Hero slashes his sword forward. instantly KOs any metal opponent, including another Hero using Kaclang. When used against non-metal opponents, it will only deal 1% and weak knockback. If there is a metal opponent present when the menu is opened, it has a 4× greater chance of appearing. In Spirit Battles, however, a multiplier of 0.2× is applied to its appearance rate.
Kaclang	6	5	≈1.8%	15% (falling)	Encases Hero in metal and makes him impervious to both damage and knockback for a period of time, but also renders him inert. It cannot be canceled once activated. However, Hero can still be KO'd by another Hero using Metal Slash, and any well-timed attack is sufficient to punish him during the ending lag of the move. Using Kaclang in the air will grant Hero a hitbox during his descent (similarly to Stone) and allow him to move left and right until he lands. Cannot appear in the last 30 seconds of a timed match.
Kamikazee	1	5	≈1.8%	0.1% (hit 1), 50% (hit 2, close), 35% (hit 2, far)	Hero crosses his arms and begins to glow. After a few seconds, he explodes, instantly KOing himself and inflicting a large amount of damage and knockback to any opponent caught in its large blast radius. The explosion is unblockable, and its sweetspot is strong enough to KO many opponents at 50%-60%. The hitbox only lasts briefly, allowing opponents to dodge and avoid the explosion, even with sidesteps. Using this will count as a KO for the last opponent to hit him. Hero is intangible during the charge up. Kamikazee does not appear to be available as a menu option during the World of Light Finale.
Magic Burst	All remaining MP	5	≈1.8%	maximum: 4.2% (loop), 11% (last)	An enormous, spherical explosion that grows in size, similarly to a Smart Bomb's explosion. It hits multiple times and is active for a few seconds. Consumes all of Hero's remaining MP; the spell's power depends on how much MP Hero has left. The attack has extremely large range, covering half of Final Destination, and with full MP, it can KO at merely 20%. Its sheer size and duration also means that it is an incredible edgeguarding tool with sufficient MP, since it can cover every available option with little need for positioning on Hero's end. Due to these factors, along with the move itself being surprisingly quick to activate, it is widely considered to be one of Hero's best command specials (if not his absolute best one), and arguably the most feared, albeit only in circumstances where Hero has at least around half of his MP remaining. Additionally, the move is blockable, with each hit having slightly reduced shield damage. Projectiles can also cancel out the move, and he can be hit by physical attacks at the very beginning of the move's start-up, leaving Hero with no MP and at a great disadvantage, making Magic Burst a "high risk, high reward" move. The loop hits do very little knockback; as a result, Bowser and Kazuya can use their passive armor to retaliate quickly. The damage dealt is multiplied by 0.2 + 0.008MP, with the value being between 0.2× and 1×.
Oomph	16	16	≈5.8%	–	Increases Hero's damage output by 1.6×, knockback output by 1.1×, and damage received by 1.2×. Only affects melee attacks. Lasts for 12 seconds.
Psyche Up	14	16	≈5.8%	–	Increases Hero's damage output by 1.2×, knockback output by 1.2×, and shield damage output by 1.65×. Functions similarly to Revenge and if stacked with Oomph, many of Hero's normal attacks will instantly break a full shield. Only affects melee attacks. Expires after landing a melee attack. As it only boosts the next melee hit that connects, pummels will use up Psyche Up, and stronger versions of Zap (Zapple and Kazap) will not gain increased KO potential, as both moves consist of two hits.
Acceleratle	13	16	≈5.8%	–	Multiplies Hero's walking speed, dashing speed, air speed, air acceleration, and air friction stats by 2×-2.5×, depending on the stat. Functions similarly to Lightweight, but to a sufficiently high degree that Hero can outrun Sonic and can reach a maximum air speed that is more than 1.5× faster than Yoshi's. However, the sheer speed can make Hero more difficult to control, and it increases the knockback he receives by 1.1×. Lasts for 10 seconds.
Bounce	14	16	≈5.8%	–	A lingering reflector that when projectiles are reflected by it, increases projectile, damage by 1.5×, projectile speed by 1.4×, and projectile health by 1.1×. Like a Franklin Badge, Bounce lets Hero act while it is active, and overrides Hero's passive shield, allowing reflections even if he is standing and facing an opponent. One of Hero's best approach options against projectile users, due to him being able to perform any action while keeping an active reflector. Lasts for 12 seconds.
Heal	7	7	≈2.6%	Heals 11%	Heals Hero by 11%. Starts with two charges, and resets to two after Hero is KO'd or scores a KO.
Zoom	8	15	≈5.5%, ≈10.4% (close to blast line)	–	Hero jumps directly upward, going past the limits of the camera, then falls directly onto a random part of the stage, no matter where he was when the spell was used. Hero can act out of his descent while maintaining momentum, unless he performs an action that alters momentum. If used where there is a ceiling above Hero, he will collide against it, while still being able to act afterward. It is invulnerable as soon as Hero starts to fly. Has a 2× (≈53%) chance of appearing in Command Selection when 40 units (or closer) to the blast line.
Hocus Pocus	4	3	≈1.1%	(see below)	A spell with random effects, either positive or negative, that can also take the form of other Command Selection spells.

Approximations were done with the equation (X/S), with X being the relative odds of the move and S being the sum of all moves' relative odds, including the selected move's odds.

Hocus Pocus Effects

Type	Chance of occurrence	Effect
Positive	4.88%	Makes him gigantic. However, it cannot be stacked with Mega Smash and a Super Mushroom.
Positive	1.22%	Makes him invincible.
Positive	3.96%	MP is replenished to 100.
Negative	6.1%	Applies a timer effect to himself.
Negative	6.1%	MP is depleted to 0.
Negative	6.1%	Poisons himself, dealing 27.5% total.
Negative	6.1%	Inflicts sleep on himself.
Negative	5.49%	Shrinks himself.
Negative	6.1%	Inflicts the flower effect on himself, dealing a maximum of 22% without button mashing.
Neutral	6.1%	Turns him invisible.
Neutral	47.85%	One of Hero's command spells will consume 4 MP instead of its standard cost. If the command is Magic Burst, it will consume all MP as usual. There is a small chance that the randomly-chosen spell will be Kamikazee, which further emphasizes the high risk nature of Hocus Pocus.

Announcer call

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While Hero's name is the same in Japanese, it is pronounced "Yuusha".

• English

• Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Flies onto the stage using Zoom, and raises his sword vertically, similarly to his side taunt.

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  Hero's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Puts away his sword and shield, then performs Psyche Up as it appears in Dragon Quest VIII.
• Side taunt: Raises his sword vertically into the air.
• Down taunt: Fumbles in place as a Slime meanders in front of him.

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  Hero's up taunt.

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  Hero's side taunt.

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  Hero's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Lifts his sword in front of himself while smiling.
• Assumes an attack stance similar to one of Link's idle animations.

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  Hero's first idle pose.

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  Hero's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	H - E - R - O! You're My Hero!	Yuuuuu - Sha!	Eeeeeeeee - roe!	Held -- Held -- On - ze Held!	Hip - Hip - Hip - Héros !

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description		¡Ese Héroe, ese Héroe, eh, eh!	Ge - roy! Ge - roy! Nash ge - roy!	Yuuuuu - Sha!

Victory poses

• Left: Hero raises his sword in the air, slashes twice and finishes in a pose.
• Up: Hero performs Kazap and strikes a pose.
• Right: Hero walks up to three Slimes, kneels down and looks at them with a smile. The camera angle before Hero appears also references the first-person battle screens of most Dragon Quest games.

An arrangement of the ending phase of "Overture", the Dragon Quest series' main theme.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Hero players (SSBU)

•  Akakikusu - The best Hero player of all-time, the definitive best in 2021 and 2022, and one of the two best since 2023. He is the only Hero player to have made multiple major top 8s with Kagaribi 3, 5th at DELTA 8 and 7th at Kagaribi 4, the latter being the first top 8 a Hero player has made in a supermajor. His highest placement was 30th on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse, marking him as the second Hero player to be ranked globally.
•  BeastModePaul - One of the two best Hero players in the world since 2023. He has placed highly at multiple supermajors, including 17th at both Luminosity Makes Moves Miami 2023 and Port Priority 8. He notably grabbed a hot streak of wins at the latter tournament, defeating Glutonny, Sisqui, and AndresFn. These two tournaments also marked the best Hero results at North American majors post-pandemic.
•  +HOPE+ - The best Hero player in Europe. He is known to be a regional threat, being the best player in Denmark, and making results outside of his country with 9th at RCADIA SMASH 3 and 13th at Smash Contest: DoKomi 2021 and Regen 2022 with wins over players such as Tarik and TriM. He is currently ranked 67th on the OrionRank 2022 Europe.
•  Salem - Co-mained Hero and Snake, and was considered the best Hero player in the world in 2019. He used both characters to win Port Priority 5, and also placed 4th at Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas and 7th at Mainstage, taking sets over Shuton and MuteAce with Hero. He is the first Hero player ranked globally, ranking 30th on the Fall 2019 PGRU. He has since been issued bans due to prior controversial actions, and has remained inactive since early-2021.

Tier placement and history

Hero's place in competitive play has been controversial even before his introduction into the game; players were immediately divided due to the sheer amount of randomness in his toolkit, which some argued as too unpredictable for him to work as a competitively fair character. Despite the controversy, Hero initially had little impact on the metagame; while it was common to see him in pools and small-scale tournaments, he has not gone far in high-level tournaments, with his most notable national placements coming from Salem and Tsu, who either used him as a co-main or eventually dropped him. This can be attributed to Hero's slow frame data, lack of reliable combo breaking options, and his reliance on MP, all of which can be exploited by opponents. Hero's randomness also plays a part in his unreliability, as it can be just as common to roll an undesired move as it is to get the best option. As a result, most players initially considered him a mid tier character at best.

The pandemic period saw the rise of Akakikusu, who by the end of 2021 was considered a top 10 player in Japan and a top 30 player in the world. This was due to his strong set of results, which includes placing top 8 at the major Kagaribi 3 and supermajor Kagaribi 4. Although Akakikusu's consistency has since declined, opinions on Hero nevertheless improved, and as such Hero is ranked 44th on the current tier list as an upper-mid tier. Since then, Hero's results have remained strong despite having below-average tournament representation, thanks to Akakikusu's continued presence in the top 100 as well as the rise of BeastModePaul in 2023.

Ban considerations

Hero's moveset, specifically Command Selection, has been controversial due to its randomness. Comparisons have been drawn between Command Selection and items, with the argument being that the unpredictable nature of both of them result in a less competitive environment, in which skill alone is not sufficient to win matches (coincidentally so as certain spells like Hocus Pocus grant abilities otherwise only found with items such as the Super Star and Timer). Furthermore, specific spells have also been the subject of controversy, such as Zoom invalidating any attempts at edge-guarding, Whack and Thwack being able to KO at any percentage, or Magic Burst's blast radius easily covering the edge and preventing a large portion of the cast from recovering without taking significant damage in the process or even losing a stock. Hero's Critical Hits from his smash attacks have also stirred conversation regarding Hero's skill factor, though not quite to the degree as Command Selection.

Finally, issues regarding language barriers have also been raised, as it is not uncommon for players to compete in countries they do not know the language of. Therefore, a player who does not speak the language of the country in question will be at a large disadvantage, regardless of whether they are playing as or against Hero. Players against this point mention how most of the spells in languages that use the Latin alphabet are easy to figure out from first glance, rendering them easily guessable, learnable and reactionary and some suggest hosting games on two separate switches using Arenas and changing the language of each system's game to match that of the players.

Conversely, supporters bring up languages that do not use the Latin alphabet, such as Japanese and Russian, saying that these are much harder to learn and react to in such a short amount of time, and they argue against hosting games over arenas by bringing up factors such as input lag, midmatch slowdowns and crashes. To alleviate the effects of language barriers, most tournaments in countries will usually play in English instead of the regional language due to English being the standard language used in major tournaments, especially since countries such as Portugal, Denmark and Sweden do not have their language available in Ultimate and Hero's spells in Dutch are not translated.

Many prominent smashers such as Leffen and Dark Wizzy have advocated banning Hero, while others such as Dabuz and ESAM have come out against a ban, arguing that the character has significant counter-play and has not achieved overwhelmingly high results at tournaments to the same degrees as a top tier character. Despite this debate, only one notable region made efforts to ban the character, that being South Australia on August 15th, 2019. The ban was ultimately lifted, and since then no other region had attempted a ban aside from Nintendo France, who very briefly placed a ban on all DLC fighters released after September 23rd, 2019 and as such was not necessarily targeting Hero. With only a few minor cases since, the ban debate has been effectively settled.

Classic Mode: A History of Heroism

Hero's congratulations screen.

In reference to the Dragon Quest series, Hero's opponents are his fellow playable Heroes and/or fighters who are analogous to various characters featured in his home series. This theme is further reinforced by Rounds 1 through 6 being Stamina Mode battles (in reference to the Dragon Quest series' hit points system) and each Round playing a song from the Dragon Quest series (regardless of what universe the stage originates from). When fighting against each of the Heroes, they will use their respective default appearances^[4] instead of their respective alternate costumes,^[5] even if the player is also playing as one of the default Heroes (which was unique to Hero until Byleth's release).

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Tiny (×3) Kirby	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination	Stamina battle. The player has 150 HP, whereas the Kirbys have 40 HP apiece. The blue Kirbys reference Slimes, and the red Kirby references She-slimes.
2	Hero and Tiny Robin	Yggdrasil's Altar	Unflinchable Courage	Stamina battle. The player and Hero have 150 HP apiece, whereas Robin has 90 HP. Robin references Veronica, one of the Luminary's party members.
3	Hero	Temple	Wagon Wheel's March	Stamina battle. The player and Hero have 150 HP apiece. The stage references Zenithia from Dragon Quest IV.
4	Rathalos	Forest Hill	Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III	The player has 150 HP. Dragons are a recurring monster family in the Dragon Quest series. Rathalos could also be specifically referencing Dread dragons.
5	Hero and Tiny Pikachu	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	War Cry	Stamina battle. The player and Hero have 150 HP apiece, whereas Pikachu has 60 HP. Pikachu references Munchie, Eight's pet Pig-Rat.
6	Hero	Castle Siege (Underground Cavern)	Adventure - DRAGON QUEST III	Stamina battle. The player and Hero have 150 HP apiece. The stage is a reference to Dragon Quest III's introductory cutscene, in which Ortega (Erdrick's father) fights against a dragon on top of an active volcano. The stage also does not transition back to its first phase.
Bonus Stage
Final	Robin, then Giant Charizard	Dracula's Castle (Ω form)	Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III (Robin) Battle for the Glory - DRAGON QUEST IV (Giant Charizard)	Charizard is not announced during the loading screen. This Round references the battle against the Dragonlord from the original Dragon Quest, in which the Dragonlord's human form is fought initially and, upon being defeated, he transforms into his dragon form for the second phase of the battle.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Unlike other fighters, the music that plays differs depending on the hero selected.

• The Luminary uses The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination.
• Erdrick uses Adventure - DRAGON QUEST III.
• Solo uses Wagon Wheel's March.
• Eight uses Marching through the Fields.

Role in World of Light

The message that shows Hero's availability in World of Light

Due to his status as downloadable content, Hero does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Hero, he is immediately unlocked.

However, in his reveal trailer, all four Heroes are shown fighting against puppet fighters alongside Link, which suggests he too is fighting against Galeem and Dharkon. Erdrick, in particular, also appears in Sephiroth's trailer alongside several fighters who have been warded off by Galeem and his legion of Master Hands.

Spirits

The Luminary's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Hero. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Hero has been downloaded. Unlocking Hero in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. The other three Heroes have their own fighter spirits, only available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

• 

  1,324. Hero (DRAGON QUEST XI S)

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  1,325. Hero (DRAGON QUEST III)

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  1,326. Hero (DRAGON QUEST IV)

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  1,327. Hero (DRAGON QUEST VIII)

In Spirit Battles

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
1,329		Cetacea	DRAGON QUEST Series	•Giant King K. Rool (200 HP) •Hero (70 HP)		9,500	Yggdrasil's Altar (Ω form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy has super armor but moves slower •Timed stamina battle (1:30)	The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination	Luminary

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  The Hero's splash art.

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  Hero's amiibo

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  Hero's unlock notice after downloading him from the Nintendo eShop.

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  Luminary shown in the news Present screen for the Tockles spirit.

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  Luminary crouching on Great Plateau Tower.

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  Luminary posing on Yggdrasil's Altar.

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  Luminary using Heal while Cloud uses his side taunt on Spear Pillar.

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  Luminary using his up aerial against Incineroar on Coliseum.

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  Luminary using Frizzle on Gaur Plain.

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  The other Heroes (Solo, Erdrick, and Eight) on Palutena's Temple.

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  Luminary using his neutral aerial against Robin and Erdrick using his forward smash against Wario on Yggdrasil's Altar.

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  Luminary using Kazap on Battlefield.

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  Luminary using his forward tilt against Inkling on Battlefield.

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  Luminary using Frizzle against Ridley on Yggdrasil's Altar.

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  Luminary using his up smash against Fox on Yggdrasil's Altar.

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  Luminary using his neutral attack against Fox on Yggdrasil's Altar.

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  Hero alongside all of the other DLC fighters of Fighters Pass Vol. 1.

Trivia

• Hero is referred to within Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's game files with the codename "brave", a rather direct translation of his Japanese name, Yūsha. Notably, the codename was discovered as early as December 2018 after update 1.1.0 was released, although the discovery had only been made public in January. The mysterious codename raised much speculation and debate in the community, with the most common hypothesis on the mysterious character's identity being a Dragon Quest protagonist. Specifically, the protagonist was assumed to be Erdrick, which turned out to be partially correct due to him being an alternate character.
• Hero's reveal trailer contains multiple references to the Dragon Quest franchise:
  • The segment where the Luminary rides on Gogoat is a reference to the ridable mounts featured in Dragon Quest XI.
  • The segment where the Luminary picks up a barrel and breaks it to reveal a Franklin Badge is a reference to the mini medals that can be found in every Dragon Quest game from Dragon Quest III onwards, which can often be found by breaking barrels and pots.
  • The segment where the Luminary is seen sitting by a fire at night at Gaur Plain with Zero Suit Samus and Zelda is a reference to the campsite feature in Dragon Quest XI. Zero Suit Samus represents Jade and Zelda represents Serena, given their similar appearances.
  • The segment where Eight is seen walking through a poison pathway to obtain a Beam Sword is a reference to the poison bogs seen in the very first Dragon Quest game that would surround treasure and damage the player.
  • Erdrick using Gigaslash against Ridley is a reference to the Dragonlord from Dragon Quest's first installment.
• Hero shares his heavy carry, battering item, home run swing, and special flag animations with Link. This suggests Link was the basis for creating Hero, and they were imported over due to being minor animations of low priority.
  • Additionally, he also shares his dash attack and passive shield ability with him, with the latter making him the only character who is not a variant of Link to have that ability.
• Hero is the only character from Square Enix whose dash does not involve him hovering above the ground.
• Hero's trailer is the first of any DLC trailer to have completely original 3D CGI animation. All of the previous DLC trailers either used the in-game engine, animation meant to replicate the source game, or (in the case of Corrin) pre-existing CGI animation.
  • It is also the second time an alternate character appears as part of any CGI animation for the game. The first instance was Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy appearing in the opening of World of Light.
  • The trailer features a slight rendering issue: when the Luminary falls on the ground, causing some Slimes to scatter, one of them appears in transparency through his hair for a few frames, even though it is behind him.
• Hero's artwork pose in the panoramic banner is similar to Young Link's pose in his official render, albeit mirrored.
  • Similarly, the Luminary's artwork greatly resembles Young Link's artwork from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is used for his fighter spirit. However, the positions of the sword and shield are flipped due to the Luminary being right-handed.
• In Japanese, Hero has a chance of calling out a spell's name, excluding the Command Selection spells. This makes him the fifth character in the series to have specific lines in the Japanese language track of a game replaced by generic grunts from the same voice actor outside of Japan after Fox, Sheik, and Falco in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Mewtwo in all of its playable appearances.
  • Kirby also follows this trait as well, making it the first Copy Ability of his to have such a distinction.
• Hero is the third playable character to be featured alongside a non-playable character in Ultimate's panoramic artwork; in his case, he is featured alongside a Slime. The first two are Olimar and Joker, who is featured alongside Mr. Saturn and Morgana, respectively.
• In German, Spanish, French, and Italian, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" ("der Held", "el Héroe", "le Héros", and "l'Eroe"). Hero shares this trait with Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Inkling, the Ice Climbers, Zombie, Enderman, and the Mii Fighters.
• In the Japanese version, Hero is named "勇者 Yūsha" and his respective announcer voice clip reads it that way, but his name on the character select screen icon, versus splash screen and results screen is still written as "Hero". He and Young Link are the only characters with this trait, as all others have the respective romanization of their Japanese name, instead of a direct translation to English.
  • Furthermore, Hero is the only character to have his name entirely formatted in kanji in the Japanese version. The other fighter to have a common noun as their name, Villager, has his name written in hiragana instead.
  • In the Korean version, Hero is named "용사 Yongsa", but the Announcer announces his English name, Hero. He shares this distinction with King Dedede.
• Depending on which version of the Hero is being played, the Critical Hit sound effect from that Hero's respective game will play when they land a Critical Hit via a smash attack or Hatchet Man. Additionally, when a Hero lands a Critical Hit on another Hero, the sound effect from the target's respective game will play, even if the attacker is a Hero from a different game.
• Hero has additional sound effects while performing certain actions. However, these sounds can be difficult to notice due to the overall volume of Ultimate's sound effects.
  • While charging a smash attack, the "player attacks" sound effect from the Dragon Quest series will play.
  • When KO'd, the "enemy critical hit" sound effect from Dragon Quest XI plays alongside the standard KO sound effect.
• Hero, Bowser, Mega Man and Sephiroth are the only characters whose Classic Mode routes feature a fight against a boss outside of the Final Round; in Hero's case, it is against Rathalos. Hero is also one of the few fighters whose Final Round involves fighting characters who are otherwise playable (in his case, Robin and Charizard) instead of a designated boss.
• Hero, Peach, Corrin, and Steve are the only characters who fight the same fighter multiple times in their respective Classic Mode routes. In Hero's case, he fights himself and the other three Heroes in four different Rounds, and fights female and male Robin in Round 2 and the Final Round, respectively.
  • Hero is the only one out of those to fight two different fighters twice.
• Hero and Steve are the only characters who fight tiny opponents in their Classic Mode routes.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Hero uses one of his heavy knockback voice clips instead of his standard KO voice clip. This trait is shared with Mario, Dr. Mario and all vocal DLC fighters except for Joker, Banjo & Kazooie, and Byleth's Japanese voice.
  • Unusually, Erdrick's stamina KO voice clip does not begin with a slight pause. This oddity is shared with Banjo & Kazooie.
• Because of controversy regarding Hero as anti-competitive in Ultimate due to the large amount of randomness in his moveset, he is the seventh character to have been officially banned from any tournament matches. The first six were Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the Mii Fighters, Cloud and Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• A special battle card was released for the arcade game Dragon Quest: Scan Battler that references both Gigaslash as it appears in Ultimate and Hero's reveal trailer.
• Interestingly, Hero's up and down taunts finish faster when facing right if uninterrupted. A similar situation occurs with both Wolf (up taunt) and Kazuya (up taunt).
• Hero, Meta Knight, Inkling, Joker, Banjo & Kazooie, Sephiroth, Pyra, Mythra, and Sora are the only characters who use their walking animations when navigating through the map in World of Light.
• Apart from DLC characters who were not released at the time of their respective tourney, Hero is the only character who does not appear in a decade-related Event Tourney. He was excluded from Bringing Back the '80s, Hailing from the '90s, and The Year Is 200X despite Erdrick, Solo, and Eight debuting in those respective decades, due to the Luminary (the default Hero) debuting in 2017. However, when Born in the 2010s was held, Hero was still not present, due to update 8.0.0 changing Hero's debut year in All-Star Smash to be based on Erdrick's instead of the Luminary's.
• Hero is the only character that can perform an instant KO without an item or Final Smash.
• Hero has the most reflectable attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series at 14. Specifically, Frizz/Frizzle/Kafrizz, Kazap (first half), Woosh/Swoosh/Kaswoosh, Bang, Kaboom, Sizz, Sizzle, Snooze, Whack, and Thwack can all be reflected, as well as Hocus Pocus if any of the aforementioned attacks are randomly summoned.
• Hero has the most absorbable attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series at 10. Specifically, Frizz/Frizzle/Kafrizz, Sizz, Sizzle, Bang, Kaboom, Snooze, Whack, and Thwack can all be absorbed, as well as Hocus Pocus if any of the aforementioned attacks are randomly summoned.
• The text on some of Hero's weapons are Anglo-Saxon runes, and can be translated as follows:
  • Erdrick's sword blade reads "Dragon Kuest", or Dragon Quest.
  • Erdrick and Luminary's shields both read "Roto", Erdrick's Japanese name.
  • Solo's sword hilt reads "mitibikaresi mono", an approximate romanization of "導かれし者 michibikareshi mono", meaning "the guided one". This resembles the Japanese subtitle for Dragon Quest IV, "導かれし者たち michibikareshi monotachi", literally "the people who are shown the way".
  • Luminary and Eight's swords also have text inscribed on them, but they are not Anglo-Saxon runes, and seem to have no known translations.
• The scabbard the Luminary uses for the Sword of Light did not appear in the original game, but was instead taken from a key visual used for Dragon Quest XI.

Notes

1.^ Also referred to as Eleven.

2.^ Also referred to as Arusu.

3.^ Translates to "Circle Throw".

4.^ Also referred to as the P1/P2/P3/P4 Costumes in Hero's Tips.

5.^ Also referred to as the P5/P6/P7/P8 Costumes in Hero's Tips.