Shulk (SSBU)

Shulk in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Xenoblade Chronicles
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Chain Attack
Tier	A- (25)

Shulk (シュルク, Shulk) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like all veterans, he was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Shulk is classified as Fighter #57.

Adam Howden and Shintarō Asanuma reprise their roles as Shulk's voice actors in the English and Japanese versions respectively, mostly through recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4. Howden and Asanuma also reprised their roles for Shulk's appearance in Pyra and Mythra's reveal trailer.

Shulk is ranked 25th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the A- tier. This is a significant improvement from his 34th out of 54 placement in SSB4. One of Shulk's greatest strengths is his enormous disjointed range, courtesy of the Monado. This allows him to outrange almost every fighter in the game, which gives him one of the most effective spacing capabilities relative to the rest of the cast. Shulk can further enhance his strengths through the usage of Monado Arts. They allow him to change his stats on command, depending on the Art selected. To name a few, Speed Art allows him to run faster and improve his approach and Buster Art gives him increased damage output in exchange for less knockback, allowing for high-damaging combos. Shield Art, in particular, is notorious for breaking out of combos due to decrease knockback taken.

Despite his strengths, Shulk is not flawless. He still retains his sluggish frame data and startup on majority of his moves, making him prone to getting parry punished or overwhelmed by faster moves. His recovery is also fairly exploitable due to Air Slash being his only main recovery option, and his recovery mixups are dependent on having his double jump even if he has the Jump Art active. Despite Shulk's Monado Arts giving him upgrades, they also grant multiple downsides. For example, while the Smash Art significantly improves his KO potential, it also greatly reduces his damage output and gives him the lowest endurance of the roster while it is active. Finally, Shulk is one of the most difficult characters to master since he has many advanced techniques, and properly using Monado Arts mid-match has to account for fast decision-making to determine which Art is best suited for each situation.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Shulk being the 22nd character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after Villager.
• Have Shulk join the player's party in World of Light.

Shulk must then be defeated on Gaur Plain (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Shulk is a middleweight swordsman who sports average walking speed, dashing speed, falling speed, and gravity. When coupled with his above-average air speed and his below-average air acceleration, Shulk's overall mobility is average to the point of lacking any obvious advantages or disadvantages.

Shulk's greatest asset is his disjointed range: thanks to the Monado, Shulk possesses some of the longest overall disjoints in the game. Shulk's excellent range allows him to punish careless moves by retaliating at a distance, or create space by challenging his opponent with his disjointed attacks. His most useful grounded moves are his up tilt and smash attacks, each of which possess distinct perks. His up tilt boasts outstanding vertical range, can cover multiple get-up options from the edge, and can KO at very high percentages, whereas his smash attacks boast high power and long ranges.

Shulk also boasts a very strong aerial game as his powerful aerials have a great combination of large hitbox size, long hitbox duration, and low landing lag, which plays a key role in his approach and spacing games. Both his neutral and forward aerials possess wide-arced ranges with low landing lag, making them Shulk's best approach options. The former is useful for anything from starting combos to covering landing options thanks to its long-lasting hitbox and low landing lag, while the latter's wide range and dependable speed makes it a very good edge-guarding and spacing option. His back aerial is a capable KOing option due to it being Shulk's most powerful aerial, with its high horizontal range also allowing it to space or poke from a distance. Lastly, his up and down aerials are, like his back aerial, thrusts instead of slashes. As such, they have minimal horizontal ranges, but can KO surprisingly early should they hit, with the former being potent near the upper blast line, whereas the latter is capable of meteor smashing.

Much like in his home game, Xenoblade Chronicles, Shulk is a character who revolves around adapting to different situations with his attribute-enhancing Monado Arts. Each Art tweaks his attributes considerably for a certain amount of time (10 seconds for Buster, 8 seconds for Speed and Smash, and 6 seconds for Jump and Shield) and can be manually canceled at any time, even immediately after hitstun ends or during landing lag. With this freedom, Shulk can activate an Art to open up options for virtually any situation while still being able to switch or cancel them if he is in a challenging position. Jump grants him significant aerial mobility by making his jumps the highest in the game while improving both his air speed and Air Slash's height. This grants him an incredible recovery, allowing him to recover from almost anywhere off-stage, edge-guard more aggressively and even perform several KO combos, such as a wall of pain leading to a sacrificial Air Slash at medium percentages.

Speed amplifies his typically average grounded mobility while reducing his jump height, making his ground-to-air transitions more efficient for aerial combos and spacing, while allowing him to approach and retreat noncommittally. It also lowers traction, making Shulk's pivot grab amongst the longest in the game for its duration. These two Arts grant him outstanding mobility, and when combined with the large hitboxes of his attacks, Shulk can effectively space opponents out of a specific side of the stage with either Jump or Speed, making him very difficult to approach on stages with platforms.

Shield bolsters Shulk's defensive game by reducing both damage and knockback received, which allows him to survive for a much longer period of time and resist getting trapped in combos. His shield also becomes much more durable, making it harder to break with shield-breaking attacks such as Bowser Bomb. Buster reduces his overall knockback, but increases his overall damage output, allowing him to rack up damage extremely quickly. Buster also makes up and down throws effective and damaging combo starters at 0%, while the increased damage and shieldstun make Shulk's moves both safer on shield and capable of pressuring shields. Lastly, Smash boosts his entire moveset's knockback, making almost all of Shulk's attacks into viable KOing options (especially with rage), and his down throw becomes the strongest in the game while it is active. Despite his fastest aerial coming out on frame 13 and starting behind him, Shulk has a particular strength in combo breaking. The Shield Art is among the best combo breakers in the game, since it makes him fall out of all combos. He can also switch to the Smash Art at low percentages as another way to escape combos, thanks to it noticeably heightening the knockback he receives.

Thanks to the Monado Arts, Shulk is highly adaptive, and usually has an easier time mixing up his playstyle compared to other characters so long as his Arts are used effectively and in tandem with his powerful air game. Such an example would be constantly switching from Jump and Shield to stall a losing match, or activating different arts while being juggled to affect Shulk's falling speed, and hence mess up an opponent's combo. It also allows him to use rage effectively, especially when combined with Shield in order to survive and accumulate rage, or with Smash for a risky, yet powerful boost in knockback.

Due to the technical aspects of activating Monado Arts, Shulk also has access to multiple unique advanced techniques, the most notable of which is known as Monado Art landing lag canceling. By jumping and timing the activation of an Art just before landing, Shulk can reduce the landing lag of his aerials to 5 frames while gaining intangibility for 14 frames (1 frame less than the length granted by his sidestep). While difficult to perform, it allows Shulk to avoid punishment before immediately responding with a punish of his own, or start shield break combos, such as an Art canceled back aerial to forward smash. It can even let him retreat by pivoting in midair, or extend the invincibility of air dodging via an aerial Art activation. This technique is the only viable way to make some of Shulk's moves (such as back aerial) safe on shield against faster characters.

Several other techniques include the Monado Purge, a 50/50 KO set-up consisting of an up throw to up aerial at high percentages, and Monado Art ledge snap, which bypasses edge get-up animations while protecting the user with brief intangibility. When mastered, Shulk's Monado Art techniques can be very effective and unpredictable mix-up options that are inaccessible by any other character.

Excluding his Arts, Shulk's special moveset shares his overall high range, and all have their own forms of utility. Back Slash is very powerful when striking the opponent's back and has long range regardless, making it a great surprise attack as well as a decent spacing tool. Air Slash grants a good amount of vertical distance, comes out quickly, and has strong knockback growth, making it a good recovery move and an even better out of shield option. The distance and knockback of Air Slash can additionally be affected by the Jump and Smash Arts respectively, allowing the move to gain even more vertical distance, or be used as a combo finisher in the air or a KO option out-of-shield. Lastly, Vision is tied with Double Team for having the longest lasting counterattack window in the game when fresh while also having the longest range, both of which give Shulk one of the most effective counters of any character. Its alternate counterattack, which is performed when Shulk inputs the direction from which the triggered attack came from, also rivals Counter Surge as the strongest counterattack in the game.

However, Shulk has some exploitable weaknesses. Despite being buffed in Ultimate, his moveset is still mostly sluggish. Aside from his neutral attack, standing grab and Vision, all his other attacks do not hit before frame 10, and majority of his moveset has more than 25 frames of ending lag. Like the aforementioned heavyweights, this means he has to rely on careful reads to land a hit, as a missed attack can easily be capitalized upon. This is made worse by the low shieldstun of his attacks (unless Buster is active), making his attacks inherently unsafe up close and on shield, while still unsafe if spaced against faster characters prevalent in the metagame. Additionally, despite his excellent range, most of Shulk's moves deal more damage with the Monado's blade rather than its beam blade, while several of his strongest combos (such as a landing neutral aerial to a grab or a forward aerial wall of pain) rely on him being extremely close to his opponent/affected by rage to be inescapable, due to his beam blade's lower hitstun. As a result, Shulk is required to take risks before he can start performing any significant combos.

His sluggish frame data also extends to his aerials. Shulk is the only character who cannot auto-cancel any of his aerials before their entire duration is over, forcing him to endure landing lag every time he starts an aerial attack, even from a double jump (with the exception of forward aerial). While Monado Art landing lag canceling can negate this, it is considerably more complicated to perform compared to auto-canceling, making it very difficult and unwieldy to perform consistently. Essentially, this makes every attack very committal, and makes it important for Shulk to space his attacks carefully as he can easily be punished for missing. Additionally, moves such as back aerial or up aerial are unsafe to use upon landing; unlike many other characters' aerials, their hitboxes only appear after a pause, making it possible to land before an attack even comes out while causing Shulk to suffer from landing lag.

His lack of a projectile and anti-projectile options also makes it difficult to pressure his opponent from a distance, while making it hard for him to approach against projectile users as well. Even pressure on the ground can be hard to escape from, as Shulk has the fifth lowest traction in the game. This gives him a poor out of shield game without Air Slash, which is punishable when missed. Shulk's special attacks are also flawed in some ways. Back Slash's knockback is exceptionally weak if hitting the opponent's front, being unsafe on hit at low percentages, has considerable ending lag, and is notorious for its inability to edge sweetspot. Air Slash provides very minimal horizontal momentum and does not sweetspot edges immediately unless the second slash is inputted right beside an edge, thus making his recovery predictable, even with Jump. Lastly, Vision's counter window decays upon consecutive use, which discourages frequent usage.

The Monado Arts also have debuffs to compensate for their buffs: if an Art is active, it causes some of his other attributes to drop, weakening some of his abilities. A careful opponent can potentially take advantage of them to gain the upper hand, making his Arts a double-edged sword due to his reliance on them to approach and/or perform combos. Jump makes him take very high damage, and when combined with his slow moveset, makes it even riskier to whiff a move. Speed lowers his damage output, requiring him to deal more hits for the same amount of damage and reduces his jump force to the point of hindering his vertical mobility.

Shield drastically reduces his mobility and damage output to the point of making his recovery and offensive potential among the worst in the game. When coupled with his worsened mobility, Shield's increased knockback defense also leaves Shulk heavily susceptible to combos and juggling. Buster increases his vulnerability to damage to the same degree as Jump, while its lower knockback drastically lowers Shulk's KO potential to the point that his smash attacks will not KO until past 150%. Finally, Smash drastically lowers his endurance, hinders his combo game, and makes his attacks the least damaging in the game.

Even having no Arts active is disadvantageous, as Shulk's balanced attributes do not allow him to easily approach or catch up with opponents. Having no Arts active also hinders him offensively: very few of Shulk's moves possess combo potential past low percentages, and all his smash attacks are punishable because of their high ending lag. This forces Shulk to be reliant on edge-guarding and spacing while waiting for an Art to refresh, and requires him to capitalize on the duration of a needed Art to the fullest in order to perform certain techniques (such as combo strings or approaching), compared to other characters who may have the ability to do so at any time.

Overall, Shulk's optimal playstyle consists of warding off pressure and having extensive knowledge of his opponent. His range, unique toolkit, and versatile tech grant him powerful abilities when mastered, with some being inaccessible to any other character in the roster; however, players must have reliable spacing skill as whiffing one of his moves can leave him wide open and vulnerable to heavy damage. While his weaknesses are exploitable when fighting head-on, his adaptability allows him to excel when played patiently and while exploiting openings. Regardless, Shulk has an extremely high learning curve because of a combination of sluggish attacks and very demanding techniques, as extensive knowledge of Monado Arts, proper spacing, reads and patient play are each required for him to thrive.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Shulk has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, but he was buffed overall. Some of his most notable weaknesses have been relieved to some degree, and the changes to the game physics grant many of his options more utility to go with his faster moveset.

A great amount of the revamped game physics benefit Shulk. The universal reduction of landing lag grant him a safer approach game, and he has gained the ability to autocancel some aerials (a trait he was previously notable for lacking). This alleviates his punishable landings, one of his biggest weaknesses in SSB4. The universally faster mobility also improves Shulk overall, as it improves the ease of approaching and retreating, the implementation of dash-canceling with any ground move allows him to approach with his high-ranged tilts, and the readdition of pseudo-dash dancing alleviates his previously low traction and turnaround time. Finally, the changes to knockback benefit Back Slash, as opponents no longer turn around when hit from behind with a move that causes tumbling, making the sweetspot safer to land.

In addition to lower landing lag and faster mobility, a few of Shulk's moves possess less ending lag, such as dash attack and neutral air. Combined, this grants Shulk a much more reliable approach, which was another weakness that plagued him in SSB4 due to his moveset's slow speed and his trouble at landing. Aside from his Monado Arts, Shulk's special moves have seen some buffs, with Back Slash now grabbing ledges after some time, Air Slash executing faster and grabbing edges faster, and Vision having larger hitboxes and less lag after a successful counter.

Shulk's nerfs were noticeable, however. Most notably, his previously heavy weight has been reduced, which coupled with his lack of options to relieve pressure makes him easier to KO, especially after a combo. His renowned back aerial has lost its large early body hitbox and has smaller hitboxes, now strictly mapping its range to behind Shulk himself and removing its situational usage for KOing in front of him. His grab game, already below average without Monado Arts active, is even less powerful, with Shulk's grabs having less range in addition to suffering from the universal nerfs to grabs, thus making them more punishable; moreover, all of his throws (except for up throw) deal less damage and knockback, with down throw no longer being the strongest in the game with Smash Art active, further necessitating an active Art for his throws to be useful.

Other nerfs include his very damaging neutral attack, which deals much less damage and its first two hits range were reduced. In exchange for faster execution and larger hitboxes, a successful Vision's counterattack is less powerful and no longer unblockable, and remains unreliable under multiple circumstances, like activating it while airborne or countering a projectile. While he mostly benefits from the game physics changes, a few of them also hurt Shulk, as the increased mobility makes it easier for opponents to pressure Shulk without his Arts active, and the reduced landing lag worsens his already poor out of shield game.

Shulk's defining Monado Arts have been altered significantly. They no longer take their damage multiplier into account for the opponent's final percentage, helping Speed preserve its knockback and further improving Smash's KO power. They also now perform more like Hyper Monado Arts from SSB4, with both their benefits and detriments being amplified: Jump has faster air mobility and further increases the distance of Air Slash, but further increases damage taken by Shulk; Speed offers much faster mobility, but further reduces damage; Shield improves his defense even more to the point he can survive smash attacks even past 200%, but his moves now deal less knockback alongside their lowered damage, and Shield's duration lowers significantly if he is hit; Buster's lower knockback multiplier now grants Shulk true throw combos (which compensates for the loss of Speed ones), but it also increases damage taken by Shulk; and Smash now buffs Shulk's KO potential to such an extent that he is easily capable of KOing opponents very early below 100%, but causes his endurance to be the absolute worst in the game. Shulk retains the ability to switch Monado Arts while in hitstun, which can allow him to disrupt or outright escape true combos and KO setups, and he can now instantly access them at any time by holding the special button and selecting an art instead of pressing it multiple times (though said feature is still present). However, all of his individual Arts last significantly shorter and have much longer cooldown times, which combined with their amplified drawbacks makes them riskier to use and more susceptible to counterplay. Finally, the multitude of advanced techniques that can be performed with Monado Arts have been altered significantly, with engine changes causing some to be completely removed (such as Buffered Deactivation), while introducing new ones (Dial Storage).

As a result of these changes, Shulk's strengths and weaknesses are more defined, and his playstyle has been drastically altered to be more dynamic. It revolves less around taking advantage of Monado Arts at all times, now depending on using his improved kit to make use of his stronger, shorter-lasting Monado Art abilities when he is able to get an opening. His faster mobility, lower landing lag and the changes to dash-canceling now help him with approaching, but he has to be more careful with dealing with opposing pressure. He still has some of his most noticeable flaws from SSB4, such as a poor approach, frame data, out of shield options and disadvantage (especially when Shield Art is on cooldown), and lack of options to deal with pressure. Regardless, Shulk's buffs outweigh the nerfs he has received, and he is a better character in Ultimate.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetics used in Ultimate, Shulk's model features a more subdued color scheme. In addition to losing most of the glossy sheen from his clothes and hair, Shulk's clothing now features simple detailing, his face is more defined, and his hair is somewhat less tousled.
• Shulk's alternate costumes now alter his hair color to match each party member they represent.
  • His hair colors are now dirty blonde, black, auburn, black, silver, and orange for the palette swaps of Fiora, Dunban, Reyn, Sharla, Melia, and Riki respectively.
• Shulk's muscles are more prominently defined in his shirtless alternate costume.
• Shulk's idle stance has been slightly altered, as his chest now visibly moves as he breathes.
• The Monado's blue glow during certain moves (such as the first hits of up smash and up aerial) has been made brighter and more noticeable.
• Shulk's second jump freefall animation has been altered, with his limbs no longer being straightened out. This brings it closer to how Shulk jumps in Xenoblade Chronicles.
• During Shulk's hip-posing victory pose, the Monado now glows with a sword trail when swung, and Shulk gives a wide grin at the end.
• Shulk now grins when applauding the winner after a match.
• The Monado's beam blade no longer becomes misaligned on stages with a 2D effect, like Flat Zone X.
• Shulk's armorless costume no longer causes his neck to extend during certain animations, although it still causes the Monado Arts' symbols to flash above Shulk's neck during hitstun.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Shulk's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
• Shulk is lighter (102 → 97), bringing him down from a semi-heavyweight to a middleweight, tied with Luigi and Byleth. This worsens his endurance.
• Shulk walks faster (1.1 → 1.155).
• Shulk runs faster (1.52 → 1.672).
  • His initial dash is much faster (1.5 → 1.87).
• Shulk's air speed is faster (1.06 → 1.113).
• Shulk falls faster (1.5 → 1.58).
  • His fast falling speed is faster (2.4 → 2.528), leaving him less susceptible to juggling.
• Shulk's gravity is higher (0.085 → 0.098). This improves his vertical mobility and leaves him less vulnerable to juggles, but worsens his horizontal endurance.
• Shulk's jump height is lower (34.8 → 33.5), slightly hindering his vertical recovery, but further agilizing his aerial game.
• Shulk's traction has been increased (0.044 → 0.094), improving his ability to punish out of shield.
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 26).
• Spot dodge grants less intangibility (frames 3-18 → 3-17).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-28 → 3-30).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 34 → 50).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit has an altered animation where Shulk doesn't lunge forward as far decreasing its range, and the second hit has been changed to a full roundhouse kick.
  • The first and second hits have altered angles (70°/60°/88° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 66°/70°/80° → 361° (hit 2)) to keep opponents on the ground, akin to other neutral attacks. They also no longer use set knockback, but deal less knockback until very high percents (40 set/100 scaling → 35/25 base/10 scaling (hit 1), 52 set/100 scaling → 40/35 base/10 scaling (hit 2)), and have gained hitstun modifiers (0 → 2 (hit 1), 5 (hit 2)). This allows them to connect much more reliably and jab lock.
  • The first hit transitions faster into the second hit (frame 12 → 11).
  • The third hit has less startup (frame 12 → 6). In combination with the aforementioned changes, this allows it to connect much better from the second hit, no longer requiring specific timing against floaty or highly-damaged opponents.
    • However, its total duration remains the same, increasing its ending lag.
  • The third hit is placed farther horizontally (Z offset: 12.8u-7.8u → 14u-10u (clean), 12.8u → 14u (late)) and higher (Y offset: 9u → 10u), with the late hit also stretching more vertically (Y offset: 15u-12u → 16.5u-12u), increasing its range.
  • All hits except the late third hit deal less damage (3.5% → 2% (hit 1), 3.5% → 1.5% (hit 2), 5.3% → 5% (hit 3, clean)). This greatly reduces the move's total damage (12.3% → 8.5%), no longer being the most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the game.
  • The first and second hits have a shorter hitbox duration (frames 5-6 (hit 1), 5-7 (hit 2) → frame 5).
  • The first and third hits have a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.4× (hit 1), 2× (hit 3)), making the former easier to SDI and the latter easier to DI.
  • The first hit uses four hitboxes instead of three, which are smaller (3u/2.5u/3.5u → 1.8u/1.8u/2u/2u). In combination with its altered animation, this noticeably reduces its range.
  • Consecutive uses of the first hit are slower (12 frames → 15).
  • The second hit's middle hitbox is larger (3u → 3.2u), but the farthest hitbox is smaller (4u → 3.4u), reducing its range overall.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt deals more damage (8.5%/7.5% → 10%/9%), with knockback scaling compensated (90/85 → 80/75).
  • The move's ending animation has been altered, with Shulk crouching lower, allowing him to duck under some attacks like certain rising aerials.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less startup (frame 15 → 12) and much less ending lag (FAF 53 → 41).
  • It has a sweetspot near the base of the Monado, much like Shulk's other moves that use it, which deals more damage (11.5% → 12.5%) and is larger (3.2u → 3.7u).
  • It launches at a higher angle (60° → 65°), improving its juggling ability.
  • Due to the changes to jostling, the move can no longer miss opponents at point-blank range.
  • It does not propel Shulk as far forward, reducing its range.
  • The sourspot deals less damage (11.5% → 11%) and is marginally smaller (3.2u → 3.1u).
  • It has less knockback scaling (80 → 68), hindering its KO potential despite its higher launch angle and the sweetspot's higher damage.
• Up smash:
  • The first hit launches at angles more towards Shulk (92°/105° → 92°/95°/112°) and is weight-independent, with the ground-only hitboxes also having lower set knockback (110 → 92). This allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral), 16 → 10 (forward), 19 → 11 (back), 15 → 9 (up), 23 → 14 (down)).
• All aerials auto-cancel earlier (frame 80 → 54 (neutral), 57 → 42 (forward), 79 → 43 (back), 79 → 53 (up), 78 → 52 (down)). This allows back aerial to auto-cancel in a full hop, and all aerials except forward aerial to auto-cancel before their interruptibility frames.
  • Additionally, all aerials have gained initial auto-cancel windows (frames 1-2 (neutral, back, down), 1-4 (forward), 1-3 (up)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has significantly less ending lag (FAF 71 → 60), making it safer to use offstage.
  • The animation executes faster with no change in hitbox duration. This allows the move to hit more effectively around Shulk and cover a full 360 degrees, no longer possessing a blindspot directly behind him, but makes it less effective for keeping out opponents in front of him.
  • The sweetspot and sourspot's placements has been swapped, with the former being located on the Monado's base instead of the beam blade, much like Shulk's other moves. This increases the move's damage output at close range, but reduces it from a distance.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial can no longer send opponents behind Shulk. This improves its consistency for edgeguarding, but removes some of its combos and situational stage spiking ability.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has more startup (frame 18 → 19). Coupled with the changes to the Speed Monado Art, this makes short hop back aerials more timing-specific in the Speed Art, as Shulk has to perform the back aerial immediately out of a short hop.
  • The hitbox is set to a static position behind Shulk instead of following the Monado, and is smaller (5.5u → 3.6u (clean), 4u → 2.6u (late)). This reduces its horizontal range, and removes its ability to hit in front of Shulk.
  • The hitbox has been adjusted to be parallel to the ground instead of slanted upward, making it less likely to overshoot grounded opponents, but easier to avoid by jumping.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 55).
  • Both hits have a longer duration (frames 14-15 → 14-16 (hit 1), 24-25 → 24-26 (hit 2)).
  • The first hit has received an additional hitbox on the Monado, with the previously existing two being larger (6.2u/6u → 6.5u/6.3u), and they launch at angles more towards Shulk (100°/96° → 102°/111°/104°) with lower set knockback (80/60 → 60/60/40). This allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The second hit's sourspot stretches a slightly shorter distance vertically (Y offset: 40u-15u → 39u-15u), reducing its vertical range despite the hitbox being larger (3.8u → 4u).
• Down aerial:
  • Both hits have a longer duration (frames 14-15 → 14-16 (hit 1), 23-24 → 23-25 (hit 2)).
  • The first hit's hitboxes are larger (5u → 5.3u), and the aerial-only hitbox launches at a lower angle (172° → 215°) with lower set knockback (20 → 15). This increases its range and allows it to connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The second hit's meteor hitbox and sweetspot have more base knockback, especially the latter (10 → 15/50), improving the move's KO potential.
  • The second hit's sourspot is larger (3.5u → 3.7u).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 37 (standing), 37 → 45 (dash), 35 → 40 (pivot)).
  • They have reduced horizontal range (Z2 offset: 9.5u → 9u (standing), 11.5u → 10.7u (dash), -16u → -15.3u (pivot)).
  • Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 9 → 10 (dash), 10 → 11 (pivot)).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals more hitlag (8 frames → 14), but has less startup (frame 5 → 1) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 27 → 7), noticeably shortening its duration. This makes it much more reliable for racking up damage.
  • It deals much less damage (3% → 1.3%).
• Forward throw:
  • The throw portion deals less damage (8% → 5%; 11% total → 8%), with knockback scaling not fully compensated (70 → 95), slightly hindering its KO potential.
• Back throw:
  • The throw portion deals less damage (9% → 6%; 12% total → 9%), with knockback scaling not fully compensated (63 → 83), slightly hindering its KO potential.
• Up throw:
  • Due to the new knockback speed up effect decreasing hitstun for higher knockback values, up throw has lost its KO setups into up aerial at high percents with the Jump Art active.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw launches at a higher angle (50° → 60°). Coupled with the Buster Art's lower knockback multiplier, down throw is now effective for combos until mid-high percents with Buster active.
  • The throw portion deals less damage (4% → 2.5%; 7% total → 5.5%) and knockback (75 base/115 scaling → 85/105), making it significantly weaker overall. Notably, it is no longer the strongest down throw in the game by a large margin with the Smash Art active.
  • Due to the new knockback speed up effect, it has lost its true combos into forward aerial at low to mid percents with the Speed Art active.
  • It has a snappier animation, with Shulk physically thrusting the Monado into the ground with both hands and performing a short jump before the main hit.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Monado Arts:
  • Monado Arts possess a new feature, where all Arts appear in a wheel around Shulk if the special move button is held, then can be selected by tilting the control stick in the appropriate direction and releasing the button. The Arts are mapped to the following directions: up for Smash, upper left for Jump, lower left for Speed, upper right for Buster, and lower right for Shield. The previous method of selecting Monado Arts can still be used by tapping the button.
    • This new method allows Shulk to select and activate Monado Arts significantly faster, as well as switch them without needing to cancel the current one. This opens up more flexibility in using the different Monado Arts, making them an even more important aspect of Shulk's moveset. Additionally, if the original method to select Arts has been initiated, it can be canceled by activating the wheel without tilting the control stick in any direction, preventing accidental activations of Arts.
    • Due to Monado Arts being usable out of hitstun, this faster method allows Shulk to escape combos and disadvantage much more effectively by using the intangibility from activating the Arts, then he can select either the Shield Art to survive potential KOs or the Buster/Smash Art to punish the opponent.
  • When calculating knockback, Monado Arts no longer take their damage multiplier into account for the opponent's final percentage. This overall benefits them, allowing Speed to fully preserve knockback instead of marginally reducing it, and further improving Smash's KO potential, while Shield and Buster have lower knockback multipliers that render this effect negligible.
  • Arts that are on cooldown have a gradually regenerating bar under them to indicate how much time is left until they can be used again. Likewise, a gradually depleting bar appears below the active Art in Shulk's damage meter to indicate how much is left until it deactivates.
  • Monado Arts activate significantly faster when selected individually.
  • Monado Art landing lag canceling can still be performed, though it has a different window due to the faster activation time. Additionally, its usage to reduce landing lag is negligible due to the universal reduction to landing lag.
    • The addition of selecting Arts through the Art wheel allows Shulk access to MALLC at any time, without having to time landings with his jumps. It also grants access to the dial storage technique.
  • The kanji graphics are stylized and shown in solid colored, thick-outlined text. Upon activation, the kanji flashes with a cartoon-styled burst.
  • Highlighted Arts display their name in addition to the kanji, like in Shulk's damage meter.
  • Switching or deactivating Arts immediately resets Shulk's movement attributes. For example, he no longer has increased run speed if he is running when the Speed Art expires.
    • This removes some advanced techniques such as Monado Art run cancel, Monado Art buffered deactivation, and MonaDACUS.
  • Monado Arts have significantly amplified strengths and weaknesses, alongside much shorter durations and longer cooldowns, making the move similar to one of Shulk's previous custom moves, Hyper Monado Arts.
  • Jump Art:
    • It grants higher air speed (1.5× → 1.7×), falling speed (1.22× → 1.4×), and gravity (1.3× → 1.4×), making it far more effective for aerial movement.
    • It lasts significantly shorter (16s → 6s) and has a longer cooldown (10s → 18s).
    • It increases damage taken even more (1.22× → 1.3×).
  • Speed Art:
    • It grants Shulk higher initial dash and run speeds (1.7× → 2×), and a higher air speed (1.3× → 1.4×). Combined with the reduced landing lag of Shulk's aerials, Speed is a more effective aerial rushdown and spacing tool.
    • It increases the travel distance of dash attack.
    • Shulk's gravity is now increased by 1.2x. This increases Shulk's overall mobility even further, but also worsens his endurance due to the gravity penalty. Furthermore, it shortens the duration of his midair jump, weakening his recovery.
    • It lasts significantly shorter (16s → 8s) and has a longer cooldown (10s → 16s).
    • It lowers damage dealt even more (0.8× → 0.7×).
    • The reduced jump height makes it even worse for recovering vertically.
  • Shield Art:
    • It further reduces damage taken (0.67× → 0.5×) and knockback taken (0.78× → 0.6×). This allows Shulk to survive almost any KO move even at high percents, and punish opponents more effectively after getting hit at low percents.
    • Due to the new selection method for Monado Arts, it can be activated inbetween most multi-hit moves and combos. This allows Shulk to break out of a variety of situations, including potential game-ending strings.[1]
    • It has increased shield health and shield regeneration rates (1.5× → 2×).
    • It lasts significantly shorter (16s → 6s) and has a longer cooldown (10s → 18s).
    • It lowers damage dealt even more (0.7× → 0.5×), and reduces knockback dealt by 0.8×, considerably hindering Shulk's KO potential while active.
    • On top of the Art's reduced duration, its meter depletes faster if Shulk takes damage. This removes its ability to stall matches for a noticeable period of time.
    • It decreases the travel distance of dash attack.
  • Buster Art:
    • It lowers knockback dealt even more (0.68× → 0.65×), allowing combos for longer.
    • With the usage of dial storage, it grants Shulk KO setups, such as a Buster neutral aerial into Smash Air Slash.
    • It lasts significantly shorter (16s → 10s) and has a longer cooldown (10s → 14s). However, it is the longest-lasting and quickest-charging Monado Art.
    • It increases damage taken even more (1.13× → 1.3×).
    • Opponents hit by Shulk with Buster active glow briefly with a purple tint.
  • Smash Art:
    • It further boosts knockback dealt (1.18× → 1.25×), improving Shulk's KO potential even more.
    • It lasts significantly shorter (16s → 8s) and has a longer cooldown (10s → 16s).
    • It lowers damage dealt even more (0.5× → 0.3×).
    • It further increases knockback taken (1.07× → 1.2×), giving Shulk the worst endurance in the game while Smash is active.
    • Opponents hit by Shulk with Smash active glow briefly with a red tint.
• Back Slash:
  • Back Slash's distance can be adjusted slightly by tilting the control stick after it is initiated.
  • It can grab ledges from frame 49 onward, giving it situational use offstage.
  • Due to characters no longer turning around when hit from behind with high enough knockback, the back-hitting sweetspot is easier to land.
  • The front-facing hitboxes have less knockback scaling (100 → 80).
  • Back-hitting Back Slash causes a yellow burst effect, similar to the graphic shown when a party member successfully lands an Art's bonus effect in Xenoblade Chronicles (in this case, hitting the back of an enemy).
• Air Slash:
  • The first swing grabs ledges earlier (frame 41 → 21 (front), 31 (back)), improving its safety for recovering.
  • The second swing has less startup (frame 15 → 9), allowing it to connect more reliably from the first swing.
  • The first swing can no longer grab ledges before the hitboxes come out, preventing Shulk from grabbing them out of a rising jump.
• Vision:
  • Both counterattacks have noticeably larger hitboxes, especially their sweetspots (8.5u/5.5u → 12u/7u (normal), 11u/7u (forward)).
    • They do not stretch as much horizontally (Z offset: 24u~5u/31u~2u → 28u~20.5u/33u~9.5u (normal), -29u~-12u/-37u~-8u → -24.5u~-15u/-28.5u~-3u (forward)), greatly improving the normal counterattack's range in front of Shulk, but reducing both variants' horizontal range behind him.
  • The normal counterattack has a longer hitbox duration, with the aerial version having less startup (frame 45-46 → 45-47 (grounded), 40-42 (aerial)), and both versions have less ending lag (FAF 97 → 88 (grounded), 83 (aerial)).
  • Aerial counterattack intangibility now starts earlier and has a longer duration (frames 9-40 → 1-40).
  • The normal counterattack's sourspot deals more minimum damage (7% → 9%).
  • The counterattacks are no longer unblockable.
  • Both counterattacks have less knockback scaling (84 → 80 (normal), 94 → 90 (forward)), slightly hindering their KO ability. However, the forward-held version is still the strongest counterattack in the game with the Smash Art active.
    • The slowdown from the forward-held version now lasts slightly longer, leaking into the period after the opponent is launched, which due to a glitch slightly reduces the move's launch distance.
  • Vision's backdrop is significantly brighter.
  • Vision now causes the screen to shake if it is triggered.
  • Vision Sliding has been removed.
• Chain Attack:
  • Chain Attack deals more damage (40% → 46% (front opponent), 30% → 36% (other opponents)).
  • Mecha-Fiora appears during Chain Attack, attacking with Shulk in addition to Riki and Dunban. Camera angles have been adjusted to accommodate for her, and Shulk has gained an additional voice clip that calls out her name. Additionally, Riki and Dunban have more detailed models.

Update history

Shulk received a mix of buffs, glitch fixes and a single nerf via game updates. Update 2.0.0 enabled forward aerial to autocancel slightly earlier and decreased its edge lockout duration, the latter of which was also applied to up aerial. Update 3.0.0 increased the ranges of Shulk's floor and edge attacks, while update 3.1.0 did the same for neutral attack's second hit. Interestingly, update 8.0.0 granted Shulk a buff that was not mentioned in the official patch notes: aerial Vision's counterattack now grants Shulk intangibility on frame 1.

Update 9.0.0 increased the knockback scaling of Vision's counterattack, which restored most of the strength it lost in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate. The central hitbox of up smash's first hit gained more hitstun, which enables it to connect more reliably into the second hit. Lastly, the Shield Art's multiplier for knockback received was increased, which worsened its renowned durability and Shulk's disadvantage state.

Overall, Shulk fares similarly well as he did at the launch of Ultimate.

1.1.0

• The second victory pose's animation has been adjusted.

2.0.0

• Fixed the infinite Monado Arts glitch and removed RCO lag from every aerial move affected by the glitch.
• Forward aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 45 → 42), matching the move's interruptibility. Shulk can also now grab edges after it concludes.
• Shulk can grab edges after up aerial concludes (frame 79 → 78).

3.0.0

• Floor attack has more range.
• Edge attack has more range (Z offset: 12.5u-1u → 18.5u-1u).

3.1.0

• Neutral attack's second hit has more range below Shulk (Y2-offset: none → 9.2 (middle hitbox), none → 9.5 (foot hitbox)).
• Up smash's first hit connects more reliably in some instances, but also less reliably in some others (angle: 108° → 112°; FKB: 105 → 92).

4.0.0

• Fixed a glitch that allowed Shulk to cancel the revival platform immediately by using Back Slash after self-destructing while choosing Monado Arts.
• Fixed the aforementioned glitch where the Monado Arts would actively display the previous art on player screen after Shulk self-destructs.
• Fixed a glitch where throws with insufficient knockback would often trigger a Finish Zoom with Buster Art.

8.0.0

• Vision's aerial counterattack intangibility now starts earlier and has a longer duration (frames 9-40 → 1-40).

9.0.0

• Up smash's first hit has a hitstun modifier of 3 on its central hitbox, preventing certain characters from escaping the second hit with an air dodge or a fast enough special move if they are hit by this hitbox.
• The Shield Monado Art has a higher multiplier for knockback taken (0.5× → 0.6×), making it less effective for tanking attacks out of hitstun and preventing KOs.
• Vision has more knockback scaling (70 → 80 (normal), 80 → 90 (holding forward)), allowing it to KO around 20%-30% earlier with no Monado Arts.

11.0.0

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

Moveset

• Shulk's damage outputs and knockback can be manipulated by Monado Arts. The following moveset list details the properties of his attacks when he has no active Monado Arts.
• With the exception of neutral attack, up smash, throws, and getup attacks, all of Shulk's attacks that use the Monado have a sweetspot on the blade itself and a sourspot on the beam, much like Roy's reverse tipper mechanic. For simplicity, if for example, such an attack deals 10% damage with the blade and 9% with the beam, its damage output is listed as 10%/9%.

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Straight (ストレート) / Side Kick (サイドキック) / Upper Swing (アッパースイング)	2%	A jab, followed by a roundhouse kick, followed by an upward slash. It connects much more consistently than it did in SSB4, and the first two hits can now lock, though its slim hitbox makes this difficult on most prone characters. It also has very low range compared to his other moves, but is very fast in comparison to them (frame 5). Its second hit resembles Tempest Kick, one of Dunban's ether Arts.
			1.5%
			5% (clean), 4.2% (late)
Forward tilt		Side Swing (サイドスイング)	13.5%/12%	An inward slash. Its impressive damage output and high knockback growth make it powerful for a tilt attack. While near the edge of Final Destination, its blade hitbox KOs at roughly 97%. It also deals high shield damage when Buster is active. However, its range is shorter than Shulk's other moves, its narrow hitbox allows smaller characters to crouch under it, and it has high ending lag. It is almost identical to one of Shulk's auto-attacks.
Up tilt		Hop Swing (ホップスイング)	10% (clean), 10%/9% (late)	An overhead arcing slash. It has a wide hitbox and incredible range for a tilt attack, being able to almost reach the top platform of Battlefield, while having relatively low ending lag for its range. As a result, it is a useful move overall and can function as an anti-air attack, limit edge get-up options, pressure shields, or trap landings. Without Arts, it can function as a situational KOing option thanks to its high knockback growth, KOing grounded opponents at 160% without rage. With the Buster Art, it is able to quickly rack up damage against opponents on platforms, and with the Smash Art it functions as one of Shulk's strongest KO moves, KOing within the 105% range. However, it only hits in front of Shulk at its beginning, and has moderate start-up and ending lag.
Down tilt		Low Cutter (ローカッター)	9.5%/7.5%	A kneeling inward slash. Moderately slow for a tilt attack, but it has good range and the lowest amount of ending lag out of his tilts. As a result, it is a good combo starter while Jump, Speed, or Buster are active. Unlike in Smash 4, the hitbox now covers the end of the beam blade. When spaced correctly, it is also able to hit edge-hanging opponents once their invincibility ends.
Dash attack		Dash Slash (ダッシュスラッシュ)	12.5%/11%	An inward slash. Somewhat short-ranged despite Shulk dashing forwards during the move. It has decent damage output and can function as a situational KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 160%. However, it has high ending lag (28 frames). With the Speed Art, it becomes a more effective burst option with more horizontal range thanks to Shulk lunging further forward, but the Shield Art instead reduces his burst range during the move. It is almost identical to Stream Edge, one of Shulk's Break-inducing Arts.
Forward smash		Monado Smash (モナドスマッシュ)	5.5% (hit 1), 13%/11.5% (hit 2)	A forward thrust, which causes the Monado to reveal its beam blade. It consists of two hits: the first is from the Monado's blade, which leads into the second hit from its beam blade. It is one of the longest ranged non-projectile forward smashes in the game; when coupled with its ability to be angled, it can hit opponents hanging from ledge if spaced correctly. The Buster Art grants the move good shield-pressuring potential, as it can deplete half a shield. While near the edge of Final Destination, the non-angled blade/beam KOs at 74%/86%. However, the first hit's low priority makes it easily canceled by weak attacks, while the move's high ending lag (44 frames) makes it completely unsafe on shield. As a result, it is best used as a punishment option or as a high-risk, high-reward mix-up against approaching opponents. It is almost identical to Slit Edge, one of Shulk's physical Arts, albeit with the Monado being held in a standard grip instead of sideways.
Up smash		Anti-Air Monado (アンチエアモナド)	4.5% (hit 1), 13.5% (hit 2)	Squats and slams the Monado's hilt onto the ground, causing its beam blade to thrust upward. An overall effective move for punishing, as the first hit's deceptive horizontal range launches opponents into the second hit. This allows it to punish rolls, landings, and edge get-up options. The second hit's vertical range, high knockback and transcendent priority allow it to KO reliably. Unlike forward smash, it does not possess a sweetspot and sourspot, which also gives it consistent KO potential at around 109%. The move has considerable start-up (hits on frame 18) and ending lag (37 frames), making it punishable.
Down smash		Pivot Monado (ピボットモナド)	14%/11% (hit 1), 12%/10% (hit 2), 10%/8% (hit 3), 8%/6% (hit 4), 6%/4% (hit 5)	A series of circular slashes around himself, with Shulk spinning in a full circle three times. It is capable of hitting during any of its five hitboxes (three at Shulk's front and two at his back), with its first hit being strong enough to KO reliably near the edge at 78%/85% (blade/beam). Each spin quickly loses power, but the final spin has slightly more range. The Smash Art grants the later hits KO potential, despite their weak power without any Monado Arts. It is usually impossible to connect more than one hit together unless Buster is active, in which case it will break full shields if an opponent is cornered at an edge and the first three hits land. Extremely useful for punishing rolls and sidesteps thanks to its multiple hitboxes and range, but suffers from the most overall lag out of Shulk's smash attacks because of its considerable start-up (hits on frame 18) and ending lag (41 frames). It is almost identical to War Swing, one of Reyn's physical Arts.
Neutral aerial		Clock Turn (クロックターン)	8.5%/7.5%	A circular slash around himself. It is one of Shulk's most useful approach options, thanks to its wide range, full 360 degree coverage, low landing lag (6 frames) and long duration. Unlike in SSB4 , the hitboxes now match the trail until the end where the Monado retracts its beam blade. Its hitbox begins slightly behind Shulk's toes and continues all the way over his head, allowing the initial frames to start combos if an opponent misses a tech, the later frames being able to punish air dodges, and the final frames having approach-deterring utility. Overall, it is one of Shulk's defining moves, as it can start combos while Jump, Speed or Buster are active, which can lead into a grab, neutral attack, forward tilt, up tilt, aerials or Air Slash. It can also neutralize weak projectiles, such as those from Toon Link or Diddy Kong. However, its long-lasting hitbox and very high ending lag (46 frames) make it a very unsafe move to use off-stage when fast falling, as Shulk will be in serious danger of self-destructing. It is often considered to be one of the best neutral aerials in the game due to its large hitboxes, long duration, and excellent combo starting ability.
Forward aerial		Wide Slash (ワイドスラッシュ)	8%/6.5%	A downward slash. It has the lowest amount of ending lag out of his aerials (24 frames) and low landing lag (10 frames), while its range grants it excellent coverage for an aerial, which makes it great for interrupting approaches and spacing. It is also a dependable combo option with either Speed or Buster active, and a powerful edge-guarding move, as it can easily cover their options (in Jump) or KO them outright while offstage at percents as low as 50% (with Smash). In Jump/Speed/Buster, it can allow Shulk to perform a wall of pain ending with Air Slash; this is a damage/KO combo at certain percentages, which has been dubbed the "Fair Slash" by players.
Back aerial		Behind Thrust (ビハインドスラスト)	12.5% (clean), 12.5%/8.5% (late)	A delayed reverse gripped thrust. The Monado's blade deals respectable damage with high knockback growth, making it a powerful KO move; it KOs at the edge at roughly 94%/137% (blade/beam) without Arts, and 65%/85% in Smash which makes it the second most powerful back aerial, surpassed only by Zelda's. It has lost its initial blade hitbox near Shulk's body from Smash 4, but is no longer as punishable due to its reduced landing lag (11 frames). Hence, it is a useful spacing tool due to its high horizontal range, but only if spaced spaced correctly or alongside Jump/Speed's aerial drift. However, it has slow start-up (19 frames) and a narrow, brief hitbox, making it very difficult to time; a few consistent methods are to perform it at the peak of short hop before fast falling without Arts, or immediately out of a short hop in the Speed Art.
Up aerial		Stab Up (スタッブアップ)	5.5% (hit 1), 10.5%/8% (hit 2)	An upward thrust, which causes the Monado to reveal its beam blade. Like his forward and up smashes, the first hit from the Monado's blade leads into the second hit from its beam blade. It has tremendous vertical range that is capable of reaching through the main platform of Town and City; however, it has very minimal horizontal range and each hit only lasts 3 frames, which can make it difficult to connect with, especially if Shulk has too much momentum. It is one of the most damaging up aerials in the game if both hits connect (sweetspot only); coupled with its second hit's high knockback growth, it is a fearsome (albeit difficult to land) KO option near the upper blast line. It also has the second lowest landing lag out of Shulk's aerials (9 frames), giving it some spammability if under a platform. If the second hit of an up aerial lands, Shulk can land, switch into another Art, and combo into another up aerial; this is a KO confirm known as the "Monado Cyclone" combo that can work at a wide percent range with the right Arts active, though it is quite difficult to set up. Except for the Buster Art, if the second hit is sweetspotted, it is the strongest up aerial in the game, KOing slightly earlier than Zelda's.
Down aerial		Stab Down (スタッブダウン)	7.5% (hit 1 grounded), 6% (hit 1 aerial), 11.5%/10.5% (hit 2)	A downward thrust, which causes the Monado to reveal its beam blade. It hits twice in the same fashion as his up aerial, but the first hit deals more damage to grounded opponents. The second hit meteor smashes aerial opponents if the blade hitbox connects. Like his up aerial, it has minimal horizontal range, each hit only lasts 3 frames, and its first hit might not connect into its second hit if Shulk is moving too fast. However, it has excellent range and high knockback, making it a decent edge-guarding option, as it can stage spike edge-hanging opponents, reach distant offstage opponents, or even KO outright at the edge starting from 108%. The first hit can also drag opponents offstage for a meteor smash if they are standing right next to an edge.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out with his left arm.
Pummel		Grab Hilt Bash (つかみヒルトバッシュ)	1.3%	Hits the opponent with the Monado's pommel. Average power and speed without any Arts active. It becomes the second most damaging pummel in the game with Buster active (1.82%), only behind Kazuya.
Forward throw		Hold Swing (ホールドスイング)	3% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	An upward slash. It lacks true follow-ups because of its base knockback, but it can lead into a dash attack or a forward aerial at low percentages with Speed or Buster active. With the Smash Art active, it is a powerful KOing option, doing so at about 110% at the edge of Final Destination. It is also capable of locking nearby floored opponents, a trait shared with all of Shulk's throws.
Back throw		Back Breaker (バックブレイカー)	3% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	Pulls the opponent behind himself and performs a reversed gripped thrust. Shulk's most damaging throw and causes the opponent to suffer back-facing knockback, which allows it to be used as a set-up for Back Slash. With Smash active, it is one of the strongest back throws in the game, as it KOs around 90%, surpassing Ness' back throw.
Up throw		Underhand Spear (アンダーハンドスピア)	3% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Heaves the opponent in the air and performs a kneeling upward thrust. It is mostly used for aerial mixups since it cannot true combo into most attacks: at low percentages and/or with Buster active, it can lead into up tilt or Air Slash, or a ground attack if the opponent air dodges. With Jump active, it can lead into a neutral aerial or forward aerial, the latter of which requires the opponent to DI away. At high percentages, it can act as a set-up into the "Monado Purge" combo, which is an up throw to up aerial, though this is extremely situational since opponents can air dodge out of it in any direction.
Down throw		Earth Pierce (アースピアース)	3% (hit 1), 2.5% (throw)	Pins the opponent to the ground and performs a jumping downward thrust. With no Arts active or any Art active aside from Buster, it lacks combo or KO potential because of its throw hitbox's base knockback and very low damage output. However, it is an excellent combo throw with Buster active, as it can follow up with down tilt or forward tilt at low to mid percentages, forward smash, forward aerial or Air Slash at mid percentages, and even start a KO combo into Air Slash or other attacks if Buster is buffer-canceled during the throw's animation.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Slashes around himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Slashes around himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Slashes around himself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs an inward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special		Monado Arts	Jump: 6s duration, 18s cooldown Speed: 8s duration, 16s cooldown Shield: 6s duration, 16s cooldown Buster: 10s duration, 14s cooldown Smash: 8s duration, 16s cooldown	Activates one of five Monado Arts: Jump, Speed, Shield, Buster, or Smash. Each Art significantly enhances particular attributes at the cost of significantly hindering others, and all last for varying durations unless manually canceled. A wheel can be used by holding the special button, selecting an Art, and then releasing the Special button, which instantly activates an Art even while in hitstun; alternatively, the special button can be pressed once to cycle through each Art manually, and pressed thrice to cancel a current Art. Each Art has varied cooldown times and durations. Shulk poses and announces an Art's name if it activates when he is not attacking or dodging; this grants 14 frames of intangibility and can be used to replace landing lag animations or change directions in midair. This is pivotal for several Monado Art-based advanced techniques, including the Monado Art landing lag canceling and dial storage.
Side special		Back Slash	10%/9% (front hit), 16%/14% (back hit), 15%/13% (back hit landing)	A leaping downward slash, with Shulk occasionally yelling "Back Slash!" during the move. The Monado's blade beam glows red during the move, referencing physical Arts in his home game. Shulk takes a small leap forward upon start-up, giving it slightly more range and allows him to jump over small projectiles. The distance of the leap can be adjusted by holding left or right during the leap. True to its name, it deals more damage and has higher knockback if it hits the opponent's back: the blade/beam hitbox will KO at around 74%/88% at the edge. Conversely, the front hitbox is incapable of KOing until excessively high percentages, unless in the Smash Art. It has recovery potential since it snaps to the edge if started at a height slightly higher than the top platform of Battlefield, though it is risky since the move cannot be canceled.
Up special		Air Slash	6% (hit 1 early), 5% (hit 1 late), 5.5% (hit 2)	A jumping upward slash, similar to Dolphin Slash, with Shulk occasionally yelling "Air Slash!" The Monado's blade beam glows pink during the move, referencing Break-inducing Arts in his home game. It is a natural combo: its first hit has set knockback, while pressing the attack button again will result in a second hit, which is an outward slash that grants a small vertical boost, especially if used late. Its second hit has extremely high knockback growth, which makes it a useful KOing option, especially from out of shield; its second hit KOs approximately at 106% near an edge. The Jump Art increases vertical distance gained by the first slash. However, the Jump Art can cause the natural combo to whiff due to the additional vertical distance. The first slash will automatically snap to edges during its ending frames.
Down special		Vision	1.3× (minimum: 10%/9% (normal), 13%/10% (forward-held))	Braces himself while holding the Monado near his face to foresee an attack. If he is hit, Shulk counterattacks with a slow, powerful, and long-ranged slash that launches opponents forward. Alternatively, holding forward while counterattacking on the ground causes a fast dashing slash that deals more damage and knockback growth in addition to launching opponents backward, but its speed and Shulk's momentum can cause it to occasionally miss its target. Previously one of the strongest counters in SSB4, its knockback scaling has remained similar and it is nearly as strong as it was, but it is no longer unblockable. Monado Arts can affect the KO potential of the counterattack. As a downside, Vision loses counter frames if repeatedly used over a short period of time, making it and Witch Time the only counterattacks that lose effectiveness if spammed. Counter frames are regained over time or once Shulk is KO'd. The counter's pose resembles Shadow Eye, one of Shulk's supportive Arts. The normal counterattack is almost identical to Stream Edge, one of Shulk's Break-inducing Arts, whereas the forward-held counterattack is a reference to Thunder, one of Dunban's ether Arts.
Final Smash		Chain Attack	3% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-12), 12% (hit 13 front opponent), 2% (hit 13 other opponents) 5% (hit 14). Total: 46% (front opponent), 36% (other opponents)	Emits a sphere of bright light in front of himself. If it hits an opponent, Shulk summons Dunban, Riki, and Fiora to perform a Chain Attack on the opponent, which he then concludes with a powerful slash. Chain Attack's damage output and knockback are also affected by Monado Arts. However, it has a short range, as Shulk needs to be close to the opponent in order for its first hit to land. In addition, Arts can expire during the Chain Attack's cutscene, which affects its damage output and knockback.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	97	1.87 – Initial dash 1.672 – Run	1.155	0.094	0.009	1.113	0.01 – Base 0.04 – Additional	0.098	1.58 – Base 2.528 – Fast-fall	3	33.5 - Base 16.8 - Short hop	33.5

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Jumps down onto the stage while performing a downward slash using the Monado. Shulk then quickly turns his back to the screen and places the Monado on his back while Buster's symbol flashes briefly.

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  Shulk's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Holds his right hand out and says while shaking his head, "Now it's Shulk time!" (穏やかじゃないですね。, Not being gentle, huh?). The animation itself resembles the one Shulk performs when engaging in a conversation in Xenoblade Chronicles. The English phrase is a reference to Reyn, his best friend and one of his party members, who utters the phrase "Now it's Reyn time!" whenever his Talent Art gauge is completely filled during combat. The Japanese phrase similarly references a popular phrase in Japan; in this case, a line Shulk commonly says when accepting quests.
• Side taunt: Grips the Monado's handle with his right hand while triumphantly pumping his left fist and announcing "I'm really feeling it!" (だんだんノってきたよ！, Gradually getting the hang of it!). This is one of the lines Shulk may announce in Xenoblade Chronicles when his tension level increases in combat.
• Down taunt: Grips the Monado with both hands, activates it, and poses similarly to when he activates Buster while saying "This is the Monado's power!" (モナドの力よ！, The Monado's power! / The power of the Monado!). If timed correctly, it can dodge certain projectiles, such as Blaster, Bow and Arrows, and Palutena Bow. This is one of the lines Shulk may announce when he uses his "Activate Monado" Talent Art in Xenoblade Chronicles.

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  Shulk's up taunt.

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  Shulk's side taunt.

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  Shulk's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Taps his foot while thinking about something. It is based on his idle animation from Xenoblade Chronicles.
• Tenses and quickly looks behind himself, then in front of himself before easing up.

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  Shulk's first idle pose.

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  Shulk's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Shulk Shulk Shulk!	Shu - ru - ku!	Shulk attacca! Eh - eh!	Shu - Shu - Shulk!	Shuuuulk

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Schluss mit Ulk! Seht auf Shulk!	Shulk, Shulk, y na - die más!	Shulk! Shulk! Shulk!	Shu - lu - ku!

Victory poses

• Left: Raises the Monado, activates it, and swings it in an outward, downward arc. He then deactivates it and places it on his back, saying either "I got through that pretty good!" (よかった、これで解決ですね。, All good, it's been quite resolved.) or "This is a good result!" (結構よい仕上がりだね。, It was a splendid completion, huh?).
• Up: Swings the Monado twice while it is active (the first swing is inward with both hands, and the second is an outward swing with his right arm). Then he holds it level to his head (horizontally lengthwise) as it deactivates, saying either "The future is ours to decide." (みんなの気持ちが伝わってきたよ！, Everyone's feelings have been coming through!) or "I've got a good rhythm going!" (ほんと、いい流れがつくれているよ！, For real, this makes it a good flow!).
• Right: Bows down with the Monado held lengthwise, with the Monado activating before Shulk holds it in a reverse grip, saying either "I can feel the power!" (うん、力を感じる！, Hmm, I feel the power.) or "I can change the future." (未来は…変えられるんだ！, The future… I can change it!).

The second half of the riff of You Will Know Our Names, the battle theme used in Xenoblade Chronicles when fighting a unique monster, slightly sped up.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Shulk players (SSBU)

•  Akio - Initially known for his strong results online, Akio made his debut offline in 2023 with several regional-level wins before becoming better known after placing 2nd at LEADD+2 defeating Paseriman. Since then, he has become one of the best Shulk players in the world, especially in 2024, where he placed 17th at Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi defeating Kameme and 33rd at DELTA 8 defeating Asimo while ranking 76th on the LumiRank 2024.1.
•  jaredisking1 - The best Shulk player in North America since 2022. In addition to regularly placing top 8 at Pacific Northwest events, he is also the third Shulk player to place top 8 at a major, placing 5th at Rise 'N Grind, and has also placed 13th at Port Priority 7; these two performances mark some of the best Shulk performances in North America during this time.
•  Kome - The best Shulk player of all-time who regularly ranked in the top 50 between 2019 and 2023. Although infamously inconsistent, he is the only Shulk player who has placed top 8 at multiple majors, including 2nd at EVO Japan 2020 — the closest a Shulk player has come to winning a major — and 3rd at 2GG: SwitchFest 2019, Kagaribi 5, and Wave 4.
•  Nicko - The best Shulk player in North America in 2019, and the second-best Shulk player in the world during this time. He is best known for winning Play With Heart and placing 2nd at Port Priority 5 defeating Dabuz twice, and has also done well at majors, including placing 13th at 2GG: Prime Saga and Mainstage. Although less active since 2019, he still manages to place well when he attends, such as placing 2nd at Wavedash 2022.
•  Tru4 - The best Shulk player in Europe in 2019, being ranked 91st on the OrionRank 2019. He is best known for winning DoKomi 2019 and placing 7th at Ultimate Fighting Arena 2019, making him only the second Shulk player to place top 8 at a major. He was less active in the subsequent years and eventually stopped competing, but remains a prominent community member in Germany.

Tier placement and history

Throughout Ultimate's lifespan, many players placed Shulk as a high tier or even top tier character in their own tier lists; this is due to the buffs he received such as reduced landing lag and the ability to utilize his Monado Arts faster. However, due to a high learning curve and reliance of advanced techniques like dial storage, Shulk's playerbase has remained rather small compared to other top- and high-tier characters; his representation has hovered around the top 30 for most of the game's competitive lifespan. Despite his relatively small playerbase, his best players have historically performed well with the character. Shulk was represented in the early metagame by Kome and Nicko, both of whom were ultimately ranked on the Fall 2019 PGRU. Although Nicko became less active after the online metagame, Kome continued to see strong, albeit inconsistent, results at majors, while jaredisking1 also achieved some good placements in the United States. As such, despite sparse tournament representation, Shulk's strong performances from dedicated mains led to him being ranked 19th on the first tier list, at the end of the top tier.

However, many players contested Shulk's placement on the first tier list, in part due to his top-level representation remaining small for a top-tier. Further hurting Shulk's reputation was a noticeable hit in representation after the release of the first tier list, as his best players became less consistent and active, leading his representation to slip below the top 40 by the end of 2023. This inconsistency was most apparent with Kome, who, despite always being somewhat inconsistent before 2023, became even more volatile: he would have strong peaks such as placing 3rd at Wave 4, but would also have some poor lows, including placing 65th at Maesuma TOP 12. As such, Shulk slipped six spots to 25th on the second tier list, now ranking in the A- tier.

Classic Mode: Witness the Monado's Power

Shulk's congratulations screen.

Shulk's opponents represent one of the Monado Arts and are fought in the cycling order of each Art in Super Smash Bros. 4. The penultimate battle against Mega Man continues the theme by having Mega Man represent Monado Enchant from Xenoblade Chronicles (represented by the kanji for "Machine"), which references that Art's ability of allowing Shulk's party to damage Mechon with conventional weapons.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Falco	Lylat Cruise	Space Armada	Represents Monado Jump.
2	Sonic	Windy Hill Zone	Windy Hill - Zone 1	Represents Monado Speed.
3	Giant King K. Rool	Jungle Japes	Crocodile Cacophony	Represents Monado Shield.
4	Cloud	Midgar	Let the Battles Begin!	Represents Monado Buster. It is also a reference to the name of Cloud's signature weapon, the Buster Sword.
5	Little Mac	Boxing Ring	World Circuit Theme	Represents Monado Smash.
6	Mega Man	Wily Castle	Metal Man Stage	Represents Monado Enchant.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Shulk has Xenoblade Chronicles Medley accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Shulk in World of Light

Shulk was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Shulk is briefly seen on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. After the Master Hands begin turning into energy for Galeem to absorb, Shulk experiences a vision where all of the fighters are captured and the universe is consumed by light at the hands of Galeem. Shulk turns back attempting to warn his comrades, but before he can tell the other fighters what he foresaw, his vision comes true when Galeem unleashes a shower of light that vaporizes Shulk off-screen and imprisons him with the rest of the fighters except for Kirby.

In the mode proper, he can be found right over a cliff that leads to a waterfall. The area Shulk can be found at is rocky and grassy with many water features, reminiscent to the appearance of Gaur Plain. His location is guarded by the spirit of Camilla.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
57		Shulk	Attack	8,200	Gaur Plain (Ω form)	Xenoblade Chronicles Medley

Spirit

Shulk's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Shulk. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Shulk has been unlocked. Unlocking Shulk in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

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  951. Shulk

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
253		Beedle	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Shulk •Toon Link		2,600	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	•Item: Beetle	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy	Dragon Roost Island
915		ProtoMan.EXE	Mega Man Battle Network Series	•Shulk		9,300	Mute City SNES (Battlefield form)	•Item: Swords	•The enemy has increased melee-weapon damage and move speed	Zero (Theme of ZERO (from Mega Man X))
966		Rex	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Shulk (90 HP) •Lucina (90 HP)		9,900	Kongo Falls (Ω form)	•Hazard: Lava Floor	•The floor is lava •Stamina battle •The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar	Battle!! - Xenoblade Chronicles 2
							Cloud Sea of Alrest (Ω form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar	Argentum
1,148		Satoru	Trade & Battle: Card Hero Series	•Shulk •Mewtwo •Ridley •Bowser		1,700	Pokémon Stadium 2	•Move Speed ↓	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Worthy Rival Battle
1,158		Ryota Hayami	Wave Race Series	•Shulk		1,800	Wuhu Island (Jetski starting line)	•Slippery Stage •Buoyancy Reduced	•You can't swim •The stage's platforms are very slippery	Wii Sports Resort
1,165		Isa Jo	Sin & Punishment Series	•Shulk •Mii Gunner (Moveset 2222, Saki Amamiya Wig, Saki Amamiya Outfit, Normal Voice Type 1)		3,600	Midgar (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with a Ray Gun •The enemy starts the battle with a Rocket Belt	Opening Stage
1,221		Satoru Amatsubo	Project Hacker: Kakusei	•Shulk •Mega Man ×3		1,500	Wily Castle (hazards off)	N/A	•Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Shooting Star
1,271		Allen	Culdcept Series	•Shulk •King K. Rool •Ridley		3,500	Arena Ferox	•Item: Assist Trophy	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Worthy Rival Battle

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
952		Fiora	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Lucina •Shulk		9,300	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	•Defense ↓	•You have reduced defense after a little while	Time to Fight! - Xenoblade Chronicles	Shulk
953		Mecha-Fiora	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Corrin •Shulk		13,200	Reset Bomb Forest	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Riki)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	You Will Know Our Names	Shulk
956		Dunban	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 3123, Dunban Wig, Dunban Outfit, High Voice Type 1) •Shulk		9,200	Gaur Plain	•Sudden Final Smash	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power	You Will Know Our Names	Shulk
957		Melia	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Palutena •Shulk		4,200	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Poison Floor	•The floor is poisonous •The enemy's magic attacks have increased power	Time to Fight! - Xenoblade Chronicles	Shulk
958		Riki (Xenoblade Chronicles)	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Roy •Shulk		8,000	Gaur Plain (Ω form)	•Earthquake •Flowery •Assist Trophy Enemies (Riki)	•The enemy's special moves have increased power •Hostile assist trophies will appear •You constantly take minor damage after a little while	Gaur Plain	Shulk
967		Pyra	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Lucina •Shulk		13,900	Halberd (Battlefield form)	•Item: Fire Bar •Hazard: Lava Floor	•The floor is lava •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Bar	Still, Move Forward!	Rex
968		Mythra	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Corrin •Shulk		13,500	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash •The enemy starts the battle with an enhanced Beam Sword	Still, Move Forward!	Rex
1,376		ASTRAL CHAIN Hero (Female)	ASTRAL CHAIN	•Zero Suit Samus •Metal Shulk		9,500	Final Destination	•Item: Black Hole	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors special moves	Main Theme - METAL GEAR SOLID PEACE WALKER	Sword Legion
1,465		Pneuma	Xenoblade Chronicles Series	•Pyra/Mythra / (130 HP) •Shulk (130 HP)		13,400	Cloud Sea of Alrest	•Metal Shift •Move Speed ↑ •Sudden Final Smash	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash after a little while •The enemy will occasionally turn metal when the enemy's at high damage •Stamina battle	Counterattack	Rex
1,516		Noah & Mio	[sic]	•Dark Samus (120 HP) •Mii Brawler (Moveset 2132, Nia Wig, Nia Outfit, Normal Voice Type 4) (80 HP) •Shulk (80 HP)		9,300	Bridge of Eldin (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd •The enemy starts the battle with a Beam Sword	Battle!! - Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Noah

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Shulk's fighter card.

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  Shulk's unlock notice.

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  Idling on the Great Plateau Tower.

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  Activating the Smash Art on Battlefield.

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  Fighting Samus on Gaur Plain.

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  Crouching near Snake on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Using Chain Attack.

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  Taunting on Summit.

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  Getting attacked by Lucina on Temple.

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  Getting hit by Sonic's Spin Charge on Mario Galaxy.

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  Shulk, Link and Marth advancing towards Rathalos on Coliseum.

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  Activating the Buster Art on Battlefield.

Trivia

• Shulk's pose in his official artwork resembles the pose he assumes when selecting Monado Arts from the move's menu.
• Shulk's artwork was one of the three that have been updated on the official site, alongside Falco and Palutena. In his case, the lighting on his hair and face has been modified, making his features appear less flat.
• In the Gourmet Race section of the World of Light, a visual glitch occurs when the "New Record!" announcement appears. After it shows, Shulk will run with the Monado in hand until he performs another action.
• Despite fighting mechanical foes in his game, Galleom does not appear as a boss in Shulk's Classic Mode route.
• In Shulk's right victory pose, his mouth will either be open or closed during the actual pose depending on what quote he is saying. His mouth will be closed if the "I can change the future!" quote plays, while it will be open if his "I can feel the power!" quote is played.
• Shulk appears in the most Legend-rank spirit battles as an ally, at a total of four.
  • Specifically, he appears in the Mecha-Fiora, Pyra, Mythra, and Pneuma spirit battles.