Lucas (SSB4)

Lucas in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	PK Starstorm
Tier	F (36)

“	Lucas Comes Out of Nowhere!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Lucas (リュカ, Lucas) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 as the second downloadable character, released alongside Roy and Ryu on June 14th, 2015. He was confirmed to be a playable character during the Nintendo Direct presentation on April 1st, 2015. He is once again voiced by Lani Minella, albeit via recycled voice clips from Brawl and with some of the clips slightly sped up to match the general aesthetics.

Lucas is currently ranked 36th on the tier list, placing him in the F tier. This is a slight improvement from his ranking in Brawl, where was ranked 30th out of 38. Lucas is no longer plagued by 10 extra grab release frames and hitstun canceling, both of which were major detriments to his survival and combo game, respectively. Aside from that, Lucas' own assets are his fast attack speed, disjointed hitboxes, projectiles that can pressure or keep away opponents, and an impressive grab game. However, while the major issues resulting in his near bottom-tier placement in Brawl have been fixed, he was nerfed as a character due to his overall damage output, knockback, and range all being reduced, as well as the loss of several of his more advanced techniques from Brawl. Other issues include slow ground mobility and a recovery that is predictable and highly vulnerable to gimps and edge-guarding. Overall, Lucas' flaws slightly outweigh his strengths, which is evident with a lack of notable impact both in competitive play and on the metagame of SSB4. Despite this, he does have a few dedicated players to his credit.

Attributes

Lucas' mobility has not changed much since Brawl; he still has average dashing speed and gravity, above average air speed, below average falling speed, very slow walking speed and decent weight.

While Lucas's mobility speed is rather unimpressive, his attack speed compensates for it; notable examples include his neutral attack, which comes out on frame 2, and his down tilt, which comes out on frame 3 and is tied with Little Mac, R.O.B., Ness, and Meta Knight's down tilts for being the fastest one in the game. As a result, Lucas' attacks are useful for damage racking and creating combos. To further complement this, a lot of his ground attacks have virtually no ending lag, making them fairly safe.

Despite his short stature and lack of a weapon, Lucas has good range thanks to his disjointed hitboxes. All of his smash attacks, nearly all of his aerial attacks and some of his ground attacks are disjointed, which can be further supplemented by his projectiles. In addition to their disjointed hitboxes, Lucas' smash attacks are among the strongest in the game. Like in Brawl, his up smash is among the strongest up smashes in the game while also possessing both a large disjointed hitbox and the ability to KO as low as 54% when fully charged. The first hit of his down smash is also one of the strongest in the game and is a decent edge-guarding option, while his forward smash has decent speed, can reflect projectiles and has good KO potential, especially when tipped.

However, Lucas biggest strength is his grab game. His grab, despite being the tether grab with the shortest range, has the least ending lag of all tether grabs and has good range nonetheless. He possesses arguably the best set of throws in the game, with his up, forward and back throws being strong enough to be viable KOing options (his up throw being the third strongest behind Mewtwo's and Charizard's, and his forward throw being the strongest alongside Bowser). Also, due to the removal of hitstun cancelling and its significantly reduced knockback, his down throw is an excellent combo starter. Finally, his pummel is quick and good at racking up damage before a throw.

Lucas' combo game is also among the best in the game. His down tilt is a great combo starter, as it can combo into itself, neutral attack, and sometimes forward smash. His neutral and forward aerials can combo into themselves at lower percents, while the former can also do so into other aerials (except for back aerial) at low percents. As mentioned, his down throw is excellent for combos; it can be used as a set-up into his neutral and forward aerials beginning at 0% and until 50%, while it can be followed up by his up aerial beginning at 50% and until 100%, the latter of which can be useful in scoring a KO.

His special moveset comes equipped with versatility. Like Ness, he possesses three PSI-based projectiles. PK Freeze can freeze his opponents, hence the name, has little cooldown and can work somewhat well as an edge-guarding tool. While his PK Fire does not repeatedly hit opponents and potentially trap them like Ness' PK Fire, Lucas' deals decent knockback and can be used to give Lucas some space as it also provides a small bit of recoil, both on the ground and in the air. Lastly, PK Thunder does not fizzle out like Ness' PK Thunder when it hits opponents, but instead hits them multiple times while also boasting tighter controls and PK Thunder 2 granting Lucas farther distance. Lastly, his PSI Magnet allows Lucas to deal with camping foes that carry powerful, absorbable projectiles like Mewtwo.

However, Lucas does have his flaws. With his aforementioned sub-par mobility, fast characters such as Zero Suit Samus and Sonic can give Lucas a difficult time. Another problem is his lack of approach options, due to his aerials no longer auto-canceling from a short hop, PK Fire having low distance overall, and his grab aerial having short range as well. His moves can also function erratically at times; his up aerial, whose hitbox is significantly smaller than it was in Brawl, can miss large opponents like Bowser. Another prominent example is his down smash, which only hits one time and thus gives opponents a perfect opportunity to punish Lucas if they manage to shield in time. Lucas can also have problems scoring KOs despite his smash attacks' impressive strengths, as they mainly require effective reading and should be used wisely as a result. Despite it being better in many ways than Ness (as he possesess a tether recovery), his other method of recovery is also easily gimped because of its much lower priority than Ness, and it can be still be reflected or absorbed, most infamously by Rosalina & Luma. Like other DLC characters, Lucas does not have any custom moves, which necessitates players to learn how to make the best use of his special moves.

Altogether, Lucas' negatives are slightly more prominent than his positives. While he has excellent damage racking abilities along with many ways to mix up his approach, said approach is predictable and can also be faulty at times, while he can also have a hard time KOing opponents outside of edge-guarding, and he can be easily gimped. Lucas' current tournament representation is poor, like most DLC characters, and he lacks tournament results.

Changes from Brawl

Lucas received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, but he was objectively nerfed overall despite being the lowest ranked mid-tier character in Brawl. The most notable improvement he received was the removal of his 10 extra frame grab-release animation, which was one of his most significant flaws and was also shared with Ness. Lucas's recovery has been improved, as both PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake now cover noticeably more distance. Rope Snake has also received more utility as a spacing option due to it receiving a hitbox when used as a grab aerial. Lucas has also been indirectly buffed from the removal of hitstun cancelling, which is most evident with the modifications to his down throw having resulted in it becoming his most useful combo starter aside from his down tilt.

However, the 10 extra frame grab-release was not the only noticeable gameplay-related aspect that Lucas lost. He can no longer use the Zap Jump or the Magnet Pull, which were his two most pivotal techniques in Brawl. However, the aforementioned buffs to PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake can make up for their absences if both are performed accordingly. In addition to this, many of his attacks have seen their knockback and range reduced, while some of them have had their cooldown increased. This is most notably seen in his forward and back aerials losing their ability to auto-cancel from a short hop, his down aerial having increased start-up, and his up aerial having notably less range while also being static, all of which significantly hinders his already poor approach and landing options. A number of Lucas's damage outputs have also decreased, though this is made up by his newfound combo ability. He additionally has a harder time KOing because of his forward smash, up smash, forward aerial, neutral aerial and down throw having reduced knockback alongside the loss of his advanced techniques. Overall, despite the many buffs Lucas has received, he has not significantly improved as a character from Brawl, and his current tournament representation is poor as a result.

Aesthetics

• Due to the vibrant aesthetics used in SSB4, Lucas' overall color scheme is brighter. Like Ness, Lucas has lost the colored hue in his eyes (teal in Lucas' case), he is slightly taller and thinner, has a smaller and more proportionate head and his shirt stripes are now completely horizontal with no partial stripes. He also has slightly rosy cheeks.
• Lucas is more expressive, such as consistently having a smile on his face and scowling when performing some attacks.
• Lucas' PSI-based attacks have updates sound effects and visuals.
• PSI Magnet's animation has been slightly changed. Lucas now keeps both eyes open instead of closing one while performing it.
• Lucas has the same stance as Ness when holding a light item.

Attributes

• Lucas' air speed is slightly faster (1.05 → 1.1).
• The extra 10 frames of Lucas' grab release have been removed.
• Jumpsquat is 1 frame faster (5 frames → 4).
• Lucas' fast falling speed is faster (1.918 → 2.192), which makes him less vulnerable to juggling.
• Zap Jump and Magnet Pull have been removed, which limits his advanced technical options.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack deals 1.5% less damage (10% → 8.5%).
• Neutral attack's initial hits launch opponents at a higher trajectory, which increases its combo ability.
• Dash attack has decreased start-up (frame 17 → 15) with decreased cooldown (interruptibility frame 42 → 39). The sweetspot deals 1% more damage (12% → 13%) with horizontal knockback and is now located at the tip.
• Sourspotted dash attack deals 1% less damage (10% → 9%) and decreased knockback.
• Up, down and sourspotted forward tilts all deal less damage (11% → 9.5% (up), 6% → 3% (down), 9% → 7.5% (sourspotted forward)).
• Forward tilt has increased start-up (frame 6 → 7) and increased cooldown (interruptibility frame 23 → 26).
• Up tilt has decreased cooldown (interruptibility frame 40 → 37).
• Down tilt's point-blank hitbox now slightly launches opponents into the air, which increases its combo ability at higher percents.
• Down tilt no longer trips opponents, has slightly decreased range and increased cooldown (interruptibility frame 14 → 16).
• Forward smash has decreased base knockback (60 → 50) and has gained a sourspot on all non-tipper hitboxes that deals 1% less damage.
• Forward smash uses an original sound effect instead of using a kick sound effect like it did in Brawl.
• Forward smash's animation has slightly changed, as Lucas's moves his head slightly more.
• Forward smash and down smash no longer have transcendent priority.
• Up smash deals less knockback (50 base/85 growth → 48 base/77 growth) and has decreased hitbox sizes (14/13/12/10/10u → 12/11/10/8/6.5u). It can also no longer force ledge-hanging opponents into the main hitbox.
• Up and down smashes use charging PSI sound effects.
• Down smash's first hit has increased base knockback (40 → 43).
• Down smash has decreased range (10/12/14u → 8/9.8/12u).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral, forward and down aerials all deal less damage (17% → 12% (neutral), 12% → 11.5% (forward), 20% → 15.5% (down)).
• Neutral, forward and up aerials no longer autocancel in a short hop due to drastically tightened autocancel windows, significantly hindering his approaching and landing options.
• Neutral aerial's base knockback has decreased (70 → 40), its landing lag has been decreased (18 frames → 13), its final hit connects reliably and it launches opponents at 60° above Lucas, making it an effective combo starter.
• Neutral aerial has increased start-up (frame 5 → 7), increased aerial cooldown (interruptibility frame 40 → 45) and a higher SDI multiplier (1.0x → 2.0x).
• Neutral aerial's animation has been slightly changed. There is now emphasis on its final hit.
• Forward aerial has a smaller hitbox (5.5u → 5u) and its late hit has decreased active frames (6 frames → 2).
• Back aerial's non-meteor sweetspot deals 2% more damage (10% → 12%) and knockback.
• Up aerial has increased start-up (frame 5 → 7), decreased active frames (6 frames → 3) and a much smaller hitbox (7u → 5.2u) that is no longer attached to Lucas' head during its animation. This results in the move's range becoming static and misleading.
• Up aerial launches opponents at 80°, which helps it KO earlier despite its knockback values being identical to how they were in Brawl.
• Down aerial has decreased landing lag (28 frames → 24).
• Down aerial has increased start-up (frame 4 → 10), which hinders its reliability against smaller grounded targets. It also has decreased auto-cancel timings (frame 35 → 48).
• Rope Snake covers much more distance as a tether and now has a hitbox which deals up to 4% as well as horizontal knockback when used as a grab aerial, giving Lucas a new spacing tool.

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have decreased start-up (frame 13 → 12 (standing), frame 16 → 14 (dash), frame 15 → 12 (pivot)) and increased active frames (1 frame → 8).
• Standing and dash grabs have significantly decreased cooldown (interruptibility frame 70 → 46 (standing), interruptibility frame 80 → 56 (dash)).
• Pivot grab has increased cooldown (interruptibility frame 50 → 61).
• Pummel deals 1.8% less damage (3% → 1.2%).
• Up throw has increased knockback growth (65 → 69), making it a stronger KO option and the third strongest up throw in the game.
• Down throw has decreased ending lag and decreased knockback growth (100 → 51). When coupled with the removal of hitstun canceling, down throw is now an excellent combo starter, allowing Lucas to chain into aerial attacks at percents up to around 150% depending on weight, rage, staleness and DI.
• Down throw deals 0.5% less damage (7% → 6.5%) and can no longer KO due to its decreased knockback.
• Down throw's animation has changed. Opponents are now aesthetically buried head first upon being thrown.
• Front and back floor attacks deal 1% more damage (6% → 7%).
• Edge attack now deals consistent damage (6%/8% → 7%).

Special moves

• Fully charged PK Freeze deals 3% more damage (19% → 22%) and travels farther.
• PK Freeze is slightly slower, takes longer to fully charge and now goes lower than Lucas' body, similarly to Ness' PK Flash. Because of this, PK Freeze no longer explodes when it touches the ground. Unlike PK Flash, using the move right before it hits the ground does not count as being fully charged.
• PK Fire deals 1% more damage (8% → 9%).
• PK Thunder 2 deals 15% less damage (58% → 43%).
• PK Thunder is larger and PK Thunder 2 can be used again after hitting a wall, similarly to Ness'. PK Thunder's trapping abilities are also better and its final hit is stronger, while PK Thunder 2 covers slightly more distance.
• PK Thunder moves slightly faster. This makes it easier to recover if an opponent goes off-stage attempting to gimp Lucas, but also makes situational mindgames slightly harder to play out.
• PK Thunder is now colored violet.
• PSI Magnet and its hitbox are both larger.
• While PSI Magnet's hitbox is larger, it now only deals damage if the opponent is in the center of the orb, whereas the entire orb dealt damage in Brawl. Its hitbox deals 1% less damage (9% → 8%). PSI Magnet's healing multiplier has decreased (2.5x → 1.2x) and Lucas can no longer turn around if he is hit by an energy projectile from behind.
• Lucas retains PK Starstorm as his Final Smash. However, like with Ness' version, the falling stars are colored blue and are now fired in a line that can be aimed in a fanning motion from the top-center of the stage. This leaves it with blind spots, but results in a more reliable damage output when the stars do hit. Lucas' pose when using PK Starstorm now matches Ness' pose.
• Lucas' version of PK Starstorm is much thicker than Ness' and it keeps a consistent width of three falling stars throughout rather than the width of one and a half falling stars that Ness' does.
• PK Starstorm now has a fire effect instead of an electric effect.

Update history

Lucas has been buffed as of update 1.1.3. Update 1.1.0 saw all of his grabs' cooldown decreased and as well as subtle range improvements to his forward and down tilts, though they still do not match up to his range in Brawl. The changes to shield mechanics in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 have been a mixed bag for Lucas; the changes make his sourspotted moves less safe on shield, but his sweetspotted moves safer on shield. Update 1.1.3 gave Lucas a number of noticeable buffs: his standing grab, dash grab, forward aerial and down aerial all had their lag decreased, his neutral aerial's damage output was increased, and forward tilt's sweetspot had its size and duration increased.

1.1.0

• Sourspotted forward aerial deals 1% more damage: 8% → 9%.
• Forward aerial's vertical displacement increased: 1 → 2.9.
• Forward aerial's sourspot hitbox size decreased: 3.8u → 3.3u.
• Forward tilt's sweetspot and sourspot hitbox sizes increased: 4u → 4.4u (sweetspot), 2u → 2.2u (sourspot).
• Forward tilt's horizontal displacement decreased: 1.6 → 0.
• Down tilt's far hitbox horizontal displacement increased: 7 → 7.2.
• Down tilt's middle hitbox angle altered: 0° → 40°.
• Down tilt's horizontal displacement increased: 2.7 → 3.
• Down tilt's base knockback increased: 10 → 18.
• Down tilt's knockback growth decreased: 50 → 45.
• Down tilt's close hitbox angle altered: 70° → 76°.
• Down tilt's displacement increased: 0 → 3.5.
• All grabs' ending lag decreased: 56/66/66 → 51/61/61.
• Grab range's early and late sizes increased: 2.5u → 3u (early), 2.4u → 2.8u (late).
• PK Thunder's hitbox size increased: 3.5u → 3.8u.

1.1.3

• Forward tilt's sweetspot's hitbox size increased: 4.4u → 4.7u.
• Forward tilt's sweetspot's duration increased by 1 frame: 7-9 → 7-10.
• Neutral aerial deals 4% more damage: 8% → 12%.
• Forward and down aerial's landing lag decreased: 15 frames/24 frames → 12/21.
• Standing, dash and pivot grabs' ending lag decreased: 50/60 → 45/55.
• Pivot grab's animation changed.
• PSI Magnet's healing multiplier now halves damage absorbed from a teammate's projectile.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	Two right-legged kicks followed by a left-legged reverse roundhouse kick. The third kick has slightly more range. Comes out very fast (frame 2) and can be followed-up with a dash attack at low to medium percents.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt			11% (sweetspot), 7.5% (sourspot)	A palm thrust that launches a small blast of PSI energy that deals more damage the farther opponent is from Lucas. Can be angled and has a disjointed hitbox.
Up tilt			1.5% (hit 1), 8% (clean hit 2), 5% (late hit 2)	Psychically tilts himself to perform a vertical kick that launches a blast of PSI energy. It can combo into itself, a neutral aerial or an up aerial at low to medium percents.
Down tilt			3%	A legsweep. Although weak, it is fast and reliable for either racking up damage or chaining into itself, a neutral attack or a forward smash. Comes out on frame 3, making it tied with Little Mac, Meta Knight, Ness and R.O.B.'s down tilts as the fastest down tilt in the game.
Dash attack			13% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	A dashing palm thrust that launches a blast of PSI energy. Has slight start-up and deals more damage the farther the opponent is from Lucas.
Forward smash			14% (base), 15% (tip)	Strikes nearby opponents with a stick, which can also be used as a reflector. It is very similar to Ness' forward smash, but has with faster start-up and less ending lag at the cost of dealing less damage and knockback. Deals the most damage and knockback at the tip.
Up smash			2% (hit 1); 19%, 18%, 16%, 14%, or 12% (clean to late hit 2)	Releases a large blast of PSI energy above his head. It is the fifth strongest up smash in the game, but is also a "high risk, high reward" attack; it has a lot of ending lag, which makes it very punishable if missed, but is strong enough to potentially KO very early (80% uncharged and 54% fully charged). It also has other positives, as Lucas is invincible on frames 1-4 and gains some intangibility frames on his head on frame 15-29. The move also possesses a huge hitbox, making it a good anti-air attack if used correctly. It is appears to be based on PK Love, Lucas' signature PSI attack from Mother 3.
Down smash			17% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2), 11% (hit 3)	Aims his arm downward at a diagonal angle and launches three consecutive blasts of PSI energy towards the ground while holding his hand in a finger gun gesture. The range increases while the power decreases with each blast. The first hit is one of the strongest down smashes, being able to KO as low as 60% near the ledge depending on the opponent's weight and DI, and the move can catch recovering opponents before they grab the ledge if timed well. Has a bit of start-up, but virtually no ending lag. However, despite having three distinct hits, it can only strike an opponent once, making it unsafe on shield.
Neutral aerial			2% (hits 1-4), 4% (hit 5)	An aerial cartwheel while releasing a blast of PSI energy around his torso. Decent combo potential. Has a lot of freeze frames on every hit.
Forward aerial			11.5% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	A side kick that launches a blast of PSI energy. This move has decent speed and is disjointed, making it a good off-stage option and one of Lucas' better spacing moves. The sweetspot does the most knockback and can KO at high percentages.
Back aerial			12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot), 7% (late)	A backflip kick that leaves a trail of PSI energy along his feet. It can meteor smash, although it is difficult to do so. Has disjointed reach.
Up aerial			13%	An upward headbutt. Similar to Ness' up aerial, but does not hit in an arc or have as much knockback.
Down aerial			3.5% (rapid hits 1-3), 5% (final hit)	A series of alternating stomps with both of his feet that each launch a small blast PSI energy below himself. Like Lucas' back aerial, it is disjointed and has a meteor smash hitbox that is difficult to land. The move itself is also difficult to land on smaller grounded opponents such as Pikachu and Kirby.
Grab aerial			4% (clean), 2.8% (late)	Sends Duster's Rope Snake in front of him to damage enemies.
Grab			—	Sends Duster's Rope Snake in front of him. Can be performed in midair as a tether.
Pummel			1.2%	Headbutts the opponent. Tied with Samus' as the second fastest pummel in the game, only behind Lucario. However, it is also the weakest.
Forward throw			10%	Telekinetically tosses the opponent in front of himself. KOs around 125%-165% near the edge.
Back throw			10%	Telekinetically tosses the opponent behind himself. It is Lucas' strongest throw, capable of KOing around 100%-130% near the edge.
Up throw			10%	Telekinetically whirls the opponent around his head, then throws them straight up. One of the strongest up throws in the game and can KO around 120%-180% depending on the opponent's weight and DI.
Down throw			6.5%	Telekinetically slams the opponent into the ground head first, leaving them briefly buried. A very good combo starter, it can be followed by either an up tilt, up aerial, forward aerial, or neutral aerial depending on the opponent's weight and DI, with the up aerial combo being capable of KOing at higher percentages.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Gets up and kicks opponents from either side.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets up and kicks opponents from either side.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up and kicks back and forth.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Climbs onto the stage and performs a low-angled kick.
Neutral special	Default	PK Freeze	9%-22%	Releases a blast of blue, snowflake-shaped PSI energy from above his head that can freeze opponents. The direction of the blast's path can be controlled, and the attack can be made stronger by holding the special button. Puts Lucas into helplessness if used in the air. Deals a good amount of shield damage.
	Custom 1	N/A
	Custom 2	N/A
Side special	Default	PK Fire	3% (lightning), 6% (fire)	Releases a lightning bolt-shaped PSI projectile from his hands. Lucas' PK Fire does not result in a pillar of flame like Ness', but rather a small explosion of fiery PSI energy that launches an opponent backward. It is further differentiated from Ness' PK Fire in that it flies straight ahead regardless of whether it is launched on the ground or in midair. Lucas' PK Fire also slightly pushes him backwards.
	Custom 1	N/A
	Custom 2	N/A
Up special	Default	PK Thunder	2.5% (projectile head), 0.8% (projectile tail rapid hits), 8% (PKT2 initial hit), 2% (PKT2 rapid hits 1-5), 1.5% (PKT2 rapid hits 6-10), 10% (PKT2 final hit)	Releases a purple, streaming electrical PSI projectile from his head. Like Ness' PK Thunder, it can be directed into Lucas to launch him. Unlike Ness' version, however, it does not fizzle out after hitting an opponent and instead hits multiple times. The latter also applies to his PK Thunder 2.
	Custom 1	N/A
	Custom 2	N/A
Down special	Default	PSI Magnet	8% (ending), heals 1.2x the damage of absorbed projectiles	Thrusts his arm forward and creates a blue, glowing orb of PSI energy around his outstretched hand. Any energy-based projectiles it absorbs will heal him, although it no longer absorbs energy projectiles that are launched at his back like it did in Brawl. Unlike Ness' PSI Magnet, Lucas' version can be used for offense, as it damages opponents inside of it when it dissipates and allows it to be used as a situational KOing option at high percentages.
	Custom 1	N/A
	Custom 2	N/A
Final Smash		PK Starstorm	8% per hit	Summons a shower of falling stars. They descend in a column and can be angled in a fanning motion at any time in order to repeatedly hit opponents.

On-screen appearance

• Rides in on a Mr. Saturn-style coffee table, then hops off. The table is based on the one that Lucas rides to Saturn Valley in Mother 3.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Lucas trips, shakes his head, and gets back up.
• Side taunt: Duster's Rope Snake taps him on the shoulder and has a brief conversation with Lucas, as Lucas shrugs towards it.
• Down taunt: Lucas positions his right hand up to his forehead, grunts while generating small bursts of PSI energy from his index and middle fingers, then swings his hand downward.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Taps the toes of his shoes on the ground.
• Shakes his fists in front of his face in a cowardly motion.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Lu-cas!	Ryuuuu - ka!
Pitch	Female	Female

Victory poses

A flourished remix coming directly from Brawl. It is a sped-up remix of a portion of the title theme from the original Mother for the Famicom Disk System.

• With his back towards the screen, Lucas crouches while poking at something on the ground with a large stick before turning his head around towards the screen, saying "Huh?".
• He forcefully pulls one of the Seven Needles out of the ground, sending it flying off-screen with a trail of sparkles while Lucas looks towards the screen. This is very similar to his up smash.
• He bends down on one knee and waves his right arm in from himself while releasing blasts of PSI energy from his index and middle fingers.

In competitive play

Notable players

Active

•  Pink Fresh
•  SpaceDong
•  Taiheita

Trophies

While not playable at the release of the game, there has always been a trophy of Lucas in both versions; this trophy matches his appearance in Brawl. Upon his release, he additionally received two (three in the Wii U version) trophies that match the format of the other playable characters. The existing non-fighter one remains unchanged, as with Mewtwo's non-fighter trophy.

Lucas (non-fighter)

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

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

: Mother 3

Lucas

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

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

: Mother 3

Lucas (Alt.)

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

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

: Mother 3

PK Starstorm (Lucas)

You can adjust the direction of the shooting stars in this attack! Rain stars down on multiple fighters at once, or be mean and pick on a single fighter. The choice is yours! If a star connects, it will deal ongoing fire damage, making it hard for opponents to return to the stage.

Lucas uses his PSI powers to summon a stream of shooting stars, the angle of which you can control. It's good for attacking an entire group during a free-for-all...or if you want to make things tougher for a single person. Even if the attack only hits once, it deals ongoing fire damage, making it harder to get back to the stage.

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  Non-fighter (3DS)

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  Non-fighter (Wii U)

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  PK Starstorm

Alternate costumes

Reveal trailer

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Gallery

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  Splash art.

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  Lucas' amiibo.

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  On Coliseum.

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  Using PK Thunder.

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  Lucas's on-screen appearance.

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  Performing down taunt alongside Ness.

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  Using PK Fire with Ness.

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  Shaking his fists at the Wii Fit Trainer.

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  Healing himself.

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  Alternate costumes.

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  On Magicant with "Claus."

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  Taunting with Rope Snake.

Trivia

• The month he was confirmed was the same month his origin game, Mother 3, was released.
  • The announcement details for Lucas and update 1.0.8 were released on the same day as EarthBound's 20th anniversary.
  • The day he became available to purchase was the same day EarthBound Beginnings was released for Wii U Virtual Console.
  • The release date for his amiibo in Japan was the same day where Mother 3 was released on the Virtual Console.
• Because of his non-fighter trophy, Lucas is the only character who has both Brawl and SSB4 character models in the same game.
• Lucas is the only starter character and Brawl newcomer to be available as DLC.
• Lucas is the only DLC character to be able to tether grab.
• Due to Lucas's down throw technically not burying opponents, instead forcing them into a unique position, if the character being thrown flinches lightly, they will snap back to their original position. However, in the cases of Peach, Zelda and Rosalina, their dresses cannot keep up with the velocity change and will stay up. This technical oversight leads to bizarre results.
• Lucas is the only character with no special moves originating from his game that he can actually learn; in Mother 3, all of his special moves are learned by Kumatora instead.
  • A similar case occurs with Ness, where the only one of his special moves he can learn in EarthBound is PK Flash; all other specials are taken from Paula and Poo respectively.
• Lucas is the only veteran DLC fighter to have recycled voice clips.
  • Lucas is also the only veteran DLC fighter to not have his voice actress in the DLC credits. His voice actress, however, was in the original credits before his return.
  • Lucas is also the only DLC character to speak English in the Japanese version of the game, one of two if Bayonetta's original costume is counted.