Lucario (SSB4)

Lucario in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mega Evolution
Tier	B (19)

Lucario (ルカリオ, Lucario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Its return to the series was announced on January 31st, 2014, six years to the day of the year that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in Japan. According to an extra post for its Miiverse reveal, this timing was done to commend the Brawl developers for succeeding in adding Lucario to Brawl.

Lucario is now voiced by Sean Schemmel in the English version, who replaces Bill Rogers from Brawl and voiced Sir Aaron's Lucario in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. As in Brawl, Lucario is also voiced by different voice actors for SSB4's Spanish, French, German and Italian versions. However, Daisuke Namikawa reprises its role for the Japanese version.

Lucario is currently ranked 19th out of 58 on the tier list in the B tier, the high tier. This is a very small drop from its placement in Brawl, where it was ranked 11th out of 38, although due to the expansion of characters and tiers, it is currently ranked in high tier in comparison to its Brawl incarnation being ranked in upper mid tier. Lucario's signature Aura has been strengthened, which is further supplemented by the new rage mechanic. This makes most of Lucario's attacks among the strongest in the game when it is extremely damaged, such as all smash attacks, up/back throws, up aerial and back aerial (the latter being the strongest outright). The new Aura mechanics also grant new benefits to Lucario's special moves; at high Aura, Aura Sphere grows even larger than Lucario itself, Force Palm's blast gains significantly increased range, Extreme Speed covers huge distances (and can now damage opponents at the end), and Double Team becomes the among strongest counterattacks in the game. Altogether, this grants Lucario huge comeback potential, with a single opening being enough for it to KO careless opponents, much like the hard-hitting heavyweights such as Ganondorf, but with significantly faster moves.

However, Lucario still maintains its below average movement speed, making it difficult for it to force an approach. Lucario's new Aura mechanics also causes its moves to deal drastically lower knockback and damage at lower percentages, making it almost impossible to KO opponents until 150%. While this allows Lucario to combo reliably at lower percentages, this makes it much harder for it to combo or create setups when it is at a high percentage, due to the aforementioned strength of its attacks at high Aura. Additionally, some of Lucario's moves have been worsened in other ways, making it more dependent on Aura to secure KOs and thus giving it a riskier playstyle than before; some examples are its smash attacks, which are significantly laggier, and Force Palm's grab, which is escapable at low Aura. Finally, Extreme Speed now gains so much speed at max Aura that it can easily cause a self-destruct if Lucario isn't careful, and the move has two seconds of landing lag if it ends in the air, making Lucario heavily open for punishment.

Overall, Lucario has below-average representation and decent results in the competitive scene, although its dependence on its Aura mechanic has caused its viability to be viewed contentiously; while some players view it as a capable fighter who can hold its own at comboing or KOing depending on the strength of its Aura, others view its reliance on Aura as too volatile to be depended on. Regardless, it is still considered a solid pick in competitive play, with dedicated mains (such as Serge and Day) continuing to expand its metagame. Additionally, a huge upset occurred at Frostbite 2017, where a Japanese Lucario player Tsu- placed 2nd while defeating many top players like ZeRo, VoiD, Kameme and Salem.

Attributes

Lucario's attributes are overall balanced. It is a mediumweight with below average walking speed, above average falling speed and air speed, average gravity, air acceleration, and dashing speed, and the highest traction. It is also able to crawl and one of the only five characters that can wall cling.

Lucario possesses a unique mechanic that no other character in the game has: Aura. Aesthetically, aura appears as blue, concentrated energy and affects every single move Lucario performs. Mechanically, aura is a damage multiplier, starting at 0.66x when Lucario is at 0% and capping at 1.7x when Lucario has taken at least 190%. The multipliers also get multiplied whenever Lucario has a stock lead or not, effectively increasing or decreasing Lucario's aura presence. When Lucario is 2 stocks or more ahead, aura is affected by a 0.6333x multiplier, when at 1 stock ahead it is affected by 0.8x, when at 1 stock behind it is affected by 1.3333x, and when at 2 stocks or more behind it is affected by 2x. This means that, even though most of Lucario's moves have high knockback scaling, their power is extremely low with low aura, and insufficient to KO until well beyond 150%. However, with high aura, Lucario's moves have incredible power, with many of them easily surpassing every other character's at max aura, including Bowser's and Ganondorf's. In addition, the rage mechanic further boosts the knockback of Lucario's attacks, which complements their already high power.

Aside from that, another big strength of Lucario is the good versatility throughout its moveset. Its aerial game has good uses: neutral and forward aerials are good combo moves, either for starting or continuing them. Down aerial is Lucario's fastest one, and has the interesting property of cancelling Lucario's momentum, which can lead to mindgames or gimps. Up and back aerials are Lucario's strongest ones, and since they have immense power when Lucario is at high levels of aura, they serve as very effective KO moves. Meanwhile, its grounded game also provides decent options, with its neutral attack, forward and down tilts serving as good anti-pressure options, up tilt serving as a decent combo starter, dash attack being a great option to punish laggy moves and Lucario's smash attacks having immense strength overall. Next, its grab game boasts impressive benefits. Since Lucario's pummel is the fastest in the game, it can deal large amounts of damage at high percents. Its up throw has decently knockback, and can combo effectively at most percents. It is also the most damaging and one of the strongest when Lucario's aura is high, making up for its increased power. Down throw can serve as a combo starer as well, but only on light opponents and at low levels of aura. Its forward throw is the fastest throw in the game, as well as the third strongest with high aura. Finally, its back throw is a very powerful semi-spike, making it excellent for edgeguarding, tech-chasing and, with sufficiently high aura, KOing.

Lastly, Lucario has a very useful special moveset. Aura Sphere is a strong projectile very similar to Charge Shot, but since its size and power are affected by aura, it is much more dangerous at high percents. Additionally, its high damage output when fully charged allows it to out-prioritize most moves in the game. The charging hitbox is also infamous for having a true followup into Lucario's up smash, which is particularly dangerous at high percentages. Force Palm shoots a blast of aura forward, with its range and power increasing with aura. If used at point-blank range, the move is treated as a grab, bypassing shields, and has immense power with enough aura. Extreme Speed is Lucario's recovery move, and is able to cover extremely long distances if Lucario has taken much damage, making it virtually impossible to gimp. It can also launch opponents that get hit head-on. Finally, Double Team is Lucario's counterattack. It is the strongest counter in the game with enough aura while possessing impressive range, but it is also the slowest, since any opponent that is not in hitlag will most likely avoid it.

However, Lucario has its slew of significant flaws. Despite its good endurance, Lucario is vulnerable to combos (though its down aerial can help alleviate this weakness). Extreme Speed also has numerous flaws. The move has high ending lag and, unless Lucario grabs the edge or lands before it concludes, very high landing lag. With low Aura, the move is also very slow and does not grant much distance, while at high Aura, it is possible to overshoot the stage if Lucario is not careful. In addition, it is difficult to hit with, since Lucario can only damage the opponent head-on, without having very high power to compensate. Its combo game is also heavily reliant on throws, as most other combo moves have either very limited follow-up options or awkwardly positioned hitboxes.

Its most serious flaws, however, is the polarized strength throughout its moveset, as well as the fluctuating aura mechanic itself. Its fastest moves are the weakest, and its strongest moves are the slowest, making the latter very punishable if not spaced well. Lucario's aura can sometimes work against it, as attacks with high knockback scaling are bound to finish Lucario off before it has a chance to make use of its rage and/or aura at the same time. With low aura, its powerful moves are too weak to KO, and with high aura, its combo-oriented moves are too strong to be chained together. This makes it imperative to keep in mind how Lucario's attacks function depending on percentage, as it cannot afford to make mistakes at higher percentages. It also often restricts Lucario to using a bait and punish playstyle, as it cannot perform rushdowns without getting punished most of the time. This gives Lucario some kind of disadvantage against heavyweight characters, as one strong move is usually all it takes to end Lucario, preventing it from utilizing aura effectively after it gets KO'd.

Lucario's custom moves can give it notable benefits. Snaring Aura Sphere has a wind effect that pulls opponents in and moves slower, essentially re-purposing the move from a spacing and camping tool to a stage control and edge-guarding tool. Piercing Aura Sphere moves much faster, hits at a lower angle and goes straight through opponents, making it even better at spacing and camping, but at the cost of its immense power. Long-Distance Force Palm has less power, but as its name implies, it has more range, allowing Lucario to strike distant opponents more easily. The grab is also stronger and a semi-spike, making it lethal in any situation. Ride the Wind gives the full distance at any percent, as well as greatly improved maneuverability. Lastly, Glancing Counter is considerably weaker, but always allows Lucario to attack even if it is not hit.

In the end, Lucario is a very technical character whose weaknesses are outweighed by its strengths. While aura makes Lucario's moveset stronger and it boasts great utility at all kinds of percentages overall, it cannot use all of its moves as effectively at certain percentages as others, meaning Lucario cannot afford to get too predictable when approaching as it can take high damage if not approaching correctly, and it might not be able to KO the opponent or even approach it if they know what Lucario will do. This makes playing with Lucario very methodical, as a small error could cost Lucario for it, even if it manages to regain the advantage in any way. Even so, Lucario does have a small but dedicated playerbase, with smashers like Day, Gomamugitya, Motsunabe and Serge achieving strong results with the character.

Changes from Brawl

Lucario has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, but was overall nerfed. Lucario's combo game has been nerfed on some attacks, such as Force Palm and its neutral, forward and down aerials. Lucario's smash attacks are also slower, have less utility, and are harder to land. Lucario's falling speed and gravity have increased, making it more susceptible to combos. While Aura cap has been increased and thus makes it easier to KO at max Aura, Lucario's attacks depend on Aura much more so than in Brawl. As a result, they deal less damage and knockback at low Aura. But at high Aura, its moves tend to have too much damage and knockback to reliably combo opponents.

However, Lucario has received some buffs. Its overall mobility has been improved and the influence of Aura has been increased, giving it a better recovery and increased range on some of its attacks, as well as significantly increasing its power when it has taken damage. As a result of its dependency of high Aura to secure KOs, Lucario has become much more of a "high risk, high reward" character than in Brawl. Lucario has a relatively small playerbase with above average low-level results, but sparse high-level results.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in SSB4, Lucario's overall coloration is slightly more vibrant and its fur is less accentuated. It is also slightly more expressive.
• Up taunt has improved Aura visuals.

Attributes

• Aura's effects are much stronger overall. Additionally, all of Lucario's attacks are now affected by Aura, regardless of whether they are actually Aura-based or not. Lastly, Aura stacks with the rage mechanic, significantly improving its KO potential at high percents.
• Lucario is lighter (100 → 99), going from a heavyweight to a middleweight.
• Lucario walks faster (1.0 → 1.05).
• Lucario dashes faster (1.414 → 1.55).
• Lucario's air speed is faster (0.987 → 1.09).
• Lucario falls faster (1.2 → 1.68), making it more susceptible to combos.
• Lucario's gravity is higher (0.0625 → 0.084), hindering its overall endurance and making it more susceptible to combos.

Ground attacks

• All ground attacks deal slightly less damage, depending on the strength of Aura.
• Lucario has a new dash attack, a flying kick. Compared to the previous dash attack, it covers more ground and is much faster overall.
• Up tilt has less knockback (130 (growth), 33/38/43 (base) → 110, 45/45/50), improving its combo and juggling potentials at low percents.
• All smash attacks have increased start-up (frame 21 → 22 (forward), frame 12/17 → 15/19 (up), frame 17 → 19 (down)) and ending lag (43 frames → 55 (forward), 56 frames → 64 (up), 48 frames → 55 (down)).
• All smash attacks are stronger and have slightly increased ranges, both of which scale with Aura.
• Forward smash has lost its lingering hitbox and can no longer hit behind Lucario.
• Up smash deals more damage (13% (clean)/9% (late) → 18% (sweetspot)/16% (sourspot)/13% (late)). It also consists of two hits instead of one, allowing it to KO grounded opponents more reliably.
• All smash attacks' animations have slightly changed. Instead of making a full movement, Lucario stays in place and/or continuously trembles like all other characters do.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial deals 4% less damage (18% → 14%), has decreased range, has more start up (frame 6 → 8), and lost most of its lingering hitbox.
• Neutral aerial has decreased ending lag (69 frames → 43).
• Forward aerial deals 1% more damage (5% → 6%).
• Forward aerial has increased base knockback, less knockback growth (100 → 70), and hits at a higher angle (50 → 64).
• Sweetspotted back aerial deals 3% more damage (12% → 15%) and increase base knockback (12 → 30).
• Back aerial has one more frame of start up and its lingering hitbox was removed.
• Up aerial deals 1% more damage (10% → 11%) and has more base knockback (15 → 30).
• Up aerial's strong hit only lasts two frames, and it deals less damage later on (10% → 6%). The hitbox duration is also shorter.
• Down aerial deals 5% less damage (16% → 11%) and has 2 more frames of end lag.

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have increased ranges, going from having the fourth shortest non-tether range in Brawl to the seventh longest.
• Grab has decreased ending lag.
• Pummel is significantly faster, now being the fastest in the game. When coupled with its damage output scaling with Aura, it is arguably the best pummel in the game.
• Forward throw deals 2% less damage (10% → 8%).
• Up throw deals 5% more damage (6% → 11%). The increase to Aura's effects also improve its combo potential at medium percents.
• Down throw deals 3% less damage (10% → 7%).
• The changes to hitstun canceling improve down throw's combo potential at low percents.

Special moves

• Low to high Aura fully charged Aura Sphere deals less damage (13.125% (lowest Aura)/≈18.75% (low to high Aura) → 11.385%/17.25%).
• Max Aura fully charged Aura Sphere deals 3.075% more damage (26.25% → 29.325%).
• Aura Sphere's has increased knockback, improving its KO potential. Its size also scales with Aura, with a max Aura fully charged Aura Sphere now being even larger than Lucario itself.
• Reverse Aura Sphere now slightly pushes Lucario backward, improving its mindgame potential.
• Force Palm's blast is faster, larger and has increased knockback, improving its KO potential. Its size also scales with Aura, with a max Aura Force Palm blast covering almost half of Final Destination.
• Force Palm's increased knockback hinders its follow-up potential, such as utilizing multiple Force Palms in succession. The grabbing portion of Force Palm is also escapable at low Aura.
• Force Palm's animation has changed. Lucario now leans in further with its body facing more at a more sideways angle, with its following arm placed high and behind itself and performing a stomping gesture while firing the blast. Its blast also appears flame-like, rather than like a mass of energy.
• Extreme Speed has received a hitbox at the end of its animation, which grants it KO potential at high Aura and high percents. Its distance also scales with Aura, with a high Aura Extreme Speed having range comparable to Brawl's at low Aura.
• Extreme Speed has increased ending lag, which lasts for 2 seconds if it ends in the air, making it much more susceptible to punishment. However, this can be avoided by ending the move on the ground or making Lucario hit the stage face-first.
• Grab release glitch has been fixed.
• The removal of the grab release glitch allows Lucario to re-use Extreme Speed if it has been grabbed in midair.
• Double Team's power and range have increased.
• Lucario has a new Final Smash, Mega Lucario. Lucario undergoes Mega Evolution to become Mega Lucario, which increases its Aura multiplier to 1.8x regardless of its damage prior to Mega Evolving and grants it resistance to both flinching and launching throughout its duration. Unlike Aura Storm, Mega Lucario enables Lucario to move around freely, instead of forcing it to be stationary at the top of the screen. However, Mega Lucario's duration is not fixed like Aura Storm's, as Mega Lucario will end earlier if Lucario takes damage while Mega Evolved.

Update history

Like the base changes it received from Brawl in the game's initial release, it is debatable whether Lucario has been buffed or nerfed directly by game updates. Due to the shieldstun increase in 1.1.1, Lucario could attempt to break shields by using Aura Sphere on the edge with the opponent shielding so the opponent could fall for an unavoidable KO if they did not attempt to SDI out of the move. However, this was very situational and was not used at high-level play. Furthermore, it became even more situational as of update 1.1.3 due to it being impossible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere charge at low rage, although it is still possible to perform with a charging Aura Sphere at high rage thanks to Aura Sphere's hitlag being decreased.

Even so, Lucario's most damaging moves, such as its smash attacks and Force Palm, are benefited by these changes due to their ranges, and in the case of its forward and down smashes, their hitlag. However, the same update also improved Lucario's mobility by increasing its walking, air and falling speeds, the latter of which makes it slightly less susceptible to vertical KOs.

1.0.4

• Forward smash's ending lag increased: frame 46 → 55.
• Down smash's ending lag increased: frame 50 → 55.
• Landing lag from helplessness increased: 36 → 60 frames.
• Extreme Speed/Extreme Speed Attack hit 2 ending lag (frames): 0 → 8
• Extreme Speed Attack hit 1 ending lag: 0 → 5

1.0.5

• Fixed a glitch where Extreme Speed could be used to cancel hitstun.

1.0.6

• Fixed Extreme Speed's landing lag glitch.

1.0.8

• Neutral attack's first hit's knockback growth decreased. This allows it to connect better with its second hit.

1.1.1

• Glancing Counter's hitbox angle altered: 58° → 65°.
• Glancing Counter's ending lag decreased.

1.1.3

• Falling speed has been increased (1.56 → 1.68).
• Air speed (1.01 → 1.09), fast falling speed (2.496 → 2.688) and walking speed (1 → 1.05) have been increased.
• Aura Sphere charge (including custom variants) angle (80° → 83°).
• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) knockback scaling (100 → 93).
• Aura Sphere charge (including custom variants) hitlag modifier (1x → 0.78x), making it harder to DI..

Mega Lucario

• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 12/93).
• Aura Sphere (including custom variants) hitlag modifier (1x → 0.78x), making it harder to DI.

Moveset

• Unlike in Brawl, all of Lucario's attacks are now affected by Aura.
• Lucario is able to crawl, wall cling and wall jump.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	The kham choui, a downward sweeping punch in Shaolin Kung Fu, followed by the choong choui, a jab-style punch in Shaolin Kung Fu, followed by a stretch kick.
			2%
			3%
Forward tilt			4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	The kap theai choui, a low-angle cross-style punch in Shaolin Kung Fu. Hits twice even though Lucario only uses one paw.
Up tilt			6% (foot), 5% (leg)	An outside crescent kick. Can reliably combo into itself when Lucario is at low Aura and is a reliable juggling option at medium Aura.
Down tilt			5%	A shin kick, similar to Ganondorf's down tilt. It be followed up with a dash attack or a dash grab at low Aura.
Dash attack			8% (clean), 6% (late)	A flying kick. A decent follow-up from a down tilt at low Aura or a back throw at medium Aura.
Forward smash			16% (clean), 13% (late)	A double palm thrust that emits small blasts of Aura. When Lucario is at full power and has high Aura, it is the strongest and the most damaging forward smash in the game, dealing 38% when fully charged and sweetspotted. It is a one-hit KO when at max Aura and performed near the edge or center-stage.
Up smash			4% (hit 1), 14% (clean sweetspot hit 2), 12% (clean sourspot hit 2), 9% (late hit 2)	A modified version of the long choui, an uppercut-styled punch in Shaolin Kung Fu. Hits twice even though Lucario only uses one paw. When it is fully charged, sweetspotted, both of its hits connect, and Lucario is at max Aura, it is one of the strongest up smashes in the game and the most damaging smash attack in the game, dealing 42%.
Down smash			14%	A modified version of the kap theai choui. Hits on both of its sides and is one of the strongest down smashes in the game when Lucario is at max Aura.
Neutral aerial			8% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Spins while emitting Aura from its paws. Very low landing lag, great for spacing. Depending on aura, it can lead into a grab, dash attack, tilts, and even a tech situation.
Forward aerial			6%	A stretch kick. Can be used as a follow-up twice after its down throw beginning at 0% and up to low percents.
Back aerial			15%	The sou choui, a sweeping punch in Shaolin Kung Fu. It is the strongest back aerial in the game thanks to its high knockback and one of the strongest aerials in the game when Lucario is at max Aura, KOing opponents under 50%. However, it has rather long start-up.
Up aerial			11% (clean), 6% (late)	Leans back and performs a front kick upward. One of the strongest up aerials in the game, KOing opponents beginning at 70% when Lucario is at max Aura.
Down aerial			5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Stomps twice. Unlike in Brawl, it no longer stalls Lucario's descent.
Grab			—	Clinches the opponent.
Pummel			1%	A surge of Aura. The fastest pummel in the game and one of the best pummels in the game if Lucario has high or max Aura.
Forward throw			8%	Shoves the opponent away. The third strongest forward throw in the game when Lucario is at max Aura, being surpassed only by Bowser's and Wario's. It is also the fastest throw in the game.
Back throw			10%	The tai otoshi, a Judo throw. The most damaging back throw in the game and a viable KOing option when Lucario is at max Aura.
Up throw			5% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	The pao choui, an uppercut-styled punch in Shaolin Kung Fu. Launches the opponent upward and at low Aura, it can act as a set-up for its up tilt, neutral aerial and up aerial. Other opponents next to Lucario are dealt high knockback. The most damaging throw in the game when Lucario is at max Aura, dealing 18% total.
Down throw			7%	Holds the opponent over its head and then slams them into the ground. Can lead into its neutral, up or forward aerials at low Aura and while opponents are at low to medium percents, although lightweights can avoid these combos.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Kicks around itself while standing back up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Kicks around itself while standing back up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kicks front-to-back while standing back up.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Performs a double palm thrust that emits a small blast of Aura while climbing up.
Neutral special	Default	Aura Sphere	17.25% (fully charged)	A chargeable, condensed sphere of Aura. Pressing the special button again will make Lucario fire the sphere. Its size scales with Aura. A charging Aura Sphere can lead into up smash for a KO.
	Custom 1	Snaring Aura Sphere	14.5% (fully charged)	A slower variation that has a vacuum effect that pulls opponents toward the Aura Sphere itself. Has extra ending lag deals slightly less damage. Two uncharged Snaring Aura Spheres can exist on-screen at the same time.
	Custom 2	Piercing Aura Sphere	6.75% (fully charged)	A faster variation that pierces opponents, but deals significantly less damage.
Side special	Default	Force Palm	11.875% (projectile sweetspot), 7.5% (projectile sourspot), 13% (throw), 6% (escape)	Fires a stream of Aura. Its range scales with Aura. If the opponent is close to Lucario, the move acts like a grab, with Lucario grabbing the opponent and then striking them with a palm thrust at point-blank range.
	Custom 1	Advancing Force Palm	10% (projectile sweetspot), 7% (projectile sourspot), 10% (throw), 6% (escape)	Moves Lucario forward, but deals slightly less damage and has more start-up lag.
	Custom 2	Long-Distance Force Palm	7.4% (projectile sweetspot), ≈4.23% (projectile sourspot), 13% (throw), 6% (escape)	Has more range, but deals less damage.
Up special	Default	Extreme Speed	6%	Propels itself in a predetermined direction by blasting steams of Aura from its paws. Has a hitbox at its end. Like Force Palm's blast range, Extreme Speed's range scales with Aura.
	Custom 1	Ride the Wind	—	Slower and deals no damage, but grants more control over Lucario's trajectory.
	Custom 2	Extreme Speed Attack	4% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Has less range, but damages opponents at any point it makes contact with them.
Down special	Default	Double Team	11%	Performs a kata. If Lucario is attacked, it will disappear while emitting afterimages and counterattack with a flying kick from behind the attacker.
	Custom 1	Glancing Counter	10%	Dodges attacks and also allows Lucario to produce a hitbox, albeit a weaker one, even if it is not attacked.
	Custom 2	Stunning Double Team	1% (hits 1-2), 1%	Functions similarly to Double Team, but with the added effect of being able to stun opponents. However, it deals significantly less damage.
Final Smash		Mega Lucario	—	Mega Evolves into Mega Lucario. Mega Lucario's Aura multiplier is increased to 1.8x regardless of how much damage it had prior to Mega Evolving, while it also gains resistance to both flinching and launching throughout its duration. However, its duration decreases if damage is taken during its transformation.

On-screen appearance

• Enters the stage while radiating a surging, flame-like field of Aura around itself and then slowly falls to the ground.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Folds its arms and then extends them while growling and radiating a surging, flame-like field of Aura around itself.
• Side taunt: Extends its right arm forward, growls, and emits a small blast of Aura from its paw.
• Down taunt: Performs a kata that is very similar to the one performed during Double Team.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Stretches both arms out, one on each side, slowly lowers its body, and assumes its normal stance again.
• Moves its arms in a circular motion before assuming to its normal stance again.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Lu-cario!	Lu-car-io!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Japanese victory quotes with translations

An orchestral excerpt of the title theme from Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions, which has since become the main theme of the Pokémon series.

• Moves its paws in front of itself and then clasps them together before saying "The Aura is with me!"
• Extends both arms forward and next to each other while emitting small blasts of Aura from its paws, then assumes a Fujian White Crane-like stance while saying "Behold the power of Aura."
• Performs a kata where it leans forward while extending its left arm forward and keeps its right arm to its side, while a flame-like field of Aura briefly surges from its body.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Lucario	2111	3111	1112	2112	3112
	1211	2211	1121	3121	1311

Notable players

Active

•  Astro
•  Day
•  Gomamugitya
•  Kamicario
•  Loota
•  Maverick
•  Motsunabe
•  P2P with Gibus
•  Serge
•  Shiny
•  Tsu-

Inactive

•  Azen

Tier placement and history

Lucario was considered to be a viable character since the game's release. The aura buffs, which vastly increased Lucario's kill power to the point where a max-aura Lucario could consistently KO opponents under 75%, and improved its recovery to become one of the best, as well as a powerful combo game, leaded to many professionals thinking of Lucario as a blanket high-tier. Despite his low tournament representation, it achieved lukewarm results in the game's early lifespan thanks to notable players such as Day, Motsunabe and Serge, and would eventually rank at 23rd on the first 4BR tier list. More recently, Lucario has achieved better tournament representation in competitive play. At Smash Factor 5, Serge, along with fellow smashers Daimy and Richi, placed among the top 12 using Lucario. Day also managed to place 17th at Super Smash Con 2016, a much bigger tournament which had many top level players attending and notably saw him defeat ZeRo, which sent him into the losers bracket of said tournament, a feat achieved by only a select few. Gomamugitya also managed to place 1st with his partner in the doubles tournament of Super Smash Con 2016 while using Lucario. This caused it to slightly rise to 22nd place on the second tier list.

However, Lucario's tier position was considered one of the most contentious of all characters, as a group of players that grew steadily bigger around late-2015 began seeing Lucario as having one of the worst neutral games due to its laggy attacks and subpar movement speed, and viewed its recovery as blown out of proportion as its flaws were surprisingly easy to exploit, especially with its extreme landing from a helpless state lag post 1.0.4. This group considered Lucario as a poor character who suffered from overspecializing with the aura gimmick, thus leaving it as little threat to a cautious player. As time went on, Lucario's tournament results grew barren, with fewer players maining it, thus causing more and more to look down on it. However, Lucario's results then notably improved as time went on due to some new developments in its metagame, and has seen generally improved results, especially in Japan, leading it to be perceived more positively again in spite of very skilled competition. This allowed Lucario to rise to 19th on the third and current tier list. As such, Lucario is still seen as a viable pick in tournaments. This placement is also currently considered to be too low, most notably after Tsu- surprisingly achieved 2nd place at Frostbite 2017, while sending ZeRo to the losers bracket and having very close games with him on the tournament's grand finals.

Trophies

Lucario

A Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon that excels in combat through the reading and manipulation of Aura. As Lucario takes more damage, its attacks grow in strength. At maximum power, Lucario deals triple damage and its Aura Sphere is particularly devastating! Foes won't even know what hit them!

This Fighting- and Steel-type Pokémon can sense the movements of its enemies using its Aura abilities, and is even said to be able to see enemies when they're invisible. As it takes damage, its attacks grow in strength. At maximum power, its deals triple damage, which can make its Aura Sphere attack a real force to be reckoned with!

: Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl (04/2007)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Lucario (Alt.)

Lucario's up special Extreme Speed will send this Pokémon soaring on the path you choose. Lucario flies farther the more damage it's taken. Lucario makes use of its Aura for the side special Force Palm. At extremely close range, Lucario will grab an enemy first, dealing additional damage.

The Extreme Speed up special sends Lucario rushing in your chosen direction, and you can adjust the flight path mid-air. Also, the more damage Lucario takes, the further it will go. For the Force Palm side special, Lucario attacks with its Aura. Using it while close to an enemy adds a grab to the move and deals extra damage.

: Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl (04/2007)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Mega Evolution (Lucario)

In Lucario's Final Smash, it Mega Evolves into Mega Lucario. The attacks it can use don't change, but its Aura abilities become more powerful than ever, letting it deal more damage and launch opponents farther. It can also resist being launched by other fighters, but the more attacks it takes, the sooner it will transform back.

For Lucario's Final Smash, it Mega Evolves into Mega Lucario. The attacks it can use don't change, but its Aura abilities become more powerful than ever, letting it deal even more damage and launch opponents even further. It can also resist being launched by other fighters, but the more attacks it takes, the less time the Final Smash lasts.

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  Classic (3DS)

• LucarioAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Mega Lucario

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Brawl: Lucario is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents debuted in Brawl.
• Aura Mastery: A highly damaged Lucario must defeat an invisible Sheik and an invisible Wii Fit Trainer.
• Fire-Type Frenzy: As Charizard, the player must defeat Lucario, Greninja, and Pikachu all appearing after another.
• Pokémon Battle: As Greninja, the player must defeat a team of Lucario, Pikachu, and Charizard.

Co-Op Events

• Pokémon Multi Battle!: Pikachu and Charizard must defeat a team of Lucario and Greninja, then a team of Pikachu and Charizard each appearing after one opponent is defeated. Lucario can appear if Pikachu is KO'd.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select characters and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Lucario in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Lucario's amiibo

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  The Pic of the Day shown during Lucario's reveal.

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  Using its down smash.

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  Using Mega Lucario, its new Final Smash.

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  Charging Aura Sphere.

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  Using its down smash on both Mario and Link.

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  Air dodging while Mario and Mega Man attack the Yellow Devil.

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  Using its neutral attack's last hit against Wii Fit Trainer's forward tilt.

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  Using Double Team against Link.

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  Teetering while King Dedede approaches from behind with Jet Hammer.

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  Sleeping under a tree grown by Villager.

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  Using Extreme Speed on Rainbow Road.

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  Using Extreme Speed.

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  Using its up taunt in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  A picture displaying Aura Sphere's size difference in scale with Lucario's Aura.

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  Lucario next to Palkia.

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  Using Double Team against Marth.

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  Using its back aerial.

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  Taunting alongside Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

Trivia

The Lucario error on the Super Smash Bros. official Facebook page.

• On the Super Smash Bros. official Facebook page, Lucario was first listed as originating from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the Game Boy Advance, even though those games were actually released on the Nintendo DS. This was later fixed.
• Lucario and Dr. Mario are the only characters to lack a meteor smash of any kind, including unconventional meteor smashes.
• Lucario and Mewtwo are the only Pokémon whose on-screen appearances do not involve emerging from a Poké Ball.