Pikachu (SSBB)

Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Volt Tackle
Tier	B (8)

Unveiled at E3 2006, Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In the E3 2006, Pikachu didn't show its Final Smash like Mario, Kirby, and Link did. Visually, Pikachu has barely changed at all from its Melee design, only being larger and touched up slightly. It retains all of its moves from Melee.

It is currently in the B Tier and holds 8th position. This makes Pikachu closer to its original top tier status in Super Smash Bros., where it was ranked first place, as opposed to its D Tier status in Melee, where it is ranked twelfth place. It is currently the highest-ranked character in Brawl that has appeared in all three Super Smash Bros. games and the highest-ranked in the Pokémon series. Pikachu's decent KOing power, quick overall speed, good recovery and edge-guarding game, good chain grab (having two chain grabs), and Brawl's new physics have helped it a lot; Pikachu can no longer be so easily combo'd, its grab range is no longer the shortest (Ganondorf now has the shortest grab range), its Thunder is not as laggy, and it gained various new tactics such as Quick Attack cancelling. However, it has a relatively weak air game, placing it at a disadvantage against characters with particularly powerful air games, such as Olimar. Regardless, Pikachu still has very high matchups, including being the only character with a considered even matchup against Meta Knight. However, despite its high position in the American tier list, it is much lower in the Japanese tier list, where it is placed 22nd.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Pikachu is considered to have been buffed in Brawl, though not too much. Pikachu's greatest buff is perhaps the acquisitions of two chain throws with its forward and down throws. The former being a chain throw that affects a majority of the characters to a decent degree. The latter is a chain throw that affects only a minority of the characters, but can chain throw these characters to a more severe degree than the forward throw. Pikachu's aerial game was generally buffed, with it gaining an aerial KO move (which it lacked in Melee) with a stronger neutral aerial along with a more useful forward aerial and back aerial. Its up aerial semi-spike was removed and the up air itself is weaker, but the up aerial is now better at juggling. Back aerial, while it only hit once in Melee, now deals multiple hits in Brawl. Thunder has less ending lag and stronger knockback, which makes it a better and less punishable vertical finisher in Brawl. Its down smash was also buffed, with it being more difficult for the opponent to escape from as well as the final hit producing much stronger vertical knockback, making it much better at KOing. On the downside, Pikachu's up smash was significantly weakened, which went from being the strongest up smash to the 25th strongest. Pikachu's forward smash was weakened as well, with it having a weaker sweetspot and its sourspot was weakened significantly, weakening its overall KO power and reliability. Despite these nerfs, both smashes are still powerful and reliable KO moves. Its up smash is still considered a great up smash due to its very fast start-up and strong vertical knockback. While Pikachu was not buffed significantly, Pikachu benefited greatly from Brawl's physics changes. Most notably, Pikachu is no longer easily combo'd or as vulnerable to chain throws, has noticeably better survivability, and the slower falling speeds improved Thunder's KOing capacity. Other additions include the ability to wall jump, which Pichu previously owned instead, and the ability to crawl.

Graphically, Pikachu's proportions have been altered slightly, and its tail now has thickness. Its coloring has also been slightly softened. Pikachu has a few new sounds, which sound slightly "bouncy".

Attributes

Pikachu's most salient feature, as with its appearances in previous Smash Brothers games, is its speed. Pikachu also has good specials, excellent smash attacks and tilts, the ability to crawl (although Pikachu retracts its tail over its body when it crawls backwards, which allows it to be hit by projectiles that normally would not hit it while crawling forward), moderate grabs, and is able to wall jump. Pikachu is a fairly small target, but this comes at the price of being the 4th lightest character (making it easily be knocked off-stage by a strong smash-attack) and having the smallest shield in the game (making both shield stabbing and shield breaking easy).

Pikachu's best game is played on the ground, at a medium range, where its smash attacks can be used to the fullest. Pikachu's up-smash is one of the fastest in the game, with decent power to boot, and is excellent for KOs while its down-smash holds for multiple hits and has a high priority, functioning as a panic button of sorts for close encounters. The side smash is a good tool for edgeguarding and KOs off the side. All of its smashes, however, have poor range like most of its other moves.

As for specials, Skull Bash and Quick Attack are both good recovery techniques, although Skull Bash is easily punishable by edgeguarders, able to be stopped by projectiles (e.g. Waddle Dee Throw), and requires charging time. Quick Attack also opens options for mindgames, by confusing opponents about Pikachu's actions. The most common form of this is QAC (Quick Attack cancel), allowing Pikachu use any special or aerial move after. Thunder is Pikachu's most well known move. Opponents will expect it of the player, and because of that, watch out for characters who have reflectors or reflect, because if 2 or more characters reflect the Thunder it will cause the player to instantly jump to 100-500% KOing the player instantly if they're under the Thunder, but the move is still one of Pikachu's best KO moves, KOing reliably at 100%. Thunder Jolt is Pikachu's neutral Special, and is a useful move to keep most opponents at bay, as well as forcing them in the air. Thunder Jolt is a ground-hugging projectile, meaning opponents can't escape it by ducking or crawling.

Pikachu's aerials are its weakest area. Forward aerial is weak in damage but can carry momentum through; whereas neutral aerial is slightly stronger, but negates all momentum, and causes Pikachu to fall during the move. Up aerial is extremely weak, but can be used as a juggling tool. Down aerial and back aerial are laggy when they hit the ground, but all of the down aerial's landing lag can be avoided if it is used at the start of a short hop.

Pikachu's throws are possible to chain-grab with, in certain situations. Down and Forward throws are mostly used for this, while back throws easily set up to an edgeguarding chance. Up throws and up tilts can combine into a Thunder on certain characters.

Other tips for Pikachu are to maintain good DI and Tech skills, as well as good dodging skills. Pikachu's speed makes it imperative to keep moving and to always seek the high ground on stages with platforms.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Quick headbutt. Can be held, or just pressed. 2% damage each hit. It may also cause tripping and it has a disjointed, invisible hitbox like Snake's forward tilt and up tilt. Best used against an opponent when they are next to a wall to rack up very high damage. Has a start-up of 2 frames. Pikachu´s fastest move.
• Dash attack - Bashes target with its head like a mini Skull Bash. Laggy in completion, easily shield grabbed. 7% damage. Hits on frame 5-16.
• Forward tilt - Sticks both feet forward. Almost nonexistent range. 10%, 9%, or 8% damage depending on angling. Hits on frame 5-10.
• Up tilt - Swings tail in an arc above itself, good for juggling fast fallers. Hits on frame 7-13. Does 7%, 6%, or 5% damage depending on what part hits.
• Down tilt - Does a quick, low tail whip. Can attack and hit twice, first tripping and then knocking away if the user taps fast enough. 7% damage. Start-up on frame 7 and it ends on frame 9.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash - Pikachu charges bolt of electricity in front of it, causing a lot of knockback when released (it has the 5th highest base knockback but the 7th lowest knockback scaling). If Pikachu uses or charges its side smash with a battering item, it will have a straight face. If it does so with a Smash Ball, its face takes on an evil expression. The further away Pikachu's opponent is, the less damage it does. Does Template:DamageWhenCharged, Template:DamageWhenCharged, or Template:DamageWhenCharged damage depending on timing. Has some starting lag (frame 15) and minimal ending lag.
• Up smash - Flips very fast (start-up on frame 9), attacking with its tail. Depending on when and where it hits, if can do Template:DamageWhenCharged, Template:DamageWhenCharged, Template:DamageWhenCharged, or Template:DamageWhenCharged damage. Great move to use after Down Throw. Powerful vertical KOer, despite being nerfed. A strategy involves using this to combo to Thunderspike to get a Star KO.
• Down smash - Spins on the floor and releases electricity. Template:DamageWhenCharged for 6 hits and Template:DamageWhenCharged on the last. Good move for racking up damage, and a reliable finisher. If the opponent flies directly up after a Down Smash, Thunder can quickly be used for a reliable Star KO. Almost no starting lag (frame 6, being its fastest smash attack) and some ending lag. An amazing panic option move for spacing. Helps with Stale Move Negation because of its multiple hits but it can be Smash DIed out of.

Other

• Ledge attack- Does a somersault that hurts opponents. 8% damage.
• Over 100% ledge attack- Kicks up then whacks opponents with its tail. 10% damage.
• Floor attack- Does a sweeper kick. 6% damage.
• Trip attack- Does a sweeper kick with its tail. 5% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Spins in a ball. Decent knockback and power. Extremely fast, having a start-up of 3 frames, giving the ability of breaking combos. Still has hitboxes while on the ground, decent priority. KOs most characters at 130%. Does 12% damage clean and 6% late. Pikachu's best aerial KO move.
• Forward aerial - An electric drill-like move forward. Lags on the ground but still sets up for a grab or down smash. 2% on the first 4 hits and 3% on the last, with the last hit having minimal knockback. Start-up on frame 10.
• Back aerial - Spins like a disc and hits multiple times. First hit on frame 4. Does 1% damage for 7 hits and 4% on the last, or 4% when it hits the ground. Good for chasing opponents DI. Very high aerial lag and landing lag.
• Up aerial - Swings tail while flipping forward. Very weak attack. Certain tail frames send opponent away at an angle good for gimping at high percentages. Does 6%, 5%, or 4% damage based on timing and spacing. Best used to push opponents off in aerial combat. Has almost no KOing potential. Hits on frame 3-4.
• Down aerial - An electric drill-like move downward. Has hitboxes while on the ground. 12% damage and 4% when not autocancelled. Lags on contact with ground, can be auto-canceled if done while rising. Has horizontal knockback. Hits on frame 14-26. Cannot spike.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel - Shocks opponent. Fairly quick. 2% per hit. Best if used rhythmically because of slight afterlag.
• Forward throw - Places opponent on back and electrocutes them forward. Can chain throw almost all characters. 10% damage total. Good for countering stale move negation because it hits multiple times.
• Back throw - Tumbles with opponent back and throws them back. 9% damage. Unlike other throws, Pikachu actually moves a considerable distance with the opponent before throwing.
• Up throw - Headbutts opponent upward. Can combo with Thunder. 10% damage total.
• Down throw - Slams on top of opponent. Can chain throw certain characters. Has a 0-death on Fox, the ability to chain grab most fast-fallers and can guaranteed an up smash at low percentages. Can perform 0-death combo by using down throw, up tilt, foolstool jump into Quick Attack lock (with QAC) repeatdly and jab lock repeatdly near close to the ledge ending with forward smash on few characters. This combo can be escaped with proper SDI. 10% total.

Special moves

Pikachu's special moves

Neutral special	Thunder Jolt
Side special	—	Skull Bash
Up special	Quick Attack
Down special	Thunder
Final Smash	—		Volt Tackle

Taunts

Up: Pikachu creates rings of electricity around it, saying "Piiiiiii!"

Down: Pikachu rolls on its back and says "Pikaaaahh!".

Side: Turns to the camera, waving both paws and says "Pika, Pika!" (updated version of taunt from SSB and Melee) - its mouth is open wider when facing left.

Idle poses

• Scratches one of its ears
• Looks left and right

Cheer

Pika Pika Pikachu!

Brawl Manual Description

Everyone's favorite Pokémon is nimble and has several potent electrical attacks.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role In The Subspace Emissary

A Pikachu is first seen when Samus, in her Zero Suit, enters a lab on the Isle of the Ancients. She finds that Pikachu is having its electric energy drained by a device, and uses her Plasma Whip to break the glass encasing Pikachu. With their common goal of revenge on the Subspace Army, they infiltrate the Research Facility to find Samus' Power Suit.

Pikachu in the SSE

After going through the first area of the Research Facility, Zero Suit Samus and Pikachu discover a monitor room, and learn the location of Samus' Power Suit.

They then traverse another section of the Research Facility. They cross a bridge to reach the Power Suit. When Samus approaches the Suit, she and Pikachu are ambushed by two Shadow Bug clones of her Power Suit. After defeating them, Samus regains her Power Suit, and after defeating a small R.O.B. Squad, travel through the last area of the Facility. Later, the duo almost exit the Research Facility, but are then confronted by Ridley, who brutally damages Samus by dragging her across the wall. Pikachu uses Thunder on Ridley to stop him. Samus falls back down onto the platform, her Power Suit damaged, but working, while Ridley, enraged by Pikachu's electric shock, roars at them. The two then fight and defeat Ridley. After defeating Ridley, Pikachu and Samus leave the facility and notice a pair of R.O.B.s carrying a Subspace Bomb. They prepare to enter the Subspace Bomb Factory.

They infiltrate the Ancient Minister's base, and eventually enter a large room, with him, an army of R.O.B.s, and a great number of Subspace Bombs on racks behind them. They prepare to fight him but pause, noticing that Ancient Minister is looking down as if he's sad.

As they stare at his sorrowing, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon and Olimar break into the same room. DK smashes the doors open with his fists, and the four barge into the room. They also want to attack the Ancient Minister, but a hologram of Ganondorf appears. He commands the R.O.B. Squad to activate the remaining Subspace Bombs. The Ancient Minister tries to stop the Squad as their leader, but Ganondorf forces them to mindlessly attack the Ancient Minister using a reprogramming device. As the Ancient Minister sulks in flames, the brainwashed R.O.B. squad starts to take the Subspace Bombs off the racks. Ganondorf laughs at the Ancient Minister's despair, and sends the Subspace Army to distract the fighters. Auroros fly towards the group, but the Ancient Minister fires energy beams at them before they get near the fighters. The Ancient Minister reveals itself to be a R.O.B. himself, the lead R.O.B, and joins the five other heroes in fighting the Subspace Army. After they defeat the Subspace Army, the heroes attempt to detach the R.O.B. squad from the Subspace Bombs. Captain Falcon throws the R.O.B.s, Samus uses her Grapple Beam, while Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong use sheer force. Nothing detaches the R.O.B.s from the Subspace Bomb. The lead R.O.B. attempts to get them to willingly detach, and two members of the Squad respond, apparently unable to detach themselves. The R.O.B. looks down in despair, and Captain Falcon calls his Falcon Flyer so they can escape. After descending through the Subspace Bomb factory escape tunnel, full of members of the Subspace Army, they escape on the Falcon Flyer. Meta Ridley chases them down with the intent of revenge on Samus and Pikachu. They fight his mechanically enhanced form on top of the Flyer, and defeat it. Pikachu and the rest of the group then join the ground heroes and Halberd Battleship heroes, and help them out throughout the rest of the adventure.

Unfortunately, when these characters reach Subspace, Tabuu turns everybody, including Pikachu, into trophies using the terrible Off Waves. However, thanks to the efforts of King Dedede, Luigi and Ness,the characters are revived, Pikachu included. Once they regroup with the trophies that Kirby and the others revived, they set off to enter The Great Maze. When they approach Tabuu, Sonic appears and saves them from his Off Waves. They then finally defeat Tabuu, and returned the Subspace Bomb-ed portions of the World of Trophies back to their original places, except the Isle of the Ancients, which Pikachu and the rest look on at in triumph.

Exclusive stickers

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Costumes

Pikachu's alternate costumes in SSBB

Trivia

• Some of Pikachu's new attributes, such as wall-jumping and its goggle costume were previously held by Pichu in Melee; additionally, Pikachu can traditionally only learn Volt Tackle if it evolved from a Pichu in breeding. The Smash community has frequently joked about these similarities, with some jokes speaking about how the Pikachu in Brawl is actually an evolved form of the Pichu from Melee.
• By the time Brawl was released, gender differences were introduced in the Pokémon games. Female Pikachu have a heart-shaped indent on their tails, while the one in Brawl doesn't, causing speculation that the Pikachu in Brawl is male.
• Pikachu has the least amount of palette swaps in Brawl, which is 4.

External links

• Pikachu's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Pikachu Character Guide at SWF
• Pikachu's hitbox size of each of its moves
• Pikachu's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice