Charizard (SSB4)

Charizard in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mega Evolution

“	Charizard Fires It Up!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Charizard (リザードン, Lizardon) returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4. It was revealed with Greninja in a trailer during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct.

Charizard is once again voiced by Shinichiro Miki, who provided new voice clips that are notably less bestial than in Brawl and more resembling to those in the anime.

Attributes

Charizard fits the archetype of a powerful yet slow heavyweight with remarkable reach. Like Ike, it also possesses some fast attributes, most notably its dashing speed and a useful combo game. One of Charizard's strengths is its huge array of KOing options, which include three of its specials (Flare Blitz, Fly, and Rock Smash), all of its smash attacks, its forward tilt, three of its aerials (up, back, and down), and its up throw. As already mentioned, Charizard also has some moves that combo rather well, such as its neutral attack and forward aerial. It also has a decent recovery, as Flare Blitz, though somewhat situational, covers a large amount of horizontal distance quickly while providing respectable damage and very high knockback. Fly covers a decent amount of vertical distance while providing super armor and high base knockback. Charizard's biggest asset is its grab and throw game: its grab is one of the longest non-tethers in SSB4, its up throw can potentially KO below 95%, and its down throw is a good combo starter.

However, Charizard has noticeable flaws. One flaw is its lack of a very useful projectile; although Flamethrower can inflict massive damage, interrupt approaches, and gimp recoveries, its sub-par range and moderately fast decay can prevent it from aiding Charizard significantly. Charizard also is easy to combo and generally hit due to its size and weight. Its poor air speed can also hinder its recovery and comboing ability. Arguably, its biggest flaw is its out of shield game; despite having some of the best out of shield options available, like Fly and its up throw, they are hindered by Charizard's exceptionally poor traction, which is the second worst in the game after Luigi's.

Overall, there is significant debate for whether Charizard is a viable character or not. While most say it is not a consistently viable character, some players such as ZeRo and Omega Tyrant claim the opposite. Overall, its strengths are about equal with its weaknesses.

Changes from Brawl

Charizard has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Its few major nerfs slightly counter its many various buffs, causing debate on whether it was buffed or nerfed overall (Pokémon Trainer's gimmick notwithstanding). Most notably, the removal of gliding has made Charizard's recovery much worse. Its new side special, Flare Blitz, is somewhat situational for recovering, though it has great effect in free-for-alls, doubles, and as part of successful reads due to its damage output and very high knockback. The rest of its moveset has been re-balanced in other ways: its faster attacks (such as its neutral attack, neutral aerial and forward tilt) are slightly weaker, and many of its KOing options have been strengthened at the cost of speed. As a heavyweight character, Charizard benefits greatly from the addition of the rage mechanic, particularly with the buff to its up throw from update 1.0.8; in fact, the recoil from Flare Blitz can be beneficial if taken into account properly, as it can bring Charizard into utilizing the rage mechanic sooner than expected and thus enable it score KOs easier.

Custom moves address some of Charizard's shortcomings. Dragon Rush is arguably its best custom, as it is a high-pressure rush-down option that has less lag, no recoil and cannot be blocked by opponents when recovering. Fly High slightly improves its vertical recovery, although it loses one of its fastest punishing moves in the process. The other up special alternative, Rising Cyclone, sacrifices some recovery height for very high launching power that can KO most characters via the upper blast line around as low as 56%.

As a result of Charizard's major flaws such as its laggy and punishable attacks, ironically poor aerial mobility, and average vertical recovery (especially if customs are not utilized), it is said to work best as a punishing-oriented character by using its stronger yet slower attacks to take advantage of openings and flaws in the opponent's play. However, players such as Trela and Bloodcross have been able to show some dominance in Charizard's metagame even without customs, causing debate on how effective it can be. This has led many players to now regard it as one of the better, if not the best, of the low-tier characters after it was initially considered one of the worst characters in the game in early SSB4 competitive play.

Aesthetics

• Charizard's skin is a brighter shade of orange, its fangs are smaller, and its proportions are more in-line with its recent 3D appearances in the Pokémon franchise.
• Charizard now flaps its wings while dashing.
• Without Pokémon Trainer, all of Charizard's victory poses have changed.
• Charizard is now ambidextrous.

Attributes

• Charizard is heavier (110 → 115).
• Charizard walks faster (0.7 → 1.2).
• Charizard dashes faster (1.8 → 2.0).
• Charizard's air speed is slower (0.987 → 0.87).
• Charizard falls faster (1.35 → 1.4).
• Charizard's traction has decreased (0.055 → 0.04), going from the second worst to being right above Luigi's.
• Without Pokémon Trainer, Charizard is no longer affected by stamina.
• Type effectiveness no longer applies, thus removing Charizard's water weakness and grass resistance.
• Charizard, along with Pit and Meta Knight, can no longer glide.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack is significantly faster.
• Neutral attack deals 1% less damage (14% → 13%).
• Forward tilt is slightly faster and one of its previous sourspot hitboxes is now a sweetspot hitbox.
• Forward tilt's sourspot deals 3% less damage.
• Down tilt deals 2% less damage (12% → 10% (head), 8% → 6% (neck)), is slower and has lost its KOing power.
• Down tilt now has a windbox that pushes opponents away from Charizard.
• Forward smash is now a single hit attack that is stronger and has more horizontal range.
• Forward smash losing its multi-hit properties means that it now deals 5% less damage (22% → 17%).
• Down smash now sends opponents horizontally and is stronger.

Air attacks

• Neutral aerial now deals consistent damage throughout and is significantly faster, now auto-canceling from a short hop.
• Neutral aerial deals less damage and knockback.
• Forward aerial is now a claw slash that deals greater damage and knockback.
• Back aerial deals 1% more damage (5% → 6% (wing), 7% → 8% (tail), 9% → 10% (flame)), has greater reach and is significantly stronger, KOing earlier than some smash attacks.
• Back aerial has added start-up, no longer auto-cancels from a short hop and has more landing lag.
• Up aerial deals 3% more damage (10% → 13% (clean), 7% → 10% (late)), has an altered animation, provides partial intangibility, and is significantly stronger.
• Up aerial has added start-up and has lost its lingering hitbox.
• Down aerial has an added lingering sourspot that is significantly weaker with horizontal knockback. This gives Charizard a new edge-guarding option and a few more follow-up options when aerially fighting opponents, but makes it easier to punish at lower percents.

Throws/other attacks

• Charizard has a new up throw similar to Kirby's up throw, which is based on either Seismic Toss or Sky Drop. It was drastically buffed in terms of knockback in the 1.0.8 update, becoming the strongest up throw in the game and one of the strongest throws overall in the game.
• As of the 1.0.8 update, Charizard's down throw has significantly reduced knockback, making it a much better combo starter. It can no longer reliably KO, but this was compensated for in the same update with Charizard's up throw. The throw can be followed up consistently into a forward aerial on most characters until about 60%, and it can even lead into a KO around 80% when followed up with an up aerial and if the opponent DIs vertically.

Special moves

• With no need for Pokémon Change, Charizard has a new side special, Flare Blitz. It is an extremely powerful but laggy attack with recoil damage. It also gives Charizard a new horizontal recovery option.
• Rock Smash is now Charizard's down special instead of a side special.
• Starting on frame 5, Rock Smash now grants Charizard 22 frames of launch resistance.
• Rock Smash deals less damage (18% → 14% (headbutt), 5% → 3% (fragments)) and knockback.
• Fly covers more vertical distance. The first few hits also connect better and the final hit is much stronger.
• Charizard's new Final Smash involves Mega Evolving into Mega Charizard X.

Update history

Charizard has been noticeably buffed via game updates. Most notably, update 1.0.8 has drastically improved two of Charizard's most useful moves as well as its grab game. Its neutral attack connects more reliably and its neutral aerial is much faster, so much so that it can auto-cancel from a short hop, which greatly increases its utility in spacing. Its up throw now has far more knockback, making it the second strongest up throw in the game and one of the strongest throws overall in the game. However, it is easier to mitigate with DI due to the trajectory. Additionally, its down throw has been re-purposed into becoming Charizard's best combo starter, which can occasionally lead into a KO when followed up with its up aerial. In spite of Charizard's horrendous out of shield game, changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 also help it due to its moves' high hitlag and damage outputs.

1.0.4

• Five frames of intangibility have been added to Charizard's head in certain situations.
• Dragon Rush's damage decreased: 15% → 11%.
• Some properties of what appear to be the headbutt in Rock Hurl and Flamethrower have been adjusted.

1.0.6

• Up throw's damage increased: 6% (hit 1), 2% (throw) → 8% (hit 1), 3% (throw).
• Flare Blitz's recoil damage increased: 4% (no collision), 9% (collision) → 5% (no collision), 10% (collision).
• Forward aerial's sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes switched.
• Fly's knockback increased.
• Down tilt's start-up and endlag decreased.

1.0.8

• Neutral attack connects more reliably.
• Forward aerial's hitbox is larger and lasts longer.
• Up throw has significantly more knockback, making it a viable KOing option. This is a significant buff, as it is now the strongest up throw in the game.
• Down throw has significantly less knockback, making it Charizard's best combo starter at low percents. Although it is less reliable as a KOing option, this is completely mitigated due to the same update's aforementioned buff of Charizard's up throw.

1.1.0

• Forward tilt's sweetspot's damage increased: 10% → 11%.
• One of forward tilt's three sourspot hitboxes is now a sweetspot, which essentially makes it larger.
• Down tilt been given a windbox that pushes opponents inwards (pre-animation modifier frames 6-9).
• Back aerial's landing lag decreased: 36 → 33.
• Down throw's end frame decreased: 72 → 70.

1.1.1

• Sinking Skull's damage increased: 10% → 12% (ground), 9% → 10% (air).
• Sinking Skull's endlag reduced by 5 frames.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Charizard slashes twice with its claws followed by striking with its right wing.
			4%
			5%
Forward tilt			11% (flame), 7% (tail)	Charizard sweeps its tail forward. The move is much stronger if it connects with the fiery tip of Charizard's tail, so proper spacing is key when using it.
Up tilt			8%	Charizard stabs upward with both of its wings.
Down tilt			10%	Charizard headbutts forward at the ground in front of it. Good horizontal knockback, though not as much as in Brawl.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 8% (late)	Charizard does a running side kick.
Forward smash			17% (clean, late body), 14% (late head)	Charizard sweeps its head forward from bottom to top. Charizard is invincible during the first 5 active frames of this attack, even when hitting explosive items.
Up smash			5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	Charizard bats upward with both of its wings, hitting twice. First hit does not link very well into the second.
Down smash			16%	Charizard stomps the ground once with both feet, causing the ground to erupt from either side of it.
Neutral aerial			10% (flame), 7% (tail)	Charizard spins its entire body in a somersault, hitting with its tail.
Forward aerial			11% (early, clean arm), 12% (clean tip)	Charizard slashes in front of it.
Back aerial			10% (body), 13% (tail), 15% (flame)	Charizard swings its tail backwards. Very strong, with similar power to King Dedede's dash attack, but has high landing lag.
Up aerial			13%	Charizard headbutts upward.
Down aerial			14% (clean), 8% (late)	Charizard stomps downward with one of its feet. A powerful meteor smash.
Grab			—	Charizard grabs its opponent with its mouth.
Pummel			2%	Charizard bites the opponent. Very fast and relatively damaging, making it a good pummel, especially right before an up throw.
Forward throw			10%	Charizard spins the opponent once with its mouth, then throws them forward.
Back throw			10%	Charizard throws the opponent backwards with its mouth. Does not have much ending lag, meaning that Charizard can pursue a thrown opponent with a dash immediately after, or even a short hop/full hop Flare Blitz in some cases.
Up throw			8% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Charizard jumps with the foe skyward to the upper blast line, then drops down with them against the floor. Similar to Kirby's. Drastically increased knockback as of the 1.0.8 update, and it is now the strongest up throw in the game (though DI is more effective against it than Mewtwo's), reliably KOing under 130%.
Down throw			1% (loop hits), 1% (throw)	Charizard pins its opponent on the floor, and then breathes fire on them. Does poor damage, but has high knockback and can KO enemies at high percents. Deals severely reduced knockback as of the 1.0.8 update, which is a buff overall due to it becoming a combo starter.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings tail backwards, then headbutts forward.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets up performing a half-circle claw swipe.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Similar to the back floor attack.
Edge attack Edge getups			8%	Gets up and headbutts.
Neutral special	Default	Flamethrower	2% (clean), 1% (late)	Charizard expels a stream of flames from its mouth that gradually weakens if the attack is held, similarly to Bowser's Fire Breath. Unlike Fire Breath, Flamethrower's far-ranged hitboxes will still make the opponent flinch.
	Custom 1	Fire Fang	2% (flames), 8% (finish)	A short-range, fire-breathing attack that hits quickly. Releasing the button finishes the move with a small explosion.
	Custom 2	Fireball Cannon	3% (clean), 2% (late)	Expels fireballs that travel far and will not weaken over time, though they deal less damage than Flamethrower. In addition to having more start-up, Charizard must fire three fireballs before the move can end.
Side special	Default	Flare Blitz	4% (collision), 15% (explosion)	Charizard does a very powerful, fiery corkscrew tackle that causes recoil damage at the beginning of the move and again on contact. Has heavy armor (14%).
	Custom 1	Blast Burn	4% (collision), 5% (explosion loop), 9% (explosion last)	A slower, short-ranged version of Flare Blitz that deals more damage to both Charizard and its opponent. Has heavy armor (14%).
	Custom 2	Dragon Rush	1.2% (per hit)	Does multiple hits with less power overall, but Charizard takes no recoil damage and will not stop moving if it hits an opponent. Generally considered the most versatile of Charizard's side special variants, and one of the main reasons why Charizard is noticeably better with custom moves on.
Up special	Default	Fly	5% (hit 1), 2% (loop hits), 4% (last hit)	Charizard flies upward in a corkscrew motion. The final hit has great knockback and grants it super armor.
	Custom 1	Rising Cyclone	4% (hit 1), 2% (loop hits), 6% (last hit)	Recovery distance is reduced, but Charizard can suck in opponents and launch them. Also grants super armor.
	Custom 2	Fly High	0%	Deals no damage, but covers more vertical distance. Also grants super armor.
Down special	Default	Rock Smash	14% (headbutt), 3% (fragments)	Charizard pulls out a boulder and headbutts it, breaking it into pieces. Also grants super armor.
	Custom 1	Sinking Skull	10% (ground), 12%/9% (air)	Charizard headbutts the opponent, causing them to get stuck in the floor.
	Custom 2	Rock Hurl	8% (headbutt), 2% (fragments)	The boulder fragments fly farther, but deal less damage. Also grants super armor.
Final Smash		Mega Charizard X	2% (charge loop), 10% (charge last hit), 5% (blast collision), 1% (blast loop), 5% (blast last hit)	Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X from Pokémon X and Y. Charizard consistently hovers around the stage, similarly to Super Dragon. Mega Charizard X has two attacks: Fire Blast, a powerful projectile, and Dragon Rush, a powerful corkscrew tackle. Unlike the Dragon Rush custom move, Mega Charizard X's Dragon Rush can move in any given direction.

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Stomps and roars to the sky while flapping its wings.
• Side Taunt: Stomps and growls while flapping its wings once.
• Down Taunt: Stomps violently.

On-Screen Appearance

Charizard is released from a Poké Ball, then stomps.

Victory Fanfare

A small excerpt of the music that would play on the title screen of Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions, a track which would go on to become the Pokémon Main Theme, which also appears as a standalone track in Brawl. It is shared with Pikachu, Lucario, Jigglypuff, Greninja and Mewtwo.

Victory Poses

• CharizardPose1WiiU.png
• CharizardPose2WiiU.png
• CharizardPose3WiiU.png

• Roars and does a pose.
• Stomps forward, then roars upwards with flames coming out of its mouth and then poses.
• Uses Flare Blitz into the ground and then poses.

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Charizard	1311	1313	1331	1333	1113
	1211	1213	3311	2311	1321

Notable players

•  Bloodcross
•  Chompy
•  Mew2King
•  Trela
•  Steeler

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Brawl: Charizard is one of the opponents fought in this event. All characters debut from Brawl and reappeared in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
• Fire-Type Frenzy: Charizard must defeat Greninja, Lucario, and Pikachu all appearing after another.
• Pokémon Battle: Greninja must defeat a team of Pikachu, Charizard, and Lucario in a 1 stock battle.
• The Falchion's Seal: Robin must defeat a giant Charizard using his Final Smash, Pair Up. Defeating it any other way causes it to respawn.

Co-Op Events

• Poisonous Planet: Olimar and Samus (under the flowering effect) must defeat a team of 2 Charizards in a 200HP battle before their health is depleted.
• 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.
• Robots vs. Dragons: Mega Man and R.O.B. must defeat a team of giant Yoshi, giant Charizard and Ridley in a stamina battle.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select characters and must defeat the entire roster.

Reveal Trailer

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Trophies

Charizard

The iconic Fire/Flying-type Pokémon. Charizard's scorching breath can melt anything in its path. It soars through the air, seeking only worthy foes to test itself against. In Smash Bros., Charizard unleashes the destructive Flare Blitz special move— a move so strong, it even injures the user!

Charizard, a Fire- and Flying-type Pokémon, can burn through anything with the flames it breathes. It is constantly on the lookout for powerful opponents. And where better to find them than in this game? Its huge build and special moves mean it can inflict massive damage, and its Flare Blitz is so powerful, it even hurts Charizard itself!

: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Charizard (Alt.)

Charizard's Flamethrower attack can be sustained by holding the button. The flames will gradually die, but a short break will recharge them. Charizard's down special Rock Smash crushes a rock and hits foes with the pieces. Charizard won't flinch while crushing, but others can break the rock...

When using Charizard's Flamethrower move, hold the button to keep breathing fire. The flames gradually die down, but you just need to rest for a bit before doing it again. If you get hit while you're using the down special Rock Smash, you won't flinch, but someone else can break the rock instead, making your attack fail.

: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Mega Evolution (Charizard)

In this powerful Final Smash, Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X and takes to the air. In this form, it can charge violently in any direction or shoot horizontal blasts of fire that launch foes. Mega Charizard X isn't invulnerable, though-in fact, taking damage will actually reduce the time you can stay transformed.

For this powerful Final Smash, Charizard Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard X and takes to the air. In this form, it can charge violently in any direction and shoot horizontal blasts of fire that launch foes. Mega Charizard X isn't invulnerable, though - taking attacks will reduce the length of time it stays transformed.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• CharizardAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Mega Charizard X

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Charizard's splash art.

• 

  Charizard's amiibo.

• 

  Charizard and Pikachu atop a cliff, overlooking various Pokémon.

• 

  Charizard's new aerial attack, slashing Mario in the air.

• 

  Charizard using Flare Blitz.

• 

  Landing lag of back air.

• 

  Defending against Mario's F.L.U.D.D..

• 

  Footstool jumping on Yoshi.

• 

  Sidestepping against Little Mac's attack.

• 

  Being attacked by Greninja.

• 

  Striking a pose.

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  Under the sleep effects of Bellossom's attack with Lucario.

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  Glaring at Kirby after copying Charizard's Flamethrower.

• 

  In front of the Prism Tower in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  With Pikachu.

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  Mega Charizard X.

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  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

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  Charizard using Flare Blitz, along with knockback recoil.

Trivia

• Charizard is the first veteran in SSB to receive splash art and a unique pose (that is, different from the pose in its official artwork) in its introduction, the others being Mewtwo, Lucas, and Roy. It is also the first veteran to be introduced as a challenger in a trailer.
• Charizard is the only Pokémon character to receive new voice clips while retaining its voice actor.
• Charizard knows eight official Pokémon attacks in SSB4, which is impossible in the main series Pokémon games, where the maximum is four.
  • Apart from Flamethrower, Rock Smash, Flare Blitz and Fly, which are its standard special moves, it can also use Fire Fang, Blast Burn and Dragon Rush as some of its custom moves.
  • It can also use the latter during its Final Smash alongside its eighth attack, Fire Blast.
• In the PAL version of the 3DS version, one of the tips about Rock Smash refers to Charizard using masculine pronouns: "Right before smashing a rock, Charizard gets super armor, meaning he won't even flinch if he's attacked!"