Pikachu (PM)

Pikachu in Project M and Project+
Universe	Pokémon
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Pikachu (SSBM), Pikachu (SSBB), Pikachu (SSB)
Alternate costume	Pirate Hat Pikachu, Sideways Pokémon Trainer Hat Pikachu

Pikachu is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. For its appearance in Project M, it was mostly reverted to its Melee version, while keeping a few techniques and moves from its Brawl and Smash 64 versions.

Pikachu ranks 23rd out of 41 on the official tier list, close to the bottom of B tier. This is a large drop from its placements in Melee and Brawl where it was 9th out of 26 and 8th out of 38, respectively.

Changes from Melee to PM

Pikachu performing its back aerial while wearing its pirate hat alternate costume.

Pikachu was buffed in Project M overall, gaining many favorable attributes from Brawl while keeping others from Melee (such as its powerful up smash), along with a few other options being strengthened, giving it additional leverage against top-tiered characters.

Attributes

• Pikachu retains its crawl and wall jump techniques from Brawl, the latter one giving Pikachu a better recovery on stages such as Yoshi's Story.

Ground Attacks

• Down smash links into itself more adequately, while still having its reduced hitlag from Melee, making it harder for opponents to escape from the move.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral, forward and back aerials can now auto-cancel in a short hop.
• Forward aerial's hitboxes are pushed more outward in front of Pikachu, and the move now has an additional late hit that sends foes away like in Brawl, making it safer on hit and better for racking up damage dealing more damage overall (7% → 11%).
• Back aerial is now its Smash 64 kick, which has combo potential and KO/edgeguarding strengths that its previous back aerial did not, greatly improving Pikachu's aerial game. It deals more damage (12% (clean), 9% (late) → 14%/10%) and has less ending lag (frame 60 → 33).
• Back aerial has more startup lag (frame 4 → 8).
• Up aerial deals more damage (4% → 7%).
• Forward and down aerials have additional sparkling graphics, which also match their hitbox placements better.

Grabs and Throws

• Down throw has much higher base knockback. This allows it to chaingrab fast fallers but removes its ability to chaingrab floatier characters.

Special Moves

• Thunder Jolt uses its higher knockback scaling from Brawl, and also has slightly less ending lag, making it more consistently usable for camping.

• Thunder Jolt has a slightly shorter duration.

• Pikachu retains its Quick Attack cancel from Brawl, greatly improving its approach and defensive options, especially with the Melee-style physics allowing for some new options, such as wavelanding out of a QAC. During a Quick Attack, Pikachu's tail now also becomes intangible.

• Unlike in Brawl, QAC can only be performed during the first half of Quick Attack.

• Thunder remains unchanged from Brawl, so that the bolt can still pass through platforms and solid surfaces very close to the thundercloud it's summoned from, and Pikachu bounces slightly upwards upon being hit by it in midair, allowing it to still create a "Thunder wall" offstage for edgeguarding (though this is harder due to the faster falling speeds). It can also B reverse like it could in Brawl.

Revisions

v2.5b

• Quick Attack minimum and maximum distances increased to match Melee's.
• Up smash and neutral aerial's sound effects adjusted.
• Forward throw has some electric graphical hit effects restored.
• Up throw matched to Melee.

v2.6b

• Forward aerial received slightly more horizontal range with new graphical effects to match that range.
• Quick Attack's startup was reduced slightly, and it can now sweetspot ledges. The move's ending animation stretch was tweaked so that it leaves Pikachu closer to walls.
• Quick Attack's delay between dashes is a little longer.
• Full jump sound effect doesn't occur right at the start of the jump.
• Neutral aerial weak hit knockback values have been fixed.
• Down aerial has an added burst graphic to the impact.
• Quick Attack goes maximum distance upward when stick input is below the amount needed to change direction.
• Quick Attack's aerial mobility and friction adjusted during the move and when in helpless state.
• Quick Attack preserves momentum at the end of the dashes.
• Using Quick Attack into the ground uses the grounded ending animation of the move instead of the special landing animation.
• Fixed a bug where Quick Attack canceling into a platform and dropping through it could result in landing from a helpless state (similar to the landing lag glitch) after going into Fall.

v3.0

• Skull Bash can now sweetspot ledges, reinstated from Brawl.
• Pikachu's hurtboxes get less of a stretch during Quick Attack's animation, and its tail is now intangible during travel.
• Quick Attack cancel tweaked to compensate for the SCD bugfix.

v3.5

• Quick Attack can now reverse ledgegrab on frames 10 to 16 from the special's end.
• Quick Attack Cancel (QAC) can now only be activated on the first dash.
• Skull Bash no longer ledge snaps mid animation.
• Throws now all use electric element on release.
• Quick Attack was rebuilt such that it no longer ends just above the ground and then falls, which allowed aerial inputs. But instead moves cleanly into the QA landing animation. Many other small refinements make the move much more polished.

v3.6

• Dash attack and down tilt received slight increases in damage.
• Thunder Jolt now does the same amount of damage from the ground as it does from the air.
• Ending lag of Quick Attack now matches Melee.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	Pikachu performs an extremely quick headbutt. The A button can be mashed for quick, rapid headbutts.
Forward tilt	↗		9% (clean), 6% (late)	Pikachu stands on its hands and kicks out with both legs. The move can be angled up or down.
	→		8% (clean), 5% (late)
	↘		7% (clean), 4% (late)
Up tilt			7% (base), 6% (tip)	Pikachu flicks its tail in an arc over its body. This move is useful for juggling fast fallers.
Down tilt			8%	Pikachu sweeps its tail in front of itself in a half circle while crouching low. Can be used to edgeguard opponents with a predictable recovery.
Dash attack			10%	Pikachu jumps forward and attacks with a headbutt. While it does have some knockback, it is rather laggy and can leave Pikachu vulnerable for a counter attack.
Forward smash			21% (clean), 19% (mid), 18% (late)	Pikachu rears back then leans forward, ejecting an attached jolt of electricity from its cheeks. Has decent range and a disjointed hitbox, making it a wise choice for edgeguarding.
Up smash			17%-19% (clean), 13% (mid), 7% (late)	Pikachu does a quick backflip, attacking opponents with its tail. Has very strong knockback and can KO as early as 80% on heavyweights.
Down smash			2% (hits 1-6), 3% (hit 7)	Pikachu spins around in place repeatedly, while surrounded with electricity. This move has decent power and is useful for racking up damage.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Pikachu curls up in a ball and does a quick somersault in the air. Has quick startup, but high landing lag.
Forward aerial			2% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5)	Pikachu spirals forward in the air while emitting electricity. Has a bit of landing lag, but can set up for a grab.
Back aerial			14% (clean), 10% (late)	Pikachu thrusts one foot behind itself, dealing great horizontal knockback.
Up aerial			7%	Pikachu swiftly swings its tail above itself in an arc. Can be used for juggling and if hit at the proper angle, can send the enemy at a semi-spike trajectory.
Down aerial			12% (attack), 4% (landing)	Pikachu spirals downward towards the ground while surrounded by electricity. This move can hit in the air and creates a small shockwave upon landing, which damages nearby opponents.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Gives the enemy a quick shock.
Forward throw			2% (hits 1-4), 2% (throw)	Pikachu places the opponent on its back and shocks them forward. Can set up for an up smash or another grab.
Back throw			9%	Pikachu does a few backwards somersaults with the opponent, then flings them behind itself.
Up throw			5% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Pikachu places the opponent on its head, then headbutts them upward. Can combo with Thunder.
Down throw			5% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Pikachu places the opponent on the ground, then jumps on them. Can combo into itself on heavyweights.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Gets up and headbutts both sides of itself.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Gets up and does a sweep kick on both sides.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Gets up and then flicks its tail backwards and forward with a few visual sparks.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Pikachu quickly climbs up and flips its tail overhead.
Edge attack (slow)			9%	Pikachu slowly climbs up and whips its tail forward.
Neutral special		Thunder Jolt	10%	Pikachu fires a bouncing jolt of electricity forward, dealing small knockback and damage. This projectile travels forward while bouncing along the ground, and can also travel up walls, below the edge, and along ceilings. If used in the air, it will travel diagonally down instead.
Side special		Skull Bash	7-25%	Pikachu charges up and fires forward like a missile whenever the B Button is released or a certain amount of time passes. The button can be held for a limited time for increased speed, damage, and knockback. Has slight ending lag. Great for horizontal recovery.
Up special		Quick Attack	3% (1st dash), 2% (2nd dash)	Moves at warp speed in two directions that can be selected via the control stick. The second warp is optional, but if used, the direction must be 45 degrees different than the first direction to work. Causes light damage and can be canceled into a jump or an attack upon landing.
Down special		Thunder	10% (bolt), 17% (blast)	Shouts "PIKA!", then a large thunderbolt comes down on Pikachu. If the attack hits Pikachu it creates a shockwave dealing more damage and knockback. It is also possible for the bolt to not hit Pikachu, by moving in the air after using the move.
Final Smash		Volt Tackle	13-25%	Pikachu transforms into a big blue ball of lightning and flies around the stage, charging through opponents. Pressing the attack button will cause the ball to spark out, causing significantly more damage and knockback.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  Anther - The best Pikachu player in the world.
•  Axe - Formerly the best Pikachu player in the world, now inactive. Was ranked 1st on the Arizona Project M Power Rankings.
•  Capitulize - Ranked 5th on the MD/VA Project M Power Rankings.
•  ESAM - Mostly used Samus, but also played Pikachu on occasion.
•  UTDZac
•  Wfycat - Ranked 6th on the Arizona Project M Power Rankings.

Alternate costumes

Pikachu has received an additional costume where it wears its party hat costume from Melee and Smash 64, but purple instead of blue (It was blue before PM 3.5). It also received a special pirate hat costume, referencing a Japanese promotional card from the Pokémon Trading Card Game in which it appeared as Captain Pikachu (wearing the same hat). It also got an alt where it wears the (Brawl or post-Generation I version of) the Pokémon Trainer hat sideways and had its ears folded down.

Pikachu's alternate costumes in PM.