Joker (SSBU)
| Joker in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
|---|---|
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| Universe | Persona |
| Availability | Downloadable |
| Final Smash | All-Out Attack |
| “ | Joker Steals the Show! | ” |
| —Introduction Tagline | ||
Joker (ジョーカー, Joker) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was announced at The Game Awards 2018 on December 6th, 2018 as the second DLC character and is the first downloadable character for the Fighters Pass. He was made available on April 17th, 2019. Joker is classified as fighter #71.
Xander Mobus, who voices Joker in Persona 5 in English and the announcer, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand in Ultimate, reprises his role as the character in the English version of the game, while Jun Fukuyama, who voices Joker in Persona 5 in Japanese and also voices Roy, reprises his role in Japanese.
Attributes
Joker is a character with fast ground mobility and average weight, an above-average falling speed, a very quick fast falling speed and the ability to wall jump. He possesses fast frame data overall. He specializes in a mixed tricky/rushdown style gameplay, as the majority of his arsenal boasts powerful traits, though the range on his standard attacks is lacking without Arsene available. Joker also has a relatively short and thin hurtbox compared to other humanoid characters, a lot of his attacks can cross up on shield or just cross up on opponents in general, and he has a quick and long-distance roll dodge, which when combined with his quick speed makes him slippery and hard to hit.
Due to his quick overall mobility, low-knockback attacks and frame data, Joker possesses a strong combo game. He has several moves in his toolkit to start combos at low percents, such as down throw, down tilt, up tilt, up special, and the first hit of his forward aerial.
Joker boasts versatile special attacks. His neutral special, Gun, is an efficient way of dealing damage while also avoiding it, as he can dodge in between shots. His up special, Grappling Hook, is a tether recovery with high vertical reach, allowing him to safely edge-guard opponents far below the stage. It also doubles as a combo starter on foes above him. His down special, Rebel's Guard, can be used to negate knockback and halve the damage he takes while filling up his Rebellion Gauge. As it can knock opponents away, it also doubles as a counter, though somewhat weak. Eiha, Joker's side special, is a slow-moving, somewhat difficult to connect projectile that deals weak damage upon contact, but curses opponents for what is eventually 11% damage on a successful hit.
Joker's biggest strength is when his Rebellion Gauge is full, in which Joker summons his Persona, Arsene, to aid him in battle. With Arsene present, Joker's regular attacks gain a boost in damage, range, and knockback. Similarly to Cloud's Limit Break, Joker's special moves also become more powerful under Arsene's influence. Gun becomes Gun Special, which can shoot multiple times quickly and deals twice as much damage. Eiha becomes Eigaon, which has a much larger area of impact and deals considerably more curse damage. Joker's up special becomes the Wings of Rebellion, which functions similarly to Pit's Power of Flight, granting Joker high vertical distance and possessing invincibility at the start of the move, though it loses Grappling Hook's attack presence. His down special becomes a very effective counter/reflector in the form of Tetrakarn/Makarakarn, similar to Palutena's down special. Both counters are stronger than comparative moves as well; Tetrakarn hits for a minimum of 12% damage regardless of the attack, while Makarakarn greatly increases the speed and damage of reflected projectiles. Arsene is also invincible, which means opponents have no recourse for directly stopping Joker's assault beyond attacking him to reduce his Rebellion Gauge, or fleeing, which can leave them vulnerable.
However, Joker is not without any weaknesses, most of which are noticeable when he does not have Arsene active. While Joker's moves provide a lot of combo potential at lower percentages, they tend to be lackluster or underwhelming in terms of KO power and individual damage, with the exception of his forward smash. His short knife also lacks range, especially compared to the weapons of other fighters such as Simon and Corrin. Joker's Gun loses its ability to inflict knockback when the opponent is far away, and dodging while using it too often reduces its intangibility, just like using a regular dodge. When it comes to his normal recovery, Joker is reliant on his Grappling Hook, which gives him an outstanding vertical recovery, but as a result his overall horizontal recovery is lackluster since the move can't be aimed horizontally. This can be remedied somewhat by using the dashes from his Gun move to achieve sizable horizontal distance before employing the Grappling Hook. Despite Arsene's incredible power and strengths, if an opponent is able to attack Joker while Arsene is active, the Rebellion Gauge depletes very quickly and causes Arsene to disappear as a result, which removes Joker's advantage.
Overall, Joker is a character who excels in quick movement and combos. His main goal in each match is to fill up his Rebellion Gauge, in particular by effectively using Rebel's Guard to capitalize on reading an opponent's attack, in order to power up his moves. His viability in the competitive scene has shown to be very promising, despite his recent addition to the metagame. Joker has seen early success with dyr and Tsu placing 5th at Come to Papa 3 and Umebura Japan Major 2019 respectively using the character. Particularly, MkLeo's victories at MomoCon 2019 and Smash 'N' Splash 5 serve as a demonstration of Joker's potential as a top-tier character.
Update History
3.0.1
A bug where winning with a Final Smash while on Joker's route in Classic Mode would prevent the game from progressing has been fixed.
Eigaon's hits connect more reliably.- Fixed an unknown glitch that resulted Joker glitching out periodically with Grappling Hook during a tether recovery.
- Fixed a rare glitch that resulted victory screen in team battles to display an incorrect character of a winning teammate.
Moveset
- Joker has a special mechanic called the Rebellion Gauge, which fills up over time. Joker can also charge it by being hit, or when Joker (or his teammates, if he is in a Team Battle) is behind in either score/stock. If Rebel's Guard is used while the opponent attacks, the Gauge fills up faster. When it is full, Joker automatically summons Arsene, who grants several changes:
- If Joker is in an unavoidable animation such as an attack, Arsene can be delayed for up to 31 frames. Arsene can also disappear in a similar fashion, although the delay is much shorter.
- Curiously, if Arsene disappears during an attack, Awakened Joker's moves will deal increased knockback without Arsene's values being applied.
- A dramatic screen effect consisting of Joker's eyes occurs (if the camera is close enough to the fighters, and the battle is either 1-on-1 or against CPU players only), where Joker removes either his masquerade mask or glasses (depending on his costume), which also alters his character icon in the HUD until the Gauge empties. If Joker is standing still during this, he gains intangibility during the animation.
- Arsene will attack in tandem with Joker during all attacks except his pummel, throws, floor attacks and edge attack, enhancing his damage output and range. Many of his moves gain an additional blue slash effect while attacking. All of Arsene's attacks use the "heavy melee" hit sounds of heavyweights such as Ganondorf.
- Joker's special moves change to "Gun Special", "Eigaon", "Wings of Rebellion", and "Tetrakarn/Makarakarn", all enhanced versions of his previous moves.
- Joker announces "Arsene!" or "Persona!" upon summoning Arsene, and "Return!" or "Enough." upon using up his Gauge. He also announces "Endure!", "Not yet!" or "More..." when being attacked while performing Rebel's Guard.
- On the first frame Joker would call out or recall Arsene, the animation can be skipped if Joker is already in an unavoidable animation.
- If Joker is in an unavoidable animation such as an attack, Arsene can be delayed for up to 31 frames. Arsene can also disappear in a similar fashion, although the delay is much shorter.
- Upon summoning Arsene, the Rebellion Gauge will slowly drain, and a small amount of Gauge will be lost each time Joker is hit.
- Joker can wall jump.
For simplicity, damage values for Joker and Arsene's individual attacks are separated by a slash (/). With Arsene active, the total damage of a move is the sum of both listed values.
Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 2%/0.7% | Joker: Performs an inward slash, backhanded stab, then an outward slash. Arsene: Performs an upward swipe, downwards finger point, then a hand thrust. The first two hits can jab lock. | ||
| 1.5%/0.7% | ||||
| 4%/3% | ||||
| Forward tilt | 3% (hit 1), 5%/5% (hit 2) | Joker: Performs a double thrust with his knife, with the second thrust going at a higher angle. Arsene: Thrusts his right hand forward before raising it in a beckoning gesture. The move can be angled, and both hits are performed with one button press. With Arsene, the second hit is capable of KOing Mario from the edge of Final Destination at around 125%. Useful out of a pivot due to its range. | ||
| Up tilt | 4% (hit 1), 1%/0.7% (hits 2-4), 1%/3.9% (hit 5) | Joker: An upwards swing with his knife that sends it spinning into the air, before Joker catches it backhandedly. Arsene: Raises his hand with a beckoning gesture, emanating electricity from his palm. The initial swing sends opponents into the spinning knife, which deals multiple hits before sending opponents vertically. With Arsene, the looping hits gain an electric effect, and can KO at around 135%. The move cannot hit opponents behind Joker. | ||
| Down tilt | 6%/7% | Joker: A baseball slide. Arsene: A baseball slide alongside Joker. Based off of Joker's ability to slide under lasers in Persona 5. Unlike similar moves like Cloud's and Simon's, Joker's down tilt does not lose strength during the late hitboxes. Easily leads into aerial attacks until high percents. | ||
| Dash attack | 2% (hit 1), 6%/6% (hit 2) | Joker: Performs a roundhouse kick followed by a spinning side kick. This move resembles Zero Suit Samus' forward smash. Arsene: A delayed football kick, which comes out alongside Joker's second kick. With Arsene, the second hit can KO at the edge at around 105%. | ||
| Forward smash | 14%/8% | Joker: Rears back and swings downwards with both hands directly in front of him, similar to Falco's forward smash. Arsene: Swings his arms downwards, causing a X-shaped slash in front of the duo. Moves Joker slightly forward while attacking. Without Arsene, the move KOs at around 76% from the edge of the stage, making it Joker's strongest finisher. However, its range is rather lacking due to the length of Joker's knife. With Arsene, the move gains slightly more range and high KO power, KOing at around 55% from the edge of the stage. | ||
| Up smash | 12%/5% | Joker: Spins inwards while facing the screen, performing a knife uppercut with his right arm. Arsene: Waves his left arm above himself. Has low horizontal range and a short-lasting hitbox, but covers above Joker, making it a good anti-air. Like up tilt, this move cannot hit enemies behind Joker. With Arsene, the move gains extra range and KO power. KOs at around 130%/100% (without/with Arsene). Resembles the second hit of Joker's standard three hit attack in Persona 5. | ||
| Down smash | 12%/6% | Joker: Sweeps the floor with a knife swipe in front of himself, then behind. Arsene: Kicks in front, then behind himself, similar to Samus' down smash without a legsweep. Both hits deal the same amount of damage and lack reach, though Arsene boosts its range slightly. KOs at around 112%/73% near the edge (without/with Arsene). Resembles the first hit of Joker's standard three hit attack in Persona 5. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 7%/4% | Joker: Strikes in a circle while doing two inward corkscrews in the air. The move works much like Shulk's neutral aerial, albeit performed twice and inwards. Arsene: Lays his back against Joker and slashes alongside him, forming a perfect circle slash around the duo. Due to its high amount of active frames and constant damage output, it is a potent edgeguarding tool. While Joker can recover with Grappling Hook even after using it from a full hop fast fall, it is risky to do so unless close to the stage's edge. Additionally, neutral air has a slow startup, and the solo version's hitbox starts from above Joker and stays on his knife, which can cause it to occasionally miss. | ||
| Forward aerial | 2% (hit 1), 5%/8% (hit 2) | Joker: A hook kick, followed by a roundhouse kick. Arsene: A delayed roundhouse kick that comes out alongside Joker's second kick. The first kick has low knockback growth and sends opponents lightly upwards, allowing it to initiate aerial combos into aerials or itself; it can even catch air dodges with a smash attack. With Arsene, the second kick becomes a powerful KO move that can KO opponents at 100% from the edge. | ||
| Back aerial | 9%/7% | Joker: An upward swipe behind himself. Arsene: A swift downward chop of his hand, causing the duo's attacks to interlock with each other. Wide hitbox, but lacks reach for both versions. An effective KO move and fast option out of a short hop without Arsene. With Arsene, its hitbox size increases due to Arsene mirroring Joker's attack, and it is capable of KOing at around 110% from the edge. | ||
| Up aerial | 0.75% (hits 1-4), 3%/7% (hit 5) | Joker: A corkscrew flying kick with a finishing kick, similar to Sheik's up aerial. Arsene: A delayed kick upwards in tandem with Joker's last hit. Like Sheik's up aerial, the move's hitboxes are positioned high on Joker's legs, making it difficult to hit small or medium-sized fighters. However, the looping hits use the autolink angle; as a result, it can be used to drag opponents down consistently to extend combos. With Arsene, a full hop up air can KO at around 110%. Seems to resemble Joker spinning in the opening cinematic for Persona 5. | ||
| Down aerial | 8%/8% | Joker: A delayed downward arcing swipe similar to Marth's down aerial. Arsene: A delayed foot stomp that comes out a couple of frames after Joker's attack, instead of at the same time like his other moves. Unlike Joker's attack, it meteor smashes opponents. Because of the different timings of both hits, Joker's slash can knock opponents away from Arsene's meteor smashing kick. However, the kick has more vertical reach. Without Arsene, it cannot meteor smash, but can be used as a combo finisher and potent edgeguard tool, due to its wide arc and semi-spike angle. With Arsene, it is a powerful all-purpose move due to its hitbox duration and meteor smashing properties. | ||
| Grab | — | Reaches out with one arm. All of Joker's throws have him toss the opponent with a blue energy. Unlike his other moves, Arsene does not affect the power of Joker's throws. | ||
| Pummel | 1.5% | Knees his opponent. | ||
| Forward throw | 8% | Tosses the opponent forward with a flourish of his arm. | ||
| Back throw | 10% | Trips the opponent over his foot, similar to Marth's back throw. | ||
| Up throw | 7% | Throws the opponent directly upwards with a flourish. | ||
| Down throw | 7% | Magically slams the opponent onto the ground while posing and flourishing his left arm, sending the opponent bouncing upwards. An effective combo starter that can combo into aerials. It can also initiate long combo strings of falling up aerial's looping hits into grab, or Grappling Hook into followups. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Slashes in front of himself, then behind himself. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Kicks behind himself, then in front of himself. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
9% | Climbs up and slashes outward. | ||
| Neutral special | Gun/Gun Special | Gun: 5%-3%-1% (standard, close-mid-far), 3% (circling), 4%-1.2% (downward, close-far) Gun Special: 6%-3%-1% (standard, first bullet), 2%-1.5%-1% (standard, second and third bullets), 4.5% (circling), 4%-1.2% (downward, first bullet), 1.6%-0.8% (downward, second bullet) |
Fires his gun once with a tap of the special move button. Like with Bayonetta's Bullet Arts, the shots technically are not projectiles, but rather indirect attacks with large disjointed hitboxes. As such, they cannot be reflected or blocked by the shields of all versions of Link. The shots decay in damage and knockback based on the opponent's distance from Joker, dealing no knockback at the furthest distance. The button can be held to fire multiple times; additionally, Joker can dodge between shots by tilting the control stick horizontally, and if he is in midair, either fire in a circle around himself (in a similar fashion to Bayonetta's Bullet Arts up aerial) by tilting up, or below himself in a corkscrewing fashion by tilting down. When Arsene is out, it becomes Gun Special, where it fires three bullets with each shot for the standard version, and two bullets per shot for the aerial downward version. Both Gun and Gun Special have penetrative properties, meaning they can pass through multiple opponents. The closest version of Gun can also lock opponents. The bullets from Gun & Gun Special aren't treated as projectiles, so they cannot be reflected or absorbed. | |
| Side special | Eiha/Eigaon | Eiha: 1% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2), 1% (gradual damage), 11% (total) Eigaon: 1% (hit 1), 0.5% (hit 2-4), 2.5% (hit 5), 1.5% (gradual damage), 17% (total) |
A darkness-based projectile that travels at a diagonal angle downwards, similar to PK Fire. It deals little initial damage, but inflicts further damage over time. Each use causes Joker to hover slightly. When Arsene is present, it becomes Eigaon, which travels faster and farther, has an area of effect on hit, hits multiple times, and deals further damage over time. Eiha has low knockback, but due to it being vertical it can function as a niche KO option near the upper blast line. | |
| Up special | Grappling Hook/Wings of Rebellion | Grappling Hook: 11% (grounded), 5% (aerial) Wings of Rebellion: 0% |
Shoots out a grappling hook at an upward angle. It functions as a tether recovery, and can grab opponents, dragging them towards Joker and launching them above himself with low ending lag and knockback, making it a reliable combo starter. However, much like Isabelle's Fishing Rod, it can be shielded despite its grab properties. When Arsene is out, it becomes Wings of Rebellion, where Joker flies upwards or at a angle (again depending on input) using Arsene's wings. It has no hitboxes, therefore dealing no damage or knockback, but grants a relatively long period of intangibility on startup (frames 1-25 if used on the ground; frames 3-25 if used in midair). | |
| Down special | Rebel's Guard/Tetrakarn/Makarakarn | Rebel's Guard: 2.4% Tetrakarn: 1.6× (12% minimum) Makarakarn: 1.6× |
Joker takes a defensive position, during which any direct damage done to him in this state is reduced by 0.4× and builds his Rebellion Gauge. Its period can be extended for at least 1.5 seconds, and if an attack was successfully countered, Joker can perform a darkness-infused backhanded swipe at the end of the move to weakly launch opponents away. When Arsene is out, it becomes Tetrakarn against melee attacks and Makarakarn against projectiles, countering and reflecting them respectively. Both Tetrakarn and Makarakarn are extremely powerful, and have some of, if not the best startup, endlag, and damage of all other counters and reflectors. With a four frame startup for all variants, Rebel's Guard is a highly useful defensive option. | |
| Final Smash | All-Out Attack | 3% (trapping hit), 33.6% (cinematic), 13% (ending screen) | Joker rushes forward, trapping opponents. If he misses, Joker can also rush backwards if the control stick is pushed backwards. If any fighter is hit during either of these swipes, they are attacked by Joker and three other Phantom Thieves. (The two possible groups are Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana and Makoto, Haru, and Yusuke.) They then rush at the opponent quickly, with either Futaba or Morgana commenting on the attack. After the barrage is complete, Joker lands in front of the opponent as the screen changes into a splash screen, with Joker in the front gripping his glove, the text "The Show's Over" appearing to the left, and the shadow of the unlucky fighter in the background, spewing sparkles. Causes an instant KO if the opponent was at 64% before Joker struck them when the cinematic is over. If the Final Smash's possible resulting KO is the final KO needed to win, the splash screen will remain throughout the victory screen. Arsene will not affect All-Out Attack. | |
On-screen appearance
- Drops from the top of the screen, then adjusts a glove like in his up taunt.
Taunts
Morgana appears for each of Joker's taunts. If he is present, Arsene will also rear back and flourish with his left arm when Joker taunts, making a pose identical to his official artwork.
- Smiles and tugs his glove while facing towards the camera. Morgana pumps his paw while saying "Looking cool, Joker!", before posing akimbo.
- Poses with his gun pointed, gun arm over his dagger arm. Morgana poses akimbo and meows playfully while showing starry eyes.
- Faces his back towards the camera. Morgana goes "He-hey!" while bouncing on the spot, before crossing his arms.
If Joker is involved in a fight with more than four fighters, Morgana won't appear during his taunts.
Idle Poses
- Twirls his knife towards his chest.
- Twirls his gun before posing.
Victory poses
Note: If there are three or more players, the color scheme will match the player's port. If Joker wins on Mementos, the color of the victory screen will match the color of the stage, and the victory music will be replaced with the corresponding victory fanfare from the game Mementos' design is currently derived from.
- In all three of his victory poses, the transition to the victory screen will showcase a puff of cartoony smoke with star decals, and ending screen will always result in Joker moving continuously to the left, replicating the victory screen from Persona 5. Upon accessing the results screen, Joker will say "Begone.", "Nice.", or "Hah!"
- Joker scratches his head as Morgana, transformed as the Morgana Van, drives up next to Joker, picks him up, and drives towards the left.
- Morgana glares at the bottom right of the screen, which ends up hitting him in the face, causing him to spin around. Joker gestures to Morgana before running towards the left.
- Morgana bounces happily around Joker. Joker gestures to the bouncing Morgana before running towards the left.
- If Joker is in a Team Battle and someone else poses in front, he will perform an exclusive animation where he tightens his glove and maintains a stance similar with his knife, although both of these are ported directly from his in-game up taunt and idle animation respectively. If he poses in front, none of the other fighters on his team will be seen.
- If Joker wins a Stock or Stamina match with All-Out Attack, the match will conclude on the splash screen without returning to gameplay, and this will persist into the victory screen, just like in Persona 5.
When transitioning to the results screen, one of the Phantom Thieves will say one of the following quotes in place of the announcer's usual "[character] wins!"
| Phantom Thief Quotes | |
|---|---|
| Ryuji Sakamoto | ...Hah! Losers! |
Yeah-hah! Nice! | |
Ha-ha! Who's next? | |
| Morgana | Smash is as wild as ever, eh Joker? |
A brilliant victory! | |
Alright! Victory! | |
Mm-mm! Good work! | |
| Ann Takamaki | Feels great, huh? |
Aren't we the best? | |
Done and done! | |
| Yusuke Kitagawa | And the curtain... falls. |
We've done it! | |
Well... Onto the next triumph! | |
| Makoto Niijima | No time to waste! |
Don't forget this feeling! | |
Done and done! | |
| Futaba Sakura | Heh heh heh! They're done for! |
Impressive! | |
Okay! Moving right along! | |
| Haru Okumura | That was graceful! |
Onto the next battle! | |
So much for them! | |
In competitive play
Notable players
dyr - Placed 5th at Come to Papa 3.
MkLeo - The best Joker player in the world. Placed 1st at MomoCon 2019, 4th at Get On My Level 2019, and 1st at Smash 'N' Splash 5 with primarily Joker.- Stroder - Has a strong Joker co-main. Placed 1st at both Ascension IV and Ascension V with Joker as one of his characters.
Tsu - Placed 5th at Umebura Japan Major 2019.- Tyroy - Placed 5th at Combo Breaker 2019 and 17th at Midwest Arena.
- Wrath - Co-main Joker with Sonic. Placed 17th at MomoCon 2019.
Classic Mode: Shadows
Joker mainly fights opponents relating to shadows. On every round, the former enemy fighter becomes a ally to him under a new Alternate Costume, referencing how in Persona 5, Joker can negotiate with the Shadows and recruit them as Personas, freeing the corrupted demon in the process. Additionally, some items and Assist Trophies are references to Persona 5, such as the Kapp'n Assist Trophy referencing the Morgana Bus. The final boss is an homage to the god Yaldabaoth, the final boss of Persona 5, with the final boss theme Our Beginning also present. In addition, all rounds aside from the second round take place on Mementos.
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mr. Game & Watch  (×6) |
Mementos | Last Surprise | |
| 2 | Giant Kirby  |
Kalos Pokémon League | Aria of the Soul | Mr. Game & Watch  is a CPU ally.
|
| 3 | Samus  and Dark Samus  |
Mementos | Mass Destruction | Kirby  is a CPU ally.
|
| 4 | Meta Knight  |
Mementos (Battlefield form) | Beneath the Mask | Dark Samus  is a CPU ally.
|
| 5 | Link  , Toon Link  and Young Link  |
Mementos | Reach Out To The Truth | Meta Knight  is a CPU ally.
|
| 6 | Giant Incineroar  |
Mementos (Ω Form) | Rivers In the Desert | Link  is a CPU ally.
|
| Bonus Stage | ||||
| Final | Master Hand | Mementos (Ω Form) | Our Beginning | On Intensity 7.0 or higher, Crazy Hand joins the fight alongside Master Hand. |
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Joker has Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There accompany the credits.
Role in World of Light
Due to his status as downloadable content, Joker does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Joker, he is immediately unlocked.
Fighter Battle
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Power | Stage | Music | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 |  |
Joker | There is no fighter battle for Joker, this fighter is obtained by awaking 10 fighters after he is downloaded. | ||||
Spirits
Joker's Fighter Spirits can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. They are also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins, only after Joker himself is downloaded. Unlocking Joker in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As Fighter Spirits, they cannot be used in Spirit Battles and are purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate. Arsene also makes an appearance in Joker's Fighter Spirits, having a unique render when shown with Joker's Ultimate artwork. Because of this, Joker's Ultimate renders in his Fighter Spirits will show him without his mask/glasses on.
Additionally, he appears in the Phantom Thieves of Hearts Spirit.
- Jack Thief Spirit.png
1,304. Joker (Phantom Thief)
- Jack Student Spirit.png
1,305. Joker (Student)
1,306. Phantom Thieves of Hearts
In Spirits Battles
As the main opponent
| Spirit | Battle parameters | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Image | Name | Series | Enemy Fighter(s) | Type | Power | Stage | Rules | Conditions | Music |
| 1,306 |  |
Phantom Thieves of Hearts | Persona series | •Joker  •Pikachu  •Captain Falcon  •Zero Suit Samus  •Chrom  •Sheik 
|
 |
13,300 | Mementos | •Sudden Final Smash •Item: Daybreak Parts |
•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage •Reinforcements will appear during the battle |
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There |
Alternate costumes
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Trailers
Gallery
Joker artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Persona Twitter account by Shigenori Soejima.
A tease of Joker's model from the February 13th, 2019 Nintendo Direct.
A view of Joker's in-game model from behind.
Joker's splash art.
Joker on Fourside.
Joker wielding his gun on Moray Towers.
Joker posing with Arsene on Spear Pillar.
Joker in his school outfit with Inkling and Isabelle on Delfino Plaza.
Trivia
- Joker is the first selectable character in the series to share their voice actor with the announcer in the English version of the game, barring Master Hand's playable appearances, as Master Hand is not a normally selectable character outside of these circumstances.
- Joker and Inkling are the only newcomers in Ultimate to be announced without any gameplay footage in their first reveal trailer.
- Joker has two reveal trailers, and is the only character with this distinction.
- Joker's first reveal trailer has two variants. One which was played during The Game Awards 2018, and one which was officially posted online afterwards with dialogue altered to remove references to the Game Awards.
- Out of all the character reveals in both Smash 4 and Ultimate, Joker is the only character to be revealed at/in a non-Nintendo event/video.
- In Joker's reveal trailer, it is mentioned that he must have gone to The Game Awards 2018 to steal a treasure. According to Masahiro Sakurai in a Famitsu column, the treasure was an invitation to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. [1]
- The invitation is depicted as being enclosed in an envelope with a wax seal in the shape of the Super Smash Bros. logo. This is a callback to previous character reveal trailers for Villager in Smash 4 and Isabelle in Ultimate.
- An instrumental arrangement of Life Will Change plays fittingly during the reveal, as the song plays while the Phantom Thieves are infiltrating a Palace to steal a treasure after sending out a calling card.
- Interestingly, despite Life Will Change being featured, it is not available as a track in-game.
- After Sonic and Bayonetta, Joker is the third guest fighter to represent Sega, as Atlus was acquired by Sega Sammy Holdings in 2013.
- Joker is the second character to have his victory theme directly ripped from a non-Smash game, the first being Sonic.
- He is also the second character whose victory theme plays continuously rather than playing the results theme afterwords, with the first being Cloud.
- Joker had his render leaked on March 31st, 2019, by Best Buy before his official render was revealed.
- Joker is the only character so far whose character render changes under certain circumstances, as his mask (or glasses, in his alternate costume) will be removed when Arsene is present.
- Joker is the only character so far who utilizes a knife in his standard moveset.
- Joker is the only character with the distinction of having more than one victory theme in one game.
- Joker's Classic Mode can be considered an antithesis of Mewtwo's. Both characters "recruit" the opponent they defeated on the previous round; however, Mewtwo's partners are turned into "corrupted" alternate costumes, while Joker's allies now have light alternate costumes to represent that they were "purified".
- Joker and Donkey Kong's Classic Mode routes are the only time in the Super Smash Bros. series where Master Hand is not fought on the respective game's Final Destination, not counting the Master Hand glitch in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
- Joker is the first character in the series to have more than three victory poses, with the presence of his normal three, his All-Out Attack victory screen, and his exclusive Team Battle victory pose.
- He is also the first character who doesn't have the announcer say his name on the victory screen, unlike all of the other fighters. Instead, the announcer's line is replaced by a comment from one of the Phantom Thieves.
- He is also the only Fighter to have a victory pose reserved for Team Battles only.
- He is also the only Fighter who can manually select a victory pose when being the leading character of a winning team in Team Battles.
- Joker is one of the few characters to use their default outfit in Spirit Battles, the others being Mr. Game & Watch, Bowser Jr., Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Inkling, and Robin, though like Inkling and Robin, this only applies to DLC spirits (although unlike the others, Joker is also a DLC character).
- Joker is currently the only fighter with no character showcase trailer.
- Joker is the third character with the ability to counter attacks and to reflect projectiles in his default moveset, the first two being Palutena and King K. Rool, respectively.
- Joker is one of the few characters to speak during a KO: his alternate KO line has him saying "What?!".
- The presence of Joker in the Phantom Thieves of Hearts spirit and its fight having a puppet of him may imply that he was captured and had produced copies by Galeem. However, this may not have been taken under consideration by the developers.
- Excluding Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, Joker has the most versions of artwork as a single character. He has his standard Phantom Thief and Student outfit, and secondary versions of those featuring Arsene (where Joker’s eyewear is taken off).
- A glitch can occur if Joker is defeated by a Star KO with a full Rebellion Gauge: Arsene will appear in the background, hovering where Joker was KO'd .
References
 Persona universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighter | Joker (SSBU) (Arsène) |
| Stage | Mementos |
| Other | Ann Takamaki · Futaba Sakura · Haru Okumura · Makoto Niijima · Morgana · Protagonist (Persona 3) · Protagonist (Persona 4) · Ryuji Sakamoto · Teddie · Yusuke Kitagawa |
| Spirits | Spirits |
| Music | Ultimate |
