Lucas (SSBU)

Lucas in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	EarthBound
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	PK Starstorm

“	Like Ness, Lucas is a young boy who uses PSI powers. Some of their PSI moves share the same names, but since Lucas has different abilities, the moves may work differently. Be sure to try them out! For his Final Smash, he calls down a shower of meteors along with Kumatora and Boney.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Lucas (リュカ, Lucas) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was revealed along with all other previous veterans on June 12th, 2018 and is classified as fighter #37.

Lani Minella's portrayal of Lucas from Brawl and Smash 4 was repurposed for Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Lucas being the 36th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Kirby or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after Corrin.
• Have Lucas join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Lucas must then be defeated on New Pork City.

Attributes

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Needs more detailed information and slight changes to be less copy-pasted from his SSB4 page

Being a pseudo-clone of Ness, Lucas shares many attributes with him in terms of special moves and playstyle. However, the two are very different from each other in a few key ways. Lucas is a middleweight that has slow walking speed, average dashing speed, average gravity, fast air speed, and below average falling speed. He makes up for his lack of ground mobility with the speed of his attacks, with many possessing low lag, allowing him to rack up damage quickly.

One of Lucas's greatest strengths is his grab game: his Rope Snake tether grab has very low endlag and moderate range. His up and back throws are among the strongest of their kind, making them decent KOing options. His forward throw is also very powerful, though not to the same degree as his up and back throws. His down throw has low knockback allowing some degree of combo potential, although it has increased knockback and endlag compared to SSB4, thus lowering its combo potential.

Lucas' possesses some good ground moves, as they are generally fast, and have good disjointed range. His jab and down tilt while not possessing the same amount of reach as his other ground moves, come out extremely quickly (coming out on frame 2 and frame 3 respectively). Jab is a useful "get off me" tool, while down tilt's low knockback and angle is useful for setting up combos at mid to high percentages into moves such as a grab or a forward smash. His up tilt can be used to pop opponents into the air which can be followed with a neutral aerial or up aerial. The sweetspot of his forward tilt has good range and knockback, making it a good spacing tool and can KO opponents at the edge of the stage. His dash attack comes out fairly slow, but it has good range, and the sweetspot can KO opponents at the edge similar to his forward tilt.

Lucas's smash attacks are among the strongest in the game thanks to their generally high damage output, high knockback, and disjointed range. While his forward smash is the weakest in terms of range and knockback (though still decent), it makes up for it by being his fastest smash attack with the ability to reflect projectiles. Down smash has Lucas strike the ground three times in front of him; each hit getting progressively larger, but also getting progressively weaker (with the first hit of the move possessing very high knockback). This makes the move very useful for edge-guarding and 2-frame punishes. Finally, his up smash, despite leaving him vulnerable due to considerable startup and endlag, is among the strongest in the game, having a large disjointed hitbox, is invincible at the start of the move, and having extremely high knockback that can KO reliably at low percentages.

Lucas's aerial game is also good, as his aerials are fast, powerful, and most are disjointed. His neutral aerial has a large hitbox and is difficult to SDI out of, his back aerial is a meteor smash when sweetspotted, his forward aerial has strong knockback for a reliable KOing option, and his up aerial is a decent juggling tool that can KO at high percentages. His down aerial consists of four hits with the final hit having a modest meteor effect and has a few uses: dragging opponents down to the bottom blastzone, short hop chaining the move on grounded opponents at certain percentages to rack up damage, and the grounded meteor smash can be comboed into a kill-confirm (such as Forward Smash, Forward Aerial, or Up Aerial). Finally his grab aerial sends out Rope Snake who deals damage and can be used as a tether recovery, it's ability to be double jumped canceled makes it a useful combo tool and to move opponents across the stage.

Three of Lucas's special moves, PK Fire, PK Thunder and PSI Magnet, are shared with Ness but function differently, while PK Freeze is unique to him. PK Freeze freezes opponents and now launches opponents horizontally with high knockback, making it one of his most infamous edge-guarding techniques. PK Fire doesn't repeatedly damage opponents like Ness's but instead deals a single blow; it is a decent spacing tool that deals moderate knockback and can be used to snipe offstage opponents for a KO. PK Thunder does not disappear upon hitting an opponent, instead hitting multiple times; as an edge-guarding tool it can be used to gimp recoveries or drag opponents to the side blastzones. PK Thunder 2 sends him a much greater distance than Ness's, making it a much safer and reliable recovery and allows him to safely go far off to the sides or far below the stage to edge-guard his opponents, though it lacks the early KO potential of its counterpart. Thanks to these special moves, Lucas has a very potent edge-guarding game.

Finally, PSI Magnet absorbs energy based projectiles, the amount of damage it heals depends on the projectile's power, making the move useful for improving Lucas' survivability and to discourage projectile camping from character with energy projectiles. If projectiles are absorbed while grounded, the end lag after the absorption can be cancelled with a jump, dodge, or spot dodge, improving the moves safety on the ground. The initial startup of the move contains a windbox that will pull opponents closer to Lucas, in the air, the strength of the windbox scales based on the opponents percentage, which can be useful for setting up an edge-guard situation. The move also has a hitbox upon releasing the special button. Said hitbox is safe on shields (being +0 on block), and can lead into some combos at low percentages and KO opponents at high percentages.

However, Lucas is not without his drawbacks. Like Ness, one of his most notable weaknesses is his main recovery move PK Thunder, which despite sending him an impressive distance, leaves him vulnerable to edge-guarding moves such as meteor smashes during the start of the move. Additionally characters can easily reflect or absorb the move, such as Villager or Rosalina & Luma, easily gimping his recovery. Although he still has other alternative recovery options such as air dodges and his tether recovery, they do not cover as much distance. Other issues include his lack of ground mobility which can give him problems against fast characters, as well as his predictable approach due to his reliance on zoning tools. Additionally because footstools can now be teched, Lucas has lost some of his combo potential from SSB4.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Lucas received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, but it's currently unclear whether he has been buffed or nerfed overall. His combo game was significantly toned down, as down throw no longer combos into any of his aerials beyond very low percentages, and techable footstools also hinder him. PK Thunder 2 also has halted momentum at the end of its animation which shortens his recovery. Lucas also has a slightly harder time landing thanks to him only being able to air dodge once in the air, and PSI Magnet no longer halts his momentum.

However, Lucas also received some buffs as his previously lacking mobility is somewhat better, while his forward, back and up aerials autocancel at frame 34, allowing all three of them to autocancel in a short hop, helping his poor approach. Lucas also has improved specials, aerials, and ground attacks giving him a much more useful ground game, safer aerials, and more useful moves for his neutral game. In particular, his PK Freeze has been drastically improved, as it deals more damage, no longer makes Lucas helpless, can travel trough soft and semisoft platforms, has better edgeguarding potential and no longer disappears on contact with hard platforms.

Ultimate's engine also significantly benefits Lucas. Thanks to changes to air dodges and the return of directional air dodges, Lucas's has another option to mix up his recovery. Furthermore, because players can only air dodge once before landing, and combined with a retooled PK Freeze, Lucas's edgeguard game is much more lethal than before.

Overall, while some of Lucas's strongest traits were toned down, some of his most glaring weaknesses were improved as well as some of his less-potent moves becoming much stronger. This makes it uncertain as to whether he was buffed or nerfed. So far, Lucas has achieved great results in the MD/VA and California scenes. However, his representation in regionals and nationals has been sparse outside of Mekos. As of now, his viability remains up for debate.

Aesthetics

• As with other previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Lucas' appearance is largely unchanged, although his model features a more subdued color scheme due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate. Details on his clothes and weapons are more prominent, such as the stitching on his socks. Additionally, his hair is more defined, and his skin tone is slightly tanned.
  • The Rope Snake's scales are more pronounced.
• Lucas faces the foreground at an angle, instead of facing directly forward. In addition, he always faces the screen regardless of which direction he turns, causing all of his animations to be mirrored while altering some. However, he reverts to Ness' previous idle animation while holding a small item.
• Lucas has a new idle pose where he points to his forehead with his eyes closed with his leading hand and then waves it in front of him. It replaces the animation of Lucas waving his fists in front of him.
• Lucas is more expressive: his eyes are now more prominent when using his attacks, as well as his new facial features when hit.
• Lucas' PSI graphic effects have been changed: they are now dominantly light blue instead of magenta, closely resembling the colors of PK Love in Mother 3.
• Lucas' left-inputted victory pose now has a light glow from where the Needle is pulled, as well as glittery particle effects coming from its trail. Lucas also strikes a different pose.
• Lucas has a new victory theme; it is an arrangement of the last two out of the Eight Melodies from EarthBound Beginnings.
• As with all previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Lucas now has a unique Palutena's Guidance conversation.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Lucas' jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Lucas walks slightly faster (0.82 → 0.893).
• Lucas dashes faster (1.5 → 1.65).
  • Lucas's initial dash is significantly faster (1.3 → 1.815).
• Lucas' air speed is slightly faster (1.1 → 1.155).
• Lucas' double jump grants much more height (34.48 → 44.13), increasing the height of his maximum jumping height (63.89 → 73.54).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 29).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16) and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 34).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 27 → 25).
• Spot dodge grants less intangibility (frames 3-18 → 3-17).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 56).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (3-28 → 3-30).
• The reintroduction of directional air dodges benefits Lucas more than the rest of the cast, as his directional air dodge grants more distance compared to other characters' (a trait he shares with Ness), and it provides him with a reliable recovery mixup to avoid leaving himself vulnerable by using PK Thunder.
• Because footstools can now be teched, Lucas' "down throw/up aerial into footstool" combo game has been removed.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • All three hits of Lucas' neutral attack have more hitlag (1.0/1.0/1.0 → 1.7/1.8/2.0).
  • Neutral attack's second hit can be interrupted sooner, improving its potential for mix-ups.
  • Hits 2 and 3 deal slightly less damage (2.0% (hit 2)/4.0% (hit 3) → 1.5%/3.5%), with compensation on the third hit's base knockback (60 → 64).
  • All hits have a lower duration (2-4 (hit 1)/3-5 (hit 2)/6-8 (hit 3) → 2/3/6-7).
  • Hits 1 and 2 have significantly smaller hitboxes, greatly reducing their range (jab 1: 2.8u/2.8u/3.5u → 1.4u/1.6u/1.8u/1.6u/1.8u, jab 2: 3.2u/3.2u/4.2u → 2.0u/2.2u/3.0u.
  • The third hit has altered sizes on their hitboxes and one less hitbox (3.0u/3.0u/5.0u → 4.0u/5.0u). The hitboxes are now placed independently from Lucas's body. Overall, this reduces its range.
  • The third hit launches at a lower angle (48 → 361) and the two first hits now use the Sakurai angle alongside a 180 tipper on the first hit, allowing both to lock.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less startup (frame 15 → 13) and less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
  • Dash attack has a longer hitbox duration (frames 15-16 → 13-17).
  • Dash attack has increased knockback scaling (70 → 81), increasing its KO power.
• Forward tilt:
  • Sweetspotted forward tilt deals more base knockback (30 → 55) and knockback scaling (75 → 80), increasing its KO power.
    • The sweetspot also has a bigger hitbox during the first 2 active frames (4.7u → 5.6u).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 37 → 34).
  • Up tilt now uses the electric effect.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage (3% → 5%).
  • Down tilt's close hit has more vertical angle (76° → 84°), allowing more consistent follow-ups.
  • Down tilt has increased base knockback (18/8 → 20/10) and combined with its higher damage, makes it easier to combo at lower percents.
  • Down tilt has an altered animation and its far hit was removed, lowering its vertical range.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has slightly less ending lag (FAF 47 → 46).
  • Sweetspotted forward smash has higher knockback scaling (88 → 91).
  • The reflector activates later with a shorter duration (frame 10-19 → 11-19).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's hitboxes are handled differently. The new hitbox positions jitter a bit more without affecting the total reach of the move.
  • All of the second hit's hitboxes deal 2% more damage (19/18/16/14/12% → 21/20/18/16/14%) without compensation on their knockback , increasing their KO power.
  • The hitboxes in the second hit are all smaller (12u/11u/10u/8u/6.5u → 11u/10u/9u/6u).
  • Up smash has more active frames (frames 30-53 → frames 30-55) due to having an additional hitbox.
  • Up smash has more invincibility during startup (frames 1-4 → 1-7).
  • Lucas's arms are now intangible alongside his head.
• Down smash:
  • Lucas now bends his elbow after each shot of down smash, and his fingers are more pronounced throughout.
  • All hits of down smash have increased active frames (2 → 3 frames).
  • The three hits of Lucas's down smash now reset between hits, allowing it to hit opponents or shields multiple times.
    • The individual hits of down smash deal significantly less shield damage to compensate (0/0/0 → -10/-8/-6).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials except grab aerial have less landing lag (13 frames → 12 (neutral), 12 → 7 (forward), 15 → 9 (back), 12 → 7 (up), 24 → 16 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has much larger hitboxes (5.3u (loop)/8u (last) → 6.9u/10.2u).
  • Neutral aerial is harder to SDI out of, despite retaining its 2x modifier, as its hitlag has been reduced (1 → 0.44).
  • The looping hitbox has fewer active frames (frames 7-23 → 7-21), consequently reduces the maximum number of hits to 4, reducing its total damage (12% → 10%).
  • Neutral aerial now sends opponents behind or in front of Lucas depending on which part of the hitbox hits the last hit. This makes it more difficult to guarantee combos with.
    • Although this grants it followups with back aerial which it didn't have before.
  • Lucas appears furious during the ending hitbox rather than looking scared.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 38 → 34), re-enabling it to auto-cancel out of a short hop.
  • Forward aerial's sweetspot deals more damage (11.5% → 12.5%), launches at lower angle (46° → 42°), and has increased knockback scaling (97 → 103), significantly improving its KO potential.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 39 → 34), enabling it to auto-cancel out of a short hop.
  • Back aerial has more active frames (frames 15-20 → 15-22), giving it additional vertical range below Lucas and allowing it to hit small targets.
    • The sweetspot for aerial opponents has a shorter duration (15-20 → 15-19).
  • Back aerial can now spike grounded opponents. While this benefits from opponents' inability to tech grounded spikes, this hinders its ability to send grounded opponents offstage from behind him.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 38 → 34), re-enabling it to auto-cancel out of a short hop.
  • Its hitbox is now attached to Lucas's head. This removes its blindspot and increases its range.
    • The main hitbox is now extended and an extra hitbox is added behind him on frames 8-10, giving the move a noticeable disjoint behind Lucas.
    • A motion trail has been added above Lucas's head to indicate the hitbox's new pattern.
  • It has much less ending lag (FAF 46 → 32).
  • It has increased active frames (frames 7-9 → 7-10), giving it additional horizontal range, and improving its juggling potential.
  • It deals less damage (13% → 11%) without full compensation on its base knockback (10 → 20), giving it less KO power.
    • However, its higher base knockback combined with its lower ending lag makes it safer on hit at low percents.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's first three hits connect more reliably due to an altered angle (90° → 363°)
  • It now pushes grounded opponents away from its hitboxes, rather than picking them up from the ground as in Smash 4.
  • The hitboxes are smaller (5u/3.5u → 4.2u/3.2u (Hits 1-3)/6.9u/5u → 5.5u/3.5u (Final hit)) and each hit's tip has a higher hitbox-placement (Y offset: -5 → -4), decreasing its range.
• Grab aerial:
  • Grab aerial has less range.
  • Grab aerial has more active frames (9-19 → 9-21).
  • Grab aerial deals slightly more damage (4% (clean)/2.8% (late) → 5% (snake head)/3% (arm and snake body)).
  • Grab aerial has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 52).
  • Grab aerial can be double jump canceled, allowing Lucas to use it very close to the ground to start combos and approach.

Throws and other attacks

• Grab:
  • The ending animations of Lucas' grabs now feature interruptible animations during which the Rope Snake doubles back to return to Lucas.
  • Lucas's animation when holding a grabbed opponent has been altered; he now holds Rope Snake in one hand and uses the other to hold the opponent in place with telekinesis.
  • Lucas now looks angry during his grab animation.
  • All grabs have fewer active frames (8 frames → 6 frames).
  • Standing grab has one frame more ending lag (FAF 46 → 47).
  • Dash grab has one frame less ending lag (FAF 56 → 55).
• Pummel:
  • Lucas' pummel animation now depicts him blasting his grabbed opponent with PSI.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw's animation has been altered: Lucas throws the opponent with single-handed instead of two-handed.
  • Forward throw has increased knockback scaling (65 → 69).
• Back throw:
  • Lucas has a new back throw: a telekinetic-underhanded throw backwards.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals more knockback (78 base/69 scaling → 77/73).
• Down throw:
  • Down throw has a new animation: Lucas lifts the opponent in the air using telekinesis, then forcefully slams them into the ground. It retains its aesthetic bury effect before the opponent is released.
  • It deals noticeably more damage (6.5% → 11%), making it one of the most damaging down throws in Ultimate.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 50 → 58), altered knockback (78 base/51 scaling → 100/32), and no longer inflicts 6 frames of hitlag on the opponent upon releasing them. Altogether, these changes significantly hinder its combo potential, no longer having guaranteed follow-ups past medium percents, and more importantly removing its KO confirm into up aerial at high percentages, which was one of his most reliable finishers in Smash 4.
  • It launches at a slightly more horizontal angle (80° → 74°).

Special moves

• PK Freeze:
  • Lucas' animations during the move have been tweaked; Lucas himself now completely faces the screen, and the particle effects of the explosion now feature the PK Freeze graphic effects from Mother 3.
  • PK Freeze deals 1% more damage on all charges (9%-22% → 10%-23%).
  • PK Freeze deals more knockback (80 (base)/21 (growth) → 35/60), improving its KO potential.
  • The projectile travels faster, giving it more utility overall.
  • The projectile can now travel through soft and semisoft platforms.
  • PK Freeze no longer dissipates upon making contact with hard platforms and can instead be held at the ground until the move is fully charged.
  • The projectile now launches opponents at a horizontal angle (80° → 34°) away from Lucas (no matter which direction he faces), making it significantly better for edgeguarding and KOing.
  • Lucas no longer becomes helpless when firing PK Freeze in the air.
  • It has more active frames (1 → 4).
  • The changes to freeze duration make the move freeze for much less time when charged, especially at low percents, which combined with the knockback changes removes the move's followup potential, and effectively reduces its damage output overall.
  • Fully charged PK Freeze has more startup (89 → 92) with its total duration compensated (115 → 118).
• PK Fire:
  • Lucas' hands now feature a red spark until PK Fire is fired, similarly to his finger in his down smash animation. The same spark appears when PK Fire successfully connects. PK Fire's graphics from Mother 3 now appear when Lucas fires it and when it bursts.
  • PK Fire has slightly increased damage (9% → 10%).
  • PK Fire has increased knockback growth (97 → 110) and launches at slightly lower angle (45° → 42°).
  • PK Fire's projectile travels faster (speed: 2.5 (ground)/2.8 (air) → 2.8/3.1), but doesn't last as long (19 frames → 18). Overall, the projectile travels slightly further, but is less obstructive.
  • The flame pillar doesn't last as long (30 frames → 20).
• PK Thunder:
  • PK Thunder's graphic effects have been changed; rather than maintaining its magenta coloration from Smash 4, PK Thunder has been changed to be varying hues of blue. The move has also gained particle effects which resemble its respective PSI graphics from Mother 3.
  • PK Thunder's electric ball travels faster.
  • Grounded PK Thunder has less ending lag.
  • It has an angle indicator when the ball of lighting moves close to Lucas. While this allows for the player to more accurately determine the trajectory Lucas will travel during PK Thunder 2, it also makes it more predictable to opponents.
• PK Thunder 2:
  • PK Thunder 2 has less landing lag.
  • The window for using PK Thunder again after bouncing against a wall is much bigger.
  • Lucas' momentum at the end of PK Thunder 2 is lower, slightly shortening its recovery distance.
  • PK Thunder 2 deals less damage when all hits connect (35.5% → 32.5%).
  • PK Thunder 2's last hit now triggers Special Zoom.
• PSI Magnet:
  • PSI Magnet now features its PSI graphics from Mother 3 upon use. Lucas' back is angled lower in the end of his animation, similar to the beginning of his run animation in Mother 3.
  • PSI Magnet's launching hitbox is now extended (Z offset: 12 → 7-9), however, it isn't as far out, reducing its maximum reach, but making it more consistent at hitting opponents close to Lucas.
  • PSI Magnet now features a windbox on frame 6 which drags opponents closer to the PSI Magnet's hitbox.
    • This windbox doesn't scale with the opponent's percentage when Lucas is on the ground, but it does in the air.
  • PSI Magnet begins absorbing sooner (frame 10 → 7) and has less ending lag (frame 36 → 28).
  • PSI Magnet no longer halts Lucas's momentum in the air. This prevents Lucas from being able to use it to mix up his landing as effectively.
  • PSI Magnet heals noticeably less (heal multiplier: 2.5× → 2×).
• PK Starstorm:
  • PK Starstorm is now similar to its Brawl iteration, firing meteors inwards towards the center of the stage, but at a slower rate and with slower meteors. His pose during the move no longer reuses the animation of Ness' Final Smash, and is instead replaced with one reminiscent of his animation in Brawl. Lucas is also assisted by Kumatora and Boney. Like his other PSI moves, the move features graphics from PK Starstorm's animation in Mother 3, including the background from the Final Boss.
    • However, the trajectory of the meteors can still be angled.

Update history

Lucas has been buffed by game updates. Update 2.0.0 buffed his neutral aerial by allowing him to grab edges earlier and reducing its landing lag. Update 4.0.0 buffed him in more ways by giving his dash attack more range and a larger hitbox, giving his up smash more invincibility frames during start-up, and reducing his up aerial's ending lag.

2.0.0

• Neutral aerial has less landing lag (14 frames → 12).
• Lucas can grab edges earlier after using neutral aerial (73 frames → 69).
• Up tilt, down aerial, and pummel gained the electric effect, with hitlag compensated.
  • This means Yellow Pikmin are now invulnerable to Lucas's up tilt and down aerial.

4.0.0

• Forward tilt's sweetspot has more base knockback (45 (unangled), 35 (angled up/down) → 55) and its hitbox is bigger during the first 2 active frames (4.7u → 5.6u).
• Dash attack has a longer hitbox duration (frames 13-15 → 13-17).
• Up smash has more invulnerability during startup (frames 1-4 → 1-7).
• Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 32).
• PK Fire has less landing lag (21 frames → 19).

Moveset

• Lucas possesses a special jump. When jumping in midair, Lucas will ascend in a floatier, curved trajectory. The upward momentum of Lucas's double jump can be affected through various actions if timed correctly, such as aerial attacks, air dodges or special moves. This trait is shared with Ness and Mewtwo.
• Lucas is allowed to cancel his double jump with Z-air but he can also do with with an item toss. Ness and Mewtwo also share this trait.
• Lucas possesses a tether attack and grab.

For a gallery of Lucas' hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	A right-legged roundhouse kick, followed by a right-legged hook kick, followed by a left-legged reverse roundhouse kick. The last hit has slightly more range. Hits first on frame 2, making it Lucas' fastest ground attack. The first and second hits can jab lock. The second hit can be interrupted sooner than in Smash 4, and lead into a grab or aerial attack.
			1.5%
			3.5%
Forward tilt			11% (sweetspot), 7.5% (sourspot)	A palm thrust that emits a small blast of PSI energy from his hand. It can be angled and has a disjointed hitbox, although its sweetspot is located inside of the blast. This move's sourspot can lock opponents at low percents.
Up tilt			1.5% (hit 1), 8% (clean hit 2), 5% (late hit 2)	Telekinetically tilts himself upside down to perform a vertical thrust kick that emits a blast of PSI energy from his foot. It can combo into itself, a neutral aerial or an up aerial at low to medium percents.
Down tilt			5%	A legsweep. Although weak, it is fast and reliable for either racking up damage or chaining into itself, a neutral attack or a grab. Hits on frame 3, making it tied with Ness, Little Mac, R.O.B., and Meta Knight's down tilts for being the fastest down tilt in the game. The edge of down tilt unfortunately doesn't lock opponents like it used to do in other iterations.
Dash attack			13% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	A dashing palm thrust that emits a blast of PSI energy from his hand. Has noticeable start-up and deals more damage the farther the opponent is from Lucas.
Forward smash			14% (base), 15% (tip), 1.5× (reflected projectiles)	Swings a stick in front of himself. The stick's tip deals slightly more damage and knockback. Lucas' stick also the ability to reflect projectiles.
Up smash		PK Smash Geyser	2% (hit 1), 21%, 20%, 18%, 16%, or 14% (clean to late hit 2)	Emits a large blast of PSI energy above his head. Despite in-game tips saying it can attack opponents hanging on the edge, this is only partly true; It'll either whiff or not connect properly on 60% of the cast, the remaining 40% will get hit and combo'd into the strong hit. It is a huge "high-risk, high-reward" attack; it has an extreme amount of ending lag, which makes it very punishable if missed, but it is strong enough to KO at 80% when uncharged and at 54% when fully charged. It also has other positives, as it renders Lucas invincible on frames 1-7 making it even dodge grabs, grants intangibility to his head on frames 15-29 and has a very large hitbox, making it a decent anti-air attack if used correctly. The animation appears to based on Lucas' Seven Needles pulling animation.
Down smash		PK Blow	17% (clean), 14% (mid), 11% (late)	Aims his arm diagonally downward and emits three consecutive blasts of PSI energy towards the ground while holding his hand in a finger gun gesture. With each blast, its range increases at the expense of damage and knockback. It is one of the strongest down smashes in the game when clean, as it is able to KO as low as 60% near the edge depending on the opponent's weight and DI. If well timed, it can also catch recovering opponents before they grab the edge. Has a bit of start-up lag, but surprisingly low ending lag for its power. Unlike in SSB4, each blast is treated as its own hitbox, meaning that it can potentially hit multiple times at low percents, and damages shields more than once.
Neutral aerial			2% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	Tumbles while emitting blasts of PSI energy around his torso. A good combo starter. Unlike in the previous game, its launching angle is more horizontal, and the last hit launches the opponent depending on which side they are on in relation to Lucas.
Forward aerial			12.5% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	A flying kick that emits a blast of PSI energy from his foot. It is is fast and disjointed, making it a good off-stage option and one of Lucas' better spacing options. Its sweetspot deals the most knockback and can KO at high percents. This move's sourspot can lock opponents at early percents. It can also now autocancel.
Back aerial		PK Meteor Kick	12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot), 7% (late)	A backflip kick that emits a trail of PSI energy from his foot. It can meteor smash at the tip of his foot and has disjointed reach, with its weakest hitbox being at the tip. The last hitbox of this move can lock opponents at early percents. It can also autocancel if buffered out of a shorthop.
Up aerial			11%	An upward headbutt. The move's hitbox is now properly attached to Lucas' head unlike in SSB4, making it a more reliable attack. Deals respectable knockback, making it a good KO option near the upper blast line. It can also autocancel. At 70% and lower it's an effective combo tool as it leads into itself and other aerials on landing.
Down aerial		PK Foot Stomp	3.5% (hits 1-3), 5% (hit 4)	An alternating series of stomps, with each stomp emitting a small blast of PSI energy from his feet. Isn't as disjointed as it looks as it's range has been slightly nerfed from Smash 4. The last hitbox of this move can lock opponents at low percents. The sour hits of D-air can also lock opponents on a platform. Because spikes have become untechable in ultimate D-air can be looped into itself at average at 65%
Grab aerial		Midair Rope Snake	5% (snake head), 3% (arm and snake body)	Unfurls Duster's Rope Snake in front of himself. It can damage opponents and act as a tether recovery.
Grab		Rope Snake	—	Unfurls Duster's Rope Snake in front of himself. His standing grab is deceptively fast, although his pivot grab is very slow. The Pivot grab also has a blind spot directly in front of Lucas.
Pummel			1.3%	Attacks the opponent with a discharge of PSI energy.
Forward throw			10%	Telekinetically throws the opponent in front of himself. KO's 1-4% earlier than up-throw on some of the most common legal stages.
Back throw			10%	Telekinetically throws the opponent behind himself. It is his strongest throw. It can KO even super heavyweights at 154% near the edge without rage.
Up throw			10%	Telekinetically whirls the opponent around his head, then throws them directly overhead. One of the strongest up throws in the game, as it KOs around 116%-180% depending on the opponent's weight and DI.
Down throw			11%	Telekinetically slams the opponent into the ground head first. Shows a bury effect, however this is purely aesthetic. It can combo into aerials at low percentages, but it loses followup potential quickly at higher percentages because of its noticeable ending lag and knockback.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Kicks around himself while getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Kicks around himself while getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kicks behind himself and then in front of himself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a low-angle kick while climbing up.
Neutral special		PK Freeze	10%-23%	Emits a snowflake-shaped blast of PSI energy from his head that freezes opponents. The direction of the blast's path can be controlled, it can be made stronger by holding the special button and it can be concluded at a deceptively fast speed. A notoriously effective edgeguarding tool, as it launches opponents away from Lucas and has great maneuverability, as well as having a large hitbox.
Side special		PK Fire	3% (lightning), 7% (fire)	Thrusts both of his hands forward to release a lightning bolt-shaped PSI projectile from his hands. Unlike Ness' PK Fire, Lucas' version results in a brief, fiery explosion of PSI energy that launches the opponent away, rather than a long-lasting pillar of fiery PSI energy. It is further differentiated from Ness' version in that it flies straight ahead regardless of whether it is used on the ground or in the air, as well as causing a minimal amount of recoil both on the ground and in the air, making it more effective as a spacing tool than Ness' PK Fire, but less of a combo tool.
Up special		PK Thunder	2.5% (projectile head), 0.8% (projectile tail, rapid hits), 8% (PKT2 initial), 2% (PKT2 rapid hits 1-5), 1.5% (PKT2 rapid hits 6-10), 10% (PKT2 last)	Emits a streaming, electrical PSI projectile from his head. Like Ness' PK Thunder, it can be directed into Lucas to launch him at a high speed. Unlike Ness' version, however, it does not disappear after hitting an opponent and instead hits multiple times, giving it damage racking potential. This effect also applies PK Thunder 2, with Lucas hitting an opponent multiple times upon colliding with them. Deals immense damage if all of PK Thunder 2's hits connect, making it one of the most damaging up specials in the game. It is also a versatile recovery option if used correctly, as it covers great distance while being hard to properly counter itself due to its multi-hit and intangible properties.
Down special		PSI Magnet	8% (ending), heals 2× the damage of absorbed projectiles (maximum 30%)	Thrusts his arm forward to emit a glowing orb of PSI energy around his outstretched hand, which comes out quicker and absorbs more damage than Ness' variant. Any energy-based projectiles it absorbs will heal him, although it no longer absorbs energy projectiles that are launched directly at his back as it did in Brawl. It can also be used offensively, due to it being safe on shield, dealing damage and having a semi-spike knockback to opponents inside of it when it dissipates. The move now has a windbox box that drags in opponents near it.
Final Smash		PK Starstorm	6.5% (per hit)	Boney and Kumatora join Lucas, who summons a shower of falling stars that fly towards the center of the stage, damaging opponents in range. The trajectory of the meteors can be angled left and right. Unique to Lucas' version of PK Starstorm, the range of the meteors can also be adjusted. Tilting the stick up causes the meteors to spread out near the top of the screen (this will allow the meteors to hit opponents closer to the upper blast line, but will miss any who are grounded); tilting down causes the meteors to slightly angle outwards as they fall towards the stage (if done from the center of Final Destination, the meteors will cover almost the entirety). Overall, it has far more control than Ness's version.

On-screen appearance

• Rides in on a Mr. Saturn-style coffee table, then hops off. The table is based on the one that Lucas rides in order to reach Saturn Valley in Mother 3.

Taunts

• Trips, shakes his head, and gets back up.
• Duster's Rope Snake comes out of Lucas's hand and has a brief conversation with him, as Lucas shrugs at it.
• Angrily positions his right hand up to his forehead and grunts while generating small bursts of PSI energy from his index and middle fingers, then swings his hand down to emit a trail of PSI energy.

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  Lucas's up taunt.

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  Lucas's side taunt.

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  Lucas's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Taps the toes of his shoes on the ground.
• Holds one finger to his forehead, and then swings his arm outward.

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  Lucas's first idle pose

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  Lucas's second idle pose

Victory poses

• Left: Forcefully pulls one of the Seven Needles out of the ground, sending it flying off-screen while Lucas looks toward the screen in a battle-ready pose.
• Up: With his back toward the screen, he crouches while poking at something on the ground with a large stick. After the camera zooms in, he then turns his head around to face the screen and says "Huh?" while briefly sporting a surprised expression.
• Right: Bends down on one knee and waves his right arm in from himself while releasing blasts of PSI energy from his index and middle fingers.

A flourished combination of the final two out of the Eight Melodies in Mother / EarthBound Beginnings.

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In competitive play

Lucas is a character with a polarized projectile heavy archetype with above-average mobility. He is another one of those characters overshadowed by better projectile based characters, such as Snake, Pac-Man, Mega Man, and even Ness himself. His results and representation were pretty scarce in early Ultimate. However, he has achieved some level of representation through the players of Mekos and ChocoTaco. As a result, top professional players, such as Mew2King, ESAM, Dabuz, and Armada value him as an upper mid tier, while some, such as ZeRo views him as a high tier, with good combo ability and edgeguarding through PK Freeze and PK Fire. Overall, his current place and viability in the meta is debatable.

•  ChocoTaco - The best Lucas player in Florida. Placed 17th at Ultimate Gamer Miami, 25th at Come to Papa 3 and Overlords of Orlando: Ultimate Edition, and 33rd at The Big House 9. Has a win over Goblin, ESAM, and Abadango.
•  Mekos - The best Lucas player in the United States and one of the best Lucas players in the world. Placed 4th at Just Roll With It! 10, 17th at Just Roll With It! 11 and at DreamHack Atlanta 2019, 25th at Glitch 7 - Minus World, 33rd at Glitch 6, and 49th at MomoCon 2019. Has wins over Fatality, Mystearica, Benny&TheJets, and Uncivil ninja.
•  Regalo - Placed 9th at Final Round 2019, 13th at Just Roll With It! 10, and 25th at Glitch 6. Ranked 12th on the North Carolina Power Rankings.
•  Remi - The best Lucas player in Oregon. Placed 17th at both GENESIS 7 and Play With Heart. Has wins over Blacktwins, Uncivil ninja, and Chag. Ranked 2nd on the Oregon Ultimate Power Rankings.
•  Reumina - Placed 9th at Sumabato SP 9, 49th at Umebura SP 5, and 65th at Umebura SP 7. Ranked 91th on the Japan Player Rankings as their highest and only placing Lucas player. Has wins over Kome and Manzoku.
•  ShiNe - The best Lucas player in both SoCal and Taiwan. Placed 1st at Taipei Major 2019, 9th at SwitchFest 2019 Kickoff, 13th at Super Smashed Fest, and 25th at Ultimate Nimbus.
•  WhYYZ - The best Lucas player in the Netherlands. Placed 9th at TSEA Link Summer Smash, 17th at both Heroes of Dutch Comic Con Spring 2019 and Lightning: Strikes Twice, and 49th at both The Ultimate Performance and Syndicate 2019. Ranked 20th on the Dutch Ultimate Power Rankings.

Classic Mode: Magic, Sacred Powers, and PSI!

Lucas' congratulations screen.

All of Lucas' opponents have supernatural abilities.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Ness	Magicant	Magicant
2	Robin (x2)	Arena Ferox	Conquest (Ablaze)
3	Rosalina & Luma	Mario Galaxy	Gusty Garden Galaxy
4	Giant Palutena	Palutena's Temple (Ω form)	Underworld
5	Bayonetta	Umbra Clock Tower	Tomorrow Is Mine (Bayonetta 2 Theme) (Instrumental)
6	Mewtwo	Kalos Pokémon League	Battle! (Team Galactic)
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Note: All stages Lucas travels to are Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS stages.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Lucas has Mother 3 Love Theme accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Lucas in World of Light

Although Lucas does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Lucas can be found on a village covered in fog as a callback to his home of Tazmily Village.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
37		Lucas	Shield	6,600	New Pork City (Ω form)	Unfounded Revenge / Smashing Song of Praise

Spirits

Lucas's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Lucas in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

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  564. Lucas

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
462		Articuno, Zapdos, & Moltres	Pokémon series	•Reflect Lucas (×3) ()		13,700	Find Mii (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy reflects projectiles •The enemy's PSI attacks have increased power •Stamina battle	Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue Medley	Articuno (cyan costume), Zapdos (orange costume), and Moltres (red costume)
585		Kumatora	Earthbound series	•Lucas		4,200	New Pork City (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Ice Floor	•The floor is frozen •The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower	Mother 3 Love Theme
589		Masked Man	Earthbound series	•Lucas		9,400	New Pork City (Ω form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash •The enemy has increased attack power	Porky's Theme
590		Claus	Earthbound series	•Lucas •Metal Lucas		13,200	Garden of Hope (Battlefield form)	•Strengthen Weapon	•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd •All fighters' melee weapons have increased power after a little while •The enemy is metal	Mother 3 Love Theme	Masked Man (Metal Lucas)
1,078		Kid Dracula	Kid Dracula	•Lucas		9,600	Dracula's Castle	•Hazard: Slumber Floor	•The floor is sleep-inducing •The enemy's melee blows will heal them when they hit	Dwelling of Doom

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
307		Slugger & Green Glove	Yoshi	•Ness •Lucas		1,500	Yoshi's Island	•Item: Beastball	•The enemy starts the battle with a Home-Run Bat	Obstacle Course - Yoshi's Island	Green Glove
581	File:Flint Spirit.png	Flint	Earthbound series	•Snake •Lucas		4,200	Onett (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Lava Floor	•The floor is lava •The enemy starts the battle with a Franklin Badge	Mother 3 Love Theme	Claus
582	File:Hinawa.png	Hinawa	Earthbound series	•Zelda •Lucas (×2) ()		13,100	Yoshi's Island	•Easy to Launch	•All fighters are easy to launch	Mother 3 Love Theme	Lucas and Claus
583	File:Boney.png	Boney	Earthbound series	•Duck Hunt •Lucas		1,500	Onett	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Mother 3 Love Theme	Lucas
1,116		Pitcher & Batter	Baseball	•Ness •Lucas (×2)		1,700	Pokémon Stadium 2 (Ω form)	•Item Tidal Wave •Item: Sports	•The enemy favors side smash attacks •The enemy starts the battle with a Home-Run Bat •Certain items will appear in large numbers	Baseball (Training)	Catcher(s)

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Lucas' fighter card.

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  Taunting on Green Greens.

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  Lucas using his Rope Snake on Skyloft.

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  Lucas freezing Ganondorf on Summit.

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  Performing PK Fire near Entei on Great Bay.

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  Using PSI Magnet near the Black Hole item on Skyworld.

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  Lucas holding a Master Ball on Castle Siege.

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  Lucas getting pummeled by Richter on Skyloft.

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  Lucas approaching Gray Fox on Golden Plains.

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  Lucas and Diddy Kong being attacked by Marshadow on the Bridge of Eldin.

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  Lucas getting attacked by Rathalos on Garden of Hope.

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  Snake with Lucas' Rope Snake on Pokémon Stadium 2.

Trivia

• Because Lucas' PSI-based attacks now have light blue effects, this creates an inconsistency with his artwork in the panoramic "Everyone Is Here!" illustration, which features his former pink-and-yellow PSI effects.
• Lucas' character portrait is based off of his side taunt.
• Lucas is in Kirby's Classic Mode unlock column, the same one as Ness.
• Lucas is the first and only Brawl newcomer to receive a completely new victory theme.
• While holding a small item, Lucas still reverts to Ness's previous idle animation despite Ness receiving a new one.
• There's a bug regarding Lucas's forward smash where the stick won't shrink inside his hand when done while facing left.
  • Additionally, there's another bug regarding Lucas's back-hitting/wallbounce hitstun animation in which he "snaps" into his tumbling animation. This does not occur with Ness.
• Because of his status as an unlockable character in Ultimate, Lucas is the only character in the entire series to have been a starter character, an unlockable character and a DLC character.
• Lucas and the Ice Climbers are the only playable characters which use sprites as their Fighters Spirit image.