Shulk (SSBU)

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Shulk in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Xenoblade Chronicles
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Chain Attack

“	He is the only fighter that can change his status during battle. His sword, the Monado, allows him to switch between five modes—Jump, Speed, Shield, Buster and Smash—which change his abilities for a short time. Fun fact: Shulk's eighth color variation puts him in a pair of swimming trunks!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Shulk (シュルク, Shulk) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Shulk is classified as fighter #57.

Adam Howden and Shintarō Asanuma reprise their roles as Shulk's voice actors in the English and Japanese versions of the game through mostly reused voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Shulk being the 22nd character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the second character unlocked after Villager.
• Have Shulk join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Shulk must then be defeated on Gaur Plain.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Shulk has received a mix of buffs and nerfs from his transition to Ultimate. His infamously sluggish moveset has been sped up in several ways, most notably from the universal reduction of landing lag and lag reduction for some of his most commonly used moves, alongside the ability to autocancel some aerials, a trait he was previously notable for lacking. In addition, his most notable KO moves are now stronger, the implementation of canceling a dash with any ground move allows him to approach with his high-ranged tilts, and the addition of pseudo dash dancing alleviate his low traction and turnaround time.

Shulk's defining Monado Arts have also been altered significantly, now performing much like Hyper Monado Arts from Smash 4. Their benefits have been boosted: Speed and Buster now grant Shulk true followups and throw combos, Shield allows him to stay grounded even after withstanding smash attacks at high percents, and Smash now buffs Shulk's KO potential to such an extent that he is capable of KOing extremely early with throws and tilts.

However, Shulk's previously heavy weight has been reduced, his very damaging neutral attack has been toned down, and his throws are all less damaging, with down throw no longer being the strongest in the game. His infamous Vision had its knockback reduced, making it less effective for KOs at low percents. Finally, his Monado Arts also last significantly shorter, have much longer recharge times, and their drawbacks have been amplified, making each Art even riskier to use but much more rewarding.

As a result, Shulk's playstyle revolves less around taking advantage of Monado Arts at all times, and he now depends on using his improved kit to make use of his stronger, short-lasting Monado Art abilities. As of now, it is unknown how his changes affect him compared to the rest of the cast.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Shulk's model features a more subdued color scheme. In addition to losing most of the glossy sheen from his clothes and hair, Shulk's clothing now features simple detailing, his face is more defined, and his hair is somewhat less tousled.
• Shulk's alternate costumes now alter his hair color to match each party member they represent.
  • His hair colors are now dirty blonde, black, auburn, black, silver, and orange for the palette swaps of Fiora, Dunban, Reyn, Sharla, Melia, and Riki respectively.
• Shulk's muscles are more prominently defined in his shirtless alternate costume.
• Shulk's idle stance has been slightly altered, as his chest now visibly moves as he breathes.
• Moves that originally caused the Monado to glow with a blue outline now completely cover its blade with an opaque blue glow.
• Shulk's second jump freefall animation has been altered, with his limbs no longer being straightened out. This brings it closer to how Shulk jumps in Xenoblade Chronicles.
• During Shulk's hip-posing victory pose, the Monado now glows with a sword trail when swung, and Shulk gives a wide grin at the end.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Shulk's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Due to the backward-facing hitstun state now applying to all attacks, Back Slash is less situational and can potentially combo out of his other moves with its effective damage.
• Shulk dashes faster (1.52→1.672).
• Shulk air speed is faster (1.06 →1.113).
• Shulk is lighter, reducing his endurance substantially, however, this change makes him less susceptible to combos.
• All of Shulk's moves with an initial hit (such as up aerial, forward smash and up smash) cause significantly more freeze frames on the first hit.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first hit animation has been altered, and the second hit is now a full roundhouse kick.
  • Neutral attack's first hit has a smaller hitbox and less range due to its animation change.
  • Neutral attack deals significantly lower damage (3.5%/3.5%/5.3%(clean)/4.2%(late) → 2%/1.5%/5%(clean)/4.1%(late)), no longer being the most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the game.
  • Neutral attack transitions faster.
  • Due to neutral attacks now dragging opponents to the ground, neutral attack is no longer timing-specific against floatier or significantly damaged fighters. The first two hits can also jab reset.
• Dash attack:
  • Like his other sword-based moves, dash attack now has a sweetspot and sourspot.
  • Sweetspotted dash attack deals more damage, while sourspotted dash attack deals less (11.5% → 11%(beam)/12.5%(blade)).
  • Dash attack has faster startup (frame 15 → frame 12).
  • Dash attack has significantly lower ending lag (frame 53 → frame 40).
  • During dash attack, Shulk doesn't slide as far. This reduces the move's range slightly.
  • As characters no longer slide through other fighters, dash attack will now connect in instances where it would usually whiff.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt is stronger and KOs earlier (108% → 97%, at the edge of Final Destination).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt deals more damage (8.5%(blade)/7.5%(beam) → 10%(blade)/9%(beam)).
  • Up tilt's ending animation has been altered, with Shulk crouching lower.
  • Due to changes to the Buster art, up tilt's freeze frames and higher horizontal launch angle makes it difficult to follow up itself.
• Forward smash:
  • Both blade and beam hitboxes of forward smash KO earlier (blade: 84% → 73%, beam: 97% → 86% at the edge of Final Destination).
• Down smash:
  • First hit's blade hitbox of down smash KOs earlier (81% → 78% at the edge of Final Destination).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (Neutral: frame 10 → 6, Forward: 16 → 10, Back: 19 → 11, Up: 15 → 9, Down: 23 → 14).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has been sped up significantly.
  • Neutral aerial's hitbox timing is unchanged despite the faster animation speed, meaning the ending frames can now connect with opponents, and the full move now covers 360 degrees.
  • Neutral aerial has significantly lower ending lag (frame 71 → 60).
  • Due to its landing lag being reduced, neutral aerial can now true combo into several aerials depending on Shulk's active Monado Art.
  • Neutral aerial's sweetspot has been reversed, with the beam blade dealing less damage instead of more. While this increases the chance of the blade hitbox hitting at the beginning, this also makes the larger beam hitbox more likely to land after the initial startup .
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial starts slightly faster (frame 14 → 13).
  • Due to its landing lag being reduced, neutral forward can now true combo into itself or other aerials depending on Shulk's active Monado Art.
  • The final frames of forward aerial no longer send opponents behind Shulk. This removes its niche stage spike and combo abilities, but makes it more consistent.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial can now autocancel from a full hop.
  • Back aerial's hitbox has been adjusted to be parallel to the ground. This makes it easier for the attack to hit grounded opponents without going over their heads.
  • Back aerial's early hitbox has been removed, preventing the Monado's blade from hitting opponents in front of Shulk. This also makes it more difficult to use back aerial as a landing option.
  • Back aerial starts slightly later (frame 18 → 19).
• Up aerial
  • Up aerial has significantly lower ending lag (frame 71 → 60).
• Down aerial
  • Down aerial can now autocancel. [1]
  • Down aerial appears to have more range.

Grabs and throws

• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (3% → 1.2%) but is much faster.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw's second hit deals less damage (8% → 5%).
  • Forward throw is much stronger with the Smash art active, capable of KOing at 110% at the edge of Final Destination.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw's second hit deals less damage (9% → 6%).
  • Back throw is now Shulk's strongest throw with the Smash art active, capable of KOing at 90% at the edge of Final Destination.
• Up throw:
  • Changes to the Smash art now allow the Monado Purge combo (up throw to up air) to KO at around 70%, though this is escapable.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw has a snappier animation, with Shulk performing a short jump before the main hit.
  • Down throw's second hit deals less damage (4% → 2.5%).
  • Down throw is no longer the strongest down throw in the game, even with the Smash Art active.
  • Changes to the Buster Art now allow down throw to true combo into down tilt or forward tilt until around 60%.

Special Moves

• Monado Arts:
  • Monado Arts can now be selected quicker by holding the Special button, holding the stick in a direction, then releasing the Special button. His Monado Arts are mapped to the following: up for Smash, upper left for Jump, lower left for Speed, upper right for Buster, and lower right for Shield. The previous method of selecting Monado Arts has still been retained.
    • This new method of switching allows the user to switch Monado Arts without needing to cancel the current one, opening up more combo potential and flexibility through switching from certain Monado Arts.
    • Arts that are on cooldown now have a bar under them to show how much longer until they can be used again. A timer bar also appears to show how long until the active Art deactivates.
  • Monado Arts can be activated immediately during hitstsun.
  • Monado Arts activate significantly faster when selecting Arts individually.
  • Monado Art Landing Lag Canceling is still capable of being performed, though the faster activation time means the timings now require quicker reflexes.
    • The addition of selecting Arts through the Art wheel now allows Shulk access to MALLC at any time, without having to time landings with his jumps.
  • Monado Arts's kanji graphics are now stylized and shown in solid colored, thick-outlined text. Upon activation, the kanji flashes with a cartoon-styled burst.
  • Monado Arts now displays the name of the art in addition to the kanji, like on the HUD.
  • Monado Arts now have significantly amplified strengths and weaknesses, alongside much shorter durations and longer cooldowns, making the move similar to his previous custom move, Hyper Monado Arts.
  • Jump Art:
    • Jump Art lasts significantly shorter and has a longer cooldown (16s → 6s duration, 10s → 18s cooldown).
    • Jump Art increases Shulk's damage vulnerability even more (1.22x → 1.3x).
  • Speed Art:
    • Speed Art lasts significantly shorter and has a longer cooldown (16 s → 8s duration, 10s → 16s cooldown).
    • Speed Art grants an even lower jump and higher ground speed than before. Combined with the reduced landing lag of his aerials, Speed is now a more effective aerial rushdown and spacing tool.
    • Due to the altered dash mechanics, Speed now grants Shulk an excellent dash dance.
    • Speed Art lowers Shulk's damage even more (0.8x → 0.7x).
    • Speed Art's shorter jumps make the Art even worse for recovering vertically.
  • Shield Art:
    • Shield Art lasts significantly shorter and has a longer cooldown (16 s → 6s duration, 10s → 18s cooldown).
    • Shield Art grants a significantly higher amount of survivability, allowing Shulk to stay grounded even if hit by smash attacks at mid-high percents. He can even interrupt throw combos or tilts by retaliating with an attack while Shield is active, since he can usually react faster than his opponent.
    • Shield Art grants a higher damage resistance (0.67x → 0.5x damage taken).
    • Shield Art lowers Shulk's damage even more (0.7x → 0.5x).
    • Shield Art's Meter goes down upon being hit. Alongside the reduced duration, this removes Shield's ability to stall matches for a noticeable period of time. [2]
  • Buster Art:
    • Buster Art lasts significantly shorter and has a longer cooldown (16s → 10s duration, 10s → 14s cooldown). However, it is now the longest-lasting and quickest-charging Monado Art.
    • Buster lowers Shulk's knockback even more and grants significantly higher freeze frames. This gives Shulk true combos while it is active, significantly improving his damage racking potential.
    • Buster Art increases Shulk's damage vulnerability even more (1.13x → 1.3x).
  • Smash Art:
    • Smash Art lasts significantly shorter and has a longer cooldown (16 seconds → 8s duration, 10s → 16s cooldown).
    • Smash Art boosts Shulk's knockback even more, allowing his forward smash to KO at the edge of Final Destination beginning from 45%.
    • Smash Art harsly lowers Shulk's survivability, allowing Mario's forward smash to KO him from the middle of Final Destination at 65%.
    • Smash Art lowers Shulk's damage even more (0.5x → 0.3x).
• Back Slash:
  • Back Slash is slightly faster.
  • Back Slash's blade hitbox KOs earlier (79% → 74% from the edge of Final Destination).
  • Shulk can now snap onto ledges while using Back Slash, after enough travel time.
  • The distance Back Slash travels can now be affected by holding down left or right.
  • Front-hitting Back Slash KOs later.
  • Back-hitting Back Slash now causes a yellow burst effect, similar to the graphic shown when a party member successfully lands an Art's bonus effect in Xenoblade Chronicles (in this case, hitting the back of an enemy).
• Air Slash:
  • Air Slash KOs earlier (118% → 106% from the edge of Final Destination).
  • The second hit of Air Slash has faster startup, making it easier to connect both hits of the move.
  • Air Slash now snaps to the ledge during the first swing instead of the second swing.
    • Air Slash's second hit has a shorter range.
    • Air Slash has a smaller edge sweetspot, making the entire move harder to snap to the ledge with.
• Vision:
  • Vision's backdrop is significantly brighter.
  • Vision deals noticeably less base knockback, hindering its ability to KO at low percentages.
    • However, due to changes to Smash Art, Vision can now KO much earlier despite its decreased damage multiplier.
  • Vision Sliding has been removed.
• Final Smash:
  • Fiora appears during Chain Attack, attacking with Shulk in addition to Riki and Dunban. Camera angles have been adjusted to accommodate for her, and Shulk has gained an additional voice clip that calls out her name. Additionally, Riki and Dunban have more detailed models.

Classic Mode: Witness the Monado's Power

Each of the opponents represent one of Shulk's Monado Arts and are fought in the cycling order of each art in Super Smash Bros. 4. The battle against Mega Man is representative of a Mechon from Xenoblade Chronicles, which are known to be weak to the Monado's power.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Falco	Lylat Cruise	Space Armada
2	Sonic	Windy Hill Zone	Windy Hill - Zone 1
3	Giant King K. Rool	Jungle Japes	Crocodile Cacophony
4	Cloud	Midgar	Let the Battles Begin!
5	Little Mac	Boxing Ring	World Circuit Theme
6	Mega Man	Wily Castle	Metal Man Stage
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle.

Role in World of Light

Shulk was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

After the Master Hands begin turning into energy for Galeem to absorb, Shulk experiences a vision of the future, where all of the fighters are annihilated and the universe engulfed in light. Shulk turns back attempting to warn everyone, but remains speechless. Unfortunately, his vision comes true when Galeem unleashes a shower of light that vaporizes Shulk off-screen and imprisons him with the rest of the fighters except for Kirby.

In the mode proper, he can be found right over a cliff that leads to a waterfall.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Shulk's fighter card.

• 

  Idling on the Great Plateau Tower.

• 

  Activating the Smash Monado Art on Battlefield.

• 

  Shulk fighting Samus on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Crouching near Snake on Shadow Moses Island.

• 

  Using Chain Attack.

• 

  Taunting on Summit.

• 

  Shulk getting attacked by Lucina on Temple.

• 

  Getting hit by Sonic's Spin Charge on Mario Galaxy.

• 

  Shulk, Link and Marth advancing towards Rathalos on Coliseum.

• 

  Shulk activating the Buster Monado Art on Battlefield.

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• Shulk's pose in his official render resembles the pose he performs when selecting Monado Arts from the move's menu.
• Shulk's artwork was one of the three that have been updated on the official site, alongside Falco and Palutena. In his case, the lighting on his hair and face have been modified, making his features appear less flat.
• In the Gourmet Race section of the World of Light, a visual glitch occurs when the "New Record!" announcement appears. After it shows, Shulk will run with the Monado in hand until he performs another action.
• Shulk's backhanded victory pose has an animation inconsistency: his mouth may either stay open or closed when his name is called out on the victory screen.
• Shulk is one of the few fighters to spin differently in their Star KO: he spins forwards instead of away from the screen, similarly to how Star KOs acted in Smash 4. He shares this trait with Cloud, Corrin, Incineroar and Inkling.