Richter (SSBU)
| Richter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Universe | Castlevania |
| Availability | Unlockable |
| Final Smash | Grand Cross |
| “ | Richter Crosses Over! | ” |
| —Introduction tagline | ||
Richter (リヒター, Richter) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was announced as a newcomer alongside Simon, Chrom, Dark Samus, and King K. Rool during a Nintendo Direct on August 8th, 2018. Richter is Simon's Echo Fighter, thus being classified as Fighter #66ε. Although, each of their movesets actually take inspiration from each other's home series appearances.
Richter is voiced in English by David Vincent, his recurring voice actor from Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles onward, who initially confirmed on Twitter. He is voiced in Japanese by Kiyoyuki Yanada, his voice actor from Symphony of the Night onward.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
- Play VS. matches, with Richter being the 35th character to be unlocked.
- Clear Classic Mode with Link or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after Young Link.
- Have Richter join the player's party in World of Light.
With the exception of the third method, Richter must then be defeated on Dracula's Castle.
Attributes
Richter is Simon's Echo Fighter, so his moveset, animations and attributes are directly derived from the latter, and his overall gameplan is also the same—he is a zoner with poor mobility (especially in the air) who utilizes his highly disjointed attacks courtesy of the Vampire Killer whip and his three projectiles to keep his opponents at a distance.
Like Simon, Richter's special moveset possesses decent utility. Firstly, Axe is a very strong projectile that can be thrown in three angles, which makes it effective at both edgeguarding and a threatening anti-air option, compounded by its ability to go through solid terrain. The axe can additionally lead into forward aerial, or, at higher percents, Uppercut for a KO. His side special, the Cross, functions like a boomerang, though unlike other boomerang projectiles, it does not follow Richter, instead going straight and then briefly going backwards on its own if not grabbed by Richter; in addition to this, it sends opponents vertically in the air with low knockback, which is favorable for setups into aerial attacks, the Axe or an up smash. His up special, Uppercut, is a very fast out of shield option with decent kill power that has multiple setups into it, such as the Cross, or more notably, down aerial.
However, the sole difference distinguishing Richter from Simon lies in his down special, Holy Water; it utilizes the same blue flame effect used by Lucario's aura-based attacks as opposed to a regular flame effect like Simon. Against Olimar, this is highly effective, as Olimar's Red Pikmin are immune to all flame-based attacks, such as Simon's Holy Water, giving Richter a better matchup against Olimar. That said, the projectile possesses similar utility; it is useful for ledge-trapping, combo setups or kill setups such as a forward smash, forward tilt, or Uppercut.
Another notable trait that Richter shares with Simon is his impressive range. His Vampire Killer whip offers the overall longest disjointed range out of any fighter in the roster, and it makes his overall kit well-rounded and versatile. In the air, despite his aerial mobility being sluggish, his aerials are effective in their own rights; his up, forward and back aerials all have impressive range and can be used as tether recoveries, along with the latter two having the unique ability to be angled. His down aerial, while lacking the disjoint of his other aerials, is a notoriously effective combo tool, as it functions much like Greninja's down aerial; it meteor smashes at the beginning, but what makes it versatile is its late hit. On the late hit, both Richter and the opponent will bounce back up at diagonal angles, which opens up many KO confirms, notably into his Uppercut. At low percentages, it can combo into itself multiple times, which can potentially make it a zero-to-death tool if the opponent reacts poorly.
Richter's range is also effective on the ground, as his sluggish frame data is compensated by his attacks having immense range and power at the spiked ball at the end of the whip, to the point where they can be considered safe on shield if spaced, despite their lag. All of his smash attacks are notable examples of this; his forward smash is very powerful when tippered, and when combined with its ability to be angled, this makes it a deadly edgeguarding and ledge-trapping tool. His up smash is very strong when tippered, making it a reliable anti-air tool and a combo finisher and KO confirm out of his Cross. His down smash hits on both sides like most others, and keeps his trademark range while possessing decent power when sweetspotted. His forward tilt possesses decent range and uncharacteristically low ending lag, his dash attack is relatively quick and effective for crossing up shielding opponents, and his down tilt, while not disjointed, is a unique two-hit move that causes him to pseudo-crawl, allowing him to cross up foes or effectively retreat from the corner. Due to Richter's excellent range and his three projectiles, he is very good at keeping the opponent at bay.
Yet another trait shared with Simon is a decent grab game. His grab has below-average range and possesses noticeable lag, but his dash grab gives him a lot of momentum due to his low traction. His throws also have great utility: his forward and back throws have good KO potential despite their rather quick speed, and can be used to set up edgeguards otherwise. His up throw is considered to be his most useful throw, as its decent damage is compounded with its great setup ability, being able to start juggles. His down throw is rather situational and is his least used throw, but nevertheless has combo potential thanks to Richter's range.
Likewise, Richter also shares the exact same crippling flaws that Simon possesses to counterbalance his strengths. Perhaps his most infamous shortcoming is his extremely poor recovery, being among the worst in the game, despite having three aerials function as tether recoveries; his very low air movement, combined with Uppercut offering very poor vertical and horizontal momentum, give him very poor offstage presence. As such, he is very easy to gimp, and overall has a slim chance to return to the ledge, making him easy to KO despite his good endurance due to his almost non-existent offstage game. This is further compounded with Richter's susceptibility to combos due to his heavyweight status, poor aerial attributes, and lack of effective combo breakers within his moveset, preventing him from easily getting out of combos or escaping pressure. Due to his very low traction and slow attacks, he also has a poor out of shield game outside of Uppercut.
Despite his zoning and spacing potential, it is overall burdened by his poor frame data, lackluster overall mobility, and narrow attacks. His slow movement makes him vulnerable to pressure and zoning. While he has his projectiles, they each have noticeable startup and are susceptible to being reflected back, which can be a huge turnabout, especially since the projectiles play a huge role in Richter's neutral game. An opponent can also catch Holy Water mid-flight and use it against Richter as he can only have one out at a time, allowing his opponents to perform combo setups or kill setups on him.
Richter's poor frame data also gives him a mediocre close-range game, as many of his attacks are unsafe if not spaced properly, which often leaves him heavily susceptible to punishment. While Richter's whip attacks have excellent range, they are also very narrow, and some attacks such as up tilt, up smash and up aerial only hit directly above Richter, giving him poor hitbox placements and creating big blindspots that can cause them to miss opponents even if they are directly touching him, which hampers his juggle ability and overall punish game, and gives him a hard time hitting smaller characters. Finally, his moves tend to be rather weak when sourspotted, making spacing crucial if the player plans to score an early KO. With his grab range being below-average and his kill power being noticeable with his tipper mechanic, he must keep his space and fish for tippered tilts and aerials for maximum effect, in a similar vein to Marth.
Despite his only gameplay difference being one move that has slightly different matchups with very few characters, Richter has seen greater representation than Simon due to players' aesthetic preferences. In recent times, however, his popularity has noticeably diminished due to his and Simon's shared weaknesses becoming more apparent, with players such as Brood and Riddles dropping Richter in favor of other characters. Other players, such as Nitro, have relegated him to a secondary. As such, he may not have been as strong as originally thought, leaving his true placement debatable.
Differences from Simon
The only gameplay difference between Richter and Simon is that Richter's Holy Water has an aura effect, as opposed to Simon's Holy Water which has a flame effect, as a result of the blue flames. Because of this, Richter has a slightly better matchup against Olimar (as he can deal damage to Olimar's Red Pikmin, who are immune to flame-based attacks, with Holy Water), while Simon is more favorable in the matchups against Link, Young Link, Toon Link and Steve as he can cause their explosives to forcibly detonate before reaching him.
Otherwise, Richter plays and acts identically to Simon, with his only completely different animations being his taunts and victory animations. Unlike fellow near-identical Echo Fighters Daisy and Dark Samus, Richter does not have a different running animation, his idle animation is simply sped up instead of completely different, and he does not have any visual differences across any moves besides his down special. Choosing Simon and Richter is almost entirely a matter of personal preference.
Aesthetics
Richter has a slightly different idle animation (though his periodic idle poses are identical) where he moves more, appearing more impatient while standing. This does not apply when he is holding a light item.- As with all Echo Fighters, Richter has different taunts and victory animations.
Aerial attacks
- The visual effects for down air are different, starting earlier and having a different routine.
Special moves
- Richter's Holy Water emits blue flames, and is an aura attack unlike Simon's flame-based version. However, its strength does not scale with Richter's damage percentage, unlike Lucario's aura attacks.
This allows Richter to inflict damage to Olimar's Red Pikmin with his Holy Water.
However, Richter cannot forcibly detonate certain explosives (such as Remote Bomb Runes or Steve's TNT) with his attack.
Miscellaneous
- Richter shoots from Cannons at a slightly different elevation.
Update history
Aside from a glitch fix and a single nerf to Cross, Richter has been buffed slightly overall via game updates. Update 3.0.0 increased the range of his edge attack, yet decreased Cross' shield damage output as part of a near-universal nerf to projectiles. Following this, update 4.0.0 removed Richter's ability to perform the down air stall that he and many other characters with stall-then-fall down aerials could perform.
After receiving only inconsequential changes and being absent from updates for a whole year, Richter received a number of decent buffs from update 9.0.0. Neutral infinite received transcendent priority as part of a near-universal buff, which prevents it from being canceled by weak attacks. Dash attack deals more damage, though its last hit's knockback was altered slightly to compensate. Up tilt's knockback was also altered, which makes it safer on hit at low percentages at the cost of worsening its KO potential. Up and down smashes received more knockback, with the former also having its start-up and ending lag decreased. Lastly, Uppercut's vertical range was increased.
Overall, Richter fares mildly better than he did at Ultimate's launch. Due to his strengths and weaknesses being largely kept intact so far, his standing relative to the cast remains largely the same.
- Edge attack has more range.
- Cross deals less shield damage (0 → -3/-2.5 (throw/return)).
- Specific Grand Cross parameters have been adjusted, making them identical to Simon's variant.
Audio glitch where charging forward smash did not produce a sound effect has been fixed.
- Down aerial descends immediately when using the move after being launched.
- Rapid jab and its finisher have transcendent priority, preventing them from being canceled out by weak attacks.
- Dash attack:
- The looping hits deal more damage (1.7% → 2%; 12% total → 13.5%).
- The last hit has more base knockback (70 → 80), but less knockback scaling (115 → 105). This improves its KO potential near the edge, but reduces it from across the stage.
- Up tilt has more base knockback (60 → 88), but less knockback scaling (75/100 → 57/82). This increases its safety on hit at low percents, but slightly reduces its KO potential.
- Up smash:
- Up smash has less startup (frame 18 → 16), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 56 → 54).
- It deals more knockback (61/60 base/88/82 scaling → 64/63/91/85).
- Down smash has more knockback scaling (77 → 82 (front), 82 → 87 (back)).
- Uppercut's hitbox stretches farther vertically (Y offset: 23u—6u → 26u—6u), increasing its range above Richter.
Moveset
- Richter's whip, the Vampire Killer, possesses a sweetspot at the tip of the chain where the spiked ball is.
- Richter's forward aerial, back aerial, and up aerial all act as tether recoveries, allowing them to be used for recovery but also cancels the attacking part of the move while it is in progress.
- Unlike other disjointed weapons, the Vampire Killer's hitboxes cannot pass through solid terrain; hitting an obstacle will cause the move to deal no damage. This applies to every whip move except neutral attack, up tilt, down smash and neutral aerial.
- Richter can crawl.
For a gallery of Richter's hitboxes, see here.
Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 2% | Swings the Vampire Killer twice while holding it lengthwise, with his left hand holding its chain. Mashing the attack button quickly will cause Richter to rapidly spin the whip to damage opponents, with a final uppercut that sends opponents away. If not done quickly enough, Richter will cancel the first two hits, ending the attack and leaving him vulnerable. This move is Richter's fastest option up close.
If the attack button is held down instead, Richter will hold out the Vampire Killer, and it can then be manually twirled around. This attack is based on Simon's Whip Twirl from Super Castlevania IV (and was also used by Richter himself in Symphony of the Night), and it is functionally similar to Sheik's Chain in Melee and Brawl. The chain deals minor damage in this way, but can cancel very weak projectiles that collide with it. The spiked ball of the chain is its sweetspot, which deals more damage and sends opponents away. If pushed off a platform by a windbox while doing this, Richter will continue dangling the whip, and can be moved left and right through the air while simultaneously controlling it. | ||
| 2% | ||||
| 1.5% (spiked ball), 1% (chain) | ||||
| 0.5% (loop), 2.5% (end) | ||||
| Forward tilt | 12% (spiked ball), 10% (chain) | The iconic whip strike from the original Castlevania. It has high range for its speed, and low ending lag. This makes it useful for general spacing. However, only the initial whip lash deals damage, and opponents can crouch under it. The tip of the chain deals more damage, and can KO at around 120% at the edge of Final Destination. If the attack button is held, Richter will transition into the Whip Twirl, identical to his held neutral attack. | ||
| Up tilt | 10% (whip), 2% (close) | A quick whip twirl in a lasso-like fashion that covers above his head. The earliest hitbox starts slightly above Richter's face, and moves left and right once. Provides excellent coverage above Richter, granting it good pressuring capabilities against aerial opponents. It can also potentially chain into itself more than once at low percents. However, it has no grounded hitboxes beside him whatsoever, making it risky against grounded opponents. The move also has a very weak hitbox when the chain first comes out, though it has no typical use. | ||
| Down tilt | Sliding | 5% | A slide kick based on his Slide and Jumping Slide abilities from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The first hit is incapable of KOing even at 999%, but if the button is pressed again, Richter does a jumping kick that carries his momentum, comboing from the first hit. The jump deals less damage late, and is capable of jumping off platforms and edges. The first hit allows Richter to slide under projectiles or high hitboxes. The second hit can KO beginning at 140% from the edge of Final Destination. | |
| 7% (clean), 3.5% (late) | ||||
| Dash attack | 1.7% (hits 1-5), 3.5% (end) | A dashing attack while twirling the Vampire Killer beside himself. Based on his Blade Dash from Symphony of the Night. The dash covers half of Final Destination. Capable of destroying weak projectiles, but extremely damaged opponents may be knocked out before the final hit. The move is also one of the few attacks that can still cross-up in Ultimate. | ||
| Forward smash | 18% (spiked ball), 16% (chain), 14% (chain, close) | Rears back before performing a long-ranged whip crack while taking a step forward. Can be angled. Has tremendous reach, being the longest non-projectile forward smash in the game (outperforming Corrin, Mii Gunner, and Shulk). Deals the most damage at the tip of the chain, and less when up close. The sweetspot can KO as early as 57% from the edge of Final Destination, is safe on shield due to its sheer distance, and deals respectable damage to shields. The rest of the move is punishable on shield, and opponents can crouch under the chain. If angled down, the sweetspot can hit ledge hanging opponents. | ||
| Up smash | 16% (spiked ball), 14% (chain) | A vertical whip crack. It has immense vertical range, but its hitbox is incapable of hitting anyone directly beside Richter or the chain. Due to its high ending lag, this makes the move suited solely for aerial targets. While hard to hit, the sweetspot can KO as early as 67% on Final Destination. It can combo from up throw at 0-30%, though opponents can DI away from this. | ||
| Down smash | 16% (spiked ball), 14% (chain), 12% (chain, close) | Drags the Vampire Killer across the ground from forward to back. Impressive overall range like his other smash attacks, and also deals less damage up close in a similar fashion. Both hits do the same amount of damage, with the first hit being rather fast. The sweetspot KOs as early as 85% from the edge of Final Destination. If not sweetspotted, the move is punishable. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 1% (hits 1-6), 4% (end) | Twirls the Vampire Killer around his body. Lacks the range of his usual moves, but deals multiple hits and can protect Richter from being pursued aerially. Has slightly deceptive range due to the twirling graphic, and only covers one character length around him. The looping hits send at the autolink angle, allowing a falling neutral aerial to combo into a grab, neutral attack, or other moves. | ||
| Forward aerial | 12% (spiked ball), 10% (chain), 2% (body) | Rears back and performs a long-ranged whip crack. It can be angled slightly upward and downward at roughly a 20 degree angle; if angled down, the move can hit grounded opponents. Excellent range, allowing it to hit distant targets easily. However, the hitboxes are slim and have a short duration, while the move has some startup, requiring precise use. Has low ending lag, allowing Richter to double jump and perform another aerial if done from a short hop. Also can be used as a tether recovery, which is useful as Richter has no horizontal recovery options otherwise. The sweetspot can KO from 125% at the edge of Final Destination. | ||
| Back aerial | 12% (spiked ball), 10% (chain), 2% (body) | Rears back and performs a long-ranged whip crack behind himself. Identical damage, properties and usage as forward aerial, and can also be aimed up and down. Like forward aerial, Richter can double jump and perform another aerial if done from a short hop, and it also acts as a tether recovery. Has more knockback growth despite the similar damage, with the sweetspot KOing from 110% at the edge of Final Destination. | ||
| Up aerial | 12% (spiked ball), 10% (chain), 2% (body) | Rears back and performs a long-ranged whip crack directly above him. Functionally identical to forward and back aerials in all aspects apart from attack direction and the inability to be angled. Like forward and back aerials, Richter can double jump and perform another aerial if done from a short hop, and it also acts as a tether recovery, covering around the same distance as Uppercut. The sweetspot KOs from 100% while in the air. | ||
| Down aerial | 12%, 7% (late) | A stall-then-fall divekick, based on the ability both Simon and Richter can obtain in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Goes downward at a diagonal angle, with the early frames being a meteor smash. If hit, Richter will bounce back with a flourish, which can combo into other attacks: the early hit easily combos into forward or back aerials at medium percents, Uppercut at 100% or above as a KO combo, or even into itself at low percents. | ||
| Grab | — | Reaches with his left arm. Notably, while Richter can use his whip as a tether recovery, he does not use it to grab opponents. | ||
| Pummel | 1.2% | Knees the opponent. | ||
| Forward throw | 7% | Spins once and flings the opponent forward. If the opponent misses a tech, it can be followed up with forward smash, forward tilt or dash attack at 0%. Tech rolls can be caught with Axe. Richter's strongest throw, capable of KO'ing from 125% at the edge of Final Destination. | ||
| Back throw | 7% | Flings the opponent backwards with both arms. Has the same combos as forward throw, but it is weaker for KOing, as it does so from 145% at the edge of Final Destination. | ||
| Up throw | 6% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) | Heaves the opponent into the air before lashing at them with the Vampire Killer. One of Richter's most useful throws due to its setup ability and damage, being the most damaging throw in his moveset. Can initiate combos at 0% such as into up smash, or start aerial juggles. At higher percents, it can set up into up aerial for a KO. | ||
| Down throw | 8% | A chokeslam. Like forward and back throws, it can follow up with forward smash or forward tilt at 0%, or cover tech rolls with Axe. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Kicks behind, then in front of himself. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Kicks behind, then in front of himself. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Kicks behind, then in front of himself. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
9% | Kicks forward while getting up. | ||
| Neutral special | Axe | 15% | Throws an axe projectile that travels at a high parabolic arc. The angle can be changed by holding forward or back before throwing. Richter's aerial momentum is stopped once he throws the axe. Extremely high startup lag, with the axe's angle making it ineffective to use conventionally. However, it deals high damage and knockback while also going through solid terrain, giving it powerful edgeguarding capabilities. Its high freeze frames also give it very limited followup ability. The axe can KO grounded opponents from 140% on Final Destination. | |
| Side special | Cross | 6%, 8% (smash thrown), 5% (returning) | Flings a silver cross projectile that functions similarly to Boomerang, including the ability to be smash-thrown to fly further and deal more damage. Unlike Boomerang, the Cross makes no attempt to return to Richter, and only flies straight forward and back. The Cross reaches the edge of Final Destination if thrown from the middle, and will travel to the other edge if left uncaught. Only one Cross can be out, and Richter can catch it upon returning. This is generally Richter's main stage-control tool to interrupt approaches and initiate combos. Richter may say "Go!" when performing the attack. | |
| Up special | Uppercut | 2% (hit 1), 1.5% (hit 2-5), 6% (hit 6) | A rising uppercut with the Vampire Killer in hand. Richter's main recovery move, though its poor height and Richter's limited air mobility makes it difficult to use as a recovery. Functions better as an attack, as it starts up quickly, can punish aerial opponents, and combos reliably from down aerial. KOs rather late on the ground, though it can KO much earlier as an aerial combo finisher as early as 120%. However, it has significantly lower range compared to Richter's other attacks. | |
| Down special | Holy Water | 2.9% (flask), 1.3% (flames, hits 1-8) | Drops a flask of Holy Water diagonally downwards. Once it hits the ground or an opponent, the flask bursts and unleashes a pillar of blue flames. Only one flask or pillar of flame can exist at one time. If the flask is caught, it will become an item that opponents can use against Richter. It can also be reflected or perfect shielded to affect the Richter who threw it. Has similar functionality as PK Fire, keeping opponents trapped within the projectile and in position for a followup, and lacks a final stronger hit. Richter will say "Take this!" when performing the move unlike Simon who simply grunts.
This is the only functionally different attack Richter has compared to Simon's; Richter's version does not deal flame damage, which is due to it using blue "fire" particles as opposed to Simon's red ones. Instead, it deals aura damage, but its damage output does not scale with Richter's damage percentage unlike any of Lucario's aura-based moves. | |
| Final Smash | Grand Cross | 3% (trapping hit), 10% (final hit) | Summons a large coffin in front of him, which traps opponents that touch it the moment it appears. If successful, Richter grabs the coffin with the Vampire Killer's chain, swings it in a wide arc and hauls it skywards, then unleashes the devastating Grand Cross technique while flexing, blasting the coffin with crosses made of light, and sending the victims flying. Extremely powerful, able to KO as early as 25%. | |
On-screen appearance
- Appears onstage surrounded by rays of light, and cracks the Vampire Killer before coiling it.
Richter's on-screen appearance
Taunts
- Up taunt: Raises his hand in the air with an open palm, referencing his Grand Cross in the opening of Rondo of Blood, leading into the pose from his render while saying "It's time!"
- Side taunt: Pulls out his whip and straightens the chain, a reference to a piece of artwork shown in the official guide for Rondo of Blood.
- Down taunt: Tightens his glove while saying "Prepare yourself!".
Richter's up taunt.
Richter's side taunt.
Richter's down taunt.
Idle poses
- Stands upright with his right hand on his hip. Based on his conversation stance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
- Thrusts his hand downwards.
Richter's idle stance is based on his idle from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, as well as every preceding Belmont since the original Castlevania.
Richter's first idle pose
Richter's second idle pose
Victory poses
- Left: Whilst spinning, Richter swings the Vampire Killer around himself while saying "You don't belong in this world!" ("ここはお前の住む世界ではない！", This world is not yours to live in!) before striking the ground with an overhead swing and pulling the chain taut. This line is taken from the beginning of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
- Up: Jumps and whips the ground. Just before he lands, he spins in a brief clockwise manner. Upon landing, he assumes a pose identical to his official render.
- Right: While facing away from the camera, he pulls back and rolls up the Vampire Killer, putting it on his side. He then, with his back still facing the camera, turns around, similarly to his idle stance in Symphony of the Night, and makes a parting gesture saying "Farewell!"("じゃあな", See you.). This is from the cutscene where he rescues Tera in Rondo of Blood.
In competitive play
Similar to his base fighter, Simon, Richter gathered interest from many players for their long reach and versatility in projectiles. Richter's status in the early metagame seemed to match players' expectations with much success and representation, mainly from Riddles, Brood, and Shuton. However, Riddles and Brood would drop him in favor of Terry and Banjo & Kazooie respectively, or regulated them to a rare secondary in the case of Shuton. There are still dedicated Richter players with T3 DOM, Frosty, and Nitro however, but it's agreed that the character isn't as relevant as he used to be. Because of this, Belmont's viability in the current Ultimate meta is up for debate.
Notable players
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.
Active
Asotil - Placed 3rd at both Ascension VII and Ascension 2020: Back to Basics, 5th at Ascension VIII, and 9th at Ascension II with wins over players such as Prodigy, BassMage, and Widget. Ranked 4th on the Arizona Power Rankings.- Frosty - Placed 5th at Retro Arena 64, 9th at Frosty Faustings XII 2020, and 13th at Midwest Arena. Ranked 5th on the Chicago Ultimate Power Rankings.
Greil - Co-mains Richter with Wolf. Placed 4th at Syndicate 2019, 7th at BURST 4, and 49th at Albion 4 using Richter. Has wins over Meru, Flow, and Light with the character.
Kaidedede - Placed 5th at Seibugeki 2, 7th at Seibugeki 1, and 25th at Sumabato SP 7. Has wins over Ark, Mao, and Ridley.
Liam - Placed 25th at Play With Heart and 33rd at Battle of BC 3.- Mukyu - Co-mains Richter with Kirby. Placed 5th at Hirosuma 13 and 7th Shulla-bra SP 4 and Shulla-bra SP 8.
- Nitro - Uses Richter as a secondary to his Joker. Placed 17th at Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas with solo Richter, and 9th at GENESIS: BLACK and 33rd at Mainstage with both characters. Ranked 12th on the SoCal Ultimate Power Rankings. He has wins over Elegant, Nicko, Razo, ImHip, K9sbruce, Larry Lurr, and Mr.R.
- T3 DOM - Considered the best Richter player in the world after Riddles dropped the character. 7th at both 2GG: SoCal Chronicles 2020 and 2GG: All In, 33rd at both 2GG: SwitchFest 2019 and 2GG: Kongo Saga, and 49th at Shine 2019 with wins over players such as MuteAce, Elegant, MastaMario, and Charliedaking.
- Shuton (#13) - Has a strong Richter secondary. Placed 1st at Sumabato SP and 3rd at EGS Cup 3 with both Richter and Olimar. Has a win over Etsuji.
- Taka - Placed 17th at 4 Seasons Tournament: Winter 2020. Ranked 6th on the Lille Power Rankings. Has wins over Link91, Nibodax, and Satoshi.
Inactive
- Ako - A Palutena main with a few notable secondaries, including Richter. Placed 17th at Sumabato SP 5 and 25th at Sumabato SP 3 using him as a secondary. Hasn't used the character since.
- Brood - The best Richter player in the world before switching to Piranha Plant. Placed 13th at Umebura SP 2 and 17th at Umebura SP with Richter.
- Nen - The best Richter player in Michigan. Placed 4th at Wolverine Tailgate and 13th at Guardian I. Had a win over Daybreak. Has now been permanently banned from tournaments.
- Riddles (#47) - The best Richter player in the world after Brood switched to Piranha Plant. Dropped Richter in preference to Joker. Placed 9th at Saints Gaming Live 2019 and 13th at both Get On My Level 2019 and Super Smash Con 2019. Ranked 3rd on the Southern Ontario Ultimate Power Rankings. Has taken sets off of Dabuz, ANTi, BestNess, Laid, and Jw.
- The Great Gonzales - Placed 2nd at Smashadelphia Ultimate and 33rd at Let's Make Moves before switching to Palutena.
Whoophee - Initally co-mained Richter with Wario and was considered to be the best Richter player in Europe. Placed 7th at Valhalla II with solo Richter, and 2nd at Phoenix Blue 2, 4th at Regen 2019, and 33rd at Albion 4 with both characters. Now plays Wario in virtually all sets, and only uses Richter as an occasional counterpick.
Classic Mode: Smash Echoes
Both the English and Japanese names refer to Echo Fighters, whom Richter fights in numerical order. However, instead of Crazy Hand, who can be considered an echo of Master Hand, he faces Dracula as his final boss.
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Dark Samus |
Norfair | Multiplayer - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes |
| 2 |  Daisy |
Golden Plains | Mario Tennis / Mario Golf |
| 3 |  Lucina |
Coliseum (Ω form) | Destiny (Ablaze) |
| 4 |  Chrom |
Arena Ferox | Id (Purpose) |
| 5 |  Dark Pit |
Reset Bomb Forest | Dark Pit's Theme |
| 6 |  Ken |
Suzaku Castle (Ω form) | Ken Stage |
| Bonus Stage | |||
| Final | Dracula | Dracula's Castle | Dance of Illusions |
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Richter has Dracula's Castle accompany the credits.
Role in World of Light
Although Richter 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.
Richter was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is in the Dracula's Castle sub-area, but only makes an appearance if the player manages to destroy all the purple evil ghosts that teleport the player if touched with the use of cannonballs. If the player manages to do so, he'll appear in between the spaces for Alucard and Dracula.
Fighter Battle
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Power | Stage | Music |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66ε | |
Richter |  |
11,800 | Dracula's Castle (Ω form) | Divine Bloodlines |
Spirit
Richter's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Richter in World of Light allows the player to preview the 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.
1,051. Richter Belmont
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 |
| 916 |  |
Geo Stelar & Omega-Xis | Mega Man Star Force Series | •Richter  •Wolf 
|
 |
3,900 | Moray Towers | •Hazard: Zap Floor | •The floor is electrified | Shooting Star | Geo Stelar |
| 1,000 |  |
Cody | Street Fighter Series | •Richter  (120 HP)
|
|
1,700 | New Donk City Hall (hazards off) | •Jump Power ↓ •Item: Battering Types |
•Stamina battle •The enemy's battering items have increased power •All fighters have reduced jump power |
Zangief Stage Type B | |
| 1,057 |  |
Nathan Graves | Castlevania Series | •Richter 
|
 |
3,700 | Find Mii (hazards off) | •Item: Timer | •The enemy has an extra midair jump •The enemy has increased jump power |
Awake | |
| 1,059 |  |
Juste Belmont | Castlevania Series | •Richter
|
|
4,200 | The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form) | •Hazard: Lava Floor | •The floor is lava •The enemy has increased move speed |
Awake | |
| 1,061 |  |
Leon Belmont | Castlevania Series | •Richter 
|
|
3,800 | Unova Pokémon League (hazards off) | •Strengthen Weapon | •The enemy can heal by shielding attacks •All fighters' melee weapons have increased power |
Lament of Innocence | |
| 1,064 |  |
Jonathan Morris | Castlevania Series | •Richter •Robin 
|
|
9,300 | Dracula's Castle | N/A | •The enemy's throwing-type items have increased power | Jail of Jewel | |
| 1,268 |  |
Specter Knight | Shovel Knight Series | •Richter 
|
|
3,900 | Bridge of Eldin (hazards off) | N/A | •The enemy starts the battle with a Death's Scythe •The enemy has increased move speed |
Flash in the Dark (Dr. Wily Stage 1) | |
| 1,464 |  |
Malos | Xenoblade Chronicles Series | •Richter  •Giant Ridley  x3
|
|
13,600 | Gaur Plain | N/A | •Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd |
Incoming! | |
As a minion
| Spirit | Battle parameters | Inspiration | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Image | Name | Series | Enemy Fighter(s) | Type | Power | Stage | Rules | Conditions | Music | Character |
| 1,065 |  |
Charlotte Aulin | Castlevania Series | •Zelda  •Richter
|
|
3,700 | Bridge of Eldin (Battlefield form) | N/A | •The enemy's special moves have increased power •The enemy favors side specials •Reinforcements will appear during the battle |
Hail from the Past | Jonathan Morris |
| 1,118 |  |
Tamagon | Devil World | •Tiny Ridley  •Clear Richter
|
|
1,500 | Mario Bros. | •Item: Throwing Types | •Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors neutral specials •The enemy is invisible |
Clu Clu Land | Cross |
| 1,366 |  |
Athena Asamiya | Psycho Soldier | •Palutena  •Richter
|
|
9,400 | Mushroomy Kingdom (hazards off) | N/A | •The enemy favors special moves •Reinforcements will appear during the battle |
Psycho Soldier Theme (Overseas Version) | Sie Kensou |
| 1,374 |  |
Chris | Resident Evil Series | •Snake  •Richter
|
|
3,900 | Fourside (Battlefield form) | •Item: Shooting Types | •The enemy starts the battle with a Franklin Badge •The enemy's ranged weapons have increased power •The enemy favors special moves |
Battle in the Base | Piers |
Alternate costumes
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Reveal trailer
Gallery
Simon and Richter artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Konami Twitter account.
Richter's splash art.
Richter's fighter card.
Richters unlock notice.
Richter's amiibo.
Richter on Gaur Plain.
Richter straightening his whip on the Bridge of Eldin.
Performing his down tilt on Kalos Pokémon League.
Holding a Lip's Stick next to a Red Pikmin on Distant Planet.
In his red alternate costume on Yoshi's Story.
Character Showcase Video
Trivia
- Richter is the only Echo Fighter:
- whose placement in the character select screen in Ultimate matches his series debut, unlike the other Echo Fighters.
- to not make an appearance at all in any Smash installment prior to his playable debut.
- Lucina and Dark Pit were playable in Smash 4.
- Dark Samus as a trophy in Brawl and an Assist Trophy in Smash 4.
- Chrom was a supporting character for Robin in Smash 4.
- Ken was a trophy in Smash 4, which was obtained by downloading Ryu.
- to be based off of a character introduced in Ultimate.
- that can crawl.
- whose position in the fighter numbers would be unchanged if Echo Fighters were numbered in the same way as regular fighters, as he was revealed directly after Simon, before any other characters.
- According to Sakurai from a Nintendo Dream magazine interview, Richter, alongside Simon, was added in due to the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot.[1]
- With the playable appearance of Richter and Simon, Castlevania was the first third-party franchise to have more than one playable fighter.
- Richter is the first third-party Echo Fighter, and the first full clone to debut in the same game as their base character since Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, with the first being Luigi in Super Smash Bros.
- Richter's render is based on the boxart for Rondo of Blood, but modified to face forward rather than straight up.
- His line in the English trailer delivered at Dracula, "Begone! You don't belong in this world, monster!", is a reference to the prologue of the original English release of Symphony of the Night, which became infamous for its over-the-top writing and poor voice acting. The first line Richter delivers is "Die monster. You don't belong in this world!".
- Richter's red outfit is a reference to a character that was cut from Rondo of Blood, often mistaken for appearing in a cancelled Castlevania project for the Sega 32X. Said character used a modified version of Richter's sprite from Rondo of Blood.
- It also resembles Christopher Belmont as he appeared in the WiiWare title Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth.
- When Richter's Smash Blog article was uploaded on August 12th, 2018, Richter's name was erroneously labeled as "RICHITER" in English variants of his fighter page. The typo was later corrected.
- This is not the first time this misspelling has appeared. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin had a similar error whenever a save file is in Richter Mode.
- Like King Dedede, Lucina, King K. Rool, and Simon, Richter's name is pronounced differently between the different international versions of Ultimate. It is pronounced with a short i, hard k and r in English ("Richter"), while using a long e, h and a in Japanese ("Reehtah"), closer to the original German pronunciation of the name.
- Richter and Ken are the only Echo Fighter newcomers with a CGI trailer as well as the only ones with CGI footage for their splash art. Daisy did not have either, while Chrom and Dark Samus had only gameplay footage for their trailers and their official artwork for their splash arts.
- When Richter is asleep, he will mutter "Dracula..." as he dozes. This makes him the only character to speak while asleep. Like Pit and Byleth's Star KO voice clips, this easter egg is not present in the Japanese version.
- However, because the clip loops before "Dracula..." is heard in-game, this can only be heard in the sound test.
- Richter is one of the few characters to speak during a KO: his alternate KO line has him yell "Why?!" ("しまった", Dang it!).
- Richter's fighter spirit is based off of his Dracula X Chronicles design, as opposed to his Rondo of Blood design used for his actual character model.
- Richter is the second character to utilize aura in his moves (his version of Holy Water), with Lucario being the first.
- Unlike Lucario, Richter's damage does not affect the strength of Holy Water.
- Richter is unlockable in Link's Classic Mode column. This means he can be unlocked if the player completes Classic Mode as Simon or Snake, both of which are Konami characters.
- In the gameplay sections of the Belmonts' reveal trailer, Simon and Richter are facing and attacking to the right for most of the scenes. This could be a possible reference to Castlevania's left-to-right style of progress throughout levels.
- Richter is one of only two fighters in Ultimate to wield a knife but not utilize it in their moveset, the other being Byleth.
- Richter's description on the North American amiibo website is based on his description from Super Smash Blog.
- Interestingly, while both Richter and Simon share the same dashing animation and speed, their braking animation is inverted as Richter mostly stops with the non-leading foot while Simon always stops on with his leading foot.
References
 Castlevania universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Simon (SSBU) · Richter (SSBU) |
| Assist Trophy | Alucard |
| Boss | Dracula |
| Stage | Dracula's Castle |
| Item | Death's Scythe |
| Other | Dracula's Castle |
| Spirits | Spirits |
| Music | Ultimate |
