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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Hero (SSBU)

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This article is about the Hero's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Hero.
Hero
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Symbol of the Dragon Quest series.
Universe Dragon Quest
Availability Downloadable
Final Smash Gigaslash
Hero (SSBU)
“ The Hero Draws Near! ”
—Introduction tagline.
“ The Hero from the DRAGON QUEST series joins Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable fighter! Wielding the Supreme Sword of Light and a trusty shield, he can slice his foes and block incoming attacks. When Hero pulls up his Command Selection screen, he’ll have access to a random selection of spells that could turn the tide of battle in his favor! ”
—DLC Page, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

The Hero (勇者, Hero) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the second third-party representative from Square Enix after Cloud. He was announced during the E3 Nintendo Direct alongside Banjo & Kazooie on June 11th, 2019 as the second downloadable character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. The default Hero is the Luminary[1] from Dragon Quest XI, while Erdrick[2] from Dragon Quest III, Solo from Dragon Quest IV, and Eight from Dragon Quest VIII also appear as alternate characters like the Koopalings and Alph. Unlike the Koopalings and Alph, however, they are all listed simply as "Hero". He was released on July 30th, 2019 and is classified as fighter #72.

Mitsuki Saiga reprises her role as the Luminary from the Japanese version of Dragon Quest XI S, voicing him in all regions in place of his English voice actor, Rasmus Hardiker. Nobuyuki Hiyama, Takeshi Kusao, and Yūki Kaji also debut as the voices of Erdrick, Solo, and Eight, respectively, also in all versions of the game.

Attributes

The Hero is a tall semi-heavyweight fighter. This, in tandem with his sword, gives his attacks long range, but makes him easy to hit and combo. He sports the typical above-average damage and knockback output of a heavyweight. Overall, the Hero has respectable mobility; in spite of having a slow walk speed, slightly below-average air speed and poor air acceleration, his dash speed, initial dash, traction, fall speed, and fast-fall speed are all either average or above-average.

The Hero has a good defensive game. Similar to the three Links, the Hero actually sports two shields: the standard Shield action that every fighter has, and another equipped on his left arm most of the time. The Hero's shield can block projectiles while he is standing idle, walking, or crouching. The first hit of Hero's forward tilt grants invincibility to his left arm, head and left leg because of this shield's position, similar to Palutena's dash attack and back aerial.

The Hero possesses a unique MP Gauge, storing up to 100MP, which depletes whenever he uses a special move. MP is restored whenever he hits opponents with attacks, and also restores gradually over time. Although his special moves completely rely on the MP Gauge, they possess tremendous utility. His neutral special, Frizz, is a fireball that travels fast, far and deals decent damage, allowing the Hero to disrupt enemy approaches. In addition, unlike other Frizz spells, Frizz has low vertical knockback, making it possible to start juggles or even true combos. Frizz can be charged into Frizzle, which can beat other projectiles and KO near the ledge at reasonable percentages, or Kafrizz for even more damage, knockback and traveling distance, turning it into a viable KO move even at mid percent. The Hero's side special, Zap, has good range for its startup, deals respectable damage and KOs at very high percentages. Zap can be charged into Zapple, which grants even more range and damage while being a vertical KO move at high percentages, or Kazap, which results in a attack that sacrifices speed and range for power, being able to KO most opponents center stage at a mere 50%. Additionally, Kazap has super armor frames, allowing it to resist oncoming attacks. Zap and its variants are disjointed melee attacks, giving them excellent range and rendering them immune to reflection and absorption. The Hero's up special, Woosh, is a quick recovery move and is also Hero's fastest and most reliable out of shield punish. Woosh can be charged into Swoosh, granting more vertical distance and horizontal mobility, or Kaswoosh, which provides tremendous vertical distance. Additionally, all Woosh spells leave behind tornadoes, which serve as lingering hitboxes that can damage opponents and gimp opposing recoveries or setup into devastating setups from below the ledge. Finally, his down special, Command Selection, gives the Hero a list of four random spells which offer a wide variety of effects. Most of these spells have significant advantages and little disadvantages, which can be seen here. The Command Selection can be cancelled by inputting the shield button, allowing the Hero to repeatedly switch the menu of spells until he has an ideal set of them.

The Hero's smash attacks all share a unique perk: they have a 1/8 chance of striking with a critical hit, doubling their damage output and significantly increasing their knockback, allowing them to KO at extremely early percents. In addition, they cause the smash attacks to cause more shieldstun, making them slightly safer on shield. Even without this perk, the Hero's smash attacks have some utility: his forward smash is his strongest smash attack in both damage and knockback, having large range to boot, making it terrific for hard reads or punishes, his up smash has high vertical range, being a reliable anti-air option, good for halting aerial opponents' approaches while remaining a good KOing tool (though it suffers from nonexistent horizontal range, being unable to hit grounded opponents), and his down smash is his weakest smash attack, though it is also his fastest and can be used to punish rolls or spot dodges. Thus, it is a reliable edgeguarding attack in its own right.

The Hero's other grounded attacks still possess utility, even if they are less overwhelming than his smash attacks and special moves. Neutral attack has a respectable startup, damage output and good range, making it good for both damage-racking at low percents, spacing and as "get-off-me". As stated earlier, forward tilt's first hit has blocking capabilities, making it a defensive option that can beat other moves or projectiles and then be followed up with a second hit—a sword slash—which offers better range, identical speed, and more power, allowing for setting up edgeguards or outright KOs near the ledge. Up tilt has wide range, which, coupled with its respectable damage output and decent startup lag, makes it a fantastic anti-air option and more consistent than up smash, along with being able to KO at high percentages. Down tilt has good range—superseding the Hero's neutral attack—while offering the same speed and launching vertically; it can be used to hit opponents hanging on the ledge and start setups. Lastly, dash attack boasts high power for an attack of its type at the cost of speed, being able to KO at a mere 80% from the ledge.

The Hero's aerial moveset, while not as good as that of many other swordfighters, is impressive nonetheless. Neutral aerial has wide range around him and launches at a diagonal angle, being a situational combo starter and useful shield poking option. Forward and back aerials are both rather slow (with back aerial in particular being among the slowest of its kind), but they both deal respectably decent knockback, KOing at 100% and 85% respectively. Up aerial has the lowest lag out of any of the Hero's aerials and deals very low damage and knockback, enabling it to effectively initiate combos into itself or other moves, or even set up KO confirms at varying percentages. Lastly, down aerial is the Hero's most damaging aerial, but also one of his slowest. Its clean hit is capable of meteor smashing opponents, leading to KOs as low as 20% on offstage foes.

Lastly, the Hero's up and down throws sport some utility: the former can not only act as a situational combo starter, but it is also his strongest throw, being able to KO before 200%, unlike his others. Conversely, down throw is a good combo starter at low percents and can lead into dangerous set-ups.

But for all the strengths that the Hero has, they do come with a price. His access to his special moves is restricted by their reliance on MP. Without enough MP, he is unable to cast any spells, which may put him in great danger offstage as the Hero's Woosh spell will only give him a very small hop without MP. While his Command Selection is very versatile, its random nature means that a desired spell is unlikely to be available. On top of that, some of his spells have very little utility (e.g, Metal Slash, which deals 1% and extremely low set knockback against non-metal opponents), while one of them, Hocus Pocus, grants any one of a slew of effects, with detrimental ones outnumbering and outweighing possible benefits.

Many of the Hero's attacks suffer from slow start-up lag (dash attack), high ending lag (up, down and second hit of forward tilts), or both (forward and back aerials). The Hero's below-average frame data, alongside his high raw damage output and attacks' high knockback values, give him a limited combo ability, only having certain attacks like neutral aerial, up aerial, up throw, and down throw that can successfully generate true combos. Even then, while Hero's grabs have fast startup for his weight class, they have short range and up throw only initiates combos at fairly low percentages. Up aerial suffers from poor range and down tilt suffers from aforementioned high endlag, preventing it from performing any true combos. As stated earlier, his up smash's horizontal range is nonexistent. Thus, it is the Hero's least useful move against grounded opponents and, by extension, his least potent grounded attack.

Due to being a semi-heavyweight, having a tall hurtbox and slightly above average falling speed, and lacking any fast or invincible attacks, the Hero is very susceptible to combos. This weakness may be exacerbated further through one of Hocus Pocus's effects (which makes him giant) as well as Oomph, which makes him suffer 1.2x damage when hit.

All in all, Hero’s strengths are on par with his weaknesses. While he does have a plethora of magic spells at his disposal, high damage output, and overall high kill power, he suffers from susceptibility to combos, slow attacks, reliance on random chance, and limited ability to combo his opponents. While players such as Salem have shown Hero’s potential at tournaments, his representation has been below average overall. As such, his viability remains up for debate.

Update history

So far the Hero has not received any significant buffs or nerfs in game patches; the majority of the changes made to the character have been bug fixes and other adjustments to align him with the rest of the cast.

  5.0.0

  •   The ending lag after bouncing when prone has been decreased to be in line with the rest of the roster.
  •   The final hit of Kafrizz can now be reflected, blocked by passive shields and absorbed.
  •   Magic Burst's looping hits deal more hitstun (0 → +2), preventing opponents from escaping them by using moves with intangibility at the start.
  •   Using Zoom while under the effect of a Super Mushroom no longer expire until the end of the move. This prevents cases where Hero would become stuck in the animation indefinitely.
  •   Fixed multiple issues with the initial hit of Gigaslash not granting opponents intangibility; it is no longer possible to perform the following glitches:
    •   Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to take damage near a stage hazard, such as lava.
    •   Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to lose 2 stocks if KOed at high percents. It no longer puts opponents in combat with no stocks remaining.
    •   Fixed an issue that resulted opponents to grapically stuck remain in the Final Smash aura.

  6.0.0

  7.0.0

  •   Kaboom's first hit has much less knockback scaling (100 → 40), making it less likely to knock the opponent out of range of the explosion at higher percents.

  8.0.0

  •   Kaboom's first hit has gained a hitstun modifier of 4, preventing opponents from shielding or dodging the second hit afterward.
  •   Hero’s placement in All-Star Mode is changed from being fought before Byleth to being fought between Mega Man and Daisy, matching the release date of Dragon Quest III rather than Dragon Quest XI S.

Moveset

  • The Hero's shield can block incoming projectiles, akin to Link, Young Link, and Toon Link.
  • The Hero's smash attacks have a 1/8 chance of having a critical hit effect, triggering a Special Zoom and dealing twice as much damage. This subsequently increases their knockback by a significant amount, although forward and down smash have lower base knockback values as a slight compensation. Against shields, critical hits have negative shield damage equal to the moves' base damage, causing them to deal the same damage to shields as the standard versions and thus preventing them from easily breaking shields. However, critical hits still inflict more shieldstun due to their higher base damage, making them safer on shield.
    • The Hero cannot critical hit in Home-Run Contest.
    • Apart from Erdrick and Solo, each Hero uses a specific sound effect when a critical hit lands, which are directly taken from their respective Dragon Quest games. Erdrick and Solo share the same critical hit sounds.
  • The Hero has an MP Gauge which depletes whenever he uses his special moves. The amount depleted varies based on the spell. The meter is restored over time (at a rate of one point per second), or when damaging foes with regular attacks.
    • The maximum amount of MP is 100.
    • If the Hero attempts to use a spell without the required MP, he will still perform the animation, but without the actual spell (in the case of Zap, there is still a hitbox that deals 2% damage). Additionally, when this occurs, the failed sound effect from Dragon Quest will play.
    • If Hero hits an opponent or a shield with a normal attack, he will gain MP equal to 0.8× the base damage or shield damage, with no multipliers affecting it. A resource for how much is gained can be found here.

For a gallery of Hero's hitboxes, see here.

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

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   3% A three-hit neutral attack, with the first two hits being slashes going straight up and straight down, and the final hit having him swipe his sword inward. Deals decent damage. Gains 2.4 MP on hit, 2.856 MP on shield for the first two hits.

Gains 3.2 MP on hit and 3.808 MP on shield.

3%
4%
Forward tilt   5% A two-hit attack, acting like Snake's forward tilt, a back-handed shield bash followed up by an outward slash. The shield bash resembles Blockenspiel, and can also block attacks. The slash can KO at around 130% near the ledge. However, it has 39 frames of ending lag if the second hit misses, making it highly punishable. Gains 4 MP on hit and 4.76 MP on shield for the first hit.

Gains 6.4 MP on hit and 7.616 MP on shield for the second.

8%
Up tilt   11% (blade), 9% (body) An overhead arcing slash while jumping, similarly to Toon Link's up smash. Has huge reach, making it a potent anti-air. However, it has noticeable ending lag, which doesn't grant it any true combos. Has strong KO potential, especially with Oomph and Psyche Up. Gains 8.8 MP on hit with the blade, 10.472 MP on shield.

If the hilt or hand connects, Hero will gain 7.2 MP on hit, 8.568 MP on shield.

Down tilt   7% Kicks forward while leaning on the ground with his arm. Having slightly more range than his neutral attack while having the same 6-frame startup, it launches vertically, which can make it a combo starter, albeit a fairly unreliable one because of its rather high endlag compared to other down tilts. It is better at comboing if the late hit connects. Resembles Leg Sweep.

Gains 5.6 MP on hit, 6.664 MP on shield.

Dash attack   15% (blade), 13% (body) A jumping slash attack, similar to Link's. Very powerful, being able to KO at around 80% from the ledge. However, it has very slow startup at frame 21 and 29 frames of ending lag. Based on the Hero's long-range standard sword attack from Dragon Quest XI. Hero gains 12 MP on hit, 14.28 on shield if the blade connects.

If the body connects, he will gain 10.4 MP on hit and 12.376 MP on shield.

Forward smash   18% (blade), 16% (body), 36% (blade, critical hit), 32% (body, critical hit) Performs a two-handed downward slash in front of him, resembling Ike and Ganondorf's forward smashes. Comes out at frame 17, but has 46 frames of ending lag, making it very unsafe. There is a chance of a critical hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move, which can even one-hit KO if fully charged.

Gains 14.4 MP if the blade connects on hit, 17.136 MP on shield. If the hilt or body connects, Hero will gain 12.8 MP on hit and 15.232 MP on shield. If a critical hit occurs, Hero will gain 28.8 MP on hit and 19.872 MP on shield with the blade. With the body, Hero will gain 25.6 MP on hit and 16.064 MP on shield.

Up smash   16% (blade), 14% (body), 32% (blade, critical hit), 28% (body, critical hit) A single upward thrust, which resembles Marth's up smash. Has decent vertical range, but extremely poor horizontal range, being unable to hit grounded opponents. There is a chance of a critical hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move. A critical hit from an up smash is extremely powerful, with uncharged versions being capable of KOing at as low as 30%. It has 37 frames of ending lag, making it easy to punish.

If the blade hits, Hero will gain 12.8 MP on hit and 15.232 MP on shield. With the hilt, Hero will gain 11.2 MP on hit and 13.328 MP on shield. If a critical hit occurs with the blade, Hero will gain 25.6 MP on hit, 19.264 MP on shield. If the body or hilt connects, Hero will gain 22.4 MP on hit and 15.456 MP on shield.

Down smash   13% (blade), 11% (body), 26% (blade, critical hit), 22% (body, critical hit) A kneeling inward slash in front of himself followed by a kneeling outward slash behind himself, similar to Link's down smash. There is a chance of a critical hit occurring whenever Hero performs this move. It is the weakest out of Hero's other smash attacks, although it is the fastest and does well at punishing rolls.

If the blade connects, Hero gains 10.4 MP on hit and 12.376 MP on shield. If the body or hilt connects, Hero gains 8.8 MP on hit and 10.472 on shield. Should a critical hit occur with the blade, Hero gains 20.8 MP on hit and 14.352 MP on shield. If the body or hilt connects in this scenario, Hero will gain 17.6 MP on hit and 12.144 MP on shield.

Neutral aerial   9% Swings his sword around him, resembling Ike's neutral aerial. It launches at a diagonal angle, making it a somewhat decent combo tool. This combo potential is even more noticeable with Acceleratle, as Hero can follow up with forward aerial at high percentages as a KO confirm. It strongly resembles Hero's attack during the pep power The Real Decoy in Dragon Quest XI.

Hero gains 7.2 MP on hit and 8.568 MP on shield.

Forward aerial   12% (blade), 10% (body) A downward slash, similar to Roy's forward aerial. Somewhat slow, coming out on frame 14, but it deals moderately high knockback, enough to KO at around 100% at the ledge. It also covers a wide arc, making it a good spacing and approaching tool.

Gains 9.6 MP on hit and 11.424 MP on shield if the blade connects. Otherwise, Hero gains 8 MP on hit and 9.52 MP on shield.

Back aerial   14% (blade), 12% (body) An upward sword swipe behind his back, which resembles Toon Link's back aerial. Very slow startup for an aerial of its kind, at frame 18, but it boasts excellent power, KOing at around 85% at the ledge. It covers behind Hero very well, being able to even hit slightly above him.

If the blade connects, Hero gains 11.2 MP on hit and 13.328 MP on shield. If the body or hilt connects, Hero will gain 9.6 MP on hit and 11.424 MP on shield.

Up aerial   7% Performs an upward kick. Somewhat resembles Lucario's up aerial, although without a backflip at the end. Hero's fastest aerial in terms of startup, ending and landing lag, and the only one that can auto-cancel in a short hop. However, it has extremely short range, and is fairly weak; this doesn't grant it KO potential, although it offers many combo opportunities. Additionally, at high percentages on landing, this move can combo into forward and back aerial as a KO confirm.

Hero will gain 5.6 MP on hit and 6.664 MP on shield.

Down aerial   16% (clean), 10% (late) Thrusts his sword downward with one hand. The clean hit meteor smashes opponents powerfully. It is also his most damaging aerial. However, it is rather slow, coming out on frame 16, and it has very high landing lag. At mid percents (30-65% for mid-weight characters), hitting with the meteor hitbox on a grounded opponent can lead into his up smash (if up smash is a critical hit, it can KO middleweights starting at 30%).

If the clean hit connects, Hero will gain 12.8 MP on hit and 15.232 MP on shield. If the late hit connects, Hero will gain 8 MP on hit and 9.52 MP on shield.

Grab   — Reaches out with his left hand. Its grab range is short, being the second shortest in the game.
Pummel   1.3% Knees the opponent.

Gains 1.04 MP per hit. In doubles, if it hits shield, 1.2376 MP will be gained.

Forward throw   7% Plants his sword ơn the ground and throws the opponent away. Low knockback, making it suited only for positioning. Psyche Up turns it into a viable kill throw at high percents at the ledge.

Gains 5.6 MP once the opponent is thrown.

Back throw   9% Performs the tomoe nage, similar to Toon Link's back throw. Psyche Up turns this into a KO throw at very high percents at the ledge.

Gains 7.2 MP once the opponent is thrown.

Up throw   7% Heaves the opponent upward, akin to Mario's up throw. A great combo starter due to its low ending lag, being able to combo into neutral aerial and up aerial at low percentages. It is also Hero's strongest throw, although it is rather weak for a KO throw, though Psyche Up and/or rage can make it stronger.

Gains 5.6 MP once the opponent is thrown.

Down throw   6% Slams the opponent on the ground. A good combo starter that can lead to either his forward or up aerial at low-mid percentages. Can also lead into Kafrizz or forward smash on larger targets at very low percents.

Gains 4.8 MP once the opponent is thrown.

Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge 		— —
Techs — —
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front) 		  7% Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself.

Gains 5.6 MP on hit, 6.664 MP on shield.

Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back) 		  7% Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself.

Gains 5.6 MP on hit, 6.664 MP on shield.

Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip) 		  5% Slashes in front of himself, then behind himself.

Gains 4 MP on hit, 4.76 MP on shield.

Edge attack
Edge getups 		  9% Climbs up and slashes inward.

Gains 7.2 MP on hit, 8.568 MP on shield.

Neutral special Frizz/Frizzle/Kafrizz Frizz: 9%/6% (late)
Frizzle: 9% (hit 1-2), 18% (total)
Kafrizz: 19% (initial hit), 3% (hit 2-5), 31% (total)		 A fireball that can be charged up to become Frizzle and Kafrizz, which are stronger variants that travel increasingly farther and faster. Unlike most chargeable moves, Hero will always begin charging from the beginning if he cancels the move. He is also unable to launch the projectile if he lacks MP, forcing him to recharge his MP and use up any existing charge before he can use weaker variants again.

Frizz: A small fireball that is produced when the move is uncharged. It is quick to throw, but travels very slowly and is very weak. Frizz is the only variant of the Frizz spells that suffers from damage falloff, which means that it gets weaker and slower after traveling a certain distance. Frizz costs 6 MP to use.
Frizzle: Two intertwined fireballs that appear when the move is semi-charged. Frizzle is faster and stronger than Frizz. The two fireballs can actually break-off into separate fireballs if an opponent or attack lands on top of one of the fireballs. Frizzle is decently powerful, being able to KO at 135% near the ledge. Frizzle costs 16 MP to use.
Kafrizz: The strongest version of Frizz that appears when the move is fully charged. It is a large, multi-hitting fireball deals extremely high damage and knockback, KOing at around 60% near the ledge. It also deals considerably high shield damage. Kafrizz has noticeable ending lag, though, so it can be reflected and punish the Hero easily. Kafrizz costs 36 MP to use.

Side special Zap/Zapple/Kazap Zap: 14% (swing sword + Zap) / 12% (Zap) / 2% (no MP)
Zapple: 6% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2), 20% (total)
Kazap: 4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2), 12% (hit 3), 16% (final hit), 38% (total)		 A series of lightning spells that can be charged to become Zapple and Kazap.

Zap: An electric bolt that the Hero fires from his sword. It has the fastest startup and endlag, but has the shortest range and is the weakest. The sword swing itself has a hitbox, so if the move is used up close, it will deal extra damage. This also means Zap can still somewhat be used without MP, although the sword swing only deals a measly 2%. Zap costs 8 MP to use.
Zapple: A longer electric beam that is fired when the move is semi-charged. Has considerable range and deals great damage, making it an excellent move for spacing. Can KO at 155% from the center of Battlefield. Zapple costs 18 MP to use.
Kazap: The Hero raises his sword in the air and a lightning bolt strikes it, then slashes around himself. Kazap is a strong, situational finisher, KOing around 60% from center stage and around 40% near the edge if all hits connect. Kazap also has super armor frames and deceptively low endlag. It costs 42 MP to use, the highest out of all the Hero's spells.

All variations of Zap (with the exception of the first half of Kazap) are disjointed hitboxes and not projectiles, meaning that they cannot be reflected or absorbed.

Up special Woosh/Swoosh/Kaswoosh Woosh: 7%
Swoosh: 3% (hit 1-4), 13% (total)
Kaswoosh: 3% (hit 1-5), 4% (final hit), 19% (total)		 A series of tornado spells that the Hero uses for recovery. Can be charged to become Swoosh and Kaswoosh.

Woosh: A small and weak tornado that launches the Hero slightly upward. It is very quick, however, coming out on frame 7, making it a good out of shield option. Woosh has set knockback, meaning that it will do the same amount of knockback regardless of the opponent's percentage. Woosh costs 5 MP to use.
Swoosh: A larger tornado that hits multiple times and grants a better recovery, both vertical and horizontally. Swoosh costs 9 MP to use.
Kaswoosh: Two large tornadoes that hit multiple times and grant the highest vertical recovery, making it a potent recovery move. Can KO at 148% from the center of Battlefield. Kaswoosh costs 18 MP to use.

While Kaswoosh offers the best vertical recovery of the three options, Swoosh offers the best horizontal recovery; that said, all three versions still have lackluster horizontal movement, especially at the apex of the launch. All versions of Woosh launch opponents in the opposite direction the Hero is facing, which can lead into gimps, stage spikes, and KO's, especially with Swoosh and Kaswoosh. All variants of Hero's up special are considered projectiles; as a result, opponents with reflectors can deal significant damage to Hero while he is attempting to recover, simply by getting close and reflecting the tornado.

Down special Command Selection (see below) The Hero chooses between an impressive variety of four randomly-selected spells from a pop-up menu, even standing in a "thinking" position. These spells require MP to use. Shielding or jumping will close the menu, canceling the move and allowing the Hero to open it again for a different set.
Final Smash Gigaslash 40% Summons the other seven Dragon Quest heroes who are not playable, charging the Hero's sword with bolts of electricity, before the playable Hero unleashes it in the form of a slash.

Command Selection spells

Spell MP Cost Relative odds of appearing Damage Description
Oomph 16 16 1.6× damage dealt, 1.2× damage taken Increases the Hero's attack power by 1.6× for 10 seconds. However, he also takes 1.2× more damage.
Snooze 16 17 - A forward-moving projectile that sends opponents to sleep if it connects and can pass through multiple opponents; however, it can be blocked. The projectile puts opponents to sleep for longer at close range, but gets larger at further ranges. Snooze can affect aerial opponents, which can KO offstage opponents should they be too far to maneuver towards the stage. However, opponents in the air are put to sleep for a much shorter amount of time; the clean aerial hitbox puts opponents to sleep for less time than the latest grounded hitbox.
Bounce 14 16 1.5× reflected projectile A lingering spell that reflects projectiles. Like a Franklin Badge, Bounce lets the Hero move around and act while active. One of the Hero's best approaching tools against projectile users, due to him being able to perform any action while keeping out an active reflector.
Flame Slash 12 18 22% (blade), 17% (flames) A quick slash with the Hero's sword cloaked in flame. Deals considerable damage and knockback, and has huge range in front of him; however, only hitting with the blade itself grants high KO power. Capable of KOing midweights at earlier than 95% from the center of Final Destination.
Kacrackle Slash 11 18 17% (blade), 13% (frost) A quick slash with the Hero's sword cloaked in frost. Freezes opponents; the blade freezes for considerably longer.
Kaclang 6 5 15% (falling) Encases the Hero in metal and makes him impervious to both damage and knockback for a period of time, but also prevents him from taking any action. It cannot be canceled once activated. However, the Hero can still be KOed by another Hero using Metal Slash, and any well-timed attack is sufficient to punish him during the ending lag of the move. Using Kaclang in the air will grant the Hero a hitbox on his descent and allow him to move left and right until he lands.
Zoom 8 15 - Hero jumps directly upward, going past the limits of the camera, and then falls directly downwards onto a random part of the stage, no matter where he was when the spell was inputted. If used when there is a ceiling above Hero, he will shoot up until he meets the platform, at which point he will collide against it, while still being able to act afterwards. It has invincibility frames as soon as Hero starts to fly. It can be used as a last-ditch recovery if Hero will be unable to reach the ledge otherwise, and if Hero is close to a blast line (within 40 units), the odds of Zoom being selectable are multiplied by 3. Hero can perform an action as soon as he starts to fall back down, and the descent can be cancelled by jumping or charging Frizz.
Kamikazee 1 5 50.1% (close), 35.1% (far) Hero crosses his arms and begins to glow. After a few seconds, he explodes, instantly KOing himself and delivering heavy unblockable damage and knockback to any opponent in a large radius (though it can be avoided with dodges), and the sweetspot can KO many opponents within the 50-60% range. Using this will count as a KO for the last opponent to hit him. Hero is intangible during the chargeup. Kamikazee does not appear to be available as a menu option during the World of Light Finale.
Sizz 8 16 13.5% A flame projectile sent forward. Lacks KO potential onstage, but can KO opponents offstage. Cannot appear alongside Sizzle.
Sizzle 20 20 25% A flame projectile sent forward quickly which leaves damaging flames on the ground in its wake. Deals high damage for its speed. Deals decent knockback, KOing around 100% near the ledge. Cannot appear alongside Sizz.
Psyche Up 14 16 1.2× damage dealt Noticeably increases the knockback dealt by the Hero's next attack and increases the damage by 1.2×, acting similar to Revenge. Projectiles are not affected by Psyche Up, and will not use it up. Boosts the power of the Hero's throws as well, making them very powerful, especially the Hero's up throw and his forward throw when used near the ledge.
Heal 7 7 Heals 11% Heals Hero by 11% damage. After being used twice, it will no longer appear for selection until Hero scores a KO or is KO'd.
Acceleratle 13 16 - Temporarily buffs the Hero's movement speed by a significant amount, similar to Lightweight, but to a sufficiently high degree that the Hero can outrun Sonic; however, it also increases Hero's launch rate, taking 1.1× normal knockback.
Bang 9 16 15.5% A small explosive flame projectile sent forward. Explodes on contact with opponents, or after a set distance. Deals decent knockback, KOing vertically starting at around 130%. Cannot appear alongside Kaboom.
Kaboom 37 20 28% A projectile that explodes after a certain distance, or on contact with opponents. The instant before the explosion pulls opponents in if they're close enough. Possesses high knockback and a very large explosion hitbox, KOing around 85% vertically. Cannot appear alongside Bang.
Hatchet Man 15 18 35% A forceful, downward slash which resembles his forward smash, triggering Special Zoom and a critical hit sound effect on-hit. Has considerable start-up, but possesses extremely high damage and knockback, making it capable of KOing early, around 45% from center stage, and much earlier at the ledge. It can also instantaneously break a full shield, similar to a fully charged Shield Breaker.
Whack 10 8 1% Hero swings his hand forward, sending out a slow-moving dark purple projectile. Has a chance to instantly KO the opponent, with a higher chance for it to occur the more damage the opponent has. Deals next to no damage or knockback. Cannot appear alongside Thwack. The formula for Whack to instantly KO is
1 + (pt - 20) / (300 - 20) * 200 + 20 * (pH / 300), where pt is the target's percent pre-hit limited to between 20% and 300%, and pH is Hero's percent limited to 300% or less. As a result, the final rate is 1% when the opponent is below 20% damage, and scales up to 100% when the opponent is just below 160% damage, with a maximum extra 20% chance if Hero is at 300% damage. The move is notoriously difficult to reflect, as the speed and direction of the reflected projectile depends on the speed and direction the erratically moving projectile was travelling at the moment of reflection. As such, it will often deflect into the ground or up into the air, and in some cases will move so slowly that it seemingly stays in place.
Thwack 30 12 3% Hero swings his hand forward, and a large dark purple spark appears directly in front of him. Has a chance to instantly KO the opponent, with a higher chance for it to occur the more damage the opponent has. It has a very large hitbox, and a windbox around it which pulls nearby opponents in; however, it also has considerable startup lag. It deals only 3% damage and little knockback, and can be reflected, absorbed, and shielded. Cannot appear alongside Whack.
Metal Slash 6 7 1% Hero slashes his sword forward. Instantly KOs any metal opponent, including another Hero using Kaclang. When used against non-metal opponents, it will only deal 1% damage and weak knockback. If there is a metal opponent present when the menu is opened, the odds of Metal Slash are multiplied by 4; however, in spirit battles, it is instead multiplied by 0.2.
Hocus Pocus 4 3 (see below) A spell with random effects, both positive and negative, and also can take the form of other Command Selection spells.
Magic Burst All remaining MP 5 max: 4.2% (loop), 11% (last) A powerful and massive blast that grows in size, similar to a Smart Bomb explosion. It hits multiple times and is active for a few seconds. Consumes all of the Hero's remaining MP; the spell's power depends on how much MP the Hero has left. The attack has extremely large range, covering half of Final Destination, and with full MP, it can KO at merely 20%. Due to these factors, along with the move itself being surprisingly quick to activate, it is widely considered to be one of, if not the Hero's best command specials and arguably the most feared, albeit only in circumstances where Hero has at least around half of his MP remaining. Additionally, the move is blockable, with each hit having slightly reduced shield damage. Projectiles can also cancel out the move, and he can be hit by physical attacks at the very beginning of the move's startup, leaving Hero with no MP and at a great disadvantage, making Magic Burst a rather high-risk, high-reward move. The loop hits do very little knockback, allowing Bowser to Tough Guy through it.

The damage dealt is multiplied by 0.2 + 0.008MP, with the value being between 0.2 and 1×.

Hocus Pocus Effects

Type Chance of occurrence Effect
Positive 4.88% Makes him giant.
Positive 1.22% Makes him invincible.
Positive 3.96% MP is refilled to 100.
Negative 6.1% Applies a timer effect to himself.
Negative 6.1% MP is reduced to 0.
Negative 6.1% Inflicts poison to himself, dealing 27.5% damage total.
Negative 6.1% Inflicts sleep on himself.
Negative 5.49% Makes him small.
Negative 6.1% Inflicts the flower effect on himself, dealing a maximum of 22% damage without mashing.
Neutral 6.1% Turns him invisible.
Neutral 47.85% One of the Hero's commands is granted for 4 MP instead of the value it usually consumes.
  • If the command is Magic Burst, it will consume all MP as usual.
  • There is a small chance that the randomly-chosen spell will be Kamikazee, which further emphasizes the high-risk nature of Hocus Pocus.

On-screen appearance

  • Flies onto the stage using Zoom, and raises his sword vertically, similarly to his side taunt.

  • Hero's on-screen appearance

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Charges in place as a purple aura envelops around him. References the original Psyche Up animation from Dragon Quest VIII.
  • Side taunt: Raises his sword vertically into the air.
  • Down taunt: Fumbles in place as a Slime meanders in front of him.

  • Hero's up taunt.

  • Hero's side taunt.

  • Hero's down taunt.

Idle poses

  • Lifts sword in front of him with a small smile.
  • Assumes an attack stance. Similar to one of Link's idle animations.

  • Hero's first idle pose

  • Hero's second idle pose

Victory poses

  • Left: The Hero raises his sword in the air, slashes twice and finishes in a pose.
  • Up: The Hero performs Kazap and strikes a pose.
  • Right: The Hero walks up to three Slimes, kneels down and looks at them with a smile. The camera angle before the Hero appears also references the first-person battle screens of most Dragon Quest games.
An arrangement of the ending phase of "Overture", the main Dragon Quest theme.

In competitive play

Hero's place in competitive play has been controversial even before his introduction into the game; players were immediately divided due to the sheer amount of randomness in his toolkit, which was argued as too unpredictable for a character to work as a competitively fair character. Upon his release, it was not uncommon to watch players pull off unpredictable feats in a competitive setting, with several games ending in Hero's favor due to a lucky giant/invisible Hocus Pocus roll, a random critical hit smash attack, high-MP Magic Burst, and most infamously, a finals game where Puppeh KO'd another Hero player with Thwack at 0% right after he respawned, thus winning the game. [3] Players in support of Hero have also stated the opposite, as even experienced players were capable of making gamechanging mistakes from sheer luck, including an accidental Kamikazee, unlucky Hocus Pocus roll, or a Kaclang offstage or onstage, all equally likely to cause a stock loss. These only further added to the controversy, which can be seen below. Overall, it is generally agreed upon that the character has not been, and likely will not be put into an optimized state for a long time.

Outside of the controversy however, Hero has not made a significant impact on the metagame; while it is common to see him in pools and small-scale tournaments, he has not gone far in high-level tournaments, with his only notable tournament placements coming from komorikiri and Tsu in Japan, and Salem and Trela in America. This can be attributed to his slow frame data, lack of reliable combo breaking options, and his reliance on MP, all of which can be exploited by opponents. His randomness also plays a part in his unreliability, as it can be just as common to roll an undesired move as it is to get the best option. As a result, Hero's results have been tame in comparison to his moveset's controversy, and he is mostly seen as a low-high or high-mid tier, but this is up for debate.

Notable players

Active

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.

Inactive

Ban controversy

Hero's moveset, specifically Command Selection, has been controversial due to its randomness. Comparisons have been drawn between Command Selection and items, with the argument being that the unpredictable nature of both of them result in a less competitive environment, in which skill alone is not sufficient to win matches (coincidentally so as certain spells like Hocus Pocus grant abilities otherwise only found with items such as the Super Star and Timer). Furthermore, specific commands have also been the subject of controversy, such as Zoom which invalidates any attempts at edgeguarding, Whack and Thwack which are capable of KOing at any percentage, or Magic Burst whose blast radius can easily cover the ledge and prevent a large portion of the cast from recovering without taking significant damage. Random critical hits from Smash Attacks have also stirred conversation regarding Hero's skill factor, though not quite to the same degree as Command Selection. Finally, issues regarding language barriers have also been raised, as it is not uncommon for players to compete in regions that do not share their first language, which puts them at a significant disadvantage, either when playing as or against Hero.

Many prominent smashers, such as Leffen and Dark Wizzy, have advocated banning Hero, while others such as Dabuz and ESAM have come out against a ban, arguing that the character has significant counterplay and has not achieved overwhelmingly high results at tournaments to the same degrees as a top-tier character. The first region to ban Hero from tournaments was South Australia, where the ban was put into effect on August 15th, 2019.[4] This was met with criticism, with players in the community such as D1 and ZeRo stating that it is too early to declare whether the character should be banned or not. Notably, Nintendo France has also banned the Hero and DLC Fighters released after September 23rd, 2019 from future tournaments in their area[5], making Hero the first instance a character has been banned in Nintendo-run tournaments. No official reason has been given for the ban by Nintendo France at the time. However, as of September 26, 2019, Nintendo France announced on Twitter that they have overturned the ban, making Hero and DLC Fighters released after the aforementioned date legal in Nintendo-run Tournaments for the area. [6]

Classic Mode: A History of Heroism

 
Hero's congratulations screen.

Every battle aside from the last one is a stamina battle, referencing the HP system in Dragon Quest and most RPGs. Additionally, every battle uses a song from the Dragon Quest universe regardless of stage. When fighting against all of the Heroes, they will use that costume even if the player is using one of them (a trait unique to Hero until the release of Byleth).

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Tiny Kirby   (×3)   Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination A reference to Slimes and She-Slimes.
2 Hero   and Tiny Robin   Yggdrasil's Altar Unflinchable Courage A fight against the Hero from Dragon Quest XI. Robin references Veronica, a party member from the aforementioned game.
3 Hero   Temple Wagon Wheel's March A fight against the Hero from Dragon Quest IV, Solo.
4 Rathalos Forest Hill Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III Dragons are recurring enemies in the Dragon Quest series. Rathalos could also be specifically referencing a Red Dragon, an enemy from the original Dragon Quest.
5 Hero   and Tiny Pikachu   Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) War Cry A fight against the Hero from Dragon Quest VIII. Pikachu references the Hero's pet Pig-Rat, Munchie.
6 Hero   Castle Siege (third transformation) Adventure - DRAGON QUEST III A fight against the Hero from Dragon Quest III, Erdrick. The stage does not transition back to its first form.
Bonus Stage
Final Robin   and Giant Charizard   Dracula's Castle (Ω form) Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III (Robin)
Battle for the Glory - DRAGON QUEST IV (Giant Charizard)		 Charizard is not announced in the loading screen. References the fight against the Dragonlord from the original Dragon Quest. In that fight, the Dragonlord starts off in his human form, but upon defeat he turns into a giant dragon for the second phase.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Unlike other fighters, the music that plays differs depending on the costume selected.

Role in World of Light

 
The message that shows Hero's availability in World of Light

Due to his status as downloadable content, Hero does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Hero, he is immediately unlocked. However, in his reveal trailer, he is shown fighting against the puppet fighters alongside Link and joins with the other 3 Heroes, which suggests he too is fighting against Galeem and Dharkon.

Spirits

Hero's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 coins, but only after Hero has been downloaded. Unlocking Hero 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.

Additionally, the other three Heroes have their own fighter spirits, which can only be obtained by purchase in the shop.

  • HeroDQXIS.png

    1,324. Hero (DRAGON QUEST XI S)

  • ErdrickTrans.png

    1,325. Hero (DRAGON QUEST III)

  • HeroDQIV.png

    1,326. Hero (DRAGON QUEST IV)

  • 1,327. Hero (DRAGON QUEST VIII)

Spirit Battle

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
1,329
File:Cetacea Spirit.png
 Cetacea DRAGON QUEST Series •Giant King K. Rool  
•Hero  
 
 9,500 Yggdrasil's Altar (Ω form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy has super armor but moves slower
•Timed stamina battle 		The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination Luminary

Alternate costumes

 
               

Reveal trailer

Gallery

Trivia

  • The Hero is referred within the game files with the codename "brave", a rather direct translation of his Japanese name Yūsha. Notably, the codename was discovered as early as December 2018, after the day-one patch release, although the discovery had only been made public in January. The mysterious codename raised much speculation and debate in the community, with the most common hypothesis on the identity of the mysterious character being a Dragon Quest protagonist, specifically the protagonist known as Erdrick which turned out to be somewhat correct with him being an alternate costume.
  • Hero shares his heavy carry, battering item, home-run swing, and special flag animations with Link. This suggests they were imported over as they were minor animations of low priority.
    • Additionally, he also shares his dash attack and passive shield ability with him.
  • The Hero's trailer is the first of any DLC character trailer to have completely original CGI animation; all previous DLC trailers either used the in-game engine, 2D animation, or (in the case of Corrin) pre-existing CGI animation.
    • It is also the second time an alternate character costume appears as part of any CGI animation for the game, the first being Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy in the opening of Adventure Mode: World of Light.
    • The trailer features a slight rendering issue: when the Luminary falls on the ground, causing some Slimes to scatter, one of them appears in transparency through his hair for a few frames, even though it is behind him.
  • The Hero's artwork pose in the panoramic banner is similar to Young Link's pose in his official render, but mirrored.
    • Similarly, the Luminary's artwork greatly resembles Young Link's artwork from Ocarina of Time, which is used for his fighter spirit; however, the positions of the sword and shield are flipped, since the Luminary is right-handed.
  • In Japanese, Hero has a chance of calling out a spell's name, excluding the Command Selection spells. This makes him the fifth character in the series to have specific lines in the Japanese language track of a game replaced by generic grunts from the same voice actor outside of Japan after Fox, Sheik, and Falco in Melee and Mewtwo in all of its playable appearances.
    • Kirby also follows this trait as well, making it the first Copy Ability of his to have such a distinction.
  • The Hero is the third playable character to feature a non-playable character in the panoramic artwork with them, featuring Slime alongside him. The first two are Olimar and Joker, who feature Mr. Saturn and Morgana with them, respectively.
  • In German, Spanish, French, and Italian, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" ("der Held", "el Héroe", "le Héros", and "l'Eroe"). Hero shares this trait with Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Inkling, the Ice Climbers, and the Mii Fighters.
  • In the Japanese version, Hero is named "勇者 Yūsha" and his respective announcer voice clip reads it that way, but his name on the character select screen icon, versus splash screen and results screen is still written as "Hero". He and Young Link are the only characters with this trait, as all others have the respective romanization of their Japanese name, instead of a direct translation to English.
    • Furthermore, Hero is the only fighter to have his name entirely formatted in kanji in the Japanese version. The other fighter to have a common noun as their name, Villager, has his name written in hiragana instead.
  • Depending on which version of the Hero is being played, the critical hit sound effect from that Hero's respective game will play when they land a critical hit through a smash attack or Hatchet Man. Additionally, when a Hero lands a critical hit on another Hero, the sound effect from the victim's respective game will play, even if the attacker is a Hero from a different game.
  • Hero has additional sound effects while performing certain actions. These sounds are difficult to notice due to the volume of the game's overall sound effects.
    • While charging a smash attack, the "player attacks" sound effect from the Dragon Quest series will play.
    • When KO'd, the "enemy critical hit" sound from Dragon Quest XI plays alongside the standard KO sound.
  • Hero, Ryu, Terry, and Byleth are the only characters who have stamina battles for their Classic Mode routes.
  • Hero's Classic Mode is one of only three to feature a fight against a boss (in this case, Rathalos) outside of the boss round, the others being Bowser and Mega Man, and one of the few whose boss round does not feature a designated boss, instead fighting characters who are otherwise playable (in this case, Robin and Charizard).
  • When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Hero uses his heavy knockback scream rather than his standard KO scream. This trait is shared with Mario, Dr. Mario, Terry and Byleth.
    • Additionally, Erdrick's Stamina KO voice clip, unusually, does not begin with a slight pause. He shares this oddity with Banjo & Kazooie.
  • Because of heavy controversy regarding Hero as anti-competitive in Ultimate due to the large amount of randomness in his moveset, Hero is the fifth character to have been officially banned from any tournament matches, the first four being Meta Knight from Brawl and Mii Fighters, Cloud and Bayonetta from Smash 4.[7]
  • A special battle card was released for the arcade game Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Scanner that references both Hero's Final Smash and his reveal trailer. [8]

References

  1. ^ Also referred to as Eleven.
  2. ^ Also referred to as Arusu.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Twitlonger on South Australia's Hero ban.
  5. ^ https://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-france-bans-hero-and-future-dlc-characters-from-official-smash-bros-ultimate-tournaments/
  6. ^ https://www.twitter.com/NintendoFrance/status/1177164762997755905
  7. ^ https://twitter.com/sasmashcentral/status/1161950018548326400?s=21
  8. ^ https://twitter.com/DQSB_PR/status/1198511571162390528


v • d • e
Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Veterans Bayonetta · Bowser · Bowser Jr. · Captain Falcon · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Duck Hunt · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Greninja · Ice Climbers · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Little Mac · Lucario · Lucas · Lucina · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Mega Man · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Pac-Man · Palutena · Peach · Pichu · Pikachu · Pit · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard · Ivysaur · Squirtle) · R.O.B. · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Roy · Ryu · Samus · Sheik · Shulk · Snake · Sonic · Toon Link · Villager · Wario · Wii Fit Trainer · Wolf · Yoshi · Young Link · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie · Byleth · Chrom · Daisy · Dark Samus · Hero · Incineroar · Inkling · Isabelle · Joker · Kazuya · Ken · King K. Rool · Min Min · Piranha Plant · Pyra / Mythra  · Richter · Ridley · Sephiroth · Simon · Sora · Steve · Terry
v • d • e
  Dragon Quest universe
Fighter Hero (SSBU) (XI, III, IV, VIII)
Stage Yggdrasil's Altar
Other Hero (I, II, V, VI, VII, IX, X) · Martial Artist · Mimic · Slime · Veronica
Spirits Spirits
Music Ultimate

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