Shulk (SSB4)

Shulk in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Xenoblade Chronicles
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Chain Attack

“	Shulk Foresees a Fight!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Shulk (シュルク, Shulk) was unofficially revealed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 alongside Bowser Jr. and Ganondorf via leaked videos from footage used by ESRB to rate the game before being formally confirmed on August 29th, 2014. His official reveal came along with the announcement of the "new" Nintendo 3DS port of his game Xenoblade Chronicles.

Prior to his official reveal, Shulk's English voice actor, Adam Howden, had tweeted on 19 May 2014 that he had performed voiceover work for a game he was not allowed to speak about. Meanwhile, Shintarō Asanuma reprises his role in the Japanese versions of the game.

Moveset

Shulk is specialized by long reach and power equally, able to attack opponents from a distance. Shulk uses the Monado as his main weapon, which can attack from long range using its beam properties. The Monado does more damage and knockback on some attacks if it hits from the blade (middle) rather than from the beam (tip).

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3.5%	Shulk does a punch, then a kick, and finally a sword slash upwards with the Monado.
			3.5%
			5.3% (clean), 4.2% (late)
Forward tilt		rowspan="1"	{{{ftiltdmg}}}	A horizontal slash with the Monado.
Up tilt		rowspan="1"	8% (blade), 7% (beam)	Shulk jumps and does a fast, spinning sword uppercut.
Down tilt		rowspan="1"	9% (blade), 7% (beam)	A crouching downward slash.
Dash attack			11%	A sliding slash with the Monado.
Forward smash			5.5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2 blade), 11.5% (hit 2 beam)	Shulk stabs forward blade-first before the laser beam comes out, causing knock back.
Up smash			4.5% (hit 1), 13.5% (hit 2)	Shulk slams the Monado into the ground facing up, before the laser beam comes out, knocking enemies into the air.
Down smash			14% (hit 1 blade), 11% (hit 1 beam), 12% (hit 2 blade), 10% (hit 2 beam), 10% (hit 3 blade), 8% (hit 3 beam), 8% (hit 4 blade), 6% (hit 4 beam), 6% (hit 5 blade), 4% (hit 5 beam)	Shulk spins around three times while sweeping the opponent with the Monado. The first hit has the most knock back.
Neutral aerial		rowspan="1"	7% (blade), 8% (beam)	A wide, circular slash with the Monado.
Forward aerial		rowspan="1"	7.5% (blade), 6% (beam)	An overhead, forward swipe with the Monado.
Back aerial			12% (clean), 8% (late)	Shulk stabs behind him with the Monado.
Up aerial			5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2 blade), 7.5% (hit 2 beam)	Shulk thrusts the Monado upward and then extends the laser beam.
Down aerial			6% (hit 1 grounded), 4% (hit 1 aerial), 10% (hit 2 blade), 9% (hit 2 beam)	Shulk stabs the Monado below him and extends the laser beam
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Hits the opponent in the head with the Monado's hilt.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 8% (throw)	Shulk pulls the opponent towards him before slashing them with an uppercut from the Monado.
Back throw			3% (hit 1), 9% (throw)	Shulk pulls the opponent behind him and stabs their midsection with the Monado in a reverse grip. Can be used to land an easy Back Slash in Buster mode, though tricky to do on alert players.
Up throw			3% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Heaves the opponent in the air and stabs their chest. Can be followed with up tilts, especially in Buster mode.
Down throw			3% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Slams the opponent onto the ground and drives the Monado through their spine.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%
Edge attack Edge getups			7%
Neutral special	Default	Monado Arts	—	Shulk activates one of five Arts, which enhance some of his abilities while reducing others.
	Custom 1	Decisive Monado Arts	—	Arts last longer, but once an Art is activated it cannot be changed.
	Custom 2	Hyper Monado Arts	—	Both positive and negative effects of Arts are amplified, and the Arts last for a shorter duration of time.
Side special	Default	Back Slash	10%/9% (front), 16%/14% (back)	Jumps forwards with a Monado swing, similar to Link's dash attack. The attack is more powerful if it hits the opponent's back.
	Custom 1	Back Slash Leap		Shulk leaps up before slashing downward towards the ground. Has reduced horizontal movement, but comes out a little faster.
	Custom 2	Back Slash Charge		Shulk leaps forward, gaining super armor for the slash. This move has increased horizontal movement, but has harshly reduced damage if not striking the back.
Up special	Default	Air Slash	6% (hit 1 clean), 5% (hit 1 late), 5.5% (hit 2)	Jumps upwards with a Monado swipe, similarly to Dolphin Slash. Pressing the attack button at the end of the swipe will result in a second, forward swipe.
	Custom 1	Advancing Air Slash	6% (hit 1 clean), 5% (hit 1 late), 8% (hit 2)	The first slash launches enemies diagonally, with the second slash moving Shulk forward.
	Custom 2	Mighty Air Slash	9% (hit 1 clean), 7% (hit 1 late), 10% (hit 2)	The range of the attack is reduced, but deals more damage.
Down special	Default	Vision	1.3x (min 13%/10% or 10%/7%)	A counterattack, similar to that of the Fire Emblem series. Has the longest counter window in the game.
	Custom 1	Dash Vision	1.0x (min 11%/8% or 8%/5%)	Shulk takes a big step forward and the counter's range is extended. The counter is faster, but lacks power.
	Custom 2	Power Vision	1.5x (min 20%/17% or 17%/14%)	Shulk counters an attack with greater power. However, the attack is slower and if used too much, the counter will become less and less effective.
Final Smash		Chain Attack	3% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-12), 12% (hit 13), 5% (hit 14)	Shulk summons Dunban and Riki to perform a Chain Attack on his opponents, before finishing them off with a strong Monado slash.

Reveal trailer

<youtube>GUl1EkUJ46k</youtube>

Taunts

• Raises his hand up and says "Now it's Shulk time!", a reference to Reyn, his best friend and one of his party members in Xenoblade Chronicles.
• Raises a fist and says "I'm really feeling it!"
• Grips the Monado with both hands, activates it and says "This is the Monado's power!"

Victory Poses

• Swings the Monado a few times while it is active, then holds it level to his head as it deactivates, saying either "The future is ours to decide." or "I've got a good rhythm going!"
• Swings the inactive Monado upwards, then places it on his back, saying either "I got through that pretty good!" or "This is a good result!"
• Bows down with the Monado held lengthwise, then it activates, and he changes grip, saying either "I can feel the power!" or "I can change the future."

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Shulk's regular trophy can be obtained by completing Classic Mode with him and his alternative trophy can be obtained by completing All-Star mode with him.

Shulk

NA: In Xenoblade Chronicles, this young lad's colony is attacked by the Mechon, so he and his friends set off to take them down. In Smash Bros., his Monado Arts let him change his specialization during battle. You can choose to boost a stat—his jump or attack, for example—but other stats might drop as a result, so choose wisely.

PAL: In Xenoblade Chronicles, this young lad's colony is attacked by the Mechon, so he and his friends set off to take them down. In this game, his Monado Arts let him change his specialisation during battle. You can choose to boost a stat—his jump or attack, for example—but other stats might drop as a result, so choose wisely.

Shulk (Alt.)

NA: Shulk's up special Air Slash is an upward slash done during a jump. Press the button again quickly to launch opponents sideways. His side special Back Slash, on the other hand, is a downward swing with a very wide range, though using it leaves Shulk wide open. Try hitting foes from behind with this!

PAL: Shulk's up special, Air Slash, is an upward slash done during a jump. Press the button again quickly to launch opponents sideways. His side special, Back Slash, on the other hand, is a downward swing with a very wide range, although using it leaves Shulk wide open. Try hitting foes from behind with this to do more damage!

• 

  Classic

• ShulkAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt.

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Mechanical Menace: Shulk must defeat a metal R.O.B. and Mega Man, as well as Metal Face.
• New Challengers 2: Shulk is one of the seven opponents fought in this event alongside Greninja, Palutena, Robin, Dark Pit, Mega Man, and Pac-Man.
• The Ultimate Swordsman: Shulk is one of the opponents that Ike must defeat.

Co-op Events

• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Update history

1.0.4

• Neutral attack 1 damage: 3% → 3.5%
• Neutral attack 2 damage: 3% → 3.5%
• Neutral attack 3 clean damage: 4.3% → 5.3%
• Neutral attack 3 late damage: 3.2% → 4.2%
• Forward tilt damage: 12%/10.5% → 13%/11.5%
• Forward tilt knockback scaling: 100 → 92
• Up tilt damage: 7%/6% → 8%/7%
• Down tilt damage: 8%/6% → 9%/7%
• Down tilt hitbox 2 position: bone 25, offset [0.0,2.0,-1.0] → bone 0, offset [0.0,5.5,5.5] (this change removes a point-blank blind spot)
• Dash attack damage: 10% → 11%
• Forward smash damage: 5%, 12.5%/11% → 5.5%, 13%/11.5%
• Forward smash received a variety of changes to enable both hits to link together better.
  • Hit 1 angles: 40/75/84 → 78/10/40
  • Hit 1 fixed knockback values: 45/45/31 → 28/28/28
  • Hit 1 radii: 4.0/4.0/4.0 → 2.0/2.0/4.0 (hitboxes are thinner)
  • Hit 1 positions: [-2.0,0.0,1.0]/[4.1,0.0,1.0]/[10.0,0.0,1.0] → [11.0–4.0,0.0,2.0]/[11.0–4.0,0.0,-0.5]/[-2.0,0.0,1.0] (hitboxes cover more area)
  • Hit 2 radii: 3.5/2.0 → 4.0/3.0
  • Hit 2 hitbox 1 x-offset: 22.0–0.0 → 21.0–0.0
• Up smash damage: 4%, 13% → 4.5%, 13.5%
• Down smash damage: 13%/10%, 11%/9%, 9%/7%, 7%/5%, 5%/3% → 14%/11%, 12%/10%, 10%/8%, 8%/6%, 6%/4%
• Neutral aerial damage: 6%/7% → 7%/8%
• Forward aerial damage: 6.5%/5% → 7.5%/6%
• Forward aerial landing lag slightly decreased.
• Back aerial damage: 11%, 7% → 12%, 8%
• Up aerial damage: 4%, 9%/6.5% → 5%, 10%/7.5%
• Down aerial damage: 4%/6%, 10%/9% → 5%/7%, 11%/10%
• Forward throw hit 1 damage: 2% → 3%
• Back throw hit 1 damage: 2% → 3%
• Up throw hit 1 damage: 2% → 3%
• Down throw hit 1 damage: 2% → 3%
• Monado Speed damage dealt: 0.72x → 0.8x
• Monado Buster damage taken: 1.2x → 1.13x
• Air Slash (default) hit 1 damage: 5%/4% → 6%/5%
• Advancing Air Slash hit 1 damage: 5%/4% → 6%/5%
• Mighty Air Slash hit 1 damage: 8%/6% → 9%/7%
• Vision (all variants) y-offset: 8.0 → 9.0 (hitboxes are slightly higher)

Alternate costumes

			File:ShulkHeadBrownSSB4-3.png

Gallery

• 

  Shulk's poster.

• 

  Splash art of Shulk.

• 

  Shulk's amiibo.

• Shulk Alt.png

  Swimsuit costume for Shulk.

• Shulk4PalleteSwaps.png

  More palette swaps for Shulk.

• 

  Pic of the Day, when Shulk was revealed.

• 

  Fighting Sheik.

• 
• 

  Shulk in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

• 

  Shulk activates the Smash Monado Art.

• 

  Attacking Donkey Kong.

• 
• 
• 

  Posing with two Villagers.

• 

  Forward air on Link.

• 

  Shulk's Final Smash, featuring Dunban and Riki.

• 

  With Luigi on Boxing Ring.

• 
• 

  Shulk posing with Riki.

• ShulkSSB4.png

  Image of Shulk from the ESRB leak.

Trivia

• The title of Shulk's trailer, "Looks like we don't have a choice!", is the line he says in Xenoblade Chronicles when the party is about to face a powerful enemy.
  • Due to said line having no obvious connection to the trailer, some fans believe it is in reference to the ESRB leak.
  • In the PAL versions of the game, however, the title is changed to "Now it's Shulk time", referencing one of Shulk's taunts.
• Shulk is the only fighter leaked by the ESRB leak to be a starter character on both versions.
• Shulk was the last character and newcomer confirmed for SSB4 before the worldwide release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
• Shulk, along with Pac-Man, are the only two characters in the game (and, by extension, the whole series) without a green palette swap option.
• Despite not being a third party character, clone, or Mii, Shulk is placed with them in most official material, including the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS roster and foldout. This is changed on the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U roster, where Shulk is placed before the clones, and the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U manual, where he is placed before Bowser Jr.
  • Some fans mistake Shulk as a third party character, as the company that created him was Monolith Soft, not Nintendo, as well as the fact that in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, he is placed beside Mega Man, Sonic and Pac-Man. However, Monolith Soft was acquired by Nintendo in 2007, making Shulk a non-third party character.
  • Interestingly, one of the developers of SSB4, Bandai Namco, was the original owner of Monolith Soft before Nintendo acquired the company.