Lucario (SSB4)

Lucario in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mega Evolution

Lucario (ルカリオ, Lucario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. It was announced on January 31st, 2014, the same day of the year that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in Japan; according to an extra post on the Miiverse reveal, this timing was done to commend the Brawl developers for succeeding in adding Lucario to said game.

For its appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4, Lucario is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa and Sean Schemmel (both voiced him in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew). Lucario is also voiced by a different voice actor in the PAL versions.

Changes from Brawl

Despite being a high tier character in Brawl, Lucario has been heavily buffed in its transition from Brawl to SSB4. The influence of Lucario's aura has been increased, giving it a better recovery and increased range on some of his attacks.

Aesthetics

• Like many of the other characters in SSB4 that come from cartoonish franchises, Lucario has a less realistic and more sleek look than it did in Brawl; its fur is less accentuated and its proportions are more akin to its recent three-dimensional appearances in Pokédex 3D Pro, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y.

Attributes

• Lucario is slightly lighter than in Brawl (from 100 to 99).
• The effects of its aura are much stronger overall.
• All of Lucario's attacks are affected by aura, regardless of whether they are actually aura-based or not.

Ground attacks

• All of Lucario's standard ground attacks deal slightly less damage depending on the strength of his aura.
• Lucario's dash attack has a somewhat tweaked animation. It spins a bit to the side during the kick portion of the attack.
• Up tilt is much faster, and has gained more KO power.
• Lucario's animations for charging his smash attacks have been slightly changed. Instead of fully making movement, it stays in place.
• All smash attacks are significantly slower.
• Forward smash's sour-spot deals less damage. It no longer has a lingering hitbox and does not hit behind Lucario.
• Lucario now crouches when performing its up smash.
• Lucario's up smash now hits twice, allowing it to easily KO grounded opponents more reliably. It also deals more damage.

Aerial attacks

• All of Lucario's aerials are faster.
• Neutral and down aerial deals less damage.
• Neutral aerial has less range and no longer has a lingering hitbox.
• Its forward aerial deals more damage.
• Its forward aerial has slightly higher base knockback at 0%, making it harder to use in combos.
• The sweetspot of back aerial deals more damage.
• Up aerial deals more damage.
• Down aerial's ending lag has almost been reduced entirely.

Throws/other attacks

• Lucario's grab is slightly faster.
• Pummel is significantly faster.
• Forward and down throw deal less damage.
• Up throw deals more damage.

Special moves

• Aura Sphere can achieve larger sizes, with its max size now being even larger than Lucario himself. Aura Sphere's graphics have also been altered, and smoke appears behind Lucario as the projectile is fired and is stronger.
• When using a reverse Aura Sphere, Lucario is pushed back a bit, making it safe to use offstage as an option that can trick opponents.
• Aura Sphere now makes a different sound while being charged.
• Force Palm's non-grabbing portion appears to be faster and has a much larger blast, which scales with Aura. It also appears to produce much stronger knockback.
• Force Palm's stronger knockback reduces the amount of follow-ups Lucario previously had (such as multiple Force Palms). The grabbing portion of Force Palm is escapable when Lucario has low damage.
• Extreme Speed is now affected by aura, allowing it to cover massive distances at high damage, with range comparable to Brawl's at zero damage. The move also now does damage at the end and has visible aura streams.
• Double Team's power and range have increased.
• When successful, Double Team causes Lucario's eyes to glow.
• Up taunt now has more aura visuals.
• Lucario has a completely new Final Smash, Mega Lucario, which raises its aura power to maximum regardless of its damage.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	Punches twice, followed by a high leg kick.
			2%
			3%
Forward tilt			4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Thrusts its hands forward, hitting twice.
Up tilt			6% (foot), 5% (leg)	Swings its leg up in an arc.
Down tilt			5%	Thrusts its leg forward while crouching, similar to Ganondorf's down tilt.
Dash attack			8% (clean), 6% (late)	Peforms a drop kick while slightly airborne.
Forward smash			16% (clean), 13% (late)	Fires a small burst of aura forward. When Lucario is at full power at high percentage, it is one of the strongest and the most damaging side smash in the game, dealing 38% damage when sweetspotted and fully charged.
Up smash			4% (hit 1), 14% (clean sweetspot hit 2), 12% (clean sourspot hit 2), 9% (late hit 2)	Fires two bursts of aura upwards. When both hits connect, sweetspotted, fully charged, and Lucario is at full power, it is one of the strongest up smash and the most damaging smashes in the game, dealing 42% damage.
Down smash			14%	Fires two bursts of aura on either side. One of the strongest down smash in the game, when Lucario is at full power.
Neutral aerial			8% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Spins around, hitting with aura from its paws.
Forward aerial			6%	Thrusts its leg in an upward arc.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 9% (late)	Fires a small burst of aura behind it. High horizontal knockback. It is the strongest back aerial and one of the strongest aerials in the game when Lucario is at full power, KOing opponents under 50%.
Up aerial			11% (clean), 6% (late)	Thrusts its leg upward. One of the strongest up aerials in the game, KOing opponents at 70% onwards, when Lucario is at full power.
Down aerial			5% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2)	Stomps downwards twice powered by aura. Unlike in Brawl, this move no longer stalls downward movement.
Grab			—	Holds opponent with its paws.
Pummel			1%	Sends a pulse of aura through the opponent. Very fast.
Forward throw			8%	Throws opponent forward.
Back throw			10%	Throws opponent backwards onto the ground. The most damaging back throw in the game and a great KO move when it's at full power.
Up throw			5% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	Performs an uppercut, throwing the opponent upwards. Other opponents next to Lucario are dealt high knockback. The most damaging throw in the game when it's at full power dealing 18% damage total.
Down throw			7%	Holds the foe over its head, then throws them to the ground.
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%	Throws its paws forward, dealing aura damage.
Neutral special	Default	Aura Sphere	17.25% (fully charged)	An aura projectile. Increases in size and deals more damage the more damage Lucario has.
	Custom 1	Snaring Aura Sphere	14.5% (fully charged)	A slower Aura Sphere. Has an additional vacuum effect that pulls opponents towards the sphere.
	Custom 2	Piercing Aura Sphere	6.75% (fully charged)	A faster Aura Sphere that passes through opponents.
Side special	Default	Force Palm	11.875% (projectile sweetspot), 7.5% (projectile sourspot), 13% (throw), 6% (escape)	Fires a burst of aura that increases in range the more damaged Lucario is. If the opponent is close to Lucario, the move acts like a grab, with him blasting the foe with aura.
	Custom 1	Advancing Force Palm	10% (projectile sweetspot), 7% (projectile sourspot), 10% (throw), 6% (escape)	Works like Force Palm, except with more startup lag, and moves Lucario forward.
	Custom 2	Long-Distance Force Palm	7.4% (projectile sweetspot), ~4.23% (projectile sourspot), 13% (throw), 6% (escape)	Has more range than a regular Force Palm, but acts normal otherwise.
Up special	Default	Extreme Speed	6%	Lucario launches himself in a predetermined direction. Has a hitbox at the end of the move. The length that Lucario is fired is increased the more damaged he is.
	Custom 1	Ride the Wind	0%	A slower Extreme Speed with more control over Lucario's movement.
	Custom 2	Extreme Speed Attack	4% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	Shorter than Extreme Speed, but attacks opponents at any point in the attack.
Down special	Default	Double Team	11%	Acts as a counterattack. If Lucario is attacked, it will disappear and attack in the opposite direction it was facing.
	Custom 1	Glancing Counter	10%	Dodges attacks, but allows Lucario to produce a hitbox even if it is not attacked (albeit a weaker one).
	Custom 2	Stunning Double Team	1% (hits 1-2), 1%	Works like Double Team, with the added effect of being able to stun opponents.
Final Smash		Mega Lucario	—	Lucario Mega Evolves into Mega Lucario. Mega Lucario doesn't flinch from being attacked, takes half as much damage, and deals 1.8x the base damage of its attacks regardless of the amount of damage it took.

Victory Fanfare

A small excerpt of the music that would play on the title screen of Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions, a track which would go on to become the Pokémon Main Theme, which also appears as a standalone track in Brawl. It is shared with Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Greninja.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Lucario

A Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon that excels in combat through the reading and manipulation of Aura. As Lucario takes more damage, its attacks grow in strength. At maximum power, Lucario deals triple damage and its Aura Sphere is particularly devastating! Foes won't even know what hit them!

Lucario (Alt.)

Lucario's up special Extreme Speed will send this Pokémon soaring on the path you choose. Lucario flies farther the more damage it's taken. Lucario makes use of its Aura for the side special Force Palm. At extremely close range, Lucario will grab an enemy first, dealing additional damage.

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  Classic (3DS)

• LucarioAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

Update history

1.0.4

• Extreme Speed possesses greater landing lag if he becomes helpless without skidding nor crashing into the ground: 36 frames → 60 frames.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Lucario in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Lucario's amiibo.

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  The pic of the day shown during Lucario's reveal

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  Close up of Lucario's down smash.

• MegaLucarioWiiU.png

  Lucario as Mega Lucario in SSB4.

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  Lucario charging an Aura Sphere.

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  Using its down smash to hit both Mario and Link at once.

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  Lucario air dodging while Mario and Mega Man initiate an attack on the Yellow Devil.

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  Neutral attack hit 3, while Wii Fit Trainer performs a pose.

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  Using Double Team against Link.

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  Lucario teetering while King Dedede approaches from behind with Jet Hammer.

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  Lucario sleeping under a tree produced by Villager.

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  Using ExtremeSpeed on the Rainbow Road stage.

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  Lucario using ExtremeSpeed with charged-up aura.

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  Lucario performing its up taunt in the 3DS version.

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  A picture showing off the difference between a low level and high level Aura Sphere.

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  Lucario next to Palkia, a Poké Ball Pokémon.

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  Using Double Team against Marth.

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  Lucario using its back aerial.

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  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

Trivia

The Lucario error on the Super Smash Bros. official Facebook page

• On the Super Smash Bros. official Facebook page, Lucario was first listed as originating from Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl on the GBA, while the games were released on the Nintendo DS. This was, however, fixed.
• Lucario is one of two Pokémon to not have a custom move share its name with an actual Pokémon attack, the other being Greninja.
• Lucario's Alt. Trophy in the Wii U version bares a resemblance to Mewtwo's Alt. Trophy in the Wii U version; both show the character in a dark alternate costume, charging their neutral special.
• Lucario is the only playable Pokémon to not appear from a Poké Ball in its entrance animation, implying that it does not belong to a Trainer.