Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Olimar (SSBU)

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This article is about Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Captain Olimar.
Olimar
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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PikminSymbol.svg
Universe Pikmin
Other playable appearances in Brawl
in SSB4

Availability Unlockable
Final Smash End of Day
Olimar (SSBU)

Olimar (ピクミン&オリマー, Pikmin & Olimar) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside Diddy Kong and the rest of the returning roster. In addition, Alph (ピクミン&アルフ, Pikmin & Alph) returns as an alternate character alongside Olimar. Olimar is classified as Fighter #40. Olimar uses Pikmin to assist him in attacking his foes, with a core playstyle revolving around managing and using his various Pikmin combinations to his advantage.

As in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4, Hajime Wakai's portrayals of the Pikmin from Pikmin and Pikmin 2, and Atsuko Asahi's portrayals of the Winged Pikmin from Pikmin 3, were repurposed for Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

Olimar must then be defeated on Distant Planet (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Olimar is a small, floaty, lightweight character with disjointed attacks. He has the 33rd slowest dashing speed, 8th worst air speed, 32nd highest air acceleration (tied with Duck Hunt and Inkling, among others), very low gravity, low traction (tied with Diddy Kong), below-average falling speed, and above-average jump height. Due to these attributes, Olimar has below-average mobility for the most part.

What sets Olimar apart from a majority of the cast is that his stronger attacks do not come from him. Instead, he utilizes Pikmin to perform disjointed attacks and function as projectiles to attack opponents from a distance during his smash attacks, most of his aerials, and side special move. Olimar starts off with 3 Pikmin at the start of each battle, and can have up to 3 at any given point. Each Pikmin has their own hit points, and will die if they take too much damage or fall into the blast zone. Pikmin are obtained in a specific order: Red, Yellow, Blue, White and Purple, then cycling back to Red. Winged Pikmin also appear via Olimar's up special move, although they lack hurtboxes and hit points like the other Pikmin.

Pikmin Pluck, Olimar's neutral special move, enables him to gain Pikmin when used on any solid surface in the event he has less than 3 Pikmin available. It's very laggy when used in air, but is somewhat quick on the ground and is best used if spaced out. Pikmin Order, Olimar's down special move, can be used to quickly call all Pikmin back. It also grants super armor during its first few frames, although this can be pretty risky to use as a strictly defense measure due to the super armor's minimal amount of frames.

Winged Pikmin, Olimar's up special move, is a very flexible recovery option. The Winged Pikmin can be moved freely around the air, and their travel can be canceled with an aerial attack. However, canceling the Winged Pikmin will render Olimar helpless. Additionally, consecutive usage of the Winged Pikmin will tire them out, which results in their travel distance and maneuverability both worsening. Although sporadic usage of the Winged Pikmin will prevent them from tiring out, their travel distance and maneuverability will still worsen depending on Olimar's lineup of Pikmin: Purple Pikmin are the heaviest, whereas White Pikmin are the lightest.

His primary damage-racking move and an excellent utility move is his side special, Pikmin Throw. Olimar throws his Pikmin forward. The thrown Pikmin, except for Purple, cling the target and deal elemental damage over time. Purple Pikmin don't cling to opponents and instead deal a single strong hit as they are in the air. If they don't land on a target, they become miniature, independent hurtboxes that run back toward Olimar. When clinging to the opponent, they can be killed or damaged by certain moves, such as a down smash that covers the user in a hitbox. However, this can be used to an advantage, as the Pikmin can be used to block certain moves such as Charge Shot, even when clinging to Samus.

Each Pikmin has different properties that both affect how they interact with moves and the Olimar's attacks. Red Pikmin have average projectile range, deal the second-highest damage, have the fire effect, and are immune to fire attacks. Yellow Pikmin have an arcing path with slightly lower range, have the electric effect, have a larger hitbox (≈50% larger compared to the other Pikmin), and are immune to electric attacks. Blue Pikmin have average projectile range, higher throw power and damage, have the water effect, and are immune to water attacks. White Pikmin have the longest projectile range, deal the least direct damage in exchange for the most cling damage, and have the darkness effect. Purple Pikmin have the shortest projectile range, but deal the most damage and knockback and do not cling to opponents but act as a standard projectile with knockback instead.

Neutral attack is a one-two combo that is quick overall, yet is best suited only for low percent set-ups into down tilt, a grab, and Pikmin Throw or if used for jab locking. Forward tilt is a wind-up punch that is laggy overall and his slowest tilt attack. However, it possesses respectable power that makes it useful for creating space and, more notably, it is his only non-Pikmin attack that can KO at reasonable percents. Up tilt is a simple spinning hop that is best suited as an anti-air move, yet can also set be followed up with an up aerial at low percents if the opponent fails to DI properly. Down tilt is Olimar's most useful tilt attack: it is a lunging tackle that can start combos at varying percents, function as a pseudo-crawl, and is his best spacing option in most scenarios thanks to its quick start-up.

Olimar's aerials have great utility despite his mediocre air speed. His forward and back aerials are great for edgeguarding thanks to their wide arc. His up aerial is effective for juggling and combos, whereas his down aerial can meteor smash in its earlier frames while still possessing a weaker lingering hitbox in its later frames, thus making it a solid tool for denying juggles. Olimar's neutral aerial is his only aerial that does not utilize Pikmin, and thus has much less range in comparison. However, it still has some utility as a niche combo tool and landing option. Furthermore, using Olimar's Pikmin-based aerials can enable him to cycle through his lineup to use a favorable Pikmin for his next attack.

Olimar's throws are disproportionately powerful for a character of his size, specifically while using blue Pikmin. Up throw is a reliable kill move above approximately 130% with blue Pikmin (having very high base knockback) and can potentially set up juggling scenarios, while down throw reliably combos into forward aerial at low to medium percents and Pikmin Throw at higher percents, meaning that he can get very large amounts of damage off of a grab. Forward throw has very little kill power, with its main usage being gaining stage control and sending opponents offstage. Back throw follows much the same idea, but has the ability to kill with blue Pikmin. (Note: Blue Pikmin drastically increase the knockback and damage of throws. White Pikmin increase the range of the grab itself, while Purple Pikmin lower grab range. Other Pikmin have no effect on throws.)

Having relatively long range for a character of his size also makes Olimar great at camping out and approaching hand-to-hand combatants, such as Captain Falcon or Wario, and further accentuate his strong punishment game. All of Olimar's aforementioned qualities give him a strong damage racking capability to complement his zoning focused playstyle.

However, Olimar does have some noticeable weaknesses to counterbalance his strengths. One of his most noteworthy issues is his defenselessness without his Pikmin. Although they can be plucked rather quickly, he can only do so when on the ground and there is still enough time to punish Olimar if he doesn't secure his space before gaining more Pikmin. His physical attacks themselves also provide niche/situational utility compared to his Pikmin moves and have significantly less range. Therefore, he is at his greatest disadvantage if the opponent manages to keep him airborne and within his space due to the very short range and limited scope of his physical attacks. On the flipside, his recovery becomes noticeably worsened when he does have Pikmin; as a result, he may have to resort to casting them aside if it improves his chances of recovering safely, and thus ridding himself of major defenses.

Olimar's below-average dashing and air speeds also make him susceptible rushdown-oriented fighters overwhelming while he's in a disadvantage state. This, in turn, is further compounded by his aforementioned difficulty at escaping a disadvantage state without Pikmin. Finally, Olimar's zoning capabilities are severely hindered by characters with a reflector, as Olimar's side special is both a projectile and his primary damage-racking move. On top of that, all of Olimar's smash attacks do damage solely through the use of Pikmin as projectiles, making a reflected smash attack potentially deadly, even at lower percents.

Overall, Olimar is a versatile zoner who has an unorthodox manner of fighting involving the management of his Pikmin. Due to his poor disadvantage and his need for careful cycling and management of his Pikmin, he generally can't afford to be reckless in his play.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Olimar was buffed significantly overall in his transition from SSB4 to Ultimate. His lackluster mobility, while still below-average, has been improved via faster dashing and air speeds. His already incredible ground game was also improved with his grab having more range, as well as his up smash having less ending lag, whichimproved its utility out of shield and even granted it newfound combo potential at low percents. Olimar's up throw was also significantly buffed, boasting similar knockback to Mewtwo's up throw. His notorious damage output was also buffed, as all iterations of his Pikmin (excluding Purple Pikmin) have been buffed. His biggest flaw from SSB4 was also fixed, as his aerials now have transcendent priority, which allows Olimar to trade moves much more safely than in SSB4. Pikmin Pluck is faster as well, which allows Olimar to regain Pikmin faster.

However, Olimar received some slight nerfs. His down throw launches opponents at a more horizontal angle, making follow-ups less reliable. Pikmin also have slightly lower HP, making them die more easily. He also now has one of the slowest initial dashes in the game due to other fighters' initial dashes getting far more substantial buffs than his. His recovery also became less abusable as a result of the travel distance of his up special, Winged Pikmin, being further reduced with consecutive use.

Regardless, Olimar's negligible nerfs are not enough to outweigh his buffs, as he has obtained incredible results in Ultimate's early metagame thanks to Dabuz, Shuton, Myran, and ImHip, who have been very successful with him at top-level tournaments. As a result, Olimar was often considered a top tier character prior to update 3.1.0, much like in Brawl. However, he along with Pichu received significant nerfs in update 3.1.0, more so than any other potential top tier character. Because of this, Olimar is now usually considered a high tier character as of update 3.1.0, yet is still considered better than he was in SSB4.

Aesthetics

  • Change Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Olimar's model features a more vibrant color scheme. His proportions have been adjusted; he has a slightly smaller nose and eyes, and his skin tone is paler. His spacesuit and life-support systems have more subtle detailing, and his helmet has a more glossy sheen. The new detailing is also expressed by Alph.
  • Change Olimar's antenna has less independent physics, allowing it to move more naturally.
  • Change Olimar's helmet cracks after taking a certain amount of damage, but will quickly be repaired. It also appears cracked when he is Screen KO'd.
  • Change Olimar now only jumps twice during his up taunt, shortening its duration.
  • Change Sidestep and ledge-hanging's animations have changed.
  • Change Pikmin now always face the screen regardless of which direction they turn.
  • Change Pikmin now have trails that match their colors when attacking, like in the Pikmin games.

Attributes

  • Olimar:
    • Buff Like all characters, Olimar's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
    • Buff Olimar walks slightly faster (0.9 → 0.945).
    • Buff Olimar dashes faster (1.47 → 1.617).
    • Buff Olimar's air speed is slightly faster (0.82 → 0.861).
    • Nerf Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
    • Nerf Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16) and more ending lag (FAF 29 → 34).
    • Buff Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 26 → 25).
    • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
    • Nerf Air dodge has drastically more ending lag (FAF 32 → 57).
    • Buff Olimar's hurtbox is modeled around his body instead of being a giant orb around him. This effectively gives him a smaller hurtbox around some parts of his body, making him harder to hit.
      • Nerf However, Olimar has a larger hurtbox vertically.
  • Pikmin:
    • Nerf All Pikmin have less HP.
      • Nerf Red, Yellow: 8 → 6.
      • Nerf Blue: 11 → 8.
      • Nerf White: 7 → 5.
      • Nerf Purple: 13 → 11.
    • Nerf Pikmin can be swallowed.
    • Nerf Pikmin can get stuck on platforms if they were plucked beneath them, making it impossible to use them for attacks for a while.
    • Nerf Pikmin in Olimar's squad are no longer intangible directly after Olimar gets hit with a high knockback move, making it possible to kill the Pikmin and send Olimar offstage without any Pikmin.
    • Nerf Pikmin can die from hitboxes that Olimar already shielded or perfect shielded, making it very hard to punish the attack.
    • Nerf When a Pikmin dies, it becomes the active Pikmin in Olimar's squad, making it impossible to use Pikmin for attacks for a short while.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Hit 1 has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 20).
      • Change Its angles have been altered (361°/80° → 361°/180°) making it a more consistent jab locking tool but hindering its jab canceling potential.
    • Nerf The second hit hitboxes have been moved inwards (Z offset: 7/13 → 6/10), reducing its range. Oddly, the animation has not been properly altered, and so suggests the move has more range than it actually does.
    • Nerf Hit 2's sweetspot is closer to the sourspot, and the sourspot is bigger (2.5u → 2.8u). Due to it taking priority over the sweetspot this makes the sweetspot much harder to land.
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack has a bigger hitbox (3.5u (clean)/3.5u (late) → 5u/4.5u).
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 45 → 39).
  • All smash attacks:
    • Buff The damage multipliers when using smash attacks with red or purple Pikmin have been increased (Red: 1.2× → 1.4×, Purple: 1.4× → 1.6×).
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff Forward smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
      • Buff Red: 17.4% (clean)/12% (mid)/7.2% (late) → 20.3%/14%/8.4%
      • Buff Purple: 20.3% (clean)/14% (mid)/8.4% (late) → 23.2%/16%/9.6%
    • Nerf Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 43).
    • Nerf Forward smash's clean hit has a shorter duration, with the mid and late hits having a longer duration instead (frames 11-14 (clean)/15-20 (mid)/21-29 (late) → 11-12/13-19/20-29).
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin with knockback scaling compensated.
      • Buff Red: 15.6% (clean)/12% (weak)/13.2% (late) → 18.2%/14%/15.4%, knockback scaling: 83/74/78 → 72/64/68
      • Buff Purple: 18.2% (clean)/14% (weak)/15.4% (late) → 20.8%/16%/17.6%, knockback scaling: 81/72/78 → 72/64/68
    • Buff Up smash has significantly less ending lag (FAF 56 → 40), increasing its safety and giving it combo potential.
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
      • Buff Red: 13.2% (clean)/10.8% (late) → 15.4%/12.6%
      • Buff Purple: 15.4% (clean)/12.6% (late) → 17.6%/14.4%

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (15 frames → 13 (neutral), 15 → 9 (forward/back), 30 → 18 (up/down)).
  • Buff All aerials involving Pikmin have transcendent priority.
  • Buff All aerials that involve Pikmin have more range.
  • Buff The damage multipliers when using aerials with red or purple Pikmin have been increased (Red: 1.2× → 1.4×, Purple: 1.4× → 1.6×).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Nerf Neutral aerial's hitboxes are smaller (loop: 3.5u/2.5u/2.5u/3.5u → 3u/2u/2u/3u, last: 5u/4u/4u/5u → 4u/3u/3u/4u).
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
      • Buff Red: 10.2% → 11.9%
      • Buff Purple: 11.9% → 13.6%
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
      • Buff Red: 12.9% → 15.1%
      • Buff Purple: 15.1% → 17.2%
  • Up aerial and down aerial:
    • Buff Up aerial and down aerial deal more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
      • Buff Red: 10.8% → 12.6%
      • Buff Purple: 12.6% → 14.4%
    • Nerf They auto-cancel one frame later (frame 30 → 31).

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Buff All Pikmin in Olimar's squad will be used at once for his grab, significantly improving its potential range. The more Pikmin he has, the greater the range.
    • Nerf All grabs have slightly more startup lag (frame 10 → 12).
    • Nerf Attempting to grab near a ledge using Pikmin that were plucked just before that will cause the grab to have no hitbox.
    • Change All grabs' ending lag is changed and depends on the amount of Pikmin in Olimar's squad.
      • Change Standing: FAF 50 → 42/48/57 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Nerf Dash: FAF 53 → 50/58/69 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Nerf Pivot: FAF 36 → 45/52/61 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
  • Pummel:
    • Change Pummel is a quick knifehand thrust from Olimar himself.
      • Buff Pummel has much less startup (frame 11 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 21 → 7) and deals more hitlag (5 (Red, Blue, Purple)/6 (White)/8 (Yellow) → 10)
      • Nerf It deals less damage (4% (White)/2% (others) → 1%).
        • Nerf As such, Olimar can no longer benefit from the damaging pummel of White Pikmin.
  • Forward throw:
    • Buff Forward throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
      • Buff Red: 5.6% → 5.6%/6.1%/6.7% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Yellow, White, Purple: 7% → 7%/7.7%/8.4% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Blue: 11.2% → 11.8%/13%/14.2% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
  • Back throw:
    • Buff Back throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
      • Buff Red: 7.2% → 7.2%/7.9%/8.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Yellow, White, Purple: 9% → 9%/9.9%/10.8% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Blue: 14.4% → 15.3%/16.8%/18.3% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Buff Back throw deals significantly more knockback when using Blue Pikmin.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
      • Buff Red: 6.4% → 6.4%/7%/7.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Yellow, White, Purple: 8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Blue: 12.8% → 13.5%/14.8%/16.2% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Buff Up throw deals significantly more knockback when using Blue Pikmin, being the strongest up throw in the game.
    • Change Up throw has a more exaggerated animation.
  • Down throw:
    • Buff Down throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
      • Buff Red: 6.6% → 6.6%/7.2%/7.9% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Yellow: 8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff White: 7.8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Purple: 8.4% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
      • Buff Blue: 12.2% → 12.8%/14.1%/15.4% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Nerf Down throw sends opponents at a more horizontal angle (90° → 60°), reducing its combo potential.

Special moves

  • Pikmin Throw:
    • Buff Pikmin that latch onto opponents deal more damage (1.1% → 2% (Red, Yellow, Blue), 3.7% → 4.7% (White)).
    • Nerf Pikmin take fall damage when thrown and landing on the ground.
    • Bug fix The removal of multiple player slot glitch and changes to jostle mechanics no longer crashes the game with Pikmin Throw.
    • Change Opponents make a discomforted facial expression (the same expression used by poisoned fighters) when a Pikmin is latched onto them.
  • Winged Pikmin:
    • Nerf Winged Pikmin travels a significantly shorter distance with consecutive uses.
    • Nerf If Pikmin are in certain animations while using Winged Pikmin, attempting to use them for aerials will cause the attack to have no hitbox.
  • Pikmin Order:
    • Buff Olimar orders his Pikmin much sooner (frame 12 → 2).
    • Buff Pikmin Order has less ending lag (FAF 21 → 18).
    • Buff Olimar gains super armor sooner (frame 6 → 2), much like in Brawl. This improves its use as a defensive tool and as a combo breaker.
      • Nerf However, it also has a shorter duration (frames 6-12 → 2-7). This effectively increases the move's ending lag despite its reduced total duration.
    • Buff Pikmin Order's whistling animation is less exaggerated. This new animation is shorter (39 frames → 33), decreasing the amount of time Olimar cannot grab the ledge after performing the move in the air.
  • End of Day
    • Change End of Day has been drastically sped up, with the Hocotate Ship crashing onto the stage almost immediately after the move's cutscene.
      • Buff This gives the opponent less time to avoid the explosion, especially those who are buried.
    • Nerf The explosion has less knockback scaling (140 (sweetspot)/125 (sourspot) → 120/105).

Update history

Olimar received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was nerfed overall. Update 2.0.0 fixed an infamous glitch which allowed Pikmin to double the strength of the spirit multiplier, causing attacks with his Pikmin to deal massive amounts of damage under the right circumstances. However, he received a glitch in this same update that caused all of his smash attacks to no longer increase in damage while being charged. While this glitch was fixed in update 3.0.0, this update also introduced another glitch that causes reflected Pikmin to inflict damage onto himself after they've returned to him, leading to the possibility of unintentional self-destructs caused by Olimar using moves that boast a great amount of KO power. The changes made to the shield mechanics in this same update also harmed him by making his smash attacks less safe on perfect shield. In addition, like with many other projectiles, his forward smash and Pikmin throw now deal less shield damage, although the amount of shieldstun went unchanged.

Update 3.1.0 was, by far, the update that nerfed Olimar the most. The size of Olimar's hurtbox has been enlarged, making him easier to hit even while shielding. His forward and up smashes had their ending lag increased, with the former smash attack also having its clean hitbox harder to land due to its duration being shortened. This same updated also noticeably reduced the Winged Pikmin's overall travel distance when they are used consecutively, hampering his recovery. However, update 4.0.0 undid update 3.1.0.'s nerf to his clean forward smash's duration.

Like many other characters, Olimar's shield was enlarged in update 7.0.0, which compensated his larger hurtbox by both fully covering him and making him less vulnerable to shield stabbing. Update 8.0.0 buffed End of Day's KO potential and range. Prior to update 10.0.0, if Olimar tried to use an aerial attack out of Winged Pikmin after using forward smash or Pikmin Throw, the move would act as if there were no Pikmin. This bug had plagued Olimar since SSB4 and was finally fixed in 10.0.0, indirectly buffing Olimar.

Due to Olimar's strongest traits being toned down, he is considered to be significantly worse than he was at the launch of Ultimate. Though Dabuz initially claimed he would drop Olimar, he eventually went back on this and continues to use him in bracket with excellent results. Shuton has also continued to dominate the Japanese scene with Olimar, but Myran has seen a notable drop off in results after the patch. Overall, Dabuz and Shuton's continued success with the character indicates that Olimar remains a viable character in the right hands, even in spite of his nerfs.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.2.0

  • Olimar has been affected, although the changes are currently unknown.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.0.0

  • Bug fix Fixed a glitch where Pikmin would apply attack multipliers twice when using spirits.
  • Bug introduced Created a glitch where smash attacks would not have their damage outputs scale when charged.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Nerf Forward smash deals less shield damage (0 → -10/-7/-4.2 (Red), -7.2/-5/-3 (Yellow & Blue), -5.3/-4/-2.4 (White), -11.6/-8/-4.8 (Purple)).
  • Bug fix Olimar's smash attacks now properly have their damage scale when charged.
  • Nerf Pikmin Throw deals less shield damage (1 → -2.5 (thrown, Purple), 0 → -1/-2.3 (latched, non-White/White), -4.5/-3.2/-3.2/-2.6/-2.5 (thrown, Red/Yellow/Blue/White), -5.2 (Pocketed Purple)).
  • Bug introduced Introduced a self-inflicting Pikmin glitch where a reflected Pikmin causes Olimar to self-inflict damage with any move.
  • Bug fix End of Day no longer causes Olimar to go through the stage in Saffron City and self-destruct.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Nerf Olimar has a larger hurtbox. His shield size was not compensated, making it noticeably easier to shield poke him.
  • Nerf Forward smash's clean hit has a shorter duration, with the mid and late hits having a longer duration instead (non-Purple: frames 11-14 (clean)/15-20 (mid)/21-29 (late) → 11-12/13-19/20-29); Purple: 11-14/15-19/20-24 → 11-12/13-18/19-24).
  • Nerf Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 43).
  • Nerf Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 37 → 40).
  • Bug fix Due to aforementioned changes made to forward and up smashes, it is no longer possible for Olimar to self-inflict with his own reflected Pikmin using any move.
  • Nerf Winged Pikmin takes twice as long to regenerate its flight time after each use.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 4.0.0

  • Buff Forward smash's range has been increased when using Purple Pikmin, reverting to its pre-3.1.0 behavior.
  • Bug fix A glitch where pummeling the opponents would sometimes make fall out of the grab immediately has been fixed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 7.0.0

  • Buff Overall shield size has been increased, now fully covering Olimar's body again.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 8.0.0

  • End of Day:
    • Buff The explosion deals more damage (12%/10% → 14%/12%) with no compensation on knockback, improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The explosion's sweetspot consists of one extended hitbox rather than two standard ones, which is much larger (25u → 35u), although with its vertical stretch mostly compensated (Y offset: -15u/15u → -10u—10u).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 10.0.0

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 12.0.0

  • Buff Forward smash's clean hit has a longer duration (frames 11-12 → 11-13). The mid hit was made shorter to compensate.
  • Change Forward throw releases opponents one frame later (frame 17 → 18), effectively reducing its ending lag, but giving the opponent more time to DI.

Moveset

Blue, Yellow, Red, Purple and White Pikmin, as shown by the Move List.
  • All Pikmin-based moves and grabs use the next Pikmin in the line to perform the given attack. Upon performing a move, that Pikmin goes to the back of the line. In general:
    • Red Pikmin deal more damage for attacks, but less for throws.
    • Yellow Pikmin have larger hitboxes.
    • Blue Pikmin have more damaging throws.
    • White Pikmin are very weak in attacks, but have significantly longer grab and toss range and deal more latch damage.
    • Purple Pikmin are very strong in damage and knockback, but have very poor range.

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

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

  Name Damage Description
Olimar Red Yellow Blue White Purple
Neutral attack   3% (arm), 4% (fist) The Rocket Fist's one-two combo. It has very minimal start-up and ending lag, average knockback growth, and its second hit launches at 45°. It can jab lock and, at low percents, it can combo into down tilt, a grab, and Pikmin Throw.
3% (arm), 4% (fist)
Forward tilt   11% The Rocket Fist's wind-up punch. It is powerful for a tilt attack, thanks to its decent damage output and high knockback growth, and is Olimar's only reliable KO option when he lacks any Pikmin. However, it is also laggy overall, especially for a tilt attack.
Up tilt   0.6% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6) A jumping twirl. Hits multiple times, with its last hit having very high knockback growth. Altogether, these traits make it a decent anti-air attack.
Down tilt   6% A lunging tackle. It hits on frame 6, and has very low base knockback, very high knockback growth, and minimal ending lag. Altogether, these traits make it a reliable combo starter at low to medium percents. It can combo into itself (especially on fast-fallers), up tilt, smash attacks, and aerial attacks, depending on the opponent's DI. It can also interfere with an opponent's edge grab attempt, thanks to its hitbox being capable of going below the edge. Like neutral attack, performing it repeatedly will move Olimar slightly forward.
Dash attack   7% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2) A cartwheel. It can function as a mix-up, as it is able to combo into up aerial at 0%-10%. However, its second hit's very low damage output, high base knockback, and low knockback growth collectively make it unable to combo past very low percents, or KO at reasonable percents. Although sporadic, it is also possible for the first hit to fail at connecting into the second hit.
Forward smash   20.3% (clean), 14% (mid), 8.4% (late) 14.5% (clean), 10% (mid), 6% (late) 14.5% (clean), 10% (mid), 6% (late) 11.6% (clean), 8% (mid), 4.8% (late) 23.2% (clean), 16% (mid), 9.6% (late) Points forward to command a Pikmin to leap forward and perform a corkscrew tackle. The leaping Pikmin can be reflected.
Up smash   18.2% (clean near), 14% (clean far), 15.4% (late) 13% (clean near), 10% (clean far), 11% (late) 13% (clean near), 10% (clean far), 11% (late) 10.4% (clean near), 8% (clean far), 8.8% (late) 20.8% (clean near), 16% (clean far), 17.6% (late) Points upward to command a Pikmin to jump and perform a cartwheeling tackle. The leaping Pikmin can be reflected. This move has uses in starting combos at low to mid percents; depending on the opponent's character, any aerial can be used out of an up smash. Notably, an up air chain out from an up smash, leading to an extremely damaging combo. Its short endlag and high shieldstun make the move tricky to punish on whiff and on block. Up smash is also a good out of shield option due to its deceptively good horizontal range and great vertical range and duration, making it useful for punishing landings and occasionally juggling opponents. Up smash is also a strong KOing move, KOing at or below 150% with all Pikmin except White. However, it can easily be beaten due to its projectile attributes, making them lose out to any other active hitbox.
Down smash Pikmin Left/Right Dash 15.4% (clean), 12.6% (late) 11% (clean), 9% (late) 11% (clean), 9% (late) 8.8% (clean), 7.2% (late) 17.6% (clean), 14.4% (late) Squats slightly and points to both of his sides to command two Pikmin (the lead Pikmin, and the Pikmin next in line) perform dashing tackles. Either Pikmin on each side can be reflected. If only one Pikmin is in play, Olimar will only send a Pikmin forward.
Neutral aerial Tornado Attack 1.5% (hits 1-4), 2% (hit 5) A jumping twirl, resembling his up tilt. It is Olimar's only aerial that does not use Pikmin or have transcendent priority. However, it lacks KO potential like his other aerials.
Forward aerial   11.9% 8.5% 8.5% 6.8% 13.6% Grabs a Pikmin by its stem and swings it downward in front of himself. Due to its range, and speed, it is one of Olimar's best moves for walling and aerial combat as the Pikmin used acts as a sword for the duration of this move, giving this move great range relative to Olimar's size. Due to its low landing lag, it is also very good for combos at lower percents, as well as being safe on shield if spaced well. In addition, it can also KO if used with Red or Purple Pikmin. Lastly, it is a very reliable follow-up from down throw, and is useful for edgeguarding.
Back aerial   15.12% 10.8% 10.8% 8.64% 17.28% Grabs a Pikmin by its stem and swings it upward behind himself. It is Olimar's most damaging aerial. Due to its low landing lag, it is also very good for combos at lower percents, as well as being safe on shield if spaced well. This move has great range for a character of Olimar's size, due to the Pikmin used acting similarly to a disjointed hitbox for the duration of this move. It can also KO at reasonable percents if any non-White Pikmin are used. However, it has the highest start-up lag out of Olimar's aerials, though the startup is still reasonable compared to most other back aerials of its kind.
Up aerial   12.6% 9% 9% 7.2% 14.4% Grabs a Pikmin by its stem and twirls it upward. The move comes out decently fast and lasts for a very long time, as well as the move having transcendent priority, making it very hard to out-space this move making it very good for juggling and combos, at lower percents it can chain into itself or other aerials bar down aerial. It is tied with down aerial as his second most damaging aerial, and is a viable KOing option with any non-White Pikmin. However, it has a noticeable amount of landing lag.
Down aerial   12.6% 9% 9% 7.2% 14.4% Grabs a Pikmin by its stem and swings it downward. It is tied with up aerial as his second most damaging aerial. This move gives Olimar a very good way to escape juggling due to the long lasting hitbox and the amount of downwards range that it gives Olimar, the Pikmin act as a pseudo disjoint in this move as well as all of Olimar's other Pikmin involved aerials, making it very hard to challenge the move during its active hitbox frames. The move can also KO at higher percents if used with Red or Purple Pikmin. It is also a meteor smash, but only against aerial opponents and during its first frame. In addition, the move's very long lasting hitbox can also two frame punish at edges. However, it has a noticeable amount of landing lag.
Grab   Points forward to command the lead Pikmin to grab the opponent, with the other Pikmin following. The Pikmin function as disjointed grabs, and overall grab range varies depending on both the number of Pikmin present, and the lead Pikmin. White Pikmin have the longest range, followed by Red, Yellow and Blue (which are all tied for 2nd), and Purple (with the shortest range). With 3 Pikmin present, and the lead being a White Pikmin, this grab has the longest range in the game. Decently fast for its range. It resembles the group move from the Pikmin series.
Pummel   1% A knifehand thrust. Faster, but weaker than his previous pummel.
Forward throw   5.6% 7% 11.9% 7% 7% The Pikmin leap forward, body slamming the opponent on the ground. If used with 3 Pikmin and the lead is Blue, it becomes a strong throw that can KO middleweights at around 125% at the edge of Final Destination. However, it usually gets overshadowed by up throw due to it being able to KO more consistently.
Back throw   7.2% 9% 15.3% 9% 9% Same as the forward throw, but the Pikmin leap backwards instead. It is Olimar's most damaging throw, and if used with 2 or 3 Pikmin and the lead is Blue, it is the most damaging throw in the game and can KO middleweights at around 130% at the edge of Final Destination.
Up throw   1% (hit 1), 5.4% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 7% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 12.5% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 7% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 7% (throw) The Pikmin toss the opponent upward, then leap up and headbutt them further upward. Oddly, the Red Pikmin's version does less damage than it should (5.6%) based on the multiplier used (0.8×) for its other throws. If used with 3 Pikmin and the lead is Blue, it becomes the strongest up throw in the game and can KO middleweights at around 124% on Final Destination.
Down throw   1% (hit 1), 5.6% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 7% (throw) 1% (hit 1), 11.9% (throw) 0.8% (hit 1), 7% (throw) 1.6% (hit 1), 7% (throw) The Pikmin perform a jumping piledriver.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Headbutts in front and then behind himself.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Punches in front of himself and then spins around to punch behind him.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  7% Punches in front of himself and then spins around to punch behind him.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  9% Throws a punch while climbing up.
Neutral special Pikmin Pluck Plucks a Pikmin. It cannot be used in midair, and has noticeable ending lag if it is attempted in midair, or if no more Pikmin can be plucked.
Side special Pikmin Throw 9.1% (thrown), 2% (latched) 6.5% (thrown), 2% (latched) 6.5% (thrown), 2% (latched) 5.2% (thrown), 4.7% (latched) 6% (thrown), 10.4% (unpocketed) Throws a Pikmin, which latches onto opponents and damages them before falling off either because of flinching, the opponent's damage, or being killed. In regard to the opponent's damage, a Pikmin's latch duration decreases when the opponent's damage increases, even when undisturbed. Purple Pikmin are unable to latch onto anything, and will instead deal damage and knockback on contact. When thrown out of Pocket, Pikmin do not latch, but instead deal their thrown damage and die upon landing. In addition, Purple Pikmin thrown via Pocket specifically deal more damage in addition to the move's multiplier.
Up special Winged Pikmin Two Winged Pikmin carry the user around. Winged Pikmin's effectiveness is dependent on both the amount of Pikmin that are alive and close, and the frequency of its usage. In regard to frequency, it takes ≈3 seconds (180 frames) for Winged Pikmin to be able to travel the same distance again after the conclusion of the initial usage. Aerial attacks can also be used while being carried, similarly to Robo Burner. However, doing so will render him helpless immediately after the conclusion of the attack.
Down special Pikmin Order Blows his whistle to recall Pikmin and/or sort out their order in the line. It grants super armor, which lasts from startup to before Olimar's antenna emits the blue lights. It has a very low amount of ending lag, and can even be canceled (just before the lights turn from yellow to red).
Final Smash End of Day 10% (launch), 10% (ascent), 15.1% (Red Bulborbs), 10% (descent), 12%/10% (explosion) Jumps into the Hocotate Ship and launches into outer space, which buries any nearby opponents. While the ship has left the stage, Red Bulborbs attack opponents to steadily inflict damage. The Hocotate Ship then descends from outer space, and explodes upon crash landing onto the stage. The duration of the whole Final Smash is faster than in SSB4.

On-screen appearance

  • Exits the Hocotate Ship and then plucks three Pikmin, after which the Hocotate Ship disappears in a puff of smoke.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Joyfully jumps in place twice.
  • Side taunt: Lies down on the ground, rolls around as if basking in nature, and then gets up.
  • Down taunt: Swings his hips twice.

Idle poses

  • Rubs his helmet with both hands.
  • Moves his arms back and forward in a basic limber exercise.

Crowd cheer

Olimar

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Olimar! Olimar! Olimar! Pik - min! Oli - mar! Pik - min! Oli - mar! Oli - mar! Pik - min! Pik - min! Oli - mar!
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Pik - min! Oli - mar! Pik - min! Oli - mar! Pi - k - min! O - li - mar! Pikmin! Olimar!

Alph

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Alph! Alph! Alph! Pik - min! Al - ph! Pik - min! *claps 2 times* Alph! Alph! Alph! Pik - min! Alph! Alph! Pik - min! Alph!
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Pik - min! Alph! Pik - min! Alph! Pik - min - Pik! Alph! Alph! Alph! Piki - min! Alph!

Victory poses

  • Left: Performs a toe touching exercise while a Yellow Pikmin rests on the ground and a Red Pikmin looks around, waving its arms, and occasionally jumping.
  • Up: Plucks a White, Blue, and Purple Pikmin. The White Pikmin and Blue Pikmin bounce off Olimar's head, whereas the Purple Pikmin squashes him onto the ground. Olimar's eyes will comically bulge outward upon being squashed before his expression returns to normal, whereas Alph will comically wince upon being squashed before his expression returns to normal.
  • Right: Sways in place while a Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin walk around him in a circle.
A flourished remix of a small excerpt of the title theme of Pikmin.

In competitive play

In the early metagame, Olimar was widely considered a contender for the best character in Ultimate, alongside others like Peach and Pichu. Olimar had many strengths, including stronger throws, a faster Pikmin Pluck, and less lag on his smash attacks, particularly his up smash. This, along with Olimar's increased speed, made him a rather campy character, overwhelming the opponent with his Pikmin and recover them quickly when they are killed. As a result of these strengths, players such as Dabuz, Shuton, and Myran performed spectacularly with Olimar and consistently placed in top 8 at many tournaments.

Patch 3.0.0 and the subsequent patch 3.1.0, however, nerfed Olimar's smash attacks and made them less safe on shield, while Pikmin Throw dealt less shield damage. This hurt Olimar in the metagame. Myran saw a noticeable dip in performance and Dabuz now uses both Olimar and Rosalina & Luma. Nevertheless, Dabuz and Shuton continued to achieve high placements with Olimar, and it is widely agreed that Olimar is still a viable threat in the metagame. Shuton in particular was able to win EVO Japan 2020 with the character.

Most historically significant 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.

See also: Category:Olimar professionals (SSBU)

Classic Mode: Planetary Explorer

Olimar's congratulations screen.

Olimar faces off against characters who are space travelers in their respective series.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Mario (SSBU) Mario and Rosalina & Luma (SSBU) Rosalina & Luma Mario Galaxy Super Mario Galaxy
2 Wolf (SSBU) Wolf Lylat Cruise Star Wolf's Theme / Sector Z (for 3DS / Wii U)
3 Kirby (SSBU) Kirby and King Dedede (SSBU) King Dedede Dream Land Planet Popstar This battle is a free-for-all, and Kirby and King Dedede will primarily target each other.
4 Zero Suit Samus (SSBU) Zero Suit Samus Brinstar Brinstar (Melee)
5 Fox (SSBU) Fox and Falco (SSBU) Falco Corneria Corneria - Star Fox
6 Olimar (SSBU) Alph Distant Planet Garden of Hope (Remix) If playing as Alph, the opponent will be Olimar (SSBU) Olimar.
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity)
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)
On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Olimar has Stage Clear / Title Theme - Pikmin accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Olimar in World of Light

Although Olimar has been absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Olimar can be found in the mode by choosing to save Marth instead of Sheik or Villager. The spirit of a magician is needed in order to enlarge some mushrooms to reach him.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
40
Olimar SSBU.png
Olimar
Grab
Grab
3,300 Distant Planet (Ω form) Main Theme - Pikmin

Spirits

Olimar's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Olimar has been unlocked. Unlocking Olimar 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. Additionally, due to being an alternate swap, Alph has a fighter spirit of his own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Each type of Pikmin that Olimar utilizes in his moveset also possess a spirit of their own, as either primary or support spirits.

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music
801
SSBU spirit Charlie.png
Charlie Pikmin Series Alph Olimar (SSBU)Olimar (SSBU)Olimar (SSBU)
Neutral
1,200 Garden of Hope (Battlefield form) •Slippery Stage •Reinforcements will appear during the battle
•The stage's platforms are very slippery
•The enemy starts the battle with a Drill
Mission Mode - Pikmin 3
802
SSBU spirit Brittany.png
Brittany Pikmin Series Alph Olimar (SSBU)
Shield
9,600 Garden of Hope (Battlefield form) •Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Food
•Timed battle (2:00)
•The enemy becomes more powerful after eating
•Items will be pulled toward the enemy
Garden of Hope (Remix)
1,188
from the game's files
Li'l Blue Nonono Puzzle Chalien Alph Olimar (SSBU)
Shield
1,600 Hanenbow •Hazard: Low Gravity •Gravity is reduced Electroplankton (Remix)

As an ally

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
821
SSBU spirit Mockiwi.png
Mockiwi Pikmin Series •Giant Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSBU) (100 HP)
•Ally: Olimar Olimar (SSBU) (50 HP)
Shield
1,500 Garden of Hope N/A •Join forces with a CPU ally
Stamina battle
•The enemy is giant
Over Wintry Mountains Captain Olimar

Alternate costumes

Palette swap (SSBU)
Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU) Olimar (SSBU)

Gallery

Fighter Showcase Video

Trivia

  • During the official Ultimate website's launch on June 12th, 2018, Olimar's name was erroneously labeled as "OLIMER" in English variants of his fighter page. The typo was later corrected.
  • The part of Olimar's showcase trailer where Alph crouches next to a prone Olimar is a reference to a scene in Pikmin 3 after Alph initially rescues Olimar from the Mysterious Life Form.
  • Olimar's (and Alph's) official artwork resembles Brittany's pose in her Pikmin 3 artwork (the same one used for her spirit), albeit flipped.
  • In World of Light, Olimar and the Mii Fighters will never be spawned as a false character in battles with Galeem and Dharkon. While Kirby will also not appear, he was never initially imprisoned in the first place unlike the other fighters.
  • Olimar is the only fighter to have an alternate costume of a different character beyond a gender swap in the same pose as his default costume, excluding the Mii Fighters.
  • Since update 2.0.0, if Olimar's Pikmin latch onto something and it changes size with them still latched on, they will change their size too. This is most noticeable with the Mother Brain, though Super and Poison Mushrooms will also do this, as long as they are applied by the character the Pikmin are latched onto.
  • While Olimar’s default costume is never used in any spirit battles, Alph's main colors are used.
    • Furthermore, while Olimar technically appears in four spirit battles, three of them use Alph instead. The only one that features Olimar himself features him as an ally instead of an enemy. This specifically makes Olimar one of two non-DLC fighters that are never directly fought in any spirit battles, the other being Pokémon Trainer.
  • Olimar is featured in the fewest spirit battles out of all non-DLC fighters, only appearing in four.
  • Olimar, Ivysaur, Greninja, Little Mac, Ryu and Ken are the only characters to never appear as minions in any spirit battles.
  • Strangely, in the "Alph's Origin" tip, Alph used to be depicted with his green alternate costume, rather than his default one but this has since been fixed.
  • In World of Light, Olimar (and by extension, Alph) is one of the few fighters who is not affiliated with Dharkon in any way, as all of his encounters as himself or as a puppet fighter are in association with Galeem. Little Mac, Ivysaur, Ness, Roy, Toon Link, Wii Fit Trainer, Squirtle, Mii Gunner, and Pokémon Trainer all share this distinction as well.