PK Thunder
PK Thunder (Japanese: PKサンダー, PK Sandaa) is the Up Special Move for Ness and Lucas. When used, it creates a stream of lightning whose direction can be controlled using the control stick. As such, using PK Thunder will result in Ness and Lucas not being able to move or defend, because the control stick is used to aim PK Thunder.
The head of Ness' PK Thunder does 8% damage when hitting an opponent, while Lucas' does 9-10% damage. The tail for both characters' PK Thunder has infinite priority and cannot be cancelled. One difference between the two boys' PK Thunders are that Ness's PK Thunder hits once and disappears if it hits an enemy, while Lucas's PK Thunder goes through enemies and can score multiple hits. However, the tail of Ness's PK Thunder is longer, and deals more stun than the tail of Lucas's PK Thunder. Ness's PK Thunder is also considerably faster than Lucas'. Lucas' PK Thunder turns in a tighter circle than Ness', meaning that Lucas' is easier to control and can be used to recover in narrower spaces.
Another difference between their PK Thunders is their direction of knockback. When Ness hits an opponent with the PK Thunder's head, the enemy is knocked back toward the direction it was coming from; and when Lucas does so, the enemy is pushed away. Since Lucas's PK Thunder does not disappear after hitting an opponent, it can chase the enemy around the stage. It is a useful edgeguarding tool because unlike Ness's PK Thunder, Lucas's thunder's head will push the enemy away from instead of toward the point of impact. In addition, both sides of the head have more priority than the front and they have a direction of knockback perpendicular to the direction the thunder is moving. The sides can hit a shield safely without the thunder disappearing, and due to hitbox renewal (the head can only hit once every 48 frames) it is possible for the thunder to go through shields. On the other hand, Ness' is more useful for techniques like juggling, as after his thunder hits an enemy, he can use it again, repeatedly. Also, as it pulls opponents towards him, so it can keep opponents with a good aerial game from staying in the air too long.
In Melee, the uncontrolled thunder can hit anybody, not just Ness' opponents. This means that one can actually use the PK Thunder as a barrier, using the tail to intentionally block oneself from flying off the screen after being hit. This is called a PK Thunder Barrier.
The PK Thunder can also break Smash Balls, making it useful to acquire a Final Smash if the Smash Ball is far away.
PK Thunder 2
"PK Thunder 2" or "PK Rocket" is the term used for hitting Ness or Lucas with their own PK Thunder while it is still under their control. The Japanese developers called this move PK Jibaku (PK自爆). The word jibaku means 'self-destruct' or 'suicide bomb,' a fitting term for a tactic that turns Ness and Lucas into human missiles.
This technique can be used by Ness and Lucas. Doing so will transform Ness or Lucas into a human projectile, which will move in different directions depending on what part of the body is hit. If the Ness or Lucas makes contact with an enemy, he will deal a good amount of damage and knockback, although the SSB version is considerably stronger than the SSBM equivalent. Lucas's version of the attack hits multiple times, while Ness's deals one strong blow. Also if used up close, it can bring Ness to a short stop.
The PK Thunder 2 is also Ness and Lucas's main method of recovery, given that it launches them fairly far in a straight direction. It is interesting to note that Lucas's PK Thunder 2 covers more ground than Ness's, so Lucas's is slightly more effective. In addition, while performing PK Thunder 2, Ness's PK Thunder curves in a larger arch than Lucas, thus Lucas requires less room to use PK Thunder 2 than Ness. However, Ness's PK Thunder is faster, so it makes up for this. While using the move, the user will fall much slower. Unfortunately, using this in a pit makes it more difficult to guide the PK Thunder without striking the walls of the pit. It should also be noted that on stages like Battlefield or Final Destination if Lucas's PK Thunder 2 is aimed wrong, the user will bounce right off the corner of the stage, leaving him in a helpless animation away from the ledge.
If Ness's PK Thunder 2 hits an opponent, it does 25% damage with extremely high knockback, KOing lighter characters at 30% or less. If all of Lucas's hits connect when using PK Thunder 2, it will deal a massive 43% damage and has decent knockback, making it Lucas' most damage-dealing move, with the exception of PK Starstorm, which cannot be used in competitive play. However, it is very hard to get the full 43% as PK Thunder 2 takes very long to start and as such, is easily dodgeable.
CPUs playing as either Ness or Lucas are also programmed to use this strategy, but they only use PK Thunder 2 vertically, even in situations where only recovering horizonally or diagonally would prevent death.
For tactical uses, Lucas's PK Thunder 2 can be used to "Thunderglide". Thundergliding is when the player runs off a platform then immediately uses PK Thunder. The effect should come out to being the PK Thunder being much closer to Lucas than normal. Then, guide the thunder into Lucas and he should angle down towards the ground. If perfomed right, Lucas's direction will go from diagonal to horizontal as he glides along the ground. Otherwise, he'll crash into the ground like a normal poorly aimed thunder. Lucas will stop at the edge on his own, making this move safe to use on a stage like Battlefield. The thunderglide is great for surprising opponents for a quick 20-43% damage.
Origin
While Ness and Lucas were never able to learn PK Thunder in their games, it could be learned by one of their party members; for Ness, his party members Paula and Poo could learn PK Thunder, while Lucas's party member, Kumatora, also learned PK Thunder. While PK Thunder is a controlled projectile in the Super Smash Bros. series, in Earthbound and Mother 3, PK Thunder hits randomly without control.
Trivia
- In the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl Prima strategy guide, it is incorrectly stated that Lucas's PK Thunder hit opponents once, and sends them flying, while Ness's PK Thunder, on the other hand, is able to hit opponents multiple times.
- The speed of the PK Thunder lightning bolt is not affected by a timer.
- In Melee, only a level 9 Ness CPU will use PK Thunder to recover. Level 8 and below will rarely ever use PK Thunder to recover.
