Pikachu (SSB4)

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Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Volt Tackle

Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. It retains its special moves of Thunder Jolt, Quick Attack, Thunder, and Skull Bash. Pikachu's appearance has been updated to match the most recent Pokémon games (such as the Generation V and VI main series games and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure) and the Pokémon anime episodes; its model has been altered, and continues the trend of being gradually less chubby with each additional appearance. Pikachu is additionally significantly more brightly colored.

Changes from Brawl

• Skull Bash travels farther when charged.
• Up tilt and up aerial both have drastically less ending lag. The former also has much lower knockback scaling, making it more useful at lower percentages.
• Sweetspotted dash attack is much stronger.
• Forward aerial has reduced landing lag, and is more powerful to the point where it has KO potential offstage.
• Down smash is much harder to SDI out of.
  • It has higher ending lag.
• Forward smash, forward tilt, up aerial, and back aerial deal less damage.
• Neutral aerial deals less damage when sweetspotted; it deals 8% as opposed to the 12% it dealt in Brawl.
• Down throw appears to have higher knockback growth, limiting its followup options.
• Pikachu's Quick Attack can not be cancelled into the ground anymore, removing the possibility of the QAC technique.
• Volt Tackle deals less damage and knockback.
  • It lasts slightly longer.
  • It appears to be slower, though it is more controlled.
• Thunder has shorter vertical range, and is generally harder to hit with.
  • It can now meteor smash opponents who touch the upper part of the bolt near the cloud, quickly sending the opponent back down to Pikachu and allowing a tech-chase or followups. However, this makes successful Thunderspikes harder to land.

The following moves are visually unchanged:

• Neutral attack
• Up tilt
• Forward tilt
• Dash attack
• Up smash
• Forward aerial
• Down aerial
• Thunder Jolt
• Down taunt
• Side taunt
• Up taunt
• Pikachu retains the ability to crawl.

Special Moves

In Super Smash Bros. 4, special moves can be swapped out for different variants, but a few of Pikachu's have been known. It retains its original special moves as well as its final smash. These are Pikachu's special moves:

Special Move	Basic	Custom 1	Custom 2
Neutral Special	Thunder Jolt	Thunder Wave	Thundershock
Side Special	Skull Bash	Shocking Skull Bash	Heavy Skull Bash
Up Special	Quick Attack	Meteor Quick Attack	Quick Feet
Down Special	Thunder	Self-Generation	Great Thunder
Final Smash	Volt Tackle	-	-

Palette swaps

Gallery

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  Pikachu's appearance during the Smash Direct.

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  Pikachu's appearance during E3 2013.

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  Pikachu using Thunder Jolt.

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  Pikachu uses Skull Bash.

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  Pikachu uses Thunder.

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  Pikachu in the 3DS version of the game.

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  Mario, Pikachu, Bowser and Pit on a red plane in Wuhu Island.

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  Pikachu behind Mega Man.

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  Pikachu sitting.

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  Pikachu along with a Luma, and Starfy.

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  Pikachu with Toon Link and Kirby

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  Pikachu with Mega Man.

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  Footstooling Donkey Kong.

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  Behind Donkey Kong.

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  Pikachu using Thunder to meteor smash an aerial Bowser and followup with an up smash.

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  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.