Pikachu (SSBM)

This article is about Pikachu's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For this Pokémon in other contexts, see Pikachu. For information about Pikachu's clone, see Pichu (SSBM).

Pikachu in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	D (12)

“

A Pokémon that excels at clever fighting.

”

Announced at E3 2001, Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is a Pokémon and starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Like Kirby and Ness, Pikachu was nerfed from the original to Melee, albeit not as strongly.

Pikachu ranks 12th on the current tier list, in the D tier. Pikachu, while nerfed, is still a potent fighter; it has very good speed and plenty of KO options, as it owns the strongest up smash in the game and a quick semi-spike. It also has a very long, safe, and versatile recovery. However, Pikachu is strongly held back by a bad range, with its best finishers having hitboxes very close to its body; coupled with poor options in the air and a short wavedash, Pikachu overall has a poor approach.

Attributes

In general character archetypes, Pikachu generally stands as a small fighter with good speed; Pikachu has medium falling speed, very good dashing speed (fourth highest in the game), high traction and below average air speed. As a result of average falling speed and high traction gives it a short wavedash; average falling speed, however, gives Pikachu decent SHFFL potential. Due to its small size, Pikachu is also rather resistant to shield stabbing.

Pikachu, despite being fast, has plenty of powerful attacks in its arsenal; its forward and up smashes are among the most powerful in the game (with its up being the most powerful), and it has special moves with KO potential (Thunder and Skull Bash). In the air, Pikachu also has good options for edgeguarding, due to some moderately fast aerials with special properties (such as its up air, which acts as a semi-spike, and its down, which has decent horizontal knockback); Pikachu itself can be difficult to edgeguard, as Quick Attack moves very quickly, grants good distance and it can have a very unpredictable path, making Pikachu very resilient to edgeguarding.

Pikachu also has a very good variety of special attacks, all of which can be seamlessly integrated into gameplay. Its Thunder Jolt is among the most flexible projectiles in the game, due to its ground-hugging properties; with low knockback and decent hitstun as well, it can set up combos on the ground, and it can also interrupt some recoveries. Skull Bash can double as an offensive attack with high power when charged, and in the air, it can act as a decent horizontal recovery option. While Quick Attack has little offensive application, the ability to change its directions and its speed gives Pikachu a long and unpredictable recovery. Thunder, despite its high ending lag, can act as a combo finisher or as a KO move off-stage.

Pikachu's air and grab games are also rather good; Pikachu has multiple options in the air. Due to a lack of KO potential in the air, Pikachu's aerials have good combo ability. Pikachu's grab game has both low and medium knockback throws, most of which deal good damage; its up and down throw can be used to set up combos, while its back throw can easily send opponents off the edge, allowing Pikachu to begin edgeguarding.

Pikachu's primary flaw, however, is its poor range, with almost all of its best finishers being too close to its body to allow them to be used safely. While its forward smash has a disjointed hitbox, Pikachu's best KO options are directly next to it, notably Thunder and its up smash. Thunder Jolt cannot KO reliably at any percentage, and Skull Bash is rather predictable, and it requires a charge to pack any sort of power; additionally, Pikachu's relatively flexible grab and throw game is severely hampered by a very short grab range (the shortest in the game). Pikachu's air options are also poor; none of its aerial attacks can effectively KO except at very high percentages, close to the blast lines. The sole exception is its up aerial; like its ground-based attacks, however, it has high power but low range, hampering its effectiveness.

Pikachu is also harmed by a poor approach. Due to very long-lasting aerials with moderately high ending lag, an average falling speed and a rather high short hop, Pikachu has a poor SHFFL. Pikachu's ground approach fares no better, as outlined earlier, due to poor range in its attacks; a short and slow wavedash also prevents Pikachu from potentially improving its range via wavesmashing, unlike characters such as Luigi or Marth. Additionally, due to its light weight and below average air speed, Pikachu is very easy to juggle and chainthrow; Sheik, for instance, can easily chaingrab Pikachu from zero-to-death.

Moveset

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Ground attacks

• Neutral attack - An extremely quick headbutt. Does very minimal damage (1-2%), and has a short range. This attack can be canceled into itself with two frames between possible inputs, so it can be mashed for a quick series of headbutts.
• Forward tilt - Pikachu plants itself on its upper paws and kicks its lower paws in front of its body. This attack can be a UF-tilt or DF-tilt as well, depending on the direction held. This move has surprising range, and hits for nearly the whole duration of its animation. Can be used as a defensive attack, or as an edgeguard. It is best used as a counter to shuffling characters, as it will almost always interrupt their approach. Low damage, low knockback.
• Up tilt - Pikachu swings its tail above its body in an arc. This attack is hard to set up, as it has low range and low priority. The knockback works well for juggles and combos however, as it sends opponents upward. Low damage, low knockback.
• Down tilt - Pikachu sweeps its tail in front of itself. This move has decent range, low knockback, low damage, and low priority. However, it doesn't have a lot of lag and hits rather low. This can be used as an edgeguard against a sloppy recovery, though there are better options.
• Dash attack - Pikachu jumps forwards, headbutting.

Smashes

• Forward smash - Pikachu rears back, then ejects an attached jolt of electricity in front from its cheeks. A powerful attack that can evade some attacks with the initial animation. Has decent range. The hitbox is disjointed, which makes it a wise choice for edge guarding.
• Up smash - Pikachu does a back flip. This is the strongest up smash in the game in terms of knockback, and is extremely quick with decent range, and one of the strongest smash attacks. Pikachu's up smash is extremely versatile, whether it be setting up juggles or going for a quick low percent KO. Is also good for shieldstabbing.
• Down smash - Pikachu spins around in place repeatedly. This is a multi-hit attack that comes out very quickly. Easily used from a successful crouch cancel, and sets up for an aerial at lower percentages.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Quickly does a cartwheel onto the stage. 8% damage
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly climbs up and whips it's tail. 6% damage
• Floor attack- Whirls around, tail extended. Can just barely hit the foe for 3% damage; 6% normally.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Pikachu curls up in a ball and does somersaults in the air. This is a versatile aerial, as it does decent damage, decent knockback, and comes out very quickly. A generic use-anywhere aerial.
• Up aerial - Pikachu swiftly swings its tail above itself in an arc. Extremely quick with low knockback, this can be used to juggle opponents repeatedly. Also, if hit with the tip of the tail at certain points during the arc, this will send opponents far at a nasty side angle similar to Sheik's forward aerial. This trajectory can be achieved even at low percentages. This attack makes edgeguarding a breeze with predictable recoveries. An essential attack for controlling a match.
• Forward aerial - Pikachu does a barrel roll in the air, emitting sparks. This has multiple hits with minimal damage. This has more horizontal range than any of Pikachu's aerials. The move, however, has little knockback.
• Down aerial - Pikachu does a barrel roll, except it is facing the ground. Unlike the forward aerial, this does one hit in the air, and one hit upon landing if the animation is still going. The aerial hit does decent damage, has good priority and good knockback, more so than the neutral aerial. The hit upon landing has far lower knockback and stun. This attack lags significantly more than the neutral aerial however, and has a noticeable startup.
• Back aerial - Pikachu spins in a manner similar to its down smash. Decent range, damage and knockback, however it lags noticeably if missed.

Throws

• Pummel - Pikachu zaps the enemy.
• Forward throw - Pikachu places the opponent on its back and shocks them, sending them forward. This throw is multi-hit, and has low knockback. The only use for this throw is to build damage if you have no other throw setups, which is a rare situation.
• Back throw - Pikachu does backwards somersaults with the opponent, then flings them behind itself. Has decent knockback, and is best used near an edge so as to get maximum range from the throw.
• Up throw - Pikachu places the opponent on its head, then headbutts the opponent upward. This is a useful throw for high percent fastfallers, as it will lead to a up smash or up aerial most times.
• Down throw - Pikachu places the opponent on the ground, then jumps on them. This is good for lower percent lightweights, as it will sometimes lead to a up smash; against fastfallers, it has chainthrow potential. This throw is more easily DIed than the up throw.

Special moves

Pikachu's special moves

Neutral special	Thunder Jolt
Side special	—	Skull Bash
Up special	Quick Attack
Down special	Thunder

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Changes from SSB to Melee

When making to the transition to Melee, Pikachu was nerfed, similar to Ness and Kirby. Unlike the two, however, Pikachu still remains a viable competitive fighting force, sitting at the 12th position on the tier list.

Pikachu, however, did gain some buffs; Thunder Jolt now travels underneath ledges, making it more effective for edgeguarding. Quick Attack also now inflicts damage with no knockback while in use, though most of its invincibility frames have been removed, and it travels a slightly shorter distance.

Pikachu's primary nerf, however, was that its range was lowered; its new down smash, back aerial, neutral aerial, and grab have less range than in the previous game, and Thunder no longer has infinite vertical distance (though it is still rather tall).

In terms of cosmetic changes, Pikachu received new voice samples that are higher pitched and more energetic. Pikachu's taunt was also altered slightly, and it now has different palette swaps; green gives it a headband, while the red pallet swap gives it a cap similar to the cap Red would wear in Pokémon Red/Green/Blue. It now has a new special, Skull Bash.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Pikachu can appear in one-on-one matches, team battles as an ally or alongside Pichu, Kirby or Jigglypuff, in a multi-character fight, and as a metal opponent in the mode's penultimate stage. Pikachu's stage is Pokémon Stadium; when fought with Kirby in the team battle, it will appear on Green Greens instead.

In Adventure Mode

Pikachu appears in Stage 7 of the Adventure Mode. In its stage, the player must fight eight separate Pikachu's on Pokémon Stadium similar to the Classic Mode's team battle; if Jigglypuff and Pichu are unlocked, they can also appear in the team. In this stage, the only items to spawn are Poké Balls.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Pikachu and its allies are fought on Pokémon Stadium.

In Event Matches

Marth appears in multiple Event Matches:

• Event 7: Pokémon Battle: In this event match, the player faces off against Pikachu on Pokémon Stadium; both the player and Pikachu have two lives. However, ordinary attacks do not harm it. Players must use Pokémon that appear from Pokéballs on the stage to damage and KO Pikachu.
• Event 30: All-Star Match 3: Pikachu is the second opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles it on the Pokémon Stadium stage with a stock of 2 while Pikachu has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat it and the other three characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Kirby, Ness and the Ice Climbers.
• Event 48: Pikachu and Pichu: In this match, the player must fight against a team of two Pichus and one Pikachu. The goal is for the player to KO the two Pichus in the shortest time possible; Pikachu has infinite lives, while the player has two and the Pichus have one. The stage used in Dream Land, making the event the only one in the game to take place on a Past Stage.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Pikachu as a character, there are two trophies about it as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star Modes respectively with Pikachu on any difficulty:

Pikachu (Smash Red):

While its electrical attacks, such as Thunder Jolt, are powerful, Pikachu is at its best speeding around the fray and waiting for its chance to strike. You can control the path of Pikachu's two-directional Quick Attack, allowing you to jump twice. Hold down the B Button to charge up Skull Bash. (B: Thunder Jolt, Smash B: Skull Bash)

Pikachu (Smash Blue):

The angle of the Control Stick controls the direction of Pikachu's Quick Attack. Pikachu will move blindingly fast, and it will also cause damage to any character it runs into. Move the Control Stick during Quick Attack and Pikachu will move in up to two directions. Be sure to check out the ceilings on the level when you use Thunder. (Up & B: Quick Attack, Down & B: Thunder)

Costumes

Pikachu's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• Pikachu can cancel its taunt into any attack or into its shield after the 60th frame (immediately after it starts its second wave). This can be used to trick opponents.