| Monado Arts | |
|---|---|
 Activating the Smash art | |
| User | Shulk |
| Universe | Xenoblade |
Monado Arts (モナドアーツ, Monado Arts) is Shulk's neutral special move.
Overview
Shulk has access to five arts. Each art is represented by a kanji character and a color. Shulk will also perform a pose when activating each art, although the art will be activated without a pose if Shulk is in the middle of another animation. When the special button is pressed, a kanji character will appear, beginning with Jump and following the order of Speed, Shield, Buster, and Smash for each consecutive press. While an art is activated, Shulk gets a buff to certain stats while also hampering certain others, each art giving him a different advantage and disadvantage. To activate an art, the special button must not be pressed for a few frames until the colored aura appears on Shulk. If a kanji character is behind Shulk, he will be unable to perform any of his other special moves until an art is activated.
| Kanji | Monado Art | Color | Affected stats | Activation pose (description) | Activation pose (picture) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 翔* | Jump (ジャンプ) | green |  Increased jump height, air speed, falling speed, and Air Slash height More damage takenGives Shulk the highest jump height in the series, greatly increases his air speed, and gives Air Slash a boost in height. Makes recovering offstage extremely easy due to the increased air speed and allows him to edgeguard offstage with incredible efficiency, as his forward aerial can wall of pain opponents to the blast line. Makes him vulnerable to damage from edgeguarding opponents, however, and Shulk has to watch out for opponents who are looking to interrupt his jumps since they can be stopped with any stray attack that causes hitstun. |
Holds his hand in the air | 
|
| 疾* | Speed (スピード) | blue | Increased movement speed Lower jump height, less damage dealt Lower jump height means Shulk can use short-hop aerials much more effectively, and when combined with a better approach speed makes this art a good combo starter against slower characters, if not the most reliable combo art in general. Decreased damage means Shulk has to land more attacks to compensate for the speed boost, but experienced players can rely on the speed to trap opponents with barrages of neutral and forward aerials, both which are incredible spacing attacks that can drag careless opponents offstage. Lowered jump height can be an issue if recovering, but the speed boost applies to Shulk's air speed as well, allowing him to quickly get close to the stage before changing to the Jump Art to help his recovery. |
Leans forward, ready to run | 
|
| 盾 | Shield (シールド) | yellow | Increased weight, less knockback and damage taken, higher shield longevity Lower jump height and movement speed, less damage dealt Makes Shulk the heaviest character in the game while this art is active. Reduced damage and mobility makes it difficult to gain percentage lead while in this art. A solely defensive art, as Shulk can survive to extreme percentages even against smash attacks, but one must prepare for getting sent offstage as the increased weight and mobility drastically hinders Shulk's recovery potential. Reduced knockback allows Shulk to prevent himself getting trapped in combo chains, but also increases Shulk's susceptibility to getting trapped by fast multi-hitting attacks, notably juggling moves like Kirby's up tilt. Also allows Shulk's shield to survive attacks that would normally break it (e.g Bowser Bomb). |
Crosses his arms in a defensive pose | 
|
| 斬* | Buster (バスター) | purple | More damage dealt, increased shield damage given Less knockback dealt, more damage taken Reduced knockback allows many of Shulk's attacks to chain into each other, and makes his throws open up highly-damaging combo opportunities. Also increases the amount of knockback his attacks do on shields, making him less prone to shield grabs, and increases shield damage, making his moves more powerful shield breaking attacks. It is recommended to switch to this art only if the player is certain they will be able to get a percentage lead, as this high-risk art makes Shulk incredibly vulnerable to opponent's combos which can easily send his percentage up significantly if he is careless. |
Holds the Monado in front of him, much like his down taunt | 
|
| 撃* | Smash (スマッシュ) | red | More knockback dealt Less damage dealt, decreased shield damage given, more knockback taken Turns almost all of Shulk's tilts, aerials and smash attacks into finishers with good knockback scaling. Shulk deals almost no damage and shield damage in return, making this art solely a finishing option. Similar if not higher risk than Buster, as although Shulk will be able to KO opponents at high percentages with no issue, he can be sent flying as easily by his opponents due to Smash lowering his weight and increasing knockback taken from all sources. |
Points the Monado to the sky | 
|
*Barring "shield", all of the Japanese kanji are stylized in different English translations than what they actually translate to.
Also, for all arts in the Japanese version, Shulk yells out for each respective one: 跳ぶ (Soar!), 走る! (Run/Dash!), 守る! (Protect/Defend!), 叩く! (Thrash!), 打っ飛ばす! (Blow away/Fly away!)
Once an art activates, that art cannot be activated again until 10 seconds has passed. Before then, its corresponding kanji character will be grayed out when selecting another art. The cooldown on all Monado Arts is reset when Shulk is KO'd. Each art lasts for 15 seconds before stats return to normal. No two Monado Arts can run at the same time; if one is active, and a different art is chosen, the previous art gets overwritten. Monado Arts can be cancelled by pressing the special button three times, or by holding down the special button for one full second.
To indicate which art is running, a colored aura appears in areas relevant to the effect itself. For example, Jump and Speed have an aura around Shulk's shoes, while Buster's aura will appear around the Monado. Shield's aura will appear around Shulk's chest and Smash's aura will be at Shulk's hands. Also, in the Wii U version, when under the effects of a Monado Art, the corresponding symbol appears at the top left corner of Shulk's portrait, and Shulk additionally gains a trailing aura effect while he moves (similar to a Smash Ball's glow) which color depends on his currently active art.
Although each art both boost and hampers Shulk's stats, some stat nerfs are not necessarily bad: Speed lowers his jump height as a hindrance for example, but allows Shulk to perform short hop aerials much easier, giving him a wider range of approach options while the art is active. In the same sense, Buster makes it almost impossible to launch opponents, but lowers knockback so much that Shulk's throws can lead into many intricate and damaging combos. Knowing what each art can and cannot do is therefore one of the fundamentals to Shulk's gameplay.
Kirby is able to copy Monado Arts with his Inhale and can receive effects from these Arts when he uses this copy ability, though any effect will deactivate as soon as the copy ability is discarded.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the known variations:
- Decisive Monado Arts: Arts last for 5 more seconds and recharge 5 seconds sooner, but once an Art is activated, it cannot be cancelled or changed for another Art.
- Hyper Monado Arts: Both positive and negative effects of Arts are amplified, but the Arts have a shorter duration time of 5 seconds. Recharging will also take 5 seconds longer.
Origin
In Xenoblade Chronicles, the wielder of the Monado has access to two additional arts, with more being unlocked as the story progresses.
- Monado Buster is a powerful slash attack with an extended blade that deals additional damage to Mechon. The SSB4 behaviour of raising attack power is more akin to Monado Enchant, an art that improves damage and allows other party members' normal weapons to damage Mechon.
- Monado Shield creates a barrier around all three party members that blocks a single enemy talent art, as long as Shulk has upgraded the art to a level that matches or exceeds the enemy's art. The SSB4 behaviour of decreasing damage taken is more akin to Monado Armour, an art that raises the party's defenses.
- Monado Speed greatly increases the agility of one party member, raising both accuracy and evasion for physical attacks. This is somewhat modified for SSB4 as it gives Shulk increased movement speed instead of evasion and accuracy, although the art's attributes are reflected in this game as it does give Shulk much more agility, making dodging much easier, and allows him to approach and retreat quickly, mimicking the increased evasion that the Speed Art grants in Xenoblade Chronicles.
- The Jump and Smash arts are unique to SSB4, although both arts use a color that matches an existing art in his origin game: Jump uses the green shade of Monado Purge, which applies Aura Seal on opponents, removing any existing auras and preventing them from activating any auras or spike abilities for the duration (coincidentally, Shulk does a jump before activating the art in his origin game), while Smash uses an almost similar shade of red as Monado Eater, an art that removes enemy buffs and inflicts bleed on victims.
The fact that each Monado Art cannot be selected again for a short time after use reflects a mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles, in which arts have cooldown times before they can be used again. How long the cooldown lasts depends on the art. However, this only applies to normal arts; Monado Arts are talent arts, meaning they instead require Shulk to fill his talent gauge by dealing damage to use them.
Trivia
- This is the only neutral special move that cannot be performed while on a revival platform.
- It is also the only special move in the entire series that cannot be performed from a revival platform that can be performed in the air.
- Contrary to popular belief, the Buster art doesn't give Shulk the most damage vulnerability: the Jump Art does.
- Despite having a copy of the Monado equipped, Kirby does not use it for any direct attacks when he copies Shulk from an inhale.
- While most of Shulk's Monado Art poses are unique to SSB4 (as in he does not use them in his origin game), Speed is the only art that uses a recycled pose: Shulk poses in the Shadow Eye skill's pose when the Art is activated.
