Incineroar (SSBU)

Incineroar in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Pokémon
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Max Malicious Moonsault
Tier	C- (68)

“	Incineroar Enters the Ring!	”
—Introduction tagline

Incineroar (ガオガエン, Gaogaen) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It was confirmed alongside Ken and Piranha Plant on November 1st, 2018, and was the final newcomer revealed for the base roster. Incineroar is classified as Fighter #69.

Tyler Bunch (credited as "H.D. Quinn"), who voices Professor Kukui's Incineroar in the English dub of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, reprises his role. In Japanese, Incineroar is voiced by Unshō Ishizuka, who passed away 2 months and 19 days before Incineroar's reveal. Incineroar also has different voice actors for the French and German versions due to its name being different in those languages, being voiced by Frédéric Clou in French and an unidentified voice actor in German.

Incineroar is ranked 68th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing it near the end of the C- tier. Incineroar's main strength is its high damage power especially when fighting up close. It has several moves that have fast frame data and large hitboxes, which allows it to rack up damage quickly. In addition, Incineroar possesses several strong KO options, including three of its throws, Alolan Whip, and most of its aerials. All of its moves are further powered up thanks to Revenge, which allows Incineroar to not only tank a hit, but also deal even more damage the next time it attacks. Finally, Revenge and Incineroar's heavy weight allow it to survive to higher percents and take advantage of rage, making it even deadlier.

However, Incineroar also has several weaknesses, most notably its sluggish movement in both the air and on the ground; its walking and dashing speed are the slowest in the game. This gives Incineroar a poor neutral game, which, combined with a lack of projectiles and somewhat short range, means it can have trouble getting close to those that can camp or outrange it. Furthermore, its KO moves are also somewhat inconsistent, as many of its moves either have sourspots that deal less damage and knockback or have poor knockback scaling; Revenge also does not last forever as there are several ways for it to disappear, including getting grabbed. This leads to Incineroar having to rely on either its throws or Alolan Whip to KO, which can become predictable. Finally, Incineroar's recovery is also lackluster due to Cross Chop's limited horizontal distance if not used above or near the stage, which can lead into a self-destruct if not positioned properly.

Overall, Incineroar is most effective when fighting and pressuring players up-close, but it has trouble against those that can outspeed or outrange it. Historically, Incineroar had weak representation and results in competitive play, though they improved for a period of time thanks to the efforts of Skyjay. However, no other Incineroar player has matched Skyjay's level of results, leading the character's representation reliant on one player.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Incineroar being the 46th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Samus or any character in her unlock tree, being the 4th character unlocked after Pit.
• Have Incineroar join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Incineroar must then be defeated on Boxing Ring. In World of Light, it is fought on the Ω form of Spear Pillar.

Attributes

Incineroar draws many comparisons to some of the slowest, hardest-hitting fighters from throughout the history of the Super Smash Bros. series: it is a tall super heavyweight (being tied with Charizard as the 6th heaviest character) who has the 19th fastest falling speed, the 11th highest gravity, and average air acceleration. However, Incineroar is the overall slowest character in the game: it has the slowest walking and dashing speeds among the entire cast, as well as the 10th slowest air speed, and is tied for the 14th slowest initial dashing speed.

As a character that pays homage to professional wrestling, Incineroar's moveset boasts an abundance of single-hit attacks and throws, and its attacks have respectably large hitboxes for a close-range fighter of its mobility. Contrary to its sluggish movement and heavy weight, Incineroar's frame data is surprisingly above-average, with fairly quick start-up and respectable ending lag despite their impressive damage outputs. Unlike most other hard hitters, Incineroar's weaker attacks are fairly reliable combo starters that work at a myriad of percentages, giving its moveset an excellent amount of utility. Meanwhile, most of its stronger moves are greatly damaging and, in many cases, capable of KOing early. As expected of a super heavyweight, rage helps Incineroar KO even easier, and it is able to take advantage of it easily thanks to its quick falling speed, high gravity and aforementioned weight collectively granting it impressive endurance.

Unsurprisingly for a professional wrestling-inspired fighter, Incineroar's greatest asset is its excellent grab game. While Incineroar's grab range is average, its grabs are decently quick, linger longer than average (though its dash grab and pivot grab are slow), and it has one of the best sets of throws among the entire cast, all of which have respectable damage outputs. Its forward, back, and up throws are all powerful (with each being the strongest of their kind in the game in certain situations), whereas down throw is the core of its combo game. The latter can lead to various aerials (including down aerial, though its slow start-up makes it a mix-up), forward, and dashing up smash at very low percentages, and Darkest Lariat. It can also potentially lead to a risky sacrificial KO with Cross Chop, which will always result in the opponent being KO'd first.

Incineroar's forward throw has high knockback even at low percentages, making it an acceptable throw to set up an edgeguard at percentages where its down throw will not combo anymore, and to KO at high percentages near the edge. Its back throw, when performed at the edge, can potentially rival Ness' own back throw as the strongest throw in the game, and can KO light characters exceptionally early; however, due to its launch angle, lack of damage during the actual throw (as it consists of a hit before the opponent is thrown), and lackluster resistance to DI, it can be survived relatively easily if used mid-stage and kills far later than Ness' own throw if used in such a situation. Finally, Incineroar's up throw is its most reliable KO throw due to being the strongest of its kind (only surpassed by Olimar's up throw with Blue Pikmin), and easily KOs earlier with the assistance of platforms and/or a low upper blast line. Overall, Incineroar has KO throws for any given situation, while also having a reliable combo starter.

Similar to some of its fellow super heavyweights, Incineroar also possesses a unique grab; in this case, a command grab that functions as its side special, Alolan Whip. Upon execution, the player must press the attack or special button again after the throw initiates, and depending on timing, it has three outcomes: performing it early will result in a back body drop that has high vertical knockback that scales slowly, performing it too late will result in the opponent harmlessly bouncing back while damaging Incineroar, and performing it cleanly (as the opponent is about to collide with Incineroar) results in a lariat that is one of Incineroar's strongest moves, thanks to impressive horizontal knockback and a low launch angle. Even the early and failed versions of the move have their uses, with the back body drop KOing earlier while near the upper blast line, and the collision being usable to set up a reversal.

Incineroar's grounded moveset is a good example of its fast frame data for its high damage and power. Its neutral attack is tied for the second fastest attack in its moveset, and it is tied with King K. Rool, Ike, and Wario's neutral attacks for the third most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the entire game, being surpassed only by Kazuya and Terry's. Incineroar's forward tilt is the strongest in the game when sweetspotted, and is among its best KO options on the ground due to its solid startup and semi-spike angle. Its up and down tilts serve similar purposes, being combo starters that can set up into Incineroar's other moves. The former can link into itself at low percentages and into aerials at low to medium ones, and serves as an anti-air due to invincibility on Incineroar's head. Conversely, the latter has impressive range, lowers Incineroar's hurtbox, and has excellent combo potential throughout all percentages, allowing combos into Incineroar's up tilt or up smash at low percentages or aerials at high percentages, including KO confirms into all its aerials (barring down aerial) or Darkest Lariat.

Incineroar's dash attack's clean hitbox makes it is one of the strongest attacks of its kind in the game, but is mainly useful as a burst KO option when fresh, as Incineroar's slow speed can make it quite predictable. Finally, Incineroar's smash attacks have their own unique perks. Its forward smash comes out surprisingly quickly, KOs extremely early when sweetspotted at the foot (being the 4th strongest when sweetspotted), and deals good shield damage. Its up smash has a wide, consistently strong hitbox and grants intangibility, which make it useful for both anti-air tactics and KOing outright. Finally, Incineroar's down smash momentarily shifts its hurtbox upwards, allowing it to dodge grabs, attacks, and even projectiles to act as a hard punish.

A few of Incineroar's aerial moves are also useful. Its neutral aerial is also tied for its second fastest attack and has a large hitbox all-around. When sweetspotted, it can be used to KO offstage; if not, it can still function as a powerful combo starter, especially for an out of shield option. Incineroar's up aerial is its go-to aerial juggle option due to its wide hitbox and its capability of comboing from up and down tilts. Its down aerial is a powerful meteor smash that can still KO even if the sourspot hits, and at lower percentages, sets the opponent up for a combo. Incineroar's forward and back aerials are its main way to KO opponents in the air, aside from Alolan Whip, thanks to their faster startup, with short hop forward aerial being a quick follow-up to down tilt, and full hop forward aerial following down throw at higher percentages. Due to its aerials' power and decent enough recovery, Incineroar's edgeguarding game is respectable.

Incineroar's other special moves complete its moveset with a few versatile tools. Darkest Lariat is Incineroar's get-off-me option, possessing fast startup (being tied for neutral attack and neutral aerial as its second fastest attack), a long duration, transcendent priority throughout its hitboxes, invincibility on its arms, and a very strong early hit. Though its power gradually weakens over time, its perks allow it to outprioritize many moves (even weak projectiles) while hitting hard. Cross Chop is Incineroar's main recovery move; it can contest against other attacks due to its super armor during the start, and the descending hit deals high knockback. It is also a powerful combo finisher or sacrificial KO, as the initial descent's high base knockback allows it to gimp any character at 0% should the descending hit connect.

Finally, Revenge is a unique counterattack that retaliates with a weak hit, but stores a stackable power increase that affects Incineroar's next move; with a sufficiently strong buff, it grants exorbitantly powerful punishes, with moves such as its smashes, Darkest Lariat, Alolan Whip, and most infamously back throw turning into some of the strongest attacks in the game. While the buff lasts for one successful move, it is not lost should the attack hit an opponent's shield, making Incineroar's moves generally safe on block and can even result in the opponent's shield being broken if they keep shielding, leading to their doom. The buff does eventually go away if Incineroar uses too many moves without landing a hit, or if Incineroar itself is hit enough times, or if Incineroar is grabbed and thrown by an opponent. Revenge's buff is not lost upon hitting the failed version of Alolan Whip, but is lost upon hitting the first neutral attack if you do not complete the jab combo.

However, Incineroar's powerful abilities come at a severe cost. Its biggest issue comes from its poor neutral game. As mentioned before, Incineroar possesses abysmal mobility; when combined with a lack of a projectile, this makes it very easy to zone out and gives it a terrible approach. While the hitboxes on its moves are large, Incineroar's overall range remains somewhat short, so any sufficiently long-ranged projectile or disjointed range can be enough to keep Incineroar at bay. This is especially troublesome considering the cast is also full of characters with either greater mobility (such as Sonic), superior melee range (such as Lucina), good zoning games (such as Min Min), or in some cases, all three points (such as Wolf).

Further adding to this is Incineroar's poor air game: although moves like its neutral aerial offer good utility, and its forward and back aerials have the range to outspace opponents, none of Incineroar's aerials can autocancel from a short hop aside from its up aerial (with its forward aerial not autocanceling even from a full hop). This significantly limits their use in the neutral game, as their poor autocancel windows make them unable to approach reliably. In bulk, this gives Incineroar one of the most lackluster neutral games of any character, being one of the characters with the most trouble at getting close to opponents to begin with, and forces it to heavily rely on bait-and-punish tactics to get in.

Another prominent issue is Incineroar's recovery. Cross Chop turns into an inevitable self-destruct if Incineroar is not directly below the edge or above stage level, which can lead to falling into predictable recovery paths, while Alolan Whip is very linear and has considerable ending lag. Incineroar's slow air speed, fast falling speed, and high gravity further compound its recovery issues. That said, Alolan Whip can intercept edgeguard attempts thanks to its non-inputted collision, allowing Incineroar to potentially reverse the situation. Furthermore, neither Cross Chop's descent nor Alolan Whip renders Incineroar helpless, so Incineroar does have the ability to mix its recovery up when used in tandem with a directional air dodge and its midair jump, especially if it recovers from a high altitude, which adds to its impressive endurance. However, in a similar manner to Marth, if it doesn't have its double jump, Incineroar is highly vulnerable to being edgeguarded. By extension, any sufficiently strong semi-spike or meteor smash will almost certainly result in Incineroar being KO'd, and any combo that drags it offstage is usually fatal if it is not at a high enough altitude to recover.

Although its frame data gives it less of an issue breaking out of combos and rushdown tactics, its only reliable options to break through such tactics are its neutral aerial, Darkest Lariat, and Revenge, all of which are exceptionally simple to predict and punish. If it is unable to break through combos, its slow mobility can leave it very vulnerable to constant aggression, in addition to being vulnerable to zoning and spacing. Its poor neutral game further contributes to this, as it can make it very difficult for Incineroar to even get back to a position where it can try to exploit the opponent's offense or defense. Despite its fast-falling speed, Incineroar's slow air speed also leaves it vulnerable to juggling. Altogether, all these flaws collectively result in Incineroar having a poor disadvantage state.

Although its moveset has greatly damaging options, Incineroar has surprisingly inconsistent KO potential compared to many of its fellow super heavyweights. While its throws are among the strongest in the game and many of its other moves possess high knockback at low percentages as a result of their high base knockback, their knockback does not increase quickly due to their low knockback scaling. Notable examples of this are its neutral and back aerials, back throw, Darkest Lariat, and Alolan Whip's back body drop. Notably, some of Incineroar's moves require landing a sweetspot to attain their maximum knockback; notable cases include its forward tilt (despite the sweetspot being the strongest in the game), forward smash, and both forward and back aerials.

Finally, disregarding its up throw, Incineroar has the worst vertical KO potential of the super heavyweights. Its up tilt, up aerial, and Alolan Whip's back body drop all have lackluster power, while its up smash, while powerful, is relatively slow for an out of shield option. Revenge can alleviate this issue to a degree, but this requires Incineroar to read the opponent's attack in the first place. In addition, the buff is lost once it has successfully landed an attack, meaning that if Incineroar is forced to attack with one of its weaker moves, it is possible to waste the buff entirely. The buff can also be gradually lost by attacking Incineroar, by waiting after approximately 60 seconds (which is possible due to Incineroar's susceptibility to being outranged or camped), or outright wasted by throwing Incineroar via a regular grab or a command grab, further adding to its inconsistency.

In the end, Incineroar falls within the "grappler" playstyle archetype, which notoriously requires a very specific playstyle to be effective. Incineroar excels at taking advantage of close-range openings, where it can land powerful blows or start consistent combos that rack up damage quickly in only a few hits, all while being difficult for an opponent to punish due to its staying power, relative safety on shield, and heavy punish abilities, making Incineroar very formidable once it wins the neutral game and gets in close. However, its significantly below-average mobility and relatively short range make getting in its greatest hurdle, as most of the cast can simply run away and attack from a distance. Also, while it has an incredible overall damage output, it suffers from inconsistent KO potential that is mostly reliant on its throws and side special, making it predictable when it comes to scoring a KO.

Update history

Incineroar received a mix of buffs, nerfs, and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed overall. Update 2.0.0 strengthened its up smash and up throw, and made its down aerial auto-cancel properly. The most notable buff, however, was Cross Chop's increased overall travel distance, which improved Incineroar's notoriously weak recovery at certain angles and especially its vertical recovery (although lower angles that are not directly below the edge are still almost impossible to recover from). As part of a near-universal buff to multi-hit attacks, update 3.1.0 buffed Incineroar's neutral attack by adjusting its hits for them to connect more reliably.

Update 6.0.0 further buffed Incineroar in a number of ways. Its neutral attack's third hit was strengthened noticeably, thus improving the move's reliability in regard to warding off opponents. Its forward aerial gained a late hitbox, which makes the move function similarly to Diddy Kong's forward aerial. Its down aerial's meteor smashing hitbox is now significantly easier to land, thanks to it out-prioritizing the sourspot. Lastly, Darkest Lariat's clean hit has increased power and range, while Revenge became safer via increases to its active frames and knockback alongside decreased ending lag. Following this, update 7.0.0 adjusted the collateral knockback of Alolan Whip's back body drop and lariat: this made them safer on hit against at low percentages when used on bystanders, yet noticeably weakened the lariat's KO potential against bystanders.

Update 8.0.0 provided Incineroar with some helpful buffs, the most notable of which were to Alolan Whip and Revenge. Alolan Whip's overall lag was decreased by 2 frames, and its already powerful lariat was strengthened even further. Revenge's damage multiplier was increased significantly, thus making it much more rewarding. Its ending lag from a missed counter attempt was also decreased yet again, which improved its safety.

In addition to these buffs, Incineroar's up smash's already respectable KO potential was improved even further via its knockback being increased overall. Incineroar's grab game was also improved: each of its grabs received a 1-frame decrease to their start-up and ending lag, while forward throw was strengthened slightly, making it the strongest forward throw in the game. Lastly, update 13.0.0 buffed Incineroar by slightly increasing the damage outputs of its down smash, up aerial, and Cross Chop at the cost of slight knockback compensation for each move.

Overall, Incineroar fares better than it did at the launch of Ultimate, thanks to its buffs improving the consistency and/or utility of several of its moves, particularly Cross Chop and Revenge.

2.0.0

• Up smash has more knockback.
• Incineroar can grab edges earlier after using up aerial (frame 58 → 56).
• Down aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 59 → 45), matching the move's interruptibility.
• Up throw has more knockback.
• Cross Chop travels farther vertically and horizontally (Height multiplier: 0.81× → 1×). While this hinders its potential as a KO confirm follow-up from down throw, this more prominently improves its recovery potential.

3.0.0

• The glitch that allowed the opponent to lose 2 stocks using Alolan Whip collision glitch with Fishing Rod in Stamina matches has been fixed.

3.1.0

• Neutral attack's hits connect more reliably.
• A glitch involving Alolan Whip and Mii Brawler's Counter Throw putting a fighter in a state where the game will crash if they are KO'd has been fixed.

6.0.0

• Neutral attack's third hit deals more damage (4.7% → 6.7%) and knockback (75 base/50 scaling → 80/60).
• Forward aerial has gained a late hit on frames 11-14 that deals less damage (12%/13% → 9%/9.6%), increasing the move's duration and allowing it to lock more effectively.
• Down aerial's sweetspot takes priority over the sourspot, making the meteor smash easier to land.
• Darkest Lariat:
  • Darkest Lariat's clean first hit deals more damage (16%/12% → 17%/13%) with no compensation on knockback.
  • The clean first hit's hitboxes on Incineroar's arms are larger (4.6u/4.2u → 5.8u/5.4u) and placed higher (Y offset: 10u → 11u), increasing its range.
  • The late first hit's arm hitboxes are placed higher (Y offset: 10u → 11u). While this better matches the move's animation, it more prominently makes it slightly worse at hitting small characters.
• Revenge:
  • Revenge's counter window lasts longer (frames 3-22 → 3-27), and the move has reduced ending lag both when missed (FAF 59 → 54) and successful (FAF 29 → 26).
  • The counterattack launches at a marginally lower angle (52°/56° → 51°/54°) with slightly more knockback (36/34 base/38/36 set → 40/38/40/38), and uses weight-independent knockback, making it consistent across the cast.

7.0.0

• Alolan Whip's hitboxes have altered knockback against bystanders (80 base/50 scaling → 128/34 (back body drop), 20/76 → 88/38 (lariat)), making them safe on hit at low percents.
  • However, this also severely weakens the lariat collateral's KO potential.

8.0.0

• Up smash has altered knockback (94 base/53 scaling → 89/61), increasing it overall.
• All grabs have one frame faster startup (frame 8 → 7 (standing), 12 → 11 (dash), 13 → 12 (pivot)), with their total duration reduced as well (FAF 39/47/45 → 38/46/44).
• Forward throw has more knockback scaling (52 → 58).
• Alolan Whip:
  • The move has faster startup (frame 18 → 16), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 60 → 58).
  • The lariat attack has more knockback scaling on both grabbed opponents (440 → 454) and bystanders (38 → 40).
• Revenge:
  • The move has less ending lag if it misses (FAF 54 → 50).
  • It applies a larger damage multiplier to the next attack (1 + (0.25 + 0.075 * damage) → 1 + (0.5 + 0.075 * damage)).

13.0.0

• Down smash deals more damage (16% → 17%), with only a slight decrease to its base knockback (75 → 73), improving its KO potential.
• Up aerial deals more damage (8% → 9%), with its knockback compensated (65 base/87 scaling → 66/79).
• Cross Chop:
  • The non-spiking descending hit of Cross Chop deals more damage (11% → 13%), with its knockback scaling compensated (54 → 48).
  • The explosion deals more damage (9% → 10.8%), with its knockback compensated (88 base/83 scaling → 89/72).

Moveset

• Incineroar will display various animations after using its neutral attack, dash attack, all smash attacks and Alolan Whip; it strikes a boastful pose if an attack hits, and expresses frustration if it misses (during its smash attacks). Aside from neutral attack's third hit, all of these animations are interruptible. All pose-inducing attacks (excluding neutral attack's third hit) also result in a crowd (separate from the standard crowd) cheering in response.
• Incineroar continuously receives damage while swimming. This trait is shared with Charizard, Sonic, and Inkling. This references Incineroar being susceptible to water due to being a Fire-type Pokémon.

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Wide Chop (すいへいチョップ, Water-Flat Chop) Kneebutt (ニーバット) Elbow Smash (エルボースマッシュ)	2.5%	A knifehand strike, followed by a knee lift, followed by the sok ngat (an uppercut-style elbow strike used in Muay Thai). If the third hit lands, Incineroar will taunt by pointing its finger toward the ground. Unlike many neutral attacks, holding the attack button only causes Incineroar to do a single attack unless it connects. The first hit can jab reset. As of update 6.0.0, it is tied with King K. Rool, Ike and Wario's neutral attacks for the third most damaging non-infinite neutral attack in the entire game, and is surpassed in that regard only by Kazuya and Terry's neutral attacks.
			2.8%
			6.7%
Forward tilt		Throat Chop (じごくづき, Hell Thrust)	13% (hand), 12% (arm)	A knifehand thrust. Can be angled. It is a semi-spike and deals high damage for a tilt attack of its speed. It is the strongest forward tilt in the game in regard to KO potential; it KOs at 80% from the edge of Final Destination, and at 116% from the center. Despite possessing a sourspot, it is practically impossible to land unless initiated at very close range due to the sweetspot taking priority over the sourspot. It appears almost identical to the Pokémon anime's depiction of Throat Chop.
Up tilt		Jumping Headbutt (ジャンピングヘッドバット)	9%	A hopping, upward arcing headbutt. It has a wide hitbox above Incineroar and grants intangibility to its head on frames 6-11, allowing it to fend off aerial approaches. It also combos into itself at 0%, and neutral aerial or up aerial from 25%-75%. However, it has blind spots directly beside Incineroar's legs; as a result, it can miss short and/or prone enemies due to its very minimal horizontal range.
Down tilt		Water Surface Kick (すいめんげり)	9%	A legsweep. It has impressive combo potential at various percentages; follow-ups include neutral attack or grab at 0%, up tilt at 18%-90%, up smash at 50%-69%, forward aerial at 30%-145%, back aerial at 40%-170%, and up aerial up to as high as 210%. Despite only using one leg for the attack, both of Incineroar's legs gain intangibility during the move; the kicking leg lasts on frames 8-11, whereas the other leg lasts on frames 9-11.
Dash attack		Jumping Kneebutt (ジャンピングニーバット)	13% (clean), 9% (late)	A knee strike. The clean hit KOs at 102% from the edge of Final Destination, whereas the late hit has underwhelming power. If it lands, Incineroar will kneel on one knee, and point its thumb toward itself while gloating.
Forward smash		Medullary Slash (えんずいぎり)	16% (leg), 20% (foot)	An enzuigiri. If it lands, Incineroar will gloat with its arms spread out, similarly to its down taunt. Conversely, it will fold its arms and clench its fists in dismay if it misses, though this animation is rarely seen due to the attack being interruptible before it plays. It has decent range and a sweetspot on Incineroar's foot; the sweetspot is strong enough to KO at 39% from the edge of Final Destination, and inflicts high shield damage as well. It is also fairly fast in spite of its power, thanks to it coming out on frame 16, but its high ending makes it easy to punish, especially on shield. Although its sourspot has a respectable damage output, its knockback values result in its KO potential being underwhelming in comparison. Despite being small, the sourspot also takes priority over the sweetspot.
Up smash		Hammer Knuckle (ハンマーナックル)	17%	An upward double axe handle. If it lands, Incineroar will look to the sky and point upward, and it will clench its fists in dismay if it misses. It is Incineroar's fastest smash attack, both start-up and endlag-wise. It starts at ground level and has a rather big hitbox that covers the front of Incineroar and even reaches slightly behind it. It also grants intangibility to Incineroar's arms and hands throughout its active frames (frames 13-18). Although its damage output is respectable and consistent, these traits are counterbalanced slightly by its below-average knockback scaling. It KOs at 116% on Final Destination.
Down smash		Body Press (ボディプレス)	17%	A jumping splash. If it lands, Incineroar will point its finger upward while on the floor, and it will pound its fist on the ground angrily if it misses. As Incineroar leaves the ground while using the move, it can dodge ground attacks and act as a hard punish. It inflicts moderately high shield damage and, like forward smash, it is incredibly powerful, KOing at 62% from the edge of Final Destination. However, it has considerable start-up and ending lag, being Incineroar's laggiest smash attack in both regards.
Neutral aerial		Flying Body Attack (フライングボディアタック)	13% (clean), 7% (late)	A splash. It has very fast start-up and functions like a sex kick, which make it useful for breaking out of combos. Auto-cancels with a jump.
Forward aerial		Drop Kick (ドロップキック)	12% (clean legs), 13% (clean feet), 9% (late legs), 9.6% (late feet)	A dropkick. It inflicts more damage and knockback if the feet hitbox connects, enabling it to KO at 110% from the edge of Final Destination. Its start-up lag also enables it to hit opponents if it is buffered from a short hop. It auto-cancels if Incineroar lands before the hitbox comes out, allowing it to cancel tumbling.
Back aerial		Sobat (ソバット)	11% (leg), 13% (foot)	A hook kick. Like forward aerial, it deals more damage and knockback if the foot hitbox connects, and it can hit opponents if buffered from a short hop. KOs at 89% from the edge of Final Destination. Like neutral aerial, it auto-cancels with a jump.
Up aerial		Wheel Kick (あびせげり, Heaping Kick)	9%	A crescent kick. It has a wide arc covering above Incineroar, but cannot hit opponents directly next to it. It auto-cancels with a short hop. A very useful juggling option that can even combo into itself, it is also generally useful for combo chains. However, opponents can react out of its combos with proper DI.
Down aerial		Meteor Stomping (メテオストンピング)	15% (clean feet), 14% (clean legs), 9% (late feet), 8% (late legs)	A double foot stomp. It has rather slow start-up, but it is a powerful meteor smash if the feet hitbox connects. Conversely, the body hitbox launches opponents diagonally.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Clinches the opponent. Incineroar's grabs have great range, but standing grab has noticeable ending lag, while its dash and pivot grabs have somewhat slow startup at frame 11 and 12, respectively.
Pummel		Grab Headbutt (つかみヘッドバット)	1.6%	A headbutt. Slow but strong.
Forward throw		Tiger Swing (タイガースイング)	12% (throw), 4% (early), 6% (mid), 8% (late), 10% (latest)	A giant swing. It deals collateral damage to bystanders, which grows in power as Incineroar gains speed during the swing. As of update 8.0.0, it is the strongest forward throw in the game, and is able to KO middleweights at 103% from the edge of Final Destination. However, it launches too far for any follow-ups aside from a dash attack at 0% if the opponent misses a tech.
Back throw		German Suplex (ジャーマンスープレックス)	14% (hitbox), — (throw)	A German suplex. When used right at the edge, it is potentially even stronger than Ness' back throw, as it is capable of KOing at 90% from the edge of Final Destination. It can even OHKO the lightest characters at the edge of stages while boosted by Revenge. While further away from the edge, however, Incineroar's back throw is considerably weaker than Ness', and is actually outclassed by Zelda, Dr. Mario, and Isabelle's back throws in addition to Ness'. Incineroar has higher knockback until about 120%; thereafter, Ness' back throw becomes stronger due to its higher knockback scaling. It can also hit bystanders, as it launches them at a lower angle and KOs them even earlier (at 75%).
Up throw		Tiger Bridge (タイガーブリッジ)	12%	An Argentine backbreaker rack drop. Incineroar poses with its arms raised and fists clenched upon completion. It has too much ending lag to combo reliably, but can follow up into an up aerial or Cross Chop if the opponent does not react in a sufficient amount of time. Like forward and back throws, it is extremely powerful; it KOs at 139% on Final Destination and significantly earlier when used on a platform.
Down throw		Chokeslam (のどわおとし, Throat Ring Dropper)	9%	A chokeslam. Incineroar pumps its fist upon completion. Unlike Incineroar's other throws, it is a combo starter instead of a KOing option. It has forward smash and dashing up smash as true follow-ups at 0%. It can also combo reliably into Darkest Lariat and neutral aerial at low percentages, and forward and up aerials at low to medium percentages. Due to Incineroar's overall slow speed, however, it loses its combo potential past medium percentages or if Incineroar has a sufficiently high level of rage. Prior to update 2.0.0, down throw could KO confirm into Cross Chop as a sacrificial KO. Due to Cross Chop's vertical travel distance being increased as of update 2.0.0, however, this KO confirm now usually works only as a mix-up if the opponent reacts poorly.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swipes around itself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swipes around itself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swipes behind itself then punches forward.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Swipes forward while climbing up.
Neutral special		Darkest Lariat	17%/13% (clean hit 1), 12%/10% (late hit 1, hit 2), 11%/9% (hits 3-4), 10%/8% (hits 5-6), 8%/6% (hits 7-8)	Spins rapidly to perform a series of discus lariats and spinning backfists. It hits multiple times, with each hit becoming progressively weaker, but they launch opponents away instead of linking into each other. Incineroar gains invincibility during the move (frames 5 and 6 on its whole body, frame 7 on its head and arms, and frames 8-57 on its arms). It has extremely minimal start-up, and the entire move possesses transcendent priority; combined with its arm invincibility, this allows it to break through opposing attacks and weaker projectiles, aside from moves with sufficient range. Incineroar can move left or right slowly by holding a direction, and it even slows Incineroar's descent, though its slow speed means it is not suitable for recovery. Its early hit KOs at 108% from the edge of Final Destination.
Side special		Alolan Whip	20% (lariat), 12% (back body drop), 4% (collision)	A command grab involving Incineroar lunging a short distance forward to grab an opponent. The opponent is then thrown against wrestling ropes that appear after the grab connects. Depending on when the special or attack button is pressed after grabbing an opponent, Incineroar will perform one of three different moves: a lariat that launches the opponent the direction Incineroar is facing (input just as the opponent touches Incineroar); a back body drop that launches the opponent vertically (input any time after the opponent rebounds); or a failed attempt that causes the victim to collide against Incineroar's head, dealing 4% to both (too late/no input). Upon executing the lariat, Incineroar poses with its arms in the air and performs "devil horn" signs with both its paws, while tilting its head upward. The lariat deals 20% and can KO at 72% from the edge of Final Destination. The back body drop deals 12% and can KO at 159% (or earlier when used near the upper blast line and/or on a stage with a low ceiling). Although the collision cannot KO at all, it can be used to simultaneously help Incineroar recover and gimp the opponent. During the throw, Incineroar gains heavy armor that withstands 11.99%. If the opponent is hit out of the move, Incineroar will shrug toward the screen. It does not cause helplessness, which allows Incineroar to use it to extend its recovery.
Up special		Cross Chop	2.5%/3%/4%/5% (ascent), 3.5% (descent), 13% (Cross Chop), 10.8% (close explosion), 5.5% (far explosion)	Leaps upward while engulfed in flames before descending diagonally to perform a cross chop. Incineroar gains damage-based armor a few frames after its initial ascent (frames 4-15), and Incineroar can change its direction right after starting the move. It causes a large explosion if Incineroar lands while the descending hitbox is still active. The rising and descending hits have set knockback, with the descending hit having extremely high base knockback; this is capable of gimping opponents even at 0% for a sacrificial KO, with Incineroar always being KO'd after its opponent. Incineroar's descending body hitbox is similarly powerful, KOing at 75% from the edge of Final Destination, with the explosion being almost as powerful. However, the move has a high ending lag. Unlike most up specials, Cross Chop does not render Incineroar helpless unless Incineroar lands during its descent and does not touch any solid ground. However, its awkward trajectory requires it to be used parallel to or above an edge to recover, as it is a self-destruct any other way.
Down special		Revenge	2.4% (counterattack)	Points its chest outward in a cocky manner. It functions as a counterattack, albeit much differently: upon being hit by an attack or projectile, Incineroar retaliates with a weak burst of flame after receiving significantly reduced damage from the countered attack, and its next move is powered up. As a visual indicator, Incineroar's body radiates an orange glow. This buff can stack depending on the number of countered moves and damage resisted. The buff has a very long duration (≈60 seconds), though its duration is reduced slightly each time Incineroar gets hit and it is lost entirely if Incineroar is grabbed and thrown. Once a powered up move connects, the buff is expended. If a smash attack, Cross Chop, or Alolan Whip's lariat connects while Revenge is active, the camera will perform the Special Zoom. With maximum stacks, Incineroar is able to inflict ≈70% with just a single smash attack, giving it some of the strongest possible attacks in standard matches. The flame attack also grants intangibility on frames 1-19.
Final Smash		Max Malicious Moonsault	3% (start-up), 2% (initial grab), 7% (hit 1-4)	Activates its Incinium Z and lunges forward. Upon grabbing the first opponent it comes in contact with, the opponent is thrown against the ropes of a wrestling ring. Incineroar then uppercuts the opponent upward, dropkicks them even further upward, uppercuts them again, and then finishes with a diving battering ram that sends it and the opponent descending into the ring to generate an explosion within the ring as a boxing bell chimes. The opponent is then launched alongside any bystanders. It is very powerful, as it can KO as early as 20%. If Incineroar misses on the ground, it slaps its knee in frustration.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height	Empty landing lag
Value	116	1.76 – Initial dash 1.18 – Run	0.62	0.114	0.015	0.88	0.01 – Base 0.06 – Additional	0.126	1.76 – Base 2.816 – Fast fall	3	31.6 - Base 14.4 - Short hop	32.8	4

Announcer calls

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• English
• Japanese/Chinese
• Korean
• Russian

On-screen appearance

• Emerges from a Poké Ball and struts while smirking.

• 

  Incineroar's on-screen appearance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Points to the sky as its flame belt ignites.
• Side taunt: Pounds its chest then raises its fist triumphantly while facing forward.
• Down taunt: Kneels and poses with its arms out, as if calling to the crowd.