Lucario

Lucario (, Lucario) is the Aura Pokémon from the series. It debuted in the series', and is present as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Origin
Lucario is a bipedal canine Pokémon, and is categorized within the Pokédex at #448 as the "Aura Pokémon". Lucario is a dual Fighting/Steel-type Pokémon and the evolved form of ; in the Pokémon core series, Riolu evolves when it gains a level while having a sufficiently high amount of friendship rating and only during morning, daytime, and afternoon hours. Lucario is able to detect and wield, a spiritual energy that surrounds every living thing.

According to the Pokédex, by picking up on the Aura emanating from others, it can read their thoughts and movements; a well-trained Lucario, in particular, can sense and read the feelings of creatures over half a mile away. Lucario also understands human speech, and is even capable of communicating telepathically in human languages.

Prior to its official debut in the main series, Lucario made its first appearance in the eighth Pokémon movie, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, and subsequently appeared in a non-playable cameo in. Despite being one of the most prominently marketed fourth generation Pokémon in the lead-up to the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Versions, it has no prominent plot significance in those games. Rather, Lucario is only available as a Riolu that is hatched from a gifted to the player by  during their visit to. In addition, is his signature Pokémon, while both  and  each have a Lucario on their respective teams as well.

However, Lucario is notable within Kalos, the setting of Pokémon X and Y, the first games within the series'. In Kalos, Lucario is renowned as the first Pokémon to have achieved in the region. This is reflected by its significance to the plot of X and Y: it is the first Pokémon the player initiates Mega Evolution with, and a very large statue of its Mega Evolution, Mega Lucario, is a centerpiece within the.

Several Lucario have made appearances in the anime, such as the Lucario who starred in the eighth movie; 's Lucario, who was trained to use its Mega Evolution form after initial difficulty; and 's Lucario, who evolved from a Riolu that Ash received as an Egg.

Lucario has high Attack and Special Attack stats and average Speed, but low defenses; in particular, its Special Attack statistic is unusually high for a Fighting type, reflecting its mastery over the control of Aura, further evidenced by its access to moves like Aura Sphere. Lucario's high offenses make it a versatile and slightly unpredictable Pokémon, as it can effectively run physical, special or mixed movesets. Its three abilities reflect its stoic and brave character: prevents it from flinching or (starting with Gen VIII) having its Attack dropped by,  raises its Speed if it flinches, and  raises its Attack after it is hit by a Dark-type move.

While holding a Lucarionite, Lucario can undergo Mega Evolution to become Mega Lucario. As Mega Lucario, its already impressive offensive and speed statistics are boosted considerably, and it gains as its, which further supplements its offenses by powering up its Fighting and Steel type attacks.

As a playable character
Lucario is unique in that the more damage it takes, the more damage, range, and knockback its own attacks have (based on the actual ability of most Lucario in the Pokémon series). This only applies to its Aura-based attacks, which are noted by bluish, flame-like wisps. A few of Lucario's attacks do not use Aura, such as its dash attack and back throw, among others. This trait makes it not particularly useful at the beginning of a stock, but by surviving to a high level of damage, it becomes considerably lethal. It possesses the ability to both wall jump and wall cling; its wall jump in particular is by far the highest in the game, and the height gained by this scales with Aura.

Aura Sphere, its neutral special, is a chargeable ranged blast comparable to ' Charge Shot. Force Palm, its side special is a short-ranged blast, or at point-blank range, a throw. ExtremeSpeed, its up special, is a non-damaging recovery move and will propel Lucario in any direction aimed. Double Team, its down special, is a counterattack that is Aura-based and has a damage output that caps at about 15%.

Lucario is ranked 11th on the tier list, placing it in the C+ tier.

As a playable character
Lucario returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Physically, it has been updated to have its proportions more akin to its appearances in Pokémon X and Y. Lucario also has a new Final Smash, Mega Lucario, which replaces Aura Storm. Sean Schemmel, the voice actor of Sir Aaron's Lucario from the film Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, reprised his role as Lucario in the game, having confirmed that he would do so.

Lucario is ranked 17th out of 54, placing it in the B tier. Lucario's Aura mechanic has been strengthened in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, and it now affects Lucario's entire moveset. When coupled with the new rage mechanic, Lucario has the potential to KO any opponent at early percentages when its own damage percentage is high. The changes to hitstun canceling have also granted its up and down throws impressive combo potential. However, Lucario also received some nerfs. Its smash attacks in particular are slower, while Force Palm and its neutral, forward and down aerials have worsened combo potentials. Extreme Speed also saw a large increase in ending lag if it ends in the air, leaving Lucario highly open to punishment upon landing on the ground. Regardless of the nerfs, Lucario is still viewed as a viable choice for competitive play, thanks to it achieving decent results.

As a playable character
Lucario is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Similar to its debut in Brawl, Lucario is an unlockable character instead of a starter like in SSB4; however, unlike in Brawl where it was encountered later on in the unlocking process, Lucario can potentially be the first character unlocked in the game as the first character in 's character unlock tree.

Lucario was praised by its potential advantages in the early Ultimate metagame, and was considered a relatively viable character. However, its weakness became clearer as time passed due to the amount of nerfs it received from the transition, making Lucario a relatively underused character in the meta. Currently, most top professional players consider Lucario either a low mid or a low tier, with even some players considering it as a bottom 5 character, ranking in the C- tier at 71st out of 82.

Trivia

 * As Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew released 4 months before the release of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Lucario is the only fighter in the series to technically first appear in non-video game media (in this case a movie).
 * Like Charizard in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Mewtwo, Lucario is similar to a particular member of its species depicted in the Pokémon anime. In Lucario's case, like Sir Aaron's Lucario from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, it can speak the human language telepathically and, as of SSB4, it is voiced by Sean Schemmel and Daisuke Namikawa in English and Japanese, respectively; Schemmel and Namikawa portrayed that specific Lucario as well. However, the only difference is that unlike Smash's incarnation of Lucario, the Lucario in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew is completely incapable of Mega Evolving, as the Lucario species was already introduced long before the concept of Mega Evolution was even introduced.
 * Lucario and Mewtwo are the only two playable Pokémon characters whose on-screen appearances do not involve them emerging from a Poké Ball.
 * Lucario possesses the best wall jump and wall cling durability in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * It is also the only character who can activate wall clinging through their up special.
 * Carlos Lobo, the Spanish voice actor and Luigi Fantino, the Italian voice actor for Lucario, also voiced the announcer in the Spanish and Italian versions respectively of Brawl, SSB4 and Ultimate.
 * Jean-Marc Delhausse, its French voice actor, voiced the announcer in the French version of Super Smash Bros., in which Lucario was not present, as well as Ivysaur and several Poké Ball Pokémon throughout the series.
 * Lucario is the only playable Pokémon that speaks a human language in all international versions.
 * Despite speaking telepathically in Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, Lucario appears to be moving its mouth during its victory poses.

Lucario