Ike (SSBU)

Ike (, Ike) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Ike is classified as Fighter #32. voices Ike in the English version, reprising his role from  and succeeding Jason Adkins, who voiced him in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4. Michihiko Hagi reprises his role in the Japanese version via new voice clips.

Ike is currently ranked 65th out of 82 on the tier list, placing him on the lower end of the mid tier. This is similar to his tier placement in SSB4, where he was ranked 39th out of 54. Ike's best assets lie in his overall power and range, having some of the strongest moves in the game. His neutral aerial's low landing lag and base knockback collectively make it an effective option for spacing and initiating combos, including into KO confirms. Additionally, Ike has a promising combo game, as he is able to use down tilt, neutral aerial, down throw and, to a lesser extent, his up throw to confirm into combos at various percentages.

However, Ike also has some polarizing weaknesses, most notably his poor disadvantage state. Due to his tall height, heavy weight, slow mobility, and sluggish frame data, Ike is especially susceptible to combo-oriented and/or speedy fighters. In addition, Ike suffers from a linear recovery and is reliant on his double jump; therefore, a reasonably strong semi-spike is generally sufficient to KO him while he is offstage, especially if he has already utilized his double jump.

Although Ike originally achieved very promising results during the early metagame of Ultimate, courtesy of players such as and, his representation notably declined due to his best players either dropping him or becoming inactive. Despite currently having below-average representation, Ike has nevertheless maintained some tournament success in the current metagame, thanks to dedicated mains such as, and.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following: Ike must then be defeated on Coliseum (the Ω form is used in World of Light).
 * Play VS. matches, with Ike being the 14th character to be unlocked.
 * Clear with  or any character in his unlock tree, being the 4th character unlocked after.
 * Have Ike join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes
Ike is a tall heavyweight swordsman, being tied with, , , and as the 13th heaviest fighter in Ultimate. Fittingly for a heavyweight, Ike's endurance is respectable at the cost of generally poor mobility: while he has above-average air speed, traction, falling speed, fast falling speed, and gravity, Ike sports the 14th slowest walking speed, the 15th slowest dashing speed, a below-average initial dash, low jumps, and the 8th lowest air acceleration.

Ike's power is a staple of his character; in addition to his moveset having some of the strongest attacks in the game, rage further supplements his fearsome KO potential. Additionally, Ike possesses great, disjointed reach throughout his moveset. His forward smash deals among the highest damage and knockback out of any smash attack, with the clean hit being able to KO most opponents at a mere 75% at the center of. It is also useful for mindgames and shield breaks due to its excellent reach (the early hit can hit opponents above and behind him).

Up smash hits in a wide, semi-circular arc that covers Ike. Like his forward smash, it also deals decent damage and knockback, albeit it is generally weaker. However, it is useful for punishing rolls and landings. Down smash is Ike's fastest smash attack, initially hitting on frame 13, while boasting high damage and knockback overall. The move hits from the front and the back of him (the back hit starts on frame 32), with the clean back hit sporting considerably more power than the front. Other notable attacks that possess great damage and knockback include his forward tilt, up tilt, dash attack, back aerial, up aerial, and down aerial.

Ike also has a unique special moveset. His neutral special, Eruption, is chargeable, grants super armor when released half charge or higher, deals very high damage and knockback, and has an excellent vertical reach and the most horizontal range out of his entire kit, all of which make it a fearsome edgeguarding tool. His side special, Quick Draw, is also chargeable and propels him forward, making it a good mix-up in his neutral game as it helps his recovery, mobility, and approach. His up special, Aether, covers decent vertical distance for a recovery move, but minimal horizontal distance. However, the descending hitbox is an incredibly powerful meteor smash that has the potential to KO opponents at 0% when they are offstage, making it quite dangerous to intercept Ike in some circumstances. This move also has solid knockback, which players can use on Out of Shield options and can KO around 100% as of update 8.0.0. His down special, Counter, is among the strongest of their kind in the game, having a 1.2× damage multiplier and dealing excellent knockback. It is also relatively useful for protecting against edge-guarding and disrupting some recoveries.

Ike's combo potential is also respectable, with his neutral aerial being his best combo starter. Not only does it cover a large area around him to protect him from many attacks, but it also deals fairly low knockback and has little landing lag, which allows it to combo into itself or other moves at various percentages. Neutral aerial can also combo into his back aerial or up aerial for semi-reliable KO confirms at moderately high percentages. At low percentages, it can combo into grabs. Additionally, Ike can start combos with his down throw at low percentages, leading to moves such as up tilt, up aerial, or Aether. Finally, his down tilt has low knockback scaling and launches at a mostly vertical angle, making it a consistent, reliable combo starter at most percentages, and has reliable KO confirms into his aerials at high percentages.

Despite his strengths, Ike is not without his fair share of flaws. As mentioned earlier, he possesses slow movement speed (especially on the ground), which causes him to struggle against quick, agile characters. He also has some of the worst frame data in the game, with severe ending lag in most of his attacks and only his neutral attack (frame 4, 3, and 5 for each respective hit), down tilt, and back aerial (both frame 7) coming out faster than frame 10. Back aerial is also his only aerial attack that can autocancel in a short hop. His aforementioned counter is one of his most punishable options due to being arguably the slowest in the game, with a sluggish startup of 9 frames and considerable ending lag (on both the whiff and counterattack). Consequently, characters with superior attack speed can easily overwhelm and punish him, especially if his attacks are whiffed.

Most of Ike's out-of-shield options are slow and committal, granting him a mediocre out-of-shield game. Additionally, Ike's disadvantage state is terrible due to lacking effective options to land or protect him from pressure and juggling. Furthermore, several of his landing options (like neutral aerial) are predictable and/or having short-lasting hitboxes. While his attributes (particularly his heavy weight) grant him long endurance, they also make him easy to combo and juggle; this is further compounded by his unimpressive landing options.

Ike also possesses two linear and predictable recovery moves, Quick Draw and Aether, ultimately making him vulnerable to gimps and low semi-spikes offstage. Quick Draw travels a strictly horizontal distance, and Aether leaves him vulnerable to many attacks when ascending, especially counters and projectiles. These weaknesses grant him a poor approach against many characters, which is exacerbated by his lack of projectiles not allowing him to camp or force approaches from opponents.

Overall, Ike must utilize his excellent punish game and spacing tools to overwhelm opponents, where he can rack up large amounts of damage with little warning, though players must be cautious of his susceptibility to combos and his lacking recovery.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Ike has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate, having been buffed overall, though not enough to improve his tier standing.

Ike benefits from some of the universal gameplay changes. The changes to air dodge mechanics significantly benefit Ike's edgeguarding and juggling game. His mobility has been improved to help with the new faster pace of Ultimate, sharing the universal buffs of a 3-frame jumpsquat. His aerials also have significantly reduced landing lag, making them much more reliable for landing and comboing. When it comes to direct changes to his aerial game, Ike's neutral aerial has faster startup, lower landing lag and a more reliable disjoint, making it an even better approach option and combo starter, to the point it now has semi-reliable KO confirms on his back and up aerials. Ike has also received a new up aerial with greatly increased horizontal and vertical range, improving his powerful juggling capabilities.

Thanks to his faster jumpsquat, Ike is able to combo with his down tilt and down throw at low percentages more reliably; the former also has less knockback, giving Ike KO setups at high percentages against some characters. Eruption can now generate a maximum of three flame pillars if fully charged, improving its already powerful ledge-trapping potential. Finally, the already high power on a few of his moves has been further increased, such as neutral attack, forward tilt, forward and down smash, and the landing hit of Aether; most notably, neutral attack has had its lost KO power from Brawl completely restored.

However, Ike's nerfs were also noticeable. His dashing speed was almost unchanged, making him much less mobile relative to the cast despite his improved air speed and streamlined jumpsquat. His forward aerial, a staple of his neutral game in Brawl and SSB4, had its hitboxes repositioned to create a small blind spot, no longer autocancels in a short hop, and has significantly decreased knockback, removing a lot of its previously great KO potential. Combined with his much slower grounded mobility relative to the cast, Ike's approach is much more limited. Aether is also a much more polarized recovery option, as his sword now moves along the stage's perimeters instead of passing through the stage. While several of his attacks now have increased power, it has been reduced on some of his other moves, most notably with up tilt. His grabs' range was also nerfed, making them much less reliable for punishing.

A few of the engine's changes also hinder Ike. The universal increase to grabs' ending lag further hinders Ike's own grabs due to their shorter range. The changes to rage prove detrimental to Ike, since he can't take as much advantage of it at higher percentages due to his high weight. Lastly, the size reduction of most stage's ledges, combined with Aether's highr vulnerability and Quick Draw receiving no changes to its recovery potential, mean Ike's recovery is much more exploitable, increasing his vulnerability to edge-guarding just as much as the changes benefit his own.

Overall, Ike's changes and improvements have given him new ways to gain the advantage and also grant him a deadlier punish game, with less overall difficulty in KOing due to his enhanced overall moveset and combo ability. However, because his mobility remains slow (especially when compared to most other characters), he has a slightly harder time at keeping up with the rest of the cast. His worsened grabs also force him more to use his range to punish opponents. Ike has received various changes in game updates that have also toned down his most oppressive moves (most notably his neutral aerial's combo ability at high percentages) in exchange for increased power, though none of these changes have noticeably improved his viability. This is coupled with various returning veterans receiving buffs both on release and through game updates, as well as various metagame shifts and the introduction of DLC characters, some of which Ike struggles against. As a result, Ike's initial perception at the game's release has dwindled, and while it's generally agreed that he is more potent than he was in SSB4, Ike has not significantly improved from the previous game, instead performing slightly worse relative to the rest of the cast.

Update history
Ike received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. Update decreased the knockback of Aether's meteor smash hitbox, a nerf that was also applied to Soaring Slash. Despite this, using Aether after edge trumping the opponent or to secure sacrificial KOs remains a viable strategy. After a long absence of changes, Ike received a handful of buffs alongside a single nerf in update. Most notably, neutral aerial's knockback was increased significantly; while this largely restored its potential as a serviceable, albeit situational, KO option near the upper blast line, this is outweighed by its renowned combo potential being toned down. On a related note, neutral aerial's combo potential was further hindered by its sourspot being shrunken.

To compensate for neutral aerial's worsened combo potential, down tilt's combo potential was improved thanks to its knockback being lowered. Forward aerial's damage output was restored to its SSB4 level (albeit with minimally compensated knockback) and its ending lag was noticeably decreased, which made it safer and more effective for combos and especially edge-guarding. Dash attack gained higher knockback, which further improved its already respectable KO potential. Lastly, Aether received a few noticeable buffs: its first hit gained transcendent priority (thus enabling it to no longer be canceled by incoming moves), whereas its landing hit gained much higher knockback and a lower launching angle. Altogether, these buffs noticeably improved Aether as an out of shield option, and even made it into a viable KO option.

Lastly, update buffed Ike in a few ways. Most notably, neutral attack's final hit had its damage output increased without any knockback compensation. This restored its KO potential from Brawl and, alongside back aerial, somewhat alleviated Ike's glaring lack of a fast, yet reasonably strong KO option. Aside from this, up smash's overall knockback was increased, and uncharged Quick Draw became noticeably safer on hit thanks to its increased damage output and knockback.

Overall, Ike fares somewhat better than he did at the launch of Ultimate. Although the nerfs to his neutral aerial were largely noticeable, the various buffs to his other moves have resulted in him becoming a slightly more versatile character with a less centralized gameplan.

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Ike's hitboxes, see here.

On-screen appearance

 * Warps onto the stage using warp magic and grunts while briefly performing an inward slash, then brushes aside his cape.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Holds Ragnell with both hands in front of himself while growling loudly as the wind blows through his cape.
 * Side taunt: Rears back and then holds Ragnell to his side while saying "Prepare yourself!" with a smirk on his face. In the Japanese version, he says (Get prepared.)
 * Down taunt: Plunges Ragnell into the ground then folds his arms while saying "Hmph!" with a smug facial expression as wind blows through his cape, and removes Ragnell from the ground.

Idle poses

 * Taps Ragnell's blade on his shoulder.
 * Rubs the edge of Ragnell's blade.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Slashes Ragnell twice, then rests the blade on his shoulder. Path of Radiance Ike says, "Your skills were… remarkable." ("", You fought... well.), while Radiant Dawn Ike says, "Don't stand in my way." ("", Why do you stand before me?).
 * Up: Like his down taunt, Ike forcefully plants Ragnell into the ground, then crosses his arms. Path of Radiance Ike says, "I submit to no one." ("", I have no intention of yielding to anyone.), while Radiant Dawn Ike says, "I must move forward." ("", I move forward.).
 * Right: Performs Aether while facing the screen. Path of Radiance Ike says, "You'll get no sympathy from me." ("", To the end... I will not lose to anyone.), while Radiant Dawn Ike says, "I fight for my friends." ("", I have people I must protect.).

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Ike players (SSBU)


 * - One of the best Ike players in Japan in the early metagame alongside Logix. He was the most consistent in the last few months of 2019 and in early 2020, notably placing 25th at the supermajor and 33rd at . He has since gone inactive.
 * - One of the best Ike players in Japan in the early metagame alongside Bokinchan, with his best results being in the first few months of 2019, where he notably placed 17th at the supermajor . He has since gone inactive.
 * - Played Ike in the first two months of competitive play and was the best Ike player in the world. He is the only Ike player who has won a major, winning the supermajor.
 * - The best Ike player in North America in the post-online metagame, notably placing 9th at the major, one of the highest placements for Ike during this period.
 * - One of the best Ike players in North America in the early metagame who consistently placed well in-region, notably 3rd at and 33rd at, as well as online, where he was ranked as high as 35th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v6. He has since dropped Ike in favor of.
 * - The best Ike player in the early metagame after MkLeo dropped the character, with consistent high placements at majors that no other Ike players have achieved since. Most notably placed 9th at the supermajor and 17th at the supermajor . He retired from competitive play in 2020.
 * - The best Ike player in the world since 2023, regularly placing well at events including 7th at the superregional, 25th at the major , and 33rd at the supermajor.
 * - Gained prominence during the online era, where he was ranked as high as 7th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7. Offline, he was the best Ike player in the world in 2021 and 2022, achieving some of Ike's best results since the early metagame, including 9th at the major and 25th at the supermajor.

Tier placement and history
In the early metagame, Ike was seen as a significantly improved character from his low-mid tier placement from the previous installment, due to disjoints being prominent in the metagame. Initial tournament results were also strong thanks to players such as and ; MkLeo especially won the first Ultimate supermajor  with Ike. This led to an initial positive reception, with top players designating him as a high tier fighter.

However, Ike's weaknesses, most notably his poor disadvantage state, hampered most of this initial positive reception. Ike's reception further cooled off after MkLeo dropped him and following Ryuga's tournament presence waning in regard to both attendance and significant placements. Despite an overall lukewarm reception toward his viability offline, Ike had a brief period of success during the online metagame. As perfect shielding is harder to perform due to input lag, Ike's slow aerial attacks and tilt attacks are safer on shield during online play than they are during offline play. Players such as and  capitalized on this and managed to achieve high placements at large online tournaments alongside their high rankings on the Wi-Fi Warrior Ranks.

In the post-online metagame, dedicated mains such as Yez,, and continue to achieve respectable placements in offline tournaments. However, none of the players were as consistent as MkLeo or Ryuga in his prime, which coupled with his overall below-average representation and noticeable weaknesses led to his placement on the current tier list, where he is ranked 65th as a lower-mid tier.

: The Black-Clad Warriors
Ike's opponents are all fighters in black alternate costumes, referencing his rivalry with the Black Knight. The stages are also dark stages as well.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Ike has  accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light
Although Ike does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Ike was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is one of the fighters found in the Mysterious Dimension sub-area, being an obligatory unlock before the next necessary fighter battle, is encountered, and after  has been awakened.

Spirits
Ike's Path of Radiance fighter spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold (but only after Ike has been unlocked) or by completing a challenge (Classic Mode: KO fighters from Fire Emblem 20 times). Unlocking Ike in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Additionally, his Radiant Dawn design has a fighter spirit of its own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Trivia

 * Ike is the only character who uses different voice clips for alternate costumes while still being the same person, as opposed to gender-swapping (Robin, Corrin, etc.) or becoming a completely different character (Bowser Jr.).
 * also uses different voice clips in her alternate costumes, though this only applies to the Japanese version of the game.
 * Ike, like, , , and , is one of the few characters to have s with different animations. In Ike's case, his Radiant Dawn design features a different defeated/No Contest animation.
 * In the segment in which Ike uses Great Aether from his character showcase video, there is an error in which his portrait displays him in his ' design despite currently featuring his ' design.
 * Ike's pose in his official artwork resembles the 's artwork from Super Smash Bros. 4 and his sidestep in the same game.
 * As with his down taunt, when Ike sticks Ragnell into the ground and removes it again during his up throw, a sound effect accompanies it. This is more subtle than with his down taunt, however.
 * Ike is the only Fire Emblem character whose Classic Mode route does not involve traveling to any stages from his home series or fighting any fellow Fire Emblem representatives.
 * Ike is the only returning character from Brawl whose Codec Conversation cannot be triggered through his alternate look (his Radiant Dawn alternate costume). This is unlike and, who will still activate their respective Codec Conversations meant for Olimar and the male Pokémon Trainer when playing as Alph and the female Pokémon Trainer.
 * Ike's amiibo selects his Radiant Dawn alternate costume, which was the basis for the figure and his SSB4 design, by default.
 * This makes Ike the only veteran who currently has no amiibo that can scan in his default costume.
 * Both Ike's Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn costumes use different knockout voice clips in Stamina Mode when knocked out of HP during his final stock. Path of Radiance Ike uses the standard KO voice clip and Radiant Dawn Ike uses the alternate KO voice clip.
 * In the Japanese version, the voice clips are reversed.
 * By extension, Ike is one of the only two characters who use their alternate KO voice clip when KO'd, with the other being.
 * Ike is the only fighter with multiple fighter spirits whose main fighter spirit can be obtained in a method other than completing or buying it from the shop, as his Path of Radiance Spirit can be obtained by completing a challenge.
 * When using Aether, there's a visual glitch on Ike's cape where it will suddenly snap back down during the looping portion of his descent.
 * This also happens to whenever he descends on a.
 * All of Ike's new Japanese victory quotes are derived from his original games and in all but one case are direct quotations.
 * In his Path of Radiance costume:
 * His "" (I have no intention of yielding to anyone.) is taken from a conversation he has with Mist in the prelude to Chapter 28 of Path of Radiance, prior to his duel with the Black Knight, but is taken out of context for Ultimate: it was originally Ike expressing his determination to fight the Black Knight at all and refusal to let anyone talk him out of it, not a refusal to lose. Accordingly, the English version of Path of Radiance translated the line as "That's one thing I won't let anyone else do in my stead," while Ultimate translates it as "I submit to no one."
 * His "" (You fought... well.) line originates from his battle with Bryce in the Endgame of Path of Radiance; this line was originally translated in that game as "You fought...a good fight." Ultimate translates this as "Your skills were... remarkable."
 * His "" (To the end... I will not lose to anyone.) line originates from his battle with the Black Knight in Chapter 27 of Path of Radiance. In the English version of Path of Radiance, this was translated as "My sword-fighting skills were given to me by my father. If I stay true to them, I cannot lose." The English version of Ultimate replaces it with the pre-existing "You'll get no sympathy from me" line from prior Smash games.
 * In his Radiant Dawn costume:
 * His "" (Why do you stand before me?) line originates in Part 3 Chapter 13 of Radiant Dawn, in which he appears as a boss besieging Micaiah's army, and is said when one of Micaiah's allies engages in combat with him. The line was originally translated as "Why would you seek me out?" Ultimate translates this to "Don't stand in my way."
 * His "" (I have things I must protect.) line is taken from the prelude to the final battle with the goddess Ashera in the final chapter of Radiant Dawn. The line was originally translated as "This battle means more than any of the others because it’s for the life of every person that I’ve ever cared about." The English version of Ultimate replaces it with the pre-existing "I fight for my friends" line from prior Smash games.
 * His "" (I move forward.) line is a condensed version of a line he speaks in the aftermath of his slaying of the Black Knight in the Part 4 Endgame: (I will not stop. I will keep moving forward until I die.) In the English localization of Radiant Dawn, this was translated as "I will keep fighting. I won't stop until I die," while Ultimate translates the shortened version simply as "I must move forward".
 * Ike is the only Fire Emblem character to have a unique crumple animation. Ike crumples frontward, whereas the rest of the Fire Emblem characters crumple on their back.