Incineroar

Incineroar (, Gaogaen) is the Heel Pokémon from the series. It debuted in the series' seventh generation as 's final stage Fire-type, and is present as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Origin
Incineroar is a bipedal feline Pokémon, and is categorized within the Pokédex at #727 as the "Heel Pokémon". Incineroar is a dual Fire/Dark-type Pokémon, and is the final evolved form of, after having evolved from at level 34 onward. As Litten, it is one of the region's three.

In addition to using a mix of punches and kicks, Incineroar can emit streams of flame from its navel. On a related note, it is typically seen with a "flame belt", which consists of flames ringed around its waist to resemble a championship belt. True to its Pokédex categorization, Incineroar behaves much like a in professional wrestling. It is known for being selfish, egotistical to the point of ignoring its own Trainer's commands on a whim, and brutal to the point of even potentially attacking the opposing Pokémon's Trainer.

Despite these inflammatory traits, Incineroar is not exclusively antagonistic. Like a real-life wrestling heel, its rough behavior is merely an act, and like any other Pokémon, it can form a powerful and loving bond with its Trainer (as seen with in the anime). It deeply values the reception of a crowd; its fighting spirit intensifies when a crowd is excited, whereas its focus wavers if the crowd is unenthusiastic. Incineroar is especially fond of appealing to children and young Pokémon. Although it plays up its status as a heel by acting coldly toward them, it becomes extremely happy internally upon receiving their admiration. Incineroar also has a sense of honor, as it will lose the desire to fight an opponent that is weaker than itself or injured, similarly to Charizard.

Incineroar's default is, which increases its Attack and Special Attack statistics by 50% when using a Fire-type move so long as it has a third or less of its Hit Points remaining. Its Hidden Ability is, which decreases the opponent's Attack by one stage whenever Incineroar enters a battle. Like and, Incineroar has both a  and signature  in. In Incineroar's case, it can learn, which can be converted into as long as it holds. As of, however, Darkest Lariat can now be learned by a few other Pokémon via Technical Record. Incineroar has above-average Attack and overall defenses (which can be further augmented by Intimidate), but in contrast has slightly below-average Special Attack and below-average Speed.

In the Pokémon anime, an Incineroar appears as the main Pokémon of while under his Masked Royal persona. In addition to being shown as an incredibly powerful Pokémon, it developed a rivalry with 's own Incineroar ever since Ash's was a Litten. This rivalry ultimately helped Ash's Litten to reach its full potential, as it evolved into a Torracat during a rematch with Kukui's Incineroar in order to properly learn, and then climactically evolved into an Incineroar itself after finally defeating Kukui's Incineroar in the Manalo Conference's exhibition match. In I Choose You!, an Incineroar appears under the ownership of, the movie's main antagonist.

As a playable character
Incineroar appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and was formally announced alongside and  during the Super Smash Bros. Direct on November 1st, 2018. According to Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai, Incineroar was not initially chosen as the newest Pokémon fighter following the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon. Rather, Sakurai almost chose as a fighter from, but after reconsideration, he instead chose Incineroar because of his desire for a professional wrestling-based character.

Fitting its wrestler concept, Incineroar is a super heavyweight that possesses several heavily damaging moves, powerful throws and even the ability to strike interruptible poses upon successfully using a move. These traits are supplemented by its overall frame data being surprisingly above average, which is atypical of a super heavyweight and even some heavyweights. However, Incineroar is burdened with very slow overall mobility and a lack of reliable approach options, which collectively give it a poor neutral game.

Incineroar's neutral special, Darkest Lariat, has minimal start-up lag in spite of its early hitbox's impressive power, and it grants invincibility for a long time. Alolan Whip, its side special, is a versatile command grab: it can be used to KO horizontally or vertically depending on the player's input and can even assist Incineroar's recovery, thanks to it propelling Incineroar forward and not rendering it helpless. However, it can also fail to inflict any significant damage if the player fails to input properly. Incineroar's up special, Cross Chop, can be deadly when it connects on-stage, but is risky when used off-stage because of its linear travel distance. Its down special move, Revenge, is a unique counterattack that stores the power of the inflicted attack and applies it as a multiplier to Incineroar's next move. Finally, Incineroar's Final Smash, Max Malicious Moonsault, is based on its signature, and boasts enough power to KO at very low percentages. Unlike Malicious Moonsault, Max Malicious Moonsault functions like any other Final Smash in that it can be used more than once per battle.

Trivia

 * Incineroar is the third playable Pokémon that is the final evolution of a . The first was Charizard and the second was Greninja.
 * It is also the second fully evolved Fire-type starter Pokémon, with the first being Charizard.
 * It is also the second dual-type Pokémon to have Dark as its secondary type, with the first being Greninja.
 * Incineroar is the first playable non- Pokémon to debut in an odd-numbered generation.
 * Incineroar is the only dual-typed Pokémon to not use any moves derived from its primary type.
 * However, three of its special moves (Cross Chop, Revenge and Max Malicious Moonsault) reference its primary type, thanks to having the flame effect.
 * Due to its special moves being physical attacks, it is also the only Pokémon to use a single . Although Ivysaur's special moves are also physical, it does not fall under this distinction because of its usage of via Triple Finish.
 * Similar to Lucario and Mewtwo, Incineroar used a special move that is super effective against itself in the Pokémon series. In this case, Incineroar uses both Cross Chop and Revenge, Fighting-type moves which are super effective against Incineroar's Dark-typing.
 * Prior to, Incineroar was the most recently debuted playable character at the time of Ultimate's release, with a debut of November 2016.