Pyra (SSBU)


 * Pyra Blazes Into Battle!

Pyra (, Homura) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was confirmed as a playable fighter alongside during the February 17th, 2021 Nintendo Direct, and both of them were released as part of Challenger Pack 9 on March 4th, 2021 in. She can transform into Mythra using her down special move, Swap to Mythra. While Pyra's moveset is similar to Mythra's (aside from three of her special moves and Final Smash), neither is classified as an Echo Fighter. Pyra is classified as Fighter #79.

Although Pyra is the selectable character by default across all palettes, the player can choose to start as Mythra by clicking on her in their fighter portrait at the character selection screen, or by pressing while hovering over or having selected Pyra, in the same manner as one chooses which Pokémon to start with when choosing.

Skye Bennett and Shino Shimoji, who voiced Pyra (and Mythra) in the English and Japanese versions of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 respectively, reprise their roles in the international and Japanese versions of Ultimate with new voice clips, the former of whom initially confirmed her reprisal via Twitter.

Pyra and Mythra are ranked 2nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing the Aegis in the S+ tier. Pyra offers higher KO power and longer range of the two, making her more suited for taking opponents' stocks. She also possesses a strong meteor smash in the form of her down aerial to gimp opponents, which has a very large disjointed hitbox, and can combo into kill moves such as up aerial and up smash when opponents are on the ground. She does have poor mobility and low combo potential, but she can swap to Mythra to cover those weaknesses.

Attributes
Pyra is the stronger component of the Aegis, possessing vastly superior KO potential, damage output and overall range. Like Mythra, Pyra is a middleweight, albeit on the heavier side of the weight class (weighing the same as, , and ). Despite her weight class, Pyra is burdened with very slow mobility: aside from her above-average air speed, she has the 6th slowest dashing speed, below-average walking speed, and slightly below-average air acceleration. However, compared to other fighters in and around her weight class, her overall character type is similar to that of traditional heavyweights thanks to her plethora of hard-hitting attacks.

While Pyra's power is perhaps her most dominant strength, her range is also very formidable. As a swordswoman who fights with her respective, almost all of Pyra's standard attacks (barring the first hit of neutral attack) are disjointed, aiding her in directly challenging incoming attacks. This also means that with proper spacing, her aerial moves are hard to punish on shield at maximum distance, allowing her to easily break shields with simple air-to-ground combos. However, Pyra's range also means that with her forward smash, which is one of the longest-reaching in the game, she can bypass counterattacks more effectively than most other characters at maximum distance.

The majority of Pyra's offensive utility comes from her grounded moveset. Her neutral attack comes out on frame 3, making it her fastest attack overall as well as a decent close-range pressure option. Despite dealing less damage than other heavyweight non-infinite jabs, her jab combo is very strong overall, being able to KO starting at 195% from the center of Final Destination. Her forward tilt has very good coverage in front of her and has strong KO potential, while her up tilt hits all around her and KOs very early at 130% from ground level, while also having surprisingly low end lag for its power. While her down tilt is her weakest tilt attack, its speed enables it to work as a poking option and combo tool, while it also hits low enough to hit certain characters hanging on edges. Her smash attacks are her primary finishers, while they all share a balance of range and power; her forward smash is surprisingly fast for its power and range at only 20 frames of startup, while it can KO as early as 75% from center stage uncharged. Her up smash is similar to 's equivalent move in that it has a very good range overall along with equally strong KO power. Her down smash is her weakest smash attack, although also her fastest, and unlike other "sweeping" down smashes, provides excellent coverage in front and behind due to hitting both sides at once for both hits.

Pyra's aerial game also provides other offensive options. Her neutral aerial, despite its slow startup, hits all around her much like 's equivalent move, and can KO starting at 155% from ground level. Her forward aerial is very fast despite her generally slow frame data and has roughly the same KO power as her neutral aerial. Her back aerial covers a very wide arc behind her and KOs extremely early at 115% from ground level despite its vertical knockback, allowing it to be used as a niche (albeit slow) option if used in a reverse aerial rush. Her up aerial hits in a very wide arc above her and autocancels in a full hop, while her down aerial is a meteor smash that can KO and start combos, being able to lead into KO confirms depending on the opponent's weight and falling speed.

Lastly, Pyra has an overall versatile set of special moves apart from her down special. Flame Nova, her neutral special, acts a spinning move much like the Links' Spin Attacks, in that it hits in front in behind and can be charged for more damage. Blazing End, her side special, is a projectile that functions like the Links' respective Boomerangs, dealing damage while moving forward (although it cannot move vertically). Prominence Revolt, her up special, is similar to Stone Scabbard, being a rise-then-fall attack that acts as her recovery option, while it works exceptionally well as an out of shield option due to its range and power, and can sweetspot edges on the way up. Lastly, her down special, Swap, switches her with while granting some invincibility during the switch, allowing to switch playstyles on the fly.

However, Pyra has glaring flaws that are enough to balance out her range and power. As mentioned earlier, her overall mobility is very slow to compensate for her large, powerful attacks. Despite her long range, said speed ironically renders her approach limited even against characters with less range, such as and, and even other weapon wielders like  (especially with his own dashing speed). This also translates thoroughly into her moveset, as while her moves are more frame-flexible than other similar characters such as, they are still punishable due to their high end lag, meaning that a single mistake can easily allow opponents to get close to her.

Her special moves also carry certain flaws as well. Flame Nova has some considerable startup (unless uncharged), while the move does not protect her from above, meaning that characters with good aerial mobility and frame data (such as ) can easily approach her with little risk, making the move unsafe if used repeatedly. Blazing End puts Pyra in a state where she is unable to use any other moves until the Aegis Sword returns to her hand, during which she will briefly enter a 20-frame state where she will stop in place. This is especially exploitable with characters that have powerful throws or moves that send her far offstage where the sword may not return to Pyra in time to transform into Mythra for recovery. Lastly, Prominence Revolt has very little horizontal distance potential (only traveling a set horizontal distance of half the length of Battlefield's platform); this when combined with the move's mainly vertical recovery angle makes the move likely to self-destruct if Pyra is too far from the ledge. It also cannot sweetspot ledges from behind leading to a self-destruct if she doesn't reverse the move when facing away from the ledge. Because of this, her sole way of recovery is to use her aerial mobility to make it to just above or below the edge before using Prominence Revolt. Moreover, Prominence Revolt's descent also has a significantly weaker meteor smash than similar moves such as Aether, making the move easier to challenge directly and ill-suited for attempting sacrificial KOs.

Pyra also has a poor disadvantage state, as her average weight, frame size and below-average frame data make her susceptible to combos, while she lacks safe options for interrupting enemy combos. This means that she is also very vulnerable to high-damage combos that end with semi-spikes, as the damage accumulated may be enough for the finishing blow to keep her sufficiently away from the ledge. This is further exacerbated with Prominence Revolt's aforementioned low horizontal distance. Although Swap enables Mythra to remedy the latter flaw somewhat, it is not a failsafe strategy: unlike Pokémon Change, Swap does not grant intangibility until frame 6, making it inefficient as a combo breaker, while Mythra's recovery options are also somewhat mediocre all around despite her vastly superior aerial mobility.

Lastly, Pyra has an overall weak grab game. While her pummel is tied with other characters as the third-most damaging in Ultimate, her throws are overall weak with limited utility (especially her back throw), with only her forward throw dealing more than 8%. Her forward throw can KO at very high percentages at the edge, her up throw can position opponents for KO setups with poor DI/react time, and her down throw can force the opponent into unfavorable aerial positions, where she can follow up if the opponent does not properly react while being able to KO after 200%. However, since said throws are not as powerful as traditional KO throws, they are instead best used to position or edgeguard opponents.

Overall, Pyra is a hard-hitting, yet surprisingly versatile swordswoman who excels at punishing. She must be patient to look for openings due to her slow mobility and poor disadvantage state. In addition, Pyra is best utilized when she and Mythra have the advantage so as to alleviate their respective weaknesses and amplify their respective strengths, whereas it is considered best to switch to her counterpart to keep advantage due to Mythra's sheer flexibility and vastly superior movement.

Not too long after the Aegis' release, professional players such as, and  have demonstrated very strong results with Pyra, particularly when used in tandem with Mythra, and her representation and results have further expanded since then. Most players believe the Aegis is top tier or even among the best characters in the game, alongside the commonly accepted and.

Update history
Pyra was slightly nerfed via game updates. In update, she received two changes that are shared with her counterpart Mythra. These include increased hitstun on the second hit of her neutral attack, as well as reduced pushback against opponents while she is charging her forward smash, with the latter of the two being intended to prevent opposing attacks from whiffing against her during that state. In update, she received a nerf to Blazing End, which gained three additional frames of end lag on both the grounded and aerial variants. This change primarily affects footstool combos started with the move, making them more difficult to perform.

Overall, these changes did not change Pyra's competitive reception in the long term, as her key strengths and weaknesses remain unaltered.

 

 

Moveset

 * Pyra is tied to Mythra as a two-in-one fighter like how Princess Zelda and Sheik function in Melee and Brawl. She can switch places with Mythra by using her down special move, Swap.
 * Pyra and Mythra are semi-clones of each other, with all of their non-special moves having similar animations but having different frame data, damage, and knockback. Following the archetypical traits of a transforming character, Pyra is the "slow but strong" counterpart of the duo. Also, their remaining special moves are all unique.

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

On-screen appearance

 * Rex appears from the sky and tosses Pyra's Aegis Sword at her as she teleports onto the stage. She will move her arm across her chest or hold her hand over her chest depending on if she is facing right or left respectively.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Rex appears behind her and pumps his fist up, saying "Go, Pyra!" (shouting Pyra's name excitedly if the game's language is set to Japanese). She waves at Rex while giggling. Rex's animation is similar to the one he does while performing a Blade Special in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
 * Side taunt: Holds the Aegis Sword in the air while conjuring a small flame on her hand, saying "You'll get burned." (, Here I come.) Similar to the campfire cutscene and her idle animation in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
 * Down taunt: Holds the Aegis Sword in front of her while flames shoot out behind her, letting out a battle cry.

Idle poses

 * Holds her free hand up to her chest, inhales and exhales.
 * Pumps her fist excitedly.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Tosses the Aegis Sword in the air while twirling and catches it while posing, saying "We did our best!" (, I did my best.). Rex will jump in next to her and hold his fist up, saying "Nice one, Pyra!" (, Great job, Pyra!). In team battles, Rex does not appear if the team has three or more characters.
 * Up: Holds the Aegis Sword in front of her. She and Rex then hold it together and point it up in the air while letting out a battle cry. The final pose is similar to when they hold up the Aegis Sword during Burning Sword.
 * Right: Pyra briefly morphs into Mythra, who does a pose and spins around while morphing back into Pyra, who does a finishing pose by extending the Aegis Sword out. They both say "This is the power of the Aegis!" (, This is our power!) in unison, alternating their voices as they swap form. Her pose comes from her official artwork and her figurine with.

: Shared Destinies
Referencing the fact that Pyra and Mythra share a body, the Aegis' route primarily features pairs of opponents who are canonically clones, or at the very least similar. This extends to Master Hand and Crazy Hand at the end, who are always fought together, regardless of intensity. The items that spawn are from the franchise the opponents are from (or in the case of Round 4, no items).

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

Role in World of Light
Despite their status as downloadable content, Pyra and Mythra do have a legitimate role in World of Light, as they appear in the base game as spirits in the Light Realm and the Final Battle respectively, meaning that they were vaporized by Galeem. The Pyra spirit can be purchased for 10,000SP in Anna's Emporium once Anna's spirit has been defeated. Purchasing this spirit does not unlock her and Mythra as a playable character; rather, they are unlocked after downloading them and freeing at least 10 other fighters from Galeem's control, just like other DLC characters.

Spirits
Pyra's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing ; however, Pyra must be the one chosen as the front on the character selection screen to get her fighter spirit. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Pyra/Mythra have been downloaded. Unlocking Pyra/Mythra in World of Light allows the player to preview the second spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "Pyra (Fighter)". Her fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with her artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Pyra has a support spirit as part of Ultimate's base game.

Trivia

 * Pyra's internal codename is "eflame". Like 's "brave" and Mythra's "elight", it is a literal translation of Pyra's Japanese and Chinese names (minus the "e").
 * Their victory fanfare also has an internal codename, namely "element", which is presumably what the "e" stands for.
 * Additionally, any files that pertain to Rex are codenamed "diver", referencing his occupation as a salvager.
 * They are the first DLC characters to be transformations.
 * Unlike :
 * Pyra and Mythra have their own separate announcer calls used on the character selection screen and their victory poses.
 * Their fighter spirits must separately be obtained, with the Blade chosen as the front on the Classic Mode character selection is the one that gets the spirit. The Pokémon Trainer obtains Squirtle's, Ivysaur's, and Charizard's fighter spirits all at once after clearing Classic Mode, while both the male and female Pokémon Trainer spirits must be purchased from the shop.
 * Swapping between the two changes the stock icon to the one currently being used, akin to and  in Melee. With Pokémon Trainer, this can only be done through hacks. However, in Squad Strike, the stock icon always displays the one who started out in the match.
 * On the results screen, Pyra and Mythra use their separate stock icons in the KO’s and Falls section instead of using a single icon to represent both (the way Pokémon Trainer does)
 * Pyra and Mythra are the first DLC newcomers and transforming characters to be semiclones, albeit of each other rather than of a preexisting fighter.
 * Succeeding, Pyra and Mythra are the second and third characters that were spirits in the base game.
 * Coincidentally, their games of origin were in consideration to have playable fighters for the base game, but the base game roster had already been finished by then, making the idea infeasible.
 * Because of this, Pyra/Mythra are the respective second and third fighters whose Fighter Spirits are marked as "Name (Fighter)", due to already having regular spirits in the base game.
 * Pyra and Mythra's reveal trailer is the first one to not be directed by Masahiro Sakurai. Instead, it was outsourced to Monolith Soft, the developer of the Xenoblade Chronicles series.
 * According to Masahiro Sakurai, the development team considered having Rex fighting alongside Pyra and Mythra, but this was decided against due to the difficulty the team had with the in contexts such as 8-Player Smash. Sakurai specifically cited the far more complicated design and abilities of Pyra and Mythra compared to the relatively simple appearance and moveset of the Ice Climbers. Another issue was getting both characters to move at the same time which the development team found was impossible to do; similarly, it was deemed too difficult to implement Rex as the main fighter with Pyra behind him. This ultimately led to Rex being reduced to a smaller supporting role and Mythra being included along with Pyra with the two being able to swap instead.
 * Pyra's design has been adjusted from her original appearance; she wears an additional pair of translucent tights under her shorts, and an additional gold plate covers the top of her butt. Unlike Mythra's similarly adjusted design, this change was not present in either her base game spirit or as an alternate costume in her home game, nor does it even apply to her new fighter spirit. This change could possibly be the result of censorship to comply with the game's CERO A rating in Japan, as with comparable changes made to the designs of Bayonetta, Palutena, female Corrin, and several other characters that appear as spirits. However, Pyra's spirits are an exception.
 * According to Sakurai, he and the development team went through a lot of trial and error before settling on Pyra's design for Smash Bros.
 * Pyra is one of the few fighters who says a line when KO'd, occasionally saying, "I'm sorry!" (, I've been finished...)
 * To promote their release, Monolith Soft created an animation where Pyra and Mythra show their excitement in joining Smash, and ask for the viewer's support.
 * Oddly, Pyra vocalizes when charging a smash attack with a Death's Scythe rather than when attacking. As a result, she remains silent when performing an uncharged smash attack with one.
 * Pyra's forward smash, Flare Smash, is the first and so far only smash attack to have a dedicated instructional quote in the Move List. The quote is "The side smash attack deals a lot of damage and has high launch power. It is specific to Pyra, and it can be used to KO opponents even at a low damage." In spite of this special highlighting, it does not possess any unique properties whatsoever, nor it is even the strongest forward smash in the game in terms of damage output or KO percentages.
 * When fighting both Master Hand and Crazy Hand in Classic Mode, Pyra (or Mythra) will start on the far left side of the stage rather than in the center. This also occurs with Sephiroth and Sora in their respective Classic Mode routes.
 * Pyra,, , , , , Mythra, and are the fighters who use their walking animation when navigating through the map in World of Light.
 * When performing the Final Smash, Pyra/Mythra briefly uses an animation similar to the ones Blades use in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 when not using any special attacks.
 * Pyra originally used Hero’s icon prior to the icon being completed.
 * Masahiro Sakurai showed pre-release material of Pyra in a YouTube video and showcased several changes made before the final version:
 * Pyra's walking animation was changed to shift her weight forward more as to improve her silhouette.
 * The blade trail effect of the was tweaked several times, particularly the flame effect to reduce potential hitbox jank.
 * The collision time of her forward aerial was shortened to remove the feeling of the hitboxes lingering for too long.
 * The position of the Aegis during Flame Nova was changed to look more physically realistic.
 * Pyra's lips were changed from a consistent arc to a flatter line that turned upward at the edges.
 * Blazing End had its collision activate earlier to better match the animations and its animation changed to be more visual from certain camera angles.
 * Footage from  was used to tweak the animation of Burning Sword.
 * Pyra's P2 costume was intially too dark and its colors were brightened to be more in line with.