Richter (SSBU)


 * Richter Crosses Over!

Richter (, Richter) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He is the third fighter from Konami after and. He was announced as a newcomer alongside, , , and during a Nintendo Direct on August 8th, 2018. Richter and Simon take inspiration from each other's home series appearances, with Richter being labeled as the Echo Fighter of the two, thus being classified as Fighter #66ε.

Richter is voiced in English by, his recurring voice actor from Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles onward, who initially confirmed this on Twitter. He is voiced in Japanese by, his voice actor from Symphony of the Night onward; it would be one of his last performances as the character before his passing on November 14th, 2022. In the Korean version of the game, Richter uses his English voice clips.

Richter, alongside his base fighter Simon, are ranked 68th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing the Belmonts in the C- tier. The Belmonts are well known for their strong zoning and keeping opponents away from them thanks to their arsenal of projectiles and their range thanks to their signature whip. They are good at harassing their opponents in neutral and keeping them in a disadvantage for long periods of time. Their strengths culminate in them at the ledge, with several tools for ledgetrapping, such as Holy Water and forward tilt. Uppercut is an effective out-of-shield option against aggressive players or those who can get in their defense. The Belmonts also have the unique property to angle some of their aerials, namely forward air and back air to hit opponents low to the ground or anti-air them. Overall, the Belmonts are effective at controlling the pace of the match.

However, the Belmonts are equipped with a multitude of crippling weaknesses. Their disadvantage state is among one of the worst in the game due to not having a single viable combo escape, with the exception of down air, which can be predictable. They suffer from one of the worst recoveries in the game with Uppercut, providing very little horizontal distance and drift and their tether recoveries not having much reach, allowing any character in the game to edgeguard them consistently if sent offstage.

In conclusion, the Belmonts have some key strengths to consistently win neutral but should their defense be infiltrated, they have a lot of trouble getting back to that position. Thus, the Belmonts are difficult characters to be consistent with at a high level. They have seen some respectable tournament results and representation from players, such as and, showing how capable the characters are.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following: Richter must then be defeated on Dracula's Castle (the Ω form is used in World of Light).
 * Play VS. matches, with Richter being the 35th character to be unlocked.
 * Clear with  or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after.
 * Have Richter join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes
Richter is Simon's Echo Fighter, so his moveset, animations and attributes are directly derived from the latter, and his overall gameplan is also the same—he is a zoner with poor mobility (especially in the air) who utilizes his highly disjointed attacks courtesy of the Vampire Killer whip and his three projectiles to keep his opponents at a distance.

Like Simon, Richter's special moveset possesses decent utility. Firstly, Axe is a very strong projectile that can be thrown in three angles, which makes it effective at both edgeguarding and a threatening anti-air option, compounded by its ability to go through solid terrain. The axe can additionally lead into forward aerial, or, at higher percents, Uppercut for a KO. His side special, the Cross, functions like a boomerang, though unlike other boomerang projectiles, it does not follow Richter, instead going straight and then briefly going backwards on its own if not grabbed by Richter; in addition to this, it sends opponents vertically in the air with low knockback, which is favorable for setups into aerial attacks, the Axe or an up smash. His up special, Uppercut, is a very fast out of shield option with decent kill power that has multiple setups into it, such as the Cross, or more notably, down aerial.

However, the sole difference distinguishing Richter from Simon lies in his down special, Holy Water; it utilizes the same blue flame effect used by 's aura-based attacks as opposed to a regular flame effect like Simon. Against, this is highly effective, as Olimar's Red Pikmin are immune to all flame-based attacks, such as Simon's Holy Water, giving Richter a better matchup against Olimar. That said, the projectile possesses similar utility; it is useful for ledge-trapping, combo setups or kill setups such as a forward smash, forward tilt, or Uppercut.

Another notable trait that Richter shares with Simon is his impressive range. His Vampire Killer whip offers the overall longest disjointed range out of any fighter in the roster, and it makes his overall kit well-rounded and versatile. In the air, despite his aerial mobility being sluggish, his aerials are effective in their own rights; his up, forward and back aerials all have impressive range and can be used as tether recoveries, along with the latter two having the unique ability to be angled. His down aerial, while lacking the disjoint of his other aerials, is a notoriously effective combo tool, as it functions much like 's down aerial; it meteor smashes at the beginning, but what makes it versatile is its late hit. On the late hit, both Richter and the opponent will bounce back up at diagonal angles, which opens up many KO confirms, notably into his Uppercut. At low percentages, it can combo into itself multiple times, which can potentially make it a zero-to-death tool if the opponent reacts poorly.

Richter's range is also effective on the ground, as his sluggish frame data is compensated by his attacks having immense range and power at the spiked ball at the end of the whip, to the point where they can be considered safe on shield if spaced, despite their lag. All of his smash attacks are notable examples of this; his forward smash is very powerful when tippered, and when combined with its ability to be angled, this makes it a deadly edgeguarding and ledge-trapping tool. His up smash is very strong when tippered, making it a reliable anti-air tool and a combo finisher and KO confirm out of his Cross. His down smash hits on both sides like most others, and keeps his trademark range while possessing decent power when sweetspotted. His forward tilt possesses decent range and uncharacteristically low ending lag, his dash attack is relatively quick and effective for crossing up shielding opponents, and his down tilt, while not disjointed, is a unique two-hit move that causes him to pseudo-crawl, allowing him to cross up foes or effectively retreat from the corner. Due to Richter's excellent range and his three projectiles, he is very good at keeping the opponent at bay.

Yet another trait shared with Simon is a decent grab game. His grab has below-average range and possesses noticeable lag, but his dash grab gives him a lot of momentum due to his low traction. His throws also have great utility: his forward and back throws have good KO potential despite their rather quick speed, and can be used to set up edgeguards otherwise. His up throw is considered to be his most useful throw, as its decent damage is compounded with its great setup ability, being able to start juggles. His down throw is rather situational and is his least used throw, but nevertheless has combo potential thanks to Richter's range.

Likewise, Richter also shares the exact same crippling flaws that Simon possesses to counterbalance his strengths. Perhaps his most infamous shortcoming is his extremely poor recovery, being among the worst in the game, despite having three aerials function as tether recoveries; his very low air movement, combined with Uppercut offering very poor vertical and horizontal momentum, give him very poor offstage presence. As such, he is very easy to gimp, and overall has a slim chance to return to the ledge, making him easy to KO despite his good endurance due to his almost non-existent offstage game. This is further compounded with Richter's susceptibility to combos due to his heavyweight status, poor aerial attributes, and lack of effective combo breakers within his moveset, preventing him from easily getting out of combos or escaping pressure. Due to his very low traction and slow attacks, he also has a poor out of shield game outside of Uppercut.

Despite his zoning and spacing potential, it is overall burdened by his poor frame data, lackluster overall mobility, and narrow attacks. His slow movement makes him vulnerable to pressure and zoning. While he has his projectiles, they each have noticeable startup and are susceptible to being reflected back, which can be a huge turnabout, especially since the projectiles play a huge role in Richter's neutral game. An opponent can also catch Holy Water mid-flight and use it against Richter as he can only have one out at a time, allowing his opponents to perform combo setups or kill setups on him.

Richter's poor frame data also gives him a mediocre close-range game, as many of his attacks are unsafe if not spaced properly, which often leaves him heavily susceptible to punishment. While Richter's whip attacks have excellent range, they are also very narrow, and some attacks such as up tilt, up smash and up aerial only hit directly above Richter, giving him poor hitbox placements and creating big blindspots that can cause them to miss opponents even if they are directly touching him, which hampers his juggle ability and overall punish game, and gives him a hard time hitting smaller characters. Finally, his moves tend to be rather weak when sourspotted, making spacing crucial if the player plans to score an early KO. With his grab range being below-average and his kill power being noticeable with his tipper mechanic, he must keep his space and fish for tippered tilts and aerials for maximum effect, in a similar vein to.

Despite not being very different from Simon outside of his down special, Richter has seen greater representation in direct comparison. In recent times, however, his popularity has noticeably diminished due to his and Simon's shared weaknesses becoming more apparent, with players such as and  dropping Richter in favor of other characters. Other players, such as, have relegated him to a secondary. As such, he may not have been as strong as originally thought, leaving his true placement debatable.

Differences from
The only moveset difference between Richter and Simon is that Richter's Holy Water has an effect, as opposed to Simon's Holy Water which has a flame effect, as a result of the blue flames. Because of this, Richter has a slightly better matchup against (as he can deal damage to Olimar's Red Pikmin, who are immune to flame-based attacks, with Holy Water), while Simon is more favorable in the matchups against, ,  and , as he can cause the former three's explosives to forcibly detonate before reaching him using Holy Water, while his Holy Water's flame effect makes it easier to detonate Steve's TNT blocks. Simon can also use his version of the move to instantly detonate other items such as Blast Boxes or Bombers, or grow Hotheads at a faster rate.

Otherwise, Richter plays and acts identically to Simon, with his only different animations being his idle stance, taunts and victory animations. Aside from the aforementioned matchups and situations, choosing between the Belmonts is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Update history
Richter received a mix of buffs, a single nerf and a single glitch fix via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. Initially, he received only inconsequential changes from updates 3.0.0 and 4.0.0. After being absent from updates for a whole year, however, Richter received a few quality of life buffs from update 9.0.0. Neutral infinite received transcendent priority as part of a near-universal buff, which prevents it from being canceled by weak attacks. Dash attack's looping hits had their damage outputs increased, although its last hit's knockback was altered slightly to compensate. Up tilt's knockback was also altered, which makes it safer on hit at low percentages at the cost of worsening its KO potential. Up and down smashes received more knockback, with the former also having its start-up and ending lag decreased slightly. Lastly, Uppercut's vertical range was increased.

Overall, Richter fares mildly better than he did at Ultimate's launch. Due to his strengths and weaknesses being largely kept intact so far, his standing relative to the cast remains largely the same.

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Richter's hitboxes, see here.
 * Richter's whip, the Vampire Killer, possesses a sweetspot at the tip of the chain where the spiked ball is.
 * Richter's forward aerial, back aerial, and up aerial all act as tether recoveries, allowing them to be used for recovery but also cancels the attacking part of the move while it is in progress.
 * Unlike other disjointed weapons, the Vampire Killer's hitboxes cannot pass through solid terrain; hitting an obstacle will cause the move to deal no damage. This applies to every whip move except neutral attack, up tilt, down smash and neutral aerial.
 * Richter can crawl.

On-screen appearance

 * Appears onstage surrounded by rays of light, and cracks the Vampire Killer before coiling it.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Raises his hand in the air with an open palm, referencing his Grand Cross in the opening of Rondo of Blood, leading into the pose from his render while saying "It's time!"
 * Side taunt: Pulls out the Vampire Killer and straightens the chain, a reference to a piece of artwork shown in the official guide for Rondo of Blood. This pose is also used as Juste Belmont's official artwork for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.
 * Down taunt: Tightens his glove while saying "Prepare yourself!". Resembles a piece of artwork from Rondo of Blood.

Idle poses
Richter's idle stance is based on his idle from Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, as well as every preceding Belmont since the original Castlevania.
 * Stands upright with his right hand on his hip. Based on his conversation stance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
 * Thrusts his hand downwards.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Whilst spinning, Richter swings the Vampire Killer around himself while saying "You don't belong in this world!" ("", This world is not yours to live in!) before striking the ground with an overhead swing and pulling the chain taut. This line is taken from the beginning of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
 * Up: Jumps and whips the ground. Just before he lands, he spins in a brief clockwise manner. Upon landing, he assumes a pose identical to his official render.
 * Right: While facing away from the camera, he pulls back and rolls up the Vampire Killer, putting it on his side. He then, with his back still facing the camera, turns around, similarly to his idle stance in Symphony of the Night, and makes a parting gesture saying "Farewell!" ("", See you.). This is from the cutscene where he rescues Tera in Rondo of Blood.

: Smash Echoes
Richter's opponents, like him, are Echo Fighters, which he fights in numerical order. However, instead of Crazy Hand, who can be considered an echo of Master Hand, he faces Dracula as his final boss, like Simon.

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

Role in World of Light
Although Richter 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.

Richter was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is in the sub-area, but only makes an appearance if the player manages to destroy all the purple evil ghosts that teleport the player if touched with the use of cannonballs. If the player manages to do so, he'll appear in between the spaces for Alucard and Dracula.

Spirit
Richter's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Richter has been unlocked. Unlocking Richter in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Trivia

 * Richter is the only Echo Fighter whose position in the fighter numbers would be unchanged if Echo Fighters were numbered in the same way as regular fighters, as he was revealed directly after Simon, before any other characters.
 * Richter's render is based on the boxart for Rondo of Blood, but modified to face forward rather than straight up.
 * When Richter's Smash Blog article was uploaded on August 12th, 2018, Richter's name was erroneously labeled as "RICHITER" in English variants of his fighter page. The typo was later corrected.
 * Interestingly, Richter's name is also misspelt as "RICHITER" in Portrait of Ruin's character select screen, which was only corrected in the European version.
 * Like, , , and , Richter's name is pronounced differently between the different international versions of Ultimate. It is pronounced with a short i, hard k, and r in English ("Richter"), while using a long e, h, and a in Japanese ("Reehtah"), closer to the original German pronunciation of the name.
 * Richter and are the only Echo Fighter newcomers with a CGI trailer, as well as the only ones with CGI footage for their splash art.  did not have either, while  and  had only gameplay footage for their trailers and their official artwork for their splash arts.
 * Richter is the only character that isn't to utilize the  effect in any of his moves, doing so in his version of Holy Water. Its power, however, is not affected by Richter's damage percent.
 * When Richter is asleep, he will mutter "Dracula..." as he dozes. This makes him the only character to speak while asleep. Like and 's Star KO voice clips, this easter egg is not present in the Japanese version.
 * However, because the clip loops before "Dracula..." is heard in-game, this can only be heard in the sound test.
 * Richter's fighter spirit is based off of his Dracula X Chronicles design, as opposed to his Rondo of Blood design used for his actual character model.