Pikachu (SSB)

Pikachu in Super Smash Bros.
Pikachu
Universe	Pokémon
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Tier	S (1)

Pikachu (ピカチュウ, Pikachū) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. This character is notable for its fast aerials, good edgeguarding ability, and amazing recovery. As it is a versatile character with negligible weaknesses, a player opposing a Pikachu should never rush straight at the opponent, as its aerials are deadly and are good for countering.

It is currently ranked number one in its own S tier on the tier list (similar to Meta Knight, who also owns a tier for himself at the top of the Brawl tier list), for solid attack power, good combo-ability, high priority, and undoubtedly the best recovery in SSB. All of this leads to very favourable matchups; Pikachu is one of only four characters in the entire Smash Bros. series to have no disadvantageous matchups (along with Fox, Falco and Meta Knight), and it remains the only one in the series to have no even matchups either. This doesn't mean Pikachu is immaculate, as it is a lightweight character and can be easy to combo. Pikachu also has certain technically even matchups but these depend on stage choice.

Attributes

File:Pikachuending.jpg

Pikachu's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Pikachu is a small, very quick character with fast moves, a great recovery, great finishers, a projectile, disjointed hitboxes and an exceedingly powerful back throw. Its Thunder Jolt is a relatively underused attack, but it can be useful potentially for edge guarding and camping. Quick Attack is by far the best triple jump in Super Smash Bros., as it can be extended to be incredibly useful in recovery situations or to escape combos. If used perfectly, Pikachu has the ability to stall on the ledge infinitely. One of the main reasons why Pikachu is number one on the tier list is due to it having by far the best and in many ways the only hard to edeguard recovery in SSB. Its edgeguarding abilities are also the best in the game due to its disjointed hitboxes and long recovery. Pikachu is also known for four great combo starters: up tilt, up aerial, neutral aerial, and down aerial. Its attacks, most notably side smash and back aerial, have strange hitboxes, with side smash being an excellent finisher. Its combo ability is accentuated by its Thunder, which can be comboed from up smash. Its up tilt can be used to combo into up smash along with just above every other move. Due to quick, strong aerials, Pikachu's shield pressure is commonly considered to be the third or fourth best in the game, behind Fox, Kirby, and possibly Captain Falcon. Overall, Pikachu has only a few even matchups, with the main ones being Fox on Hyrule Castle and Captain Falcon on Dream Land, and in every other matchup, Pikachu is at least 60-40.

The problems Pikachu faces are small, but still noticeable. It is moderately easy to combo, along with the fact it is light weight, despite usually being able to get out of bad situations with its up special move. Its up special, despite its invincibility frames and wonderful range, leaves Pikachu vulnerable if it can be forced onto the stage due to its ending lag. If one can get over these small issues, Pikachu will be a huge asset.

Moveset

Pikachu's aerial attacks

Pikachu in the SSB instruction booklet.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		{{{neutralname}}}	2%	{{{neutraldesc}}}
Forward tilt		Sidekick	10%	Pikachu stands on its two hands and kicks its two feet forward. Around the same if not slightly lower range than its neutral attack. Can be slightly angled up or down, though not very noticeable. Commonly considered to be Pikachu's worst attack.
Up tilt		Vertical Tail Lash	9%-11%	Can combo multiple times without the opponent escaping, simple to combo with up tilt and up smash. Easily leads into all aerial moves, notably neutral-aerial. One of Pikachu's best moves but also has higher ending lag than most making it somewhat easy to punish. Good shield stun as well.
Down tilt		Tail Sweep	12%	A tail sweep, which is normally used against walls to combo into u-smash (Greenhouse combo) against certain people's recoveries (Fox, Captain Falcon, Samus, etc.)
Dash attack		Sliding Headbutt	9%-12%	Barely used, can be used for finishing occasionally. Very laggy and predictable, making its usefulness questionable. Commonly considered to be Pikachu's 2nd worst move behind its f-tilt.
Forward smash		Thunder Jolt	14%-18%	Can be slightly aimed up or down but barely. Pikachu releases a short jolt of electricity from its cheeks. The electrical effect is in 2-D. This move has a massive disjointed hitbox that hits slightly above Pikachu. Useful in edgeguarding. Against certain characters, the move is virtually safe on block.
Up smash		Flip	14%-18%	Similar to Falcon's but with more range, more power, and more lag. Can combo into itself when used against heavier characters as well as any of Pikachu's aerials. Overall, a versatile move. Also leads directly into a Thunder which allows it to KO 20 to 30% quicker than normal, commonly known as Thunder Spiking.
Down smash		Break Dance	10%-16%	Does two hits. This is a slightly less powerful version of the side smash, and seldom used outside of mindgames. However, it is still very powerful and it can be used against opponents who roll too often.
Neutral aerial		Aerial Kick	9%-14%	A combo starter, with a large hitbox and moderate knockback. An easily definable sex kick. Usually Pikachu's third best aerial outside of possibly vs. Samus and Luigi where it is a bit more useful. Somewhat disjointed but not that much.
Forward aerial		Aerial Thunder Jolt	3% per hit	7 hits at a rate of 3% per hit, a combo starter or finisher. All the hits are awkward to connect, and the finishing hit isn't even that strong. The speed of the move slows as the foe is zapped. Commonly considered to be Pikachu's third worst move as it is easy to SDI out of. One of two aerials that is not heavily disjointed.
Back aerial		Back Kick	10%-11% (Sour Spot) 15%-16% (Sweet Spot)	Pikachu kicks behind itself, its small foot getting slightly larger for a short second. The Sweet Spot is very powerful, and is commonly the last move used to finish an off the stage aerial combo but can be used at lower percents to continue combos such as into another b-air. The Sour Spot is hard to time but it allows Pikachu to properly combo into u-smash, n-air and u-air. Pikachu's second best aerial and main combo finisher against opponents who are next to Pikachu in the air. Heavily disjointed. A properly spaced b-air on block vs. most of the cast
Up aerial		Upwards Tail	8%-10%	A flipping upwards tail swing. Knockback angle depends on area of tail, a very powerful combo move with a giant hitbox, and solid shield stun for how little damage it does. Prevents most characters from approaching and is very easy to combo. The usual move Pikachu uses when trying to space out other characters approaches such as vs. another Pikachu or a Falcon. Pikachu's best aerial and considered to be the best aerial in all of SSB64 along with Falcon's u-air. Also leads to up-smash around 100 percent depending on character which allows it to combo into a Thunder for a KO.
Down aerial		Downward Joit	10%-13%	Similar in function to Link's, though safer to use and more used for combos rather than an OoS move. Also has high shield stun which allows further shield pressure and is the other move to use at the end of aerial combos when the opponent is below. Pikachu's fourth best aerial though possibly better than Neutral Aerial vs. floaty charaters. Has a slightly disjointed hitbox but not as much as b-air or u-air. Has a secondary hitbox (like Kirby) that deals little damage only if a z-cancel is missed.
Grab		{{{grabname}}}	—	{{{grabdesc}}}
Forward throw			9%-12%	Pikachu grabs the foe, flips and releases them. Average throw power. Can lead to another throw at lower percents if there is enough horizontal room as well as an up smash. Commonly seen in Hyrule's "Tent."
Back throw			14%-18%	Pikachu puts the foe on its back and releases electricity. Very powerful and probably the best throw used for KO'ing outside of Donkey Kong's back-throw. This throw would later become its forward throw in future Smash Bros. iterations but a much weaker variant.
Forward roll Back roll		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Kicks on both sides and gets up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Kicks on both sides and gets up.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)		Quick Flip Kick	6%	Is evenly good with other ledge attacks outside of Fox's and DK's where it is considered worse.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)		Slow Tail Flip	6%	Slowly gets up and whips its tail.
Neutral special		Thunder Jolt	6%-10%	Shoots a sphere of electricity diagonally downwards and when it hits the ground, it will turn into a wave. The projectile will wrap around corners and snake along walls and even ceilings if the corners are not too sharp and it lives long enough.
Up special		Quick Attack	None	Pikachu can move in a direction by the movement of the control stick and optionally another if tilted in another direction. This is perhaps the best recovery move in the game. Deals no damage.
Down special		Thunder	12% (Bolt) 28% (Near Pikachu)	Pikachu drops a bolt of lightning from the sky causing slight vertical knockback to any opponent in the bolt's way. Upon hitting the user, a large shockwave is created with stronger knockback than the lightning itself. Thunder's infinite vertical range make a technique called "Thunder spiking" a good way to score KOs, where Pikachu uses Thunder when its opponent is near the upper blast line. It can be often used after an up smash.

Taunt

• Turns to its left, stands on tiptoes, lowers its tail, waves its arms four times, and looks to its left then to its right, accompanied by it saying "Pika Pika!" (the "a" is much longer in the second "Pika").

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Pikachu professionals

• Gerson
• Isai

Useful Techniques

Extended Quick Attack

Pikachu's already long up special move can be extended even farther by letting the analog stick snap back to neutral position before the end of the second quick attack. This could also be used on the first quick attack but runs a high risk of missing the second quick attack.

Thunder-Spiking

Launching the opponent straight up (usually with an up smash) and using Thunder (Pikachu's down special move) is called "Thunder-Spiking." Thunder-Spiking is usually used as a combo finisher. Unlike Pikachu's Thunder in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Thunder in Super Smash Bros. has infinite vertical range. This technique allows Pikachu to get a vertical KO at around 20-30% damage sooner than an ordinary up smash.

This technique can be used in all three Smash Bros. games, but can be more difficult to pull off in Melee, due to the fact that Pikachu's Thunder lacks infinite range and in Brawl due to opponents being able to air dodge out.

Jab grab

A technique that allows Pikachu to instantly get a grab if needed. See Jab grab for more information.

Description

From the Game

Pikachu
Mouse PKMN
Height 1'4"
Weight 13 lbs
When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could cause lightning storms.
(Pokédex excerpt)

Works:

• Pokémon (GB)

From the Instruction Booklet

This popular Pokémon has become so famous that these days, everyone knows its name. Pikachu's electricity attacks are a real shock to any opponent.

Costumes

File:Alt-pikachu.jpg

Pikachu's changeable clothing in SSB

Trivia

• Pikachu is one of the few in Smash history to not have a meteor smash or spike of any kind.
• Most of Pikachu's static and electric effects are rendered in 2-D due to technical limitations.