Greninja (SSB4)

Greninja in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Secret Ninja Attack
Tier	E (25)

“	Greninja Makes a Splash!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Greninja (ゲッコウガ, Gekkōga) appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4, revealed during the April 8th, 2014 Super Smash Bros. Direct alongside Charizard. For its appearance in SSB4, Greninja is voiced by Yūji Ueda in Japanese and Billy Bob Thompson in English. Like numerous other Pokémon, it only communicates with syllables of its name, and has different voice actors in the French and German versions due to name changes, similarly to Jigglypuff.

Greninja is currently ranked 25th in the tier list, placing it in the E tier. Greninja has an impressive combo game with many moves, most notably its up and down tilts, its neutral and up aerials and its down throw, all of which are decently fast. Its recovery is also above average, with Shadow Sneak being able to cover a notable amount of horizontal distance while Hydro Pump comes out quite fast and can be aimed. Greninja also boasts a decent projectile with Water Shuriken, a decent approach tool and high-percentage KOing option when fully charged. Its counter, Substitute, has the unique property of being able to aim in various angles during the counterattack, which allows Greninja to set up a deadly combo or even recover. Greninja also has some of the best smash attacks in terms of overall utility, with its up smash being one of the game's strongest. However, Greninja's biggest strength is its overall mobility: it the sixth fastest dashing speed, the fourth fastest walking speed, the eighth fastest air speed and the second-highest jumps. These traits grant Greninja the distinction of being among the fastest characters in not just SSB4, but the entire Super Smash Bros. series as well.

Despite the aforementioned strengths, Greninja has notably glaring flaws. One of them is the abnormally high ending lag on its attacks (most notably its smash attacks), which leaves it at a disadvantage against characters with lower ending lag. Its special moves also have some flaws, with Shadow Sneak and Hydro Pump being somewhat predictable recovery moves. Water Shuriken is easily blockable due to its low shield damage, and Substitute is considered to be one of the game's worst counters due to its low power and ability to be blocked if the opponent is quick enough. While Greninja has a couple of reliable finishers, none of them are easy to sweetspot due to hitbox timings (such as its up smash and down aerial) or even land at all due to start-up (such as its forward aerial). However, Greninja's biggest flaw is its terrible grab game: it has the second-slowest standing non-tether grab in SSB4 (losing out only to Villager's), has only two active frames, and its throws are either unreliable at KOing or starting combos (up throw at 0%-40%/150%-180% and down throw at lower percentages notwithstanding). However, its much faster dash grab can somewhat alleviate this problem.

Overall, Greninja has a fairly high learning curve, but can become a relatively potent character when mastered. As a result, it has average match-ups with the rest of the cast with decent tournament results along with a few dedicated and noteworthy players, such as iStudying and aMSa.

Attributes

Unsurprisingly for a character with a ninja aesthetic, Greninja fits into the "hit-and-run" archetype. Its smash attacks have decent power and have moderate range and its boasts remarkable movement speed, as it is the sixth fastest dasher in the game and its walking speed is the fourth fastest in the game. Although somewhat predictable and telegraphed, Water Shuriken deals respectable damage and functions well for both zoning and edge-guarding. Shadow Sneak is an excellent way to play mindgames with opponents while also functioning either as a way to aid its recovery or as a KOing option at high percents. It has a useful counter in Substitute that enables it to retaliate from various angles; however, it is considered the worst counter move in the game due to the fact that Greninja can be attacked out of it. Lastly, Hydro Pump is a long-distanced and unpredictable move that can easily enable it to return to the stage. However, Greninja is not without its flaws. In most of its attacks, both damage and knockback power are somewhat limited, sometimes leaving it with limited options to KO outside of reads and edge-guarding. While its attacks have fast start-up, they have among the longest ending lag in SSB4, particularly its aerials, which effectively forces players to use them wisely. Surprisingly for a humanoid frog, Greninja's wall jump is situational at best due to it having the shortest height in the game. Unlike Sheik and Captain Falcon, Greninja's excellent speed does not translate to it having a good combo game, as its moves sometimes have trouble linking into each other. As a result, it tends to be overly reliant on throws to set up combos. Aside from Shadow Sneak, Greninja's out of shield options are also very lacking (possessing one of the slowest standing grabs in the entire game), leaving it at a disadvantage against characters such as the aforementioned Sheik who have powerful spacing options against shield. Finally, the overall short range of its attacks leaves it at a disadvantage to zoning-oriented characters such as Rosalina & Luma.

Greninja's custom moves are rather polarizing, as the majority of them are inferior to their regular versions while only very few are very useful. One example of this involves its versions of Water Shuriken. Stagnant Shuriken is a very poor alternative due to it only staying in front of Greninja. However, Shifting Shuriken is extremely useful in that while it slightly detracts from Greninja's already poor range, it addresses its comboing issues: when uncharged, it launches opponents straight up, and when charged, launches opponents toward Greninja. Shadow Dash and especially Shadow Strike are both somewhat inferior to Shadow Sneak. High-Capacity Pump does not do much to improve Greninja's already excellent recovery, while Single-Shot Pump is significantly inferior due to it being very linear and lacks any edge-guarding capabilities due to it only being able to go straight up. Although Substitute Ambush may make it even easier to intercept, it gives the player more time to pick a direction and also does high shield damage. However, Exploding Attack is a superior option to both due to being more practical, powerful, and easier to hit with.

Update history

Game updates have been a mixed bag for Greninja, though the nerfs override the buffs. 1.0.4 significantly nerfed Greninja by weakening a number of its attacks by lowering their damage outputs, reducing hitbox sizes, and removing the Shadow Sneak glitch that allowed it to cancel the lag off of its aerials. Greninja's hurtbox size at the top of its head was also increased in 1.0.4, making its crouch nearly useless. However, these nerfs were slightly compensated for as Shadow Sneak was buffed to a degree. Like 1.0.4, 1.0.5 removed another exploitable glitch (the Running Shadow Sneak glitch), which further nerfed it. However, Greninja has also seen some improvements in later updates. 1.0.8 noticeably improved its forward tilt by making it a better combo option. 1.1.0 gave Greninja a mix of buffs and nerfs, though the former was more prevalent than the latter. While its down throw's damage output was decreased and Water Shuriken no longer stalls Greninja in the air after a jump, its down throw's ending lag was reduced while Water Shuriken's start-up was decreased. Greninja received minor tweaks in 1.1.1: its neutral and back aerials have improved hitbox timing at the expense of slower start-up, while Shadow Dash has less ending lag. 1.1.3 buffed the knockback to Greninja's smash attacks and all variations of Shadow Sneak, which helps compensate for 1.0.4's weakening of its KO potential. Lastly, the changes on the shield mechanics in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 were also mixed for Greninja: its attacks for the most part possess low damage output and hitlag, and its poor out of shield game was weakened further. A notable exception to this, however, is its forward aerial, which has become a much more useful move due to its safety on shield while providing relatively lenient spacing. At the end, this compensates for its poor out of shield game nonetheless. While the various changes it received from update to update have left Greninja in a difficult position at times, it is still considered a viable character nonetheless, and its slight benefits from the changes to shieldstun have brought it back into a favorable position in the metagame.

1.0.4

• Up smash's first hit's radius decreased: 6.5 → 5.
• Clean up smash's second hit's center radius decreased: 7 → 6.
• Clean up smash's second hit deals 2% less damage: 13% → 11%.
• Clean up smash's second hit's bigger hitboxes Y-offsets decreased: -5 → -4.
• Late up smash's second hit deals 1% less damage: 11% → 10%.
• Down smash deals 2% more damage: 11% (katanas), 9% (arms) → 13% (katanas), 11% (arms).
• Down smash's knockback growth decreased: 93 → 90.
• Forward aerial's knockback growth decreased: 92 → 84.
• Up aerial's hits have been restructured: hits 1-5, hit 6 → hits 1-4, hit 5, hit 6. Its timing and overall damage output remain the same.
• Up aerial's fifth hit's angle altered: 366° → 85°.
• Up aerial's fifth hit's fixed knockback value increased: 0 → 10.
• Up aerial's fifth hit's radius increased: 5.5 → 6.2.
• Up aerial's sixth hit's knockback growth decreased: 190 → 168.
• Up aerial's sixth hit's radii increased: 6, 7 → 6.2, 7.
• Shadow Sneak and Shadow Strike's knockback growth increased: 100 → 102 (normal), 100 → 101 (reverse).
• Shadow Sneak's ending lag decreased.
• Shadow Sneak's shadow travels faster.
• Fixed a glitch where Greninja could cancel its landing lag with Shadow Sneak.
• Hydro Pump's base knockback decreased: 85 → 65.
• Hydro Pump's knockback growth decreased: 130 → 100.
• High-Capacity Pump's fixed knockback value decreased: 100 → 90.
• Greninja's hurtbox size increased.

1.0.5

• Fixed a glitch where Greninja could run before performing Shadow Sneak.

1.0.8

• Forward tilt deals 0.75% more damage: 6.5% → 7.25%.
• Forward tilt's ending lag is moderately decreased: 41 frames → 32.

1.1.0

• Water Shuriken's start-up decreased: 25 frames → 20.
• Fixed a glitch where Water Shuriken stalled Greninja in midair after a jump.
• Down throw's ending lag is moderately decreased: 49 frames → 42.
• Down throw deals 1% less damage: 6% → 5%.

1.1.1

• Shadow Dash's ending lag decreased.
• Neutral and back aerials' frame speed multipliers have been modified to change the timing of their hitboxes.
• Greninja's second victory pose has been slightly changed.

1.1.3

• Forward smash's knockback growth increased: 99 → 101.
• Sweetspotted up smash's second hit's knockback growth increased: 103 → 104.
• Down smash's knockback growth increased: 90 → 92.
• All variations of Shadow Sneak have had their knockback growth increased: 102 → 104 (front Shadow Sneak/Shadow Strike), 101 → 103 (back Shadow Sneak/Shadow Strike), 90 → 92 (front/back Shadow Dash).

Moveset

• Greninja is able to crawl, wall cling and wall jump.
• Greninja's down taunt can do damage with a slight wind effect just above the water.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	A three-hit knifehand strike combo that ends in either a small blast of water from a stationary double palm thrust, or a neutral infinite of blade-shaped waves from rapid slaps that ends in a with a small blast of water from an outward knifehand strike.
			1.6%
			3.5%
			1% (loop), 2% (last)
Forward tilt			7.25%	Performs a mid-level hook kick. Can be angled.
Up tilt			4.5%	Crouches forward and bobs its head to strike upward and slightly forward with its tongue. A good set-up for a combo.
Down tilt			7%	A crouching shin kick. Slightly launches the opponent into the air, which can be followed by forward tilt, forward smash or down smash at low percents or a short hopped forward aerial at high percents.
Dash attack			7%	An inside legsweep. It can be followed reliably by forward aerial at medium percents.
Forward smash			14%	While wielding a katana made of water, Greninja performs reverse gripped inward slash. It can be pivot-cancelled.
Up smash			5% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2 clean center), 11% (hit 2 clean sides), 10% (hit 2 late)	While wielding two katanas made of water, Greninja performs two reverse gripped outward arcing slashes. The first slashes occur via a double stab and the second slashes occur with an outward rip. One of Greninja's most viable KOing options.
Down smash			13% (katanas), 11% (arms)	While wielding two katanas made of water, Greninja performs two reverse gripped slashes that simultaneously fan out to both of its sides. It is a semi-spike.
Neutral aerial			11% (clean), 6% (late)	Strikes a ninja pose while it emits a circular burst of water around itself.
Forward aerial			14%	While wielding a katana made of water, Greninja horizontally slashes in front of itself. Though a bit slow for an aerial, it is strong and viable for both KOing and edge-guarding.
Back aerial			3% (hit 1), 2.5% (hit 2), 4% (hit 3)	Performs three swift kicks behind itself at a high angle, then a low angle, and at a mid-level.
Up aerial			1.3% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6)	An upward corkscrewing kick. It is similar to Sheik's and Samus', but differs in that Greninja attacks directly upward instead of diagonally. Since it launches opponents at the auto-link angle, it can be used to drag opponents down to the ground for a combo.
Down aerial			8%	A diving double foot stomp which functions as a stall-then-fall and bounces off opponents. The bounce deprives Greninja of its double jump. A clean hit, however, meteor smashes opponents. Spamming it may warrant a punish or a miss depending on how far it launches the opponent back.
Grab			—	Grabs the opponent with a whirlpool by performing ninja hand signs. Surprisingly for a fast character, it is the slowest non-tether standing and pivot grab in the game, as they are active on frames 14 and 15, respectively. However, Greninja's dash grab is much faster, as it is active on frame 9.
Pummel			2%	Makes the whirlpool squeeze the opponent. As it is slow and only deals average damage, it is the worst pummel in the game when not counting Shulk's pummel when he activates the Smash or Shield Monado Arts.
Forward throw			5%	Shoves the opponent forward with a palm thrust.
Back throw			8%	Leans forward and then flings the opponent backward.
Up throw			5%	Throws the opponent upward while performing a ninja pose. Possibly Greninja's most useful throw, as it can be followed up with up smash at low percents, up aerial at medium percents and can actually KO around 150%-200%, depending on the opponent's DI and weight.
Down throw			6%	Slams opponents onto the ground in front of itself. It can be followed reliably with forward tilt, forward smash or Shadow Sneak at low percents, or full hop forward aerial at high percents.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Sweep kicks around itself while getting up.
Floor attack (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip)			5%
Edge attack			7%	Kicks the opponent's legs and gets back up.
Neutral special	Default	Water Shuriken	3%-11% (not fully charged), 0.7% (fully charged loop), 9% (fully charged last hit)	Horizontally throws a chargeable shuriken made of water. Gains power but loses speed and range the more it is charged. Hits multiple times when fully charged.
	Custom 1	Stagnant Shuriken	1%-1.2% (not fully charged loop), 1.5% (fully charged loop 1), 2% (fully charged loop 2), 3% (fully charged last hit)	The thrown shuriken stays in place, but deals less damage at varying charges.
	Custom 2	Shifting Shuriken	3%	Uncharged shurikens have strong upwards knockback, while charged ones go through opponents.
Side special	Default	Shadow Sneak	10% (normal), 12% (reverse)	Silently prepares to teleport to a moving shadow, which activates when the button is released. If the shadow is in front of the opponent, Greninja attacks with a handstand-initiated backflip kick. If the shadow is behind the opponent, Greninja dropkicks them instead. The latter strike is slightly stronger than the former.
	Custom 1	Shadow Strike	15% (normal), 17% (reverse)	The shadow moves slower and farther while the attack is stronger. Additionally, Greninja takes longer to reappear.
	Custom 2	Shadow Dash	6% (normal), 7% (reverse)	Teleports a fixed distance instantly, though it is weaker than normal.
Up special	Default	Hydro Pump	2% (per shot)	Shoots two streams of water from one of its hands in the opposite direction of travel, propelling Greninja in the input directions. Functions similarly to Pikachu's Quick Attack.
	Custom 1	High-Capacity Pump	0%	The water streams are more controllable, but they deal no damage.
	Custom 2	Single-Shot Pump	5%	Only one water stream is fired, though it is slightly more powerful.
Down special	Default	Substitute	14%, 13%, 11%, 13%, 14% (based on timing)	Greninja enters a defensive stance. If attacked, it disappears with a Substitute doll or a log taking its place before countering with a flying kick upon reappearing. The kick's direction can be input while Greninja has vanished. The latter portion of the move can act either as a semi-spike or even as a meteor smash.
	Custom 1	Exploding Attack	10% (close), 8% (far)	Instead of counterattacking, Greninja vanishes and reappears with an explosion around itself.
	Custom 2	Substitute Ambush	18%, 17%, 15%, 17%, 18% (based on timing)	Greninja disappears for a longer amount of time and performs a stronger counterattack upon reappearing.
Final Smash		Secret Ninja Attack	2% (snag), 5% (flip), 2% (hits 1-15), 15% (hit 16)	Greninja launches opponents into the air with Mat Block, its signature move in the Pokémon games, before it proceeds to slash them several times in midair while a moonlit backdrop appears and then finally spikes them down to the stage with a downward knifehand strike.

On-screen appearance

• A Poké Ball is thrown onto the stage from the background, releasing Greninja who strikes a ninja pose that emits a small burst of water.

File:Battle Entrance (Greninja).jpg

Taunts

• Up taunt: Poses upright and clasps hands, and then rises a bit more while raising a hand, both pointing up.
• Side taunt: Shakes head from side to side, causing its tongue to whip out in the same directions.
• Down taunt: Poses upright and holds out arms to either side, releasing fountains of water from its palms which damage nearby foes by 1% or 2%. A video by Master0fHyrule [1] shows the exact percentage this taunt can KO on every character.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle Poses

• Crosses arms over its body, then separates them with a flourish.
• Hunches body and makes a ninja gesture with one arm supporting the other, as if concentrating.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Gre-nin-ja!	Gek-kou-ga!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A small excerpt of the music that would play on the title screen of Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions.

• Performs Double Team to briefly create three afterimages of itself.
• Performs a few ninja hand signs that emit small bursts of water and then performs a ninja pose.
• Performs a flip and then crosses its arms after landing. Somewhat resembles the pose it performed when first appearing in its reveal trailer.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Greninja	1112	3112	3111	1312	1311
	3312	3311	3113	2112	2111

Notable players

•  Alias
•  aMSa
•  Eddy
•  IceArrow
•  Jodi Bleek
•  iStudying
•  P2P with Gibus
•  Some
•  Techei
•  Venia

Reveal trailer

<youtube>xEJBPMcbRkk</youtube>

Trophies

Greninja

This Water/Dark-type Pokémon is the fully evolved form of Froakie. It's just as fast and dangerous as any other ninja, and the throwing stars it can make out of water can shear metal. In Smash Bros., as well as being a graceful, speedy fighter, it can also use moves like Hydro Pump that let it travel through the air and avoid falling.

This Water- and Dark-type Pokémon is the fully evolved form of Froakie. It is just as fast and dangerous as its name suggests, and the throwing stars it can make out of water can shear metal. In this game, as well as being a graceful, speedy fighter, it can also use moves like Hydro Pump to let it move through the air and avoid falling.

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Greninja (Alt.)

Greninja's Substitute down special lets you teleport to dodge attacks and then strike back, making it an effective and hard-to-predict way to counterattack. You can also control where you reappear by inputting directions. When you vanish, sometimes you'll be replaced by a log, other times by a cuddly toy.

Greninja's Substitute down special lets you teleport to dodge attacks and then strike back, making it an effective and hard-to-predict way to counter-attack. You can also control where you reappear. When you vanish, sometimes you'll be replaced by a log, and other times by a Substitute doll.

: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)

Secret Ninja Attack

In Greninja's Final Smash, it uses its Mat Block move to flip opponents into the air. It then slices them repeatedly in front of the bright moon before smacking them back down to the ground and launching them. The initial Mat Block flip doesn't have much range, but should it hit home, the rest of the attack is unavoidable.

In Greninja's Final Smash, it uses its Mat Block move to flip an opponent into the air. It then slices them repeatedly in front of the shining moon, before smacking them down to the ground so hard they get launched. The inital Mat Block flip doesn't have much range, but if it hits home, there's no evading the rest of the attack.

• 

  Classic (3DS)

• GreninjaAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Final Smash (Wii U)

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Fire-Type Frenzy: As Charizard, the player must defeat Greninja, who appears alongside Pikachu and Lucario.
• New Challengers 2: Greninja is one of the seven opponents fought in this event alongside Palutena, Robin, Shulk, Dark Pit, Mega Man, and Pac-Man.
• Pokémon Battle: The player controls Greninja, and must defeat Pikachu, Charizard, and Lucario.

Co-op Events

• Pokémon Multi Battle!: Greninja is one of the player's Pokémon to use, as well as being one of the opponents.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of Greninja used on the website.

• 

  Greninja's introduction picture.

• 

  Greninja's amiibo.

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  In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Throwing a Water Shuriken.

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  A Water Shuriken being tossed at Charizard.

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  Using Shadow Sneak against Charizard.

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  Using Substitute against Toon Link.

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  Firing water at Pikachu.

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  Wielding a katana made of water.

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  Striking Charizard with a low kick.

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  Hitting Mega Man with its tongue.

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  Fighting Lucario.

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  Taunting alongside Olimar and Diddy Kong.

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  Laying in front of a male Wii Fit Trainer.

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  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

• 

  Greninja and Mario with alternate palettes.

Trivia

• At E3 2014, Sakurai shared that most of the initial roster was established early in development and he mandated that a new Pokémon character should be included, before Pokémon X and Pokémon Y were announced. He worked very closely with the Pokémon series' developers to create Greninja, but most of its moveset was improvised due to Sakurai's only references being Game Freak's conceptual artwork.
• Greninja is one of two Pokémon to not have a custom move share its name with an actual Pokémon attack, the other being Lucario.
• Greninja and Bayonetta are the only newcomers that can wall cling.
  • Coincidentally, they are the only characters that can interrupt their own taunts.
• Though Double Team is not part of Greninja's moveset, it uses it during one of its victory animations.
• Greninja is the only playable Pokémon in the Super Smash Bros. series who can neither evolve nor Mega Evolve.
• In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, the togglable marker tracks characters even during their teleporting moves. However, this is not the case when Greninja uses Shadow Sneak or Substitute.
• Despite being a Dark-type Pokemon, none of Greninja's attacks in Smash have the darkness effect. However, this is largely a result of the Dark type in Pokémon being more associated with deception and below-the-belt fighting tactics than with literal darkness and shadows, which are characteristic of the Ghost type instead.
• Greninja and Corrin are the only water-themed characters in SSB4.