Greninja (SSB4)

Greninja in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pokémon
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Secret Ninja Attack

“	Greninja Makes a Splash!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Greninja (ゲッコウガ, Gekkouga) 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 Yuji Ueda (Japanese) and Billy Bob Thompson (English).

Attributes

Greninja has a wide variety of abilities, many of which go towards fitting it into the "quick and weak" character archetype. Nonetheless, its smash attacks are decently powerful, and have moderate range. Its speed is remarkable, and it is the 6th fastest dasher in the game, with its walking speed being the 4th fastest. Although somewhat predictable and telegraphed, its projectile, Water Shuriken, hits multiple times and is a good zoning tool, also doing quite a bit of damage. Shadow Sneak is an excellent way to keep enemies off balance and guessing, and Greninja even has a counter in Substitute. Recovering is no problem, as Hydro Pump is a long-distanced and unpredictable move to reach the ledge. 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 kill outside of reads and edge guarding. Although it may be fast, Greninja's comboing ability is not the best; its moves can sometimes have trouble linking into each other, and it tends to be overly reliant on throws to set up combos. Also, in some of its moves, range can be an issue, leaving it at a disadvantage to characters such as Rosalina & Luma.

Moveset

• Greninja is able to crawl and wall cling.
• 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 jab combo ending in either a double forward palm stationary blast of water, or a rapid-slap infinite of small water waves that ends in an outward swipe causing a water burst.
			1.6%
			3.5%
			1% (loop), 2% (last)
Forward tilt			6.5%	Kicks straight forward via forward hooking kick in a turn. Can be angled.
Up tilt			4.5%	Licks upward with its tongue in a forward overhead "cape smack". A good setup for a combo.
Down tilt			7%	A quick low kick. Juggles the opponent into the air slightly.
Dash attack			7%	A low dashing sweep kick.
Forward smash			14%	Slashes forward with a water sword/katana in a reverse grip inward slash. Can be pivot-cancelled.
Up smash			5% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2 clean center), 11% (hit 2 clean sides), 10% (hit 2 late)	Slashes above (via a double stab) and to the side (with an outward rip) with two water swords both in reverse grip in an outwards arc.
Down smash			13% (swords), 11% (arms)	Strikes both sides simultaneously with water swords, both in reverse grip.
Neutral aerial			11% (clean), 6% (late)	Enters a ninja pose while a burst of water emits around itself.
Forward aerial			14%	Similar to the forward smash. Is a bit slow for an aerial, though strong.
Back aerial			3% (hit 1), 2.5% (hit 2), 4% (hit 3)	Performs three back kicks, high, low, then mid.
Up aerial			1.3% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6)	An upwards drill kick, similar to Sheik or Samus.
Down aerial			8%	A very fast stall-then-fall which bounces off of enemies. Bouncing off enemies deprives Greninja of its double jump. If landed clean, it meteor smashes opponents. However, spamming it on opponents may warrant a punish or a miss depending on how far it knocks the target back.
Grab			—	Grabs the opponent with a whirlpool by making ninja hand signs.
Pummel			2%	Makes the whirlpool squeeze the opponent.
Forward throw			5%	Throws the opponent forward with a forward palm move.
Back throw			8%	Leans back and flings the opponent backwards.
Up throw			5%	Throws opponent upwards with a single arm gesture on a erect stance.
Down throw			6%	Throws opponents into the floor in front of itself.
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)	Throws a chargable shuriken sideways. Gains power but loses speed and range the more it is charged.
	Custom 1	Stagnant Shuriken	1.0%-1.2% (not fully charged loop), 1.5% (fully charged loop 1), 2% (fully charged loop 2), 3% (fully charged last)	The thrown shuriken stays in place.
	Custom 2	Shifting Shuriken	3%	Uncharged shurikens have strong upwards knockback; charged ones go through opponents.
Side special	Default	Shadow Sneak	10% (normal), 12% (reverse)	Silently prepares a teleportation to a moving shadow, which activates when the button is released. If the shadow is in front of the foe, Greninja attacks with a flip kick. If the shadow is behind the foe, Greninja dropkicks them. The latter version is slightly stronger than the former.
	Custom 1	Shadow Strike	15% (normal), 17% (reverse)	Shadow moves slower and farther; attack is stronger. Additionally, Greninja takes longer to reappear.
	Custom 2	Shadow Dash	6% (normal), 7% (reverse)	Teleports a fixed distance instantly. Weaker than normal.
Up special	Default	Hydro Pump	2% (per shot)	Shoots two water blasts in the opposite direction of travel, propelling Greninja in the input directions. Similar to Pikachu's Quick Attack.
	Custom 1	High-Capacity Pump	0%	More controllable, but does no damage.
	Custom 2	Single-Shot Pump	5%	Only one downward water shot is fired, which is more powerful.
Down special	Default	Substitute	14%, 13%, 11%, 13%, 14% (based on timing)	Greninja enters a defensive stance. If attacked, counters with a teleporting flying kick. The kick's direction can be input while Greninja has vanished. The later portion of the move can be a semi-spike or even a meteor smash.
	Custom 1	Exploding Attack	10% (close), 8% (far)	Instead of countering, Greninja vanishes and reappears with an explosion.
	Custom 2	Substitute Ambush	18%, 17%, 15%, 17%, 18% (based on timing)	Greninja disappears for longer and hits harder.
Final Smash		Secret Ninja Attack	2% (snag), 5% (flip), 2% (hits 1-15), 15% (hit 16)	Knocks opponents into the air with Mat Block, and slashes them several times against the moonlight before spiking them down to the stage.

Update history

1.0.4

• Up smash hit 1 radius: 6.5 → 5.0
• Up smash hit 2 clean center radius: 7.0 → 6.0
• Up smash hit 2 clean sides damage: 13% → 11%
• Up smash hit 2 clean bigger hitboxes Y-offset: -5.0 → -4.0 (less disjoint)
• Up smash hit 2 late damage: 11% → 10%
• Down smash damage: 11% (swords), 9% (arms) → 13% (swords), 11% (arms)
• Down smash knockback scaling: 93 → 90
• Forward aerial knockback scaling: 92 → 84
• Up aerial restructured from "hits 1-5, hit 6" to "hits 1-4, hit 5, hit 6", in order to make changes to the fifth hit independently. Damage and timing remain the same.
• Up aerial hit 5 angle: 366 → 85
• Up aerial hit 5 fixed knockback value: 0 → 10 (now has fixed knockback)
• Up aerial hit 5 radius: 5.5 → 6.2
• Up aerial hit 6 knockback scaling: 190 → 168
• Up aerial hit 6 radii: 6.0, 7.0 → 6.2, 7.0
• Shadow Sneak (default) knockback scaling: 100 → 102
• Shadow Sneak (default) reverse hit knockback scaling: 100 → 101
• Shadow Sneak (default) has less ending lag.
• Intense Shadow Sneak knockback scaling: 100 → 102
• Intense Shadow Sneak reverse hit knockback scaling: 100 → 101
• Shadow Sneak's shadow travels faster.
• Fixed bug where Greninja could cancel landing lag with Shadow Sneak.
• Hydro Pump (default) base knockback: 85 → 65
• Hydro Pump (default) knockback scaling: 130 → 100
• High-Capacity Pump fixed knockback value: 100 → 90

Reveal Trailer

<youtube>xEJBPMcbRkk</youtube>

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. 4 trophy descriptions

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.

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.

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.

• 

  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

• 

  In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Throwing a Water Shuriken.

• 

  A Water Shuriken being tossed at Charizard.

• 

  Using Shadow Sneak against Charizard.

• 

  Using a Substitute against Toon Link.

• 

  Firing water at Pikachu.

• 

  Wielding a katana made of water.

• 

  Striking Charizard with a low kick.

• 

  Hitting Mega Man with its tongue.

• 

  Fighting Lucario.

• 

  Taunting alongside Olimar and Diddy Kong.

• 

  Laying in front of a male Wii Fit Trainer.

• 

  Lucario, Charizard, Greninja, and Pikachu.

• 

  Greninja and Mario with alternate palettes.

Trivia

• Greninja's artwork used on the official site was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, an artist of GAME FREAK that has drawn Pokémon's official artwork since Pokémon's first generation.
• At E3 2014, Sakurai shared that most of the initial roster was established early in development that mandated a new Pokémon character, before Pokémon X and Y was announced. He worked very closely with Pokémon's developers to create Greninja, but most of its moveset was improvised due to Sakurai's only reference 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 is the third character in the series (the first two being Luigi and Snake) to have a taunt that inflicts damage.
• There is a meme involving the constant nerfs Greninja receives each update, despite the complaints about the higher characters such as Diddy Kong. The meme consists of something a certain character is powerful in, resulting in Greninja getting nerfed with the tagline, "Better nerf Greninja!"