This article is about Lucina's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Lucina.
Lucina
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Lucina
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Critical Hit
Tier H (47)
Lucina's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Lucina Wakes Her Blade?!
—Introduction Tagline

Lucina (ルキナ, Lucina) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. She was confirmed during a live stream alongside Captain Falcon and Robin on the official Super Smash Bros. website on July 14th, 2014, making her the only unlockable character to be revealed before the game's release. Laura Bailey and Yū Kobayashi reprise their roles as the English and Japanese voice actors for Lucina from Fire Emblem Awakening, respectively. A clone of Marth, her ancestor within the Fire Emblem series, Lucina was originally planned as an alternate costume for him. However, she was given her own character slot later in development once her attacks were given differing traits. She was one of three intended alternate costumes to be made separate in this way, with the other two being Dr. Mario and Dark Pit.

Lucina is ranked 47th out of 56 on the tier list, making her one of two characters in the H tier (the other being King Dedede) and thus results in her being the second highest ranked bottom-tier character. Lucina possesses a long disjoint due to her Parallel Falchion, along with fast start-up for most attacks. However, her flaws include attacks that have heavy ending lag, a poor grab game, and an easily gimped recovery. Additionally, she lacks the tipper sweetspots that Marth can use to KO early. While this can be seen as a benefit in some areas, such as having higher hitstun on all attacks (which makes her more difficult to punish out of shield compared to Marth's sourspotted attacks) and her KO potential being more consistent at high percentages, this trait is considered to be less of a benefit at high-level play and has led many professionals to see her as inferior to Marth. As a result, Lucina has limited tournament representation and almost nonexistent competitive success, with her metagame and playerbase remaining largely stagnant in comparison to Marth's.

Despite this, Lucina has received a number of significant buffs up to and including update 1.1.4, which have helped shrink the gap between her and Marth. Additionally, the buffs from 1.1.4 make her placement in the tier list largely debatable and likely to change, due to the list reflecting all changes up to update 1.1.3.

How to unlock

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

  • Play 40 VS Matches.
  • Complete Classic Mode with Marth without using any continues.

Lucina must then be defeated on Arena Ferox.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

  • Clear Classic Mode on 5.5 Intensity or higher
  • Play 30 VS Matches.

Lucina then must be defeated on Coliseum.

Differences from Marth

 
Lucina's Parallel Falchion lacks a specific sweetspot compared to Marth's Falchion, as seen in the trails of their swords' blades.

Lucina is a clone of Marth, meaning her moveset and animations are primarily based off of his. In a Miiverse post, Masahiro Sakurai explains that "whenever there is even a small difference in abilities, that character gets an actual roster slot", citing Lucina as an example.[1] The primary difference between Lucina and Marth is their swords; Lucina's Parallel Falchion has a consistent damage output throughout its blade, while Marth's Falchion is more powerful when hitting with just its tip. Additionally, the power of all her attacks is the weighted average of Marth's sourspotted and sweetspotted attacks.

Lucina has a few advantages that set her slightly apart from Marth. Although Lucina lacks intricate sourspot set-ups that Marth can utilize to set up his tippers, she gains more consistent damage off her combos than Marth does due to her lack of such sourspots. Lucina also has less trouble KOing at high percents, since she does not necessarily need to space her most powerful attacks to KO, while Marth's sourspotted attacks deal mediocre damage and knockback even at higher percentages. Of note is that her up smash, down aerial and Dancing Blade are all more powerful than Marth's equivalents in any given case. Nonetheless, Lucina also possesses notable disadvantages compared to Marth. Lucina lacks a tipper, preventing her from potentially securing early KOs with hard reads or gaining positional advantage off precise spacing on enemy approaches or shields; this makes her much less threatening when defending in the neutral game, as opponents do not have to worry about their spacing relative to Lucina's blade the same way they would with Marth's. Lucina's consistent damage output makes her approach game and rushdown potential better than Marth's, as she is not required to space a tipper to gain strong attacks or shield pushback. However, this is only influential at low-level play because, like Marth, she lacks lingering hitboxes or projectiles, making her approaches generally unsafe regardless of the strength of her swings. As such, her less spacing-oriented approaches do not help her neutral game.

Overall, Lucina is a "lower risk, lower reward" version of Marth, trading an emphasis on spacing for more consistent KO power and damage racking. While she does possess some advantages that allow her to fare better in certain match-ups than Marth does, such as Pikachu and Captain Falcon, she still lacks the main advantages Marth has. This results in many players considering her less viable for tournament play, where her results in low to mid-level play are sparse and her results in high-level play are poor. While Lucina has been significantly buffed in almost every game update so far, making her more viable both on her own merits and in comparison to Marth, she is unlikely to advance much further in the metagame due to her advantages over Marth remaining limited and situational. This is further compounded by the small size of her dedicated playerbase that can prove otherwise.

Aesthetics

  •   Lucina's wields the Parallel Falchion from Fire Emblem Awakening, a variant of Falchion.
  •   Unlike Falchion, the Parallel Falchion lacks a tipper. This is demonstrated with its trail being translucent and blue during a swing's initial and middle stages and white during the late and final stages. Conversely, Falchion's trail is translucent and blue with an accentuated tip throughout an entire swing.
  •   Lucina's on-screen appearance is slightly different, due to her removing her mask.
  •   Lucina's taunts and victory poses are different.
  •   Unlike Marth, Lucina is dubbed in English for non-Japanese versions of SSB4. She also has unique victory quotes against him and Ike.

Attributes

  •   Lucina is very slightly shorter than Marth. This gives her a very slightly smaller hurtbox, but also makes her range very slightly shorter than Marth's.
  •   Due to the Parallel Falchion lacking a tipper like Falchion, its entire blade deals equal damage and knockback. Additionally, while Lucina's attacks deal more damage and knockback than Marth's sourspotted attacks, they deal less damage and knockback than his sweetspotted attacks.
  •   Aside from her neutral attack, the rest of Lucina's moveset lacks hitlag modifiers.
  •   Although Lucina's dashing animation is faster than Marth's, their dashing speeds are exactly the same.
  •   Lucina's neutral attack, up tilt and sidestep retain her horizontal momentum.

Ground attacks

  •   Lucina's neutral attack transitions slower (frame 18 → 19) and its second hit has lower knockback growth (75 → 45).
  •   Lucina's up tilt deals more damage if it hits late (6%/5% → 8%).
  •   Lucina's down tilt has different particle effects.

Special moves

  •   Lucina's Shield Breaker animation is different, as it is much more exaggerated.
  •   Lucina may shout when performing Dolphin Slash, whereas Marth does not vocalize when performing it.
  •   Lucina's Counter animation is different. Additionally, she may say "My turn!" or "You're mine!" when it is triggered, whereas Marth merely grunts whenever his is triggered.

Update history

Initially a poorly regarded character like her ancestor, Lucina has received notable buffs in game updates since update 1.0.6, with most of her buffs being shared with him. These buffs further improved her overall damage output, decreased the ending lag of several combo-oriented moves and increased the knockback of many of her standard attacks, most notably up tilt. Additionally, Dancing Blade was improved due to all of its hits connecting together better, while her punishes became stronger than they were initially.

However, the biggest buffs Lucina received were indirect. While the fact that her moves, aside from her neutral attack, lack hitlag modifiers and are thus less safe on shield, which is further exacerbated the drawback of her unsafe neutral game, this was remedied in update 1.1.1. The increase in shieldstun and the application of hitlag on shields making her moves safer on shield, especially when properly spaced. While Shield Breaker was nerfed so as to adjust to the new shield mechanics, it was almost entirely compensated by the shieldstun increase. Additionally, the rest of Lucina's moves are now considerably safer on shield, especially when compared to Marth's and Roy's sourspotted moves, making hers harder to punish than theirs.

Update 1.1.4 increased all of the damage outputs for all of Lucina's aerials, which not only improved her aerial combo and juggle potentials, but further closed the gap between her overall damage output and Marth's. Her hitboxes on aerials and ground attacks were also increased to the point where, like Marth, her range now overreaches certain characters' ranges, like Sheik. When coupled with her multitude of buffs, this makes Lucina much better than she was during SSB4's initial release.

  1.0.4

  •   Neutral attack's first hit deals less knockback (25 base/60 scaling → 20/50). While this does allow it to connect more reliably into the second hit from far ranges, this more importantly prevents it from linking into the second hit until much higher percents, hindering its reliability as well as its safety on hit.
  •   Fixed a glitch where using Counter after being edge-trumped no longer changes momentum.


  1.0.6

  •   Neutral attack's first hit can be interrupted earlier: frame 29 → 26.
  •   Forward tilt can be interrupted earlier: frame 39 → 35.
  •   Down tilt deals 0.5% more damage: 8.075% → 8.575%.
  •   Forward smash deals 0.55% more damage: 14.725% → 15.275%.
  •   Down smash's second hit deals 0.5% more damage: 13.775% → 14.275%.
  •   Forward aerial deals 0.5% more damage: 8.075% → 8.575%.
  •   Uncharged Shield Breaker deals 0.5% more damage: 8.075% → 8.575%.
  •   Fully charged Shield Breaker deals 1% more damage: 21.85% → 22.85%.
  •   Dancing Blade's first hit can be interrupted earlier: frame 45 → 42.
  •   Dancing Blade's hits connect together better.

  1.0.8

  •   Neutral attack's first hit deals 1.425% less damage: 4.75% → 3.325%.
  •   Neutral attack has been improved. Its first hit now deals vertical knock and it transitions faster, which makes both hits connect together better. Its first hit has also been given follow-up potential outside of transitioning to the second hit, which is now stronger.
  •   Neutral attack can no longer jab lock due its first hit's angle alteration.
  •   Forward tilt deals 0.95% more damage: 9.975% → 10.925%.
  •   All of up tilt's hitboxes now deal vertical knockback with increased base knockback, improving its KO potential.
  •   Up tilt's ending lag decreased by 3 frames.
  •   Neutral aerial's landing lag decreased by 3 frames.
  •   Dolphin Slash's knockback growth increased.
  •   Dolphin Slash and Crescent Slash's hitlag multipliers increased: 0.5x → 0.7x.
  •   Lucina may say either "My turn!" or "You're mine!" when using Counter.
  •   Lucina may grunt when using Dolphin Slash.

Technical changelist 1.0.8

  1.1.0

  •   Neutral aerial deals more damage: 2.375% (hit 1)/6.65% (hit 2) → 3.325%/7.6%.
  •   Up tilt deals more damage: 6.65% (early)/7.125% (late) → 7.6%/8.1%.
  •   Up tilt's ending lag decreased by 3 frames.
  •   All aerials' landing lag decreased.
  •   All variations of Shield Breaker have had their ending lag decreased by 2 frames.
  •   All variations of Dolphin Slash have had their landing lag decreased by 3 frames.
  •   Dancing Blade's first, second and third hits' input window durations increased by 5 frames. This makes them connect together better, but makes the first hit harder to follow up with another attack other than another hit of Dancing Blade.

Technical changelist 1.1.0

  1.1.1

  •   Partially charged Shield Breaker deals less shield damage: 30 → 25.

  1.1.3

  •   Multiple changes to the knockback, hitbox sizes, and damage have made Dancing Blade/Effortless Blade link better.

Technical changelist 1.1.3

Change Old value New value
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward knockback growth (hitboxes 0/2) 70 30
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward knockback growth (hitbox 1) 50 30
Dancing Blade/Efortless Blade hit 2 forward base knockback (all 3 hitboxes) 28 30
Dancing Blade hit 3 down damage (both hitboxes) 3.325% 4.75%
Dancing Blade hit 3 down knockback growth (hitbox 0) 60 28
Dancing Blade hit 3 down knockback growth (hitbox 1) 40 28
Dancing Blade hit 3 down angle (both hitboxes) 20° 44°
Dancing Blade hit 3 down base knockback (both hitboxes) 30 50
Dancing Blade hit 3 down size (hitbox 1) 4.3 4.6


  1.1.4

  •   Neutral attack's first hit has less ending lag: 28 frames → 25.
  •   Neutral attack's hitbox sizes increased: 6.5u → 7u.
  •   Forward and up tilt's ending lag decreased: 36 frames → 33.
  •   Forward tilt's sour x hitbox and main hitbox sizes increased: 2u (sour x)/6.7u (main) → 2.5u/7.7u.
  •   Down tilt's sour x hitbox and main hitbox sizes increased: 6.7u (main)/15.2u (sour x) → 8.2u/16.7u.
  •   Down tilt's y hitbox size decreased: 3.2u → 2.7u.
  •   Down smash's ending lag decreased: 64 frames → 54.
  •   All aerials deal more damage: 3.345% (neutral hit 1)/7.6% (neutral hit 2), 8.5% (forward), 9.975% (back/up), 11.4% (down sourspot)/13.3% (meteor) → 4.2%/8.5%, 10.5%, 11.8%/11.4%, 12.3%/14.2%.
  •   Neutral, forward and back aerials' main hitbox sizes increased: 6.7u (neutral hit 1)/6.5u (neutral hit 2), 6.7u (forward, back) → 7.7u/7.5u, 7.7u.
  •   Dancing Blade has been improved. Its first hit's start-up decreased: 7 → 6 and it had its grounded and aerial ending lag decreased by 1 frame


Moveset

  • Generally, Lucina's overall damage output is close to the weighted average of each of the hitboxes of Marth's attacks, based on the sizes of the sweetspot and sourspot hitboxes. Marth's non-tippered moves are unchanged.


  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   3.325% Two upward swipes. If timed correctly, the first hit has numerous follow-up options.
4.75%
Forward tilt   10.85% A forward-leaning upward swipe. Covers a very large area.
Up tilt   7.6% (early), 8.1% (behind) A large, overhead arcing slash. It has a large hitbox that can hit enemies behind her, which deals more damage than the early hitbox. A great combo option at lower percentages and a viable KOing option at very high percentages.
Down tilt   8.575% A crouching thrust. Great for edgeguarding and tech-chasing.
Dash attack   9.975% An outward clearing slash.
Forward smash   15.275% Rotates counter-clockwise to perform a one-handed, downward slash. Its high base knockback and moderate knockback growth make it a reliable KOing option.
Up smash   3% (ground), 14.25% (blade) A quick, upward thrust. The weak grounded hit can knock nearby opponents into the main attack. Deceptive horizontal range and high knockback growth. Great for punishing rolls and landings, and a decent anti-air option.
Down smash   9.5% (hit 1), 14.275% (hit 2) A sweeping slash toward the front outward then toward the back. Oddly, this move launches opponents at a different angle if tippered, just like Marth's. High ending lag.
Neutral aerial   4.2% (hit 1), 8.5% (hit 2) Two twisting horizontal slashes around herself. A good spacing option and can lead into other moves as well. Deals decent knockback on the second hit, making it useful near the edge of the stage, though it does not start KOing until around 160%. Oddly, it KOs approximately 5% earlier than Roy's neutral aerial, which is almost identical, yet he has to space to get similar power.
Forward aerial   10.5% A slash. Great for spacing and fending off aerial opponents, but landing with this move is very unsafe, due to its short duration and 16 frames of landing lag.
Back aerial   11.8% Rotates her body to perform an upward slash. Has the interesting property of turning Lucina around, changing her facing direction. Great for edgeguarding.
Up aerial   11.4% A backflipping upward arcing slash.
Down aerial   12.3% (non-meteor), 14.2% (meteor) A downward arcing slash. If struck in the middle of the swinging arc, it meteor smashes opponents. High ending and landing lag.
Grab   Grabs the enemy with her left hand. Good range.
Pummel   2% A knee strike. Fairly fast.
Forward throw   4% A one-handed body slam. Launches the opponent forward, which can enable it to tech-chase or combo into a Crescent Slash.
Back throw   4% Trips the opponent over her leg. No follow-up or KO potential due to its high ending lag and extremely low knockback growth. However, it is very effective at launching the opponent off-stage due to its high base knockback.
Up throw   4% Flings the opponent upward with her free hand. Can KO at high percentages, starting at 165%.
Down throw   5% A one-handed body slam. Launches the opponent backward, which can enable it to combo into an up aerial or a back aerial.
Floor attack (front)   7%
Floor attack (back)   7%
Floor attack (trip)   5%
Edge attack   7% Slashes outward while climbing back up.
Neutral special Default Shield Breaker 8.575% (uncharged), 23% (fully charged) Rears her arm back before performing a forward thrust. As its name implies, it deals a high amount of shield damage.
Custom 1 Storm Thrust 3.8% (uncharged), 10.45% (fully charged) A gust of wind is produced from the Parallel Falchion's tip that pushes opponents back. The gust's pushing strength increases with its charge, but the thrust itself deals noticeably less damage.
Custom 2 Dashing Assault 5.7%/4.75%/2.85% (ground uncharged early/mid/late), 6.65%/5.7%/3.8% (air uncharged early/mid/late), 15.2%/12.35%/8.55% (ground fully charged early/mid/late), 16.15%/13.3%/9.5% (air fully charged early/mid/late) The thrust has improved range due to propelling Lucina forward, but it deals less damage.
Side special Default Dancing Blade 3.325% (parts 1-2), 4.275% (part 3 up/side), 3.325% (part 3 down), 6.65% (part 4 up), 5.7% (part 4 side), 2% (part 4 down hits 1-4), 4.75% (part 4 hit 5) A sequence of slashes with several variations based on control stick tilts. The finishing slash is one of three options: an upward slice (control stick up), a strong slash (control stick neutral or control stick to the side), or a flurry of low thrusts (control stick down). Like Marth's, the first hit stalls Lucina while in midair.
Custom 1 Effortless Blade 2.375% (parts 1-3), 4.275% (part 4) The slashes are easier to chain together, but only the side version can be used and the first three hits deal less damage.
Custom 2 Heavy Blade 7.6% (part 1), 9.5% (part 2), 10.45% (part 3), 13.3% (part 4 up), 14.25% (part 4 side), 2.09% (part 4 down hits 1-4), 11.4% (part 4 down hit 5) The slashes deal noticeably more damage and are stronger, but are harder to chain together.
Up special Default Dolphin Slash 11% (clean), 7% (late blade), 6% (late body) A jumping, upward slash. An excellent out of shield option due to its rapid speed and it can be reversed. Grants a decent amount of vertical distance, but very little horizontal distance.
Custom 1 Crescent Slash 7% (clean), 12% (late blade), 6% (late body) Grants more horizontal distance, but less vertical distance. The clean and late blade hits' damage outputs are also reversed.
Custom 2 Dolphin Jump Grants more vertical distance, but deals no damage.
Down special Default Counter 1.2x (min 8%) Parries and then counterattacks against incoming attacks. The strength of the attack blocked influences the strength of the counterattack. Same properties as Marth's, along with the custom variants.
Custom 1 Easy Counter 0.7x (min 4%) The parrying stance is longer and has a wider trigger window, but the damage multiplier and the counterattack's power are weaker.
Custom 2 Iai Counter 1.3x (min 6%) Dashes behind the opponent and slashes them at blinding speed. Has a stronger damage multiplier, activates faster, launches opponents backward and deals electric damage. However, it has a narrower trigger window.
Final Smash Critical Hit 60% Lunges in one direction, attacking the first opponent with a powerful outward slash. Its immense knockback enables it to score a one-hit KO on any character. Pressing the button again will immediately trigger the slash.

On-screen appearance

  • Warps onto the stage using warp magic with a twirl and then removes the mask she used while disguised as Marth.
 

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Spins the Parallel Falchion and holds it in a similar way that looks like pose from her character artwork, saying "Come at me!". (かかってきなさい, Come at me, if you would.)
  • Side taunt: Turns around while re-sheathing the Parallel Falchion, saying "I cannot lose". (負けられませんから, I won't lose.)
  • Down taunt: Puts on the mask she used while disguised as Marth in Fire Emblem Awakening, then removes it.
Up taunt Side taunt Down taunt
     

Idle poses

  • Holds her hand to her chest and takes a breath.
  • Brushes her hair out of her face.
   

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Lu-ci-na! Lu-kin-a!
Pitch Group chant Male

Victory poses

 
This victory theme is a small orchestral cover from the title theme of the first Fire Emblem game, which has since become the main theme of the series.
  • Points the Parallel Falchion upward and then poses, saying "Father... I won."
    • If Ike is present in the match, there is a chance she will instead say "And they call you the Radiant Hero?"
  • Swings the Parallel Falchion, then performs the same pose from her official artwork, saying "The future is not written!"
  • Sheaths the Parallel Falchion, saying "You'll never defeat me!"
    • If Marth is present, there is a chance she will instead say "This is the Hero-King?"
     

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
  Lucina 3113 3123 1123 3133 1133
3121 1121 3111 1131 3131

Notable players

Active

Inactive

Reveal trailer

<youtube>N9ytrX0wweA</youtube>

Trophies

Lucina
   Chrom's daughter and the future Princess of Ylisse. When she arrives from a doomed future seeking to prevent it from ever happening, she goes by the name Marth before her identity is revealed. She fights much like her adopted namesake, but more than just the tip of her sword is powerful.
   Chrom's daughter and the future Princess of Ylisse. When she arrives from a doomed future seeking to prevent it from ever happening, she goes by the name Marth before her identity is revealed. She fights much like her adopted namesake, but her entire blade is equally powerful instead of having a more powerful tip.
  Daughter of Chrom and future Princess of Ylisse. When she comes from the future to prevent a terrible future from unfolding, she goes by the name of Marth, but only until her true identity comes to light. She is a very similar fighter to Marth, except it doesn't actually matter which part of her sword she strikes with.
 : Fire Emblem: Awakening (02/2013)
Lucina (Alt.)
  Lucina's moves are much like Marth's, but there are subtle differences. With Marth, you need to try to hit with the tip of his sword, but Lucina's sword is equally powerful all along the blade. Her Shield Breaker move lets her attack opponents and break their shields at the same time. Charge it fully to shatter shields in one hit.
  Lucina's moves are much like Marth's, but there are subtle differences. With Marth, you need to try to hit with the tip of his sword, but with Lucina, it doesn't matter, making her easier to use. Her Shield Breaker move lets her damage opponents and break their shields at the same time. Charge it fully to shatter shields in one hit.
 : Fire Emblem: Awakening (02/2013)
Critical Hit (Lucina)
  In Lucina's Final Smash, she raises her sword high before dashing swiftly forward to deliver a deadly blow to whomever she makes contact with first. Even if their damage is low, this strike is powerful enough to take out foes in a single hit. Just make sure you don't dash off the stage when you use it in midair!
  In Lucina's Final Smash, she raises her sword high, then dashes swiftly forwards to deliver a deadly blow to whoever stands in her way. Even if their damage is low, this strike is powerful enough to take them out in a single hit. Just be careful not to dash off the stage if you use it in mid-air!

In Event Matches

Solo Events

Co-op Events

Alternate costumes

 
               

Gallery

Trivia

  • Lucina makes a few references to her home game:
  • Lucina is the only clone in the entire series whose special moves, including custom variations, all share the same names with the character she is a clone of. She is also only clone to share every single move with the character they are derived from.
  • Robin and Lucina are the only playable Fire Emblem characters to originate from the same game in their home series.
  • Lucina is the only unlockable character in both games who was officially revealed prior to the release of SSB4 and the only unlockable character to appear in the opening movie for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
  • Lucina is the only one of the three clone characters to not share their counterpart's screen KO animation.
  • Lucina and Dr. Mario are the only characters that players are not forced to play as in any single player Event Matches.

References