Olimar (SSB4)

This article is about Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4 . For other uses, see Captain Olimar and Pikmin (species).

Olimar in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Pikmin
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	End of Day

Olimar (ピクミン＆オリマー, Pikmin & Olimar) was announced to be returning for Super Smash Bros. 4 on July 12th 2013 on the game's official website, and was the first character revealed after the initial E3 2013 reveal of Smash 4. His reveal came one day before the release date of Pikmin 3 in Japan, which Masahiro Sakurai noted in a Miiverse post. A link to the official website on Pikmin 3 is at the bottom of his page on the website.

He retains Red, Yellow, Blue, White, and Purple Pikmin.

Attributes

Olimar fights much the same way as he did in Brawl, retaining a large portion of his moveset and animations, although some of them have been slightly tweaked and rebalanced. Overall, Olimar mainly relies on his multicolored Pikmin to fight for him, as nearly all of his attacks involve Pikmin in some way; on his own, Olimar is nearly useless. The Pikmin give Olimar arguably one of the most unique styles in the game, as they act as both projectiles and separate fighters, much like Rosalina & Luma. When used correctly, the Pikmin can easily rack up ludicrous amounts of damage in short periods of time - he can stop approaches with Pikmin Throw, and has a hugely disjointed range in his grab, as Pikmin can run out to grab opponents at any time. He can also outcamp opponents just as easily as halting their approches, as he is rarely forced to fight close quarters. Although he may be light, Olimar has amazing launch resistance in Pikmin Order, and his recovery, Winged Pikmin, is one of the best in the game. Along with all these advantages, he can befuddle many opponents with the different colored Pikmin he possesses, with each having unique attributes.

With all things considered, Olimar has one of the most damaging fighting styles, being able to kill nearly all opponents in a short period when utilized well. For example, Pikmin Throw allots him a large array of options for offense, as it can both zone and get opponents to K.O. percents quickly; when the thrown Pikmin are not shaken off, they can tack on 10-30% in a matter of seconds, forcing opponents to carefully calculate their approach. He can also have up to three Pikmin at a time in his lineup, which, although nerfed from the six in Brawl,can be hard for the challenger to keep track of, especially with the varied colors. He can also kill very early in his relatively unlaggy and vastly powerful smashes, with some, such as up smash, being able to kill with purple Pikmin as early as about 60%. Also, with his huge grab range, he can disrupt the movements of both quick characters and roll-spammers, also being having an excellent shield-grab. His aerial game is also quite powerful, with some of his moves being able to easily juggle and K.O. off of the upper blast line, although these are pitiful without Pikmin. The Pikmin also have other special abilities, such as being able to carry various items back to Olimar as they run back to him, and some types, like the yellow one, can block electrical attacks like PK Thunder and freeze opponents. However, this does act as a drawback; since Pikmin are now treated as projectiles, they can be reflected, sometimes hindering his ability against characters with moves of this sort. Funnily enough, this supposed weak point can actually become a game-breaking tool when used in teams - when Pikmin are thrown onto some reflectors, their damage output is vastly amplified, as proven in this video [1].

All in all, Olimar, although slightly nerfed from Brawl, still retains many of his considerable strengths, and has even had some attributes buffed, mostly in damage. His potential damage output was reduced, but a smart player can overcome this, especially with the new mechanics for keeping track of Pikmin, making Olimar a much more reliable character for the player. Also, his most glaring flaw - his horrid recovery - was completely revamped, which many agree has helped to alleviate his other changes. Olimar, in the early metagame, was thought to be one of the worst characters, yet dedicated mains such as Dabuz and Logic have shown that he is still a very capable character who just requires an extremely steep learning curve. This is comparable to the early days of the Brawl metagame; in the beginning, he was seen as mid-tier, yet eventually rose to be in the top three. It can, for now, be hypothesized that as more professionals start picking him up, his nearly unrivaled abilities to confuse and disorient will be seen as advantageous in relation to the other characters. In spite of this, one must know Olimar well in order to play him to his full potential.

Changes from Brawl

Olimar has been re-balanced to have, at most, three Pikmin, each plucked in a fixed order. This is an overall nerf; it reduces his potential damage output, but he was buffed in other areas to compensate.

Aesthetics

• Olimar has had slight aesthetic changes to match his Pikmin 3 character design, and a visible whistle is now a part of Olimar's helmet. The Pikmin have been updated as well, with different proportions more akin to Pikmin 3.
• Pikmin appear to be slightly larger; Olimar's size appears mostly unchanged.
• The Pikmin at the head of the line has a player-colored pointer above their head, as do Pikmin at a distance from Olimar, allowing the player to more easily visualise which Pikmin will be used next.

Attributes

• Olimar can only have 3 Pikmin at a time (as opposed to 6).
• Pikmin are now plucked in a set cycle (Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Purple, Red, Yellow, Blue, White, Purple, etc.) instead of being random and based on terrain. While this means Olimar no longer has to depend on certain types of terrain to get certain Pikmin, and all Pikmin are equally likely, it also makes it less likely to have two or more of the same type at once.
• Olimar is lighter than in Brawl.
• Pikmin separated from Olimar die faster.
• Red Pikmin deal slightly less damage overall.

Ground attacks

• Jab combo and forward tilt now consist of punches which are based on the Rocket Fist technique from Pikmin 2.
• Jab combo deals less damage than in Brawl. (15% to 7%.)
• New forward tilt has much more kill potential.
• Down tilt has been strengthened.
• All White smash attacks are stronger and more damaging.
• Forward smash travels farther.
• Forward smash is slightly weaker in both damage and knockback.
• Pikmin used in forward smash no longer fly off the edge, which helps conserve Pikmin, but removes a gimping option.
• Up and down smashes are faster.
• Up smash has less vertical range.

Aerial attacks

• Forward and back aerials are faster.
• Up aerial is a single hit which gives it better juggling and kill potential.
• Up aerial deals much less damage. (A Red Pikmin will only deal 11% damage, down from the 24% it could deal in Brawl.)
• Down aerial is much faster.
• Down aerial's sweetspot is harder to land and the attack deals less damage.

Throws/other attacks

• Up throw is weaker (especially with Purples). However, it can still KO at high percentage and one of the strongest up throws in the game.
• Up throw is more useful for combos.

Special moves

• Pikmin fly much farther when thrown. While this makes them more effective at long range, it also makes them easier to throw off the stage.
• Olimar has a new recovery move in Winged Pikmin, which is a controllable-flight move which he can attack out of instead of a tether recovery.
• Winged Pikmin goes much farther than the previous Pikmin Chain.
• Winged Pikmin is significantly less effective if Olimar has more Pikmin, which may require him to sacrifice them to survive himself.
• Pikmin Order gives Olimar fewer super armor frames.
• End of Day's final explosion has a larger hitbox.
• End of Day's power has been reduced.
• The rocket descent of End of Day can be aimed akin to a Warp Star, making it possible to hit something that's not at center stage.

Version exclusives

• In the Wii U version of the game, thrown Pikmin can carry items to Olimar.
• In the 3DS version, the Pikmin have flawed AI, and sometimes fly out of line if the player moves Olimar too quickly, leaving Olimar with no Pikmin in tow to perform attacks. This sometimes prevents combos from being performed effectively.
• In the 3DS version, the Pikmin idle animations received some minor changes:
  • The Pikmin's flowers don't turn to buds.
  • The Pikmin have synchronized idle animations.
  • On rare occasions, a Pikmin's model may be meshed with another, leading to weird results.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3% (early, clean arm), 4% (clean fist)	Olimar punches the opponent twice.
			3% (arm), 4% (fist)
Forward tilt			11%	Olimar winds up and fires a punch straight forwards.
Up tilt			0.6% (hits 1-6), 4% (hit 7)	Olimar spins while hopping.
Down tilt			6%	Olimar makes a hopping headbutt forwards.
Dash attack			7% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2)	Olimar cartwheels forwards.
Forward smash			R: 17.4% (clean), 12% (mid), 7.2% (late) YB: 14.5% (clean), 10% (mid), 6% (late) W: 11.6% (clean), 8% (mid), 4.8% (late) P: 20.3% (clean), 14% (mid), 8.4% (late)	A Pikmin leaps forwards with a spinning bodyslam.
Up smash			R: 15.6% (clean near), 12% (clean far), 13.2% (late) YB: 13% (clean near), 10% (clean far), 11% (late) W: 10.4% (clean near), 8% (clean far), 8.8% (late) P: 18.2% (clean near), 14% (clean far), 15.4% (late)	A Pikmin rockets upwards.
Down smash			R: 13.2% (clean), 10.8% (late) YB: 11% (clean), 9% (late) W: 8.8% (clean), 7.2% (late) P: 15.4% (clean), 12.6% (late)	Two Pikmin dash out to either side.
Neutral aerial			1.5% (hits 1-4), 2% (hit 5)	Olimar spins around, just like his up tilt.
Forward aerial			10.2% (R), 8.5% (YB), 6.8% (W), 11.9% (P)	Olimar swings a Pikmin forwards.
Back aerial			12.96% (R), 10.8% (YB), 8.64% (W), 15.12% (P)	Olimar slaps a Pikmin backwards.
Up aerial			10.8% (R), 9% (YB), 7.2% (W), 12.6% (P)	Olimar lifts a Pikmin upwards.
Down aerial			10.8% (R), 9% (YB), 7.2% (W), 12.6% (P)	Olimar smacks a Pikmin downwards.
Grab			—	Olimar sends a Pikmin forth to grab opponents.
Pummel			2% (RYBP), 4% (W)	The Pikmin growthbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			5.6% (R), 7% (YWP), 11.2% (B)	The Pikmin releases the foe forwards.
Back throw			7.2% (R), 9% (YWP), 14.4% (B)	The Pikmin swings the foe backwards.
Up throw			6.4% (R), 8% (YWP), 12.8% (B)	The Pikmin sits on the foe.
Down throw			R: 1% (hit 1), 5.6% (throw) Y: 1% (hit 1), 7% (throw) B: 1% (hit 1), 11.2% (throw) W: 0.8% (hit 1), 7% (throw) P: 1.4% (hit 1), 7% (throw)	The Pikmin slams the foe into the ground.
Floor attack (front)			7%
Floor attack (back)			7%
Floor attack (trip)			5%
Edge attack			7%
Neutral special	Default	Pikmin Pluck	0%	Olimar plucks a Pikmin.
	Custom 1	Hardy Pikmin Pluck	0%	Pikmin take much longer to pluck, but have much more health and knockback resistance.
	Custom 2	Explosive Pluck	8% (RYB), 5% (W), 10% (P)	Plucking is slower but causes an explosion.
Side special	Default	Pikmin Throw	7.8% (thrown R), 6.5% (thrown YB), 5.2% (thrown W), 6.5% (P), 1.1% (latched RYB), 3.7% (latched W)	Thrown Pikmin latch onto opponents, falling off after a certain time or flinching. If the target cannot be latched onto, or the Pikmin is Purple, it simply deals damage.
	Custom 1	Sticky Pikmin Throw	7.8% (thrown R), 6.5% (thrown YB), 5.2% (thrown W), 9.1% (P), 1% (latched RYB), 2% (latched W)	Thrown Pikmin deal less damage but are harder to remove.
	Custom 2	Tackle Pikmin Throw	5% (RYB), 3% (W), 8% (P)	All Pikmin slam into opponents instead of grabbing.
Up special	Default	Winged Pikmin	0%	Two Winged Pikmin carry Olimar around. Having more Pikmin, or using the move repeatedly, reduces their effectiveness.
	Custom 1	Winged Pikmin Jump	0%	Acts are a more traditional recovery, lifting Olimar up a certain distance before falling.
	Custom 2	Mighty Winged Pikmin	0%	Distance travelled does not depend on Pikmin carried.
Down special	Default	Pikmin Order	0%	Recalls Pikmin, sorts them, and changes which one heads the line.
	Custom 1	Order Tackle	3% (RYB), 2% (W), 5% (P)	Pikmin recalled deal damage.
	Custom 2	Dizzy Whistle	0.1% (hit 1), 1% (hit 2)	Reverses opponents in the whisle effect.
Final Smash		End of Day	10% (init), 10% (ascent), 10% (descent), 12%/10% (explosion)	Olimar launches into space, causing Bulborbs to assault opponents, before crashing down.

Update history

1.0.4

• Pikmin Pluck can no longer be edge cancelled.
• Pikmin Throw (default) RYB latch damage: 1.3 → 1.1
• Pikmin Throw (default) W latch damage: 2.6 → 3.7
• Pikmin Throw (all variations) latch time increased.

Alternate costumes

Half of Olimar's "alternate costumes" changes him into Alph, one of the three playable characters from Pikmin 3.

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Olimar's regular trophy can be obtained by completing Classic Mode with him and his alternative trophy can be obtained by completing All-Star mode with him.

Olimar

NA: A veteran spaceship pilot for Hocotate Freight, Captain Olimar partners with Pikmin in Smash Bros. to help him in battle. Olimar is much stronger when he's got Pikmin with him, so keep them plucked and good to go. Pikmin abilities are based on their color—learn what each is best at!

PAL: Captain Olimar, veteran Hocotate Freight astronaut, joins forces with Pikmin again in this game to take on the world. Olimar isn't much of an attacker without Pikmin by his side, so you should always keep some ready. Pikmin have different abilities depending on their colour, so learn how they work to use them effectively!

Olimar (Alt.)

Pikmin aren't just good for attacking, you know. For example, when you throw them, they can pick up items on their way back. Only items that aren't very heavy, though! Also, if there's someone charging or shooting at you, a well-timed Pikmin throw can stop them in their tracks!

• 

  Classic

• OlimarAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt.

Gallery

• 

  Olimar in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

• 

  Alph.

• 

  Sakurai celebrates on Miiverse.

• 

  Olimar's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Olimar in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Olimar running with his Pikmin.

• 

  Forward smash with a Red Pikmin.

• 

  Back air with a White Pikmin.

• 

  Down smash.

• 

  Red, Yellow and White Pikmin.

• 

  The ghost of a defeated Blue Pikmin.

• 

  Olimar falling.

• 

  Pikmin looking up at Kirby.

• 

  Side Taunt.

• 

  A screenshot of Olimar's Pikmin near Mega Man.

• 

  A close up of Olimar's side. His whistle and Hocotate Freight patch are clearly visible.

• 

  Wii Fit Trainer and Olimar on in the Wii Fit Stage.

• 

  The Hocotate Bomb.

• 

  Pic of when Olimar was confirmed

• 

  Olimar uses his new recovery move, the Winged Pikmin.

• 

  A rare glitch that causes Pikmin's models to become meshed.

Trivia

• Because Olimar's placement in All-Star Mode is based on his own debut rather than that of Alph (whose debut in Pikmin 3 came thirteen years after Olimar's debut in Pikmin), Alph will be misplaced chronologically during All-Star Mode if he appears in Olimar's place. The same applies to Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings.
• Olimar's All-Star trophy bears a resemblance to his Brawl artwork.
• Olimar is the only character who doesn't use his official alt trophy when he's faced in rounds 4-5 in Smash Wii U's Classic Mode; instead, he uses Alph's trophy.
• In Pikmin 3, Alph doesn't ride the Hocotate Ship, but rather the S.S. Drake; in Smash, he uses the Hocotate Ship for his Final Smash.