Shulk (SSBU)

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Shulk in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Xenoblade Chronicles
Other playable appearance	in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Chain Attack

“	He is the only fighter that can change his status during battle. His sword, the Monado, allows him to switch between five modes—Jump, Speed, Shield, Buster and Smash—which change his abilities for a short time. Fun fact: Shulk's eighth color variation puts him in a pair of swimming trunks!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Shulk (シュルク, Shulk) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Shulk is classified as fighter #57.

Adam Howden and Shintarō Asanuma reprise their roles as Shulk's voice actors in the English and Japanese versions of the game through mostly reused voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Shulk's model features a more subdued color scheme. In addition to losing most of the glossy sheen from his clothes and hair, Shulk's clothing now features simple detailing, his face is more defined, and his hair is somewhat less tousled.
• Shulk's alternate costumes now alter his hair color to match each party member they represent.
  • His hair colors are now dirty blonde, black, auburn, black, silver, and orange for the palette swaps of Fiora, Dunban, Reyn, Sharla, Melia, and Riki respectively.
• Shulk's muscles are more prominently defined in his shirtless alternate costume.
• Shulk's idle stance has been slightly altered, as his chest now visibly moves as he breathes.
• Moves that originally caused the Monado to glow with a blue outline now completely cover its blade with an opaque blue glow.
• Shulk's second jump freefall animation has been altered, with his limbs no longer being straightened out. This brings it closer to how Shulk jumps in Xenoblade Chronicles.
• During Shulk's hip-posing victory pose, the Monado now glows with a sword trail when swung, and Shulk gives a wide grin at the end.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Shulk's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Due to the backward-facing hitstun state now applying to all attacks, Back Slash is less situational and can potentially combo out of his other moves with its effective damage.
• Shulk dashes faster.
• Shulk is lighter, reducing his endurance substantially.
• All of Shulk's moves with an initial hit (such as up aerial, forward smash and up smash) cause significantly more freeze frames on the first hit.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack transitions faster.
    • Neutral attack's second hit is now a full roundhouse kick.
    • Due to neutral attacks now dragging opponents to the ground, neutral attack is no longer timing-specific against floatier or significantly damaged fighters.
• Dash attack:
  • During dash attack, Shulk doesn't slide as far. This reduces the move's range slightly.
    • As characters no longer slide through other fighters, dash attack will now connect in instances where it would usually whiff.
    • Dash attack appears to have faster startup.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's animation has been sped up.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less ending lag, faster startup, and a better horizontal hitbox.
    • Up tilt's ending animation has been altered, looking similar to Shulk's pose in his render.
  • Due to changes to Buster mechanic, up tilt has more freeze frames making difficult to follow up itself.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt is faster and has more knockback.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has been sped up significantly.
    • Neutral aerial's hitbox timing is unchanged despite the faster animation speed, meaning the ending frames can now connect with opponents, and the full move now covers 360 degrees.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial can now autocancel.
    • Back aerial's hitbox has been adjusted to be parallel to the ground. This makes it easier for the attack to hit grounded opponents without going over their heads.
    • Back aerial's early hitbox has been removed, preventing the Monado's blade from hitting opponents in front of Shulk.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial can now autocancel. [1]
• Down aerial
  • Down aerial can now autocancel. [2]
    • Down aerial appears to have been sped up and has more range.

Grabs and throws

• Down throw:
  • Down throw has a snappier animation, with Shulk performing a short jump before the main hit.

Special Moves

• Monado Arts:
  • Monado Arts can now be selected quicker by holding the Special button, holding the stick in a direction, then releasing the Special button. His Monado Arts are mapped to the following: up for Smash, upper left for Jump, lower left for Speed, upper right for Buster, and lower right for Shield. The previous method of selecting Monado Arts has still been retained.
    • This new method of switching allows the user to switch Monado Arts without needing to cancel the current one, opening up more combo potential and flexibility through switching from certain Monado Arts.
    • Arts that are on cooldown now have a bar under them to show how much longer until they can be used again. A timer bar also appears to show how long until the active Art deactivates.
  • Monado Arts can be activated immediately during hitstsun.
    • Monado Arts activate faster when selecting Arts individually.
    • Monado Arts now have varying cooldowns and durations.
    • Monado Arts last for a noticeably shorter period of time.
    • Shield Art's Meter goes down upon being hit. [3]
    • Monado Arts's kanji graphics are now stylized and shown in solid colored, thick-outlined text. Upon activation, the kanji flashes with a cartoon-styled burst.
  • Monado Arts now displays the name of the art in addition to the kanji, like on the HUD.
• Back Slash:
  • Back Slash is slightly faster.
    • Shulk can now snap onto ledges while using Back Slash, after enough travel time.
    • The distance Back Slash travels can now be affected by holding down left or right.
    • Back-hitting Back Slash now causes a yellow burst effect, similar to the graphic shown when a party member successfully lands an Art's bonus effect in Xenoblade Chronicles (in this case, hitting the back of an enemy).
• Air Slash:
  • The second hit of Air Slash has a faster startup, making it easier to connect both hits of the move.
    • Air Slash's second hit has a shorter range, and the entire move is harder to snap to ledge with.
    • Air Slash's second hit has significantly less knockback, hence hindering its kill potential and making it easier to punish. [4]
• Vision:
  • Vision's backdrop is significantly brighter.
  • Vision deals noticeably less base knockback, hindering its ability to KO at low percentages despite its high damage.
• Final Smash:
  • Fiora appears during Chain Attack, attacking with Shulk in addition to Riki and Dunban. Camera angles have been adjusted to accommodate for her, and Shulk has gained an additional voice clip that calls out her name. Additionally, Riki and Dunban have more detailed models.

Classic Mode: Witness the Monado's Power

Each of the opponents represent one of Shulk's Monado Arts and are fought in the cycling order of each art in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Round	Opponent	Stage
1	Falco	Lylat Cruise
2	Sonic	Windy Hill Zone
3	Giant King K. Rool	Jungle Japes
4	Cloud	Midgar
5	Little Mac	Boxing Ring
6	Mega Man	Wily Castle
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination

Role in World of Light

Shulk was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

After the Master Hands begin turning into energy for Galeem to absorb, Shulk experiences a vision of the future, where all of the fighters are annihilated and the galaxy engulfed in light. Shulk turns back attempting to warn everyone, but remains speechless. Galeem then unleashes his beams of light and Shulk is vaporized offscreen; he is later placed under Galeem's imprisonment alongside all other fighters except for Kirby.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Shulk's fighter card.

• 

  Idling on the Great Plateau Tower.

• 

  Activating the Smash Monado Art on Battlefield.

• 

  Shulk fighting Samus on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Crouching near Snake on Shadow Moses Island.

• 

  Using Chain Attack.

• 

  Taunting on Summit.

• 

  Shulk getting attacked by Lucina on Temple.

• 

  Getting hit by Sonic's Spin Charge on Mario Galaxy.

• 

  Shulk, Link and Marth advancing towards Rathalos on Coliseum.

• 

  Shulk activating the Buster Monado Art on Battlefield.

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• Shulk's pose in his official render resembles the pose he performs when selecting Monado Arts from the move's menu.
• Shulk's artwork was one of the three that have been updated on the official site, alongside Falco and Palutena. In his case, the lighting on his hair and face have been modified, making his features appear less flat.