Joker (SSBU)
| Joker in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
|---|---|
    
| |
| Universe | Persona |
| Availability | Downloadable |
| Final Smash | All-Out Attack |
| Tier | S- (14) |
| “ | Joker Steals the Show! | ” |
| —Introduction tagline | ||
Joker (ジョーカー, Joker) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the third fighter from Sega after Sonic and Bayonetta. He was officially announced at The Game Awards 2018 on December 6th, 2018 as the first downloadable character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Joker was released as part of Challenger Pack 1 on April 17th, 2019 and is classified as Fighter #71.
Joker is voiced by Xander Mobus (who is also voice for the announcer, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand in Ultimate) in English and by Jun Fukuyama (who voices Roy) in Japanese, both who originally voiced the character in the respective editions of Persona 5 and reprise their roles in Ultimate with newly recorded voice clips. Despite Arsène being voiced by the same respective voice actors in Joker's initial reveal trailer, he remains completely silent during gameplay.
Joker is ranked 14th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him at the end of the S- tier and making him the highest ranking character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Joker boasts a plethora of amazing strengths, such as his mobility, frame data, safe moves, pressure, and a solid combo game. Joker has many fast attacks that are core to his archetype as a rushdown fighter. He also has a variety of ways to edgeguard his opponent, with back aerial, down Gun, forward aerial, neutral aerial, and more. His strengths can be further enhanced after his Rebellion Gauge has been filled up, as he'll unleash his Persona Arsène. Arsène buffs nearly all his moves, giving him many KO options for a short time. His specials also get upgraded, improving their ability to rack up damage and replacing Rebel's Guard with Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, which serve as a simultaneous counter and reflector.
Despite all of these pros, Joker has some cons. One of his main weaknesses is that he sometimes struggles to take stocks at high percents when he does not have Arsène, making him reliant on edgeguards or raw KO moves. Joker also has mediocre out of shield options compared to much of the cast. This only limits him to using back aerial, grab, and up smash if he wants to attack out of shield. While Arsène gives him many strengths, they also provide a few drawbacks. When Joker gets hit in this state, his meter depletes faster. Furthermore, while his recovery goes further with Wings of Rebellion, it lacks a hitbox after the invincibility frames, allowing him to be 2 framed or edgeguarded. Joker is also quite a difficult character to master since he has to be precise with his combos and his edgeguarding while trying to compensate for these aforementioned weaknesses.
Overall, Joker's strengths outweigh his weaknesses, and he has since become one of the most popular characters in competitive play, having amassed impressive results from players such as MkLeo and Zackray. Even after MkLeo dropped the character for a few years (although he would later pick him back up), and Zackray fully dropped the character, Joker's representation has remained high thanks to the rise of many new players, most notably omega, Gorioka, and Tsubaki.
Attributes[edit]
Joker is a middleweight who can wall jump. He boasts very quick mobility, with a fast dashing speed; above-average walking, air, and falling speeds; the 4th highest fast fall speed; above-average air acceleration; and high gravity, though his initial dash is merely average. His slender frame gives him a thinner and slightly shorter hurtbox compared to other humanoid characters, which, in conjunction with his quick speed, makes Joker hard to punish and hard to hit.
One of Joker's biggest strengths is his frame data. Many of Joker's attacks possess fast startup and, except for his smash attacks, low ending lag. This synergizes well with his excellent mobility and thin hurtbox since a lot of his attacks can cross up on shield or just cross up on opponents in general, thanks to this. Due to his quick overall mobility, low-knockback attacks, and frame data, Joker possesses a strong and varied combo game. He has several moves in his toolkit to start combos at low percents, such as his up and down throws, a late down tilt, up tilt, his Grappling Hook, the first hit of his forward aerial, and the looping hits of up aerial. Some of these combo starters last well into later percentages. Joker also possesses among the best grab frame data (comparable to that of Mario), which makes him especially adept at punishing shields (particularly from empty jumps).
Thanks to his fast frame data, most aspects of Joker's moveset are tailored towards comboing, giving him an overall solid regular kit. His grounded game possesses the overall faster frame data around his moveset, with his neutral attack, all tilt attacks, and dash attack all coming out before frame 10. Neutral attack is his fastest punishing option, serving as well as a "get off me" move. Forward tilt has the highest power of his tilt attacks and, while still weak, has the lowest ending lag of them, making it hard to punish. His up and down tilt serves a similar purpose: placing the opponent in the air to start a combo. Down tilt also serves well as a long-ranged punish option (similarly to Cloud's own down-tilt), whereas up tilt is also one of Joker's many anti-air moves. None of Joker's smash attacks come out before frame 10, though they nevertheless remain decently fast. Forward smash has the highest power of them (although its hitboxes can be quite misleading as it will only hit in front of Joker), and up smash is his fastest smash attack as well as his strongest anti-air move. Down smash is somewhat less versatile than his other smash attacks, although it hits on both sides and can serve as a faster alternative to forward smash.
Joker's aerial game is comparably effective as his grounded game, with a variety of different options at his disposal. Back aerial serves as Joker's most versatile aerial, functioning as his best defensive aerial due to its effectiveness out of shield, as a spacing tool due to its good range, and as his best aerial pressuring and KOing move thanks to its very low lag. Both forward and up aerials are among his best combo moves, the former's first hit leading into other moves due to its high base knockback, most notably granting him a kill confirm, whereas the latter's looping hits can set up for another grab at medium percentages or an up or down smash at high ones. Both moves' finishing hits also serve as good combo finishers outside of these ranges, with forward aerial also leading into RAR back aerial, and up aerial putting the opponent in the perfect position to be hit by Grappling Hook if they do not react in time. Up aerial can also serve as a useful anti-air move and is Joker's fastest out of shield option, making him surprisingly harder to cross-up. Neutral and down aerials have the slowest startup of his aerial moves, although they have decently low landing lag and can lead to other moves when used appropriately. Neutral aerial, in particular, has the best range and combo ability of the two, both covering a wide area around Joker and sending at a high enough angle for follow-ups. It's also Joker's best cross-up tool, allowing him to pressure shields and be safe against most opponents if he manages to land behind them.
His grab game is similar in terms of utility, with a lack of raw KOing options, but fantastic for combos. Both up and down throws serve as combo throws, the former leading into up aerial, while the latter is slightly more versatile as it can lead into forward and up aerials or a RAR back aerial. Surprisingly, this is also Joker's strongest throw, though it doesn't KO until well past realistic percentages. Nonetheless, it's useful in a pinch, should Joker find himself in a situation where he struggles to finish off an opponent after dealing considerable damage. His forward throw is the least useful of his throws, serving primarily for setting up an edgeguard and/or putting the opponent at a disadvantage from where Joker can capitalize. Back throw has aspects of both his forward and down throws, mainly used to set up and edgeguard or put the opponent in a disadvantageous position at low percentages, while KOing near the edge at very high percentages.
Finally, Joker boasts versatile special attacks. His neutral special, Gun, is an efficient way of dealing damage at long ranges while also avoiding it, as he can dash during the move to dodge in between shots, and its grounded jumping and downward aerial versions are notorious for their versatility, the former allowing Joker to combat rush downs and/or zone breaking, and the latter being used to combat juggling. Eiha, his side special, is Joker's only projectile, being medium-ranged and slow-moving, dealing weak damage upon contact while cursing opponents for reliable damage over time. It's excellent for spacing and forces the opponent to respect Joker by shielding, making it a useful tool for conditioning the opponent to shield, allowing him to appropriately punish with a grab. Grappling Hook, his up special, is fairly niche outside of recovery, but can still be used offensively; grounded, it's one of Joker's most effective anti-air moves, and while typically not guaranteed, opponents who aren't expecting it can be caught after an up throw loops. In the air, this is Joker's primary recovery move, being a tether recovery with very high vertical reach, allowing him to mix up his recovery and usually avoid edgeguarding attempts. It also allows him to safely edgeguard opponents far below the stage and recover without much issue.
Joker possesses a fighter ability unique to him in the form of Rebellion Gauge. This gauge fills up each time Joker takes damage, one of his teammates takes damage, or one of his teammates is KO'd (the latter two happenings during team battles). Joker will also respawn with some of the Rebellion Gauge filled up if he gets KO'd. His down special, Rebel's Guard, helps Joker during this, by negating the knockback he would receive from an attack and halving the damage he takes while filling up the Rebellion Gauge; this move also doubles as a counterattack, albeit a very weak one (similarly to Incineroar's Revenge) by knocking nearby opponents away. Once the Rebellion Gauge is filled up, Joker summons his Persona, Arsène, to aid him in battle, similarly to Rosalina's Luma. With Arsène present, Joker's regular attacks gain a significant boost in damage (and thus safety on shield) and knockback, as well as slightly more range, and his down aerial gains the ability to meteor smash, giving him an additional edgeguarding tool. Arsène is completely invincible during any move boosted by him, which means opponents can't make him disappear without hitting Joker, which is the only way to deplete the Rebellion Gauge faster. Similar to Cloud's Limit Break, Joker's special moves also become more powerful under Arsène's influence. Gun becomes Gun Special, which can shoot multiple times quickly and deals more than twice as much damage. Eiha becomes Eigaon, a much faster projectile that travels further and has a larger area of impact, explodes on contact with an opponent or solid ground, and deals considerably more curse damage. Its speed and range make it effective for punishing opponents at a distance or pressuring opponents who attempt to edgeguard Joker. It also deals considerable damage as well, making it a highly potent punishing tool. Grappling Hook is replaced with Wings of Rebellion, which functions similarly to Pit's Power of Flight, granting Joker high vertical distance and possessing long-lasting invincibility during startup (that starts on frame 1 on the ground), though it loses Grappling Hook's attack presence. Finally, his down special becomes Tetrakarn/Makarakarn, a very effective counterattack and reflector similar to Palutena's Counter/Reflect Barrier. Both counters are better than comparative moves as well; both have very low startup lag (with Tetrakarn having the fastest startup of any counterattack) and the lowest ending lag of any counterattack. Tetrakarn has a huge hitbox that completely covers Joker's body and a huge area around him, and has the strongest damage multiplier of any counterattack at 1.6x (while also hitting for a minimum of 12% damage regardless of the attack). Meanwhile, Makarakarn has the third-highest damage multiplier of any reflector at 1.6x, and also greatly increases the speed of reflected projectiles at 1.9x.
Despite all of these strengths, Joker is not without any weaknesses, most of which are noticeable when he does not have Arsène active. The most notable of these is the lack of strength on individual hits; similarly to Sheik, most of Joker's default moveset is tailored towards extending his advantage through combos, most of which tend to be highly lackluster or underwhelming in terms of KO power and individual damage. Particularly, Joker's lack of KO power can often make him reliant on gimping the opponent at early percentages, and his smash attacks, while having enough power to secure a stock against light and middleweight characters, have high ending lag, and are heavily unsafe if shielded; as a result, while Joker excels at making comebacks, he himself can be equally as susceptible to an opponent's comebacks if he is not able to utilize or summon Arsène in time. His knife, while giving his attacks a disjointed range, also renders said disjointed range short due to its length, especially when compared to the weapons of other fighters such as Marth and Ike. His range issues can also cause him to struggle against certain small and fast characters, such as Inkling and Pikachu, as it's difficult for him to consistently apply pressure against them. He is also vulnerable to projectile-based pressure due to his lack of ways to deal with projectiles, with Eiha failing to properly compensate. Rebel's Guard can aid with this issue, but this can also render him predictable if the move is overused.
When it comes to his normal recovery, Joker is reliant on his Grappling Hook, which gives him an outstanding vertical recovery, though his overall horizontal recovery is somewhat exploitable due to its lack of horizontal range. Its lack of safety makes Joker easier to gimp as well, though Joker can mix up the timing when recovering to throw off edgeguarding attempts. He can also use his Gun move to achieve sizable horizontal distance before employing the Grappling Hook; however, these dashes have considerable ending lag, so they must be used wisely.
Since the Rebellion Gauge encourages a different kind of playstyle, Joker loses some of his weaknesses without Arsène (such as a vulnerability to projectile camping), but this creates new weaknesses in return, meaning that if Joker gets Arsène at the wrong time or is unable to capitalize with him, he may either lose his advantage or be at a disadvantage. Wings of Rebellion, despite reliably covering more distance than Grappling Hook, is more exploitable, as the lack of a hitbox and vulnerability at the end of the move makes it easy for opponents to intercept Joker before he reaches the ledge; in fact, Joker becomes notoriously prone to getting 2-framed. Eigaon, while incredibly powerful and versatile, suffers from 10 more frames of endlag, making it (at times) riskier to use than Eiha. Lastly, despite Arsène's incredible power and strengths, the Rebellion Gauge can be depleted faster if an opponent can attack Joker; combined with his aforementioned vulnerability to combos, this can cause Arsène to disappear much faster until the Rebellion Gauge is filled again, removing Joker's advantage as a result.
Overall, Joker is a character whose playstyle is incredibly dynamic, but as with characters with many playstyles applicable, players should be expected to be able to smartly switch playstyles on the go. Without Arsène, Joker specializes in a hit-and-run, combo-oriented playstyle. Joker is particularly adept at conditioning the opponent to shield and has excellent grab frame data to take advantage of that, so players should be looking for opportunities to go for punishing grab combos whenever possible. He has notably short-range and low power overall on his standard attacks without Arsène available, and can struggle if he's a stock behind the opponent and unable to effectively make use of Arsène. His primary goal in each match is to rack up as much damage as possible through combos and gain an early stock to massively widen the gap between him and his opponent. Arsène greatly helps Joker in dealing damage or securing a stock whenever he is out, as he gains several powerful traits that allow him to play more rushdown-oriented when he gains the advantage, without forgoing his excellent mobility. Arsène is also notable for giving Joker an absurdly effective comeback factor, as Joker can quickly close the gap by dealing out extreme damage with Arsène out and can KO early when given the opportunity, such as with an Arsène-boosted back air. By actively filling up the Rebellion Gauge by using the Rebel's Guard to capitalize on reading an opponent's attack, this can be devastating for the opponent, as it gives Arsène more opportunity to be seen in-game. At the same time, Joker's vulnerability to combos means he will have to make use of his excellent mobility more often than not to avoid being put at a disadvantage. Ultimately, Joker is a character who encourages proactive play, and particularly shines when players are able to make the most of edgeguarding opportunities, maximize their damage through combos, and effectively make use of Arsène.
Update history[edit]
Aside from glitch fixes, Joker received a mix of buffs and nerfs via game updates, but he was slightly nerfed overall. The first nerf was in update 4.0.0 to Makarakarn, which could now be broken by reflected projectiles inflicting more than 50% damage; however, this nerf was compensated by a buff to its searchbox, which became more rounded, allowing Joker to reflect projectiles that would fly right over him.
Update 6.0.0 fixed an issue with Joker's forward smash pushing opponents too far during its charging animation, now making it so Joker can't blatantly avoid damage by exploiting the move's previously wonky detection.
The most significant nerfs came with update 7.0.0; downward Gun's horizontal range was significantly reduced, while the Rebellion Gauge would now lose more time when attacks hit Joker. These nerfs noticeably affected his best landing and edgeguarding tool, and punished him more for losing interactions while Arsene is active, which rewards opponents with good damage-racking capabilities.
Version 11.0.0 would further affect the safety of his moves by making Eiha and his counters more punishable when used recklessly.
Version 13.0.0 slightly buffed Joker by removing ten frames of ending lag from All-Out Attack.
Despite these nerfs, however, Joker is still considered to be a solid top-tier character.
3.0.1
Fixed a bug where winning with a Final Smash while on Joker's route in Classic Mode would softlock the game.
Eigaon's hits 2-4 force backwards knockback instead of forward, connecting more reliably.- Fixed an unknown glitch that resulted Joker glitching out periodically with Grappling Hook during a tether recovery.
- Fixed a rare glitch that resulted victory screen in team battles to display an incorrect character of a winning teammate.
- Joker now vocalizes when KO'd by reaching 0 HP on last stock in Stamina Mode.
Grappling Hook's air resistance was changed from 0.27 → 0.24, and fighter offset from 6 → 8, making it no longer have Joker clip into the walls of stages.[1]
Makarakarn no longer reflects projectiles that have been reflected and deal 50% or more damage, bringing it in line with other reflectors in Ultimate.- Makarakarn's vertical searchbox has been raised to 0.25u.[2]
- Fixed an issue that caused Arsene to be summoned after getting Star KOed.
- The ending lag after bouncing when prone has been decreased to be in line with the rest of the roster.
- The Unlimited Rebellion Gauge glitch has been fixed.
- Joker's collision detection during forward smash has been altered to push opponents less, no longer causing certain characters' moves to be unable to reach him from the front.
- Downward aerial Gun's hitboxes do not spread out as far (Z2 offset: -9/0/9 → -2/0/2), noticeably reducing their horizontal range below Joker, especially at their maximum reach.
- Arsene loses more time on the Rebellion Gauge when taking damage in a match with two to three combatants (Lost frames: Damage Received * 12 → Damage Received * 16).
- Eiha has more ending lag (FAF 50 → 53).
- Tetrakarn/Makarakarn has more ending lag when not activated (FAF 54 → 57).
Reintroduced Unlimited Rebellion Gauge glitch with Pyra and Mythra.
- The Pyra and Mythra method of the Unlimited Rebellion Gauge glitch has been removed.
- All-Out Attack has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 21).
Moveset[edit]
- Joker has an ability called the Rebellion Gauge, which fills up over time. Joker can also charge it by being hit, or when Joker (or his teammates, if he is in a Team Battle) is behind in either score/stock. If Rebel's Guard is used while the opponent attacks, the Gauge fills up faster. When it is full, Joker removes his mask (or glasses in costumes 7 and 8) and automatically summons Arsène, who grants several changes:
- If Joker is in an uninterruptible animation, such as an attack, Arsène can be delayed for up to 31 frames. Arsène can also disappear similarly, although the delay is much shorter.
- Curiously, if Arsène disappears during an attack, Awakened Joker's moves will deal increased knockback without Arsène's values being applied.
- A dramatic screen effect consisting of Joker's eyes occurs (if the camera is close enough to the fighters, and the battle is either 1-on-1 or against CPU players only), where Joker removes either his masquerade mask or glasses (depending on his costume), which also alters his character icon in the HUD until the Gauge empties. If Joker is standing still during this, he gains intangibility during the animation.
- Arsène will attack in tandem with Joker during all attacks except his pummel, throws, floor attacks, and edge attack, enhancing his damage output and range. Many of his moves gain an additional blue slash effect while attacking. All of Arsène's attacks use the "heavy melee" hit sounds of heavyweights such as Ganondorf.
- Joker's special moves change to "Gun Special", "Eigaon", "Wings of Rebellion", and "Tetrakarn/Makarakarn", all enhanced versions of his previous moves.
- Joker announces "Arsène!" or "Persona!" upon summoning Arsène, and "Return!" or "Enough." upon using up his Gauge.
- On the first frame, Joker would call out or recall Arsène; the animation can be skipped if Joker is already in an uninterruptible animation.
- If Joker is in an uninterruptible animation, such as an attack, Arsène can be delayed for up to 31 frames. Arsène can also disappear similarly, although the delay is much shorter.
- Upon summoning Arsène, the Rebellion Gauge will slowly drain, and a small amount of Gauge will be lost each time Joker is damaged.
- When the Rebellion gauge is depleted, Arsène will disappear, and Joker will put his mask (or glasses) back on. While Joker cannot cancel this animation, he is invincible for a majority of its duration and completely stops his descent for the entirety of the animation if it happens while airborne.
- Joker can wall jump.
For a gallery of Joker's hitboxes, see here.
For simplicity, damage values for Joker and Arsène's individual attacks are separated by a slash (/). With Arsène active, the total damage of a move is the sum of both listed values.
Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | 2%/0.7% | Joker: Performs an inward slash, backhanded stab, then an outward slash. Arsène: Performs an inwards upward swipe, followed by a second swipe with the opposite arm, then a hand thrust. The first two hits can jab lock. Functions as a typical get-off-me and is one of Joker's quickest punishes. With Arsène, each hit gains a darkness effect. | ||
| 1.5%/0.7% | ||||
| 4%/3% | ||||
| Forward tilt | 3% (hit 1), 5%/5% (hit 2) | Joker: Performs a double thrust with his knife, with the second thrust going at a higher angle. Arsène: Thrusts his right hand forward before raising it in a beckoning gesture. The move can be angled, and both hits are performed with one button press. With Arsène, the second hit (which now causes a darkness effect) is capable of KOing Mario from the edge of Final Destination at around 125%. Useful as a spacing tool due to its range, with Joker moving forward at a decent distance after the first hit, and the hitbox in the second hit reaches even over the knife. It comes out on frame 8 and is a very useful defensive option. | ||
| Up tilt | 4% (hit 1), 1%/0.7% (hits 2-4), 1%/3.9% (hit 5) | Joker: An upwards swing with his knife that sends it spinning into the air before Joker catches it backhandedly. Arsène: Raises his hand with a beckoning gesture, emanating electricity from his palm. The initial swing sends opponents into the spinning knife, which does multiple hits before sending opponents vertically. With Arsène, the looping hits gain an electric effect and can KO at around 135%. The move cannot hit opponents behind Joker. Useful for anti-airing opponents that are in proximity to Joker, and for combos at low percentages, usually leading into up aerial. | ||
| Down tilt | 6%/7% | Joker: A baseball slide. Arsène: A baseball slide alongside Joker. Based on Joker's ability to slide under lasers in Persona 5. Unlike similar moves like Cloud's and Simon's, Joker's down tilt does not lose strength during the late hitboxes. Easily leads into up tilt and aerial attacks until high percents and has great range. If Arsène is not out, it sends at a good angle for Grappling Hook. Joker's hurtbox shifts very low to the ground, allowing it to dodge mid-level attacks, projectiles, and even some smash attacks, making it one of his best approaching options. | ||
| Dash attack | 2% (hit 1), 6%/6% (hit 2) | Joker: Performs a roundhouse kick followed by a spinning side kick. Arsène: A delayed football kick, which comes out alongside Joker's second kick. With Arsène, the second hit can KO at the edge at around 105%. The speed and distance of this move make it one of Joker's best punishing tools, as it puts opponents in a very disadvantageous position. | ||
| Forward smash | 14%/8% | Joker: Rears back and swings downwards with both hands directly in front of him. Arsène: He swings his arms downwards, causing an X-shaped slash in front of the duo. Moves Joker slightly forward while attacking. Without Arsène, the move KOs at around 76% from the edge of the stage, making it Joker's strongest finisher. However, despite Joker moving forward, his range is rather poor due to the length of his knife. Oddly, despite the knife leaving a trail that extends behind Joker, the attack can only hit in front of him. With Arsène, the move gains slightly more range and even higher KO power, KOing at around 55% from the edge of the stage. It can be an extremely potent punish or trapping tool, but its lag makes it highly punishable itself, so it should be used with caution. Resembles the third hit of Joker's standard three-hit attack in Persona 5. | ||
| Up smash | 12%/5% | Joker: Spins inwards while facing the screen, performing a knife uppercut with his right arm. Arsène: Swings his leading arm above himself. It has low horizontal range and a short-lasting hitbox, but covers a large area above Joker, making it a good anti-air. Like up tilt, this move cannot hit enemies behind Joker. With Arsène, the move gains extra range and KO power. KOs at around 130%/100% (without/with Arsène). Joker's fastest smash attack and strongest punish tool against enemies directly above him. Particularly effective against opponents on platforms. Joker's charging animation has him lower to the ground to about half his size, allowing him to bait attacks from above and retaliate with his own. Resembles the second hit of Joker's standard three-hit attack in Persona 5. | ||
| Down smash | 12%/6% | Joker: Sweeps the floor with a knife swipe in front of himself, then behind. Arsène: Kicks in front, then behind himself. Both hits deal the same amount of damage and lack reach, though Arsène boosts its range slightly. KOs at around 112%/73% near the edge (without/with Arsène). Functions as a typical sweeping smash attack and should be used to punish people who air dodge onto the ground or roll behind Joker. Resembles the first hit of Joker's standard three-hit attack in Persona 5. | ||
| Neutral aerial | 7%/4% | Joker: Strikes in a circle while doing two inward corkscrews in the air. Arsène: Lays his back against Joker and slashes alongside him, forming a perfect circle slash around the duo. Serves as one of Joker's best spacing tools, having excellent range around him due to its wide coverage, though it has a very small hitbox located on the knife, and the lack of shield pressure can make it risky when used carelessly. It also autocancels late, only doing so in a double jump. On a hit, it can lead to combos from down tilt, and it can condition the opponent into blocking, making it good for granting grab opportunities. | ||
| Forward aerial | 2% (hit 1), 5%/8% (hit 2) | Joker: A hook kick, followed by a roundhouse kick. Arsène: A delayed roundhouse kick that comes out alongside Joker's second kick. This is one of Joker's main combo moves and edgeguarding tools; the second hit sends opponents a decent distance offstage, and if fast-fallen at low percents, can combo into things such as dash grab or dash attack. The first hit, however, is what offers most of this move's combo capabilities; upon landing the first hit on grounded opponents, it launches them upward with low knockback; this allows it to combo into a plethora of moves, such as another forward aerial, a back aerial, an up aerial, and even up smash, with all of these serving as effective KO confirms. With Arsène, the second kick becomes a powerful KO move that can KO opponents at 100% from the edge, and even earlier when edgeguarding, thanks to its base knockback. | ||
| Back aerial | 9%/7% | Joker: An upward swipe behind himself. Arsène: A swift downward chop of his hand, causing the duo's attacks to interlock with each other. While this move's horizontal reach isn't notable, it has a very large vertical reach (for scale, both versions' hitboxes are the size of Joker's whole body). It is widely considered one of the best back aerials in the game for a multitude of reasons, one of which is its extreme speed, coming out on frame 7 and only having 22 frames of ending lag. Another is its overall high knockback, even without Arsène; it's able to KO middleweights at around 120% near the ledge, and due to its spammability and safety on shield, it makes it difficult to punish, making it one of his safest KO options. With Arsène, its hitbox size increases due to Arsène mirroring Joker's attack, and it is capable of KOing at around 80% from the edge, and similarly to his forward aerial, can kill at very early percents while edgeguarding due to its base knockback, making it a very strong KO option. Joker's only aerial that can autocancel in a short hop. | ||
| Up aerial | 0.75% (hits 1-4), 3%/7% (hit 5) | Joker: A corkscrew flying kick with a finishing kick. Arsène: A delayed upwards hand swing in tandem with Joker's last hit. Like Sheik and Greninja's up aerial, the move's hitboxes are positioned high on Joker's legs, making it difficult to hit small or medium-sized fighters, and it has a very low damage output, only dealing 6% without Arsène. However, the looping hits use the autolink angle; as a result, it can be used to drag opponents down consistently to extend combos, with a drag-down up aerial to an up smash or down smash becoming a KO confirm at very high percentages. With Arsène, a full-hop up air can KO at around 110%. It seems to resemble Joker spinning in the opening cinematic for Persona 5. | ||
| Down aerial | 8%/8% | Joker: An upside-down knife swing with a bit of delay before the swipe, similarly to Marth's down aerial. Arsène: A delayed foot stomp that comes out a couple of frames after Joker's attack, instead of at the same time as his other moves. Unlike Joker's attack, it meteor smashes opponents. Somewhat of a niche move due to its lack of safety and startup, down air occasionally sees use as a cross-up tool. With Arsène, it is a powerful all-purpose move due to its hitbox duration, combo potential, and meteor-smashing properties. The meteor smash itself is decently strong, KOing at around 60% at ground level. Additionally, due to the Arsène variant being two hits and Joker's down aerial sending opponents away from him, Arsène's down aerial can then potentially meteor smash opponents standing at the edge of a stage and KO them outright. | ||
| Grab | Grab (つかみ) | — | Reaches out with one arm. All of Joker's throws have him toss the opponent with blue energy. Unlike his other moves, Arsène does not affect the power of Joker's throws. | |
| Pummel | Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット) | 1.5% | A knee strike. Unique compared to other pummels, being marginally slower but stronger than similar pummels like Mario, but slightly faster and weaker than stronger pummels like Bowser. He shares this distinction with Terry, Min Min, Steve and Pyra & Mythra. | |
| Forward throw | 8% | Tosses the opponent forward with a flourish of his arm. Arguably the least useful of Joker's throws, although it deals decent damage and works as an excellent tech-chasing tool. It can potentially even combo into dash attack against certain characters at low percentages. | ||
| Back throw | 10% | Trips the opponent over his foot, similar to Snake's back throw. KO’s Mario at roughly 135% at the edge of Final Destination. | ||
| Up throw | 7% | Throws the opponent directly upwards with a flourish. KOing middleweights at around 221% on Final Destination. At low-mid percentages, it combos into up aerial. | ||
| Down throw | 7% | Magically slams the opponent onto the ground while posing and flourishing his left arm, sending the opponent bouncing upwards. An effective combo starter that can combo into aerials. It can also initiate long combo strings of falling up aerials' looping hits into grab, or Grappling Hook into follow-ups. KO's middleweights at around 200% on Final Destination. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Slashes in front of himself, then behind himself. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Slashes behind himself, then in front of himself. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Kicks behind himself, then in front of himself. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
9% | Climbs up and slashes outward. | ||
| Neutral special | Gun / Gun Special | Gun: 5%-3%-1% (standard, close-mid-far), 3%-0.8% (ground jump, close-far), 3% (circling), 4%-1.2% (downward, close-far) Gun Special: 6%-3%-1% (standard, first bullet), 2%-1.5%-1% (standard, second and third bullets), 3%-1/0.8/0.5% (ground jump, first and second looping hits) 4.5% (circling), 4%-1.2% (downward, first bullet), 1.6%-0.8% (downward, second bullet) |
Fires his gun once with a tap of the special move button. Like with Bayonetta's Bullet Arts, the shots technically are not projectiles, but rather indirect attacks with large disjointed hitboxes. As such, they cannot be reflected or blocked by the shields of all versions of Link or Hero. The shots decay in damage and knockback based on the opponent's distance from Joker, doing no knockback at the furthest distance. The button can be held to fire multiple times; additionally, Joker can dodge between shots by tilting the control stick horizontally, with each use causing the dodge to slow down (much like a roll or sidestep). If he is in midair, he can either fire in a circle around himself (in a similar fashion to Bayonetta's Bullet Arts up aerial) by tilting up, or below himself in a corkscrewing fashion by tilting down. On the ground, Joker can also press the jump button to perform a diagonal jump while rapidly firing shots downwards. When Arsène is out, it becomes Gun Special, where it fires three bullets with each shot for the standard version, and two bullets per shot for the aerial downward version. Both Gun and Gun Special have penetrative properties, meaning they can pass through multiple opponents, and the downward aerial version, in particular, is notorious for its sheer versatility: it can counter combos and juggles, edgeguard effectively, and rack up damage quickly, as Gun has low ending lag and is spammable when used in the air. The closest version of Gun can also lock opponents, while the closest version of Gun Special applies knockback. | |
| Side special | Eiha / Eigaon | Eiha: 1% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2), 1% (gradual damage), 11% (total) Eigaon: 1% (hit 1), 0.5% (hit 2-4), 2.5% (hit 5), 1.5% (gradual damage), 17% (total) |
An extremely small projectile that travels at a diagonal angle downwards, similar to PK Fire. It deals little initial damage, but curses opponents and inflicts further damage over time. Each use causes Joker to hover slightly. When Arsène is present, it becomes Eigaon, which travels faster and farther, has an area of effect on hit, hits multiple times, has higher knockback, and deals further damage over time. Eiha has low knockback, but due to it being vertical, it can function as a niche KO option near the upper blast line. | |
| Up special | Grappling Hook / Wings of Rebellion | Grappling Hook: 11% (grounded), 5% (aerial) Wings of Rebellion: 0% |
Shoots out a grappling hook at an upward angle. It functions as a tether recovery. As an attack, the grounded version can grab opponents, dragging them towards Joker and launching them above himself with low ending lag and knockback, making it a reliable combo starter. The aerial version cannot grab and only deals low vertical knockback, but it can act as a niche KO option at the upper blast line. However, the hook can be difficult to use due to its small size and hitbox position, and much like Isabelle's Fishing Rod, Grappling Hook can be shielded despite its grab properties. It can also let Joker grab physical items such as Peach’s turnips from afar. When Arsène is out, it becomes Wings of Rebellion, where Joker flies upwards or at an angle (again depending on input) using Arsène's wings. It has no hitboxes, therefore doing no damage or knockback, but grants a long period of intangibility on startup (frames 1-25 if used on the ground; frames 3-25 if used in midair). Wings of Rebellion also travels a considerable distance, going higher than most recovery up specials and being able to recover far below the stage. | |
| Down special | Rebel's Guard / Tetrakarn / Makarakarn | Rebel's Guard: 2.4% Tetrakarn: 1.6× (12% minimum) Makarakarn: 1.6× |
Joker takes a defensive position, during which any direct damage done to him in this state is reduced by 0.4× and builds his Rebellion Gauge. Its period can be extended for at least 1.5 seconds, and if an attack was successfully countered, Joker performs a darkness-infused backhanded swipe at the end of the move that weakly launches opponents away, during which he also announces "Endure!", "Not yet!" or "More...". It quickly refills the Rebellion Gauge to summon Arsène, and when he is summoned, he will power up Joker's special attacks and attack with him, significantly increasing the damage, range, and power of his attacks and giving him a large advantage state compared to the rest of the cast, similarly to Rosalina's Luma, although he cannot be sent out as he follows Joker's movements. When Arsène is out, it becomes Tetrakarn against melee attacks and Makarakarn against projectiles, countering and reflecting them respectively. Both Tetrakarn and Makarakarn are extremely powerful and are notorious for having some of, if not the best startup, ending lag, and damage of all other counters and reflectors, especially given the near-universal nerfs to counters in Ultimate, having extremely generous frame data and damage multiplier, as well as an abnormally huge hitbox around Joker that makes extremely hard to challenge it without getting punished and KO'd. With a four-frame startup for all variants, Rebel's Guard is a highly useful defensive option. | |
| Final Smash | All-Out Attack | 3% (trapping hit), 33.6% (cinematic), 13% (ending screen) | Joker announces "Ravage them!", then rushes forward, trapping opponents. Should he miss, Joker can also rush back if the control stick is pushed backwards. If any fighter is hit during either of these swipes (up to a maximum of 4), they are attacked by Joker and three other Phantom Thieves, either Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana, or Makoto, Haru, and Yusuke, while either Futaba or Morgana comments on the attack. After the barrage is complete, Joker lands in front of the opponent and tugs at his glove while the screen changes into a splash screen and the opponent's silhouette spews sparkles in the background. Causes an instant KO if the opponent was at 100% damage or higher at the end of the cinematic. If the Final Smash results in the final KO needed to win, the splash screen will remain throughout the victory screen. Arsène will not affect All-Out Attack. | |
Stats[edit]
| Stats | Weight | Dash speed | Walk speed | Traction | Air friction | Air speed | Air acceleration | Gravity | Falling speed | Jumpsquat | Jump height | Double jump height | Empty landing lag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 93 | 1.9 – Initial dash 2.06 – Run |
1.12 | 0.13 | 0.01 | 1.1 | 0.01 – Base 0.07 – Additional |
0.127 | 1.63 – Base 3.097 – Fast fall |
3 | 32.5 - Base 14.2 - Short hop |
34 | 4 |
Announcer call[edit]
|
This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here. |
- English/Japanese/Chinese
On-screen appearance[edit]
- Drops from the top of the screen, similar to how the party begins battles in Persona 5 that start with Bullet Hail, then adjusts his glove just like in his up taunt.
Joker's on-screen appearance
Taunts[edit]
Morgana appears for each of Joker's taunts. If he is present, Arsène will also rear back and flourish with his left arm when Joker taunts, making a pose identical to his official artwork.
- Up taunt: Smiles and tugs his glove while facing towards the camera, imitating the splash screen from the end of All-Out Attack. Morgana pumps his paw while saying "Looking cool, Joker!" ("いけ、ジョーカー！", Go, Joker!) before posing akimbo.
- Side taunt: Poses with his gun pointed, gun arm over his dagger arm. Morgana poses akimbo and playfully laughs while showing starry eyes.
- Down taunt: Faces his back towards the camera, resembling his official artwork for Catherine: Full Body. Morgana goes "He-hey!" ("よし！") while bouncing on the spot, before crossing his arms.
If Joker is involved in a fight with five or more fighters, Morgana will not appear during his taunts.
Joker's up taunt.
Joker's side taunt.
Joker's down taunt.
Joker's up taunt with Arsène.
Idle poses[edit]
- Twirls his knife towards his chest.
- Twirls his gun before posing.
Joker's first idle pose.
Joker's second idle pose.
