Joker (SSBU)

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Joker (, Joker) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the third fighter from Sega after and . He was officially announced at on December 6th, 2018 as the first downloadable character from . Joker was released as part of Challenger Pack 1 on April 17th, 2019 and is classified as Fighter #71.
, who voiced Joker in Persona 5 in English as well as the announcer, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand in Ultimate, reprises his role as the character in the English version of the game, while , who previously voiced the character in Japanese and also voices , reprises his role in Japanese. 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 12th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him towards the lower half 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 and . Even after MkLeo dropped the character for a few years and Zackray's activity decreased, Joker's representation remained high thanks to the rise of many new players, most notably .
==Attributes==
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, with the exception of 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 serve similar purposes: placing the opponent in the air to start a combo. Down tilt also serves well as a long-ranged punish option (similarly to '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 followups. It's also Joker's best crossup 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 and 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 in an offensive manner; 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 '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. Similarly 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 punish tool. Grappling Hook is replaced with Wings of Rebellion, which functions similarly to '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 '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; as similarly to , most of Joker's default moveset is tailored towards extending his advantage through combos, most of them 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 disjointed range, also renders said disjointed range short due to its length, especially when compared to the weapons of other fighters such as and . His range issues can also cause him to struggle against certain small and fast characters, such as and , 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 on 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 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 is able to 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 in order 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 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==
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 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 Joker is hit by attacks. These nerfs noticeably affected his best landing and edgeguarding tool, and punishing 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 if they are 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
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
==Moveset==
*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 costume 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 in a similar fashion, 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 .
**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.
*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.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Joker English Announcer SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese
===On-screen appearance===
*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.
JokerOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|Joker's on-screen appearance
===Taunts===
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!" ("", 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!" 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.
SSBUJokerTaunt1.gif|Joker's up taunt.
SSBUJokerTaunt2.gif|Joker's side taunt.
SSBUJokerTaunt3.gif|Joker's down taunt.
SSBUJokerTaunt4.gif|Joker's up taunt with Arsène.
===Idle poses===
*Twirls his knife towards his chest.
*Twirls his gun before posing.
SSBUJokerIdle1.gif|Joker's first idle pose.
SSBUJokerIdle2.gif|Joker's second idle pose.
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English) 	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) 	Cheer (Italian) 	Cheer (Dutch) 	Cheer (French)
Cheer 	 	 	 	 	
Description	Jo - ker! *claps 3 times*	Jo - ker! *claps 3 times*	Jo - ker! Jo - ker! *claps 5 times*	Jo - ker! *claps 3 times*	Jo - ker! *claps 3 times*
 	Cheer (German) 	Cheer (Spanish) 	Cheer (Russian) 	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer 	 	 	 	
Description	Jok - er! *claps 3 times*	It's the Jo - ker! It's the Jo - ker! Eh! Eh!	Jok - er! *claps 3 times*	Jok - er! *claps 3 times*
===Victory poses===
In all three of his victory poses, the transition to the victory screen will showcase a puff of cartoony smoke with star decals, and the ending screen will always result in Joker moving continuously to the left with the results background being dimmed down, replicating the victory screen from Persona 5. Upon accessing the results screen, Joker will say "Begone," "Nice," or "Hah!". If there are three or more human players, the color scheme will match the player's port (CPUs and amiibo are always red). In Team Battles, the color will match the player's team color. If Joker wins on Mementos, the color of the victory screen will match the color of the stage (overriding port or team settings) and the victory music will be replaced with the corresponding victory fanfare from the game Mementos' design is currently derived from.
*Left: Morgana happily bounces around Joker. Joker gestures to Morgana before running towards the left.
*Up: Joker scratches his head as Morgana, transformed as the Morganamobile, drives up next to Joker, picks him up, and drives towards the left. The head-scratching animation is Joker's victory animation if he is the only member of his party remaining in Persona 5. The Morganamobile is the victory screen when winning a match in Mementos.
*Right: Morgana turns dramatically toward the screen, which ends up hitting him in the face. Joker gestures to Morgana before running towards the left. Morgana's positioning in the Left and Right poses references the positioning of the remaining members of the active party in the Persona 5 victory screens, with one member always closer to the camera than Joker and two further away.
*Special: If Joker wins a Stock or Stamina match with All-Out Attack, the match will conclude on the splash screen without returning to gameplay, and this will persist into the victory screen, just like in Persona 5, in which experience points and money gained in battle are shown over the flash across the screen. This pose also automatically makes Joker pose in front in team battles.
*Team: If Joker is in a Team Battle and someone else poses in front, he will perform an exclusive animation where he tightens his glove and maintains a stance with his knife, although both of these are ported directly from his in-game up taunt and idle animation respectively. If he poses in front, none of his teammates will be seen.
SSBUJokerVictory3.gif
SSBUJokerVictory1.gif
SSBUJokerVictory2.gif
SSBUJokerVictory4.gif
SSBUJokerTeamVictory.gif
When transitioning to the results screen, one of the Phantom Thieves will say one of the following quotes in place of the announcer's usual "[character] wins!"
Phantom Thief Quotes	Phantom Thief Quotes
Ryuji Sakamoto 	"...Hah! Losers!"
Ryuji Sakamoto 	"Yeah-hah! Nice!"
Ryuji Sakamoto 	"Ha-ha! Who's next?"
Morgana 	"Smash is as wild as ever, eh Joker?"
Morgana 	"A brilliant victory!"
Morgana 	"Alright! Victory!"
Morgana 	"Mm-mm! Good work!"
Ann Takamaki 	"Feels great, huh?"
Ann Takamaki 	"Aren't we the best?"
Ann Takamaki 	"Done and done!"
Yusuke Kitagawa 	"And the curtain... falls."
Yusuke Kitagawa 	"We've done it!"
Yusuke Kitagawa 	"Well... Onto the next triumph!"
Makoto Niijima 	"No time to waste!"
Makoto Niijima 	"Don't forget this feeling!"
Makoto Niijima 	"Done and done!"
Futaba Sakura 	"Heh heh heh! They're done for!"
Futaba Sakura 	"Impressive!"
Futaba Sakura 	"Okay! Moving right along!"
Haru Okumura 	"That was graceful!"
Haru Okumura 	"Onto the next battle!"
Haru Okumura 	"So much for them!"
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Joker players (SSBU)
* - One of the best Joker players in Japan in the early metagame, ranking in the Area 51 on the Fall 2019 PGRU. He is best known for his Losers run at , where he eliminated and to place 4th, and his run to 9th at , where he defeated , , and . In addition, he has also placed 13th at , and 17th at both and , and notably defeated at the latter event. He dropped Joker in favor of in 2021.
* - The best Joker player in Europe in the post-pandemic metagame as well as the greatest Middle Eastern player of all time. He first gained recognition for his run to 5th at and has since performed well at a multitude of large events, including winning and placing 17th at , marking some of the best Joker performances during the character's slump in the early years of the post-pandemic metagame. He was ranked 74th on the OrionRank Mid-Year 2022, becoming the only Middle Eastern player ranked in the top 100. He went inactive in mid-2022, only occasionally entering events using secondaries.
* - Known for playing a variety of characters but primarily plays Joker, and is one of Japan's best Joker players since 2023, peaking at 55th on the LumiRank 2024.1. His greatest success has been at superregionals, including placing 3rd at , 4th at , and 9th at . Although less consistent compared to Tsubaki, Gorioka has also seen success at majors, most notably placing 7th at and 13th at both and .
* - The greatest Ultimate player of all time, with Joker being by far his most iconic character. He dominated the early metagame while playing Joker, placing no lower than 2nd at every event in this era starting with and winning many of the era's largest events, including , , and . Though he switched to maining other characters at the start of the early metagame, he maintained Joker as a counterpick and eventually switched back to maining Joker in 2023, though this time playing Joker alongside a rotating roster of secondaries.
* - The best solo-Joker player in North America in the post-pandemic metagame, first known for his strong superregional performances in 2023 where he placed 3rd at and 4th at . He made a greater impact on the competitive scene in the following years, which included placing 4th at , 7th at , and 13th at both and , notably defeating at CEO 2024, and ranking 92nd on the LumiRank 2024.1, becoming the first North American solo-Joker player in the post-pandemic metagame to rank in the top 100 on a year-long global ranking.
* - The best Joker player in Japan in the post-pandemic metagame and the best solo-Joker player in the world in 2023. He became the first new Joker player to rank in the top 50 since the early metagame, ranking 46th on the LumiRank 2023, thanks to a string of strong performances which includes placing 3rd at and 5th at both and , in addition to winning the superregional over twice and placing 2nd at defeating .
* - Played a variety of different characters over the course of his career, with one of his most recognizable characters being Joker. He is considered the second-greatest Joker player of all time, having used the character at the height of his competitive career to win several majors, including and . He also completed the Ultimate Triple Crown with Joker by winning , , and , becoming the second player to do so. He relegated Joker to a secondary in favor of the Pits in 2023 before completely dropping the character in the following year.
===Tier placement and history===
Joker had a mixed, albeit positive reception on his release. Many players praised his movement with his horizontal and vertical speed alongside his great combo ability, and noted how all these traits were supplemented when Arsène was activated, granting him much greater damage and kill potential. His downward-angled Gun and Eiha/Eigaon were also viewed as fantastic tools that allowed him to easily escape disadvantageous situations and rack up percentage, respectively. However, many also noted how Joker had difficulty killing when Arsène was not active, given that his kill setups are unsafe on shield and quite difficult to consistently land, as well as many of his moves outright having low base knockback or knockback growth, which resulted in players labeling his kill potential as "inconsistent". In addition, players also remarked base Joker's relatively low damage output per move, seemingly exploitable recoveries with and without Arsène, and lack of out of shield options. Thus, initial opinions on him were divided: players such as and labeled him as a potential top tier character while others such as and regarded him as a mid-tier and low-high tier character, respectively.
However, opinions regarding Joker's viability improved significantly after , the best Ultimate player in the world at the time, started using the character. MkLeo utilized Joker's quick movement, remarkable frame data, combos such as the drag-down combos, and the powerful advantage state of Arsène to place in the top 2 at every tournament he has attended since . Thanks to MkLeo's success, several other top players have picked up Joker as a secondary or co-main. Most notably, had used Joker as a co-main to win several Japanese nationals and a supermajor and was considered to be the best player in Japan during the early metagame. Due to their success, many top players have named Joker as the single best character in the game. 
During the online metagame as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, MkLeo chose not to play Joker due to the nature of the game's netcode necessitating a different playstyle, leading to a perception that Joker is a weaker character online due to his more technical combos and reactionary playstyle becoming too hard to perform or unrewarding, which has reflected in his middling online tournament representation. However, Joker still possesses traits that are effective online, such as quick movements, a difficult to react to projectile, and powerful attacks when Arsène is active. Most recently, the success of players such as naitosharp in online tournaments, such as their 13th placing at , has challenged the perception that Joker is not well suited for the online metagame.
On the other hand, some argue that Joker's success largely relies on MkLeo's skill as a player, which allows him to push the character extremely far, as no players outside of Zackray have even come close to his achievements. This argument was tested following the online metagame, as MkLeo relegated the character to a rare counterpick while Zackray went on a hiatus at the start of 2022. Although there was a notable decline in Joker's representation at a top level, this decline was ultimately negligent as other players such as and continued to see strong placements with the character, which kept Joker's representation in or around the top 10. Due to this, as well as Zackray's return and MkLeo slowly bringing Joker back into his main line-up, opinions on the character remained strong, and Joker was ranked 3rd on the first tier list, where he ranks in the S+ tier alongside and the Aegis.
Unfortunately, Joker's precise playstyle meant that the character was harder to maintain compared to many other top tier characters. As such 2023 marked a noticeable downturn for Joker at the top level: MkLeo's Joker performed worse than it did due to MkLeo's lower motivation and character crisis, while Zackray chose to play the Pits over Joker. Although other Joker players such as , , and were able to perform well during this time, their performances were unable to match MkLeo and Zackray's best results with the character. As such, opinions on Joker have since mellowed out, and he dropped on the following two tier lists, ranking 10th on the second and 12th on the third, and now ranking in the S- tier.
==: Shadows==
Joker mainly fights opponents relating to shadows. On every round, the former enemy fighter becomes an ally to him under a new alternate costume, referencing how in Persona 5, Joker can negotiate with the Shadows and recruit them as Personas, freeing the corrupted enemy in the process. Additionally, some items and Assist Trophies are references to Persona 5, such as the Kapp'n Assist Trophy referencing the Morgana Bus. The final boss of this route makes reference to the god Yaldabaoth, the final boss of Persona 5, with the final boss theme Our Beginning also present. It also refrences how Joker and Master Hand have the same voice English actor, Xander Mobus. In addition, all rounds aside from the second round take place on Mementos.
Round 	Opponent 	Stage 	Music 	Notes
1 	(×6) 	Mementos 	 	Horde Battle.
2 	Giant 	Kalos Pokémon League 	 	Mr. Game & Watch is a CPU ally. Kirby's purple costume is a possible reference to Black Frost. The music and stage choice represents the recurring Velvet Room of the Persona franchise.
3 	and 	Mementos 	 	Kirby is a CPU ally. Possibly a reference to the anti-shadow weapons from Persona 3 (Aigis and Metis) and Jack Frost.
4 	 	Mementos (Battlefield form)	 	Dark Samus is a CPU ally. References the masked Shadows before engaging in combat.
5 	, and 	Mementos 	 	Meta Knight is a CPU ally. References the Shadow Selves most prominent appearance in Persona 4, with the Meta Knight ally referencing Izanagi, the Persona 4 protagonist's Main Persona.
6 	Giant 	Mementos (Ω form) 	 	Link is a CPU ally. Incineroar is a reference to Shadow Shido's final form.
Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage
Final 	 	Mementos (Ω form) 	 	On Intensity 7.0 or higher, joins the fight alongside Master Hand. The music and stage likely refer to the final boss of Persona 5, Yaldabaoth.
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Joker has accompany the credits.
==Role in World of Light==
Due to his status as downloadable content, Joker does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Joker, he is immediately unlocked.
==Spirits==
Joker's Phantom Thief fighter spirit can be obtained by completing as Joker. It also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Joker has been downloaded. Unlocking Joker in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His student outfit has a fighter spirit of its own, available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate. Arsène also makes an appearance in Joker's fighter spirits, having a unique render when shown with Joker's Ultimate artwork. Because of this, Joker's Ultimate renders in his fighter spirits will show him without his mask/glasses on.
Additionally, he appears in the Phantom Thieves of Hearts spirit.
SSBU spirit Joker (Phantom Thief).png|1,304. Joker (Phantom Thief)
SSBU spirit Joker (Student).png|1,305. Joker (Student)
SSBU spirit Phantom Thieves of Hearts.png|1,306. Phantom Thieves of Hearts
==In Spirit Battles==
===As the main opponent===
Spirit	Spirit	Spirit 	Spirit 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters 	Battle parameters	Battle parameters	Inspiration
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music 	Character
1,306 	 	Persona Series	• • • • • •	 	13,300 	Mementos (Haru Okumura background, hazards off)	•Sudden Final Smash•Item: Daybreak Parts	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage•Reinforcements will appear during the battle	 	Joker 	
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
==Trailers==
===Introduction trailer===
===Gameplay trailer===
==Gallery==
Take Your Heart.png|The Smash invitation in Joker's trailer.
Joker artwork.png|Joker artwork, as posted on the official Japanese Persona Twitter account by Shigenori Soejima.
Joker's model.png|A tease of Joker's model from the February 13th, 2019 Nintendo Direct.
Joker In-Game Model.png|A view of Joker's in-game model from behind.
JokerBestBuyLeak.png|The ad that leaked Joker's artwork.
Joker Steals the Show.png|Joker's splash art.
Joker amiibo.png|Joker's amiibo.
Joker unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Joker's unlock notice after downloading him from the Nintendo eShop.
Jokercutin.png|Joker's Cut-in when Arsène is summoned.
SSBUWebsiteJoker1.jpg|Joker on Fourside.
SSBUWebsiteJoker2.jpg|Joker wielding his gun on Moray Towers.
SSBUWebsiteJoker3.jpg|Joker attacking with Arsène on Mementos.
SSBUWebsiteJoker4.jpg|Joker with Morgana on Skyloft.
SSBUWebsiteJoker5.jpg|Joker posing with Arsène on Spear Pillar.
SSBUWebsiteJoker6.jpg|Joker in his school outfit with and on Delfino Plaza.
All Fighters from Fighters Pass Vol 1.jpg|Joker alongside all of the other DLC fighters of .
JokerKeyframeModelFSmashDSmash.jpg|The keyframes used when animating Arsene-enhanced forward smash and down smash, released on Masahiro Sakurai's Twitter pageKeyframe graphic release.
JokerKeyframeModelTetrakarn.jpg|The keyframes used when animating Tetrakarn and Makarakarn, released on Masahiro Sakurai's Twitter page.
==Trivia==
*Joker's internal codename within the game files is "jack". It is probably a wordplay on "jack" and "joker" being both types of playing cards; additionally, it may reference Atlus' mascot, Jack Frost. The codename was reportedly discovered in November 2018 by players who decompiled a leaked retail copy. However, this discovery was only made public in January 2019, after Joker had already been officially revealed.
**Arsène also has a codename within Joker's move articles and parameters, "doyle"https://rubendal.github.io/ssbu/#/Character/Jokerhttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rwDPL1jhE-KuEbbcBkkTb44z1smJp9rYme_xb4BIJTk/edit#gid=371065784. This is a reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote the Sherlock Holmes novels. Sherlock Holmes was heavily referenced in the Arsène Lupin novels by Maurice Leblanc, which Personas Arsène is based upon. Leblanc had originally written a story featuring an elderly Holmes meeting a young Lupin, but he changed the name to "Herlock Sholmes" after legal objections from Doyle; later stories feature the character under both "Herlock Sholmes" and "Holmlock Shears".
*According to Masahiro Sakurai, the concept development for Joker was difficult for him due to coinciding with work to complete the base game of Ultimate as well as deciding on a general plan for DLC development.https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1455925479723061248 Arsène's inclusion also extended Joker's development, with Sakurai using two figures in order to finalize Joker's animations and poses for his moves.https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1455925571582509057
*Joker has the longest wait between their reveal and their launch out of Ultimates DLC characters, at four months and 11 days; out of all DLC characters, he falls behind in Smash 4, who holds the record at five months and 24 days.
*Joker is the only fighter who has two reveal trailers, not including Terry's extended trailer after his release.
**They are the third and fourth reveal trailers to feature hand-drawn animation, after and 's trailers from Smash 4. Joker is also the only Ultimate newcomer with hand-drawn animation in his reveal trailers.
**Joker's first reveal trailer has two variants. One which was played during The Game Awards 2018, and one which was officially posted online afterward with dialogue altered to remove references to the Game Awards.
**Out of all the characters reveals in both Smash 4 and Ultimate, Joker is the first character to be revealed at/in a non-Nintendo event/video. The second would be . Coincidentally, both were revealed during The Game Awards.
*In Joker's reveal trailer, it is mentioned that he must have gone to The Game Awards 2018 to steal a treasure. According to Masahiro Sakurai in a Famitsu column, the treasure was an invitation to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.https://nintendoeverything.com/sakurai-on-smash-bros-ultimate-jokers-reveal-getting-some-rest-and-more/
**An instrumental arrangement of Life Will Change plays fittingly during the reveal, as the song plays while the Phantom Thieves are infiltrating a Palace to steal a treasure after sending out a calling card.
***Interestingly, despite Life Will Change being featured, it is not available as a track in-game.
**Coincidentally, the concept of Palaces in the Persona series is vaguely similar to the "world of imagination" concept used to justify the Super Smash Bros. games, where events and characters are imaginary and are affected by cognition in the "real world" (including toys, such as Joker's Gun, becoming real and functionally similar to the fighters themselves). As such, Joker's announcement and inclusion in the Smash Bros. world, particularly with regards to the "treasure" being stolen, can be considered a variation of the Phantom Thieves infiltrating a Palace.
*Joker had his render leaked on March 31st, 2019, by Best Buy before his render was officially revealed.
*Joker is the only character whose character render changes under certain circumstances, as his mask (or glasses, in his alternate costume) will be removed when Arsène is present.
*Joker, and are the only characters to face on a stage other than .
*Joker is the only character in the series who:
**has more than one victory theme in one game.
**has a victory pose reserved for Team Battles.
**whose name is not announced on the results screen, whether by the normal announcer or a custom one. Instead, there is a comment from one of the Phantom Thieves.
***Because of this, it is not possible to hear Joker's announcer call in-game without having purchased him oneself.
***Joker is the only character whose name isn't announced by the announcer, as Sephiroth and Kazuya's names are announced in their respective victory fanfares.
*Joker is one of the few characters to speak during a KO: his alternate KO line has him saying "What?!" ("", I'm sorry...).
**Additionally, Arsène starts writhing in pain if Joker loses his last stock via depleted HP in Stamina Mode. However, there is only animation and no audio.
*Joker is the only character who speaks when transitioning from the victory animation to the results, saying either "Begone," "Nice," or "Hah!"
*Joker technically has the most victory screens of any fighter, having 39,449,444 victory screens in total. The reason for this is based on the All-Out Attack that is used for each non-clone/echo/alternate character (including male , who has a different animation from his female counterpart) having their own one of 79 animations of when they get KO'd from it, which results in a victory screen.https://youtu.be/M-YsdP3CEjU?t=318
*Despite having his civilian/student appearance appear as his alternate costume and the fact that he is being given a default civilian name (Ren Amamiya) since the anime and most future media appearances like Smash (as described in his amiibo description), the costume does not use the name of "Ren" and continues to be referred to as "Joker".
*Joker, , , , , , , , and are the only fighters who use their walking animations when navigating through the map in World of Light.
==References==
 
Category:Third-party characters
Category:Downloadable content
Category:Sega
Category:Atlus
Category:Spirits
es:Joker (SSBU)