Lucas (SSB4)

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Lucas (, Lucas) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Initially absent as a playable character, Lucas's return to the series was announced during a Nintendo Direct on April 1st, 2015.Nintendo Direct 4.1.2015 He was then made available as downloadable content on June 14th, 2015, alongside and .Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U - New Content Approaching 6.14.15 Lani Minella reprises her role as Lucas' voice actor; however, she does so via recycled voice clips from Brawl, some of which have been slightly sped up.
Lucas is ranked 28th/29th out of 54 on the tier list, tied with at the bottom of the C tier. This is a significant improvement over Lucas' lower-mid tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 30th out of 38 and is his best placement in the series. Lucas's greatest strengths is his grab game; Rope Snake has the lowest ending lag out of all tether grabs, while Lucas possesses several strong KO throws, with up throw and back throw being two of the best KO throws in the game. Complementing his throw game is his combo game, as his down throw can combo into a variety of aerials up until high percents, allowing Lucas to rack up damage rather easily. Finally, Lucas possesses a strong zoning game thanks to PK Fire and his grab aerial, while most of his moves have disjoints, granting him decent range.
However, Lucas also has several weaknesses. Lucas possesses slow ground mobility and average frame data, giving him a lackluster neutral game, poor approach options, and a recovery that is occasionally susceptible to gimps and edgeguarding, making him especially vulnerable to fast, mobile characters that can overwhelm him. Lucas also lacks any great landing options, allows characters with disjointed ranges (such as and ) to give him a hard time landing. Finally, his best KO moves often have downsides, such as a blindspot (up air), slow startup (grab), or being easily punishable (his smash attacks). As such, despite a plethora of KO options, Lucas may have some trouble KOing on-stage.
Initially, Lucas was poorly regarded when he was first released, but the buffs he received from game updates have allowed him to achieve decent results. This has been most evident with the efforts of , whose strong performances led many to question whether Lucas could be better than Ness. Although Lucas' results became stagnant after Taiheita's hiatus, most players still agree that Lucas is a viable character and much better than initially perceived.
==Attributes==
Lucas' attributes remain largely unchanged since Brawl. He is a middleweight who has a very slow walking speed, slightly below average dashing speed, average gravity, above average air speed, and below average falling speed. However, his air and fast falling speeds have become faster since Brawl, both of which somewhat improve his aerial mobility. While Lucas' mobility speed is rather unimpressive, his attack speed compensates for it; notable examples include his neutral attack, which comes out on frame 2, and his down tilt, which comes out on frame 3 and is tied with , , , and 's down tilts for being the fastest down tilt in the game. As a result, Lucas' attacks are useful for damage racking and initiating combos, while several of his ground attacks are safe in many situations due to their minimal ending lag.
Despite his short stature and lack of a weapon outside of his forward smash, Lucas possesses good range courtesy of disjointed hitboxes. All of his smash attacks, nearly all of his aerial attacks and some of his ground attacks are disjointed, which can be further supplemented by his projectiles. In addition to their disjointed hitboxes, Lucas' smash attacks are among the strongest in the game. Like in Brawl, his up smash is among the strongest up smashes in the game while also possessing both a large disjointed hitbox and the ability to KO as low as 54% when fully charged (or 70% for heavyweights). The first hit of his down smash is also one of the strongest in the game and is an intimidating edgeguarding option, while his forward smash has decent speed, good KO potential and can even reflect projectiles.
However, Lucas's greatest strength is his grab game. Despite having the shortest-ranged tether grab in the game, his Rope Snake has the lowest amount of ending lag among all tether grabs and respectable range, while he also possesses arguably the strongest set of throws in the game. Lucas' up and back throws are among the most powerful of their kind in the game, making them two of his best KOing options. His forward throw is tied with 's for the strongest of its kind, although it is significantly weaker as a KOing option in comparison to his up and back throws. His down throw benefits significantly from both its considerably reduced knockback and the changes to hitstun canceling, both of which have re-purposed it into a reliable combo starter that can be followed up with his neutral and forward aerials from 0% up until high percents (even up to the early 90% range for neutral aerial), while its combo into up aerial is a confirmed KO set-up until 100%. While these changes have removed his down throw's KO potential, this is completely mitigated due to his up and back throws' aforementioned power. Lastly, his pummel is tied with Ness, and 's as the third fastest in the game, which makes it ideal for quick damage racking before a throw.
Lucas also boasts a strong zoning game that is essential to his success. PK Fire and grab aerial are both powerful spacing tools with their own specific uses, the latter being able to lead into a grab or forward tilt. Lucas' combo game is also very strong. His down tilt is a good combo starter, as it can combo into itself, neutral attack, and most importantly, his grab. His neutral and forward aerials can combo into themselves at low percents, while the former can also do so into other aerials (except for his back aerial) at low percents.
Like Ness, Lucas' special moveset boasts versatility in the form of PSI-based attacks, three of which are projectiles. PK Freeze can freeze his opponents, has very minimal ending lag and is viable, yet situational, as an edgeguarding option. While his PK Fire does not repeatedly hit opponents and potentially trap them like Ness' PK Fire, Lucas' deals decent knockback and can be used to give Lucas some space as it also provides a minimal amount of recoil, both on the ground and in the air. PK Thunder does not disappear like Ness' PK Thunder when it hits opponents, but instead hits them multiple times alongside boasting tighter control, while PK Thunder 2, grants Lucas farther distance. Lastly, PSI Magnet allows Lucas to deal with camping opponents that carry powerful, absorbable projectiles. However, its defensive utility also extends to Lucas' recovery, thanks to its ability to stall his descent. Unlike Ness', it also has offensive utility, thanks to it dealing damage and being a semi-spike.
However, Lucas does have his flaws. With his aforementioned sub-par mobility, fast characters such as and can give Lucas a difficult time. Another problem is a predictable approach, reliance on his zoning tools (which can be overcome), and occasionally a lack of range in spite of his tether grab. Some of his moves require precision at times; his up aerial, whose hitbox is static and significantly smaller than it was in Brawl, can miss large opponents like due to its glaring blindspot driectly in front of him. Another prominent example is his down smash, whose three hits are all mutually exclusive and thus gives opponents a perfect opportunity to punish Lucas if they manage to shield it. Lucas can also have problems scoring KOs despite his smash attacks' impressive strengths, as they mainly require effective reading and should be used wisely as a result. He also has poor approach options, as his dash attack is slow, and as all his aerials except for back aerial have worse autocancel windows compared to Brawl, none of them can autocancel in a short hop. Although Lucas has a reliable tether recovery, his other method of recovery is also gimpable because of it having much slower priority than Ness, and it can be still be reflected or absorbed, most infamously by . Like his fellow DLC characters, Lucas does not have any custom moves, which limits him in tournaments that allow character customization.
Altogether, Lucas' pros slightly outweigh his cons. He has an excellent damage-racking game along with some good approach options, though his approach in general is predictable and can be faulty at times. He can also have a hard time KOing opponents outside of edgeguarding, and he is not as effective when his zoning tools can be nullified. 
==Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl==
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Lucas was seen as a low mid tier character as while he had numerous fairly solid attacks, a solid recovery, strong and effective specials (including a strong projectile in PK Fire and a powerful and surprisingly versatile absorption move in PSI Magnet) and a whole bunch of useful advanced techniques, he suffered from having short range, an unspectacular grab, limited/difficult to land KO moves and he was very exploitable to grab release followups. His grounded grab release was 10 frames longer than almost every other character, making him vulnerable to inescapable chain grabs and KO setups, while his aerial grab release was also fairly exploitable. As a result, Lucas struggled with a majority of the cast (especially since numerous characters simply outclassed him) and he overall saw limited success within the singles meta, although he was much more effective in doubles, as his grab release was less exploitable and when paired with the right teammate, his PSI Magnet became an incredibly powerful and abusable tool.
In Super Smash Bros. 4, Lucas received a mix of buffs and nerfs and while he did receive more nerfs overall, he is considered to be buffed, due to the game's numerous universal changes significantly benefitting him, along with him receiving some very useful buffs as well.
One of the most notable improvements he received was the removal of the 10 extra frames that were a part of his grounded grab release animation, which was one of his most significant flaws. This is further supplemented by the removal of chaingrabbing which was a large part as to why his grab release was extremely exploitable. Lucas' recovery, outside of advanced techniques, has been improved, as both PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake now cover more distance. Rope Snake has also received more utility as a zoning option due to it receiving a hitbox when used as a grab aerial. Lucas has also been indirectly buffed from the changes to Smash 4s mechanics not only due to the removal of chaingrabbing but also because of the changes to hitstun canceling combined with the weakening of DI, which has giving him a very strong combo game which is most evident with the modifications to his down throw having resulted in it becoming one of his best combo starters. A few of his moves also have improved KO potential (most notably up aerial which also has greater juggling potential) and the introduction of rage only further improves his KO potential.
However, Lucas has seen a plethora of nerfs as well with his direct changes outside of his shorter grab release animation nerfing him overall. He can no longer use the Zap Jump or the Magnet Pull exploits, which were his two most pivotal techniques in Brawl, although the aforementioned buffs to PK Thunder 2 and Rope Snake can somewhat compensate for this off stage, at least in terms of recovery. In addition, many of his attacks have seen their damage, knockback and range reduced, while some of them have had their startup/ending lag increased. This is most notably seen with his aerials: his neutral, forward and up aerials lost their ability to auto-cancel in a short hop (although the landing lag of both is minimal), his down aerial has increased start-up lag and is no longer able to reliably set up for the infamous down tilt lock, and his up aerial has notably less range while also being slower and having static, all of which significantly hinders his already poor approach and landing options. He additionally has a slightly harder time KOing because of various of his previous KO moves including his forward and up smashes as well as his forward tilt and down throw having reduced knockback (although down throw has KO setups to compensate) alongside the loss of his advanced techniques. He is also slower on the ground relative to the cast as he is one of the only returning veterans whose dash (and walk) speed was not increased. His falling speed and gravity are also the same being lower relative to the cast although this has both positives and negatives.
Overall, Lucas has not significantly improved since Brawl as his moveset has seen many direct nerfs. However, he greatly benefits from Smash 4s mechanics and one of his main issues in Brawl was fixed resulting in him fairing better in Smash 4 overall. He was initially worse when he was first released but as of update 1.1.3, he is considered to be moderately better than how he was when he was initially released in SSB4, due to the buffs he received up to and including that update. 
===Aesthetics===
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===Attributes===
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===Ground attacks===
*Neutral attack:
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*Forward tilt:
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*Up tilt:
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*Down tilt:
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*Dash attack:
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*Forward smash:
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*Up smash:
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*Down smash:
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===Aerial attacks===
*Neutral aerial:
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*Forward aerial:
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*Back aerial:
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*Up aerial:
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*Down aerial:
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*Grab aerial:
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===Throws/other attacks===
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*Pummel:
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*Up throw:
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*Down throw:
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*Floor attacks:
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*Front floor attack:
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*Edge attack:
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*Trip attack:
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===Special moves===
*PK Freeze:
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*PK Fire:
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*PK Thunder:
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*PK Thunder 2:
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*PSI Magnet:
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*PK Starstorm:
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==Update history==
Lucas has been buffed via game updates. Update 1.1.0 saw all of his grabs' ending lag decreased and as well as subtle range improvements to his forward and down tilts, though they still do not match up to his range in Brawl. The changes to shield mechanics in updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1 have been a mixed bag for Lucas; the changes make his sourspotted moves less safe on shield, but his sweetspotted moves safer on shield. Lastly, update 1.1.3 gave Lucas a number of noticeable buffs: his standing grab, dash grab, and forward aerial all had their lag decreased, his neutral aerial's damage output was increased, and forward tilt's sweetspot had its size increased. As a result of these buffs, Lucas is considered better than he was when he was initially released.
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==Moveset==
For a gallery of Lucas's hitboxes, see here.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Lucas English Announcer SSB4-SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese
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===On-screen appearance===
===Taunts===
===Idle poses===
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese)	Cheer (Spanish)
Cheer 	 	 	
Description	Lu - cas! 	Ryuuuu - ka! 	Luuuuu - cas!
 	Cheer (French) 	Cheer (German) 	Cheer (Italian)
Cheer 	 	 	
Description	Lu - cas ! 	Luuuuu - cas! 	Lu - cas! *claps 3 times*
===Victory poses===
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Lucas players (SSB4)
* - One of the best Lucas players in Japan, making regular appearances at events, most notably placing 13th at , 17th at , and 25th at several others including and . In addition, he had notably placed 25th at .
* - One of the best Lucas players in Japan, although mostly active in Hokkaidō, including regularly placing top 8 at events, including winning the series' first event. Outside Hokkaidō, Hakadama is best known for his performance at , where he not only outplaced Taiheita at his final notable event, but he also placed 4th defeating along the way.
* - The second-best Lucas player of all-time and the best Lucas player in the world after Taiheita's hiatus. He is best known for his win over at , placing 25th overall. He has also placed 13th at , 17th at , and 25th at , the best Lucas major performances in North America.
* - The second-best Lucas player in North America, with a variety of noteworthy performances at superregionals including 9th at and 13th at , as well as defeating at . Although less prevalent at majors compared to Mekos, he still had some notable placements such as 17th at .
* - The greatest Lucas player of all-time and the only Lucas player ever ranked globally, ultimately ranking 58th on the PGR 100. His performances in 2016, especially after placing 3rd at , 5th at , and 17th at , prove Lucas's potential in the metagame and helped lead to the character's rise in subsequent tier lists. Conversely, Taiheita's hiatus led to a decline in Lucas's representation and reputation in the game's final year.
===Tier placement and history===
During his release, Lucas was considered to have improved from Brawl due to the changes to the game physics benefiting him. However, it would very soon become clear Lucas had also lost many of his strengths from Brawl, such as his advanced techniques. Following the buffs to his attacks, as well as decent tournament representation and results thanks to players such as , he was ranked 36th in the first 4BR' tier list, as a low-tier character. 
Dedicated mains eventually prove that Lucas' buffs did indeed benefit him a lot more than previously perceived, and that he was now a capable character with reliable combo potential and KO power. Taiheita's performances especially marked the best Lucas performances in all mainline Smash metagames, and, alongside strong performances from other Lucas players such as , led many to agree that Lucas was an effective and viable pick in competitive play despite having a comparably small playerbase. This led to Lucas' rise in subsequent tier lists, going from 33rd from the second to 32nd on the third, becoming a mid-tier character in the second list. Lucas's improving results also began leading some top players, especially to believe that Lucas was a better character than Ness, especially following Ness's decline in the metagame around the same time. This eventually led Lucas to rise into the bottom of high tier on the fourth and final tier list, ranking 28th/29th and being tied with Ness.
Following the fourth tier list Lucas's metagame suddenly became stagnant following Taiheita's hiatus in early-2018. Although Lucas players continued to perform well at notable events, no Lucas player was ever able to match Taiheita's consistent success. On the other hand, Ness's results saw a resurgence thanks to improving results from Ness's best players, especially in Japan, where without Taiheita, Ness's results greatly outshone Lucas's results. This reversed opinions on Lucas, with many players believing that the "Lucas is better than Ness" argument was outdated, and by the end of competitive Smash 4, most players agreed that Lucas should not be tied with Ness on the tier list and therefore should be ranked lower.
==In Solo Modes==
===All-Star Mode===
In All-Star Mode, Lucas is fought in Stage 6 in the 3DS version or Stage 2 in the Wii U version if he has been downloaded alongside , , , , , , , and 
===Congratulations Screens===
====3DS====
SSB4-3DS Congratulations Classic Lucas.png|Classic Mode
SSB4-3DS Congratulations All-Star Lucas.png|All-Star Mode
====Wii U====
SSB4-Wii U Congratulations Classic Lucas.png|Classic Mode
SSB4-Wii U Congratulations All-Star Lucas.png|All-Star Mode
==Trophies==
Lucas's fighter trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode as Lucas. His alternate trophy is obtained by clearing All-Star Mode as Lucas in the 3DS version or booting up the game after downloading Lucas in the Wii U version. The PK Starstorm (Lucas) trophy is obtained only in the Wii U version by clearing All-Star Mode as Lucas. Lucas also has a non-fighter trophy as part of the base game that can be purchased in the Trophy Shop for 500G (or 10 Play Coins) in the 3DS version or 1500G in the Wii U version.
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
==Reveal trailer==
==Gallery==
SSB4 Lucas SplashArt.jpg|Lucas' splash art.
Lucas amiibo.png|Lucas' amiibo.
Lucas unlock notice SSB4-Wii U.png|Lucas' unlock notice in after downloading him from the Nintendo eShop.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-1.jpg|Using his forward aerial.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-2.jpg|Using PK Thunder against .
Lucas SSB4 Screen-3.jpg|Lucas' on-screen appearance.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-4.jpg|Using his down taunt alongside ' down taunt.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-5.jpg|Using PK Fire against alongside with Ness using PK Fire against .
Lucas SSB4 Screen-6.jpg|One of Lucas' idle poses alongside and .
Lucas SSB4 Screen-7.jpg|Using PSI Magnet to heal himself.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-8.jpg|All of Lucas' alternate costumes.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-9.jpg|Lucas on Magicant with another Lucas wearing the Claus alternate costume.
Lucas SSB4 Screen-10.jpg|Using his side taunt.
==Trivia==
*A few aspects regarding Lucas' status in SSB4 tied in to a number of significant dates for the EarthBound series:
**He was confirmed in the same month that his origin game, , was first released.
**The announcement details for Lucas and update 1.0.8 were revealed on the same day as s 20th anniversary.
**The day he became available to purchase was the same day that EarthBound Beginnings was released internationally for the Wii U Virtual Console.
**His amiibo's release date in Japan was the same day that Mother 3 was released on the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console.
*Lucas' dashing animation is similar to his ning animation in Mother 3.
*Due to his non-fighter trophy using his character model from Brawl, Lucas is the only character who has both his Brawl and SSB4 character models in the same game.
*Lucas is the only starter character and newcomer from Brawl to be available as downloadable content.
**He is also the only DLC character with a tether grab.
**He is also the only character to be initially unplayable in the next installment but then regained playable status due to DLC.
*Prior to Ultimate, Lucas and were the only characters to debut as a starter character, but have a different availability in a future title, as Wario has to be unlocked and Lucas has to be purchased as DLC.
**Coincidentally, both are Brawl newcomers.
*As Lucas' down throw technically does not bury opponents and instead forces them into a unique position, if the character being thrown flinches lightly, they will snap back to their original position. In , the skirts of 's, 's and Rosalina's dresses cannot keep up with the velocity change and will stay up. This technical oversight leads to odd results. However, this oversight does not occur in .
*Lucas' amiibo description on the official amiibo website is a combination of his Classic Mode trophy descriptions from Brawl and SSB4.
**Oddly, his amiibo description carried over his Brawl trophy's mistranslation of his home, Tazumili Village, rather than its correct translation, Tazmily Village.
*Lucas is the only veteran DLC character to have recycled voice clips.
**He is also the only veteran DLC character to not have his voice actress in the DLC credits. His voice actress, however, was in the original credits before his return, as Larry, Morton, Wendy and Lemmy, and Lyn use her portrayals from New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Brawl respectively.
**He is also the only DLC character to speak English in the Japanese version of the game, though can be technically included if her "A Witch With No Memories" alternate costume is counted.
**Additionally, he is the only DLC character whose Final Smash is not showcased in his reveal trailer.
*Oddly, Lucas' forward aerial has a hitbox that will load, but will then be deleted at the same time it appears. This hitbox deals 6% and has a punching sound effect on contact. However, it can be restored via modding.
*Lucas has unused references to custom moves.
**Additionally he has unused behavior for his PK Thunder that functions just like Ness' PK Thunder.
*According to an interview with Sakurai, Lucas' alternate costumes were all chosen by one of the game's designers.
*Lucas is the first and only DLC character who was released alongside others that were revealed later.
==References==
 
Category:Downloadable content
Category:Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
Category:Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
es:Lucas (SSB4)