Pichu (SSBU)

Pichu (, Pichu) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It was confirmed alongside and the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018 during E3 2018. While Pichu remains a close clone of , it is not classified as an Echo Fighter. As such, Pichu is classified as Fighter #19.
, Pichu's voice actress from the Pokémon anime and Super Smash Bros. Melee, reprises her role with new voice clips. In addition, the 'spiky-eared' variant of Pichu (who appears as a playable character in Ultimate via Pichu's alternate costumes) is also voiced by Kōrogi rather than , who originally voiced the aforementioned 'spiky-eared' variant in the Pokémon anime's twelfth film, Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
Pichu is ranked 52nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing it near the end of the B- tier. This is a significant improvement over its low tier placement in Melee, where it was ranked 22nd out of 26. Pichu boasts good combo ability and great KO power, with its fast falling speed aiding in its combo potential. It is also very hard to hit due to its small hurtbox and good mobility.
However, Pichu is hindered by critical flaws. Its biggest flaw is being the lightest character in the game. This combined with it taking recoil damage when using electric moves makes Pichu a "glass cannon" and can be KO'd earlier than any other character. Its fast falling speed makes it more susceptible to combos despite being so light.
Pichu's representation in tournaments has changed throughout Ultimates metagame. At launch, Pichu was often seen as a contender for the best character in the game thanks to the drastic buffs it received, such as greatly reduced recoil damage and a fast forward tilt that could KO opponents around 100%, which led to a large playerbase spearheaded by and . However, update 3.1.0 gave Pichu major nerfs, making it more of a high-risk, high-reward character and causing some of its original players to drop it. Despite a drop in top-level representation as a result, Pichu continues to see moderate success from dedicated mains such , , and .
==How to unlock==
Complete one of the following:
*Play VS. matches, with Pichu being the 34th character to be unlocked.
*Clear with or any character in its unlock tree, being the last character unlocked after .
*Have Pichu join the player's party in World of Light.
With the exception of the third method, Pichu must then be defeated on Pokémon Stadium 2. In World of Light, it is fought on the Ω form of Prism Tower.
==Attributes==
Pichu is a character of extremes. As a clone of Pikachu, many of its attributes are similar, such as its even smaller size and quick mobility, though with a few noticeable differences. Pichu is the lightest character in the game, has fast walking and above average dashing speeds with average traction, above average jumping force, average air speed but being tied for the ninth highest air acceleration, and fast falling speed while being tied for the fifth highest gravity. However, it has the lowest fast fall multiplier in the game, causing its fast-falling speed to be average. Overall, these attributes give Pichu a slightly slower grounded approach than Pikachu, make its aerials not autocancel as easily and makes it more vulnerable to combos, but also gives it a much faster ground-to-air and air-to-ground approach, making its mobility as reliable as Pikachu's own.
The primary difference between Pichu and Pikachu is the former's recoil damage on its electricity-based attacks. All of Pichu's attacks with an electric effect (forward tilt, forward and down smash attacks, forward, back and down aerials, forward throw, and all special moves except if the lightning bolt doesn't strike Pichu) deal recoil damage to itself, which makes it less feasible for Pichu to overuse these attacks. To compensate for this, many of Pichu's electric attacks have either increased damage, knockback (in some cases both), or versatility. This makes it less feasible for Pichu to overuse these attacks in situations that would require their use for best results, as it could put it in a spot where the opponent may even KO Pichu with a strong enough move. Conversely, it increases the reward Pichu would receive if it can land said moves, and due to these moves increasing Pichu's percentage, this means Pichu can make effective use of rage to KO an opponent with more ease, provided it can survive long enough.
Much like Pikachu, all of Pichu's moveset aspects are solid overall, possessing very fast frame data overall and great utility throughout its moveset. An example of this is its incredibly capable aerial game. Neutral aerial is Pichu's fastest out of shield option, on top of not having much ending or landing lag, making it a viable edgeguarding option. Forward aerial deals the highest damage of Pichu's aerials and has very strong combo potential, while only having decent recoil damage. Up aerial, while being Pichu's least damaging aerial, also retains very strong vertical combo capabilities. Down aerial is Pichu's main move to meteor smash, and the late hit also lasts for a long while, making it another great edgeguarding tool, while also having only decent recoil damage. Finally, back aerial deals less damage than forward aerial, but is also Pichu's strongest aerial, a very good edgeguarding tool, only has decent recoil damage like its forward and down aerials, and plays a major component on Pichu's looping combos; by repeatedly performing a full jump while using a back aerial and comboing into a tilt attack (most notably up tilt) to repeat the process, Pichu can zero-to-death combo the opponent, though the timing for each move is very strict.
Pichu's main (but not sole) ways to set up the opponent into its strong aerial game consist of its up and down tilts, and up and down throws: both tilts are excellent combo starters, with down tilt even comboing into aerials at very high percentages, while up and down throw allow Pichu to pummel the opponent for more damage due to them being followed up from a grab; up throw is also infamous for comboing into Thunder for a reliable KO set-up. This gives Pichu a strong combo game, with many ways to start, extend or end combos much like Pikachu, though due to its moves' nature, Pichu's combo game is usually shorter-lived in exchange for raw damage.
Aside from its up and down tilts, in regards to its grounded game, it also has some interesting and useful options: forward tilt trips opponents at low percentages, can 2-frame, and has above average power at high percentages, making it a very useful set-up tool. Forward smash has the highest power of its standard moveset, lasts for a long while and, due to its multi-hit nature, can KO at an even lower percentage. Up smash is a decent anti-air that leaves Pichu's ears intangible, though it lacks in power. On the other hand, Pichu's neutral attack is mainly used for locking opponents due to its very weak knockback, and dash attack is mostly used as a fast punish option and its low power can actually allow it to combo, though it can be risky. Its grab game is also decent - while its grabs are short-ranged, they are very fast and have the lowest ending lag in the game. As mentioned above, up and down throws have useful combo potential, with down throw usually reserved for horizontal combos, whereas up throw leads into vertical combos and can lead into Thunder as a KO set-up. Meanwhile, forward throw is Pichu's strongest throw, barely KOing at realistic percentages near the edge, which makes it a passable kill throw.
Pichu's special moveset is also varied and versatile. Thunder Jolt is a useful projectile that can reliably pressure an opponent's shield, on top of dealing low knockback and high damage (especially if started in the air). Its low ending lag also allows it to set-up into Pichu's moves if it lands during its last frames of activity. Thunder is Pichu's other projectile, though the lightning bolt itself doesn't deal much damage. As such, its primary purpose is to use the cloud's meteor smash properties to combo opponents into the shockwave part of the move when the bolt strikes Pichu - this deals the most damage to Pichu out of all its moves if this happens, so it should be used sparingly. Skull Bash and Agility serve as Pichu's recovery moves, and give it an amazing, long-distanced and unpredictable recovery - of the two, Agility deals high recoil damage if both dashes are used, but nevertheless travels an incredibly long distance and is very unpredictable due to each dash being able to be inputted in multiple directions, potentially making Pichu very hard to properly edgeguard or 2-frame. Skull Bash, on the other hand, is mostly used to extend Pichu's recovery, but it also ties in as part of Pichu's "glass cannon" playstyle as it can be charged; unlike Pikachu's own version, Pichu's fully charged Skull Bash deals immense knockback when fully charged, this being Pichu's strongest option out of a shield break.
Thanks to Pichu's attributes, one of its key strengths is its playstyle versatility - depending on the situation, it can make use of its moveset to adapt and play accordingly. Pichu's great mobility, compact size and useful projectile give it an impressive neutral game and make it slippery, allowing it to play defensively, by virtue of using a bait-and-punish oriented playstyle that allows it to avoid the opponent's attacks and gradually poke at them or outright break through their offense. However, if the situation arises, Pichu can nevertheless play very aggressively, as it also has one of the best advantage states in the game by virtue of its raw damage, excellent frame data and impressive combo ability, allowing it to pressure the opponent into commiting and retaliating accordingly, and almost all of its aerials have some sort of edgeguarding potential, which can quickly lead into a lost stock.
In spite of these strengths, Pichu still has a myriad of critical flaws, some of which are shared with Pikachu, but much more pronounced; the most notable of these is its immense frailty. While its offstage survivability is incredible thanks to its recovery's long distance and unpredictability, it has an awful survivability overall due to its ludicrously low weight, resulting in it being very easily KO'd off of a stray hit as long as the move is decently strong, and the existence of rage further pronounces this issue. Its very fast falling speed and gravity also leave it pretty vulnerable to combos (although its neutral air can remedy this issue), meaning that Pichu can also be easily put in KO percentage from one or two combos. Adding insult to injury, the recoil damage Pichu suffers from using its electric attacks can rack up very quickly if it overuses said moves, which is a flaw no other character has at the level of Pichu (some characters have only one move that can deal recoil damage), and can potentially throw it into a much more devastating position if it happens. As a result of all these issues, in spite of its excellent recovery and great mobility, Pichu's disadvantage state is poor, and if Pichu isn't able to KO the opponent, they can easily turn the tables on it, which can easily and quickly lead to a lost stock just as Pichu can potentially and quickly end one.
Another of Pichu's most notable flaws is that while its very small size results in it being slippery, it also results it in having deceptively short range (much shorter than Pikachu), requiring it to be pretty close to the opponent in order to rack up damage, which can be risky. Pichu's mobility, very quick frame data and useful projectile in Thunder Jolt can help remedy this, but the prevalence of many characters with faster mobility and/or disjoints can still give it trouble at approaching, and Thunder Jolt's recoil damage makes it unfeasible for Pichu to keep the opponent away for too much, forcing it to approach and further exacerbating its range issues, despite its reliable moveset. Furthermore, despite its moveset's higher consistency in regards to power, Pichu's range issues mean it can often have difficulty landing its otherwise powerful KO moves and set-ups, as the former aren't disjointed (with the sole exception, forward smash, still having short range), and the latter are very limited, possessing only up throw to Thunder at mid-high and high percentages, and down tilt to down aerial near the edge at mid-percentages. Pichu's edgeguarding ability, while respectable, pales in comparison to Pikachu's due to its attributes resulting in Pichu not having as much air time as Pikachu can, though this is slightly mitigated by its moves' stronger knockback.
Lastly, although its moveset is versatile, a few of Pichu's attacks still lack some notable kind of utility. Down smash, although covering on both sides of Pichu, has unremarkable range, deals recoil damage and unlike Pikachu, sends at a disappointing angle for KOing, with its higher power compared to Pikachu failing to compensate. Forward throw can have difficulty at KOing the opponent at realistic percentages due to the fact Pichu will usually find itself using it to set-up an edgeguard, whereas back throw's sole purpose is shared with forward throw.
Overall, like Pikachu, Pichu is best described as a quintessential glass cannon but sacrifices weight and attack range for more power and speed. While Pikachu can control the neutral game more aggressively and has more flexibility in its combos, Pichu is able to function in a variety of playstyles that range from a defensive, bait-and-punish oriented playstyle to a more aggressive, rushdown oriented one whenever it is needed. However, Pichu's atrocious endurance and recoil damage means that an aware opponent can dominate Pichu just as easily as it can also dominate the opponent. While both characters have similar playstyles, they differ significantly in execution, as Pichu's recoil damage requires the player to make very mindful use of their resources at hand. When mastered, however, a skilled Pichu can potentially end stocks in a fingersnap before they can end its own.
==Differences from ==
As in Melee, the primary difference between Pichu and Pikachu is the former's electric attacks all inflict recoil damage. Many of Pichu's attributes, such as its mobility and significantly lighter weight, differ from those of Pikachu. In addition, most of Pichu's attack and non-attack animations were given slight adjustments and overhauls in order to differentiate them from Pikachu's; for example, all of Pichu's smash attack charging animations are now completely different from Pikachu's. Almost all of Pichu's moves are also functionally different, such as down tilt or neutral aerial, making it even more unique. However, unlike previous clones, Pichu was not given many new unique moves to differentiate it from Pikachu, as the only fully unique moves it has are its forward tilt, up smash, neutral aerial, and edge attack.
All of these differences give Pichu more pronounced strengths and weaknesses when compared to Pikachu.
Pichu is capable of killing more reliably than Pikachu at earlier percentages. Some of its attacks also deal more damage than Pikachu's, but the only ones with a significant difference are its back aerial and the aerial version of Thunder Jolt. Otherwise, the damage output between the two is largely the same or with only a 1–2% difference, while some of Pikachu's attacks, like its dash attack, up aerial, and , are stronger than Pichu's. Regardless, this makes Pichu's KOing ability and damage-racking game superior to Pikachu's overall, despite the latter being shorter-lived compared to Pikachu's.
Pichu's frame data is also better on average, with its biggest advantages being on its forward tilt, down smash, and Thunder. However, there are some attacks like back aerial and Skull Bash where Pichu's frame data is worse, and only Pichu's up and down aerials autocancel in a short hop, whereas all of Pikachu's aerials can do so. Additionally, with the exception of neutral aerial, almost every other attack in Pichu's moveset has inferior range to Pikachu's equivalent attacks, including all of its tilts and smash attacks, its up aerial and Thunder.
Pikachu and Pichu's combo games are very different, with Pikachu's being much more diverse, but Pichu's being shorter lived in exchange for more damage. Pichu does not have access to Pikachu's neutral aerial, which is an incredible combo tool, and Pichu cannot chain four back aerials into each other at low percents to immediately start an edgeguard. Pichu's down throw has less advantage and stops being a combo tool earlier, and its forward aerial has less advantage and hits two times less, making it worse for dragdown combos. It also lacks Quick Attack as a combo starter and its up aerial does not have the weak hit that Pikachu's does, making it impossible to perform up aerial bridges that can carry opponents to the blast line with Pichu. Both Pikachu and Pichu have loops that use their neutral or back aerials respectively, but Pikachu's version works on more characters, is more resilient to SDI and is less situational, whereas the only advantage Pichu's version has is that it can rarely transition into a KO immediately. It also deals more damage per loop, but this is not very important as Pikachu can do more loops than Pichu in a row, making the total damage output roughly the same. However, there are some upsides to Pichu's combo game over Pikachu's: its up tilt and up aerial combo for longer, and it has more combos into Thunder to take stocks. Down tilt is also a significantly better combo starter due to its frame data and launch angle, but it has mediocre range, making it difficult to use.
Finally, Pichu is extremely light and is a fast-faller with high gravity, which notoriously makes it much easier to combo and KO. Its recoil damage, while slightly toned down compared to Melee, further exacerbates Pichu's already bad survivability.
====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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*Comparison of Pichu's loops (with back aerial) and Pikachu's loops (with neutral aerial):
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====Throws and other attacks====
*Grabs:
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*Pummel:
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*Forward throw:
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*Back throw:
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*Down throw:
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====Special moves====
*Thunder Jolt:
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*Skull Bash:
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*Agility:
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**Cloud:
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**Lightning Bolt:
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**Discharge:
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*Volt Tackle:
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==Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee==
Since its absence from previous installments, Pichu was infamous for being developed as an intentional "joke character" in Melee. Its very low weight, recoil damage and vulnerability to chain grabbing gave it very poor matchups and led to its bottom-tier perception. Most likely as a result of this, Pichu has been significantly buffed in its transition from Melee to Ultimate.
Pichu's mobility has overall improved; its walking, dashing and air speeds, as well as its air acceleration, have been increased, and it can now crawl, enabling Pichu to approach more easily while being able to dodge certain projectiles. Pichu's combo game is noticeably more varied as a result of its improved mobility, many of its ground moves and some of its aerials dealing less knockback and/or sending at more desirable angles, and its multi-hit moves being significantly more consistent due to the weakening of SDI. Its weight was also increased, allowing it to survive for longer, though its endurance is still the overall worst in the game. Agility also travels a slightly longer distance, significantly improving its offstage survivability.
Despite the many buffs it received, Pichu also received a few nerfs. Some of its strongest kill options, such as its forward and up smashes, have been significantly weakened in terms of knockback, while its neutral aerial, previously considered by many to be its best move, has also been weakened in both its damage output and knockback. Its grounded attacks are also less effective for edgeguarding, as its down tilt, down smash and dash attack now send opponents at a much higher angle. Additionally, more of Pichu's attacks (examples being its forward tilt and back aerial) emit electricity, meaning that more of its moves cause recoil damage; while this allows Pichu to build up rage more easily in comparison to the other fighters, it allows Pichu to be knocked out even more quickly, which is further compounded by its atrocious weight and fast-falling speed making it vulnerable to combos, despite its small hurtbox.
Pichu's recoil damage has seen some noticeable changes. Some of its electric attacks deal reduced recoil damage (forward smash, forward aerial, pummel, Thunder Jolt and Agility), making these moves less of a detriment to use; particularly, forward aerial is a less commital attack and its pummel is much more useful for racking up damage. Conversely, down aerial, Skull Bash and Thunder's shockwave hitbox deal more recoil damage (though down aerial's landing hit deals less damage to compensate), making them riskier to use. Additionally, more of Pichu's moves now have an electric effect, namely its forward tilt, down smash and back aerial; as a result, both their KO power and risk have been generally increased. In bulk, Pichu's moves generally deal less recoil damage than in Melee, allowing it to utilize them more frequently, with down aerial's newfound meteor smash hitbox compensating for its higher risk, and it has many more KO options as a result of them receiving an electric effect. However, its higher abundance of electric attacks and dearth of regular moves generally compensates for the lower recoil Pichu's other moves inflict; moreover, Thunder is a riskier KO option, and while a fully charged Skull Bash's extreme power compensates for its recoil, the uncharged version is now more polarizing as a recovery move.
Aside from the changes to SDI, the changes to the engine's mechanics are both benefitial and detrimental to Pichu, but were beneficial overall. The changes to stale-move negation make its multi-hit moves deal consistent damage as opposed to less damage, which makes its forward smash, forward aerial, back aerial and down smash (the latter two now being multi-hit moves) more reliable for racking up damage and KOing. The removal of edgehogging in favor of ledge trumping and the changes to air dodges make Pichu much harder to edgeguard and thus improves its survivability, while Pichu can now use an air dodge to escape combos, sporting one of the fastest in the game; however, they also make it slightly harder for Pichu itself to edgeguard opponents, forcing it to KO them through raw power more often. The removal of chain grabbing significantly improves Pichu's endurance at low percentages, no longer being as much of an easy victim to unavoidable damage into a KO, but it also means it can no longer chaingrab with its up throw, hindering its damage-racking potential against fast-fallers (though its improved combo game compensates for this). Finally, the implementation of rage, coupled with its small stature, allows Pichu to make highly effective use of it thanks to its electric moves' high knockback, in addition to said attacks' recoil damage indirectly putting it out of range of KO setups it would've otherwise suffered from, but it also makes its endurance at higher percentages just as atrocious as in Melee should it fail to KO the opponent.
Overall, Pichu is no longer an intentional "joke character" like in Melee; instead, it is now a very polarized glass cannon, akin to a min-maxed version of . It has a drastically stronger punish game, more varied KO options, many of its moves deal generally less recoil damage, and it retains its excellent frame data, but it also has less range on average and thus a more commital approach. Pichu's buffs additionally fail to completely alleviate its glaring weaknesses, with the biggest being its fragility, despite its higher weight and improved survivability. Game updates have also nerfed Pichu, and optimizations to several characters have resulted in it not performing as well as on release. Nevertheless, Pichu's buffs greatly outweigh its nerfs, and it has heavily improved compared to Melee, being one of the most buffed characters in the transition to Ultimate.
==Update history==
Possibly due to its dominating status in competitive play during the early metagame of Ultimate, Pichu was greatly nerfed in game updates. Although its pummel was slightly buffed in update , it received several significant nerfs in update . Pichu's hurtbox is larger, forward smash has more ending lag, its infamously strong forward tilt has less knockback scaling, and almost all of its electric attacks deal more recoil damage, noticeably worsening its already abysmal endurance.
Update buffed Pichu by reversing some of the nerfs, reducing the amount of recoil damage Pichu receives with some of the electric attacks that were affected in 3.1.0. On top of that, its ear hurtboxes received intangibility during the strong hit of its neutral aerial, making it a slightly safer option in the air.
Overall, Pichu fares considerably worse than it did when Ultimate launched. While Pichu is still far stronger than its Melee iteration, the nerfs it received has led to its tournament representation and results to noticeably decline and Pichu is now generally considered to be a mid-tier character at best.
 
 
 
 
 
 
==Moveset==
*Pichu can crawl and wall jump.
For a gallery of Pichu's hitboxes, see here.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Pichu English Announcer SSBU.wav|English/Japanese/Chinese
===On-screen appearance===
*Jumps out from a Poké Ball and waves both hands in the air with joy before landing, saying "Pichu!" in the process (the same voice clip used for its side taunt).
PichuOnScreenAppearanceSSBU.gif|Pichu's on-screen appearance
===Taunts===
*Up taunt: Charges up with electricity, similar to 's up taunt, but falls back dazed at the end.
*Side taunt: Jumps up and waves at the camera, saying "Pichu!" This was its left-facing taunt in Melee.
*Down taunt: Squirms around on the ground, saying "Pichu!" This was its right-facing taunt in Melee.
SSBUPichuTaunt1.gif|Pichu's up taunt.
SSBUPichuTaunt2.gif|Pichu's side taunt.
SSBUPichuTaunt3.gif|Pichu's down taunt.
===Idle poses===
*Turns and looks at its tail, twitching it.
*Looks around itself excitedly.
SSBUPichuIdle1.gif|Pichu's first idle pose.
SSBUPichuIdle2.gif|Pichu's second idle pose.
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian) 	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer 	 	 	 	 	
Description	Pi - chu! 	Pichu! 	Pi - chu! *claps 3 times*	Pi - chu! 	Pi - chu! Pi - chu!
 	Cheer (German) 	Cheer (Spanish) 	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
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Description	Pi - chu! Pi - chu! Piiiiii!	Este Pichu! Este Pichu! E! E!	Pichu! Pichu! 	Pi - chu!
===Victory poses===
*Left: Cheers twice (facing to the right first and the left second), jumps thrice while spinning, and poses with its left hand raised, chanting "Pichu, Pichu!"
*Up: Jumps three times, with the third jump, which is done while spinning, being higher than the first two. While in midair, Pichu waves both of its arms. After landing, Pichu raises both of its arms and arches towards its left side. During the pose, Pichu says "Pi-Pi-Pichu!" in sync with each jump.
*Right: Charges electricity, making itself fall over, then stands up and winks while scratching its head.
PichuVictoryPose1SSBU.gif
PichuVictoryPose2SSBU.gif
PichuVictoryPose3SSBU.gif
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Pichu players (SSBU)
* - One of the best Pichu players in North America after Pichu's nerfs, although he often played other characters alongside Pichu such as and . During this time, he most notably placing 2nd at defeating and 9th at defeating . Although he eventually picked up and , he remains one of the few players from the early metagame who still plays Pichu, placing 25th at with primarily Pichu and defeating with Pichu at .
* - The second-best Pichu player from Europe in the post-pandemic metagame. He was first known for placing 5th at , at that time the largest Ultimate tournament in Germany, but gained further recognition for his performances in 2024, especially his run at where he defeated and . In addition, he also placed 5th at defeating and placed 13th and 17th at the LumiRank A-tier events and , respectively. He was ranked 81st on the LumiRank 2024.2, the second-highest ranking Pichu player in the post-pandemic metagame.
* - One of the best Pichu players in the post-pandemic metagame who was the definitive best in 2023. He was first known for placing 7th at defeating along the way, and since then had some of of the best Pichu performances since the early metagame, including placing 13th at defeating and 17th at defeating , as well as wins over players such as at and at . He was ranked 89th on the UltRank 2022, the first solo-Pichu player ranked globally during this period.
* - One of the best Pichu players in North America during the first half of 2019, ranking 26th on the Spring 2019 PGRU. His best run to date was at , where he defeated , , and to place 7th; he also notably placed 9th at and 13th at . He became less active in the fall and played a mix of Pichu and in the post-online metagame before going inactive in 2022.
* - One of the best Pichu players of all-time, ranking as high as 27th on the Fall 2019 PGRU. He is the only Pichu player to win a major, doing so at , and has also placed 7th at both and . He continued to main Pichu in the post-pandemic metagame, notably placing 3rd at , but chose to play other characters during this time until he dropped Pichu entirely by 2023.
* - One of the best Pichu players in the world in the second half of 2019, ranking 45th on the Fall 2019 PGRU and notably performing well mostly as a solo-main in spite of Pichu's nerfs. He is best known for his run to 7th at defeating and , and had also placing 3rd at defeating and 4th at defeating . He stopped competing during the online metagame and has only made a few offline appearances since.
* - Pichu's primary representative in the first few months of competitive play and one of the best Pichu players of all time. He is the only Pichu player ever ranked in the top 10, ranking 9th on the Spring 2019 PGRU. He also had some of Pichu's greatest results of all time, such as 2nd at and 5th at both and . Following Pichu's nerfs, he began playing other characters instead and dropped the character in favor of right before the pandemic.
* - One of the best Pichu players since 2024. Although he had been active earlier and had performed well regionally, 2024 marked his breakout year, with him placing 7th at defeating , the best Pichu performance since . He has since followed it up with several other strong major performances, most notably placing 7th at and 9th at both and . He is ranked 57th on the LumiRank 2024.1, the highest-ranking solo-Pichu player since the early metagame.
===Tier placement and history===
In contrast to its Melee counterpart, where it is considered one of the worst characters in the game, Pichu was commonly viewed as one of the best, if not the best, characters in the game in the early metagame. This was due to its small size and powerful KO moves, which included back air, , and its infamous forward tilt. These strengths made Pichu one of the most popular characters in the first few months of the competitive scene, ranking 7th for representation between January and June 2019, and Pichu saw a plethora of strong results from players such as , , and , all of whom were ultimately ranked top 50 on the Spring 2019 PGRU. 
However, update increased Pichu's size and nerfed the power of its forward tilt, while increasing the amount of recoil damage on nearly all of its electric attacks. The nerfs were significant enough to stagnate Pichu's playerbase, as many of its best players either began playing other characters (VoiD) or stopped attending events (NAKAT). Although this period still saw several notable Pichu results from Nietono and , Pichu's playerbase began shrinking as other players started to consider Pichu as inferior to . In spite of some of the nerfs being reverted in update , this decline continued through the online and post-online metagames, with RFang becoming inactive and Nietono dropping the character entirely, and although this period also saw the rise of , Pichu remained scarce in top-level play. As such, Pichu saw one of the harshest declines out of any character in Ultimate, with the community reassessing it to be a mid-tier character at best. This was reflected in the first tier list, where Pichu was ranked 55th as an upper-mid tier character; although it moved up to 53rd on the second tier list, its overall score was lower than in the first tier list. Following 's impressive performances in 2024, Pichu moved up one more spot to 52nd on the third and current tier list.
Despite this severe drop in perception, Pichu is still unanimously considered to be significantly more viable than its Melee iteration.
==: Lightweight Fracas==
Pichu fights against opponents that are lightweights like itself, on stages that take place in the sky.
Round 	Opponent 	Stage 	Music 	Notes
1 	 	Pokémon Stadium 2	 	
2 	 	Peach's Castle 	 	Squirtle's is absent.
3 	 	Skyworld 	 	
4 	 	Pilotwings 	 	
5 	and 	Skyloft 	 	This battle is a free-for-all.
6 	 	Prism Tower 	 	
Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage 	Bonus Stage
Final 	 	 	(Less than 7.0 intensity) (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, fights alongside Master Hand.
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Pichu has accompany the credits.
==Role in World of Light==
Although Pichu has been absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, it was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.
To access Pichu, the player must enter the Power Plant sub-area and reach it on a platform with the use of two Zapfish, where it can then be challenged and recruited.
===Fighter Battle===
No.	Image	Name 	Type	Power	Stage 	Music
19 	 	Pichu	 	7,500	Prism Tower (Ω form)	
==Spirit==
Pichu's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing as Pichu. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Pichu has been unlocked. Unlocking Pichu in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Its Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with its artwork in Ultimate.
SSBU spirit Pichu.png|410. Pichu
==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
No. 	Image 	Name 	Series 	Enemy Fighter(s) 	Type 	Power 	Stage 	Rules 	Conditions 	Music
468 	 	Pokémon Series 	•Giant 	 	4,500 	Prism Tower (Battlefield form) 	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified•The enemy is giant 	 	
507 	 	Pokémon Series 	• ×2 	 	3,800 	PictoChat 2 (Battlefield form) 	•Item: Lightning 	•The enemy's electric attacks have increased power 	 	
541 	 	Pokémon Series 	• 	 	2,000 	Pokémon Stadium 2 (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified•The enemy favors neutral specials•Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Dedenne) 	 	
554 	 	Pokémon Series 	• Team ×4 	 	1,500 	Prism Tower 	•Item: Unira 	•The enemy favors down specials•Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Togedemaru)•The enemy is easily distracted by items	 	
744 	 	WarioWare Series 	•Tiny Team ×4 	 	1,900 	WarioWare, Inc. (hazards off) 	N/A 	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle 	 	
805 	 	Pikmin Series 	•Tiny Team ×12 (10 HP) 	 	4,100 	Garden of Hope (Battlefield form) 	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified•Stamina battle•The enemy favors neutral air attacks 	 	
1,045 	 	Splatoon Series 	• Team ×4 	 	2,500 	Prism Tower (Battlefield form) 	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified 	 	
1,334 	 	DRAGON QUEST Series	• (60 HP)•Giant (120 HP)	 	2,900 	Gaur Plain (Ω form) 	•Item: Soccer Ball	•Defeat the main fighter to win•Stamina battle•The enemy shields often 	 	
===As a minion===
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
782 	 	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	• • • 	 	1,600 	Windy Hill Zone 	•Invisibility 	•The enemy is invisible	 	Charmy Bee 	
==Alternate costumes==
							
							
==Gallery==
Pichu amiibo.png|Pichu's amiibo.
SSBU Pichu Number.png|Pichu's fighter card.
Pichu unlock notice SSBU.jpg|Pichu's unlock notice.
Pokémon Smash Bros.png|Artwork of all playable Pokémon characters and Poké Ball Pokémon, as posted by the official Pokémon Twitter account.
SSBUWebsitePichu1.jpg|Taunting in Great Bay.
SSBUWebsitePichu2.jpg|Taunting on Green Greens.
SSBUWebsitePichu3.jpg|Using its up smash next to on Spear Pillar.
SSBUWebsitePichu4.jpg|Pichu using its up smash on on Pilotwings.
SSBUWebsitePichu5.jpg|Pichu using its Final Smash, Volt Tackle, on on Pokémon Stadium.
SSBUWebsitePichu6.jpg|Using a Rocket Belt with in Mario Galaxy.
SSBUWebsiteIncineroar4.jpg|With multiple Pichu, Pikachu, and on Paper Mario.
SSBUWebsiteRosalina6.jpg|A dazed Pichu next to in The Great Cave Offensive.
SSBUWebsiteRyu6.jpg|Pichu taunting at failing to perform a Hadoken.
SSBUWebsiteZelda4.jpg|Pichu sleeping next to on Tortimer Island.
SSBUWebsiteRaichu2.jpg|With Pikachu and Alolan Raichu on .
===Fighter Showcase Video===
==Trivia==
*Pichu and share the longest gap between playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, with seventeen years between Melee and Ultimate. This has been noted by both of their Super Smash Bros. blog's "Today's Fighter" descriptions.
*Pichu, , and Young Link are the only non-Echo Fighters who are full clones.
*One of the poses Pichu strikes in its new taunt resembles its trophy from .
**Pichu can also be seen with a similar pose in the panoramic artwork.
*Pichu is the only veteran absent from SSB4 to be absent from the full group artwork version of the box cover.
*Pichu is the only veteran who is unaffected by the new universal 3-frame jumpsquat; in Melee, its jumpsquat animation also took three frames to complete.
*Pichu's fast fall provides the smallest change to its falling speed when compared to any other fighter. It increases its fall speed by only 31.579%, compared to the usual 60%.
*One of Pichu's alternate costumes is the from Arceus and the Jewel of Life and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Being one of a kind, the Spiky-eared Pichu is female, making it the only one of Pichu's alternate costumes with an implicit gender.
**Ultimate also marks the first 3D appearance of Spiky-eared Pichu.
**For unknown reasons, unlike other characters represented through alternate costumes, such as Alph, the Koopalings, and even Pikachu Libre, Spiky-eared Pichu does not have an obtainable Fighter Spirit of her own.
**Similar to , who, among the Original 12, is the only one to technically be considered a completely different character via two of its alternate costumes, Pichu is also the only character among Melee's newcomers that can be considered a completely different character via one of its costumes (That being the spiky-eared variant, which is confirmed to be female).
*As of Ultimate, Pichu is the only character in any game who takes damage while using their Final Smash (excluding characters that can move around freely and be attacked during their Final Smash such as and ).
**In a Stamina match, Pichu cannot be KO'd by its Final Smash, as its HP will never go below 0.1 while the Final Smash is active.
**Because of this, Pichu is the only character that can take damage from all of its special moves, in both Melee and Ultimate.
*Spiky-eared Pichu's damage meter portrait protrudes to the right the most out of every fighter.
*Pichu is the only Pokémon character absent in 's Classic Mode route.
*Despite fighting lightweight characters, , , and do not appear in Pichu's Classic Mode route.
*Discounting fighters who do not appear in any spirit battles, Pichu, , and are the only fighters who do not possess an Ace or Legend-type spirit in spirit battles.
*Interestingly, Pichu's Ultimate artwork was used for the Junior tab on the now shut-down Pokémon TV app.
==References==
 
Category:Pokémon (SSBU)
Category:Spirits
es:Pichu (SSBU)