Pichu (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * This article is about Pichu's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Pichu. Also, for information about the character of whom Pichu is a clone, see Pikachu (SSBM).

Pichu (, Pichū) is a Pokémon character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. It is unlocked by completing Event Match 37: Legendary Pokémon or by playing 200 vs. matches. Pichu is the "baby" Pokémon of Pikachu, and in Melee this is realized by him being a smaller, lighter, and faster clone of Pikachu.

Pichu is currently ranked in the negligible tier due to the fact that it has poor range, most people can easily chain throw it despite it being small and being the lightest character in the game, which is another huge flaw, and it takes damage from its own attacks, resulting in abysmal matchups (though it has two favorable matchups, which are against Mewtwo and Kirby).

Unlocking
In order to unlock Pichu, the player must unlock Falco and Luigi, beat the event "Legendary Pokemon", play 200 multiplayer matches, or beat the adventure with Mewtwo. The player need only do one of the aforementioned actions to unlock Pichu.

Attributes
The most noticeable thing about Pichu is its tiny frame: Pichu is the lightest and smallest character in Melee, even lighter than Jigglypuff and Mr. Game & Watch. While being small enables it to evade attacks rather well, it flies farther than anyone else when it is hit. It's also easily comboed despite its light weight due to the long amount of hitstun it suffers.

Being small hurts its range greatly: its physical attacks, while possessing good priority, have extremely poor range. Pichu needs to get very close to do damage, which is a very dangerous place for any character to be. It also has the shortest forward, backward, and tech/ledge roll in the game. Its grab hitbox is the third smallest in the game, another problem. On the upside, its grabs set-up many chain throws or combos.

Its electrical attacks help out slightly with range, but each one comes with a catch: Pichu takes damage on using the attack. Simply put, if an electrical hitbox (or that of its non-electric special move, Skull Bash) connects with Pichu, it takes "recoil" damage, anywhere from 1-4%. This adds up quickly, as Pichu is lighter than any other character.

This doesn't mean Pichu doesn't have its advantages, though: its killing power is unusually solid, with three strong smashes and many options to build up damage. Its recovery is very good, and it can chaingrab fast fallers with its up throw, and it can also tech-chase several characters with its down throw. Pichu has two solid projectiles (thunder jolt and thunder) and an effective SHFFL. As expected, Pichu is rather agile, and it has a shorter landing lag than any other character.

In the end, Pichu is an inferior version of Pikachu, but it has some qualities that may make it worth a look. It has a better grab game, smaller size, and slightly faster movement.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack- Jabs it's head forward, can chain into itself. Pretty fast and can be L-canceled 1-2% per jab.
 * Forward Tilt- Shoves both of it's feet forward. Low range and knockback, though a fast move. 8% damage.
 * Up Tilt- Swipes it's tail in an arch above him. Very low range and somewhat slow, though sets up for aerial combos and follow ups. 6% damage.
 * Down Tilt- Swipes it's tail in front of him. 7% damage.
 * Dash Attack- A basic dash attack, sticks it's head out and trips mid-dash. 8% damage.

Smash Attacks

 * Side Smash- Launches a short jolt of electricity from it's cheeks. Very powerful finisher, kills at somewhat low %s. Incredible knockback when fully charged, KOs light characters at very low damages near the edge. Several hits that add up to 12% uncharged, 16% fully charged. Always has a 2% damage recoil regardless of charge time.
 * Up Smash- Headbutts upwards, good finisher. 16% uncharged, 20% fully.
 * Down Smash- Quickly spins in place. It looks like it has more range than it has and has inv. frames. 13% uncharged, 17% fully charged.

Other Attacks

 * Ledge Attack- Gets up and flips it's tail. 8% damage.
 * 100% Ledge Attack- Slowly gets up and swipes it's tail. 6% damage.
 * Floor Attack- Gets up and spins it's tail around. 6% damage.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial- Spins around, has a generous hitbox. 12% damage.
 * Forward Aerial- Jolts many electrical shocks from it's cheeks. Around 7% damage. Has a 4% recoil damage regardless if the move hits or not.
 * Back Aerial- Flips to it's rear many times, though only has one hitbox. 9% damage.
 * Up Aerial- Flips up and thrusts it's tail, sets up many combos on fast fallers. 4% damage.
 * Down Aerial- Releases many electrical shocks from it's cheeks downward. Around 14% if all hits connect. 1% recoil damage to Pichu another one if it hits the ground.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel- Zaps opponent with electricity. 2-3% damage per pummel. 1% recoil damage to Pichu per pummel.
 * Forward Throw- Puts foe on it's back and zaps them. 9% damage to foe, 1% recoil damage to Pichu.
 * Back Throw- Does many rolls backwards and tosses foe. 9% damage.
 * Up Throw- Tosses foe up and headbutts them with electricity. 10% damage to foe and oddly no recoil damage to Pichu, even though the attack consists of electricity.
 * Down Throw- Launches foe to floor and zaps them. 10% damage to foe and, just like it's Up Throw, no recoil damage whatsoever.

Trophy Descriptions
In addition to the normal trophy about Pichu as a character, there are two trophies about it as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Pichu on any difficulty:
 * Pichu (Smash Red)
 * Compared with Pikachu, Pichu is a tad more nimble and a little more difficult to hit. Those are the only two advantages, however, and since Pichu damages itself when it uses electrical attacks, it's best suited for handicapped matches. Even though Pichu's tough to catch, it's easy to throw its tiny frame great distances.


 * B: Thunder Jolt
 * Smash B: Skull Bash


 * Pichu (Smash Blue)
 * Pichu is the lightest character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it's top of the class in weakness, too! For Pichu, it's all about scampering here and there to pick up items that will help it survive. The first warp in Agility causes 1 point of damage to Pichu, and the second causes 3, so try to limit the number of times you use the move.


 * Up & B: Agility
 * Down & B: Thunder

Trivia

 * Pichu has two taunts: when facing left, it will do a dance, when facing right, it will lie down. This feature is shared with Captain Falcon,  Fox, and  Falco. It is also worth noting that while it has two different taunts in Melee, Pichu can't learn the move Taunt in the Pokemon games.
 * When Pichu crouches, it falls asleep. This is clear because it's eyes are closed and bubbles come out of it's mouth, similar to when Jigglypuff uses it's Rest attack, although Pichu will awake instantly when the player presses any other button.
 * Other than Super Smash Bros. Melee, or by using Volt Tackle, Pichu had never been hurt by using electrical attacks in other games although they could faint from overuse of their electricity in animé, as seen in the third Pokémon movie.
 * Pichu is the only Melee veteran not returning to Brawl to not have any data to be playable in the game (excluding Young Link, who was replaced with Toon Link).
 * Pichu ducks lower when holding the super scope.
 * In Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, There was a TM for Skull Bash, which Pikachu could learn. Pichu, however, was not introduced until Gold and Silver, and it is therefore impossible to legally have a Pichu with Skull Bash without trading and breeding.
 * Pichu is one of the few characters in Smash history to not have a spike or a meteor smash.
 * Pichu along with Roy and Mr. Game & Watch are the only characters in Melee to have an attack that damages themselves.
 * When Pichu uses the Cloaking Device, all recoil damage is negated while under its effect.