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. As of 10/14/2008, Pichu was demoted to the worst character designation of Melee.

Special Moves

 * Neutral B: Thunder Jolt
 * Smash B: Skull Bash
 * Up B: Agility
 * Down B: Thunder

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.

Being small hurts its range greatly: its physical attacks, while possessing decent 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. Its grab hitbox is the third smallest in the game, another problem.

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 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 chainthrow fast fallers quite easily. 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.

Pros

 * Low landing framerate (2 frames)
 * Small size helps in avoiding attacks
 * Ground-level attacks are good for edgeguarding
 * Two recovery attacks (Skull Bash and Agility)
 * Far recovery distance and many choices in direction helps get past edgeguarding
 * Electrical attacks do more damage than Pikachu's
 * Juggles fastfallers very well with U-air
 * Can chainthrow fastfallers
 * High-knockback smash attacks
 * Powerful and effective Side Special Move
 * Fair running speed
 * Can Wall Jump
 * Home-run Bat Swings In Front And Behind
 * Has the best uncharged forward smash (knockback wise), and the second best charged one. (Stronger than a warlock punch) However, this is only true if the final hit connects.
 * Grab extends slightly above and behind Pichu

Cons

 * Lightest character in the game
 * Electrical attacks inflict self-damage
 * Extremely short attack range
 * Bad grab range
 * Shortest tech/ledge roll
 * Hard to control due to speed
 * Easily comboed despite light weight, due to fast falling speed.

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.
 * Pichu is the smallest character in the game.
 * 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.
 * Other than Super Smash bros Melee or by using Volt tackle, Pichu had never been hurt by using electrical attacks in other games.
 * 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 by Toon Link).