Lucas (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * ''This article is about Lucas' appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Lucas.

Lucas (リュカ) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The first EarthBound newcomer since the original Super Smash Bros., Lucas is the main character of MOTHER 3, the sequel to EarthBound, released only in Japan. While Lucas' Special Moves are very similar to Ness', his physical attacks, however, are all completely different. Lucas relies on his PSI powers far more than Ness, using them for all his attacks but his Forward Smash, Up Aerial, Down Tilt, and standard combo.

Lucas uses Duster's Rope Snake from MOTHER 3 to perform a Tether Recovery. The Rope Snake is also a taunt, where Lucas looks at the snake and argues with it. Lucas also utilizes Duster's Rope Snake for his grabs, giving him a ranged grab, much like Link, Samus, and Olimar. Like Ness, all of his Special Moves, as well as his Final Smash, derive from in-game attacks that are instead learned by another character, in his case, Kumatora, not Lucas himself.

Lucas ranks 30th on the tier list - the lowest ranked newcomer - due to his below-average matchups and tourney rankings. Like Ness, his recovery is unsafe (although still much safer than Ness'), but he has much more safer options that revolve around the wavebounce his PK Fire gives him. Even though he has a tether recovery, his average speed and his lags on some attacks have led him into the low tiers. Also, his unusually long grab release animation makes him the target for semi-infinite grab releases from Marth.

Attributes
Lucas is a character with mostly fast, strong and high priority attacks, and average dash speed. Lucas' aerial range, like many of his moves, is quite low: his Neutral and Back Aerials having very low range, and his Down Aerial having terrible horizontal range. On the upside, his aerials are generally quick, and two of them can Meteor Smash opponents. His Forward Aerial has relatively good range, especially when retreating. Both of his two aerial Meteor Smashes are hard to hit with, in the sense that one can only Meteor Smash an enemy downwards with a certain "spot" of the attacks: the tip of his foot for the Back Aerial, and the 4th and final kick for his Down Aerial, which is the easiest to land but much weaker of the two. His Up and Forward Aerials often serve as his most reliable killing moves, but most times the opponents will have to be above 135% for them to KO reliably, especially for the heavier characters. However, Lucas himself has very good aerial speed and turning, making him highly mobile when jumping.

His Smash Attacks are very strong: his Up Smash can be charged for massive damage and vertical knockback, his Forward Smash is decently strong and fairly quick, and also reflects projectiles, like Ness', and his Down Smash is very strong and can hit three times, but has a bit of start-up lag. One of these attacks, Up Smash, tends to have more than enough ending lag to be easily punished in many situations and his Down Smash is punishable not by the ending lag, but by the duration of the move since it only hits in front of him, leaving him using only his Forward Smash for easy on-stage kills, which starts becoming too predictable for KO use.

Two of his Special Moves can be “controlled”, PK Freeze and PK Thunder. This means that these attacks both leave Lucas very vulnerable, because he can't move or attack when controlling these projectiles. PK Thunder is Lucas’ main recovery move. If it hits Lucas, it will shoot him in an angle depending on the part of Lucas's body which it hits, and can deal a large amount of damage if all its hits connect. PK Thunder normally goes through enemies and objects, but it can still be interrupted by certain attacks, hurting his recovery. PK Freeze can be controlled from side to side and can freeze opponents and do a good amount of damage if "charged", but the vertical nature of its knockback limits its use. His Side Special Move, PK Fire, is a single hit move that pushes Lucas back a little, making it great for Wavebouncing. It can also be used to Zap Jump, which gives Lucas’s recovery a substantial boost. His Down Special Move, PSI Magnet, can absorb energy based projectiles, such as Ray Gun bullets, Fire Breath, and even Pikachu's Thunder, and if it used right after PK Fire, can push him back even further, a technique called the Magnet Pull, giving him a great horizontal recovery. In addition, his midair jump is the 3rd highest in the game, falling a little shy of Ness, who is also exceeded by Yoshi. As stated above, the jump can be significantly lengthened by performing a PK Fire 1 frame after a midair jump has been inputted.

Lucas has a very quick jab, making it useful for creating space between the opponent. His Forward Tilt, having very little start-up and ending lag, shares that main use. Although it has KO potential at the edges of stages past 130%, both his jab and Forward Tilt have surprisingly disjointed range, especially the Forward Tilt. Lucas' Down Throw chains right into his Up Tilt at lower percents. Afterwards, the Up Tilt can be chained into itself until about 35%. The move itself has fairly low range, and is otherwise only really used for spacing.

Lucas himself has a powerful set of throws. Although his grab is slow and has low range compared to other tether grabs, his pivot grab is very fast and can be highly effective at times. His Forward and Up Throws aren't anything special really, except his Up Throw actually has good knockback to it. his Back Throw has very high knockback at times, and can KO at very early percents, especially if the opponent DI's badly (sometimes under 90 % for the lighter characters). Although it's not always so reliable, otherwise it still has good KO ability for a throw. His Down Throw has the highest vertical knockback for any other throw (except for Purple Pikmin's Up Throw), and is the strongest Down Throw in the game, knockback wise (although Squirtle's KOs soon afterward). Though, however good they may be, there is still the prospect of obtaining a grab, which in itself remains a challenge for most cases in advanced play, as a pivot grab isn't always effective, and both his regular and dash grabs are very laggy, however his standing grab is faster than some other standing tether grabs.

Being semi-infinitely grab released by Marth is a major flaw in his game. Like Ness, Lucas suffers from 10 additional frames of lag when he is grab released form the ground, enough to be re-grabbed by Marth and dash grabbed by a few others or open for certain attacks.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Kicks with his right leg twice, then does a spin kick with his left. Very fast, as the hitbox comes out on the second frame. Three hits of 3%, 3%, then 4% for a max of 10%. All hits have surprising disjointed reach.
 * Dash Attack - Lucas slides forward, shooting PSI energy out of his hands. Has a bit of startup lag, but decent range. 12% normally, 10% if hit at the tip.
 * Strong Side - Lucas does a back hand and creates a wave of PSI. Can be aimed up or down slightly. If aimed down, it can trip foes. 11% normally, 9% if the opponent is a bit behind Lucas.
 * Strong Up - Lucas does a one-handed stand flipkick charged with PSI. Can chained into itself at lower percents. Two hits of 3%, then 8% for a max of 11%. At later frames, it can Meteor Smash, albeit extremely weakly.
 * Strong Down - Lucas crouches and spins with his leg out. The tip of this attack trips. This can be used multiple times in a row, like Ness's Strong Down, then be chained into a fast attack. Is surprisingly disjointed, with the hitbox extending to half a character length past Lucas. Only the disjointed hitbox trips, with a high trip rate. It semi-spikes opponents, but due to its extremely low knockback, it is only noticable at extremely high percentages. 6%.

Smash

 * Side Smash - Lucas swings his stick. Like Ness' Forward Smash, it is a reflector, but it is faster, yet is only slightly weaker, but it still has great knockback for a Smash Attack. 15% uncharged, 21% fully charged. Dubbed by players "Better Stick", which is one of Lucas' standard stick weapons in MOTHER 3.
 * Up Smash - PK Love: Lucas releases a burst of PSI that erupts above his head, but also hits to the sides and damages any breakable floors Lucas may be standing on. It has a sluggish start-up and leaves dreadful lag afterwards, rendering it very easily punished. It is compensated, however, by its extremely large knockback and range, it is the second strongest Up Smash in the game, KO percentage wise (only Ivysaur's Up Smash is stronger). At the same time, its range is wide enough to hit two character lengths to the side of him, and able to hit foes on the very top platform of Battlefield from the bottom. Two hits of 2% (does not connect if opponent is far away), then 19% for a max of 21% uncharged, 27% for a max of 29% fully charged. This is believed to be, or derive from, his PK Love attack, since he uses a similar looking move to pull a needle both in MOTHER 3 and in one of his victory poses, and he can only pull needles if he has learned PK Love.
 * Down Smash - Lucas points at the ground in front of him, "shooting" three bursts of PSI energy at his feet. Though each hit is progressively weaker, their hitboxes gradually grow. In most cases, it is not possible that two of the hits will connect on the same enemy. Great for edgeguarding. The third hit has a chance of tripping foes at low %. Has minimal protection from behind except for the third hitbox covering his body, thus leaving Lucas very vulnerable. Three hits of 17%, 14%, then 11% uncharged; 23%, 20%, then 15% fully charged. If this move was used while he is on a destructible platform, the destruction of the platform would cause him to be in the air and the attack ends without lag. It is very possible to hit with more than one hit if Lucas is on a moving platform, like the one on Smashville. This is probably derived from PK Ground, where Kumatora would use PSI to shake the ground, making multiple hits that could also make opponents fall over.

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Lucas flips onto the stage, then does a sweep kick. 8% damage.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Lucas slowly climbs up with his fist drawn back, then delivers a powerful punch. 10% damage.
 * Floor Attack - Lucas gets up and spins on one hand while sticking a leg out. 6% damage.
 * Trip Attack - Lucas gets up on his hands and kicks backwards, then thrusts his legs between his arms in a kick forward. 5% damage.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Lucas spins in a gyro pattern with PSI energy around him. Lucas' fastest aerial. Seven hits of 2%, then a hit of 3% for a max of 17%.
 * Forward Aerial - Lucas kicks his foot forward with PSI. Can be auto-canceled. 12% normally, 10% if the enemy is a bit behind Lucas, 8% if the enemy is hit with the final frames of the move.
 * Back Aerial - Lucas does a flip with his foot behind him and hooks them downwards with a stream of small PSI. Knocks backwards, but if one hits with the tip of his foot or the final hexagon during the attack's animation, it is a good Meteor Smash. Regular, non-meteor smash, knockback is extremely low. 10% if sourspotted, 7% during last frames, 12% if sweetspotted.
 * Up Aerial - Moves upwards a little and does a headbutt. Has quite a bit of ending lag. 13% damage.
 * Down Aerial - Lucas thrusts his feet downwards and creates several quick-flashing PSI energy. Multi-hitting attack with some ending lag if you do not auto-cancel it with a jump. The fourth hit can Meteor Smash weakly. Up to 20% damage.
 * Rope Snake - Lucas thrusts his Rope Snake forward. No damage; for recovery purposes only.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grab - Pulls out his Rope Snake which extends and grabs the opponent. Long range and less laggier than other tether grabs, especially his pivot grab. However, if Lucas does the Reverse Grab, his grab will have few to no starting and ending lag.
 * Pummel - Headbutts the foe. 3% damage. When done in the correct rhythm, it deals 9% per second the highest of any character.
 * Forward Throw - Psychokinetically tosses opponent ahead. 10% damage.
 * Back Throw - Psychokinetically blasts opponent back. Good KO potential. A strong Back Throw. 10% damage.
 * Up Throw - Psychokinetically tosses opponent straight up. 10% damage. High vertical knockback for a throw, KOs at about 160 - 180 %.
 * Down Throw - Psychokinetically slams opponent down, and stomps on the opponent. 7% damage. High vertical knockback. This is Lucas' strongest throw, as well as the strongest Down Throw in the game. Combines with Strong Up until 35% (average). Will KO at around 140 - 170 %.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt - Lucas trips, shakes his head, and gets back up. Probably derived from Fassad's banana peels. It could also possibly be a reference to the naming screen in MOTHER 3, where Lucas attempts to run off the screen, but trips.
 * Down Taunt - Lucas creates PSI sparks with his fingers, moving his arms in a sideways motion.
 * Side Taunt - Duster's Rope Snake taps him on the shoulder and has a brief conversation with Lucas, as Lucas shrugs towards it.

Victory Poses

 * Lucas is found kneeling on the ground holding his stick, before turning to face the camera with a "hm?"
 * Swishes PSI hexagons in the air with his finger.
 * Pulls one of the Seven Needles out of the ground.

Idle Animations

 * Lucas moves his fists as if playing imaginary drums.
 * Lucas stamps one foot and then the other.

Role in Subspace Emissary
Lucas is seen walking alone in an abandoned zoo, until several Primids show up. Then, suddenly, the gigantic Porky Statue appears and chases after Lucas. Lucas runs from it, until he gets caught in a snag and is about to be crushed when Ness comes to his rescue by attacking the statue with a PK Thunder. Ness blows up the Porky Statue with his PK Flash, which reveals Porky Minch himself (based on his MOTHER 3 appearance). Ness and Lucas defeat him, but no sooner do they do so when Wario shows up and attempts to shoot Ness with his Dark Cannon. Ness dodges each time, so Wario eventually aims at Lucas and shoots. Ness pushes Lucas out of the way and gets turned into a trophy himself. Terrified, Lucas runs away as Wario cackles in the rain.

Later on, Lucas runs into the Pokémon Trainer as more Primids show up. After they are defeated, the Pokémon Trainer leaves, but Lucas decides to join him after remembering what happened to Ness. Lucas and the Trainer encounter and defeat Wario in the desert wastelands outside of an abandoned temple, but Lucas gets depressed when Ness is still nowhere to be seen. Along the way, the Pokémon Trainer catches Ivysaur and Charizard. After Charizard is caught, Galleom falls into the ruins, having been knocked down there by Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike. A battle ensues between Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Galleom.

After the battle, Galleom grabs Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer, jumping high into the sky and out of the ruins. Galleom then attempts to detonate a Subspace Bomb as a last-ditch effort. Lucas, finally gaining his courage, uses PK Thunder to sever Galleom's arm, causing the two to plummet to the ground. Just before they hit the bottom, Meta Knight grabs the two and takes them to Marth and Ike. When there, Lucas shakes hands with the Trainer as a sign of their friendship.

Lucas and the other heroes confront the Subspace Gunship, and then journey into subspace to battle Tabuu. Lucas is defeated by Tabuu, but later revived by Ness and his companions. He accompanies the heroes into the Great Maze, and can be used to defeat Tabuu at the final battle.

Exclusive Stickers
Lucas can use any sticker that has a PK attack bonus, similar to Ness. He can also use ice, fire, and electric attack bonuses for his special moves, and body, leg, and head bonuses for his physical attacks.

Trivia

 * Lucas, along with Ness, Snake, Captain Falcon, and Ike is one of the only characters that talks in the Subspace Emissary. He yells "PK Thunder!" while using the move to free both the Pokémon Trainer and himself from Galleom.
 * The hexagonal sparks are derived from PK Love, Lucas's main attack in Mother 3, whereas the effects resemble simple hexagons.
 * Lucas' Special Moves aren't even his own attacks in MOTHER 3, but rather Kumatora's. The same happens with Ness in Earthbound, only his attacks belong to Paula and Poo instead.
 * Ironically, Lucas can actually learn PK Flash in MOTHER 3, but does not use it in Brawl.
 * Lucas' grab, Rope Snake, was never used by Lucas in MOTHER 3, but rather by Duster.
 * Lucas is one of four characters who can KO in Sudden Death with any throw.
 * Oddly, when the Rope Snake is used against a ledge at 1/4 speed, it jerks around while it clings to the ledge and while Lucas is being pulled up. At other speeds, it only jerks around while Lucas is being pulled up (it is unnoticable at normal speed and 1.5 speed).
 * In the SSE, Lucas trips over a root, but his foot is seen under it.
 * Lucas's second colour change is based off of Claus, Lucas's twin brother in the game MOTHER 3.
 * When Lucas becomes metal, he has no eyes.
 * Strangely, Lucas has teeth during the cutscenes of the Subspace Emissary, but not during the actual gameplay. Ness has this distinction as well.
 * Lucas is one of two characters to make their international debut in a Smash Bros. game. The other was Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
 * Both of their debuts in their respective series were in a Japan-exclusive game.