This article is about Greninja's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Greninja.
Greninja was revealed as a new character alongside Charizard during the Super Smash Bros. Wii U/ 3DS Nintendo Direct. A Pokémon trailer was shown for both characters.
Attributes
Strengths:
- High speed on both ground and air.
- Fast attacks that can easily interrupt enemies.
- Third highest jump (after Falco and Mewtwo)
- Aerial attacks with good priority.
- Can wall-cling and wall jump.
- Can crawl.
- Grabs with low knockback that allow for many follow ups.
- Good edge-guard and counter edge-guard games.
- All Water Sword attacks and his grab are disjointed hitboxes.
- Has two Meteor Smashes: Down Aerial and Substitute tilted down.
- Water Shuriken can KO at high percentages if fully charged, and the its multi-hit properties can put pressure on the opponent.
- Shadow Sneak is a very good KO move due its unpredictability and high knockback growth. It can also cancel the lag of all Greninja's Aerial Attacks if used in mid-air.
- Hydro Pump's water have pushboxes, similar to Mario's F.L.U.D.D., that also cause minor damage.
- Substitute can be tilted right after the counter is triggered, allowing the player to hit in four directions: right, left, up and down.
Cons:
- Large frame, having big hurtboxes.
- High falling speed, which can sometimes difficult some combos.
- Weak grabs that cannot KO even at higher percentages.
- Considerable startup and ending lags on many moves, mostly its aerials.
- All Smash Attacks have a sweetspot at the edge of Greninja's Water Swords. This is mostly noticeable in his Up Smash, which deals negligible knockback if it doesn't sweetspot.
- Lack of range in many moves.
- Water Shuriken is Greninja's only ranged attack. It also has considerable startup lag. The projectile is also not so fast compared to other charging projectiles.
- Opponents can see where Greninja will appear when charging Shadow Sneak by paying attention to his shadow on the ground.
- Hydro Pump doesn't have front hitboxes, meaning that Greninja will pass through opponents rather than causing direct damage.
- The Substitute doll/wooden block it is created after the counter is triggered can be attack by opponents and hit Greninja.
Summary
Greninja is the Smash Bros. definition of high risk, high reward. Greninja’s speed is unmatched, which allows it to apply an immense amount of pressure on the opponent. Along with its speed, Greninja has solid and fast Smash Attacks and a good aerial game that allows him to put good pressure while on the offensive. Some of its Special Moves can make it fairly unpredictable, as well setting opponents for many follow ups. Greninja’s edge-game is great as well, thanks to its aerial attacks and recovery moves.
Water Shuriken is his main zoning tool. While having considerable startup lag and not being fast and powerful as other charging projectiles, it fully charges faster, and its multi-hits can trap opponents for follow ups. With this in his favor, he can put good pressure for edge-guarding, specially since a fully charged Water Shuriken will hit low on the ground, which can hit an opponent holding the ledge.
Shadow Sneak is his most useful asset, being able to score surprise KOs and dish out considerable damage. It is what makes Greninja truly unpredictable, as the only way opponents can tell where he will appear is by looking at his shadow on the ground; something that can be difficult to spot on the heat of the battle, specially on stages with dark colored floor.
Hydro Pump is Greninja's main tool of recovery, which, allied with his very high jumps, allows him to recover from very long distances. While Hydro Pump does not have a front hitbox like Pikachu's Quick Attack (and it's not as fast), it has powerful pushboxes by the which, when used correctly, can prevent opponents from recovering similarly to Mario's F.L.U.D.D.
Substitute is one of the best counters in the game since the player can control Greninja's trajectory and where he will appear from, allowing him to control the knockback angle to an extent; if aimed up, Greninja will appear from below and kick his opponent upwards. It is a powerful Meteor Smash when aiming down, however its ending lag can also cause Greninja to self-destruct if used off platform too close to the bottom blast line.
The downsides begin with Greninja’s recovery options. Greninja’s Substitute can be difficult to control and leaves it completely vulnerable to punishment. Greninja’s counter animation is really slow and is difficult to hit the opponent while in the air. Another shortcoming of Greninja's is its range; it needs to be up close and personal, and ranged characters can really rack up the damage on it. This combined with his considerable high startup and ending lag for some moves makes Greninja a very difficult character to maneuver.
However, Greninja is a character full of small tricks that can be used in its favor. For example, using Hydro Pump's pushboxes to change the character's momentum and prevent them from recovering. This is mostly useful against opponents with poor recovering tactics, such as Little Mac.
Overall, Greninja is a very versatile character, rewarding the player if they can pull off its tricky techniques while distracting and intercepting the opponent at the same time.
Official Ken Sugimori artwork of Greninja
Moveset
Ground Attacks
Normal
- Neutral: A quick jab, followed by rapid jabs multiple times with blades of water, then finishes with a strong jab from its arms.
- Side Tilt: Kicks forward. Similar to Samus' Forward Tilt. Can be cancelled into Dash Attack.
- Up Tilt: Strikes upward with its tongue.
- Down Tilt: Does a low kick. Can set for many follow ups.
- Dash Attack: Does a sliding kick similar to Mario/Dr. Mario. Very fast and can set for many follow ups.
Smash
- Side Smash: Slashes with a water sword.
- Up Smash: Slashes water swords upwards on both sides of its head.
- Down Smash: Strikes on both sides with water swords.
Other
To be added
Aerial Attacks
- Neutral Aerial: Enters a ninja pose while a water vortex surrounds it.
- Forward Aerial: Slashes with a water sword. Has considerable startup and ending lag, but is powerful.
- Back Aerial: Does three spinning back kicks. High combo and KO potential. Has very little to none ending and landing lag.
- Up Aerial: Does an upwards drill kick. Similar to Sheik's Up Aerial, however it only has hitboxes on its lag, as opposed to Sheik's whole body. Can KO at around 150%. Can also be used to pull opponents downwards with fast fall.
- Down Aerial: Descends downwards quickly with its legs stretched out. Can cause Meteor Smash at the start of the attack, much like Toon Link's Down Aerial. If the middle hitbox of the feet connect, Greninja will bounce back, gaining vertical recovery. However, if the tips hitbox connect, it will go right through and hit the ground or fall to its doom.
Grabs and Throws
- Pummel: Attacks with water blades.
- Forward Throw: Hurls opponent forward with one hand.
- Back Throw: Hurls the opponent backward with both arms.
- Up Throw: Tosses the opponent upward. It is the only grab that can kill over 150%
- Down Throw: Slams the opponent into the ground.
Special Moves
| Greninja's Special Moves | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3DS/Wii U | Ultimate | |
| Standard Special | Water Shuriken | |
| Side Special | Shadow Sneak | |
| Up Special | Hydro Pump | |
| Down Special | Substitute | |
| Final Smash | Secret Ninja Attack | |
Taunts
- Up: Strikes a ninja pose.
- Side: Moves tongue from side to side as water sprinkles out of it.
- Down: Sprouts water from both of its hands upwards (like water fountains). Deals 3%.
In Competitive Play
To Be Added
Trophy Description
Greninja
This Water/Dark-type Pokemon is the fully evolved form of Froakie. It's just as fast and dangerous as any other ninja, and the throwing stars it can make out of water can shear metal. In Smash Bros., as well as being a graceful, speedy fighter, it can also use moves like Hydro Pump that let it travel through the air and avoid falling.
- 3DS - Pokemon X & Pokemon Y (10/2013)
Greninja (Alt.)
Greninja's Substitute down special lets you teleport to dodge attacks and then strike back, making it an effective and hard-to-predict way to counterattack. You can also control where you reappear by inputting directions. When you vanish, sometimes you'll be replaced by a log, other times by a cuddly toy.
- 3DS - Pokemon X & Pokemon Y (10/2013)
Costume Gallery
.png "Greninja Palette (SSB4).png (107 KB)")
Standard Gallery
Trivia
- Greninja's down taunt will actually do damage. This makes it the third character with a taunt that can cause damage. Luigi was the first, also with its down taunt. Snake is the second, where all his taunts can deal damage; although it's caused by the object he uses (his cardboard box).
- Unlike Luigi and Snake's taunts, Greninja's down taunt actually has knockback scaling, capable of KO'ing opponents at extremely high percentages (above 600%).
- Its first appearance being little over a year ago, Greninja is currently the youngest playable character in Smash Bros. history. Because of that, it is the last opponent faced in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS's All-Star Mode, after Robin or Lucina.
- Greninja's official artwork for Super Smash Bros 4 has almost the same pose as its Ken Sugimori artwork for Pokemon X and Y.
- Greninja, Rosalina and Palutena are the only characters to have a unique sidestep; instead of truly sidestepping it will disappear for half a second and reappear. its roll is the same thing.
- According to Sakurai, Greninja was already being developed as a playable character before Pokémon X and Y were announced. Sakurai admitted that he and his team had to come with many original moves for Greninja and/or wait for the team behind Pokémon X and Y give them more info on the gameplay style of the character in development. This led to moves such as Secret Ninja Attack, to be created specially for Smash Bros. This Final Smash also references one of its signature moves in Pokémon X and Y, Mat Block (the other being Water Shuriken). Other than that, the move is entirely new. Greninja's Secret Ninja Attack and Zoroark's Fury Swipes both do the exact same thing: throw the opponent upward, trap them in the air, swiftly slash them multiple times, and deliver a powerful finishing blow with a meteor smash. The multiple attacks Greninja perform could also be a reference to both Quick Attack, that Greninja can learn. Although the slashes it does in its Final Smash are water-based.
- During the trailer, fans mistook Greninja for Mewtwo since they both have three fingers. While charging Water Shuriken, Greninja had no webbing in between its fingers and a different torso shape. Because of this, many fans suspect that Sakurai and his team purposely made Greninja seem like Mewtwo to joke around with his audience. This has also transformed into an Internet Meme.
- Another fact about the trailer, after Greninja is revealed and jumps off the tree branch it stands on using hydro-pump, a cloud shaped like Pac-Man is visible on the upper part of the screen.
- Greninja is one of the most popular Kalos Pokemon.
External links
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