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This article is about Lucas's appearance in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. For other uses, see Lucas.

Lucas is a downloadable veteran in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U from the Earthbound universe. He was confirmed as a surprise announcement during the Nintendo Direct on April 1st. He became available for download in June 14th, 2015, alongside Roy and Ryu.

He currently ranks 29th on the tier list, a slight improvement from his 30th tier placement in Brawl. Lucas possesses a solid combo game, fast attack speed, and solid projectiles. However, Lucas still suffers from slow mobility and a difficult recovery, and his projectile game can easily be negated by reflecting and absorbing.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Middleweight character
  • Fast attack speed
  • Multiple disjointed hitboxes in aerials
  • Strong combo game with down tilt and aerials
  • Strong smash attacks
  • Fastest grab game
  • Strongest set of throws
  • Powerful zoning game
  • Has a projectile absorber, which heals Lucas, and deals damage

Weaknesses[]

  • Sub-par mobility
  • His tether is the shortest in the game
  • Cannot contend with fast characters
  • Reliance of zoning can be overcome
  • Attacks require precision to successfully connect
  • PK Thunder can be gimped, even if pulled off successfully

Summary[]

Kuroham-Lucas

Lucas's stats by Kurogane Hammer

Lucas is a Mix-Up type of character, possessing many tools to zone opponents to make up for his slow mobility in a similar vein to Ness.

Lucas possesses a decent range on attacks due to having disjointed hitboxes. In addition, his attack speed is impressive, granting Lucas quick options for attacking. Lucas' smash attacks are among the strongest in the game, which can be further supported by his projectile game.

Lucas's aerials are extremely potent due to possessing quick startup and trapping ability, making them good options for juggling and combos. His down aerial and back aerial are also powerful finishers due to their Meteor Smash capabilities, and his up aerial can KO near the upper blast line due to its high knockback.

Lucas' greatest asset, however, is his grab game. His Rope Snake, though being the shortest one, possesses the lowest amount of ending lag. This can lead to his set of throws, which are among the strongest in the game, or his pummel, which is among the fastest in the game.

Lucas' Special Moves are highly versatile, being able to be used for both zoning and camping. PK Freeze, possessing low ending lag, can freeze opponents and serve as an edgeguarding option. PK Fire can be used for spacing, as it deals knockback and small recoil. Lucas' PK Thunder projectile can be guided into multiple opponents, and the PK Rocket attack is a solid damage racking ability that can go through multiple opponents as well. PSI Magnet acts as both an offensive and defensive ability, being able to both heal damage and release a hitbox which deals moderate knockback.

However, Lucas suffers from many issues. His slow mobility forces him to rely on his projectiles, which can be overcome by fast characters such as Sonic or Zero Suit Samus. Most of his attacks require precision to execute successfully. Lucas's recovery, outside his tether, can potentially be gimped by opponents, provided that PK Thunder was used successfully.

Overall, Lucas is essentially the same character as in Brawl. Players must take advantage of his damage racking potential as well as combo game, and must also be cautious of relying on Lucas's projectiles to avoid being punished should they be nullified.

Changes from Brawl[]

Lucas has been balanced with both buffs and nerfs. Most of his moves have the same or similar frame data to their Brawl counterparts. Some of his nerfs include removal of advanced techniques seen in Brawl, such as Zap Jump and Magnet Pull, as they were glitches.

Physically, he received the same treatment as Ness: larger eyes, rounder face and smaller head in proportion with his body, as well as having a brighter color scheme (like all characters in this game).

Attributes[]

  • Smaller head gives him smaller hurtboxes.
  • All PSI attacks are aesthetically different, as they are more hexagonal-shaped. In some cases this actually affects their range and hitboxes.
  • The extra 10 frames of Lucas' grab release have been removed
  • Slightly faster ground and air speed.
  • Double jump is slightly faster.

Ground Attacks[]

  • Neutral Attack is now slightly slower to start up. The second and third hits have slightly less range and deal less damage
  • All Tilts deal less damage.
  • Up Tilt is slightly slower to start up, but have a bigger hitbox
  • Down Tilt deals less hitstun and no longer causes tripping. However, it has less ending lag.
  • Up Smash Attack has a longer duration, but deals less damage.
  • Up Smash Attack's second hitbox comes out faster, however it covers less vertical distance.
  • Dash Attack's PSI hexagon is slightly larger and deals slightly more damage.

Air Attacks[]

  • Neutral Air Attack has more startup lag, deals less hits, and no longer auto-cancels in a short hop, but has a larger hitbox and causes more knockback and connects more reliably
  • Forward Air Attack deals less knockback, but no longer autocancels
  • Backward Air Attack deals less damage, but hitboxes deal increased knockback.
  • Down Air Attack traps opponents better between hits and the final hitbox deals stronger knockback when sweetspotted
  • Up Air Attack has a different animation, now closely resembling Ness' Up Aerial. It has higher knockback scaling and little to no landing lag.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Rope Snake has more range, but takes longer to grab
  • Grab Air Attack now has a damaging hitbox, much like Link and Samus'.
  • Pummel is slightly faster but deals less than half of its original damage.
  • Up Throw and Back Throw have more knockback scaling,
  • Down Throw has less ending lag and lower base knockback, but deals less damage and no longer has KO potential.

Special Attacks[]

  • PK Freeze moves slower, and has higher startup lag, but its explosion radius is slightly larger and longer range. However, it no longer explodes when touching the ground.
  • PK Fire has a longer range, and the duration (but not necessarily endlag) is much shorter. The fire burst is noticeably smaller.
  • PK Thunder is bigger, has a larger hitbox, with increased hitstun. It has intangibility at the beginning of the attack, which means it cannot be canceled out by an attack or a hurtbox during that period. It can, however, be absorbed or reflected. Additionally, the electric field Lucas generates around his body is larger, being able to trap opponents at very close range.
  • PSI Magnet is much larger and has less ending lag. Additionally, it has windboxes that "sucks" projectiles into it. The field can now absorb Link and Toon Link's Bombs. The damaging hitbox when releasing the move has higher knockback scaling, enough to KO opponents at very high percentages.
  • PK Starstorm can now be aimed, similar to Lucario's Final Smash in Brawl, Aura Storm, and very similar to Ness' in this game, however much thicker. Lucas fires a thin line of meteors from the top-center of the screen. However, it has lower duration and since the player must manually aim the attack, the player no longer can move Lucas freely during the Final Smash.

Moveset[]

Ground Moves[]

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.
  • Side Tilt: Lucas does a back hand and creates a wave of PSI-energy.
  • Up Tilt: Lucas does a one-handed stand flipkick charged with PSI-energy.
  • Down Tilt: Lucas crouches and spins with his leg out.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Side Smash Attack: Lucas swings his stick. Like Ness' Side Smash, it is a reflector, but it is faster. It deals increased knockback if it hits the tip.
  • Up Smash Attack: Lucas releases a burst of PSI-energy (called PK Love) that erupts above his head. It is the fifth most powerful Up Smash Attack in terms of knockback (tied with Little Mac's Up Smash Attack). It is one of the largest in terms of range.
  • Down Smash Attack: Lucas points at the ground in front of him, "shooting" three bursts of PSI-energy (called PK Love) at his feet.

Air Attacks[]

  • Neutral Air Attack: Lucas spins in a gyro pattern with PSI-energy around him.
  • Foward Air Attack: Lucas thrusts his foot out, creating a large hexagon.
  • Backward Air Attack: Lucas does a flip with his foot behind him and hooks them downwards with a stream of small PSI-energy. Knocks backwards, but if one hits with the tip of his foot (at virtually ANY time), it is a good Meteor Smash.
  • Up Air Attack: Moves upwards a little and does a headbutt.
  • Down Air Attack: Kicks multiple times downwards four times, with PSI-energy emerging from his foot each time. The fourth hit can Meteor Smash.
  • Grab Air Attack: Rope Snake - Lucas thrusts his Rope Snake forward. It has a damaging hitbox, causing minimum damage and hitstun. This works similarly to Zero Suit Samus's and Samus's Grab Air Attack.

Grabs & Throws[]

  • Grab: Pulls out his Rope Snake which extends and grabs the opponent.
  • Pummel: Headbutts the foe.
  • Forward Throw: Uses psychokinesis to toss the opponent ahead.
  • Backward Throw: Uses psychokinesis to blast the opponent back.
  • Up Throw: Uses psychokinesis to toss the opponent straight up.
  • Down Throw: Uses psychokinesis to slam the opponent down, briefly burying him or her, and stomps on the opponent. It leads to follow ups for all Lucas' aerials except for Backward Air Attack. It makes a very distinct and comic sound.

Special Moves[]

Lucas' Special Moves
Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special PK Freeze
Side Special PK Fire
Up Special PK Thunder
Down Special PSI Magnet
Final Smash PK Starstorm

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 MOTHER3, where Lucas attempts to run off the screen, but trips.
  • Down Taunt: Lucas creates PSI-energy blasts with his fingers and makes a little grunt, 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.

Idle Animations[]

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

On-Screen Appearance[]

  • Rides in on a Mr. Saturn coffee table and jumps out of it.

In Competitive Play[]

During his release, Lucas was considered to have improved from Brawl due to the changes to the game physics benefiting him. However, it would very soon become clear Lucas had lost most of his benefits from Brawl, and would go on to be considered among his previous game's placement. Following the buffs to his attacks, as well as decent tournament representation and results (the latter point being largely due to Taiheita), he would be ranked 36th in the first 4BR' tier list, as a low-tier character. However, players would prove that Lucas' buffs had indeed benefited him a lot and that he was now a capable character with reliable combo potential and KO power. Due to receiving notable results from Taiheita in 17th place at Super Smash Con 2016, Lucas rose up in the second tier list to 33rd, officially putting him in the mid-tier.

His positive perspective from Taiheita and his potential would led Lucas to a very slight rise to 32nd on the third, and then to 28th on the fourth tier list and current tier list, now tied with Ness for the bottom of high tier. While not having as much tournament representation as other mid-tiered characters, his results have been good enough to secure his current placement. Despite this, Lucas' current placement is still debatable, Lucas's results and representation began to show a series of decline in Japan ever since Taiheita's retirement. Since Taiheita's last tournament, many other players were unable to match Taiheita's success. Towards the end of the metagame, while the Lucas meta in Japan began to decline, his EarthBound counterpart, on the other hand, rose in Japan. Gackt and taranito, two of the top Ness players, have started to place better and achieved milestones. Such achievements include Gackt's 17th placing at The Big House 7 and taranito's 17th placing at EVO Japan 2018 with both of them defeating multiple top players such as Abadango, komorikiri, and ANTi. Due to these factors, players believe that Lucas should be ranked noticeably lower, citing his waning meta combined with Ness's more energetic developments. Other smashers advocate that Lucas's strengths remain potent in spite of these points, and that his placement is accurate.

Trophy Descriptions[]

Lucas (non-fighter)[]

Before adventuring, Lucas was a timid, cautious boy. His journey has made him a stronger person. Maybe he met someone to spend his life with... Hang onโ€”we're moving way too fast! For now, remember that Lucas and Ness are favorites in the hearts of EarthBound fans.

Lucas[]

The younger of the twin brothers from Nowhere makes his triumphant return to the game of Smash. Hailing from the Japan-only game Mother 3, Lucas's specialty is psychic projectile attacks. He can use these PSI attacks to do things like absorb enemy projectiles and deal supernatural damage!

Lucas (Alt.)[]

Lucas's up special PK Thunder can hit enemies multiple times, but if you hit yourself with it, you can then tackle and launch opponents! Lucas's up smash has the strongest launch power of any fighter's up smash. The range for this attack is wide, and it's strongest right after Lucas unleashes the attack.

PK Starstorm (Lucas)[]

You can adjust the direction of the shooting stars in this attack! Rain stars down on multiple fighters at once, or be mean and pick on a single fighter. The choice is yours! If a star connects, it will deal ongoing fire damage, making it hard for opponents to return to the stage.

Costume Gallery[]

Lucas Palette (SSB4)

Announcement Video[]


Gallery[]

External Links[]

Trivia[]

  • Upon Lucas' arrival to save Ness from Bowser in the reveal trailer, the scene sharing Ness and Lucas looks very similar to when Ness saves Lucas from the Porky statue in Brawl's Subspace Emissary, albeit the two have switched places.
  • Lucas is the only Super Smash Bros. Brawl newcomer and starter to return as a downloadable fighter.
  • Lucas is the only downloadable fighter to reuse voice clips from a previous Smash game.
  • "Lucas Comes Out of Nowhere!" from his introduction tagline and "Boy from Nowhere" in the Boxing Ring stage is a pun on where Lucas lives, the Nowhere Islands.
  • The tagline is a coincidental choice of words, since most of the players thought Lucas would not return in Super Smash Bros for. Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, similar to how Shulk's reveal trailer title "Looks Like We Don't Have A Choice!" was thought to be a reference to when he, along with the entire roster, was leaked.
  • In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, some of Lucas's attacks are based on PK Love (which is a pink-yellow colored hexagon made of PSI-energy) from MOTHER3 which are; Up Smash Attack, Down Smash Attack, Backward Air, Foward Air, Down Air, Neutral Air, Up Tilt, and Foward Tilt.
EarthboundSymbol Mother/EarthBound universe
Characters Ness (64  ยท Melee  ยท Brawl  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Lucas (Brawl  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Side Characters Final Smash Paula  ยท Poo  ยท Kumatora  ยท Boney
Bosses Porky Statue  ยท Porky Minch
Assist Trophies Jeff Andonuts  ยท Starman
Mii Fighter Costumes Flying Man
Stage Hazards Ultimate Chimera  ยท Flying Man
Enemies Devil Car  ยท Starman
Stages Onett  ยท Fourside  ยท New Pork City  ยท Magicant
Items Mr. Saturn  ยท Franklin Badge  ยท Ramblin' Evil Mushroom
Music List of Music (Mother/EarthBound series)
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  ยท Brawl Trophies  ยท 3DS Trophies  ยท Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Mother/EarthBound series)
Spirits List of spirits (EarthBound/MOTHER series)
Masterpieces Mother 2/EarthBound
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