SSBU/Pikachu

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Overview

Pikachu

Weight:	79
Spotdodge:The duration and intangibility of this character's on-spot dodges.	24F (3~16F intangible)
Air Dodge:The intangibility of this character's air dodges, both neutral and directional.	2~26F intangible (Neutral) 2~19F intangible (Directional)
Unique Recovery Options:Recovery options that this character may have other than their Up Special.	Skull Bash
Fastest OOS:	N-Air(6F), Bair, UAir (7F) USmash(10F)

Overview

Pikachu uses its high mobility and strong tools at all distances to pressure the opponent, capitalize heavy on any mistakes or habits, and confirm kills with its strong edgeguarding and trapping game. With great frame data on nearly all of its moves, Pikachu also uniquely has one of the smallest hurtboxes in Ultimate, not only being small in normal situations, but also squishing quite a bit when it lands with many of its aerials, with Bair notably due to its long duration and extreme squishiness, meaning Pikachu ducks under many moves that would have punished it otherwise.

Pikachu's best tool in neutral is arguably Thunder Jolt (Tjolt), a small electric orb that bounces along the ground, doing higher damage if it's launched from the air. Simply buffering a Tjolt from a fullhop and running after it is a strong enough approach option on the ground, but shooting them at farther distances lets Pikachu interrupt the opponent's flow, read their response then punish it up close, or even just camp them.

If Pikachu lands a Grab, it has very strong throws for several situations, its best being Dthrow, its best combo throw, leading into Utilt at early %s, and most aerials until mid-late %s, with notably Fair being great for sending them offstage, or even killing some characters by the ledge. Uthrow can combo into Thunder at high %s with no DI, and kills around 180%. Bthrow has Pikachu move backwards during the throw, and its high knockback make it great for starting Pikachu's deadly edgeguards. Fthrow is Pikachu's highest damaging throw, but is the most niche of all its throws.

Pikachu's aerials are very strong tools, and a large part of its playstyle and combo game. Pikachu's Nair is a small multihit that can drag the opponent down and leads to Grab and all of its tilts, and even Usmash and Dsmash to kill. Fair is a smaller but useful aerial, as its safety when autocancelled makes it a good approach option, and high knockback make it Pikachu's best aerial to kill. Dair is a slower but rather strong hit with a brief meteor on startup, and is Pikachu's earliest kill move offstage. Its usage is rather niche, but it can still be autocancelled from a shorthop and can also start combos at high %s, meaning it is still a good out-of-shield option. Uair is a surprisingly disjointed tail swipe above Pikachu's head with two main hits: a strong one for the first part of the move and a weak one at the end. The strong one is a decent juggling tool and can combo into Thunder in some situations, and the weak one can combo into itself, and eventually Fair, meaning, with proper execution, Pikachu can repeatedly hit this weak hit on the opponent over and over and drag them to the blast zone, and kill them with Fair. Despite this, arguably Pikachu's best aerial is Bair, as its high autocancel window and long lasting hitbox and speed make it a strong combo starter and one of the best edgeguarding tools in the game. It can combo into itself, Fair, Uair, and Nair at low percents. Even after it stops comboing, its wideness and speed make it one of Pikachu's best out-of-shield options at frame 7.

Other than these, Pikachu has other very strong tools as well. Dtilt is a very fast and safe tail swipe that covers the ground and can trip at most low %s, with a rather high 30% trip rate. At higher %s, however, it sends at a perfect angle to start techchases, being one of Pikachu's best kill options at high %s. Utilt is a strong combo starter that sends the opponent above Pikachu, and Ftilt is Pikachu's fastest tilt and kills at really high %s, with spacing potential due to its length. Fsmash is somewhat safe when well spaced, as its short punish window means slower characters will struggle to punish it with proper spacing. In addition, it can cover every ledge getup option that isn't roll or jump from ledge with proper timing.

Pikachu's other special moves are useful too. Quick Attack (QA) is Pikachu's main recovery tool, going a long distance, meaning Pikachu rarely struggles to make it back to stage. Still, QA is still a great neutral tool due to its speed, and can be used to cover the ground at mid-distance, especially because it becomes a true combo starter around 80%. Thunder is a committal but strong option at catching opponents out of the air or finishing a combo once the opponent is above Pikachu. The hit on Pikachu's body is also very strong, and can be combo'd into from the meteor in the cloud that summons the Thunder.

Pikachu's most niche moves are Jab and Skull Bash, with Jab's negativity on hit making it useless in neutral, but can trap the opponent when they're in the corner and rack up a small amount of damage while also filling the staling queue. Skull Bash is mostly a rare recovery tool that is very punishable if used carelessly, but can occasionally be used as a shield-break punish when fully charged, as well as a tool to escape juggle situations. Usmash is also debilitated by having a sweetspot that is extremely hard to hit on most characters not in the air, and as such is only useful on the ground when its sourspot kills, or on taller characters that get hit by its sweetspot on the ground.

Pikachu is a somewhat difficult but rewarding character that can be played with multiple playstyles and has a very strong neutral and punish game. With dedication and practice, Pikachu becomes a very threatening character that is widely agreed to be a top tier, with a few claiming it to be the best character in the game.

Summary

Pikachu does things (placeholder)
Pros	Cons
All-Rounder: Pikachu has good tools to deal with most situations, without a gamestate or situation that is entirely debilitating. Combo Rat: Pikachu's aerials and tilts give it a strong punish game with its combos, such as its infamous "Nair loops", which involve Dthrow or Utilt into dragdown Nair for lots of damage and a great neutral win off simply one grab or dragdown. Pikachu can also freestyle punishes as well, catching airdodges with its Dtilt or Grab. No U: Pikachu's out of shield game is incredible, with its Shieldgrab being slow but rewarding, its Nair being its fastest, and Bair and Uair starting combos. Usmash is even a fast out of shield kill option. Recovery Denied: Pikachu is one of the strongest edgeguarding characters in Ultimate, rivaling even the likes of Steve with its strong edgeguarding, using tools such as Bair, Tjolt, and Dair to take stocks offstage with somewhat low effort. What Disadvantage?: Pikachu has one of the strongest disadvantages in the game, with its up special Quick Attack being one of the best recovery moves in the game due to its versatility and length with its two zips. Skull Bash, too, is a great tool to escape juggle scenarios when Pikachu is above the opponent, letting Pikachu get offstage, a much safer position for the character. Pikachu also has a frame 2 airdodge and can even break combos with Thunder, which is also summoned on frame 2. This means Pikachu rarely feels pressured, and can sometimes live until very long %s as long as it doesn't get KO'd outright. I am speed: Pikachu's run speed gives it excellent mobility, able to weave in and out of the opponent's burst range, able to make slower characters such as Ganondorf and even Kazuya struggle to hit Pikachu. Small and Squishy: The small hurtbox of Pikachu means many characters without low blows or aerials that hit diagonally can struggle to hit him. Characters such as Sephiroth and Zero Suit Samus can struggle to find neutral openings against Pikachu mostly due to its tiny hurtbox.	Paperweight: Pikachu's low weight means that one poor decision can lead to Pikachu dying way earlier than its opponent. It ties with Mewtwo, Olimar, Sephiroth, and Kirby in terms of weight. Open 24 Hours (Struggles to close): Pikachu's kill power leaves much to be desired. While it has kill confirms off dragdown Nair and occasionally throws, Pikachu often relies on getting edgeguards to take stocks, as none of its aerials or tilts can reliably kill onstage until absurdly late %s. Dsmash is fast, but is incredibly punishable when whiffed or shielded, and many other kill moves rely on good positioning, a read, or very tight execution to actually take stocks. Tiny Hands: Pikachu's range is problematic. The only moves on Pikachu's kit that hit a safe enough distance are Fsmash horizontally and Thunder vertically, both of which are risky to go for. While Pikachu's tail-based moves (such as Uair and Dtilt) are disjoints, they are not disjointed enough to challenge the range of swordfighters such as Cloud and Mythra, meaning Pikachu has to capitalize extremely hard on any neutral openings it gets against these characters. Trade offer: The low damage of Pikachu's moves and having many of its most useful tools be multihits means that if the opponent trades with Pikachu, the opponent often takes a small percentage, as low as 1%, while Pikachu takes the full damage of the move it traded with, which can be a death sentence due to Pikachu's low weight. This trade differential, combined with the next point, is the biggest weakness of the character. Ol' reliable, and that's it: Thunder Jolt, while being a very useful tool and one of the best tools in Pikachu's arsenal in neutral, can often be the only tool in Pikachu's neutral arsenal due to Pikachu's poor trade differential. While this is usually fine, as Pikachu's other tools can maintain pressure if the opponent is put on the defensive, players or characters good at dealing with Tjolt can often deny Pikachu crucial neutral exchanges. Pikachu's worst matchup is often considered to be Mr. Game & Watch, as his down special Oil Panic lets him absorb Thunder Jolts, and denies Pikachu other neutral wins with his strong disjoints.