Pikachu

This little yellow creature is hands down the symbol of the whole Pokémon series and one of the most popular video game characters in the world. Not only is Pikachu adorable to the max, but they are also one of the most powerful Pokémon. Still, everything here is not that simple...

We should divide Pikachu as a species and Pikachu as that one creature, the friend of Ash Ketchum and the hero of many anime. Other Pikachu are electric-type Pokémon, pretty common in various regions of that virtual world. They are the same cute, but they never have that huge power.

The one and only Pikachu is absolutely exceptional. Ash got him after coming late to the starter selection ceremony. No one actually wanted to take Pikachu — due to his surprisingly stubborn character. He didn’t want to hide in a Pokéball and even didn’t want to go with Ash first. But then, Pikachu demonstrated exceptional power, producing a mind-blowing amount of electricity. Surprised by the loyalty of Ash, Pikachu decided to not be so hard on his trainer, so these two became friends for life.

The power of this Pikachu is legendary. It allows the Pokémon to fight many super dangerous opponents. And Team Rocket, well-known villains of the Pokémon universe, are tirelessly hunting for this specific Pikachu.

This cutie has quite a fan base in the real world as well. He was introduced to the world in the original Pokémon anime series and thus became super popular. Pikachu did not have a clear primary role in the first game of the series, Pokémon Red/Blue, but people wanted that so badly, and the developers released a special version, Pokémon Yellow, with Pikachu as the only available starter.

When the game adventures continue in other regions, the role of Pikachu becomes not that important, but they are still present in other games (all of the core Pokémon games, excluding Black/White, where players should use trading to get Pikachu). Pokémon trainers can catch this creature for their Pokédex and make them part of their team for many glorious battles. Pikachu evolves into Raichu. The previous stage of evolution is Pichu. Both evolution forms are significantly less popular in the gaming community.

Pikachu is a hero of the impressive number of Pokémon spin-offs. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it would not be a Pokémon game if it had no Pikachu. For example, they gain fighting experience in the game Pokkén Tournament DX.

Ash Ketchum and his best friend appear in multiple anime series and films. Pikachu is the main hero of the movie (and game) Detective Pikachu.

Pikachu in Smash Bros.

This character is a treasure of Nintendo as the publisher of the Pokémon games and Game Freak as the developer. Pikachu can easily compete in popularity with Mario and Link, so it’s natural to see them added to the Smash roster. That was the main idea of this fighting series — to gather all the iconic Nintendo personalities.

Pikachu is available in all Super Smash Bros. games as a starter. This fighter was universally recognized as the best fighter in the original game, SSB 64. Then, they were nerfed but still remained a top-tier one in all the following installments.

Pikachu in SSBU

Pikachu is a fast and pretty powerful Smash fighter. They can shoot electricity as a projectile and activate a mighty thunderbolt to damage opponents in close vicinity. 

This character has a strong neutral game with some very good defensive options. Their attacks have quick frame data and can be linked into combos. Down Throw is an excellent combo starter.

Some of the Pikachu’s weaknesses are the small range of the most attacks and the poor trading abilities (they take more damage).

Pikachu is a beginner-friendly Smash Ultimate character. Still, they are good for pro-players as well. Some of the Smash pros who main Pikachu are: ESAM and Axe (Melee).