Shulk

Shulk is the main protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles. Originally an engineer from Colony 9 on the Bionis, Shulk's colony is attacked by the Mechon, leading to him setting off on a quest to stop the Mechon once and for all. He wields the Monado, an ancient sword that gives him various special abilities, including being able to see visions of the future.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U


Shulk appears as a new playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. He was officially confirmed on August 29, 2014, during a Japanese Nintendo 3DS Direct that also revealed the New Nintendo 3DS port of his original game, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. His English voice actor in this game is and his Japanese voice actor is, both reprising their roles from Xenoblade Chronicles.

Shulk's moveset revolves around the Monado, which splits open to reveal a beam of light that gives his attacks added range, while the blade deals greater damage. Although his overall stats are mostly average, Shulk can use his standard special, the Monado Arts, to alter his abilities, giving him specific advantages and disadvantages. His other special moves include Back Slash, a leaping slash that deals extra damage if it hits an enemy from behind; Air Slash, which lets Shulk rise into the air as he slashes upward; and Vision, a counter that negates all damage and deals increased damage in return. His Final Smash is Chain Attack, where he calls on his friends Riki and Dunban to help attack opponents that he has trapped.

Six of Shulk's seven alternate costumes are based upon the other six party members of Xenoblade Chronicles, while his seventh is Shulk's appearance when not equipped with any armor.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Shulk returns as an unlockable veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Shulk's hair now changes color depending on the costume he chooses, to better reflect their representations of various Xenoblade Chronicles characters. Shulk receives mobility improvements, like all other characters, though his moveset receives some minor adjustments, such as Mecha-Fiora appearing in Chain Attack. His Monado Arts also enhance his abilities to a greater extent.

In the World of Light, Shulk is present when the fighters oppose Galeem for the first time. With Vision, he predicted that the fighters would be vaporized by Galeem's attack.

Monado Arts


Monado Arts is Shulk's standard special move, based on the special Arts exclusively available to Shulk in Xenoblade Chronicles as his Talent Art with the Monado. On use, a Japanese character appears above Shulk, symbolizing a certain stat boost, and continuing to press the special move button cycles through four other ones.

In order, the Monado Arts are lime (翔), blue (疾), gold (盾), violet (斬, which is closer to "slash"), and red (撃). Jump boosts Shulk's normal jumping height and air speed and the height of his Air Slash while decreasing his defense; Speed boosts his movement speed, while lowering his damage output, his jump height, and traction; Shield decreases the amount of damage and knockback taken, but also decreases his jump, speed, and damage dealt; Buster significantly increases the damage his attacks deal while lowering their knockback, as well as increasing the amount of damage taken from attacks; and Smash increases the knockback of attacks, but decreases their damage dealt, and increases Shulk's taken knockback.

For an art to be chosen, the special move button must not be pressed for a bit of time. While it is active, the art's color glows around the part it affects (for example, Jump and Speed create a glow around Shulk's feet), and in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, a corresponding icon appears on Shulk's portrait. The active aura lasts for fifteen seconds before disappearing, and the same art cannot be used again for another ten seconds. An aura can also be canceled manually by tapping the special move button three times, or holding down the special move button for a second. Two auras cannot be activated at the same time; in order for a second aura to be chosen, the first one must either run out or be canceled. The only exception is if Shulk is KO'd, in which case all of his arts are restored.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the player can also select a specific Monado Art by pressing the special move button and tilting the control stick.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the move has two custom variants:

Decisive Monado Arts enables each Monado Art to last five seconds longer, recharge five seconds faster, and boosts the positive effects of each Monado Art. However, whenever a Monado Art is active, Shulk can not cancel its effects at all, requiring him to have to wait until the active Monado Art deactivates itself before he can choose a different Monado Art. There's also a longer pause time when choosing a Monado Art, which can give players a chance to reconsider which Monado Art to use.

Hyper Monado Arts amplifies the positive and negative effects of each Monado Art, but they last five seconds shorter, and take five seconds longer to recharge.

While Speed, Shield, and Buster are all arts that Shulk could use originally in Xenoblade Chronicles (though with different effects), Jump and Smash do not exist in the original game and were created specifically for Super Smash Bros.

Back Slash


Back Slash is one of Shulk's physical arts in Xenoblade Chronicles, which appears as his side special move. On use, Shulk leaps and slashes in front of him with the Monado, dealing moderate damage and knockback to whichever opponent he hits. As the name suggests, the move's damage and knockback increases significantly if he hits an opponent from behind. The move cannot be canceled once it is used (unless Shulk is hit during the attack), and does not end until Shulk hits the ground. Due to the short distance covered by the leap, Back Slash can be used as a recovery move, albeit limitedly.

The move has two custom variants in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U:

Back Slash Leap has Shulk leaping up, and then slashing down towards the ground. The move covers more vertical distance, at the expense of reducing its horizontal movement.

Back Slash Charge grants Shulk super armor while performing the slash, and offers more horizontal movement than normal. However, it deals a lot less damage and knockback than normal if it does not strike the opponent's back.

Air Slash


Air Slash is Shulk's up special move, based on one of his physical arts in Xenoblade Chronicles. On use, Shulk slashes up into the air with his Monado, knocking opponents up while dealing damage to them. By pressing the special move button again while Shulk is in the air, he swipes his sword in mid-air, giving him a small horizontal boost while also clearing away opponents. The move can be used as both a means of recovery and as a means of knocking opponents upward.

The move has two custom variants in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U:

Advancing Air Slash has Shulk perform a vertical slash, followed by a horizontal slash. This improves Shulk's horizontal recovery, but his vertical recovery is reduced as a drawback.

Mighty Air Slash reduces the range of the Monado's beam, but it deals more damage to opponents to make up for it; the knockback is more vertical than diagonal, however. Recovery distance is the same as the default Air Slash.

Vision


Vision is Shulk's down special move, based on Shulk's ability to foresee events and enemy attacks with the Monado in Xenoblade Chronicles. On use, Shulk holds the Monado in front of him, and if he is attacked, a blue aura envelops him and his attacker, and he slashes upward, negating any damage that would have been done to Shulk, and dealing increased damage in return. The move is also capable of reaching targets outside of the original attacker, and though the attack is rather slow, it freezes the attacker, making it nearly impossible for it to escape. If the Control Stick or Circle Pad is tilted forward just as Shulk is attacked, he instead dashes forward while slashing, limiting the move's range, while dealing more damage and activating faster.

While Shulk is countering, he is completely invincible to any attacks. If the move is repeatedly used (even when it does not counter an attack), the window for countering becomes shorter, but the window goes back to normal slowly if the move is not used, and instantly if Shulk is knocked out.

The move has two custom variants in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U:

Dash Vision increases the range of the counterattack, and the counterattack executes faster as well. However, as a drawback, the counterattack deals less damage than normal. This move offers the longest reach of any counter move in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Power Vision increases the power of Shulk's counterattack, but the counter window can end up becoming nonexistent if the move is used excessively. Startup and ending lag are also increased.

Chain Attack


Chain Attack is Shulk's Final Smash. On use, Shulk emits a light directly in front of him. Opponents caught in the light are brought to a cinematic of Shulk, Riki and Dunban attacking them repeatedly, ending with Shulk landing the final blow that launches them away. If the light does not connect with anyone, the Final Smash fails. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Fiora in her half-Mechon form joins Shulk, Riki and Dunban for the Chain Attack.

The damage output of the Chain Attack can be effected by the Monado Arts, with the Jump Art dealing about 40%, Speed dealing about 35%, Shield dealing about 28%, Buster dealing about 56%, and Smash dealing about 20% but launches opponents further. Additionally, the dialogue spoken between the characters is random, though it has no effect on the move itself.


 * Names in other languages

Super Mario Maker
Shulk is one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes that can be unlocked in Super Mario Maker, either by using the Shulk amiibo or as a random unlock by completing the 100 Mario Challenge on Expert Mode. Pressing causes Shulk to pose with the Monado, and the "course clear" fanfare is replaced with the fanfare that plays when finding a secret area in Xenoblade Chronicles. Shulk is unique in that his voice clips are all from the Japanese version of Xenoblade Chronicles regardless of language.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U trophy information
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Pit: I don't think I've seen that guy around.
 * Palutena: That's Shulk. He's 18 years old and clocks in at 5 feet 6 inches.
 * Pit: That's a pretty fancy sword he's got.
 * Palutena: That's the Monado, the sword that defeated the Mechonis.
 * Pit: (in a Cockney accent) Makes us look like a buncha jokers.
 * Palutena: The Monado can change Shulk's strengths and weaknesses. For example, it might increase his jumping ability while decreasing his defense.
 * Pit: So for every strength he gains, he also gains a weakness.
 * Palutena: Yes, and Shulk can KO opponents easier when they've sustained more damage. But if you know his weakness, he's not too difficult to deal with.
 * Pit: (in a Cockney accent) Let's not lose our heads, though!

amiibo

 * A handsome young man and a budding scientist, Shulk is the main protagonist in the Xenoblade Chronicles game. After his home colony is attacked by the Mechon, he and his friends set off to take them down. Shulk wields the Monado, a legendary blade imbued with a curious power that allows it to effortlessly slice through Mechon armor.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Super Smash Blog bio

 * He is the only fighter that can change his status during battle. His sword, the Monado, allows him to switch between five modes—Jump (Green), Speed (Blue), Shield (Yellow), Buster (Purple) and Smash (Red)—which change his abilities for a short time. Fun fact: Shulk's eighth color variation puts him in a pair of swimming trunks!

Quotes

 * "Back Slash!"
 * "Air Slash!"
 * "A vision...!"
 * "I see it...!"
 * "Now it's Shulk time!"
 * "I'm really feeling it!"
 * "I can change the future!"
 * "The future is ours to decide!"
 * "I've got a good rhythm going!"
 * "I got through that pretty good!"
 * "This is a good result!"
 * "I can feel the power!"
 * "Yatte yaru sa! (I'll do this!)" - Super Mario Maker
 * "Hirake, Monado yo! (Monado, lend us your power!)" - Super Mario Maker

Dunban (Final Smash)

 * "On my mark!"
 * "Riki! Don't mess up!"
 * "Shulk, GO!!"

Riki (Final Smash)

 * "Heeeere Riki go!"
 * "Riki leave that one for Dundun!"
 * "Crushpow!"
 * "Get them, Shulk! Smashpow!"

Trivia

 * Months before Shulk's official reveal as a playable character for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, his English voice actor, Adam Howden, stated on Twitter that he was doing voice-over work for a game, but could not reveal what it was at the time.
 * Metal Face, the stage boss of Gaur Plain, utters special quotes if Shulk is among the fighters.