Olimar inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Pikmin
Other playable appearances	inBrawl inSSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	End of Day
Tier	A+ (16)

Olimar (ピクミン＆オリマー,Pikmin & Olimar) is a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongsideDiddy Kong and the rest of the returning roster. In addition,Alph (ピクミン＆アルフ,Pikmin & Alph) returns as an alternate character alongside Olimar. Olimar is classified asFighter #40. Olimar usesPikmin to assist him in attacking his foes, with a core playstyle revolving around managing and using his various Pikmin combinations to his advantage.

As inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. 4, Hajime Wakai's portrayals of the Pikmin fromPikmin andPikmin 2, as well as Atsuko Asahi's portrayals of the Winged Pikmin fromPikmin 3, were repurposed forUltimate, while both Olimar and Alph remain fully unvoiced.

Olimar is ranked 16th out of 82 on the currenttier list, placing him in the A+ tier. This is a noticeable improvement to his placement inSSB4, where he was ranked 21st out of 54. Olimar is unique as a vast majority of his moves aren't from him, but rather his disjointed Pikmin, each of which with their pros and cons. These Pikmin are all useful in their own right, with red and purple being good at dishing damage, blue being good for throws, yellow having larger hitboxes, and white doing more damage while latched. Furthermore, all Pikmin save purple latch to the opponent whenPikmin Throw is used, dealing damage over time. He also has a decentedgeguarding game, with his aerials being good for such a purpose (especially with purple Pikmin), while has has an option for avoiding pressure withPikmin Order. Finally, his smash attacks all have utility, with his up smash in particular being his best combo starter provided he has the necessary Pikmin. This results in Olimar having one of the best camping games amongst the roster, as he can force opponents to make decisions around removing Pikmin, lest they tack on unnecessary damage.

For his strengths, however, Olimar has some weaknesses, the most notable being how helpless he is without Pikmin. Without Pikmin, a good chunk of his moves do not possess hitboxes, leaving him with very few usable moves. This, combined with his lightweight status (being tied for the seventh lightest character in the game), gives him trouble should he find himself at a disadvantage. Further compounding this issue is the fact that he can't replenish Pikmin easily against fighters who can juggle him easily, as Olimar cannot usePikmin Pluck while airborne. Finally, Olimar struggles against several fighters with longer disjoints or access to a reflector, as they can either wall him out or deny his neutral entirely.

Overall, Olimar is an unorthodox zoner who works best when the player is mindful of their Pikmin management and spacing, creating a high learning curve. He was immensely popular in the early metagame and was considered one of the best characters during this time, thanks to the performances from players such asDabuz,Myran, andShuton. Though nerfs gradually dwindled Olimar's playerbase, he remains relevant in newer metagames thanks to performances from players such asCandle anduame.

How to unlock[edit]

Complete one of the following:

• PlayVS. matches, with Olimar being the 48th character to be unlocked.
• ClearClassic Mode withMario or any character in his unlock tree, being the last character unlocked afterDr. Mario.
• Have Olimar join the player's party inWorld of Light.

Olimar must then be defeated onDistant Planet (theΩ form is used in World of Light).

Attributes[edit]

Olimar is a small, floaty, lightweight character. He has the 33rd slowestdashing speed, 8th slowestair speed, 32nd highest air acceleration (tied withDuck Hunt andInkling, among others), very lowgravity, lowtraction (tied withDiddy Kong), below-averagefalling speed, and above-averagejump height. Due to these attributes, Olimar has below-average mobility for the most part.

What sets Olimar apart from the majority of the cast is that his stronger attacks do not come from him. Instead, he utilizes Pikmin to performdisjointed attacks and function as projectiles to attack opponents from a distance during his smash attacks, most of his aerial attacks, and his side special move. Olimar starts off with 3 Pikmin at the start of each battle, and can have up to 3 at any given point. Each Pikmin has their ownhit points, and will die if they receive too much damage or fall into a blast zone. Pikmin are obtained in a specific order:Red,Yellow,Blue,White andPurple, then back to Red.Winged Pikmin also appear via Olimar's up special move, although they lack hurtboxes and hit points like the other Pikmin.

Pikmin Pluck, Olimar's neutral special move, enables him to gain Pikmin when used on any solid surface in the event he has less than 3 Pikmin available. It is very laggy when used in air, but is somewhat quick on the ground and is best used if spaced out.Pikmin Order, Olimar's down special move, can be used to quickly call all Pikmin back. It is a very quick and efficient cycling tool for getting to a desired Pikmin that has already been plucked. It also grantssuper armor during its first few frames, although this can be risky to use as a strictly defense measure due to the super armor's minimal amount of frames. It will function as a combo breaking move in dangerous situations as well.

Winged Pikmin, Olimar's up special move, is a very flexible recovery option. The Winged Pikmin can be moved freely around the air, and their travel can be canceled with an aerial attack. However, canceling the Winged Pikmin will render Olimar helpless. Additionally, consecutive usage of the Winged Pikmin will tire them out, which results in their travel distance and maneuverability both worsening. Although sporadic usage of the Winged Pikmin will prevent them from tiring out, their travel distance and maneuverability will still worsen depending on Olimar's lineup of Pikmin: Purple Pikmin are the heaviest, whereas White Pikmin are the lightest.

Olimar's side special move,Pikmin Throw, boasts excellent utility and is his primary damage-racking option. Olimar throws his Pikmin forward. The thrown Pikmin, except for Purple, cling to the target and deal elemental damage over time. Purple Pikmin don't cling to opponents and instead deal a single strong hit as they are in the air. If they don't land on a target, they become miniature, independent hurtboxes that run back toward Olimar. When clinging to the opponent, they can be killed or damaged by certain moves, such as a down smash that covers the user in a hitbox. However, this can be used to an advantage, as the Pikmin can be used to block certain moves such asCharge Shot, even when clinging toSamus. Pikmin Throw can also be used to get rid of unneeded or less useful Pikmin to get to a desired one if a different one needs to be plucked.

Each Pikmin has different properties that both affect how they interact with moves and Olimar's inputs. Red Pikmin have average projectile range, deal the second-highest damage, have thefire effect, reduce throw knockback, and are immune to fire attacks. Yellow Pikmin have an arcing path with slightly lower range, have theelectric effect, have a larger hitbox (≈50% larger compared to the other Pikmin), and are immune to electric attacks. Blue Pikmin have average projectile range, higher throw power and damage, have thewater effect, and are immune to water attacks. White Pikmin have the longest projectile range, deal the least direct damage in exchange for the most cling damage, and have thedarkness effect. Purple Pikmin have the shortest projectile range, but deal the most damage and knockback and do not cling to opponents but act as a standard projectile with knockback instead.

Olimar's neutral attack is aone-two combo that is quick overall, and is best suited for low percent set-ups into his down tilt, a grab, and Pikmin Throw or if used forjab locking. His forward tilt is a wind-up punch that is laggy overall and his slowest tilt attack. However, it possesses respectable power that makes it useful for creating space and, more notably, it is his only non-Pikmin attack that can KO at reasonable percents. Olimar's up tilt is a simple spinning hop that is best suited as an anti-air move, yet it can also be followed up with an up aerial at low percents if the opponent fails to DI properly. Olimar's down tilt is his most useful tilt attack: it is a lunging tackle that can start combos at varying percents,2 frame punish reliably, function as a pseudo-crawl, and is his best spacing option in most scenarios thanks to its quick start-up.

Olimar's aerials have great utility despite his mediocre air speed. His forward and back aerials are great for edgeguarding thanks to their wide arcs. His up aerial is effective for juggling and combos into itself at low to medium percents, whereas his down aerial can meteor smash in its earlier frames while still possessing a weaker lingering hitbox in its later frames, thus making it a solid tool for denying juggles. Furthermore, using Olimar's Pikmin-based aerials cycles through his Pikmin, which can be either a blessing or curse depending on the situation. Olimar's neutral aerial is his only aerial that does not utilize Pikmin, and thus has much less range in comparison. However, it still has some utility as a niche combo tool and landing option.

Olimar's throws are disproportionately powerful for a character of his size, specifically while using blue Pikmin. His up throw is a reliable KO move above approximately 130% with blue Pikmin (having very high base knockback) and can potentially set up juggling scenarios, while down throw reliably combos into forward aerial at low to medium percents and Pikmin Throw at higher percents, meaning that he can get very large amounts of damage off of a grab. Both his forward and back throws can kill at ledge at about 130%, and also can set up edgeguards and ledgetraps. (Note: Blue Pikmin drastically increase the knockback and damage of throws. White Pikmin increase the range of the grab itself, while Purple Pikmin lower grab range. Red Pikmin make throws deal decreased knockback, making them more useful for combos starting from a grab.)

Having relatively long range for a character of his size also makes Olimar great at camping out and approaching hand-to-hand combatants, such asCaptain Falcon orWario, and further accentuate his strong punishment game. All of Olimar's aforementioned qualities give him a strong damage racking capability to complement his zoning focused playstyle.

However, Olimar does have some noticeable weaknesses to counterbalance his strengths. One of his most noteworthy issues is his defenselessness without his Pikmin. Although they can be plucked rather quickly, he can only do so when on the ground, and there is still enough time to punish Olimar if he doesn't secure his space before gaining more Pikmin. His physical attacks themselves also provide niche/situational utility compared to his Pikmin moves and have significantly less range. Therefore, he is at his greatest disadvantage if the opponent manages to keep him airborne and within his space due to the very short range and limited scope of his physical attacks. On the flipside, his recovery becomes noticeably worsened when he does have Pikmin; as a result, he may have to resort to casting them aside if it improves his chances of recovering safely, and thus ridding himself of major defenses.

Olimar's below-average dashing and air speeds also make him susceptible to rushdown-oriented fighters overwhelming him while he's in a disadvantage state. This, in turn, is further compounded by his aforementioned difficulty at escaping a disadvantage state without Pikmin. Finally, Olimar's zoning capabilities are severely hindered by characters with a reflector, as Olimar's side special is both a projectile and his primary damage-racking move. On top of that, all of Olimar's smash attacks do damage solely through the use of Pikmin as projectiles, making a reflected smash attack potentially deadly, even at low percents.

Overall, Olimar is a versatile zoner who has an unorthodox manner of fighting involving the management of his Pikmin. Due to his poor disadvantage and his need for careful cycling and management of his Pikmin, he generally cannot afford to be reckless in his play.

Changes fromSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

Olimar was buffed overall in his transition fromSSB4 toUltimate, with several aspects of his core playstyle being buffed and further improved byUltimate's universally adjusted mechanics.

Each Pikmin's various attributes have been improved. Red and Purple Pikmin deal more damage on average, Blue Pikmin's throw strength has been drastically improved, White Pikmin deal even more damage when latched to an opponent viaPikmin Throw, and all aerial attacks that involve Pikmin have more range, especially Yellow Pikmin, which improves their usage on spacing. These changes further strengthen Olimar's already respectable damage output and zoning abilities. In addition to this, all of Olimar's Pikmin-based aerials now havetranscendent priority, which allows Olimar to trade moves much more safely than inSSB4, which eliminates one of his biggest flaws from that game.

Olimar's grab game has been noticeably buffed as well. His grab has much more range, which can now be extended depending on the amount of Pikmin he has with him, and all of his throws deal more damage on average. As mentioned before, Blue Pikmin's increased throw strength means Olimar now possesses some of the most dangerous KO throws in the game, with up throw in particular having the potential to become even stronger than the likes ofMewtwo,Charizard orIncineroar. Other notable buffs include toup smash, which has less ending lag to the point it has gained combo potential at low percents, (heightening Olimar'sout of shield game), andPikmin Pluck, which is faster overall. Finally, in terms of universal changes, Olimar's mobility, while still below-average, has been improved via fasterdashing andair speeds.

However, Olimar received some slight nerfs. At the cost of their stronger attributes, Pikmin are even easier to KO in general; they have slightly lower HP, are now left vulnerable to attacks if Olimar gets hit with a move with enough knockback, they can be hit by moves that Olimar already shielded or perfect shielded, and dead Pikmin temporarily becomes the active Pikmin in Olimar's squad upon their death. The former two changes make it harder for Olimar to keep his Pikmin alive, forcing to replenish them more often, while the latter two changes worsen Olimar's consistency for punishing opponents.

Olimar'sdown throw launches opponents at a more horizontal angle, making follow-ups less reliable. In exchange for longer range, Olimar's grabs tend to have more ending lag, making them riskier to throw out. His recovery also became less abusable as a result of the travel distance ofWinged Pikmin now being further reduced with consecutive use, as well as its regeneration time being slower. Despite his faster mobility, Olimar now possesses one of the slowestinitial dashes in the game, due to other fighters' initial dashes getting far more substantial buffs than his. Finally, Olimar's hurtbox is larger vertically, making it easier to hit him.

Overall, Olimar's oppressive damage output and camping abilities have been improved further, though this comes in exchange for Pikmin's fragility becoming even more pronounced than before and Olimar himself being more susceptible to punishment. He has also received some noticeable nerfs in game updates, which have affected his initial performance and made him less oppressive, despite also receiving a few important bugfixes. In the end, however, Olimar's buffs outweigh his nerfs, and he is considered to be better inUltimate than inSSB4.

Aesthetics[edit]

• Due to the aesthetic used inUltimate, Olimar's model features a more vibrant color scheme. His proportions have been adjusted; he has a slightly smaller nose and eyes, and his skin tone is paler. His spacesuit and life-support systems have more subtle detailing, and his helmet has a more glossy sheen. The new detailing is also expressed byAlph.
• Olimar's antenna has less independent physics, allowing it to move more naturally.
• Olimar's helmet cracks after taking a certain amount of damage, but will quickly be repaired. It also appears cracked when he isScreen KO'd.
• Olimar now only jumps twice during his up taunt, shortening its duration.
• Sidestep and ledge-hanging's animations have changed.
• Pikmin now always face the screen regardless of which direction they turn.
• Pikmin now have trails that match their colors when attacking, like in thePikmin games.

Attributes[edit]

• Olimar:
  • Like all characters, Olimar'sjumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Olimarwalks slightly faster (0.9 → 0.945).
  • Olimardashes faster (1.47 → 1.617).
    • Olimar'sinitial dash is also faster (1.4 → 1.606).
  • Olimar'sair speed is slightly faster (0.82 → 0.861).
  • Forwardroll grants lessintangibility (frames 4-16 → 4-15).
  • Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-16 → 5-16) and more ending lag (FAF 29 → 34).
  • Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 26 → 25).
  • Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
  • Air dodge has drastically more ending lag (FAF 32 → 57).
  • Olimar's hurtbox is modeled around his body instead of being a giant orb around him. This effectively gives him a smaller hurtbox around some parts of his body, making him harder to hit.
    • However, Olimar has a larger hurtbox vertically.
• Pikmin:
  • All Pikmin have less HP.
    • Red, Yellow: 8 → 6.
    • Blue: 11 → 8.
    • White: 7 → 5.
    • Purple: 13 → 11.
  • Pikmin can beswallowed.
  • Pikmin can get stuck on platforms if they were plucked beneath them, making it impossible to use them for attacks for a while.
  • Pikmin in Olimar's squad are no longer intangible directly after Olimar gets hit with a high knockback move, making it possible to kill the Pikmin and send Olimar offstage without any Pikmin.
  • Pikmin can die from hitboxes that Olimar already shielded or perfect shielded, making it very hard to punish the attack.
  • When a Pikmin dies, it becomes the active Pikmin in Olimar's squad, making it impossible to use Pikmin for attacks for a short while.

Ground attacks[edit]

• Neutral attack:
  • Hit 1 has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 20).
    • Its angles have been altered (361°/80° → 361°/180°) making it a more consistentjab locking tool but hindering itsjab canceling potential.
  • The second hit hitboxes have been moved inwards (Z offset: 7/13 → 6/10), reducing its range. Oddly, the animation has not been properly altered, and so suggests the move has more range than it actually does.
  • Hit 2's sweetspot is closer to the sourspot, and the sourspot is bigger (2.5u → 2.8u). Due to it taking priority over the sweetspot this makes the sweetspot much harder to land.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has a bigger hitbox (3.5u (clean)/3.5u (late) → 5u/4.5u).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 45 → 39).
• Allsmash attacks:
  • The damage multipliers when using smash attacks with red or purple Pikmin have been increased (Red: 1.2× → 1.4×, Purple: 1.4× → 1.6×).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
    • Red: 17.4% (clean)/12% (mid)/7.2% (late) → 20.3%/14%/8.4%
    • Purple: 20.3% (clean)/14% (mid)/8.4% (late) → 23.2%/16%/9.6%
  • Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 43).
  • Forward smash's clean hit has a shorter duration, with the mid and late hits having a longer duration instead (frames 11-14 (clean)/15-20 (mid)/21-29 (late) → 11-12/13-19/20-29).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin with knockback scaling compensated.
    • Red: 15.6% (clean)/12% (weak)/13.2% (late) → 18.2%/14%/15.4%, knockback scaling: 83/74/78 → 72/64/68
    • Purple: 18.2% (clean)/14% (weak)/15.4% (late) → 20.8%/16%/17.6%, knockback scaling: 81/72/78 → 72/64/68
  • Up smash has significantly less ending lag (FAF 56 → 40), increasing its safety and giving it combo potential.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
    • Red: 13.2% (clean)/10.8% (late) → 15.4%/12.6%
    • Purple: 15.4% (clean)/12.6% (late) → 17.6%/14.4%

Aerial attacks[edit]

• All aerials have less landing lag (15 frames → 13 (neutral), 15 → 9 (forward/back), 30 → 18 (up/down)).
• All aerials involving Pikmin havetranscendent priority.
• All aerials that involve Pikmin have more range.
• The damage multipliers when using aerials with red or purple Pikmin have been increased (Red: 1.2× → 1.4×, Purple: 1.4× → 1.6×).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's hitboxes are smaller (loop: 3.5u/2.5u/2.5u/3.5u → 3u/2u/2u/3u, last: 5u/4u/4u/5u → 4u/3u/3u/4u).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
    • Red: 10.2% → 11.9%
    • Purple: 11.9% → 13.6%
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
    • Red: 12.9% → 15.1%
    • Purple: 15.1% → 17.2%
• Up aerial anddown aerial:
  • Up aerial and down aerial deal more damage when using Red or Purple Pikmin.
    • Red: 10.8% → 12.6%
    • Purple: 12.6% → 14.4%
  • Theyauto-cancel one frame later (frame 30 → 31).

Throws and other attacks[edit]

• Grabs:
  • All Pikmin in Olimar's squad will be used at once for his grab, significantly improving its potential range. The more Pikmin he has, the greater the range.
  • All grabs have slightly more startup lag (frame 10 → 12).
  • Attempting to grab near a ledge using Pikmin that were plucked just before that will cause the grab to have no hitbox.
  • All grabs' ending lag is changed and depends on the amount of Pikmin in Olimar's squad.
    • Standing: FAF 50 → 42/48/57 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Dash: FAF 53 → 50/58/69 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Pivot: FAF 36 → 45/52/61 (1/2/3 Pikmin).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel is a quickknifehand thrust from Olimar himself.
    • Pummel has much less startup (frame 11 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 21 → 7) and deals morehitlag (5 (Red, Blue, Purple)/6 (White)/8 (Yellow) → 10)
    • It deals less damage (4% (White)/2% (others) → 1%).
      • As such, Olimar can no longer benefit from the damaging pummel of White Pikmin.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
    • Red: 5.6% → 5.6%/6.1%/6.7% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Yellow, White, Purple: 7% → 7%/7.7%/8.4% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Blue: 11.2% → 11.8%/13%/14.2% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
    • Red: 7.2% → 7.2%/7.9%/8.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Yellow, White, Purple: 9% → 9%/9.9%/10.8% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Blue: 14.4% → 15.3%/16.8%/18.3% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
  • Back throw deals significantly more knockback when using Blue Pikmin.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
    • Red: 6.4% → 6.4%/7%/7.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Yellow, White, Purple: 8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Blue: 12.8% → 13.5%/14.8%/16.2% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
  • Up throw deals significantly more knockback when using Blue Pikmin, being the strongest up throw in the game.
  • Up throw has a more exaggerated animation.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals more damage when using Blue Pikmin and when Olimar has multiple Pikmin in his squad.
    • Red: 6.6% → 6.6%/7.2%/7.9% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Yellow: 8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • White: 7.8% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Purple: 8.4% → 8%/8.8%/9.6% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
    • Blue: 12.2% → 12.8%/14.1%/15.4% (1/2/3 Pikmin).
  • Down throw sends opponents at a more horizontal angle (90° → 60°), reducing its combo potential.

Special moves[edit]

• Pikmin Throw:
  • Pikmin that latch onto opponents deal more damage (1.1% → 2% (Red, Yellow, Blue), 3.7% → 4.7% (White)).
  • Pikmin take fall damage when thrown and landing on the ground.
  • The removal ofmultiple player slot glitch and changes tojostle mechanics no longer crashes the game with Pikmin Throw.
  • Opponents make a discomforted facial expression (the same expression used bypoisoned fighters) when a Pikmin is latched onto them.
• Winged Pikmin:
  • Winged Pikmin travels a significantly shorter distance with consecutive uses.
  • If Pikmin are in certain animations while using Winged Pikmin, attempting to use them for aerials will cause the attack to have no hitbox.
• Pikmin Order:
  • Olimar orders his Pikmin much sooner (frame 12 → 2).
  • Pikmin Order has less ending lag (FAF 21 → 18).
  • Olimar gains super armor sooner (frame 6 → 2), much like inBrawl. This improves its use as a defensive tool and as a combo breaker.
    • However, it also has a shorter duration (frames 6-12 → 2-7). This effectively increases the move's ending lag despite its reduced total duration.
  • Pikmin Order's whistling animation is less exaggerated. This new animation is shorter (39 frames → 33), decreasing the amount of time Olimar cannot grab the ledge after performing the move in the air.
• End of Day
  • End of Day has been drastically sped up, with the Hocotate Ship crashing onto the stage almost immediately after the move's cutscene.
    • This gives the opponent less time to avoid the explosion, especially those who areburied.
  • The explosion has less knockback scaling (140 (sweetspot)/125 (sourspot) → 120/105).

Update history[edit]

Olimar received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was noticeably nerfed overall. Update2.0.0 fixed an infamous glitch which allowed Pikmin to double the strength of the spirit multiplier, causing attacks with his Pikmin to deal massive amounts of damage under the right circumstances. However, he received a glitch in this same update that caused all of his smash attacks to no longer increase in damage while being charged. While this glitch was fixed in update3.0.0, this update also introduced another glitch that causes reflected Pikmin to inflict damage onto himself after they've returned to him, leading to the possibility of unintentional self-destructs caused by Olimar using moves that boast a great amount of KO power. The changes made to the shield mechanics in this same update also harmed him by making his smash attacks less safe on perfect shield. In addition, like with many other projectiles, his forward smash and Pikmin throw now deal less shield damage, although the amount of shieldstun went unchanged.

Update3.1.0 was, by far, the update that nerfed Olimar the most. The size of Olimar's hurtbox has been enlarged, making him easier to hit even while shielding. His forward and up smashes had their ending lag increased, with the former smash attack also having its clean hitbox harder to land due to its duration being shortened. This same update also noticeably reduced theWinged Pikmin's overall travel distance when they are used consecutively, hampering his recovery. However, update4.0.0 undid update 3.1.0.'s nerf to his clean forward smash's duration.

Like many other characters, Olimar's shield was enlarged in update7.0.0, which compensated his larger hurtbox by both fully covering him and making him less vulnerable toshield stabbing. Update8.0.0 buffedEnd of Day's KO potential and range. Prior to update 10.0.0, if Olimar tried to use an aerial attack out of Winged Pikmin after using forward smash or Pikmin Throw, the move would act as if there were no Pikmin. This bug had plagued Olimar sinceSSB4 and was finally fixed in 10.0.0, indirectly buffing Olimar. Update 12.0.0 would buff the clean hit of forward smash once again by slightly increasing its duration at the negligible cost of making its mid hit have a slightly shorter duration.

Due to Olimar's strongest traits being toned down, he fares much worse than he did at the launch ofUltimate; however, he is still considered to be a very solid and viable character despite the nerfs.

1.2.0

• Olimar has been affected, although the changes are currently unknown.

2.0.0

• Fixed a glitch where Pikmin would apply attack multipliers twice when using spirits.
• Created a glitch where smash attacks would not have their damage outputs scale when charged.

3.0.0

• Forward smash deals less shield damage (0 → -10/-7/-4.2 (Red), -7.2/-5/-3 (Yellow & Blue), -5.3/-4/-2.4 (White), -11.6/-8/-4.8 (Purple)).
• Olimar's smash attacks now properly have their damage scale when charged.
• Pikmin Throw deals less shield damage (1 → -2.5 (thrown, Purple), 0 → -1/-2.3 (latched, non-White/White), -4.5/-3.2/-3.2/-2.6/-2.5 (thrown, Red/Yellow/Blue/White), -5.2 (Pocketed Purple)).
• Introduced a self-inflicting Pikmin glitch where a reflected Pikmin causes Olimar to self-inflict damage with any move.
• End of Day no longer causes Olimar to go through the stage inSaffron City and self-destruct.

3.1.0

• Olimar has a larger hurtbox. His shield size was not compensated, making it noticeably easier toshield poke him.
• Forward smash's clean hit has a shorter duration, with the mid and late hits having a longer duration instead (non-Purple: frames 11-14 (clean)/15-20 (mid)/21-29 (late) → 11-12/13-19/20-29); Purple: 11-14/15-19/20-24 → 11-12/13-18/19-24).
• Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 43).
• Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 37 → 40).
• Due to aforementioned changes made to forward and up smashes, it is no longer possible for Olimar to self-inflict with his own reflected Pikmin using any move.
• Winged Pikmin takes twice as long to regenerate its flight time after each use.

4.0.0

• Forward smash's range has been increased when using Purple Pikmin, reverting to its pre-3.1.0 behavior.
• A glitch where pummeling the opponents would sometimes make fall out of the grab immediately has been fixed.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased, now fully covering Olimar's body again.

8.0.0

• End of Day:
  • The explosion deals more damage (12%/10% → 14%/12%) with no compensation on knockback, improving its KO potential.
  • The explosion's sweetspot consists of one extended hitbox rather than two standard ones, which is much larger (25u → 35u), although with its vertical stretch mostly compensated (Y offset: -15u/15u → -10u—10u).

10.0.0

• Fixed an issue where after usingWinged Pikmin, trying to use aerial attacks usingPikmin would not work if used after performing aforward smash orPikmin Throw.

12.0.0

• Forward smash's clean hit has a longer duration (frames 11-12 → 11-13). The mid hit was made shorter to compensate.
• Forward throw releases opponents one frame later (frame 17 → 18), effectively reducing its ending lag, but giving the opponent more time to DI.

Moveset[edit]

Blue, Yellow, Red, Purple and White Pikmin, as shown by theMove List.

• All Pikmin-based moves and grabs use the next Pikmin in the line to perform the given attack. Upon performing a move, that Pikmin goes to the back of the line. In general:
  • Red Pikmin deal more damage for attacks, but less for throws.
  • Yellow Pikmin have larger hitboxes.
  • Blue Pikmin have more damaging throws.
  • White Pikmin are very weak in attacks, but have significantly longer grab andtoss range and deal more latch damage.
  • Purple Pikmin are very strong in damage and knockback, but have very poor range and can't latch.

For a gallery of Olimar's hitboxes, seehere.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the1v1 multiplier.

Stats[edit]

Announcer calls[edit]

The announcer also calls the Pikmin in the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean versions.

Olimar[edit]

• English

• Japanese/Chinese/Korean

• French

Alph[edit]

• English

• Japanese/Chinese/Korean

• French

On-screen appearance[edit]

• Exits the Hocotate Ship and then plucks a trio of Pikmin, after which the Hocotate Ship disappears in a puff of smoke.

• 

  Olimar's on-screen appearance

Taunts[edit]

• Up taunt: Joyfully jumps in place twice.
• Side taunt:Lies down on the ground, rolls around as if basking in nature, and then gets up.
• Down taunt: Swings his hips twice.

• 

  Olimar's up taunt.

• 

  Olimar's side taunt.

• 

  Olimar's down taunt.

Idle poses[edit]

• Rubs his helmet with both hands.
• Moves his arms back and forward in a basic limber exercise.

• 

  Olimar's first idle pose.

• 

  Olimar's second idle pose.

The Pikmin also have their own set of idle animations, shared between all types. Compared to regular fighters, the Pikmin have a smaller gap between idle animations:

• Lies on their side in a lazy pose.
• Holds both of their arms up.
• Cautiously looks around them on both sides.
• Sits down.
• Holds their bud down in front of their face while rubbing their face with thier hands.

Crowd cheer[edit]

Olimar[edit]

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Olimar! Olimar! Olimar!	Pik - min! Oli - mar!	Pik - min! Oli - mar!	Oli - mar! Pik - min!	Pik - min! Oli - mar!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Pik - min! Oli - mar!	Pik - min! Oli - mar!	Pi - k - min! O - li - mar!	Pikmin! Olimar!

Alph[edit]

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Alph! Alph! Alph!	Pik - min! Al - ph!	Pik - min! *claps 2 times* Alph!	Alph! Alph! Pik - min! Alph! Alph!	Pik - min! Alph!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Pik - min! Alph!	Pik - min! Alph!	Pik - min - Pik! Alph! Alph! Alph!	Piki - min! Alph!

Victory poses[edit]

• Left: Performs a toe touching exercise while aYellow Pikmin rests on the ground and aRed Pikmin looks around, waving its arms, and occasionally jumping.
• Up: Plucks aWhite,Blue, andPurple Pikmin. The White Pikmin and Blue Pikmin bounce off Olimar's head, whereas the Purple Pikmin squashes him onto the ground. Olimar's eyes will comically bulge outward upon being squashed before his expression returns to normal, whereasAlph will comically wince upon being squashed before his expression returns to normal.
• Right: Sways in place while a Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin walk around him in a circle.

Incompetitive play[edit]

Most historically significant players[edit]

See also:Category:Olimar players (SSBU)

•  Candle - The best solo-Olimar player in the world in 2024. Aside from several high placements and victories at Midwest regionals, they have also placed highly at several majors despite infrequent appearances outside of their region, including 17th atGet On My Level X and 25th atSuper Smash Con 2023. In addition, they are known for their proficiency in theSteve matchup, having a positive record overOnin and defeatingacola at theSMFN Invitational.
•  Dabuz - The second-best Olimar player of all-time, playing him as either a co-main or secondary forRosalina & Luma, and was a top 10 player from 2019 to mid-2022. He came close to winning many majors while using Olimar, includingAlbion 4,Low Tide City 2021, andCrown 2.
•  Myran - One of the best Olimar players in the early metagame, ranking 13th on theSpring 2019 PGRU thanks to high major placements such as 2nd atPound 2019 and 3rd atFrostbite 2019. His performance has since declined following Olimar's nerfs in update 3.1.0, although he has still seen some strong runs on occasion, including 5th atGENESIS 8 and 7th atCEO 2021.
•  Noi - The second-best Olimar player in Japan, having come to prominence in the post-online metagame, playing Olimar alongsidePokémon Trainer. He regularly places highly at Japanese events, notably 9th atKagaribi 4,DELTA 4, andDELTA 5. Internationally, he made his debut by placing 13th atSuper Smash Con 2023. His beat placement was ranking 74th on theOrionRank 2022.
•  Shuton - The best Olimar player of all-time, playing him alongsidePyra andMythra, and has been a consistent top 10 player since 2019. He is the only Olimar player with major wins, most notably winning2GG: Prime Saga andEVO Japan 2020 with solo-Olimar.
•  Tsubotsubo - One of the best Olimar players in Japan in 2021 and 2022, playing him alongsideJoker. He first came to prominence in late 2021, with strong placements such as 7th atWave 2, 13th atMaesuma TOP 8, and 17th atPound 2022, ultimately ranking 91st on theOrionRank Mid-Year 2022. However, his performance had always been inconsistent, and he has yet to be ranked globally since.
•  uame - The best solo-Olimar player in Japan since 2023. He is best known for winningDELTA 7.5 andYokohama BaySmash Big 1, defeatingToriguri in the former event. Although less consistent at majors, he still notably placed 13th atSeibugeki 17 and 17th at bothKagaribi 11 andSeibugeki 15.

Tier placement and history[edit]

In the early metagame, Olimar was widely considered a contender for the best character inUltimate, alongside others likePeach andPichu. Olimar received several improvements to his moveset compared to hisSSB4 iteration, including stronger throws, a quickPikmin Pluck, and less lag on his smash attacks—especially his up smash. This, along with Olimar's increased speed, made him a more potent character both offensively and defensively. As a result of these strengths, players such asDabuz,Shuton, andMyran achieved solid results with Olimar and consistently placed in top 8 at several tournaments.

Subsequent updates, especially 3.0.0 and 3.1.0, impaired Olimar both directly and indirectly. These updates nerfed Olimar's smash attacks and made them less safe on shield, whilePikmin Throw dealt less shield damage. The nerfs led to a decline in Olimar's playerbase, with Myran's success waning and Dabuz reintroducingRosalina & Luma as a secondary. Although Shuton continued to perform well with Olimar as his sole main up and into the online metagame, he nevertheless adoptedPyra andMythra as co-mains alongside Olimar, due to the introduction of several DLC characters who became more prominent in the metagame and boasted tools to deal with Olimar. All of these events led to the perception of Olimar's viability undergoing a significant downturn, which was reflected in his placement on the first tier list; although he was ranked 28th and thus posited as a high tier, it was nevertheless a far cry from his initial, widely viewed top-tier position in the early metagame.

The post-pandemic metagame saw the rise of several new Olimar players, most notablyNoi andTsubotsubo in Japan. However, these Olimar players often had co-mains or secondaries that they also used, in this casePokémon Trainer andJoker, respectively. In addition, the new solo Olimar players, most notablyMFA andCandle, were either less consistent or had a smaller presence on a national scale. When coupled with the rise of other characters initially ranked below Olimar, the second tier list saw him slide down to 33rd, now ranking in the B+ tier as an upper mid-tier character.

Olimar's results received a boost in 2024. First, Shuton began playing Olimar more often in tournaments, and was eventually able to win his first supermajor since the early metagame by winningSeibugeki 18. In addition, Candle began attending more events outside their region, allowing them to garner a strong set of wins that includedacola andOnin, making them well-known for being proficient in the Steve matchup. With Olimar remaining a relatively popular character in competitive play in spite of his nerfs, he would rise significantly on the third tier list to 16th, now ranking towards the top of the A+ tier.

Classic Mode: Planetary Explorer[edit]

Olimar'scongratulations screen.

Olimar faces off against characters who are space travelers in their respective series.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Mario andRosalina & Luma	Mario Galaxy	Super Mario Galaxy
2	Wolf	Lylat Cruise	Star Wolf's Theme / Sector Z (for 3DS / Wii U)
3	Kirby andKing Dedede	Dream Land	Planet Popstar	This battle is a free-for-all, and Kirby and King Dedede will primarily target each other.
4	Zero Suit Samus	Brinstar	Brinstar (Melee)
5	Fox andFalco	Corneria	Corneria - Star Fox
6	Alph	Distant Planet	Garden of Hope (Remix)	If playing as Alph, the opponent will be Olimar.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand(Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand(Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher,Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Olimar hasStage Clear / Title Theme - Pikmin accompany the credits.

Role inWorld of Light[edit]

Finding Olimar in World of Light

While Olimar and Alph are both absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, they were vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (exceptKirby) whenGaleem unleashed his beams of light.

Olimar can be found in the mode by choosing to saveMarth instead ofSheik orVillager. The spirit of a magician is needed in order to enlarge some mushrooms to reach him.

As a side note, once Olimar has been rescued, Alph (due to his status as an alternate character of Olimar) will have been 'rescued' as well, resulting in him also being available as a playable character within the story.

Fighter Battle[edit]

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
40		Olimar	Grab	3,300	Distant Planet (Ω form)	Main Theme - Pikmin

Spirits[edit]

Olimar's fighter spirit can be obtained by completingClassic Mode as him. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Olimar has been unlocked. Unlocking Olimar in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Alph has a fighter spirit of his own, only available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork inUltimate.

Each type of Pikmin that Olimar utilizes in his moveset also possess a spirit of their own, as either primary or support spirits.

In Spirit Battles[edit]

As the main opponent[edit]

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
801		Charlie	Pikmin Series	•Alph		1,200	Garden of Hope (Battlefield form)	•Slippery Stage	•Reinforcements will appear during the battle •The stage's platforms are very slippery •The enemy starts the battle with aDrill	Mission Mode - Pikmin 3	Captain Charlie (Green Alph) Brittany (Pink Alph) Alph (Default Alph)
802		Brittany	Pikmin Series	•Alph		9,600	Garden of Hope (Battlefield form)	•Item Tidal Wave •Item:Food	•Timed battle (2:00) •The enemy becomes more powerful after eating •Items will be pulled toward the enemy	Garden of Hope (Remix)
1,188		Li'l Blue	Nonono Puzzle Chalien	•Alph		1,600	Hanenbow	•Hazard: Low Gravity	•Gravity is reduced	Electroplankton (Remix)

As a minion[edit]

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
1,517		Oatchi	Pikmin Series	•GiantKirby •Alph		8,800	Distant Planet (Ω form)	•Item:Hocotate Bomb	•The enemy favors dash attacks •The enemy can deal damage by dashing into you	Garden of Hope (Original)	Pikmin 4 player character

As an ally[edit]

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
821		Mockiwi	Pikmin Series	•GiantPac-Man (100 HP) •Ally:Olimar (50 HP)		1,500	Garden of Hope	N/A	•Join forces with a CPU ally •Stamina battle •The enemy is giant	Over Wintry Mountains	Captain Olimar

Alternate costumes[edit]

Instead of alternate color schemes, half of Olimar'salternate costumes consist ofAlph, one of the three mainleaders fromPikmin 3.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Olimar's fighter card.

• 

  Olimar's unlock notice.

• 

  Olimar using his forward smash onThe Great Cave Offensive.

• 

  WithMario,Pac-Man, andSonic onGaur Plain.

• 

  Ascending withWinged Pikmin in his red costume with Alph onWuhu Island.

• 

  Ascending with Winged Pikmin onKongo Falls.

• 

  Idling withLuigi onDistant Planet.

• 

  TheRed,Yellow,Blue,White, andPurple Pikmin on Distant Planet.

• 

  Pikmin withMewtwo onOnett.

• 

  Pikmin with theMii Fighters onFind Mii.

• 

  A shrunken Olimar being held by Pac-Man on Distant Planet.

• 

  A Red Pikmin withRichter on Distant Planet.

• 

  Olimar getting attacked by the fish onSummit.

• 

  In his green costume onTemple.

Fighter Showcase Video[edit]

Trivia[edit]

• During theofficialUltimate website's launch on June 12th, 2018, Olimar's name waserroneously labeled as "OLIMER" in English variants of his fighter page. The typo was later corrected.
• The part of Olimar's showcase trailer where Alph crouches next to a prone Olimar is a reference to a scene inPikmin 3 after Alph initially rescues Olimar from theMysterious Life-Form.
• InWorld of Light, Olimar and theMii Fighters will never be spawned as afalse character in battles withGaleem andDharkon. WhileKirby will also not appear, he was never initially imprisoned in the first place, unlike the other fighters.
  • Similarly, Olimar never appears in a single spirit battle in World of Light because Alph is used instead.
• Olimar's helmet can be detached under certain circumstances. This is particularly noticeable duringGates of Hell's animation if the game is slowed down.
• As of update 2.0.0, if Olimar's Pikmin latch onto something and it changes size with them still latched on, they will change their size too. This is most noticeable with Mother Brain, though Super and Poison Mushrooms will also do this as long as they are applied by the character the Pikmin are latched onto.

v • d • e Pikmin universe
Fighter	Olimar (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) (Pikmin) (Alph)
Assist Trophy	Burrowing Snagret
Stages	Distant Planet ·Garden of Hope
Item	Hocotate Bomb
Enemies	Bulborb ·Iridescent Glint Beetle
Other	Hocotate Ship ·Peckish Aristocrab ·Pellet ·Plasm Wraith ·Yellow Wollywog
Trophies,Stickers andSpirits	Trophies (SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits
Music	Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate

• Characters (SSBU)
• Pikmin universe
• Olimar (SSBU)
• Spirits