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Ken and Incineroar join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Thursday's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct began with the final two new character reveals.

Ozzie Mejia

November 1, 2018 7:09 AM

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Thursday morning's Super Smash Bros. Direct began in grand fashion with the latest character to hit the game. And it was a surprise to say the least, as Ryu's no longer the only Street Fighter representative to hit the franchise. Ken is joining him, with his own arsenal of moves from the series. He will act as an Echo Fighter for Ryu.

But Ken's not the only brawler hitting the game. He was soon joined by a new Pokemon character, Incineroar, the final evolved form of Litten. He will act as his own character. Sakurai noted during the character reveals that this Pokemon will act as the final new character addition.

Ken's arsenal is based on his move set from Super Street Fighter II Turbo. That means his Heavy Shoryuken will set foes ablaze, while his Hadoken is slightly smaller and his Tatsumaki Senpukyaku can chain for multiple hits. He's slightly faster than Ryu and incorporates more kicks into his basic attacks. The other big difference is his Final Smash. Like Ryu, he's got two of them, but Ken's Final Smashes are the Shinryuken fire tornado and (when performed up close) the Shippu Jinraikyaku kick barrage.

Incineroar brings along a pro wrestling aesthetic. That means his grabs have some extra power to them. He's a show-off and will pose after successful attacks, so be sure to cancel out of those. Here are Incineroar's moves:

• Darkest Lariat (B): This is Incineroar's tornado clothesline move, taking inspiration from similar grappler characters like Zangief.
• Cross Chop (Up + B): Cross Chop sees Incineroar take to the skies and come down in a blaze of fire. It's also totally out of control, so if it whiffs, there's a good chance you'll rocket right off the stage.
• Irish Whip (Side + B): Incineroar whips his opponent into the ropes, with a set of ropes helpfully materializing. This requires a follow-up input, meaning it's possible to perform a powerful lariat, hit the opponent with a back body drop, or whiff entirely.
• Revenge (Down + B): Depending on how much damage Incineroar has taken, Revenge will allow him to power up his next move significantly.
• Max Malicious Moonsault (Final Smash): Incineroar brings along his Z-Move from the Pokemon games and hits his opponent with a barrage of moves, culminating with a powerful splash.

That brings the final character count to 74 (76 if Pokemon Trainer is counted as three characters). Looking for more information on today's Smash Direct? Be sure to check out our full recap.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?