Concept and creation
The design and art direction for Lucario was provided by Ken Sugimori, a friend of the creator of the Pokémon (video game series), ''Pokémon'' games, Satoshi Tajiri. In an interview, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, ''Pokémon Diamond'' and ''Pearl'' director Junichi Masuda noted Lucario's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences. Lucario is a Canidae, canid-like List of Pokémon, Pokémon partly based on Anubis, the jackalheaded god of death from Egyptian mythology that is a bipedal digitigrade with finger-like digits on its forepaws. Its chest and the exterior of its wrists each feature a single, white spike. It also has a large snout and ears, red irises with vertical slit pupils, an "hourglass"-shaped figure with leering thighs significantly thicker than the rest of its body, iron rings incorporated into its shoulders and waist, and a raccoon's "mask" that loosely resembles a khakkhara with four small dreadlock-like appendages on the back of its head that are used to sense Aura. The coloration of Lucario's fur is predominantly blue and black, although its torso features Buff (colour), buff-colored fur slightly shaggier than the rest of its body. When it opens its mouth wide enough, sharp fangs can be seen.Appearances
In the video games
Lucario's debut and video game appearance is in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team'' and ''Red Rescue Team'', though it only appears as a Statue Cameo when the player gets 15,000 points and the Lucario rank (the highest rank in the game). It then appeared in ''Pokémon Diamond'' and ''Pearl'', where its pre-evolved form, Riolu, can be obtained as an egg from Riley (Pokémon), Riley. Riolu evolves into Lucario when it reaches a sufficiently high level of Happiness (Pokémon), happiness. Lucario is used by notable trainers Maylene (Pokémon), Maylene, the third Sinnoh Gym Leader; a tag team partner known as Riley; Cynthia (Pokémon), Cynthia, Sinnoh's Elite Four Champion; and by Bruno (Pokémon), Bruno, an Elite Four member of Johto. In ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' Lucario is perceived as the greatest rescue leader of all time, and his adventures have become legendary. After reaching a certain number of points, a Lucario statue will be displayed outside the rescue base. While the player never meets Lucario, Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam, Alakazam tells the player that his goal is to become closer to Lucario's greatness. Lucario can be found and befriended in Lost Wilderness dungeon in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time'' Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, and ''Darkness'''','' but it has no particular main role. However, in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky'' and ''Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon'', its pre-evolution form Riolu may be played as the main character or be chosen as the partner Pokémon. Lucario appears as a boss (video game), boss Pokémon in ''Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia'', as the guardian of the Blue Gem. Lucario is one of the few Pokémon in Pokémon X and Y, ''Pokémon X'' and ''Y'' that can use the new Mega Evolution mechanic. While holding Lucarionite, its Mega Stone, it can Mega Evolve into Mega Lucario during battle. Lucario also appears as an NPC in ''PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure'' and its sequel, ''PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond''. Due to an unintentional leak on Nintendo's official ''Super Smash Bros.'' website, which detailed how certain stickers could only be applied to certain characters, Lucario was indirectly confirmed as a playable character for ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. In ''Brawl'', Lucario is unlocked upon being encountered in the story mode at The Glacial Peak, or through other special means.Smash Bros. DOJO!! http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/characters/hidden06.html Lucario's special moveset consists of Aura Sphere, Force Palm, ExtremeSpeed, and Double Team, each of which it can learn within the ''Pokémon'' games. Its "Final Smash", Aura Storm, consists of launching a powerful beam of Aura, which the player can adjust in a slow, fanning motion. Lucario's fighting style revolves around a mixture of martial arts, predominately Shaolin Kung Fu, and Aura manipulation. Aura itself is also a game mechanic unique to Lucario: its attacks become stronger as it continues to receive damage. Lucario returned as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' and ''Wii U'' and again in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', now being voiced by Sean Schemmel as in ''Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew''. Additionally, its Aura mechanic now affects the entirety of its moveset and has made Lucario's attacks riskier, yet more rewarding, due to the mechanic's damage multipliers being adjusted. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' and ''Wii U'', Lucario's Mega Evolution, Mega Lucario, replaced Aura Storm as its Final Smash, reflecting the form change introduced in ''Pokémon X'' and ''Y''. In ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', its Final Smash consists of it Mega Evolving into Mega Lucario before performing Aura Storm. In addition to the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, Lucario appears as a playable character in ''Pokkén Tournament'', ''Pokémon Go'', ''New Pokémon Snap'' and ''Pokémon Unite''. He also appears as a usable Pokémon in Pokémon Masters as the personal partner of List of Pokémon characters#Korrina, Korrina. In the game, the player gets access to using Korrina as they progress through the story, with her Lucario being able to Mega Evolve. When the 6-Star EX rarity was introduced, Korrina was one of the very first characters to able to be raised to 6-Star EX, which lets her Sync Move target all opponents, and makes her clothes blue to match her Lucario. Then, during the game’s third year anniversary event, Cynthia got a new alt with a Lucario called Sygna Suit Aura Cynthia, who is a Fighting Support Sync Pair that released alongside Sygna Suit Thunderbolt Red’s Pikachu and Ash Ketchum’s Pikachu to introduce the concept of Buddy Moves, which are special moves that only be used when specific things happen in battle. For Cynthia, if her Lucario is hit by three attacks, she can use B Aura Sphere, which provides plenty of buffs after use. Just like Korrina’s Lucario, Cynthia’s can also Mega Evolve.In anime
Lucario's main role in the anime is his appearance in the eighth Pokémon movie, ''Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew''. In the movie, Lucario is a servant to a nobleman named Sir Aaron in a Renaissance-themed city called Cameron Palace. Lucario thinks of Sir Aaron as both his master and close friend, although after Aaron traps him in a magic staff, Lucario begins questioning any Pokémon-human relationship. The Lucario in the movie, voiced in English by Sean Schemmel, can speak human languages with telepathy. Lucario sacrifices himself to save the Tree of Beginning, though the credits showed him with Sir Aaron in the afterlife, where they happily eat a chocolate bar. Maylene (Pokémon), Maylene, the third Sinnoh Gym Leader, has a Lucario and it was seen in four different episodes of the ''List of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension episodes, Diamond and Pearl: Battle Dimension'' series. It was first seen battling with Maylene in their training. Lucario uses Aura Sphere to stop the battle of Electabuzz, Piplup, and Pikachu, and is seen battling Paul (Pokémon), Paul's Pokémon in a flashback. Lucario was seen again where it battles in Dawn (Pokémon), Dawn's gym battle with Maylene, where it defeats Dawn's Piplup. Then, in the next episode, it battles in Ash Ketchum, Ash's gym battle against Maylene. It defeats Ash's Staravia and Chimchar, but gets knocked out along with Ash's Buizel, resulting in a tie. Finally, Lucario was seen when it helps Ash and the others defeat Saturn and Team Galactic. A different Lucario appears on Iron Island, owned by a trainer named Riley (Pokémon), Riley. Lucario protects Ash from Pokémon on the island that are fighting against each other. In the Black and White series, during the Unova League, a trainer named Cameron had his Riolu evolve into Lucario and easily pulverized Ash's Snivy and Pikachu winning Cameron the match, despite bringing only five Pokémon into battle (His Riolu turned Lucario being the last member of his team, after Hydreigon, Samurott, Ferrothorn, and Swanna). Cameron did use his Lucario against Virgil only for it to lose to Virgil's Flareon, because of Lucario's weakness to Fire-types and Cameron's poor strategy. In the XY series, Ash meets Korrina, the Fighting-type Gym Leader, who owns a Lucario capable of Mega-Evolution. However, because Korrina acted arrogant and failed to notice that her Lucario was too obsessed with battle, it goes berserk whenever Lucario goes into its Mega-evolved form. As a result, Korrina and Lucario have to train under Mabel and her Mega-Mawile in order to learn to be in sync with each other through floral designs. Korrina was later successful in calming Lucario's rage; she used it in battle against Ash for the third Kalos Gym badge but lost. In the Journeys series, Korrina used her Mega-Lucario against Ash in the Battle Festival only to again lose to him and his newly obtained Dragonite. In Sun and Moon series, Professor Kukui/Masked Royal was revealed to own a Lucario to help drive back the three Guzzlord that were attacking Alola, shortly after Ash was crowned Champion of Alola. Kukui later used Lucario in his full exhibition match against Ash only to lose to Ash's Naganadel. In Pokémon Journeys, Ash was able to obtain a Lucario himself when his Riolu evolved to fight against and defeat Chairman Rose's Ferrothorn and Copperajah. Ash later gets his Keystone from Korrina and heads to Mega Island to obtain a Lucarionite. He was able to succeed in Mega-evolving his Lucario and used it to knock out Bea's Gigantamax Machamp.In other media
In the ''Pokémon Adventures'' manga, like in games, it appears under the ownership of Riley (Pokémon), Riley who was on a boat heading to the Battle Frontier. Diamond (Pokémon), Diamond meets Riley at Iron Island, and Byron (Pokémon), Byron asks Riley to help Diamond sharpen his Pokémon battle skills before Diamond goes to Lake Verity. In ''Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!'' the main character, Hareta, gains an egg from Riley which hatches into a Riolu; it later evolves into Lucario. ''Phantom Thief Pokémon 7'' is centered on a boy and his Lucario who take back stolen items from thieves. The name Lucario itself appeared also in the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team'' Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, and ''Red Rescue Team'' saga where, after the end of the main scenario, the player can talk to Alakazam who tells them the story of a Lucario being a legendary Pokémon rescuer.Reception
Since it appeared in the ''Pokémon'' series, Lucario has received universal acclaim from critics. Beckett Media, Beckett ''Pokémon'' Unofficial Collector editor Sean Cooper stated that Lucario had grown popular in recent years due to its starring role in ''Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'' and its appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''. Kevin Slackie of ''Paste (magazine), Paste'' listed Lucario as the 29th best Pokémon. ''Official Nintendo Magazine'' writer Thomas East included it in his list of some of the coolest Pokémon, further stating that it also happens to be one of the very best-looking Pokémon. ''GamesRadar'' described it as "the Bruce Lee of Pokémon". ''IGN'' readers voted Lucario as the ninth-best Pokémon. Dale Bishir of ''IGN'' described Lucario as the most important Pokémon that impacted the franchise's history, and further stated that it rose through popularity to become one of the most beloved Pokémon of all time, who also made it into ''Super Smash Bros.'' and was heavily featured in its own movie, ''Lucario and the Mystery of Mew''. Steven Bogos of ''The Escapist (magazine), The Escapist'' listed Lucario as tenth of their favorite Pokémon, describing it as one of the most recognizable faces of the franchise. ''International Business Times'' cited Lucario as an example of best Pokémon design in Generation IV. CJ Andriessen of ''Destructoid'' ranked Lucario as 39th at his list on ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' characters, stating that "He’s actually my favorite Pokémon to play as in Smash, but compared to the other Pokémon games represented on this list, the Diamond and Pearl duo is probably the least exciting and inventive of the bunch." UGO described Lucario as "a new breed of Pokémon" citing its "cooler, more dangerous look". ''IGN'' called its presence in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' "a bit on the head scratching side" in light of more familiar characters in the title, such as Pikachu. On the other hand, another ''IGN'' editor stated that it made sense for the franchise to be represented by a Fighting-type Pokémon, since ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a fighting game. ''Game Informer'' stated that Lucario earned its spot in ''Super Smash Bros.'' from being one of the most popular Pokémon in ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl''. In the ''Pokémon of the Year'' poll held by The Pokémon Company, Lucario was voted the most popular Pokémon from ''Diamond'' and ''Pearl'', receiving 102,259 votes. It was also the second-most popular Pokémon overall. Jeremy Parish of Polygon (website), Polygon ranked 73 fighters from ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' "from garbage to glorious", listing Lucario as 34th. Gavin Jasper of ''Den of Geek'' ranked Lucario as 43rd of ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' characters, criticizing the character that it only belongs to a fight.Merchandise
Lucario has been featured in several forms of merchandise, including figurines, plush toys, and the ''Pokémon Trading Card Game''. Lucario has also been a part of the third wave of amiibo, with its figure having been released on January 22, 2015, in Japan, and as a Toys "R" Us-exclusive beginning in February 2015 in North America. Nanoblock kits, and gallery figures have been also made.Lucario Tech
Lucario tech references the different mechanics and movements Lucario can do in the game of Super Smash Bros Ultimate.References
External links