Ichiban (SSBU)

This article is about Ichiban's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Ichiban Kasuga.

Ichiban in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
DefaultHawaiian OutfitHero
Universe	Yakuza
Availability	Not yet released
Final Smash	Essence of Full Swing

Ichiban (春日 一番, Kasuga Ichiban) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the first fighter from the Yakuza series.

Kaiji Tang voices Ichiban in English, while in Japanese he is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya, both of whom are reprising their roles from Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth via reused voice clips from said games.

Moveset

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		—	3%	A three hit combo with his bat. The first hit is an overhead swing, followed by two swings side to side.
			3%
			4%
Forward tilt		—	10.9%	A simple overhead swing with his bat.
Up tilt		—	10.4%	Swings upward with his bat. Can combo into itself or aerials at low percentages, and is useful for juggling.
Down tilt		—	7%	A baseball slide. His legs are intangible while the hitbox is active, and it will sometimes deal less damage if landed early. It has very quick startup, propels Ichiban a good distance forward, launches opponents vertically, and significantly lowers his hurtbox. Altogether, these traits make it useful as an approach and punishment option.
Dash attack		—	10%	Steps forward, swinging his bat upwards as he does so. Sends opponents at a low angle, making it potentially useful for setting up a combo into tilts or smash attacks.
Forward smash		—	15%	Grips his bat with both hands and swings it forward while it glows with light blue energy.
Up smash		—	1% (scooping hit), 15.3% (beam of light)	Thrusts his bat upwards to the sky, causing a large beam of blue light to shoot out from it and extend into the sky. Has an initial hitbox that scoops opponents up into the beam of light for easier connection.
Down smash		—	12.5% (first hit), 14.1% (second hit)	Swings his bat in front of him, and then turns around and swings his bat to the other side. The second hit is the stronger of the two, dealing slightly more damage and knockback.
Neutral aerial		—	3%	Does a front flip, holding his bat in front of him as he does so to deal damage to opponents.
Forward aerial		—	9%	Sticks both of his legs out in front of him as if doing a drop kick. His legs glow with blue energy as he does so.
Back aerial		—	10%	Winds up and then swings his bat behind him, performing a 360-degree horizontal spin.
Up aerial		—	7.6%	Swings his bat over his head. Has quick start up, making it a useful tool for aerial combos.
Down aerial		—	16%	Winds up and then swings his bat directly beneath him with substantial force. Spikes opponents rather easily.
Grab			—	Reaches forward with the hand not holding his bat.
Pummel			1.6%	Headbutts the opponent. Somewhat slow, but slightly more powerful than the average pummel.
Forward throw			8%	Spins around with the opponent still in his hands, and then tosses them forward roughly.
Back throw			12%	Turns around to face behind him, then picks the opponent up and slams them against his knee.
Up throw			9%	Jumps forward slightly, then headbutts the opponent. This throw has more endlag than the rest of Ichiban's throws, as he takes a moment to recover from the pain of the headbutt afterwards.
Down throw			9%	Turns to face the opposite direction, then suplexes the opponent, sending them in the direction Ichiban was initially facing.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack Edge getups
Neutral special		Hero Skills / Full Swing	N/A (Hero Skills), 12% (Full Swing)	On the ground, a menu of four skills appears above Ichiban's head. Pressing the control stick in one of four directions will activate the skill associated with that direction, providing Ichiban with a buff to his stats. Each skill lasts for 15 seconds (except for Hero's Healing), and upon running out, is placed on a 60 second cooldown before it can be used again. If the player does not wish to cast a skill, this move can be cancelled with the shield button. If Ichiban is KO'd, all currently active buffs are removed, and all cooldowns are reset. If Ichiban is interrupted before the skill is actually cast, the skill he attempted to use is not placed on cooldown. ↑: Hero's Encouragement - Increases the damage and knockback of all of Ichiban's moves. ←: Hero's Flair - Increases Ichiban's defense and knockback resistance. →: Hero's Wisdom - Increases the chance for Ichiban's smash attacks to result in a critical hit. ↓: Hero's Healing - Heals Ichiban by 20%. In the air, Ichiban spins rapidly while holding his bat out, becoming surrounded by a blue tornado as he ascends slightly into the air. The play can hold left or right on the control stick to control his movement, and if the control stick is held down, Ichiban will move downwards instead. This move can only be used once per airtime, and does not put Ichiban in free-fall.
Side special		Tornado Liner	0.5% (Running hits) / 3% (Finishing hit 1) / 9.5% (finishing hit 2)	Ichiban dashes forward while spinning his bat in his hand, with both him and the bat covered in blue energy the whole time. At the end of the move, Ichiban swings his bat in front of him twice, with the second hit launching opponents away. By default, this move does not move Ichiban forward very much, but the player can hold the special button to make Ichiban continuing running for an additional few seconds. At its max duration, this move causes Ichiban to run about 3/4ths of the way across Final Destination.
Up special		Buster Geyser	6% (initial hit) / 17 % (finishing hit)	Ichiban swings his bat and leaps up into the air, surrounded by a blue aura. Upon reaching the peak of his jump, he pauses in midair for a moment before travelling quickly back down to the ground, holding his bat beneath him and embedding it in the ground as he lands, causing a large blue explosion to surround him. The finishing hit is very powerful, and is a great tool for scoring early KOs against opponents.
Down special		Bat Breaker	1.35x	Ichiban confidently strides forward, twirling his bat in his hand as he does so. If hit during this state, Ichiban will counter the opponent by crouching down and swinging his bat at them. The power of the counterattack scales with the strength of the attack blocked.
Final Smash		Essence of Full Swing	7% (initial hit) / 36% (finishing hit) / 31% (projectile)	The camera zooms in on Ichiban as he covers his bat with glowing blue energy, and the words "Essence of Full Swing" appear in front of him. After this initial cutscene, Ichiban dashes forward, spinning while covered in a blue tornado in a similar fashion to his aerial neutral special. If he makes contact with anyone in this state, the camera zooms in on him as he leaps up into the air, then slams his bat onto the ground. He then spins around and swings his bat to the side, creating a large cross shaped projectile in front of him. The camera repeats this final shot at various angles before the projectile is sent forward, launching the opponent away. The bulk of the Final Smash can only hit a single opponent, but the projectile Ichiban creates can hit additional opponents not involved in the rest of the attack.

Alternate costumes

Red	Based on his appearance in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth while in Japan.
Hawaiian Red	Based on his appearance while overseas in Hawaii in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Grey	Based on Kazuma Kiryu, the previous protagonist of the Yakuza series and occasional ally to Ichiban.
Hawaiian Purple	Based on Eric Tomizawa, one of Ichiban's party members from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Black	Based on Goro Majima, presumably from his appearance in Yakuza 0. Ichiban has a similar DLC outfit in Yakuza: Like a Dragon bundled in the Ultimate Costumes Set.
Hawaiian Green	Based on Yu Nanba, one of Ichiban's party members from Yakuza: Like a Dragon. While he appears in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, he is not one of Ichiban's permanent party members in that game.
Beige	Based on Ryuji Goda, a high-ranking member of the Omi Alliance and the "Dragon of Kansai" from Yakuza 2 and its remake Yakuza Kiwami 2. Ichiban has a similar DLC outfit in Yakuza: Like a Dragon bundled in the Ultimate Costumes Set.
Hawaiian Blue	Based on Kazuma Kiryu's remastered Okinawa attire from Yakuza Kiwami 3.
Armor	A suit of armor Ichiban imagines himself wearing when he is imagining himself as a traditional JRPG hero like one might find in the Dragon Quest series.