{"id":379636,"date":"2026-10-02T02:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/?p=379636"},"modified":"2026-10-02T02:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:48:15","slug":"super-smash-bros-brawl-why-lucario-was-seen-as-mewtwos-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/super-smash-bros-brawl-why-lucario-was-seen-as-mewtwos-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Smash Bros. Brawl: why Lucario was seen as Mewtwo\u2019s replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Nintendo released Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii in 2008, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/the-urban-legends-about-mew-how-popular-culture-fooled-hundreds-of-pokemon-players\" rel=\"noopener\">Mewtwo<\/a><\/strong> , who&#8217;d been in Super Smash Bros. Melee, was gone. Lucario became the new marquee Pok\u00e9mon fighter instead. Nintendo never officially said Lucario was a direct replacement, but a lot of players saw it that way anyway. The timing matched up, both characters filled that serious humanoid lane, and the Shadow Ball versus Aura Sphere comparison was obvious enough that people kept making it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Super Smash Flash 2\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-s\/p\/e1783b80-ffa6-11e7-9063-02420a000a0b\/2514514939\/super-smash-flash-2-icon.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Super Smash Flash 2<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/super-smash-flash-2.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/super-smash-flash-2.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wasn&#8217;t hard to see why that hit <strong>a nerve<\/strong>. Mewtwo was already one of Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s defining faces: a Generation 1 Legendary created from Mew\u2019s DNA, with a tragic backstory that carried over into the games, the anime, the movies, and the trading cards. Lucario made perfect sense as Brawl\u2019s Diamond and Pearl-era addition, but many fans still felt like it had stepped into Mewtwo\u2019s old spot. If you paid any attention to Smash roster arguments at the time, this became one of the biggest Pok\u00e9mon controversies the series had.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That reaction stuck around for years, even though <strong>Mewtwo was never<\/strong> a dominant tournament pick in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For a lot of fans, this had less to do with tier lists and more to do with losing an icon. Reports tied to Super Smash Bros. Brawl datamines only added to that reading: files pointed to a late cut, with Mewtwo-related effects, victory music, sound files, and even Wii Remote selection data hinting at time pressure rather than a simple one-for-one swap. Mewtwo finally returned as DLC in 2015 in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and later joined the base roster in <a href=\"https:\/\/super-smash-bros-ultimate.en.softonic.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Super Smash Bros. Ultimate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Dolphin Emulator\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-icon-s\/p\/8ddb70b6-a82c-4b5d-a668-400d3c4097f3\/3005452743\/dolphin-emulator-icon.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Dolphin Emulator<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/dolphin-emulator.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/dolphin-emulator.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Nintendo released Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii in 2008, Mewtwo , who&#8217;d been in Super Smash Bros. Melee, was gone. Lucario became the new marquee Pok\u00e9mon fighter instead. Nintendo never officially said Lucario was a direct replacement, but a lot of players saw it that way anyway. The timing matched up, both characters &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/super-smash-bros-brawl-why-lucario-was-seen-as-mewtwos-replacement\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Super Smash Bros. Brawl: why Lucario was seen as Mewtwo\u2019s replacement&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9352,"featured_media":379635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[6869],"class_list":["post-379636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","content-category-streaming-videos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379637,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379636\/revisions\/379637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379636"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=379636"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=379636"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=379636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}