It additionally appears in various, spin-off titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise, and has been featured in several forms of merchandise, including figurines, plush toys, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

[3] In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon.

[8] Lucario is a canid-like Pokémon that is considered to be partly based on Anubis,[9] the jackal-headed god of embalming from Egyptian mythology that is a bipedal digitigrade with finger-like digits on its forepaws.

Lucario also has a large snout and ears, red irises with vertical slit pupils, an "hourglass"-shaped figure with 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.

[24][25] Lucario's fighting style revolves around a mixture of martial arts, including Shaolin Kung Fu, and Aura manipulation.

[32] Lucario has been featured in several forms of merchandise, including figurines, plush toys, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Copies of Pokémon White sold at Target stores, including a promotional code to acquire Lucario early in the game.

[34] Lucario has also been a part of the third wave of amiibo, with its figure released on January 22, 2015, in Japan, and as a Toys "R" Us-exclusive beginning in February 2015 in North America.

[42] Patricia Hernandez, in an examination of the furry fandom, stated Lucario was the most popular Pokémon for the subset dedicated to the franchise's characters.

"[49] Ryan Woodrow in an article for Sports Illustrated noted that while Nintendo heavily pushed the species, he acknowledged its "brilliant design", calling it a "nice blend of the humanoid body but animalistic features that stop it from feeling uncanny", and adding that the lore around the species' abilities gave them an "anime-protagonist" mystery element.

He further cited various elements as responsible for their popularity, namely their anthropomorphized appearance, the impact of their debut film, color scheme, and mix of "Jackal and Egyptian Boxer" aesthetic created a "perfect storm" of a design.

He further added that while he was fascinated by how easily the species could fit into the Digimon franchise, and felt they were overrated, "in the end, it is a near perfect design.

"[51] While sources such as Paste and Den of Geek voiced praise for Lucario particularly for its appearance in Smash Bros.,[52][53] Isaiah McCall of The Gamer heavily criticized it.

Noting that while Nintendo's frequent use of the species had made it a "fan-favorite", he felt it was too similar to another Pokémon, Mewtwo, and deemed it to be an inferior copy of it.

"[54] In an article for USgamer, Nadia Oxford acknowledged this sentiment, but argued its unique design and traits helped it stand apart from Mewtwo, leaving it "not lacking for fans".