Lucario is a bipedal, canine-like Pokémon with predominantly blue and black fur. It possesses a short, round spike on the back of each forepaw, in addition to a third on its chest. It has red eyes, a long snout, and ears. When its mouth is open, two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower, can be seen. It possesses cream-colored fur on its torso and blue fur on its thighs that resemble shorts. It has a medium-length tail of the same blue color as well. It stands on its toes rather than on its entire foot. It has developed four black appendages that hang down from its head, which rise when Lucario reads or manipulates aura, a special energy that it senses. Lucario can use its powers to create a staff in form a bone and use it to fight.
Lucario can study auras to predict the movements of its opponents and track their quarry. With sufficient training, a Lucario can read auras to understand how living beings are feeling from more than half a mile (1 kilometer) away. However, it sometimes ends up learning information that it would not like to know, causing it to get stressed out easily. It also has the power to manipulate this energy in an offensive manner, in the form of explosive spheres of energy. Lucario can understand human speech and has been reported to communicate with humans through telepathy.