Editing Captain Falcon (PM)

{{ArticleIcons|pm=y|p+=y}}

|name = Captain Falcon

|image = {{tabber|title1=Modern (PM)|content1=[[File:Captain Falcon SSBB.jpg|250px]]|title2=Modern (P+)|content2=[[File:PPlus Captain Falcon.png|250px]]|title3=Retro|content3=[[File:Retro Captain Falcon PM.png|250px]]|title4=Super Falcon (P+)|content4=[[File:PPlus Super Falcon.png|250px]]}}

|mod = Project M

|base = SSBB

|moveset1 = Captain Falcon (SSBM)

|altcostume = Retro Falcon, Super Falcon (''[[Project+]]'')

'''Captain Falcon''' is a playable character in the ''[[Brawl]]'' mod ''[[Project M]]''. He was remade to be nearly identical to his ''Melee'' counterpart in terms of attack hitboxes and animations.

 

Captain Falcon is currently ranked 9th out of 41 on the [[Project_M#Tier_list|official tier list]], placing him in the top portion of the A- tier. This is a marginal drop of his 6th place out of 26 in ''Melee'', and a drastic improvement over his 34th place out of 38 in ''Brawl''. He retains this placement in the official ''Project+'' {{h2|Project+|tier list}}, now at the bottom of the A+ tier.

Captain Falcon had the reputation of being one of the worst ''Brawl'' characters in spite of his speed and power, as ''Brawl''{{'}}s physics crippled him and resulted in a massive drop in his tier position. Because of this, he has been reverted back to his ''Melee'' incarnation, while retaining a few buffs from his ''Brawl'' iteration. Since ''Project M'' returns to the physics of ''Melee'', Captain Falcon's combo abilities are once again efficient, as the removal of [[hitstun canceling]] no longer allows opponents to air dodge like they could in ''Brawl''. Additionally, the [[Knee Smash]], his main finisher in ''Melee'', is once again as easy to sweetspot as it was in ''Melee''. Captain Falcon also benefits from the normalization of [[sidestep]]s; it was lackluster in ''Melee'', but since all sidesteps were made to be roughly the same in terms of frame data in ''Project M'', he is no longer as susceptible to pressure. However, Captain Falcon can still be considered a glass cannon because his high falling speed hinders his already poor recovery and makes him susceptible to combos and gimps.

 

Captain Falcon fares slightly better in ''Project M'' than he did in ''Melee'' partially due to the small buffs he's received, but also partially due to the addition of many more semi-floaty characters that Falcon can easily overwhelm and combo, leading him to have good matchups against a majority of the new characters. The expanded stage list, which allows for stage bans even in best of 5 sets, also allows Captain Falcon players to avoid being hard counterpicked to his worst stage in ''Melee'', [[Fountain of Dreams]]. In addition, metagame shifts have been favorable to him. Arguably his worst matchup in ''Melee'', {{SSBM|Falco}}, has been slightly nerfed and has worse matchups against the new characters, causing him to be used less often. Other characters from ''Melee'' that were difficult to handle have also been nerfed, bringing Falcon's matchups against them closer to even. Due to these factors, Falcon is acknowledged to be better relative to the cast than he was in previous games.

 

==Changes from ''Melee'', ''Brawl'' to PM==

Captain Falcon was mostly reverted to his ''Melee'' version while keeping a minority of improvements from ''Brawl''.

 

*{{change|Up and down taunts have switched positions. When using down taunt, he now also utters a soft "Yes!" This is an otherwise unused voice clip from ''Brawl''{{'}}s sound test.}}

 

*{{buff|Captain Falcon is the character most affected by ''Project M''{{'}}s dashing changes; he no longer has a more exaggerated delay before his initial dash animation than every other character (particularly when starting the dash in the opposite direction that he is facing), allowing for much easier dashing jumps than in ''Melee''.}}

*{{buff|Captain Falcon's soft landing is 1 frame faster (4 frames → 3).}}

 

*{{buff|[[Gentleman]] (the third hit of [[neutral attack]]) is now always separated from the rapid punches, just like in the PAL version of ''Melee''. While there is still a big window of time where pressing the attack button results in the punches, it can be avoided by [[jab cancel]]ing. On whiff, the jab combo has to be slightly delayed to avoid using the jabs.}}

*{{change|The first input of neutral attack has more base knockback (0 → 1).}}

 

*{{change|Connecting with a sweetspotted [[Knee Smash]] (forward aerial) when a [[taunt]] input is held results in Falcon exclaiming "Yes!", like with Falcon Dive.}}

 

*{{buff|[[Falcon Punch]] retains its reversible ability and startup from ''Brawl''. It can now be reversed up to 4 times, receiving a 1% damage bonus per reverse after the first one.}}

*{{buff|Aerial [[Raptor Boost]] propels Captain Falcon with forward momentum if it lands, and retains its ability to [[edge sweetspot]] from ''Brawl''. When used towards an edge from the ground, Captain Falcon now goes into the ending animation instead of instantly becoming helpless, allowing him to still grab the edge and come back to the stage. Landing lag for a successfully connected aerial Raptor Boost has been lowered to match that of a missed aerial Raptor Boost.}}

*{{buff|[[Falcon Kick]] is reversible, and has less endlag. Its lingering hitboxes also have much more favorable angles, making the move safer.}}

*{{nerf|Dash attack can slip off edges like in ''Melee''.}}

*{{buff|Raptor Boost has a ground to air transition animation similar to [[Flame Choke]], allowing him to grab edges backwards.}}

*{{change|Falcon Dive received physics adjustments to match ''Melee''.}}

*{{change|Falcon Dive's throw animations were touched up.}}

*{{change|Captain Falcon's hurtboxes adjusted.}}

*{{change|Captain Falcon's dash animation cleaned up.}}

*{{change|Captain Falcon's forward roll animation adjusted to be like ''Melee''.}}

*{{change|Captain Falcon's aerial attack animations cleaned up to match up with ''Melee'' timings.}}

*{{buff|Falcon Punch is now reversible.}}

*{{buff|Falcon Punch's turn occurs slightly later and can be performed up to four times.}}

*{{change|Falcon Dive launch fire hit graphical effects restored.}}

*{{buff|Initial dash animation length increased by 1 frame to match ''Melee'', improving moonwalk distance slightly.}}

*{{nerf|Turn grab animation is longer to match other turn grabs.}}

*{{bugfix|Fixed a bug on his Ledge Rolls that caused them to not free up the edge until the animations completely ended.}}

*{{change|Falcon Punch additional turns can be prevented by holding B.}}

*{{buff|Aerial Raptor Boost now spikes.}}

*{{buff|Aerial Raptor Boost landing lag slightly reduced if it connects with an opponent, now is the same for when Raptor Boost whiffs or hits.}}

*{{buff|Falcon Kick is now B-reversible.}}

*{{nerf|Grounded Falcon Kick has slightly more ending lag.}}

*{{buff|Forward-Throw and Up-Throw have had their hitlag decreased.}}

*{{buff|Falcon Punch hitlag decreased.}}

 

 

**{{nerf|Hitbox size|6|5}}

Up to date as of version 3.6.

! colspan="2" | !!Name!!Damage!!Description

! colspan="2" | Up tilt

| || 13% || Captain Falcon brings his leg above his head and slams it down in an axe-like fashion.

! colspan="2" | Down tilt

| || 12% || Does a sweep kick that deals vertical knockback.

! colspan="2" | Dash attack

| || 10% (clean), 7% (late) || Captain Falcon does a running shoulder tackle forward, hitting any opponent in his path.

! rowspan="3" | Forward smash || ↗

| rowspan="3" | || {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|21}} || rowspan="3" | Captain Falcon leans back and jabs an elbow forward, dealing powerful [[flame]] damage. Has slow startup, but decent reach. This move can be angled up or down.

!→

| {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|20}}

!↘

| {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|19}}

! colspan="2" | Up smash

| || {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|8}} (hit 1), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|13}} (hit 2) || Captain Falcon performs a spinning double kick in one short hop. A fast move that has good vertical range, but poor range horizontally.

! colspan="2" | Down smash

| || {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|18}} (front), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|16}} (back) || Captain Falcon kicks forward and then backward.

! colspan="2" | Neutral aerial

| || 5-6% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2) || Captain Falcon kicks forwards twice. A powerful combo tool.

! colspan="2" | Forward aerial

| [[Knee Smash]] || 18% (clean), 6% (late) || Often simply referred to as "The Knee", Captain Falcon jabs a knee forward. During the initial frames, the entire hitbox acts as a powerful [[Sex kick]] with electrical properties and great horizontal knockback. After the initial frames, it becomes a weak but sufficient [[semi-spike]].

! colspan="2" | Back aerial

| || 14% (clean), 8% (late) || Captain Falcon delivers a strong backhanded punch from behind.

! colspan="2" | Up aerial

| || 12%/13% (clean), 10%/12 (late) || Captain Falcon does a flip kick with fast start-up and good all-around range. Primary used as a combo tool.

! colspan="2" | Down aerial

| || 16% || Captain Falcon stomps downward with both feet. Acts as a powerful [[meteor smash]], dealing a large amount of [[hitstun]]. It the attack connects within Captain Falcon's torso, it becomes a "[[nipple spike]]", a powerful [[spike]] that deals flame damage.

! colspan="2" | Grab

| || — ||

! colspan="2" | Pummel

| || 3% || Captain Falcon knees the opponent. A fairly quick pummel.

! colspan="2" | Forward throw

| || 5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) || Captain Falcon punches the enemy forward.

! colspan="2" | Back throw

| || 5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) || Captain Falcon puts the enemy behind him and kicks.

! colspan="2" | Up throw

| || 4% (hit 1), 3% (throw) || Captain Falcon holds the enemy up and punches them upwards. This throw can be used to start a [[chain grab]] on fast fallers at mid-high percents.

! colspan="2" | Down throw

| || 7% || Captain Falcon swings the foe overhead and then slams them on the ground with a single arm. This throw can be used to start a chain grab on most non-fast fallers.

! colspan="2" | Floor attack (front)

| || 6% || Captain Falcon gets up and flips while kicking.

! colspan="2" | Floor attack (back)

| || 6% || Captain Falcon stands on both hands and perfprms a spinning double kick.

! colspan="2" | Floor attack (trip)

| || 5% || Captain Falcon gets up and punches both sides.

! colspan="2" | Edge attack (fast)

| || 9% || Captain Falcon pulls himself up and kicks forward.

! colspan="2" | Edge attack (slow)

| || 10% || Captain Falcon slowly climbs up does an uppercut.

! colspan="2" | Neutral special

| [[Falcon Punch]] || 27% (close), 25% (mid), 23% (far)<br/>+1% damage when reversed || Captain Falcon winds up and releases his iconic fiery punch. Can be reversed up to four times, with the attack's power increasing only on the first turn. Captain Falcon's momentum will be halted the moment he unleashes the punch while airborne.

! colspan="2" | Side special

| [[Raptor Boost]] || 7% || Captain Falcon dashes forward. If he doesn't hit an opponent, he falls over, leaving him wide open for an enemy attack. If he hits an opponent on the ground, he launches a fiery uppercut, knocking them into the air. If he hits an opponent while in midair, he punches downward, meteor smashing them. This move can be used to [[edgehog]], and works as a leapfrog recovery in midair.

! colspan="2" | Up special

| [[Falcon Dive]] || 5% (grab), 12% (release), 8% (escape) || Captain Falcon grabs his opponent and releases them with a fiery explosion. Goes into [[helpless]] if he misses but if the move connect, he's free to use the same move again without landing.

! colspan="2" | Down special

| [[Falcon Kick]] || 15%/12%/9% (ground), 15%/13%/11% (air), 10% (landing) || Captain Falcon rushes forward with a flaming high-speed kick. If he goes off a ledge, he continues dashing forward. If started in midair, he kicks down at a diagonal angle. Restores his midair jump, making it a useful move for horizontal recovery at long distances.

! colspan="2" | Final Smash

| [[Blue Falcon]] || 10% (car), 20% (ram), 10% (release) || Captain Falcon calls in his F-Zero racer, the Blue Falcon. The opponent is hit by the vehicle as it zooms past, sending them to an unknown F-Zero track. Captain Falcon proceeds to run them down in the Blue Falcon, resulting in high knockback.

===Most historically significant players===

 

*{{Sm|Bongo|USA}} - Ranked 18th on [[PMRank 2023]].

*{{Sm|Chaloopy|USA}} - Considered the best active Falcon in the world. Ranked #16 on [[PMRank 2023]].

*{{Sm|Darc|USA}} - One of the best Falcon players in the world.

*{{Sm|ORLY|USA}} - Ranked #21 on [[PMRank 2023]].

*{{Sm|ThundeRzReiGN|USA}} - Uses Captain Falcon as a secondary; won [[Cashed Out]] using primarily Falcon.

*{{Sm|Venom|USA}} - The best Captain Falcon player in SoCal. Ranked 25th on the [[PMRank 2016]].

 

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===Project+===

Captain Falcon's default costume now includes a reference to Dr. Stewart from the F-Zero series. His retro costume includes team colors, as well as a reference to [[fzerowiki:Phoenix|Phoenix]], a driver who resembles Captain Falcon in ''F-Zero GX''. Lastly, he has a new costume based on the clothes he wears while piloting the [[fzerowiki:Super Falcon|Super Falcon]] introduced in the ''F-Zero X Expansion Kit''. His Red Super Falcon costume is based on the colors of Ultraman, the alien superhero and namesake of the ''Ultraman'' series. Green Super Falcon resembles the colors of Kamen Rider, in particular the classic outfits known for teal and black suits with red eyes. Brown Super Falcon is based on the colors of [[fzerowiki:Super Arrow|Super Arrow]] from ''F-Zero X''. The final recolor is based on Captain Falcon's classic [[Blue Falcon]] color scheme with a full face visor and additional helmet details.

 

[[File:Falcon Palette (P+).png|1280px|thumb|center|Captain Falcon's alternate costumes in P+]]

 

 

 

 

 

 

*[https://pmunofficial.com/en/characters/captain-falcon/ Captain Falcon's page at the Project M website]

*[https://www.reddit.com/r/SSBPM/comments/btcczy/labbing_discord_results_captain_falcon/ Labbing Discord Tech Post]