Editing Marth (SSBU)

{{Disambig2|Marth's appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''|the character in other contexts|Marth}}

'''Marth''' ({{ja|マルス|Marusu}}, ''Marth'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''. Like all veterans, he was officially confirmed as a playable character on June 12th, 2018. As in his appearances prior to ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', he is [[unlockable character|unlockable]], instead of being available from the [[starter character|start]]. Marth is classified as [[Fighter number|Fighter #21]].

This is the first time in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series where Marth is not solely voiced in Japanese. In international releases, Marth is voiced in English by {{s|wikipedia|Yuri Lowenthal}}, who reprises his role from {{uvm|Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.}} onwards. {{s|wikipedia|Hikaru Midorikawa}} reprises his role in the Japanese version, with newly recorded voice clips for the first time since ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''.<ref name="nindsp">Nintendo Dream (February 2019) interview ([https://nintendoeverything.com/sakurai-on-smash-bros-ultimate-his-health-choosing-bosses-and-spirits-new-stages-much-more/ translation])</ref>

Marth is ranked 55th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him in the C+ tier. This is a large drop from his placement of 11th/12th out of 54 in ''SSB4'' where he was tied with {{SSB4|Ryu}}, and is the second largest drop for a veteran in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate, and is his worst placement in the series to date. This is also a significant drop compared to his [[Echo Fighter]], {{SSBU|Lucina}}, who is currently ranked 28th out of 82 and is placed in the A- tier. This drastic difference in tier placement is due to Marth's reliance on landing tipper hits to get KOs. This combined with ''Ultimate''{{'}}s faster engine and removal of certain microspacing techniques (such as [[perfect pivoting]]) makes it more inconsistent at landing those sweetspots and netting KOs, while his sourspots, though effective for setting up combos and tech-chases, struggle to take stocks even at high percentages. Lucina's attacks, on the other hand, deal the same amount of damage and knockback regardless of where on her sword the attack lands, giving her more consistent KO capabilities.

*Clear {{SSBU|Classic Mode}} with {{SSBU|Yoshi}} or any character in his unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after {{SSBU|Lucario}}.

With the exception of the third method, Marth must then be defeated on [[Castle Siege]]. In World of Light, he is fought on {{SSBU|Final Destination}}.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, Marth's strengths outweigh his weaknesses. While his reliance on spacing and overall safety hinders him in many ways, his high overall mobility, long and disjointed [[range]], above-average frame data and good damage output make up for it, while his punishes are decently strong overall even if the stronger ones are fairly inconsistent. In general, while he is usually considered a good character, he is also seen as weaker and more difficult to use than his Echo Fighter Lucina. Marth has received among the worst results and representation in the [[metagame]] of ''Ultimate''; even if he is not weak, he is considered to be outclassed by Lucina competitively, who shares many of Marth's strengths with lesser weaknesses. However, starting from updates 8.0.0 and 12.0.0, players have started to have a more positive outlook on Marth as a number of his tipper hitboxes were buffed, making them easier to land and overall making him a more consistent character. This has led to the gap between him and Lucina becoming somewhat less polarizing, with some players noting his potential to rise up in the metagame.

Marth has been a high-ranking character in all of his appearances in the series, with both ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'' ranking him as one of the best characters, and although ''SSB4'' initially heavily nerfed him, he was significantly buffed by game updates, allowing him to be ranked favorably once again. Possibly as a result of this, Marth has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in his transition to ''Ultimate'', but he has been nerfed overall.

Marth benefits from some of the changes to the game's engine. The ability to [[dash cancel]] into any attack improves his grounded spacing ability (especially for his tilt attacks), and allow him to bait attacks with [[fox-trot]]ting; this is all further compounded by his fast running speed and greatly improved initial dash. The reduced landing lag on his aerials also makes them safer for spacing and approaching, while also enhancing their combo ability, giving the sourspots better safety on hit on landing and more reliable kill confirms into [[tipper]]ed attacks. The changes to [[air dodge]] mechanics also enhance his juggling and edge guarding capabilities, as they provide less leeway for opponents to recover against his wide aerials, further improving his edgeguarding game.

When it comes to direct changes, [[Dancing Blade]] has been sped up greatly, making its hits link into each other much more consistently, and the tippered fourth forward hit has significantly higher knockback, being able to KO at much lower percentages than before. The ability to angle [[Shield Breaker]] vertically increases the move's coverage, to the point the down angled version will always tipper in a successful [[edge#2 frame punish|2 frame punish]]. Many of his moves such as dash attack, up tilt, up aerial and down aerial are easier to tipper, while some of them are also stronger in both damage and knockback.

However, Marth has received some noteworthy, direct nerfs, most notably to his KO ability and [[neutral attack]]. Some of Marth's attacks, like his sourspotted forward smash and Dancing Blade's fourth forward hit, as well as his tippered forward aerial now deal less knockback, whereas his neutral, forward and back aerials have had their hitbox positionings worsened, making landing the tippers slightly more difficult. Additionally, his up throw is slightly weaker as well. This makes it more important for Marth to carefully space his attacks in order to land his tippers to finish strings to deal more damage and score KOs. His neutral attack, previously an excellent combo starter and neutral tool due to its first hit, has been altered as with most neutral attacks so that it can only follow up into the second hit from the first, removing its powerful [[jab cancel]] from ''SSB4'' that was useful to Marth's gameplan in exchange of more situational jab [[lock]] capabilities.

Marth's specials and grab game have also been weakened. [[Dolphin Slash]] and [[Counter]] are a bit more punishable than before, and Dancing Blade deals less damage in exchange for its improved linking potential. On top of the worsened KO ability on his up throw, forward throw has also lost its combo potential, which weakens Marth's options against shields.

Despite benefitting from some of them, Marth has been also hindered by the gameplay mechanics, due to his defensive playstyle. Particularly, the universal increase in mobility, while improving his approach and further increasing his already fast mobility, has also made landing his tippers more difficult, as the game's faster pace encourages aggressive playstyles more than in ''SSB4''. The removal of perfect pivoting and lack of quick, safe, and reliable grounded micro spacing options further magnifies his spacing troubles. On top of it, Marth's already linear recovery was also made more telegraphed by the changes to air dodging as well as the reduction in [[edge sweet spot]] size, making him easier to edgeguard and thus worsening his survivability. Lastly, the weakening of rage weakens Marth's ability to close out stocks at ludicrously low percentages.

Overall, the buffs Marth got and the benefits he gained from the engine do not compensate for the nerfs he received and the hindrances the engine has also indirectly given him, as Marth now has a harder time landing his tipper sweet spots, which is especially troublesome as he relies on spacing in order to KO opponents below high percentages. In addition, the knockback nerfs to some of his attacks have made it more difficult for him to consistently KO his opponents at low percentages. This causes Marth to shift to a more offensive playstyle, where he relies more on his sourspotted hits to combo his opponents while remaining at a safe distance from where he can poke them with tippered attacks. Game updates have remedied some of Marth's issues, making it slightly easier and more rewarding for him to land some of his tipper hitboxes and slightly improving his dash grab range, though these buffs did not raise his standing significantly. As a result, Marth performs worse in ''Ultimate'' compared to ''SSB4'', and is generally seen as inferior to his Echo Fighter and semi-clone, {{SSBU|Lucina}} and {{SSBU|Roy}}, who are widely regarded as more rewarding than him and thus superior as a result.

 

 

 

After a long absence from patch notes, Marth was given a few worthwhile buffs in update {{SSBU|8.0.0}}. Most notably, the update repositioned the non-tipper hitboxes of his forward, back, and up aerials, thus making their respective tippers easier to hit. This substantially improved some of Marth's staple moves, and primarily benefits both his air game and his edgeguarding potential. His down smash's tipper also gained more knockback, which improved its KO potential.

In {{SSBU|12.0.0}}, Marth was once again buffed, all related to some of his tippers. The tipper of his dash attack deals 1% more damage, deals overall more knockback, and the blade hitbox was moved back slightly, making it easier to land to tipper. His up tilt also received a 1% damage increase to the tipper, allowing it to KO roughly 10% earlier, and the middle hitbox was moved to have more coverage. And finally, the tipper hitbox of down tilt was slightly enlarged and extended, and the sourspot was slightly shrunken, making it easier to land the tipper.

 

 

{{UpdateList (SSBU)/1.1.0|char=Marth}}

 

'''{{GameIcon|ssbu}} {{SSBU|3.0.0}}'''

 

 

 

*For simplicity if, for example, Marth's blade does 4% damage while the tip does 6%, and the attack has no other hitboxes, it is written as 4%/6%.

''For a gallery of Marth's hitboxes, see [[Marth (SSBU)/Hitboxes|here]].''

|neutralname=Slash ({{ja|スラッシュ|Surasshu}}) / Combination Slash ({{ja|コンビネーションスラッシュ|Konbinēshon Surasshu}})

|neutraldesc=Slashes Falchion twice in front of himself. The first hit's tipper pulls opponents toward Marth, ensuring that the second hit connects, although connecting it into the tippered second hit can be difficult. The first hit can also [[jab lock]].

|ftiltname=Hard Edge ({{ja|ハードエッジ|Hādo Ejji}})

|ftiltdesc=A fast upward swipe while leaning forward. It has a large arc that is useful for spacing and deals quite strong knockback when tippered, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%. On the other hand, it deals much weaker knockback if untippered, being incapable of sending foes into a tumble until mid percents, making it very unsafe if spaced improperly. The tipper can hit opponents standing on top of some platforms. Based on Marth's attack from ''Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''.

|utiltname=Anti-air Slash ({{ja|アンチエアスラッシュ|Anchi Ea Surasshu}})

|utiltdmg=6% (blade), 5% (body), 10% (tip)

|utiltdesc=Swings Falchion in a large arc above his head, with a large hitbox that can hit enemies behind him. Can combo into itself or aerials at low percentages and KO at high percents when tippered. Covers platforms very well and is useful for juggling, and as of update 12.0, when tippered it is the 6th strongest up tilt in the game, narrowly beating {{SSBU|Roy}}’s and only losing to {{SSBU|King Dedede}}’s.

|dtiltname=Low Thrust ({{ja|ロースラスト|Rō Surasuto}})

|dtiltdesc=A quick crouching sword poke. Has the lowest ending lag out of Marth's tilts, making it useful for interrupting grounded approaches and creating space. Deals [[semi-spike]] knockback, making it useful for edgeguarding. The tipper knocks opponents into a [[tumble]] around roughly 60%, with the blade hit starting to do so around roughly 120%, which can force opponents into a [[tech chase]] situation.

|dashname=Raid Chop ({{ja|レイドチョップ|Reido Choppu}})

|dashdmg=9% (body), 10% (blade), 13% (tip)

|dashdesc=A quick, running, upward-sweeping diagonal slash. It is rather slow for a dash attack but deals quite high knockback if tippered; This move sports impressively high base knockback but poor knockback growth, capable of KO'ing lightweights at around 80% at ledge and yet being incapable of KO'ing those same characters from center stage until around 130%. It has notable ending lag and very low hit lag if untippered, making it rather unsafe against shields, especially since the tipper is quite hard to connect with. The ability to use the faster, safer, and more consistent forward tilt out of dash makes this move's use rather niche. Resembles Marth's attack after sprinting toward an enemy in ''Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''.

|fsmashname=Dragon Killer ({{ja|ドラゴンキラー|Doragon Kirā}})

|fsmashdesc=Rotates his body counterclockwise with a strong overarching one-handed swing from his head to the ground. Very fast startup at frame 10 (tied with several others for the fastest of any forward smash), but high ending lag. Although lackluster when hit with the blade, only beginning to KO starting from 115% at ledge and much later at center stage, the tipper of this attack has incredible knockback, being able to KO middleweights at 70% from the stage's center and as low as 40% near the edge. This makes it incredibly potent compared to other forward smashes with the same damage output, and when the speed difference versus forward smashes of similar KO potential is taken into account, it becomes one of the strongest forward smashes in the game. Due to its fast startup and the upwards angle of the initial hitbox, it can be combo'd into for a kill with his sourspot up aerial at certain percentages. The tipper is capable of 2-framing at the ledge, allowing for incredibly early KOs.  Similar to some of Marth's attacks with the Falchion in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''.

|usmashname=Justice Sword ({{ja|ジャスティスソード|Jasutisu Sōdo}})

|usmashdesc=A quick, upward thrust based on a pose Marth does many times in his games. The weak grounded hit can knock nearby opponents into the main attack. Good for aerial protection and chasing down landing opponents. If tippered, it deals extremely high knockback to the point where it becomes one of the strongest up smashes in the game, although this is difficult to do unless an opponent falls directly on top of Marth from a considerable height. However, to make up, it is one of Marth’s few untippered attacks that can reliably K.O. The grounded hit may occasionally fail to connect to the main attack if their percent is high enough.

|dsmashname=Whirlwind ({{ja|ワールウインド|Wāru'uindo}})

|dsmashdesc=Sweeps Falchion on the ground toward the front-outward then toward the back inward. The back hit has much stronger power, while the front hit is somewhat weak unless tippered, where it will do considerable knockback. It also has high ending lag.

|nairname=Double Slash ({{ja|ダブルスラッシュ|Daburu Surasshu}})

|nairdesc=Two horizontal slashes around himself via an inward slash followed into a full 360° outward spin. The second hit can hit on both sides of Marth and can be used to create space by short hopping then fast-falling immediately after using the move in the air. The first hit has very low knockback scaling, which, combined with [[fast fall]]ing and the move's low landing lag, allows it to combo into many of Marth's tilts, and even his forward smash, even up to around 175%. The second hit's tipper has strong knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%, making it one of the strongest neutral airs in the game.

|fairname=Flag Cut ({{ja|フラッグカット|Furaggu Katto}})

|fairdesc=Does a descending crescent slash in front of him with great coverage. This is Marth's best tool for air combat, and its reasonably low landing lag and strong tipper make it very safe when spaced properly. Its tipper is also decently strong, KOing middleweights at the edge around 130%. Around 21% with the tipper, or around 36% with the sour spot, it begins to knock opponents into a tumble, which can force a tech chase situation. Similar to the animation some units have when attacking in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''.

|bairname=About Face ({{ja|アッパースイング|Appā Suingu}}, ''Upper Swing'')

|bairdesc=An upward crescent slash behind him in an inward swipe. It has the interesting property of turning Marth around, changing the direction he is facing. Similar use to his forward aerial, although with more knockback and a smaller hitbox. It can be used a few frames before landing to catch opponents with a tipped blow, with correct spacing. Has a rather strong tipper given its speed, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%.

|uairname=Luna Slash ({{ja|ルナスラッシュ|Runa Surasshu}})

|uairdesc=An overhead crescent slash with good coverage, ending in a delayed somersault. Marth's fastest aerial, it is good for juggling thanks to its large arc, making it a good anti-air as well, but it has weak knockback unless tippered. Due to its angle and low landing lag, it makes a reliable combo starter when hit with the blade, comboing into aerials even around 100%.

|dairname=Halfmoon ({{ja|ハーフムーン|Hāfumūn}})

|dairdesc=A downward, wide crescent slash with large coverage. If the attack connects in the middle of the swinging arc (directly below Marth), it serves as a powerful meteor smash. However, the meteor smash window lasts only one frame (frame 11) and is weak compared to other meteor smashes with the same damage output, and even weaker than some with a lower damage output, like Mario’s forward aerial (which does 14%). However, its lack of power compared to others can make it great for kill setups, such as the grounded meteor smash combined with a tippered up smash or forward smash. It can also be useful against [[cross-up]]s and as an [[out of shield]] option as it starts behind Marth and covers a wide area below him.

|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})

|pummelname=Grab Kneebutt ({{ja|つかみニーバット|Tsukami Nībatto}})

|pummeldesc=A knee strike. Average power and speed.

|fthrowname=Elbowbutt ({{ja|エルボーバット|Erubōbatto}})

|fthrowdesc=An elbow strike with his sword arm. While it has little to no use onstage, its medium launch angle makes it great for setting up edgeguards.

|bthrowname=Leg Hooker ({{ja|レッグフッカー|Reggu Fukkā}})

|bthrowdesc=Tosses the opponent over his leg, sending them behind him. Its high base knockback allows him to set up edge guarding, but it cannot combo or KO reliably.

|uthrowname=Casting ({{ja|キャスティング|Kyasutingu}})

|uthrowdesc=A powerful one-armed upward throw. Marth's strongest throw, though it does not start KOing middleweights until around 185%.

|dthrowname=Grab Drop ({{ja|グラブドロップ|Gurabu Doroppu}})

|dthrowdesc=Throws opponent to the ground with one arm, bouncing them upwards. At low to mid percents, its angle and high base knockback allow it to follow up into an up or back aerial depending on [[DI]], or only an up aerial at higher percents. Despite having low knockback scaling, it still loses its combo potential around roughly 80%-90%.

|floortdesc=Stabs behind him then slashes in front of himself before getting up.

|edgedmg=9%

|nsdesc=Marth assumes a readying stance and charges Falchion at chest level before powerfully thrusting it forward. This attack deals massive [[shield damage]] even when uncharged, and will instantly break shields at full charge, although it can be safely [[perfect shield]]ed. The aerial version gives Marth a very slight horizontal boost, while a fully charged aerial version will thrust Marth in whatever direction he's facing, giving him a strong horizontal recovery option, albeit with a very high startup. Deals very high knockback when tippered, making it a powerful KOing option, (being one of the strongest neutral specials in the game) although it is still weaker than his tippered forward smash. It can be angled up or down, though this does not change the damage or knockback. The attack deals 1.15× regular damage if it hits the opponent's head.

|ssdmg=Varies (see below)

|ssdesc=A sequence of sword slashes with several variations based on directional input. Four slashes total, with each capable of being altered in direction, allowing for eighteen total possible combinations. Standard strikes are trailed red, high strikes are trailed blue, and low strikes are trailed green (see table below for details and limits of the move). The first hitbox comes out on frame 9.

|usdesc=Marth performs a high-speed jumping uppercut slash that can be B-reversed. Has a powerful clean hit and grants very slight [[intangibility]] in the first few frames, which can easily cause stage-spikes under the right circumstances. Grants good vertical distance but is rather lacking in horizontal distance. It does not snap to the edge until after its hitbox is gone.

|dsdesc=Marth assumes a defensive stance and retaliates against incoming attacks. The power of the counterattack scales with the strength of the attack blocked. It starts up on frame 6 and lasts 22 frames. Ineffective against projectiles and attacks with a sufficiently long reach, such as many of {{SSBU|Shulk}}'s or {{SSBU|Simon}}'s tilts and smash attacks.

|fsdesc=Marth raises Falchion skyward, then lunges in one direction, attacking the first opponent he connects. Immense knockback, enough to [[one-hit KO]] any character on any roofless stage. This move is impossible to [[tech]] unless using Final Smash Meter or against Shulk's [[Monado Arts|Shield Monado Art]] at a very low percentage. Pressing the special button again will cause him to stop mid-dash.

Marth fights draconic opponents on various medieval-themed stages, referencing the prevalence of dragon enemies in all his games; moreover, his sword, [[Falchion]], was forged to slay dragons. The Mii Fighters sport dragon-themed costumes. As a reference to how Marth fights the dragon [[fireemblem:Medeus|Medeus]] as the final boss in his own games, he fights [[Rathalos]], a wyvern (clearly labeled as a dragon in the original Japanese), as the boss of his route. The name is also likely a reference to [[fireemblem:Dolhr|Dolhr]], a nation of [[fireemblem:Manakete|Manaketes]] (Dragon shapeshifters).

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Round!!Opponent!!Stage!!Music!!Notes

|1||Giant {{CharHead|Charizard|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Castle Siege]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Story 5 Meeting}}''||Giant Charizard's {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}} is absent.

|2||{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Red}}{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Blue}}{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Pink}}{{Head|Yoshi|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Purple}} {{SSBU|Yoshi}} (×5)||[[Arena Ferox]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Under This Banner}}''||Horde Battle (3 at a time)

|3||Giant {{CharHead|King K. Rool|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Bridge of Eldin]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Medley}}''||King K. Rool represents {{s|fireemblemwiki|Medeus}} in his {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Shadow Dragon|class}} form in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. Bridge of Eldin resembles the map {{s|fireemblemwiki|Light and Shadow}} where Marth fights Medeus.

|4||{{CharHead|Mii Gunner|SSBU|hsize=20px}} (×4), {{CharHead|Mii Brawler|SSBU|hsize=20px}}, and {{CharHead|Mii Swordfighter|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||Castle Siege||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Advance}}''||Horde Battle (3 at a time)<br>{{SSBU|Mii Fighter}} costume combinations:

|5||Giant {{CharHead|Ridley|SSBU|hsize=20px}}||[[Gerudo Valley]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Lords-Showdown}}''||Giant Ridley references Medeus, the main antagonist of ''Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''.

|6||{{Head|Corrin|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Corrin|g=SSBU|s=20px|cl=Female}} {{SSBU|Corrin}} (×2)||[[Coliseum]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)|Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)}}''||

|colspan="5"|[[Bonus Stage]]

|Final||[[Rathalos]]||[[Forest Hill]]||''{{SSBUMusicLink|Monster Hunter|Roar/Rathalos}}''||

Note: All stages Marth travels to are ''Fire Emblem'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' stages.

 

[[Credits]] roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Marth has ''{{SSBUMusicLink|Fire Emblem|Fire Emblem Theme}}'' accompany the credits.

During the opening cutscene, Marth took notice of the massive number of Master Hands, telling the other fighters that they would "need to take down about ten [Master Hands each]" ("{{ja|一人で十体ぐらい倒せばいけるか?|Hitori de jūtai gurai taoseba ikeru ka?}}", ''Maybe we can win this by taking about ten each?''), before being reassured by {{SSBU|Zelda}} and {{SSBU|Pit}}. He was present on the cliffside when [[Galeem]] unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters (excluding {{SSBU|Kirby}}).

===Fighter Showcase Video===

{{#widget:YouTube|id=icuBIlBPYj0}}

*''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is the first ''Smash Bros.'' game where Marth points his sword upwards rather than downwards in his official artwork.

*The images of Marth facing Ridley and Rathalos, as well as Marth's Classic Mode battle sequence, are likely a reference to the common trend of ''Fire Emblem'' games ending with a boss battle against a dragon, specifically Marth's battle with {{s|fireemblem|Medeus}}, the main antagonist of the first ''Fire Emblem'' game.

*When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in [[Stamina Mode]], Marth uses his alternate KO scream rather than the standard one. This also applies to {{SSBU|Ike}} using his ''Radiant Dawn'' outfit in international versions and his ''Path of Radiance'' outfit in the Japanese version.