Dread Samus (SSBU)

Samus in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Metroid
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Zero Laser
Final Smash when using the Smash Ball	Hyper Beam

Dread Samus (サムス, Samus) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was the last character announced in the announcement trailer in the Nintendo Direct in 2024 March 31st, and officially confirmed in the gameplay trailer on April 1st, 2024 during a a special presentation. Samus design was changed to her Metroid Dread appearance instead of her modified Metroid: Other M design from Smash 4 and previous versions of Ultimate.

She her moveset is made to be more accurate to Metroid Dread and her other appearances while also retaining her previous moveset. The disadvantage is that she has more ending lag to many of her moves. She also gains the Ice Beam which is activated by using the taint button which is seemingly inspired by Project M which is one of the few times that a mod is referenced in Smash.

Moveset

• Samus can wall jump and wall cling
• Samus can use her Ice Beam and Missiles after using her Side Taunt like Project M.
• Samus possesses a tether attack and grab.

For a gallery of Samus' hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Power Beam	6%	Shoots small projectiles. Deals moderate damage and knockback but doesn't kill. The Power Beam can be angled like in the Metroid games unlike her Charge Beam. Like with Megaman and Steve, it can be used while she is walking or when she is using her neutral aerial but are separate moves that can only activate if he is already using her Power Beam.
Forward tilt	↗		11% (foot), 10% (leg), 9% (body)	Does a roundhouse kick. Deals more damage and knockback at her foot, while her leg deals less damage and knockback. Can be angled, which causes it to deal more damage, but may cause it to miss shorter characters on the ground if angled up. The foot sweetspot deals rather potent knockback for a tilt attack, which can KO at the edge at around 125%. At varying percentages, depending on which part of the move is landed, it can lead into a guaranteed Charge Shot, as regardless of teching, Charge Shot can catch the opponent's option in time if they are knocked down.
	→		10% (foot), 9% (leg), 8% (body)
	↘		11% (foot), 10% (leg), 9% (body)
Up tilt		Melee Counter	13% (ground), 12 (aerial) 1.4× (counter)	Swings her Arm Cannon upwards then counterattacks. Its a counterattack that deals 1.4 times the damage back to the opponent. Its surprisingly fast for a counter but that's because it can be used as standard attack.
Down tilt		Silde	15%	Quickly slides to the ground. Her legs are intangible while the hitbox is active, and it will sometimes deal less damage if landed early. It has very quick startup, propels Samus a good distance forward, launches opponents vertically, and significantly lowers her hurtbox. Based on the Slide ability in Metroid Dread
Dash attack		Shinespark	10% (clean), 6% (late)	A shoulder tackle with a white aura around Samus, similar to the Shinespark technique from her home series. Deals more damage and knockback at the start and the middle of the attack, KOing opponents at around 150% from the center of Final Destination, and earlier near edges. However, the late hit is noticeably weaker, and the move lacks combo potential, especially compared to its previous appearance. This move originates from the Shinespark technique, first becoming available in Super Metroid.
Forward smash	↗	Wave Beam	{{{fsmashupdmg}}}	Quickly thrusts her Arm Cannon forward to fire three green lazers. Functions similarly to Mega Man's forward smash. It is one of the fastest forward smashes in the game, coming out on frame 9, it's a great spacing tool and it can be angled like her Power Beam. However, it is rather weak otherwise, with the lasers only KOing at around 135%.
	→		{{{fsmashsidedmg}}}
	↘		{{{fsmashdowndmg}}}
Up smash		Cover Fire	3% (hits 1-4), 6% (hit 5)	Fires five fiery blasts in an overhead arcing motion. True to its name, this move works best as an anti-air attack, as its multiple hits give a good amount of aerial protection. Conversely, it is unable to hit grounded opponents unless they are close enough to Samus. It is also her most damaging smash attack, dealing 18% total uncharged. However, due to its hits being spread above Samus, it can fail to fully connect if the opponent is hit from too far. If all 5 hits connect, it can KO middleweights at around 100% from ground level.
Down smash			10% (front), 12% (back)	Does a spinning legsweep. A semi-spike with decent speed and high base knockback, allowing it to set up edgeguards and punish rolls effectively. The front hit can KO middleweights center stage around 150%, with the back hit KOing even earlier at around 135%.
Neutral aerial			10% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2, clean), 8% (hit 2, late)	A spinning roundhouse kick, similar to the aerial version of the Counter Attack from Metroid: Other M. Comes out in frame 8. Hits on both sides quickly and can autocancel with a short hop fast fall. Its front hit and sweetspotted back hit also deal powerful knockback, which makes it a viable KOing option offstage or near the edge, as well as a decent combo finisher and one of the strongest aerials of its type.
Forward aerial			3% (hit 1), 1.6% (hits 2-4), 5% (hit 5)	Fires five fiery blasts in a slow, downward arcing motion. Fast, coming out on frame 6, thus having the second lowest startup lag of Samus's aerials. The first four hits drag opponents into the rest of the move using the autolink angle, with the last hit carrying the entire attack's knockback. Samus' main aerial move for both combos and protection. Extremely useful as an edge get-up option or against air dodges due to its multiple hits, and using the move immediately after a short hop can hit opponents with the last hit before Samus lands again. It's her only aerial that does not autocancels In a short hop. It can KO middleweights at around 155% from center-stage if all hits connect.
Back aerial			14% (clean foot), 12% (clean leg), 9% (late)	A back kick. It is fast and deals powerful knockback when sweetspotted, which makes it an excellent KOing option, especially when edgeguarding. When sweetspotted, it is among the strongest back aerials in the game, KOing Mario at 100% from center stage.
Up aerial			3% (hit 1), 1.3% (hits 2-5), 4% (hit 5)	Does a upward corkscrew kick, hitting multiple times. It is her fastest aerial, due to coming out on frame 5. Grounded opponents can be hit by the last hitbox if Samus lands while starting the move in the air, although it is difficult to do so, and risky due to the move's high landing lag. It can be used as a follow-up after a dash attack, grounded up tilt, down aerial, or down throw, all of which can be followed up with another up aerial and/or can be finished off with a Screw Attack. On stages with platforms, it even has potential for a zero-to-death when using a platform to extend the combo. Can KO if used high enough and close to the blast line.
Down aerial			10% (early, late), 14% (clean)	Swings her Arm Cannon in a downward arcing motion. Hitting with the move's trail meteor smashes opponents, while the edges of the move at the very start and end deal decent horizontal knockback. Autocancels from a short hop, and due to its relatively low ending lag, the meteor smash is excellent for starting combos on grounded opponents, much like her up tilt.
Grab aerial		Grapple Beam	2.5% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2)	Fires the Grapple Beam. A useful spacing option due to having only 8 frames of landing lag. It autocancels from a full hop and has impressive range, being the longest grab aerial in game. In addition to its recovery and spacing capabilities, it is good at setting up combos at close range upon landing, due to its low landing lag. Unlike in previous games, however, hitting an opponents causes the Grapple Beam to retract earlier, while not reducing the move's ending lag.
Grab		Grapple Beam	—	Fires the Grapple Beam from Super Metroid. It has impressive range and is the longest tether grab in the game. However, it is tied with her Zero Suited form's grab as the second slowest in terms of ending lag, making it very punishable if missed.
Pummel			1.3%	A palm strike. Has moderate damage and speed relative to other pummels.
Forward throw			10%	Twirls the opponent overhead, then flings them forward. Although its knockback has been increased, it remains too weak for KOing at realistic percents, unless Samus has rage and is at the edge of the stage.
Back throw			10%	Swings the opponent behind herself. Slightly more effective for KOing and setting up edgeguards than her forward throw, due to its lower launch angle.
Up throw			5% (hit 1), 7% (throw)	Puts the opponent above herself and blasts them upward with her Arm Cannon. Samus's most damaging and strongest throw, possessing enough knockback to KO middleweights around 150% from ground level and without rage. At low percents, it can also combo into an up aerial against large characters, as well as Screw Attack against most characters, though the latter will only connect its hits reliably on a few characters.
Down throw			8%	Swings the opponent high above her head, then slams them onto the ground. A reliable combo starter, with its followups including a dash attack, small step forward smash or dashing up smash at low percents, a neutral, back or up aerial up to mid percents, and a forward aerial up to high percents.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings her Arm Cannon in front of herself and then fires a blast behind herself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Performs a low-level roundhouse kick.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Performs a shin kick in front of herself and then a back kick behind herself.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a legsweep while climbing up.
Neutral special		Charge Beam/Ice Beam	5% (uncharged), 28% (fully charged), 2% (Ice uncharged), 22% (Ice fully charged)	Charges a ball of energy and fires it. The Regular version boasts excellent KO potential when fully charged, and is a useful intercepting move at a low charge. KOs at 70%-110% depending on rage and the opponent's weight and DI. Can be used to break shields if used in conjunction other moves. When using her forward tilt to launch the opponent into tumbling, it can set up a guaranteed combo into Charge Beam, regardless of the opponent's tech option, as Charge Beam will always catch their tech direction. The Ice Beam freezes opponent similars to PK Freeze but while it still kills its less than the Charge Beam.
Side special		Missile	8% (Homing), 12% (Super),10% (Ice Homing), 18% (Ice Super)	Deploys a plasma or ice missile depending on whether the player is in Plasma or Ice Mode (can be toggled via side-taunt). The missile can either be a homing missile (when B is pressed while tilting the control stick) or a Super Missile (when B is pressed while smashing the control stick forward). Super Missiles travel straight forward instead of homing in the opponent, and are faster and stronger than homing missiles. Super Ice Missiles have a shorter range than its plasma counterpart. Homing Ice Missiles do not explode after a certain distance, they keep on going until they either hit their target, terrain, or go offscreen. the Ice Missiles have decent knockback but more damage while the Regular Missiles have average knockback but less damage .
Up special		Screw Attack	3% (grounded hit 1), 1% (grounded hits 2-8), 2% (grounded hit 9), 1% (aerial hits 1-12)	Leaps upward to perform a high-speed somersault while discharging energy. Shoots upward if initiated from the ground, while it gains distance slower if started in the air. A useful out of shield option, due to coming out on frame 4 on the ground, and deals good knockback that can KO around 100% while near the upper blast line.
Down special		Morph Ball	4% (contact), 5% (explosion)	Rolls into her Morph Ball form and drops a Bomb, which explodes after a set time. The Morph Ball can be used to decrease her hurtbox and avoid many attacks. The Bombs are useful to force an opponent to shield and for edgeguarding, being capable of 2 frame punishes if timed correctly. It can also break shields depending on their health if used along with her up and down tilts or a fully charged Charge Beam.
Final Smash		Hyper Beam	1% (charge loop), 0.5% (fringe loop), 1.5% (thruster, main loop), 2% (main loop; point blank, long range), 2.5% (contact blast), 8% (fringe blast), 10.5% (main blast)	Fires a very large, rainbow color energy beam. The beam can be angled vertically during the Final Smash.

On-screen appearance

• Arrives from a Save Station.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Holds her arm cannon upright. Taken from Melee
• Side taunt: Faces the screen and changes her Arm Cannon to its Zero Laser configuration. Also allows her change between Regular or Ice Missiles or Beams.
• Down taunt: Crouches down while holding her arm cannon upright. Based on her pose on the box art of Metroid 2: Return of Samus.

Idle poses

• Rubs her Arm Cannon with one finger.
• Brings her Arm Cannon down and then pulls it back up.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Sa - mus!	Sam - Su!	Sa - mus!	Sa - mus!	Sa - mus!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Sa - mus!	Saaaaa - mus!	Sa - mus! Sa - mus!	Sa - mu - s!

Victory poses

• Left: Lands on the ground and readies her Arm Cannon.
• Up: Fires multiple Power Beams from her Arm Cannon while kneeling, then strikes a pose. The pose is based on her appearance on the cover of Metroid II: Return of Samus.
• Right: Fires a Super Missile and does a thumbs up.

A flourished remix of the theme that would play when Samus Aran obtained a new power-up or addition to her Power Suit. It would also play when Samus defeated Ridley or Kraid.

Role in World of Light

Due to her status as downloadable content, Dread Samus does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, she is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing ten fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition before downloading Samus, she is immediately unlocked.

Trivia

• In her official artwork, Samus's pose matches her official artwork in Metroid Dread.
• Samus is the first base character to be revamped as DLC.
• She is the first DLC since Sora to be in the game.