Traction

"Friction" redirects here. For aerial friction, see here.

Because Luigi has a very small amount of traction, he slides very noticeably after finishing a dash.

Traction is a measure of how long it takes for a character to stop moving from a sideways force when grounded. Characters with low traction slide farther than others after walking, dashing, wavedashing, being hit by an attack while grounded, and so on.

Having high traction affords greater ground control over a character, so high traction is generally an advantage. Characters with low traction generally require more precise movement across the ground and cannot punish attacks as effectively out of shield since they will get pushed further away from the opponent. However, there are cases where low traction is useful: low traction is necessary for a long wavedash in Super Smash Bros. Melee and a long dash pivot cancel in Brawl, and there are cases where sliding away from a shielded attack can help escape multiple hits. In Super Smash Bros., characters with lower traction get pushed further away when being attacked when in shield, which makes follow-ups and potential shield breaks harder.

Luigi is well-known for having the least traction of any character in all games except Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; this originates from his low traction in most of the Mario platformers, which balances out his higher jumping.

Traction is also affected by terrain. For instance, nearly all characters have decreased traction on slippery surfaces such as ice. However, the Ice Climbers uniquely have the reverse of this functionality: their normally low traction becomes higher on slippery surfaces.

Traction rankings

Super Smash Bros.

Rank	Character	Value
1-5	Link	2
1-5	Samus	2
1-5	Fox	2
1-5	Pikachu	2
1-5	Ness	2
6	Captain Falcon	1.8
7	Donkey Kong	1.7
8	Yoshi	1.6
9	Mario	1.5
10	Kirby	1.4
11	Jigglypuff	1.1
12	Luigi	0.7

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Rank	Character	Value
1-4	Peach	0.1
1-4	Link	0.1
1-4	Zelda	0.1
1-4	Pichu	0.1
5-6	Pikachu	0.09
5-6	Jigglypuff	0.09
7-13	Donkey Kong	0.08
7-13	Young Link	0.08
7-13	Sheik	0.08
7-13	Kirby	0.08
7-13	Fox	0.08
7-13	Falco	0.08
7-13	Captain Falcon	0.08
14	Ganondorf	0.07
15-23	Mario	0.06
15-23	Dr. Mario	0.06
15-23	Bowser	0.06
15-23	Yoshi	0.06
15-23	Samus	0.06
15-23	Ness	0.06
15-23	Marth	0.06
15-23	Roy	0.06
15-23	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
24	Mewtwo	0.04
25	Ice Climbers	0.035
26	Luigi	0.025

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-6	Wario	0.07
3-6	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-6	Wolf	0.07
3-6	Sonic	0.07
7-8	Peach	0.068
7-8	Ganondorf	0.068
9	Falco	0.065
10	Link	0.064
11-16	Mario	0.06
11-16	Sheik	0.06
11-16	Fox	0.06
11-16	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
11-16	Olimar	0.06
11-16	R.O.B.	0.06
17	Pikachu	0.0596
18	Samus	0.0585
19	Bowser	0.0577
20-22	Meta Knight	0.055
20-22	Charizard	0.055
20-22	Marth	0.055
23	Toon Link	0.0547
24	Ness	0.0546
25	Snake	0.0542
26	Zelda	0.054
27	Ivysaur	0.0532
28	Donkey Kong	0.0529
29	Pit	0.0505
30	Captain Falcon	0.05
31	Kirby	0.0493
32-33	Diddy Kong	0.0484
32-33	King Dedede	0.0484
34	Lucas	0.045
35	Ike	0.044
36	Yoshi	0.0426
37	Squirtle	0.042
38	Ice Climbers	0.035
39	Luigi	0.022

Super Smash Bros. 4

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-5	Wario	0.07
3-5	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-5	Little Mac	0.07
6-9	Peach	0.068
6-9	Rosalina	0.068
6-9	Ganondorf	0.068
6-9	Palutena	0.068
n/a	Giga Bowser	0.067
10-11	Falco	0.065
10-11	Corrin	0.065
12-13	Link	0.064
12-13	Mii Swordfighter	0.064
14-24	Sheik	0.06
14-24	Fox	0.06
14-24	Roy	0.06
14-24	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
14-24	Olimar	0.06
14-24	R.O.B.	0.06
14-24	Villager	0.06
14-24	Wii Fit Trainer	0.06
14-24	Sonic	0.06
14-24	Mega Man	0.06
14-24	Ryu	0.06
n/a	Wario-Man	0.06
25	Pikachu	0.0596
26	Samus	0.0585
27	Bowser	0.0577
28-33	Meta Knight	0.055
28-33	Marth	0.055
28-33	Lucina	0.055
28-33	Robin	0.055
28-33	Cloud	0.055
28-33	Bayonetta	0.055
34	Toon Link	0.0547
35	Ness	0.0546
36	Zelda	0.054
37	Donkey Kong	0.0529
38-39	Pit	0.0505
38-39	Dark Pit	0.0505
40	Captain Falcon	0.05
41	Kirby	0.0493
42-43	Diddy Kong	0.0484
42-43	King Dedede	0.0484
44-52	Mario	0.045
44-52	Dr. Mario	0.045
44-52	Bowser Jr.	0.045
44-52	Greninja	0.045
44-52	Lucas	0.045
44-52	Duck Hunt	0.045
44-52	Pac-Man	0.045
44-52	Mii Brawler	0.045
44-52	Mii Gunner	0.045
53-54	Ike	0.044
53-54	Shulk	0.044
55	Yoshi	0.0426
56-57	Mewtwo	0.04
56-57	Charizard	0.04
58	Luigi	0.024

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Ultimate, traction has been significantly increased across the cast, with even the lowest traction values being higher than the highest traction values in SSB4. This allows for every character to slow down faster on the ground after moving horizontally, and most notably benefits characters with low traction (such as Luigi and Charizard), as shielded attacks now push them back a much shorter distance, and it is therefore easier for them to punish out of shield. However, the increased traction also results in slide smashes covering less distance than in SSB4 as well. Unlike in previous games, Luigi no longer has the most slippery shoes of the cast, nor is he even in the bottom tenth; the character with the least traction is now the Mii Gunner.

Rank	Character	Value
1	Sonic	0.138
2-3	Dark Pit	0.135
2-3	Pit	0.135
4	Pikachu	0.132
5-8	Isabelle	0.131
5-8	Mr. Game & Watch	0.131
5-8	Ness	0.131
5-8	Villager	0.131
9	Joker	0.13
10	Corrin	0.129
11	Wii Fit Trainer	0.128
12	Falco	0.127
13	Ganondorf	0.125
14	Donkey Kong	0.123
15	Ivysaur	0.121
16	Mii Brawler	0.12
17-25	Kirby	0.116
17-25	Little Mac	0.116
17-25	Lucario	0.116
17-25	Lucas	0.116
17-25	Mewtwo	0.116
17-25	Pac-Man	0.116
17-25	Snake	0.116
17-25	Zelda	0.116
17-25	Zero Suit Samus	0.116
26	Fox	0.115
27-29	Incineroar	0.114
27-29	Lucina	0.114
27-29	Marth	0.114
30	Link	0.113
31	Ike	0.112
32-33	Daisy	0.111
32-33	Peach	0.111
34-41	Bayonetta	0.11
34-41	Charizard	0.11
34-41	Hero	0.11
34-41	Ken	0.11
34-41	Mii Swordfighter	0.11
34-41	Pichu	0.11
34-41	Ryu	0.11
34-41	Wolf	0.11
42-43	Chrom	0.107
42-43	Roy	0.107
44-48	Cloud	0.106
44-48	Dr. Mario	0.106
44-48	Palutena	0.106
44-48	Sheik	0.106
44-48	Wario	0.106
49-53	Captain Falcon	0.105
49-53	King K. Rool	0.105
49-53	R.O.B.	0.105
49-53	Robin	0.105
49-53	Young Link	0.105
54	Bowser	0.104
55-56	Inkling	0.102
55-56	Mario	0.102
57	Rosalina	0.099
58	Meta Knight	0.097
59	Luigi	0.096
60	Yoshi	0.095
61-62	Mega Man	0.094
61-62	Shulk	0.094
63-64	Diddy Kong	0.093
63-64	Olimar	0.093
65	Duck Hunt	0.09
66-67	Squirtle	0.088
66-67	Piranha Plant	0.088
68-69	Greninja	0.087
68-69	Jigglypuff	0.087
70	Toon Link	0.086
71-74	Bowser Jr.	0.085
71-74	King Dedede	0.085
71-74	Richter	0.085
71-74	Simon	0.085
75-76	Dark Samus	0.082
75-76	Samus	0.082
77	Ridley	0.08
78	Ice Climbers	0.077
79-80	Banjo & Kazooie	0.076
79-80	Mii Gunner	0.076