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{{ArticleIcons|ssb4=y|ssbu=y}}
{{ArticleIcons|ssb4=y|ssbu=y|unofficial=y}}
{{image|comparison of mirrored and non-mirrored characters}}
[[File:SSB4 - Mirror Pose 01.jpg|thumb|275px|{{SSB4|Mario}} and {{SSB4|Greninja}}'s mirrored stances in {{forwiiu}}.]]
[[File:SSB4 - Mirror Pose 01.jpg|thumb|275px|{{SSB4|Mario}} and {{SSB4|Greninja}}'s mirrored stances in {{forwiiu}}.]]
'''Stance mirroring''' is a mechanic in which most or all of a character's animations (including [[attack]]s) are mirrored if they turn around, mimicking the sprite mirroring of classic fighting games. The purpose of the mechanic is so characters face the screen more often. When mirrored, all hitboxes are also mirrored - for example, when Mario throws a punch when mirrored, the hitbox will appear on the opposite arm than it is normally defined as being attached to.
[[File:StanceMirroringSSBU001.gif|thumb|275px|{{SSBU|Bowser}} always faces the camera, while {{SSBU|Captain Falcon}} does not.]]
'''Stance mirroring''' (officially referred to by Masahiro Sakurai as '''Flipped animation'''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJDMDxnWU5g&t Flipped Animation <nowiki>[Animation]</nowiki>]</ref>) is a mechanic in which most or all of a character's animations and moves are mirrored if they turn around, mimicking the sprite mirroring of older fighting games. This mechanic results in the characters' front side being visible more often. When mirrored, all hitboxes are also mirrored - for example, a punch that is animated with a character's right arm, when mirrored, will instead use the character's left arm.


In general, a character must have a symmetrical body and not wield a weapon in order to be eligible for stance mirroring, though the weapon restriction was relaxed for many characters in ''Ultimate'' if they don't wield it at all times (e.g. Villager's various tools). Minor differences such as Pikachu's tail and K. Rool's eye tic can be acceptable, depending on their exact animations and hurtboxes. In general, characters in ''Ultimate'' are animated more with stance mirroring in mind compared to ''SSB4''.
In general, a character must have a symmetrical body shape and not wield a weapon in order to be eligible for stance mirroring, though in ''[[Ultimate]]'' characters who put away weapons when not in use (e.g. [[Villager]]'s various tools) are generally not affected by this rule. Minor asymmetry such as [[Pikachu]]'s tail and [[King K. Rool]]'s eye tic can be acceptable, depending on their exact animations and hurtboxes. Compared to ''[[Smash 4]]'', characters with stance mirroring in ''Ultimate'' are generally animated in a way that better accommodates the feature.


Stance mirroring also affects which hand characters use to hold, swing, and throw [[item]]s. Turning around will cause a held item to simply teleport to the other hand (there is no animation for it). Similarly, if a character is [[reverse]]d by Mario's [[Cape]] or such, they will complete their rotation before they snap into their mirrored pose.
Stance mirroring also affects which hand characters use to hold, swing, and throw [[item]]s. Turning around will cause a held item to simply teleport to the other hand (there is no animation for it). A fighter with stance mirroring that is [[reverse]]d (for example, by Mario's [[Cape]]) or [[double jump]]s in the opposite direction (if they possess multiple double jumps, with the exceptions of [[Kirby]] and [[Jigglypuff]]) can be seen in a non-mirrored position for a short time, before suddenly snapping into the proper mirrored position.


As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit a Marth's extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other.
As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit [[Marth]]'s extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other, as [[Z-axis|the third dimension]] alters whether the two collide or pass by.


Stance mirroring is not present in games before ''SSB4'', though certain [[special move]]s and [[taunt]]s in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'' would choose between two different animations based on facing direction to mimic the effect.
Stance mirroring is not present in games before ''Smash 4'', though some [[special move]]s and many [[taunt]]s in ''[[Melee]]'' and ''[[Brawl]]'' have a different animation for each direction to accomplish a similar effect.


{{incomplete|needs description of how the mirrored Kirby interacts with copied moves from non-mirrored characters}}
In all ''Smash'' games, including those before mirroring was introduced, the default facing direction is to the right of the screen; this means that fighters without stance mirroring generally face the screen when facing right. The exceptions - those who instead face the screen when facing left - are Marth, [[Roy]], [[Young Link]], [[Toon Link]], [[Pit]], [[Lucina]], [[Robin]], [[Dark Pit]], [[Chrom]], [[Simon]], [[Richter]], and [[Sephiroth]], as well as [[Link]] before ''Ultimate''. Several of these are for consistency with the characters' home series; for example, Marth faces left in the battle scenes of ''[[Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and other games, while Simon's right-facing sprites from ''Castlevania'' are posed such that his torso faces away from the screen.
==List of characters with stance mirroring==
 
==Support for stance mirroring==
{|class="wikitable sortable"
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Character!!{{GameIcon|SSB4|20px}}!!{{GameIcon|SSBU|20px}}
!Character!!{{GameIcon|SSB4|20px}}!!{{GameIcon|SSBU|20px}}
|-
|-
|Banjo & Kazooie||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Banjo]] & [[Kazooie]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Bayonetta]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Bowser]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Bowser Jr.]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Byleth]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Captain Falcon]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Charizard]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Chrom]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Cloud]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Corrin]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Daisy]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Dark Pit]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Dark Samus]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Diddy Kong]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Donkey Kong]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Dr. Mario]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Duck Hunt]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Falco]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Fox]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Ganondorf]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Greninja]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Hero]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Ice Climbers]]<ref>The Ice Climbers are the only character who hold a weapon at all times to have stance mirroring. They are animated to pass the hammer to their other hand when turning around.</ref>||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Ike]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Incineroar]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Inkling]]<ref>One of their Squid form animations use Stance Mirroring excluding their Shield Special</ref>||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Isabelle]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Ivysaur]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Bowser||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Jigglypuff]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Bowser Jr.||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Joker]]<ref>Arsène has stance mirroring.</ref>||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Charizard||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Kazuya]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Daisy||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ken]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Diddy Kong||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[King Dedede]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Donkey Kong||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[King K. Rool]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Dr. Mario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Kirby]]<ref>Kirby will mirror Copy Abilities even if they belong to non-mirrored characters (e.g. he can hold Marth's sword with either hand).</ref>||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Duck Hunt||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Link]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Greninja||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Little Mac]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ice Climbers||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Lucario]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Incineroar||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Lucas]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Isabelle||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Lucina]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ivysaur||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Luigi]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}<ref>Luigi has different animations when using the Poltergust G-00 that don't face the screen when facing left.</ref>
|-
|-
|Jigglypuff||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mario]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|K. Rool||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Marth]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ken||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mega Man]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Kirby||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Meta Knight]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Lucas||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mewtwo]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Luigi||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mii Brawler]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Mario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mii Gunner]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Mega Man||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mii Swordfighter]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Mewtwo||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Min Min]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Mii Brawler||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mr. Game & Watch]]<ref>Mr. Game & Watch appears mirrored in most cases due to his flat and monochrome nature, but some of his props (such as the helmet of up smash) show that he is not.</ref>||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ness||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mythra]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Pac-Man||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ness]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Peach||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Olimar]]<ref>Pikmin have stance mirroring when not being used in an attack.</ref>||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Pichu||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pac-Man]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Pikachu||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Palutena]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Piranha Plant||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Peach]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|R.O.B.||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pichu]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ridley||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pikachu]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Ryu||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Piranha Plant]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Sonic||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pit]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Squirtle||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pyra]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Steve||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[R.O.B.]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Terry||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Richter]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Villager||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ridley]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|-
|Wario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Robin]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Yoshi||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Rosalina]] & [[Luma]]<ref>Luma has stance mirroring.</ref>||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|-
|Zelda||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Roy]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Ryu]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Samus]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Sephiroth]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Sheik]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Shulk]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Simon]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Snake]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Sonic]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Sora]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Squirtle]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Steve]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Terry]]||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Toon Link]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Villager]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Wario]]||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Wii Fit Trainer]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Wolf]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Yoshi]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Young Link]]||&mdash;||{{n|20px}}
|-
|[[Zelda]]||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|-
|[[Zero Suit Samus]]||{{n|20px}}||{{n|20px}}
|}
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Game mechanics]]
[[Category:Game mechanics]]

Latest revision as of 07:18, April 24, 2024

Mario and Greninja's mirrored stances in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Bowser always faces the camera, while Captain Falcon does not.

Stance mirroring (officially referred to by Masahiro Sakurai as Flipped animation[1]) is a mechanic in which most or all of a character's animations and moves are mirrored if they turn around, mimicking the sprite mirroring of older fighting games. This mechanic results in the characters' front side being visible more often. When mirrored, all hitboxes are also mirrored - for example, a punch that is animated with a character's right arm, when mirrored, will instead use the character's left arm.

In general, a character must have a symmetrical body shape and not wield a weapon in order to be eligible for stance mirroring, though in Ultimate characters who put away weapons when not in use (e.g. Villager's various tools) are generally not affected by this rule. Minor asymmetry such as Pikachu's tail and King K. Rool's eye tic can be acceptable, depending on their exact animations and hurtboxes. Compared to Smash 4, characters with stance mirroring in Ultimate are generally animated in a way that better accommodates the feature.

Stance mirroring also affects which hand characters use to hold, swing, and throw items. Turning around will cause a held item to simply teleport to the other hand (there is no animation for it). A fighter with stance mirroring that is reversed (for example, by Mario's Cape) or double jumps in the opposite direction (if they possess multiple double jumps, with the exceptions of Kirby and Jigglypuff) can be seen in a non-mirrored position for a short time, before suddenly snapping into the proper mirrored position.

As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit Marth's extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other, as the third dimension alters whether the two collide or pass by.

Stance mirroring is not present in games before Smash 4, though some special moves and many taunts in Melee and Brawl have a different animation for each direction to accomplish a similar effect.

In all Smash games, including those before mirroring was introduced, the default facing direction is to the right of the screen; this means that fighters without stance mirroring generally face the screen when facing right. The exceptions - those who instead face the screen when facing left - are Marth, Roy, Young Link, Toon Link, Pit, Lucina, Robin, Dark Pit, Chrom, Simon, Richter, and Sephiroth, as well as Link before Ultimate. Several of these are for consistency with the characters' home series; for example, Marth faces left in the battle scenes of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and other games, while Simon's right-facing sprites from Castlevania are posed such that his torso faces away from the screen.

Support for stance mirroring[edit]

Character Super Smash Bros. 4 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Banjo & Kazooie — Yes
Bayonetta No No
Bowser Yes Yes
Bowser Jr. Yes Yes
Byleth — No
Captain Falcon No No
Charizard Yes Yes
Chrom — No
Cloud No No
Corrin No No
Daisy — Yes
Dark Pit No No
Dark Samus — No
Diddy Kong No Yes
Donkey Kong No Yes
Dr. Mario Yes Yes
Duck Hunt Yes Yes
Falco No No
Fox No No
Ganondorf No No
Greninja Yes Yes
Hero — No
Ice Climbers[2] — Yes
Ike No No
Incineroar — Yes
Inkling[3] — No
Isabelle — Yes
Ivysaur — Yes
Jigglypuff Yes Yes
Joker[4] — No
Kazuya — No
Ken — Yes
King Dedede No No
King K. Rool — Yes
Kirby[5] Yes Yes
Link No No
Little Mac No No
Lucario No No
Lucas No Yes
Lucina No No
Luigi Yes Yes[6]
Mario Yes Yes
Marth No No
Mega Man Yes Yes
Meta Knight No No
Mewtwo Yes Yes
Mii Brawler Yes Yes
Mii Gunner No No
Mii Swordfighter No No
Min Min — No
Mr. Game & Watch[7] No No
Mythra — No
Ness No Yes
Olimar[8] No No
Pac-Man Yes Yes
Palutena No No
Peach No Yes
Pichu — Yes
Pikachu No Yes
Piranha Plant — Yes
Pit No No
Pyra — No
R.O.B. Yes Yes
Richter — No
Ridley — Yes
Robin No No
Rosalina & Luma[9] No No
Roy No No
Ryu Yes Yes
Samus No No
Sephiroth — No
Sheik No No
Shulk No No
Simon — No
Snake — No
Sonic Yes Yes
Sora — No
Squirtle — Yes
Steve — Yes
Terry — Yes
Toon Link No No
Villager No Yes
Wario Yes Yes
Wii Fit Trainer No No
Wolf — No
Yoshi No Yes
Young Link — No
Zelda No Yes
Zero Suit Samus No No

References[edit]

  1. ^ Flipped Animation [Animation]
  2. ^ The Ice Climbers are the only character who hold a weapon at all times to have stance mirroring. They are animated to pass the hammer to their other hand when turning around.
  3. ^ One of their Squid form animations use Stance Mirroring excluding their Shield Special
  4. ^ Arsène has stance mirroring.
  5. ^ Kirby will mirror Copy Abilities even if they belong to non-mirrored characters (e.g. he can hold Marth's sword with either hand).
  6. ^ Luigi has different animations when using the Poltergust G-00 that don't face the screen when facing left.
  7. ^ Mr. Game & Watch appears mirrored in most cases due to his flat and monochrome nature, but some of his props (such as the helmet of up smash) show that he is not.
  8. ^ Pikmin have stance mirroring when not being used in an attack.
  9. ^ Luma has stance mirroring.
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