Chrom (SSBU)

Chrom in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Fire Emblem
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Awakening Aether
Tier	C+ (54)

“	Chrom Joins the battle!!!	”
—Introduction tagline

Chrom (クロム, Chrom) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was announced as a newcomer alongside Simon, Richter, Dark Samus, and King K. Rool in the Nintendo Direct on August 8th, 2018. Chrom is Roy's Echo Fighter, thus being classified as Fighter #25^ε, though his lack of sweetspots makes him parallel Roy the same way Lucina parallels Marth. In addition to his role as a playable character, Chrom remains a part of Robin's Final Smash, Pair Up.

Matthew Mercer and Tomokazu Sugita, who voiced Chrom in the English and Japanese versions of Fire Emblem Awakening respectively, reprise their roles in the international and Japanese versions of Ultimate with newly recorded voice clips. Both voice actors initially revealed their roles on their Twitter accounts.

Chrom is ranked 54th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the C+ tier. This is significantly lower than his base fighter Roy, who is ranked 19th out of 82 on the current tier list and placed in the A tier. As with Roy, Chrom is blessed with an effective set of tools which work well with Ultimate's more aggressive pace: his combination of strong mobility and falling speed, quick frame data for a swordsman, good hitboxes on his attacks, and overall high damage-to-frame data ratio (courtesy of the weighted average of Roy's sweetspots and sourspots being rather high) grant him a powerful advantage state once the opportunity presents itself. Chrom also possesses one of the best neutral attacks in the game that has a myriad of uses (including being able to hit some opponents hanging from ledge) and a strong set of special attacks, including a unique up special in Soaring Slash, which is an effective damage dealer, decent out of shield option, and is infamous for its powerful meteor smash, allowing it to KO ledge-hanging opponents at 0% or function as a powerful sacrificial KO.

However, despite his strengths, the drastic difference in tier placement compared to Roy is due to Chrom's infamously poor recovery. Soaring Slash is Chrom's only recovery move and acts like Aether, offering very little horizontal distance compared to Roy's Blazer; it also lacks protection outside of its high super armor frames on startup, and cannot snap the ledge till Chrom begins falling. This makes it incredibly easy to gimp Chrom, as an opponent can simply bat him away with any attack (including holding down certain neutral attacks) or counterattack his recovery. As a result, he has one of the worst recoveries in the game despite his high air speed, making him highly dependable on recovery mixups and his air dodge; this also translates to him having a very poor disadvantage state, especially offstage. Finally, his balanced blade sacrifices the stronger, polarized sweetspots of Roy's sword, meaning he often has to win more neutral exchanges to compensate for the lack of stronger punishes, while his KO ability is still weaker than Roy's, most notably with Double-Edge Dance.

Initially, Chrom was highly regarded and considered one of the best swordfighters in the game, with high representation across all levels during the first year of Ultimate. However, after several nerfs to Soaring Slash and the community learning the matchup, his overall representation dropped significantly due to the playerbase taking advantage of his fragile offstage presence. This has resulted in Chrom struggling to make the same impact as he did in the early metagame.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Chrom being the 59th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his unlock tree, being the 7th character unlocked after Ridley.
• Have Chrom join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Chrom must then be defeated on Arena Ferox. In World of Light, he is fought on the Ω form of Castle Siege.

Attributes

As the Echo Fighter of Roy, Chrom's moveset and animations are primarily based on those of Roy, and his attributes are identical as well, with excellent yet polarized overall mobility (very fast dashing, air, and falling speeds, alongside a very effective dash dance, but a slightly above-average walking speed, slow air acceleration and a low midair jump) and good frame data for a weapon user. As a result, Chrom shares an almost similar gameplan: he is mainly a rushdown character, who aims to overwhelm his enemy by closing the distance quickly with fast movement. However, Chrom's primary difference is his sword's lack of a sweetspot and sourspot, making him more oriented towards spacing out his opponents at the cost of having lower damage output and knockback up close, compared to Roy (who focuses more on getting up close to his opponent for very hard hits). Chrom also notably lacks any of Roy's distinctive flame effects and reverse-gripped animations, and his forward tilt moves him slightly forward. Finally, Chrom's up special is completely different compared to Roy's, as Soaring Slash functions much like Aether compared to Blazer, and is more effective at racking up damage than KOing while onstage; it can even act as a niche sacrificial KO at extremely low percents out of a forward aerial, and otherwise acts as a deterrent for edge-guarding that Roy lacks. However, this is only effective if Chrom has a stock lead since he is usually KOed first.

Since Chrom's lack of a sweetspot makes his unique attribute similar to his daughter Lucina (who acts as the non-sweetspot/sourspot equivalent of Marth), Chrom's benefits are also somewhat identical to hers: they both share the trait of having the weighted average of their original fighter's damage numbers. As a result, they have more consistent combos, edgeguarding and KO potential than their base characters, and their attacks are significantly safer on shield and on hit than Marth and Roy's sourspots, at the cost of losing out on stronger sweetspots that can end stocks early. However, as Roy's sweetspots and sourspots are extremely polarized in power, Chrom's damage and knockback averages end up being higher-than-average, giving him an overall powerful offense. Additionally, he arguably benefits more from his balanced blade than Lucina does, since Roy's weaknesses are his reliance on getting extremely close and extremely ineffective sourspots; as a result, Chrom suffers less from Roy's main flaws, allowing him to both space and fight up close very effectively. In terms of general capabilities compared to Lucina directly, Chrom possesses faster overall speed and stronger grounded attacks, in exchange for lower jump height, faster falling speed, and weaker aerials. This makes him more capable than Lucina while on or moving along the ground, but drastically less versatile in the air and especially off-stage (mirroring the differences between Roy and Marth, respectively).

Despite his array of strengths, Chrom also has very polarized weaknesses. While Chrom's retention of Roy's high air speed grants him decent survivability with his second jump, his overall recovery and off-stage endurance is notoriously weak, even when compared to Roy, as Soaring Slash grants almost no horizontal distance and only snaps to ledge once he begins the downward slash, making it susceptible to counterattacks and sufficiently long hitboxes. This, combined with Chrom's low jump height and fast falling speed, results in him having one of the worst recoveries in the game, and also one of the most easily affected by semi-spikes and gimps. His poor recovery is only somewhat remedied by his aforementioned high air speed and the presence of his air dodge, which combined with his second jump, allows him to return to stage surprisingly frequently without the need for Soaring Slash. Despite this, Chrom's air dodge remains unsafe even though he relies on it more than other characters for survival. Additionally, he shares similar flaws with Roy: his excellent mobility is offset by a complete lack of projectile-denying tools, making him vulnerable to camping from a handful of characters, and his fast falling speed and low air acceleration makes him vulnerable to combos and juggles (though he has some good tools for escaping such combos, such as neutral aerial and falling up aerial).

Overall, it is fair to describe Chrom as an amalgam of previous Fire Emblem characters, taking bits and pieces from not just Roy, but also Lucina and Marth by extension, Ike, and Corrin to a much lesser extent. Chrom is a very accessible and effective character and provides for a completely different playstyle from Roy despite their shared attributes and moves. His aim is to strike a balance between aggression and patience, as he has the mobility, range, and damage necessary to switch between gameplans on the fly. However, his very weak recovery mandates that players avoid being thrown off-stage and maintain stage control at all times, as not only is he vulnerable to getting edgeguarded and gimped, but can sometimes also end up in a spot where he is unable to recover at all.

All in all, Chrom's strengths outweigh his weaknesses. He was viewed extremely positively in the early competitive scene after the release of Ultimate, had multiple dedicated mains such as Rivers and Mr.R who represented him in tournaments, and was a popular secondary pick for many high-level players.

Differences from Roy

Much like with Lucina and Marth, Chrom and Roy are overall functionally very similar to each other, and as mentioned above, the main difference between the latter two is similar to that of the former two; Chrom's attacks lack Roy's inverse tipper sweetspots, instead dealing consistent damage across the entire blade. Since Roy's tipper hitboxes are weak sourspots in direct contrast to Marth's tippers being powerful sweetspots, this gives Chrom the ability to more effectively space with his sword and makes him more consistent on-stage; on the contrary however, it does not allow him to secure stocks quite as early as Roy can. Regardless though, Chrom can still net some fairly early KOs, due to his kill power still being overall above-average. Additionally, Chrom has altered animations for his neutral attack, forward tilt and up tilt where he holds his sword properly instead of holding it in a reverse grip, which affect the hitbox placements of those moves; and his up smash, down aerial and special moves do not use the flame effect either.

Unlike Lucina, whose only other major difference from Marth is that her up tilt has a timing-based sweetspot, Chrom's additional differences are much more pronounced. His up special is entirely different, being a move called Soaring Slash which resembles Ike's Aether, which makes Chrom's recovery much less safe than Roy's, but also allows him to perform a sacrificial KO. His forward tilt moves him forward slightly, giving it more range; it is also noticeably more effective overall (especially considering his lack of tipper sourspots), and even possesses the ability to hit opponents hanging on the edge. Chrom's up smash also has less hitlag compared to Roy's, which can make it harder for opponents to properly DI or SDI. His neutral aerial uses weight-independent knockback on its first hit (like with Marth and Lucina) rather than on its second hit. Chrom's Counter deals less knockback against weaker attacks, but more knockback against stronger attacks. Lastly, his Final Smash, Awakening Aether, is completely different from Roy's, being closer in function to Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit instead. There are also a few other minor differences mentioned below (in the "Misc." section), but they are much more situational compared to the others.

Because Chrom's lack of Roy's sweetspots and flame-based attacks spreads across his entire moveset, and his up special makes his off-stage presence much less safe for both Chrom and his opponent(s), Chrom is generally considered to be one of the most unique Echo Fighters, alongside Ken and Lucina. As such, As such, these three characters are ranked separately from their base fighters on tier lists, and he is allowed to be used with their base fighters in Squad Strike.

Aesthetics

• As with all other Echo Fighters, Chrom has different taunts and victory poses.
• Chrom has a different No Contest animation.
• Chrom has a different idle stance and altered idle poses, with his left arm lifted, his sword pointed downward, and noticeably less bouncing. However, this does not apply when holding a light item.
  • Chrom has an additional animation for transitioning into his idle stance, which is used for all animations aside from his periodical idle poses. This is a trait shared with Dark Samus and Mythra.
• Chrom's sword trails are blue and white, and do not fade out, making them identical to Lucina's.
• Chrom has an additional voice clip for taking light knockback, an alternate KO voice clip, a voice clip when performing a tech, a voice clip for waking up from sleep, and one for emerging from underwater.
• As of the 3.0.0 update, Chrom has a distinct victory theme from Roy, shared with Lucina and Robin based on "Id (Purpose)" from Fire Emblem Awakening. However, in earlier versions, Chrom and Roy shared the same victory theme.

Attributes

• Unlike Roy, none of Chrom's attacks have a flame effect, with all of them (except for Flare Blade) instead having a slash or stab effect.
  • Partly as a result of this, Chrom's up smash, down aerial and neutral special have wind vortex visual effects.
• Chrom's Sealed Falchion lacks a sweetspot and sourspot compared to Roy's Binding Blade. As a result, it always deals consistent damage and knockback throughout, like Lucina's Parallel Falchion.
  • Chrom has more effective reach than Roy, as Roy cannot take advantage of his long reach due to his weak and largely ineffective sourspots.
  • Chrom's moves are more effective for combos than Roy's sweetspots due to their lower damage and knockback.
  • This makes Chrom's edgeguarding, damage racking and KOing abilities more consistent.
  • Chrom cannot secure KOs as early as Roy can, and his potential maximum damage output per hit is worse.
  • Chrom lacks the combos and KO setups that Roy's sourspots grant.
• Unlike Roy, Chrom does not hold his sword in a backward grip for his neutral attack, forward tilt and up tilt. This particularly improves the hitbox placements of the former two moves.

Ground attacks

• Chrom has a set voice clip for all three of his smash attacks.
• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack has more horizontal range due to an altered animation where Chrom holds his sword in a regular grip, as opposed to a reversed one.
  • Neutral attack is a more effective combo starter, due to the move's tipper hitbox having the same launch angle and knockback as the rest of the move, combined with the move's lower damage and knockback compared to Roy's sweetspotted version.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt moves him slightly forward, unlike Roy's variant. Its altered animation also causes him to hit lower, enabling him to more reliably hit shorter or crouching opponents, and grants him the ability to hit ledge-hanging opponents with the move. Altogether, these changes improve its range and effectiveness considerably.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has an altered animation where Chrom holds his sword in a regular grip.
  • Due to Chrom dealing consistent damage across his entire sword, up tilt is more effective overall, especially from the front.
• Forward smash:
  • Due to its lack of a sweetspot and middlespot, forward smash's hitbox is much more favorable due to it covering a very large area, with the earliest vertical hitbox having enough coverage to hit half a character length above Chrom's head. This makes it significantly more effective for catching jumps and ending combos.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has drastically less hitlag, making it harder to DI and SDI correctly while also making it more difficult for bystanders to punish Chrom for successfully landing the move.
  • Up smash has a different vibration effect to match its wind vortex visual effect.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Chrom's neutral aerial uses weight-independent knockback on the first hit like Marth and Lucina's, rather than on the second hit like Roy's. As a result, the first hit connects into the second more reliably, but is less effective for comboing into other moves, while the second deals more knockback to lighter opponents, but less to heavier ones.
• Forward aerial:
  • Chrom's forward aerial launches at the Sakurai angle, unlike Roy's which launches at 42 degrees.

Special moves

• Flare Blade:
  • Flare Blade uses the normal effect. Additionally, it is aesthetically different; instead of charging up with flames for a fiery explosion, Chrom's sword charges with a wind vortex before it unleashes a powerful shockwave. Additionally, as the move is charged, the Sealed Falchion's blade slowly sparkles from the blade's base to the tip, indicating its charge level, while dust and debris kick up around Chrom. This effect makes the move resemble Marth's Shield Breaker and Roy's Flare Blade in Melee.
  • Chrom uses only one voice clip upon releasing Flare Blade once sufficiently charged, similarly to how Marth and Lucina vocalize when performing Shield Breaker, instead of using multiple voice clips depending on charge level.
• Soaring Slash:
  • Chrom has a unique up special, Soaring Slash, which resembles Ike's Aether. Unlike Aether, where Ike throws his sword first, Soaring Slash has Chrom launch his opponent upward with his sword by performing a fast upward slash, resembling a move Chrom performs in the "Two Falchions" cutscene of Fire Emblem Awakening and a move he can perform in Fire Emblem Warriors. Like Aether, Soaring Slash grants Chrom super armor before he leaps upward.
  • Soaring Slash offers more vertical distance than Blazer.
  • Soaring Slash offers almost no horizontal distance compared to Blazer. It also does not snap to the ledge until Chrom begins descending. As a result, Chrom's recovery and off-stage survivability are even worse, as his recovery distance is low and very easily interrupted.
  • Compared to Roy's Blazer, Chrom's Soaring Slash does not have intangibility on frame 9, and its super armor does not start until frame 10 (compared to Blazer's super armor starting on frame 4).
    • However, Chrom's super armor lasts significantly longer (6 frames → 20) and can be performed in midair.
  • Soaring Slash does more damage if all hits connect (grounded: 16.8%, aerial: 13.5% → all: 21%). It does not get significantly weaker either if used in the air. Additionally, Chrom can also perform a sacrificial KO with the move against offstage opponents as well.
    • Soaring Slash KOs on-stage opponents later than grounded Blazer if all hits connect, but KOs them much sooner than aerial Blazer.
  • The first hit of Soaring Slash has significantly more horizontal range than that of Blazer, making it a more effective out of shield option when combined with its increased damage output, despite its slightly slower startup.
  • Soaring Slash's first hit comes out one frame slower than Blazer's (frame 9 → 10).
• Counter:
  • Chrom has different quotes for a successful Counter, and only has two compared to Roy's three. He may either say "Not today!" or "No way!"
    • Additionally, Chrom speaks the moment he blocks an attack rather then before the counterattack.
  • When countering a sufficiently strong attack, Chrom's Counter uses the same sound effect used by Ike's Counter against sufficiently strong attacks, instead of using the critical hit sound effect from the Fire Emblem series.
  • Chrom's Counter has different knockback values (60 (base)/90 (scaling) → 45/100). Overall, it deals less knockback when countering weaker attacks, and more knockback when countering stronger attacks.
• Awakening Aether:
  • Chrom has a unique Final Smash called Awakening Aether, inspired by Aether's portrayal in Fire Emblem Awakening.
  • Awakening Aether has increased knockback compared to Roy's Critical Hit, allowing it to KO opponents sooner in comparison.
  • Awakening Aether has much more effective range due to Chrom dashing forward instead of remaining in place.

Misc.

• Chrom uses a different animation when trapped within Steve's Minecart, being the same as Lucina.
  • He also jumps up to a slightly lower height when breaking free of the Minecart (initial y velocity: 2.6 → 2.55).
• Despite having the same running animation as Roy, Chrom's Impact Run hitbox is the same as that of Marth and Lucina (Y offset: 4.75u → 6u, Z offset: 6u → 10u).

Update history

Chrom received only a few changes in game updates, but was slightly nerfed overall.

Update 2.0.0 reduced the knockback of Soaring Slash's meteor smash hitbox, making it more likely for Chrom to be KOed first during the descent. Previously, this move was quite infamous for being a fairly reliable sacrificial KO that could be easily confirmed from his aerials, mainly forward aerial and neutral aerial, a series of kill confirms collectively referred to as the "Chrombo"; the consistency of the "Chrombo" made Chrom incredibly proficient at capitalizing from comeback situations. After the update, it is still possible to perform a "Chrombo", but it will only be reliable if Chrom has a stock advantage. It is now also safer to go offstage to edgeguard a Chrom at his last stock, as even being caught by Soaring Slash will not result in Chrom suddenly gaining the advantage, though this is still slightly inconsistent depending from Chrom's height when initiating the move. The same update, however, also buffed his down aerial as well; the move now autocancels earlier, matching its interruptibility.

Update 3.0.0 increased the vertical range of Chrom's dash grab, much like with Marth, Roy and Lucina, fixing an issue that prevented them from grabbing a shielding R.O.B.

Finally, update 3.1.0 improved his up smash, enabling its linking hits to connect into each other more reliably, a problem that update 7.0.0 once again addressed by removing the rare instances where opponents would trip out of the last hit.

Overall, these changes have not had much of an impact on Chrom's standing relative to the cast.

1.1.0

• The properties of Soaring Slash have been altered.

2.0.0

• Soaring Slash's meteor smash hitbox has reduced knockback (FKB 160 → 150), and Chrom's falling speed is increased 15 frames into the descent (-6 → -7.5). This makes the move more likely to KO Chrom first when used in a sacrificial KO, limiting its ability to secure wins in a last-stock scenario.
  • Additionally, the descent will now sometimes fail to connect into the landing hit when used out of a jump, due to Chrom descending much faster than the opponent.
• Down aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 55 → 52), matching the move's interruptibility.

3.0.0

• Chrom's victory theme was corrected to Id (Purpose), matching Lucina and Robin's themes.
• The grounded-only grabbox of dash grab was made bigger (2.6u → 3.0u) and placed higher (Y offsets: 7.0 → 7.25). This notably prevents it from missing a shielding R.O.B..

3.1.0

• Up smash's hits connect more reliably.
• Chrom's sheath is present during his on-screen appearance.
• Chrom's sword and sheath are present in his clapping animation on the results screen.

Technical changelist 3.1.0

Changed	Before	After
Up smash hit 1	Hitbox ID 0: angle=101˚, SDI=1x Hitbox ID 1: angle=116˚, SDI=1x	ID 0: angle=118˚, SDI=0x ID 1: angle 127˚, SDI=0.5x
Up smash looping hits	SDI=1x, weight not set	SDI=0.3x, weight set

7.0.0

• Up smash has received a -100% trip chance, preventing it from tripping opponents on platforms and missing its last hit due to the trip's intangibility.

Moveset

• Chrom's overall damage output is close to the weighted average of each of the hitboxes of Roy's attacks.

For a gallery of Chrom's hitboxes, see here.

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Slash (リフトスラッシュ, Lift Slash)	6.5%	An upward slash while keeping the Sealed Falchion horizontal. It comes out on frame 5, making it Chrom's fastest ground attack. A great combo starter, due to launching at a rather high angle and having low knockback and ending lag. It can easily start combos into a grab, tilts, aerials, or Double-Edge Dance. Just like Roy's neutral attack, it is effective at comboing into a reverse aerial rush back aerial for a highly potent KO confirm; compared to Roy however, it is easier to land thanks to Chrom's lack of sourspots. Additionally, its altered animation gives it slightly more range than Roy's neutral attack at the height of the slash. Finally, its earliest hitbox starts low enough to hit certain ledge-hanging opponents, which can transition into an punish.
Forward tilt		Sharp Edge (オーバーバッシュ, Over Bash)	10.925%	A downward slash. Powerful for a tilt considering its speed. Unlike Roy's forward tilt, it moves him slightly forward, and its altered animation means that its hitboxes reach much lower, enabling it to hit crouching, prone, or ledge-hanging opponents reliably. It has decent KO power, which is closer to Roy's sweetspot than some of his other moves.
Up tilt		Anti-air Slash (アンチエアスラッシュ)	10.45%	An overhead arcing slash. A juggling tool that possesses vertical KO power. It has the fastest startup of Chrom's tilts.
Down tilt		Low Stab (ロースラスト), Low Thrust)	9%	A kneeling thrust. Can be used for spacing, approaching and tech-chasing. It has the lowest ending lag of Chrom's tilts.
Dash attack		Raid Down (レイドダウン)	12%	An inward horizontal slash across the ground. Powerful for a dash attack, but has noticeable startup and ending lag, which makes it very unsafe on shield.
Forward smash		Power Slash (パワー スマッシュ)	18%	Rotates his body to perform a lunging, two-handed downward slash. Has high ending lag and a short hitbox duration, but hits hard for its speed. In exchange for losing Roy's extremely powerful sweetspot, Chrom's version also loses Roy's weaker middlespot and sourspot, giving it above-average knockback overall and a very large disjoint; the earliest vertical hitbox has enough coverage to hit half a character length above Chrom's head, which also allows it to hit opponents on Battlefield's lower platforms. Overall, this makes the move significantly more effective, as it functions as a more reliable KO option, and lets it end combos from aerials without losing power. It is based on Roy's regular attack as a Great Lord in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
Up smash		Windmill (ウインドミル)	2%/1% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 10% (hit 5)	An upward thrust, which surrounds the Sealed Falchion's blade with wind and concludes with a small blue explosion. A good anti-air attack, as Chrom's sword arm is granted intangibility throughout the attack (frames 10-23), though mediocre for ground combat due to it having small horizontal hitboxes. Has enough power to KO at around 110% uncharged. Unlike Roy's version, the move lacks flame properties.
Down smash		Whirlwind (ワールウインド)	12.35% (front hit), 14.25% (back hit)	A kneeling outward slash in front of himself and then behind himself. Chrom's fastest smash attack when it comes to startup, but has the highest ending lag of the three and is weaker. The back hit is stronger than the front hit.
Neutral aerial		Double Slash (ダブルスラッシュ)	4.75% (hit 1), 6.65% (hit 2)	An inward slash followed by a spinning, outward slash. The first hit can start guaranteed combos, though it can be difficult to setup due to how fast it ends. The move can also be used as a general combo and approach option.
Forward aerial		Flag Cut (フラッグカット)	9.025%	A downward slash. Quick, but noticeably slower and less powerful than Marth and Lucina's similar move. Auto-cancels in a short hop and has some KO potential at high percentages. It can also be used in quick succession due to its low ending lag, making it possible to perform a wall of pain. Unlike Roy's forward aerial, it launches opponents at the Sakurai angle.
Back aerial		About Face (アッパースイング, Upper Swing)	10.925%	Rotates his body to perform an upward slash. Interestingly, it turns Chrom around completely. Has great KO potential at high percentages.
Up aerial		Luna Slash (ルナスラッシュ)	7.6%	A backflipping, upward arcing slash. Chrom's fastest aerial startup-wise, it is useful for combos and juggling, and can even KO at very high percentages.
Down aerial		Half Moon (メテオドロップ, Meteor Drop)	11.85% (sourspot), 14.25% (sweetspot)	A two-handed, downward slash between his legs. Has the capability to meteor smash when sweetspotted (making this Chrom's only attack with a sweetspot and a sourspot). Unlike Roy's version, it lacks flame hitboxes.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out with his free hand.
Pummel		Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット)	1.3%	A knee strike. Average power and speed.
Forward throw		Elbowbutt (エルボーバット)	5%	An elbow strike with his sword arm. Has very high base knockback, making it mainly used for sending opponents offstage.
Back throw		Leg Hooker (レッグフッカー)	5%	Tosses the opponent behind himself. Has extremely low utility, as it is neither useful for combos nor KOs, and is not useful for setting up edgeguards either.
Up throw		Casting (キャスティング)	6%	Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. Chrom's only throw with KO potential, starting around 185%.
Down throw		Slam (グラブドロップ, Grab Drop)	5%	A one-armed body slam. Chrom's only combo throw, and is very reliable due to the amount of followups it can potentially set up into. However, it has very low hitstun.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Gets up while slashing to the left and then to the right.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Gets into a kneeling position and then slices around himself as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Hops briskly to his feet to perform a thrust to the left and a slash to the right.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Performs an outward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special		Flare Blade	8% (uncharged), 50% (fully charged), 10% recoil (fully charged)	Rears back and charges the Sealed Falchion in wind before performing a lunging, two-handed downward slash that generates a powerful shockwave; as it charges, the Sealed Falchion will also slowly glow with a blue sparkle from the hilt to the tip. Unlike Roy's version, it does not have a flame effect. Chrom can turn around while charging the move. Functions similarly to Eruption, as it can be charged before unleashing the explosion, with the shockwave's size growing as it charges. It has very high knockback growth even while uncharged, and the ability to quickly increase its damage output via charging. When fully charged, it will OHKO every character in the game from the center of Final Destination, with the exception of Bowser, King K. Rool, and Shulk with the Shield Monado Art. A fully-charged Flare Blade is also capable of instantaneously breaking a full shield, similar to a fully-charged Shield Breaker.
Side special		Double-Edge Dance	Varies (see below)	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. Unlike Roy's version, however, the last hit of each variation lacks flame hitboxes, and each hit deals equal damage throughout the entire blade (though it has much less KO potential than Roy's sweetspoted move); this makes it effectively identical to Lucina's Dancing Blade, if not superior due to having slightly more damage and knockback.
Up special		Soaring Slash	6% (hits 1, 4 and 5), 1.5% (hits 2 and 3)	Chrom yells one of three possible lines ("How about this?", "I'll end you!" or "Out of my way!") or grunts, and performs a slash upwards, and then jumps with his sword still in hand, twirling in the air before coming back down. Similar to Ike's Aether, but without tossing his sword. Just like Aether, Chrom gains super armor just before the leap (frames 10-30). Compared to Roy's Blazer, it deals more damage, but offers very little horizontal distance, rendering it as a notoriously inferior recovery move despite its increased vertical travel distance. The first hit has very good range, making the move an excellent out of shield option, especially when combined with its extremely high damage output should all hits connect. It can also be used as a sacrificial KO, which in a last-stock situation is somewhat unpredictable, KOing either Chrom or his opponent first.
Down special		Counter	1.35× (minimum 8%, maximum 50%)	Parries and then counterattacks against any incoming attacks with an outward slash. It has a 1.35x damage multiplier. Unlike Roy's version, it lacks flame properties, and also deals slightly different knockback as well.
Final Smash		Awakening Aether	1% (dash), 10% (hit 1), 36% (hit 2)	Chrom lunges forward, yelling "Anything can change!", "Now I'm mad!" or "Your end has come!" as he slashes with his sword. Any opponent(s) that he hits with it will be caught. After the opponent(s) have been caught, the camera angle changes to resemble that of attacks in Fire Emblem Awakening. Chrom then attacks the trapped opponent(s) again with a more powerful sword strike, sending them flying. Compared to Roy's Critical Hit Final Smash, it is stronger in terms of knockback, and can KO at earlier percentages in comparison.

Double-Edge Dance

Hit	Damage	Description
First Hit (Neutral)	2.85%	Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback even at extremely high percents. Can jab lock.
Second Hit (Up)	2.85%	An upward lifting slash. Has greater vertical reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground.
Second Hit (Neutral)	2.85%	Does an inward slash. Has a shorter hitbox than the first hit, which can lead to it sometimes missing if the first hit is landed from too far away. Deals very little knockback, even at extremely high percents. Can jab lock.
Third Hit (Up)	3.75%	Does an upward slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents slightly up and away, leading into the upward finisher.
Third Hit (Neutral)	3.75%	Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash.
Third Hit (Down)	3.75%	Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground.
Fourth Hit (Up)	6.4%	Twirls counterclockwise and does an upward slash. Launches opponents up, making it useful for starting juggling strings. Has the least ending lag of the three finishers. Fairly low knockback. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral)	5.2%	Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does very powerful vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback, and can KO at very high percentages, though it is much weaker than Roy's sweetspotted move.
Fourth Hit (Down)	2% (hit 1-4), 4.2% (hit 5)	Does a flurry of five lower stabs. Deals the most damage of the three finishers, wearing down shields well, and can shield poke low shields. Has the highest ending lag of the three finishers.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	95	2.2 – Initial dash 2.145 – Run	1.208	0.107	0.005	1.302	0.02 – Base 0.03 – Additional	0.114	1.8 – Base 2.88 – Fast-fall	3	30.97 - Base 13 - Short hop	28

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Warps onto the stage using warp magic while crouching, with the Sealed Falchion stuck in the ground when he appears. Chrom then pulls it out with a flourish before assuming his idle stance.

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  Chrom's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Looks at the screen as he twirls the Sealed Falchion twice, then assumes a stance highly similar to his pose from his official art in Fire Emblem Awakening, saying "Come at me!" (かかってこい！) This is also similar to (and mirrors) his daughter's up taunt.
• Side taunt: Flourishes the Sealed Falchion behind his head, then points it forwards at an upward angle while saying "Come on!" (勝負あったな。)
• Down taunt: Twirls the Sealed Falchion twice, then holds the blade of the sword in his left hand as he finishes, saying "I will not fail!" (俺は負けん！, I won't lose!) This was one of his battle quotes from Awakening.

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  Chrom's up taunt.

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  Chrom's side taunt.

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  Chrom's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Briefly clenches his left fist.
• Holds the Sealed Falchion upwards and parallel to his body, while lightly rubbing its edge.

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  Chrom's first idle pose.

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  Chrom's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Chrom, Chrom, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!	Ku - ro - mu!	Forza Chro - om!	Chro - om!	Chro - om! Chro - om! Chro - om!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Chro - om!	Chroooo - om!	Chrom! -- Chrom! -- Chrom!	Keu - rom!

Victory poses

In any victory pose, there is a chance Chrom will say "Our bond is stronger than steel." (いつでも稽古をつけてやる, We can practice anytime.) if Lucina was present during the match.

• Left: Swipes his sword twice and twirls it before posing with his sword in front of himself, while saying "Anything can change!" (運命を変える！, Change destiny!). Based on his and Lucina's trademark pose, which they frequently use in official art.
• Up: Rushes forward, performing an upwards slash, before twirling his sword and posing while pointing his weapon towards the camera, saying "The training paid off!" (いつでもかかってこい, Come at me anytime.). Based on Awakening Aether.
• Right: Performs an outward slash, twirls his sword, then plants it into the ground before posing, saying "I will cut a path!" (俺が道を切り拓く！, I will cut a path!). Based on his victory pose in Fire Emblem Awakening.

A short orchestral cover of "Id (Purpose)" from Fire Emblem Awakening (Used from Version 3.0.0 onwards).

An orchestral, sped-up cover of several bars of the Fire Emblem Theme, the title theme for the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which has since become the main theme of the series and appeared in every game (Used prior to Version 3.0.0).

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Chrom players (SSBU)

•  Lancelot - One of Europe's best Chrom players of all-time, but has been playing more Roy since 2022. He regularly places highly at large European events, most notably placing 2nd at Smash Contest: DoKomi 2021 and 3rd at Valhalla III upsetting quiK.
•  Lax - The best Chrom player in the world since 2023. He has shown the best Chrom results in the post-pandemic metagame, placing 3rd at Maesuma TOP 13.5 "U-22" and 5th at Wave 5. His major/supermajor placements are less consistent, but he has made marks nonetheless, including 17th at DELTA 4 and upsetting Zomba.
•  Mr.R - The best Chrom player of all-time, having played the character alongside others such as Snake and Sheik. He has the best placements for any Chrom player, which include multiple top 8s at majors such as 5th at both Albion 4 and Smash Factor 8 and 7th at COLOSSEL 2022. He dropped Chrom in mid-2022 in favor of solo-Sheik.
•  Rivers - One of the best Chrom players in the early metagame, ranking 18th on the Spring 2019 PGRU and placing highly at several majors, including 7th at Get On My Level 2019 and 9th at both Frostbite 2019 and Smash 'N' Splash 5. He dropped Chrom in the post-online metagame for solo-Diddy Kong.
•  tk3 - Co-mains Chrom with Roy and was the best Chrom player in Japan from 2019 to 2021 thanks to several high placements such as 5th at Kagaribi 3, 9th at Kagaribi 4, and 13th at EVO Japan 2020.

Tier placement and history

Prior to the release of Ultimate, players were wary of Chrom's ability as a fighter, due to players perceiving his reliance on Soaring Slash granting him possibly one of the worst recoveries in the game, alongside Roy's mediocre standing in Smash 4. Mindsets were quickly turned upon release however, as Chrom prove to be a highly effective swordfighter thanks to a powerful overall damage output and excellent speed; in addition, Chrom's access to balanced hitboxes made him less risky compared to Roy, and Soaring Slash also granted him a notorious KO combo out of forward aerial, allowing him to perform a sacrificial KO that would always lead to his opponent dying first. This made Chrom extremely popular during the initial months, with him being considered one of the best swordfighters in the early metagame.

Update 2.0.0 eventually worsened the effectiveness of Chrom's Soaring Slash combo, and his exploitable recovery has also been taken advantage of as the meta grew, which caused his player count to drop as time passed. Chrom was also overlooked in favor of Lucina and Roy, who were quickly gaining prominence in competitive play as two of the best swordfighters in the game. As a result, players eventually dropped Chrom entirely or designated him as a pocket character, while some would only use him in matchups less favorable for Roy. Nevertheless, the first year of competitive play still saw many notable Chrom players achieve high placements, including Lancelot, Mr.R, and Rivers.

This would not last very long. For one, Chrom experienced a precipitous drop in terms of results and representation in the online meta, with a PGstats analysis of deep bracket picks suggesting that Chrom is the worst online character in the game by a large margin based on paltry win rates and pick rates. This can be attributed to the online environment exacerbating Chrom's fragile disadvantage state, particularly off-stage, making his echo counterpart Roy a much safer pick. Chrom's issues were particularly brought to light when Mr.R fell early in bracket and failed to qualify for Smash World Tour 2021 in the European online qualifiers, citing his inability to play the character online as a big reason for his underperformance. A few other disappointing results offline, notably at Smash Factor 9, ultimately led to Mr.R's decision to drop the character. In addition, even more players began dropping Chrom (Rivers) or relegating him to a secondary or co-main (Lancelot). Although there were still dedicated Chrom mains during this time such as Lax, it was not enough to counter Chrom's decline in the metagame. As such, Chrom was ranked 43rd on the first tier list as a mid-tier character, before experiencing a noticeable drop into the C+ tier at the 54th place out of 82, a far cry from his status in the early metagame.

Classic Mode: Fight as One

Chrom's congratulations screen.

Chrom fights mainly in team battles, in homage to Fire Emblem Awakening's Pair Up system, in which two units can team up to deal additional damage to an opponent, with the exception of the first round, which instead references his duel with Lucina in Chapter 4 of Awakening.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Lucina	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose)	Items do not appear.
2	Fox and Falco	Lylat Cruise	Space Armada	Lucina is a CPU ally.
3	Ness and Lucas	Onett	Pollyanna (I Believe in You)	Robin is a CPU ally.
4	Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong	Jungle Japes	Jungle Hijinxs	Lucina is a CPU ally.
5	Peach and Daisy	Mario Circuit	Rainbow Road - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!	Robin is a CPU ally. The opponents, stage and music references Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, in which Peach and Daisy are partners in that game.
6	Simon and Richter	Dracula's Castle	Vampire Killer (Remix)	Lucina is a CPU ally.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand / Crazy Hand	Robin is a CPU ally.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Chrom has Id (Purpose) (Remix) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Chrom in World of Light

Although Chrom does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Chrom was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is in a desolate part of the Triforce of Courage section of the Sacred Land sub-area. The only way to reach him is by finding a treasure chest and jumping in it once opened in order to be transported to his location. This is hinted by an Owl Statue in the right path of the Triforce of Power section.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
25ε		Chrom	Attack	10,600	Castle Siege (Ω form)	Id (Purpose) (Remix)

Spirit

Chrom's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Chrom has been unlocked. Unlocking Chrom in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

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  613. Chrom

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
651		Karel	Fire Emblem Series	•Chrom		3,700	Coliseum	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy has increased attack power	Coliseum Series Medley
668		Lon'qu	Fire Emblem Series	•Chrom		3,700	Arena Ferox	•Item: Swords	•The enemy's slash and stab attacks have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	Conquest (Ablaze)
674		Owain	Fire Emblem Series	•Chrom		1,700	Coliseum	•Item: Swords	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy loves to taunt •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	Duty (Ablaze)
678		Ryoma	Fire Emblem Series	•Chrom		9,500	Coliseum (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy has increased attack power	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
1,175		Matthew	Golden Sun Series	•Chrom		3,600	Coliseum	•Item: Hothead	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Weyard
1,284		Wonder-Blue	The Wonderful 101	•Chrom •Villager		1,800	New Donk City Hall	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •Defeat an army of fighters	ST01: Roll Out, Wonderful 100!
1,312		Yusuke Kitagawa	Persona Series	•Chrom •Giant King Dedede		2,500	Suzaku Castle (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Vince)	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while	Last Surprise
1,377		ASTRAL CHAIN Hero (Male)	ASTRAL CHAIN	•Chrom •Metal Dark Pit		9,500	Fourside (Ω form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy is metal	Corneria - Star Fox Zero
1,510		Terra	Kingdom Hearts Series	•Chrom (140 HP)		3,800	Hollow Bastion (Dive to the Heart, Terra)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Ashley)	•Stamina battle •Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage	Hollow Bastion
1,520		Zagreus	[sic]	•Chrom (40 HP) (80 HP) (130 HP)		9,500	Dracula's Castle	•Sudden Final Smash	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash after a little while •Stamina battle •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Brain Cleaner

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
667		Lissa	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle •Robin •Chrom		3,300	Arena Ferox	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Duty (Ablaze)	Chrom
1,306		Phantom Thieves of Hearts	Persona Series	•Joker •Pikachu •Captain Falcon •Zero Suit Samus •Chrom •Sheik		13,300	Mementos (Haru Okumura background, hazards off)	•Sudden Final Smash •Item: Daybreak Parts	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There	Yusuke Kitagawa

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Chrom's splash art.

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  Chrom's amiibo.

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  Chrom's fighter card.

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  Chrom's unlock notice.

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  Artwork of all playable Fire Emblem characters and Assist Trophies, as posted on the official Japanese Fire Emblem Heroes Twitter account.

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  Screenshot of all playable Fire Emblem characters on Arena Ferox, as posted on the official Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter account.

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  Chrom standing on Palutena's Temple.

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  Chrom using his Double-Edge Dance on Ganondorf in Arena Ferox.

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  Chrom standing on Suzaku Castle.

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  Chrom's Double-Edge Dance on Skyloft.

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  Chrom with a Super Leaf equipped, surrounded by a sleeping Wolf, Lucario and Fox on Living Room.

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  Chrom's red costume and female Robin on Coliseum.

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  Chrom preparing to use Counter with Kirby using Chrom's Copy Ability on Coliseum.

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  Chrom using his Final Smash on Mewtwo.

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  Chrom struck by Piranha Plant's neutral special on Halberd.

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  Chrom and Dark Samus on Skyloft.

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  Chrom using Soaring Slash.

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  Chrom posing alongside Robin in the latter's victory pose.

Trivia

• In Robin and Lucina's reveal trailer for SSB4, a defeated Chrom remarks that he'll "get his chance another day". This later became true with his playable appearance in Ultimate.
• Chrom is the second character to become playable after previously being featured in a Final Smash (Pair Up). The first was Palutena, who appeared in Pit's Final Smash in Brawl, Palutena's Army.
  • Unlike Palutena, however, Robin still summons Chrom when Pair Up activates.
• Chrom is the second newcomer in Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii Fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. 4, after Inkling and followed by King K. Rool and Isabelle.
  • He is also the only Echo Fighter to have been featured as a full Mii outfit in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• In SSB4's Palutena's Guidance, Viridi teases Chrom for being too similar to Ike, calling him a "carbon copy". Although Chrom is an Echo Fighter, his moves are instead derived from Roy, though it should be noted that Roy was not playable as DLC yet when the Palutena's Guidance was made.
  • Additionally, Palutena mocks Chrom's lack of an Aether recovery move, but he is able to use the skill Aether in Fire Emblem Awakening, and can use a similar-looking move in Ultimate.
• Chrom is the first Fire Emblem newcomer since Marth to not be from the latest Fire Emblem game at the time of release.
• Excluding Mario and Dr. Mario, who are considered separate in-game characters, Chrom and Riki are the only characters to appear in multiple Sound Test folders in Ultimate. In Chrom's case, his voice clips as a playable character are part of his own folder, while his voice clips in Robin's Final Smash and victory pose are listed under Robin's folder.
• Due to an error on the official site, Chrom's character showcase video was not visible on the mobile variant of the main page and was barely visible on the desktop version. The video was only visible on his blog post. This error has since been fixed.
• According to Sakurai's weekly Famitsu column, Chrom was added due to his popularity in Japan, while Dark Samus was added due to her popularity overseas.
• Chrom reverts to Marth's Brawl idle and crouching animations while holding a small throwable item. He shares this trait with Roy.
• Chrom is one of the few characters that speak during a KO, sometimes exclaiming, "Sorry!".
• Chrom is the only Echo Fighter to have an entirely different special move that is not a Final Smash, as his up special, Soaring Slash, resembles Ike's Aether instead of Roy's Blazer.
• Prior to the 3.0.0 update, Chrom was the only character from Fire Emblem Awakening not to have the victory theme based on "Id (Purpose)", as he used the default Fire Emblem theme instead.
  • Since the change, Chrom is the first and only character to have his victory theme changed across game updates.
• Chrom's helpless state shows him using his sword in a reverse grip, much like his base counterpart, Roy. This can be seen when jumping on the red trampoline of Pac-Jump or if the platform he's standing on disappears in the middle of the landing animation.
• Chrom and Mario are the only characters that appear in one of the victory poses of another character. In Chrom's case, it's Robin.