Byleth (SSBU)

Byleth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Fire Emblem
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven
Tier	B- (42)

“	Byleth Joins Smash House!	”
—Introduction tagline (♂)

“	Byleth Recruits ...Byleth!	”
—Introduction tagline (♀)

Byleth (♂: ベレト, ♀: ベレス, Byleth) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Byleth was officially announced on January 16th, 2020 as the fifth and final downloadable character from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Both male and female versions of Byleth are playable. Byleth was released as part of Challenger Pack 5 on January 28th, 2020 and is classified as Fighter #75.

Zach Aguilar and Jeannie Tirado, who respectively voiced the male and female versions of Byleth in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Heroes, reprise their roles in the overseas versions, while Yūsuke Kobayashi and Shizuka Itō reprise their respective male and female roles in the Japanese version.

Byleth is ranked 42nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the B- tier. Byleth's greatest strength is his range, as he possesses long and disjointed range on many of his moves, especially those that use Areadbhar, allowing him to pressure opponents from afar. His Arendbhar moves especially have a sweetspot at the tip of the lance that deals increased damage and knockback. In addition, up special has a lot of utility outside of being a tether recovery: at early percents and very high percents, Byleth can combo the tip of his up special into one of his aerials, potentially taking an early stock, while at middle percents onward, the tip spikes opponents, and Byleth can use the move offstage against opponents with a poor or exploitable recovery. Finally, all of Byleth's other weapons have great utility as well, with Failnaught and his down smash being great for tech chases and shield breaking at different distances, while his neutral air is a great combo tool or combo starter thanks to its relatively fast startup and landing hitbox.

However, Byleth's archetype also means he has weaknesses when fighting up close. This is due to his slow frame data aside from a select few moves and his sluggish mobility, the latter of which is among the slowest in the game. As such, Byleth is especially vulnerable to fast, agile characters that can quickly overwhelm him, while conversely these characters can abuse Byleth's sluggishness by camping him out. In addition, Byleth makes the most out of his Areadbhar moves if the sweetspot is hit, and the moves do much weaker damage and knockback otherwise. Finally, Byleth's recovery has all the weaknesses that a tether recovery has, including limited horizontal recovery, while these weaknesses are somewhat exacerbated by Byleth's slow air mobility.

Overall, Byleth remains true to his "distance demon" archetype: he is best when fighting opponents at a distance with long-ranged and high-damaging moves, and his tools can even be used to steal early stocks from unsuspecting opponents. However, Byleth must also be careful with how he uses his moves, as throwing them out carelessly may allow opponents to get closer and punish hard. Although initially received lukewarmly due to his slow movement, opinions rose significantly when MkLeo began playing the character, but eventually mellowed as very few players were able to come close to MkLeo's performances.

Attributes

Byleth is a tall, middleweight swordsman, yet has poor overall mobility (similarly to Ganondorf, Incineroar and Dr. Mario), high startup and ending lag on many of his moves, and a rather short grab range. In the words of Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai, Byleth is a "distance demon", since his optimal playstyle involves using his Heroes' Relics to zone out opponents at mid-range, similarly to Marth and Shulk. Thanks to his variety of weapons, Byleth's overall range is fittingly long in line with his archetype, and his attacks are generally very strong, especially for a middleweight, although this comes at the cost of his frame data being rather sluggish. All of these traits make Byleth's general gameplan very patient: his sluggishness and strength make it important for him to plan ahead and learn the opponent's habits before covering their options with his range and arsenal of hard-hitting weapons.

Like other weapon wielders, Byleth's attacks have disjointed hitboxes that allow him to fight effectively from a safe distance. Neutral attack is a quick chain of attacks that help ward off nearby opponents, and is useful due to being his fastest attack of any kind. Due to having four weapons, each of them is assigned to different attacking directions. Like in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the Sword of the Creator is Byleth's default weapon, and it is wielded throughout all animations that do not involve any other weapon.

Neutral infinite is one of the most damaging of its kind in the entire game, and it can even KO at very high percentages while near the edge. Up and forward tilts have wide hitboxes and decent speed, making them effective spacing attacks. Down tilt transforms the Sword of the Creator into its whip form, and although it is slower than the other two tilts, it is a useful combo starter into aerial attacks. Dash attack is a wide slash forward that is potent for punishing whiffs, and can even KO at reasonable percentages when its blade hitbox connects. However, its ending lag makes it easily punishable, which is further compounded by its weak hilt hitbox.

In regard to an assigned attack direction, all of Byleth's up-inputted moves emphasize the Sword of the Creator's whip form. Up smash causes him to lash upwards in a flurry, which deals multiple hits and is useful for denying landings or starting juggles. It is also Byleth's fastest smash attack, while its moderately powerful final hit makes it a viable KO option as well. Up aerial functions very similarly to up smash in regard to aesthetics and mechanics. Due to being an aerial, however, its looping hits can also drag opponents downward to initiate extended combos, which makes it one of Byleth's most useful attacks in general.

When used as his up special, the Sword of the Creator grants Byleth a very long tether recovery that can grab Battlefield's edges, even if he is near the bottom blast line. Notably, Byleth's up special can attach to walls and enable him to perform a wall jump if he then touches a wall, much like how tether recoveries function in Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, the Sword of the Creator also boasts potent offensive potential as an up special: it causes an untechable meteor smash at high percentages that, if used on offstage opponents, sees Byleth meteor smash an opponent by footstool jumping on them, which can cause an unavoidable KO at high percentages. This hop also has extremely low ending lag, allowing for certain follow-ups, such as his side special or even down aerial. Altogether, these traits provide Byleth with a safe array of covering various approach options.

Byleth's other weapons grant more specialized options. Areadbhar, a lance, is used for Byleth's side-inputted moves (forward smash, forward aerial, back aerial, and side special). It has long-range and has a tipper that deals more damage at the tip of the lance. Forward smash is a slow, but long-ranged stab that deals more knockback if aimed upward and tippered, allowing it to heavily punish jump options. If aimed downward, Areadbhar can also hit opponents grabbing edges. Meanwhile, forward and back aerials are very effective spacing moves, even outranging those of Marth, and their tippers deal heavy knockback.

Byleth's side special has him swing Areadbhar in a slow, but wide swing, and allows him to step forward if it is inputted like a smash attack. Its massive hitbox easily denies jump options and acts as a powerful but risky spacing option, as any character can punish it even when fully spaced if they shield it. Aside from its offensive potential, Areadbhar can even assist Byleth's horizontal recovery when used as a side special in the air. All of Areadbhar's moves are weak if the hilt lands, so proper spacing is vital; the sourspots of forward and back aerials can be used to combo or tech chase effectively, but will KO less readily. Side special will be extremely weak if the hilt lands, but Byleth will be able to shield to protect themselves even if the hilt is used.

Aymr, an axe, is used for Byleth's down-inputted moves (down smash, down aerial, and down special). It is an extremely slow, yet powerful weapon that deals high damage, shield damage, and knockback on each move that uses it. Down smash is slow overall, but hits very hard and can KO as early as 90%. Down aerial is a similarly slow swing downwards with extreme landing lag, but it is the strongest meteor smash in the game when it lands, making it also among the most rewarding. Byleth's down special causes him to charge Aymr in a super armored stance before unleashing a powerful, Special Zoom-inducing swing. It allows Byleth to pass through platforms and turn around in the opposite direction while charging, which can be used for mindgames. It also has a surprisingly wide hitbox that starts behind Byleth's head. Altogether, these traits make it a high-risk, high reward move that can catch opponents by surprise. If used in the air, it will be slightly weaker and lack super armor, yet still KO at very reasonable percentages.

Finally, Failnaught is a bow that is used for two of Byleth's neutral-inputted moves (neutral aerial and neutral special). Neutral aerial involves Byleth spinning it in a circular motion for a fairly long time, much like Pit's neutral aerial. As a result, it is a good option out of shield due to its fast startup, and can also initiate combos or edgeguard with its looping hits and landing hitbox. Byleth's neutral special uses Failnaught to fire an arrow, which can be shot at two different strengths: a slow but strong arrow that acts it serviceable for sniping and spacing, or a very delayed arrow that is one of fastest projectiles in the game and is strong enough almost break a full shield. The charged arrow also becomes an energy projectile, making it possible to absorb it, though it cannot be Inhaled or Pocketed. Unlike other bows, Byleth can charge-cancel Failnaught, specifically up until slightly after the delayed charged arrow begins charging. However, he is unable to cancel it after he reaches that point. Byleth's neutral special can also turn around up to two times before the charged arrow is fired, similarly to Palutena Bow/Silver Bow.

Byleth may have good strengths, but he does also have weaknesses. Due to his overall mobility being among the worst in Ultimate, his approach is very committal. This flaw is further compounded by many of his attacks having slow startup (e.g. down smash/down aerial), narrow hitbox placements (e.g. forward/back aerials), or even both (e.g. forward smash). Dash attack, neutral aerial, and side special are exceptions, but are easily punishable on shield due to their ending lag, while the lattermost is dangerously unsafe if the sweetspot does not connect.

This flaw becomes even more dangerous with Failnaught's unique charge properties: while the arrows fired from it are powerful and fast, they are equally as dangerous if reflected, as Byleth cannot cancel the move after charging it halfway through. Byleth's abundance of powerful attacks is also a double-edged sword: while these attacks make it easy for him to heavily punish mistakes, his sluggish frame data also makes counterattacks an excellent option to punish his many KO options if they are used unwisely.

Byleth's grab game is also lackluster at best. Down throw is, by far, the best aspect of Byleth's grab game: it is a reliable combo starter below 80%, with neutral, forward and back aerials being reliable follow-ups. However, this is offset by the other aspects of his grab game. Aside from his aforementioned grab range issues, his pummel is akin to a heavyweight's by being decently damaging, yet fairly slow. Up throw is his most damaging throw, but inflicts only a mediocre 9% and its only real purpose is applying pressure from below, with up aerial and up special being possible follow-ups if the opponent fails to DI properly. Although back throw can potentially combo into dash attack at low percentages, this combo is utterly outclassed by down throw's combos. Instead, it and forward throw are used primarily to launch the opponent offstage.

Byleth's recovery is also burdensome in certain ways. Due to being a tether recovery, his up special boasts high vertical distance, but lackluster horizontal distance. When coupled with his poor air speed, Byleth is susceptible to gimps. However, his recovery is deceptively useful when used properly. Since up special can recover from halfway between the camera border and blast zone on Final Destination, Byleth mostly has to worry about getting in range horizontally. To assist with this, he can use his side special or his neutral/forward/back/up aerials to hit away opponents, and performing a B-reversed Failnaught charge, canceled with a jump, which will make where Byleth is going to be very hard for the opponent to guess.

All in all, Byleth is a ranged powerhouse that boasts a capable mixture of highly damaging attacks, KO options, combos, and setups. However, Byleth's slow overall mobility and poor overall frame data mean that he must be careful with his offensive techniques and use his tools very patiently in order to punish his opponent's mistakes, as a careless move on Byleth's end will easily give his opponent just as big of an opening to retaliate.

Update history

Byleth was slightly buffed in update 11.0.0. The most notable buffs were to Sword of the Creator: its decreased overall lag improved its utility for recovering, combos and as an out of shield option, while its increased base knockback improved its KO potential while offstage and removed its dead zone (the latter of which improved its consistency). Areadbhar became safer on shield thanks to it receiving shieldstun multipliers. In addition, it has less ending lag when used in the air; this slightly improved its recovery and edgeguarding potentials. Down smash and down aerial gained slightly higher knockback, which improved their already considerable KO potentials. On an extended note, down aerial's shield damage output was also increased.

Overall, Byleth fares mildly better than he did when he was first released.

11.0.0

• Down smash deals more knockback (73 base/62 scaling → 74/66), allowing it to KO earlier.
• Down aerial:
  • Has more knockback scaling (57/52/82/74/57/52 → 61/56/86/78/61/56), allowing it to KO earlier.
  • Deals more shield damage (6 → 9), allowing it to break shields more easily.
• Areadbhar:
  • Has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 1.7× on the grounded version and 2× on the aerial version, making it safer on shield.
  • Has less ending lag in the air (FAF 66 → 62).
• Sword of the Creator:
  • Has more base knockback at high percents (0 → 14), allowing to KO earlier. This also removes the dead zone, in which the opponent did not have to tech the spike on stage, increasing the move's utility when used around 50%.
  • Has less startup lag (frame 11 → 9 (grounded), 12 → 10 (aerial)), with its total duration on the ground reduced as well (FAF 49 → 47).
• Changed the length of vulnerability when crumpling to be consistent with other fighters.

Moveset

• Byleth uses a variety of the Heroes' Relics from Fire Emblem: Three Houses throughout his moveset. Each weapon is designated to a different attacking direction: neutral, side, up, and down.
  • The Sword of the Creator is Byleth's default weapon and is wielded throughout all animations that do not involve any other weapon. It is used for Byleth's neutral infinite, tilt attacks, throws, and get-up attacks, though it is also designated to up-inputted moves like up smash, up aerial, and up special. Certain moves cause the Sword of the Creator to change into its whip form, extending its range. The Sword of the Creator also enables Byleth to wall jump 3 times when his up special is used.
  • Areadbhar is a lance wielded by Dimitri. It is used for Byleth's side-inputted moves, such as forward smash and back aerial. Areadbhar features a tipper, with the shaft dealing comparatively low knockback and damage and the tip dealing 1.5× the damage of the shaft.
  • Aymr is an axe wielded by Edelgard. It is used for Byleth's down-inputted moves, such as down smash and down special. Aymr boasts incredibly high damage and knockback on all moves that feature it, though at the cost of extremely high overall lag.
  • Failnaught is a bow wielded by Claude. It is used for two of Byleth's neutral-inputted moves, neutral aerial and neutral special. Unlike the previously mentioned weapons, Failnaught does not feature any particular traits.

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			1.5%	A knifehand strike, followed by a roundhouse kick, followed by a side kick. When button mashed, Byleth instead unleashes a flurry of lashes with the Sword of the Creator's whip form. It is Byleth's fastest attack, although the first hit has short range. Like Palutena's neutral infinite, Byleth's infinite has enough power to KO at very high percentages while near the edge. Holding the attack button causes Byleth to repeat the first hit, albeit rather slowly.
			2%
			4.5%
			0.4% (loop), 3.5% (last)
Forward tilt			11%	A downward slash. A decent spacing tool with reasonable power. Resembles Byleth's standard attack animation with the Sword of the Creator in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Up tilt			10%	An overhead arcing slash. An effective anti-air and juggling tool.
Down tilt			8%	A kneeling, inward lash with the Sword of the Creator's whip form. It has very good horizontal range. Despite having slow startup for a tilt attack, it is one of Byleth's best combo starters, thanks to its launching angle and knockback collectively enabling it to combo into up tilt, neutral aerial, up aerial or up special, depending on the opponent's damage.
Dash attack			13% (blade), 9% (hilt)	A lunging, downward slash. A quick and useful burst option for punishing landings, though it has a noticeable amount of ending lag. Like Marth and Roy's dash attacks, it also has polarized hitboxes: its sweetspot boasts enough power to KO opponents at reasonable percentages while near the edge, yet its sourspot has virtually no KO potential. Resembles Byleth's standard attack animation with regular swords in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Forward smash	↗		19.5% (tip), 13% (shaft)	Thrusts Areadbhar forward. It has tremendous range, with the sweetspot located on the tip of Areadbhar being extremely powerful. It is fairly slow for a forward smash, however, and has a fairly weak sourspot covering the shaft of the lance. It can be angled, with the upward-angled variant being stronger, and the downward-angled variant being weaker in exchange for being able to more reliably hit shorter, crouching, prone, or ledge-hanging opponents. Byleth may occasionally say either "Areadbhar!" or "There!" while using this move. Can be used to 2 frame punish opponents. It resembles Paraselene, a combat art learned exclusively by Dimitri upon mastering the Great Lord class in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
	→		18% (tip), 12% (shaft)
	↘		17.25% (tip), 11.5% (shaft)
Up smash			2% (hits 1-3), 10% (hit 4), 16% (total)	Flails the Sword of the Creator's whip form overhead to perform a flurry of lashes. It hits multiple times and is Byleth's fastest smash attack, which make it useful for juggling opponents and covering landings. It is also decently strong for an up smash of its kind, which makes it a viable KO option.
Down smash			23%	Kneels and swings Aymr in front of himself and then behind himself. Unlike most down smashes, both hits are equally powerful. It deals extremely high damage and knockback for a down smash, being the strongest in the game. It also deals extremely high shield damage, with a fully charged down smash being capable of nearly breaking a full shield with one hit. However, it is extremely slow compared to other down smashes. Byleth may occasionally say either "Aymr!" or "Take this!" while using this move.
Neutral aerial			2.5% (hits 1-3), 3% (hit 4), 10.5% (total), 1% (landing)	Spins Failnaught in front of himself. It is Byleth's fastest aerial attack, yet has the shortest range out of them. It hits multiple times and provides decent coverage around Byleth, making it useful for edgeguarding and approaching. It also possesses a landing hitbox that can be used for set-ups at various percentages. Byleth may occasionally say "Failnaught!" while using this move.
Forward aerial			12.75% (tip), 8.5% (shaft)	Swings Areadbhar horizontally forward, hitting with the flat of its blade. A decent spacing tool that is fairly safe if spaced at the tip and fast fallen. The tip has decent horizontal knockback, whereas the shaft is noticeably weaker in comparison. Has the lowest ending lag and landing lag of Byleth's aerial attacks, and is the only one that can autocancel in a short hop.
Back aerial			15% (tip), 10% (shaft)	Thrusts Areadbhar behind himself. Similar to forward aerial in terms of utility, but it exchanges some speed for additional power. One of Byleth's best horizontal KOing options when tippered.
Up aerial			3% (hits 1-2), 5.5% (hit 3), 11.5% (total)	Flails the Sword of the Creator's whip form overhead to perform a flurry of lashes. Functions very similarly to up smash both aesthetically and mechanically, as it hits multiple times (with a particularly strong final hit) and has both long range and a fairly long duration. These traits make it a very potent KO option, a decent juggling option, and useful for starting drag down combos.
Down aerial			19%	Swings Aymr downward. Deals heavy damage to shields and has long range. Among down aerials, it is the strongest meteor smash in the entire game, with the sweetspot KOing grounded opponents starting at 85%. However, it has an extreme amount of start-up and ending lag, it only autocancels from a double jump, and its landing lag is among the highest out of any conventional down aerial in the entire game.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out with his left hand. Standing grab has fast startup, but possesses high ending lag.
Pummel		Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット)	1.5%	A knee strike. Unique compared to other pummels, being faster but weaker compared to other pummels like Bowser, while having more ending lag compared to most other pummels, though not to the extend of Robin. As a result, it is a fairly underwhelming pummel.
Forward throw			3% (hit), 3% (throw)	An upward lash with the Sword of the Creator's whip form. Byleth's second strongest throw, but it fails to KO middleweights until around 185% at the edge.
Back throw			7% (throw), 5% (collateral)	Wraps the Sword of the Creator's whip form around his opponent and swings them around twice, throwing them behind on the second spin. Like Mario's back throw, it can damage and launch nearby opponents. Despite being Byleth's strongest throw, it can only start KOing middleweights at around 160% at the edge.
Up throw			6% (hit) 3% (throw)	Shoves the opponent upward with the Sword of the Creator. Can combo into up aerial and up special at low percentages, but these combos can be easily DI'd.
Down throw			3% (hit), 2% (throw)	A downward slash with the Sword of the Creator in its whip form. Byleth's most useful throw by far, it is a reliable combo starter. Depending on the opponent's DI, it can combo into forward tilt at 0%, neutral aerial at low percentages, and forward or back aerials at low to medium percentages.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Slashes behind himself and then in front of himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Slashes behind himself and then in front of himself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Slashes in front and then behind himself.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a low, outward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special		Failnaught	12% (normal), 29% (fully charged)	Wields Failnaught to fire an arrow. He can charge it for more speed and damage, change directions while charging, and can charge-cancel via shielding until a certain duration. It must be charged a bit before it can be fired, similarly to how Bullet Climax cannot be shield-canceled instantaneously and must charge first. Charging to its maximum duration will cause Byleth to rear back with a long pause, before firing a powerful arrow that hits instantly and has a similar animation and range to the Staff; reaching full charge will prevent Byleth from cancelling the move manually. A fully charged arrow can nearly break full shields and gains the properties of an energy projectile, as it can be absorbed. Also, while it can be reflected, the fully charged arrow cannot be inhaled or pocketed. Byleth may occasionally say "Failnaught!" while using this move. The fully charged version pushes Byleth back and up when used in the air.
Side special		Areadbhar	17.25% (grounded tip), 11.5% (grounded shaft), 14.25% (aerial tip), 9.5% (aerial shaft)	Wields Areadbhar to perform a lunging, upward slash. Areadbhar possesses a sweetspot on its blade, as opposed to the weaker shaft. It has impressive horizontal and vertical range. If the move is smash inputted, Byleth lunges further, which improves its range. The aerial version involves Byleth backflipping to swing Areadbhar, which covers an area that his aerial attacks cannot and slightly propels him forward but at the expense of lag. The aerial version is effective at the ledge, as Byleth is able to sweetspot ledges while performing an aerial swing, which allows it to be used for edgeguarding or edgehogging. Byleth may occasionally say "Areadbhar!" while using this move.
Up special		Sword of the Creator	1% (hit), 3% (grab), 6.5%-13% (bounce)	Thrusts the Sword of the Creator diagonally upward to extend its whip form. It functions as a tether recovery that can attach to walls and allow Byleth to jump off up to three times consecutively without landing. If it connects with an opponent, the move instead acts like a hit grab: Byleth latches onto the opponent before footstool jumping them, which deals damage based on how far away the opponent was. If their percentage is at least 50% when they are footstool jumped, it becomes a meteor smash that cannot be teched. This footstool jump has only one frame of ending lag, allowing Byleth to immediately follow up, with combos into moves such as neutral aerial (though this particular combo is only effective against Donkey Kong), all other aerials, and reverse inputted side special. Against grounded opponents, the move first launches them up with the sword to allow Byleth to latch onto them. When activated in the air, it instantly cancels all of Byleth's knockback, which can improve his endurance.
Down special		Aymr	30% (grounded hit), 8% (shockwave), 25% (aerial hit), 8% (aerial shockwave)	Wields Aymr to perform a sluggish, but extremely powerful downward slash. It has super armor during its grounded startup, can be reversed once, and Byleth can drop through platforms while performing it. Like other "bold" moves (such as Falcon Punch, Warlock Punch and Hatchet Man), it triggers Special Zoom. When successfully executed, Aymr can break shields in a single hit. When it is used successfully while falling off the battlefield, by an edge, and it hits the battlefield, Byleth will be suspended, ending the fall. Much like the aforementioned "bold" moves, it expectedly has extremely high lag all around in exchange for its power, making it a very risky yet rewarding move mainly used for hard reads. Byleth may occasionally yell "A...ymr!" while using this move. When used in the air, Byleth is stalled slightly just before the hitbox comes out. It resembles Flickering Flower, a combat art learned exclusively by Edelgard upon mastering the Emperor class in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Final Smash		Progenitor God Ruptured Heaven	10% (lash), 20% (shockwave), 15% (ending)	Lashes out with the Sword of the Creator in its whip form, exclaiming "I'll finish with this!" The lash itself has a decent range and can trap up to 3 opponents at once. Upon successfully hitting, Sothis then appears in the background and bestows Byleth her power, temporarily granting him access to his Enlightened One class. Byleth then performs his exclusive combat art, Ruptured Heaven, with Sothis saying "Your will and mine be now as one!", as Byleth extends the Sword of the Creator to unleash an earth-rending shockwave. As the targets are struck by the shockwave, Sothis says "The end approaches!" before they are launched diagonally upwards with respectable power.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height	Empty landing Lag
Value	97	1.8 – Initial dash 1.43 – Run	0.78	0.125	0.008	0.89	0.01 – Base 0.043 – Additional	0.089	1.6 – Base 2.56 – Fast-fall	3	26.5 - Base 14 - Short hop	28.5	4

Announcer calls

Despite the fact that both male and female Byleth have different names in Japan and China, the announcer calls them by their English name in those versions.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

• French (PAL)

• German

• Italian

• Russian

• Spanish

• Spanish (PAL)

On-screen appearance

• Warps onto the stage using warp magic, poses while holding a pointer, then pulls out the Sword of the Creator.

• 

  Byleth's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Swings the Sword of the Creator to his right leg, and puts his left fist to his chest while looking into the sky. Female Byleth has an alternate stance: one foot is in front of the other and the Sword of the Creator is held behind herself in a reverse grip. Based on Byleth's victory pose with a sword equipped.
• Side taunt: Brandishes the Sword of the Creator forward and says either "Let the lesson begin!" or "Stay focused." The former quote is one of Byleth's critical hit quotes prior to the five-year time skip, while the latter is from when Byleth is selected on the battlefield prior to the time skip.
• Down taunt: Swings the Sword of the Creator in its whip form around himself while saying "Try me."

• 

  Male Byleth's up taunt.

• 

  Female Byleth's up taunt.

• 

  Byleth's side taunt.

• 

  Byleth's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Twirls the Sword of the Creator into a backhanded grip while striking a pose, before returning to his original position. Female Byleth has an alternate pose: the Sword of the Creator is held in a standard grip with a more energetic pose. Based on the animation when Byleth is selected on the map before moving and when performing a gambit. Both idle poses resemble the ones they assume in their Ultimate renders.

• 

  Male Byleth's idle pose.

• 

  Female Byleth's idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer		(♂) (♀)
Description	Go Teach!	Be-re-to! (♂) Be-re-su! (♀)	By - leth! By - leth! *claps 3 times*	By - leth! *claps 3 times*	Allez, Byleth, allez, Byleth, allez ! Allez, Byleth, allez, Byleth, allez !

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer				(♂) (♀)
Description	By -- leth!	By -- leth!	By - leth *claps 3 times*	Bay - leth - Tu! (♂) Bay - leth - Tsu! (♀)

Victory poses

Note: Like Pokémon Trainer and Inkling, some of Byleth's victory animations are different between the male and female variants.

Both

• Plants the Sword of the Creator into the ground along with the other Heroes' Relics already planted into the floor, says "Each battle, a chance to grow" ("この経験は糧になる", This experience will encourage you.) and then swings their left arm out while facing the background before lowering their left arm to their side. Combines one of Byleth's lines after winning a battle exchange pre-time skip with the game over screen in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, where all 4 of the main Heroes' Relics are planted on the ground.

Male

• Swings the Sword of the Creator outward, saying "Allow me to demonstrate!" ("導いてみせる", I will guide you.) He then raises his left hand towards his chest as he looks outward. Based on Byleth's victory pose when wielding a sword, combined with one of his critical hit quotes prior to the time skip. It is also similar to his up taunt.
• With the Sword of the Creator in its whip form, Byleth swings it around the front of his body in a circular motion, saying "No hesitation!" ("迷いを晴らす！", Clear your hesitation!) After striking the ground, the Sword of the Creator reverts to its original form, with Byleth posing with it held in a standard grip. Uses the quote from one of his critical hit activations.
  • When this victory pose plays, the clapping animations are delayed for a second before showing up, most likely due to the number of graphics onscreen from the Sword of the Creator hitting the ground.

Female

• Swings the Sword of the Creator outward before holding the sword behind her in a reverse grip, saying "Allow me to demonstrate!" ("導いてみせる", I will guide you.) She then looks toward the screen as opposed to looking into the distance. It is also similar to her up taunt.
• With the Sword of the Creator in its whip form, she swings the whip in front of herself twice (each time in a different direction) while saying "No hesitation!" ("迷いを晴らす！", Clear your hesitation!) She then holds it up towards her face in a vertical manner.

An excerpt of the main theme from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Byleth players (SSBU)

•  MkLeo - The greatest Ultimate player of all-time who first used Byleth in grand finals at Frostbite 2020 before maining him towards the end of the online metagame. He continued his domination in the competitive scene while using Byleth, including winning some of the largest events of 2021 and 2022, such as Riptide, Smash World Tour 2021 Championships, GENESIS 8, and Ludwig Smash Invitational. He eventually returned to Joker in 2023, though he keeps Byleth as a counterpick character, and since then no other Byleth players were able to come close to his level of consistency.
•  Reno - One of the best Byleth players in the world since the second half of 2023. He first broke out on the scene after placing 5th at Seibugeki 14 defeating KEN, making him the first Byleth player other than MkLeo to place top 8 at a major. Although he remained inconsistent afterwards, he has seen great success at many other large Japanese events, including placing 2nd at Gen 2.0, 3rd at both Yokohama BaySmash Big 1 and DELTA 8.5, and 7th at Maesuma'U22.
•  Rizeasu - Though known for playing a variety of characters, one of his best characters is Byleth, and he is considered the second-best Byleth player in the world at his peak between 2021 and the first half of 2023. His 2nd-place finishes at both Maesuma TOP 14 and UltCore Second remain the closest a Byleth player aside of MkLeo came to winning a major, as well as his only two major top 8 performances. In addition, Rizeasu has also won Chūbu Smash Chronicle 1 with primarily Byleth.

Tier placement and history

Initial opinions on Byleth, shortly after release, were mostly lukewarm, if not negative. Most players believed Byleth was a mid-tier or even a low-tier fighter, citing his poor frame data, slow mobility, limited landing options, and poor matchups against faster characters that can fight up close. An early success for Byleth came at Frostbite 2020, where MkLeo used him to defeat Maister in grand finals; despite this, most players remained unimpressed, citing how MkLeo used Joker until the very last game of the tournament, Maister's poor record against MkLeo, and Mr. Game & Watch's weakness against long ranged characters, in addition to matchup inexperience due to Byleth's then-recent release. A few weeks afterwards, the COVID-19 pandemic hit North America, forcing a halt of tournament activity and leaving most of Byleth's early metagame development to proceed online. Although scarce in competitive play, Byleth eventually found noticeable representation from MkLeo in mid-2020, who chose to play Byleth over Joker as he was unsatisfied with how Joker played under additional input lag. Although his performance was worse online, MkLeo nevertheless remained one of the best players in the online era. Buffs to Byleth during the pandemic further improved his standing, and more players began believing Byleth to be a viable threat. However, players still dismissed Byleth as MkLeo's "online main", implying that Leo didn't take online tournaments as seriously and would eventually return to Joker when offline tournaments came back.

MkLeo defied these expectations by continuing to use Byleth in the offline metagame, often using him as his sole character or alongside Pyra and Mythra throughout 2021 and 2022. With Byleth, MkLeo achieved dominance on par with what he had with Joker before the pandemic, and he placed no less than second in every tournament he has attended until Smash Ultimate Summit 4, all the while winning the majority of them. His efforts were finally able to convince most skeptics into believing that Byleth was viable.

Although many players in the community began considering Byleth as a potential high-tier, dissenters questioned whether Byleth truly deserved to rank that high or whether his success was largely due to MkLeo's skill as a player. Data collected by OrionRank curator Barnard's Loop also showed that MkLeo made up roughly 66% of all results obtained by Byleth up to November 2021. On the other hand, the only other Byleth player with consistently strong achievements globally at that time was Rizeasu, a player who played many other characters alongside Byleth, and therefore his success was not attributed to just one character. These dissenting opinions eventually leveled out to Byleth's placement on the first tier list, where he was ranked 32nd. Despite ranking as a high tier, this placement was considered low for a character used to win multiple majors.

Following the first tier list, Byleth's overreliance on MkLeo became a greater issue as MkLeo's performances with and usage of Byleth began declining towards the end of 2022. By the following year, MkLeo had returned to playing Joker and began picking up other secondaries, although he maintained Byleth as a counterpick at times when his other characters did not work. Outside of MkLeo, Rizeasu continued to use Byleth in his roster while Reno also became a prominent player in the Japanese scene. Although both players were successful, neither of them were able to fill the gap left by MkLeo. With dwindling representation at a national level and MkLeo himself admitting that Byleth did not fit well with the current metagame, Byleth fell 10 spots to 42nd on the second and current tier list, ranking near the top of B- tier, marking one of the biggest drops from the first to second tier list.

Classic Mode: A Heroic Legacy

Byleth's congratulations screen.

Byleth's Classic Mode route is themed around the Fire Emblem fighters and stages from across the Super Smash Bros. series, fought in order of release year. All battles are stamina battles and the player always starts with 100 HP.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Marth	Temple	Story 5 Meeting	The stage references how Marth used Temple in single player modes in Super Smash Bros. Melee, due to that game not having a Fire Emblem stage. Marth starts with 100 HP.
2	Roy	Arena Ferox (Battlefield form)	Winning Road - Roy's Hope	Roy starts with 100 HP.
3	Ike (×2)	Castle Siege	Eternal Bond	The Radiant Dawn Ike will appear after the Path of Radiance Ike is defeated. They start with 100 HP.
4	Robin, Chrom, and Lucina	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose) (Remix)	Team battle. Robin, Chrom, and Lucina start with 50 HP.
5	Corrin (×2)	Coliseum	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (for 3DS / Wii U)	Team battle. The two Corrins' color schemes reference the conflict between Hoshido and Nohr in Fire Emblem Fates. They each start with 100 HP.
6	Byleth (×3)	Garreg Mach Monastery	Fódlan Winds	The three Byleths' color schemes represent the house leaders in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The red Byleth prefers down specials, the blue one prefers side specials, and the yellow one prefers neutral specials, referencing the primary weapons of Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, respectively. The CPUs will always have these costumes even if the player uses these costumes. They each start with 50 HP.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	Code Name: F.E.	The player has Marth, Roy, Ike, Robin, and Corrin as CPU allies with 30 HP each. The five previous opponents now allied with Byleth reference the recruitment system in Three Houses and how certain students can be persuaded to join their side after being defeated in Part 2.

Note: Items are disabled in every round.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Byleth has Paths That Will Never Cross accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

The message that shows Byleth's availability in World of Light

Due to his status as downloadable content, Byleth does not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, he is unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition before downloading Byleth, he is immediately unlocked.

Spirits

Male Byleth's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Byleth. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Byleth has been downloaded. Unlocking Byleth in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and are purely aesthetic. Female Byleth has a fighter spirit of her own, only available through the shop. Each fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with their artwork in Ultimate.

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  1,380. Byleth (Male)

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  1,381. Byleth (Female)

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
1,382		Edelgard	Fire Emblem Series	•Byleth		5,000	Castle Siege (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Lava Floor	•The floor is lava •The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch	The Apex of the World
1,384		Dimitri (Fire Emblem)	Fire Emblem Series	•Byleth (100 HP) •Ganondorf (80 HP)		5,000	Distant Planet (Ω form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy has increased attack power	Between Heaven and Earth
1,386		Claude	Fire Emblem Series	•Byleth		5,000	Gaur Plain (Ω form)	•Hazard: Left Is Right, Right Is Left •Hazard: Poison Floor	•The floor is poisonous •Left and right controls will suddenly reverse	Blue Skies and a Battle
1,388		Sothis	Fire Emblem Series	•Byleth		13,400	Spear Pillar (Ω form)	•Health Recovery •Sudden Final Smash	•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash •The enemy is healed significantly when the enemy's at high damage	Fire Emblem: Three Houses Main Theme

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
1,393		Hilda (Fire Emblem)	Fire Emblem Series	•Villager •Byleth		2,400	Garreg Mach Monastery (Bridge)	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy gets a major stat boost when badly damaged	Paths That Will Never Cross	Claude

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Male Byleth's splash art.

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  Female Byleth's splash art.

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  Byleth's amiibo

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  Byleth's unlock notice after downloading him from the Nintendo eShop.

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  Byleth's weapons.

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  Male and female Byleth on Umbra Clock Tower.

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  Female Byleth using her back aerial on Garreg Mach Monastery.

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  Male and female Byleth crossing swords on Garreg Mach Monastery.

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  Byleth's alternate costumes based on Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude.

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  Female Byleth using Aymr against Zelda's Phantom on Pirate Ship.

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  Male Byleth using Failnaught on Garreg Mach Monastery.

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  Byleth's Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude-based alternate costumes on Bridge of Eldin. Their positioning and the stage choice are a reference to the box art for Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

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  Byleth alongside all the other DLC fighters of Fighters Pass Vol. 1.

Trivia

• Byleth's internal codename is "master", referencing their role as a professor in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
• According to Sakurai, the development of Byleth began while Fire Emblem: Three Houses was still in development. He had to play the game in secret from the other employees due to the game still being in development.
• Byleth is the first character to have two different splash screens without alternate costumes that completely change the character, due to the male and female variants having different names in Japanese.
  • Despite the fact that male and female Byleth have different names in Japanese, the announcer and English-written UIs (such as the versus splash screen and damage meter) will call both of them by their shared English name, unlike with other characters such as King K. Rool and Lucina in the Japanese version, or unlike with other gender-selectable characters in French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian. However, this is also similar to Young Link and Lucas being still called by the announcer with their English name.
• Male and female Byleth have slightly different idle stances; female Byleth holds the Sword of the Creator with its tip pointed upwards, while male Byleth holds it with its tip pointed downwards. All animations that can be played from their stand animations (like their idle animations) are subsequently affected through the animation blending. Additionally, their idle pose and victory poses are different between each other.
• Byleth is also the only character in the game to debut after Ultimate's original release in December 2018, which was also the case with fellow Fire Emblem characters Roy and Corrin in their debuts.
• Byleth and Steve are the only characters in Ultimate whose alternate costume is displayed alongside their default costume on the official Ultimate site, similarly to Robin's page on the official SSB4 site.
  • Additionally, because male and female Byleth have different names in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, the lists of fighters on the website name both of them in those languages.
• According to Sakurai's column, the reason for Byleth's use of the Hero's Relics was to differentiate him from all the other sword fighters.
• Byleth is one of the few characters who occasionally says something after being Blast KO'd: male Byleth will shout "Not my best!", while female Byleth will shout "Forgive me...!"
• When either male or female Byleth is Star KO'd in the English language, they shout, "My battle ends here...!" This is a reference to a line of dialogue when they die in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. However, in the Japanese language, they simply scream. This trait is shared with Pit and Min Min, the latter of which applies to all languages.
• Oddly, if Byleth charges a forward smash while holding a Death's Scythe, the charging sound effect will not play.
  • Additionally, he will not vibrate in place while charging. This also applies to Zero Suit Samus if she charges a smash attack while holding a Star Rod.
• In male Byleth's right victory pose, there's a brief delay before the UI displays the panes of the losing fighters in comparison to most victory poses. This is due to the game slowing down when focusing on the particle effects from the Sword of the Creator's whip. This does not occur in team battles consisting of two or more fighters.
• Unlike most humanoid fighter models in Ultimate, the bind pose of male and female Byleth is uniquely an "A-pose" instead of a T-pose. This is shared with Terry and Mythra.
• Byleth is the only character with a taunt that has more than one potential quote.
• Prior to the 8.0.0 update, the Sound Test did not refer to the two Byleths as male or female, unlike other characters with gender swaps.