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


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


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


As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit a Marth's extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other.
As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit [[Marth]]'s extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other, as [[Z-axis|the third dimension]] alters whether the two collide or pass by. As [[Cloud]] is not mirrored, his side special move [[Cross Slash]] notably has two different animations depending Cloud's facing direction in order to properly write its kanji symbol, which have subtle gameplay differences.


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


{{incomplete|needs description of how the mirrored Kirby interacts with copied moves from non-mirrored characters}}
In all ''Smash'' games, including those before mirroring was introduced, the default facing direction is to the right of the screen; this means that fighters without stance mirroring generally face the screen when facing right. The exceptions - those who instead face the screen when facing left - are Marth, [[Roy]], [[Young Link]], [[Toon Link]], [[Pit]], [[Lucina]], [[Robin]], [[Dark Pit]], [[Chrom]], [[Simon]], [[Richter]], and [[Sephiroth]], as well as [[Link]] before ''Ultimate''. Several of these are for consistency with the characters' home series; for example, Marth faces left in the battle scenes of ''[[Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and other games, while Simon's right-facing sprites from ''Castlevania'' are posed such that his torso faces away from the screen.
==List of characters with stance mirroring==
 
{|class="wikitable sortable"
==Characters with stance mirroring==
!Character!!{{GameIcon|SSB4|20px}}!!{{GameIcon|SSBU|20px}}
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
!width="40%"|Fighters
!width="20%"|{{GameIcon|SSB4|24px}}
!width="20%"|{{GameIcon|SSBU|24px}}
|-
|[[Banjo]] & [[Kazooie]]
|
|{{head|Banjo & Kazooie|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|[[Bowser]]
|{{head|Bowser|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Bowser|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Banjo & Kazooie||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Bowser Jr.]]
|{{head|Bowser Jr.|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Bowser Jr.|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Bowser||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Charizard]]
|{{head|Charizard|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Charizard|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Bowser Jr.||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Daisy]]
|
|{{head|Daisy|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Charizard||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Diddy Kong]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Diddy Kong|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Daisy||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Donkey Kong]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Donkey Kong|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Diddy Kong||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Dr. Mario]]
|{{head|Dr. Mario|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Dr. Mario|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Donkey Kong||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Duck Hunt]]
|{{head|Duck Hunt|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Duck Hunt|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Dr. Mario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Greninja]]
|{{head|Greninja|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Greninja|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Duck Hunt||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ice Climbers]]
|
|{{head|Ice Climbers|s=24px|g=SSBU}}<ref group="n" name="Ice Climber"/>
|-
|-
|Greninja||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Incineroar]]
|
|{{head|Incineroar|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ice Climbers||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Inkling]]
|
|{{n}}<ref group="n" name="Inkling"/>
|-
|-
|Incineroar||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Isabelle]]
|
|{{head|Isabelle|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Isabelle||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ivysaur]]
|
|{{head|Ivysaur|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ivysaur||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Jigglypuff]]
|{{head|Jigglypuff|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Jigglypuff|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Jigglypuff||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Joker]]
|
|{{n}}<ref group="n" name="Joker"/>
|-
|-
|K. Rool||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ken]]
|
|{{head|Ken|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ken||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[King K. Rool]]
|
|{{head|King K. Rool|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Kirby||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Kirby]]<ref group="n" name="Kirby"/>
|{{head|Kirby|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Kirby|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Lucas||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Lucas]]
|{{n}}
||{{head|Lucas|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Luigi||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Luigi]]
|{{head|Luigi|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Luigi|s=24px|g=SSBU}}<ref group="n" name="Luigi"/>
|-
|-
|Mario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mario]]
|{{head|Mario|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Mario|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Mega Man||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mega Man]]
|{{head|Mega Man|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Mega Man|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Mewtwo||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mewtwo]]
|{{head|Mewtwo|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Mewtwo|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Mii Brawler||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Mii Brawler]]
|{{head|Mii Brawler|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Mii Brawler|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ness||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ness]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Ness|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Pac-Man||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Olimar]]<ref group="n" name="Olimar"/>
|{{n}}
|{{n}}
|-
|-
|Peach||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pac-Man]]
|{{head|Pac-Man|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Pac-Man|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Pichu||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Peach]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Peach|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Pikachu||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pichu]]
|
|{{head|Pichu|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Piranha Plant||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Pikachu]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Pichu|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|R.O.B.||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Piranha Plant]]
|
|{{head|Piranha Plant|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ridley||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[R.O.B.]]
|{{head|R.O.B.|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|R.O.B.|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Ryu||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ridley]]
|
|{{head|Ridley|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Sonic||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Rosalina]] & [[Luma]]<ref group="n" name="Rosalina"/>
|{{n}}
|{{n}}
|-
|-
|Squirtle||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Ryu]]
|{{head|Ryu|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Ryu|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Steve||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Sonic]]
|{{head|Sonic|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Sonic|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Terry||&mdash;||{{y|20px}}
|[[Squirtle]]
|
|{{head|Squirtle|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Villager||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Steve]]
|
|{{head|Steve|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Wario||{{y|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Terry]]
|
|{{head|Terry|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Yoshi||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Villager]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Villager|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|-
|Zelda||{{n|20px}}||{{y|20px}}
|[[Wario]]
|{{head|Wario|s=24px|g=SSB4}}
|{{head|Wario|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|[[Yoshi]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Yoshi|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|-
|[[Zelda]]
|{{n}}
|{{head|Zelda|s=24px|g=SSBU}}
|}
|}
<references group="n"><ref group="n" name="Ice Climber">The Ice Climbers are the only character who hold a weapon at all times to have stance mirroring. They are animated to pass the hammer to their other hand when turning around.</ref><ref group="n" name="Inkling">The squid form utilizes stance mirroring for all animations except refilling ink.</ref><ref group="n" name="Joker">[[Arsène]] has stance mirroring.</ref><ref group="n" name="Kirby">Kirby will mirror Copy Abilities even if they belong to non-mirrored characters (e.g. he can hold Marth's sword with either hand).</ref><ref group="n" name="Luigi">Luigi has different animations when using the Poltergust G-00 that don't face the screen when facing left.</ref><ref group="n" name="Olimar">Pikmin have stance mirroring when not being used in an attack.</ref><ref group="n" name="Rosalina">Luma has stance mirroring.</ref>
</references>
==Trivia==
*[[Mr. Game & Watch]] appears mirrored in most cases due to his flat and monochrome nature, but some of his props (such as the helmet in his up smash) show that he is not.
==References==
{{reflist}}


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

Latest revision as of 23:31, February 15, 2025

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

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

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

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

As some characters mirror while others do not, it is possible for interactions to differ based on whether the characters are facing each other left-to-right versus right-to-left. For example, a mirroring character's thin attack may hit Marth's extended sword arm from one direction, but not the other, as the third dimension alters whether the two collide or pass by. As Cloud is not mirrored, his side special move Cross Slash notably has two different animations depending Cloud's facing direction in order to properly write its kanji symbol, which have subtle gameplay differences.

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

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

Characters with stance mirroring[edit]

Fighters Super Smash Bros. 4 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Banjo & Kazooie Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)
Bowser Bowser (SSB4) Bowser (SSBU)
Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr. (SSB4) Bowser Jr. (SSBU)
Charizard Charizard (SSB4) Charizard (SSBU)
Daisy Daisy (SSBU)
Diddy Kong No Diddy Kong (SSBU)
Donkey Kong No Donkey Kong (SSBU)
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSB4) Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Duck Hunt Duck Hunt (SSB4) Duck Hunt (SSBU)
Greninja Greninja (SSB4) Greninja (SSBU)
Ice Climbers Ice Climbers (SSBU)[n 1]
Incineroar Incineroar (SSBU)
Inkling No[n 2]
Isabelle Isabelle (SSBU)
Ivysaur Ivysaur (SSBU)
Jigglypuff Jigglypuff (SSB4) Jigglypuff (SSBU)
Joker No[n 3]
Ken Ken (SSBU)
King K. Rool King K. Rool (SSBU)
Kirby[n 4] Kirby (SSB4) Kirby (SSBU)
Lucas No Lucas (SSBU)
Luigi Luigi (SSB4) Luigi (SSBU)[n 5]
Mario Mario (SSB4) Mario (SSBU)
Mega Man Mega Man (SSB4) Mega Man (SSBU)
Mewtwo Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSBU)
Mii Brawler Mii Brawler (SSB4) Mii Brawler (SSBU)
Ness No Ness (SSBU)
Olimar[n 6] No No
Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSB4) Pac-Man (SSBU)
Peach No Peach (SSBU)
Pichu Pichu (SSBU)
Pikachu No Pichu (SSBU)
Piranha Plant Piranha Plant (SSBU)
R.O.B. R.O.B. (SSB4) R.O.B. (SSBU)
Ridley Ridley (SSBU)
Rosalina & Luma[n 7] No No
Ryu Ryu (SSB4) Ryu (SSBU)
Sonic Sonic (SSB4) Sonic (SSBU)
Squirtle Squirtle (SSBU)
Steve Steve (SSBU)
Terry Terry (SSBU)
Villager No Villager (SSBU)
Wario Wario (SSB4) Wario (SSBU)
Yoshi No Yoshi (SSBU)
Zelda No Zelda (SSBU)
  1. ^ The Ice Climbers are the only character who hold a weapon at all times to have stance mirroring. They are animated to pass the hammer to their other hand when turning around.
  2. ^ The squid form utilizes stance mirroring for all animations except refilling ink.
  3. ^ Arsène has stance mirroring.
  4. ^ Kirby will mirror Copy Abilities even if they belong to non-mirrored characters (e.g. he can hold Marth's sword with either hand).
  5. ^ Luigi has different animations when using the Poltergust G-00 that don't face the screen when facing left.
  6. ^ Pikmin have stance mirroring when not being used in an attack.
  7. ^ Luma has stance mirroring.

Trivia[edit]

  • Mr. Game & Watch appears mirrored in most cases due to his flat and monochrome nature, but some of his props (such as the helmet in his up smash) show that he is not.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Flipped Animation [Animation]
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