Marth (SSBU)

Marth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Fire Emblem
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Critical Hit
Tier	C+ (55)

Marth (マルス, Marth) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like all veterans, he was officially confirmed as a playable character on June 12th, 2018. As in his appearances prior to Super Smash Bros. 4, he is unlockable, instead of being available from the start. Marth is classified as Fighter #21.

This is the first time in the Super Smash Bros. series where Marth is not solely voiced in Japanese. In international releases, Marth is voiced in English by Yuri Lowenthal, who reprises his role from Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. onwards. Hikaru Midorikawa reprises his role in the Japanese version, with newly recorded voice clips for the first time since Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Marth is ranked 55th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the C+ tier. This is a large drop from his placement of 11th/12th out of 54 in SSB4 where he was tied with Ryu, and is the second largest drop for a veteran in the transition from SSB4 to Ultimate, and is his worst placement in the series to date. This is also a significant drop compared to his Echo Fighter, Lucina, who is currently ranked 28th out of 82 and is placed in the A- tier. This drastic difference in tier placement is due to Marth's reliance on landing tipper hits to get KOs. This combined with Ultimate's faster engine and removal of certain microspacing techniques (such as perfect pivoting) makes it more inconsistent at landing those sweetspots and netting KOs, while his sourspots, though effective for setting up combos and tech-chases, struggle to take stocks even at high percentages. Lucina's attacks, on the other hand, deal the same amount of damage and knockback regardless of where on her sword the attack lands, giving her more consistent KO capabilities.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Marth being the 7th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his unlock tree, being the 2nd character unlocked after Lucario.
• Have Marth join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Marth must then be defeated on Castle Siege. In World of Light, he is fought on Final Destination.

Attributes

Marth is considered to be emblematic of swordfighters; his playstyle revolves around spacing utilizing his unique signature tipper mechanic to deal high damage and knockback at a distance from his opponent. He is a low-middle weight swordfighter boasting high overall mobility, notably sporting the fastest walking speed in the game (tied with his Echo Fighter, Lucina), a fast dashing speed coupled with the 6th fastest initial dash, average air speed, above-average air acceleration, moderate falling speed, and low gravity.

Marth's playstyle, as in of his other playable appearances, revolves around effective spacing, due to his aforementioned tipper mechanic granting most of his sword attacks more damage and knockback near the tip of the sword, although he can now utilize his sourspot hitboxes more effectively for setting up combos and tech-chases due to his increased mobility and reduced landing lag on aerials, repurposing his former heavily spacing focused playstyle from SSB4 into a more dynamic one that utilizes sourspots to initiate kill confirms and extend combos at higher percents to complement his efficient spacing game. His above average frame data, paired with his high mobility, grant him an effective although linear approach against characters that outrange him with longer disjoints or projectiles, whereas his multiple attacks with low startup and wide range all-around allow Marth to space around brawlers with lower range, this combination of traits permit him to adapt to different gameplans and characters.

Marth maintains well above-average KO potential in addition to his speed and maneuverability, with his sweet spotted attacks boasting impressive damage and knockback. His forward tilt is one of his most reliable tools on the ground, possessing a good range and a sweetspot that is easy to hit with, especially above Marth. It is good for closing out stocks as it can KO as early as 95% near the edge while remaining relatively safe. His down tilt is a safe poking tool when spaced and sets up a tech chase situation starting at 60%, and his up tilt covers a relatively wide area around Marth himself and is among the strongest of its kind in the game. Dash attack possesses extraordinarily high base knockback, KO'ing most fighters when landed at the very edge at roughly 65%, even if forward tilt surpasses it in most other scenarios. His aerials also possess high damage and knockback when sweetspotted, and combined with his aerial maneuverability, grant him a respectable air game. When tippered, his forward smash can KO before 40% next to the ledge while uncharged, making it one of the most deceptively powerful forward smashes in the game, while his up smash can KO as early as 60%, earlier if Marth is standing on a platform. The meteor smash of his down aerial, while requiring exact timing and spacing to connect, can not only gimp recoveries but also bounce opponents off the ground in such a way that it can immediately chain into tippered attacks such as forward and up smash at medium percentages, and aerials at higher percentages. His tipper mechanic benefits greatly from stages with low platforms such as Battlefield, allowing Marth to tipper with much more ease against opponents using forward tilt, up tilt, and especially his forward smash by covering said platforms with mostly the tipper areas of said attacks. Higher platforms follow a similar pattern except with his aerials, most notably up aerial. In essence, Marth can make a single correct move at the correct time to cut an opponent's stock short suddenly and very early, especially when playing close to the edge.

While Marth's tipper has great KO power, the larger hitboxes of his sourspots provide benefits as well; thanks to their lower damage and knockback, they allow him to effectively combo into attacks one after another at a wider range of percentages. Most commonly, sourspotted neutral aerial when short hopped repeatedly allows Marth to carry an opponent across the stage at low percentages and rack up damage, and up tilt sets up into aerial-based combos and juggles if it connects late. His neutral aerial's first hit also acts as an effective combo starter and extender when sourspotted and landed as close to the ground as possible, as well as his up aerial. He also benefits from being one of the few characters in the game who can outright KO through effective play of his neutral and spacing game; essentially, while Marth's neutral reward is not as rewarding or damaging as some characters, Marth has the ability to win neutral exchanges with relative ease and safety, as well as having consistent set-ups and follow-ups.

Marth's advantage state as a whole is considerably strong. His combination of good speed and range give him powerful juggling capabilities, as he can easily dash to where a falling opponent might land and catch them with his wide attacks, especially his up tilt and up aerial. His fast and disjointed hitboxes also allow him to challenge the opponent's falling attacks safely, and his tipper only further complements this. Because of this, Marth has an easy time keeping opponents in the air and racking up damage with his up tilt and powerful up aerial. These traits also grant him strong edgeguarding abilities, as his wide aerials can cover enemy movement well, and when tippered can outright KO offstage opponents thanks to their power. Moreover, his general floatiness also allows him to recover back to the stage after edgeguarding attempts fairly safely.

Marth's special moveset provides interesting options as well; his neutral special, the aptly named Shield Breaker, deals very high shield damage, even when uncharged, and is useful for covering rolls and landings. It's best used while descending from the air when the opponent is most likely to expect a simple aerial and shield accordingly, and can even be used off-stage to challenge opponents that shield next to the edge intending to cover Marth's ledge recovery options. Dancing Blade is a four-hit combo that can be used to punish sidesteps and rolls, as well as effectively rack up damage. The final upward hit immediately puts the opponent into a disadvantaged state, and the final downward hits deal high damage. The final neutral hit can serve as an effective KOing option at higher percents, but if it successfully tippers, it can KO as early as 70% at the edge with no rage. More situationally, the first hit of Dancing Blade by itself can be used as a knowledge check on opponents: although it cannot truly combo into anything other than the rest of the move, if an opponent is not prepped to escape after getting hit by the near-instant strike, it can be used extend strings in the air, be followed up with the first hit of neutral aerial, and assist in gimping recoveries by interrupting unprepared opponents off-stage. However, those who are aware of the gap after the hit can escape with relative ease, so its use is not recommended at higher level. Dolphin Slash has quick startup, provides slight intangibility during its startup frames, is relatively strong when it first comes out and has high knockback scaling. These attributes make it an excellent out-of-shield option and combo breaker, whilst also giving him an easy and reliable combo finisher and KO option. It is also Marth's primary method of recovery, as its speed can make it difficult to intercept, and it can stage spike reckless edge guarders. Lastly, Counter provides him with the capability to reverse attacks with 1.2× the damage, KOing if the attack was strong enough; it can also be used against opponents with slow and easily predictable recoveries.

Despite his strengths, Marth has some notable weaknesses. The most severe of these is his extreme reliance on tippers and spacing ability, which gives him a subpar up-close game at higher percents, and makes it more difficult for Marth to KO and threaten faster characters such as Pikachu, Fox, and Sonic, who rapidly pass in and out of Marth's 'Goldilocks zone' of tippers when engaging him at close range. The low shieldstun and hitstun generated by non-tippered moves make it possible for opponents to act out quicker than he can, causing Marth to struggle against shields if his attacks are improperly spaced, and Shield Breaker is highly punishable if predicted. His tipper mechanic can equally disadvantage him when attempting to KO, as his attacks do not generate much knockback if not spaced properly, making his KO potential very inconsistent without proper spacing and understanding of his effect ranges (most notably with forward smash, forward tilt, and aerials). Lastly, his edgeguarding ability, though strong, is flawed, both due to the need for tippers to definitively gimp recoveries and the moderately high ending lag on his aerials. As a result, Marth is reliant on being in a certain distance for his moves to be safe while retaining the neutral. Additionally, unlike in past iterations, Marth can have a fairly difficult time consistently landing his tipper sweetspots to begin with as a result of the faster engine and alterations to his hitboxes that made his tipper smaller. His ability to KO effectively other than a raw tippered move in neutral exists in rare and difficult setups that are heavily affected by individual character hurtboxes, player DI, and Marth's own rage, and eventually disappear once his opponent reaches an especially high percentage. This leaves him very little choice but to 'fish' for an aforementioned tipper, a sourspotted smash attack, any of his specials, or an edgeguard scenario, up until the point where the opponent is at an extreme percentage that even a non-tippered stray hit or up throw can KO; This phenomenon is referred to by the community as "Marthritis", and with the exception of the edgeguard scenario, most of these aforementioned moves remain unsafe if the sourspot is shielded or the move whiffs completely, leaving him an easy target for punishment.

Compounding the difficulty Marth experiences trying to land his tipper, the increased knockback granted by tippered attacks can actually conflict with moves that consist of multiple hits, causing them to fail to correctly sweetspot or even connect on all hits unless at very specific percentages and ranges. These include his neutral attack, neutral aerial, and most notoriously Dancing Blade; Due to the changes to Dancing Blade, it is much harder for an opponent to fall or DI out of the sequence but it is also harder for Marth specifically to land more than one tipper in any use of the move. Should he tipper any earlier hits of these aforementioned attacks, it is highly likely that the opponent will be knocked too far away for the later ones to even connect. This means that Marth must initiate each of those moves from the sourspotted areas in order for them to function correctly, and carefully time the strikes of Dancing Blade to tipper the finishers. As a result, Dancing Blade's high KO potential is offset by not only the difficulty of landing the tippered finisher, but also by it intrinsically having lower damage output than other characters' version of the move.

Marth's weak throws tie into his polarized KO power. Except for up throw, they have low knockback scaling, preventing them from KOing at realistic percents, while up throw can only KO starting at 170% when Marth has no rage. His other throws are somewhat lackluster; aside from having a fairly fast pummel, Marth's throws deal low damage and have high base knockback, making them poor for combos and damage-racking outside of down throw leading into an aerial until high percents. However, it should be noted that the high base knockback of his throws allow Marth to take advantage of his good edgeguarding capability, especially at the edge.

Another notable weakness is Marth's difficulty in escaping from juggles, despite being good at juggling opponents himself; his air speed is average at best, his gravity is fairly low, his weight is slightly below-average and his tall hurtbox provides an easy target. Dolphin Slash is his only reliable combo breaker, but as it leaves him helpless, it can inadvertently put him in an even worse position. Also, while Counter can be used defensively, it leaves Marth extremely vulnerable to punishment should it whiff. Marth also has little defense against juggling, as his aerials are ineffective at relieving pressure; though his attacks have quick startup and decent range, many of them come with high ending lag, their large sourspots are fairly weak compared to most other aerials, and they also suffer from short hitbox durations. Additionally, being a solely sword-based character, Marth's neutral game suffers from his complete lack of a projectile, and he can sometimes struggle against projectile-heavy characters and playstyles; however, his combination of high mobility, good range and decent frame data helps to alleviate this issue.

Marth himself is somewhat vulnerable to edgeguarding, though he has options for mix-ups with his recovery. Dolphin Slash is his only reliable vertical recovery option, and while it is still a threat to edgeguarders due to its speed, frame 1 intangibility and high stage spike ability, its path is linear and its distance fixed, making it fairly predictable. Additionally, since this move grants little horizontal distance, Marth is vulnerable to semi-spikes. While Shield Breaker can aid his horizontal recovery, it covers little distance without charging and does not halt his existing vertical momentum either. Marth is also heavily reliant on his double jump and directional air dodge for mix-ups in his recovery, and is in significant danger if offstage without either of them.

Overall, Marth's strengths outweigh his weaknesses. While his reliance on spacing and overall safety hinders him in many ways, his high overall mobility, long and disjointed range, above-average frame data and good damage output make up for it, while his punishes are decently strong overall even if the stronger ones are fairly inconsistent. In general, while he is usually considered a good character, he is also seen as weaker and more difficult to use than his Echo Fighter Lucina. Marth has received among the worst results and representation in the metagame of Ultimate; even if he is not weak, he is considered to be outclassed by Lucina competitively, who shares many of Marth's strengths with lesser weaknesses. However, starting from updates 8.0.0 and 12.0.0, players have started to have a more positive outlook on Marth as a number of his tipper hitboxes were buffed, making them easier to land and overall making him a more consistent character. This has led to the gap between him and Lucina becoming somewhat less polarizing, with some players noting his potential to rise up in the metagame.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Marth has been a high-ranking character in all of his appearances in the series, with both Melee and Brawl ranking him as one of the best characters, and although SSB4 initially heavily nerfed him, he was significantly buffed by game updates, allowing him to be ranked favorably once again. Possibly as a result of this, Marth has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate, but he has been nerfed overall.

Marth benefits from some of the changes to the game's engine. The ability to dash cancel into any attack improves his grounded spacing ability (especially for his tilt attacks), and allow him to bait attacks with fox-trotting; this is all further compounded by his fast running speed and greatly improved initial dash. The reduced landing lag on his aerials also makes them safer for spacing and approaching, while also enhancing their combo ability, giving the sourspots better safety on hit on landing and more reliable kill confirms into tippered attacks. The changes to air dodge mechanics also enhance his juggling and edge guarding capabilities, as they provide less leeway for opponents to recover against his wide aerials, further improving his edgeguarding game.

When it comes to direct changes, Dancing Blade has been sped up greatly, making its hits link into each other much more consistently, and the tippered fourth forward hit has significantly higher knockback, being able to KO at much lower percentages than before. The ability to angle Shield Breaker vertically increases the move's coverage, to the point the down angled version will always tipper in a successful 2 frame punish. Many of his moves such as dash attack, up tilt, up aerial and down aerial are easier to tipper, while some of them are also stronger in both damage and knockback.

However, Marth has received some noteworthy, direct nerfs, most notably to his KO ability and neutral attack. Some of Marth's attacks, like his sourspotted forward smash and Dancing Blade's fourth forward hit, as well as his tippered forward aerial now deal less knockback, whereas his neutral, forward and back aerials have had their hitbox positionings worsened, making landing the tippers slightly more difficult. Additionally, his up throw is slightly weaker as well. This makes it more important for Marth to carefully space his attacks in order to land his tippers to finish strings to deal more damage and score KOs. His neutral attack, previously an excellent combo starter and neutral tool due to its first hit, has been altered as with most neutral attacks so that it can only follow up into the second hit from the first, removing its powerful jab cancel from SSB4 that was useful to Marth's gameplan in exchange of more situational jab lock capabilities.

Marth's specials and grab game have also been weakened. Dolphin Slash and Counter are a bit more punishable than before, and Dancing Blade deals less damage in exchange for its improved linking potential. On top of the worsened KO ability on his up throw, forward throw has also lost its combo potential, which weakens Marth's options against shields.

Despite benefitting from some of them, Marth has been also hindered by the gameplay mechanics, due to his defensive playstyle. Particularly, the universal increase in mobility, while improving his approach and further increasing his already fast mobility, has also made landing his tippers more difficult, as the game's faster pace encourages aggressive playstyles more than in SSB4. The removal of perfect pivoting and lack of quick, safe, and reliable grounded micro spacing options further magnifies his spacing troubles. On top of it, Marth's already linear recovery was also made more telegraphed by the changes to air dodging as well as the reduction in edge sweet spot size, making him easier to edgeguard and thus worsening his survivability. Lastly, the weakening of rage weakens Marth's ability to close out stocks at ludicrously low percentages.

Overall, the buffs Marth got and the benefits he gained from the engine do not compensate for the nerfs he received and the hindrances the engine has also indirectly given him, as Marth now has a harder time landing his tipper sweet spots, which is especially troublesome as he relies on spacing in order to KO opponents below high percentages. In addition, the knockback nerfs to some of his attacks have made it more difficult for him to consistently KO his opponents at low percentages. This causes Marth to shift to a more offensive playstyle, where he relies more on his sourspotted hits to combo his opponents while remaining at a safe distance from where he can poke them with tippered attacks. Game updates have remedied some of Marth's issues, making it slightly easier and more rewarding for him to land some of his tipper hitboxes and slightly improving his dash grab range, though these buffs did not raise his standing significantly. As a result, Marth performs worse in Ultimate compared to SSB4, and is generally seen as inferior to his Echo Fighter and semi-clone, Lucina and Roy, who are widely regarded as more rewarding than him and thus superior as a result.

Aesthetics

• Marth has a new model; due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, it features a more vibrant color scheme. His design has the various shades of blue on his hair, outfit, armor pieces, and cape adjusted to be more vibrant and analogous with each other, with a brighter hue for his cape especially. The design of his headpiece and cape have been subtly modified; his armor, belt, gloves, and boots have been given subtle detailing. His hair is slightly more unkempt, and his eyes are sharper. Altogether, Marth's design closely resembles his appearance in most recent Fire Emblem games.
  • Exalted Falchion and it's sheathe have be touched up. While retaining its design from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Falchion has been altered to better resemble its official artwork. Its scabbard is now nearly identical to its official artwork compared to the unique grey blue-pattern scabbard used since Melee.
• Marth's eighth alternate costume, formerly based on Roy, has been modified to resemble his artwork from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
• Marth has several new basic animations. His idle, crouch, and sidestep all have new animations, and his jump animations have all been changed as well, resembling (but not identical to) Roy's jumps in SSB4. He will revert to his previous idle pose and crouch when holding a small item.
• Marth's sweetspotted moves now use a unique heavy sword sound effect similar to Ike's sword. He shares this distinction with Roy.
• Marth is more expressive overall.
• Much like in Melee, Marth once again vocalizes when performing his first jump.
• Marth's cape has better physics and rigging, allowing for more fluid animations.
• Due to having new voice clips, Marth is much vocal overall. His taunts and victory quotes have been translated for international versions.
  • His up taunt has him say, "This is it!" ("行くぞ！" ("Let's go!") in Japanese).
  • His side taunt has him say, "I won't lose!" ("僕は負けない！" (also "I won't lose!") in Japanese). This is the same line also heard in Roy's side taunt.
  • His down taunt has him say, "Keep your eyes open!" ("みんな、見ていてくれ!" ("Everyone, watch over me!"), which remains unchanged in Japanese).
• Marth's side taunt and down taunts have been shortened, swinging his blade only once for the former taunt and twice for the latter taunt.
• Marth's victory animations have been significantly reworked.
  • His first one has him performing a Shield Breaker before posing with Falchion at his right side, as opposed to spinning it in front of him, saying "The day is mine!" (今回は僕の勝ちだね。, This time victory is mine.)
  • The second has him keep hold of the sheathed Falchion, saying "I live to fight again!" (今日も生き延びることが出来た。, I was able to survive again today.)
  • The third pose is completely new. He jumps in the air swinging his sword twice, and then lands with a pose that resembles his Counter animation, saying "I cannot afford to lose." (僕は負ける訳には行かないんだ。, I can't afford to lose.) This replaces his old one where he stands with his right arm outstretched before lowering it to his side.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Marth's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
• Marth walks faster (1.5 → 1.575).
• Marth runs significantly faster (1.785 → 1.964).
  • Marth's initial dash is significantly faster (1.5 → 2.255).
• Marth's air speed is faster (1.02 → 1.071).
• Marth's traction is much higher (0.055 → 0.114).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 31 → 35).
• Marth has a new Spot dodge animation; he shifts inward to his left with Falchion close to him. This distincts it from Roy, who re-uses Marth's previous spot dodge animation from SSB4.
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 27 → 26).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 53).
• Marth is slightly smaller (model size multiplier: 0.96x → 0.95x). This slightly reduces his range, but also makes his hurtboxes slightly smaller, making him slightly harder to hit.
• Marth has a new jump animation where he picks up his feet more, allowing him to short hop over certain projectiles.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit transitions into the second hit much faster (frame 18 → 11), allowing it to connect better.
  • Both hits have shorter durations, with the second hit also having more startup (frames 5-7 → 5-6 (hit 1), 3-5 → 4-5 (hit 2)).
  • Both hits have higher hitlag multipliers (0.7×/1.25× → 1.3×/1.7×), giving opponents more time to SDI the first hit and DI the second hit.
  • The first hit has altered angles (78°/65°/90° → 361°/361°/180°/361°) and knockback (55 base/30 scaling → 30 base/15/12/12/12 scaling) to keep opponents close to Marth, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows it to jab lock much like in SSB4 before update 1.0.8, but most importantly removes all its guaranteed jab cancel setups, which made it one of Marth's most potent punishment tools in SSB4.
    • This also makes it harder to land the tippers of both hits, as the first hit's tipper is more prone to dragging opponents into the second hit's non-tipper hitboxes due to the change in angle.
  • The first hit has an altered animation where Marth swings in a more horizontal arc, matching its hitboxes better.
• Up tilt:
  • The tipper hitbox deals more damage (9% → 10%) with no knockback compensation, improving its KO potential.
  • The blade hitbox has been moved back slightly (Z: 2 → 0.7), making the tipper easier to land.
• Down tilt:
  • The tipper hitbox is larger, and the sourspot has been slightly shrunken (16.7u → 15.7u), making it easier to land the tipper.
• Dash attack:
  • The tipper hitbox deals more damage (12% → 13%) and it deals more knockback (80 base/55 scaling → 93/58).
  • The blade hitbox has been moved back slightly (Z: 2 → 0.5), making the tipper easier to land.
  • The move has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 1.5×, which combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks makes it safer on shield.
  • It has higher hitlag multipliers (0.7×/1.25× → 0.875×/1.25×/1.5625×).
  • It has a different animation, with Marth swinging in a slightly more horizontal arc.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash's non-tipper hitboxes deal less knockback (55 base/80 scaling → 48/75), no longer being able to KO middleweights under 100% at the edge and making the move unsafe at low percents.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's launcher hitbox can no longer hit on the same frame as the sword hitboxes and override their knockback at low percents, making it more consistent.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash launches at a consistent angle (75°/361° (hit 1), 60°/361° (hit 2) → 361°), allowing it to set up edgeguards and KO near edges more effectively.
  • It has one frame more ending lag (FAF 55 → 56).
  • The second hit's non-tipper hitboxes have less base knockback (70/50/50 → 40), hindering its KO potential.
  • The first hit's non-tipper hitboxes have different base knockback in between the previous vertical-launching and horizontal-launching hitboxes (70/50/50 → 60).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have reduced landing lag (12 frames → 7 (neutral), 16 → 10 (forward), 17 → 10 (back), 14 → 8 (up), 24 → 14 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's first hit has more base knockback (30 → 45/45/35) and altered angles (80°/75°/65°/90° → 75°/80°/90°), allowing it to connect into the second hit while rising, and improving its combo potential on landing combined with its lower landing lag.
  • Both hits now use 3 larger hitboxes rather than 4 smaller hitboxes (3.5u/3u/2u/3.5u → 3.8u/4u/3.3u), slightly reducing its range overall and making the tipper harder to land.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has altered hitbox placements (Z offset: 2u/0u/7.7u → 2.5u/0u/7.5u, X offset: 0u → 1u) and are smaller overall (3.5u/3.5u/3.5u → 3u/3.8u/3u). This reduces its range and makes the tipper harder to land.
  • The tipper hitbox has less knockback scaling (90 → 80), hindering its KO potential.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has altered hitbox placements (2.5u/0u/7.7u → 1.7u/0u/7u (Z-offset), 0u/0u/0u → 0u/2u/0u (X-offset)). This reduces its range and makes the tipper harder to land.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has altered hitbox placements (2u/0u/0u/6.7u → 0.5u/0u/0u/6.7u (Z-offset)), making the tipper easier to land.
• Down aerial:
  • The removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes improves down aerial's combo potential onstage, compounded further by its lower landing lag.
  • The meteor smash hitbox is larger (4.3u → 5u), and lower down (Y offset: -3u → -3.3u), improving its range.
  • The meteor hitbox has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.3×).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Standing grab has less startup (frame 7 → 6).
  • All grabs have increased ending lag (FAF 30 → 35 (standing), 37 → 43 (dash), 35 → 38 (pivot)).
  • Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 8 → 9 (dash), 9 → 10 (pivot)).
• The speed of Marth's throws is no longer weight-dependent. This somewhat improves his down throw's combo potential on heavyweights, but reduces it on lightweights.
• All of Marth's throws except up throw trigger a hitlag effect before the release frame, with back throw also having more startup, and thus they release the opponent later (frame 15 → 18 (forward), 8 → 19 (back), 16 → 20 (down)), making them easier to DI.
  • However, back throw's total duration remains unchanged, giving it less ending lag.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
  • It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 6 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
• Forward throw:
  • Marth has a new forward throw, a quick elbow strike to the opponent's chest.
  • Due to the new knockback speed up effect, it has lost its combo potential.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw deals more damage (4% → 5%).
  • It has less knockback scaling (120 → 102), KOing slightly later despite its higher damage output.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals less damage (5% → 4%), with knockback scaling compensated (50 → 57).
  • The faster knockback physics, combined with the throw no longer being weight-dependent, hinder its combo potential against much of the cast, due to the move's high base knockback compared to other throws.
  • Its animation has been changed slightly, with Marth slamming the opponent onto the ground with a more exaggerated throw.
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

• Shield Breaker:
  • Shield Breaker can be angled vertically.
  • It deals 1.15× its regular damage if it hits an opponent's head.
  • Fully charged Shield Breaker has slightly more startup lag (frame 78 → 79).
  • Marth composes himself after performing the move.
  • The move triggers Special Zoom upon breaking an opponent's shield.
• Dancing Blade:
  • All swings except the first have less startup (frame 9 → 5 (second, neutral), 7 → 4 (second, up), 6 → 4 (third, neutral), 8 → 5 (third, up & down), 13 → 7 (fourth, neutral & down), 11 → 6 (fourth, up)), allowing the move to execute faster and connect all hits more reliably.
  • All swings except the fourth ones have lower hitlag multipliers (1× → 0.5× (first), 0.7× (second & third)), allowing the move to transition faster and making it harder to SDI out of.
  • All swings except the fourth ones deal less knockback (25 base/75 scaling → 25/30 (first), 30/30 → 30/25 (second, neutral), 30 base/70/50/70 scaling → 30/25 (second, up), 40 b/50/35/50 s → 55/30 (third, neutral), 40 b/60/40/60 s → 55/30/30/50 (third, up), 50/28 → 40/30 (third, down)), improving their linking ability at high percents.
  • The first swing has less ending lag (FAF 42 → 40 (grounded), 32 → 30 (aerial)), as does the fourth upward swing (FAF 51 → 45).
  • The first two neutral swings have different angles (78°/92°/20° → 361°/90°/361° (first), 60°/65°/40° → 361° (second)), granting them the ability to lock.
  • The fourth forward swing's tipper has greater knockback overall (60 base/130 scaling → 85/125), improving its KO potential.
  • The fourth downward swing's hits after the first are faster (frame 19, 25, 31, 37 → 10, 13, 16, 19), and the first four hits have less knockback scaling (40 → 20), allowing them to connect better and preventing opponents from jumping out of them at low percents.
    • However, it has much more ending lag in combination with the faster swings (FAF 72 → 75).
  • The fourth upward swing's hitboxes have extended downward, no longer causing it to whiff against short opponents and improving its vertical reach.
  • All swings deal less damage (3%/4% → 2.5%/3% (first & second), 4%/5% → 3%/4% (third, neutral & up), 4.5%/5.5% → 3%/4% (third, down), 5%/7% → 4%/6% (fourth, neutral), 6%/8% → 5%/7% (fourth, up), 6% → 5% (fourth, down, last hit's tipper)).
  • The first swing has more startup (frame 6 → 9).
  • The fourth forward swing's non-tipper hitboxes deal less knockback (60 base/130 scaling → 74/103), hindering their KO potential.
  • The fourth upward swing has more base knockback (60 → 80/85), but drastically less knockback scaling (118 → 40), removing its ability to KO at realistic percents.
  • Dancing Blade's neutral swings all have altered animations, except for the third. The first one is an outward swing similar to his forward tilt, the second is a vertical swing instead of a horizontal one, and the final swing no longer has Marth spinning before he slashes the opponent.
  • The third downward swing has an altered animation, now being a low outward swing instead of a stab.
• Dolphin Slash:
  • Dolphin Slash has more landing lag (20 frames → 24).
  • It leaves multiple afterimages of Marth during the leap, akin to the effect used by Fox Illusion and Falco Phantasm.
• Counter:
  • Counter's counterattack has less startup (frame 5 → 4).
  • The counterbox is bigger (9.2u → 10.5u). It is also higher up (y offset 9.3 → 10).
  • It has more ending lag on both the counter (FAF 60 → 65) and the attack (FAF 36 → 41).
  • Marth once again vocalizes when connecting a successful Counter. In English, he'll say "My turn!", "Nice try!" or "Predictable!"; the last of which, in Japanese, is changed to "させない！".
  • If a powerful enough attack is countered, it causes a large yellow flash, and plays the noise from Critical Hit if the counterattack successfully lands.
• Critical Hit:
  • Due to the changes to teching, Critical Hit is almost impossible to tech though at some circumstances such as Shulk's Shield Monado Art can still tech at very low percentage.

Update history

Marth was slightly buffed via game updates. Marth received a small, yet worthwhile buff to his dash grab's vertical range in update 3.0.0, which was shared with his three derivatives (Lucina, Roy, and Chrom). This most notably increased the consistency of their grabs against some shielding opponents, such as R.O.B.

After a long absence from patch notes, Marth was given a few worthwhile buffs in update 8.0.0. Most notably, the update repositioned the non-tipper hitboxes of his forward, back, and up aerials, thus making their respective tippers easier to hit. This substantially improved some of Marth's staple moves, and primarily benefits both his air game and his edgeguarding potential. His down smash's tipper also gained more knockback, which improved its KO potential.

In 12.0.0, Marth was once again buffed, all related to some of his tippers. The tipper of his dash attack deals 1% more damage, deals overall more knockback, and the blade hitbox was moved back slightly, making it easier to land to tipper. His up tilt also received a 1% damage increase to the tipper, allowing it to KO roughly 10% earlier, and the middle hitbox was moved to have more coverage. And finally, the tipper hitbox of down tilt was slightly enlarged and extended, and the sourspot was slightly shrunken, making it easier to land the tipper.

Overall, while Marth is more viable than he was at launch, he is still currently seen as inferior to his Echo Fighter, Lucina, as the buffs he gained were not enough to counteract Lucina's overall better consistency and effectiveness.

1.1.0

• The animation for swinging with a battering item has been adjusted.

3.0.0

• 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..

8.0.0

• Down smash's tipper deals more knockback (50 base → 57 (hit 1), 88 scaling → 92 (hit 2)).
• Forward, back, and up aerials' closest hitboxes to the tip have been moved inward (Z offset: 3.5u → 2.5u (forward), 3.7u → 1.7u (back), 2u → 0.5u (up)), making the tipper hitboxes easier to land.

12.0.0

• The tipper of dash attack deals more damage (12% → 13%), it deals more knockback (95 base/55 scaling → 93/58) and the blade hitbox has been moved back slightly (Z: 2 → 0.5).
• The tipper of up tilt deals more damage (9% → 10%) with no knockback compensation, and the blade hitbox has been moved back slightly (Z: 2 → 0.7).
• The tipper hitbox of down tilt is larger, and the sourspot has been slightly shrunken (16.7u → 15.7u), making it easier to land the sweetspot.
• Fixed an issue that caused opponents to sometimes go below the ledge and get bounced off the side of the stage after using down throw.

Moveset

• For simplicity if, for example, Marth's blade does 4% damage while the tip does 6%, and the attack has no other hitboxes, it is written as 4%/6%.

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

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Slash (スラッシュ) / Combination Slash (コンビネーションスラッシュ)	3%/5%	Slashes Falchion twice in front of himself. The first hit's tipper pulls opponents toward Marth, ensuring that the second hit connects, although connecting it into the tippered second hit can be difficult. The first hit can also jab lock.
			4%/6%
Forward tilt		Hard Edge (ハードエッジ)	9%/12%	A fast upward swipe while leaning forward. It has a large arc that is useful for spacing and deals quite strong knockback when tippered, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%. On the other hand, it deals much weaker knockback if untippered, being incapable of sending foes into a tumble until mid percents, making it very unsafe if spaced improperly. The tipper can hit opponents standing on top of some platforms. Based on Marth's attack from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
Up tilt		Anti-air Slash (アンチエアスラッシュ)	6% (blade), 5% (body), 10% (tip)	Swings Falchion in a large arc above his head, with a large hitbox that can hit enemies behind him. Can combo into itself or aerials at low percentages and KO at high percents when tippered. Covers platforms very well and is useful for juggling, and as of update 12.0, when tippered it is the 6th strongest up tilt in the game, narrowly beating Roy’s and only losing to King Dedede’s.
Down tilt		Low Thrust (ロースラスト)	7%/10%	A quick crouching sword poke. Has the lowest ending lag out of Marth's tilts, making it useful for interrupting grounded approaches and creating space. Deals semi-spike knockback, making it useful for edgeguarding. The tipper knocks opponents into a tumble around roughly 60%, with the blade hit starting to do so around roughly 120%, which can force opponents into a tech chase situation.
Dash attack		Raid Chop (レイドチョップ)	9% (body), 10% (blade), 13% (tip)	A quick, running, upward-sweeping diagonal slash. It is rather slow for a dash attack but deals quite high knockback if tippered; This move sports impressively high base knockback but poor knockback growth, capable of KO'ing lightweights at around 80% at ledge and yet being incapable of KO'ing those same characters from center stage until around 130%. It has notable ending lag and very low hit lag if untippered, making it rather unsafe against shields, especially since the tipper is quite hard to connect with. The ability to use the faster, safer, and more consistent forward tilt out of dash makes this move's use rather niche. Resembles Marth's attack after sprinting toward an enemy in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
Forward smash		Dragon Killer (ドラゴンキラー)	13%/18%	Rotates his body counterclockwise with a strong overarching one-handed swing from his head to the ground. Very fast startup at frame 10 (tied with several others for the fastest of any forward smash), but high ending lag. Although lackluster when hit with the blade, only beginning to KO starting from 115% at ledge and much later at center stage, the tipper of this attack has incredible knockback, being able to KO middleweights at 70% from the stage's center and as low as 40% near the edge. This makes it incredibly potent compared to other forward smashes with the same damage output, and when the speed difference versus forward smashes of similar KO potential is taken into account, it becomes one of the strongest forward smashes in the game. Due to its fast startup and the upwards angle of the initial hitbox, it can be combo'd into for a kill with his sourspot up aerial at certain percentages. The tipper is capable of 2-framing at the ledge, allowing for incredibly early KOs. Similar to some of Marth's attacks with the Falchion in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
Up smash		Justice Sword (ジャスティスソード)	3% (ground), 13% (blade), 17% (tip)	A quick, upward thrust based on a pose Marth does many times in his games. The weak grounded hit can knock nearby opponents into the main attack. Good for aerial protection and chasing down landing opponents. If tippered, it deals extremely high knockback to the point where it becomes one of the strongest up smashes in the game, although this is difficult to do unless an opponent falls directly on top of Marth from a considerable height. However, to make up, it is one of Marth’s few untippered attacks that can reliably K.O. The grounded hit may occasionally fail to connect to the main attack if their percent is high enough.
Down smash		Whirlwind (ワールウインド)	8%/12% (hit 1), 12%/17% (hit 2)	Sweeps Falchion on the ground toward the front-outward then toward the back inward. The back hit has much stronger power, while the front hit is somewhat weak unless tippered, where it will do considerable knockback. It also has high ending lag.
Neutral aerial		Double Slash (ダブルスラッシュ)	3.5%/5% (hit 1), 7%/9.5% (hit 2)	Two horizontal slashes around himself via an inward slash followed into a full 360° outward spin. The second hit can hit on both sides of Marth and can be used to create space by short hopping then fast-falling immediately after using the move in the air. The first hit has very low knockback scaling, which, combined with fast falling and the move's low landing lag, allows it to combo into many of Marth's tilts, and even his forward smash, even up to around 175%. The second hit's tipper has strong knockback, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%, making it one of the strongest neutral airs in the game.
Forward aerial		Flag Cut (フラッグカット)	8%/11.5%	Does a descending crescent slash in front of him with great coverage. This is Marth's best tool for air combat, and its reasonably low landing lag and strong tipper make it very safe when spaced properly. Its tipper is also decently strong, KOing middleweights at the edge around 130%. Around 21% with the tipper, or around 36% with the sour spot, it begins to knock opponents into a tumble, which can force a tech chase situation. Similar to the animation some units have when attacking in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
Back aerial		About Face (アッパースイング, Upper Swing)	9%/12.5%	An upward crescent slash behind him in an inward swipe. It has the interesting property of turning Marth around, changing the direction he is facing. Similar use to his forward aerial, although with more knockback and a smaller hitbox. It can be used a few frames before landing to catch opponents with a tipped blow, with correct spacing. Has a rather strong tipper given its speed, KOing middleweights at the edge around 100%.
Up aerial		Luna Slash (ルナスラッシュ)	9.5%/13%	An overhead crescent slash with good coverage, ending in a delayed somersault. Marth's fastest aerial, it is good for juggling thanks to its large arc, making it a good anti-air as well, but it has weak knockback unless tippered. Due to its angle and low landing lag, it makes a reliable combo starter when hit with the blade, comboing into aerials even around 100%.
Down aerial		Halfmoon (ハーフムーン)	12% (blade), 14% (non-meteor tip), 15% (meteor)	A downward, wide crescent slash with large coverage. If the attack connects in the middle of the swinging arc (directly below Marth), it serves as a powerful meteor smash. However, the meteor smash window lasts only one frame (frame 11) and is weak compared to other meteor smashes with the same damage output, and even weaker than some with a lower damage output, like Mario’s forward aerial (which does 14%). However, its lack of power compared to others can make it great for kill setups, such as the grounded meteor smash combined with a tippered up smash or forward smash. It can also be useful against cross-ups and as an out of shield option as it starts behind Marth and covers a wide area below him.
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)	4%	An elbow strike with his sword arm. While it has little to no use onstage, its medium launch angle makes it great for setting up edgeguards.
Back throw		Leg Hooker (レッグフッカー)	4%	Tosses the opponent over his leg, sending them behind him. Its high base knockback allows him to set up edge guarding, but it cannot combo or KO reliably.
Up throw		Casting (キャスティング)	5%	A powerful one-armed upward throw. Marth's strongest throw, though it does not start KOing middleweights until around 185%.
Down throw		Grab Drop (グラブドロップ)	4%	Throws opponent to the ground with one arm, bouncing them upwards. At low to mid percents, its angle and high base knockback allow it to follow up into an up or back aerial depending on DI, or only an up aerial at higher percents. Despite having low knockback scaling, it still loses its combo potential around roughly 80%-90%.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Spins around gracefully and slashes Falchion in a circle.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swings Falchion behind, then in front of him before getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Stabs behind him then slashes in front of himself before getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Backflips onto the stage and slashes.
Neutral special		Shield Breaker	8%/9% (uncharged), 22%/24% (fully charged)	Marth assumes a readying stance and charges Falchion at chest level before powerfully thrusting it forward. This attack deals massive shield damage even when uncharged, and will instantly break shields at full charge, although it can be safely perfect shielded. The aerial version gives Marth a very slight horizontal boost, while a fully charged aerial version will thrust Marth in whatever direction he's facing, giving him a strong horizontal recovery option, albeit with a very high startup. Deals very high knockback when tippered, making it a powerful KOing option, (being one of the strongest neutral specials in the game) although it is still weaker than his tippered forward smash. It can be angled up or down, though this does not change the damage or knockback. The attack deals 1.15× regular damage if it hits the opponent's head.
Side special		Dancing Blade	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 (see table below for details and limits of the move). The first hitbox comes out on frame 9.
Up special		Dolphin Slash	11% (clean), 7% (late blade), 6% (late body)	Marth performs a high-speed jumping uppercut slash that can be B-reversed. Has a powerful clean hit and grants very slight intangibility in the first few frames, which can easily cause stage-spikes under the right circumstances. Grants good vertical distance but is rather lacking in horizontal distance. It does not snap to the edge until after its hitbox is gone.
Down special		Counter	1.2× (minimum 8%)	Marth assumes a defensive stance and retaliates against incoming attacks. The power of the counterattack scales with the strength of the attack blocked. It starts up on frame 6 and lasts 22 frames. Ineffective against projectiles and attacks with a sufficiently long reach, such as many of Shulk's or Simon's tilts and smash attacks.
Final Smash		Critical Hit	60%	Marth raises Falchion skyward, then lunges in one direction, attacking the first opponent he connects. Immense knockback, enough to one-hit KO any character on any roofless stage. This move is impossible to tech unless using Final Smash Meter or against Shulk's Shield Monado Art at a very low percentage. Pressing the special button again will cause him to stop mid-dash.

Dancing Blade

Hit	Damage	Description
First Hit (Neutral)	2.5%/3%	Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback even at extremely high percents. Can jab lock. The tipper lifts opponents off the ground slightly, making it combo into the second hit more consistently.
Second Hit (Up)	2.5%/3%	An upwards lifting slash. It has greater vertical reach, but shorter horizontal reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground, with the tipper hit pulling them in slightly. At high percents and when at a distance from the opponent, its shorter reach can be used to intentionally miss so that the last two hits can connect properly.
Second Hit (Neutral)	2.5%/3%	Does an inward slash. It has a slightly 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%/4%	Does an upwards slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents slightly up and away, leading into the upward finisher's tipper fairly consistently if delayed a bit.
Third Hit (Neutral)	3%/4%	Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash. At close range, this can be used to combo into the neutral finisher's tipper by delaying it, although otherwise, this hit may push opponents too far away for the fourth hit to connect at all at high percents.
Third Hit (Down)	3%/4%	Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground. Deals less knockback than the other third hits, which can make it useful for connecting with the neutral finisher at higher percents, when the third neutral hit may send too far away.
Fourth Hit (Up)	5%/7%	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 even when tippered. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral)	4%/6%	Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does very powerful vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback. The tipper by itself will KO middleweights at the edge as low as 50%, but the hit is much weaker when not tippered, only beginning to KO around 130%. The tipper is notoriously small and hard to connect most of the time, as Marth needs to be in an exact position to land a tipper with the variant.
Fourth Hit (Down)	2% (hit 1-4), 4%/5% (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 and the lowest knockback 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	90	2.255 – Initial dash 1.964 – Run	1.575	0.114	0.00375	1.071	0.01 – Base 0.07 – Additional	0.075	1.58 – Base 2.528 – Fast-fall	3	33.66 - Base 16.26 - Short hop	33.66

Announcer calls

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

• French (PAL)

On-screen appearance

• Warps onto the stage using a warp circle with a twirl and unsheathes his sword.

• 

  Marth's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Hoists the Falchion into the air, emitting light from the tip while saying "This is it!" (行くぞ！, Let's go!) Resembles his critical hit animation from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
• Side taunt: Swings the Falchion once before resheathing it, saying "I won't lose!" (僕は負けない！, I won't lose!)
• Down taunt: Swings the Falchion around and says "Keep your eyes open!" (みんな、見ていてくれ！ Everyone, watch over me!)

• 

  Marth's up taunt.

• 

  Marth's side taunt.

• 

  Marth's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Holds his hand to his chest, closes his eyes, and silently takes a breath.
• Brushes his hair out of his face.

• 

  Marth's first idle pose.

• 

  Marth's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Marth Marth Marth!	Mar - u - su!	Marth Marth Marth!	Marth Marth! *claps 2 times*	Marth! *claps 3 times*

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Marth!	Marth Marth Marth!	Marth! Marth! Marth!	Maaaareu - seu!

Victory poses

• Left: Performs Shield Breaker, then poses with Falchion at his right side, saying "The day is mine!" ("今回は僕の勝ちだね。", This time victory is mine.). His ending pose mirrors his official artwork from Smash 4.
• Up: Performs a flare with his sword before sheathing it, and while still gripping it, says "I live to fight again." ("今日も生き延びることが出来た。", I was able to survive again today.).
• Right: Jumps in the air swinging his sword twice, then lands in a pose resembling his Counter animation, saying "I cannot afford to lose!" ("僕は負ける訳には行かないんだ。", I can't afford to lose.).

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.

• 
• 
• 

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Marth players (SSBU)

•  Kreeg - The best Marth player in North America in 2023, with some of Marth's best American results including 13th at LVL UP EXPO 2023 defeating Jakal and 17th at MAJOR UPSET.
•  MkLeo - Although uncommon, uses Marth from time and time as a counterpick and is considered one of the best Marth players in the world, notably ranking 1st on the Fall 2019 PGRU with Marth. He notably won Ultimate Fighting Arena 2019 using Marth in most of the sets and placed 4th at Let's Make Big Moves 2023 and 5th at Scuffed World Tour, notably using Marth to counterpick Riddles's Kazuya in the latter.
•  Rizeasu - The best Marth player in the world. Notably won the superregional Sumabato SP 32 and also placed 2nd at the major Maesuma TOP 14 using Marth to win several crucial sets. He is also the only globally-ranked player who uses Marth as a main, with his highest being 49th on the LumiRank Mid-Year 2023.

Tier placement and history

In stark contrast to pre-release Ultimate, where it was speculated that Marth could be the best character in the game, Marth initially saw a near-nonexistent playerbase due to nerfs such as smaller tipper hitboxes and the removal of perfect pivoting to space tippers consistently. As a result of this, all of Marth's prominent players from Smash 4 dropped him in favor of other characters, most notably his echo fighter Lucina, who was widely considered to be more effective and easier than Marth as a character. Despite seeing brief usage from MkLeo in the second half of 2019, Marth was considered an "irrelevant" character in tournament play, with data collected from OrionRank co-founder Barnard's Loop showing that Marth had the third worst representation in the game in April 2020.

Subsequent patches buffed several of Marth's tipper hitboxes, making it easier to connect tippers reliably. Furthermore, since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marth's representation has steadily improved at locals and minor circuits, with success from players such as Kreeg, Ignaize and Rizeasu. Finally, MkLeo briefly brought the character back into his roster in late-2022 and early-2023, defeating players such as Riddles and Cosmos. As such, some players began arguing whether Marth was underrated in the metagame, due to the positive traits he shares with Lucina and other highly regarded sword-wielding characters, as well as the untapped potential from his tipper mechanic offering him high KO capabilities with safe disjoints. However, other players pointed to how his tipper hitboxes remained inconsistent despite the buffs and that his overall representation remained poor, often hovering around the bottom 10, with all of Marth's best players often using other characters alongside Marth. With little change in Marth's reputation in the post-online metagame, his placement has remained the same on the first two tier lists, ranking 54th on the first in B- tier, and dropping a spot to 55th on the second, although due to the restructuring of the tier list, he is now ranked in C+ tier.

Classic Mode: A Kingdom of Dragons

Marth's congratulations screen.

Marth fights draconic opponents on various medieval-themed stages, referencing the prevalence of dragon enemies in all his games; moreover, his sword, Falchion, was forged to slay dragons. The Mii Fighters sport dragon-themed costumes. As a reference to how Marth fights the dragon Medeus as the final boss in his own games, he fights Rathalos, a wyvern (clearly labeled as a dragon in the original Japanese), as the boss of his route. The name is also likely a reference to Dolhr, a nation of Manaketes (Dragon shapeshifters).

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Giant Charizard	Castle Siege	Story 5 Meeting	Giant Charizard's Pokémon Trainer is absent.
2	Yoshi (×5)	Arena Ferox	Under This Banner	Horde Battle (3 at a time)
3	Giant King K. Rool	Bridge of Eldin	Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem Medley	King K. Rool represents Medeus in his Shadow Dragon form in Mystery of the Emblem. Bridge of Eldin resembles the map Light and Shadow where Marth fights Medeus.
4	Mii Gunner (×4), Mii Brawler, and Mii Swordfighter	Castle Siege	Advance	Horde Battle (3 at a time) Mii Fighter costume combinations: Dragon Helmet and Yellow Dragon Armor (Gunner) Devil Horns and Black Dragon Armor (Gunner) Dragon Helmet and Woolly Yoshi Outfit (Brawler) Dragon Helmet and White Dragon Armor (Gunner) Woolly Yoshi Hat and Red Dragon Armor (Gunner) Dragon Helmet and Black Knight Armor (Swordfighter)
5	Giant Ridley	Gerudo Valley	Lords-Showdown	Giant Ridley references Medeus, the main antagonist of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.
6	Corrin (×2)	Coliseum	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
Bonus Stage
Final	Rathalos	Forest Hill	Roar/Rathalos

Note: All stages Marth travels to are Fire Emblem and The Legend of Zelda stages.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Marth has Fire Emblem Theme accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Marth in World of Light

Marth was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Marth took notice of the massive number of Master Hands, telling the other fighters that they would "need to take down about ten [Master Hands each]" ("一人で十体ぐらい倒せばいけるか?", Maybe we can win this by taking about ten each?), before being reassured by Zelda and Pit. He was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters (excluding Kirby).

During the mode itself, Marth can be unlocked early on shortly after rescuing Mario, where the player arrives at a crossroads and has the choice to rescue him, Sheik, or Villager. If one of the others is rescued first, Marth's path will be blocked by a force field created by Master Hand, which will disappear upon defeating a boss or can be circumvented by looping back to the other side.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
21		Marth	Attack	2,500	Final Destination	Final Destination

Spirit

Marth's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Marth. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Marth has been unlocked. Unlocking Marth 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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  610. Marth

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
105		Prince Peasley	Mario & Luigi Series	•Marth		1,600	3D Land	N/A	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power	This is Minion Turf!
625		Navarre	Fire Emblem Series	•Marth (140 HP)		3,700	Castle Siege (Throne Room)	N/A	•The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random •Stamina battle •The enemy's battering items have increased power	Story 5 Meeting
630		Tiki	Fire Emblem Series	•Marth		3,700	Spear Pillar (hazards off)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Tiki)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Fire Emblem Theme (Heroic Origins)	Marth
633		Camus	Fire Emblem Series	•Marth		9,200	Arena Ferox	•Health Recovery	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random •The enemy is healed significantly when the enemy's at high damage	Meeting Theme Series Medley
641		Seliph	Fire Emblem Series	•Marth •Ike		3,600	Castle Siege	•Defense ↑	•The enemy has increased defense when the enemy's at high damage	Edge of Adversity
1,058		Hugh Baldwin	Castlevania Series	•Marth		2,000	Find Mii	N/A	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy has increased jump power	Awake
1,173		Felix	Golden Sun Series	•Marth		3,500	Coliseum	•Item Tidal Wave •Earthquake	•Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage •Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun
1,316		Goro Akechi	Persona Series	•Marth •Giant Pit		3,800	Fourside (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Left Is Right, Right Is Left	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Left and right controls will suddenly reverse	Rivers In the Desert

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
620		Caeda	Fire Emblem Series	•Lucina •Marth		13,500	Temple (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Heavy Wind	•Dangerously high winds are in effect •The enemy has increased move speed and reduced weight	Story 5 Meeting	Marth

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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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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  Marth's fighter card.

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  Marth countering on the Great Plateau Tower.

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  Performing Shield Breaker on Coliseum.

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  Taunting in his white costume on Mario Galaxy.

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  Dodging Ridley's Plasma Breath on 3D Land.

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  Taunting on Skyworld.

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  Idling with Lyn on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  With Toon Link, Pit and a giant Jigglypuff on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  Marth and Lucina taunting on Castle Siege.

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  Marth getting hit by R.O.B.'s down smash on Tomodachi Life.

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  Marth's unlock notice.

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  Marth, Link and Shulk advancing towards Rathalos on Coliseum.

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  Idling on Great Bay Ω.

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  Idling on Skyworld.

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  With Kirby, Mario, Link, Inkling, Pit, Ridley and Villager on Battlefield.

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  With all playable Fire Emblem veterans on Coliseum.

Trivia

Marth's line in the Japanese version of World of Light opening cinematic; the subtitle translates to "Maybe we can win this by taking about ten each?"

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash Bros. game where Marth points his sword upwards rather than downwards in his official artwork.
• The images of Marth facing Ridley and Rathalos, as well as Marth's Classic Mode battle sequence, are likely a reference to the common trend of Fire Emblem games ending with a boss battle against a dragon, specifically Marth's battle with Medeus, the main antagonist of the first Fire Emblem game.
• Marth is the only character from the Fire Emblem series who can be unlocked in The Light Realm in World of Light.
  • Roy is also found in The Final Battle, imprisoned by Galeem. This makes Marth and Roy the only Fire Emblem characters affiliated with Galeem.
  • Coincidentally, both characters also mark their first Smash debut in Melee and have an Echo Fighter, being Lucina and Chrom, respectively.
• Marth, Lucina, Young Link, Roy, Chrom, and Wolf are the only characters that use their crouching animations from a previous Smash Bros. game when holding a small item (in Chrom's case, he uses Roy's previous crouching animation).
  • This makes Marth, Lucina, and Wolf the only characters to have both updated idle and crouching animations, but transition to their previous animations when holding a small item.
• There are some minor oversights with some of Marth's sound effects:
  • His side taunt still uses the sound effect of his old taunt, causing two sword-swinging sounds to play despite the animation being shortened to only one swing. This can also be seen in Marth's character showcase video.
  • The back hit of Marth's up tilt where the attack will always play the tipper sound effect, regardless of whether the move is sweetspotted or not.
• Marth has the most combined clones of any character at three, being Roy, Lucina, and Chrom.
• Marth is the only Fire Emblem fighter who does not face Master Hand as their final boss.
• The name of Marth's back aerial, "About Face", is in reference to his combative background, where it means to turn opposite to the current position being faced in the military.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during his final stock in Stamina Mode, Marth uses his alternate KO scream rather than the standard one. This also applies to Ike using his Radiant Dawn outfit in international versions and his Path of Radiance outfit in the Japanese version.
• Marth's line from the World of Light opening has become somewhat memetic among the Japanese fanbase, with fans jokingly referring to his plan as "Marth Theory" (マルス理論).
  • A possible offshoot of this, Sakurai directly references this line during the Mr. Sakurai Presents "Sephiroth" showcase, when battling Master Hand and Crazy Hand in Sephiroth's Classic Mode route.