Dr. Mario (SSBU)

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Dr. Mario in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in Melee in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Doctor Finale

“	He has more attack and launch power than Mario, but his jump and recovery is not as good. Pro tip: You can repeatedly press the B button when using his down special, Dr. Tornado, to float a bit!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Dr. Mario (ドクターマリオ, Doctor Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed as playable on June 12th, 2018. Dr. Mario is classified as fighter #18.

As in Smash 4, Charles Martinet's portrayal of Mario from Brawl was repurposed for Dr. Mario in Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Dr. Mario being the 62nd character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Mario or any character in his unlock tree, being the seventh character in his unlock tree after Roy.
• Have Dr. Mario join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Dr. Mario must then be defeated on New Donk City Hall.

Differences from Mario

As a clone of Mario, Dr. Mario is a middleweight with the ability to wall jump. Dr. Mario sports subpar mobility, however, having the sixty-second fastest walking speed, seventy-first fastest dashing speed, seventieth fastest air speed, poor air acceleration, tying for the forty-ninth through fifty-first fastest falling speed, tying for the forty-seventh through forty-ninth fastest fast falling speed, having average gravity and traction, and below-average jump force. As a result of these traits, Dr. Mario's approach and recovery are inferior to Mario's, and renders him with sluggish movement, despite his increased walking and dashing speeds.

Like Mario, Dr. Mario has excellent frame data, with his entire moveset having low startup lag, excluding specials. As a result, Dr. Mario is effective at punishing his opponents, while he himself is difficult to punish. Dr. Mario has excellent combo starters in his forward tilt and down tilt, since both attacks come out rather quickly, and deal low knockback to the opponent. All of Dr. Mario's aerials have decreased landing lag compared to his previous appearance in SSB4 (but still higher than Mario's), contributing to his combo game, and making set-ups easier to create.

Aesthetics

• Dr. Mario's stance has him moving less than Mario.
• Dr. Mario is less vocal than Mario. Some of his attacks also emit different sound effects.
• Dr. Mario's on-screen appearance; taunts; idle poses; and victory poses are different from Mario's.
• Dr. Mario's defeated/No Contest animation is different from Mario's. He looks in front of him with a neutral expression, whereas Mario looks slightly to the left with a smiling expression.
• Dr. Mario keeps his fingers close to each other during his screen KO, whereas Mario spreads his apart.

Attributes

• Aside from Dr. Mario's up tilt; forward aerial; clean back aerial; down aerial; up special; and down special, his other moves' damage outputs use a positive multiplier. As a result, he is significantly stronger than Mario. However, this multiplier does not apply to items or reflected attacks.
• Dr. Mario's walking, dashing and aerial speeds use a negative multiplier. As a result, Dr. Mario is significantly less mobile than Mario.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack has more ending lag.
• Forward tilt has a longer duration.
• Up tilt deals more damage. This makes it significantly more effective for KOing, but less effective for combos.
• Dash attack has different knockback. Dr. Mario's dash attack also launches the opponent vertically, whereas Mario's can launch them diagonally or horizontally. These differences make it more effective for combos at low percentages.
• Due to its higher damage output, forward smash is more effective at KOing in spite of its lower knockback scaling.
• Forward smash has slightly less range.
• Dr. Mario's forward smash's sweetspot and sourspot are on his arm and electricity respectively, whereas Mario's are on the flame and his arm respectively.
• Dr. Mario's forward smash has an electric effect, whereas Mario's has a flame effect..
• Up smash has different knockback. Dr. Mario's up smash also launches the opponent horizontally, whereas Mario's launches them vertically. These differences make it significantly more effective for combos at low percentages and KOing while near the edge, but make it significantly less effective for KOing and punishing.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have more landing lag.
• Dr. Mario's neutral aerial deals more damage and has higher knockback the longer it is active, whereas Mario's functions oppositely.
• Clean and late forward aerials deal more damage.
• Early forward aerial deals slightly less damage.
• Clean forward aerial has less base knockback.
• Dr. Mario's clean forward aerial launches the opponent diagonally, whereas Mario's meteor smashes them.
• Clean back aerial deals more damage, making it more effective for KOing in spite of its lower knockback.
• Up aerial has less knockback. Dr. Mario's up aerial also launches the opponent diagonally, whereas Mario's launches them vertically. These differences make its beginning frames capable of edge-guarding, and its ending frames better for aerial combos. However, they also make its beginning frames unusable for KOing, and significantly less effective for juggling and SHFF'd combos.
• Dr. Mario's down aerial is a single-hit stomp kick, whereas Mario's has been Mario Tornado as of Brawl. Unlike Mario's, it is a meteor smash.

Grabs and throws

• Back throw has Dr. Mario heave the opponent behind him, as opposed to swinging them around like Mario. It has reduced startup.
• Back throw cannot hit nearby opponents unlike Mario's.
• Due to its higher damage output, back throw is as effective at KOing in spite of its lower knockback scaling.
• Due to its higher damage output, up throw is as effective for combos at low percentages in spite of its lower knockback.
• Down throw has different knockback, making it significantly less effective for combos.
• Dr. Mario's down throw launches the opponent vertically, whereas Mario's launches them diagonally. This makes its combos less susceptible to directional influence.

Special moves

• Unlike Fireball, Megavitamins cannot be absorbed.
• Megavitamins bounce twice and at a higher angle, whereas Fireball bounces three times and at a lower angle.
• Compared to Cape, Super Sheet's hitbox is positioned slightly upward. This results in it having slightly more vertical range, but slightly less horizontal range.
• Super Sheet has a different animation where Dr. Mario swings the sheet upward.
• Unlike aerial Cape, aerial Super Sheet does not stall Dr. Mario. This makes more effective at B-reversing, but unusable for recovery.
• Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch consists of a clean hitbox and a late hitbox, whereas Mario's consists of six hitboxes.
• Due to its higher damage output, Dr. Mario's clean Super Jump Punch is significantly more effective for KOing in spite of its lower knockback. Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch also has a longer duration than Mario's.
• Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch retains its vertical distance from Melee, whereas Mario's has increased, making it less effective for recovery.
• Unlike Mario's Super Jump Punch, Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch lacks intangibility on start-up.
• Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch does not produce Coins upon contact, whereas Mario's does.
• Dr. Mario retains Dr. Tornado as his down special, whereas Mario's has been F.L.U.D.D. as of Brawl.
• Unlike F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado deals damage.
• Compared to F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado is significantly more effective for recovery.
• Compared to F.L.U.D.D., Dr. Tornado has significantly less range, making it less effective for edge-guarding.
• Doctor Finale produces 2D and 3D Megavitamin-based effects and emits Megavitamins' contact sound effect, whereas Mario Finale produces 3D fiery effects and emits a burning sound effect.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Dr. Mario has been overall buffed in Ultimate. His damage output has been increased substantially throughout his moveset, now being able to rack up damage far more reliably than in Smash 4. His recovery, while still being rather lackluster, has nevertheless improved slightly; his Dr. Tornado has less ending lag, allowing him to act out of it sooner, and the re-addition of directional air dodges gives him another option to possibly extend his recovery. Dr. Mario has received a few nerfs, however, with one of them being a small decrease to his already sub-par mobility, given the nerfs to his air speed and jump height.

Compared to Mario, Dr. Mario is still a slower and stronger clone of him. However, he is not classified as an Echo Fighter, likely due to debuting in Melee rather than SSB4 or Ultimate as with the Echo Fighters. Aside from having an updated idle animation, an altered animation for his side special, as well as receiving a new back throw and down aerial, he does not appear to have been further decloned. He has also received many of the same changes as Mario.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from Smash 4, Dr. Mario's model features a more subdued color scheme. Like Mario, his hair and clothing now feature simple detailing, with his head mirror's headband reverting back to a cordovan brown from his design in Super Smash Bros. Melee, instead of a dark taupe gray.
• The inside of Dr. Mario's pants are now slate grey instead of white.
• Dr. Mario has a new idle animation with less exaggerated bouncing. It no longer reverts to Mario's idle when holding an item.
• Dr. Mario's helpless animation is altered slightly, with his body faced more towards the screen.
• The victory animation where Dr. Mario rubs his chin now has him tap the toe of his shoe on the ground before contemplatively rubbing his chin.
• The victory animation where Dr. Mario throws Megavitamins now has him looking towards the camera with a happy expression when holding the Megavitamins in his hands.
• The victory animation where Dr. Mario poses with his stethoscope is now more exaggerated.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Dr. Mario's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
• Dr Mario's attributes have been adjusted relative to Mario's. He now has attributes as if he was Mario with +22 attack and -65 speed equipment (SSB4)
  • Dr. Mario dashes slightly faster (1.3312 → 1.397792).
  • Dr. Mario's initial dash is faster (1.3312 → 1.936).
  • Dr. Mario walks slightly faster (0.9152 → 0.917301).
  • Dr. Mario's air speed is slower (0.9292 → 0.9238784).
  • Dr. Mario jumps lower.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Jab deals more damage (2.8% → 2.9% (hit 1), 1.68% → 1.7% (jab 2), 4.48% → 4.7% (hit 3)).
  • Jab was reverted to match Mario's, meaning that it can now jab lock.
  • The last hit of neutral attack comes out faster and goes higher. These changes allow it to connect better from the first two hits.
• All tilt attacks deal more damage (7.84% → 8.2% (forward tilt), 7.056% → 7.4% (up tilt), 5.6%/7.84% → 5.8/8.2% (down tilt), 8.96%/6.72% → 11.5%/7% (dash attack (clean/late))).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has more base knockback, decreasing its combo potential but increasing its kill power.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has more base knockback and a more horizontal launch angle, lowering its combo potential.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack travels further.
  • Dash attack has an altered animation that no longer lowers Dr. Mario's hurtbox, which prevents him from sliding under certain attacks unlike his previous dash attack.
• All smash attacks deal significantly more damage (19.04%/15.68% → 20.9%/17.2% (forward smash), 15.68% → 16.4% (up smash), 11.2%/13.44 → 11.7%/14.1% (down smash (hit 1/hit 2))).
• Forward smash:
  • The electricity produced from Dr. Mario's forward smash is now magenta/lavender instead of light blue. That electricity also stems out from the player being hit with his forward smash.
  • Forward smash deals consistent damage.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's animation has been altered, resembling both the Sweep Kick move from Super Mario 64, and the break dance Mario performs on the cover of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (12 frames → 7 (neutral), 28 frames → 17 (forward), 16 frames → 10 (back), 14 frames → 8 (up), 21 frames → 13 (down)).
• All aerials deal more damage (5.6%/8.96 → 5.8%/9.4% (neutral aerial (clean/late)), 11.2/16.8/10.08% → 11.7%/17.6%/10.5 (forward aerial (early/clean/late)), 13.44/7.84 → 14.1/8.2 (back aerial (clean/late)), 7.84% → 10.2% (up aerial), 10.976% → 14.1% (down aerial)).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has a different animation, with Dr. Mario now punching downwards with his opposite hand and twisting around afterwards instead of flipping.
• Down aerial:
  • Dr. Mario has a new down aerial, a downward stomp similar to that of Captain Falcon and Ganondorf, as opposed to a drill kick. Compared to the old down aerial, it deals more damage, has reduced ending lag, has a larger autocancel window and can meteor smash.
    • However, the new down aerial has slower start-up (frame 11 → 16), less active hitboxes, and lacks a landing hit.

Throws/other attacks

• Pummel deals less damage but is noticeably faster.
  • Pummel has a slightly different animation: Dr. Mario now uses one hand during his pummel instead of both of his hands like in previous installments, to keep consistent with his grab animation.
• All throws deal more damage (8.96% → 9.4% (forward), 12.32% → 12.9% (back), 7.84% → 8.2% (up), 5.6% → 5.8% (down)).
• All of Dr. Mario's throws have been altered with more exaggerated animations.
• Back throw:
  • Dr. Mario has a new back throw where he heaves the opponent overhead behind him.
  • The new back throw is slightly faster.
  • The new back throw does much higher knockback, now KOing at around 90% against middleweights near the edge.
  • The new back throw doesn't have a collateral hit.

Special Moves

• Megavitamin:
  • Dr. Mario no longer opens his mouth when using Megavitamin.
  • Megavitamins deal more damage (5.6%/4.48% (clean/late) → 5.8%/4.7%) and knockback.
    • Because of this higher knockback, it can no longer jab reset.
  • Megavitamins are slightly larger.
• Super Sheet:
  • Super Sheet has an updated animation to differentiate it from Cape. The sheet now starts flat on the floor, with Dr. Mario lifting it up above his head. This now indicates the move's better vertical reach.
  • Like Mario's Cape, Super Sheet forces opponents to show their backside while they are using their moves, regardless of whether their stance is mirrored or not.
  • Super Sheet deals slightly more damage (7.84% → 8.2%).
• Super Jump Punch:
  • Super Jump Punch deals slightly more damage.
• Dr. Tornado:
  • Dr. Tornado now hits seven times instead of four, and deals much more damage (8.736% → 14.816%
  • Dr. Tornado now has a percent-based heavy armor during start up.
  • Dr. Tornado now deals significantly more knockback, KOing very early at the side of the stage.
  • Dr. Tornado has less ending lag. This improves its safety and makes it better as a recovery option offstage.
  • Dr. Mario now opens his hands when using the move, and he rises slightly upwards on the ground
  • Dr. Tornado has a vortex form around Dr. Mario when used.
  • Dr. Tornado has a slightly altered animation in the air.
• Final Smash:
  • Dr. Mario appears to be much angrier than in the previous game when unleashing Doctor Finale.

Moveset

• Dr. Mario can wall jump.

The following damage values were calculated without the 1.2× damage multiplier that is active during one-on-one fights.

For aerial attacks, full hop damage values are shown. Hovering over them shows the short hop damage values (aerial attacks performed during a short hop have a 0.85× damage multiplier).

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.9%	Comes from Mario's two-punch kick combo.
			1.7%
			4.7%
Forward tilt			8.2%	A wheel kick identical to Mario's.
Up tilt			7.4%	Spinning uppercut identical to Mario's. Can combo into itself.
Down tilt			5.8% (foot), 8.2% (body)	A legsweep identical to Mario's. Can combo into itself at lower percents.
Dash attack			11.5% (clean), 7% (late)	A baseball slide very similar to Mario's, retaining its lingering hitbox as well. Launches opponents straight up, allowing for better combo starters than Mario's identical move.
Forward smash			17.2% (fire), 20.9% (arm)	Steps back and does a palm thrust that produces electricity. Has slightly shorter range than Mario, but has more power to compensate. Can be angled.
Up smash		Ear, Nose, and Throat	16.4%	An upward arcing headbutt identical to Mario's aside from raw power. This move launches opponents up and behind Dr. Mario, similar to Luigi's up smash.
Down smash			11.7% (front), 14.1% (back)	Identical to Mario's equivalent move, itself based on Mario's Sweep Kick from Super Mario 64. Like Mario, this is also Dr. Mario's fastest smash attack.
Neutral aerial		Dr. Kick	5.8% (clean), 9.4% (late)	A sex kick that has the rare property of having its late hit being stronger than its clean hit. Other than that, its animation is identical to Mario's.
Forward aerial		Dr. Punch	11.7% (early), 17.6% (clean), 10.5% (late)	Throws an overhand identical to Mario's. Unlike Mario's move, however, it does not meteor smash opponents, instead always launching them diagonally upward.
Back aerial			14.1% (clean), 8.2% (late)	A dropkick identical to Mario's. Although it has lower knockback, it deals more damage in return, making it a useful option to use for KOing.
Up aerial			10.2%	A bicycle kick identical to Mario's. The move launches diagonally and yet again has more power, but that also means that Dr. Mario will have a harder time juggling opponents.
Down aerial		Bone Drill	14.1%	Dr. Mario's only aerial completely different from Mario's. Performs a downwards stomp kick similar to Captain Falcon's and will meteor smash at the legs and boots.
Grab			—	Reaches out. Average range.
Pummel			1.5%	Headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			9.4%	Identical to Mario's forward throw.
Back throw			12.9% (throw)	Unlike Mario, Dr. Mario heaves the opponent over him and then throws then diagonally. Overall, it is faster than Mario's, but it has no collateral hitboxes.
Up throw			8.2%	Identical to Mario's.
Down throw		Hospital Bed	5.8%	Identical to Mario's, but it sends the opponent vertically instead of horizontally, meaning it is easier to start combos with this move, similar to Mario's combo game in SSB4.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Identical to Mario's. Sweepkicks.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Identical to Mario's. Punches both sides.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Identical to Mario's. Similar to his first floor attack.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Performs a dropkick while climbing up, making it identical to Mario's.
Neutral special		Megavitamins	5.8% (early), 4.7% (late)	Throws a Megavitamin. Compared to Mario's Fireball, the Megavitamin can bounce higher, deals more slightly more damage, and when it hits an opponent it will play a different sound effect. The color of the Megavitamins will be randomly chosen, but has no gameplay effect other than visuals. These can't be absorbed.
Side special		Super Sheet	8.2%, 1.5x times the reflected projectile	Has more vertical range and less horizontal range than Mario's Cape. Unlike Mario's move, it cannot stall Dr. Mario's descent in midair, but that means that he can retain his momentum when using it in midair. The move can still turn opponents around, reversing their controls.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	14.1% (clean), 7% (late)	Looks identical to Mario's version of this move, but this version hits opponents once, travels a shorter distance, and does not give Dr. Mario intangibility at the start of the move. Does not produce any coins.
Down special		Dr. Tornado	1.8% (1st-6th hits), 3.5% (final hit)	Retains this move from Melee and 4. This also makes this move the only completely different special move from Mario. Spins around with fists and legs spread out, similar to while lasting slightly longer than Mario's d-air. It also has more ending lag than Mario's d-air as well. Can hit up to 7 times, with the final hit sending opponents diagonally. This move can also be used to aid in recovery, as mashing the B-button will make Dr. Mario rise up. The maximum height that can be gained from this move is actually greater than the Super Jump Punch, although this requires extremely fast button mashing that can be done more easily in slow motion in training mode.
Final Smash		Doctor Finale	3.1% (Front Megavitamin), 2.3% (Back Megavitamin)	Similar to Mario Finale, but the fireballs are replaced with huge Megavitamins, and their trails consist of red, yellow, and blue pixelated streaks and circles. Slightly stronger than Mario Finale.

On-screen appearance

• Starts behind a wall of Megavitamins, which then start to disappear starting from the top to reveal him. Has his eyes closed until all of the Megavitamins are gone, in which he opens them and assumes fighting stance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Looks to the ground and rubs the sole of one of his shoes to the floor.
• Side taunt: Pulls out a randomly colored Megavitamin, tosses it up in the air with his shoulder, and then catches it and swipes it away.
• Down taunt: Balls one of his fists and lightly pounds his shoulder.

Idle poses

• Pounds his fist into his palm.
• Rolls his neck as if stretching it.

Victory poses

• Throws two randomly colored Megavitamins in different directions, dusts his gloves, and pulls out two more Megavitamins of the same color.
• Waves his stethoscope in front of him, off to his side, then to the other, and then back in front of him.
• Taps his shoe on the ground, puts his right hand on his chin in a thinking manner, and then glares at the screen while rubbing his chin.

• 
• 
• 

Classic Mode: Colorful Treatment Plan

Dr. Mario's opponents are all trios of the same character in red, blue, and yellow costumes, referencing the three viruses: Fever, Chill, and Weird.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Mr. Game & Watch Team	Flat Zone X	Chill (for 3DS / Wii U)
2	Kirby Team	Green Greens	Fever
3	Yoshi Team	Yoshi's Island	Chill (Brawl)
4	Wii Fit Trainer Team	Wii Fit Studio	Fever
5	R.O.B. Team	Battlefield	Chill (for 3DS / Wii U)
6	Wario Team	Luigi's Mansion	Tetris: Type A
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle.

Role in World of Light

Although Dr. Mario does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Dr. Mario has his own awakening battle separate from that of Mario, who appears in the opening cutscene.

Dr. Mario can be awakened in a cloud that is found on a pathway connected by a ribbon that also leads to a city-like area.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Dr. Mario's fighter card.

• 

  Dr. Mario idling on Wuhu Island.

• 

  Taunting on Mario Galaxy.

• 

  Attacking Link with his forward smash on New Pork City.

• 

  Jumping in Mushroomy Kingdom.

• 

  Tossing a Megavitamin on Moray Towers.

• 

  Holding a Fairy Bottle while running towards Link on Great Bay.

• 

  Taunting next to Little Mac on Tomodachi Life.

• 

  Snared by Mimikyu on Pictochat 2.

• 

  Using his down aerial on Wario on Skyworld.

• 

  Performing Doctor Finale on Wii Fit Studio.

Character Showcase Video

<youtube>w0qVpaEtEF4</youtube>

Trivia

• Dr. Mario is the only character with custom equipment incorporated into his attributes.
• With Link and Young Link now representing different incarnations of Link and Zelda and Sheik now representing different incarnations of Princess Zelda, along with Zero Suit Samus briefly transforming into her Varia Suited form for her Final Smash, Dr. Mario is the only playable character to represent an alternate identity for another character with no gameplay connection between the two.
• During Luigi's character showcase trailer, Dr. Mario's Super Sheet uses Mario's Cape animation, rather than the new animation specific to Dr. Mario.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash Bros. game where Dr. Mario is not holding his Vitamins in his official art.
• Dr. Mario's official art resembles one of the victory animations he has in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• One of the images on the Smash Bros. website shows Dr. Mario and Link, with the former holding a Fairy Bottle and the latter laying face-down. This is a reference to the fact that Fairies are a healing item in the The Legend of Zelda series, alluding to Dr. Mario's status as a doctor.
  • This is further joked with in Dr. Mario's highlight video, in which he fights King Dedede on top of Onett's Drugstore.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash game to feature Dr. Mario and have his inclusion be planned from the start.
• Like Melee, Dr. Mario can be unlocked by playing Classic Mode as Mario (though Dr. Mario is one of the last characters in his unlock column).