Snake (SSBU)

Snake in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Metal Gear
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Covering Fire

“	Back by popular demand, Snake brings a ranged fighting style unlike any other fighter in the game. His Final Smash locks onto an opponent and fires five homing missiles.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Snake (スネーク, Snake) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018, with his appearance exclaiming "Everyone is Here!" with the rest of the returning roster. Snake is classified as fighter #31.

Rather than retaining Kiefer Sutherland, who voiced his predecessor in the Metal Gear Solid V series, David Hayter's portrayal of Snake from Brawl was repurposed for the English version of Ultimate, with Hayter initially confirming on Twitter that he would be reprising his role as Snake. Akio Ōtsuka also reprises his role in the Japanese version, with his clips being taken from Brawl as well.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Snake being the 39th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Link, being the 5th character in his unlock tree after Meta Knight.
• Have Snake join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Snake must then be defeated on Shadow Moses Island.

Changes from Super Smash Bros Brawl

In Brawl, Snake was considered among the best characters in the game, and for a while, he was considered the second best, only behind Meta Knight. This was due to his extreme power and damage output, great range, excellent endurance due to a combination of very high weight and great momentum canceling, an excellent projectile game with his explosives, and a chain grab with his down throw which could tech-chase. Despite his top-tier status in Brawl (placed 6th out of 38 characters), Snake received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, but he was slightly buffed in the transition. The most notable buffs he received were to his previously slow mobility, no longer being among the slowest in the series, although it's still slow. The universal 3-frame jumpsquat and Snake's improved air speed give Snake better options when transitioning from the ground to the air, while the reduced landing lag on all of his aerials gives him landing options. In addition, many of his moves have been given reduced startup (e.g. neutral and down aerial's multi hits) or end lag (e.g. down tilt), or even both (e.g. down smash). His Remote Missile is significantly faster and more controllable making it a stronger tool against opponents who are off stage and his C4 is overall faster. Finally, the removal of chain grabbing significantly benefits his endurance.

However, Snake also received many glaring nerfs as well. Due to Snake's very high weight being reduced to be more in-line with similarly sized characters, the removal of momentum canceling and given that Cypher can now be destroyed, his overall endurance especially while offstage is much weaker. In addition, while his ground game still remains strong, it has been nerfed in several ways; his neutral attack has less range and is significantly weaker, his forward tilt has less range, deals far less damage, the first hit has been altered removing its ability to trip and the second hit is slower and weaker. His up tilt's infamously deceptive horizontal range has been reduced, and the explosions from his explosion-based attacks can now be absorbed, worsening his matchups against Ness, Lucas and Mr. Game & Watch. While he has seen some improvements to his aerials, they are all weaker (especially down aerial) and many of his attacks have much smaller hitboxes or the hitboxes were removed altogether, worsening his range. As a result, his extreme power and KO ability from Brawl, while still above average, was drastically toned down, removing jab 3 and down tilt's KO potential and making weaker almost all his attacks. The removal of DACUS and the Gatling combo severely limit his approach options despite the aforementioned increase to his mobility. Lastly while the removal of chain grabbing improves his endurance, it also means that he cannot chain grab with his down throw severely reducing its damage racking and tech chase potential.

The buffs outweigh the nerfs, making Snake theorically better compared to Brawl but still retains multiple key traits from his Brawl incarnation, and remains a very viable choice in tournaments with players such as MVD and Ally achieving very strong results with him. His reception has mostly been extremely positive, and is considered as a top-tier contender similarly to his placement in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Snake retains his design from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. However, his body suit appears less form-fitting than before, and his overall appearance appears to be more detailed, particularly his hair and bandana.
• Snake's idle animation has been altered. His upper body has been turned to face more towards the screen, and both his arms are now fully visible.
• Snake has refined animations for many of his moves.
• Snake's series symbol has changed from the FOX logo to the "!" Alert symbol seen in Metal Gear Solid games.
• Snake always speaks during his on-screen appearance.
• Snake's medium and heavy knockback clips that went unused in Brawl are now properly used.
• Snake has two additional alternate costumes, increasing his total to 8. One is a somewhat shiny, pure black costume resembling the Metal camouflage from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The other is a lighter green costume resembling the leaf camouflage from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
• Snake has a new victory animation. He does a spin kick, a side kick, and then finishes in a CQC stance. The pose is a reference to the end of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots when Old Snake fights Liquid Ocelot. It replaces the cardboard box victory pose from Brawl. [1]
• Snake no longer uses unique sounds on hit for his jab, dash attack, tilts and aerials.
• When using a smash attack with battering items, Snake uses one of his attacking voice clips (or stays silent) rather than the voice clip from his forward smash in Brawl.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Snake's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete, the biggest difference out of everyone (down from 9).
• Snake walks faster (0.84 → 0.882).
• Snake dashes much faster (1.35 → 1.595).
• Snake's initial dash is much faster (1.1 → 1.76).
• Snake has faster air speed (0.94 → 0.987) although it is significantly slower relative to the cast going from the 19th highest out of 39 characters to the 58th highest out of 78 characters.
• Snake's fast falling speed is higher (2.422 → 2.768).
• Snake's traction is significantly higher (0.0542 → 0.116) going from the 25th highest to the 16th highest.
• Snake is considerably lighter (113 → 106), going from third heaviest in Brawl to tied for 16th in Ultimate, worsening his endurance especially vertically when combined with the removal of momentum canceling and the general changes to vertical knockback. While this would make him less susceptible to combos, especially at higher percents, this is negated by the reduction of hitstun canceling.
• The removal of chain grabbing noticeably improves Snake's endurance against certain characters.
• The changes made to air dodging benefit Snake's recovery, improving its range and versatility.
• Snake's neutral air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 4-28) more ending lag (FAF 40 → 49) and more landing lag (4 frames → 11).
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 36 → 31).
• Forward roll has a shorter duration (frames 4-17 → 4-15) and back roll has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 5-16) and it has more ending lag (FAF 34 → 36).
• Spotdodge has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 3-17) and ending lag if not canceled with an attack (FAF 25 → 26).
• All of Snake's explosions (including forward smash, up smash, Hand Grenades, Remote Missile and C4) can be absorbed.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit of neutral attack can transition into the second hit slightly sooner (frame 6 → 5).
  • Neutral attack's first two hits have altered knockback (30/20 (set), 100 (scaling) → 25/20 (base)/25 (hit 1), (25/28)/25 (hit 2)).
    • This makes them connect more reliably at lower percents while retaining their jab cancelling potential at higher percents.
    • However, this makes them connect less reliably at higher percents and hinders their jab cancelling potential at lower percents.
  • Neutral attack's first hit's angles have been altered (361°/88°/80° → 361°/180°).
  • The third hit has less startup lag (frame 10 → 8).
  • Neutral attack deals less damage (4% (hit 1)/3% (hit 2) → 2.5% (both), 7% → 6% (hit 3)).
  • Neutral attack has less range (4u/3.5u/5.5u/3.5u → 1.9u/2.1u/2.3u/2.3u (hit 1), 3.7u/3.5u/5u/3.5u → 2.6u/2.6u/3.5u/2.6/2.6/3.5u (hit 2), 4u/6.5u/4u/4u → 3.3u/3.8u/4.3u (hit 3)).
  • The third hit has drastically decreased knockback (60 (base), 115 (scaling) → 70/58), no longer being the strongest neutral attack and no longer KOing until around sudden death percents.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's first hit's Sakurai angle launching sourspot has been removed.
  • Forward tilt has less range (7u/6u/5u → 4.5u/4.5u (hit 1), 6u/7u/5u/6.5u → 4.5u/6u/6u (hit 2)).
  • Forward tilt's first hit and the second hit's grounded sweetspot deal less damage (8% → 4% (hit 1), 12% → 11% (hit 2)).
  • The first hit launches grounded opponents vertically (275°/361° → 78°) and no longer has set knockback compared to its previous sweetspot (50 (base), 20 (set), 75 (scaling) → 42/0/10) making it harder to connect with the second hit and removing its ability to trip opponents.
    • This also means that the second hit's grounded sweetspot can no longer reliably connect if the first hit connects further worsening the move's KO potential.
  • The first hit's angle (361° → 65°) and knockback against aerial opponents (50 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/10) have been altered.
    • This makes it connect into the second hit much more reliably.
    • However, this also hinders its KO potential and makes it much less safe on hit to the point where if Snake performs the second hit, the opponent can hit him out of it at lower percents if they have a fast aerial or special.
  • The second hit has more startup (frame 6 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 31 → 40).
  • The second hit deals more Base knockback but less knockback scaling (55 (base), 80 (scaling) → 85/62) hindering its KO potential even further.
  • The second hit's sourspot now takes priority over the sweetspot.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt deals more damage (13% → 14.5% (clean), 12% → 13.5% (late)).
  • The sweetspot has a longer duration (frames 6-7 → 6-8).
  • The late hit launches opponents at a higher angle (84° → 95°) and its knockback was not fully compensated (45 (base), 95 (scaling) → 50/88) slightly improving its KO potential.
  • The sweetspot deals less knockback (55 (base), 95 (scaling) → 65/82) slightly hindering its KO potential despite its higher damage.
  • Up tilt's notoriously large horizontal disjointed hitboxes have been reduced (6u/5u/5u (clean) → 3.5u/2.5u/2.5u (clean early), 7u/5u/6u (late) → 5u/3u/3u (clean late/late)), to the point where opponents have to be close to Snake in order for the move to connect.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt sends Snake forward then back to where he started. This makes the move safer as Snake moves back, but reduces the move's ability to pseudo-crawl.
  • Down tilt deals more damage (10% → 12%).
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 35 → 31).
    • However, if Snake holds back and away after performing a down tilt, he will no longer interrupt the ending lag of the down tilt by quickly turning around and crawling in the opposite direction. Instead, he will simply crawl backwards after down tilt's animation has finished which is overall slower.
  • Snake can perform a reversed down tilt if he is crawling backwards.
  • Down tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 → 6-7).
  • Down tilt deals less knockback (50 (base), 100/110 (scaling) → 60/62), no longer KOing until very high percentages.
  • The hitbox covering Snake's body has been removed.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack connects more reliably at close range as Snake can no longer run through his opponents.
  • Dash attack's clean hit has a longer duration (frames 5-6 → 5-8).
  • The clean hit now sends opponents horizontally (65° → 45°).
  • The clean hit has much more base knockback but much less knockback scaling (50 (base), 85 (scaling) → 95/45) hindering its KO potential.
  • The late hit has decreased knockback scaling (85 → 75).
  • The Gatling Combo can no longer be performed hindering dash attack's utility and safety.
• Forward smash:
  • Snake vocalizes his forward smash after the move has been performed and he no longer consistently vocalizes. It does not use the voice clip his previous forward smash did instead playing his old down smash voice clip. It additionally has a new "clicking" sound effect.
  • Forward smash has less ending lag (FAF 81 → 74).
  • Forward smash deals drastically less base knockback (100 (base), 60 (scaling) → 66/75) greatly reducing its KO potential despite its higher knockback scaling, especially while near the horizontal blastzone.
• Up smash:
  • Snake uses his old forward smash voice clip when performing up smash.
  • Up smash's mortar shells only land in front of Snake making its trajectory more reliable.
    • This however means it can no longer attack an opponent coming from behind.
  • The move's sound effects are more realistic, replacing the previous move's distinctive "bloop" sound.
  • Up smash's mortar shell deals more damage (10% → 14%) improving its KO potential despite its decreased knockback (90 (base), 67 (scaling) → 87/60) and it travels higher when uncharged.
  • Up smash has slightly more ending lag (FAF 53 → 55).
  • The removal of DACUS significantly hinders Snake's up smash's approach potential.
  • The mortar shell has much more startup lag (frame 29 → 36).
  • The first hit connects into the mortar much less reliably.
• Down smash:
  • Snake has a new down smash: a double-sided kick that is slightly similar to Zelda's, capable of sending opponents at horizontal angles with considerable knockback (90 (base), 58 (scaling) → 30/(87/88)) (especially the back hit). This increases its range and makes it more consistent and reliable at KO'ing, though it removes Snake's landmine combos and weakens his ability to stage control. It is also now a semi-spike (88° → 25°/20°) granting it edgeguarding potential but removing its followup potential.
    • As a result, the Infinite explosion glitch is no longer possible to perform.
  • Snake uses his old up smash voice clip when performing down smash.
  • New down smash is dramatically faster than the old one, having much less startup (frame 61 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 77 → 45).
  • The front hit deals less damage than the old landmine (14% → 12%).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (30 frames → 16 (neutral), 30 frames → 19 (forward/back), 22 frames → 15 (up), 30 frames → 20 (down)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's later kicks have less startup lag (frame 22/34/44 → 18/26/36 (hits 2/3/4) allowing it to finish in a short hop. Its total duration was also compensated (FAF 68 → 60).
  • Neutral aerial connects better due to its faster speed and the weakening of SDI.
  • All of neutral aerial's hits deal less damage (6% → 3% (hit 1), 5% → 3% (hit 2), 4% → 3% (hit 3), 13% → 12% (hit 4); 28% → 21% (total)) and the final hit deals much less knockback (45 (base), 95 (scaling) → 25/90) hindering its KO potential.
  • All hits except the final hit also have shorter durations (4 frames → 2).
  • Neutral aerial has smaller hitboxes (5u/5u/5u/5u → 4u/4u (hits 1-3), 9u → 7.5u (hit 4)).
  • As its auto-cancel window was unchanged, neutral aerial auto-cancels later relative to when the final hit comes out making it more difficult to land laglessly with it.
• Forward aerial:
  • The removal of meteor canceling improves sweetspotted forward aerial's reliability.
  • Forward aerial deals less knockback (40 (base), 100 (scaling) → 35/90).
  • The sourspot is noticeably smaller (6.5u → 4.7u).
  • Forward aerial grants less vertical momentum (1.2 → 0.8) making it more risky off stage and preventing it from auto-cancelling in a full hop.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial auto-cancel earlier (frame 43 → 40). Its auto-cancel window is shorter than its animation, but it's still not fast enough to auto-cancel in a short hop.
  • Back aerial's sweetspot has been re-positioned. It is placed on his feet rather than his body. This makes it stronger when spaced, but less effective up close.
  • Back aerial deals less knockback (40 (base), 90 (scaling) → (42/43)/72 (clean), 25/100 → 25/85 (late)). The late hit also now has a sourspot which deals less damage (10% → 9%).
  • Back aerial has less range with one less hitbox (5.4u/5.7u/4u → 4.5u/5.4u (clean), 5u/5u/4u → 4.3u/5u (late)) and it no longer has a hitbox on Snake's back.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's clean hit deals more base knockback but less knockback scaling, KOing later overall (40 (base), 95 (scaling) → 65/72).
  • The late hit has decreased knockback scaling (100 → 95).
  • Up aerial has much smaller hitboxes (6u/6u/6u → 4u/4u/4u).
• Down aerial:
  • Snake gains a significant vertical boost after performing the final kick (0 → 1.2), allowing down aerial to auto-cancel in a short hop combined with it auto-cancelling earlier (frame 60 → 53). This also improves Snake's recovery potential and jump height.
  • Down aerial's later kicks have less startup lag (frame 14/25/36 → 10/17/25).
    • However, this effectively increases down aerial's ending lag by eleven frames, as its total duration was not compensated.
  • Down aerial connect better due to its faster speed and the weakening of SDI.
  • All hits of down aerial deal less damage (6% → 4% (hit 1), 5% → 3% (hits 2-3), 12% → 10% (hit 4); 28% → 20% (total)). The final hit also has much lower knockback scaling (110 → 80), greatly hindering its KO potential.
  • Down aerial has noticeably smaller hitboxes (6u/7u (hits 1-2), 7u/8u (hits 3-4) → 5.5u/4.5u (hits 1-3), 7u/6u (hit 4)).

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35 (standing), 40 → 43 (dash), 30 → 38 (pivot)).
  • The changes to aerial grab releases heavily hinder Snake as he no longer has any guaranteed follow ups out of an aerial grab release (such as dash attack or a re grab) outside of his explosives. The change to his down smash also heavily limits his aerial grab release's follow up potential as it can only set up into one of his self detonating explosives.
• Forward, back and up throws are no longer weight dependent making them laggier against lighter characters but making them less laggy against heavier characters.
• Forward throw:
  • Snake releases opponents from forward throw sooner (frame 26 → 21) with its ending lag compensated (FAF 45 → 40).
  • Forward throw has a different animation, with the ending pose causing Snake to pose with his arms out.
• Back throw:
  • Snake releases opponents from back throw later (frame 17 → 20) and it has less ending lag (FAF 32 → 31).
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has an altered throwing animation. It also now consists of a hit and then a throw although the throw's knockback has been compensated (68 (base), 60 (scaling) → 55/130).
  • Up throw deals more damage (10% → 7% (hit), 4% (throw), 11% (total)).
  • Up throw has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
  • Up throw has increased followup potential due to the removal of hitstun canceling and having less ending lag. Snake's shorter jumpsquat also improves up throw's follow up potential.
• Down throw:
  • Snake performs down throw much faster (frame 59 → 35).
    • However, its total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 60 → 42) giving it six more frames of ending lag.
  • How soon an opponent can act out of down throw is based on their percentage. This hinders its tech chasing potential at lower percents but gives Snake guaranteed followups at higher percents.
  • Down throw deals less damage (12% → 9%).
  • Due to the removal of chain grabbing, Snake can no longer use down throw repeatedly, reducing his potential damage output.

Special Moves

• Hand Grenade:
  • Hand Grenades are much larger, making them more likely to hit opponents but also more likely to hit Snake himself.
  • Hand Grenades operate on a timer of 2.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds in Brawl.
  • Snake moves faster with a Hand Grenade in his hand.
  • Grenades explosions deal less damage (12% → 10.25%) hindering their KO potential, but can improve their combo potential at low to mid percentages.
  • When a second Hand Grenade is shield dropped, the first in air no longer falls straight down.
• Remote Missile:
  • Remote Missile has less startup lag (frame 42 → 41), travels faster, and turns much quicker making them significantly more controllable and very effective for edgeguarding or KOing. The weak hit also has higher base knockback (45 → 50).
  • Remote Missile uses a different sound when preparing to fire a missile.
  • Remote Missile no longer fully stops and drops down when shielding, instead falling in an arc carried by its forward momentum.
• Cypher:
  • Snake can now grab onto an edge during the middle of Cypher as long as he is facing toward one, improving its safety.
  • Cypher can be destroyed, worsening Snake's recovery.
  • Due to changes to teching, Snake can no longer infinitely stall by using Cypher, hitting himself with C4 and then tech into the stage unless his percent is low enough hindering his recovery at very high percents.
  • Grab release glitch on Cypher was fixed.
  • Grabbing onto a ladder no longer causes Snake to become helpless whenever he lets go or falls after climbing to the top.
• C4:
  • C4 emits a flashing red light for a few seconds after being placed, improving its visibility. This allows Snake to keep track of his C4 more easily, but also allows enemies to do the same.
  • Snake can say "There!" in addition to "Now!" when detonating a C4.
  • Snake now kneels when detonating C4 from a standing position.
  • C4 detonates faster with a longer duration (frames 29-30 → 25-27) and has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 33 (ground/air), 36 (crouch).
  • C4 has less ending lag when stuck to an opponent if Snake is on the ground (FAF 33 → 25) now matching the wall version.
  • C4 sticks to opponents much more reliably than in Brawl.
  • C4 stuck to an opponent no longer falls off as often after they are launched by a high-knockback move.
  • Placing a C4 makes less noise than before.
  • Snake can place and detonate C4 from a crouching position.
  • The implementation of universal throw invincibility makes it more difficult to perform the Omnigay.
• Final Smash:
  • Snake has a new Final Smash called Covering Fire. It involves him throwing a flare grenade to call an airstrike. He will announce "It's showtime!" if the move is started on the ground, but not in the air. A crosshair will first appear to mark opponents in intervals before five homing missiles are fired at the marked victims. Targets must be marked multiple times in order to send more of the missiles at them. Any missiles not given a target when their mark is placed will simply fly at where the crosshair was at the time. This resembles the way flare grenades are used in Metal Gear Solid V, where a support helicopter could be called to provide backup, with homing missiles being one of the options. The UI for the missiles bears a resemblance to the one used for the FIM-92 Stinger homing missile launcher.

Update History

Snake has received a mix of buffs and nerfs through game updates.

1.2.0

• Fixed an issue that allowed Snake himself to launch incorrectly at maximum percentages using C4.

2.0.0

• Up tilt's sweetspot hitbox has a slightly increased duration (7 frames → 8).
• Self stick C4 has been fixed.

3.0.0

• Up smash has more ending lag (FAF 51 → 55).
• Back aerial's sweetspot deals more knockback.
• Hand Grenade deals less shield damage.
  • However, this also makes it safer for Snake to shield his own grenades.
• Remote Missile has a smaller hitbox.
• Invisible Cypher fixed.
• Climbing a ladder after using Cypher no longer causes Snake to become helpless once he lets go or climbs to the top.

3.1.0

• Neutral attack 1 connects into neutral attack 2 more reliably. (BKB 20 → 26)
• Neutral attack 2 moves Snake forwards more and connects into neutral attack 3 more reliably.

4.0.0

• The lag upon waking up from the sleep effect has been adjusted, matching the rest of the cast.
• The collateral hitbox of up throw can now be blocked.

Moveset

• Snake can crawl. Notably, Snake's crawl is one of the lowest in the entire game, alongside that of Wii Fit Trainer.

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	The Punch + Punch + Kick combo from Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Holding the attack button without hitting an enemy will have Snake repeatedly perform the first hit.
			2.5%
			6%
Forward tilt			4% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2, body), 10% (hit 2, arm), 11% (hit 2, fists)	A forward knee-thrust. Pressing the attack button a second time will have Snake follow up with an overhead swing with both arms. The knee slightly launches opponents vertically, making it harder to connect the second hit at higher percents. This move is seen during a cutscene in Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes when Snake fights Gray Fox.
Up tilt			14.5% (clean), 13.5% (late)	An upward scorpion kick. One of Snake's best KO options due to its fast startup, decent range, and high knockback. Depending on the opponent's damage, this makes a great follow up from down throw. Can also be used as an out-of-shield option.
Down tilt			12%	A low spin kick while prone. Deals decent damage for its speed.
Dash attack			11% (clean), 8% (late)	Does a somersault forward. Moves Snake forward quite a bit. Has a reasonable level of knockback, but not enough to make it a reliable KO move. The somersault and subsequent transition to crouching are visually identical to those moves used by Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series.
Forward smash			22%	Snake takes out an RPG-7 rocket launcher and aims it at the ground directly in front of himself, causing a huge explosion. It has very slow startup (frame 41), but it is one of the strongest smash attacks in the game, being able to KO exceptionally early. Interestingly, it can be absorbed by moves like PSI Magnet and Oil Panic, making it one of the few non-projectile moves to have this property.
Up smash			4% (mortar), 14% (shell)	Snake slams a mortar in front of himself and fires a shell into the air. The slamming down of the mortar knocks the enemy directly into the path of the shell. The movement of the shell is almost entirely vertical, landing directly in front of Snake's position. Charging the up smash does not increase its power, but it increases the speed and height of which it travels. When fully charged, the projectile greatly exceeds the range of Palutena's up smash. The fixed trajectory of the shell, coupled with the fact that charging it doesn't affect the damage, makes this move great for edgeguarding.
Down smash			12% (hit 1), 14% (hit 2)	A double-sided kick. Launches opponents at horizontal angles with considerable knockback. One of Snake's fastest ground moves.
Neutral aerial			3% (hit 1 - 3), 12% (hit 4)	Snake performs four kicks in quick succession. At low percents against heavy and fast-falling characters, a short-hopped neutral aerial can lead to a neutral attack, tilts, and a short-hop down aerial.
Forward aerial			15% (foot), 14% (leg)	A midair axe kick. Has slow start-up and high ending lag, but it is a very powerful meteor smash with great vertical and horizontal reach. Connection with the leg results in very powerful vertical knockback.
Back aerial			16% (clean, feet), 14% (clean, legs), 10% (late, feet), 9% (late, legs)	Snake dropkicks behind himself, planking in the air. Has fairly fast start-up along with good reach and very high horizontal knockback when sweetspotted. While it has high ending lag like his other aerials, Snake's back aerial never auto-cancels, unlike his other aerials, so it is very punishable if it misses. Has sex kick properties.
Up aerial			14% (clean), 10% (late)	Snake dropkicks straight upwards, similar to his back aerial. Has fairly fast start-up with good vertical reach and powerful vertical knockback, but has considerable ending lag, like the rest of Snake's aerials.
Down aerial			4% (hit 1), 3% (hits 2 and 3), 10% (hit 4)	Snake launches four subsequent stomps below himself. A powerful damage-racking out-of-shield option. The third and fourth kicks add vertical speed, allowing Snake to slow his fall and autocancel the move from a shorthop. Oddly, shortly after the first kick Snake is pushed downwards slightly.
Grab			—	Reaches in front of himself with both of his arms, grabbing and holding his opponent in a restraining chokehold. The grabbing position itself is unique to Snake. Based on a similar maneuver from the Metal Gear Solid games.
Pummel			1.2%	Tightens his chokehold.
Forward throw			9%	Snake twists the opponent's arms behind their back, steps his leg forward, and then forcefully shoves them into the ground in front of him.
Back throw			9%	Snake performs a sasae tsurikomi ashi[2], shifting the restrained opponent towards him, trips them with a sweep of his leg, and flips them over, slamming them on the ground behind him. Resembles his primary throw from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2.
Up throw			7% (slam), 4% (throw)	Snake suplexes his opponent, slamming them back-first. Can combo into his up tilt at low percents.
Down throw		Silent Takedown	9%	Lays the opponent on the floor, putting the opponent into a downed status. How soon an opponent can act depends on their damage. At high percents, gives Snake guaranteed follow-up options, including his up tilt. Resembles a similar CQC maneuver from the Metal Gear Solid series, in which Snake rendered enemies unconscious by suffocating them.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	While getting up, kicks on one side and punches on the other.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Rotates his body around with both his feet sticking out and gets up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up and kicks both sides of himself.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Climbs on to the stage and performs a sweep kick.
Neutral special		Hand Grenade	0.9~4.25% (grenade), 8.6~10.75% (explosion)	Snake pulls out a grenade and unpins it. The grenade will detonate after 2.5 seconds. Tapping the B button will have Snake throw the grenade right away, while holding down the B button will have Snake to continue to hold on to the grenade until B is released. The distance Snake throws the grenade can be controlled by holding forwards or backwards on the stick when the grenade is thrown. Pressing the shield button or taking damage will cause Snake to drop the grenade. Dropped grenades can be picked up and thrown like ordinary items. Snake can have up to two grenades active at a time. Aesthetically, if Snake is standing too close to a grenade when it detonates, he will duck and cover his ears. Kirby mimics this behavior when he uses Grenade as a Copy Ability.
Side special		Remote Missile	7% (early/dropped missile), 14% (missile)	Snake takes out a Nikita missile launcher and fires a remote-controlled missile. The missile can be controlled with the control stick. Pressing the shield button will cause Snake to put the launcher away and stop controlling the missile. One of his best moves for edgeguarding, as it allows him to put pressure on an offstage opponent without putting himself at risk of an attack.
Up special		Cypher	6% (camera)	Grabs onto a flying reconnaissance camera and slowly hovers upwards. Snake gains slight armor while hanging on the camera. Does not put Snake into a helpless state, meaning he can continue to perform attacks once the move ends. However, he cannot use Cypher again until he lands on the ground, grabs onto a ledge, or takes knockback. One can cancel the move early by performing any aerial attack, pressing down on the stick, or airdodging. When the move ends, the Cypher will continue to fly upwards and damage enemies it comes into contact with. Activating Cypher will not cancel Snake's existing momentum, so if Snake is falling downwards, the Cypher will have to slowly decelerate him before starting to move him upwards.
Down special		C4	17% (explosion)	Snake bends down and plants a C4 on the ground where he is standing. When used in the air, he instead drops the C4 straight down. Snake can also stick the C4 towards a wall if he is standing near one, or attach it directly onto a nearby enemy. By using the move when a C4 has already been placed, Snake takes out a remote detonator and detonates the explosive. The C4 is one of Snake's most versatile tools; it can be used for KOs, stage control, mindgames, edgeguarding, and more. Snake can also use the C4 for recovery by dropping it in midair and detonating it, blasting him upwards and allowing him to use Cypher again without touching the ground or a ledge.
Final Smash		Covering Fire	15% (per missile)	Snake will toss a flare grenade, exclaim "It's showtime!", crouch, and put his hand up to his ear, which will cause a crosshair to appear onscreen. At the upper left are two bars: one solid, and one made up of 5 segments. The solid bar indicates how much time until the missiles are launched, while the segmented bar underneath represents the missiles: missiles that have locked onto an opponent are shown as red segments, while those that have not are shown as grayed-out segments. The crosshair can be guided to lock on to opponents, marking them with a reticle. Opponents can even be marked with multiple missiles. After the brief duration, the missiles will launch from the foreground, attacking the targeted opponents. The missiles that have not locked on to a target will instead fire at around where the crosshair was last positioned.

On-screen appearance

• Snake's stealth camouflage disengages to reveal himself to his opponent(s). Snake then announces "Kept you waiting, huh?" upon appearing. Taken from the beginning of the Tanker chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2.

Taunts

• All taunts: Puts a cardboard box over himself, which is removable. All three of his taunts are variations of this. His up taunt is the fastest to cancel, his down taunt is the slowest, and his side taunt is between two of them speed-wise. When he removes it, any nearby enemies will receive damage. The damage ranges from 1.8% to 3.1%. The box can also be picked up and thrown by opponents, although any character will automatically throw the box once it is picked up. The box falls a considerable distance when removed over a ledge, making it a possible edgeguarding option.
  • Smash Taunt: Kneels down and contacts his support team - Colonel Roy Campbell, Otacon, and Mei Ling, and even Slippy Toad (only when in a Smash with Falco) - via his codec. This is possible only on Snake's home stage, Shadow Moses Island, and is performed by inputting the down taunt command extremely quickly. Snake will hold a pose for a few seconds, then a conversation between Snake and his support team will begin. This can only be done once each round and if the player is hit while Snake is holding his pose before the conversation starts, it is canceled. However, the player can be hit while the conversation is going, though the conversation ends if Snake is KO'd, which, in a nod to the Metal Gear Solid game over screens, causes the character Snake was talking with to shout "SNAAAAAAAAKE!!". It can be done with any number of other players on the screen—if there is more than one opponent, the game will randomly choose one to talk about. This taunt only works against the characters who were present in Brawl. Any characters introduced in Smash 4 and Ultimate, as well as ones introduced in Melee who were cut from Brawl (i.e. Pichu, Dr. Mario, Young Link, Roy and Mewtwo) do not have unique codec conversations. Additionally, Ike's codec conversation will not play when he is in his Radiant Dawn costumes.

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  Snake's up taunt.

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  Snake's side taunt.

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  Snake's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Scratches his beard.
• Quickly looks behind himself.

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  Snake's first idle pose

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  Snake's second idle pose

Victory poses

• Left: Does a spin kick, a side kick, and then finishes in a CQC stance, all while saying "Not even close!" ("まだまだだな。", Not yet.). The pose is a reference to the end of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots when Old Snake fights Liquid Ocelot.
• Up: Seen in a crouching position from the side, saying "Colonel, mission accomplished." ("大佐、任務完了だ。", Colonel, mission accomplished.) into his codec..
• Right: Crawls forward a step and rolls into a crouching position, saying into his codec "This is Snake. I'm done here." ("こちらスネーク、これより帰還する。", This is Snake, returning from here.).

A small excerpt of the main theme of Metal Gear Solid. In the game, this excerpt is used twice: when VR Training is completed, and when Solid Snake is caught and the player earns a Game Over.

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In competitive play

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Spring 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from February 1st, 2019 to July 7th, 2019.

Active

•  Armando - Placed 13th at Heart of Battle, 17th at SoCal Chronicles, and 65th at GENESIS 6.
•  AvoiD - Placed 7th at DreamHack Dallas 2019 and 49th at 2GG: Prime Saga.
•  Bushi - The best Snake player in the Midwest. Placed 2nd at Midwest Mayhem Ultimate and 3rd at Spring Training.
•  DIO - Co-main Snake with Yoshi and is considered the best Snake player in Japan. Placed 7th at Sumabato SP 3, 17th at both Umebura SP and Sumabato SP, 25th at Sumabato SP 4, and 33rd at Umebura Japan Major 2019. Has wins on T, Abadango, and Shuton
•  Ki - The best Snake player in SoCal. Placed 5th at SoCal Chronicles, and 33rd at 2GG: Prime Saga.
•  Kisha - Placed 17th at Sumabato SP 2, 33rd at both Umebura SP 2 and Umebura SP 3.
•  Mr.R (#36) - The best Snake player in Europe in spite of Snake being a notable secondary. Placed 3rd at Expand Gong 4 and 9th at 2GG: Prime Saga and Collision 2019 using Snake as one of his characters. Has a win over MkLeo.
•  MVD (#17) - One of the best active Snake players in the world. Placed 4th at Smash Conference United, 1st at Don't Park on the Grass 2018, 7th at Frostbite 2019 and Pound 2019 and 1st at Come to Papa 3. Has wins over Myran, Dark Wizzy, Rivers, Samsora, Lea, and ESAM. Ranked 2nd on the Oklahoma Ultimate Power Rankings.
•  Pelca - The best Snake player in New England. Placed 25th at Frostbite 2019, 13th at Collision 2019, 4th at Return to Subspace 2 and 9th at Pound 2019.
•  Salem (#22) - Co-mains Snake with Hero and is considered the best active Snake player in the world. Placed 1st at Ultimate Gamer Miami, 3rd at Ultimate Nimbus and 5th at Pound 2019. Has wins over ZD, Stroder, MVD, and MkLeo.
•  ScAtt (#41) - Uses Snake as a notable secondary to Mega Man and is considered the best Snake player in Georgia. Placed 9th at Come to Papa 3 and 25th at MomoCon 2019.
•  Shogun - Considered one of the best Snake players in Japan. 3rd at Sumabato SP, 9th at Sumabato SP 3, 13th at Umebura SP, and 49th at GENESIS 6. Has a win on Cosmos.
•  Shu - Placed 17th at both Umebura SP and Umebura SP 2 with both Snake and Wolf.
•  Vinny G - Placed 7th at Come to Papa 3, 17th at CEO 2019, and 25th at MomoCon 2019.

Inactive

•  Ally (#6) - The best Snake player in the world prior to his retirement. Placed 1st at Pound 2019, 2nd at Battle of BC 3, 3rd at CEO 2019, and 5th at 2GG: Prime Saga. Has wins over Myran, Samsora, LeoN, Light, Marss, and Dabuz. Ranked 1st on the Montreal Ultimate Power Rankings. Has since retired from competitive play.

Classic Mode: Weapons and Equipment OSP

Snake's congratulations screen.

Snake's opponents all use projectile weapons. Additionally, all the items that spawn are either projectile weapons or explosives, to go with the theme of the route. OSP stands for On-Site Procurement, which is the condition for many of Snake's missions in the series. The boss of his route, Galleom also fits with the theme due to it using projectile weapons and explosives during his fight, or it may also be a reference to how Galleom resembles a Metal Gear.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Inkling (x2)	Moray Towers	Encounter
2	Diddy Kong	Kongo Falls	Theme of Tara
3	Pit	Shadow Moses Island (Battlefield form)	Theme of Solid Snake
4	Link	Jungle Japes	Snake Eater
5	Samus (x2) and R.O.B. (x2)	Norfair	Main Theme - METAL GEAR SOLID PEACE WALKER
6	Snake	Shadow Moses Island	MGS4 ~Theme of Love~	The CPU will be default Snake if the player chooses the green alternate costume.
Bonus Stage
Final	Galleom	Base	Boss Battle - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Note: All stages except for the final round will play a song from the Metal Gear series, no matter what universe the stage originated from.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Snake has MGS4 ~Theme of Love~ accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Snake in World of Light

Snake was among the fighters that were summoned to the cliffside to fight against the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene Snake was present on the cliffside when Galeem absorbed the Master Hands and unleashed his beams of light. While the other fighters were attempting to deflect or dodge the beams, Snake hid in his cardboard box; this obviously proved useless, as a beam of light vaporized him and his box, placing him under Galeem's imprisonment along with the rest of the fighters, except for Kirby.

Snake can be found in the Base sub-area reminiscent of his series, where Galleom is fought.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
31		Snake	Grab	9,000	Final Destination	Encounter

Spirits

Snake's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Snake 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. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

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  749. Solid Snake

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
288	File:Adam malkovich.png	Adam Malkovich	Metroid series	•Snake •Zero Suit Samus		1,600	Shadow Moses Island	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior
576		Ness's Father	Earthbound series	•Clear Snake •Ness		13,500	Onett	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy is invisible	Humoresque of a Little Dog
581	File:Flint Spirit.png	Flint	Earthbound series	•Snake •Lucas		4,200	Onett (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Lava Floor	•The floor is lava •The enemy starts the battle with a Franklin Badge	Mother 3 Love Theme
603		Zoda	F-Zero series	•Snake		3,600	Mute City SNES	•Item: Motion-Sensor Bomb	•The enemy starts the battle with a Lip's Stick	Sand Ocean (Original)
750		Liquid Snake	Metal Gear Solid series	•Snake		13,900	Shadow Moses Island	•Hazard: Poison Cloud	•The stage is covered in a poisonous cloud •The enemy's physical attacks have increased power	Cavern
753		Roy Campbell	Metal Gear Solid series	•Snake		3,700	Shadow Moses Island	•Attack Power ↑ •Defense ↑	•The enemy has increased defense after a little while •The enemy has increased attack power after a little while	Battle in the Base
756		Solidus Snake	Metal Gear Solid series	•Snake		3,900	Shadow Moses Island	•Move Speed ↑	•The enemy has increased move speed when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	MGS4 ~Theme of Love~
758		Naked Snake	Metal Gear Solid series	•Snake Team (×4)		9,000	Distant Planet (Rain)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Snake Eater
891		Snake Man	Mega Man series	•Snake (×2)		1,900	Kongo Jungle (Ω form)	•Item: Bombchu	•Stamina battle •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Snake Man Stage
898		Napalm Man	Mega Man series	•Snake (x3)		1,600	Wily Castle (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power •Stamina battle •The enemy favors neutral specials	Napalm Man Stage
963		Lao	Xenoblade Chronicles series	•Snake		1,800	Kongo Jungle (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy's shooting items have increased power •The enemy starts the battle with a Staff	Xenoblade Chronicles Medley
1,167	File:Alessandro Inzaghi.png	Alessandro Inzaghi	Napoleon	•Snake		1,900	Pirate Ship	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage	Filled with Hope
1,223		Kyle Hyde	Hotel Dusk: Room 215	•Snake		4,100	Fourside	•Item: Timer •Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog	Swan Lesson
1,348		Kloster (Grief)	DAEMON X MACHINA	•Snake •Dark Samus •Samus (x2)		9,500	Frigate Orpheon	•Attack Power ↑ •Item: Shooting Types	•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Mechanical Rhythm

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Reference
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
274		Young Samus	Metroid series	•Zero Suit Samus •Snake		3,400	Frigate Orpheon	N/A	•The enemy falls slowly	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior	Adam Malkovich
755		Mei Ling	Metal Gear Solid series	•Wii Fit Trainer •Snake		2,300	Midgar (Battlefield form)	•Hazard: Fog	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The stage is covered in fog	MGS4 ~Theme of Love~	Old Snake
761	File:Evaaa.png	EVA	Metal Gear Solid series	•Zero Suit Samus •Snake		3,600	Garden of Hope	•Item: Food	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy becomes more powerful after eating	Snake Eater	Naked Snake
764		Zero (Metal Gear Solid 3)	Metal Gear Solid series	•Captain Falcon •Snake		3,500	Shadow Moses Island	•Move Speed ↓	•You have reduced move speed after a little while	Snake Eater	Naked Snake
766		Kazuhira Miller	Metal Gear Solid series	•Ken •Snake (×3)		9,600	Midgar (Battlefield form)	•Attack Power ↑	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Timed battle •The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage	Encounter	Solid Snake, Big Boss, and Liquid Snake
1,134		Tank & Infantry	Famicom Wars series	•Metal Iggy •Snake (×2)		3,900	Gerudo Valley	N/A	•The enemy favors neutral specials •The enemy is metal	Garage	Infantry
1,135	File:AndySpirit.PNG	Andy	Advance Wars series	•Dr. Mario •Tiny Snake (×8)		3,400	Halberd (Ship deck)	•Health Recovery •Item: Exploding Types	•The enemy is healed when the enemy's at high damage •Defeat an army of fighters	Filled with Hope	Infantry

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Image of Snake as posted on the official Japanese Metal Gear Twitter account.

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  Snake's fighter card.

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  Snake's amiibo.

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  Snake on Temple.

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  Snake using his neutral attack against Little Mac on Kalos Pokémon League.

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  Snake readying his Remote Missile on Coliseum.

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  About to detonate his C4 on Bowser Jr. on Tomodachi Life.

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  Taunting with a crouching R.O.B. on Magicant.

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  Snake crouching next to a Ramblin' Evil Mushroom on Gaur Plain.

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  Snake getting hooked by Isabelle on Great Bay.

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  Snake getting hit by King K. Rool's Gut Check on Magicant.

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  An aerial Snake hit by Lucario’s down tilt on Moray Towers.

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  Getting hit by Luigi’s neutral attack on Coliseum.

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  With Shulk on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Snake and Zero Suit Samus crawling on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Snake with Lucas's Rope Snake on Pokémon Stadium 2.

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  Snake and King K. Rool begin their battle at Kongo Falls.

Trivia

• Snake was announced to return in Ultimate on June 12th, 2018, which was also the 10 year anniversary of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
• Snake is the only returning third-party character to have his Final Smash completely changed.
  • While Super Sonic and Super Pac-Man have different mechanics, they retain the same concept.
• The official Smash Bros. website lists Snake as being the 31st character to join the series, which is coincidentally the same amount of years from the first installment of the Metal Gear series was released, back in 1987, to Snake's return to Smash, in 2018.
• Snake is the only returning third-party character not to appear in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• Snake is the only character in Smash history whose series symbol has been entirely changed: the FOX logo was altered to the "!" Alert symbol from Metal Gear Solid.
  • This is possibly due to the FOX logo also being the logo for the former Kojima Productions, a studio within Konami responsible for developing Metal Gear games which have since dissolved and reformed as an independent developer.
• Ultimate is the third time Snake, Simon, and Bomberman appeared in a video game together, the first two being DreamMix TV World Fighters and Super Bomberman R.
• Snake is unlocked in Link's Classic Mode unlock column, referencing that both characters have explosive bombs for weapons, and that latter appears in Round 4 of the former's Classic Mode route.
  • Unlocking Snake by playing Classic Mode as Simon or Meta Knight. This likely references Simon and Snake being Konami characters and Snake's team-up with Meta Knight in Subspace Emissary.
• This is the second time where the Metal Gear franchise crosses over with the Monster Hunter franchise - the first of which was in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker featuring Rathalos, who is coincidentally a boss character and Assist Trophy in Ultimate.
• Oddly enough, unlike other characters, holding the special move button while shielding as Snake does not allow him to angle the shield without triggering dodges (or jumping if tap jump is turned on); he can only do this by holding multiple shield buttons. While this also applies to Inkling, it is because the special move input while shielding is designated for refilling their ink.
• Snake's stock icon depicts him without facial hair, similar to his appearances in Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid.
• Snake, Mega Man and Pac-Man are the least common opponents for the Classic Mode routes, as they are fought in 3 different routes.
  • Although Snake fights an alternate costume of himself in his own route, as well as being fought in Pac-Man's route with Mega Man and Little Mac in Round 4, Wolf is the only other fighter to have Snake for a Classic Mode opponent.
• There's a glitch regarding the use of Cypher where if Snake gets fired out of Barrel Cannon or is hit by the tornado in Hyrule Castle, any aerial action performed will leave him helpless. Additionally, if Snake performs a tech, throws an item and lands, or gets knocked down and stands back up, the helplessness will be stored, causing him to lose access to the move while grounded and will becomes helpless once he leaves the ground by either jumping or falling off the stage. This glitch is a carryover from Brawl.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Propping and Drawing Ankle Throw"