Fox (SSBM)

Fox in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	SS (1) (North America) SS (1) (Europe)

Announced at E3 2001, Fox (フォックス, Fox) is a playable starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

His Japanese voice actor, Shinobu Satouchi, reprises his role as Fox across all versions of the game, providing new and more energetic voice clips.

Fox currently ranks 1st on the Melee tier list, his best placement in the series to date. He is emblematic of speed, possessing fast attacks that also give him excellent comboing and damaging abilities. Overall, he can dominate foes with his quick movement and overpowering offense in all areas of his game. He also boasts numerous approaching methods, giving him some of the best neutral game options among the entire cast. He has access to effective, long-distance recovery options in Fire Fox and Fox Illusion. He has KO options and setups at a wide variety of percentages, and his high falling speed makes him resilient to vertical KOs. His aerial game also includes several low-lag yet effective and powerful moves to complement his ground game, especially when SHFFL'd, and is incredibly effective at approaching and edgeguarding. Fox's main tool in his success, however, is his Reflector (also known as the shine), which is one of the most versatile tools in the game. Aside from its intended purpose, the Reflector activates on frame 1 (making it the fastest move in the game), has set knockback, and can be jump canceled; this allows for shine spike gimps, neutral stance resets, getup option mixups, and even combos when wavedashing is incorporated.

Despite being ranked first, Fox is not flawless. His high falling speed makes him very easy to combo and chaingrab off of a single conversion from the opponent, and his light weight can result in extremely early horizontal KOs if the player's DI is poor. Although he boasts long-distance recovery options, their linear paths makes it easier for certain characters like Marth to predict his recovery path and edge guard or gimp him. Fox also has an extremely high technical learning curve, as most of his techniques require extremely nimble fingers and fast reaction time. Also, due to his aforementioned flaws, Fox is considered to be a glass cannon, where he could lose a stock if a single mistake is made, giving him a high cerebral learning curve. So while Fox has incredible fighting process and potential, many consider Fox to be arguably the hardest character to play as and master, requiring a lot of practice. Although Fox can rack up damage quickly, his combo game is rather unreliable, as many of his strings rely on tech-chasing and DI mixups rather than guaranteed hits. Fox also lacks a good combo finisher in his kit, as his shine spike is extremely situational and cannot be properly used to end his combos. Unlike other top tiers, such as Falco, Marth, Sheik, and Captain Falcon, who can net a kill off of starting a combo at mid percents, Fox's best option after a combo is to create an edgeguard situation (usually with his back aerial), which gives the opponent a chance to recover. As such, Fox relies on getting a kill confirm at high percents to net KOs if he can't successfully edgeguard or shine spike his opponents.

Regardless, his pros greatly outweigh his cons, and Fox is notable for being one of only four characters in the series (the other three being Pikachu in Smash 64, Falco in Melee, and Meta Knight in Brawl) to have no disadvantageous matchups, with only three (Falco, Marth and Samus) being considered even.

Attributes

Fox falls into a unique archetype: He is exceptionally quick, yet he is equipped with a plethora of viable finishers. He has the second fastest dashing speed (which remedies his low air speed somewhat), tied with Marth for the fastest walking speed, the third fastest normal falling speed, the second fastest fast falling speed, fast dash-dancing, and fast attacks. His low traction and fast jump (only 3 frames before he leaves the ground) gives him a fast, moderately long wavedash.

Fox's primary reason for his top-tier placing is his unparalleled comboing and damaging ability, helped by a powerful approach game. His fast fall and low, fast short hop contribute to an extremely quick SHFFL, which can let him almost effortlessly start combos or act as a deadly approach option. Additionally, Fox's specials act as powerful ways to aid this; his Reflector makes for a potential combo starter, as well as a potential infinite combo with his waveshine infinite, and his Blaster is an almost unstoppable damage-racking method, due to its long range, inability to cause hitstun, high speed and its ability to be combined with Fox's short hop as part of the short hop laser technique. Additionally, a majority of Fox's attacks inflict significant damage while being very fast as well; his neutral aerial, back aerial, and tilts are especially notable in this regard, with the remainder of his aerials having little ending lag.

Additionally, Fox's KO ability is also among the best in the game, with numerous powerful vertical finishers in his arsenal, most notably his up smash and up aerial, both of which are among the most powerful in the game with huge hitboxes. Fox's Reflector also makes for a valuable tool for KOing, due to its set, semi-spike knockback properties that makes it extremely useful for edgeguarding or gimping. Its instantaneous startup time and its ability to be jump-cancelled also means that it is of very low risk to use off the edge. While not the strongest, Fox's forward smash is an effective horizontal finisher at higher damage percentages, capable of KOing even heavyweights like Bowser under 150%.

While not the best, Fox's grab game is decent. His throws' low knockback allow him to set up potentially lethal combos. His up throw can lead into a sweet spotted up aerial, one of Fox's primary KO methods, and can even chain throw fast fallers. His forward and back throws force opponents a fair distance off the stage, aptly setting up opportunities for Fox to use his smashes, aerials, or shine spikes to edgeguard. In rare situations, Fox can use his down throw to meteor smash his opponents off the edge of a stage. Despite this, Fox's grab range is average, though his high dashing speed gives him a potential method to "extend" its range. Fox also cannot reliably chain grab at higher percentages, though he retains his ability to hit most opponents out of his up throw with guaranteed aerials, depending on DI.

Despite being a top-tiered character and considered among the most powerful in Melee, Fox is not completely infallible. Because he is a light fast faller, he suffers more hitstun but less vertical knockback. As such, nearly every character can juggle or chaingrab him for decent damage or even to KO percents with little chance for Fox to escape (Marth and Peach being notorious for having deadly chaingrab combos on Fox at Final Destination). As a result, Fox can be considered somewhat of a glass cannon, as while his attack prowess is high, a single blunder by the player can cause the loss of a stock.

In addition to an ease of being comboed, Fox also suffers from a rather exploitable recovery. On paper, despite being a fast faller with poor air speed and the highest gravity value amongst the fighters, Fox has a good recovery overall, as his two options, Fire Fox and Fox Illusion, both travel extremely long distances. He can also mix up his recovery options by angling Fire Fox in nearly any direction, shortening his Fox Illusion, or wall jumping on certain stages, making the opponent second-guess themselves about where they should be on the stage to intercept Fox's recovery. However, such techniques are also extremely dangerous if incorrectly spaced, as if the opponent obtains the correct read or gets into a position where they can hit him out of his recovery, Fox will most likely not be able to recover again. A multitude of attacks can intercept both moves, such as Mario's Cape or Falco's down aerial, and top-tiered characters generally have the options to cover several of Fox's recovery options at once, or even chase Fox off-stage before he even has the chance to recover.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.

Fox received a mix of buffs and nerfs upon making the transition between games but was buffed overall. Fox is still a fast faller but to an even greater extent with his fall speed and especially his gravity being increased significantly. Fox has seen an increase in K.O. power, recovery, and movement options, all thanks to the introduction of wavedashing. Fox also received a new special move, known as Fox Illusion, which can be used as an alternate recovery option, allowing for recovery mix-ups and making up for his reduced air speed and increased falling speed. Another noteworthy buff is his Reflector, as it can now be jump-cancelled. This buff alongside the introduction of wavedashing eventually became the birth of a new technique known as waveshining. When successfully performing a waveshine, Fox can easily follow-up into a range of many different attacks which makes up for the fact that Reflector no longer auto-cancels on landing. Reflector also no longer knocks down opponents whose weight is above 85 units which allows for followups and even potential infinites.

Fox has also received notable nerfs, however, with one being his Blaster. Although Blaster's projectile travels faster and can fire rapidly, it deals less damage overall and can no longer deal knockback, making it slightly less effective for camping. This also means that Blaster can no longer be used to gimp opponents or lead into followups. Fox also suffered a decrease in his air speed, limiting his recovery. Despite the increase in K.O. power some of his moves received, some moves also have reduced K.O. power most notably his throws and smash attacks (although his smash attacks have less ending lag and his up smash is still a super effective K.O. move). Lastly, Fox's weight was significantly decreased hindering his horizontal endurance. While his higher falling speed and gravity more than make up for his vertical endurance, they make him even more susceptible to combos and the inclusion of up and down throws have made him very susceptible to chain grabs (although his own up throw is arguably the best in the game).

Overall, Fox's strengths clearly outweigh his flaws and the changes to Melee's mechanics greatly benefit him overall. As a result, he is considered to be one of the few characters that were truly buffed, alongside Samus and Jigglypuff and many believe that he is the greatest character in the game at his maximum potential. His has seen immense representation in tournaments with excellent results. His effectiveness at a human level however has become somewhat debatable in recent memory due to his immense level of execution resulting in some people believing that he is not the best character in the game at a human level believing that simpler and more consistent characters such as Jigglypuff are more worthy of that title.

Aesthetics

• The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Fox a more proportionate build. He is taller and thinner. His fur is now orange and his boots are more detailed.
• Fox received a new taunt. He leans back, moves his left hand up and down and yells "come on".
  • This new taunt has much more ending lag (FAF 60 → 110), making it riskier to use.
• Fox also received new voice samples that sound more energetic.

Attributes

• Fox walks significantly faster (0.45 → 1.6).
• Fox dashes significantly faster (60 → 2.2).
• Fox's initial dash is much slower (81 → 1.9), no longer being the highest.
  • However, it covers more distance despite this and Fox has an increase in his initial dash frames, which makes his dash dance significantly better.
• Fox has significantly increased falling speed (60 → 2.8), to the point where it is now almost as high as his fast falling speed in the previous game. His increased falling speed aids his approach and pressure ability due to his very strong SHFFL, and makes him harder to KO vertically, but makes him more susceptible to combos.
• Fox's gravity is drastically higher (4.0 → 0.23). This has the same benefits and drawbacks as his higher falling speed as well as reducing the height of his jumps.
  • As a result, Fox's jumps are lower.
• Fox's fast falling speed is higher (96 → 3.4).
• Fox's air speed is much slower (36 → 0.83), going from third fastest out of 12 characters in Smash 64 to the 7th slowest out of 26 in Melee.
  • However, his aerial approach is much greater due to the fact that jumps now carry momentum from a dash, combined with Fox's lower short hop, as well as with him gaining the ability to fast fall while performing an aerial.
• Fox is significantly lighter (100 → 75) going from a middleweight to a very lightweight, drastically hindering his horizontal endurance. His increased falling speed and gravity give him greater vertical endurance despite this change but they make him even more susceptible to combos.
• Fox's short hop is lower.
  • This significantly improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure.
  • However, this also hinders his ability to auto-cancel his aerials.
• Fox's snout and the darker portion of his tail now have hurtboxes. This make Fox easier to hit.
• The introduction of air dodges has immensely benefitted Fox as it gives him access to wavedashing and wavelanding and his fast jumping and falling speed allow him to make excellent use of wavedashing.
• The introduction of meteor cancelling significantly improves Fox's endurance against meteor smashes while not hindering him as he does not possess a meteor smash.
• The removal of teleporting slightly hinders Fox's grounded approach, although his greater ground speed more than makes up for it.

Ground Attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first two hits of neutral attack have less startup lag (frame 3 (hit 1)/4 (hit 2) → 2/3), with their total durations reduced accordingly (FAF 18/20 → 17/19).
  • The first two hits transition faster (frame 10 (both) → 6 (hit 1)/7 (hit 2)).
  • The loop hits have less startup lag (frame 10 → 9).
  • The loop hits have a shorter ending animation (14 frames → 9).
  • The loop hits have gained an additional hitbox on Fox's leg.
  • The loop hits angles have been slightly altered (80° → 78°).
  • The second hit has a shorter duration (frames 4-6 → 3-4).
  • The universal decrease to hitstun combined with the introduction of DI has hindered the first two hit's jab cancelling potential although it still remains one of the most effective jab cancels in the game.
  • The loop hits far hitbox has been moved closer to Fox (x offset: 8.33 → 5.08). Because of this, the far hitbox now covers the tip of Fox's foot, rather than being positioned completely in front of Fox.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less startup lag (frame 6 → 5).
  • Forward tilt now has a hitbox which covers Fox's leg.
  • The down angled version deals more damage (8% → 9%) and no longer has weak set knockback (10 → 0).
  • Forward tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-13 → 5-8). As its total duration was unchanged, this increases its ending lag.
  • Forward tilt has smaller hitboxes (3.33u/3.33u → 2.73u/3.12u/2.34u) and the far hitbox has been moved closer to Fox (x offset: 4.66 → 4.1).
  • The far hitbox now has transcendent priority, hindering forward tilt's safety when spaced.
  • The up angled version deals less damage (11% → 9%).
  • Forward tilt can no longer be angled slightly up or down.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has a new animation where Fox kicks backwards.
  • Up tilt has less startup lag (frame 6 → 5) with its total duration reduced accordingly (FAF 24 → 23).
  • Up tilt has altered knockback (0 (base), 150 (scaling) → 18/140), which makes it a better combo tool at lower percents while not significantly sacrificing its KO power.
  • Up tilt now has a sweetspot which deals more damage to grounded oppenents (9% → 12%), significantly improving its KO potential despite its lower angle (80° → 110°).
    • Additionally, the grounded sweetspot launches opponents towards Fox, granting it setup potential.
    • Additionally, while the aerial sweetspot does not deal more damage, it does launch opponents at a more favorable angle (80° → 84°).
  • Up tilt has a shorter duration (frames 6-13 → 5-11).
  • Up tilt has smaller hitboxes (3.33u/5.82u → 5.08u/3.52u/3.12u).
  • Up tilt has less combo potential overall not only due to the universal decrease to hitstun/the introduction of DI but also because the move hits behind Fox, making it more difficult for Fox to use many of his other attacks unless the grounded sweetspot connects.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 28).
  • Down tilt has received a middle hitbox which sends opponents at an 80° angle.
  • Down tilt has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 6-9 → 7-9).
  • Down tilt deals less damage (12% → 10%), hindering its KO potential.
    • Despite this, it still has worse combo potential overall due to the universal decrease to hitstun/the introduction of DI.
  • Down tilt has smaller hitboxes (3.66u/3.66u → 2.73u/2.73u/3.12u) and the far hitbox has been moved closer to Fox (z offset: 6.66 → 5.47).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less startup (frame 5 → 4) and ending lag (FAF 41 → 36).
  • Dash attack now sends opponents vertically (361° → 72°) and it has increased base knockback (10 → 35 (clean), 20 (late)). When combined with its lower ending lag, this significantly improves its combo potential.
    • However, its new angle hinders its edgeguarding potential.
  • Dash attack has a shorter duration (frames 5-24 → 4-17).
  • Dash attack deals less damage (10% → 7% (clean), 6% → 5% (late), hindering its KO potential.
    • However, this further improves its combo potential.
  • The foot hitbox has been moved closer to Fox (x offset: 4.66 → 3.9 (clean)/3.12 (late)).
  • The late hit has smaller hitboxes (3.82u/3.82u → 2.73u/2.73u).
• Forward smash:
  • Fox has a new forward smash: a tumbling-spinning back kick from a turning leap that moves him forward. It has less ending lag (FAF 52 → 40) than his previous forward smash.
  • Forward smash now consists of three hitboxes rather than one, improving its range overall despite its smaller hitboxes (4.66u → 3.52u/3.12u/2.34u).
  • Forward smash deals less damage (17% (clean), 13% (late) → 15%/12%) and knockback (0 (base), 120 (scaling) → 10/105 (clean), 2/100 (late)), hindering its KO potential.
  • Forward smash has a shorter duration (frames 12-24 → 12-22).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash deals more damage (16% (clean), 8% (late) → 18%/13%). The late hit's knockback was not compensated, significantly improving its KO potential.
  • Up smash has much less ending lag (FAF 60 → 42).
  • Up smash has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-21 (late) → 7-9/10-17).
  • The clean hit deals less knockback (25 (base), 140 (scaling) → 30/112), hindering its KO potential despite its increased damage (although it is still one of the strongest up smashes in the game).
  • Due to his snout gaining a hurtbox, Fox's snout is now exposed while his head is intangible, making up smash's head intangibility less effective.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash deals more damage (14% → 15%).
  • Down smash has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 46).
  • Down smash has larger hitboxes (4.33u/4.33u → 4.69u/4.69u) which have been positioned slightly further out (x offset: 3/3 → 3.02/3.02).
  • Down smash deals less knockback (35 (base), 80 (scaling) → 20/65), hindering its edgeguarding and KO potential despite its higher damage.
  • Down smash now has sourspots on the top of Fox's legs which deal less damage (14% → 12%), knockback (35 (base), 80 (scaling) → 20/65) and do not semi-spike (25° → 361°).
  • Down smash now only grants intangibility to Fox's legs during its first active frame rather than throughout its entire startup (frames 1-6 → 6). This removes down smash's ability to be used to avoid low hitting attacks.

Aerial Attacks

• All aerials except back aerial have less landing lag (16 frames → 15 (neutral), 30 frames → 22 (forward), 40 frames → 18 (up/down)).
• All aerials except back aerial auto-cancel later (frame 32 → 37 (neutral), frame 24 → 49 (forward), frame 24 → 31 (down), frame 14 → 26 (up)). When combined with his lower short hop and higher gravity, Fox can no longer auto-cancel any of his aerials out of a short hop.
  • When combined with the weakening of L-cancelling, this significantly hinders the safety and combo potential of Fox's aerials although his aerial pressure is even greater than before due to his faster falling speed and his ability to fast fall during an aerial.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has a slightly altered animation; Fox faces more away from his kicking-direction akin to his dash attack, and tucks in his right leg differently.
  • Neutral aerial has more overall utility due to Fox's lower jumps and higher gravity, making it a much more effective approach and pressure tool.
  • Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 42).
  • The clean hit deals less damage (14% → 12%) without full compensation on its base knockback (0 → 10).
• Forward aerial:
  • Fox has a new forward aerial; he spin kicks rapidly at a slanted-upward angle exactly five times to his right. It is a multi hitting attack which overall deals more damage than his old forward aerial (12% (clean)/8% (late) → 7% (hit 1)/5% (hit 2)/6% (hit 3)/4% (hit 4)/3% (hit 5)/23.28% (total)).
  • Forward aerial's foot hitbox has been positioned further forward (x offset: 4 → 4.69) which along with its new animation, slightly increases forward aerial's vertical range.
    • However, the new animation also decreases its horizontal range despite this.
  • Each hit is fairly slow, they still launch opponents horizontally and they have strong knockback for a multi hit, making the move incredibly unreliable (as opposed to be very consistent).
  • The final hit only received an increase to its base knockback (0 → 50), hindering its KO potential.
  • Despite it now being a weaker multi hit, forward aerial has significantly less combo potential due to the universal decrease to hitstun/introduction of DI/weakening of L-cancelling.
  • Each hit has a fairly short duration which along with the long gap between each hit, makes forward aerial much more awkward to land.
  • Forward aerial has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 53) and a longer animation (39 frames → 59).
    • As a result of these changes, forward aerial has lost almost all of the utility it had in the previous game, now being one of Fox's worst moves.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has an altered animation: Fox's body is more upright while performing the move, with his legs being positioned in a less straight angle. As its hitboxes were not adjusted, this improves back aerial's vertical range but reduces its horizontal range.
  • Back aerial deals more damage (12% (clean back), 8% (front/late) → 15%/9%) improving its KO potential.
  • Back aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
  • Back aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 28 → 24).
    • However, it no longer auto-cancels as soon as its hitboxes are no longer active.
  • Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 4-27 → 4-19).
  • Back aerial has more landing lag (15 frames → 20).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's first hit deals more damage (2% → 5%), increasing its overall damage potential (15% → 16%).
  • The second hit has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 12-13 → 11-14).
  • The second hit has more base knockback but less knockback scaling (0 (base), 135 (scaling) → 40/116). This makes it safer on hit at lower percents and improves its overall KO potential, especially near the upper blastzone.
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 36).
  • The first hit has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 6-11 → 8-9).
    • However, this improves its ability to link into the second hit.
  • The first hit has much lower set knockback (100 → 30), which when combined with the universal decrease to hitstun and the weakening of L-cancelling has completely removed its combo ability.
  • Up aerial has smaller hitboxes (5.33u/5.66u → 4.3u/4.3u.4.3u (hit 1), 5.66u/6.16u → 3.66u/4.89u/4.89u (hit 2) and the foot hitbox has been positioned closer to Fox (x offset: 3.66 → 3.12 (hit 1)/0 (hit 2)). This hinders its juggling potential, as well as its ability to hit opponents below Fox (especially the first hit when combined with its increased startup lag).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's upper hitbox deals more damage (2% → 3%), which increases the move's maximum damage potential (14% → 19.38%).
  • Down aerial's angle has been slightly altered (-70° → 290°).
  • Down aerial has more startup lag (frame 4 → 5).
    • However, its total duration was unchanged, decreasing its ending lag by one frame.
  • The foot hitbox has been moved closer to Fox (z offset: 3.33 → 0), decreasing its range.
  • Due to the universal decrease to hitstun, down aerial deals less hitstun (20 frames → 15 frames average). When combined with the weakening of L-cancelling and its worse auto-cancel window, this hinders down aerial's followup potential. Most notably, Fox can no longer land a guaranteed up smash on characters who weight more than 82 units.
    • However despite this, the move is no longer dangerous punishable on hit when not L-cancelled due to its much lower landing lag.

Throws/other attacks

• Grab:
  • Fox has been given a pummel, an up and a down throw, providing him with more options during and after a grab. Fox's up throw in particular is considered the best up throw in the game due to it's chaingrab and damage racking capabilities, and easy and quick KO setups. His down throw is also useful as a Tech-chaser.
  • Grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 12 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
  • Fox's main grabbox is smaller (4.33u → 3.91u) and it is not positioned as far out which along with grab's new animation, reduces its range.
  • Fox's grabs have a longer duration (frame 6 → 7-8/12-13) and Fox now has a new grabbox which is closer to him, making it easier for him to grab opponents inside of him.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw now has an initial hit, which deals 4%. This allows forward throw to build up more damage on the grabbed opponent, as well as hit bystanders if they are close enough.
  • As with all throws, forward throw gains invincibility sooner (frame 4 → 1).
    • However because of this, Fox is no longer invincible when he is throwing his opponent.
  • Fox releases his opponent from forward throw one frame later (frame 10 → 11), with the new hitbox occurring on frame 10 instead.
  • Forward throw deals less damage (12% → 3%) without full compensation on its knockback (80 (base), 60 (scaling) → 35/130), greatly hindering its already below average KO potential, especially at the ledge.
• Back throw:
  • Fox has a new back throw where he now throws his opponent behind him and shoots them with 3 lasers. These new lasers (theoretically) improve back throw's damage racking potential.
    • However, these lasers can be avoided with DI, making the throw deal a measly 2% if this occurs.
  • As with all throws, back throw gains invincibility sooner (frame 4 → 1).
    • However, it has less invincibility (frames 4-12 → 1-8).
  • Fox releases his opponent from back throw much sooner (frame 19 → 9).
    • This makes back throw harder to DI.
    • However, this also increases its ending lag as its total duration was not fully compensated (FAF 40 → 39).
  • Back throw is now weight dependent.
    • This makes the throw faster against lighter characters, granting it less ending lag than its Smash 64 counterpart when used on the lightest characters.
    • However, this makes the throw slower against heavier characters.
  • Back throw deals much less damage (15% → 2% (throw)/2% (lasers)/7% (total)) without full compensation on the throw's knockback scaling (60 → 85), immensely hindering its KO potential.
  • Back throw launches opponents at a higher angle (45° → 56°), which further hinders its edgeguarding potential along with its drastically reduced knockback.
  • Back throw has lost its collateral hitbox. While the lasers can hit bystanders, they deal no knockback, making them much less effective than the previous collateral hitbox.
• Floor attacks:
  • Floor attacks have increased intangibility (frames 1-24 (front)/1-23 (back) → 1-26 (both)).
  • Floor attacks no longer have set knockback (60 (set), 100 (scaling) → 80 (base)/50), with Fox's floor atatcks no longer being the weakest in the game.
• Front floor attack:
  • Front floor attack has larger hitboxes (3u/4u → 6.25u/3.91u/3.91u).
  • Front floor attack now anti-rebounding priority.
  • Front floor attack has a shorter duration (frames 19-21 (back)/25-27 (front) → 19-20/25-26).
• Back floor attack:
  • Back floor attack has larger hitboxes (3u/4u → 7.03u/3.91u/3.91u (front), 4.69u/6.25u/6.25u (back)).
  • Back floor attack now has transcendent priority.
• Edge attacks:
  • Edge attacks deal more damage (4% → 8%/6%).
  • Edge attacks deal more shield damage (0 → 1).
  • Edge attacks have decreased set knockback (100 → 90).
• Fast edge attack:
  • Fast edge attack has larger hitboxes (4.66u/2.5u → 4.69u/4.69u/4.69u).
  • Fast edge attack has decreased intangibility (frames 1-22 → 1-21).
  • Fast edge attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 24-39 → 25-34).
• Slow edge attack:
  • Slow edge attack has larger hitboxes (4.66u/2.5u → 3.12u/4.69u/4.69u).
  • Slow edge attack has less startup (frame 69 → 57) and ending lag (FAF 90 → 70).
  • Slow edge attack has decreased intangibility (frames 1-60 → 1-53).
  • Slow edge attack has a shorter duration (frames 69-75 → 57-59).

Special Moves

• Blaster:
  • "Blaster Shot" has been renamed to simply "Blaster".
  • Blaster has much less startup (frame 25 (ground)/15 (aerial) → 12/10) and ending lag (FAF 55 (ground)/45 (aerial) → 41/37).
  • Blaster's repeat window has been altered (frames 29-54 (ground)/15-44 (aerial) → 4-16/4-14). This means that Fox no longer has to perform frame perfect inputs in order to shoot lasers as quickly as possible, as well as preventing Fox from potentially firing another laser in a situation where it could be fatal.
  • Blaster now has three separate animations, a beginning, middle and ending animation. The middle animation is 10 frames long, allowing Fox to shoot lasers every 10 frames, regardless of if he is in the air or on the ground.
  • Fox can now fast fall while performing Blaster.
  • The lasers travel faster.
  • The lasers now consist of four larger hitboxes (0.66u → 1.17u/1.17u/1.17u/1.56u).
    • Altogether, these changes significantly speed up Fox's rate of fire and they generally improve Fox's approach with lasers although despite these changes, Fox can still only fire two lasers in a short hop due to his much lower short hop.
  • The lasers deals less damage (6% → 3%).
  • The lasers no longer cause hitstun on opponents (1 (set), 100 (scaling) → 0/0). This makes lasers ineffective for stopping opponents' approaches, as well as removing their setup and edgeguarding potential.
    • However, when combined with Fox's greater firing rate, this makes lasers a great damaging racking option against shield breaks and Rest.
  • The lasers no longer have an infinite duration, now only lasting 34 frames.
• Fox Illusion:
• Like all of the other characters, Fox has a side special. In his case, it is Fox Illusion. Fox Illusion gives him an additional recovery option, and also makes his horizontal recovery considerably quicker.
• Fire Fox:
  • Fire Fox now has hitboxes while it is charging, which leaves Fox much less vulnerable and increases Fire Fox's maximum damage potential (16% → 2% (hits 1-7)/14% (hit 8)/25% (total)).
  • Fire Fox has a larger hitbox (3u → 4u).
  • Fire Fox travels further and faster.
  • Fox can now grab the ledge while charging Fire Fox. When combined with the fact that ledge intangibility is no longer cancelled when letting go of the ledge, this also Fox to safely stall at the ledge where he will be completely intangible if timed correctly, allowing him to stall or setup edgehogs and shine spikes.
  • Fox can now grab ledges from behind after dashing with Fire Fox.
  • Fire Fox has less landing lag (12 frames → 6/3).
  • Fire Fox's dash deals less damage (16% → 14%) hindering its KO potential.
  • Fire Fox can no longer be edge cancelled after the dash.
  • Fox's slower air speed, faster falling speed and higher gravity makes his free fall significantly less effective for recovering, which was previously Fox's best method to recover.
• Reflector:
  • Reflector has a new hold animation where Fox now shakes while his reflector is constantly flashing, rathering than just standing still with his arms up.
  • Reflector has a larger hitbox (6u → 8u).
  • Reflector can now be jump-cancelled, which, along with the introduction of wavedashing and jump cancelled grabs, significantly improves its utility outside of landing.
    • This also means Fox can quickly followup a grounded shine without having to go through the normal short hop animation, making shine a faster option to use in the neutral.
  • Due to the changes to the tumble threshold, Reflector will no longer knock down characters who weight over 85 units, which grants it incredible combo potential on a majority of the cast, leading into an up smash, a grab or even another shine for a potential infinite.
    • However this along with the universal reduction to hitstun/the introduction of DI and the introduction of wall teching has hindered Fox's shine spiking potential (although it is still an incredible edgeguarding tool and the ability to jump cancel the shine allows to be used at even lower stage positions than it could before).
  • Fox can now drop through platforms while using Reflector.
    • This can be used to set up a Shine mine where the reflector will be active on frames 2-3 but in a random set up position on stage. This can be used as a niche edgeguarding technique.
    • Overall, these changes combined with Fox's greater mobility grant Shine even greater utility than it already had.
  • Reflector no longer auto-cancels on landing. While this allows Fox to keep holding out reflector when he lands to reflect projectiles, this also makes the move much more punishable if he lands with it.
    • This along with the changes to shields have hindered its shield pressuring potential, with shine no longer being able to lead into a guaranteed shield break (although it still remains one of the best shield pressuring tools in the game).
  • Reflector has a lower reflection multiplier (1.8x → 1.5x), regaining its multiplier from the Japanese version of Smash 64.
  • Reflector has more ending lag after reflecting a projectile (FAF 25 → 39).

PAL differences

Like other characters, Fox has received some changes in the PAL version of Melee, which nerfed him overall, but it does not severely affect his tournament viability, as he is also ranked 1st on the PAL tier list (although in recent years, this has become far more debatable).

• Fox is lighter (75 → 73), making Fox now lighter than Kirby. This hinders his endurance.
  • However, this also allows him to tech out of Falco's down throw.
• Dash attack's late hit has a shorter duration (10 frames → 9) and sends opponents at a less vertical angle (72° → 55°).
• Up smash's clean hit deals less damage (18% → 17%) and knockback (30 (base), 112 (scaling) → 26/108), noticeably hindering its KO potential.
• Down smash's sweetspots deal 2% less damage (15% → 13%) and send enemies at a slightly higher angle (25° → 30°), significantly hindering its KO and egdeguarding potential.
• Fire Fox's main hitbox is smaller (4u → 3u), much like its Smash 64 counterpart.
• Fire Fox's main hitbox deals 2% less damage (14% → 12%), hindering its KO potential.
• Fire Fox's initial speed is greater (3.8 → 4.2) however, it starts losing speed sooner (6 frames → 2) and its maximum momentum to stop has been increased (0.1 → 0.114). Because of this, Fire Fox loses speed sooner and at a faster rate. As a result, it travels about 75% the distance, hindering its recovery potential.
• Fire Fox is coded to have more landing lag (18 frames → 20) although this has no effect, as the move still only has 3 frames of landing lag.

Moveset

Fox's aerial attacks

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	A quick jab that can combo into several other attacks, including an up smash. Very useful against shields, to jab reset, and into shine cancels. The second jab makes Fox move forward a bit and is followed by a flurry of rapid kicks. Its combo ability into other moves makes it the best jab in the game.
			4%
			1% (loop)
Forward tilt			9%	Sticks his foot out to the side. This is best used for a quick close-ranged spacing move. This move can be aimed up or down.
Up tilt			12% (foot grounded), 9% (leg & foot aerial)	Performs a quick and surprisingly strong vertical back kick. It covers Fox's whole body; thus, it makes Fox and his vertically-aimed foot a hitbox. Its speed, power, and hitbox make it great for close-up spacing. It can easily combo into itself, up air, and up smash. Used as part as a chain-grab against fast-fallers with it being connected to his up throw. Begins to KO at around 120% on mostly the floaty lightweights. Fox's foot deals more damage on grounded opponents.
Down tilt			10%	Performs a sweeping tail lash. Moderately fast. Can combo at mid-percentages into aerials. It can also become a somewhat solid finisher at higher percentages.
Dash attack			7% (clean), 5% (late)	Runs forward and sticks his leg out. Good combo ability, especially into an up smash. Very vulnerable to crouch canceling.
Forward smash			15% (clean), 12% (late)	Performs a flying hook kick. Has rather low knockback (extremely low base knockback - 10) for a smash attack, though it is fast, and is actually quite reliable at higher percentages (very high knockback scaling - 105), KOing usually at around 120%.
Up smash		Flip Kick	18%/17% (clean NTSC/PAL), 13% (late)	Performs a bicycle kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. It is very reliable at mid-high damages. Shine into up smash is very useful for KOs. Considered one of the best up smashes in the game due to its extreme speed, extreme power, decent range, and ability to be easily set up into it. It is the second most powerful up smash in the game, behind Pikachu's. Fox's head is intangible during the early part of the animation.
Down smash			15%/13% (feet NTSC/PAL), 12% (legs)	Does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. It is fast and has moderate knockback, sending opponents on a semi-spike trajectory. Useful for edgeguarding and spacing. Both of Fox's legs are intangible near the start of the move.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Sticks his foot out, a simple sex kick. A very quick aerial, good against shields and great power when it first comes out. One of the best neutral airs in the game due to its combo ability and reliable setups into shine.
Forward aerial			7% (hit 1), 5% (hit 2), 6% (hit 3), 4% (hit 4), 3% (hit 5)	Kicks forward five times. Good knockback when all hits connect. Regrettably, this move is very awkward due to the short amount of forward distance, short range of the move, and bad physics of the kicks being chained together. All hits are extremely hard to connect without a good set-up, especially on lighter characters.
Back aerial			15% (clean right leg), 9% (clean left leg, late)	Does a quick no-look kick backwards while recovering in a turn, with sex kick properties. Great knockback on early hit, and one of Fox's best edgeguarding and KO moves. Also one of the best back airs in the game.
Up aerial			5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2)	Whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. A very high knockback move, good vertical finisher, can combo out of an up throw on virtually everyone. It and his up smash give Fox an advantage against light, floaty characters, notably Jigglypuff and Kirby. Can be Smash DI'd out of however. Considered to be one of the best up airs in the game due to it's juggling prowess, speed, power, and ability to be comboed into.
Down aerial			2-3% (hits 1-7)	Spins around, drilling downwards with his extended foot. Useful as a SHFFL'd approach option, with combo potential into moves like up tilt, up smash, and shine. It is the weakest spike in the game, with weak set knockback.
Grab		Grab	—
Pummel			3%	Knees opponent.
Forward throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Punches the opponent forward. Despite its generally poor combo ability, it can chain-grab on some heavy characters. It is best used for forcing opponents offstage, setting up an edgeguard.
Back throw			2% (throw), 2% (shots)	Throws backwards and shoots the opponent with his Blaster. Used mainly for setting up edgeguards off-stage, though really not many other uses besides mixing up a Fox player's throw game.
Up throw			2% (throw), 2% (shots)	Throws the opponent into the air and shoots them with his Blaster. It can chain-grab fast fallers at lower percentages and combo into moves such as up tilt, up aerial, and up smash. Often considered the best up throw in the game due to its easy kill setups (notably up throw to up air), its chaingrab ability, and its juggle potential (up air juggles after up throw).
Down throw			1% (shots), 1% (throw)	Throws the opponent into the ground and shoots them with his Blaster. Has meteor smash properties, and if performed at the edge of a stage or platform can send the opponent straight down. However, this also allows it to be meteor cancelled or teched, and so it tends to be overshadowed by up throw, which has true combo followups on the majority of the cast. However, it can be used as a mixup on high percent opponents, or tech chased into a KO move.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Punches forwards, then kicks backwards.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6% (body), 8% (legs)	Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6% (body), 8% (legs)	Slowly gets up and kicks in front.
Neutral special		Blaster	2-3%	Fox fires a laser from his Blaster. The fastest projectile used by any character in the game, but does not make opponents flinch, unlike in the previous game. It is mainly used from long range as short hop lasers to build up damage. If used on the ground, there is ending lag. This attack has transcendent priority.
Side special		Fox Illusion	7%	Fox dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. A fairly quick but linear horizontal recovery move. Can be shortened at three different distances by pressing the B button again on specific frames.
Up special		Fire Fox	2% (charge loop), 14%/12% (dash NTSC/PAL)	Fox charges up in flames and blasts off in a direction, which can be controlled with the control stick. Unreliable as an attack due to the charge time, but can damage opponents during this. Less predictable than Illusion given its ability to change angles, but still a linear move. Techniques such as changing the angle and sweetspotting can keep Fox's opponent guessing. Has next to no landing lag, making it hard to punish on landing. Its distance was nerfed in the PAL version of Melee.
Down special		Reflector	5% (startup), 1.5x damage for reflected projectiles	Informally referred to as the Shine, it reflects any projectiles that hit it back at the opponent who fired them for 1.5x damage and knockback. This move has low base knockback, but is an extremely useful semi-spike as it can push opponents offstage while edgeguarding, to prevent them from recovering. Due to the set knockback, it has guaranteed followups on much of the cast at any percentage. The move can be jump cancelled to avoid the ending lag, allowing Fox to quickly jump up off stage, and it also gives him access to the waveshine technique. Reflector is invincible and active on the first frame of the animation, and thus considered one of the best Down B's in the game (along with Falco's).

Taunt

• Fox crouches and says "Come on!", beckoning with his left hand. With Japanese as the set language, he says かかってこい！ (Come at me!)
• Smash taunt: Fox can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the control pad (for one frame). This taunt can only be used once per match.

Taunt	Smash taunt

Idle pose

• Slightly looks towards his right side and twitches his ears.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Gooooooo Fox!	Fox! *claps three times*
Pitch	Group chant	Male

Victory poses

A rendition of a portion of the main theme of Star Fox 64.

• Swirls gun into holster and says, "Mission Complete!"; 作戦終了！ which translates to "Operation complete!"
• Points his Blaster to his left, kneels down and points his Blaster to his right, stands up and says, "Mission Complete!"; これより帰還する。 which roughly translates to "On my way back from here."

• If the language is set to Japanese and Fox wins against Falco, he may say 気にするなよ、ファルコ。, which roughly translates to "Don't worry about it, Falco."

• Crosses his arms while closing his eyes, quickly looks upward while raising his tail and says, "Mission Complete!"; 作戦終了！ which translates to "Operation complete!" This is his based off his character chosen animation and taunt from Super Smash Bros.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

As one of the only two characters in the game to not have any disadvantageous matchups (the other being Falco), Fox has, undisputably, the best matchup spread in Melee. He has only three matchups that are even, while he soft counters six characters, counters seven, and hard counters nine (second most in the game, behind Sheik). Fox's universally strong tools, such as his quick, versatile combo ability, great aerial attacks, and his very effective shine techniques, allow him to compete against any character. He even has very oppressive tools in certain matchups, such as a potential waveshine infinite that, even if performed to a limited degree, can shut down a large portion of the cast. However, Fox's very high falling speed and very low air speed undermine his otherwise relatively long recovery, making him predictable off the stage and easy to gimp and edgeguard by characters such as Falco, Jigglypuff and Marth. With his said falling speed, characters such as Marth can easily chaingrab him, and his light weight attribute makes him easy for characters such as Samus to KO horizontally.

Current metagame

It is still widely agreed that Fox has the best overall matchup spread in the game. Most notably, Fox is notably the only character with a winning matchup against Jigglypuff, due to his ability to vertically KO it off the top with an up smash or up air. As a result, many top players have adopted a Fox secondary in an attempt to counterpick Hungrybox, who was ranked as the #1 player in the world from 2017 to 2019.

However, there has recently been significant debate over his matchup against Marth. Some professionals argue that Marth has an easier time playing the matchup; they claim that Fox only has a true advantage at TAS levels of play, and that Marth beats Fox at the human level. Such professionals usually cite Marth's surprisingly high win rate in his favor against Fox in top-level tournament play, and the incredible prowess that top Marth players such as Mew2King and Zain have against Fox, with not many Fox players showing that level of dominance against Marth players. Some argue that the matchup is 40-60 in Marth's favor, and a few top players, most notably Leffen, have started developing counterpick characters like Sheik to beat top Marth players like Zain.

There is also debate surrounding Fox's matchup with Falco. Most players consider the matchup to be even or a small disadvantage for Fox. This is due to Falco's much more reliable combo game on Fox, as Falco is capable of zero-to-deathing him at any point in the stage, a much more consistent edgeguarding tool in down aerial, while also having a frame 1 kill confirm at high percents in shine to back aerial. Fox's main advantages in the matchup come from his strong KO power at high percents, a shine spike near the ledge, and a chain grab which can only be performed on Final Destination; his extended combos on Falco are also not guaranteed and rely on tech-chasing, making them less reliable overall.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the 2019 MPGR, which recognizes the official top 100 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Active

Ranked

•  AbsentPage (#27) - The best player in Minnesota, and a top Midwest player, known for being one of the fastest improving players globally. Also uses Sheik and Marth as secondaries.
•  billybopeep (#52) - One of the best Fox players from Texas. Placed 9th at Low Tier City 7, 25th at Mainstage and The Big House 9, and 33rd at GENESIS 7. Has wins on S2J, Shroomed, and MikeHaze.
•  Colbol (#54) - One of the best Fox players in the world. Placed 9th at CEO 2019, 1st at Fight Pitt 9, and 3rd at Come to Papa 3. Has wins over Gahtzu, Stango, and Magi
•  FatGoku (#39) - One of the best Fox players in the world. Placed 9th at GENESIS 6, 9th at The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0, and 13th at Fight Pitt 9. Has wins over Duck, ChuDat, and 2saint.
•  Fiction (#12) - Best solo-Fox main in SoCal.
•  Hax$ (#19) - Originally a Captain Falcon main until his switch to Fox. Regarded as the most technical Fox player. Uses the B0XX to compete.
•  iBDW (#9) - Top player from New York, placed 4th at Smash Summit 8 and CEO 2019 with wins over players like Hungrybox, Mango, and Leffen.
•  Ice (#51) - Second best player in Germany.
•  Jerry (#59) - One of the best Fox players in the world. Placed 13th at Pound 2019, 25th at The Script 2, and 4th at The Gang Steals The Script. Has wins over Lucky, KJH, and SFAT.
•  Joyboy (#69) - One of the best Fox players in New England. Placed 9th at SUPERBOU 3 and 33rd at GENESIS 6 and Shine 2019. Has wins on Swedish Delight, Kevin Maples, and Slox.
•  Leffen (#2) - World's best solo-Fox.
•  Lucky (#20) - One of the best solo-Fox mains in SoCal.
•  Kevin Maples (#64) - One of the best Fox players in MDVA. Placed 9th at Shine 2019 and 33rd at Super Smash Con 2019 and Mainstage. Has wins on SFAT, 2saint, and Professor Pro.
•  Mango (#3) - One of the five gods. He formerly mained Fox but now primarily uses him as a counterpick against Jigglypuff. He is the undisputed best player in SoCal.
•  Medz (#32) - One of the best Fox players in the world and one of Axe's training partners. Placed 7th at The Kid, the Goat, and the Mang0 and 9th at Saving Mr. Lombardi. Has wins over Spud, PewPewU, and KJH.
•  Mew2King (#10) - One of the Five Gods; began as a Fox main and dominated in 2006-2007 primarily using Fox and Marth. Now primarily uses Marth and Sheik, but still uses Fox for Jigglypuff.
•  moky (#14) - The best fox player in Canada. Placed 7th at Get On My Level 2019, 5th at Shine 2019, and 9th at The Big House 9 with wins over Plup, S2J, and Leffen.
•  Nicki (#83) - Best player in Germany. Has wins on Professor Pro, Amsah, Zamu, and Albert.
•  Panda (#97) - The best Fox player in Washington. Placed 5th at GENESIS: BLACK, 17th at CEO 2019, and 25th at GENESIS 7. Has wins on Axe, Tai, and Nut.
•  Plup (#8) - Co-mains with Sheik. Usually uses Fox against Jigglypuff, but sometimes has solo Fox showings, mostly at smaller tournaments.
•  Pricent (#89) - Best player in Norway.
•  Professor Pro (#34) - Best player in the UK. Has wins on S2J, Fiction, Swedish Delight, ChuDat, and Ice.
•  Ryan Ford (#71) - One of the best players in Canada. Has wins on n0ne, Drephen, MoG, and Soonsay.
•  SFAT (#11) - Best Fox main in NorCal and one of the top Fox players in the world.
•  Slox (#56) - One of the best Fox players in the world. Placed 9th at Pound 2019. Has wins over Jerry, Swedish Delight, and Hax$.
•  Soonsay (#98) - One of the best players from Canada. Placed 9th at Mango's Birthday Bash, 17th at Full Bloom 5 and Super Smash Con 2019, and 49th at The Big House 9. Has wins on moky, n0ne, and Rishi.
•  Westballz (#26) - Falco main with a strong Fox secondary.
•  Zamu (#48) - One of the best Fox players in the Midwest. Has placed 1st at Awakening 5, double eliminating Trif, and 5th at Fête.

Unranked

•  Alex19 - One of the most iconic Fox players in the USA, with strong showings at SoCal locals and many combo videos to his name. Placed in the top 100 several times on SSBMRank.
•  Bobby Frizz - The best player in Kansas, with wins over some notable Top 100 players including Lucky.
•  Cactuar - An old-school Fox player from Tristate, renowned in the community for his general game knowledge.
•  Chillin - Arguably the first notable top Fox main. A pioneer of Fox's meta. One of the best Fox mains in MD/VA.
•  Halcyon - A new, rapidly improving Fox who gained fame by winning the Forsaken Bracket at Red Bull Smash Gods and Gatekeepers.
•  Kels - One of the strongest players in the Midwest.
•  Lovage - More known as a commentator nowadays. Still has one of the strongest Foxes on the West Coast, with a recent set win over Leffen.
•  MilkMan - One of the best Fox mains in MD/VA. He notably upset Axe at The Big House 4.
•  MINT - One of the best players in the UK. Placed 7th at Fête and 9th at DreamHack Rotterdam and Valhalla III. Has wins on Professor Pro, Pipsqueak, and bobby big ballz.
•  null - One of the best players in SoCal. Placed 7th at GENESIS: BLACK and Rising Stars at EGLX 2019 and 13th at Saving Mr. Lombardi 2. Has wins on Lucky, Fiction, and Captain Faceroll.
•  Pipsqueak - One of the best players in Sweden. Placed 4th at SUPERBOU 3 and 9th at DreamHack Rotterdam and Valhalla III. Has wins on Ice, Pricent, and Joyboy.
•  Redd - One of the best players in MD/VA.
•  Rik - Co-mains Fox with Falco, placed 17th at Full Bloom 5 and 25th at Super Smash Con 2018.
•  Smashdaddy - Has defeat Axe, Westballz, and Lucky while placing 33rd at The Big House 8 and 49th at EVO 2018
•  Sora - The second best player in Australia/New Zealand. Has wins on Professor Pro, Kurv, and Zeo.
•  Tiramisu - One of the best players in New England. Has wins on Kalvar, Drephen, and Bladewise.
•  Zgetto - Best Dutch Fox main.
•  Weon-X - One of the best players in Canada.
•  JAVI - One of the best players in Mexico, known for his dark horse performance at Apex 2012, where he defeated PPMD. He was formerly ranked 37th on the 2016 SSBMRank.

Inactive

•  Armada - One of the five gods and Europe's best player. Peach main with a strong Fox as a co-main. He retired from competitive singles on October 2018, but is still active in doubles.
•  CDK - A notable Fox from SoCal. Was formerly ranked as high as #46 on SSBMRank.
•  Crush - Best Fox in New England. He entered a few local tournaments under the tags of "Kimba" and "Bagheera" in June 2019, but hasn't been active since going on hiatus in June 2018.
•  Darktooth - Player from New York who has placed 25th at Shine 2018 and EVO 2018, with wins over KJH and ChuDat.
•  Druggedfox - Unranked in his homestate due to activity; 13th place at EVO 2016, 17th at Super Smash Con 2016, 9th at UGC Smash Open. Still active in doubles.
•  DJ Nintendo - Although more known for his other characters, such as his Bowser, Fox was his strongest and most consistent character for tournament sets deeper in the bracket. He was primarily a doubles player. He is now permanently banned from the Smash scene.
•  Fuzzyness - Formerly the second best player in the UK. Known mostly for his world record speedruns in Melee's single player modes.
•  Jman - The first Apex champion for Melee.
•  KDJ - Triple-mained with Marth and Sheik before retiring. Considered one of the strongest Melee players in the pre-Brawl era.
•  KJH (#29) - Top 3 in Michigan. Known for his Fox Privilege YouTube series showcasing his knowledge of useful Fox techniques.
•  Masashi - A Japanese Melee player from the pre-Brawl era once ranked 1st in Japan. Now only plays Ultimate as Cloud.
•  MikeHaze (#33) - One of the best Fox players in the world. Placed 17th at Smash 'N' Splash 5, 17th at Pound 2019, and 13th at Full Bloom 5. Has wins over Fiction, Kalamazhu, and Captain Faceroll.
•  PC Chris - One of the best Melee players in the pre-Brawl era. Dual mained Falco and Fox.
•  Relno - Highly technical Fox player known for exceptionally fast and creative movement and winning the tech skill competition at STR2016. Currently on hiatus.
•  Remen - One of the best players in the Netherlands. Has switched to maining Falco.
•  Silent Wolf - Formerly the Northwest's best player before retiring. Ranked 20th on the 2016 SSBMRank.
•  Syrox - The best player in Colorado. Gained significant notoriety through his Netplay skill and Eden run, where he showcased incredible technical proficiency. Currently inactive due to hand injuries.
•  ZeRo - Best Chilean Fox main. Now permanently banned from the Smash scene.

Tier placement and history

Fox has been a top-tiered character, along with Falco and Sheik, since the very first Melee tier list, and has never fallen below third place. However, he was not at the top of the list for the first seven revisions, as Sheik was then considered to be the best character in the game. Many of the top players in the early metagame, including Ken and Azen, used Fox only as a secondary for specific matchups; solo Fox mains such as Chillin, on the other hand, were not as successful nationally. Eventually, more dedicated Fox mains, such as PC Chris, FASTLIKETREE, KoreanDJ, and Mew2King, began to revitalize his metagame by pushing Fox's technical ceiling. They began placing within the top 8 of MLG-sponsored tournaments, and their consistency and dominance in the scene resulted in Sheik's dethroning from first to third place on the eighth revision of the tier list in July of 2006, with Fox taking the top spot. Later that year, PC Chris and KoreanDJ placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, at the MLG Las Vegas national championships, using Fox primarily in Grand Finals, which cemented his position on the list.

During the Brawl era, however, some smashers began to dispute Fox's standing on the tier list. They argued that Fox was only the best character theoretically, and that other characters had become much more consistent than him over these years of play. Many of Fox's best players had retired, with the exception of Mew2King, who began using other characters more often. There were certainly still many solo Fox mains in the top cut of Melee players, but without the strongest players of the MLG era spearheading further Fox development, few of them could actually win supermajor-level events. Players began developing rigorous counterplay to Fox, such as SDI-ing out of his up throw to up aerial combo, making it extremely difficult for newer players to find tournament success with him. Of the "Five Gods" who rose to prominence in the era, only the aforementioned Mew2King and Mango used Fox during this time; the latter did not even start as a Fox main, making his name with Jigglypuff and Falco.

Without updates to the tier list for years after 2010, Fox seemingly remained at the top; however, Mango's dominance with Falco, as well as many top 10-level Falco mains emerging such as Zhu and fellow "God" PPMD, made many believe that Falco would become the superior character. Although solo Fox mains showed glimpses of brilliance, such as Jman's top 3 finish at Apex 2009, none of them could match the overall consistency of the Five Gods until Mango himself picked Fox up in 2011. Once Mango began succeeding with solo Fox in 2013, however, opinions on Fox began to change once again; after Mango's victories at Kings of Cali 2, Zenith 2013, IMPULSE 2013, and EVO 2013 with nearly only Fox, the Smash Back Room panelists voted Fox as 1st on the eleventh tier list, albeit by a small margin (an average rank of 1.39 to Falco's 1.68) due to lingering opinions about Falco from years past. These notions would soon completely fade as metagame trends resulted in more Fox usage at the top level than had ever been seen before. He became the most common character in doubles matches by far, and the most common character in singles matches as well.

The meteoric rise of Leffen in 2014 and 2015 as a solo Fox main, along with Mango's continued dominance, solidified many players' opinions about Fox's place at the top of the metagame. Many players who mained a lower-ranked character, most notably Hax, even abandoned their former character in favor of using only Fox, and other players, such as Armada, picked up Fox as a co-main to alleviate trouble against certain opponents. This heavily increased presence led panelists to rank Fox as decisively 1st on the tier list, which caused him to be placed in his own tier at the top of the most recent tier list (much akin to Pikachu in the previous iterations of the 64 tier list or Meta Knight in Brawl). However, his tier placement was met with some backlash; community members argued that designating Fox as "SS-tier" implied that he was overwhelmingly superior to the rest of the cast, when the true power gap between the top 3 characters was not actually that large, and that Fox was merely the most common and clear #1 out of them.

In the modern metagame, the rise of Hungrybox and Zain as contenders for #1 in the world have made the Melee community re-evaluate Fox's status as the undisputed best in the game. Zain's dominance over Fox professionals with his Marth, in particular, has called into serious question the pre-existing notion that Fox had no losing matchups. As the technical requirement of the game at a competitive level grows, many players view the stamina aspect of playing over a long tournament as growing in importance, citing that Fox players tend to burn out in later stages due to having to play a technically demanding character across many sets, and that such external factors should be taken into consideration on a tier list. Regardless of this discussion, most of the community still places Fox in the highest tier, still citing his great potential and the ever-growing volume of top Fox players. However, many of them now believe that he shares this tier with Jigglypuff and Marth, and should no longer stand alone at the top.

PAL viability

Fox was nerfed in the PAL version of Melee. While his nerfs seem insignificant, they actually affect his matchups more than most other nerfed characters. The nerf to his up smash allows several characters to barely survive in that version where they would not have been able to in NTSC, forcing Fox mains to learn later KO percentages for it; at those percentages, however, some up smash setups are no longer guaranteed. Fox's nerfed recovery also weakens his off-stage game, as he can no longer travel as far off-stage to intercept enemies, and hinders his survivability, especially against characters who retain their edgeguarding ability, such as Sheik and Marth. The nerf to his weight exacerbates his decreased survivability, but as a positive note, allows him to escape combos more easily.

Fox's matchups against other top-tiered characters become slightly less advantageous in PAL. For example, many professionals believe that Falco wins against Fox overall, as Fox's nerfs allow Falco to survive much longer and KO Fox earlier, while Falco himself is not significantly hindered by his own PAL nerfs. Fox's matchup against Marth, in particular, is much harder, as he is no longer guaranteed a grab out of a waveshine due to Marth's weight changes. Thus, Fox needs to work much harder for a grab setup, hindering his damage racking ability against equally skilled players. However, Marth retains his fantastic punish game against fastfallers and has a much easier time edgeguarding Fox due to his aforementioned recovery nerfs. Along with harder matchups against Peach and even Captain Falcon, some PAL professionals have vouched that Falco or Marth is the best in that particular version of Melee instead. Regardless, Fox still performs very well in PAL regions of Melee, and maintains first place in his own tier on the most recent PAL tier list.

Fox players who travel to attend large tournaments, such as Leffen, are forced to adjust to these changes in gameplay, which can be an obstacle when fighting in a foreign country or continent. A handful of these players own copies of both the PAL and NTSC versions of the game to allow practice before international tournaments, mainly to practice executing certain Fox-specific setups that are impossible in the PAL version but present in the NTSC version, or to practice accommodating for the lack of these setups with backup strategies.

In 1-P Mode

Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Fox can appear as an ordinary opponent, an ally or opponent in team battles, alongside Falco, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong or Samus, or as a metal opponent. In Fox's appearances, he appears on Corneria or Venom as a regular opponent, and on Battlefield as a metal opponent. In team battles, he appears on Mute City with Captain Falcon, on Kongo Jungle with Donkey Kong, and on Brinstar with Samus.

Adventure Mode

Fox appears on Stage 6 of the Adventure Mode on Corneria. In the first part of the stage, the player battles Fox, who will try and avoid the player. After defeating Fox once, the player will have to face him again, this time on offense donning his red costume and featuring "trigger happy" Arwings, which fire at the stage considerably more often. Additionally, there is a chance that the player will fight Falco instead of Fox, if the former is unlocked.

All-Star Mode

Fox and his allies are fought on Corneria.

Event Matches

Fox is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 13: Yoshi's Egg: As Yoshi, the player must protect the Yoshi's Egg item from harm for 55 seconds against a team of Fox, Donkey Kong and Pikachu on Rainbow Cruise.
• Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Fox is the last opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Corneria stage. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Samus, Link, Zelda, and Captain Falcon.
• Event 23: Slippy's Invention: The player chooses any character and must defeat Fox and Falco, who are permanently under the effects of a Cloaking Device, in a two-stock match on Venom.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: The player uses Ness and must defeat Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on Battlefield.
• Event 43: Birds of Prey: The player uses Fox and must defeat a team consisting of Falco and Captain Falcon in a two-stock match on Big Blue.

Ending Images

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  Classic Mode

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  Adventure Mode

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  All-Star mode

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Fox as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Fox on any difficulty:

Fox

Fox McCloud is the leader of a band of adventurers-for-hire known as Star Fox. Fox and his fellow pilots Peppy, Slippy, and Falco patrol the Lylat system in their mother ship, the Great Fox. From the cockpit of his Arwing, Fox leads the ceaseless pursuit of the evil scientist Andross, who doomed Fox's father.

• Star Fox 03/93

Fox [Smash]

Fox is among the quickest and nimblest of the Smash Bros. characters. His speed is offset by low firepower, however, and he's better at one-on-one fights than melees with multiple foes. His Blaster is unique: it does damage but it doesn't make enemies flinch. His Fox illusion is best used as a surprise attack.

• B: Blaster
• Smash B: Fox Illusion

Fox [Smash]

Fox falls quickly, so he's a tough target to strike from below; however, this advantage can work against him when he goes flying sideways. You can use the Control Stick to set the direction of the Fire Fox technique while it's charging up. On a side note, Fox is also much lighter than he was in the N64 Super Smash Bros. game.

• Up & B: Fire Fox
• Down & B: Reflector

• 

  Classic

• 

  [Smash]

• 

  [Smash]

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Official artwork of Fox.

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  Standing on a ledge on Kongo Jungle.

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  Lying next to Falco on Corneria.

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  Knocked back by Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick on Corneria.

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  Posing with Falco on Pokémon Stadium.

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  Knocked back by Mario's neutral aerial on Fountain of Dreams.

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  Taunting Bowser on Temple.

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  Stunned next to Dr. Mario on Princess Peach's Castle.

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  Using Blaster on Donkey Kong on Corneria.

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  Posing with Captain Falcon on Final Destination.

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  Using Blaster on Ness on Pokémon Stadium.

Trivia

• Fox is one of the only characters in Melee that can do a wall infinite, along with Ness, Pikachu, Link, and Pichu.
• Fox is the only character to have completely lost his forward and back throws from Super Smash Bros. to Melee. Kirby and Jigglypuff both gained new forward throws in Melee, but their former forward throws were moved to be their up throws instead.
• Fox is the only character in Melee with two soft-damage groans.
• In "Melee", Fox uses his tail as a support while firing his Blaster, but not in later games.
• Fox, Zelda, and Mewtwo are the only characters whose artwork when selecting them differs when selecting their costumes.
  • In Fox and Zelda's cases, their renders when selecting their alternate costumes match their official artworks, but their render when selecting them is unique.