Meta Knight (SSBB)

Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Kirby
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Galaxia Darkness
Tier	SS (1)

Unveiled at E3 2006, Meta Knight (メタナイト, Meta Naito), commonly abbreviated as MK, is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Originally from the Kirby universe, Meta Knight joins the brawl as a starter character who wields his short sword Galaxia as his primary weapon.

Meta Knight is notable for being at the top of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tier list due to the very high speed of his attacks, having many attacks with transcending priority, many recovery options that grant him a long, relatively safe and unpredictable recovery, effective wall of pain options, KO moves that are both agile and reliable, and incredible matchups; Meta Knight has no overall disadvantageous matchups along with three other characters from the Smash series (Pikachu, Fox, and Falco), and currently only Pikachu is considered to have an even matchup with him.

This does not mean he has no disadvantages, however. Meta Knight is a lightweight character, meaning he is knocked out fairly easily, especially against characters with many high-power attacks such as Snake. His poor air speed and slow grab release animation also make him suspectible to grab release combos by certain characters, such as Marth, who can combo Meta Knight into a dash attack or a dair from his air release. Meta Knight also lacks a projectile attack and must approach to inflict damage.

Due to his incredible fighting prowess, general unpopularity in the Super Smash Bros. community (he was and is considered "broken" among many), negligible weaknesses and over-centralisation of the metagame, Meta Knight was banned for a time between January 9th, 2012 and April 16, 2012 from the Unity Ruleset, which was being pushed as the only valid ruleset. This makes Meta Knight the only character in the Super Smash Bros. series who has been banned from a standardized tournament ruleset. Even prior to his banning, he has been placed in his own tier at the very top of the tier list. Since the Unity Ruleset committee has been disbanded, it is once again up to each tournament's organizer whether Meta Knight should be banned or not.

Attributes

Meta Knight, as seen in the first trailer for Brawl at E3 2006.

Meta Knight is a small character, roughly the same size and shape as Kirby (although Meta Knight has a cape that transforms into a pair of bat-like wings) and with the same weight as Pikachu. With proper directional influence and partial momentum canceling, he can be hard to KO, despite his light weight. Meta Knight's small size and low weight mean that he is difficult to chaingrab, but a few characters can chaingrab or grab release combo him because of his poor, short air release (the third worst behind Wario and Squirtle when including small characters). Meta Knight's dash speed and rolls are quite swift (fastest shield roll in the game), but his lateral aerial movement outside of a glide or any special move is very poor, being the third worst out of the entire cast, tied with Ivysaur.

Meta Knight's wings provide him with five midair jumps and the ability to glide twice (by pressing and holding the jump button and then using his up special). His moveset is mostly comprised of fast, short-to-long-ranged moves with his sword Galaxia, which deal relatively low damage and knockback, but can combo effectively at low percentages. The low power is compensated for by the fast speed and minimal lag of most of the attacks, allowing Meta Knight to easily set up combos and rack up damage, not to mention that only his dash attack, glide attack, Drill Rush, and Mach Tornado lack transcendent priority (though this actually makes Mach Tornado more difficult to interrupt).

An example can be seen in his up aerial, which when combined with his multiple jumps can combo into itself to 30% or more damage and/or other moves because of its speed and low base knockback. Some of his attacks, such as his down Smash and up tilt, have a sweetspot at the tip of sword (resembling Marth´s sweetspot on most of his attacks) that does more damage and knockback. Many of Meta Knight's multi-hit attacks (such as his forward and back aerials, forward tilt, up smash and Mach Tornado) are useful in racking up damage, but can all be escaped with proper Smash DI. Meta Knight's most reliable KO moves are his down and side smashes, glide attack, neutral aerial and Shuttle Loop. Meta Knight is one of only two characters (the other being Sonic) possessing multiple special moves that may be used to recover, giving him an unpredictable recovery as well as enhancing his edgeguarding game. In particular, his Shuttle Loop makes him very dangerous to edgeguarders because of its high base knockback and transcendent priority, which by the same token, can be used to edgeguard Meta Knight's opponents as well. A common mistake many beginners tend to make is using Meta Knight's specials and accidentally veering off stage, helpless, resulting in a self destruct.

Meta Knight lacks a projectile, but his Mach Tornado can neutralize opponent's projectiles provided they don't do 10% or more of damage nor are they transcendent. His small hurtbox also allows him to evade many of them, though his poor air speed makes him vulnerable to attacks like Thunder. Other abilities include his ability to use his Dimensional Cape for mind games, Wing Dashing (an ability shared but more effectively used by Pit and Charizard) which involves canceling the attack and the landing lag while sliding forward, leaving him completely free to use another attack or defend himself, and having two excellent approach attacks: Mach Tornado and Drill Rush, giving him a very unpredictable approach game. Meta Knight's Final Smash, Galaxia Darkness, can be difficult to land and does little damage and knockback compared to other characters' Final Smashes. It can, however, hit numerous enemies. Final Smashes are banned in the vast majority of tournaments, and as such have little impact on his metagame.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - When held, Meta Knight yells and executes a lightning-fast series of slashes that can also hit enemies behind him. Does 10% damage when just tapping the attack button. Start-up of 7 frames. Can set-up a down-smash if buffered correctly
• Dash attack - Does a running kick with vertical knockback. His only attack (other than all of his throws, excluding the back throw) that does not use his sword. When MK attacks with his foot, it does 6%. When the body hits it does 8% damage. Hits on frame 5-11.
• Forward tilt - Slashes twice in front of him, then once upwards. Last hit deals vertical knockback. Only pressing the attack button once will cause Meta Knight to perform only the first hit; press it twice more to slash the second and third times. First slash does 4% damage, second slash does 3%, and the last does 5%, inflicting 12% total. Start-up of 3 frames. At higher percentages, it's difficult (if not impossible) to connect all three hits since the first hit has enough knockback scaling to prevent the other hits from connecting.
• Up tilt - Stabs upward. Inflicts 10%. Decent vertical knockback, and in some cases at higher percentages, makes up for his up smash's weak vertical knockback, although it must sweetspoted to KO. Hitbox out on frame 8. Sweetspot is in the tip of the sword which it can also KO under 150%.
• Down tilt - Thrusts his sword across the ground. Good for tripping (which sets up a grab or other follow-up), deceptive range (has more range then Marth´s down tilt, though only by a few pixels), very fast (start-up is 3 frames only), and it can be used to pseudo crawl. Does 4% to 6% damage.

Smash

• Forward smash - Pulls his sword back for a second, then slashes in front of him. Has below average knockback, but it's his strongest move in terms of knockback. This is Meta Knight's only slow attack, although that's only the start-up which is 24 frames, it has a very fast charge release and has very little ending lag, less cooldown than his down smash. Does 14-19%.
• Up smash - Slashes above him three times. Like Link's up smash, but much faster, less range and less damage/knockback. Does 4% each slash, in total 12% (9% damage uncharged). Low knockback, but can KO at high percentages. First slash has a start-up of 8 frames, the second slash hits on frame 12 and the final slash hits on frame 17.
• Down smash - Slashes in front of him, then behind. Arguably his best KO move due to its extremely fast speed. One of the non-dragging down smashes that second hit attack has higher knockback than first hit. Front slash does 12-15%, and back slash does 15-18%. First hit on frame 5-6, second hit on frame 10-11. Does more damage and knockback if hit with the tip of the sword.

Other

• Ledge attack - Slashes with blade. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack - Gets up slowly, then slashes with blade. 10% damage.
• Floor attack - Slashes on either side of himself. 6%, both slashes.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial - Slashes while spinning in a circle. Similar to Pikachu's neutral aerial. Surprisingly powerful. Can hit twice for a total of 19% damage. Good out-of-shield option because of its speed (frame 3) and power.
• Forward aerial - Slashes in front of him three times. Can perform a wall of pain variation, though Meta Knight's poor air speed hampers the effectiveness of it so it is not as effective as Jigglypuff's wall of pain. First slash does 3%, second does 3%, and last does 4% damage. Altogether inflicts 10%. Start-up of 6 frames.
• Back aerial - Like his fair, but behind him and more slowly. To compensate for the slower slashes, this move has slightly more knockback. However, it still has almost no start-up lag (7 frames, only slower than his fair by one frame) and the first two hits while landing set-ups a down smash on many characters, along with wall of pain potential like his forward aerial. First slash does 3%, second does 3%, and the last does 4%. Altogether does 10% damage.
• Up aerial - Slashes above him very quickly, has decent knockback. Shortest ending lag aerial in the game and one of the fastest moves in the game (frame 2). Great for juggling opponents into the upper blast line. Does 6% damage. If tap jump is set to "on", Meta Knight will rise up with each slash. The distance varies depending on how many of Meta Knight's jumps remain. It can chain into itself at low percentages. It can be performed three times in one short hop.
• Down aerial - Slashes below him very quickly. Sends the opponent at a horizontal trajectory and is quite deadly offstage, especially against opponents with poor horizontal recovery. Does 7-9% damage. Hits on frame 4.
• Glide Attack - Slashes in front of himself. A fairly powerful move with great vertical knockback. Inflicts 12% damage. Hits on frame 5.

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel - Jabs opponents with his wings' claws. A slow pummel. Does 3%.
• Forward throw - Kicks the opponent in front of him. A very fast throw. Does 8-10% damage.
• Back throw - Teleports and slashes the opponent behind him. 10% damage and good knockback. Good for putting opponents off-stage. Can KO at very high percentage.
• Up throw - Like Kirby's: jumps into the air holding his foe, and then crashes down. The differences are that this throw doesn't create an explosion, like Kirby's, and has less launch power. Can KO at very high percentages. 12%-13% damage.
• Down throw - Stomps on opponent multiple times, then ends by slamming down on him/her. It is much like Kirby's down throw, except it's slower and does horizontal knockback. Does 11% damage. Depending on the opponent's DI, it can be followed by other attacks, even another grab at low-percentages on fast-fallers.

Taunts

Both his side and down taunts provoke battle. This is because he would always challenge Kirby to an honorable fight.

• Up taunt - Wraps himself in his cape, as if teleporting via his down special, while scoffing.
• Down taunt - Spreads his wings while shouting "Come!".
• Side taunt - Says "Fight me!", while examining his sword, slashing twice, and finally pointing his sword in front of him.

Idle poses

• He glances behind him.
• Puts his cape around him and back.

On-Screen Appearance

• Warps in with his cape.

Victory poses

• Disappears while saying, "Come back when you can put up a fight!"
• Turns and spins his sword while saying "Victory... is my destiny", then hits it against the ground.
• Flings out his cape and says "You have much yet to learn"

Brawl Manual Description

A rival to Kirby who boasts mach-speed sword attacks that overwhelm opponents.

Special moves

Meta Knight's special moves

Neutral special	Mach Tornado
Side special	Drill Rush
Up special	Shuttle Loop
Down special	Dimensional Cape
Final Smash	Galaxia Darkness		Darkness Illusion

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Ban from competitive play

It had been intensely debated if Meta Knight should be banned from tournaments, due to his perceived "brokeness" and over-centralisation. This initially started when a well known rumor in the Smash community was Meta Knight was banned in Italian tournaments; this was later proven false, though the Italian Smashboards did ask Smashers if they believed that Meta Knight should be banned. This rumor, however, eventually caused another surge of players who wanted to ban Meta Knight in other regions. The controversy got to the point where the Smash Back Room held a poll to see if Smashers wanted to completely ban the character; "Pro-Ban" won the poll, but did not win a super-majority of at least 66%, and Meta Knight ended up not being banned on a large scale.

However, talks about banning Meta Knight later surged, which was contributed because of the increasing trend of players using Meta Knight taking a large majority of the top results. Such an example is KTAR 6, where five of the top eight placers used Meta Knight. Later, data compiled by John12346 showed that Meta Knight had won over 50% of total tournament earnings in tournaments that had more than thirty entrants ; Meta Knight in total won $42,394.32 in 2011 U.S. tournaments when money is split in character usage (and $59,490.07 when not split), while the next most successful character, Snake, had only won $12,125.33 when split (and $20,860.29 with no split). The overall increasing centralisation of Meta Knight was also said to have caused Brawl's metagame to shift too radically; some characters, such as R.O.B. and Luigi, saw significant dropping in the tier list due in large part to their poor matchups against Meta Knight. As to prevent other characters from becoming inviable, this led to players having to find techniques solely for dealing with Meta Knight; Marth players, for instance, formed the grab release to down air combo, which is notable for exclusively working on Meta Knight.

In response to this, the Unity Ruleset Committee introduced experimental rules in the recent ruleset update; one of the new suggested rules is a ban on Meta Knight. Despite this experimental ruleset, another poll was conducted in the start of September of 2011; "Pro-ban" again won the poll, but this time, with a super-majority of 75%. Although the poll itself did not directly cause a banning of Meta Knight, the results eventually caused the Unity Ruleset Committee to announce the official ban of Meta Knight from both singles and doubles play on September 30th, 2011. The ban itself started on January 9th, 2012.

The Meta Knight banning controversy ended up being made fun of on the Back Room for Melee; in a newer ruleset update, they sarcastically added that Meta Knight was banned from all Melee tournaments.

The Unity Ruleset Committee later disbanded on April 16, 2012; while the Unity Ruleset is still seen as the primary ruleset for Brawl tournaments, Marc stated "it is up to individual TOs to decide what is best for their events." As a result, Meta Knight's ban is no longer considered universal, and tournament organizers have to choose whether or not to ban the character.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

It is revealed that before the events of the Subspace Emissary, Meta Knight was attacked by the Subspace Army, who had the intent of taking the Halberd. He was able to hold them off until King Dedede attacked him, causing him to lose his ship.

Meta Knight in the SSE.

When Meta Knight is first featured in the Subspace Emissary, he attacks a lone Marth outside of a large castle. He quickly learns that Marth is not his enemy when they are both surrounded by Primids. After a successful battle, both warriors chase the Ancient Minister, who is carrying a Subspace bomb. Both are unsuccessful in their attempts in destroying the bomb (Meta Knight's left wing was shot by the Ancient Minister's laser, forcing him to land and change to his cape to extinguish the flame); luckily, Ike appears and uses his Aether to catch the Minister off guard and destroy the bomb. With the bomb destroyed, all three head back to the castle to clear out any remaining Primids.

Later, they are all seen traveling the wastelands together and battling Galleom. Meta Knight then saves Lucas and an unconscious Pokémon Trainer from a giant free-fall after they defeat the same boss. Meta Knight then begins to ascend a large cliff face, followed by the Ice Climbers (who see his ascent as a racing challenge), in order to reach the Battleship Halberd. At the summit, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a sparring duel. To the relief of the Ice Climbers, the winner revives the loser, having no hostile feelings. The Halberd then crashes into the side of the mountain in an attempt to destroy the defeated Great Fox, which is being held by the arm of the Combo Cannon. Meta Knight and Lucario quickly board the Halberd, while the Ice climbers fall off the summit, into the canyon.

The pair run into Solid Snake while on board and join forces with him to take back the Halberd. After rescuing Peach and Zelda, the trio continues on to the control deck. There they discover that the ship is being piloted by a gang of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches. Snake runs towards them and throws them all out of the window and onto the bridge, who fuse together to form a gigantic metallic monster called Duon. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the group, along with Peach, Sheik, Fox, and Falco. (Meta Knight remains in the Halberd's control center and does not take part in the battle.)

Meta Knight takes back control of the Halberd and reunites with the members from other groups. The aircraft of the other heroes is placed inside the Halberd, which heads towards the Subspace Gunship with all of the Super Smash Bros heroes on board (except for Wolf, Toon Link, Jigglypuff, Sonic, Ness, King Dedede and Luigi). After using the Subspace Battleship's main cannon to create another Subspace portal, Ganondorf spots the Halberd on the horizon and orders the battleship to open fire. The Halberd is struck down, but the heroes are able to escape on board Samus's Gunship, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Olimar's Hocotate ship, and Falco's Arwing. Kirby destroys the Subspace Battleship by slicing through it is with the Dragoon racing machine and the heroes enter Subspace to pursue Ganondorf and Bowser.

Meta Knight is turned into a trophy by Tabuu along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros heroes upon their entrance into Subspace. He is later revived by Kirby. He rejoins the others in the fight against Tabuu.

Exclusive Stickers

The following stickers can be used only by Meta Knight or by a select few including him:

• Bonkers: [Weapon] Attack +16
• Cell Phone: [Slash] Resistance +4
• Dyna Blade: Launch Resistance +46
• Gordo: [Throwing] Attack +5
• Hot Head: [Flame] Attack +10
• King Dedede & Kirby: [Specials: Direct] Attack +21
• King Dedede (Kirby Super Star): [Leg] Attack +28
• Kirby (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards): [Body, Spin] Attack +22
• Kirby (Kirby Air Ride): [Arm, Leg] Attack +17
• Maxim Tomato: Maxim Tomato Effect +50
• Meta Knight: [Slash] Attack +32
• Meta Knight Ball: Launch Power +8
• Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack +5
• Starman (Kirby: Squeak Squad): Launch Power +33
• Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack +4

Costumes

Meta Knight's alternate costumes in SSBB

Trivia

• Meta Knight is one of the few characters in Brawl to lack a meteor smash other than Footstool Jumps.
• Meta Knight is the only character that is able to glide twice.
• Meta Knight and Pikachu from the original Super Smash Bros. are the only characters to have been placed in their own tier above every other character on the tier list.
• Meta Knight is one of only three characters in Brawl able to perform three aerials in one short hop, the others being Lucario and Luigi.
• Out of all the Kirby characters, Meta Knight is the only one to speak in complete sentences.
• Meta Knight's eyes never close, but they do change in size.
• Despite ranking at the top of the tier list, Prima Official Game Guides only rated Meta Knight a 6/10 in terms of fighting prowess.
  • Conversely, Ganondorf, the character with the lowest tier position, has the same score.
• Meta Knight's victory theme is an electric guitar variant of the Kirby victory theme shared by Kirby and King Dedede, making him the only Brawl character to have a victory theme different from other members from the same series.

External links

• Meta Knight's page at Smash Bros Dojo!!
• Special Move Set
• Meta Knight Character Guide at SWF
• Video of Meta Knight's hitboxes