Ice Climbers (SSBM)

Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Ice Climber
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	S (8)

“	A mallet-swinging duo from the icy peaks.	”
—Melee's instruction manual

Announced at E3 2001, Ice Climbers, known in Japan as Ice Climber ( アイスクライマー, Aisu Kuraimā), are playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

They rank 8th on the tier list (in the S tier), highly accredited to the usage of Wobbling and Desynching and the fact that the fighter is literally "two-in-one", which helps the climbers rack up damage, combo, and KO opponents; this gives the Ice Climbers one of the best grab games in Melee. Additionally, good players can quickly rack up damage with the two, and they have good approach options on the ground, due to disjointed hitboxes and two decent projectiles. The two also have a very long and floaty wavedash, aiding their approach tremendously. The Ice Climbers, however, have a poor air game, and their floatiness causes them to be vulnerable to juggling and combos.

Attributes

This assumes one is playing with Popo as the leader, and Nana as the follower.

The Ice Climbers have the unique property of being a "two in one" character, as Popo and Nana must work together very well in order to be an effective fighter. Nana can be unresponsive at times and KO'd at low damage %s when she is separated from Popo, but she can also be somewhat of a shield for some attacks. The Ice Climbers's attacks are generally fairly short-ranged. Even so, advanced players can do massive damage with the Ice Climbers due to their strong ground game. On the down side, the Ice Climbers are awkward when forced to fight in the air. The Ice Climbers's projectile, ice shot, is good for edgeguarding and can't be avoided by ducking because it is a ground hugging projectile. However, Popo and Nana are easily disrupted by opponents' projectiles. The Ice Climbers have the second lowest traction when they aren't fighting on ice (where they have the highest traction). This makes them have a very long wavedash, but it also makes approaching difficult. The Ice Climbers have good, powerful juggling tactics, but they themselves are vulnerable to air combos and juggling due to being floaty. They have unusually high gravity (same as Donkey Kong's), making them sustain higher vertical knockback (Pikachu survives slightly longer vertically despite being much lighter than the Ice Climbers). Their up special move, Belay, travels great distance, but it can often KO Nana. The Ice Climbers can do an infinite grab known as Wobbling (which is generally tournament legal) and the freeze glitch (which is not tournament legal).

Where the Ice Climbers really shine is grabs. Although their grab range isn't impressive, they still have high-damage grab combos (including ones that can KO opponents from 0% damage). They also have some of the best chaingrabs in the game. The Ice Climbers themselves are difficult to grab because the one that isn't grabbed can interrupt the thrower. A professional Ice Climbers player should make the most of their grabs in order to perform well with Popo and Nana.

Moveset

For a gallery of the Ice Climbers' hitboxes, see here.

Note: A majority of the move summaries refer to the combined damage of the two climbers; one of the climber's attack is usually 1% less than the leader's. Total damage refers if both the climber's hammers connect, and they both usually do the moves in sync.

Ground moves

Normal

• Neutral attack- Two hammer swings in front. 1-2% first hit (usually adds up to 3%), then both Climbers do 4% on the next hit, for a total of 11% damage.
• Dash attack- Leap and swing hammers in front. The landing has some end lag, but both climber's hits add up to an impressive 17%, for a dash attack.
• Forward tilt- A similar swinging motion in front as their Neutral Attack, only slightly slower with more knockback and damage. 7% and 8%, adds up to 15% if both Climber's hits connect. Can Wobble.
• Up tilt- The climbers twirl their hammers in a somewhat short-ranged by highly damaging way above themselves. Many hits, usually does around 18-21% damage if most or all hits connect.
• Down tilt- A sluggish swing to the floor. One of the climber's less damaging moves even with both their damages combined; 4% then 5%, 9% total if both climbers connect. Can Wobble.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash- Somewhat quickly brings their hammers up and brings them down. 14% and 12%, adds up to 26% uncharged; 19% and 17% fully, adding up to 36%. Great knockback.
• Down smash- Swirl their hammers below them in a 360° style. Fast but somewhat short ranged, good for tight spacing. 12% and 11%, 23% total uncharged; 17% and 14% fully, adding up to 31%. Good horizontal knockback.
• Up smash- Swings their hammer in an rapid arc over their heads. 10% and 11%, 21% total uncharged; 15% and 13%, 28% total fully charged. Excellent for KOs at higher damages.

Other attacks

Note: only the lead IC can use the ledge attack, because the computer IC cannot hang onto the ledge. The partner usually makes an additional jump to get back on stage, though.

• Ledge attack- Brings him/herself up and swings his mallet in a similar way to their forward smash. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly gets up and thrusts his/her mallet forwards. 10% damage.
• Floor attack- Gets up and spins their hammers. 6% for one IC.

Link's aerial attacks.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- Twirl around in the air. Short ranged, but good for air-spacing and following up with neutral aerial if predicted right. 8-15% damage.
• Forward aerial- Hold their hammers up and bring them down in a similar fashion to their forward smash. Can spike if sweetspotted. 10% and 10%, adds up to 20%.
• Back aerial- Turns around and swings their hammers in a similar fashion to their forward tilt. 12% and 10%, 22% total.
• Up aerial- Thrust their hammers above them like their up tilt, only with one hitbox per climber. Both do around 8-9% each, adding up to 17%.
• Down aerial- They hold their mallets below them and fall downwards. Can be angled, has long duration and some landing lag (though L-cancelling helps). 7-9% per climber, totaling 17% damage. This attack has extremely low set knockback and therefore cannot KO grounded opponents at any percentage: however, the knockback is enough in that chaingrabs can be performed at any percentage.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel- The lead climber pummel the foe for 1-2% per pummel, whereas the player has some control over the partner while pummeling. The damage adds up quickly due to desynching.
• Forward throw- Takes the foe and swings their mallets in a Bat-like way, launching the foe forward. 11% in two indiscernible hits.
• Up throw- Bash the foe above themselves. Powerful, though it's power costs them combo follow ups, for a throw. One of the strongest throws. 11% in two hits.
• Down throw- Takes foe and slams them harshly into the ground. Only the lead Ice Climber attacks, doing only 6% damage, though the foe is usually knocked right in front of the IC, leading into many quick combos.
• Back throw- Takes foe and flings them behind with one hand. 7% damage.

Special moves

Ice Climbers's special moves

Neutral special	Ice Shot
Side special	Squall Hammer
Up special	Belay
Down special	Blizzard

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Ice Climbers professionals

• Chu Dat
• Fly Amanita
• HoChiMinhTrail
• Nintendude
• Wobbles the Phoenix

Special Techniques

Desynching

Desynching is a technique that involves separating the two Climbers' animations and controlling them individually, allowing them to do different techniques at the same time.

In Single Player Modes

In Classic Mode

Ice Climbers can appear in a one-on-one, as an ally, on a team with Kirby, or as a metal opponent. Ice Climbers are fought on Icicle Mountain except in the metal battle.

In Adventure Mode

Ice Climbers' sole appearance is on Stage 10: Icicle Mountain. After 51 seconds have passed, two pairs of Ice Climbers appear. The player must KO both Ice Climbers to proceed to the next stage.

In All-Star Mode

Ice Climbers and their allies are fought on Icicle Mountain

In Event Matches

Ice Climbers appear in the following Events:

• Event 11: King of the Mountain: The player must survive for 1 minute 2 seconds on Icicle Mountain. Two pairs of Ice Climbers will hinder the player and have unlimited lives.
• Event 21: Ice Breaker: The player must KO two Nanas (the pink Ice Climber) in a 1 stock match. All the Ice Climbers do is jump but can recover. KOing Popo (the blue Ice Climber) anytime results in a failure.
• Event 30: All-Star Match 3: Ice Climbers is the last opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles them on the Icicle Mountain stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Ice Climbers has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat them and the other three characters with the overall time and life they have: Kirby, Pikachu and Ness.

Ending images

• Iceclimbersclassic.jpg

  Classic

• Iceclimbersadventure.jpg

  Adventure

• Iceclimbersallstar.jpg

  All-Star

Trophies

Classic Mode

That's Popo in the blue and Nana in the pink. These two stars of the game Ice Climber have scaled many an ice summit in their mountaineering careers. Back in their glory days, they chased eggplants, cucumbers, and other vegetables that inexplicable fell from frosty summits where a condor reigned supreme. They're rarely seen apart.

Game: Ice Climber (10/85)

Adventure Mode

This unique twosome fights together as a team. Your score will not be affected if the CPU-controlled character is KO'd, but a lone Ice Climber won't be able to use teamwork moves, which mini-glaciers out of their hammers, while Squall Hammer is at it's strongest when Nana and Popo combine their strength.

All-Star Mode

The colors of the Ice climbers' parkas denote who's in the lead: Nana's in pink and orange, while Popo's in green or blue. their hairstyles are also slightly different. Belay allows them to cover great distances, but doesn't give foes the chance to target their landing. Blizzard is best used in close quarters; in the fray, Nana and Popo sometimes freeze opponents.

• 

  Classic, #109

• 

  Adventure, #110

• 

  All-Star, #111

Costumes

The Ice Climbers' changeable clothes in SSBM

Trivia

• Changing the language to Japanese on an English copy of Melee changes the Ice Climbers name to "Ice Climber", as the Japanese language does not differentiate words as plural like in English.
• The Ice Climbers are tied with Ganondorf for the world record in the Home-Run Contest, and are the only character other than Ganondorf to have reached the max distance. Unlike Ganondorf, however, the Ice Climbers have to exploit the Freeze glitch in order to be able to reach these distances in the Home-Run Contest.
• The Ice Climbers are the only starter character from a newly represented universe.
• The Ice Climbers and Marth are the only Melee characters who wear their default costume when they're on the blue team.