Metal Mario

Metal Mario
A boss in	SSB Melee Brawl SSB4
Universe	Mario
Console of origin	Nintendo 64
Location	Meta Crystal Battlefield
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Metal Mario

Metal Mario (メタルマリオ, Metal Mario) is a metallic version of Mario who is a recurring form and character in the Mario series. In Melee, Metal Mario can be joined by a metallic form of Luigi, known generally as Metal Luigi.

In Super Smash Bros.

As a minor boss

Metal Mario seen in Smash 64.

Fox vs. Metal Mario

Metal Mario appears in the 1P Game mode of this game as a minor boss opponent to be battled one-on-one. Despite appearing at first glance to be just a simple palette-swap of Mario, he is a very different fighter; he barely flinches to ordinary attacks and is almost unaffected by throws at low percentages, and can sustain an absurd amount of damage before even being put into KO range (often over 300%). However, he is very weak to edge-guarding: once a player manages to knock him off the stage, he will often fail to recover due to his extremely fast falling speed, despite the decent distance that Super Jump Punch grants. Metal Mario never sprints and rarely jumps; he simply walks from place to place at a steady pace. Metal Mario also seldom uses his Fireball even though a normal CPU Mario uses it often, and Kirby will not gain a copy ability from inhaling him. On lower difficulties he mainly walks around the stage, seldom attacking, but he can be tougher on higher difficulties.

As a playable character

Metal Mario can be controlled using certain cheat codes such as the debug menu. However, many players consider Metal Mario to be far worse than normal Mario; despite his aforementioned strengths in resisting knockback, he has reduced combo potential, as he cannot efficiently follow up with combos after attacking due to an abysmal short hop, and has awkward aerial and dashing physics. As mentioned before, he also has an extremely quick falling speed, which not only hinders his recovery, but makes him very vulnerable to chaingrabs and certain combos.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

As a minor boss

Metal Mario and Metal Luigi appear in Melee's Adventure Mode.

Metal Mario more or less reprises his role as a minor boss opponent in the single-player Adventure Mode. He appears on the Battlefield stage after the player defeats the fifteen Fighting Wire Frames. Unlike the previous game, Metal Mario is not considered by the game to be a separate character, but rather regular Mario permanently under the effects of the new Metal Box item and with slightly faster falling speed than usual. He also does not resist knockback as much as in the original game.

Metal Luigi joins Metal Mario once Luigi has been unlocked, making the battle much harder. Like Metal Mario, Metal Luigi is considered Luigi under the permanent effect of the Metal Box. Beating both characters will award the player with the Metal Bros. KO.

In addition to their appearance in Adventure Mode, there is a chance that Metal Mario or Metal Luigi can appear as a metal opponent on the penultimate stage in Classic Mode; as it pits the player against a random metal character.

As a trophy

Metal Mario trophy in Melee.

Metal Mario also appears as a trophy which can be acquired randomly through the 1-P mode or the Trophy lottery:

Metal Mario

Mario was in for a surprise the first time he hit a Metal Box in Super Mario 64. The metal cap that popped out transformed Mario into living metal, giving him great stamina, a heavy tread, and the ability to walk underwater. In Super Smash Bros., Metal Mario showed up as an incredibly stubborn midlevel boss.

• Super Mario 64
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In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4

In both Brawl and SSB4, Metal Mario and Metal Luigi are no longer a specific opponent character. Instead they merely appears as a potential metal character fought on Classic Mode (in Brawl) and appear on Stage 8 (although there's only 1 metal battle stage per round; and metal battles are randomly fought on Stage 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10). In SSB4, Metal Mario or Metal Luigi can appear as an intruder like other characters replacing one of the opponents before a battle. They can also be fought in Crazy Orders. This time they can appear on any random stage (not limited to Battlefield or Mario stages).

Metal versions of Mario and Metal Luigi outside of Classic Mode in SSBB and SSB4 can once again be played as by collecting a Metal Box or by playing in Metal Brawl/Smash.

Origin

Metal Mario as he appears in Super Mario 64.

Metal Mario originated in Super Mario 64 as a power-up form of Mario, alongside Wing Mario and Vanish Mario. Mario can become Metal Mario by collecting a Metal Cap, but must first press the Green Switch in a cavern hidden in Hazy Maze Cave. Since then, Metal Mario has made several recurring appearances as both a power-up and a playable character, appearing in Mario Golf 64, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, Dr. Mario 64, and more.

Unlike Metal Mario, Metal Luigi as a standalone character is original to the Super Smash Bros. series. Metal Luigi made his Mario series debut many years after his appearance in Smash in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.

Trivia

The reflection of Yoshi's Island seen on Metal Mario's trophy.

• If one looks closely at the reflection on Metal Mario's trophy in Melee, the Yoshi's Island stage can be seen. This is easiest to spot on his hat, nose, or bottom.
• Metal Mario along with Giant Donkey Kong are the first characters to be non-playable in one game, then playable in all future games (with items and/or Special Modes). They would be followed by Giga Bowser.
• In Super Smash Bros., Metal Mario's series symbol is a bit different from the Mario series, making it more metallic.
• In Smash 64, when the Announcer introduces Metal Mario, his voice gains a slight change and becomes metallic. Although it may just be to place emphasis on the Mario's metal composition, the Announcer's voice sounds noticeably deeper and the same change in voice does not occur for announcing any other character in Classic Mode.