Ike (PM)

Ike in Project M and Project+
Universe	Fire Emblem
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Ike (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Hector's armor

Ike's Hector Costume in Project M 3.5

Ike is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. As Ike's first appearance in the series is as a fighter in Brawl, his general speed has been significantly increased to fit the mechanics of Project M. In particular, Ike has had his combo starting abilities buffed, from his more versatile quick-draw to his low lag back aerial and quick up aerial.

Ike ranks 25th out of 41 on the official tier list, at the top of the C tier, along with a marginal drop from his position as 23rd out of 38 on the Brawl tier list.

Attributes

As a swordsman, Ike has many long distance attacks with disjointed hitboxes. As a result of this advantageous attribute, he can carefully space between his opponents, while simultaneously dealing high knockback and damage. Ike is a heavyweight (being the heaviest swordsman, not including Ganondorf, who only uses his sword for his down taunt that he can attack with) with, as a result of his buffed mobility, a decent dash speed, an average air speed, and an average falling speed. Ike's attacks are among the most powerful in the game, especially his ground attacks, with many dealing immense knockback that can reliably KO around mid percentages, especially when sweetspotted, located at the middle of the sword's blade. His Eruption is an effective edgeguarder functioning similarly to Roy's Flare Blade, as it inflicts high vertical knockback when charged at any stage, OHKOing when fully charged and repelling the opponent at a semi-spike angle at a fast speed.

Ike's recovery has been buffed from Brawl, as his Aether goes a bit further horizontally. Quick Draw has been improved as well. The move charges faster, can be cancelled, and even OHKOs if fully charged. The changes to these two moves give Ike several recovery options he did not have previously.

Ike's greatest strength, however, is his jab attack. Arguably the best move in his arsenal, it possesses great reach, is fast, deals high damage, and can be jab canceled for quick setups. While the jab's power was nerfed from Brawl, it remains one of the most powerful jabs and is especially vital in Ike's metagame.

Ike's aerial game is above average. As with his ground attacks, his aerial arsenal consists of powerful attacks that possess great KO potential, even when not sweetspotted. Ike is capable of juggling characters, especially floaty characters (ie Jigglypuff, Zelda, and Samus), with his up air. His back and forward aerials are effective horizontal finishers against light characters. Ike's down aerial, when sweetspotted, is a powerful spike that is capable of effectively KOing opponents around mid-high percentages, even when grounded. Even when not sweetspotted, the move is still a meteor smash, provided that Ike lands the clean hitbox, making it a strong finisher with decent utility regardless.

Ike's primary flaw lies in his very laggy attacks, especially his ground attacks. While these attacks are powerful, their slow speeds and long start and end lag render Ike vulnerable to many combo setups and punishes. His tall height is also considered a drawback, as it makes his hurtbox quite large and thus making him easy to hit and combo, which is compounded by his heavy weight. Additionally, while Ike has above average options for horizontal and vertical recovery, he lacks any diagonal means of getting back onto stages. Besides that, his existing recovery moves are arguably predictable and can easily be gimped.

Changes from Brawl to PM

Attributes

• Ike's sword attacks now have a new system to them, where they now have sweetspot, sourspot, and mediumspot hitboxes located at the middle, tip, and hilt of his sword, respectively.
• The general amount of landing lag Ike experiences has been reduced.
• Dashing speed (1.371 → 1.55) and jump momentum have been increased, making him faster.
• Walking speed is faster (0.88 → 1.2).
• Jumpsquat is slightly faster (frame 6 → 5).
• Both shield stun and shield damage capabilities have been greatly improved.
• Down taunt now has a hitbox that deals 9%/7% damage and sends airborne or ledge hanging opponents downwards similar to Luigi's down taunt, only it is a meteor smash with normal knockback instead of a spike with set knockback.

Ground Attacks

• Dash attack deals more damage and has a more advantageous angle.
• Jab combo does less damage.
• Dash attack has slightly less reach.
• Forward tilt has significantly less startup (frame 17 → 11) and ending lag (IASA 56 → 32).
• Forward tilt has less knockback (38 (base)/100 (growth) → 35/95) and the sourspots deal slightly less damage (14%/12% → 13%/11%).
• Up tilt has decreased startup (frame 11 → 9) and ending lag (IASA 50 → 35), and now has a sweetspot which does more damage making it a better KO move.
• Down tilt has slightly less startup (frame 16 → 14) and much less ending lag (IASA 55 → 27), allowing it to combo into itself at lower percents.
• Down tilt does less damage and is no longer a reliable KO move.
• Up smash hitboxes do more damage and knockback.
• Down smash hitboxes send backwards and both hits have been strengthened, with the first hit dealing slightly more damage with stronger knockback, while the second hit is a stronger KO move. The second hit is now optional similar to Link's and Pit's forward smashes, as well as Bowser's down tilt.
• Down smash's second hit deals slightly less damage (16% → 15%/13%/11%) and it's lingering hitbox has been removed.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral, Forward, and Up aerials have more landing lag (14 frames → 18 (neutral), 21 frames → 26 (forward), 18 frames → 24 (up)), though the introduction of L-Canceling makes this nerf mostly negligible.
• Back and Down aerials have less landing lag (21 frames → 18 (back), 28 frames → 24 (down)).
• Neutral aerial is faster and does much more damage and has more knockback.
• Forward aerial has slightly faster start-up, and a sweetspot that does more damage and more knockback.
• Back aerial sweetspot does more damage and has stronger knockback, sourspot does slightly more damage with slightly less knockback than the Brawl sweetspot.
• Down aerial has slightly faster start-up and does slightly more damage, though knockback is not compensated on the ground, but its meteor smash capabilities have improved; the attack can also spike if he lands the sweetspot.
• Down aerial's late hitboxes are weaker.

Special Attacks

• A fully charged Eruption now acts much like Roy's Flare Blade: it does 50% damage with OHKO potential, plus a semi-spike trajectory. The attack additionally meteor smashes opponents when connecting with the tip, bolstering its edgeguarding capacities.
• Eruption's super armor is only retained if it is fully charged; otherwise, it has heavy armor.
• Quick Draw has been significantly revamped: it charges much faster, can cancel Quick Draw with a jump if on the ground and can wall jump, it also has a super charged mode where it becomes a flaming dash that covers most of the stage and if hit with perfect timing it does 50% and will always OHKO. In addition, if Ike hits the opponent with the incorrect timing, it does 20% and has higher knockback than the fully charged version.
• If Ike hits the opponent with the perfectly timed super charged Quick Draw, he will perform his down taunt and say "You're through" instead of the regular "Hmph."
• Quick Draw no longer auto-attacks by default. It now requires the press of the regular or special attack during the dash, otherwise Ike will harmlessly pass through opponents.
• Quick Draw can no longer be held indefinitely, and the fully charged attack deals less damage and knockback. It also no longer stops at edges, which when combined with the quicker charge and super charge, makes it very easy to accidentally self-destruct.
• The gaps in the hitbox of Aether have been filled, and the initial hitbox is given extremely high set knockback similar to Roy's Blazer, allowing Aether to flow and combo better than before and can potentially OHKO lighter characters if only the initial hit connects. The move's ledge grab limit has been removed. In addition, the amount of horizontal distance Ike can travel with Aether has been increased, improving his recovery.
• Aether no longer has armor.
• Counter has faster start-up and a slightly higher multiplier.
• Eruption's and Great Aether's flame color was changed from red to blue.

Revisions

v2.1

• Ike cannot grab the ledge backwards after a certain point during Aether
• Ike's Quick Draw OHKO now cannot cause a permanent color tint

v2.5

• Ike's run is slightly slower but the start of his dash is significantly faster, improving quick pivots and his jump cancel slide
• Ike's dash to run transition is slightly faster
• Ike's weight is put back to vBrawl weight (a slight decrease in weight)
• Ike's tip hitboxes on Up Tilt, Down Tilt, Neutral Air, and Up Air send more horizontally like other tips do rather than more vertically
• Ike's Neutral/Forward/Back/Up/Down Air body hitboxes adjusted to be smaller in size like his ground attacks to aid in landing the hilt sweetspot
• Ike's Dash Attack hitbox priority adjusted; tip no longer hits so often over the others
• Ike's Dash Attack animation adjusted to have the forward movement at more appropriate parts, and also does not raise the sword quite as high. Now capable of Boost Up Smashing and Boost Turn Grabbing
• Ike's Dash Attack weak hit duration decreased slightly
• Ike's Up Tilt has slightly less base knockback and more growth, strong hit reaches higher, and weak hit duration reduced
• Ike's Down Tilt hits slightly faster, and the hilt sweetspot meteors while the rest of the attack sends upward
• Ike's Forward Air hit duration adjusted, average damage slightly decreased, base knockback decreased, and growth increased significantly emphasizing the sweetspot
• Ike's Down Air spike on the hilt sweetspot sends slightly outward like other spikes do to be outside meteor trajectory range
• Quick Draw is jump cancelable on the 3rd frame of the dash, and uncharged covers less distance
• Ike's Up Air early hitboxes slightly decreased in base knockback
• Ike's Standing Grab range reduced slightly
• Ike's non-fully charged Eruption hitboxes and graphical effects reduced in size a bit, armor duration adjusted, and super armor changed to knockback-based armor; it can be broken through at KOing %.
• Quick Draw wall jump can only be performed twice per airtime
• Aether sword throw and glow animation cleaned up to match each other better, Ike's movement during the jump smoothed out, and aerial Up B decreased in height a bit
• Ike's Forward Smash hitboxes begin slightly later in the animation, and base knockback decreased a bit
• Ike's Jab 3 base knockback decreased a bit
• Ike's non-tip hitboxes are now slightly more damaging and stronger at the hilt, while being slightly less so on the others
• Ike's Jab 3, Up Tilt, Forward/Up/Down Smash, and Down Air weak hit now follow the tip/middle/hilt system for damage
• Ike's Forward Tilt has slightly less base knockback and more growth, and IASA is slightly later
• Ike's Down Smash base knockback is slightly lower on 1st hit and higher on the 2nd
• Ike's Neutral Air late hit is weaker, sends at a more horizontal angle, and has a slightly shorter hit duration
• Ike's Up Air hitbox priority adjusted to normal tip/middle/hilt spacing
• Ike's Forward Throw animation touched up a bit to look better, and has less base knockback and more growth
• Ike's Back Throw releases slightly faster, slightly decreased in base knockback, and trajectory is a bit higher
• Ike's Up Throw endlag slightly increased, and knockback growth increased
• Ike's Down Throw base knockback slightly decreased, and growth greatly increased
• Ike's Up B hitboxes reworked with new knockback stacking mechanics, and armor duration reduced to be during the time he is crouching before jumping
• Eruption graphical effects are now blue

v2.6

• New faster neutral air
• D-tilt sped up
• Aether covers more horizontal distance

v2.6b

• The third hit of jab comes out slightly faster.
• Down tilt comes out slightly faster, can be interrupted sooner, and its knockback, damage, hitbox placement, and angle adjusted to be a more useful move.
• Both hits of down smash have stronger knockback.
• Neutral air is significantly faster and has more base knockback.
• Forward air base knockback slightly increased.
• Standing grab box and animation adjusted to be slightly more outward.
• Up Throw's knockback growth reverted to 2.1.
• Eruption supercharged hitboxes and armor end sooner.
• Aether air mobility starts sooner, allowing more overall horizontal distance. It's height has also been slightly adjusted between what 2.5 and 2.1 were.
• Aerial Quick Draw speed charge gain is slightly less per frame.

v3.0

• Down tilt interrupts slightly later.
• Counter can no longer be jump-canceled if Ike counters an attack.

v3.5

• Ledge grab limit for Aether removed.
• Hitbox added to down taunt and it spikes if used on recovering opponent or on the edge. Initial hitbox deals 9% damage while lingering does 7%.
• Quick Draw can only wall jump 1 time, from 2.
• Hitbox size for Quick Draw has been decreased.
• Quick Draw interruptibility increased from 27 to 32.
• Hitbox size for several of Ike's sword attacks have been decreased.
• Can no longer auto attack by holding attack button during Quick Draw.
• Aerial Quick Draw attack now causes helplessness on hit.

v3.6

• Quick Draw max charge frame count doubled.
• Quick Draw interruptibility increased from 32 to 35.
• Aether no longer has light armor.
• Quick Draw's base knockback increased, but less knockback growth.
• Eruption now sends at a 359 angle when fully-charged, so opponents don't slide across the stage.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	Ike throws out his left fist, kicks his right foot forward, then swings Ragnell down.
			3%
			7% (blade mid), 5% (blade hilt), 5% (blade tip)
Forward tilt			15% (blade mid), 13% (blade hilt), 11% (blade tip)	Leans forward and swings Ragnell horizontally forward. Has decent range, but with slight ending lag. This move can be angled up or down.
Up tilt			Clean: 14% (blade mid), 12% (blade hilt), 10% (blade tip) Late: 11% (blade mid), 10% (blade hilt), 8% (blade tip)	Ike holds Ragnell out parallel to the ground and raises it to above his head in a bunny hop motion. A decent move to use as a punish to juggles at low percents and as a KO move at higher percentages. Ike's right arm is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down tilt			14% (blade mid), 12% (blade hilt), 10% (blade tip)	Ike crouches and swings Ragnell horizontally across the ground. Can be interrupted fairly early and does good knockback at low-mid percentages. Connecting at the middle of Ike's sword meteor smashes opponents.
Dash attack			Clean: 14% (blade mid), 12% (blade hilt), 10% (blade tip) Late: 10% (blade mid), 9% (blade hilt), 7% (blade tip)	Ike takes a step forward and swings Ragnell upward.
Forward smash			25% (blade mid), 22% (blade hilt), 18% (blade tip)	Ike slowly heaves Ragnell over his head before striking with a heavy downwards slash.
Up smash			22% (blade mid), 19% (blade hilt), 16% (blade tip)	Ike holds Ragnell on his left hand before swinging it 180° over himself. Sends the opponent upward.
Down smash			16% (blade mid), 14% (blade hilt), 11% (blade tip)	Ike swings Ragnell forward on the ground, launching opponents behind him. If the attack button is pressed again, he will follow up with a back hit. Both hits can connect into each other at low percents.
			15% (blade mid), 13% (blade hilt), 11% (blade tip)
Neutral aerial			Clean: 14% (blade mid), 12% (blade hilt), 10% (blade tip) Late: 11% (blade mid), 10% (blade hilt), 8% (blade tip)	Ike swings Ragnell in an arc below his body. The attack is shorter ranged than most of his aerials, but covers almost 360°. Sends opponents at an angle depending on Ragnell's position.
Forward aerial			16% (blade close), 13% (blade mid & body), 10% (blade tip)	A powerful, overhead swing downwards. Relatively fast and has high KO power, but has some startup, like most of Ike's aerials,
Back aerial			17% (blade mid), 15% (blade hilt), 12% (blade tip)	Ike quickly swings Ragnell behind him with great reach. Works like most other back aerials, and is Ike's fastest aerial.
Up aerial			Clean: 15% (blade mid), 13% (blade hilt), 11% (blade tip) Late: 17% (blade mid), 15% (blade hilt), 12% (blade tip)	Ike slowly twirls Ragnell in a helicopter motion above his head. Useful for netting some vertical KOs.
Down aerial			Clean: 17% (blade mid), 14% (blade hilt), 12% (blade tip) Late: 10% (blade mid), 9% (blade hilt), 7% (blade tip)	Ike performs a downward slash between his legs. Connecting with the center of the blade spikes opponents while connecting elsewhere (hilt and tip) is a meteor smash, provided all hits are clean.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Ike headbutts the opponent.
Forward throw			2% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Ike punts the enemy forward by kicking them. A good throw for starting combos.
Back throw			2% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Ike throws the enemy behind him before quickly kicking them away.
Up throw			2% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Ike plants Ragnell into the ground and uppercuts the enemy into the air. This throw can chain grab some fastfallers at low percents, but as it has very high knockback scaling, being virtually useless at mid-percents.
Down throw			2% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Ike throws the opponent on the ground and stomps on them.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Gets up and slash both sides of himself.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Gets up while doing a rising spin slash.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Does circular swing while getting up.
Edge attack (fast)			8%	Ike quickly leaps up and does an upward swing with Ragnell.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Ike slowly gets up and does a horizontal slash with Ragnell.
Neutral special		Eruption	10-38%, 50% (fully charged)	Ike holds Ragnell above his head before slamming it into the ground, creating a blue explosion. The damage of the explosion increases the longer the special button is held. At full charge, Ike produces a massive explosion that deals high damage and knockback, a one-hit KO on any character, but receives 10% recoil damage. If uncharged, there is an extremely small hitbox at the tip of the sword that can meteor smash opponents. Aesthetically, the move involves blue fire, which technically uses the aura effect as opposed to the flame effect. While this is mostly a purely cosmetic change to match Ike's origins more (as only Lucario gains any effect from aura attacks), it does mean it no longer interacts with Flame stickers, frozen characters, Blast Boxes, or Red Pikmin.
Side special		Quick Draw	Normal: 7-12% (fully charged) Overcharged: 4% (flames), 23% (sword), 50% (OHKO)	Ike readies himself into a stance and lunges forward when the special button gets released while charging. When the attack button is pressed while Ike is dashing, he will perform a horizontal slash. Charging this move increases the power and the distance Ike travels forward. The maximum charge can be heard with a ring, but it can also be overcharged. Overcharging will make Ike lunge forward, creating a trail of fire that damages anyone who come in Ike's path. If the attack button is pressed the moment Ike come in contact with an enemy, he will perform a powerful sword strike that gives the enemy massive freeze frames until Ike plants his sword on the ground and says "You're through!", which then launches the enemy upwards, being a one-hit KO. Ike can simply jump out of the dash by pressing the jump button, but only works if he is on the ground or if he goes off a ledge—in which then he will perform a midair jump. Using the move while airborne will cause Ike to become helpless.
Up special		Aether	6% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-6), 3% (hit 7), 6% (hit 8)	Ike throws Ragnell upward, launching nearby fighters in the air. Ragnell spins in place, dealing several hits. Then, Ike jumps up and grabs Ragnell, followed by a downward slam. Any opponents caught at the start will be knocked up and any opponents caught during the downward slam will be meteor smashed.
Down special		Counter	1.3x damage of countered move (min 10%)	Ike holds up Ragnell in a reverse gripped parry position. If Ike is hit shortly after the move begins, he strikes back with his own swing.
Final Smash		Great Aether	5% (hit 1), 3% (hits 2-8), 2% (hits 9-10), 3% (hits 11-14), 5% (hits 15-16), 12% (hit 17)	Ike performs a fiery upward slash with Ragnell. If he catches anyone, Ike throws Ragnell into the air along with the opponent, jumps after them, catches Ragnell, and unleashes a devastating combo of slashes and kicks before driving them down to the ground. The impact creates a massive explosion which launches the victims and any bystanders towards the upper blast line.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  Ally - The second best Ike player. Placed 7th at Apex 2014, 1st at Shots Fired, and 5th at Shots Fired 2. Ranked 37th on the PMRank 2016.
•  BB - Ranked 2nd on the Colorado Project M Power Rankings.
•  Blitz - Ranked 1st on the Ontario Project M Power Rankings. Placed 7th at Frozen Phoenix 2017.
•  DJ Nintendo - Placed 13th at CEO 2014, 13th at Zenith 2013, and 13th at The Flex Zone.
•  Envy - The best Ike player in the world; placed 2nd at We Tech Those 2; ranked 14th on PMRank 2016.
•  JuSt - Ranked 1st on the Colorado Project M Power Rankings. Placed 4th at Nemesis.
•  Lordy-Placed 9th at Smash 'N' Splash 2. Ranked 5th on the Michigan Project M Power Rankings.
•  Metroid - Placed 1st at The Big House 2, double eliminating Mango, and placed 9th at Smash 'N' Splash 3 over 4 years later. Is still a honorable mention on the Illinois Project M Power Rankings due to relative inactivity.
•  Sylarius - Placed 5th at Frozen Phoenix 2017. Ranked 0th on the Alberta Project M Power Rankings.

Alternate costumes

Ike received a set of alternate costumes in 3.5. They are based on the armor worn by Hector from Fire Emblem.

Ike's alternate costumes in PM

The recolors of the Hector costume reference other characters in the Fire Emblem games who, like Hector, are heavily armored. Each of these characters is related to either Ike or Hector.

• The red costume is based on Zelgius, Ike's rival in his games.
• The green costume is loosely based on Uther, Hector's elder brother.
• The black costume is based on the Black Knight, the sinister alter ego of Zelgius.

In all of its color schemes, the Hector costume also changes Ike's sword, Ragnell, into its counterpart Alondite. In both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, Alondite is the weapon of choice of Zelgius/the Black Knight.

Gallery

• 

  Several of Ike's recolors, based off of Hector

Trivia

• Alongside Wolf and Captain Falcon, Ike is one of the three characters whose down aerial is able to both meteor smash and spike.