Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Roy (SSBU): Difference between revisions

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*Like in ''Smash 4'', Roy will revert to {{SSBU|Marth}}'s idle animation while holding a small throwable [[item]], although now he also transitions to his ''Smash 4'''s crouching animation.
*Like in ''Smash 4'', Roy will revert to {{SSBU|Marth}}'s idle animation while holding a small throwable [[item]], although now he also transitions to his ''Smash 4'''s crouching animation.
*In Roy's character showcase video, he is seen with a new dashing animation, but in the final build of the game, he reuses his old dashing animation from ''[[Smash 4]]''.
*In Roy's character showcase video, he is seen with a new dashing animation, but in the final build of the game, he reuses his old dashing animation from ''[[Smash 4]]''.
*Whenever Roy frees a spirit from its puppet fighter after winning a spirit battle on the [[Spirit Board]] or fires a small shooting item such as a [[Ray Gun]] from the ground, his sheath appears with his sword inside on the left side oh his belt. This is due to a positioning error when copying Marth's animation to Roy.
*Whenever Roy frees a spirit from its puppet fighter after winning a spirit battle on the [[Spirit Board]] or fires a small shooting item such as a [[Ray Gun]] from the ground, his sheath appears with his sword inside on the left side of his belt. This is due to a positioning error when copying Marth's animation to Roy.
**{{SSBU|Marth}}, {{SSBU|Lucina}}, and {{SSBU|Chrom}} also share this oddity, although their sheaths won't disappear due to already being visible in battle.
**{{SSBU|Marth}}, {{SSBU|Lucina}}, and {{SSBU|Chrom}} also share this oddity, although their sheaths won't disappear due to already being visible in battle.
*Roy is the only male character unlocked in the Final Battle realm in World of Light.
*Roy is the only male character unlocked in the Final Battle realm in World of Light.

Revision as of 14:22, July 27, 2019

This article is about Roy's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Roy.
For information on the playable Koopaling, see Bowser Jr. (SSBU).
Roy
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Roy SSBU.png
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Other playable appearances in Melee
in SSB4

Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Critical Hit
Roy (SSBU)
Get up close and personal for major damage! Unlike Marth, Roy's attacks are more powerful the closer you get to the base of his blade. For his Final Smash, his sword bursts into flame and sends anyone caught in the blast flying.
Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Roy (ロイ, Roy) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Roy is classified as fighter #25.

This is the first time in the Super Smash Bros. series where Roy is not left voiced in Japanese in all regions. Jun Fukuyama's portrayal of Roy from Smash 4 was repurposed for the Japanese version of Ultimate. In international releases, Roy is now voiced by Ray Chase, who reprises his role from Fire Emblem Heroes.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

With the exception of the third method, Roy must then be defeated on Castle Siege.

Attributes

Roy is a middleweight swordfighter, although his main attributes deviate heavily from other fellow middleweights; he boasts excellent mobility with very fast dashing, air, and falling speeds, but has an only slightly above-average walking speed and a fairly slow air acceleration. Roy has an attribute unique to him that other swordfighters do not have which is his inverse tipper; contrary to Marth specifically, his Binding Blade does the most damage if attacking near the sword's hilt, although it does weak damage and knockback when otherwise tippered. While this gives Roy effectively bigger sweetspots than those who rely on a tipper to deal maximum damage, it weakens his spacing abilities despite being a swordfighter.

Roy's greatest strength is his KO potential, which is very high when compared to other middleweights, and can even be comparable to the power of some of the harder-hitting heavyweight fighters in the roster, such as Bowser and Incineroar. In conjunction with his overall fast frame data for a swordfighter, he can inflict large amounts of damage in a short amount of time. Neutral attack can catch aggressive approaches due to its speed and deceptively large hitbox, and can efficiently set up into his more powerful normal attacks. His forward tilt, up tilt, and forward smash are all very fast startup-wise, with each being among the strongest attacks of their kind; notably, forward smash can KO under 50% with rage near the ledge, even if uncharged. However, they each have noticeable ending lag. His up smash is an effective anti-air attack due to its quick startup, along with his sword arm gaining intangibility throughout its rather long duration.

Roy's KO potential also extends to his air game, with quick, powerful and damaging aerials; his neutral aerial is a useful combo starter, especially when using the first hit by itself on landing, which allows him to add extra damage to his combos and even open up KO setups at high percentages. His forward aerial autocancels in a short hop and is overall very quick, allowing him to even perform a wall of pain. At high percentages, it also boasts KO potential. Back aerial has the rare and deceptive quality of turning Roy around, as well as being rather quick despite its power, KOing at around 130% from center-stage. Up aerial is Roy's fastest aerial startup-wise, and is a reliable juggling move due to its large hitbox and average knockback, and can even KO by itself at high percentages. Lastly, down aerial is a strong meteor smash when sweetspotted and boasts decent KO potential when sweetspotted on-stage.

Roy's special moveset maintains his sheer speed and KO power; Flare Blade is known for being one of the strongest single-hitting attacks in the game, with the capability to one-hit KO any fighter in the game when fully charged. Combined with its ability to be reversed and its extremely high knockback, it adds up to be a very potent edgeguarding tool, and has deceptively low ending lag despite its power to avoid punishment. Double-Edge Dance is a quick and efficient damage-racking series of high-speed sword slashes, along with being a reliable finisher at higher percentages if sweetspotted; it is fast enough for each hit to connect reliably and catch spotdodges. His main recovery move, Blazer, is an excellent out of shield option, due to gaining super armor on startup and having decent knockback growth when grounded. Lastly, his Counter may have a short window of active frames compared to other counterattacks, but it makes up for being one of the strongest counters in the game with a large 1.35x damage multiplier.

Despite Roy's numerous strengths, he has noticeable weaknesses. His biggest flaw stems from his own inverse tipper attribute; by relying on close-quarters attacks to deal damage, it gives him below-average effective reach compared to other swordfighters due to the sword's tip dealing weak knockback and damage. Roy thus cannot rely on a spacing playstyle in spite of his status as a swordwielder, and his sourspotted attacks are fairly unsafe on shield, forcing him to get dangerously close to the opponent in order for his attacks to be safe against shields. This is further worsened by many of his attacks having high ending lag, which makes Roy very punishable if his attacks are simply thrown out without caution. In all, he cannot perform optimally when spacing with the tip of his sword, but cannot afford to make mistakes when at close range without running the risk of massive punishment.

Lastly, Roy's offstage endurance is poor. His fast falling speed makes him fairly susceptible to combos, and as none of his moves are generally reliable enough to consistently break combos, many characters with reliable combo moves can rack up large amounts of damage and easily force him off-stage. To add to this issue, Roy's only recovery move, Blazer, is fairly ineffective despite his impressive mobility: although it offers excellent protection, can be angled, and covers a decent amount of horizontal distance, it covers little vertical distance, does not sweetspot ledges until the latter half of its duration, lacks the grounded version's super armor, and is predictable, leaving him prone to gimping, especially against characters with a reliable gimping projectile or counter. When coupled with his fast falling speed, he is highly susceptible to meteor smashes, and even a sufficiently strong semi-spike can launch him too far away to recover.

Overall, Roy is an unconventional swordfighter who falls under the bait-and-punish and rushdown archetypes; the objective of his playstyle is to overwhelm his enemy by closing the distance between them quickly, then to deal large amounts of damage with fast attacks without leaving Roy himself open to punishment while remaining in close-range.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Roy was infamous for being the lowest-ranked DLC character in Smash 4, due to his poor, committal approach, unsafe aerials, along with his own inverse attribute hindering his spacing abilities, which has collectively resulted in his lower-mid tier placement in said game and having very little tournament representation, similarly to his appearance in Melee. As a result, Roy has been significantly buffed in his transition to Ultimate.

Roy's most significant improvements are indirect, being from the general universal changes to Ultimate, such as the ability to dash cancel into any grounded move and decreased landing lag on his aerials, which greatly improve his approach, air game, and rushdown ability. His buffed speed and the generally faster pace of Ultimate also benefit Roy's core strategy of closing the distance on his opponents and landing hits with the Binding Blade's powerful sweetspots. This helps to further counterbalance his main weakness of needing to approach at dangerously close ranges in order to deal optimal damage and knockback, a flaw not present in other swordfighters and had plagued him in previous games.

Some of Roy's useful buffs were also direct, with buffs to moves like up air and Double-Edge Dance having improved KO potential and increasing his options at higher percentages. Furthermore, KO confirms with his jab and the first hit of neutral aerial have become much more consistent and reliable.

However, Roy also received nerfs during the transition. Double jump now covers less distance, and his forward and down throws have less followups and combo potential due to the former's increased ending lag and the latter's increased knockback. Blazer also needs to travel half its maximum distance before it can sweetspot ledges and also deals less knockback, reducing its use as a KO option. Finally, Roy still has some of his flaws from past games, such as mediocre offstage survivability, a vulnerability to combos, no projectiles or effective ways to deal with them, and an ineffective spacing game.

Overall, Roy is considered to be more viable and much less polarizing than he was in any of his previous playable appearances, due to him now having enough raw power, range, and speed to play aggressively up close. Because of these changes, he commands a sizable playerbase and strong tournament results due to smashers like Goblin, Leffen and SparK achieving success with the character.

Aesthetics

  • Change As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Roy's model features a more subdued color scheme.
  • Change Roy has a new crouching animation, although he shifts to the previous animation when holding a small item.
  • Change Roy's sweetspotted sword attacks now adopt the sound effects from Ike's sword, Ragnell.
  • Change Roy's side taunt has been dubbed in English and now has him saying "I won't lose!"
  • Change All of Roy's victory animations have been slightly altered with new camera angles. In addition, all of his victory lines have been dubbed in English, "That was a fierce battle!", "Failure is not an option!", and "Now the true battle begins!" respectively.
  • Change The Binding Blade and its sheath are no longer present in Roy's Defeated/No Contest animations.
  • Change Roy's sword was previously called the "Sword of Seals" in the trophy descriptions of Melee and Smash 4, but Palutena's Guidance now refers to the weapon as the Binding Blade.
  • Change In the Japanese language, Roy's jumping voice clip has been sped up.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Roy’s jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Roy walks faster (1.15 → 1.208), now being slightly faster than he was in Melee.
  • Buff Roy runs faster (1.95 → 2.145).
    • Buff Roy's initial dash is significantly faster (1.4 → 2.2).
  • Buff Roy's traction is higher (0.06 → 0.107).
  • Nerf Roy's fast falling speed is very slightly slower (2.9 → 2.88).
  • Buff Roy's air speed has been increased (1.24 → 1.302).
  • Nerf Roy's double jump covers less distance.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Jab's sweetspot has altered knockback (40 base/60 scaling → 55/40) and has a higher angle (62° → 69°) greatly improving its combo potential.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt's sweetspot has more knockback scaling (100 → 105).
    • Nerf Forward tilt has slightly more ending lag (FAF 32 → 34).
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack has less endlag (FAF 50 → 46).
    • Buff Dash attack's sweetspot has slightly more knockback scaling (82 → 85).
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff Forward smash has increased vertical range and slightly reduced startup (frame 14 → 13).
    • Nerf Forward smash's strongest hit has had its hitbox reduced (4.2u → 3.3u), with the middle hit now having the largest hitbox instead (3.7u → 4.0u).
    • Change Forward smash's sweetspot and middle hit have different knockback values (70 base/70 scaling → 60 base/75 scaling).

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (11 frames → 9 (neutral), 13 → 8 (forward), 16 → 10 (back), 14 → 8 (up), 23 → 14 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial has increased base knockback on the first hit (30 → 32), and increased knockback scaling on the second hit (100 → 105/105/100).
    • Change The second hit uses weight-independent knockback, causing it to deal less knockback to lighter targets and more knockback to heavier ones. This worsens the move's KO potential but allows it to combo for longer in the former case, and vice versa in the latter case.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial's auto-cancel window has been restored, allowing it to auto-cancel within a short hop.
    • Buff Forward aerial sends at a different angle (361° → 42°) and its sweetspot has increased knockback scaling (80 → 83), making the move more potent at edgeguarding and killing.
    • Buff Its sweetspot hitboxes are larger (4.2u/3.5u/3.5u → 4.8u/4.2u/3.5u).
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial's sweetspot deals more knockback (30 base/100 scaling → 35/107).
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff Up aerial has increased knockback scaling (80/80/80/70 → 105/105/105/70), making it more potent for juggles and now being able to KO at very high percentages.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial's sweetspots have larger hitboxes (3.6u/3.6u → 4.4u/4.4u).
    • Buff It auto-cancels earlier (frame 55 → 52).
    • Change It has gained a flame effect.

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Nerf All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 37 (standing), 37 → 45 (dash), 35 → 40 (pivot)).
      • Nerf Dash and pivot grabs have more startup (frame 8 → 10 (dash), 9 → 11 (pivot)).
  • Forward throw:
    • Change Roy has a new forward throw: an elbow strike to the opponent's chest, just like Marth's.
    • Nerf It has increased ending lag, removing many of its follow-ups.
  • Down throw:
    • Nerf Down throw has increased knockback scaling (60 → 90), worsening its combo potential.

Special moves

  • Flare Blade:
    • Buff Flare Blade has slightly less startup (frame 23 → 21), and like with most non-storable charge moves, Roy can now reverse the move while charging, giving him a better edge-guarding tool and the ability to catch opponents that move behind him while charging.
      • Nerf However, its total duration remains unchanged, giving it more ending lag.
    • Change Flare Blade charging sound no longer alters the pitch while being in the form of a Super Mushroom or Poison Mushroom.
    • Change Fully charged Flare Blade now triggers a Special Zoom.
  • Double-Edge Dance:
    • Buff As with Marth and Lucina's Dancing Blade, Double-Edge Dance transitions significantly faster into each hit. It can also now be buffered and is much harder to escape from.
    • Buff Double-Edge Dance's last forward hit has significantly larger hitboxes (5.175u/4.6u/4.025u → 7.0u/8.0u/7.0u).
    • Buff Double-Edge Dance's last forward hit has significantly increased knockback (60 base/130 scaling → 80/123), which when combined with the move's other changes, now make it a viable KO option.
    • Nerf Double-Edge Dance's first hit has increased startup (frame 6 → 9).
    • Change Roy uses a single voice clip when performing down-inputted fourth swing rather than three. The voice clip itself is the same one used whenever he performs his down aerial.
  • Blazer :
    • Nerf Blazer requires a longer travel distance before being able to sweetspot a ledge, no longer doing so until around half its travel distance.
    • Nerf Blazer deals significantly less knockback on the final hit (40 base/130 scaling → 75/93), weakening its viability as a KO option.
  • Counter:
    • Buff Counter has more active frames (frames 8-27 → 8-29).
    • Buff Counter has increased knockback (35 base/100/70 scaling → 60/90).
    • Change Along with an attack grunt, two of Roy's lines during a successful counterattack are dubbed, with him saying either "Now!" or "Gotcha!".
    • Change If a powerful enough attack is countered, the noise from Critical Hit will play if the counterattack successfully lands.
  • Critical Hit:
    • Change Critical Hit now causes a flaming background to appear once the main hit is unleashed.
    • Change Roy now removes the Binding Blade from its sheath once he has finished sheathing it in Critical Hit.
      • Buff Critical Hit has significantly lower ending lag due to this animation change.

Update History

Roy has been buffed by the game updates. His down aerial auto-cancels 3 frames earlier, Blazer and up smash connect more reliably, his dash grab has more range, and the projectile nerfs make approaching certain characters easier.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.0.0

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Change Roy's character model has been adjusted.
  • Buff Dash grab has more range.
  • Buff Blazer's hits connect more reliably.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Buff Up smash's hits connect more reliably.

Moveset

  • For simplicity, damage differences between Roy's blade and hilt hitboxes will be written as 7%/12% (blade/hilt).

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Slash 4.8%/7.5% A reversed gripped upward slash. A great combo starter, due to launching at a rather high angle and having low knockback and ending lag. It can easily start combos into a grab, tilts, aerials, Double-Edge Dance or Blazer.
Forward tilt Sharp Edge 12.5% (sweetspot), 9% (near), 8% (far) A reversed gripped downward slash. Very powerful for a tilt considering its speed, being capable of KOing at under 130% from center-stage when sweetspotted.
Up tilt   7%/12% A reversed gripped overhead arcing slash. Like forward tilt, it has remarkably good speed and power when sweetspotted, capable KOing at around 120%. However, the ending lag is quite high, making whiffs punishable.
Down tilt Low Stab 6.5%/11% A kneeling thrust, identical to Marth and Lucina's down tilts, but with lower range. Can set up a tech-chase due to launching at a semi-spike angle.
Dash attack   9%/13% An inward horizontal slash across the ground. Very strong for a dash attack, KOing at around 110% near the ledge. However, it has noticeable startup and ending lag, which makes it very unsafe on shield.
Forward smash   20% (close), 17% (mid), 12% (far) Rotates his body to perform a lunging, two-handed downward slash. Despite coming out rather quickly (frame 13), it has extremely high damage and knockback and is one of the strongest forward smashes in the game when sweetspotted, capable of KOing as low as 40% with max rage. However, it has high ending lag and a short duration.
Up smash Flame Sword 2%/1% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 10% (hit 5) An upward thrust, which ignites the Binding Blade's tip and concludes with a small explosion. A good anti-air attack as Roy's sword arm is granted intangibility throughout the attack, though mediocre for ground combat due to it having small horizontal hitboxes. Has enough power to KO at around 100% uncharged.
Down smash   10%/15% (front hit), 11%/17% (back hit) A kneeling outward slash in front of himself and then behind himself. Roy's fastest smash attack when it comes to startup, but has the highest ending lag of the three. The back hit is stronger than the front hit. The front and back hits KO at around 120% and 100% near the ledge, respectively.
Neutral aerial Double Slash 4%/6% (hit 1), 5%/8.5% (hit 2), An inward slash followed by a spinning, outward slash. Deals decent damage and is a useful combo extender, and is Roy's main aerial approach tool due to its high amount of active frames. The first hit can start guaranteed combos, though it can be difficult to setup due to how fast it ends. Interestingly, it is set apart from identical neutral aerials in that the second hit possesses fixed knockback, KO'ing characters at the exact same percentages regardless of their weight.
Forward aerial   7%/11% A downward slash. Very quick, auto-cancels from a short hop, and has KO potential at high percentages. It can also be used in quick succession due to its low ending lag, making it possible to perform a wall of pain.
Back aerial   9%/12% Rotates his body to perform an upward slash. Interestingly, it turns Roy around completely, similarly to Marth's and Jigglypuff's back aerials. Has great KO potential at high percentages.
Up aerial   6%/9% A backflipping, upward arcing slash. Useful for juggling, and can even KO at very high percentages. The sourspot can lead into other aerials while falling.
Down aerial Half Moon 10%/15% A two-handed, downward slash between his legs, similar to Ike's down aerial. Has the capability to meteor smash when sweetspotted, though it can be very difficult to aim due to its slim hitbox. This move has a flame effect.
Grab   Reaches out with his free hand.
Pummel   2% A knee strike. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw   5% An elbow strike with his sword arm. Has very high base knockback, making it mainly used for sending opponents offstage.
Back throw   5% Tosses the opponent behind himself.
Up throw   6% Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. Roy's only throw with KO potential, starting around 170%.
Down throw Slam 5% A one-armed body slam. Roy's only combo throw and is very reliable due to the amount of followups it can potentially set up into. However, it has very low hitstun.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Gets up while slashing to the left and then to the right.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Gets into a kneeling position and then slices around himself as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Hops briskly to his feet to perform a thrust to the left and a slash to the right.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  8% Performs an outward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special Flare Blade 6%-35%, 36%-60% (fully charged), 10% recoil (fully charged) Rears back and ignites the Binding Blade before performing a lunging, two-handed downward slash that generates an explosion. Roy can turn while charging the move. Functions similarly to Eruption, as it can be charged before unleashing the explosion, with the explosion's size growing as it charges. It has very high knockback growth even while uncharged, and the ability to quickly increase its damage output via charging. When fully charged, it will OHKO every character in the game, with the exceptions of Bowser from center-stage and Shulk in the Shield Monado Art.
Side special Double-Edge Dance Varies A sequence of sword slashes with several variations based on directional input. Four slashes total, with each capable of being altered in direction, allowing for eighteen total possible combinations. Standard strikes are trailed red, high strikes are trailed blue, and low strikes are trailed green. While identical to Marth and Lucina's Dancing Blade, its overall knockback is stronger than Dancing Blade, and the last hit of each variation deals flame damage unlike Dancing Blade because of the Binding Blade igniting. The lower-held green strikes deal a fairly large amount of damage and is useful for damaging shields, the upward blue variant is useful for setting up juggle situations, while the final forward-held hit has surprisingly high KO potential, being stronger than Cloud's Limit Cross Slash and being able to kill opponents near the ledge at lower than 80%
Up special Blazer 4%/5.5% (grounded hit 1), 4.5% (aerial hit 1), 1.1% (grounded hits 2-4), 1% (aerial hits 2-4), 7%/8% (grounded hit 5), 6% (aerial hit 5) A jumping reverse gripped slash, which ignites the Binding Blade. Hits multiple times and can be angled diagonally, though this causes the slash to cover less vertical distance. The grounded version deals more knockback, and has brief super armor before Roy leaves the ground. Roy cannot sweetspot ledges with the move unless he has traveled half of Blazer's maximum distance.
Down special Counter 1.35× (minimum 9%) Parries and then counterattacks against any incoming attacks with an outward slash that ignites the Binding Blade. It has a 1.35× damage multiplier, the third highest of any counterattack in the game by default, with Counter Throw and Gut Check tied for second (1.5×), Tetrakarn in first (1.6×), and Vision surpassing it while the Buster Monado Art is active.
Final Smash Critical Hit 1% (hits 1-10), 35% (hit 11) Swings the Binding Blade in a circular motion, which ignites its blade, before performing a two-handed, downward slash that generates a powerful explosion. Unlike Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit, Roy's is not a one-hit KO unless performed at the ledge. The circular swing can hit up to four times from the front, though it can hit up to ten times if performed on an opponent behind Roy. It is based on the Binding Blade's ranged attack in The Binding Blade.
Double-Edge Dance
Hit Damage Description
First Hit (Neutral) 2%/3% Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback to combo into its other hits. Can jab lock. The tipper lifts opponents off the ground slightly, making it combo into the second hit more consistently.
Second Hit (Up) 2%/3% An upwards lifting slash. Has greater vertical reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground, with the tipper hit pulling them in slightly.
Second Hit (Neutral) 2%/3% Does an inward slash. Has a shorter hitbox than the first hit, which can lead to it sometimes missing if the first hit is landed from too far away. Deals very little knockback in order to connect more consistently. Can jab lock.
Third Hit (Up) 3%/4% Does an upwards slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents slightly up and away, leading into the upward finisher. Combo's well into the last hit forward.
Third Hit (Neutral) 3%/4% Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash.
Third Hit (Down) 3%/4% Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground. Good for not getting punished, as Roy steps back after he swings.
Fourth Hit (Up) 5%/7% Twirls counterclockwise and does an flaming upward slash. Launches opponents up, making it useful for starting juggling strings. Has the least ending lag of the three finishers. Fairly low knockback. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral) 4%/6% Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does powerful flaming vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback. The hilt by itself is incredibly powerful, KOing middleweights at the ledge around 80% (or even lower with rage), but the hit is much weaker when tippered, only beginning to KO around 161%.
Fourth Hit (Down) 2% (hit 1-4), 3/5% (hit 5) Does a flurry of five lower stabs. Deals the most damage of the three finishers, wearing down shields well, and can shield poke low shields. Has the highest ending lag and the lowest knockback of the three finishers.

On-screen appearance

  • Warps onto the stage using warp magic while crouching, with the Binding Blade stuck in the ground when he appears. He then pulls it out with a flourish before assuming his idle stance.

Idle poses

  • Pumps his fist while smiling.
  • Rubs the edge of the Binding Blade's blade.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Triumphantly holds the Binding Blade overhead.
  • Side taunt: Winds back before striking a pose while holding the Binding Blade in a reverse grip while saying "I won't lose!" (僕 は 負けない!, "I won't lose!")
  • Down taunt: Kneels and twirls the Binding Blade behind himself while yelling "Heee-ya!"

Victory poses

  • Swipes his sword once over his shoulder, then swipes it down and behind him while facing left, saying "Now... the true battle begins." (真の戦いは、これからだ, The true fight is after this.) before the camera dramatically zooms in on Roy's face, showing his eyes.
  • Spins the Binding Blade one and a half times and then sheaths it, saying "That was a fierce battle!" (苦しい戦いだった, It was a difficult fight.).
  • Flourishes his sword and poses with it by his side, saying "Failure is not an option!" (守るべきもののために、負けられない!, For those whom I must protect, I will not lose!) before the camera dramatically zooms in on Roy's face.
An orchestral, sped-up cover of several bars of the Fire Emblem Theme, the title theme for the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which has since become the main theme of the series and appeared in every game.

In competitive play

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Spring 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from February 1st, 2019 to July 7th, 2019.

Classic Mode: A Journey of Swords

Roy's congratulations screen.

Roy's opponents consist of entirely sword-fighters, with the exception of the final round.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Lucina Lucina (SSBU), Chrom Chrom (SSBU), and Ike Ike (SSBU) Castle Siege Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure Free-For-All
2 Meta Knight Meta Knight (SSBU) Halberd Meta Knight's Revenge
3 Link Link (SSBU) Skyloft Ballad of the Goddess (Remix)
4 Shulk Shulk (SSBU) Gaur Plain You Will Know Our Names
5 Cloud Cloud (SSBU) Midgar Fight On!
6 Marth Marth (SSBU), Corrin (x2) (Corrin (SSBU)Corrin (SSBU)) Coliseum Winning Road - Roy's Hope
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity)
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)
On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Roy has Winning Road - Roy's Hope accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Roy in World of Light

Although Roy does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Presumably, Roy fell temporarily under Dharkon's control after Galeem was first defeated, the narration of Dharkon's introduction being vague on how many fighters he stole from Galeem.

Roy appears in The Final Battle as one of the last fighters imprisoned by Galeem. He is one of the few obligatory unlocks, defeating him leads to a fight with Master Hand and the subsequent reveal of Bayonetta's location.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
25
Roy SSBU.png
Roy Attack 12,500 Castle Siege (Ω form) Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure

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Spirits

Roy's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Roy in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music
642
Leif Spirit.png
Leif (Fire Emblem) Fire Emblem series Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
9,300 Castle Siege N/A •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random
•The enemy heals over time
Fire Emblem Theme
647 Eliwood Fire Emblem series Roy Roy (SSBU)
Neutral
9,800 Castle Siege (Battlefield form) •Easy to Launch
•Hazard: Lava Floor
•The floor is lava
•All fighters are easy to launch after a little while
•The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
Winning Road - Roy's Hope
649
Raven Spirit.png
Raven Fire Emblem series Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
1,700 Coliseum •Defense ↓
•Attack Power ↑
•All fighters have reduced defense
•All fighters have increased attack power
Attack - Fire Emblem
1,170 Garet Golden Sun series Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
2,500 Temple (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Lava Floor •The floor is lava
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower
Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun
1,204
Sagi.png
Sagi Baten Kaitos series Roy Roy (SSBU)
Corrin Corrin (SSBU)
Neutral
1,600 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Item: Timer •Reinforcements will appear during the battle
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
The Valedictory Elegy
1,230
Welt.png
Welt Soma Bringer Roy Roy (SSBU)
Neutral
3,600 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Defense ↓ •You have reduced defense
•Stamina battle
Attack - Soma Bringer

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
644
Lilina.png
Lilina Fire Emblem series Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
3,500 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) N/A •The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
•The enemy favors side specials
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle
Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure Roy
650
Ninian Spirit.png
Ninian Fire Emblem series Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
Roy Roy (SSBU)
Shield
3,400 Castle Siege (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy can use their Final Smash twice in a row
•The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly
Winning Road - Roy's Hope Eliwood
1,168 Isaac Golden Sun series Mii Swordfighter Mii Swordfighter (SSBU) (Moveset 1222, Isaac Wig, Isaac's Outfit, High Voice Type 1)
Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
Robin Robin (SSBU)
Roy Roy (SSBU)
Grab
8,900 Wuhu Island (Swaying Bridge) Assist Trophy Enemies (Isaac) •The enemy's magic attacks have increased power
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle
Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun Garet

Alternate costumes

Alternate costume (SSBU)
Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU)

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

Trivia

  • Roy's pose in his official artwork resembles his forward tilt.
    • Interestingly, Roy also performs his forward tilt in his splash art for Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • Roy is the first fighter to be introduced as a clone and later have an echo of their own in a later installment.
  • Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter to not be in the same Classic Mode unlock tree as his echo; he is in Mario's character tree, while his echo, Chrom, is in Yoshi's unlock tree.
  • Like in Smash 4, Roy will revert to Marth's idle animation while holding a small throwable item, although now he also transitions to his Smash 4's crouching animation.
  • In Roy's character showcase video, he is seen with a new dashing animation, but in the final build of the game, he reuses his old dashing animation from Smash 4.
  • Whenever Roy frees a spirit from its puppet fighter after winning a spirit battle on the Spirit Board or fires a small shooting item such as a Ray Gun from the ground, his sheath appears with his sword inside on the left side of his belt. This is due to a positioning error when copying Marth's animation to Roy.
    • Marth, Lucina, and Chrom also share this oddity, although their sheaths won't disappear due to already being visible in battle.
  • Roy is the only male character unlocked in the Final Battle realm in World of Light.
    • Additionally, since Roy is found in the Final Battle, he is the only character with an Echo Fighter based off of them who cannot be found in the Light Realm, as Samus, Peach, Marth, Pit, Ryu, and Simon can all be found in it, while all Echo Fighters (except Dark Samus) can be found in the Dark Realm.
      • This also means that Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter that can be unlocked in World of Light first, with Chrom being found in the Sacred Land sub-world of the Dark Realm.
  • Strangely enough, Roy's neutral aerial uses weight-independent knockback on its second hit, causing it to KO all characters at the same percentage regardless of their weight. This is likely an oversight, as the neutral aerials of Marth, Lucina, and his Echo Fighter Chrom have weight-independent knockback on the first hit instead to link more consistently into the second hit, which deals normal knockback affected by weight.
  • Echo fighters notwithstanding, Roy is erroneously misplaced on the back of the physical case of Ultimate, where every character is meant to be displayed in order of their debut appearance to the series. This also affects Ike, Toon Link, Inkling, Ridley, Palutena, Corrin and Cloud.
    • In Roy's case, he is positioned just before Diddy Kong.
    • Thusly, Roy is the only character with an echo fighter to not be placed next to them.
  • In terms of unlock order through VS. matches, Roy is the last character with an Echo Fighter who is encountered, and he is notably encountered after other Echo Fighters. Roy is the 29th character to be encountered through VS. Matches, while Echo Fighters Lucina and Daisy are the 22nd and 28th characters respectively to be encountered.
    • Coincidentally, his Echo Fighter, Chrom, is also the last Echo Fighter to be encountered through VS. Matches.
  • Strangely, Roy does not fight Ganon at the end of his Classic Route despite wielding two swords.