Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Up special

Overview

Captain Falcon's Falcon Dive is his up special in Melee. This move allows Captain Falcon to ascend and, upon contact with an enemy, grab onto them and make them explode. Unlike most other up specials, the trajectory of Falcon Dive is greatly influenced by the direction held on the control stick, but the initial trajectory of the move will always be diagonally up giving it fewer options than some other up specials from other characters (such as Pikachu, Fox, and Falco). It is also relatively easy to reverse, requiring input in the opposite direction on the control stick by a late frame 13. However, due to its slow and predictable trajectory, lack of disjointed hitboxes (with the exception of the grab box on frame 13), and considerably long lag it is not regarded as a great recovery move in competitive despite having decent recovery range. Regardless, Falcon Dive can still be used effectively to recover in many situations.

Falcon Dive has some unique properties that make it significantly different from other characters' up specials. First of all, the move produces no hitboxes, but rather a grab in front of him. When it connects, Falcon will latch on to the opponent initially, and then explode the opponent for considerable damage. Falcon Dive allows Falcon to grab the ledge when facing the opposite direction much easier than other characters, improving his recovery over other characters in certain situations, such as recovery from underneath Battlefield. Like most other up specials, it is rarely used in competitive for anything other than a recovery option, although it can be a viable out-of-shield option because it is just as fast as some of his other out-of-shield options. However, when used on an opponent at lower percents, the ending lag from the move may exceed the knockback and hitstun of the opponent, making it very easily punishable and therefore rarely more viable than other attacks. Lastly, Falcon Dive has a peculiarly large grab on frame 13, the initial frame the move is active. Having huge range on this particular frame is partially why the move is any bit viable out-of-shield, as this grab exceeds the range of many of his other moves horizontally. This incredibly disjointed grab can lead to some unexpected interactions, especially when used against opposing attacks that may extend a character's hurtbox, such as Marth's extended arm during his forward smash. If the move connects on this frame, it can appear that Falcon teleports to the character he grabs from an abnormally large distance.

Hitboxes, Grabboxes and throw

Early Grabboxes

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
0	0	1%	0		0	100	0	2.7342	0	0.0	8.5932	5.999616						Kick
1	0	1%	0		0	100	0	4.2966	top	0.0	8.5932	13.331178						Kick

Late Grabbox

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
0	0	1%	0		0	100	0	2.7342	0	0.0	8.5932	5.999616						Kick

Latch

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
0	0	5%	0		0	0	0	7.812	0	0.0	0.0	11.3274						Kick

Throw

	Damage	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Effect
Throw	12%		40	82	0
Release	8%		100	10	0

Timing

Rising

Early grabboxes	13
Late grabbox	14-33
Animation length	64

Throw

Hitbox	2-3
Throw release	17
Animation length	76

Landing lag

Animation length	30

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Grab

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Grab

Throw point

Captain Falcon's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · 3 · inf) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special