Captain Falcon (SSBM)

Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	F-Zero
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	B (8) (North America) C (7) (Europe)

Announced at E3 2001, Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Captain Falcon), shortened as C. Falcon on the victory screen and character select screen is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Ryō Horikawa reprises his role as Captain Falcon in Melee, albeit via recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. 64, but slightly more low pitched.

Captain Falcon currently ranks 8th out of 26 on the Melee tier list, in the B tier. This is considered to be a minor drop compared to his previous placement in Smash 64, where he was ranked 3rd out of 12. One of Captain Falcon's primary strengths is his incredibly strong KO power. His knee smash is known as one of the best aerial attacks in all of Melee, due to its extremely high horizontal knockback. Captain Falcon has multiple setups and kill confirms that can all lead to a knee, which makes him the only top tier capable of reliably KOing all characters at or below 100 percent from center stage. He also has strong mobility, with the fastest dashing speed in the game, and a fast falling speed and air speed, giving him one of the best dashdances and SHFFLs in the game. His fast falling speed and heavyweight status give him great survivability, and he is especially difficult to KO vertically. Falcon possesses a strong combo game and tech-chasing abilities, with his up throw, down throw, neutral aerial, up aerial, down aerial, and Raptor Boost all acting as great combo starters, which can chain into each other or end in a knee.

Captain Falcon's primary weakness, however, is his slow and predictable recovery. His main recovery move, Falcon Dive, travels very slowly while providing almost no protection (only possessing a small grab hitbox in front of him), while also having high landing lag after touching the stage. This makes his recovery extremely easy to edgeguard or edgehog, and if Falcon chooses to land on the stage, he can be freely punished upon landing, resulting in him repeatedly being knocked off the stage. As such, getting sent far off the level almost always results in a stock loss against skilled players. Falcon also has limited reach, as he lacks a projectile, has a short grab range and very few disjointed hitboxes. His tilt and smash attacks, in general, are slow and unsafe on block, making him reliant on SHFFL'ed aerials to initiate openings. This makes Falcon's approach options rather predictable, and combined with his lack of reach, limits his effectiveness in the neutral game, especially against characters like Fox, who can overwhelm him with fast attacks. Falcon is also susceptible to chain grabs and combos due to his heavy weight and high falling speed, most notably against Falco, his most difficult matchup, who can combo him extensively with shine and down aerial. Overall, Captain Falcon has strong matchups against most of the cast, but struggles against many characters higher on the tier list.

Attributes

Captain Falcon is arguably the fastest character in the game. He has the single fastest dash speed, the second fastest falling speed (behind Falco), and one of the fastest lateral air speeds in the game. These traits, coupled with his high traction, good jumping prowess, the ability to wall jump, and the longest dash dance (because of his many dash initiation frames) give Captain Falcon great approach options, a short but quick wavedash, and the best moonwalk in the game.

Despite lacking a projectile, Captain Falcon's attacks and speediness enable great approach options to KO and combo reliably and efficiently. Many of Falcon's attacks have fairly long startup, but they deal incredible damage and knockback, have great range, and have little ending lag. His low short-hop, very fast falling speed, and aerials that reliably chain into one another makes for an excellent SHFFL, giving him a great damage rate and a multitude of approaches and combo finishers.

His aerials are fast and powerful and allow for many approach and KO options. The second hit of his neutral aerial has sex kick properties and can be SHFFLed very easily. His forward aerial, the (Knee Smash), is arguably Captain Falcon's best move. It can chain into one another through a series of well-timed sweetspots and sourspots, dealing high damage with little startup and KOing at damage percentages as low as 60%. It can be a combo starter and finisher. His back aerial is a quick and powerful backhand punch that is useful for edgeguarding. His up aerial is a high-reaching, strong bicycle kick with very fast startup (5 frames), and can be used for edgeguarding or as an out-of-shield option. His down aerial is the fourth most powerful meteor smash in the game. It has minor startup, high hitstun, and can chain itself into another down air by SHFFLing. If the down aerial hits above Captain Falcon's waist, then it acts as the most powerful spike in the game, though landing this sweetspot requires good spacing and timing.

All of Captain Falcon's smash attacks can be powerful combo starters and finishers with high KOing potential. Captain Falcon's forward smash, despite its fairly long startup, is the third most powerful forward smash in the game in terms of damage and knockback and is an excellent combo finisher and reading tool. His down smash is his fastest, dealing great horizontal knockback, and his up smash can flexibly act as a combo starter and finisher.

A combo notoriously difficult to execute is the infamous Sacred Combo, a two-hit combo involving his Knee Smash followed by a midair Falcon Punch, before the hitstun of the previous attack wears off. If executed correctly, the opponent is likely to be KO'd. However, there are severe consequences if Falcon makes a mistake while performing this technique; it's possible for him to jump too far while performing the Falcon Punch, which will result in a self-destruct.

Despite having a poor grab range (the sixth shortest in the game), Falcon's grab game is among the most flexible and devastating in Melee; his forward and back throws can easily send opponents off the stage at higher percents and create an edgeguard situation, while his up and down throws can be used to start combos and chain grabs.

One of Captain Falcon's glaring and famous weaknesses is his mediocre-at-best recovery. He has high air speed, but the distance that he can cover is drastically shortened by his fast falling speed. He is prone to edgeguarding because his recovery move cannot grab edgehoggers. He can extend his horizontal recovery by performing an uninterrupted Falcon Kick in the air; this gives him back his midair jump, but it usually forces him to recover from the bottom blast line, as the Falcon Kick sends him very far down. Using Raptor Boost is a decent horizontal recovery option, but it grants nonexistent vertical height and cannot instantly snap to the ledge. It also halts recovery immediately if it connects with anything in midair, sending him down the bottom blast line.

Besides somewhat crippling his horizontal recovery, Captain Falcon's fast falling speed also acts as a double-edged sword; while it does grant him a very good combo game and the best vertical knockback resistance in the game due to his above average weight, he is also prone to chain grabs such as Pikachu's and Peach's up throws; combos that utilize moves with decent vertical knockback, such as up tilts and up aerials, are also easier to land on Captain Falcon due to his relatively large hurtbox.

Overall, Captain Falcon is a tank with gifted speed; he can deal a lot of damage and take as much punishment, while having one of the fastest movement speeds in the game. Players must take advantage of this speed and quickly adapt to their opponents to fully utilize his abilities.

Changes from Super Smash Bros.

In the transition from Smash 64 to Melee, Captain Falcon gained a mix of buffs and nerfs. His recovery has seen multiple improvements due to his higher air speed, Falcon Kick giving him his double jump back and Falcon Dive covering more distance. He also benefits from the fact that jumps carry over momentum from a dash moreso than any other character greatly improving his aerial approach. His forward aerial is now his Knee smash which has excellent KO potential and combo ability which along with the previous change, now gives him an extremely powerful and deadly approach option and combo ender. Captain Falcon's horizontal movement is better than ever due to multiple universal changes giving him access to new movement options such as more flexible dash-dancing, wavedashing and moonwalking. Captain Falcon has also gained strong tech-chasing potential due to both the universally increased falling speeds and his new up throw, down throw and his new side special Raptor Boost which also acts as a solid combo starter. Lastly, many of his attacks have reduced ending lag and some of his attacks also have increased KO power (such as forward smash, down smash and the aforementioned Knee smash).

Falcon has also received some significant nerfs however. While he has more movement options and better aerial mobility, his dash speed (while still the fastest) has been decreased especially relative to the cast. His up aerial is no longer an extremely powerful juggling tool due to its clean hit now launching opponents horizontally (although it is still one of his best moves) and its late hit has drastically reduced power no longer being a strong KO move. His throws are also less reliable at comboing (although he now has the potential to chain grab or tech chase his opponents out of his down throw) while his back throw has much lower KO potential. His combo game in general is less consistent and effective due to both the introduction of DI and the fact that some of his other moves having reduced combo potential (such as up smash and down aerial which also have drastically increased startup lag) and are less reliable as his up smash no longer consists of one hit and down aerial can now be meteor-cancelled. A decent amount of Captain Falcon's moves have increased startup lag (such as his smash attacks and aerials) and while some of his attacks have increased KO potential, others have reduced KO power (such as his afforementioned back throw and his aerials besides his forward and down aerials). Captain Falcon also suffers from the changes to shields as while he is less vulnerable to shield pressure, his moveset is less safe on shield with multiple moves (such as his up tilt, landing aerials and Falcon Punch which previous gave him frame advantage against shield) now becoming punishable and his own out of shield options are worse due to his slower and altered aerials making his out of shield game a bigger weakness than it was before. Lastly, his specials are worse in various ways. Falcon Punch is weaker and slower giving it less combo potential, Falcon Dive is considerably weaker and has seen other non-beneficial changes and Falcon Kick now decays over time making it less effective from afar.

Overall, Captain Falcon has a less consistent combo and punish game along with having many moves with increased startup lag and reduced KO power. Despite this, the few reliable KO moves he has are extremely effective and he still possesses a solid combo and punish game. Additionally, most of his moves which were nerfed in some ways were buffed in other ways and he has benefitted from numerous changes to Melee's mechanics which have made his excellent movement speed an even bigger advantage/threat. Nevertheless, Captain Falcon remains one of the stronger characters in the game and has still seen a fair amount of success in tournaments.

Aesthetics

• The graphical upgrades of the Nintendo GameCube give Captain Falcon a more proportionate build. He is slightly more muscular and has a bluish gray racing suit. His visor is also slightly more translucent.
• Captain Falcon has a new idle pose along with his one from Smash 64, which was also altered.
• Captain Falcon has new and higher quality voice samples, though he is still voiced by Ryō Horikawa.
• Captain Falcon’s default color is now dark blue instead of purple.
• Captain Falcon’s green and blue palette swaps from Smash 64 are now accessible through normal battle instead of just Team Battles.
• Captain Falcon's taunt has a new voice clip (although later games would go back to using the same voice clip as in Smash 64).
  • It also has two new animations depending on which way Captain Falcon is facing: he looks behind his shoulder and waves while facing left, and salutes with his hand above his eyes while facing right.

Attributes

• Captain Falcon walks slower (0.32 → 0.85).
• Captain Falcon dashes slightly faster (75 → 2.3).
• Captain Falcon's initial dash is noticeably slower (80 → 2), although it is now the fastest in the game.
  • Despite this, Captain Falcon's initial dash covers much more distance.
• Captain Falcon is lighter (108 → 104), hindering his endurance.
• Captain Falcon's air speed is much faster (31 → 1.12). Captain Falcon also greatly benefits from the fact that jumps now carry momentum from a dash noticeably improving his aerial approach.
• Melee's more lenient window for dash-dancing combined with the addition of moonwalking and air dodging has given Captain Falcon more/superior movement options.
• Captain Falcon falls much faster (66 → 2.9), which combined with his high weight, gives him the best vertical endurance in Melee, ousting Donkey Kong (who has the second highest vertical endurance). However, this does make him more susceptible to combos.
• Captain Falcon's gravity is higher (3.4 → 0.13) having the same benefits and drawbacks as his higher falling speed but also reducing the height of his jumps.
  • As a result, his double jump is noticeably lower.
• Captain Falcon's rolls have less ending lag (FAF 42 → 32).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit of neutral attack has less startup (frame 5 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 21 → 16).
  • The first hit of neutral attack deals less damage (3% → 2%) and has a shorter duration (frames 5-8 → 3-5).
  • The second hit has less ending lag (FAF 20 → 19).
  • The second hit has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 4-7 → 5-7).
  • The first two hit's knockback scaling (80 → 100) and angles (361° → 80°) have been altered.
  • The Gentleman deals more damage (4% → 8% (clean), 6% (late)), has much more knockback (40 (base), 30 (scaling) → 20/100) and launches opponents at a different angle (80° → 361°). Altogether, these changes improve its utility granting it tech-chasing, followup and KO potential.
    • However, these changes make it connect into the rapid jab much less reliably.
  • The Gentleman has a longer duration (frames 5-9 → 6-12) and has much less ending lag (FAF 32 → 23).
  • The Gentleman also has a more exaggerated animation.
  • The Gentleman has more startup lag (frame 5 → 6).
  • The Gentleman now requires precise timing to be performed without Falcon performing his neutral infinite making it more difficult to utilise.
  • Neutral infinite's animation is altered: Captain Falcon kneels down forward a bit more, as well as having his punches reach a bit further.
• Forward tilt:
  • Captain Falcon has a new forward tilt: Captain Falcon performs an inward roundhouse spin kick. It has slightly more range than the previous one.
  • Forward tilt has a shorter duration (frames 9-15 → 9-11).
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (15% (up)/14% (mid up)/13% (non angled)/12% (mid down)/11% (down) → 12% (up sweetspot)/11% (up sourspot/non angled/down sweetspot)/10% (down sourspot)) and its base knockback was not fully compensated (6 → 10).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt only hits once which in turn:
    • Increases its startup lag and shortens its duration (frames 8-17 (hit 1)/18-23 (hit 2) → 17-21).
    • Makes it deal 10% less damage (9% (hit 1)/14% (hit 2)/23% (total) → 13%).
    • However, this also removes the chances of Falcon's opponents being able to SDI out of the stronger hit.
  • Up tilt has altered knockback compared to the previous second hit (20 (base), 100 (scaling) → 50/80) which along with its lower damage, makes it weaker overall.
  • Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
• Down tilt:
  • Captain Falcon has a new down tilt: a leg sweep. It has significantly more combo ability than the previous down tilt due to sending opponents at a more vertical angle (30° → 80°/70°/60°).
    • This new angle however has greatly hindered down tilt's edgeguarding potential.
  • Down tilt deals more damage (11% → 12%) with its knockback scaling compensated (80 → 75).
  • Down tilt has more range.
  • Down tilt has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 8-15 → 10-15) and has more ending lag (FAF 31 → 35).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has a shorter total duration (FAF 41 → 38).
  • Dash attack has a shorter duration (frames 7-10 (clean)/11-26 (late) → 7-9/10-16) and its total duration was not fully compensated giving it more ending lag.
  • Dash attack deals less damage (12% (clean), 9% (late) → 10%/7%) and its clean hit's knockback was not fully compensated (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 22/90).
    • However, this combined with the move's shorter total duration makes the move safer on hit at lower percents.
  • The late hit deals much less knockback (0 (base), 100 (scaling) → 10/50).
• Forward smash:
  • Captain Falcon has a new forward smash: an advancing elbow thrust in a single move. It has slightly less reach and slightly more start-up lag with a shorter duration compared to the previous forward smash (frames 16-23 → 18-21).
  • New forward smash deals more damage (19%/18%/17% → 21%/20%/19%), and has increased base knockback (20 → 24) improving its KO potential and now being the 3rd most powerful forward smash in Melee.
  • Forward smash has less ending lag (FAF 62 → 60).
• Up smash:
  • Captain Falcon has a new up smash: a jumping-spinning double kick aimed vertically upward. Its first kick has low knockback to connect into the second kick and the second kick has significantly more knockback (90 (base), 40 (scaling) → 25/(128/126/110), no longer making it the weakest up smash, now being the 7th most powerful up smash in Melee if both kicks connect.
  • Up smash has less ending lag (FAF 46 → 40) with the move now only having 11 frames of cooldown (as opposed to 35).
  • Due to having two hits, up smash's maximum damage output is much higher (17% → 26%).
  • Up smash is much less reliable due to now consisting of two hits.
    • This combined with the introduction of DI, the reduction of hitstun and the move's altered knockback has prevented the move from comboing reliably despite its much lower ending lag.
  • Up smash has drastically higher startup lag (frame 4 → 21) going from the fastest up smash to one of the slowest.
    • It also has a shorter duration overall (frames 4-11 → 21-23 (hit 1)/27-28 (hit 2)).
• Down smash:
  • Captain Falcon has a new down smash: a fast swinging kick that hits forwards with an inward punt and backwards with a back thrusting kick. It has more horizontal and much more vertical range.
  • Down smash launches opponents horizontally (60° → 361°) and it deals more damage (16% (front), 14% (back) → 18%/16%). The front hit has higher base knockback while the back hit's base knockback was not fully compensated (25 → 30 (front)/20 (back)). Altogether, these changes significantly improve its KO potential.
  • Down smash has less ending lag (FAF 48 → 45) with the move now only having 12 frames of cooldown (as opposed to 25).
  • Down smash has more startup lag and the first hit has a shorter duration (frames 8-12 (front), 19-22 (back) → 19-22/29-32).
  • Down smash can no longer hit characters hanging on ledges due to its higher hitboxes.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (22 frames → 15 (neutral/up), 30 frames → 19 (forward), 30 frames → 18 (back), 28 frames → 24 (down)).
• All aerials except for back aerial auto-cancel later (frame 28 → 34 (neutral), frame 28 → 35 (forward), frame 19 → 22 (up), frame 25 → 36 (down)). Neutral, forward and down aerials can no longer auto-cancel in a short hop and when combined with the weakening of L-canceling, this makes them more punishable when landing and reduces their follow up potential.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Captain Falcon's previous forward aerial is now his neutral aerial. It has an altered animation where Falcon kicks with his right leg first, then left leg all while turning to his right, as opposed to the other way around (with right leg first and left leg last). It is also angled more diagonally upwards.
  • The first hit of neutral aerial has set knockback and launches opponents vertically (361° → 82°/78°/74°).
  • Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 45).
  • Neutral aerial is far less reliable due to its multi hit properties.
  • Neutral aerial has smaller hitboxes.
  • Neutral aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 4-7 (clean)/8-27 (late) → 7-12 (hit 1)/20-29 (hit 2)).
  • Neutral aerial deals less damage (16% (clean)/13% (late) → 6% (hit 1)/7% (hit 2)/12% (total)) and the second hit's base knockback was not fully compensated (20 → 40) significantly hindering its KO potential (no longer being one of the strongest neutral aerials).
    • These changes however give neutral aerial much more combo potential.
• Forward aerial:
  • Captain Falcon has a new forward aerial: an electric knee thrust known as the Knee Smash. Its clean hit deals significantly higher damage (12% → 18%) and knockback compared to the previous second hit (20 (base), 80 (scaling) → 24/100) making it a drastically stronger KO move.
  • Forward aerial is overall a more reliable move due to only consisting of one hit.
  • Forward aerial has less ending lag (FAF 45 → 36).
  • Forward aerial has less range.
  • Forward aerial has double the amount of startup lag (frame 7 → 14).
  • Forward aerial deals less overall damage (10% (hit 1)/12% (hit 2)/22% (total) → 18% (clean)/6% (late)).
  • Forward aerial is overall a less reliable combo starter although the late hit has solid combo potential.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has less ending lag (FAF 35 → 29) and auto-cancels earlier (frame 28 → 21).
  • Back aerial has received a late hit after its first four frames which deals significantly less damage (16% → 8%) with only a slight increase to its base knockback on its sweetspot (10 → 20) while its sourspots have less base knockback (10 → 0).
    • This drastically hinders its KO potential and makes it more susceptible to punishment.
    • However, this also significantly improves its combo potential at higher percents when combined with its decreased ending lag.
  • Back aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-18 → 10-18).
  • Back aerial's clean hit deals less damage (16% → 14%). Its sweetspot's base knockback was not fully compensated (10 → 20) and it now has sourspots with less base knockback (10 → 0).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 30).
  • Up aerial now only has a clean hit and a late hit rather than a clean hit, mid hit and a late hit (a late hit with a 0° angle as well as lower damage and knockback exists in the move's files but it never comes out due to its hitboxes ending one frame before the mid hit).
  • The clean hit has a longer duration (frames 5-7 → 6-10).
  • The clean hit now sends opponents at the Sakurai angle (80° → 361°).
    • This grants it edgeguarding potential.
    • However, this along with the reduction of hitstun and the introduction of DI has significantly hindered its combo potential no longer being a viable juggling tool. This has generally made it much harder to combo into moves such as other aerials, itself and Falcon's specials.
  • The late hit has an angle between up aerial's previous mid hit and late hit (361° (mid)/20° (late) → 30°).
  • Up aerial has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 5-13 → 6-13).
  • Up aerial has less vertical range.
  • Up aerial no longer deals consistent damage (16% → 13%/12% (clean)/10%/8% (late)) and the late hit deals less knockback (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 8/6 (base), 80 (scaling)).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
  • Down aerial has larger hitboxes and has more range overall.
  • Down smash deals more damage (14% → 16%) and has higher base knockback (0 → 40) significantly improving its KO potential as well as the sweetspot's edgeguarding potential (being the fourth most powerful meteor smash in Melee).
  • As with all meteor smashes from returning veterans, Down aerial has significantly increased startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-24 → 16-20).
  • Down aerial's angle has been altered (-80° → 270°/290°) which allows the move to be meteor canceled unless the highest hitbox on his body (nicknamed the Nipple spike) connects, hindering its reliability.
  • The weakening of L-canceling combined with its worse auto-cancel window and higher knockback has hindered down aerial's combo potential.

Grabs and Throws

• Grabs:
  • Like all Super Smash Bros. veterans, Captain Falcon has been given a pummel, up throw and a down throw, significantly improving his attack options out of a grab.
  • As with all returning veterans without a tether grab, Falcon's grabs have more startup lag (frame 6 → 7 (standing), 11 (dash)) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 31 (standing), 41 (dash)).
• Forward throw:
  • Captain Falcon has a new forward throw: he punches his opponent forward with horizontal knockback (70° → 45°).
    • Compared to his previous forward throw, it deals less damage (12% → 5% (hit)/4% (throw)/9% (total)) and its knockback was not fully compensated (100 (base), 50 (scaling) → 29/105).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw's angle has been altered (361° → 45°).
  • Back throw deals much less damage (16% → 5% (hit)/4% (throw)/9% (total)) and its knockback was not fully compensated (100 (base), 50 (scaling) → 30/130).
  • Back throw has more ending lag (FAF 44 → 50).
• Down throw:
  • Captain Falcon's previous forward throw has been moved to his down throw. It has an altered animation where Captain Falcon keeps both his feet on the ground as opposed to leaning forward enough to bring his following foot off the ground like in Smash 64.
    • This new animation gives it less ending lag (FAF 44 → 40).
  • Down throw deals much less damage (12% → 7%) and knockback (100 (base), 50 (scaling) → 75/34) which hinders its KO and combo potential but grants it chain grabbing and tech chasing potential.
  • Down throw launches opponents at a slightly lower angle (70° → 65°).
  • Down throw is weight dependent which increases its speed against lighter characters but decreases its speed against heavier characters.

Special Moves

• Falcon Punch:
  • Falcon Punch's sweetspot deals more damage (26% → 27%), takes priority over the sourspots (ID# 2 → 0) and has a larger hitbox than the mid hit making it much easier to land.
  • Falcon Punch has more range.
  • Falcon Punch now has a flame effect and an altered animation for both the grounded and aerial versions.
  • Falcon Punch has significantly increased startup lag (frame 42 → 52) with its ending lag compensated (FAF 90 → 100) drastically hindering its use as a combo ender.
  • The sourspot deals less damage (24% → 23%).
  • Falcon Punch has less knockback scaling (120 → 102) hindering its KO potential especially the sourspot.
  • Aerial Falcon Punch no longer deals extra shield damage (4 → 0).
    • In general, the reduction to shieldstun and shield damage has made Falcon Punch heavily punishable against shield (as opposed to being practically safe on shield).
  • Falcon's higher falling speed/gravity has removed Falcon Punch's use as a recovery option.
• Raptor Boost:
  • Captain Falcon now has a side special move: Raptor Boost. It is a dash that, when connects, does a flaming uppercut, which can act as a great tech-chaser and combo-starter; but on the flipside, is somewhat easy to punish and isn't a viable horizontal recovery option as it cannot snap the ledge.
• Falcon Dive:
  • Falcon Dive travels more distance.
  • Falcon Dive deals less damage (20% → 5% (hit)/12% (throw)/15% (total) with only a slight increase to its base knockback (30 → 40), greatly hindering its KO potential.
  • The grabbox has a shorter duration (frames 13-44 → 13-33).
  • Falcon Dive has more landing lag (17 frames → 30).
  • Falcon Dive no longer auto-cancels on landing before Captain Falcon enters free fall or after performing the throw.
  • Falcon Dive can no longer grab characters hanging onto the ledge.
  • Due to the introduction of wall teching, the opponent can now easily wall tech Falcon Dive if they get caught by the grab and hit the underside of the stage and they can punish Falcon for it.
• Falcon Kick:
  • Grounded Falcon Kick has increased base knockback (40 → 50).
  • Grounded Falcon Kick has less ending lag (FAF 85 → 70).
  • Grounded Falcon Kick travels further.
  • If Captain Falcon uses grounded Falcon Kick near the ledge, it will no longer bound with the side of the stage.
  • Falcon Kick restores Falcon's double jump when used in midair.
  • The landing hit has a longer duration (frame 1 → 1-2).
  • The landing hit now launches opponents vertically (361° → 80°).
  • Falcon Kick has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 12-31 → 14-32 (ground)/15-29 (air)).
  • Grounded Falcon Kick has more ending lag if the move ends in the air (FAF 62 → 70).
  • Aerial Falcon Kick has more ending lag (FAF 50 → 59).
  • Falcon Kick decays over time, dealing less damage (15% → 15%/12%/9% (ground), 15%/13%/11% (air)) and knockback (40 (base), 70 (scaling) → 50/(70/60/50) (ground), 40/(70/65/60) (air)) the further Falcon travels before connecting it.
    • In addition to this, the grounded version's late hits now launch opponents vertically (361° → 80°/90°), further hindering their safety and KO potential.
  • The landing hit deals less damage (12% → 9%) with it only seeing an increase to its base knockback (60 → 80).
  • The landing hit can no longer hit aerial opponents.

PAL differences

Like some other characters, Captain Falcon was slightly changed in the PAL version of Melee.

• Gentleman can be performed without the jab infinite by simply pressing the A button three times.
• Soft hit of Knee Smash deals 3% less damage (6% → 3%) and has less base knockback (35 → 30).

Moveset

Captain Falcon's aerial attacks

For a gallery of Captain Falcon's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2%	The first two hits are fast and somewhat short-ranged jabs, which are good for disrupting an enemy's approach. The third hit is the Gentleman knee. The jab combo finishes with a series of fast, weak punches.
			3%
			8% (clean), 6% (late)
			1% (loop)
Forward tilt	↗		12% (leg), 11% (body)	Does a roundhouse kick that can be angled up or down. Fast with decent range. There is not a significant amount of combo options from this move because of its horizontal hit trajectory, low knockback (though it has good knockback for a forward tilt) and stun time, and wind-down lag. One can try to follow up with a u-air or a jump-canceled grab, and even a dash-canceled d-tilt or Raptor Boost, but they are not true combos and can be countered by every character. It may be a good idea to wavedash slightly forward to maintain pressure, and enter a defensive stance or used after a pivot as a surprise attack to keep enemies away. A forward tilt, angled upward, can stun enemies long enough from an u-throw/d-throw that it can lead to a Knee Smash.
	→		11%
	↘		10% (leg), 11% (body)
Up tilt			13%	Brings his leg up and brings it down in an axe-like fashion. It has incredible range, able to out range many of Marth's tilts. This move has good horizontal knockback and like his f-tilt, is difficult to combo from. Due to its low trajectory, one can often follow off the edge of a platform or stage with a falling n-air or non-sweetspotted fair edgeguard, but this is not a true combo. It may be a good idea to wavedash slightly forward to maintain pressure, and enter a defensive stance. Most players use this move as an edgeguard technique since the heel can extend below the platform.
Down tilt			12%	Does a quick sweep kick. This move is a great vertical launcher. Compared to Falcon's other launchers, it has relatively high ending lag. However, it can combo at most percentages into a SHFFLed n-air, which can lead into other combos. Fox and Falco can often be regrabbed from a down tilt at medium percentages, and their side special moves can be intercepted by Falcon's down tilt if they try to sweetspot the ledge. This move can also combo into a Knee Smash and u-air, depending on knockback and DI.
Dash attack			10% (clean), 7% (late)	Shoulder tackles forward. Strongest when it comes out, weaker afterward. Fairly fast, good for knocking the foe away from the ledge to follow with an aerial attack or edgeguard, with proper mindgaming/prediction.
Forward smash	↗		21%	Reels his elbow back and thrusts it forward, dealing powerful flame damage. Excellent knockback even when uncharged with good horizontal and vertical launching power, making it hard to DI. Somewhat fast as well. Uncharged usually KOs around 100%+. This attack is the 3rd most powerful forward smash in the game. This move can be angled, dealing more damage when angled up.
	→		20%
	↘		19%
Up smash			8%/14% (hit 1), 13%/12% (hit 2)	Performs a spinning double kick. A fast and powerful move, though is short ranged. The second hit sometimes has difficulty connecting, as with Ganondorf's. This is Captain Falcon's most powerful move damage-wise (when fully charged).
Down smash			18% (front), 16% (back)	Quickly kicks forward then backward. Small noticeable startup, but good speed and knockback.
Neutral aerial			5-6% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	His f-air from SSB64, kicks forward twice. A good two-hit combo starter, though the second hit is difficult to land.
Forward aerial		Knee Smash	18% (clean), 6%/3% (late NTSC/PAL)	Sticks out his knee. If it lands during the initial frames, the victim is zapped and is sent in a difficult-to-DI-out-of semi-spike trajectory (32 degrees to be exact). If it lands any other time, the move is very weak with little knockback, though it can be chained into another Knee Smash. An extremely powerful move when it lands a clean hit; it is often regarded as one of the most powerful and useful moves in the game, and undoubtedly the most powerful forward aerial of Melee (though, in terms of knockback, its the third most powerful forward aerial in the game, after Zelda and Dr. Mario). This move is the usual end to most of Falcon's aerial combos, or even to use against grounded foes in an aerial assault. Easily KOs at damage percentages as low as 60% off the edge.
Back aerial			14% (clean), 8% (late)	Does a quick backhand punch from behind. Good power and speed, often used as an edgeguarding move. Weak if the opponent is hit late in the attack.
Up aerial			13%/12% (clean), 12%/10% (late)	Does a midair bicycle kick and sticks his feet out. Knockback direction depends on what angle the move hits the foe, though strong nonetheless. Also good for juggling, and edgeguarding if hit near the end of the attack.
Down aerial			16%	Stomps below him for good downward knockback and high hitstun. Minor startup and ending lag. Can nipple spike if hit within the torso region, making it a spike and even more powerful (the most powerful spike in the game). If used on a grounded opponent, this move is a great combo starter, and can KO at high percentages. One of the strongest meteor smashes in the game.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Knees opponent in the torso region.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Punches foe forward.
Back throw			5% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Kicks foe behind. Knockback is usually hard to follow-up or combo with unless over a ledge.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Punches foe upward. Can lead into various moves or tech chases at low percentages, as the opponent usually falls straight down. At higher percentages, aerial followups are easier to land.
Down throw			7%	Crushes foe to the floor. Depending on opponent percentage, fall speed, and DI, can lead into aerial combos or tech chase regrabs. Can chaingrab more floaty characters (such as Ganondorf).
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and flips while kicking.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Stands on both hands and does a spinning double kick.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			10%	Picks himself up and kicks forward.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			8%	Slowly gets up and punches in front of him.
Neutral special		Falcon Punch	27% (close), 25% (mid), 23% (far)	Winds up then releases a powerful, fiery punch, with his fists engulfed in a falcon-shaped flame. Deals very high damage and knockback, and is the finisher move after an fair in the Sacred Combo. However, it is much slower than in SSB64 and is extremely predictable and punishable (the charging can also be cancelled by most attacks).
Side special		Raptor Boost	7%	Dashes forward. If he doesn't hit an opponent, he falls over. If he hits an opponent on the ground, he launches a fiery uppercut, knocking them into the air. If he hits an opponent while in midair, he punches downward, meteor smashing them. However, this move always makes him helpless, so it is very risky to use offstage.
Up special		Falcon Dive	5% (grab), 12% (release), 6% (breakout)	Leaps upwards, a recovery move that can also grab the ledge even if Captain Falcon if facing the opposite direction. Normally makes him helpless, but if he grabs an opponent, he releases them with a fiery blow and will be able to use the move again.
Down special		Falcon Kick	15%/13%/9% (ground), 15%/13%/11% (air), 9% (landing)	Rushes forward while performing a fiery kick. If he goes off a ledge, he continues dashing forward. If started in midair, he kicks down at a diagonal angle. Restores his midair jump, making it a useful move for horizontal recovery at long distances.

Taunts

Note: Captain Falcon and Pichu are the only characters in the game to have two different taunt animations.

• Left: Faces to his right, salutes and exclaims "Show me your moves!"
• Right: Faces the camera, salutes and exclaims "Show me your moves!"

Left taunt	Right taunt

Idle poses

• Makes a battle pose where he leans forward and thrusts his arm out.
• Makes another battle pose where he crouches slightly and thrusts his elbow out.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Falcon! *claps three times*	Cap-tain! Fal-con!
Pitch	Group chant	Mixed chant

Victory poses

An electric guitar-based cover of the music that plays when a character finishes a race in F-Zero X.

• Performs a jumping spinning kick, landing in a kneeling pose.
• Kneels and thrusts his chest forward, shouting.
• Crouches low, then performs a spinning hook kick.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Captain Falcon has strong matchups. He is countered only by Fox and Falco, soft countered only by Sheik and Jigglypuff, has 3 even matchups, soft counters 7, counters 5, and hard counters 6. He does well against relatively floaty characters, such as Peach and Dr. Mario, as he combos these characters the easiest at mid-percents. He also has favorable matchups against slower characters, such as Yoshi and Ganondorf. His even matchups with Marth, Ice Climbers, and Pikachu are widely disputed; Marth has superior range and attack speed, while Captain Falcon has a much more solid combo game on Marth than Marth does on Captain Falcon. The Ice Climbers have intricate setups into Wobbles and even inescapable handoffs on Captain Falcon, but he can just as easily separate them with his stronger moves. Pikachu can juggle Captain Falcon for long periods of time, but is otherwise lacking the range to consistently win the neutral game.

He has some trouble against characters that can either edgeguard him efficiently or outprioritize his moves, such as Jigglypuff and Sheik. Fox and Falco in particular can do both of these as well as combo Captain Falcon consistently, as he can be juggled very easily; Falco is notable for easily disrupting Captain Falcon with effective use of his lasers, leading many to regard Falco as his worst matchup. However, it is not impossible to win against the space animals, as Captain Falcon can combo them in return if he wins the neutral game. While the ease of juggling Captain Falcon can be exploited by Pikachu and even lower tier characters such as Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Mewtwo, they usually lack something the space animals do not, allowing Captain Falcon to gain the upper hand regardless. Overall, Captain Falcon has a good matchup spread, and can win against any character.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the 2019 MPGR, which recognizes the official top 100 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Active

•  Captain Smuckers - A top Falcon from the Tristate area. He was formerly ranked 42nd on the 2018 MPGR.
•  DjaGoF - The best Falcon player in France, and one of the best in Europe, infamous for his flashy combos and "disrespectful" style of play. Peaked at 5th on the French Power Rankings, and was most recently ranked 6th.
•  Gahtzu (#36) - One of the best Captain Falcon players in the world, and one of the pioneers of the 20GX movement to optimize competitive Falcon gameplay.
•  Gucci - The best Falcon player in Japan, became well-known after a strong performance at Apex 2013. He is ranked 3rd on the Japan SSBM Rank 2019, but rarely travels internationally nowadays.
•  Jeapie - One of the best Falcon players in Europe, formerly ranked 66th on the 2015 SSBMRank; known for his prowess in the Sheik matchup.
•  Mango (#3) - One of the five gods and the undisputed best player in SoCal. Occasionally picks Falcon in tournaments as a counterpick.
•  n0ne (#15) - One of the three best Falcon players in the modern era, and arguably the most technical among them. He is renowned for his creative, mixup-heavy style, as well as his high-risk/high-reward punishes, which set him apart from the other two Falcons. He was the first Falcon to defeat Mew2King in tournament in a decade, taking two sets at GOML 2016 and UGC Smash Open.
•  NMW (#58) - The best active Captain Falcon in Northern California, known for his very strong doubles play. He is currently ranked 4th on the NorCal Power Rankings.
•  S2J (#11) - One of the three best Falcon players in the modern era and the most established among them over the past decade. He is known for his unorthodox, aggressive style and explosive punish game that set him apart from the other two Falcons. His gameplay coined the term "Johnny Stock," referring to his uncanny ability to string together zero-to-deaths.
•  Schythed (#96) - Currently ranked 2nd on the Arizona Melee Power Rankings; has a set win on Axe. Placed 7th at DreamHack Anaheim 2020.
•  Setchi (#42) - The best Captain Falcon player in Europe. Placed 2nd at both Fête and Syndicate 2019, and 3rd at DreamHack Rotterdam 2019. Managed to win five sets against Trif during the Fall of 2019.
•  Wizzrobe (#5) - One of the three best Falcon players in the modern era, and considered to be overall the best among them. A pioneer of the 20GX style of play, he is known for his safe and consistent style that relies on guaranteed and optimal tech chases, edgeguards, and combo followups, which set him apart from the other two Falcons.
•  Zeo (#88) - One of the best Captain Falcon players in Southern California, with many wins over top West Coast players. Formerly ranked 23rd on the SoCal Melee Power Rankings.

Inactive

•  $mike - Formerly the best player in North Carolina, and was ranked 87th on the 2017 SSBMRank. He has been inactive since 2018.
•  Alox - Formerly ranked 7th on the French Power Rankings; has not entered a national tournament since 2018.
•  Darkrain - Formerly ranked 61st on the 2015 SSBMRank and 8th on the 2009 RetroSSBMRank. A top old-school Melee Falcon player and one of the Midwest's best and most established players, who continued to compete all the way up to 2017.
•  Fuzzyness - Formerly ranked 85th on the 2016 SSBMRank. Co-mained with Fox, and has defeated many notable European players. He mostly left the scene after 2018 to focus on speedrunning, but has recently made small returns after the advent of Project Slippi netplay.
•  Gravy - A pioneer of the 20GX movement along with Gahtzu and Wizzrobe. He was formerly ranked 11th on the Central Florida Power Rankings and 41st on the 2016 SSBMRank.
•  Hax (#19) - Considered the best Falcon player in the world before he retired him in favor of Fox, making numerous significant contributions to Falcon's metagame that are still used today. He most notably popularized "Haxdashing", a strong but difficult ledge option, that allowed for ledge mixups and quick ledge invincibility refreshing.
•  Isai - Was regarded as the best Melee Captain Falcon player in the world in his prime. Although his placings at Melee singles tournaments lowered over time, he is one of the few players to have defeated former Melee world champion Ken multiple times.
•  Lord - One of the best Captain Falcon players in Northern California, formerly ranked 29th on the 2013 SSBMRank. He is an infamous "hidden boss" in the community, regarded as having top 100-level skill despite rarely traveling to majors.
•  Scar - Ranked 89th on the 2014 SSBMRank. He is now known primarily as a commentator.
•  SilentSpectre - Along with Tang, SilentSpectre was responsible for the immensely famous Wombo Combo. He is also one of most influential old-school Falcons, along with Isai, Darkrain, and Scar, who popularized the fast-paced and aggressive playstyle of Captain Falcon.

Tier placement and history

Captain Falcon was considered a low tier character on the first tier list; inexperienced panelists felt he was inferior to his Super Smash Bros. counterpart, and failed to overcome the high technical skill demands required to play him. Captain Falcon then moved up to the middle tier, but was not recognized as being a solid character until one year after Melee began being played competitively. Dedicated Falcon mains such as Isai showed how powerful his comboing abilities were, and how well he could KO out of a combo with the deadly Knee Smash. Falcon mains began placing very high in tournaments, inching him up the list into the high tier as old high tier characters, such as Mario and Luigi, began falling. Despite being ranked as a top tier character, Captain Falcon has always been seen as less viable compared to the other top tiers, as no player has been able to consistenly win majors with the character. In addition, his tournament representation took a hit in 2014 when Hax, the best Captain Falcon player in the world at the time, switched to playing Fox, believing that the latter character was more competitively viable and would help him reach the highest level of play. As a result, Captain Falcon fell to 8th on the 2015 tier list, ranked below the Ice Climbers, considered to be merely a high tier.

However, since 2015, perceptions of Captain Falcon's viability have improved. Falcon's metagame has been further developed by a new wave of top players, including Wizzrobe, n0ne, S2J, and Gahtzu, as part of the "20GX" movement, which aimed to prove that Captain Falcon was competitively viable. Areas of play including edgeguarding, punishing, and reaction tech-chasing were further refined and optimized, and multiple Captain Falcon players have consistently been able to achieve top eight placings at major tournaments. Wizzrobe in particular became the first player to win a major with Captain Falcon at Smash 'N' Splash 5, defeating Hungrybox, the number one player in the world, and accomplishing what players like Hax had once called practically impossible.

Despite Captain Falcon's recent successes, his difficult matchups against the space animals (particularly Falco) has left him short of being able to consistently win majors. It is acknowledged that Wizzrobe's run at Smash 'N' Splash 5 was aided by avoiding Mango, who he has never taken a set off of in tournament. However, his viability is seen as far more improved than in years past. The 2015 tier list is now considered outdated, and Captain Falcon is always ranked no lower than 7th. A 2019 community voted tier list ranked Captain Falcon at 6th above Peach, largely due to his more favorable matchup spread against most of the other top tiers.

PAL viability

Captain Falcon only received two changes in the transition to PAL, the more welcome of the two being that the Gentleman can now be done with just three A button presses, without any extra inputs or timing alterations required. The other nerfed his soft Knee Smash, making it hit only half as hard as the NTSC soft Knee Smash. The Gentleman is now much easier to perform and Captain Falcon's jab combo is overall a much more viable damage racking option than it is in NTSC. The nerf to the soft Knee Smash, however, prevents a guaranteed followup into another Knee Smash, slightly weakening Falcon's edgeguarding and combo potential, though this can be worked around by using up aerial instead. With almost all of the characters who would years later be above him in the tier list receiving nerfs (particularly Fox and Sheik), he fares better in those respective matchups, but due to considerably less representation of Captain Falcon in Europe, he remains at 7th place.

In 1-P Mode

Classic Mode

Captain Falcon appears in a one-on-one, as an ally, on a team with Fox, Falco, or Samus, in a giant, multi-man, or metal battle. Captain Falcon appears in Mute City or Big Blue except in the metal battle where he appears on Battlefield.

Adventure Mode

Captain Falcon appears in the second portion of Stage 8: F-Zero Grand Prix.

All-Star Mode

Captain Falcon and his allies are fought on Mute City.

Event Matches

Captain Falcon is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 5: Spare Change: The player controls Ness and fights Captain Falcon in a coin battle on Onett. The player must collect 200 coins within 80 seconds in order to clear the event.
• Event 12: Seconds, Anyone?: The player chooses any character and must defeat Captain Falcon within 7 seconds in a one-stock match on Mute City. Both players start with 100% damage.
• Event 17: Bounty Hunters: The player controls Samus, allied with Captain Falcon, and must deliver the finishing blow to Bowser on Jungle Japes. The event results in failure if Captain Falcon delivers the finishing blow or if Bowser self-destructs.
• Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Captain Falcon is the fourth opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Mute City, which will transition to the next stage if Captain Falcon gets defeated. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with Samus, Link, Zelda, and Fox.
• Event 33: Lethal Marathon: As Captain Falcon, the player must race to the finish of F-Zero Grand Prix similar to Adventure Mode. However, the gameplay is sped up and the F-Zero racers can deliver almost a one-hit KO.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: The player uses Ness must defeat Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon and Falco. The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on Battlefield.
• Event 43: Birds of Prey: As Fox, the player must defeat Captain Falcon and Falco in a two-stock match on Big Blue.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode

• 

  Adventure Mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

In addition to the normal trophy about Captain Falcon as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Captain Falcon on any difficulty:

Captain Falcon

Usually a relentless bounty hunter, Captain Falcon shifts gears to become a race pilot once the F-Zero Grand Prix begins. His beloved racer, the Blue Falcon, can exceed the speed of sound, and he knows how to drive it; he'll go down as one of the all time-greats. Now 36 years old, Captain Falcon wears his F-Zero X visor.

• F-Zero 08/91

Captain Falcon [Smash]

Falcon's style is a balanced combination of raw power and speed. His attacks are slow, but when combined with Falcon's high mobility, he's a formidable combat force. The Falcon Punch packs the highest degree of destructive power, while the explosive Raptor Boost can be used to smash airborne foes into the depths.

• B: Falcon Punch
• Smash B: Raptor Boost

Captain Falcon [Smash]

The Knee Smash, used in midair on foes in front of you, is slow and has a short reach, but if it connects, it'll send foes flying a long way on a low trajectory. Falcon uses his Falcon Dive to grab an enemy in midair and fling them away with an explosive blast. He can do this technique repeatedly without landing, so it can also be used as a recovery move.

• Up & B: Falcon Dive
• Down & B: Falcon Kick

• 

  Classic

• 

  [Smash]

• 

  [Smash]

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Alternate artwork of Captain Falcon.

• 

  Captain Falcon using his forward smash on Mute City.

• 

  Captain Falcon and Pikachu on Brinstar.

• 

  Captain Falcon attacking Link with his up smash on Pokémon Stadium.

• 

  Captain Falcon attacking Mario with Falcon Punch on Pokémon Stadium.

• 

  Captain Falcon dashing on Temple.

• 

  Captain Falcon attacking Mario with an aerial Raptor Boost on Pokémon Stadium.

• 

  Posing with Roy on Great Bay.

• 

  Posing with Samus on Yoshi's Story.

• 

  Battling Fox and Ness on Pokémon Stadium.

Trivia

• Captain Falcon is the only character to have every single smash attack changed from Smash 64 to Melee.
• While Captain Falcon's normal air speed is a great 1.12, by jumping while running he can start off with an airspeed of 2.1, notably faster than any other character's best airspeed and even almost all characters' running speeds (except his own dashing speed and Fox's).
• Captain Falcon and Pichu are the only characters in Melee to possess two different taunt animations.
• Captain Falcon's red costume (the costume resembling his evil clone, "Blood Falcon") has a different logo on the back of his outfit, being a skull with bird wings and text that reads "BLOOD HAWK" (Blood Falcon's F-Zero machine).
  • In the Japanese version of Melee, the text instead reads "HELL HAWK".
• Captain Falcon is one of the two characters who was unlockable in Smash 64 that became a starter in Melee, the other being Ness.
• Captain Falcon's ECB (Environmental Collision Box) varies in size depending on the costume being used. His default costume has the smallest ECB, while his green costume has the largest. He is the only character in the game known to have gameplay differences depending on costume.
• Mr. Game & Watch, Captain Falcon and Young Link are the only characters in Melee that don't finish their defeat noises upon being KO'd horizontally or falling.
• When Captain Falcon is selected on the character select screen, one of his attack voice clips is played very quietly, to the point where it is usually barely audible when the music is turned off due to being drowned out by the announcer. As shown by the debug menu's Sound Test, every character has one of these, but only Captain Falcon's isn't silent. The clip also isn't present in the regular Sound Test.

External links

• Captain Falcon combo video
• "One Hundred Billion Knees"