Master Hand glitch

By performing the glitch, Master Hand can be used on any stage.

The Master Hand glitch is a glitch in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Based on the Name Entry glitch, it allows the player to use and control Master Hand on any stage. A glitch for other non-playable characters cannot be done. Although any player is capable of being Master Hand, only the third player is capable of actually controlling the character.

Performing the glitch

There are two ways to perform the glitch. One requires only one controller; the other requires two.

Method One (One controller)

This method works on all modes except Tournament, but many things freeze the game.

The player must have a controller in slot 3. Using this controller, place the cursor over the name field on the character selection screen. Now press the A and B buttons at the same time, and the player will come to the name selection. Hold the B button, but release the A button, then go down with the cursor until they are over the "name entry field". Then press the A button at the right time. The game should want to go back to the menu, because the player held the B button, but it should also want go to the name entry screen, because they pressed the A button over "name entry". If performed correctly, instead of going to either of these, the game should go to the stage selection screen (or, in Single Player, straight to the game). After selecting the stage, the player will be playing as Master Hand.

Method Two (Two controllers)

This method is much simpler, but it only works in Melee mode. To perform it, simply have two controllers, and have one be in the third controller port, and the other in any other port. Have the controller that's not player three select a character, and then hover over the back button, while the one in the third port goes to select a name, and have them hover over the new entry button. Both controllers must then hit A at the same time, as to select their option, and the stage select screen will appear(there is slight leeway between selection, but very little, less than a second). On whatever stage selected, player 3 will be Master Hand.

Controls

These move names are not official.

Move	Name	Notes
A^	Jet	Master Hand makes a vaguely plane-like shape meteor smashing the player if in the middle of short hop or recovering (It can be meteor cancelled), then flies into the background. It attempts to fly into the player, then flies in from the right. 10-30%
A>	Ram	Master Hand flies off the screen, then appears in the background as a fist. It attempts to slam into the player, then flies back onto the stage from the top of the screen. If the player is in the middle of their jump, the player will be meteor smashed, therefore the ram attack cannot KO grounded player until the player is at very high percentage. 34%
Av	Crush	Master Hand flies off the top of the screen, then appears in the background. It attempts to flatten the player. Its palm can semi-spike the player powerfully. Any character who is close to the thumb will be sent upward. 30%
B^	Lasers	Master Hand shoots a laser beam from each of his fingertips. Only the endpoints do damage. 9% each
B>	Gun	Master Hand makes the shape of a gun, and fires sets of bullets. It fires 1 set if above 100 HP, and three sets if below. 10% (one set) 6% (three sets)
Z^ or >	Grab	Master Hand grabs his opponent and begins to crush them. They can escape by button mashing, but, if they fail to do so, Master Hand will toss them away. 13% crush, then 18-20% afterwards. Depending on the direction pressed with Z, Master Hand will throw the opponent differently. If up is used, he will throw them upward behind him. If right, he will slam them into the ground.
R<	Poke	Master Hand pokes the air three times. The third poke is more powerful. 7-34%
R>	Punch	Master Hand hovers over the target, then quickly punches down. 24%
Rv	Slap	Master Hand slaps the ground. 26%
R^	Drill	Master Hand flies up, then slams down while spinning in a drill-like fashion. Almost no knockback if the player doesn't utilize DI. If the player utilize DI, they will be sent sideways with decent horizontal knockback. 1-48%
L^	Slap	Master Hand makes a slapping motion across the platform. 25%
Lv	Walk	Master Hand "walks" using his pointer and middle fingers. When he reaches his opponent, he flicks them. 10-30%
L>	Sweep	Master hand makes a large sweep across the stage.

Note: Master Hand's moves are typed in on the d-pad, not the analog stick. Also, the player cannot move him. The player can only get around by doing moves.

Explanation

Each character in the game has an ID number. When a character is selected on the character selection screen, the game loads that character's number. This glitch forces the game to advance to the stage selection screen before the player selects a character, which results in the game not being told what character to load. Because of this, the game loads the character whose ID number is 0, which happens to be Master Hand. Also, the reason a controller must be in socket 3 is because in classic mode (or event match 50), Master Hand is always character 3; character one is the player, and character four is reserved for Crazy Hand.

What works

Mode	Does it work?	Why not/Notes
Classic	Freezes after the glitch is executed. (Sometimes goes to the vs. screen before freezing the game, however, the game will not show Master Hand or the computer player's contestant picture.)	Can't load. Master Hand doesn't have a contestant picture for when it shows who the player is challenging.
Adventure Mode	Master Hand will fly into the Mushroom Kingdom, then the game will freeze.	Master Hand always spawns to the right side of the stage. However, in the Mushroom Kingdom stage, characters are always spawned in on the left side. The game becomes confused and crashes.
All Star	It lets the player play through the first level, but Master Hand can't go anywhere in the Rest Area. The game freezes if he attacks.	When Master Hand attacks, he has nothing to aim or attack at. When attacking, Master Hand must have some sort of enemy to attack at. Otherwise, the game will freeze.
Event Match	Works on any event where the player can choose their character. It will even save.	Sometimes freezes in the middle of the event for no real reason, especially on All Star Matches. As Master Hand cannot be KO'd, he is useful for completing difficult matches. However, he is not as useful on timed matches.
Home-Run Contest	Works. (See Notes)	The player can get Master Hand in, but there is no way to get any distance.
Target Test	Master Hand's laugh is heard, then it freezes.	Can't load. Master Hand doesn't have a target test.
Multi-Man Melee	Works, and like event matches, it will save.	Note that on Cruel and Endless Melee, the player can't save, because Master Hand can't be KO'd (leaving quitting as the only method of ending it). Also, his high scores go to Mario. As Master Hand cannot be KO'd, he is useful for completing 100 man Melee and 15 minute Melee.
Training mode	Works. It will even save.	All max combos go to Mario.
Melee	Time or Stock. Freezes when the match is over. No player can be Zelda. Teams work. Sudden Death also works when scores are even.	The game freezes after the match because it can't show Master hand as the winner or save him in the records. The reason other stuff freezes the game is unknown.
Special Melee	The game freezes when the match is over. No player can be Zelda. Teams work.	Same as above.
Camera and Stamina	Both work perfectly except for the fact that no player can be Zelda.	In Camera Mode, the player can take pictures of Master Hand and they save. Stamina Mode allows for fair matches with Master Hand as he can be KO'd (he cannot be KO'd in normal matches as he does not experience knockback). If Master Hand is defeated in Stamina Mode, he will scream and fly off the stage like in Classic Mode. However the match will end before he makes it all the way off the stage as the announcer will shout GAME!

Trivia

• Metal Boxes, Starmen, and Lip's Stick all work without freezing the game.
• On Mute City, attacks where Master Hand dives into the background (such as ram or jet) can destroy the F-Zero machines in the background during the move.
• There is a subglitch that can be done called the Master Hand Laser glitch.
• If Master Hand is used on Corneria, he will spawn below the blast line. This causes most of his attacks to be useless, but his grab becomes a one-hit KO.

• Similarly, on Peach's Castle, Master hand will spawn inside the castle.

• On scrolling stages like Rainbow Ride, Icicle Mountain, or Big Blue, Master Hand moves with the screen because the game treats him as a character, not as an object.
• If Master Hand enters Flat Zone he will come in from the front, not the side.
• It is possible to use the glitch on the event Final Destination Match, resulting in two Master Hands and one Crazy Hand. Once Master Hand defeats the CPU Master Hand, the player can use moves in conjunction with Crazy Hand. However, Crazy Hand will still see you as an enemy and his moves in will raise Master Hand's damage percentage but won't lower Crazy Hand's stamina.
• If any character hits Master Hand before he fully appears on the screen as a white glove, the game will freeze.
• When the player makes the glitch occur with two or three players and the other players didn't choose any character, all players will be considered to be Master Hand, but only one will appear. The players also share the same damage.
• On Pokémon Stadium, the screen will say Masterhand.
• If the player doesn't pick the stage with the player 3 cursor, the game has a higher chance of freezing. The game still might freeze if the stage is picked by P3, however.
• It is possible to have a computer player Master Hand if the player has a computer player with no selected character while using the name entry glitch. Interestingly, a CPU Master Hand will attack players even if he isn't Player 3.

• However, it is not possible to get a computer player Master Hand into training. There is no way to do the name entry glitch with no selected character for the CPU.

• The glitch was referenced on the 10th Melee tier list, with the bottom tier being called "Gengar", and being described as "Master Hand and other glitch characters".
• When defeated on Brinstar, Master Hand will continually repeat his defeat animation.

External links

• The original topic on Smashboards.
• A video of a player using the one controller method.