Moveset swap

Marth over Fox in Melee.

Link over Falco, an example of a moveset swap in Brawl.

A moveset swap is a hack which causes a character to take on the animations and moveset of another character. This is doable in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Results vary; some characters can impersonate others with no trouble (most commonly clones or semi-clones such as Fox and Falco), while some combinations are unstable, freezing the game when some moves are used (or even as soon as the match has begun).

In Melee, move-swapped characters retain their body proportions and simply rotate their bones to match the new animations; for example, Donkey Kong's legs would pass through platforms if he was given the moveset of someone like Jigglypuff. However, in Brawl, characters change body shape to match their new animations, leading to unique distortions; for example, a character with short legs such as Mario would have his limbs stretched if given the moveset of a tall character such as Snake.

If the character used has loose hair, a dress, or the like, it will remain stiff if the animations do not include it. This extends to all parts of a character; for example Mario's ring fingers will remain "closed" when using Yoshi's three-fingered animations.

When a moveswap is used, most standard moves retain their characteristics from their original character. For example, Yoshi can use Luigi's forward smash without difficulty. However, more complicated moves may result in a "hybrid" move, such as using a stall-then-fall when the original character does not have one. Special moves in particular have unpredictable effects, ranging from a surprisingly glitchless combination to a character-freezing situation - such as Mario using Skull Bash (flying sideways at a constant speed until he gets past a blast line) and Falco using Dancing Blade or Dolphin Slash (freezes in place while falling after the initial animation).

As hitboxes are attached to bones based on their ID number, and characters have different numbers of bones, moveset swaps may result in hitboxes being placed in unexpected locations.

Notable examples

These moveset swaps have gained a sort of popularity or recognition. When the code for swapping movesets first made its debut, several examples were compiled together in a few YouTube videos, sparking the phenomenon. The moveset swaps featured in the videos have since become the most famous.

Pikaman (Pikachu as Ganondorf)

Pikaman, also known as "Pikadorf", "Ganonchu", "Longchu", "Freakachu", or "Manchu" (due to the human-like proportions), is a moveset swap in which Pikachu is the character model and Ganondorf's moveset is used. This is perhaps the most famous moveset swap, with a file replacement being used to make a moveset for the model.

Manly-Man (Snake as Captain Falcon)

Manly-Man's moves cannot be used as it crashes the game. The name is derived from the popular meme that both Captain Falcon and Snake are incredibly manly, so a hybrid would result in a manlier man.

Mariolimar (Mario as Olimar)

Mariolimar, also known as "Mini-Mario" and "Olimario", is a moveset swap in which Mario is the character model and the moveset is Olimar's. He looks squashed, and has a humorous miniature appearance.

Roadkill (Sonic as Fox)

Roadkill is the name of the moveset swap in which Sonic is the character model and Fox is the moveset. The name is derived from the fact that Sonic has his eyes closed the entire time and his arm in a fixed position, making it similar to "roadkill". For unknown reasons, when Roadkill uses his up special move, it creates a golden Arwing in place of Sonic's Spring Jump. Note that other move swaps with Sonic can give him the appearence of having his eyes closed.

Wolvereach (Peach as Sonic)

Wolvereach, also known as "Screach/Screech" or "Nightmare Peach" is the moveset swap in which Peach is the character model and Sonic is the moveset. Wolvereach is the combination of the words "Wolverine" and "Peach" and is pronounced wolver-reach. The reason why this name was given to this hybrid is because of the long "claws".

Gallery

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  Pikaman

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  Manly-Man

• Mariolimar Hack Brawl.png

  Mariolimar

• Roadkill Hack Brawl.png

  Roadkill

• Wolvereach Moveset Swap Hack Brawl.png

  Wolvereach

Other famous moveset swaps

As well as the given examples, several other moveset swaps have been seen. For example, one is of Toon Link given Meta Knight's moveset, in which he loses most of his lower waist and down and walks around on two feet loosely connected to his upper waist. In another swap, Mario is given Luigi's moveset, making his nose smaller and face shriveled up. Mr. Game & Watch was given R.O.B.'s, causing his arms to disappear and part of his feet to bulge. Giving Snake Donkey Kong's moves makes Snake's body look stretched. Also, if one were to give Peach Kirby's moves, her mouth is frozen in a stretched position, not unlike the above-mentioned "Wolvereach".

Video

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