R.O.B. (SSBB)

This article is about R.O.B.'s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Ancient Minister or Robotic Operating Buddy.

R.O.B. in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	R.O.B.
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Diffusion Beam
Tier	C- (18)

R.O.B., known in Japan as the Famicom Robot (ロボット, Robotto), is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His full name is Robotic Operating Buddy and he's based on the R.O.B. NES peripheral. He was unveiled in a mass leak prior to the Japanese release of Brawl. R.O.B. was confirmed on the DOJO!! March 6, 2008.

R.O.B. currently ranks 18th on the tier list at the bottom of the upper-mid tier. R.O.B. possesses a strong camping game with two very effective projectiles; one is a fast transcendent projectile that goes across the entire stage while going through any hurtbox it connects with (rather than stopping like other projectiles), and a powerful item based projectile that produces a lingering hitbox when it lands, while being able to be picked up and glide tossed with. He also has one of the best recoveries in Brawl, that gains incredible distance while giving R.O.B. nearly free reign to act out of. R.O.B. additionally possesses great tilts and effective aerials, with them having great reach or large hitboxes. However, R.O.B. can have severe KOing problems at times, as his finishers are not that powerful, as well as either having slow start-up, poor hitbox placement, or both. Additionally, R.O.B. has a large hurtbox, which when combined with his heavy weight and slow aerial mobility, leaves him vulnerable to juggling. His large hurtbox also combines with his slow mobility to create difficulty in initiating approaches when he lacks a Gyro to glide toss. Another problem R.O.B. has is his poor momentum cancelling giving him the worst endurance for a character of his weight class. Overall, R.O.B. has average matchups, where he holds an advantage over nearly every character below borderline tier, but loses the majority of matchups with several counters against characters above (including a notoriously poor matchup against Meta Knight). R.O.B. has achieved above average tournament results regardless, especially in Meta Knight banned tournaments.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 160 VS. matches.
• Collect 250 different trophies.
• Have R.O.B. join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary (The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)).

With the exception of the third method, R.O.B. must then be defeated on Mario Bros.

Attributes

R.O.B. plays the role of a long-range attacker very well, with projectiles and means to keep opponents at bay. His base up close is a blind spot, making it important to keep foes away. Many of his attacks balance moderate power and range with short lag-time. His moves with actual KO potential, though, have considerable start up lag or keep him airborne longer than desired. R.O.B. is also prone to Stale move negation on his KO moves (notably his down smash which, due to its low knockback scaling, can have trouble KO'ing heavier characters even at around 200%) rendering him unable to KO at times (however, his up throw can KO reliably at above 160%). He can easily set up an edgeguard using a forward or back throw, but his most powerful aerials are difficult to land. Despite his moves boasting only moderate knockback, R.O.B. can generally keep knocking his opponent away with superior range and combine any of his moves together fairly easily. The resulting damage adds up rather quickly with an experienced player. R.O.B. is decently heavy and floaty (making R.O.B, Samus and Yoshi the only floaty heavyweights), but he is also a large target. He has two projectiles, both with decent knockback and unique properties, which usually mess up the opponent's approach. The major flaw with these projectiles is that they are not spammable (as they must be charged/recharged). His aerial game is also good, with his forward aerial being fast and having moderate knockback, his neutral and back aerial being powerful but difficult to land, and his down air acting as a Meteor Smash (although it has a very slow start-up). His back aerial can also aid his exceptional recovery, both his back and down aerials push R.O.B. up slightly when using Robo Burner. With the addition of Robo Burner, he is quite interesting to experiment with on certain combination of attacks and techniques such as a Wall of Pain. In fact, a technique sometimes called "burner flashing," which is initiated by first using Robo Burner and then repeatedly pressing B, has been proven to be the farthest vertical traveling recovery move in one go. R.O.B.'s recovery does have its problems. He can't air dodge out of Robo Burner, making his recovery predictable for some characters and he can be juggled because he is floaty in both jumping and recovery, notably by Meta Knight and Fox. His slow fast falling also makes his momentum canceling poor, getting KOed vertically at relatively low percentages, especially for his weight class. R.O.B.'s side special reflects projectiles, but characters with more spammable projectiles can easily overwhelm R.O.B. from afar, and it isn't useful as an attack. Overall, with a very flexible ranged game, R.O.B. can be a dangerous foe for many characters in the game.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - R.O.B. does a quick swing with each arm. Two hits; the first one deals 3% damage and deals slight upward knockback, with almost no KO potential. The second one also deals 3%, but has much more power and horizontal knockback. Total, 6%. Start-up of 3 frames.
• Dash attack - R.O.B. thrusts his arms forward. Does 5% normally, 6% if initiated at the center of the opponent. Hits on frame 7-9.
• Forward tilt - Leans forward and punches with an impressive range. Can be aimed up or down. Does 5% normally, but 8% if R.O.B.s "hand" hits the opponent. Hits on frame 7-10.
• Up tilt - Arms point upwards and his "torso" moves up on his "spine", causing this to pop up a bit. Can hit twice, first hit does 3% and has set knockback, second hit launches opponents upwards; 6%. Total 9%. Hitting with the first (R.O.B.'s elbows at the sides) can lock most fastfallers and heavys and the lock has a 0-death on Fox. Hitbox out on frame 4 and it ends on frame 9.
• Down tilt - Quickly pushes his arms forward along the ground. Quick, produces opportunity for multiple hits. Can cause tripping. Does 5%-6% damage. Start-up of 3 frames.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash - Shoots a short beam from his eyes. Can be directed up and down like a shorter Robo Beam. May be considered a projectile, due to the fact that it can't break a Metal Box. Does 12%-19% damage. Hits on frame 13-16. Does average knockback. When angled up and fully charged, it KOs at 91%.
• Down smash - Lowers torso on his spine and extends arms, spinning them. Low damage and knockback, but decent range and multiple hits. It is the fastest down smash, tied with Zelda's. Does 11%-18%. Start-up of 4 frames and it ends on frame 16.
• Up smash - Plants hands on ground and does a handstand, shooting boosters out of his base upwards. Very high knockback (R.O.B.'s strongest move in terms of knockback) but is slow and predictable. Does 14%-19%. High vertical range but has no horizontal range, making the move difficult to use, especially on stages without platforms. When sweetspotted and fully charged, it KOs at 70%. Hits on frame 12-18.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack - R.O.B. leaps onto the edge and swings both arms over-head. Does 7%.
• 100% ledge attack - Rotates so that his right arm is directly pointing the stage and lunges his right arm forward. Does 10%.
• Floor attack - Quickly gets up and spins with both arms extended in each direction. Inflicts 6%.
• Trip attack - R.O.B. lowers his torso, withdraws it's left arm and extends it's right arm to sweep the floor around. Around 5%.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Shoots his boosters out diagonally down in front of him and spins with them going, dealing about 11% damage with good knockback. It's slow coming out but when it makes contact it's good when the opponent's at a low damage percentage. R.O.B. can short hop and use this move a lot to hit enemies with. Hits from frame 18 to 33.
• Down aerial - Boosts R.O.B. up a little bit, shooting his boosters down where he was. It's powerful, yet slow (start-up of 20 frames) and can Meteor Smash. Keeps him stationary in the air shortly, although he can fast fall with it as long as he's in knockback after getting hit. 11%. This attack has a very odd hitbox, because when performed nearly at the sides of the opponent (at the sourspot), the move will deal upward knockback and will do 13%. When Tiny, R.O.B. can use this move instead of Robo Burner to recover. Provides him an unlimited Recovery move, because it pushes him upward and can be used infinitely to fly up the upper Blast line infinitely without getting Star KO'd, making it also the only unlimited non-Bomb recovery and the only infinite recovery (when Tiny) of every Smash Bros. installment. Can also perform every Hyrule Jump (only when tiny).
• Up aerial - Raises arms repeatedly above his head, hitting multiple times with good damage if used right. About 20% worth of damage if all hits connect. Start-up of 7 frames.
• Forward aerial - Looks like his dash attack, just in the air. It's fast, strong and has good duration. It works as an excellent wall of pain. Does 10% (if sweetspotted). Hits on frame 7-17.
• Back aerial - Aims his base behind him and fires his boosters. Pushes R.O.B. forward a little bit, although while he keeps the knockback after getting hit, it does nothing to increase or reduce momentum. The hitbox affects targets both in front of and behind R.O.B. each with decent knockback. This can be used for recovery in between Robo Burners, creating virtually the longest horizontal recovery move in the game along with Pound and Glide. Does 11% damage. Hits from frame 11 to 26.

Grabs and throws

All R.O.B.´s throws inflicts 10% damage.

• Pummel: Squeezes opponent with his hands. Does 2% each hit. Very fast and no ending lag.
• Down throw: Drills opponent into the ground in front of him. Does 10%.
• Up throw: Grabs opponent, flies them into the air a short distance, turns them upside down, then crashes them into the ground (Similar to Olimar, Kirby or Meta Knight's up throw). 10% damage. This is R.O.B.´s strongest throw along with his back throw, knockback wise. Can KO around 165%.
• Forward throw: Tosses opponent forward. Does 10%. Very fast.
• Back throw: Quickly swings opponent backward. Can KO around 165%, if used very close to the ledge. Does 10% damage.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Faces forward and spins his head and arms in opposite directions.
• Side taunt: Faces towards the screen, tilts his head to the side and moves it in a full arc, all the while his eyes glow and spark. He also subtly claps twice.
• Down taunt: Faces forward, ratchets his arms down his spine and spins them back up to their original position. His wire appears to simply spin in midair, disconnected from his body. This also happens in all moves where he spins his torso. This is a reference to how R.O.B. was powered up when ready to play.

Cheer

File:R.O.B. Cheer NTSC Brawl.ogg

R.O.B.'s NTSC and PAL cheer

"R-O-B, ROB!"

Special moves

R.O.B.'s special moves

Neutral special	Robo Beam
Side special	Arm Rotor
Up special	Robo Burner
Down special	Gyro
Final Smash	Diffusion Beam	Super Diffusion Beam	Guided Robo Beam

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:R.O.B. professionals (SSBB)

•  8Bitman
•  ChiboSempai
•  HolyNightmare
•  Luminous
•  OCEAN
•  t0mmy

Tier placement and history

R.O.B. was initially a top tier character, being ranked 6th in the first tier list (September 2008). He was considered a difficult matchup for many players, who weren't experienced enough at the time to get around his weaknesses, and he was very dominant, with his attacks known for being fast and having great hitboxes. However, as time progressed, R.O.B.'s weaknesses became more prominent, with players learning to get around the blind spots of his attacks, as well as the increasing dominance of Meta Knight, the character which countered R.O.B. the most. R.O.B. continued to drop down the tier list, with the biggest drop being him falling five places from the third tier list to the fourth. He currently ranks 18th place in upper-mid tier, in the eighth tier list, as of April 2013.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

The race of R.O.B.s appear under four roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. During the Subspace Emissary, they are a unit of the Subspace Army and are used to activate the Subspace Bombs, as well as guard the Ancient Minister and come in different variations; R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Launcher and the R.O.B. Blaster. The bodyguards for the Ancient Minister are called "The R.O.B. Squad". When a pair of R.O.B.s are used to activate a Subspace Bomb, they are destroyed in the explosions.

R.O.B. in the SSE

In the Subspace Emissary, it is revealed that the Ancient Minister is actually R.O.B. and the whole reason he was destroying the Super Smash Bros. World was because Tabuu had destroyed a lot of R.O.B.s, which upset the Ancient Minister. Tabuu then threatened to extinguish the rest of the R.O.B. race if the Ancient Minister would not aid him in his plan. It is also revealed that R.O.B., the Ancient Minister, was once the ruler of the world and he lives on a floating island along with the other ministers. Samus, Pikachu, Captain Olimar, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were able to get on this same island. However, when they arrive, the Ancient Minister refuses to battle with them.

A hologram of Ganondorf appears and commands the R.O.B. minions to detonate all the Subspace Bombs in the building, only to have the Ancient Minister tell him off. Ganondorf then orders the R.O.B.s to attack the disobedient Minister. They burn the Minister's robes away to discover that their target is a R.O.B. himself. At that point, R.O.B. decided to stop destroying the world and joined the heroes. After he and his friends defeat a flock of Auroros sent in by Ganondorf, he mourned at the fact that the Subspace Bombs are about to selfdestruct, along with the R.O.B.s that set them off. Realizing that they cannot pull the R.O.B.s away from the bombs, Captain Falcon calls in the Falcon Flyer, DK grabs the melancholic R.O.B. and the Smashers depart, despite Meta Ridley getting in their way.

Captain Falcon drives the Falcon Flyer straight into the Subspace along with everyone else. Unfortunately, Tabuu uses his Off Waves to reduce them all into trophies; R.O.B. among them. King Dedede, Ness, Luigi and Kirby, who were revived by the Dedede Brooch, find them and bring them back to life. With all heroes reunited, they endure the Great Maze and fight Tabuu.

R.O.B. is one of the few characters who has two names displayed throughout the story. The first time is as the Ancient Minister and the second time as R.O.B. Zelda and Samus also have different names displayed, labelled at different times as "Sheik" and "Zero Suit Samus", respectively.

Playable appearances

R.O.B has appeared several times in Subspace Emissary as the Ancient Minister. Until he was finally revealed to be a friendly R.O.B unit. He appeared in Midair Stadium, The Plain, The Battlefield Fortress (where he was seen being attacked by Ike to prevent him from dropping a Subspace Bomb), The Cave, The Wilds (Part II), & finally in The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part I)

• The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part II)

Trophy

R.O.B's trophy in Brawl.

Description

R.O.B. sporting his Famicom colors. R.O.B. debuted in Japan as Robot in 1985 as an add on for the Famicom. He could be combined with a "gyro set", etc. for two sorts of play. The player controlled Professor Hector, the TV emitted light, and R.O.B. responded to the light by moving. At the time, it was epoch-making game play. Recently, R.O.B. appeared in Mario Kart DS.

: Robotic Operating Buddy

Costumes

R.O.B.'s alternate costumes in SSBB

Trivia

• R.O.B.'s up taunt is similar to his Mario Kart DS pose.
• The entirety of R.O.B.'s "voice" is composed of NES-style noises, although this is difficult to discern during a fight. R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, Olimar, and Samus are the only characters that don't actually have legitimate voices.
  • Also, R.O.B. is the only non-talking character to have KO screams.
• R.O.B. is the only character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl without a stage representing his universe. Instead, the Mario Bros. stage is used as his home stage. Delfino Plaza is used if Mario Bros. has not been unlocked yet.
  • In addition, R.O.B. and Ganondorf are the only characters that are unlocked on a stage that does not hail from their respective universe. In the instance of R.O.B., Mario Bros. is the stage used.
• R.O.B.'s entrance animation may be a reference to Kirby's Dream Land 3, where the player must get pieces of R.O.B. throughout the level for Professor Hector so he can build him.
• R.O.B. is the only character in Brawl who can hold 4 consecutive charges at the same time; a smash attack, a fully charged Gyro, Robo Beam and the automatic replenishing of his fuel capacity for Robo Burner.
• While some characters cannot be put in helpless naturally, their helpless state can be seen via hacking. R.O.B. is the exception, as the game freezes if he is put in helpless state, meaning he wasn't programmed to have one.
• R.O.B. is the only character to spin horizontally when using a Screw Attack. Despite this, the graphical effect continues to spin vertically.
• R.O.B, King Dedede, Mario, Diddy Kong and Ness are the only characters to wear their default costumes in team battles when they are on the red team.
• R.O.B. is the only character to have an alternate form that is not playable.
• On the base of R.O.B. it reads: FAMILY COMPUTER ROBOT. However, when using the gray palette swap, it reads: R.O.B. Robotic Operating Buddy, a complete reference to the English-language version of R.O.B.
• When spawning items on training mode with R.O.B., the items will spawn much farther than with other characters. This makes it specially difficult to spawn multiple Smart Bombs continuously in order to rack up the combo meter.

External links

• Smash Bros. DOJO!! Page on R.O.B.
• R.O.B. Character Guide at SWF