Captain Falcon (SSBB): Difference between revisions
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*{{buff|[[Neutral aerial]]'s second kick has significantly increased knockback (40 base/100 growth → 45 base/125 growth).}} | *{{buff|[[Neutral aerial]]'s second kick has significantly increased knockback (40 base/100 growth → 45 base/125 growth).}} | ||
*{{nerf|Neutral aerial deals less damage. Both kicks have much shorter durations as well (6/10 frames → 2 frames each). It also has a smaller hitbox size.}} | *{{nerf|Neutral aerial deals less damage. Both kicks have much shorter durations as well (6/10 frames → 2 frames each). It also has a smaller hitbox size.}} | ||
*{{buff|[[Knee Smash]] deals 1% more damage on a clean hit (18% → 19%), making it stronger despite its altered knockback (24 (base)/100 (growth) → 30/93). It can also auto-cancel if performed at the beginning of a short hop.}} | *{{buff|[[Knee Smash]] deals 1% more damage on a clean hit (18% → 19%), making it stronger despite its altered knockback (24 (base)/100 (growth) → 30/93). It can also auto-cancel if performed at the beginning of a short hop. Its new sourspot hitboxes enable it [[WOP]] potential.}} | ||
*{{nerf|Knee Smash now requires a [[sweet spot]] (the hitbox on his knee) to land a clean hit. The clean hitbox duration additionally has been lowered (from 3 frames to 1 frame), now requiring it to land on the very first active frame. It also has a much smaller hitbox size (from 5.2 → 3). The late hit deals 3% less damage than PAL ''Melee'' with severely reduced knockback, and the initial hitbox behind his knee deals 6% damage with similar properties to NTSC ''Melee'''s late hit. The clean hit additionally has significantly increased freeze frames upon connecting (1x → 1.2x, especially for Captain Falcon due to electric hitlag properties being slightly altered to where both the attacker and the victim suffer the same amount of hitlag as opposed to just the victim taking the extra hitlag), allowing the opponent to DI and SDI the hit to lessen its knockback, which was altered (as aforementioned above).}} | *{{nerf|Knee Smash now requires a [[sweet spot]] (the hitbox on his knee) to land a clean hit. The clean hitbox duration additionally has been lowered (from 3 frames to 1 frame), now requiring it to land on the very first active frame. It also has a much smaller hitbox size (from 5.2 → 3). The late hit deals 3% less damage than PAL ''Melee'' with severely reduced knockback, and the initial hitbox behind his knee deals 6% damage with similar properties to NTSC ''Melee'''s late hit. The clean hit additionally has significantly increased freeze frames upon connecting (1x → 1.2x, especially for Captain Falcon due to electric hitlag properties being slightly altered to where both the attacker and the victim suffer the same amount of hitlag as opposed to just the victim taking the extra hitlag), allowing the opponent to DI and SDI the hit to lessen its knockback, which was altered (as aforementioned above).}} | ||
*{{buff|[[Back aerial]] deals more knockback (20 (base)/100 (growth)).}} | *{{buff|[[Back aerial]] deals more knockback (20 (base)/100 (growth)).}} |
Revision as of 21:46, August 18, 2017
Captain Falcon in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
---|---|
Universe | F-Zero |
Other playable appearances | in SSB in Melee in SSB4 |
Availability | Unlockable |
Final Smash | Blue Falcon |
Tier | F (34) |
Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Captain Falcon), commonly known as Falcon or C. Falcon, appears as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He was confirmed on February 22, 2008 on the Smash. DOJO!!
Captain Falcon is currently ranked 34th on the tier list in the low tier making him the third lowest unlockable character, a significant drop from his 8th position in the current Melee tier list and making Brawl his only appearance in the series where he is low-tier rather than high-tier or high mid-tier. Captain Falcon has his trademark speed-and-power combo, in addition to great mobility, great momentum cancelling and overall survivability, an all-purpose attack in his up aerial, and one of the best jabs. However, his combo and KOing power were nerfed from Super Smash Bros. Melee, with his finishers either being weakened (such as forward smash), or significantly more difficult to land (such as his Knee Smash). In addition to this, most of Falcon's attacks have poor hitbox placement, making safe approaches and spacing difficult, especially when considering his lack of projectiles. The impact of the new Brawl physics arguably hit Captain Falcon the hardest; the ability to act out of hitstun hurt the combo abilities of Falcon more than other characters, since his higher knockback attacks no longer keep opponents in longer periods of hitstun, and a less effective dashdance and inability to moonwalk give him even fewer approaching options. He also has fairly poor out of shield options due to his short grabbing reach and possessing either slow and/or poor reaching attacks. In addition, a predictable recovery, vulnerability to chain grabbing, and the general inability to pressure opponents or escape opposing pressure are also cited as problems for Falcon's metagame. As a result, he has terrible matchups as well as terrible overall tournament results.
How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
- Play 70 VS. matches.
- Complete Classic Mode on Normal difficulty or higher in under twelve minutes.
- Have Captain Falcon join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary (Outside the Ancient Ruins).
With the exception of the third method, Captain Falcon must then be defeated on Port Town Aero Dive.
Attributes
Captain Falcon is a heavy character with great momentum canceling, especially vertically due his very fast falling speed, with strong attacks, and has the second fastest running speed, second to Sonic. However, though his speed is useful, his dash has very low traction, causing him to trip more often than other characters, although he has the shortest tripping animation in the game. His attacks mostly consist of kicks and punches, including the famed Falcon Punch, which is one of the most powerful moves knockback wise in the game. However, it is a very situational move because it has a very slow start-up and high amount of ending lag. He is also capable of performing wall jumps. He has the second fastest falling speed, but his air speed is one of the best in the game.
Many of his moves have high knockback and damage, lending him considerable power, but they also have considerable startup time and small sweetspots. His standard special, the Falcon Punch, deals high damage, can KO at early percentages, and can be reversed in direction after start-up, but its extremely slow start-up makes it extremely situational in actual play. Raptor Boost makes him rush forward, then do a quick fiery uppercut that pops opponents in the air, but the abysmal shieldstun and slow start-up makes it very easy to block or shield and if he misses it he falls with considerable ending lag. When used in the air, he will instead swing downward, meteor smashing targets. This makes it useful when recovering, since it can meteor smash edge-guarders and even edgehoggers, but the attack is slow, predictable, and leaves Captain Falcon more vulnerable than the Falcon Dive. Raptor Boost also has the ability to cut through most projectiles, but Captain Falcon lacks a projectile himself. Falcon Kick sends him rocketing forward when used on the ground, and downward and slightly forward when used in midown aerial. It deals decent damage and knockback, but it has below-average start-up and the hitbox is rather small, making it only good at surprise, quickly get downward or punish laggy moves. Contrary to the name, Falcon Dive sends him upwards with a little horizontal movement, which gives him a great horizontal recovery when combining it with great air speed. If the Falcon Dive connects, it will deal damage to an opponent and Captain Falcon will jump off from them (sometimes stage spiking when used against edge-guarders, although it can be teched to prevent that) and he will be able to use Falcon Dive again. Falcon Dive can also grab edgehoggers if they are within its grab range. In terms of recovery, though, Falcon Dive is a slow move, cannot auto-sweetspot ledges if he is using it in the opposite direction of the edge and it is easy to edgeguard because it has no grab box directly above him and although Captain Falcon has a very big ledge sweetspot range, Falcon Dive is easily edge hogged, and if he still manages to get to the stage, his recovery leaves him in a fairly high landing lag, high enough to often allow the edgehogger to get up in time to punish it. Although it is a minor problem, Captain Falcon suffers from the landing lag glitch. Captain Falcon's very fast falling speed makes recovery problems even worse.
Many of his moves also make for powerful finishers. His forward aerial (informally known by many different names, of which "Knee of Justice" is probably the most popular) is known for having extreme knockback, but it is hard to sweetspot and has fairly slow start-up (the first frames of it are not avoidable on reaction but are still predictable). His back aerial has good startup and knockback, his down aerial is a powerful meteor smash, and his forward smash deals high damage and has very high knockback scaling.
Even though most of his attacks have high power and damage output, they have considerable startup and unfavorable hitboxes (which make it difficult to land his attacks), and his small amount of disjoints is a severe issue when against characters with disjoints that outrange him, especially the faster ones. His throws chain well, but Captain Falcon himself is an easy target for chain grabbing and comboing (like Ike's jab canceling) due to his heavy weight, large size, and fast falling speed. His poor, small hitboxes in his aerials and fast falling speed additionally make it difficult for him to hit grounded characters from the air. Falcon is also very easily outcamped due to his below average attack speed, unfavorable hitboxes, and only decent attack range. All of this, combined with his abysmal shieldstun (one of his biggest flaws), lack of a projectile, and slow ground attack speed, results in a very poor approach, though Falcon's high mobility slightly alleviates this. Captain Falcon also has a difficult time handling small characters, as most of his attacks have no low hitboxes.
In the end, Captain Falcon relies on his weight, survivability, power, decent range, and mobility to make up for his abysmal approach options, poor amount of disjointed hitboxes, and his often sluggish attacks. He can KO and rack up damage quite easily when the opportunity presents itself, though he lacks a quick ground finisher.
Changes from Melee to Brawl
Despite receiving buffs to his special moves, Captain Falcon has been heavily nerfed from Melee to Brawl. The vast change in physics removes many of his options while also significantly inhibiting his mobility, mixup options, and ability to play offensively. Additionally, many of his moves are much slower and weaker, while his prominent finisher Knee Smash was nerfed to be rendered situational. The changes to hitstun and falling speeds, as well as changes to his moves that increased their lag or altered their angle, also harm Captain Falcon's hitstun-heavy combos. On top of this, none of Captain Falcon's major issues from Melee have been addressed: despite generally better aerial mobility, his recovery has been shortened and weakened even further elsewhere. Additionally, Falcon's few buffs do not assist him in Brawl's more defensive environment. Overall, Captain Falcon fares significantly worse off in Melee than Brawl.
Aesthetics
- Captain Falcon has a new design primarily based on F-Zero GX, although he has his scarf from F-Zero GP Legend, has hair coming out from the back of his helmet, and has new kneeguards and a redesigned shoulder pad. His helmet and chest buttons keep their Melee design.
- He has a new "toppling" animation.
Attributes
- The universal changes to the physics in Brawl make his dashdance less effective (on top of increasing the chances of randomly tripping), and moonwalking and L-canceling have been removed, giving him fewer options to approach. In addition, while his air speed was slightly increased (1.12 → 1.18), it no longer carries momentum from his dash, and the ability to act out of hitstun hurts him more than other veterans by making his finishing moves (all of which have been nerfed, as outlined below) harder to combo into and land.
- Captain Falcon's dashes slower (2.3 → 2.18).
- As with the returning veterans, Captain Falcon's falling speed was significantly reduced (2.9 → 1.837). Compared to the returning veterans, however, Captain Falcon falls slower. While this worsens his endurance, it improves his recovery and makes him less vulnerable to combos.
- Captain Falcon's Traction is significantly lower (0.08 → 0.05), especially when comparing with the returning veterans, now being one of the lowest (from being tied for 3rd best in Melee to 9th worst in Brawl). Given the lack of wavedashing in the game, it does not provide any benefits whatsoever, and is exacerbated by a character's out of shield game being more important than in Melee. This also makes it harder for him to punish out of shield.
- Captain Falcon is now able to swing the Home-Run Bat like other characters can. Because of this, he can now properly use a Home-Run Bat for the Home-Run Contest.
Ground attacks
- Rapid jabs of his neutral attack combo are faster, making them safer to use.
- The Gentleman (third hit of neutral attack) has significantly reduced knockback for the purpose of reliably linking to the rapid jabs (20 base/100 growth → 10 base/50 growth). While this may result in more damage from using the full jab combo, the Gentleman itself does not allow for any followups to his finishing moves; therefore, it is considered to have much less utility overall (despite this, it is still one of the best jabs in Brawl).
- Dash attack has significantly increased knockback (22 base/90 growth → 80 base/40 growth), making much safer to use at very low percentages.
- Dash attack deals 2% less damage (10% → 8%).
- Forward tilt deals less damage on all angles (up: 12% (leg), 11% (body)/forward: 11%/down: 10% (leg), 11% (body) → 11%, 10%/10%, 9% (foot)/10%, 9%). It also has slightly less reach (despite now moving with it and having a larger hitbox), and increased ending lag on all angles (IASA 29 → IASA 37/32).
- Up tilt has has more reach (due to it moving Falcon forward slightly) and lasts one frame longer.
- Up tilt has a slightly more exaggerated animation, which gives it increased ending lag (IASA 38 → IASA 40).
- Down tilt deals 2% less damage (12% → 10%) and has increased start-up (frame 10 → frame 11) and ending lag (IASA 35 → IASA 36). The hitboxes closest to Falcon have had their angles lowered (70°/60° → 40°/20°). In addition, due to the changes in hitstun, down tilt has drastically reduced combo ability.
- Forward smash deals significantly less knockback (24 base/100 growth → 20 base/85 growth) and slightly less damage (20% → 19%). It now has only slightly above-average knockback, compared from being the 3rd most powerful forward smash in Melee. It also lasts one frame shorter (frame 18-21 → frame 18-20).
- Up smash has more horizontal reach. Due to Falcon having much lower traction, its reach is further increased. It also deals 2% more damage (19% → 21%).
- Up smash has increased start-up (frame 21 → frame 23), reduced knockback growth (128/126/110 → 102/103/110), and increased ending lag (IASA 40 → 53).
- Down smash has less knockback growth (100 (both kicks) → 85 (first kick)/90 (second kick)) and both kicks have slightly shorter durations (4 frames → 3 frames). It also has slightly increased ending lag (IASA 45 → 50).
- Down smash gained a new hitbox on his body for both kicks (not the weak sourspot that deals 6% damage, which may or may not lead into the second kick), making it easier to connect on smaller characters. Its hitbox sizes are larger as well (4 (first kick)/3.6 (second kick) → 6/5/4/3.5 (first) and 5/4.5/4 (second)).
Aerial attacks
- Neutral aerial's second kick has significantly increased knockback (40 base/100 growth → 45 base/125 growth).
- Neutral aerial deals less damage. Both kicks have much shorter durations as well (6/10 frames → 2 frames each). It also has a smaller hitbox size.
- Knee Smash deals 1% more damage on a clean hit (18% → 19%), making it stronger despite its altered knockback (24 (base)/100 (growth) → 30/93). It can also auto-cancel if performed at the beginning of a short hop. Its new sourspot hitboxes enable it WOP potential.
- Knee Smash now requires a sweet spot (the hitbox on his knee) to land a clean hit. The clean hitbox duration additionally has been lowered (from 3 frames to 1 frame), now requiring it to land on the very first active frame. It also has a much smaller hitbox size (from 5.2 → 3). The late hit deals 3% less damage than PAL Melee with severely reduced knockback, and the initial hitbox behind his knee deals 6% damage with similar properties to NTSC Melee's late hit. The clean hit additionally has significantly increased freeze frames upon connecting (1x → 1.2x, especially for Captain Falcon due to electric hitlag properties being slightly altered to where both the attacker and the victim suffer the same amount of hitlag as opposed to just the victim taking the extra hitlag), allowing the opponent to DI and SDI the hit to lessen its knockback, which was altered (as aforementioned above).
- Back aerial deals more knockback (20 (base)/100 (growth)).
- Back aerial's clean hit has a shorter duration (4 frames → 2 frames) without proper compensation on the moves entire duration (8 frames → 6 frames). It also has increased ending lag (IASA 29 → IASA 36), no longer having the least amount of ending lag among his aerials.
- However, due to its hitbox duration being shortened, his back aerial autocancels two frames earlier (frame 21 → 19).
- Up aerial has slightly more ending lag (IASA 30 → 34).
- Down aerial can now get reliable onstage KOs due to its new angle.
- Down aerial now has a smaller hitbox (6.8/6/5.6 → 4.5/6), its sweetspot has much less base knockback (40 → 10), and the Nipple spike was removed, meaning that he has a harder time meteor smashing and utilizing the move in general. The hitbox above the meteor's trajectory was changed to the Sakurai Angle. Its duration was shortened as well (16-20 → 16-18), it autocancels 3 frames later (frame 36 → 39), and it has more ending lag (IASA 38 → 45). The meteor smash hitboxes are also much smaller, and the sourspot hitboxes are much weaker than the meteor smash and the spike hitboxes that were removed.
Special moves
- Falcon Punch can now be reversed for a short time during the startup, slightly increasing damage and knockback at the cost of increased startup lag.
- Falcon Punch has less knockback growth (102 → 93), making it slightly weaker. However, it can still KO at around 60% from center-stage, so this nerf is miniscule overall.
- Raptor Boost is easier to use and makes a "leapfrog" effect when the attack connects in the air. Additionally, it can now edge sweet spot, making it much safer to use in the air and for recovery.
- Raptor Boost has altered knockback (78 (base)/80 (growth) → 100/52).
- Falcon Dive can now grab edge-hoggers, the grab hitbox is larger, its furtherest grabbox has more reach (12.93u → 13.65u), and it grabs onto the edge earlier into the move, making Captain Falcon harder to edge-hog. Due to the changes in the stale-move negation, Falcon Dive deals approximately 2% more damage.
- Falcon Dive relies more on his horizontal momentum to gain any horizontal distance and controls erratically just when Captain Falcon is about to fall, requiring more precise control from the player to properly space his recovery.
- Grounded Falcon Kick no longer has a chance of blasting Captain Falcon off diagonally downwards when he travels towards an edge near the end of the move. It also deals 2% less damage (15% → 13%).
- Aerial Falcon Kick no longer restores Captain Falcon's midair jump.
Moveset
Name | Damage | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Neutral attack | rowspan=4 | 3% | Punches twice then knees the opponent, which is followed by a series of punches. | |
2% | ||||
6% (clean), 5% (late) | ||||
1-2% | ||||
Forward tilt | ↗ | 11% (foot), 10% (leg) | Captain Falcon does a roundhouse kick. | |
→ | 10% (foot), 9% (leg) | |||
↘ | 10% (foot), 9% (leg) | |||
Up tilt | 13% | An axe-handle kick with good horizontal knockback. This move's hitbox stretches from above Falcon, giving it some anti-air properties, to dropping in front of him. | ||
Down tilt | 10% | Does a sweep kick with vertical knockback. | ||
Dash attack | 8% (clean), 6% (late) | Captain Falcon rams a shoulder into the opponent. | ||
Forward smash | ↗ | 20% | Captain Falcon leans back and jabs an elbow forward, making a fire effect on contact. | |
→ | 19% | |||
↘ | 18% | |||
Up smash | 11%/8% (hit 1), 13%/12% (hit 2) | Captain Falcon performs a spinning double-kick. Has good vertical range but poor horizontal reach. | ||
Down smash | 18%/6% (hit 1), 16% (hit 2) | Captain Falcon kicks forward and then backward. Has great reach and very high horizontal knockback. | ||
Neutral aerial | 4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2) | Captain Falcon kicks forward twice. The first kick has set knockback which easily connects into the second kick. | ||
Forward aerial | Knee Smash | 19% (clean sweetspot), 6% (clean sourspot), 3% (late) | Captain Falcon jabs a knee forward. Deals high knockback when sweespotted. | |
Back aerial | 14% (clean), 8% (late) | Captain Falcon does a quick backhand. | ||
Up aerial | 13%/12% (clean), 12%/10% (late) | Captain Falcon does a flip kick with fast start-up and good all-around range. One of his best moves and can easily juggle into another aerial. | ||
Down aerial | 14% | Captain Falcon stomps downward. Deals horizontal knockback when sourspotted and meteor smashes when sweetspotted. | ||
Grab | — | |||
Pummel | 2% | Captain Falcon knees opponent. | ||
Forward throw | 5% (hit), 4% (throw) (9% total) | Captain Falcon punches his enemy forward. | ||
Back throw | 5% (hit), 4% (throw) (9% total) | Captain Falcon puts the enemy behind him and kicks. | ||
Up throw | 4% (hit), 3% (throw) (7% total) | Captain Falcon holds the enemy up and punches them upwards. | ||
Down throw | 7% | Captain Falcon flips the opponent and slams them on the ground. | ||
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
Techs | — | — | ||
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
6% | Captain Falcon does a spin on the ground to kick both sides. | ||
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
6% | Captain Falcon spins around to do a double kick. | ||
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Captain Falcon punches both sides. | ||
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast) |
10% | Captain Falcon does a flip-kick to the opponent. | ||
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow) |
8% | Captain Falcon does a slow uppercut. | ||
Neutral special | Falcon Punch | 27%/25%/23% (ground), 28%/26%/24% (ground reverse), 26%/23%/22% (air), 27%/24%/23% (air reverse) | Captain Falcon winds up and releases his iconic fiery punch. Can be reversed which deals more damage. KOs at 63% at the far edge of Final Destination. | |
Side special | Raptor Boost | 7% | Captain Falcon dashes forward and follows up with an uppercut. In midair, the strike is a dashing overhand that can meteor smash. | |
Up special | Falcon Dive | 5% (grab), 12% (release) | Captain Falcon grabs his opponent and releases them with an explosion. Goes into helpless if he misses but if the move connect, he's free to use the same move again. | |
Down special | Falcon Kick | 13%/11%/7% (ground), 15%/13%/11% (air), 9% (landing) | Captain Falcon bursts forward with a flaming high-speed kick. If used in the air, Captain Falcon will plunge downwards at a diagonal angle. | |
Final Smash | Blue Falcon | 10% (car), 20% (ram), 10% (release) | Captain Falcon calls in his F-Zero racer, the Blue Falcon. The opponent is hit by the vehicle as it zooms past, sending them to an unknown F-Zero track. Captain Falcon proceeds to run them down in the Blue Falcon, resulting in high knockback. |
On-screen appearance
- The Blue Falcon appears then Captain Falcon jumps out of it as it speeds off.
Taunts
- Up taunt: Clenches his fists while surrounded by a fiery aura.
- Side taunt: Jumps back, extends his hand out, and says "Come on!"
- Down taunt: Gives a salute to his right side while saying "Show me your moves!" When facing left, Captain Falcon extends his saluting arm behind him; this also shortens the taunt.
Up taunt | Side taunt | Down taunt |
---|---|---|
Idle poses
- Does a battle pose.
- Does a battle pose slightly different from the first one.
Crowd cheer
English | Japanese | |
---|---|---|
Cheer | ||
Description | Cap-tain! Fal-con! | Cap-tain! Fal-con! |
Pitch | High female, then deep male | High female, then deep male |
Wii Remote selection sound
- Falcon says "yeeeeAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!", similar to a victory pose from previous games.
Victory poses
- Performs two jump kicks, then strikes a pose.
- Charges up red energy, similar to one of his Melee poses, but with fire added.
- Does three consecutive roundhouse kicks, then poses.
File:Captain Falcon VPs.png |
---|
In competitive play
Matchups
Notable players
- Ally - While Ally never used Captain Falcon in serious tournament matches against legitimately threatening opponents, it became perhaps the most famous "low tier main" of a top player in Brawl, with Ally being able to beat high level players with Falcon and dominate low tier tournaments. As such, Ally was considered to have the best Falcon for a long time, and only Stroumbert would contend with him for this title near the end of Brawl.
- Champ - Formerly Power Ranked 13th in SoCal.
- Lee Martin - With Captain Falcon, he achieved wins over Hyro, JNig, and Li-D
- Lordy - One of the very few genuine competitive Captain Falcon mains, and the only one to have achieved any real notability beyond his region. Was considered the third best Falcon player under Ally and Stroumbert.
- Stroumbert - Like Ally, he didn't actually main Captain Falcon, but he became known for having an especially competent Captain Falcon, and would end up competing with Ally for the title of best Falcon in Brawl by the end of its competitive life.
Tier placement and history
Captain Falcon was initially seen as the worst character in Brawl; right away players noticed the severe nerfs to Falcon's key traits (such as his Knee, his goto finisher in Melee, becoming extremely difficult to land), and that Falcon got adversely affected to a severe degree by the physics changes. It was additionally widely believed at the time that Falcon had "terrible priority" and would thus be unable to win any exchanges with opposing characters. As such, despite Falcon's still very fast movement speed and powerful attacks, players at the time did not believe Falcon could do anything to any competent degree in competitive matches. A year after Brawl's release, it was realised Ganondorf and Link were even worse characters than Falcon; as such, on the third tier list, Falcon rose up from last place and has never ranked there since. Players also began recognising some of the significant caveats Falcon had, such as his access to one of the best jabs, his still rather strong effectiveness at punishing, his still great mobility, and his incredible endurance potential while having a capable recovery that does not compromise it. Additionally, with Ally's tremendous success with Falcon in low tier tournaments, it was seen that Falcon had some clear advantages over his low tier brethren. With this, Falcon shot up to 32nd on the fourth tier list, and then consistently hovered around the 33rd-34th spot. However, he was still crippled by his remaining flaws; although Falcon's attacks enjoy the same amount of priority as any other characters', he still suffered from a lack of disjointed range that could not compete with other longer-ranged characters.
While Captain Falcon was no longer seen as a candidate for worst character in the game, the stigma from his previous last placings still held on, and thus he was commonly seen as a joke character on the level of Ganondorf. With this, Falcon had barely any serious players; nearly everyone who could play Falcon at a competent competitive level only used Falcon as a "low tier main" or "fun character", including his best players Ally and Stroumbert, leaving true competitive Captain Falcon mains very rare even at the local level. As such, Falcon's tournament representation was barren even by low tier standards, and only Jigglypuff saw even worse representation in Brawl tournaments, leaving Falcon's capability to perform beyond low tier play rarely seen in practice.
Role in The Subspace Emissary
In Subspace Emissary, Captain Falcon will team up with Captain Olimar and his Pikmin. When Olimar sends his Pikmin to attack a giant R.O.B., it wakes up the robot, causing it to shake off the Pikmin. Luckily, Captain Falcon drives his F-Zero machine straight towards them, jumps out in mid-motion, and Falcon Punches the ROB, thus destroying it, but upon landing, Olimar's remaining Pikmin (except for the red Pikmin beside Olimar) were killed when he slid into them. Once the two get out of the forest, they find a Primid transport platform, otherwise known as the Smash Skiff, that is holding the trophied Donkey Kong hostage. The two watch as Diddy Kong falls from Falco's Arwing, and fires peanuts at the ship. After Diddy Kong revives DK, Captain Falcon grabs Olimar, and jumps off the ledge and onto the ship. Then the four must fight off a horde of Primids. Afterwards, the ship will take them into the secret Subspace HQ, where they will meet up with Samus, Pikachu, and, eventually, a friendly R.O.B.
After fighting off a large army comprising of various Subspace troops with the others, the heroes are unable to stop the ROBs which arm the last remaining Subspace bombs. Captain Falcon seemed to be analyzing the power of the Subspace Bombs, because afterwards, he motions to everyone to leave quickly. Captain Falcon presses a few buttons on his wrist, summoning his ship, the Falcon Flyer. Everyone piles into the ship and prepares to escape the doomed base when they are attacked from behind by Meta Ridley. After defeating the monster, they escape the floating island where a massive number of Subspace Bombs destroy the island. Captain Falcon joins the other heroes and uses his ship to help in the assault on the Subspace Gunship. He also helps in The Great Maze.
Towards the end, Captain Falcon and everyone else confront Tabuu. In a single, devastating act, Tabuu turns everyone into trophies. All are brought back to life due to the Dedede Badges and the efforts of Kirby, Luigi, Ness, and Dedede. With the aid of Sonic, Tabuu becomes vulnerable, and a final battle between the characters and Tabuu begins. The player may pick Captain Falcon to fight Tabuu, if the player has collected the Captain Falcon trophy in Subspace.
Playable appearances
- Outside the Ancient Ruins
- The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)
- Entrance to Subspace
- The Great Maze - If rescued in Subspace (Part I)
Exclusive stickers
The following stickers can only be used by Captain Falcon:
- Blue Falcon: [Specials: Direct] Attack + 3
- Capt. Falcon (F-Zero): [Slash] Resistance +23
- Capt. Falcon (F-Zero GX): [Arm, Leg] Attack + 8
- Capt. Falcon (F-Zero X): [Specials: Direct] Attack +19
- Gomar & Shioh: [Specials: Direct] Attack +10
- Samurai Goroh: [Arm] Attack +18
- Black Shadow (F-Zero GX):[Flame] Attack +25
In Event Matches
Solo Events
- Event 23: Molten Norfair: Samus must retreat into the safety capsule when it appears. Captain Falcon and Fox are featured in this event, who will try and prevent the player from entering the capsule.
- Event 24: Come On! Blue Falcon!: Captain Falcon must must use his Final Smash, Blue Falcon, to defeat two R.O.B.s before one lap on Port Town Aero Dive is complete.
- Event 29: All-Star Semifinal Regulars: Captain Falcon is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are characters that were unlockable from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
- Event 36: High-Tech Special Forces: Captain Falcon is one of the three bounty hunters along with Samus and Wolf that Snake must defeat.
Co-op Events
- Co-Op Event 6: Unwanted Suitors: Zelda and Zero Suit Samus must defeat an invisible Captain Falcon and Luigi on Port Town Aero Dive..
- Co-Op Event 12: Come Back! Falcon Flyer: Captain Falcon and Olimar must defeat two Samuses in under 30 seconds.
- Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.
Trophies
Captain Falcon's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Captain Falcon.
Trophy descriptions
- Captain Falcon
- A skilled F-Zero pilot and resourceful bounty hunter. All that's known of his past is that he hails from Port Town. He's won fame and fortune outracing his opponents in his beloved Blue Falcon. His incredible athleticism and never-say-die attitude makes him the pilot to turn to in times of trouble.
- Blue Falcon
- Captain Falcon's Final Smash. His beloved ship, the Blue Falcon, roars onto the screen once he touches a foe in front of him. The enemy gets sent to a racetrack, at which point the Blue Falcon screams down at a ridiculous speed and launches the unlucky victim. What track is it? Where did the machine come from? This is one technique that's an utter mystery.
Blue Falcon trophy
Alternate costumes
Trivia
- Captain Falcon is one of the few characters to speak during The Subspace Emissary. He yells out "Falcon Punch!" while using the move on a giant R.O.B. and he says "Come on!" following with a snap to summon the Falcon Flyer.
- Captain Falcon is one of two characters that has a two hit forward smash with battering items. He shares this ability with Sheik.
- In addition, Captain Falcon only does 10% with both forward smash hits with the Star Rod in Brawl instead of 18% like the rest of the characters.
- Despite being an unlockable character, Captain Falcon can be seen in the "How To Play" video in the game; he can be seen sleeping on Delfino Plaza at the end of the video as a result of Peach's Peach Blossom.
- Captain Falcon and Yoshi are the only "perfect attendees" that remain the only playable characters to represent their own series in Brawl.
- If one clips through Captain Falcon's head with a hacked camera, they'll find a blue eye.
External links
- Dojo page
- Screenshots of Captain Falcon and the rest of the Subspace Emissary characters
- Captain Falcon Guide on SmashBoards
- Captain Falcon's hitbox size of each of his moves
Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | |
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Veterans | Bowser · Captain Falcon · Donkey Kong · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Ice Climbers · Jigglypuff · Kirby · Link · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Peach · Pikachu · Samus · Yoshi · Zelda / Sheik |
Newcomers | Diddy Kong · Ike · King Dedede · Lucario · Lucas · Meta Knight · Olimar · Pit · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard · Ivysaur · Squirtle) · R.O.B. · Snake · Sonic · Toon Link · Wario · Wolf · (Zero Suit Samus) |
F-Zero universe | |
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Fighter | Captain Falcon (SSB · SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) |
Assist Trophy | Samurai Goroh |
Stages | Mute City · Big Blue · Port Town Aero Dive · Mute City SNES F-Zero Grand Prix (Adventure Mode) |
Vehicles | F-Zero Racers (Blue Falcon) · Falcon Flyer |
Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
Music | Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate |
Masterpiece | F-Zero |