Falling speed
Falling speed is the usual rate at which a character can move downward in mid-air. A character's falling speed can greatly impact his fighting style - for instance, Fox, a fast-faller, uses his aerial speed to perform shffl'd attacks very quickly, whereas Jigglypuff, a floaty character, uses its low falling speed to attack multiple times in mid-air.
Additionally, falling speed directly affects the vertical component of attacks' knockback. Attacks of upward trajectory knock back slow-falling, floaty characters more than they knock back fast-fallers. Though both falling speed and weight affect knockback, they are independent of each other - a fast-falling character is not necessarily heavy, and vice versa.
The items Bunny Hood and Metal Box increase the user's falling speed. Some stages can also affect a character's falling speed, the flying-type switch in Pokemon Stadium 2, and the falling portion of Summit. All characters can also fastfall at any time to increase falling speed.
Categories of falling speed
Falling speed is divided into two categories: floaty and fast-faller. each of which have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on playstyle.
Fast-faller
Fast-faller is a name that refers to many characters is relatively fast falling speed. Fox is well prominent example in the Super Smash Bros series and holds the fastest falling speed in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
Fast-fallers enjoy increased speed in the air and faster shffl'd approaches; however, they suffer from shorter recoveries. They are also susceptible to different combos from floaty characters. For instance, Captain Falcon can chain grab floaty characters with down throw, but cannot do so against fast-fallers. On the other hand, he can tech-chase fast-fallers with up throw, which he cannot do against floaty characters. Generally, fast fallers are more vulnerable to chain grabs and combos (although weight and character size are other factors as well); such as Marth's up throw chain grab that he can finish with a forward smash.
Floaty
Floaty is a name that describes characters with relatively slow falling speed. Jigglypuff is a well prominent example of having a very slow falling fast (the slowest falling speed to be exact).
Floaty characters have great benefits in terms of performing aerial attacks since one would able to perform multiple aerial attacks in succession (such as Jigglypuff's slow falling speed and multiple mid-air jumps allows it to do Wall of Pain) and easier recoveries due to slow falling speeds allow easier maneuvering while consequently suffer the vulnerability of being Juggled and having their recoveries easily predictable. On the flip side, floaty characters tend to be less vulnerable to chain grabs and combos.
Average Falling Speed Ranking In Melee
This is a ranking of each character's average falling speed, from fastest to slowest, based in comparison to Mario, Luigi and Dr. Mario.
| Speed | Character |
|---|---|
| 159% | Fox |
| 152% | Falco |
| 151% | Captain Falcon |
| 128% | DK |
| 128% | Roy |
| 118% | Ganondorf |
| 118% | Sheik |
| 117% | Link |
| 117% | Marth |
| 117% | Young Link |
| 116% | Bowser |
| 108% | Pikachu |
| 107% | Pichu |
| 107% | Yoshi |
| 103% | Ness |
| 101% | Dr. Mario |
| 101% | Mario |
| 101% | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 098% | Ice Climbers |
| 097% | Mewtwo |
| 096% | Kirby |
| 096% | Peach |
| 095% | Luigi |
| 095% | Samus |
| 092% | Zelda |
| 086% | Jigglypuff |
Top Falling Speed
A ">" means that the character to the left of the ">" ACCELERATES to his/her top speed QUICKER than the character to the right of the ">."
A "=" means the two or three characters between the "=" have the same exact acceleration.
1) Falco
2) Captain Falcon
3) Fox
4-5) Roy > DK
6) Marth
7-9) Sheik > Link = Young Link
10) Ganondorf
11) Yoshi
12-14) Bowser > Pichu = Pikachu
15) Ness
16-18) Dr. Mario = Mario = Mr. Game and Watch
19-21) Ice Climbers > Kirby > Luigi
22-23) Mewtwo > Peach
24-25) Zelda > Samus
26) Jigglypuff
Average Falling Speed Ranking In Brawl
This is a ranking of each character's average falling speed, from fastest to slowest.
1. Fox
2. Sheik
3. Wolf
4. Falco
5. Squirtle
6. Captain Falcon
7. Ganondorf
8. Bowser
9. Meta Knight
10. Diddy Kong
11. Lucas
12. Link
13. Zero Suit Samus
14. Pikachu
15. Sonic
16. Charizard
17. Wario
18. King Dedede
19. Ike
20. Donkey Kong
21. Snake
22. Ice Climbers
23. Mr. Game & Watch
24. Mario
25. Pit
26. Yoshi
27. Ness
28. Ivysaur
29. Toon Link
30. Marth
31. Zelda
32. R.O.B.
33. Luigi
34. Peach
35. Lucario
36. Kirby
37. Olimar
38. Samus
39. Jigglypuff
