Mario (SSBB)

Mario in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mario Finale
Tier	F (31)

“	Everyone's favorite plumber is well rounded.	”
—Brawl instruction manual

Mario (マリオ, Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who also appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and the original Super Smash Bros. He is the icon of Nintendo and the Mario series. As in every other video game in which he has a voice, Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet and now has new voice clips rather than the recycled ones from Super Mario 64.

Mario is ranked 31st out of 38 on the current tier list, the top position of F tier. This is a vast drop from his previous placement in Melee, where he was ranked 15th out of 26, and his worst placement in the series. Mario possesses fast, low lag attacks throughout his moveset, as well as strong comboing capabilities, with his up tilt and up aerial being especially good jugglers on their own that can set up additional attacks well. Additionally, Mario possesses a notable gimping and disrupting tool in his Cape, an effective projectile in his Fireball, and even an effective out of shield option in his Super Jump Punch. However, he inherited problems from his Melee incarnation. Mainly, he has poor reach with nearly every attack, and he still possesses only a few mediocre finishers, that are all smash attacks, greatly hindering Mario's ability to finish a stock flexibly and efficiently. Additionally, he has problems dealing with characters who have disjointed hitboxes (such as Marth), he is easily gimped due to his predictable and short recovery, and his rather standard abilities are outshined by the abilities of most characters. This has resulted in poor matchups beyond low tier, and poor tournament results. Despite this Mario is ranked 25th out of 36 in the top of D tier on the Japanese tier list where he is considered to be a mid tier character rather than a low tier.

Attributes

Mario is considered a beginner character that people can learn with. This is due to him having no major size or speed flaws and is considered all around and balanced. Despite being an average-sized middleweight, Mario is one of those who King Dedede can infinitely chain grab without a wall, which is a true problem at high level play. Mario's biggest flaw is not a lack of KO moves, but rather in landing them. Mario is a strong character with high KO power, similar to Kirby with his finishers including all his smash attacks, neutral and back aerial near the ledge, sourspotted forward aerial, forward and back throws near the ledge, and up tilt. However, as mentioned above, it can be difficult to land them. For example, his forward aerial is a meteor smash if sweetspotted, which helps him edgeguard, but it is not very reliable unless sourspotted, and it can be difficult to sourspot. The back throw, while one of the strongest throws in the game, requires grabbing the opponent, and Mario has very short grab range. His forward special, the Cape, allows him to turn enemies around and reflect projectiles. The cape also propels him forward a little when used in the air. Additionally, the cape reverses momentum and can be used to Cape Glide which greatly enhances his edgeguarding capabilities. His neutral special, the Fireball, is spammable and helps him control the enemy's approach, it can also be used to hinder some characters offstage. His down special, F.L.U.D.D., has to be charged up and deals no damage but pushes enemies back similar to Kyogre's Hydro Pump or Squirtle's Water Gun (but notably less powerful) and can also be used as an effective edge-guarding move on recoveries like Link's Spin Attack. This can make it difficult to recover for some characters, while for others, it is a mere hindrance. Also, it takes a long time to charge, meaning Mario must wait a good amount of time before it is effective, although it can be saved by shielding and rolling. Excluding F.L.U.D.D. and Fireball, Mario does not have many long ranged attacks. For his recovery, he can wall jump and use his Cape, along with his Super Jump Punch. Super Jump Punch, however, is a relatively poor recovery move in general and is easily edge-guarded due to its predictable trajectory (straight upwards, slightly diagonal), though, it is considered to be a great out-of-shield option. F.L.U.D.D. can also be used to push him back horizontally. His smash attacks are quick, so he can execute them with little start-up lag. He is also known for being a good juggler with his quick attacks.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

Mario has received a mix of nerfs and buffs from Melee to Brawl, but his buffs are flooded over by flaws, and the changes to Brawl's mechanics hinder Mario more than they help him. As a result, he was heavily nerfed overall. The removal of wavedashing hinders Mario's mobility and grounded approach, while the introduction of hitstun canceling limits Mario's combo game. His already poor KO power was reduced even further, almost completely removing his back throw's KO potential and his back aerial is still weak for its type, KOing opponents onstage only at very high percentages, forcing him to overuse his forward and up smashes to secure a KO, with the former being slower, and his smash attacks in general are less useful overall, being noticeably weaker.

Aesthetics

• Mario has been updated graphically, with his overalls looking more realistic.
• Mario no longer speaks during his first jump, and all of his jumps make variations of the "boing" noise from Super Mario Bros.; the pitch increases with each jump: the short ground and wall jumps make a shortened version, the high ground jump uses the unaltered standard version, and the second jump and Super Jump Punch each make higher-pitched versions.
• Mario has a new alternate costume based on Fire Mario.

Attributes

• Mario's character model is slightly smaller, making him harder to hit but decreasing his reach.
• Mario is slightly lighter (100 → 98).
• As with the returning veterans, Mario's falling speed was reduced (1.7 → 1.28). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario falls faster. While improving his vertical endurance, it makes him more vulnerable to combos and worsens his already-poor recovery.
• Mario's gravity is lower (0.095 → 0.075).
• Mario's traction has been unchanged (0.06). Compared with the returning veterans, however, Mario's traction is significantly higher, making it easier for him to punish out of shield.
• Mario's air speed is higher (0.86 → 0.94), improving his recovery and aerial approach.
• Mario's additional air acceleration is higher (0.025 → 0.08), increasing the total amount (0.045 → 0.09) despite his base air acceleration being lower (0.02 → 0.01). His air acceleration has gone from being the 5th lowest out of 26 characters in Melee to the 13th highest out of 39 characters in Brawl.
• Mario's sidestep has a longer duration (frames 2-15 → 2-20).
• Sidestep has more ending lag (FAF 23 → 26).
• Rolls have more ending lag (FAF 32 → 33).
• The removal of wavedashing hinders Mario's mobility and grounded approach.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack
  • The second hit has less startup lag (frame 3 → 2). Additionally, Mario can quickly repeat the first hit until it connects if the attack button is held, improving its punish potential.
  • Holding down the attack button now makes Mario quickly repeat the first hit until it connects, improving its punish potential.
  • Both the first and second hits have different angles (83°/85° → 361°/80°), allowing them to jab lock opponents.
  • The last hit deals less damage (5% → 4%).
  • The last hit has more startup with a shorter duration (frames 5-9 → 7-10), more ending lag (FAF 23 → 30).
  • The last hit has different knockback values (10 (base)/100 (scaling) → 30/95). This makes it safer on hit at low percents, but reduces its knockback at high percents.
• Forward tilt
  • Forward tilt deals more base knockback (6 → 8), and no longer deals set knockback (1 → 0) when angled down.
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 25).
  • It now deals consistent damage across all angles (10% (up)/9% (non-angled)/8% (down) → 8%), weakening both the up and non-angled versions.
• Up tilt
  • Up tilt has more knockback (26 (base)/125/122/120 (scaling) → 28/130). Coupled with the generally slower falling speeds of the cast, this slightly improves its KO potential.
  • It deals less damage (8% → 7%).
  • It has more startup with a shorter duration (frames 4-12 → 5-11).
  • The introduction of hitstun canceling removes all its combo ability except into itself at low percents.
• Down tilt
  • Down tilt deals less damage (8%/9% → 5%/7%), although its base knockback has been compensated (10 → 20).
  • Its has a shorter duration (frames 5-8 → 5-7).
• Dash attack
  • Dash attack no longer has consistent angles (110° → 110°/80° (clean), 120° → 120°/70° (late)).
• Forward smash
  • Forward smash's animation has been slightly changed. Mario rears back more while standing on one leg during the charging animation, while stepping and leaning forward upon unleashing the move and having his right arm positioned lower.
  • Forward smash's sourspot deals consistent damage when not angled (11%/10% → 14%), improving its KO potential.
  • Its sourspot has more knockback scaling (96 → 100).
  • It has more startup with a shorter duration (frames 12-16 → 16-18) and more ending lag (FAF 42 → 48).
  • Its sweetspot deals less damage across all angles (19% (up)/18% (non-angled)/17% (down) → 18%/17%/16%).
  • Its sweetspot has less knockback scaling (95 → 90).
  • The sweetspot is now placed at the bottom of the ID stack (0 → 2), making it significantly harder to connect with, especially on larger characters.
• Up smash
  • Up smash's animation is slightly different as Mario now hops forward for the headbutt, more akin to its animation in the original Super Smash Bros..
  • The new animation improves its range.
  • The introduction of DACUS improves its approach potential.
  • Up smash has a longer duration (frames 9-11 → 9-14).
  • It deals less damage (15% → 14%).
  • It has less knockback scaling (97 → 90), hindering its KO potential.
• Down smash
  • Down smash's back hit no longer has a sourspot (10%/12% → 12%), allowing it to KO more consistently.
  • Its front hit deals less damage (16% → 15%).
  • Its front hit has less knockback scaling (75 → 73), hindering its KO potential.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials except forward aerial have decreased landing lag (16/8 frames → 10 (neutral), 15/7 frames → 10 (back), 15/7 frames → 10 (up), 23/11 frames → 19 (down)). Due to the removal of L-canceling, however, their landing lag is not fully compensated.
  • Back and up aerials can now be performed twice in a short hop due to Mario's lower fall speed.
• Neutral aerial
  • Neutral aerial autocancels slightly earlier (frame 36 → 34) and can now auto cancel in a short hop due to Mario's lower fall speed.
  • Its deals less damage (12% (clean)/6% (late) → 10%/5%), hindering its KO potential, and has a shorter duration (frames 3-32 → 3-29).
  • Its has a shorter duration (frames 3-32 → 3-29).
  • The late hit deals less knockback (15 (base)/100 (scaling) → 13/90). However, this enables it to lock opponents for longer.
• Forward aerial
  • Forward aerial has less startup with a longer duration (frames 18-22 → 16-21), and launches at a more horizontal angle (270° → 280°), which coupled with the changes to meteor canceling improves its edgeguarding potential and makes is much safer to meteor smash due to Brawl's slower falling speeds.
  • It meteor smashes opponents at a more horizontal angle (270° → 280°), which coupled with the changes to meteor canceling improves its edgeguarding potential and makes is much safer to meteor smash due to Brawl's slower falling speeds.
  • It has received early and late hits with different angles (270° → 361°), allowing it to KO more effectively onstage.
  • It deals less damage (15% → 12% (early)/13% (clean)/10% (late)), with its clean hit's knockback not properly compensated (30 (base)/70 (scaling) → 20/75).
  • Due to only the clean hit being a meteor smash, its meteor smash window is shorter (frames 18-22 → 17-19), making it harder to use for edgeguarding.
  • It has increased landing lag (21 → 26 frames).
  • It autocancels later (frame 28 → 43).
• Back aerial
  • Back aerial has an altered animation based on Mario's forward aerial from Smash 64, albeit without spinning.
  • Its clean hit deals more damage (11% → 12%).
  • Its late hit deals less damage (9% → 7%).
  • It has less knockback scaling (100 → 95 (clean)/90 (late)).
    • Its reduced knockback enables the late hit to lock opponents for longer.
  • It has a shorter hitbox duration (frames 6-17 → 6-13).
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 29 → 34).
• Up aerial
  • Its hitboxes has gained base knockback (0 → 9) and launches at a lower angle (55° → 45°), increasing its safety and improving its edgeguarding and KO abilities.
  • Its lower angle and the hitstun changes remove its combo potential beyond low percents.
• Down aerial
  • Mario has a new down aerial: Mario Tornado, which was previously his down special. As a result, its hitbox timings have been altered (frames 10-11, 13-14, 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29 → 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 25).
  • It has less startup lag (frame 10 → 5).
  • The last hit deals more damage (2% → 7%).
  • The last deals non-set, significantly stronger knockback (30 (set)/100 (scaling) → 80 (base)/80 (scaling)), granting it KOing and juggling potential.
  • Its landing hit has a longer duration (frames 1-2 → 1-3).
  • It can now auto cancel in a short hop.
  • Due to hitting six times instead of seven coupled with the first five hits dealing less damage (2% → 1%), the move's total damage output is lower (14.74% → 14%) despite the changes to stale-move negation.
  • Due to their altered timings, all hits except the landing hit have a shorter duration, with a noticeably longer gap between the last two hits.
  • With the addition of SDI multipliers in Brawl, it has received above-average multipliers (1× → 1.5×), allowing opponents to escape them more easily.
  • The last hit's angle has been altered (94° → 75°).

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Standing grab has less startup lag (frame 7 → 6) and both his standing and dash grabs have less ending lag (FAF 31 → 30 (standing), frame 41 → 40 (dash).
  • Dash grab has more startup lag (frame 11 → 12).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel has less ending lag (FAF 25 → 24).
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw can now chain grab at low percents, due to DI being changed in Brawl to have no effect if a move doesn't cause tumbling.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw deals less knockback (80 (base)/65 (scaling) → 70/63), hindering its KO potential.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw can no longer combo or chaingrab due to the hitstun changes.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw can no longer combo or chaingrab due to the hitstun changes, and has increased knockback scaling (30 → 50), severely reducing its utility.
• Floor attack:
  • Front floor attack no longer has a hitbox with set knockback.
• Edge attack:
  • Both edge attacks have increased set knockback (90 → 110).

Special moves

• Fireball:
  • Fireball can now be B-reversed.
  • Mario can now auto cancel Fireballs in a short hop due to his lower falling speed.
  • It deals slightly more knockback and a larger hitbox.
  • Fireballs deals slightly less damage (6% → 5%).
  • Fireballs travels a shorter distance.
  • Fireballs look more realistic and have a revamped sound effect.
• Cape:
  • Cape can now be B-reversed.
  • It now reverses the opponent's momentum rather than just reversing their direction, and temporarily reverses their controls as well, making it much more effective as a disrupting tool. Mario also now has access to several new techniques such as the Cape Glide, greatly improving its utility.
  • It deals less damage (10%/8% (ground)/8%/6% (air) → 8/6%).
  • It has less range.
  • Its effectiveness as an edgeguarding tool have been reduced due to characters being able to grab the ledge from behind in Brawl.
  • If Mario hits certain characters out of their specials moves with Cape (including Sonic's Spring Jump, Mr. Game & Watch's Fire, Snake's Cypher or Diddy Kong's Monkey Flip), they will be able to reuse their specials making Cape a non-viable edgeguarding option against those characters.
  • It no longer deals vertical knockback on opponents attempting a grab.
  • Mario no longer vocalises when using Cape. Additionally, Cape has a different sound effect.
• Super Jump Punch:
  • Super Jump Punch has received several changes to allow it to connect more reliably: the first hit's outermost hitbox has more set knockback (120 → 130), the second to fourth hits have consistent set knockback (110/150 → 150) and a higher angle on their outermost hitbox (78° → 90°), and the fifth and sixth hits use the autolink angle (72°/78° → 365°), in addition to all hits benefitting from the DI changes in Brawl.
  • Its last hit deals more knockback (40 (base)/140 (scaling) → 52/145) and launches at a higher angle (50° → 60°), allowing it to KO near the upper blast line much more effectively.
  • It now deals seven hits instead of nine, with its hitbox timings altered (frames 3-24 → 3-15), shortening its duration and reducing its total damage output (14.1% → 12%).
  • It has significantly increased landing lag.
  • It can no longer cancel itself into a wall jump.
• F.L.U.D.D.:
  • Mario has a new down special: F.L.U.D.D., replacing Mario Tornado from Melee. It is a chargeable move that fires water that pushes opponents away.
  • F.L.U.D.D. is a much more effective edgeguarder due to pushing opponents away, has much greater reach than Mario Tornado, and can be angled to adjust its hitbox positioning, improving its safety.
  • Compared to Mario Tornado, F.L.U.D.D. cannot extend Mario's recovery or hit opponents behind him, and does not deal any damage.
  • F.L.U.D.D. lacks transcendent priority, unlike Mario Tornado.
• Mario Finale:
  • Mario now has a Final Smash: Mario Finale. Mario fires two large streams of fire that hits multiple times and goes full screen. The two streams grow larger vertically as the move progresses, and opponents that are hit get trapped in the attack and are forced to travel with it.

Moveset

For a visual representation of Mario's attack hitboxes, see this page.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3%	Performs a one-two combo and then kicks with his right foot. The attack combo originates from Super Mario 64. First hit jab locks characters laying on the ground.
			2%
			4%
Forward tilt			8%	Performs a reverse roundhouse kick with his right leg. Has average damage and knockback, but has better reach than his other tilts (it is still short). Can be angled up or down.
Up tilt			7%	Delivers an uppercut while spinning. The move is similar to an attack in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Average damage and above-average knockback. An excellent juggler that can be comboed into itself at low percents. It is also a great KO tactic, being able to KO at 158% and is his strongest tilt.
Down tilt			5% (foot), 7% (leg)	Performs a legsweep. Though it has very fast start-up, it deals very little damage, has high ending lag, low knockback, and very short reach. As such, it is probably Mario's least effective move.
Dash attack			9% (clean), 7% (late)	Performs a sliding tackle. Also from Super Mario 64. Has low diagonal knockback behind Mario that is difficult to follow up on.
Forward smash	↗		15% (arm), 18% (fire)	Steps back and then forward, causing a blast of fire out of his hand. The attack is derived form Mario's ability to shoot fireballs. One of Mario's best reaching moves (though its reach is only average at best). It has rather fast start-up for a forward smash but it does have punishable ending lag. Damage and knockback is highest when sweetspotted at the flame. Can also be angled up and down. It has low base knockback but its knockback scaling is very high. KOs at 94% when uncharged and 59% when fully charged and angled up. This is Mario's most powerful attack and can be considered his best finisher. The sweetspot is a hitbox with transcendent priority.
	→		14% (arm), 17% (fire)
	↘		13% (arm), 16% (fire)
Up smash		Lead Headbutt	14%	Sends opponents skyward with a headbutt. Has fast start-up lag and its ending lag is rather low as well. It does have good base knockback and knockback scaling, and its KO power is above average for an up-smash, KOing at 124% when uncharged and 82% when fully charged. Another finisher. Mario's head is intangible while the hitboxes are active.
Down smash			15% (front), 12% (back)	Performs a flare kick. Like Mario's other attacks, it has fast start-up and ending lag but short reach. Another attack from Super Mario 64. It is Mario's weakest smash attack, KOing at 91% with the front hit and fully charged.
Neutral aerial			10% (clean), 5% (late)	Performs a sex kick in the air. Similar to an attack from Super Mario 64. Its almost instantaneous start-up can be used to break certain chainthrows and combos but it has low base knockback and short reach. However, it can still be a reliable KO move and can KO at 127% at the ledge.
Forward aerial		Meteor Knuckle	12% (early), 13% (clean), 10% (late)	Performs a delayed overhand. This is a slow meteor smash with average power if it is sweetspotted. It is a weak meteor smash that is difficult to land, but it does have the benefit of sending opponents on a horizontal trajectory instead of straight down. When sourspotted, it sends opponents on a horizontal trajectory with KOing power under 130% offstage.
Back aerial			12% (clean), 7% (late)	Dropkicks backward. Good edgeguarding option. Similar to his forward aerial from the original Super Smash Bros. game. Very fast start-up with decent reach and knockback. Can WoP at low to mid percentages and KO at 124% at the ledge, or 164% from the center of Final Destination.
Up aerial			11%	Performs a bicycle kick. Very low start-up and ending lag with low knockback, it works very well as a juggler at low to mid percentages. It can also kill horizontally at 138% at the ledge, and potentially even earlier vertically if the opponent is hit high up.
Down aerial		Mario Tornado	1% (hits 1-5), 7% (hit 6), 2% (landing)	Performs several discus spinning clotheslines followed by a backfist body stretch. Like the original move, it looks somewhat like the Spin Jump from various Mario games, such as Super Mario World. Similar to his other aerials, it has almost no start-up with short reach, but it does have some ending lag. The final hit does decent vertical knockback, KOing at 175% from the ground, and much earlier from higher up. First five hits have set knockback. It can set-up a down smash at if the move connects with the ground.
Grab			—	A clinch grab. Mario's grab range is short.
Pummel			3%	Headbutts opponent. One of the slowest pummels in the game.
Forward throw			9%	Spins around once then throws his opponent in front of him. It has below average knockback scaling for a throw, KOing at around 167% at the ledge, and completely lacking KO power from further away. It is mostly only used to get the opponent off the ledge.
Back throw		Airplane Swing	12% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Spins around three times then throws his opponent backwards. It is similar to when Mario grabs Bowser by the tail, and then swings him around in an attempt to throw into the bombs in Super Mario 64. While a very slow throw, he can damage other characters with the character he is swinging around. This is by far Mario's strongest throw and its knockback scaling is high enough to KO as low as 111% at the ledge, and at 179% from the center. While powerful for a throw, it is very slow, making it very easy to DI, limiting its KO potential. It is also Mario's most damaging throw.
Up throw			8%	Throws his opponent high into the air. Good base knockback but it has low knockback scaling. KOs at 189%. Arguably his least useful throw.
Down throw			6%	Slams his opponent into the ground. Mario's weakest throw. Its high base knockback and low knockback scaling with its vertical trajectory allow it to set up an up aerial juggle with a successful read.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up then kicks behind him, then in front of him.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kicks behind him, then in front of him while getting up.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8% (legs), 6% (body)	Does a somersault and then kicks upwards, from a laying down position.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10%	Gets up then does a kick similar to his forward tilt.
Neutral special		Fireball	5%	Fires a weak, bouncy ball of flames that is shot from his hand as a projectile.
Side special		Cape	8% (ground), 6% (air)	Swings a cape from Super Mario World that reflects projectiles and reverses opponents.
Up special		Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-6), 3% (hit 7)	Jumps upwards, dragging opponents along. Has very fast startup, allowing it to be used effectively out of shield. A decent recovery option.
Down special		F.L.U.D.D.	0%	Pulls out F.L.U.D.D. from Super Mario Sunshine, who blasts a water stream that pushes back opponents, although without damaging them. Mario can charge it for longer distance, store the charge, and alter the angle of the stream when it is unleashed. Can be used for edgeguarding.
Final Smash		Mario Finale	3% (larger), 2% (smaller)	Shoots a massive, continuous tornado of flames that moves horizontally across the stage.

On-screen appearance

• A green pipe appears, Mario pops up and says "Let's-a go!" May be inspired by how Mario gets to Princess Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Turns into Super Mario; similar to Super Mario Bros. (Same as in SSB and Melee).
• Side taunt: Takes off his hat, twirls around, and puts his hat back on; similar to his "level clear" animation from New Super Mario Bros..
• Down taunt: Spins in the air and falls on his back with his legs up; based on his dying animation from the original Donkey Kong.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Moves his head from left to right and holds his fists in front of his face.
• Adjusts his cap.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Ma-ri-o!	Ma-ri-o!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Wii Remote selection sound

• Mario says "Here we go!".

Mario's selection sound

Victory poses

A cover of the "Level Completed" music from Super Mario Bros.

• Up: Makes fire explode from his palm and strikes a pose.
• Left: Winds up for a punch and steps forward while punching in front of the screen. (Similar to his smash attack in Super Smash Bros.)
• Right: Does a short spin-jump and lands in a strong-man pose. (His "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros.)

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Mario has a very poor matchup spread, especially beyond low tier. He only counters Ganondorf and soft-counters 3 characters, has 7 even matchups, is soft-countered by 16 characters, countered by 5 and hard-countered by 4. The lack of real strengths outside of his fast attacks give him a disadvantage against the cast, his combo game is not useful anymore because of the introduction hitstun canceling and his lack of KO power outside of his forward and up smashes limit his offensive game. Characters like Marth or Meta Knight can easily edgeguard him and exploit his poor range.

Notable players

See also: Category:Mario professionals (SSBB)

•  Ally - A top Mario player in Smash 4 who uses Mario as a secondary in Brawl.
•  BoScotty - A top player in the Chicago region.
•  Boss - Luigi player who also contributed to Mario's metagame.
•  Irios - Best Mario in Europe. Placed 5th at Bushido Impact 9.
•  KirinBlaze - Dual mains Mario with Link.
•  XeroXen - Former Mario player.

Tier placement and history

Since the very beginning of Brawl competitive play, Mario has always been viewed by serious players as a low-tier, nonviable character; as such, he never enjoyed a period of positive competitive prospects. Although Mario's attributes were not significantly nerfed from Melee (where he is considered a relatively viable mid-tiered character), professionals quickly noticed that his comparatively standard abilities around the board could not keep up with the newer and better competition. These traits kept Mario far from being viable, even in the earlier, underdeveloped metagame of Brawl; as such, despite his still strong attacks and low learning curve, his apex of potential for most players reached nowhere compared to that of many other characters ranked higher than him. As the metagame for other characters developed, Mario never had any competitive breakthroughs or significant advancements in general, steadily driving him further and further down the tier list.

For the past five years of Brawl, Mario has been consistently stuck in 31st place. It is unlikely that Mario's competitive viability will ever improve in Brawl, due to a stagnant metagame stemming from very few players ever maining Mario and even fewer playing him at a high level (a trend that is likely to continue), resulting in very low representation in standard tournaments. Despite this, Mario is a relatively common character at low tier tournaments; players can easily pick him up due to his low learning curve and play him to a reasonably competitive degree. Along with this, Mario performs reasonably well against other low tier characters, including a few positive matchups against those who are lower-tiered than him. While this cannot make Mario rise any higher, as he fares poorly against a majority of the cast ranked above him, it prevents him from possibly dropping any lower on the tier list.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Mario in SSE

Mario is the main protagonist and the leader of the army of the heroes in The Subspace Emissary, and he is the first character to be formally introduced. In the beginning, trophies of Mario and Kirby are thrown into the Midair Stadium, where they come to life and have a friendly fight (a reference to the introduction in the first game of the series, where Mario and Kirby prepare to fight each other towards the end). The player chooses the one they want to play as. If Mario is chosen, the opponent will be Kirby, and vice versa. After the battle between the two, the winner revives the loser, they shake hands, and wave to the crowd. Suddenly, ominous red clouds appear above the stadium, and the Halberd emerges from them. It releases Shadow Bugs which form into Primids. Peach and Zelda, who were watching the match, come to help, and after defeating all of the enemies, they are all confronted by the Ancient Minister. After seeing two R.O.B.s setting up a Subspace Bomb, Mario runs to try and stop it, only to be blasted out of the stadium and Star KO'd by a cannonball apparently fired by Petey Piranha. During his descent from Skyworld, Pit finds Mario's trophy and revives him. Once Mario recounts what happened, the two proceeded on their journey. When they reach the ground, they fight Primids across the Plain and attempt to stop the Ancient Minister from delivering another Subspace Bomb. Mario attempts to reach the Minister, but falls short; Pit also tries to get him by using a Footstool Jump on Mario, but he also fails. They then continue on their quest.

The Lake Shore

False Peach

At the shore, Kirby chases after a menacing noise he heard, unaccompanied by Peach. The abandoned princess is turned into a trophy by Bowser's Dark Cannon. A false character of Bowser appears and dissolves, engulfing Peach's trophy. Brought to life is a cloned Peach which tries to fire a Dark Cannon at Mario and Pit. Luckily, Link destroys the gun using his Master Sword, and fights the princess with Yoshi. Mario notices them standing by Peach's trophy, which disintegrates. Enraged, thinking that it is the real Peach, Mario attempts to attack Link, but he dodges the attack. Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit get into a two-on-two fight. Afterward, King Dedede's cargo, stolen from Wario and already loaded with the trophies of Zelda, Ness, and Luigi (the former of which is noticed by Link), grabs Mario and Pit's trophies with its mechanical arm. Fortunately, Kirby appears from behind and severs the arm with Final Cutter while reviving Mario and Pit; Kirby had realized that the noise he heard was Dedede hijacking the cargo from Wario. King Dedede turns around and tries to get away, but Pit blows the cargo's tire with Palutena's Arrow.

The five follow Dedede across some plains and follow him into the Cave, where they see Dedede's castle in ruins from an ambush by Bowser. They pursue Bowser through a hole in the castle wall. Mario and the others then confront Bowser at a cliff. Mario jumps at Bowser, but Bowser uses Zelda's trophy as a shield, forcing him to miss. Pit fires an arrow; Bowser, while sidestepping to dodge the arrow, drops the Dedede Brooch attached to Zelda's arm. He loses footing and falls off the cliff into the Koopa Clown Car with the trophy of Zelda, where he laughs maniacally as he flies up to the Halberd.

False Zelda

At the shore, Kirby chases after a menacing noise he heard, unaccompanied by Zelda. The abandoned princess is turned into a trophy by Bowser's Dark Cannon. A false character of Bowser appears and dissolves, engulfing Zelda's trophy. Brought to life is a cloned Zelda which tries to fire a Dark Cannon at Link and Yoshi. Luckily, Pit destroys the gun with his Palutena's Bow and fights the princess with Mario. Link notices them standing by Zelda's trophy, which disintegrates. Enraged, thinking it is the real Zelda, Link attempts to attack Mario, but he dodges the attack. Link, Yoshi, Mario, and Pit get into a two-on-two fight. Afterward, King Dedede's cargo, stolen from Wario and already loaded with the trophies of Peach, Ness, and Luigi (the former of which is noticed by Mario), grabs Link and Yoshi's trophies with its mechanical arm. Fortunately, Kirby appears from behind and severs the arm with Final Cutter while reviving Link and Yoshi. King Dedede turns around and tries to get away, but Link blows the cargo's tire with his Hero's Bow.

The five follow Dedede across some plains and follow him into the Cave, where they see Dedede's castle in ruins from an ambush by Bowser. They pursue Bowser through a hole in the castle wall. Mario and the others then confront Bowser at a cliff. Mario jumps at Bowser, but Bowser uses Peach's trophy as a shield, forcing him to miss. Pit fires an arrow; Bowser, while sidestepping to dodge the arrow, drops the Dedede Brooch attached to Peach's chest. He loses footing and falls off the cliff into the Koopa Clown Car with the trophy of Peach, where he laughs maniacally as he flies up to the Halberd.

Story merge

They later catch up to the Ancient Minister in a desert, and after failing to stop a Subspace Bomb from detonating, barely escape the blast. Mario then leads his team at the Canyon, saving Marth, Ike, Lucas, Pokémon Trainer and Ice Climbers from a horde of Primids. The ten of them camp out for a while, until Mario spots an enormous explosion of Subspace Bombs from the Isle of the Ancients. Shortly afterward the Halberd lands, which has been retaken by Meta Knight, Lucario, Snake, Peach, Zelda, Fox, Falco, and Mr. Game & Watch. Next to it is the Falcon Flyer, containing Samus, Pikachu, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, and R.O.B..

Mario and company destroy the Subspace Gunship, enter Subspace itself and eventually reach Tabuu. Unfortunately, Tabuu turns all of the fighters into trophies using his Off Waves. Mario is later resurrected by King Dedede, Ness, and Luigi and helps the other heroes through the Great Maze. In Tabuu's Residence, Tabuu poises to unleash more Off Waves. However, Sonic appears and impedes this by damaging his wings. Mario joins the battle against Tabuu, eventually defeating him and ending the Subspace invasion.

Playable appearances

• Midair Stadium
• Skyworld
• The Plain
• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Wilds (Part II)
• The Canyon
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part I))

Using stickers

Since Mario's primary attacks are kicks, Leg stickers have the widest effect, with Arm attacks as a secondary. Using a Head sticker will usually only affect Mario's up smash (since pummels cannot be used against most enemies), while a Flame one will affect both his Fireball and his forward smash's sweetspot. The Mario Tornado is considered a Spin attack, but as it's Mario's only Spin attack, using a Spin sticker will not have a very large effect. This also applies with Weapon stickers and his Cape.

Exclusive stickers

The following stickers can either only be used by Mario, or can only be used by a select few, including Mario:

• 1-Up Mushroom: [Leg] Attack +4
• Bowser (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix): [Throwing] Attack +20
• Bowser (Mario Kart 64): [Weapon] Attack +13
• Bowser (Super Paper Mario): [Arm] Attack +23
• Coin: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +4
• Dice Block: [Arm] Attack +8
• Dr. Mario: [Head] Attack +18
• Koopa: [Body, Spin] Attack +10
• Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit): [Leg] Attack +13
• Mario (Mario Kart DS): [Leg] Attack +22
• Mario & Yoshi: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +13
• Mega Rush Badge: [Specials: Direct] Attack +8
• Mushroom: [Arm, Leg] Attack +5
• Peach (Super Princess Peach): [Weapon] Attack +23
• Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Slash] Attack +5
• Rawk Hawk: [Arm] Attack +5
• Red Fire: [Flame] Attack +26
• Super Mario Bros.: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
• Toad & Toadette: [Head] Attack +16
• Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers): [Slash] Attack +15
• Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +8
• Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go): [Arm, Leg] Attack +8
• Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door): [Throwing] Attack +5

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 1: Two Trouble Kings: Mario must defeat both Bowser and King Dedede on Delfino Plaza.
• Event 6: Bowser Bros.: The player controls Bowser, who must reach the flagpole in Mushroomy Kingdom without getting KO'd by three other Marios.
• Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars: Mario is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• Event 19: Wario Bros.: The player controls Wario and must defeat Mario and Luigi on the Mario Bros. stage.
• Event 41: The FINAL Final Battle: The player must defeat a giant Mario along with Snake and Sonic on Final Destination.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 1: Two Trouble Kings: Mario and Kirby must defeat both Bowser and King Dedede on Delfino Plaza.
• Co-Op Event 8: All MINE!: Wario and Bowser must collect 2,000 coins together in Skyworld while fighting against Mario and Luigi.
• Co-Op Event 17: Sonic and Mario: Sonic and Mario must KO 3 other Sonics and 3 other Marios on the Green Hill Zone stage.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Two players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies

Mario's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Mario.

Mario

A familiar overall-clad figure who is Nintendo's flagship character. His courage and jumping ability have seen him through countless adventures. He's a multitalented plumber with the knowledge of a physician, a top-notch golfer, and a veteran tennis umpire. Is his jumping prowess a boon from his girder-climbing days?

: Donkey Kong

: Super Mario Bros.

Mario Finale

Mario with a Smash Ball, unleashing his ultimate attack. The twin dragons of flame he releases wallop all characters in range. The flames spread up and down, so it's best to release them from the edge of the screen at an appropriate height. His flaming eyes are proof of his excitement for this explosive attack.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• 

  Classic

• 

  Mario Finale

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• Mario, when doing his up taunt while under the effect of a backfire Lightning Bolt that makes him larger while playing Giant Brawl, will become the largest size a player can achieve without hacking or glitches.
• Mario is tied with Kirby for being playable in more levels of the Subspace Emissary than other characters, being playable in 9 levels. Despite this, it is possible to never play as him at any time (as the player always has other characters available to use instead of Mario).
  • He is also one of several characters who can be unlocked before the Great Maze but cannot fight any bosses in the Smash World on the first playthrough.
• Despite having a very close relationship in the Mario series, Mario and Luigi never interact with each other in the Subspace Emissary.
• Mario, Bowser, Ganondorf and Link are the only returning characters in Brawl to have at least one completely different special move. In this case, Mario's down special move is changed. Additionally, Mario is the only character to have a special move from a previous game turned into a standard attack in Brawl.
• Although Mario has the ability to crawl in some of his games, he cannot crawl in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while Luigi can.
• This marks the final appearance of Mario's original blue shirt and red overalls alternate costume worn since the original Super Smash Bros. to date.

External links

• Mario's page at Smash Bros. Dojo!!
• Mario Character Guide on SmashBoards
• Mario's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice