Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Captain Falcon (SSBU)

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This article is about Captain Falcon's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Captain Falcon.
Captain Falcon
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Captain Falcon SSBU.png
FZeroSymbol.svg
Universe F-Zero
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Melee
in Brawl
in SSB4
Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Blue Falcon
Tier B+ (39)
Captain Falcon (SSBU)

Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Captain Falcon) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. As in the original Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he is unlockable, instead of being available from the start. Captain Falcon is classified as Fighter #11.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, Ryō Horikawa's portrayals of Captain Falcon from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl were repurposed for Ultimate. However, Horikawa briefly returned to voice Captain Falcon in Min Min's reveal trailer, though only recording eating sounds for Captain Falcon rather than new voice lines.

Captain Falcon is ranked 39th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the B+ tier. This is a noticeable drop from his 19th out of 54 placement in SSB4. Captain Falcon retains his speed and mobility from previous games, which allow him to rush down his opponent with ease and combo them or carry them off into the Blast line. Captain Falcon's normals, such as his neutral aerial are useful as they open up combos or KO setups into his forward aerial, back aerial, or down aerial. Additionally, Captain Falcon's back aerial, down aerial, and forward aerial make him potent offstage. Captain Falcon has little to no trouble KOing his opponent with a plethora of powerful moves, such as up smash, sweetspotted forward aerial, back aerial, Falcon Kick, and Falcon Dive. Captain Falcon's special moves also saw some improvement. Raptor Boost became one of Captain Falcon's main combo starters, Falcon Dive is a solid out of shield option, and Falcon Kick was buffed to be a faster KO move.

Despite all these strengths, Falcon has prevalent weaknesses for a character of his archetype. His tall stature makes him easy to combo for most of the cast and his recovery is linear enough to where most characters can easily edgeguard him. This results in Falcon having problematic matchups with characters above him on the tier list. Captain Falcon also has an issue where he extends his hurtbox when he turns around after a run, causing him to get clipped by many moves. Finally, Captain Falcon is usually forced to approach in most matchups, which puts him at risk of losing neutral.

Overall, Falcon remains a high-risk high-reward fighter with a solid punish game overall. Falcon has seen respectable tournament results from players such as Fatality, NickC, Sean, Jogibu, Andrik, and Ogey.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

  • Play VS. matches, with Captain Falcon being the 11th character to be unlocked.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Fox or anyone in his unlock tree, being the 1st character unlocked.
  • Have Captain Falcon join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Captain Falcon must then be defeated on Port Town Aero Dive.

Attributes

Captain Falcon is a tall heavyweight character, yet he boasts some of the best overall mobility out of any character in spite of his weight class. Captain Falcon sports the 2nd fastest dashing speed, the 7th fastest falling speed, the 11th fastest air speed, and the 14th highest gravity. His jumps and wall jumps are also very high. Strangely, though, his walking speed is rather slow, while his traction and air acceleration are around average. Additionally, while his running speed is very high, his initial dash speed is only slightly above average, and crucially he hits this lower limit during his initial dash a few frames before transitioning to his running animation, making his effective movement speed in short bursts lower than expected. Compounding this is his turnaround dash animation, which causes him to slide in the opposite direction for a few frames, before sliding back into his origin location. While his high run acceleration can mask this to an extent, this effectively results in him making no progress in the direction he is turning into for several frames, resulting in his retreat being counter-intuitively one of the least safe in the game, especially when combined with his legs extending a long distance behind him. Nonetheless, his high mobility overall, combined with his strong punish game and generally low landing lag on his aerials, benefits him with a trademark speed-and-power combo.

Despite lacking a projectile, Falcon has an overall effective neutral game, courtesy of his mobility. His primary combo starter is grounded Raptor Boost; its low knockback along with its vertical launching angle and low ending lag make it a fearsome combo starter if landed, allowing it to combo into a plentiful number of moves. Neutral aerial can chain into itself at low percents, and Falcon can combo it into his other aerials if he lands with the first hit. His up tilt consistently meteor smashes opponents even if they are grounded, making it not only a great combo tool, but a decent edgeguarding tool as well. One of his best combo tools is his up aerial; at a wide range of percents, it can create incredibly long chains, especially into itself due to its low base knockback and overall low lag. Alternatively, Falcon can chain his up aerial into some of his deadliest finishers, most notably into his forward aerial, the Knee Smash.

Captain Falcon, like most of his fellow medium-heavyweights also boasts excellent KO power. He also has a formidable edgeguarding ability. His up and down smashes are both excellent baiting options due to their low ending lag, making them safe on shield and potentially even on whiff. Even if they both have rather noticeable startup, they are also long enough to punish spot dodges reliably. His up smash in particular even functions as a situational combo starter at low percentages, which can allow Falcon to deal insane amounts of damage in just a few measly hits. While his forward smash is his least useful smash attack as a whole, even it has its uses, being a powerful KO option that can be angled. His forward, back, and down aerials all deal high knockback, with his forward aerial in particular being the strongest of its type in the entire game. His down tilt, while having noticeable startup, sends at a semi-spike angle with high knockback, and it has low ending lag, making it not only a good spacing and poking tool, but also a great edgeguarding and KO move, the lattermost quirk being extremely rare for a down tilt.

Falcon's special moveset also has its uses. Falcon Punch, while being extremely situational in the long run, is one of the strongest neutral specials in the entire game, especially when reversed on the ground, and is perfect for punishing shield breaks. As mentioned earlier, Raptor Boost is an excellent combo starter on the ground. In the air, it has the potential to meteor smash, and it also serves well as a KO move in such cases. Falcon Dive is one of the strongest command grabs in the game, and while it is linear, it does cover a decent amount of distance. It also works well as a combo finisher and out-of-shield option due to its high knockback and being a command grab. Finally, Falcon Kick is effective in terms of dealing with pressure due to its speed and long-lasting hitbox, and it also possesses decent KO power when hit early on. It is also an excellent tool for returning to the stage quickly when used in the air.

However, Captain Falcon does have his fair share of weaknesses. While he is a powerhouse, most of his KO moves are difficult to land, the most prominent examples being his forward smash and Falcon Punch. His forward aerial is faster than those moves, but even then it suffers from a rather small sweetspot that lasts for only one frame, making it hard to land without an air dodge read or setup off of an up aerial. As a result, he often has to rely on edgeguarding to score KOs. Though his neutral game is good overall, his lack of a projectile leaves him susceptible to camping. While his above average weight and fast falling speed give him excellent endurance, they also leave him vulnerable to combos, which is further exacerbated by the fact that he has little to no fast options with which to break them.

Falcon's moveset in general is also full of issues. As mentioned earlier, most of his KO moves are slow and tough to land, which forces him to rely on edgeguarding to KO effectively. Falcon Kick is extremely unsafe offstage due to its lag and Falcon's fast falling speed, as it is not unlikely for him to self-destruct with it. While Raptor Boost can meteor smash in the air, it will leave him helpless if he misses, which could also result in a self-destruct. Other examples of unreliability within his moveset lie in his neutral aerial and up smash, both of which tend to have trouble connecting properly at high percentages. His overall range, while not necessarily lacking for a brawler, is also lackluster when compared to other characters with good physical reach, especially due to the fact that he lacks a projectile.

While Captain Falcon has a good ground game and an excellent air game, his grab game is rather mediocre. To begin with, his grab range is overall somewhat short despite his height, making it risky to throw out. His down throw remains a useful combo starter at low to medium percents, but has lost its utility as a semi-guarenteed setup into Knee Smash due to its knockback and angle adjustments. While Captain Falcon's back throw remains a useful KO move, his forward throw has lost its decent combo potential as an indirect consequence of his much higher traction, just like Meta Knight's forward throw. Although it remains a serviceable KO move, it is utterly outclassed by back throw in this regard. Captain Falcon's up throw suffers from similar issues to his forward throw: it has too much ending lag to combo properly, even in spite of his faster jumpsquat, and it is somewhat weak for a KO throw despite dealing more damage than in Smash 4.

Captain Falcon's biggest flaw is his recovery: despite his impressive air speed, his two recovery options, Falcon Dive and Raptor Boost, are linear, easily intercepted, and have small edge sweetspots. Raptor Boost also doesn't have a hitbox above him, which can leave him open to meteor smashes, which he usually has trouble surviving due to his linear recovery and fast falling speed. To his merit, he can reuse Falcon Dive if it connects with an opponent, and even stage spike them, though this is easily teched. Furthermore, since all characters can wall jump out of a tech, opponents can punish Falcon as he leaps back, possibly putting him in a worse offstage situation. In addition, while Falcon Dive covers an alarmingly high amount of horizontal distance due to its high drift, its vertical travel distance is quite mild, and Raptor Boost also renders him helpless, making it situational when combined with its poor travel distance. Although he has the second-best wall jump in the game, Falcon will be in danger offstage without his double jump.

Overall, Captain Falcon is the epitome of a hit & run character, yet also benefits from a bait and punish playstyle; when combining his excellent mobility and combo game, he can string very long combos for huge amounts of damage. Otherwise, if he can use his KO moves wisely, he does not have much trouble scoring KOs. However, his flaws are quite susceptible to be punished easily if the player is not careful due to Captain Falcon's susceptibility to combos and exploitable recovery. He also falls under the bait and punish archetype, requiring to have a very precise and patient gameplay style in order to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes to score KO's.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Being considered a high tier character in Smash 4 (ranked 19th out of 55 characters), Captain Falcon received a mix of buffs and nerfs in his transition to Ultimate. Although he has a noticeably higher learning curve as a result of his nerfs, the plethora of very useful buffs he received from subsequent game updates has essentially resulted in him being nerfed slightly overall.

Falcon's overall punish game has seen many buffs in one way or another. On one hand, several of Falcon's options at close range have been improved, some of which are more rewarding by virtue of their increased combo potential. Notable examples are his neutral infinite connecting much more reliably and being therefore more effective for racking up damage; his forward tilt's lower lag and higher base knockback making it safer for spacing; his up tilt consistently meteor smashing both grounded and aerial opponents, allowing for combo extensions; and his up smash's increased damage, added leg intangibility, and reduced ending lag turning it into a high-risk, high-reward combo starter that can contest aerial approaches. A notable buff was to his neutral aerial's first hit; while it is harder to connect into the second hit at high percents, it more notably launches opponents at a more vertical angle on landing, allowing Falcon to land combos and even KO confirms with his Knee Smash, which deals far more damage if sweetspotted. On the other hand, his other options have improved KO ability, such as his dash attack, his new forward smash (despite already being remarkably powerful in Smash 4), and his down smash, the latter which now semi-spikes and hits low-profile opponents more effectively, allowing him to take stocks more reliably up close.

Furthermore, Falcon's entire special moveset has been buffed in miscellaneous ways: Falcon Punch has significantly increased knockback, making it deadlier as a hard read or shield break punish much like in previous games; Raptor Boost is a much more effective combo starter on the ground thanks to its lower knockback, ending lag, and new damage-based armor on hit, and leaves Falcon less vulnerable if it connects in the air (no longer causing helplessness in such case); Falcon Dive has increased knockback and less ending lag making it safer to hit opponents with and giving him a KO option that can counter shielding opponents, as well as increased recovery distance; and Falcon Kick is faster, has increased power on the ground, and less landing lag. In addition to these direct changes, the universal changes in Ultimate benefit Falcon's rushdown-oriented playstyle, having increased mobility and reduced landing lag on aerial attacks that allow him to juggle and punish opponents more effectively, the ability to use any attack out of a dash cancel further improving his grounded game, and the removal of teching grounded meteor smashes giving his up tilt and down aerial increased combo potential.

However, Captain Falcon has received significant nerfs as well, enough to counter his buffs and differentiate him from his previous appearances. The biggest nerfs were to his grab game as a result of increased traction; forward throw and down throw are less reliable for combos at higher percents in combination with the latter's altered knockback, and for mixups at lower percents. It even more notably shortens his dash grab, infamous in Smash 4 for being one of Captain Falcon's best approach punish and/or burst options due to its large ground coverage and high reward. This means he has a more lackluster grab game compared to Smash 4, as his grab is now harder to land, less rewarding, and due to all standard grabs having increased ending lag in Ultimate, easier to punish if it misses. His up aerial may have slightly less ending lag and knockback, but it also has increased landing lag compared to almost all other aerials (which instead had it decreased), lower damage, and a shorter duration with increased startup, weakening its KO setups and slightly worsening the ability to chain into itself repeatedly. While Raptor Boost's reduced knockback allows combos at much higher percents, it can no longer KO at realistic percents in exchange for its increased combo ability. Meanwhile, his new forward smash, while dealing more knockback, has significantly decreased range, to the point it can sometimes miss at point-blank range if the opponent is pushed by Falcon himself.

While Falcon's playstyles benefit from some of the universal changes, other changes have negatively impacted the way he has to execute his playstyle. Namely, the tumbling animation from a footstool jump now being techable prevents him from racking up large amounts of damage and setting up KOs by repeatedly footstooling and meteor smashing opponents back up with his down aerial. Ironically, the changes to dash-dancing have also adversely affected him more than other characters; since his initial dash animation is quite slow, this causes his dash-dancing animation to be more awkward and slower-moving than other characters, and reduces its mindgame potential compared to his previous extended dash-dance in Smash 4. Lastly, Falcon remains an inconsistent character and retains notable weaknesses from Smash 4 and even his Smash 64 days, like his problematic recovery and high vulnerability to combos.

Overall, Captain Falcon's buffs have improved several of his options and punish game, as well as granted him new options to utilize his speed and power; However, his nerfs to the previous options he had in Smash 4 mean he has to take higher risks at approaching and optimizing their use against other veterans who got buffed. As such, Falcon players likely have to apply more of a bait-and-punish strategy in order to win the neutral game, which now gives him a higher learning curve compared to Smash 4. He was initially found to be noticably worse than in Smash 4 in the early metagame of Ultimate, but as the meta progressed, his representation gradually improved; some players like Fatality, NickC, Nishiya, and Ogey still show that he has good potential, while higher ranked players like Marss and Glutonny began to use him as secondaries. In addition, game updates gave him significant buffs to help him with his power and combo ability. In the present day, a new game-changing tech has been discovered called instant double jump (IDJ), which allows users to buffer a double jump and do any attack. This new mechanic arguably benefits Falcon the most. As of right now, he is still currently considered by most players as a high tier character and roughly on-par with his previous iteration. However, his true placement remains up for debate.

Aesthetics

  • Change Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, Captain Falcon's model features a more vibrant color scheme, with his racing suit having a purple tint like in Melee. In addition to an upgrade in detail, his attire appears to have visible scuffs; his logo also appears to be worn down. His muscles are more chiseled, and the "eyes" on his mask are also larger, akin to Brawl.
  • Change Captain Falcon has a slightly altered dashing animation where he keeps his fists clenched.
  • Change Captain Falcon's mouth once again moves during his down and side taunts, like in Brawl. Both taunts have also been shortened, with the former now having the same duration when facing either direction.
  • Change Captain Falcon's tumbling animation has been altered. He faces more towards/away from the screen, similar to Little Mac, Shulk, Greninja, and other fighters.
  • Change Captain Falcon's right-inputted victory pose has a slightly altered ending animation. Instead of pointing his wrist sideways, he points it upwards, forming a pose similar to his idle pose.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Captain Falcon's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Captain Falcon walks faster (0.94 → 0.987).
  • Buff Captain Falcon runs faster (2.32 → 2.552), now running even faster than he did in the Japanese version of the original Super Smash Bros..
    • Buff His initial dash is faster (1.7 → 1.98).
      • Nerf Compared to the returning veterans, however, it is much slower, going from tied for 13th highest in SSB4 to tied for 29th highest in Ultimate. Combined with the changes to dash-dancing hurt Falcon more than other characters, as the new animation for performing an initial dash in the opposite direction causes his model to slide toward the direction he was originally facing due to his slow initial dash, further exacerbated by Falcon's heavy reliance on dash-dancing and grounded movement when compared to other characters.
  • Buff Captain Falcon's traction has been drastically increased (0.05 → 0.105). This makes it easier for him to punish out of shield.
  • Buff Captain Falcon's air speed is faster (1.1 → 1.218), slightly surpassing his Brawl air speed.
  • Change Captain Falcon falls slightly faster (1.837 → 1.865). This allows him to land more safely and improves his vertical endurance, but makes him easier to combo.
    • Buff His fast falling speed is also faster as a result (2.9392 → 2.984).
  • Nerf Forward roll has more ending lag (FAF 28 → 30).
  • Nerf Back roll has more startup (frame 4 → 5) and ending lag (FAF 28 → 35).
  • Buff Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 27).
  • Nerf Spot dodge grants less intangibility (frames 3-18 → 3-17).
  • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-28 → 3-30).
  • Nerf Air dodge has more ending lag (FAF 34 → 43).
  • Buff The changes to air dodges greatly benefit Falcon: the ability to only air dodge once allows him to take better advantage of his fast mobility to pressure and juggle opponents, while their increased ending lag allows him to punish them more effectively with powerful moves such as his Knee Smash.
  • Buff The ability to run cancel any move significantly benefits Falcon's grounded neutral game and punish game. This allows him to pressure the opponent easier by canceling into a neutral or tilt attack, especially if pivot canceled.
  • Nerf The ability to tech aerial footstools prevents Falcon from repeatedly footstooling and meteor smashing opponents back into the air with his down aerial, removing one of his most potent damage racking options.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The first hit has an altered animation, with Falcon jabbing underhanded. This slightly lowers its position, allowing it to hit shorter and crouching characters.
    • Buff The first hit transitions into the second faster (frame 8 → 5), which transitions into either of the subsequent hits faster (frame 10 → 8).
    • Buff The infinite has faster startup (frame 9 → 5), a much shorter gap between hits (5 frames → 2) and reduced knockback (15/15/8 base/50/50/30 scaling → 8 base/15 scaling), in addition to keeping opponents on the ground, and gaining a hitstun modifier of 2 on each hit. This allows it to connect much more reliably.
    • Buff The infinite's finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%), though with its knockback scaling compensated (70 → 55).
    • Nerf The first two hits and the infinite deal less damage (2% → 1.5% (hits 1-2), 1% → 0.6% (infinite)).
    • Nerf The first three hits have reduced range overall (hit 1: 4.3u/4.3u/3.3u → 2.0/2.3/2.5/2.5; hit 2: 4.3u/4.3u/3.3u → 2.5/3.0/3.6; hit 3: 6.0u/3.5u → 5.5/3.8).
    • Nerf The infinite's finisher has drastically more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).
    • Nerf The infinite has an increased hitlag multiplier (0.3× → 0.5x). Combined with the universally increased hitlag, this allows opponents to SDI the hits, which was previously impossible due to their lack of hitlag, despite their decreased SDI multiplier (0.7× → 0.4×).
    • Change The first and second hits have altered angles (hit 1: 80° → 361°/361°/180°/361°; hit 2: 80° → 361°) and knockback (both hits: 20 set/100 scaling → 20 base/25 caling) to keep opponents close to Captain Falcon, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to connect better and lock, but removes their guaranteed jab cancel setups.
    • Change The infinite and its finisher have altered hitbox sizes (infinite: 4.2u/4.0u/4.0u → 2.25/6.5; finisher: 7.0u → 4.5/4.5). This gives the finisher more horizontal range, but reduces its vertical range.
    • Change The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 9×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Captain Falcon more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff It has less startup and a longer hitbox duration (frames 9-11 → 7-10), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 32 → 30). This makes it safer to use at close range.
    • Nerf The sweetspot no longer has priority over the sourspots.
    • Change It has significantly increased base knockback, but significantly decreased scaling (10 base/100 scaling → 60/58). This noticeably improves its safety on hit at low percents, but drastically hinders its KO potential, to the point it can no longer KO reliably.
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff It has less startup (frame 17 → 14), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 40 → 37).
    • Buff It meteor smashes throughout its entirety, including grounded opponents, instead of only aerial opponents at the heel. Due to the removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes, this drastically improves its combo potential.
      • Buff This makes the meteor smash stronger if Falcon's heel doesn't connect (22 base → 35).
    • Buff It gives Falcon intangibility on his leg, though due to Falcon raising his arm during the animation, he will still rarely be able to avoid a hit.
    • Nerf It has an altered animation where Captain Falcon's foot no longer reaches all the way to the floor, resulting in a more circular motion. This animation reduces its vertical range, making it almost unable to hit opponents hanging from an edge.
    • Change It no longer moves Falcon forward with each use, which makes it easier to space and use safely, but reduces its range slightly.
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff It has more knockback scaling (80 → 86).
    • Change The hitbox on Falcon's torso sends at an inverse angle (25° → 155°).
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Both clean and late hits have more knockback scaling (50 → 67). This makes the clean hit stronger (KOing at around 170% without rage), and the late hit much safer on hit at low percentages.
    • Buff It has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 35).
    • Buff The hitboxes have been extended downward (Y offset: 10 → 10 (Y1)/8 (Y2 clean)/6 (Y2 late)), making the attack less affected by low-profiling.
  • Forward smash:
    • Change Captain Falcon has a new forward smash: a backhand punch that resembles Warlock Punch.
    • Buff It deals more knockback overall (angled up/non-angled: 24 base/95 scaling → 36/94; angled down: 24 base/83 scaling → 36/87), improving its KO potential, especially when angled down.
    • Nerf It only consists of two hitboxes rather than three (4.5u/3.0u/3.0u → 3.8/3.2). Falcon also doesn't lean forward as much before hitting and no longer lunges forward during the attack. This makes the move harder to land, significantly reduces its range and leaves it prone to missing short opponents.
  • Up smash:
    • Buff It has less ending lag (FAF 52 → 46). Combined with Falcon's faster jumpsquat and jump speed, this allows it to true combo into an up and forward aerial from low to mid percents.
    • Buff Both hits have a longer duration (hit 1: frame 22 → frames 22-23; hit 2: 28 → 28-29), and grant Falcon intangibility on his respective legs, making the move safer to use against opposing aerial attacks.
    • Buff Both hits deal more damage (hit 1: 6%/11% → 7%/12%; hit 2: 13%/12% → 14%/13%). Thanks to this and the changes made to the second hit’s knockback, it is now tied with Lucas's up smash as the second strongest in the game if both sweetspots connect.
    • Buff One of the first hit's hitboxes (hitbox ID 1 → 0) outprioritizes the other (hitbox ID 0 → 1). The hitboxes also have slightly altered angles (95°/110°/80°/90° → 96°/110°/80°/80°) and knockback values (hitbox 0: 140 set → 150; hitbox 1: 120 → 90; hitbox 3: 30 base/20 set → 8 base/10 set). These changes make the first hit connect better into the second hit.
    • Change The second hit has more base knockback, but less knockback scaling (30 base/104/106/112 scaling → 70 base/80/81/88 scaling).
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash has an altered animation where Falcon kicks lower to the ground, allowing it to hit smaller and crouching opponents more easily. In spite of this animation change, its horizontal reach is unaffected.
    • Buff It launches at a lower, semi-spike angle (361° → 28°). This improves the move's KO potential especially near edges, despite the second hit's lower knockback scaling (90 → 84).

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials except up aerial have reduced landing lag (12 frames → 7 (neutral), 30 → 18 (forward), 12 → 10 (back), 21 → 12 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial transitions faster into the second hit (frame 20 → 13), with its total duration mostly reduced as well (FAF 45 → 40).
      • Nerf However, this increases its ending lag by 2 frames, making it more difficult to chain multiple neutral aerials without landing.
    • Buff The first hit no longer has set knockback (55 set/100 scaling → 50 base/25 scaling), and deals more knockback to grounded opponents (55 set/100 scaling → 65 base/75 scaling), improving its combo potential on landing, despite its increased SDI multiplier (1.0x → 1.4x).
      • Nerf However, this makes the first hit transition into the second hit less consistently on aerial opponents at very high percentages.
    • Change The second hit has less knockback scaling (130 → 120), improving its combo potential but worsening its KO potential.
    • Change The first hit sends at lower angles (86°/78°/74° → 74°/80°/68°). Two of its hitboxes send grounded opponents at lower angles as well (86°/78° → 68°/74°).
    • Nerf The first hit has smaller hitboxes (5.0u/6.5u/5.5u → 6.0/4.0/3.5), slightly reducing its range.
    • Change The second hit has altered hitbox sizes (4.8u/6.0u/5.0u → 5.2/6.0/3.8). This makes it easier to connect from afar, but slightly harder to connect up close.
    • Change The second hit always launches the opponent in the direction Captain Falcon is facing.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Sweetspotted Knee Smash deals more damage (19% → 22%), with knockback scaling reduced to compensate (93 → 81). The damage increase also makes it much harder to punish out of shield.
      • Nerf It deals marginally less knockback overall.
    • Buff Sweetspotted Knee Smash hitbox is larger (3u → 3.75u)
    • Buff Its reduced landing lag increases the usefulness of its late hit's bonus trip chance, allowing Captain Falcon to get true followups if it trips the opponent.
  • Back aerial:
    • Nerf It has slightly less knockback overall (25 base/100 scaling → 27/97).
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff It has slightly less ending lag (FAF 34 → 32), improving its combo potential into itself.
    • Nerf It has one frame more startup and a shorter duration (frames 6-12 → 7-12).
    • Nerf It has a new animation which takes much longer to complete than the previous animation (33 frames → 52). This increases the amount of time Captain Falcon can't grab the ledge after using the move.
    • Nerf It has one frame more landing lag (9 frames → 10). Combined with the decreased shieldstun for aerial attacks, this makes it much less safe on shield.
    • Nerf It deals less damage (clean: 11%/10% → 10%/9%; late: 10%/9% → 9%/8%).
    • Change The clean hit has more base knockback, but less knockback scaling (16 base/100 scaling → 20/96) and sends at a lower angle (70° → 66°). Combined with its lower damage, these changes improve its combo ability, but hinder its KO potential.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff The removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes improves down aerial's combo potential onstage, compounded further by its reduced landing lag.

Throws and other attacks

  • Change Falcon has altered swing animations for battering items like the Beam Sword, no longer performing a stab forward when using a forward smash. This applies to all except his dash attack.
  • Grabs:
    • Buff Standing and pivot grabs have less startup (standing: frame 7 → 6; pivot: frame 12 → 10).
    • Nerf All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 31 → 36 (standing); 38 → 44 (dash); 37 → 39 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash grab does not extend as far away from Captain Falcon (Z2 offset: 12.2 → 11.9), slightly reducing its range relative to Captain Falcon.
    • Nerf Dash grab has an altered animation where Captain Falcon does not dash as far forward. This significantly reduces its range.
      • Nerf When combined with Captain Falcon's increased traction, this also causes Captain Falcon to slide much less after connecting the dash grab.
      • Buff However, when combined with the changes to the jostle mechanics, this also prevents dash grab from whiffing when used at close range.
  • Pummel:
    • Nerf Pummel deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
    • Change It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 4 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
    • Change It has an altered animation where Captain Falcon strikes the opponent with his left knee, somewhat resembling his Knee Smash.
  • Forward throw:
    • Nerf Forward throw's first hit deals less damage (5% → 3.5%; 9% → 7.5% total).
    • Nerf Due to Falcon's increased traction no longer allowing him to retain horizontal momentum during the throw, it has lost its combo potential.
  • Back throw:
    • Nerf Back throw's first hit deals less damage (5% → 3.5%; 9% → 7.5% total).
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw's release deals more damage (3% → 5%; 7% → 9% total), allowing it to KO more reliably at high percents despite its reduced knockback (80 base/110 scaling → 68/100) and very slightly lower angle (85° → 84°).
  • Down throw:
    • Nerf Down throw has less base knockback (80 → 65), but more knockback scaling (45 → 70). Combined with Falcon's increased traction no longer allowing him to retain horizontal momentum during the throw, this hinders its combo potential past low and mid percents despite its higher angle (65° → 68°); most notably, this removes his semi-guaranteed setups into forward aerial at high percents.
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 10%).

Special moves

  • Falcon Punch:
    • Buff It has less ending lag when not reversed (FAF 110 → 104).
    • Buff It has significantly altered knockback (grounded/aerial/aerial reversed: 0 base/90 scaling → 93/59; grounded reversed: 0 base/90 scaling → 85/65). This makes safe on hit at low percentages (unlike in Smash 4) and significantly improves its KO potential despite its reduced knockback scaling (for reference, it can KO middleweights at 55% from the center of Final Destination).
      • Nerf However, this results in its usefulness in Home-Run Contest being reduced yet again, being the least useful in this game than in any other game the mode appears in.
    • Buff Both versions have larger hitboxes (grounded/reversed: 4.0u/2.5u/3.5u → 4.5/2.5/4.0; aerial/aerial reversed: 4.6u/2.875u/4.025u → 5.175/2.875/4.6).
    • Buff Falcon slides backwards slightly at the end of the move, somewhat improving its safety, especially on shield.
    • Nerf Captain Falcon doesn't slide forward as much while performing the move, slightly reducing its range despite its larger hitboxes.
    • Change Like several other powerful attacks in the game, Falcon Punch triggers Special Zoom when it successfully hits an opponent.
    • Change Falcon Punch's flames are more pronounced and better resemble an actual falcon than in Smash 4. In addition, the particle effect lingers for much longer. However, the fire falcon itself no longer has an animation and remains rather static.
  • Raptor Boost:
    • Buff Both versions deal more damage (9% grounded/8% aerial → 10% both). The aerial version's knockback also wasn't compensated, improving its KO potential.
    • Buff Grounded Raptor Boost has less startup (inert detector: frame 16 → 10), and less ending lag if it misses (FAF 80 → 72).
    • Buff Falcon has damage-based armor (10%, 12% in 1v1) on the grounded version right before the uppercut comes out (frames 1-5), akin to how Heavy Raptor Boost in Smash 4 had Super Armor. This improves its use for zonebreaking, although the active armor frames make it difficult to use reliably.
    • Buff The uppercut has a reduced hitlag multiplier (2.0x → 1.5x), making it harder to DI.
    • Nerf The uppercut has more startup (frame 4 → 5).
      • Buff However, it has much less ending lag (FAF 36 → 28) and has gained a hitstun modifier of 3. Combined with Falcon's faster jumpsquat, this greatly improves its combo potential.
    • Buff Aerial Raptor Boost no longer causes helplessness or landing lag if the overhand is activated, increasing its safety.
    • Buff One of the overhand's sourspots has been removed, with the meteor smash hitbox having the highest priority, improving its reliability and making the meteor smash easier to land.
    • Change The uppercut has a lot less knockback (100 base/75 scaling → 82/30). Combined with the previous changes, this significantly improves its combo potential, but significantly reduces its KO potential, no longer killing at realistic percentages.
    • Nerf The uppercut has altered hitboxes, which are attached to Falcon's body (startup: 7.0u → 6.0/5.5; ending: 7.0u → 4.5). This reduces its range.
    • Change The move has a slightly altered animation.
  • Falcon Dive:
    • Buff It covers more horizontal distance and travels higher, and reversing it no longer decreases its horizontal distance.
    • Buff It has less landing lag (30 frames → 24).
    • Buff One of the move's grabboxes has increased size (4.5u → 5.0), and a higher position (Y-axis displacement: 12.0 → 13.0), improving the move's protection from above, as well as its reach, while only marginally reducing its consistency against grounded opponents.
    • Buff The throw has significantly less ending lag (FAF 61 → 24), greatly reducing the effectiveness of Tech Checking, and thus improving the safety of Falcon's recovery.
    • Buff The throw deals more damage (12% → 13%; 17% → 18% total) and has altered knockback (40 base/82 scaling → 85/62). Overall, this improves its KO potential.
    • Buff The hitbox when Falcon latches onto an opponent deals knockback to bystanders (50 base/100 scaling, at an angle of 361), instead of simply damaging them, making the move safer to use in doubles or free-for-alls.
    • Bug fix Connecting with the throw no longer gives RCO lag.
    • Change Falcon Dive has Captain Falcon flash with an orange tint when grabbing an opponent. It additionally has a new animation, in which he grabs his opponent with one hand while leaning more similar to Dark Dive in SSB4 onward, and the flip after grabbing an opponent has him spin slightly.
    • Change The move's sound effects no longer cut off when grabbing an opponent at point-blank range. However, they will still cut off if Falcon gets hold of an opponent early on but not point-blank.
  • Falcon Kick:
    • Buff Grounded Falcon Kick has less startup (frame 18 → 13), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 74 → 69).
    • Buff The grounded version's clean hit deals more damage (13% → 15%), all of its hits have more knockback scaling (clean: 60 → 84; mid: 40 → 60; late: 60 → 65), and they launch at a much more horizontal angle (clean: 80° → 52°; mid: 68° → 52°; late: 50° → 46°). This increases its KO potential overall, with the clean hit remaining mostly the same from center stage save for its angle, which allows it to KO earlier near edges.
    • Buff Aerial Falcon Kick has much less landing lag (48 frames → 36), making it safer as a landing option.
    • Buff The aerial version deals more knockback (clean: 40 base/60 scaling → 80/52; mid/late: 40 base/65 scaling → 80/46; landing: 20 scaling → 35). This improves the clean hit's KO potential (killing at around 150% from center stage) and makes the entire move safer on hit.
    • Buff The aerial version's landing hit sends at a lower angle (80 → 60). This makes it harder to punish.
    • Nerf The aerial version's mid and late hits deal less damage (mid: 13% → 12%; late: 11% → 9%). This worsens their KO potential despite their higher knockback.
  • Blue Falcon:
    • Nerf The starting hit has smaller hitboxes (19.0u/22.0u/19.0u → 16.0/18.0/16.0) with altered displacements (hitbox 0: 10.0 Z-axis displacement → 13; hitbox 2: 50.0 Z-axis displacement → 45). This significantly reduces its range, especially right in front of Falcon.
    • Nerf The finishing hit has significantly lower knockback scaling (165 → 135), no longer being a potential One-hit KO and becoming fairly average in strength overall, even despite the general nerfs to Final Smashes.
    • Change Blue Falcon releases flaming wings on both sides when the Blue Falcon itself is on the racetrack, making it appear much like a falcon itself.
    • Change The track Captain Falcon drives on sports a new design with no side rails, more closely resembling the railless sections of F-Zero racetracks.

Update history

Captain Falcon was buffed significantly by game updates. In update 3.1.0, back aerial's knockback was increased, which slightly improved its KO potential after it was initially nerfed in the transition from Smash 4. Knee Smash's sweetspot and Falcon Kick's clean hit received hitbox adjustments that made them easier to land. Captain Falcon's close range options and combo game were also improved: forward tilt's base knockback was increased, up tilt's lag was decreased, and Raptor Boost's uppercut gained a marginal decrease to its start-up lag alongside increases to its hitstun and the damage threshold of its armor.

Following update 7.0.0's minor buffs to Captain Falcon's shield and neutral attack, update 8.0.0 granted him a number of very useful buffs. Most notably, Raptor Boost was buffed again: the grounded version has longer horizontal range, regained its launching angle from Smash 4, and its knockback was decreased. Altogether, these changes significantly improved its combo potential. Conversely, aerial Raptor Boost's meteor hitbox became much more consistent, thanks to its higher priority. Additionally, down tilt and up smash gained higher knockback, dash attack's ending lag was decreased, and Falcon Kick became quicker and gained a stronger clean hit, making it a better burst option.

Update 9.0.0 buffed up smash by adjusting the hitboxes and decreasing the knockback of its first hit, which improved its consistency into its second hit, especially under platforms. Most recently, update 11.0.0 significantly decreased the ending lag of Falcon Dive's throw (a buff shared with Dark Dive), which almost completely alleviated its glaring susceptibility to Tech Checking.[1]

Overall, Captain Falcon fares much better than he did at Ultimate's launch. Due to online tournaments currently being more prominent, however, his true viability still remains unknown.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Buff Forward tilt deals more base knockback (50 → 60).
  • Buff Up tilt has less startup lag (frame 17 → 14) with identical ending lag, shortening its duration (FAF 40 → 37).
  • Buff Forward aerial's sweetspot is larger (3.0u → 3.75u).
  • Buff Back aerial deals slightly more knockback (25 base/94 scaling → 27/97).
  • Buff Raptor Boost's uppercut has less startup lag (frame 6 → 5).
  • Buff Raptor Boost's armor has a higher damage threshold (8% → 10%).
  • Buff Grounded Raptor Boost deals more hitstun (+0 → +3).
  • Buff Falcon Kick's clean hit has a longer hitbox duration, with the total duration of the attack being the same (frames 15-17 (grounded), 16-18 → 16-20 (aerial)).

Technical changelist 3.1.0

Changed Before After
Up tilt frame 1-16 No frame speed multiplier FSM: 0.8125×
Raptor Boost frame 1-7 No frame speed multiplier FSM: 0.8×

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 7.0.0

  • Buff Overall shield size has been increased by 1.05×.
  • Buff The hitbox on neutral attack's first hit that launches opponents towards Captain Falcon has higher priority than one of the hitboxes that launches them away. This makes it more likely to pull opponents towards Falcon, allowing it to link better into the second hit.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 8.0.0

  • Buff Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 35), improving its combo potential. It has a lower shieldstun multiplier (1.875× → 1.5×), which fully compensates for the clean hit's advantage on shield, but not the late hit's, making the latter slightly safer on shield.
  • Buff Down tilt has more knockback scaling (80 → 86).
  • Up smash:
    • Buff The second hit has more knockback scaling (72/74/80 → 80/81/88).
  • Raptor Boost:
    • Buff The uppercut launches at a higher angle (76° → 85°) and has much less knockback scaling (52 → 30). This allows it to combo at a wider percent range, including a read into Knee Smash.
    • Buff The uppercut's innermost hitbox stretches much farther horizontally (Z offset: 5.5u → 5.5u—12.5u), increasing its range.
    • Buff The overhand's meteor hitbox has the highest priority, making the move easier to meteor smash with.
  • Falcon Kick:
    • Buff Falcon Kick has less startup (frame 15 (grounded)/16 (aerial) → 13/14), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 71 → 69 (grounded, landing), 68 → 66 (grounded, off-edge), 59 → 57 (aerial)).
    • Buff The clean hit has more knockback scaling (84 → 88 (grounded), 52 → 57 (aerial)).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 9.0.0

  • Buff Up smash's first hit has swapped priority for its 12% damage hitboxes, and they deal less knockback (30/8 base/20/10 set → 5/0 base/10/0 set), allowing them to connect more reliably into the second hit, especially against opponents on platforms above Captain Falcon.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 11.0.0

  • Buff Falcon Dive's throw has significantly less ending lag (FAF 55 → 24), making it considerably harder to Tech Check Falcon's recovery.

Moveset

For a gallery of Captain Falcon's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Jab (ジャブ) / Straight (ストレート) / Kneebutt (ニーバット) / Mach Punch (マッハパンチ) / Body Blow (ボディブロー) 1.5% A one-two combo followed by a knee strike colloquially known as the Gentleman. Alternatively, the first two punches can be followed by a flurry of punches, culminating with a short-straight punch that has very high base knockback. The knee strike has incredibly high knockback for a neutral attack, KOing Mario at 140% the edge of Final Destination. The infinite and finisher have deceptively high range, being able to reach fighters slightly further out than his normal two-punch knee strike, and it also has good power, though it is outclassed by the Gentleman in that matter. The first two hits can also lock, but it is hard to do so due to its higher hitbox.
1.5%
5%
0.6% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt Round Kick (ラウンドキック) 10% (foot), 9% (leg) A roundhouse kick. It can be angled, has a sweetspot on Captain Falcon's foot, and a slightly weaker sourspot on his leg. It is one of his best neutral options; it's a bit slower than neutral attack, but has more range over it, and can start tech chase situations at mid percents. Angling the move increases its damage, and angling down allows it to hit short characters effectively, which Captain Falcon struggles with.
9% (foot), 8% (leg)
10% (foot), 9% (leg)
Up tilt Wheel Kick (ホイールキック) 11% An axe kick. It has good vertical range in front of him and the ability to meteor smash both grounded and aerial opponents. Useful for creating grounded combos or hitting opponents trying to recover high. However, it has high startup lag for a tilt.
Down tilt Sprawl Kick (スプロールキック) 10% A legsweep. It is a semi-spike, making it useful for edgeguarding because of this trajectory, as well as its high knockback and ability to hit ledge hangs. One of the strongest down tilts in the game, but it has above average startup lag, especially for a tilt.
Dash attack Turbo Shoulder (ターボショルダー) 10% (clean), 6% (late) A shoulder block. Propels Captain Falcon quite far and is useful for punishing landings. Both its clean and especially late hits can potentially start combos at low percents due to its diagonal trajectory and speed, but it is punishable on shield like most dash attacks. It has increased knockback compared to the previous installment, making its clean hit decent for scoring KOs.
Forward smash Overheat Back Knuckle (オーバーヒートバックナックル) 20% Rears back and then throws a lunging backhanded punch, which has a flame effect. It has high startup and ending lag, but its range is decent enough, and since Captain Falcon rears back, other moves can completely whiff. It boasts excellent KO potential and can also can be angled, increasing its damage slightly.
19%
20%
Up smash Dual Edge (デュアルエッジ) 7%/12% (hit 1), 14%/13% (hit 2) A 540 kick. Despite its slow startup, it has low ending lag and deceptive horizontal range. Both hits deal more damage at the upper portion of Captain Falcon's leg. Though it has very good knockback, at low to mid percents, it can combo into an up aerial. Due to hitting twice and having leg intangibility, it also can contest aerial approaches. In addition, as of update 8.0.0, it is tied with Lucas' up smash as the second strongest in the game thanks to its increased knockback growth, and it is also the most damaging up smash if both sweetspots connect (without other factors such as Lucario's aura or Hero getting a critical hit). As of update 9.0.0, it is also much more consistent against opponents standing on platforms above him.
Down smash Front & Back Kick (フロント&バックキック) 14% (hit 1), 18% (hit 2) A mid-level roundhouse kick followed by a back kick. The back kick is more powerful than the roundhouse kick, which makes the move useful for roll reads. Unlike most down smashes, it can't hit edge hangs, although it compensates by having decent horizontal range and somewhat low ending lag, on top of both hits having high knockback.
Neutral aerial Rotary Kick (ロータリーキック) 4% (hit 1), 6% (hit 2) A hook kick followed by a roundhouse kick. It is a reliable follow-up out of his down throw at middling percents, and it transitions faster than the version in Smash 4. The first hit has vertical knockback on grounded opponents, intended to reliably lead into the second hit, but if Captain Falcon connects only the first hit, it becomes a viable combo starter that can combo into his aerials, even his Knee Smash at mid-high percents. Also an effective edgeguard tool due to being a multi-hit and having decent KO potential offstage.
Forward aerial Knee Smash (ストライキングニー, Striking Knee) 22% (clean sweetspot), 6% (clean sourspot), 3% (late) A knee strike. Much like the Lightning Kick, it is extremely polarized: it deals extremely high damage with an electric effect when sweetspotted (to the point of being the strongest forward aerial in the game by a tiny margin), but is incredibly weak when sourspotted or hit later on. It deals massive shield damage, making it an excellent shield-pressuring tool if aimed well. Also serves well as a combo finisher or hard read tool against airborne opponents, such as if they air dodge predictably.
Back aerial Back Knuckle (バックナックル) 13% (clean), 8% (late) A backfist. Its low landing lag makes it one of Captain Falcon's best approach options. The move deals high knockback as well when hit clean, and it can combo into a dash attack or grab on landing at low percents. Due to his high air speed, it can even perform a wall of pain at low-mid percents offstage.
Up aerial Overhead Kick (オーバーヘッドキック) 10%/9% (clean), 9%/8% (late) A bicycle kick. Has fast startup with a decently long duration, good all-around range (though it doesn't hit directly below him), low ending lag, minimal landing lag, low base knockback, and it auto-cancels in a short hop. All these factors make it a great combo starter, which can combo into itself, down aerial at low-mid percents, Knee Smash at higher percents, and Falcon Dive near the blast zone. The last frames of the move send at a more horizontal angle, which can combo into back aerial with proper timing.
Down aerial Stampede Bomb (スタンピードボム) 14% A double foot stomp. Meteor smashes when sweetspotted at his legs and sends opponents horizontally if sourspotted at his hips. It can lock opponents at low to mid percents, and when it starts bouncing opponents off the ground, can combo into Knee Smash. The move deals high knockback, which causes the sourspot to KO at around 110%. As a result, it is one of the strongest down aerials in the game.
Grab Grab (つかみ) Reaches out with his right hand. Captain Falcon's grab range is fairly short. While his dash grab is a lot shorter since he doesn’t slide as much, it can no longer whiff up close thanks to the changes to the jostle mechanics.
Pummel Grab Kneebutt (つかみニーバット) 1.3% A knee strike.
Forward throw Short Body Blow (ショートボディーブロー) 3.5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) A short-straight punch. It can KO at higher percents around 159% from the edge of Final Destination. Unlike in Smash 4, however, it lacks combo potential as a result of Captain Falcon's much higher traction.
Back throw Striking Throw (ストライキングスルー) 3.5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) Lightly tosses the opponent behind himself and then side kicks them, knocking them backward diagonally. His best KO throw horizontally and one of the more powerful of its type, killing middleweights at around 147% at the edge of Final Destination with DI.
Up throw Rising Flat (ライジングフラット) 4% (hit 1), 5% (throw) Holds the opponent up above his head and uppercuts them with his left hand. Has decent enough KO potential, so it's useful for when Captain Falcon isn't in the position for forward or back throws to KO. It KOs middleweights at around 181% from the ground on Final Destination.
Down throw Head Crush (ヘッドクラッシュ) 6% Swings the opponent overhead and then performs a one-handed body slam. Alongside Raptor Boost and the first hit of neutral aerial, this is one of Captain Falcon's main combo starters, being capable of starting combos into neutral aerial and back aerial at low percents, up aerial at a wide range of percents, and even forward aerial at specific percentages as a KO setup.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Kicks behind himself with one leg, then performs a kip-up transitioned into a scorpion kick with the same leg before standing up.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  6% Performs a headspin to kick on both sides of himself before standing up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Punches both sides of himself while getting up.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  10% Pulls himself up from the ledge and kicks with his right leg.
Neutral special Falcon Punch 25% (grounded), 28% (grounded reverse), 22% (aerial), 25% (aerial reverse) Winds up and throws his iconic flaming punch, yelling "Falcon... Punch!" while doing so. Turning around while using the move increases its power, but slightly increases its startup lag, while landing an aerial punch lowers its power. The grounded version can KO middleweights at around 50% from the center of Final Destination, a strong increase over its SSB4 iteration. Inputting up or down on the control pad when Captain Falcon is performing an aerial Falcon Punch will result in a very small boost in that direction.
Side special Raptor Boost 10% Dashes forward and, upon detecting an opponent, throws a flaming uppercut on the ground or a flaming overhand in the air. The aerial version meteor smashes aerial opponents if they are directly below Captain Falcon. On the ground, Captain Falcon is granted 10% (12% in 1v1) damage-based armor right before the hit connects, on frames 1-5. The move will now deal the same damage regardless of whether it is performed on the ground or in the air. The aerial version will leave Captain Falcon helpless if the move does not connect against opponents. Unlike in SSB4, grounded Raptor Boost is not a KO move due to its low knockback, but it is much better at comboing into his aerials (including Knee Smash at certain percents) and even up tilt at mid-percents at the ledge. It can even confirm into up aerial at high percents as of update 8.0.0. The overhand's high base knockback makes it among the stronger meteor smashes in the game, though it is risky to use since Captain Falcon becomes helpless if he misses.
Up special Falcon Dive 5% (hit 1), 13% (throw) Leaps upward and grabs any opponent that comes in range, launching them away with an explosion. If successful, Captain Falcon will flip backward while shouting "Yes!", and he can use the move again instead of becoming helpless. This is Captain Falcon's main recovery move and works as an out-of-shield option despite its moderate startup due to being a command grab and dealing high knockback. It also serves as a risky yet fairly rewarding combo finisher offstage.
Down special Falcon Kick 15%/11%/7% (grounded), 15%/12%/9% (aerial), 9% (landing) Quickly propels himself forward to perform a flaming flying kick, shouting "Falcon Kick!" while he does so. If used on the ground, he will travel horizontally. If used in the air, he will plunge down at a diagonal angle. The move gets weaker as it continues, though the early hits have KO potential, especially on the ground.
Final Smash Blue Falcon 10% (hit 1), 20% (hit 2), 10% (throw) Calls in the Blue Falcon, which flies through the stage in front of him. If the Blue Falcon hits any opponents, a short cutscene plays where Captain Falcon is seen piloting the Blue Falcon, and he then runs over the caught opponents and sends them flying. Characters who are not hit during a successful attempt will stay in place (as they cannot be visible at this time) until the end of the move. Like certain other Final Smashes, if no one is hit when the Blue Falcon appears, the attack fails.

Announcer calls

On-screen appearance

  • Captain Falcon jumps out of the Blue Falcon after it flies into the stage, after which it speeds off. Like in previous games, Captain Falcon has the unique property where his jumping animation will differ based on facing direction: a simple vaulting jump if entering from the right, and a front flip if entering from the left.

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Kneels while emitting a fiery aura with an angry expression.
  • Side taunt: Thrusts out his left arm and gestures for his opponent to come closer, shouting "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; he also salutes with two fingers instead of all five in such cases.

Idle poses

  • Leans forward and thrusts his arm out.
  • Similar to the first one, but he crouches slightly and thrusts his elbow out instead of his arm.

Crowd cheer

Cheer (English) Cheer (Japanese/Chinese) Cheer (Italian) Cheer (Dutch) Cheer (French)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Falcon Punch! Captain! Falcon! Captain! Falcon! Captain - Falcon! -- Falcon! Capitaine! Falcon! NTSC
Captain! Falcon! PAL
Cheer (German) Cheer (Spanish) Cheer (Russian) Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
NTSC

PAL
Description Captain! Falcon! Capitáaaan - Falcon! NTSC
Cap - tain Falcon! PAL
Capitan! Falcon! Captin! Falcon!

Victory poses

  • Left: Kneels while briefly emitting a flaming aura, similarly to his up taunt and one of his Smash 64 poses.
  • Up: Performs a 540 kick and then assumes a crouching fighting stance.
  • Right: Performs a hook kick, then a roundhouse kick, and then another hook kick before striking a fist pumping pose similar to his character select animation in Super Smash Bros.
An electric guitar-based cover of the short track that would play when a character finished a race in F-Zero GX.

In competitive play

Tier placement and history

Many players have noted Captain Falcon's higher learning curve compared to Smash 4. As a result, his player base noticeably dropped, as his once easy-to-use combos (which included his dash grab and footstool combos) became harder to use or were removed entirely as a result of the game's mechanics; the changes to his playstyle required players to be more cautious in the neutral game. Despite his lower playerbase, however, his perception was anything but bad, as initial opinions on him varied anywhere between being a solid mid-tier to a solid high tier character. However, his nerfs, combined with the buffs to other characters, saw him ranked as a mid-tier character for much of 2019, and his best players were achieving lower placements in comparison to Smash 4. This was because his previous moveset was central to his playstyle, and he was becoming slightly more of a bait-and-punish character despite the faster gameplay of Ultimate.

Captain Falcon has received numerous buffs throughout the game's lifespan that have gradually improved his perception over time: patch 3.1.0 made his options on his punish game more reliable, while patch 8.0.0 gave noteworthy improvements to his close quarters combat and his combo game. As a result, his grounded neutral game has improved as well, and he has easier and more reliable ways to KO his opponents. Due to these buffs, Captain Falcon is generally considered an upper-end high tier character, while a couple of top players including ESAM believes the character might potentially become a top tier, with him currently ranked 39th on the first and current tier list. While his overall representation is still relatively average compared to the rest of the cast, his results have started to improve significantly in the resurgence of offline tournaments thanks to players such as Jogibu, and especially Fatality, with the latter becoming a Top 24 PGRContender using solo Falcon.

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Captain Falcon players (SSBU)

Classic Mode: Up Close and Personal

Captain Falcon's congratulations screen.

Captain Falcon's opponents are fighters who specialize in close-range combat. To fit with this theme, Captain Falcon fights Giga Bowser in the Final Round, due to him having the least amount of projectiles (one) among Ultimate's bosses.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Donkey Kong (SSBU) Donkey Kong Jungle Japes Battle for Storm Hill
2 Ganondorf (SSBU) Ganondorf Gerudo Valley Gerudo Valley (Remix)
3 Ryu (SSBU) Ryu Suzaku Castle Ryu Stage
4 Roy (SSBU) Roy Arena Ferox Attack - Fire Emblem
5 Mii Brawler (SSBU) Mii Brawler (x6) Coliseum The Devoted Horde Battle.
Mii Brawler costume combinations:
  • No headwear and Red Fighter Uniform
  • Ninja Headband and Orange Tracksuit
  • Ribbon Girl Mask and Ribbon Girl Outfit
  • No headwear and Green Fighter Uniform
  • Saki Amamiya Wig and Cyan Tracksuit
  • Spring Man Mask and Spring Man Outfit
6 Little Mac (SSBU) Little Mac Boxing Ring Jogging / Countdown
Bonus Stage
Final Bowser (SSBU) Bowser, then Giga Bowser Final Destination King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3 (Bowser)
Giga Bowser (Giga Bowser)
A Maxim Tomato appears after defeating Bowser in the final round.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Captain Falcon has Fire Field (Remix) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Captain Falcon in World of Light

Captain Falcon was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Captain Falcon was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He attempted to escape in the Blue Falcon, but Galeem vaporized him and his vehicle before he could do so. He was then imprisoned by Galeem along with the rest of the fighters (excluding Kirby). A puppet fighter of him can be seen behind Mario in the group of puppet fighters under Galeem's control.

Captain Falcon can be found early in the mode if the player goes through Villager's path instead of those of Marth and Sheik. He is in the middle of a racetrack that can only be traversed with the assistance of Pico's spirit.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
11
Captain Falcon SSBU.png
Captain Falcon
Attack
Attack
3,300 Port Town Aero Dive (Ω form) F-ZERO Medley

Spirit

Captain Falcon's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Captain Falcon has been unlocked. Unlocking Captain Falcon in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
41
SSBU spirit Bullet Bill.png
Bullet Bill Super Mario Series Captain Falcon Team Captain Falcon (SSBU)×4
Attack
1,800 Mushroom Kingdom •Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Bullet Bill
•Certain items will appear in large numbers
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3
141
SSBU spirit Funky Kong.png
Funky Kong Donkey Kong Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Diddy Kong Diddy Kong (SSBU)
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong (SSBU)
Neutral
9,000 Kongo Jungle •Item: Bullet Bill •The enemy is easily distracted by items Funky's Fugue
437
SSBU spirit Machamp.png
Machamp Pokémon Series •Giant Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)×2
Grab
3,900 Wrecking Crew N/A •The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power
•The enemy favors neutral attacks
•The enemy is giant
Main Theme - Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue (64)
447
SSBU spirit Hitmonlee.png
Hitmonlee Pokémon Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)×2
Attack
3,600 Suzaku Castle N/A •The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
487
SSBU spirit Blaziken.png
Blaziken Pokémon Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Attack
3,800 Coliseum •Uncontrollable Speed •The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power
•The enemy is very fast and can't stop quickly
Battle! (Wild Pokémon) - Pokémon Ruby / Pokémon Sapphire
597
SSBU spirit Baba.png
Baba F-Zero Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU) (120 HP)
Attack
1,900 Big Blue N/A Stamina battle
•The enemy has increased move speed
Dream Chaser
601
Blood Falcon
Blood Falcon F-Zero Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)×2
Attack
9,400 Port Town Aero Dive N/A •The enemy's special moves have increased power
•The enemy favors special moves
•The enemy has increased move speed
Car Select
764
from the game's files
Zero (Metal Gear Solid 3) Metal Gear Solid Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Snake Snake (SSBU)
Grab
3,500 Shadow Moses Island •Move Speed ↓ •You have reduced move speed after a little while Snake Eater
872
SSBU spirit Duo.png
Duo Mega Man Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)×2 (80 HP)
Shield
3,700 Wily Castle (Ω form) N/A •The enemy's neutral special has increased power
•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch
Stamina battle
We're Robots (Dr. Wily Stage 2)
984
SSBU spirit Guile.png
Guile Street Fighter Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU) (180 HP)
Shield
13,700 Pilotwings (Ω form) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Guile)
•Jump Power ↓
Stamina battle
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•All fighters have reduced jump power
Guile Stage Type A
995
SSBU spirit Nash.png
Nash Street Fighter Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU) (140 HP)
Grab
3,700 Halberd (Ship deck) •Metal Shift
•Jump Power ↓
•The enemy will occasionally turn metal when the enemy's at high damage
Stamina battle
Guile Stage
1,107
SSBU spirit Fighting Alloy Team.png
Fighting Alloy Team Super Smash Bros. Series Captain Falcon Team Captain Falcon (SSBU)×4
Zelda Team Zelda (SSBU)×4
Mario Team Mario (SSBU)×4
Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU)×4
Attack
3,300 Final Destination (Battlefield form) N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Cruel Smash Red Alloy
1,126
Mach Rider
Mach Rider Mach Rider Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Shield
1,700 Port Town Aero Dive N/A •The enemy has increased move speed
•The enemy starts the battle with a Super Scope
Mach Rider
1,136
Eagle
Eagle Advance Wars Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Attack
1,800 Corneria •Defense ↑
•Attack Power ↑
•Item: Shooting Types
•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while
•The enemy has increased defense after a little while
•The enemy starts the battle with a Staff
Garage
1,209
Drake Redcrest
Drake Redcrest Chibi-Robo! Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
•Tiny Metal R.O.B. R.O.B. (SSBU)
Neutral
1,700 Living Room N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy's neutral special has increased power
•The enemy loves to taunt
ST01: Roll Out, Wonderful 100!
1,242
Nick
Nick Captain Rainbow Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Neutral
1,500 Fountain of Dreams •Assist Trophy Enemies (Takamaru)
•Item: Super Star
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Minor Circuit (Original) Captain Rainbow
1,279
Henry fleming codename steam
Henry Fleming Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Attack
1,900 New Pork City (Battlefield form) •Item: Shooting Types •The enemy starts the battle with a Rage Blaster Trouble Brewing II
1,310
SSBU spirit Ryuji Sakamoto.png
Ryuji Sakamoto Persona Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
•Giant Mii Gunner Mii Gunner (SSBU) (Moveset 1211, Pirate Hat, Steampunk Getup, Black Outfit Color, No Voice)
Shield
4,800 Luigi's Mansion (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy starts the battle with a Home-Run Bat
Last Surprise
1,362
SSBU spirit Kyo Kusanagi.png
Kyo Kusanagi THE KING OF FIGHTERS Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Pikachu Pikachu (SSBU)
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong (SSBU)
Attack
9,500 King of Fighters Stadium •Jump Power ↓ •The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
•All fighters have reduced jump power
ESAKA!! - KOF 2002 UM
1,372
SSBU spirit Wesker.png
Wesker Resident Evil Series Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU) (180 HP)
Attack
9,500 Norfair (Ω form) •Attack Power ↑
•Metal Shift
•Temporary Invincibility
•The enemy will occasionally be invincible
•The enemy will occasionally turn metal when the enemy's at high damage
Stamina battle
Theme of Solid Snake

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
260
SSBU spirit Alfonzo & Engineer Link.png
Alfonzo & Engineer Link The Legend of Zelda Series Toon Link Toon Link (SSBU)
Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Attack
3,600 Spirit Train •Attack Power ↑ •The enemy's dash attacks have increased power
•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while
•The enemy can deal damage by dashing into you
Full Steam Ahead Alfonzo
595
jody summer
Jody Summer F-Zero Series Zero Suit Samus Zero Suit Samus (SSBU)
Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Shield
9,400 Big Blue N/A •The enemy has increased move speed and reduced weight White Land (Remix) Captain Falcon
604
Black Shadow
Black Shadow F-Zero Series Ganondorf Ganondorf (SSBU)
Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Shield
13,500 Port Town Aero Dive (Battlefield form) •Sudden Damage •You'll occasionally take sudden damage after a little while Devil's Call in Your Heart Blood Falcon
1,306
SSBU spirit Phantom Thieves of Hearts.png
Phantom Thieves of Hearts Persona Series Joker Joker (SSBU)
Pikachu Pikachu (SSBU)
Captain Falcon Captain Falcon (SSBU)
Zero Suit Samus Zero Suit Samus (SSBU)
Chrom Chrom (SSBU)
Sheik Sheik (SSBU)
Grab
13,300 Mementos (Haru Okumura background, hazards off) •Sudden Final Smash
•Item: Daybreak Parts
•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash when the enemy's at high damage
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle
Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There Ryuji Sakamoto / Skull

Alternate costumes

Palette swap (SSBU)
Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU) Captain Falcon (SSBU)

Gallery

Fighter Showcase Video

Trivia

  • A pre-release screenshot for the game shows Captain Falcon in his Blood Falcon costume, with the logo on the back reading "Hell Hawk"; in the final game, this is only true for the Japanese release of the game, as other languages translate it to "Blood Hawk".
  • Captain Falcon's fighter number, #11, is coincidentally his Vs. Mode unlock number. He is the only character in Ultimate with this distinction.
  • Although most characters from the original Super Smash Bros. are numbered by their debut game's original release date, Captain Falcon and Ness can be considered an exception; F-Zero was originally released in 1990, four years before EarthBound. Additionally, in Super Smash Bros., Captain Falcon will always be fought first if the unlock conditions for both him and Ness are met simultaneously. However, it is also possible that Ness is numbered per the 1989 release date of EarthBound Beginnings, which is also how he is ordered in Brawl's All-Star Mode.
  • Oddly, no sound effect plays whenever a character gets hit by the lower hitbox of the first hit of Captain Falcon's up smash. This is due to the hitbox having no sound assigned in his moveset files.
  • On the character selection screen, the icon in the Japanese version shows Captain Falcon's name within only one row, while in the English version it is shown with two rows. He shares this trait with Mr. Game & Watch, Zero Suit Samus, Pokémon Trainer, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, the Mii Fighters, Piranha Plant and Banjo & Kazooie.
  • Interestingly, both of Captain Falcon's falling animations use the incorrect animation when moving forward and backward in midair. He uses his secondary falling animation when moving during his first falling animation and vice versa.
  • For Min Min's reveal trailer, Captain Falcon's voice actor, Ryō Horikawa, was brought back to record new voice effects of Captain Falcon eating. This is the first time Captain Falcon has received new voice sounds since Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64.

References

  1. ^ [1]