Marth (SSBM)

This article is about Marth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Marth. Also, for information about Marth's clone, see Roy (SSBM).

Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Marth
Universe	Fire Emblem
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	A (5)

Marth (Japanese: マルス, Marusu) debuted in the first game of the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragons and the Blade of Light (Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi). Marth, like Roy, was a relatively obscure character because the games he was in were never distributed outside of Japan; he was placed in Super Smash Bros. Melee by popular demand from Japanese players.

Marth currently ranks 5th place on the tier list due to his excellent overall speed, disjointed range, priority, power when tipped attacks are landed (particularly his forward smash and down aerial), juggle/combo ability (including the notorious Ken Combo), edge-guard ability, metagame, and match-ups; of the top and high tier characters, Marth also has a rather low learning curve, allowing him to be mastered relatively easily. On the downside, his approach options are limited in comparisons with other top tier characters due to a lack of a projectile; his recovery is also rather predictable and short, though it can be extended.

Unlocking

There are three ways to unlock him:

• By playing 400 VS. matches.
• By clearing Classic mode with all fourteen starter characters.
• By using all fourteen starter characters as a human player in VS. Mode.

Attributes

Marth generally falls under the character archetype of being fast, with the ability to easily outmanoeuvre most of his opponents; Marth has a very fast dash, a long wavedash and rather good jumping speed, with average falling speed, contributing to a good SHFFL. With a good dash dance and a disjointed hitbox, Marth has great approach options in the game, both in the air and on the ground.

One of Marth's greatest strengths is his range in his normal attacks; Falchion grants Marth a disjointed hitbox that can allow him to safely attack from a distance. Additionally, the tip of Falchion, its sweetspot, is remarkably easy to land with, making Marth stronger when he's farther from his opponent.

In addition to his disjointed range, Marth has almost unparalleled combo ability; with a combination of good air speed, good jumping prowess, and an average falling speed, as well as quick, low lag aerials, Marth has among the best air games in Melee, and a great combo ability. Additionally, Marth's grab game is also good, due to a decent grab range, as well as low knockback throws that can potentially chain throw other characters.

Marth also has plenty of powerful attacks, some of which that are also rather fast, such as his up tilt and Reverse Dolphin Slash. Marth's forward smash is feared due to its high priority, speed, and power, and it can actually "break" through some projectiles found in the game; it also works well when wavesmashed, due to Marth's long wavedash. Marth's down tilt and Shield Breaker act as good edgeguarding options. Most notably, however, is his down air; it acts as a powerful spike in NTSC regions, and an equally powerful meteor smash in PAL regions; it can KO reliably even as low as 40%, and many of Marth's attacks can easily combo into his dair, most notably his forward air as part of the Ken Combo.

Marth's primary flaw is his rather lacklustre recovery. His up special, Dolphin Slash, grants little horizontal distance and decidedly decent vertical distance; its ending lag also makes it very easy to punish, however. Marth's average airspeed also prevents him from moving far after entering a helpless state. However, Marth can mitigate his recovery by using Dancing Blade as to give him some horizontal recovery, though this gives no vertical recovery, as it must be timed well.

Additionally, Marth has a slight weakness of lacking a projectile; while its effect on Marth is debatable, this limits his approach in comparison with other high tiered characters, such as Fox.

Moveset

Note that all of Marth's attacks (save his grabs and Counter) have a sweetspot at the tip of his blade. Because of this, the term "tipper" refers to the sweetspotted version of the attack.

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Swings upward, back and forth, with the first hit resembling his up-tilt. Can be chained continuously. If Marth is wearing a Bunny Hood, this attack can be chained twice as fast.
• Dash attack - A quick upward diagonal slash with medium lag with extremely high priority. 10% base, 13% tip
• Forward tilt - A fast forward sword swipe, much like the dash attack with less lag and a higher angle.
• Up tilt - Swings his sword in a large arc above his head, front to back. Good for setting up a Ken Combo. Non-tipped is a good KO move. Looks like the first hit of his neutral attack, though aims a bit higher. It also bears resemblance to his forward tilt. 9% base. 12% tip
• Down tilt - A quick crouching sword poke. Good for ground edge guard because it semi-spikes and usually it makes the opponent waste their midair jump while Marth can then edge guard. 9% base. 10% tip

Smash

• Forward smash - Rotates body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground, similar to the animation of his neutral special. Very fast and long ranged. The tip is on top knockback.
• Up smash - A powerful upward thrust.
• Down smash - Sweeps his sword on the ground toward the front then toward the back. If tipped it sends opponents upward with high vertical knockback, star KOing opponents at high percentage, and its one of the strongest down smash in the game. If hit at the base, it sends opponents with low horizontal knockback, but it can still KO at high percentage.

Other

• Ledge attack - Flips onto ledge with a quick downward diagonal slash from left to right. 6% base. 8% tip.
• 100% ledge attack - Quick, low, horizontal slash with medium lag. Less range than normal ledge attack. 10% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from back) - Quick stab to the left followed by horizontal slash to the right. 6% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from stomach) - Sweeps the tip of his sword on the ground front to back. Less range than floor attack from back. 6% base and tip.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Two horizontal slashes around himself. Both hits connect easily, can follow up into each other.
• Forward aerial - Forward vertical slash (up to down). This attack sends opponents upward if tipped.
• Back aerial - Bottom to top sword slash behind him.
• Up aerial - A forward to back upward sword slash. Hit from close is as powerful as the tip but from medium distance is still weak.
• Down aerial - A forward to back downward sword slash. A great spike when tipped.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel - repeatedly knees opponent 2% damage.
• Forward throw - Grabs and pushes forward, tripping with the leg. 4% damage.
• Down throw - Hooks arm and drags to the floor sending the opponent backward. Set ups tipper forward smash at low percentages. 5% damage.
• Back throw - Pulls and extends leg simultaneously. 4% damage.
• Up throw - Powerful upward throw with one arm, though does not kill until damages higher than 150%. 4% damage.

Special moves

Marth's special moves

Neutral special	Shield Breaker
Side special	Dancing Blade
Up special	Dolphin Slash
Down special	Counter
Final Smash	—	Critical Hit

Weight

According to the character weight list, Marth is the 16th heaviest character in the game. In the PAL version, he is still the 16th heaviest character. However, he lost some weight and is now tied with Roy, Mewtwo, and Young Link. This means that he is no longer capable of being waveshined infinitely.

Techniques

Dancing Blade Meteor

When using Marth's B-side attack (the Dancing Blade), after the initial B-side, the player can do up to 3 more swings in one sequence with Marth’s sword. There are multiple combinations of this attack, after the initial B-over to start the attack; the player can use B-up, B-over, or B-down. The third swing in the sequence is a very useful spike if B-down is pressed. It can be used to get kills at low percentages, by knocking the opponent off the ledge; make sure Marth is close to the edge, or on the edge as the opponent makes their way back toward the ledge, the player should start the B-over sequence. Time it so by the time the opponent is right back at the ledge, the player should be on the third swing, press b-down for the meteor smash.

Reverse Dolphin Slash

By starting Marth's up special attack, Dolphin Slash, and immediately pressing the opposite direction to which the player is currently facing, Marth will begin the first frame of his attack but change directions to finish the attack as if you were facing the other way. This variation has significantly increased knockback, but must be done at close range. The reason for this is that when Marth does his Dolphin Slash, he holds his sword behind him for a second. Given that Marth's attack are more powerful at the tip of the sword, as well as earlier into the Dolphin Slash, turning around at the start allows him to hit when the conditions are the best. This technique is also commonly performed out of a shield, by jump-canceling.

Reverse Counter

Oddly enough, Marth's counter attack has a second hit box which is much more powerful than the first. This hitbox is located in the first few pixels behind him and even more behind and above him. The blow is about as powerful as his f-smash (untippered) and serves as a flashy kill move in FFAs or 2v2s. However, it may only be used when one enemy (or teammate) is attacking from the front while the other approached from behind making the move extremely situational.

Ken Combo

Probably the most famous Marth combo of all is the Ken Combo. To do it, the player has to use multiple forward aerials (make sure they hit at close range or else the opponent will go up so the player can't combo anymore) and then once opponent is near the edge or trying to recover, the player uses a down aerial (spike in regular versions and meteor smash in PAL (make sure they hit with the tip or else it won't spike or meteor smash)) and then the opponent will be knocked downward and lose a life.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

In Single-player

Marth does not appear specifically in the game's single-player Adventure mode. He is only featured in some of the Event Matches:

• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Marth is the first opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Hyrule: Temple stage with a stock of 2 while Marth has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Luigi, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Mr.Game & Watch.
• Event 41: En Garde!: A one-on-one battle between the player as Marth and the enemy Link on the Hyrule: Temple stage, with the two characters having 2 stock each and unlimited time. Survivor wins.
• Event 46: Fire Emblem Pride: The player battles and must defeat a team of Marth and Roy in an untimed match in the Hyrule Temple stage, with all three characters receiving 3 stock.

Japanese translations

• Marth's taunt in battle is "みんな、見ていてくれ！" "Minna, miteite kure!" which translates to "Everyone, look at me!".
• Marth's counter move is performed while saying "そこだ！" "Soko da!" or "させるものか！" "Saseru mono ka!" which roughly translates to "There!" and "I won't let you!" respectively.
• Marth's three possible victory statements are:
  • "今回は僕の勝ちだね。" "Konkai wa boku no kachi da ne?" which translates to "I've won this time."
  • "今日も生き延びることが出来た。" "Kyou mo ikinobiru koto ga dekita," which translates to "I was able to survive."
  • "僕は負ける訳には行かないんだ。" "Boku wa makeru wake-ni wa ikanai n da!" which translates to "There's no way I can lose!"

• In the master sound test room (that can be accessed through the debug menu), Marth has an additional phrase players can listen to that he does not say in the game: "レッツダンス！", which is a transcription into Japanese sounds of "Let's Dance!"

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Marth as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Marth on any difficulty:

Marth (Smash Red):

Marth is a magnificent swordsman. While his swordplay is faster than that of Link, he lacks power, and his quickness is offset by a marginal endurance. His Shield Breaker gains power the longer it's held. The Dancing Blade combination uses both the Control Stick and the B Button to produce a series of up to four attacks.

• B: Shield Breaker
• Smash B: Dancing Blade

Marth (Smash Blue):

The tip of Marth's blade causes the most damage, so you should try to create adequate distance between you and your enemy to gracefully strike with that point. Marth's Dolphin Slash is fast and powerful, but it leaves him vulnerable upon landing. Marth uses Counter to block a foe's attack and deal a return strike. If you're fighting a Counter-happy Marth, grab him.

• Up & B: Dolphin Slash
• Down & B: Counter

Costume Gallery

File:Alt-marth.jpg

Marth's alternate costumes in SSBM.

Trivia

• Marth is the only hidden character to have a clone.
• Marth and Roy are the only characters in Melee that speak Japanese even when English is turned on.
• Marth and Roy both use their swords for every attack except their pummels and throws.
• Marth and Roy are the only playable characters in Melee that don't have a stage representing their universe, though hacked data shows that one was planned.
• Marth, Roy, and Peach are the only characters in Melee with a special move that can counter.
• Marth was originally only going to appear in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but was kept in all versions on request of an employee at Nintendo of America. American fans became interested in Fire Emblem because of Super Smash Bros. Melee, which helped Fire Emblem to enter the countries where the games in the series had not been released.

External links

• Marth HRC strategies
• Overswarm's Marth Tutorial