Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. 4
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Tripping

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The Mario on the far right can be seen Prat Falling.

Tripping (officially called prat falling; referred to in game files as slipping) is a gameplay mechanic introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in which a fighter trips, falls over, and sits in a prone state with a confused expression. Whenever a character begins to dash or, while running, turn, or performs any button input that involves tapping the control stick (most notably those of a forward smash or side special move), there is a 1% chance that they will trip; certain attacks and items will also cause tripping. Brawl keeps track of the total number of Prat Falls each character or name has experienced in Group Brawls.

Kirby in his tripped position after stepping on a Banana peel.

The sound effect for tripping changes depending on whether the character tripping is from a 'cartoonish' or 'realistic' game/series. In general, characters from more serious or 'realistic' franchises make a light, quick whoosh sound, followed by an unimpressive falling-down noise, while more cartoonish characters (that is, most of the cast) make a swabbing noise like a sliding mop before landing with a distinctive timpani noise.

When sitting down, a character has the same options as when lying down; however, a tripped character is more vulnerable. Unlike prone fighters, sitting fighters can be grabbed; attacks from a sitting position are weaker than from a lying down position, usually dealing 5% as opposed to 6%, lacking transcendent priority, and possessing only 8 safe frames (attacking while lying down usually keeps the character safe until the attack's hitboxes end); and rolls and stand ups are generally subpar to their lying down counterparts, possessing fewer invincibility frames yet comparably long animations.

In Super Smash Bros. 4, random tripping no longer occurs, and only certain hitboxes will cause tripping. Banana peels may also cause tripping.

Causes of tripping in Brawl

Dash-dancing is based on the intial dash animation, so tripping can occur during dash-dancing.
  • Whenever the control stick is smashed left or right, whether from inputting a dash or an attack, there is a 1% chance for the player to trip.
    • Surfaces with a lack of traction, namely ice, have a higher likelihood of causing tripping.
  • Certain attacks have chances of tripping the opponent when they hit (several down tilts and other weaker attacks that hit low to the ground are designed to trip opponents).
    • If an attack hits a target at a low angle (such as the Sakurai angle) and the target does not leave the ground from the knockback, there is an additional chance to trip.
  • Being hit by/stepping on a Banana Peel causes tripping.
  • When Tingle rains down banana peels (note that these are 2D sprites, not actual Banana Peels), it causes constant tripping to all opponents until he leaves the screen.
  • Luigi's Negative Zone can cause incessant tripping.

List of tripping attacks in Brawl

Most attacks can only make an opponent trip if the target is not already sitting down and the attack knockback does not knock the target into the air. However, some have the slip effect and will therefore result in a trip regardless of these circumstances; these are represented in this list with "Always".


An icon for denoting incomplete things.
Attack Trip chance
Bowser Forward tilt (angled down) 40%
Down tilt 30%
Giga Bowser Forward tilt (angled side) 50%
Forward tilt (angled down) 100%
Up tilt 50%
Captain Falcon Down tilt 50%
Forward air (sour spot) 30%
Diddy Kong Banana Peel Always
Donkey Kong Forward tilt (angled down) 15%
Down tilt 40%
Falco Down tilt 40%
Down smash 40%
Reflector 40%
Fox Down tilt 40%
Down smash 35%
Ganondorf Down tilt 35%
King Dedede Neutral attack (hit 2) 20%
Down tilt 40%
Back aerial 30%
Kirby Down tilt 35% (foot)
30% (toe)
Link Down tilt 40%
Down smash 30%
Lucas Down tilt (foot) 40%
Down smash 40%
Luigi Down tilt 35%
Dash attack (last hit) 30%
Negative Zone Unknown
Mario Down tilt 40%
Cape 30%
Meta Knight Down tilt 30%
Mr. Game & Watch Judge #2 20%
Ness Down tilt 30%
Peach Down tilt 30%
Down smash 20%
Pikachu Neutral attack 10%
Down tilt 30%
Down smash (last hit) 30%
Skull Bash 30%
Samus Down tilt 40%
Down smash 30%
Sheik Down tilt 40%
Down smash 40% (hit 1)
30% (hits 2-3)
Toon Link Down tilt 40%
Dash attack 30%
Down smash 30%
Neutral air 30%
Wario Down tilt 40%
Down smash (before frame 32) 30%
Wario Waft (uncharged) Always
Wolf Down tilt 40%
Forward smash (rear segment) 60%
Down smash 35%
Up air 35%
Blaster 40% (claw front)
37% (claw back)
Yoshi Down tilt (clean) 30%
Down tilt (tip) 40%
Zelda Down tilt 40%
Down smash 30%
Zero Suit Samus Forward tilt 20% (angled side)
60% (angled down)
Down tilt 40%
Down smash 30%
Items Banana Peel Always
Fan neutral 10%
Fan tilt 20%
Fan smash 30%

*Copy abilities not mentioned are the same as their originals.

List of tripping attacks in SSB4

An icon for denoting incomplete things.
Attack Trip chance
Bowser Down tilt 30%
Slip Bomb Always
Giga Bowser Forward tilt 50%
Up tilt 50%
Bowser Jr. Down tilt (hit 3) 40%
Captain Falcon Down tilt 50%
Forward air (late) 20%
Charizard Down tilt 30%
Down smash 40%
Dark Pit Down tilt 20%
Down smash 30%
Diddy Kong Down tilt 20%
Monkey Flip (kick and footstool) 30%
Flying Monkey Flip (kick and footstool) 30%
Banana Peel Always
Donkey Kong Forward tilt (angled down) 15%
Down tilt 40%
Hand Slap (aerial, all variations) 20%
Dr. Mario Down tilt 40%
Super Sheet (all variations*) 30%
Falco Down tilt 40%
Down smash 40%
Reflector 25%
Accele-Reflector 25%
Fox Down tilt 40%
Down smash 35%
Ganondorf Down tilt 35%
Ike Down tilt 35%
Down smash 20%
Jigglypuff Down tilt 35%
Pound 40%
Sideways Pound 40%
King Dedede Down tilt 40%
Kirby Down tilt 35% (foot)
30% (toe)
Link Down tilt 20%
Down smash 30%
Little Mac
Giga Mac
Down tilt 20%
Lucario
Mega Lucario
Down tilt 40%
Force Palm (all variations) (blast) 20%
Lucina Down tilt 20%
Luigi Down tilt 25%
Dash attack (hit 7) 30%
Mario Down tilt 40%
Cape (all variations*) 30%
Marth Down tilt 35%
Mega Man Down tilt 40%
Meta Knight Down tilt 25%
Mii Brawler Down tilt 20%
Head-On Assault (ground leap) 100%
Mii Swordfighter Down tilt 30%
Down smash 20%
Reversal Slash 20%
Mii Gunner Down tilt 20%
Mr. Game & Watch Chef (food) 10%
Short-Order Chef (food) 10%
Judge #2 20%
Ness Down tilt 30%
Olimar Down tilt 40%
Down smash 20%
Pac-Man Down tilt 25%
Peach Down tilt 30%
Pikachu Down tilt 30%
Down smash (hit 6) 30%
Pit Down tilt 20%
Down smash 30%
R.O.B. Down tilt 20%
Slip Gyro Always
Rosalina Down smash (R) 30%
Shooting Star Bit 100%
Roy Down tilt 35%
Ryu Forward tilt (tapped) 50%
Down tilt (held) 30%
Samus Down tilt 40%
Down smash 30%
Slip Bomb 100%
Sheik Down tilt 40%
Down smash (hit 2) 30%
Shulk Down tilt 30%
Sonic Down tilt 20%
Toon Link Dash attack 30%
Down tilt 50%
Neutral air 30%
Villager Down tilt 30%
Timber Counter (sapling) Always
Wario Down tilt 20%
Dash attack (late) 100%
Down smash (clean, mid) 30%
Garlic Breath (far) Always
Wario Waft (uncharged) Always
Quick Waft (uncharged, slightly charged) Always
Wario-Man Down tilt 40%
Down smash (clean, mid) 30%
Wario Waft 100%**
Wii Fit Trainer Down tilt 40%
Yoshi Down tilt 30% (base)
40% (tip)
Zelda Down tilt 20%
Down smash 20%
Nayru's Rejection (last hit) 30%
Zero Suit Samus Down tilt 20%
Items Banana Peel Always
Inkay Always
Riki (Roly Poly) Always
Tingle (banana peels) Always

* The unused fourth variation of this move has a trip chance of 40% instead.
** As this causes the stun effect, it can only cause tripping if the target cannot be stunned.

Controversy

Brawl's addition of random tripping was highly controversial. Though sometimes merely an annoyance, random tripping has potential to significantly impact a match. Since tripping leaves the player in a significant state of vulnerability while moving them a small distance forward, it is a common occurrence for players to unintentionally trip into an otherwise avoided attack, which can be as minor as a one-hit inconsequential punish (or, on the part of the tripping fighter, a missed opportunity to punish) or as major as a premature KO and even loss of the match. Though it is rare, random tripping also makes it slightly more difficult to read an opponent; a fighter may read an opponents action and input a punish, but instead, the opponent trips, keeping them out of the reach of the attack.

The randomness element of Brawl's tripping mechanic was generally received negatively, viewed as counterproductive to the idea of a skill-based match with a minimum of disruptive, chance-based elements. Furthermore, unlike some other heavily chance-based elements such as stage selection or item availability, random tripping cannot be turned off in Brawl.

While random tripping is considered a detriment to tournament play, forced tripping by certain moves is generally better-received since, unlike random tripping, its deliberate use can be planned and planned against. As such, forced tripping is an integral part of some characters' metagames, especially Diddy Kong and his Banana Peels, and is among the strongest reasons for his top-tier placement.

Trivia

  • The Super Smash Bros. Melee bonus, Pratfaller, does not have anything to do with Brawl's "prat falling". Instead, it is awarded if a character always lands face up after tumbling.
  • Tripping was first discovered during the Brawl demo at E for All. It was not recognized as random at the time, and some players tried to learn how to trigger it at will for use as a technique. For a time it was known as Ink Dropping, as noted in Gimpyfish's famous SmashBoards thread.
  • While characters from the Kirby and Kid Icarus universes generally use the "cartoonish" tripping sound, Meta Knight and Palutena use the "realistic" sound, even though they have similar aesthetics to the other characters in their respective series; this is presumably due to their being more "serious" and adultlike in terms of personality, although other such characters as Mewtwo or Rosalina do not follow this rule. Similarly, Toon Link is the only The Legend of Zelda character to make the 'cartoonish' noise, but this is justified because of his being based on the cartoonish Wind Waker aesthetics rather than the more realistic Twilight Princess ones used by the other characters. Additionally, Mii Brawlers use the "cartoon" tripping sound effect, while Mii Gunners and Mii Swordfighters use the "realistic" noise.