Ice Climbers (SSBB)

Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Ice Climber
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Iceberg
Tier	S (2)

The Ice Climbers (アイス クライマー, Ice Climber) are veteran playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The duo were officially confirmed on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website on September 14, 2007, alongside the rest of the returning veterans. As in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Ice Climbers are the archetypical tag-team fighters in Brawl, although the leading climber is fundamentally controllable by the player, the following climberis controlled by a CPU, in a manner mimicking the player.

The Ice Climbers are once again voiced by Sanae Kobayashi, with a combination of recycled voice-clips from Super Smash Bros. Melee and new ones for Brawl.

The Ice Climbers rank 2nd on the current tier list, ranking them in the S tier, a slight improvement over their ranking in Melee, where the duo were 8th out of 26. In addition to being the game's highest-ranking veteran, this is rendered their best placement in the series to date. This is primarily due to their extensive and intricate grab game that can potentially lead to an inescapable zero-to-death combo on the entire cast regardless of the stage. The unique two-in-one mechanism of the character also forces opponents to rethink their approach, as a single climber can easily disrupt combos and chain grabs. The duo also have a pair of decent and flexible projectiles, Ice Shot and Blizzard, allowing them to outcamp their opponents, and the Ice Climbers benefit from a solid grounded and aerial game, courtesy of their effective tilts, powerful smash attacks and aerial attacks (with forward aerial being a relatively powerful meteor smash, and up aerial being large and disjointed). In addition, the Ice Climbers have some of the greatest damage output across the entire cast in Brawl, which is supplemented by their high KO potential, quick frame-data and chain grabbing. If the following climber is KO'd during the stock, however, the remaining climber has drastically nerfed recovery, effectiveness on their special moveset, damage output and KO potential, especially due to their inability to perform a meteor smash, and is considerably more vulnerable to chain grabs and combos. The Ice Climbers also have poor momentum canceling abilities, which when combined with their light weight, makes the Ice Climbers vulnerable to early KOs. The duo's poor mobility also hinders their ability to approach and allows speed demons (like Sonic and Captain Falcon) to outmanuever them easily. Despite a long-ranged tether recovery, their recovery often costs the partner if not tethered. Regardless, the Ice Climbers have dominating matchups (losing to only four characters, with Meta Knight being the only top-tier the duo lose to), and excellent tournament results.

Attributes

The Ice Climbers are a pair of lightweights (tied with Toon Link for the 10th-lightest) with attributes that drastically deviate themselves from other characters of their weight class. The duo are characterized with high KO potential, outstanding damage output, good range, and quick frame-data, yet are burdened with relatively slow mobility; together, the duo have below-average dashing speeds, the 4th slowest air speeds, and are tied for the 5th slowest falling speeds. However, their walking speeds are average, their jumping height and air acceleration are both above-average. These stats hinder their ability to approach, especially in the air. However, with their devastating grab game, the Ice Climbers themselves are formidable to approach.

Unique to a majority of the roster, the ice Climbers are the archetypical tag-team fighters in Brawl. Together, however, each Ice Climber is a unique character in their own right. The partner (Nana, by default) is controlled by a CPU and mimics what the leader (Popo, by default) performs with a seven-frame delay. As such, the player is essentially controlling a pair of characters at the same time with slight tweaks; the follower inflicts less damage and/or knockback and has less KO potential, but only the follower can meteor smash with their forward aerial. The Ice Climbers are able to grab a pair of different items and are even able to grab a pair of separate opponents. In addition, their unique property also makes them much harder to grab and throw effectively (when a single Ice Climber gets grabbed, the other climber can simply counterattack, making them immune to chain grabs and, to a lesser extent, combos). Conversely, this allows them to have a superior grab game fudamentally unique to them. However, they can easily be separated by powerful attacks. In this scenario, it is advisable to stick to and protect the partner, even if it lures the leader in additional danger. Should the CPU-controlled Ice Climber get KO'd during the stock, the remaining Ice Climber will have drastically reduced damage output, KO ability, and recovery, with Belay becoming practically useless and Squall Hammer losing a good deal of distance (whereas with both Climbers, both are excellent recovering moves). While Belay is a safe and long-ranged tether recovery, it often costs the partner if Belay is non-tethered.

As a dymanic duo, the Ice Climbers are capable of inflicting exceptional damage output on their opponents in seconds. In addition, the duo boast excellent KO ability, although their smash attacks are more suitable for racking up damage than KOing, and most of their moveset are burdened with low base knockback. The duo are also gifted with a flexible special moveset. The duo's neutral special move, Ice Shot, is an icy projectile fired by each Ice Climber which slides along the ground, making it impossible to avoid by crouching/crawling. Unlike most projectiles, the ice acts more like a container or soccer ball in that the incoming projectile is completely stop, allowing the Ice Climbers to counter most projectile-spam playstyles more easily. At extremely high percents, it can also freeze opponents, allowing use of setups or reads. The ice's decent amount of hitstun also make it useful for edgeguarding. Blizzard, their down special, can freeze opponents and even cover both sides if the partner is present, or alternatively can be made to cover a single side if performed while jumping with the partner, giving the attack more power. Squall Hammer is a decent approaching tool with good damage and mobility, spinning the Ice Climbers around each other with their hammers outstretched, allowing them to easily circumvent their poor mobility. The final hit deals moderate knockback, allowing it to KO at high precents. Belay, their up special, is a powerful KO move should the following climber connect with the opponent, but it is overall risky for usage because it separates the Ice Climbers and sends them into helplessness.

A unique fighter ability to the Ice Climbers is that the duo's traction is completely unaffected by the conditions of slippery surfaces and terrain, such as ice, meaning that the Ice Climbers will not slide on it and are immune to tripping on slippery terrain. This is due to the fact that the duo are wearing cleats. Oddly, their cleats do not affect their traction on normal surfaces, as it is second-lowest in the game (surpassed by only Luigi).

Chaingrabbing and desynching

Japanese Smasher 9B using a combination of the IC's down throw and back throw to perform a 0 to death infinite chain grab on Selcia's Meta Knight. The throw is setup using a combination of Blizzard and the Climbers' forward aerial and is finished using the Ice Climbers' up smash.

Several of the community consider the Ice Climbers to be "the king and queen of all chain grabs" due to the fact that their unique properties as a two-in-one fighter allows for a variety of infinite chain grabbing options that can combo into KO options. For example, the leading Ice Climber can grab onto one opponent and use the forward throw. In the middle of the throwing animation, the player can gain control of the CPU-controlled Climber, commanding them into performing a spike using forward aerial, or grabbing again with the CPU-controlled Climber. while once again bringing the original, player-controlled Climber in for a new grab. Infinite chain grabs of this nature can be performed at any percent, on any character, on nearly any stage. One hindrance to this strategy is the Ice Climbers' short grabbing range and low traction, making it almost impossible to grab an opponent when they hit the player's shield(s) unless the Ice Climbers powershield the attack.

The Ice Climbers have many different options to perform an infinite chain grab. They can use any combination of forward throw, down throw, and back throw, but each option has different timings for every character. For example, against Meta Knight it is most common for players to infinite using a combination of down throw and back throw, as these two throws have the largest time-windows to achieve a regrab. Against large characters that are difficult to chaingrab, like Snake and R.O.B., the down throw can be used in conjunction with the footstool hop and ice shots for another infinite: the hobble. A hobble is performed when the Ice Climbers' down throw sends opponents into the air, the second Ice Climber jumps and footstools the opponent back onto the ground, and as the opponent bounces, the first Ice Climber traps them with an ice shot causing a reset for another grab. The only possible break to a perfectly executed infinite is Brawl's random tripping, which can occur if either climber dashes for any length of time. This can be avoided by only performing infinite chaingrabs while walking. When a chain grab has raised an opponent's damage enough, the most typically used move to KO the opponent is their up smash, if a forward air meteor smash is inapplicable. All of these chain throws can be considered 0-KO combos.

For further two-in-one tricks, it is even possible to de-synchronize or "desync" the CPU-controlled partner by confusing it with erratic movement (such as dash-dancing), putting the player in control of both Climbers for as long as they are capable of maintaining it. Once the partner is desynced, the player can have it perform any move while the main Climber is in the middle of one, providing for all sorts of possible attack strategies that can be exceedingly difficult for opponents to escape from (alternating Blizzard, alternating Ice Shot). While desynced, the partner Climber has restrained movement within an invisible box around the main Climber; should they be separated or removed from this box, the CPU will take over again. This invisible box makes it so that if the player desyncs from the AI so that it charges a smash attack and they start walking or running away, the AI will slide in the player's direction while charging the smash. A unique thing that the player can do when desynced is that if they desync the AI to charge a smash attack, their Belay will cancel the AI's charging sequence and teleport it into the belaying sequence. Such techniques are extremely difficult to perform in combat, even for advanced players, due to the constant string of precise commands required for the Climbers to move/attack as intended. Nevertheless, these techniques are considered the backbone of playing the Ice Climbers at a competitive level.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee

The Ice Climbers have received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from Melee to Brawl, although the duo have received a few noticeable nerfs. Due to the changes in grab-based mechanics, wobbling has been removed, which had formally been a considerable candidate of their competitive viability. Additionally, the loss of wavedashing has also proven to be a hindrance against the Ice Climbers due to their low traction, inhibiting their approach and mobility. This renders their low traction more of a liability, though not the extent of Luigi. The Ice Climbers' damage output has also been lowered, a variety of their moveset have received reductions to their KO potential, and the rest of their grounded moveset have received more ending lag, leaving them more vulnerable to punishes.

However, due to the influence of chain grabbing, the Ice Climbers are considered to be overall buffed. Due to the improvements to their chain grabbing ability, the Ice Climbers are even deadier than in Melee relative to the cast. The player now possesses full control over the following climber during a grab, allowing the player to liberally chain grab and combo out of a grab. In addition, their standing grab is slightly faster and the universal changes to shields makes it easier for the Ice Climbers to grab their opponents. Altogether, the Ice Climbers are one of the only characters in the game who can consistently zero-to-death the entire cast, which is especially beneficial as combos are universally and drastically less deadly and plentiful in Brawl than in Melee due to the introduction of hitstun canceling. The following climber also boasts more artificial intelligence than in Melee, increasing their usefulness and reducing their vulnerability. While the Ice Climbers' grounded mobility is slower, the rest of the cast received the same treatment and most of the cast's attacks that exploited the Ice Climbers' difficulty in sticking together (such as Fox's Shine and Peach's down smash) have been drastically nerfed, making it harder for opponents to play around their grabs and separate them. Lastly, Blizzard is a much more versatile tool than in Melee, and can be a strong tool to edgeguard, apply pressure, rack up damage and allow the Ice Climbers to grab their opponents.

As a result, the Ice Climbers are one of the few characters considered to have been truly buffed from Melee to Brawl, and the duo are widely considered to be the best character behind Meta Knight.

Aesthetics

• As with the rest of the characters in Brawl, the Ice Climbers have aesthetically received a drastic boost in terms of quality, with their parkas possessing increased quality-textures and the white fur on their parkas applying more visible fur. Their skin tone is paler and lighter, their hairstyles have a slightly lighter coloration, their cheeks are less visible, and their gloves have a slightly darker color.
  • In addition, the Ice Climbers' eyes now have a violet-purpleish hue, similar to Ness and Lucas.
• The Ice Climbers have a pair of new alternate costumes: Nana's orange costume is replaced with a blue color to replicate Popo. The first new alternate costume depicts them in white, while the other depicts Nana in black and Popo in grey. The player takes control of Popo in the blue skin and Nana in the new white and black skins.
• The Ice Climbers' 4th alternate costume has a darker coloration, and Nana's yellow costume possesses a much darker variant of yellow.
• Nana no longer switches positions on the character selection screen when equipping costumes, where she is the leader instead of Popo.

Attributes

• The Ice Climbers walk slightly faster (0.95 → 0.96).
• The Ice Climbers dash slightly slower (1.4 → 1.388).
• The Ice Climbers' air speed is slightly faster (0.7 → 0.7708), especially relative to the returning veterans, going from the 2nd slowest out of 26 to the 5th slowest out of 38.
• As with other returning veterans, the Ice Climbers' falling speed is significantly slower (1.6 → 1.2). Compared to the returning veterans, however, the Ice Climbers fall faster. While this improves their endurance, it worsens their recovery and makes them more vulnerable to combos and chain grabs relative to the cast.
• The Ice Climbers' gravity is lower (0.1 → 0.077). While this slightly hinders their vertical endurance, it also makes them less vulnerable to chain grabs.
• The Ice Climbers' traction has been unchanged (0.035). Comparing with the returning veterans, however, the Climbers' traction is higher, making it easier for them to punish out of shield, although the duo still remain the 2nd-lowest traction in the game after Luigi. Their traction remains intact on slippery terrain (such as ice), which is even more effective than in Melee as traction has received reductions across the board in Brawl. The duo are also immune to tripping on ice, while the rest of the cast has an increased chance of tripping on ice.
• The Ice Climbers are heavier (88 → 92).
• The Ice Climbers' jumpsquat is longer (3 frames → 4).
• Both Ice Climbers can now grab a ledge at the same time, improving their recovery.
• The partner's artificial intelligence when separated has been increased, now being nearly equivalent to a level-9 CPU.
• The following climber can now mash out of a shield break.
• Several of the partner's attacks now have lower hitlag multipliers, making their attacks harder to DI.
• Stale-move negation no longer affects the partner's attacks when performing the same attack as the leader.
  • To compensate for this, however, a considerable portion of the partner's attacks now deal less damage (usually around 1%-3% less), resulting in a fair amount of their moveset dealing less damage when together, although the partner's aerials and smash attacks deal more knockback than the leader's for compensation.
• The partner now shares the same weight as the leader rather than being heavier, and no longer has passive armor, making them easier to KO.
• The removal of wavedashing has hindered the Ice Climbers' mobility and approach, especially compared to the other returning veterans, although it also hinders the rest of the cast's mobility, making it easier for the Ice Climbers to grab their opponents.
• The freeze glitch has been completely removed.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first hit deals more damage (2% → 3%).
  • The move deals more damage overall due to changes to stale-move negation (8% → 11%), assuming both climbers are present).
  • Both hits of neutral attack have more ending lag (FAF 16 → 27 (hit 1), FAF 18 → 20 (hit 2)).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt deals more damage (8% → 9% (solo), 15% → 16% (non-angled with partner) 18% (angled with partner)), although with compensation on the base knockbac of up-angled forward tilt (40 → 30).
  • Non-angled forward tilt has more base knockback (26 → 30).
  • The partner's forward tilt has less hitlag (1x → 0.5x).
  • It has more startup lag (frame 6 → 9) and ending lag (FAF 28 → 32).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt now consists of three hitboxes, which are larger than the previous two (4.6/3.5u (hits 1-6), 5.4/3.9u (hit 7) → 4/3/7/4/4/8u)).
  • It has a lower hitlag multiplier (1x → 0.5x (leader loop hits/partner final hit), 0.3x (partner)), making it connect more reliably and conistently, especially against grounded opponents.
  • Up tilt's final hit deals less damage (7% → 4%) with no compensation on its knockback.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 42 → 48).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage (4-5% → 6%).
  • It has more base knockback (30 → 40).
  • It now sends opponents at a semi-spike angle as opposed to a more vertical angle (70° → 20°). While this hinders its combo potential, it significantly improves its edgeguarding potential (which is overall more useful due to the introduction of hitstun canceling).
  • It also connects much more consistently when both climbers are present due to the expansion of hitlag.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 29 → 31).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals less damage (9% → 6%), although with compensation on its knockback scaling (40 → 60).
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 38 → 41).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup lag (frame 13 → 12).
  • The sourspot deals more damage (10% → 12%).
  • The partner's forward smash has more knockback scaling (105 → 118), improving its KO potential.
  • The sweetspot deals less damage (14% → 13%).
  • Both hits have less base knockback (40 → 30), slightly hindering their KO potential.
  • It has slightly increased ending lag (FAF 47 → 48).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 14-18 → 13-18)
  • Up smash has less knockback scaling (128 → 105 (leader), 113 (partner)), hindering its KO potential.
  • It now has a sourspot, which deals 9%.
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 44 → 50).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash can deal more maximum damage since it now has two hits (20%-22% → 36%-40% (both climbers)).
  • It now launches opponents vertically (361° → 60°/83°).
  • Down smash has more startup lag (frame 6 → 9) and ending lag (FAF 36 → 45).
  • It deals less knockback (50 (base), 110 (scaling) → 30/105 (leader), 30/113 (partner)), hindering its KO potential.
  • It now has a sourspot, which deals 10%, although it launches opponents at a more vertical angle to compensate.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral, back and up aerials have less landing lag (20 frames → 15 (neutral/back), 32 frames → 30 (up)). Due to the removal of L-canceling, however, their landing lag were not fully compensated.
• Due to their slower falling speed, the Ice Climbers can now perform a pair of aerials in a short hop by using either back aerial or up aerial.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial can now auto-cancel in a short hop due to the Ice Climbers' slower falling speed.
  • The partner's neutral aerial deals much less damage (8% → 5%), although with compensation on knockback (100 → 128).
  • It deals less damage (8% → 7%), hindering its KO potential with a solo-climber.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial deals more damage (11%/10%/9% → 12% (solo), 20% → 24% (clean with both climbers)), improving its KO potential despite the leader's forward aerial having lower knockback scaling (100 → 95), although the base knockback on the partner's sweetspot was compensated (40 → 20).
  • It sends opponents at a more horizontal angle (70° → 40°), improving its edgeguarding and KO potential.
  • The leader's forward aerial can no longer meteor smash, meaning that only the partner's forward aerial can meteor smash.
  • It has a shorter duration (frames 19-22 → 19-20).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more knockback (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 25/107 (leader), 25/128 (partner)), improving their KO potential.
  • It no longer has a sweetspot that deals more damage (12% → 11%) and knockback (30 (base), 110 (scaling) → 25/107), although with compensation on knockback of the remaining hitboxes.
• Up aerial:
  • Clean up aerial deals more damage (8/9% → 10%), although with compensation on knockback (10 (base), 140 (scaling) → 20/120 (leader), 20/142 (partner)) and retaining its sourspot that deals 9%.
  • The leader's sourspotted up aerial deals less knockback, although with compensation on the knockback of the partner's up aerial (10 (base), 140 (scaling) → 20/120 (leader), 20/142 (partner)).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial no longer has set knockback (36 (set), 110 (scaling) → 40 (base), 90 (leader scaling), 130 (partner scaling)). This gives the attack KO potential around 170%.
  • It now functions as a stall-then-fall, making it risky to use offstage, but giving it recovery usage via down air stall.
  • It deals less damage (9% → 8%).
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 3-52 → 9-51).
  • It has much more landing lag (25 frames → 42).

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Standing grab has less startup lag (frame 7 → 6).
  • Dash grab has more startup lag (frame 7 → 8).
  • The partner is now controlled by the player rather than the AI when grabbing an opponent, enabling the player to effectively control the direction in which to throw the grabbed opponent, significantly extending their chain grabbing ability and allowing for easy KO setups. This means that despite the removal of wobbling, the Ice Climbers can still effectively zero-to-death the entire cast which, while more difficult to perform, it still remains inescapable and overall has more versatility.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (3% → 1%) without full compensation on speed (frame 26 → 19).
• All throws excluding down throw deal less damage (11% → 8% (forward), 7% → 6% (back), 11% → 6% (up)).
• Back throw:
  • Back throw is now a true infinite chain grab. It can also be used in conjunction with footstools and Ice Shot to lock the opponent.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has more base knockback (110 → 120), although it is still far too weak to KO effectively.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals much less base knockback, but much more knockback scaling (70 (base), 40 (scaling) → 30/100). When combined with the removal of DI against non-tumbling attacks, this makes the attack more reliable for chain grabbing both with or without the partner.
  • It no longer requires the asisst of Blizzard or down aerial to string chain grabs due to the greater degree of control the player has over the partner.

Special moves

• The Ice Climbers have different voice-clips when performing their special moves, and all special moves have different and more aesthetic sound effects.
• Ice Shot:
  • Ice Shot is no longer absorbable.
  • Ice Shot is capable of being B-reversed.
  • Ice shot deals less damage (5% → 3%).
  • The hammer no longer has a hitbox, heavily reducing the move's maximum damage output (26% → 6%) and increasing the move's startup lag (frame 15 → 17).
  • Landing with Ice Shot from the air now results in an animation where the ice Climbers crash land on their rears. The landing lag remains intact, however.
• Squall Hammer:
  • Squall Hammer now inflicts soft snowflakes of ice if both Ice Climbers are present.
  • Squall Hammer connects much more consistently due to the looping hits dealing much less knockback scaling (130 → 80) and launching at lower angles (70° → 30°), making it easier to rack up damage with it.
    • In addition, Squall Hammer now concludes a stronger finisher, which deals drastically more knockback (5 (base), 80 (scaling) → 50/140) and more damage (4% → 6%), allowing Squall Hammer to KO at 130%-140% in comparison to Melee, where it was unable to KO until about 400%-600%.
  • The looping hitboxes deal more consistent damage, though it is still inconsistent (1-4% → 2-3%).
  • Squall Hammer now deals up to a total of 8 hits instead of 11, which drastically halves Squall Hammer's maximum damage output (44% → 25%).
  • Squall Hammer no longer grants vertical distance unless both Ice Climbers are present, hindering a solo-climber's recovery.

• Belay:
  • Belay now functions as a tether recovery when performed close to a ledge; the partner will initially shoot to the ledge, then the leader will immediately reach up to it.
  • A single Ice Climber's Belay also covers slightly more distance, allows them to move left or right, and allows the climber to turn around, no longer leaving the climber helpless if facing from the ledge.
  • The following climber travels less horizontal distance when using Belay.
  • Belay has more landing lag (25 frames → 30).
• Blizzard:
  • Blizzard deals consistent damage (1-2% → 2%) and it connects more reliably. It also freezes opponents significantly sooner and more reliably. It can now also be B-reversed.
• Iceberg:
  • As with the rest of the entire roster, the Ice Climbers now have a Final Smash: Iceberg. The duo high-five each other (if solo, the leading Ice Climber spins and raises their hamme up), summoning an enormous iceberg up from the ground that covers almost the entire stage, damaging and potentially freezing opponents making contact with it. After enough moments, the Iceberg will slowly
  • The Ice Climbers now have access to the Iceberg glitch.

Moveset

Note: This assumes that both Ice Climbers are present.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			3% (leader), 2% (partner)	A horizontal swipe followed by an upward swing.
			4% (leader), 2% (partner)
Forward tilt	↗		9% (both)	Does a side swing with their hammers. Can be angled up or down, with the partner dealing more damage if angled up or down.
	→		9% (leader), 7% (partner)
	↘		9% (both)
Up tilt			1% (hits 1-6), 4% (hit 7 [leader]), 3% (hit 7 [partner])	Twirl their hammers over their heads, creating a lingering hitbox that deals multiple hits. Can often lead to a grab at low percents.
Down tilt			6% (leader), 4-5% (partner)	Sweep their hammers across the ground in front of them. Used generally for gimping recoveries such as Snake's Cypher.
Dash attack			6% (leader), 4% (partner)	Leaps forward and swings their hammers in front of themselves.
Forward smash			13%/12% (leader), 10%/9% (partner)	Lifts their hammers over their heads, then smashes them straight down. Deals good knockback it both Ice Climbers' hammers connect. Deals less damage if the opponents hit the hilt of the hammers and more damage if they hit the head.
Up smash			11%/9% (leader), 9%/8% (partner)	Swings their hammers in an arc over their heads. Good as a finisher from chain grabs. Deals more damage if the opponent hit the head of the hammer.
Down smash			12%/10% (leader), 9%/8% (partner)	Spins around and sweeps the ground with their hammers. Can hit up to four times if the opponent is really close and at low percentages. The second most damaging down smash in the game if all four hits connect. Deals more damage if the opponent hits the head of the hammer.
Neutral aerial			7% (leader), 5% (partner)	Spin in a circle with their hammers outstretched. Good for aerial spacing.
Forward aerial			12% (leader), 12% (partner sweetspot), 7% (partner sourspot)	Holds their hammers up and bring them down in a similar fashion to their forward smash. The partner can meteor smash opponents if the move is sweetspotted.
Back aerial			11% (leader), 8% (partner)	Turns around and does a backswing with their hammers.
Up aerial			10%/9% (leader clean), 7% (leader late), 7%/6% (partner clean), 5% (partner late)	Thrust their hammers above themselves like their up tilt, but with only one hitbox per Ice Climber.
Down aerial			8% (leader), 5% (partner)	Hold their hammers below themselves and falls downwards. A stall-then-fall move, with the stall being almost unnoticeable. Has very large landing lag if not auto-cancelled.
Grab			—
Pummel			1%	A headbutt. The leader pummels the opponent, whereas the player has some control over the partner while pummeling.
Forward throw			3% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	Hits opponent forward with their hammers. If the player walks slightly forward with the partner before using, they can regrab the opponent again right after they use the attack, making this throw a chaingrab.
Back throw			6%	Throws opponent behind. Usable in a chaingrab.
Up throw			2% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Throw opponent upwards then hits them with hammer.
Down throw			6%	Spins and then throws the opponent to the ground. Can be used to chain grab infinitely with good timing if both Ice Climbers participate.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and spins around, hitting with their hammers.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Gets up and swipes their hammers on both sides.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Gets up and spins around, hitting with their hammers.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8% (hammer), 6% (body)	Quickly gets up and slams their hammer on the ground.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			10% (hammer), 8% (body)	Slowly gets up and swipes their hammer forwards.
Neutral special		Ice Shot	1-3%	Each Ice Climber fires a chunk of ice that slides along the ground and bounces off walls. When used in midair, the Ice Climbers will gain a slight boost in the air, but it will only work once before landing on the ground.
Side special		Squall Hammer	2-3% (loop)	Both Ice Climbers spin around together while moving along the ground, consisting of many hits. It can also be used as a recovery move by mashing the B button, which causes both Ice Climbers to rise in the air. It gains more distance when both Ice Climbers are present.
Up special		Belay	16%	The leading Ice Climber throws the following Ice Climber in the air with a rope. The following Ice Climber then pulls the leader upwards. If there is a nearby edge, the following Climber will target it, leading to a safe recovery for both Ice Climbers. Each Ice Climber become helpless after the move is used.
Down special		Blizzard	1-2%	Each Ice Climber blows icy wind from their hands, damaging nearby opponents. When the move is used on the ground, the partner will shoot in the direction opposite of the leader.
Final Smash		Iceberg	2% (hit), 5% (frozen)	The Ice Climbers summon a huge Iceberg into the middle of the field. Touching the iceberg results in freeze damage, and possibly becoming frozen. Being frozen when pushed off the edge can lead to a swift KO, as the frozen player falls with full speed.

Announcer call

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• English

Wii Remote selection sound

• An Ice Shot sound is heard and both Ice Climbers say "Youp!"

Ice Climbers' selection sound

On-screen appearance

• The Condor flies in with them hanging off its feet, then they jump off.

Taunts

• Up taunt: They set down their hammers and jump up and down. In the Ice Climber NES game, this is the victory celebration of the Ice Climbers during the results screen (albeit without the flag).
• Side taunt: They will point their hammers diagonally upward shout "Yup!", as wind blows behind them (same as in Melee, only with different sound effects).
• Down taunt: They dance in a circle.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Spin their hammers.
• Drops their hammers off their shoulders then picks them back up.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Na-Na! Po-po	Ice-cli-mer!
Pitch	High female, then Deep male	Group chant

• In the NTSC-U and PAL versions, when playing as Nana, the Back sound of the menu plays in lieu of the crowd chant.
  • The fact that the crowd chant changes (albeit in a glitchy manner) depending on which Climber is leading the pair might indicate that the lead Climber's name was intended to be chanted first by the crowd.

Victory poses

A cover of the music that played when the Ice Climbers grabbed the feet of the Condor at the end of a bonus level in Ice Climber.

• Up: Both nod and high five one another.
• Left: Both jump up and down (their victory pose from Ice Climber).
• Right: Nana hides behind Popo, only showing her face as Popo shifts from left to right.

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Notable players

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See also: Category:Ice Climbers players (SSBB)

•  9B - Widely considered the best Ice Climbers player in the world and one of the best players in Japan along with Edge, notably winning SKTAR 3.
•  DeLux - Placed 5th at WHOBO 5.
•  ESAM - Considered one of the best players in the United States during the game's later stages; although famous primarily for his Pikachu, has used an Ice Climbers co-main to great success, defeating players such as Kakera and ZeRo using them.
•  Kakera - Known as one of the top players in Japan, placed 5th at Apex 2012.
•  lain - A nationally dominant player during his peak from 2009-2010.
•  Miyacchi - Defeated players such as 9B, Smasher, Nagahari, Earth, OCEAN, Suinoko, Shu, Kei and Masashi.
•  Nakat - Quickly rose as a top Ice Climbers player in 2013, with a 4th place at SKTAR 2 and wins over Mew2King, Anti, Nairo, and ZeRo.
•  Vinnie - A nationally dominant player in the later stages of Brawl's life, after switching to Ice Climbers from Mr. Game & Watch.
•  Yunon - Defeated players such as Shu, Kuroobi, and RAIN.

Tier placement and history

In the first year of Brawl's metagame, the Ice Climbers were ranked as high tier characters but weren't considered a particularly dominant force, given how weak Popo alone is after Nana dies, and their powerful grab tactics were unrecognized at the time. However, Ice Climbers players soon began to utilize their infinite chain grabs, giving them an extremely powerful zero-to-death option against any other character, which shot them up the tier list. Players found dealing with this difficult, as it completely changed the way players fought the Ice Climbers, with the matchup now revolving around avoiding getting grabbed at all, and the Ice Climbers were able to completely shut down characters who lacked effective means to avoid grabs or separate the Climbers. lain became the character's first top level player in 2009 and 2010, achieving multiple major top 8 placements, such as Apex 2009 and S.N.E.S.. This resulted in the Ice Climbers being considered uncontested top tiers by the Brawl Back Room's the fourth tier list where they ranked 5th, just short of two years after Brawl's international release. However, the Ice Climbers were held back by their relative lack of top representation compared to other top tiers, and lain was never able to win a major over other top tier mains. Additionally, the existence of numerous extremely unfavorable stage counterpicks kept the Ice Climbers in check, preventing them from becoming truly dominant. In the earlier Brawl metagame, multiple stages with scrolling platforms and hazards, such as Rainbow Cruise, Brinstar, and Norfair, were available as counterpicks; these stages favored more air-based gameplay and made it much more difficult for the Ice Climbers to complete a zero-to-death chain grab without getting interrupted by the stage.

As Brawl's metagame further refined, the Ice Climbers' tournament presence continued to grow. The Ice Climbers' worst stages also happened to be Meta Knight's strongest stages; as Meta Knight's dominance over the Brawl scene continued to grow, Rainbow Cruise, Brinstar, and Norfair eventually were banned in all Meta Knight legal tournaments due to his unmatched aerial prowess on those stages. The other two stages with more minor moving platforms and hazards, Halberd and Delfino Plaza, also became more frequently banned due to Meta Knight's dominance there, and usually only one of these stages was available as a counterpick, which gave Ice Climbers mains the opportunity to play around this with a stage ban. These factors allowed the Ice Climbers to truly shine in the Brawl scene. Although lain became inactive, a new wave of even better Ice Climbers players arose from 2011 to 2014. 9B, Vinnie, ESAM, Kakera, and NAKAT quickly became some of the biggest tournament threats in both North America and Japan, achieving multiple first place victories at events such as SumabatoX 6, SKTAR 3, and the MK-banned WHOBO 4 and WHOBO 5; 9B in particular was considered by many to be the outright best player in all of Japan. As a result, the Ice Climbers became one of most dominant characters in tournaments behind Meta Knight, and this coincided with their rise to 2nd place on the eighth and final Brawl Back Room tier list in 2013, right underneath Meta Knight in their own tier above the rest of the characters. Some players argued that since the Ice Climbers have access to a zero-death on every character that works at any percent, they could be tied for first place with Meta Knight, or could even be first place themselves; however, despite these advancements, the Ice Climbers' results never approached Meta Knight's uncontested dominance before the end of Brawl' active competitive life at the release of Smash 4.

The Ice Climbers are among the most disliked characters in Brawl by both casual and competitive players, since they possess a reliable zero-death against any character, something no other character has access to, with many players supporting the ban of the infinite chain grabs in tournaments. Due to the prominent competitive philosophy at the time of Brawl however, zero-death chain grabs were uncommonly singled out for banning in tournament rulesets, and with the definition of what construes an "infinite chain grab" usually being rigid, players of the Ice Climbers could find loopholes to avoid using it while still nearly securing stocks with each grab, making opponents' predicaments effectively the same. Some tournaments in the post-Smash-4 era, such as Glitch 2, have banned the Ice Climbers altogether alongside Meta Knight, due to being considered too powerful, especially when Meta Knight is banned, farther fueled by their unpopularity among opponents and spectators alike.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Ice Climbers in SSE.

The Ice Climbers were first seen climbing up a mountain together, possibly in pursuit of the Halberd or they were just climbing. When Meta Knight passed them going up the mountain, the Ice Climbers took it as a challenge and jumped up the mountain with Meta Knight. Once they reached the top, the Ice Climbers celebrated with their "victory" for getting up the mountain first, until they and Meta Knight found Lucario, who was looking for a fight with Meta Knight, so the Ice Climbers watch from the side nervously. After the fight, the winner revives the loser, to their relief, and the Halberd crashes the Great Fox into the mountain. Although Meta Knight and Lucario managed to board the Halberd, the Ice Climbers (ironically) are thrown back to the ground towards Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike. After facing some more Subspace Army troopers (with help from Mario and Link's group), the Ice Climbers teamed up with the other heroes as they journeyed into Subspace but are turned into trophies by Tabuu. Ice Climbers are then revived by King Dedede, Luigi, Ness, and Kirby and help the other smashers defeat Tabuu and restore the World of Trophies to normal.

Playable appearances

• The Glacial Peak
• Entrance to Subspace
• The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part II))

Exclusive stickers

These stickers can only be used by the Ice Climbers, or a select few including them:

• Balloon Fight Enemy: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +4
• Donbe: [Slash] Resistance +26
• Duck: Launch Resistance +20
• Fat Hockey Player: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +12
• F-Type: [Throwing] Attack +22
• Nana: [Specials: Direct] Attack +29
• Wild Gunman: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +5
• Yakuman Player: [Electric] Resistance +28

In Solo Modes

Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Ice Climbers can appear as an opponent in Stage 9 on Summit. Ice Climbers can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if they haven't appeared in Stage 9.

All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Ice Climbers are fought in Stage 4 on Summit.

Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 11: Yoshi's Rainbow: As the Ice Climbers, the player must KO six Yoshis in the order of red, pink, yellow, green, cyan, and blue.
• Event 17: Super Waterfall Climb: Zelda must survive on Rumble Falls until the background changes into a waterfall. Two pairs of Ice Climbers will try to hinder the player's progress.
• Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee: Ice Climbers are one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are newcomers from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Co-Op Events

• Co-Op Event 10: The R.O.B.'s of Tomorrow: Lucario and the Ice Climbers must defeat five R.O.B.s of varying sizes on Summit.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Ending Images

• 

  Classic Mode

• 

  All-Star Mode

Trophies

The Ice Climbers' main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with the Ice Climbers.

Classic Mode trophy

Ice Climbers

The one in blue is Popo, and the one in pink is Nana. They use their incredible jumping powers and hammers to break blocks and climb to the summit. They grab veggies, and if they can catch the condor at the end, they conquer the mountain. Other than breaking blocks, their hammers are good for sending foes flying, climbing down from blocks, and destroying icicles.

: Ice Climber

Iceberg trophy

Iceberg

The Ice Climbers' Final Smash. This giant ice mountain appears in the middle of a stage--it's incredibly slippery, so it's hard to control yourself when traversing it. In addition to being slick, this ice is also COLD, so opponents will take damage just from touching it. Attack the ice, and it will take damage and slowly shrink. Is it actually useful? That's a mystery.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Alternate costumes

Nana becomes the leading, player-controlled character when using the 2nd, 4th, and 6th costumes shown below. The stock icons for these costumes change to reflect this, but the character select portraits always show Popo in front.

Gallery

• 

  Taunting on Yoshi's Island.

• 

  Using Blizzard on Link on Rumble Falls.

• 

  Popo footstooling Kirby on Lylat Cruise.

• 

  Taunting on Delfino Plaza.

Trivia

• Along with Pokémon Trainer, Diddy Kong, and Jigglypuff, the Ice Climbers are one of the only characters to have a unique "Defeated/No Contest" pose different from the traditional hand clapping, with their head down while rubbing their eyes, making it seem as if they are crying. This pose is a reference to the one they make in Ice Climber after failing in a bonus level.
  • If one looks carefully, Nana can actually be seen smirking while crying while Popo is frowning. This is fixed in Ultimate.
• In Stamina mode, it is possible for the partner to die before the leader. Regardless of whether this happens or not, the partner will lay on the ground motionless, but not blink red.
• If the partner is caught in a trapping Final Smash and the leader is KO'd, the partner will disappear, leaving the opponent attacking nothing. Some examples are Ike's, Meta Knight's, Link's, and Toon Link's, and as seen here.
• Both Ice Climbers must win a microgame in the WarioWare, Inc. stage to be rewarded.
• Certain Final Smashes, especially trapping ones, can cause the trailing Ice Climber's special effects to be slowed down under the effect of a Timer (Nana's stays even after the Timer is done). The effects end when one or both of the Ice Climbers are KO'd.
• When CPU controlled, if one Ice Climber is Star KO'd, the partner will sometimes taunt.
• Brawl is the only game where the portraits of the Ice Climbers are not swapped around when Nana is in the lead, the only game where their default costume is not available in Team Battles and the only game where Nana takes the lead in all even numbered costumes.
• If the leader dies in Stamina Mode without losing all their stamina, the partner won't disappear and can keep playing normally. This was later fixed in Ultimate.
• If the leader loses their stamina after the partner has been KO'd but they didn't lose all their stamina in Stamina Mode, the partner will respawn in the middle of the stage but will still be defeated.
• The Ice Climbers, Ganondorf, Meta Knight, Mr. Game & Watch, and Samus are the only characters whose icon in the Subspace Emissary and the Sticker menu is not based on their renders.

External links

• Ice Climbers' page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Chain Grab Tutorial
• Ice Climber Character Guide on SmashBoards
• Ice Climbers' Chain Grabbing Every Character, 0% to death
• Ice Climbers' hitbox size of each of their moves, shown with Popo