Falco (SSBM)/Down aerial

Overview

The hitbox of Falco's dair.

Falco spins around in place at a downward angle. His down aerial is considered the best spike in the game, having an extremely long duration of 20 frames and having sourspot hitboxes that still spike relatively powerfully (in NTSC only). The move is generally regarded as the best non special move in the game, and one of the best overall attacks in Melee. Falco's down aerial is vital to his success as a character, acting as a powerful approach, combo, tech chasing and edgeguarding option all at once. The move is Falco's most rewarding approach option; at low percents the move directly combos into his shine or down tilt, and at higher percents combos into other aerials including itself. In addition, the move cannot be properly crouch canceled, aiding in its abilities as a neutral opener at low percents.

Using this move in conjunction with the shine is known as pillaring and is the basis for all of Falco's combos; the vertical knockback of shine directly combos into a down aerial which as a spike, links perfectly into another shine. This cycle of shines and down aerials is expanded with a variety of other moves, most notably up tilt, neutral aerial, and back aerial, and is a notable way to wear down shields. The possibilities opened up by Falco's down aerial are near unlimited, and this is one of the primary reasons why Falco is such an unforgiving character; in the hands of a competent player, this move can absolutely devastate every other character, potentially netting KOs as early as 30%.

Hitboxes

NTSC

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Clean
0	0	12%	0		10	100	0	5.15592	7	-1.32804	1.495998	0.0						Kick
1	0	12%	0		10	100	0	5.987898	7	0.99603	0.99603	0.0						Kick
Late
0	0	9%	0		20	100	0	5.15592	7	-1.32804	1.495998	0.0						Kick
1	0	9%	0		20	100	0	5.987898	7	0.99603	0.99603	0.0						Kick

PAL

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Clean
0	0	12%	0		10	100	0	5.15592	7	-1.32804	1.495998	0.0						Kick
1	0	12%	0		10	100	0	5.987898	7	0.99603	0.99603	0.0						Kick
Late
0	0	9%	0		20	100	0	5.15592	7	-1.32804	1.495998	0.0						Kick
1	0	9%	0		20	100	0	5.987898	7	0.99603	0.99603	0.0						Kick

Summary:

• Late hit is now the Sakurai angle, not a spike.

Timing

Attack

Initial autocancel	1-4
Clean hit	5-14
Late hit	15-24
Ending autocancel	30-
Animation length	49
Interruptible	60

Landing lag

Animation length	18
L-cancelled animation length	9

Normal

L-cancelled

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Autocancel

Falco's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · inf) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special