Fox (SSBM)

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

Fox in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Fox McCloud
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	S (1)

“

A wily fox that uses speed to keep enemies off balance. (Melee's Instruction Manual)

”

Announced at E3 2001, Fox (フォックス, Fokkusu in Japanese) is a playable starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is emblematic of speed and he can dominate foes with his rapid attacks, quick movement and overpowering offense in all areas of his game. He is placed 1st on the Melee tier list due to these advantages.

Fox, true to being on the top of the tier list, is an extremely efficient fighter, with fast attacks, as well as numerous options to approach the opponent. His aerial game is almost unsurpassed when SHFFL'd, and his shine combos are extremely effective. He can KO effectively on all four sides of the screen, and his high falling speed makes him resilient to vertical KOs. Despite being top tier, Fox is not flawless. He has an extremely high learning curve, requiring fast reflexes to properly use his shine and SHFFL combos. Additionally, his high falling speed makes him very easy to chain grab, and he suffers from a poor recovery due to his low air speed and high falling speed. His pros outshine his cons, however, and Fox is notable for being one of only four characters (the other three being Pikachu, Falco, and Meta Knight) in all of the Smash games to have no disadvantageous matchups.

Attributes

Fox falls into a unique archetype: He is notoriously fast, yet he is equipped with a plethora of viable finishers. He has the second fastest dash speed, tied with Marth for the fastest walking speed, the fastest normal falling speed, the third fastest fast falling speed, fast dash-dancing, and fast attacks. His low traction is balanced with his fast falling speed and low airspeed, all of which give him a fast, moderately long wavedash.

One of the reasons why Fox is ranked 1st is his unparalleled comboing and damaging ability, helped by an powerful approach game. His fast fall and low, fast short hop contribute to an extremely quick SHFFL, which can let him almost effortlessly start combos or act as a deadly approach option. Additionally, Fox's specials act as powerful ways to aid this; his Reflector makes for a potential combo starter, as well as a potential infinite combo with his waveshine infinite, and his blaster is an almost unstoppable damage-racking method, due to its long range, inability to cause hitstun, high speed and its ability to be combined with Fox's short hop as part of the short hop laser technique. Additionally, a majority of Fox's attacks inflict significant damage while being very fast as well; his neutral air, back air and tilts are especially notable in this regard, with the remainder of his aerials having little ending lag.

Additionally, Fox's KO ability is also amazing, with plenty of powerful vertical finishers in his arsenal, most notable his up smash and up aerial, both of which are among the most powerful in the game with huge hitboxes. Fox's Reflector also makes for a valuable tool for KOing, due to its set, semi-spike knockback properties, which makes it extremely useful for edgeguarding. Additionally, its almost-instantaneous startup time (with only 1 frame of start-up, the attack is one of the fastest in the game), it is of very low risk to use off the edge.

While not the best, Fox's grab game is decent. Fox's decent grab range, coupled with his throw's low knockback allow him to set up potentially lethal combos. His up throw can lead into a sweet spotted up aerial, one of Fox's primary KO methods, and can even chain throw fast fallers. Unfortunately, most of Fox's throws send opponents a considerable distance away from Fox, allowing anyone with good smash DI to escape combos.

Fox, however, is not invincible, and his flaws can cause significant errors in tournament play. Notably, Fox's properties of being a fast faller with low airspeed causes him to be among the most easily chaingrabbed characters in the game, particularly by characters such as Marth and Peach. Additionally, Fox can be very easy to combo if the opponent moves fast enough, which is exacerbated by his poor air speed.

Fox also suffers from a poor recovery; his high falling speed makes him fall far before he can recover, and his low airspeed prevents him from moving closer to the edge. Fox's third jump of Fire Fox is relatively long, but it is also linear in nature and predictable; a multitude of attacks can easily intercept it, such as Mario's Cape. While Fox also has the ability to recover with Fox Illusion, it too is linear and predictable in nature.

Moveset

Ground moves

Normal

• Neutral attack: Fox jabs forwards with his paw, followed by a short series of fast kicks. A versatile jab that can combo into several other attacks, including up smash (similar to SSB). Very useful against shields, to jab reset, and into shine cancels. More useful against lightweights than heavyweights (such as Jigglypuff). The second jabs makes Fox move forward a bit. 2-4% damage on the first jab, 4% damage on the second jab, and 1% damage on the kicks.
• Dash attack: Fox runs forward and sticks a foot out. Low priority but good combo ability, especially into up smash. Very vulnerable to crouch canceling. 5-7% damage.
• Down tilt: Fox performs a sweeping tail lash. Moderately fast. Can combo at mid-percentages into aerials. It can also become a somewhat solid ground killer at higher percentages. 10% damage.
• Forward tilt: Fox sticks a foot out to the side. This is best used for a quick close-ranged spacing move. 4-9% damage depending on how it's angled.
• Up tilt: Fox performs a quick and surprisingly strong vertical back kick. It covers Fox's whole body; thus, it makes Fox and his vertically-aimed foot a hitbox. Its speed, power, and hitbox make it great for close-up spacing. It can easily combo into itself, up air, and up smash. Used as part as a chain-grab against fast-fallers with it being connected to his up throw. It can start killing around 120% on mostly the floaty lightweights. 9-12% damage.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash: Fox performs a flying hook kick. Has moderately low knockback for a smash, though is fast, and is actually quite reliable at higher percentages, KOing usually around 120%. This move does 12-15% uncharged, 16-20% fully charged.
• Up smash: Fox performs a back flip kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. It is very reliable at mid-high damages. Shine into up smash is very useful for kills. 18% uncharged, 24% full. Hitting an opponent behind Fox does 13-17% damage.
• Down smash: Fox does a split, hitting on both of his sides. It is fast and has moderate knockback. Useful for edgeguarding and an excellent spacing/killing move. 15% uncharged, 20% full.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Climbs up and sticks his feet out in a similar fashion to his forward smash in Template:G. 8% damage
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly climbs then very suddenly thrusts out his foot. 8% damage
• Floor attack- Kicks on both sides. 6% damage

Aerials

• Neutral air: Sticks the entire foot out. Sex Kick properties. A very quick aerial. Very good against shields and great power when it first comes out. 12% damage.
• Forward air: Fox kicks forward five times. Good knockback when all hits connect. Regrettably, this move is very awkward due to the short amount of forward distance, short range of the move, and bad physics of the kicks being chained together. All hits are extremely hard to connect without a good set-up, especially on lighter characters. Approximately 17% damage when all hits connect.
• Back air: Fox does a quick no-look kick backwards. Sex kick properties. Great knockback when it first comes out. One of Fox's best edgeguarding moves. 9-15% damage.
• Up air: Fox whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. A very high knockback move, good vertical killer, can combo out of up throw on virtually everyone. Can be Smash DI'd out of however. Two hits, 17% total.
• Down air: Fox spins around, drilling downwards with his feet. It can combo into up smash and out of up tilt. Useful into shines as well. It is the weakest spike in the game, giving almost no knockback when it is used on an opponent. However, when it is used on a wire frame, it sends them strongly diagonally downwards, like a spike. Using this move will not win any of the meteor smash bonuses with it, and meteor smashes send opponents purely downwards, and not diagonally downwards like a spike, giving proof that it is a spike. 19% damage when all hits connect.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel: A quick knee jab to the opponent. 2-3% damage
• Down throw: Fox throws the opponent into the ground and shoots him/her with his blaster. This throw does not make opponents bounce off the ground like other down throws (except Falco) because it is a meteor smash. Not useful due to being able to tech out of it, but players can read techs for KOs. Can lead into up-tilt or his Reflector. It meteor smashes over a ledge if his body is partially overlapping it. 5% damage.
• Back throw: Fox throws backwards and shoots the opponent with his blaster. Used mainly for setting up edgeguards off-stage, though really not many other uses besides mixing up a Fox player's throw game. 7% damage.
• Forward throw: Fox punches the opponent forward; furthermore, this is Fox's only throw that does not involve him shooting his opponent with his blaster. Despite its generally poor combo ability, it can chain-grab on some heavy characters. Although, it is best used for edge-guarding. 7% damage.
• Up throw: Fox uses his laser and throws the opponent into the air. It can easily combo into up tilt, up aerial, and up smash. If wavedashes are properly used between throws, it can also chain-grab fast fallers at lower percentages; however, it can be Smash DI'd out of the chain-grab. 7% damage.

Special moves

Fox's special moves

Neutral special	Blaster Shot	Blaster
Side special	—	Fox Illusion
Up special	Fire Fox
Down special	Reflector

Taunt

• Fox crouches and says "Come on!", gesturing with an open hand for others to come to him. Switching the language to Japanese will cause him to say "kakate koi!" instead (which means the same thing).

Smash Taunt: Fox can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the Control pad. This taunt can only be used once per match.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

Fox can appear in ordinary one-on-one matches, as an opponent or ally in team battles (paired up with either Falco, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong or Samus), or as an opponent in the metal fight. In these cases, Fox either appears on Venom or Corneria; in the team battles, he appears on Big Blue when with Captain Falcon, on Brinstar with Samus, and on Kongo Jungle with Donkey Kong.

In Adventure Mode

Fox appears in Stage 6 of the Adventure Mode, on Corneria; in the stage, the player has to fight against Fox once, then a second time. In the second time, however, the stage features "trigger happy" Arwings, which fire at the stage considerably more often. Additionally, Fox returns with a different Palette swap.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Fox and his allies are fought on the stage Corneria.

In Event Matches

Falco appears in the following event matches:

• Event 13: Yoshi's Egg: As Yoshi, the player must protect the Yoshi's Egg item from harm for 55 seconds from a team of Fox, Donkey Kong and Pikachu on the Rainbow Cruise stage.
• Event 20: All-Star Match 2: Fox is the last opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Corneria stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Fox has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters with the overall time and life they have: Samus, Link, Zelda, Captain Falcon.
• Event 23: Slippy's Invention: In this event, the player must fight against Fox and Falco on Venom, in a standard two stock match; however, the two are under the effects of a Cloaking Device during the entire match, though they can still be damaged.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: As Ness, the player must defeat five opponents in a row: Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. In the first three opponents, the fights are done on Onett; after this, the player is then sent to Battlefield to fight against the last two.
• Event 43: Birds of Prey: In this event, the player, as Fox, must fight against a team of Falco and Captain Falcon on the stage Big Blue. Everyone has two lives, but there is also a time limit of two minutes.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star mode.

Changes from SSB to Melee

Fox generally did not get nerfed or buffed as a character in Melee, as he still remains very high on the tier list.

In terms of buffs, Fox's Fire Fox now travels farther and faster, and it can now harm opponents while it charges, making it safer to use; the addition of Fox Illusion also strongly aids his recovery. His new Blaster also has rapid fire capabilities, improving his approach significantly.

Fox's buffs are primarily due to his new physics; his air speed is now one of the slowest in the game instead of the fastest, and he is now considerably lighter in weight, making him more vulnerable to KOs.

In terms of cosmetic changes, Fox now has a two new taunts, a slightly different forward smash, a new forward aerial, and new throw animations. His new voice samples are also more energetic in sound.

Trophy Descriptions

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

Fox (Classic)

"Fox McCloud is the leader of a band of adventurers-for-hire known as Star Fox. Fox and his fellow pilots Peppy, Slippy, and Falco patrol the Lylat system in their mother ship, the Great Fox. From the cockpit of his Arwing, Fox leads the ceaseless pursuit of the evil scientist Andross, who doomed Fox's father."

Fox (Adventure)

Fox is among the quickest and nimblest of the Smash Bros. characters. His speed is offset by low firepower, however, and he's better at one-on-one fights than melees with multiple foes. His Blaster is unique: it does damage but it doesn't make enemies flinch. His Fox illusion is best used as a surprise attack.

• B: Blaster
• Smash B: Fox Illusion

Fox (All-Star)

Fox falls quickly, so he's a tough target to strike from below; however, this advantage can work against him when he goes flying sideways. You can use the Control Stick to set the direction of the Fire Fox technique while it's charging up. On a side note, Fox is also much lighter than he was in the N64 Super Smash Bros. game.

• Up & B: Fire Fox
• Down & B: Reflector

• Trophy19.jpg

  Classic

• Fox3.jpg

  Adventure

• Fox2.jpg

  All-Star

Palette swap

File:Alt-fox2.jpg

Fox's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• Fox is one of the only characters in Melee that can do a wall infinite, along with Ness, Pikachu, and Pichu.
• Fox is the only character to have completely lost his forward throw from Super Smash Bros. to Melee. Kirby and Jigglypuff both gained new forward throws in Melee, but their former forward throws were moved to be their up throws instead.
• For all three victory poses, Fox is the only character in Melee who says exactly the same quote - "Mission Complete."
• Fox is the only character in Melee with two medium-damage groans.