Nerf

A nerf is a term used to describe the weakening of a character (or aspect of a character), either through updating a game or by releasing a sequel. It is often done as an attempt to balance the roster. The opposite term is "buff", which is to strengthen a character between sequel games. The best example of this is Kirby's transition from the original Super Smash Bros. to Super Smash Bros. Melee. Kirby went from being one of the best characters according to the SSB tier list to being the worst.

The term "nerf" is derived from the brand of toy known for its soft foam-like substance. This substance allows for safer play, as little chance of injury comes from impact with such items. In effect, a projectile is less damaging because it was "nerfed".

Characters who had attributes nerfed from SSB to Melee

There were two general nerfs for all characters. One is that most aerial attacks and tilts no longer have almost instantaneous start-up lag. The second general nerf is throws have been significantly weakened, with only a few throws being reliable KO moves in Melee. Below is a list of nerfs for the cast of Melee.

Captain Falcon

• Up aerial doesn't semi-spike as reliably and has reduced vertical reach.
• Falcon Punch has more start-up lag and can no longer be used for recovering.
• Up smash is slower and has drastically reduced utility.
• The Falcon Dive has been weakened, it also has more start-up lag and reduced grab range.
• Down aerial has a much shorter duration.
• Most of his attacks have more start-up lag, such as all of his smashes.

Donkey Kong

• The beginning of his forward throw (carry) no longer deals damage.
• Giant Punch has less reach and knockback, and puts him in a helpless state when done in midair.
• Forward air is much slower and is much more difficult to meteor smash with.
• Hand Slap has more ending lag.
• His attacks are generally weaker.

Fox

• His air speed has been significantly decreased, from being among one of the fastest in SSB, to being among the slowest in Melee.
• Down smash doesn't semi-spike as effectively.
• Up aerial is more difficult to sweetspot.
• Blaster no longer produces hitstun.
• Fox is much lighter in weight, making him easier to KO.
• Even though Fox is a faster and stronger character in Melee, his Forward Smash was weakened significantly (From an average of 98% to an average of 129%).

Jigglypuff

• Sing doesn't put opponents to sleep as long, reducing its effectiveness.
• Rest has a smaller hitbox.
• Dair spike is now very difficult to land, no longer usable for gimping.
• Up smash has much more ending lag.
• Dashing speed was reduced to being the slowest in Melee.

Kirby

• Large decrease in the overall power, speed, and reach of his attacks. For example, his forward smash was the most powerful f-smash in SSB 64, but in Melee, it is one of the weakest f-smashes. This is the most drastic nerf of the Smash Bros. series.
• Final Cutter's horizontal and vertical distances have been reduced, nerfing his recovery.
• Opponents can now escape out of Kirby's back throw.
• Horizontal air speed is drastically slower.
• Kirby loses all of his mid-air jumps after his forward throw.
• Forward smash has much more starting and ending lag and is no longer considered the fastest and strongest f-smash.

Link

• Up smash has less vertical reach, and a smaller hitbox, lowering its effectiveness.
• Spin Attack is a considerably less reliable KO option.
• Grab range has been lowered, and Link can no longer grab opponents in the air.
• Boomerangs have slightly less range.

Luigi

• Air speed has been reduced and is still the slowest.
• Fireball's hitbox size has been decreased.
• Super Jump Punch no longer gains horizontal distance and doesn't travel as far vertically.
• The height gained from Luigi Cyclone has been reduced and requires considerably faster button taps to go upward, nerfing his vertical recovery.

Mario

• Up smash has been weakened in knockback.
• Fireball's hitbox size has been decreased.
• The distance Super Jump Punch gained was reduced.
• New forward smash has an added sourspot.
• The meteor smash hitboxes of Mario Tornado have been removed.

Ness

• A general decrease in the speed and reach of his attacks.
• PK Thunder travels a shorter distance.
• Forward smash is slightly slower.
• PK Fire travels a shorter distance and is easier to DI out of.
• Forward throw can no longer KO reliably, due to much lower knockback scaling.
• Up smash and down smash are much weaker.

Pikachu

• A general decrease in the reach of its attacks.
• Significantly decreased air speed (went from the second fastest in SSB to slightly below average in Melee).
• Pikachu is generally more vulnerable to combos, especially chain throws.
• Thunder no longer has infinite vertical reach.
• Quick Attack no longer has invincibility frames when used and doesn't travel as far.
• Its new Neutral Aerial, Back Aerial, Down Smash, and its grab range were all lowered (The former three`s power was also reduced significantly to the point of no longer KO`ing under 150% while the latter`s range was reduced to being the shortest in Melee).

Samus

• Dashing speed is slower.
• Back aerial has less reach and power.
• Screw Attack no longer traps enemies as easily.
• Charge Shot no longer travels an infinite distance.
• Down aerial has slower start-up lag.

Yoshi

• Special moves are generally less effective
• Yoshi's combo ability against floaty characters was generally hindered.
• Slower DJC combos.
• Forward aerial has 4/3× the start-up lag it did in SSB.
• Down aerial's damage potential was slightly reduced from 56% to 53%.

Characters who had attributes nerfed from Melee to Super Smash Bros. Brawl

A general nerf to all characters in Brawl is notably less comboing ability, due to the reduced hitstun and loss of L-Cancelling in Brawl.

Bowser

• Many attacks, such as his forward smash and up aerial, are slightly weaker in terms of knockback.

Captain Falcon

• A general decrease in the power and speed of his attacks.
• Most of Falcon`s attacks have more unfavorable hitboxes (i.e., forward aerial, down aerial, down smash, etc)
• Dashing speed was slightly reduced and is no longer the fastest, being surpassed by Sonic.
• Traction was reduced.
• Up smash and down smash have lost some of their IASA frames, making them slower. In addition, his up smash is also much weaker in knockback.
• Forward smash was weakened significantly (went from being the 3rd most powerful forward smash to the 21st, according to the Forward Smash Chart).
• Down aerial needs to be sweetspotted to meteor smash. It is also weaker, has a smaller hitbox size, and the nipple spike hitbox was removed. It also lost it`s IASA frames, like his Forward and Back Aerials.
• Vertical endurance was slightly reduced and is no longer the best (though, Momentum Canceling can help this).
• Forward aerial (Knee Smash) is much more difficult to sweetspot (as no longer is just landing the initial hitbox required to sweetspot), and the sweetspot hitbox's knockback was slightly reduced (But the base knockback is slightly increased).
• Falcon Kick no longer regains Falcon's midair jump when used in the air and now causes 13% instead of 15%.
• Falcon Punch is slightly weaker (lower knockback scaling, from 102 to 93).
• Since Brawl has an influence on Momentum, his long jump has been decreased, making his combo ability even worse.
• Captain Falcon is noted for being one of the characters most adversely affected by the physics changes in Brawl, where he lost his valuable moonwalk and dash dance (The latter is still in Brawl, but is much harder to pull off and increases the chances of him tripping). His comboing ability was also more severely hindered than other characters were by the loss of L-Cancelling and significantly decreased hitstun.
• Overall a slower and much weaker character.

Donkey Kong

• Giant Punch has less reach and knockback when fully charged.
• Spinning Kong does less knockback. Additionally, it now has landing lag.

Falco

• Dashing speed was reduced.
• Down tilt was greatly weakened, no longer being able to reliably KO under 150%. Its sweetspot hitbox is also smaller, making it more difficult to land.
• New forward smash is slower, weaker, and has a larger sourspot hitbox.
• New neutral aerial is significantly weaker in terms of knockback, and is not a KO option.
• Down smash has less reach.
• Down aerial now only meteor smashes at the very beginning of the move.
• Fire Bird travels a slightly shorter distance, is now a multi-hit attack, and is significantly weaker, no longer being able to KO.
• Falco Phantasm's meteor smash is weaker.
• New Reflector removes Falco's shine combos, Falco's ability to momentum cancel with it, and it does not have a start-up lag of 1 frame. Additionally, it can no longer be held indefinitely.
• Brawl's physic changes greatly reduced Falco's vertical endurance, as falling speed has a smaller impact on a character's vertical endurance.

Fox

• Up and down tilts are weaker.
• Up smash is slightly weaker (it is however, often considered the best up smash in Brawl in spite of this).
• New back aerial has slower startup, more ending lag, shorter hitbox duration, and less reach.
• Up aerial is significantly weaker, usually requiring the opponent to be around 150% or near the upper blast line to KO, whereas it could KO under 100% in Melee regardless.
• Blaster travels roughly half the distance it did in Melee.
• Fox Illusion is much weaker.
• Fire Fox is weaker and can no longer KO.
• Reflector no longer has start-up lag of 1 frame.
• Despite being heavier, Fox sustains more knockback in Brawl. Falling speed having a smaller impact on a character's vertical endurance also significantly reduced Fox's vertical endurance.
• Removal of wavedashing makes his Reflector to be less useful for combos.

Ganondorf

• A general decrease in the power, speed, and reach of his attacks.
• Reduced walking and dashing speed.
• Reduced jumping height.
• Neutral attack is significantly slower, and can no longer be landed multiple times in succession.
• New forward tilt has less reach and more ending lag.
• Up tilt was significantly weakened, and given sourspot hitboxes (though it is still the strongest tilt attack in Brawl).
• His rolling dodges are now slower and gain less distance (but they`re still very fast for his weight class)
• New up smash is weaker and slower (Went from the most damaging to just being slightly more powerful than Falcon`s Up Smash).
• Down smash was significantly weakened, which while it could KO under 100% in Melee, it cannot reliably KO under 150% in Brawl. It also has significantly more ending lag.
• Grabbing reach was reduced to being the shortest reaching grab Brawl as opposed to being the seventh shortest in Melee.
• Up throw and down throw can no longer chain throw.
• Second kick of the neutral aerial was significantly weakened, no longer being able to KO. Both hits causes 10% and 7%, respectively.
• Forward aerial is significantly slower, having a significant increase in start-up, ending, and landing lag (10 more frames than his L-Canceled one in Melee). It was also given a much weaker sourspot hitbox on Ganondorf's arm, making it significantly less effective at close ranges.
• Back aerial's knockback was significantly weakened (though it can still reliably KO under 150%). Its duration was reduced from 6 frames to 3 frames, making it harder to connect.
• Down aerial now has a sourspot hitbox on Ganondorf's upper body, and the attack's hitbox overall is slightly smaller.
• Dark Dive is significantly weaker (causing 11% as opposed to 17% in Melee), no longer being able to KO at realistic percentages outside stage spiking. It is also now possible to hit Ganondorf out of Dark Dive once he releases his opponent, exasperating Ganondorf's already poor recovery against opponents who can do so. This is one of his moves that he shares with Falcon that is much weaker than his [Falcon] (along with his Back Aerial, Down Smash, Wizard`s Foot, and the second hit of his Neutral Aerial)
• Wizard's Foot no longer enables a midair jump if one was used already, which significantly nerfs his recovery. The grounded Wizard's Foot was also significantly weakened, no longer being a reliable KO mover under 150% outside of edgeguarding.
• Considered to be the character most adversely affected by the removal of L-cancelling, which greatly reduced the utility of his powerful but laggy aerials that he relied upon in Melee.
• A reason for these huge nerfs is him no longer being a clone of Capt. Falcon (Rolls and movement speed are slower; D-Smash has much more ending lag, U-Air has less reach). Unlike Falco, who is the only other clone from Melee to reappear in Brawl, Ganondorf is still ranked lower than his original (on earlier tier lists, Ganondorf used to be ranked higher than Falcon).
• Overall a much weaker and significantly slower character.

Ice Climbers

• Smash attacks are weaker in knockback.
• The Ice Climbers are now easier to separate.
• Popo's hammer no longer has a meteor smash hitbox when the forward aerial is used, requiring Nana to be present for the forward aerial to meteor smash.
• Wobbling is no longer possible.
• The removal of wavedashing has significantly hindered the Ice Climbers' mobility and approach.

Jigglypuff

• Forward smash is weaker, and has less reach.
• All smashes are slower and have longer ending lag.
• Forward throw is no longer a KO throw.
• Jigglypuff now has the slowest dash speed in the game.
• Neutral aerial, up aerial, and most notably, its back aerial, were weakened.
• Rest was significantly weakened (though it can still KO under 100%).
• The reduced hitstun in Brawl greatly hindered Jigglypuff's combo ability, more so than other characters. Its wall of pain is also notably less effective.

Kirby

• Forward and back throws can no longer Kirbycide. His up throw can only Kirbycide on certain stages in very specific situations.
• Swallowcide now KOs Kirby and his victim at the same time, no longer allowing Kirby to escape after the opponent is KO'd.
• Fewer frames were given in Final Cutter's turn around.
• Kirby now becomes helpless when pushed off a ledge just before the end of Final Cutter's landing animation.

Link

• Air speed was significantly reduced.
• Rapid sword jab in neutral attack removed.
• Grab reach was reduced.
• Grounded Spin Attack can no longer semi-spike, whereas it could in the NTSC version of Melee. Additionally, it can no longer act as a reliable KO move on the ground unless charged. Aerial Spin Attack gains significantly less horizontal distance, and has a greater reliance upon momentum, whereas Link will gain nearly no horizontal distance at all if Link uses it without momentum towards the direction Spin Attack is used.
• Significant nerf in recovery, due to lower airspeed, poorer recovery capabilities of Spin Attack, and the lack of the ability to wall-grapple.
• His Boomerang, replaced with Gale Boomerang, has reduced range and speed, and doesn't have a damaging hitbox when returning (instead it pulls opponent with it).
• Aerial approach is significantly poorer, due to the removal of L-cancelling and reduced air speed.

Luigi

• Forward and down aerials are significantly weaker, both no longer being reliable KO moves under 150%.
• Fireballs travel a shorter distance.
• Green Missile travels a shorter distance, making it less useful as a recovery move. Additionally, it now has ending lag if Luigi runs into a wall.
• Super Jump Punch has increased landing lag, making it more punishable.
• The removal of wavedashing has significantly reduced Luigi's mobility, and made approaching significantly more difficult.

Mario

• The power and reach of many of his attacks have been slightly decreased.
• Forward smash has a larger sourspot hitbox.
• Back throw was weakened significantly.
• Neutral aerial is weaker.
• Forward aerial now needs to be sweetspotted to meteor smash. The meteor smash is weaker.
• Fireballs travel a shorter distance.
• Opponents being able to grab the ledge from behind in Brawl has reduced Cape's effectiveness as an edgeguard tool.
• Super Jump Punch has significantly increased landing lag.
• Mario Tornado being replaced with F.L.U.D.D. has greatly reduced Mario's recovery potential.

Marth

• Dashing speed has been reduced.
• A shorter sword has resulted in a general decrease in the reach of Marth's attacks.
• Sweetspot of sword ("tipper" hitbox) was reduced in size for most attacks, particularly in his down aerial.
• Neutral attack is slower.
• Tippered down smash and up tilt are weaker.
• Grab reach was reduced.
• Down aerial's sweetspot was reduced, and it is now a meteor smash whereas it was a spike in the NTSC of Melee, making it significantly less effective for edgeguarding.
• Shield Breaker being a stab instead of an overhead swing has removed its vertical reach, and greatly reduced its effectiveness at edge guarding.
• Dancing Blade is less effective at extending Marth's recovery.
• The removal of wavedashing has resulted in approaching being more difficult for Marth.

Mr. Game & Watch

• Down tilt is significantly weaker, no longer being a reliable KO move under 150%.
• New neutral aerial is significantly weaker knockback wise, and is not a KO option.
• Up aerial now has a push effect, making it more difficult to land the second, more powerful hitbox.
• Significant reduction of Oil Panic's maximum damage, being reduced from 200% to 60%.
• Only one food item appears from Judge when Mr. Game & Watch draws a 7, limiting damage healed.

Ness

• Forward smash is slightly slower.
• Up aerial has less reach with a smaller hitbox.
• 10 extra frames were added onto his grab release animation, making him vulnerable to chain grab releases.
• PK Flash is less controllable in horizontal direction, has a smaller hitbox, and doesn't activate automatically once it hits the ground (instead the move cancels out).
• Ness can no longer double jump cancel, reducing his approach and combo options.

Peach

• Substantially reduced air speed.
• Midair jumping height was significantly decreased.
• Down smash is drastically weaker. The removal of crouch cancelling has also greatly reduced its effectiveness. It is considered to have went from being the best down smash to one of the worst, and to be the most severely nerfed attack in the series.
• Forward throw is significantly weaker, no longer being a KO option.
• "Stitchface" Vegetable is significantly weaker (could KO at 72% in Melee, but can't KO until 130% unless it is used for edgeguard for a KO at low percentage in Brawl).
• Peach can no longer double jump cancel, impairing her approach and combo options.

Pikachu

• Forward smash is weaker, especially its non-sweetspot hitboxes.
• Up smash was significantly weakened (went from being the strongest up smash to the 25th strongest).
• Up aerial deals less knockback and can no longer semi-spike.

Samus

• Projectile game and finishers were weakened in general.
• Forward smash was been drastically weakened (can no longer KO under 150% like it did in Melee).
• Neutral aerial was drastically weakened (went from being the second strongest sex kick to one of the weakest).
• Charge Shot was significantly weakened (could KO under 80% in Melee, but can't KO reliably under 125% in Brawl).
• Down aerial has been weakened (went from among the more powerful meteor smashes in Melee to just average strength in Brawl).
• Firing Smash Missiles has longer start-up and ending lag, the missiles travel more slowly, and are drastically weaker (they could KO under 150% in Melee, but will not KO at realistic percentages in Brawl, like 300%).
• Bombs are less effective for recovery, and no longer explode when in contact with opponents (only after their internal timer is finished).
• Removal of wall grapple has reduced Samus' recovery capabilities.
• Dash attack has been weakened.
• Up tilt is slower and weaker.
• Overall a much weaker and slightly slower character.

Sheik

• Up smash is much weaker, especially its sourspot hitbox. The sourspot hitbox also has a less favorable diagonal trajectory rather than a vertical trajectory.
• Down throw is incapable of chain throwing.
• All of her aerials were weakened, especially her forward aerial.
• Down aerial is a stall-then-fall aerial, and has increased landing lag.
• Sheik sustains more knockback in Brawl. She only slightly outlasts Zelda vertically, and she is outlasted by Zelda when knocked back horizontally.

Yoshi

• Forward and up smashes were slightly weakened.
• Down smash was weakened significantly, and has increased start-up and ending lag.
• Forward aerial now needs to be sweetspotted to meteor smash, and it is much weaker (it is an average meteor smash in terms of power in Brawl, while it was the second strongest meteor smash in Melee). Additionally, 4 extra frames was added to its start-up lag.
• Down aerial's damage potential was significantly reduced, with its max damage potential of 53% being reduced to 35% (however, it is still the most damaging aerial attack).
• Eggs from Egg Toss are weaker, and can no longer be tossed backwards.
• Yoshi Bomb was weakened.
• Yoshi can no longer double jump cancel, reducing his approach and combo options.
• Yoshi can be hit out of his midair jump if he takes enough knockback, as it no longer has complete super armor.
• Egg Roll now gains very little horizontal distance when used aerially.

Zelda

• Sourspotted forward and back aerials are significantly weaker, dealing only 4% in Brawl as opposed to 10% in Melee.
• Up aerial has a significantly smaller hitbox.
• Transform takes a much longer time to complete.

See also

• Buff