Super Smash Bros. 4

Marth (SSB4)

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This article is about Marth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Marth.
Marth
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Marth
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Other playable appearances in Melee
in Brawl

Availability Starter
Final Smash Critical Hit
Marth (SSB4)

Marth (マルス, Marth) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was announced on the official website on November 7th, 2013. Years before, four Fire Emblem games were released on November 3, November 4, and November 11. Visually, Marth's appearance has been updated to closely match his attire from Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, Heroes of Light and Shadow[1] as opposed to his design from Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, which was used in Melee and Brawl.

He has been significantly nerfed between Brawl and Smash 4, having fewer reliable finishing options and slower moves.

Changes from Brawl

Despite receiving a small amount of buffs, Marth was overwhelmingly nerfed in his transition from Brawl to SSB4, likely due to his previous dominance in Melee and Brawl. His sword is shorter and many of his staple moves, most notably forward air and down tilt, have added endlag, weakening his ability to control space effectively. Due to his slower movement and the aforementioned nerfs to his reach and endlag, his neutral game, particularly his approaches, is considerably worse than in his previous appearances. Additionally, Marth's attacks are overall less rewarding on hit; he is worse at KOing, and the added endlag to his moves hinders follow-ups. His grabs also launch enemies farther but were not given KOing ability to compensate, severely limiting direct grab follow-ups, as well as hindering his ability to put opponents in unsafe positions. [2]

Aesthetics

  • Change Marth's attack trails are much brighter at the tip, making the sweetspot of his attacks more visible than in previous games.

Attributes

  • Change Marth is slightly heavier than in Brawl.
  • Nerf The change in units of distance grant Marth more disjoint relative to his hurtboxes but since the change affects the entire cast, Marth ends up having less reach overall relative to the reach of other characters. Additionally, the sizes of his hitboxes have been reduced. Overall, Marth's moves are less safe than they were in previous games.

Ground attacks

  • Nerf Up tilt, down tilt (base hitbox), dash attack (except base hitbox), forward smash, down smash (except tipped back hit), up smash (except tipped) all deal less damage than in Brawl.
  • Nerf Down tilt has more ending lag.
  • Buff Back hit of sweet-spotted down smash is stronger. It also deals slightly more damage.
  • Nerf Front hit of down smash is weaker, especially the sweetspot. Uncharged tipped down smash can no longer KOing until around 150%, while non-tipped can no longer KO reliably.

Aerial attacks

  • Nerf All aerials (except down aerial's meteor hitbox) deal less damage than in Brawl.
  • Nerf Neutral aerial now has 15 frames of endlag instead of 8.
  • Nerf Forward aerial now hits 2 frames slower and only lasts 3 frames instead of 4. Additionally it now has 18 frames of landing lag instead of 9. It is no longer interuptable at frame 34, meaning Marth can no longer do another aerial after a short hop forward air.
  • Buff Back aerial has slightly less ending lag.
  • Buff Down aerial has less landing lag.
  • Nerf Down aerial's sweetspot only lasts 1 frame; it no longer meteor smashes unless the tipper hits in the middle of the swing arc, making it even harder to hit confirm into the meteor smash. The hitboxes that used to meteor now send foes sideways with moderate knockback and deal slightly less damage (13%, down from 14%). Also, it has significantly slower start-up lag. This harms his ability to approach with his down air.
  • Change Down aerial's animation from both Melee and Brawl is different, as Marth instead swipes outward from the back instead of his front, essentially flipping its animation around from the previous two games.

Throws/other attacks

  • Nerf Marth's grab range has been reduced.
  • Nerf All throws have significantly more base knockback, which lessens Marth's follow-up options after a grab.
  • Buff Up throw is strengthened, to the point where it can now KO lightweights at around 130%.
  • Change Down throw sends foes at an upwards trajectory, which can give some new follow-up options at low percents, but it removes Marth's ability to tech-chase.

Special moves

  • Buff Shield Breaker deals more shield damage. It also now gives Marth a horizontal boost when used in the air, regardless of whether it is charged or not[3], aiding Marth's recovery.
  • Buff Downward Dancing Blade deals slightly more damage.
  • Nerf Dancing Blade has more ending lag.
  • Nerf Dolphin Slash is significantly weaker, especially the sweetspot, no longer reliably KOing until around 150%. It also completely lost its invincibility frames, worsening its use as an out of shield option and disallowing Marth to escape most combos.
  • Buff Counter is strengthened, being able to KO reliably off of strong countered attacks at very low percentages.

Moveset

For simplicity, if, for example, Marth's blade does 4% damage while the tip does 6%, and the attack has no other hitboxes, it is written as 4%/6%.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   4%/6% Does two slashes in front of himself.
4%/6%
Forward tilt   9%/12% A fast forward leaning sword swipe upward.
Up tilt   6% (blade), 5% (body), 9% (tip) Swings his sword in a large arc above his head, with a large hitbox that can hit enemies behind him.
Down tilt   7%/10% A quick crouching sword poke.
Dash attack   10% (blade), 9% (body), 12% (tip) A quick upward sweeping diagonal slash.
Forward smash   13%/18% Rotates body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like one-handed swing from his head to the ground.
Up smash Justice Sword 3% (ground), 13% (blade), 18% (tip) A quick, direct upward thrust. The weak grounded hit can knock nearby opponents into the main attack.
Down smash   8%/12% (hit 1), 12%/17% (hit 2) Sweeps his sword on the ground toward the front outward then toward the back inward.
Neutral aerial   2%/3% (hit 1), 6%/8% (hit 2) Two horizontal slashes around himself via in inward slash followed into a full 360 outward spin.
Forward aerial   7%/10% Does a forward vertical slash (up to down).
Back aerial   9%/12% Slashes his sword from bottom to top behind him in an inward swipe. Has the interesting property of turning Marth around, changing facing direction.
Up aerial   9%/12% A forward to back upward sword slash in a delayed somersault.
Down aerial   11% (blade), 13% (non-meteor tip), 14% (meteor tip) A forward to back downward outward sword slash. If the tipper hits in the middle of the swinging arc, it sends opponents downwards, meteor smashing powerfully. Other hitboxes when tipped results in moderate knockback. High ending and landing lag.
Grab   Grabs the enemy with his left hand.
Pummel   2% Knees the enemy.
Forward throw   4% Grabs and pushes forward, tripping with his leg.
Back throw   4% Pulls and throws the enemy and extends his leg simultaneously.
Up throw   4% Powerful upward throw with one arm. Can KO at very high percentages.
Down throw   5% Throws opponent downwards bouncing them upwards. Primary follow-up throw.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7%
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7%
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5%
Edge attack
Edge getups
  7%
Neutral special Default Shield Breaker 8%/9% (uncharged), 22%/24% (fully charged) A sword stab that deals high amounts of shield damage.
Custom 1 Storm Thrust 4% (uncharged), 11% (fully charged) Produces a blast of wind.
Custom 2 Assault Dash 6%/5%/3% (ground uncharged early/mid/late), 7%/6%/4% (air uncharged early/mid/late), 16%/13%/9% (ground fully charged early/mid/late), 17%/14%/10% (air fully charged early/mid/late) Deals less damage, but propels Marth forwards.
Side special Default Dancing Blade 3%/4% (parts 1-2), 4%/5% (part 3 up/side), 3%/4% (part 3 down), 6%/8% (part 4 up), 5%/7% (part 4 side), 2% (part 4 down hits 1-4), 4%/6% (part 4 hit 5) A sequence of sword maneuvers with several variations based on control stick tilts.
Custom 1 Effortless Blade 2%/3% (parts 1-3), 4%/5% (part 4) Makes the hits easier to link, but can only use the side option.
Custom 2 Heavy Blade 7%/9% (part 1), 9%/11% (part 2), 10%/12% (part 3), 13%/15% (part 4 up), 14%/16% (part 4 side), 2.2% (part 4 down hits 1-4), 11%/13% (part 4 down hit 5) Makes the hits harder to link, but deals more damage.
Up special Default Dolphin Slash 11% (clean), 7% (late blade), 6% (late body) A super-fast jumping slash that can be reversed.
Custom 1 Crescent Slash 7% (clean), 12% (late blade), 6% (late body) More horizontal distance, less vertical distance.
Custom 2 Dolphin Jump 0% Jumps higher, deals no damage.
Down special Default Counter 1.2x (min 8%) Blocks and retaliates against incoming attacks.
Custom 1 Easy Counter 0.7x (min 4%) Deals less damage, but has a wider trigger window.
Custom 2 Iai Counter 1.3x (min 6%) Deals more damage, knocks opponents backwards, and activates faster. However, it has a narrower trigger window.
Final Smash Critical Hit 60% Marth lunges in one direction, attacking the first opponent. Immense knockback, enough to one-hit KO any character.

Alternate costumes

Marth Palette (SSB4).png
Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4) Marth (SSB4)

Trophy

Marth has two trophies in Smash 4. One is a trophy of his official artwork for the game by clearing the Classic Mode, and the other is a trophy of his gold and orange alternate palette by clearing the All-Star mode in the 3DS version. Plus a trophy of his white alternate palette can be obtained after clearing the Classic Mode and purchasing it at the Trophy shop in the Wii U version.

Marth
NA: The first hero from the Fire Emblem series, Marth is the prince of Altea and descendant of the hero Anri. In Smash Bros., he's known as an exceptional swordfighter, swinging his blade with grace. Striking with the tip will maximize the damage dealt. Teach aggressive foes a lesson with his strong Counter move.
PAL: Marth, the prince of Altea, is the hero of the first ever Fire Emblem game and its remake, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. In this game, his graceful sword skills are what set him apart. Strike with the tip of his blade to deal extra damage, and use his Counter skill to defend yourself, no matter which directions you're being attacked from.
Marth (Alt.)
Marth's side special Dancing Blade is a four-stage attack. Aim and time your strikes carefully! The tip of his sword does the most damage. For his up smash, Justice Sword, he thrusts his blade into the air. You can use it to block attacks from above and launch nearby foes.

Gallery

Trivia

  • Marth's cape bears the symbol of the Archanea nation.

References