Ice Climbers

Ice Climbers
File:Ics.PNG The in-game sprites of Popo and Nana from Ice Climber.
Universe	Ice Climber
Debut	Ice Climber (1985)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	NES Remix Pack (2014)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	Humans
Gender	Male (Popo) and female (Nana)
Place of origin	Infinite Glacier
Designed by	Tadashi Sugiyama
Japanese voice actor	Sanae Kobayashi

The Ice Climbers (アイス クライマー, Ice Climber) are the pair of playable protagonists from the game Ice Climber, released in the pre-Super Mario Bros. era of NES games. When playing a one player game, the player plays as Popo. When playing a two-player game in Ice Climber, player one plays as Popo, while player two plays as Nana. In both Melee and Brawl, certain color changes will make Nana the leading, player-controlled climber.

Despite not being displayed, the CPU-controlled Ice Climber in the Smash Bros. series does indeed have his or her own separate percentage or stamina counter. This alone results in the Ice Climbers' extremely high learning curve for both Smash Bros. games that they have appeared in, as players must ensure the safety of not one, but two characters at the same time. The payoff can be highly rewarding, however; they are placed near the top of most accepted tier lists.

Character description

Both of the Ice Climbers are small, young children. They both wield wooden mallets, which they use to whack enemies and break ice cubes. Both of them wear parkas; Popo's parka is blue while Nana's is pink. They can also be identified by the patch of hair exposed from their hoods.

The relationship between Popo and Nana is unknown and was not elaborated on in Ice Climber. As the two are said to be "rarely seen apart" in Melee, among the ideas thought up of by fans are that the two are siblings, friends, or even lovers. According to Nintendo, the nature of their relationship is up to the player's imagination; as a result, no hints to their relationship has been directly stated in any media. Melee offers some insight to the potential relationship to the two; a brief shot in the Opening of Melee features Nana and Popo high-fiving each other, with a small heart coming out from where their hands meet, and the Japanese title of Event 21: Ice Breaker roughly translating to "Be the jammer of their romance".

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Nana and Popo, as they appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee

The Ice Climbers made their debut appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series as a dual-controlled pair of fighters. They (as a singular entity) are one of the 14 (15 if Sheik is counted) default characters available from the start of the game. They are ranked 8th on the tier list, in the S tier.

They were selected over Balloon Fighter and Pit, among others, to be representatives of the Famicom/NES period in Nintendo's history.

Trophy

Ice Climbers
That's Popo in the blue and Nana in the pink. These two stars of the game Ice Climber have scaled many an icy summit in their mountaineering careers. Back in their glory days, they chased eggplants, cucumbers, and other vegetables that inexplicably fell from frosty summits when a condor reigned supreme. They're rarely seen apart.

• Ice Climber, 10/85 (NES)

• 

  Ice Climbers [Classic Mode] trophy

• 

  Ice Climbers [Ice Climbers, Adventure Mode] trophy

• 

  Ice Climbers [Ice Climbers, All-Star Mode] trophy

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Nana and Popo, as they appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The Ice Climbers still consist of Popo and Nana. They still fight as a pair with Nana following along. With Nana by the player's side, special moves in particular are better than just being Popo. Both Ice Climbers can now hang on a ledge at the same time and their down-special in the air is no longer an auto-freeze. The Ice Climbers' Final Smash, Iceberg, consists of a large iceberg taking up a large portion of the screen. It deals damage to, and eventually freezes, those on or near it. The character can switch between Popo or Nana as the leader of the duo based on which color of costume is chosen. The threat of the Ice Climbers' 0-death chain grabs puts them in 2nd on the Brawl tier list in S tier only behind Meta Knight.

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

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Ice Climbers' trophy in Super Smash Bros. 4

The Ice Climbers do not return as playable characters for Super Smash Bros. 4, though they do make a cameo as a collectable trophy. In a column for the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Sakurai claimed that technical limitations of the Nintendo 3DS prevented their inclusion; the two were reportedly difficult to implement on the system, and as the duo lacked the potential for a new game in their debut series, Sakurai intentionally gave the Ice Climbers a low priority on returning. While they were fully-functional on the Wii U, Sakurai decided to cut the characters in order to keep the playable roster between the games identical.

Trophy

Ice Climbers

This pair of adventurers starred in an action game released in 1985. Popo wears blue, and Nana wears red. The goal of their adventure was to reach the top of the mountain, collecting vegetables and defeating animals along the way. Grabbing the condor earned them a nice bonus too!

Popo (in blue) and Nana (in pink) are the daring adventurers from the two-player platformer Ice Climber, released in Europe in 1986. In that game, your goal is to head up a mountain, breaking blocks and taking out pesky critters along the way. When you get to the top, you can collect veg and grab on to the condor to get bonus points! Nice!

: Ice Climber (10/1985)

Trivia

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, the Ice Climbers appear to be left-handed, since they carry their hammers with their left hand and hold items in their right hand (just like Link in the Zelda series).
• Ice Climbers are the only characters to have been cut after appearing as playable in multiple Super Smash Bros. titles.
  • Additionally, the Ice Climbers and Snake are the only characters from single-character universes to get cut.
  • Nana is the only female to get cut, not including playable Pokémon with unconfirmed gender.
• Ice Climbers, Lucas (who returns as DLC with a new model), and Pokémon Trainer are the only cut veterans whose trophies in SSB4 use their models from the previous Smash Bros. game they were in.
• In Germany, Popo is named Pèpè, as "Popo" is a slang word for buttocks in German which, as a name, can also be an insult.
• Ice Climbers are one of two starter characters to be cut. The other being Pokémon Trainer.