Ice Climbers (SSBU)

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Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Ice Climber
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Iceberg

“	Back in the battle after a ten-year absence! There are two of them, so does that make them twice as strong as other fighters?	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

The Ice Climbers (アイスクライマー, Ice Climber) are playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were confirmed on June 12th, 2018. The Ice Climbers are classified as fighter #15.

The Ice Climbers are once again voiced by Sanae Kobayashi, with her portrayal from Brawl being repurposed for Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with the Ice Climbers being the 10th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Link or any character in his unlock tree, being the second character unlocked after King K. Rool.
• Have the Ice Climbers join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, the Ice Climbers must then be defeated on Summit.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Aesthetics

• Both Ice Climbers always face the screen regardless which direction either of them turn, making both their stances mirrored.
• The Ice Climbers gain additional detail due to the game's graphical improvements. The duo now wear coats with detailed furry lining, and their boots and hammers are covered in powdered snow. They have slightly smaller heads, and the proportions of their facial features and bodies have also been adjusted.
• Like other fighters, Nana is more expressive than ever before. She cheers Popo on when he throws an opponent, and panics in place when he is grabbed or stunned. Popo will do the same if the roles are reversed.
• Either Ice Climber now hangs onto the ledge with one hand instead of two.
• Sidestep animation has been altered, showing them resting their hammers on their shoulder while looking back.
• The Ice Climbers have a new idle pose of them turning to look behind themselves. It replaces the animation of them dropping their hammers then lifting them back up.
• Their victory theme has been shortened to only contain the second half.

Attributes

• Like all characters, both of the Ice Climbers' jumpsquat animations now take three frames to complete (down from 4).
• The Ice Climbers dash faster.
• Nana is now faster than Popo. This helps her keep up with him if the two are separated.
  • This makes desyncing slightly more difficult.
• The removal of chain grabbing harshly reduces the Ice Climbers' damage racking and KO abilities.
• The duration enemies are frozen from the Ice Climbers' ice attacks are much longer, allowing for easier unavoidable followups at high percentages. At very high percentages, it can even freeze them long enough to be unable to recover from near the ledge.
• Ice Climbers arguably benefit the most from the reintroduction of wavedashing because of their very low traction, significantly increasing their approach and mobility, as well as giving them more mixups with grabbing and attacking opponents.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack does more damage.
  • Second hit of neutral attack has more ending lag (FAF 20 → 30).
• Down tilt is able to edgeguard easier.
• Forward smash has less startup.
• Down smash is now a sweep that hits one side. The partner will use the same attack facing the other way.
• Down smash covers more horizontal ground when together.
• Down smash only hits on one side when solo.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag.
• The partner's back aerial and down aerial deal slightly more damage.
• Ice Climbers have a new up aerial: an upwards hammer swing in a horizontal arc. Compared to the old up aerial, it provides much more horizontal range and hits in front of them, covering them more efficiently than before.
  • Up aerial has more startup (frame 6 → 7) and ending lag (FAF 30 → 36), and has less active frames (frames 6-23 → 7-11) compared to the previous one.

Throws/other attacks

• Nana cannot act while Popo is held by an opponent's grab, and enters a panicking animation instead.
• Nana is unable to grab at all, and will taunt during Popo's throw. These changes prevent chain grabs and locks the Ice Climbers were infamous for in previous titles.
  • If Nana is still in midair in the above situations, she can act, but it is unknown to what extent.
• Back throw does more damage.
• Down throw now has Popo grab the opponent with both hands, lift them up in the air, and slam them on the ground.

Special Moves

• Ice Shot now damages the Ice Climbers when it's reflected back by a normal attack.
• Squall Hammer now ends with a strong hit that deals high upward knockback after the initial spin if Popo and Nana perform the move in sync. Performing the move solo ends with a weaker hit that deals mild diagonal damage and knockback. The move also now grants recovery distance even if only one Ice Climber is present.
• Desynced Squall Hammer can be used to trap opponents between both Ice Climbers.
• Squall Hammer now makes a twinkling sound effect when used.
• Nana's hitbox on Belay can be out prioritized. If it is, then Popo will rise no higher than when he does this move solo.
• Belay now has unique sound effects once used rather than their regular jump sound, presumably taken from their original game Ice Climber.
• Both Ice Climbers aim Blizzard forwards on the ground, similarly to their aerial version in previous games. This increases damage output, but means that Blizzard can no longer hit opponents behind them.
• Iceberg now spins and features a teetering Polar Bear as an aesthetic element. During the move, a Condor will circle around the top of the screen, which the lead Ice Climber can grab onto.
• When paired, the Ice Climbers no longer make a "clapping" sound upon activating Iceberg.
• Iceberg lasts a shorter duration. This makes it less threatening to opponents, but also makes it less likely to lose Nana.
• Iceberg can now be moved across the stage.

Classic Mode: Duos for Days

The Ice Climbers fight two characters from a given universe in each stage.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Link and Zelda	Great Plateau Tower	Main Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2	Ryu and Ken	Suzaku Castle	Ryu Stage
3	Villager and Isabelle	Smashville	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World (Brawl)
4	Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong	Jungle Japes	Jungle Level (Melee)
5	Pit and Palutena	Palutena's Temple	Title Theme - Kid Icarus
6	Mario and Peach	Princess Peach's Castle	Main Theme - New Super Mario Bros.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	?

Role in World of Light

Although the Ice Climbers do not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, they were vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Alternate costumes

Nana becomes the leading, player-controlled character when using the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th costumes shown below. The stock icons and character select portraits change to reflect this.

File:Ice Climber Palette (SSBU).png

Gallery

• 

  Ice Climbers' amiibo.

• 

  Ice Climbers' fighter card.

• 

  Ice Climbers on Magicant.

• 

  Attacking a Metroid with Blizzard on Final Destination.

• 

  Nana grabbed by the Arcade Bunny's claw on Wii Fit Studio.

• 

  Striking Captain Falcon with Squall Hammer on Summit.

• 

  Popo performing his forward smash on Kongo Falls.

• 

  Performing Squall Hammer on Spirit Train.

• 

  Taunting on Skyloft.

• 

  With Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Pit, Villager and Inkling on Battlefield.

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• One of the Ice Climber's preview pictures show them using Blizzard against a Metroid, referencing the species' weakness to cold in the Metroid series.