Zero Suit Samus (SSBB)

Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Metroid
Alternate form	Samus
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Power Suit Samus
Tier	C (10)

Zero Suit Samus (ゼロスーツサムス, Zero Sūtsu Samusu), often abbreviated as ZSS, 0SS, or Zamus, is a character that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Zero Suit Samus lacks stamina compared to when she is in her suit, but is faster. She uses a gun known as the Paralyzer, which can be converted into a Plasma Whip. The Plasma Whip can be used for a tether recovery, similar to her Grapple Beam while in the power suit. The only two games in which Zero Suit Samus is playable are Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid: Other M. While Samus is without her power suit in this game, her only form of attack is the paralyzer pistol, which does nothing but shoot paralyzing shots. The idea of a whip coming out of it was created for use in Brawl. Zero Suit Samus is voiced by Alésia Glidewell, who also voices Krystal from Star Fox and the Assist Trophy Knuckle Joe.

The impact from Samus's Final Smash is enough to remove her Power Suit, transforming her into Zero Suit Samus. Zero Suit Samus is able to transform back into normal Samus by using her Final Smash, which causes her to get her suit back while performing a move similar to the Crystal Flash from Super Metroid.

Zero Suit Samus ranks 9th in the B Tier on the current Brawl tier list; she has an amazing aerial and juggle game, great spacing tools in Plasma Whip and her down smash (which, because of its hitstun, can easily be followed by another attack), high vertical aerial mobility, and some of the game's most versatile recovery options. However, her defensive game is poor, lacking safe options on shield (attacking out of shield is situational, making herself prone to heavy shield pressure), and despite her rather good air game, she lacks options for enemies below her, which creates a weakness to long range hitstun-inducing projectiles from the likes of Pit, Falco, and Sheik. Zero Suit Samus is also reliant on tether recoveries, though her down special can counter this. This leads to rather average to above-average matchups across the board, but this also causes Zero Suit Samus to suffer against higher tiered characters.

Transforming from Samus to Zero Suit Samus

Midplay

Samus can remove her Power Suit while in battle by doing the up taunt, down taunt, and up taunt in quick succession. It appears to be rather difficult to achieve, as DOJO!! states, "It's not easy [...] Try it out next time you feel like showing off."

However, the best way to do this is by placing both thumbs over the up and down directions on the D-pad (1 and 2 buttons on the Wii remote + Nunchuk), and press them alternately in quick succession.

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Brawl

By choosing Samus and holding a certain button on the controller when the character selection is concluded (i.e. start is pressed on the character selection screen), one can play as Zero Suit Samus from the start of the match.

• GameCube/Classic controller: L or R button.
• Wii Remote and Nunchuk: Z button.
• Wii Remote: Minus (-) button.

To select Zero Suit Samus as a CPU opponent, there must be a controller connected to the slot of the respective CPU opponent. Then, in that controller, the right button needs to be held in the same fashion.

After the character selection is concluded, there is no longer need to hold the button. One can confirm that Zero Suit Samus has been chosen by her face on the top-left corner on the stage selection screen. In Wi-Fi, the characters' faces don't appear, but Zero Suit Samus can still be selected normally.

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Adventure Mode

After Samus regains her power suit during the Subspace Emissary, Zero Suit Samus can still be selected by highlighting Samus on the character select screen and pressing the following buttons:

• GameCube Controller: Moving the C-Stick in any direction.
• Classic controller: Moving the Right Stick in any direction.
• Wii Remote with Nunchuk: Pressing the C button.
• Wii Remote: Pressing the Minus (-) button.

This technique can also be used to select an alternate form during tournament mode, and works for all other multi-form characters in addition to Samus.

Attributes

File:E3zss.PNG

Zero Suit Samus, as seen in the first trailer for Brawl at E3 2006.

Zero Suit Samus is a fast and strong, but lightweight and tall character. She starts the match with a huge advantage over most characters in that she has readily throw-able projectiles that are extremely powerful and combo well with her glide toss. She can dash quickly, crawl, wall jump (but has poor air speed), combined with one of the highest initial jump and second jump, allowing her to reach characters that are higher. Many of her attacks have the advantage of coming out fast, and can combo most heavy weights with her aerials very easily.

Her side special has a huge sweetspot at the end (one of the biggest in the game, second to Zelda's side special) and the sour spot has the ability to push the opponent into the sweet spot, effectively KOing most characters around 110% if it's not stale. Her down smash has deceptively long range, and sets up many combos, as well as KOing ones. Zero Suit Samus is unique in the fact that many of her moves have large hit boxes and easy to hit sweet spots, this can devastate opponents as they are dealt a barrage of aerials and fast ground attacks. Her up smash is excellent because it has fast start-up and its great to stop incoming opponents from above and puts them in good position for juggling.

Another great KO'ing move is her up aerial, a very fast flip kick that can KO as low as 90% if opponent is near the upper blast line and a very large sweetspot for such a powerful move. Both of her high jumps compliment this strategy. It is most often used to combo with a down throw or an up smash. She also has 3 meteor smashes, her flip jump kick, if hit when she sticks her foot out, will spike opponents hard (even without doing this, the kick is still very powerful and can KO most characters at fairly moderate damage percentages with strong horizontal knockback), her up special, if hit at the tip, will meteor smash anyone it hits and her down aerial (although this is an unreliable spike). Both of these can be used for any situation, making her KO options very wide.

Zero Suit Samus, if mastered, is extremely dangerous and many characters can find themselves down a stock or worse if they aren't careful. However, Zero Suit Samus is a light character. Her attacks and combos require a lot of precision which makes her a difficult character to learn and play effectively. The stale move negation can complicate her to get a KO, although she has enough KO moves and good edgeguarding skills to prevent that to happen. All of her tilts are quick, with decent range, and have the added bonus of launching her opponents into the air. She has a situational though passable out of shield game (making herself prone to heavy shield pressure). Her aerial game is powerful with lethal kicks and long-ranged attacks, but her very high short hop makes approaches with aerials difficult. Her projectile, the Paralyzer, can set opponents up for KO's and does a little bit of damage. However, it's slow and needs to be charged up to go far. Her tether grab has incredible range (tied with Olimar´s Red Pikmin, only losing to White and Blue Pikmin, although her grab possesses the longest range in aerial opponents), but it leaves her vulnerable if it misses which is dangerous for a such light character. Her smashes compliment her perfectly. Her up and down smashes are useful for their range and priority. The down smash is perfect for set up KO's, and the up smash makes for an excellent launcher, and can stop opponents' midair combos, while her side smash is quite weak, in terms of damage and power, with high ending lag and considerable start-up lag, but with good range. In terms of recovery, she can use her Plasma Wire and Whip as a tether recovery, but it can be stopped by edge-hogging, although due her air speed and second jump being fairly high and combining with flip jump she can usually come back to the stage without relying on her tether.

Moveset

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack - Palm strike, pistol whip, hip thrust. Hits for 2%, 2%, 3%, respectively, for a total of 7% damage. First hit out on frame 1, being one of the fastest moves in the game. The third hit its easily powershield, although the jab is inescapable in aerial opponents.
• Dash attack - Similar in appearance to Fox's dash attack. Leaps off of the ground, leg extended horizontally, traveling forward a bit. Hitbox out on frame 6. Can easily be followed with tilts at low to mid percentages, and can lock if buffered properly. Does 7%.
• Forward tilt - An around-the-body kick 45 degrees from horizontal (when tilted upward). Can also be angled closer to horizontal (with forward held) or a quick, short ranged low leg sweep (when tilted down). At low percentages, it can make opponents trip if tilted down. However, at mid-high percentages, angle upward or forward will make tripping more often. Very low knockback. Has a start-up of 6 frames. Does 6% damage.
• Down tilt - Similar in appearance to Sheik's down tilt, a prone leg-sweep. Knocks upwards from afar, knocks diagonally at close range. Hits on frame 5. Can combine with other attacks well. Does 6% damage.
• Up tilt - Does handstand-splits while spinning in place, legs moving up vertically. Two hits for 5% then 6% damage, totaling 11%. Pretty good knockback at higher percentages, and at low percentages it sets up combos well. Has a start-up of 3 frames. Replaces her down smash as a semi-effective means of hitting opponents on both sides. Good out-of-shield move, although it is situational.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash - Lashes forward with the whip. Good disjointed range, but poor knockback for a side smash, and high starting and ending lag. Hits slightly behind her as well. Inflicts 10%-14% damage in front, does 6% behind. Easily punished if shielded due its high landing lag. Hits on frame 20.
• Down smash - Aims down and shoots paralyzer gun at the ground in front of her, creating a lightning effect. Only hits in front. Low damage and delayed knockback, but stuns the target in place for a short time depending on the damage that the opponent has. Unique attack that can be followed up by a side smash, a grab or another move. Double down smash followed by up smash (or whatever is appropriate at the time, like a aerial) is an effective combo. Does 11-15%. Also moves Zero Suit Samus forward a little. Can infinite Fox at mid percentages and other fast fallers to a lesser extent. Hitbox out on frame 20.
• Up smash - Samus spins, extending the Plasma whip up above her head in a swirl. Hits multiple times, long vertical disjointed range and decent horizontal range, and fast start-up (8 frames). Only the tip of the plasma whip does knockback (which is very low). Its easy to SDI out of it before the last hit connect. Inflicts 12-16% damage if all hits connected.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Samus spins the whip around her body. Fairly long range, but with below average knockback. Always deals 10% damage, regardless of decay, and does not refresh decay on other moves. Hits on frame 6.
• Forward aerial - Two forward kicks, each slightly faster and only slightly weaker than Samus's back aerial. The second kick is stronger than the first. Does 6% then 11% damage, total of 17%. Because of the knockback of the first kick, it is difficult to hit with both kicks unless taking advantage of upward and forward momentum from a jump. Second kick can be landed without first kick, but it requires correct timing. First hit on frame 6, second hit on frame 16.
• Back aerial - Backward kick, similar in appearance to Samus's back aerial, but is a bit faster and has a larger hitbox. Good for shield pressure. High knockback. Can baits, traps, combos into itself at low percent (against large characters), autocancel, buffed out of a shorthop, use twice before landing, and KO at high percentage. Has a disjointed hitbox. Does 13% worth damage. Hitbox out on frame 8.
• Up aerial - Flip kicks both legs above her head. KO potential on lighter characters at 90% if they are near the upper blast line. Does 10% sweetspotted, 7% otherwise. Sweetspot is directly in front of Samus. Hitbox out on frame 4. At low percentages, it can chain itself, like Meta Knight´s up aerial, being a good juggling move. Hits slightly behind her too with low knockback, good for setting up back aerials or uptilts if one hits in the ground.
• Down aerial - A stall-then-fall. Samus stalls momentarily in midair, and then shoots down diagonally (similar to Sonic or Sheik's down aerials). If it hits in midair, the first hit knocks the target into the second hit. Upon hitting the ground, it hits a second time, knocking anyone close away a fair bit. Like most stall-then-fall moves, this can be used to cancel some vertical knockback if used while being knocked back. This move can meteor smash, but it is very dangerous when not over land as it will not stop until it is used at very high altitudes, similar to Toon Link's down aerial, although, unlike Toon Link´s move, it will always meteor smash. This creates problems because it is easy to SD with this move. However if Samus is hit by her opponent's recovery attack move in the midair and the opponent is hit by her down aerial meteor smash at high percentage (around 130%), this attack will end, making it more useful to prevent SD, which is difficult. It also has very high ending lag like most stall-then-falls and is easily punishable. Does 4% on contact, 5% landing, total of 9% damage possible. Extremely fast vertical descent speed makes for an effective solution to her falling speed. Start-up of 14 frames.

Grabs and throws

Coincidently, every Zero Suit Samus throw does two hits.

• Grab: Reaches forward with Plasma Whip. Very long range, especially her pivot grab, but is extremely laggy if misses. All of Zero Suit Samus's grabs have a start-up of 16 frames. The longest grab tether in aerial opponents.
• Pummel: Knees her victim. A fairly fast pummel. Does 2% each hit.
• Forward throw: Hits opponent forward with gun. Deals 2% then 7% damage, total of 9%. Can chain grab most characters at low percentages.
• Back throw: Kicks opponent. Deals 2% damage then 4%, inflicting a total of 6%. Extremely low knockback.
• Down throw: Slams opponent on ground and then axe kicks them. Deals 2% then 5%, total of 7% damage. Ideal for combos.
• Up throw: Flips into the air and kicks the opponent. Deals 2% then 8% damage, total of 10% worth damage. This is Zero Suit Samus most powerful throw knockback wise, being the only one capable of guaranteed a KO on Sudden Death.

Special moves

Zero Suit Samus's special moves

Neutral special	Paralyzer
Side special	Plasma Whip
Up special	Plasma Wire	Boost Kick
Down special	Flip Jump
Final Smash	Power Suit Samus	Gunship	Zero Laser

Taunts

Zero Suit Samus, Falco, Peach, Pikachu and Meta Knight are the only five characters with speaking parts in all three of their taunts.

• Up: Throws her gun into the air, spins and catches it behind her and says "Is that all?".
• Side: Activates her whip, flicks it and says "Try me".
• Down: Samus spins multiple times quickly on one foot, twirling her plasma whip around her like a rhythmic gymnast and says, "You're mine".

Idle poses

• Checking her Paralyzer
• Stands straightly with Paralyzer besides her head, then looks around

Brawl Manual Description

Samus in her unarmored form. Her physical abilities far outclass standard humans.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in Subspace Emissary

Zero Suit Samus in the SSE

Zero Suit Samus is first seen breaking into the base of the Subspace Army. Soon she comes across Pikachu being drained of its electrical power. Samus uses her whip to break the container the Pikachu is being held in, summoning a security force of R.O.B.s. Later, she comes across her Power Suit, but is confronted by two Shadow Bug clones mimicking the Power Suit.

After reacquiring her Power Suit, Samus and her new companion Pikachu come across Ridley. He grabs Samus and starts to drag her against the wall, until Pikachu returns Samus' favor and uses Thunder on Ridley, causing him to drop Samus. An infuriated Ridley attacks. Once they defeat him, the duo exits the base and come across a cave.

Samus and Pikachu make their way to the Subspace Bomb Factory and find the Ancient Minister with the R.O.B. Squad. They prepare to fight, but then realize that he looks very sad. Soon, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Diddy and DK find the factory and enter. A hologram of Ganondorf appears and orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate the Subspace Bombs in the factory. The Ancient Minister tries to stop them, but is set on fire when Ganondorf orders them to retaliate. After The Ancient Minister is revealed to be a R.O.B. himself, the characters set out and all join the quest.

Samus helps fight Meta Ridley, flees the island, is defeated by Tabuu and revived by the others. She can help to defeat Tabuu in the end.

Exclusive Stickers

Since Samus and Zero Suit Samus share the same trophy base, there are some cases in which certain stickers will not affect one of them. Since Smash Balls don't appear in Adventure Mode, if one transforms into Zero Suit Samus, they will be unable to change back until the end of the level (or, in The Great Maze, a save point). Aside from use of items, only Leg, Weapon, and Energy stickers will affect both characters.

On-Screen Appearance

Her Power Suit falls off as she stands up. Power Suit pieces can then be used as throwing items.

Victory Pose

Victory Theme: Metroid Power-Up Theme

• Side Kick flex, making the Screw Attack symbol.
• Backflips to the screen.
• Slashes with her energy whip and says "Hold still."

Credits Music

• Ending (Metroid)

Costumes

Zero Suit Samus's alternate costumes in SSBB

Trophy description

Zero Suit Samus's trophy in Brawl.

"Samus Aran without her mighty Power Suit. In this condition, she does not have the firepower she's famed for but is in full possession of the agility and athleticism she gained through her childhood training with the Chozo. Without the armor, she's also much, much faster. The weapon she carries is a self-protection device known as a Paralyzer that stops enemies cold."

• Metroid (Nintendo)
• Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance)

Cheer

"Zero Suit Sa-mus!"

Trivia

• Zero Suit Samus's grab, while a tether grab, is not a tether recovery. She shares this disability with Yoshi, Ivysaur, and Olimar.
• Samus is usually a silent protagonist in the Metroid series. However, Zero Suit Samus speaks in each of her taunts, and in one victory pose. She had previously never spoken outside of Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid: Zero Mission, and then only in text. Brawl is the first instance of Samus's dialogue being performed by a voice actor. Samus's only voice prior to Brawl was in the form of grunts and "pain" noises in the Metroid Prime series. However, she is not the first or only character in the Smash series to get a true voice. In the video game Metroid: Other M, Samus speaks and has dialogue provided by a voice actor.
• Zero Suit Samus's leg attacks make a slashing sound similar to a sword slicing attack. Examples of this are: up tilt, up aerial, and down tilt. Falco and Zelda attacks make the same sound in Melee, when using down tilt and forward tilt, respectively.
• Zero Suit Samus speaks English in the Japanese version of Brawl when taunting.
• Zero Suit Samus is the only character not to appear on the character selection screen.

External links

• Zero Suit Samus's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Zero Suit Samus Character Guide at SWF
• Zero Suit Samus's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice (part 2 of Samus's Moves)