Falco (SSBM)

Falco in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	S (2)

“	Where his leader, Fox, has blinding speed, Falco has his own distinct skills and advantages.	”
—Description from Falco's trophy.

Falco (ファルコ, Faruko) is a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is considered a clone of Fox, sharing many normal and special attacks.

Falco is currently ranked 2nd in the Melee tier list. Falco has many combo openers and the options to extend them, allowing him to easily chain together highly damaging strings of attacks that are hard to DI out of. Falco's down aerial spike is one of the most feared moves in the game, as it has almost no starting lag, can easily be comboed into, and can score very fast gimps on characters with bad recoveries as well as KO efficiently at rather low percentages. He also possesses very effective edgeguarding options, such as his back air, forward and down smashes, and his aforementioned down air. Falco, however, is not flawless; he suffers from an extremely high falling speed but very low horizontal air speed, making him extremely vulnerable to chaingrabs and combos, especially from characters such as Marth, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff. Additionally, he has one of the worst long-distance recoveries in the game, with both of his recovery options traveling extremely short distances. Regardless of these flaws, Falco's strengths greatly overwhelm his weakness and he has amazing matchups, lacking any negative ones (making him and Fox in Melee, Pikachu in Smash 64 and Meta Knight in Brawl the only characters with no negative matchups) and having only a handful that are considered even.

Unlocking

Players can unlock Falco by completing 100-Man Melee with any character within any time limit. Alternatively, players can take part in 300 VS. matches to unlock him.

When being fought, Falco will appear on Battlefield, with the music from Corneria playing.

Attributes

Falco falls into a similar character archetype as Fox: he possesses rather high speed to quickly overwhelm the opponent as well as a slew of effective finishers both on the ground and in the air. Contrary to what Falco's in-game trophy says, he does not sacrifice offensive power at all to gain increased jumping prowess; in fact, Falco seems to have gained even more options for KOs, attacks, and combos at a variety of percentages over Fox. Falco's attributes include high traction (giving Falco a somewhat short but quick wavedash), the highest falling speed in the game, and low air speed without momentum from his dash accounted for.

Falco's primary strength is his raw ability to KO without compromising too much speed or combo ability; many of Falco's KOing moves are very fast yet powerful with relatively low startup and ending lag. Falco's sliding forward smash covers a good distance, KOs easily at 90% and makes for a good edgeguard option. Falco's down smash is a powerful semi-spike that is also useful for edgeguarding. Falco's down tilt can KO some characters at as low as 90%; although it is a short ranged attack, it also comes out quickly. Falco's aerial KOing options are also highly varied; Falco's neutral and back aerial attacks are fast with high knockback and duration, and his down aerial is among the most feared attacks in the game; with no sourspot, high speed, spike properties, and a long duration, Falco can quickly and efficiently KO almost any character at low percentages if used correctly. A grounded down aerial can easily combo into a forward smash for yet another deadly KO option.

Falco's approach is also highly effective; with a very versatile projectile in his Blaster, Falco can perform the short hop laser technique, either as a pressure option or as a way to approach. Performing this technique close to opponents almost guarantees free grabs, smashes, or ways to start shine combos. Coupled with low-lag aerials, a short short hop and a high falling speed, Falco has among the best SHFFLs in the game, giving him an incredible aerial approach. On the ground, many of Falco's attacks, while short-ranged, pack good power and relatively low ending lag; despite a short wavedash and an average dashing speed, Falco can still use these two to his advantage, with them being integral to his superb combo ability.

Falco sacrifices a bit of his clone's speed for power, but still excels at performing devastating combos. Many of Falco's approach options also make for great combo starters as well. The core of Falco's combo ability lies in his good SHFFLs and ability to waveshine. Falco's primary form of comboing comes in the form of his pillar, which is notorious for wearing shields down quickly. Pillaring, in its most basic form, is simply chaining the upward vertical knockback of Falco's shine into the spiking hitboxes of his down aerial. To keep his moves fresh, Falco can combo into his other moves, most notably his down and up tilts, wavesmashes, his up throw, and his back and neutral aerials. Falco's down tilt and up throw are viable substitutes for his shine, while his up tilt racks up damage and segues directly into more shines. His smashes also rack up damage quickly but also make excellent KO options after enough beatings from the pillars have been dealt. Jump-canceled shines combo directly into back aerials and neutral aerials. Should the opponent DI close the ground, Falco can chase his opponents with multiple waveshines, depending on the direction. Falco can alternatively wear down shields by weaving back and forth with waveshining.

Additionally, Falco's grab and throw game is decent. Falco's grab range is above-average (tenth longest in the game), and his throws have multiple options; his down throw can potentially combo into a down tilt or start a shine combo, his up throw can start up aerial combos, and his forward and back throws can start edgeguards. However, although he can chain throw floaty characters with his forward throw, he lacks a reliable chain throw, his throws have poor damage output, and his down throw can be teched, leaving him vulnerable.

Falco's properties, however, also compose his weaknesses. Despite his high jumps and ability to wall jump, Falco's recovery is among the worst in the game; due to a low air speed and a high falling speed, Falco cannot maneuver effectively off-stage. His up special move, Fire Bird, is also short and easy to gimp; due to its linear nature, attacks such as Marth's Counter, Link's Spin Attack, and Mario's Cape can easily knock Falco away from the ledge when using the moves. Additionally, due to its inability to harm attackers while it charges, Falco is vulnerable to meteor smashes and spikes while using the move; with correct timing, opponents with reliable spikes, such as Marth or even another Falco, can easily gimp his recovery. As such, Falco is primarily reliant on his side special, Falco Phantasm to recover; however, even that doesn't travel a significant distance, and it still suffers from the linear problems of Fire Bird. To his merit, however, Falco can angle his Fire Bird in many different directions, and he can additionally shorten his Falco Phantasm to avoid going on stage and into the edge, mixing up his recovery options and leaving the opponent guessing.

Falco's high falling speed also makes him a target for chain throws, especially from characters such as Marth and Peach, though it also gives him the 3rd highest vertical endurance among Melee characters, despite being tied for being the 5th lightest character in the game (only Captain Falcon and Donkey Kong, two much heavier characters by comparison, surpass him in this regard). Falco, along with Fox, has the dubious distinction of having an entire combo named for KOing him easily simply due to his high falling speed (the space animal slayer).

Overall, Falco can be considered to be a slower, but more combo-heavy version of Fox; while his overall speed is only average among the other characters in the game, his attack speed remains very fast and he can easily land very damaging combos in a short amount of time, sometimes even leading to death for the other player if they cannot DI correctly. Combined with relatively safe approaches against nearly every character in the game, it is possible to make defending against Falco difficult, even at top-level play. Falco has many tools for offense and defense, so players should use his arsenal accordingly to gain the upper hand.

Similarities with Fox from Super Smash Bros.

It has been said that Falco's play-style in Melee is very similar to Fox's in Super Smash Bros. His special moves are arguably the most obvious. Below is the list of similarities:

• Both blasters are slower. They also cause hitstun.
• Both Firebird and Phantasm travel less distance, but are more likely to kill.
• Firebird can kill off the top at a reasonable percent, but does not have a hitbox while it is charging.
• Forward smashes are much stronger (Fox's in Smash 64 is a little stronger than Falco's in Melee).
• Down smashes have more semi-spike ability.
• Down tilts are close in damage (13% and 12%) and both produce decent vertical knockback, both being much stronger than Fox's down tilt in Melee.
• Up aerials are easier to sweetspot.

Differences with Fox

While Falco and Fox are considered clones, there are many differences between the two.

In general attributes, Falco has better jumping prowess than Fox, with his full jump being much higher than Fox's. Falco, however, moves more slowly on the ground, due to lower walking and running speeds. Falco is also slightly heavier than Fox, allowing him to survive slightly longer.

In standard attacks, Falco has a stronger forward smash, but a weaker up smash than Fox. His forward and down tilts are also stronger, but his up tilt is weaker than Fox's. Falco's down air lacks Fox's multi-hit properties, but it spikes considerably more powerfully than Fox's. Falco's up air is also easier to sweetspot and hit with, but it is weaker and better for juggling. Falco's back and down throws are also weaker than Fox's, in damage and knockback output, with the down throw being harder to meteor smash. Additionally, Falco's up throw does not combo as well as Fox's, with a followup often being dependent on the opponent's directional influence.

For special moves, Falco's Blaster is among the most drastic in differences; it fires more slowly, but it causes opponents to flinch, allowing for better combo setups and better capability at hindering an opponent's approach. Fox's Blaster's rapid fire capabilities, however, cause Fox to be able to fire two shots in one short hop, and makes it more effective for tacking on extra damage. Falco's Falco Phantasm also travels faster and it meteor smashes; Fox's Fox Illusion, however, travels farther. Fire Bird is stronger than Fire Fox, but its recovery distance is almost half of that of Fox's, and it cannot harm opponents while it is charging. Falco's Reflector sends opponents upward vertically and has knockback scaling, making it a potential KO move; Fox's, however, semi-spikes the opponent with low set knockback, allowing Fox to have more options for infinite combos.

PAL differences

Like some other characters, Falco received some changes in the PAL version of Melee.

• The latter half of down aerial doesn't spike but instead hits opponents on the Sakurai angle with drastically lower horizontal knockback, halving the time the move is able to spike.

Moveset

Falco's aerial attacks

For a gallery of Falco's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Jab, Straight, Rapid Kick	4%	Two quick jabs, which can easily be jab canceled into each other or other moves. The second jab moves Falco forward slightly and is followed by a flurry of fast kicks.
			4%
			1% per kick
Forward tilt		Bird Kick	9%	A quick kick forward. Fast, and has impressive range for a tilt. Can gimp opponents, though has limited use outside this.
Up tilt		Back Kick	9%	Flips his leg behind him. Short range, but very fast, and has incredible combo ability, being a great move that can quickly knock opponents into the air and follow up with aerials or a shine.
Down tilt		Bird Sweep	13%	Swipes his tail in front of him. Although it has somewhat short range, (shorter behind him than in the front.) it has unusually high damage and knockback for a tilt. It knocks opponents straight upwards. It can KO some characters at as low as 90% if fresh.
Dash attack		Jumping Side Kick	9% maximum	Leaps and sticks his foot out. Damage depends on how late the opponent is hit, but the highest is 9%.
Forward smash		Roundhouse Kick	14-17% uncharged, 19-23% fully charged	Flips his body in front and kicks in front of him. Similar to Fox's f-smash, but much stronger, usually KOing at around 90-110%. A good option against an opponent who is trying to get on the ledge, especially if they are above 100% damage.
Up smash		Flip Kick	14% uncharged, 19% fully charged	Flips his whole body in a 360° spin from his standing point, feet extended, and lands. It is drastically weaker than Fox's u-smash, but is a better juggler. However, there are usually better options available for knocking opponents into the air (like a u-tilt or shine). It can also hit behind Falco, albeit with significantly lower knockback.
Down smash		Falco Split	16% uncharged, 21% fully charged	Does a quick split. High KO power, and with high knockback and semi-spike properties, it is an excellent edgeguarder, though it has rather short range.
Neutral aerial		Flying Kick	12% maximum	A simple sex kick. Has high knockback when it first comes out, and it comes out quickly, good in a short hop.
Forward aerial		Cyclone Kick	27% if all hits connect	Five kicks in front. The move as high duration due to the number of kicks, and it is very difficult to connect all the hits. It also gives Falco quite a short time to react with another jump or recovery.
Back aerial		Reverse Spin Kick	9-15%	Kicks behind him. A sex kick. Good KO power, and great for edgeguarding.
Up aerial		Falco Flip	15% if both hits connect	Kicks up and extends his tail afterwards. Weaker than Fox's uair. The move has two hits; the first hit does 6% and the second does 9%. If the opponent is hit by the center of Falco's body, it does all 15% damage, but no knockback.
Down aerial		Air Drill	9-12%	Spins around in place at a downwards angle. An extremely strong spike that can set up and follow out of shine combos and KO characters quickly and efficiently. However, it is of extreme risk to use offstage, due to Falco's awful vertical recovery. Regardless, it is an excellent KO move and is among the most feared attacks in the game, with no sourspot and the hitbox lasting all of the move (however, in the PAL version of the game, the second half of the move produces weak horizontal knockback).
Grab			—	Ranked as tenth largest grab range in the game.
Pummel		Knee	2-3% per pummel	Knees opponent.
Forward throw		Elbow Bash	7%	Punches opponent. Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, it doesn't have many comboing follow-ups. Can chaingrab floaty characters at low percentages.
Back throw		Skeet Blaster	4% (toss), 4% (lasers)	Tosses opponent behind, then fires four quick Blaster shots. Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, not too useful. It is possible to tech-chase an opponent with this move, depending on their DI.
Up throw		Star Blaster	3% (toss), 4% (lasers)	Tosses opponent upward, then fires four very quick Blaster shots. Excellent for setting up an aerial combo (most particularly a uair), but can be DI'd out of at higher percentages.
Down throw		Floor Blaster	4%	Slams opponent onto the floor, then shoots them four times with his Blaster. If the player can predict the opponent's reaction, a u-tilt is possible. This move can also set up a shine combo. However, the move is relatively easy to tech out of. Like Fox's d-throw, it meteor smashes over the ledge if Falco grabs the opponent at the very edge of the platform.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			8%	Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			8%	Slowly gets up and kicks in front.
Neutral special		Blaster	3% per laser	Falco fires a laser from his Blaster. Not nearly as fast as Fox's, but is more powerful and makes the opponent flinch. For this reason, it is excellent for stopping approaching opponents, and the lag can be canceled if the move is done during a short hop and Falco fastfalls to the ground (referred to as short hop laser. Can also stop opponents when they are offstage. If Falco does a short hop laser close to an opponent, they will be stunned momentarily, allowing Falco to get an easy grab or start an aerial combo with a u-tilt or shine.
Side special		Falco Phantasm	7%	Falco dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. Falco's quickest and safest horizontal recovery move. If it hits an opponent in midair, it is a very weak meteor smash. If B is quickly pressed again just after starting the move, it will be canceled and Falco will not dash forward. This also stops him in midair.
Up special		Fire Bird	8-16%	Falco charges up in flames and blasts off in a direction, this can be controlled with the Control Stick. Unreliable as an attack due to the charge time. Used for vertical recovery, however it travels a much shorter distance than Fox's Fire Fox. Unlike Fire Fox, it cannot damage opponents during the charge, leaving Falco vulnerable to meteor smashes during the charge - with the right timing, it is even possible to meteor smash Falco when he is moving.
Down special		Reflector	8%	Falco's Reflector (informally referred to as the Shine) works just like Fox's, reflecting any projectiles that it right back at the opponent who fired them. Unlike Fox's shine, it doesn't send the opponent on a semi-spike trajectory; rather, it knocks them straight upwards. This makes the move very useful for knocking opponents into the air and starting aerial combos, on par with the u-tilt. Can be jump cancelled, to avoid the ending lag, which can lead to double or multi-shines, as well as pillaring combos. This allows Falco to use it repeatedly to wear down shields, continue aerial combos or save a teammate in doubles.

Taunt

Falco scoffs while spinning into a pose. In the Japanese version, he speaks one of two phrases: "Ore no emono ni tewodasuna!" (俺の獲物に手を出すな！, which is translated as "Hands off my prey!" in Brawl) or "Nigasu ka yo!" (逃がすかよ！, meaning "I won't let you escape!").

Smash Taunt: Falco can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the Control pad. This taunt can only be used once per match.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Falco is one of the two characters in the game to have no disadvantageous matchups whatsoever, along with Fox, but has more even matchups than most other top tier characters. Falco has seven even matchups, soft counters three characters, counters seven, and hard counters eight. He has the tools to beat every character, though he is particularly vulnerable to chaingrabs from characters such as Marth and Peach, and is very easy to gimp and edgeguard. These disadvantages give him some trouble against characters who have effective edgeguarding tools, such as Jigglypuff, Marth, and Fox. He tends to do well against characters who do not have the tools to properly respond to his combo openers, such as Captain Falcon, and does very well against characters with a lack of reliable horizontal finishers and/or edgeguarding ability, such as Young Link. Overall, Falco's matchup spread is among the best in the game.

Notable players

See also: Category:Falco professionals (SSBM)

Active

•  Baxon
•  Calle W
•  Kounotori
•  Lambchops
•  Mango
•  PPMD
•  Remen
•  StriCNYN3
•  th0rn
•  Westballz
•  Zhu

Inactive

•  Bombsoldier
•  DaShizWiz
•  Dope
•  Forward
•  PC Chris

Tier placement and history

Throughout the Melee tier lists, Falco has always been in the high/top tiers along with Fox and Sheik, with his lowest position being fifth place. While his current position (second) is debatable, with some players claiming there are other candidates for second position (such as Marth and Sheik), Falco and Fox can be considered "the best characters in Melee" with a noticeable margin between them and other fighters; Sheik, the third place character, has a numerical ranking of 3.43, compared to Fox's 1.39 and Falco's 1.68. Some players even think that Falco could be at the top of the tier list above Fox, claiming that Falco succeeds in notable tournaments more consistently than Fox, while Fox's position is based more on potential than performance.

In Single-Player Modes

In Classic Mode

When unlocked, Falco can appear either in ordinary one-on-one matches, in a team with Fox or Captain Falcon, as an ally in team and giant battles, or as a metal opponent in the game's penultimate battle. With the exception of being on a team with Captain Falcon and the metal battle, Falco appears on either Corneria or Venom.

In Adventure Mode

In the game's Adventure Mode, Falco can appear in Part 2 of Stage 6; when unlocked, the player has the possibility of fighting against Falco in the stage, instead of Fox again.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Falco and his allies are fought on Venom.

In Event Matches

Falco appears in the following event matches:

• Event 23: Slippy's Invention: In this event, the player must fight against Fox and Falco on Venom, in a standard two stock match; however, the two are under the effects of a Cloaking Device during the entire match, though they can still be damaged.
• Event 32: Target Acquired: As Falco, the player must KO Jigglypuff as many times as possible in one minute on Corneria. However, Arwings also fire frequently at the stage, and Falco must KO Jigglypuff more often than the Arwings to win the event.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: As Ness, the player must defeat five opponents in a row: Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. In the first three opponents, the fights are done on Onett; after this, the player is then sent to Battlefield to fight against the last two.
• Event 43: Birds of Prey: In this event, the player, as Fox, must fight against a team of Falco and Captain Falcon on the stage Big Blue. Everyone has two lives, but there is also a time limit of two minutes.
• Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe: Falco is the second opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Venom stage with a stock of 2 while Falco has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link, Roy and Ganondorf.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Japanese Quotes

If Falco Taunts when the Language is set to Japanese he says one of two quotes.

• "俺の獲物に手を出すな！" (Ore no emono ni tewodasuna!) which means "Hands off my prey!"
• "逃がすかよ！" (Nigasu ka yo!) which means "I won't let you escape!"

When Falco wins a match when Language is set to Japanese he will say one of the aforementioned quotes along with "敵機撃墜！" (Tekki Gekitsui!) which means "Enemy Aircraft Downed!."

Trophy descriptions

Falco

"Star Fox team pilot, Falco's constant air of casual indifference belies his precise piloting skills. He avoids discussion of what he did before joining the team, but many consider it likely that his past was filled with reckless behavior. He's not much for cooperation, but he does respect those more skilled than he is."

Game: Star Fox [03/93]

Falco (Smash red)

"Where his leader, Fox, has blinding speed, Falco has his own distinct skills and advantages. He has both a higher jump and a longer reach than Fox, and although his Blaster lacks rapid-fire capabilities, it strikes with shocking force. Unlike Fox, Falco can stop enemies in their tracks with his Blaster fire."

• B: Blaster
• Smash B: Falco Phantasm

Falco (Smash Blue)

"Falco's amazing jumping abilities have many merits, but it's vital to realize that it comes at the cost of some attack power and defensive strength. He falls at a high speed, which disrupts potential attackers, but this also prevents successful recoveries occasionally. Hit an opponent with Reflector, and he or she will fly straight up; this is Falco's quickest attack. "

• Up & B: Fire Bird
• Down & B: Reflector

• 

  Falco character trophy

• 

  Smash red

• 

  Smash blue

Alternate costumes

Falco's changeable clothing in Melee

Trivia

• Falco's voice actors, Ben Cullum and Hisao Egawa, are credited in the credits even if he has not been unlocked yet. This is due to his appearance in the intermission of the Corneria stage in Adventure Mode.
• Falco is the only character who isn't first on his respective tier list that has no disadvantageous matchups.
• Despite there being two Star Fox stages, Falco is fought on Battlefield when unlocking him. The reason for this is unknown.