Roy (PM)

Roy in Project M and Project+
Universe	Fire Emblem
Base game appearance	Melee
Moveset inspiration	Roy (SSBM)

Roy is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He returns from Melee with a buffed moveset. He is one of the two characters that was not originally playable in Brawl, the other being Mewtwo.

The new alternate costume Roy will receive in a later version.

Attributes

Roy maintains the same archetype from Melee, being a nimble fighter with relatively strong and fast attacks, an uncommon combination for a lightweight. He retains many of his attributes from Melee, including a fast dash, a fast falling speed (the same as the significantly heavier Donkey Kong), and an average air speed. As a swordsman, Roy's Binding Blade gives his attacks disjointed hitboxes, allowing him to carefully space between him and his opponents. Many of his attacks were heavily buffed in his transition from Melee, becoming stronger, faster, better for comboing, easier to land due to increased reach, and better for finishing. Roy's greatest change, however, is his drastically improved aerial game (which was arguably the worst in Melee). For instance, his sweetspotted down aerial is much stronger and now a spike as opposed to a meteor smash, and his back aerial is a powerful finisher due to its significantly increased knockback.

One of the biggest flaws Roy had in Melee was his severe inability to combo relative to the cast due to his difficult-to-land attacks; as a result of their poor hitbox placements, it was very easy for Roy to land his sourspots, thus offering generally low hitstun. This has been significantly addressed in Project M, as his attacks are comparably easier to land and most importantly, sweetspot as a result of their increased range, and because of this, they offer more hitstun compared to Melee. His improved aerial game is an example that greatly benefits from his improved comboing game, as Roy can now link his forward aerial together consecutively and rack up damage more easily than before, and his up aerial has been strengthened, not enough to make it a reliable kill move, but enough to make it more efficient at juggling. In addition, Roy also has a very good approach due to having one of the best SHFFLs in the game due to his fast falling speed, moderately high gravity, and low short hop; coupled with this is his relatively low traction, giving him an above-average traction.

Roy's grab game is formidable. His up throw is the 9th strongest (10th if Olimar's is counted as two due to his purple and especially blue Pikmin being stronger) and has great chain grabbing potential (though due to the slight knockback increase compared to Marth's, it is overall more difficult to chain grab with Roy's) against fast fallers. Additionally, Roy can force his opponent over to the edge and execute a good edgeguarding strategy by grabbing them, forward or down throwing them, and finishing them off with either his Flare Blade or side smash.

However, Roy is still not without his flaws. While Roy generally has smaller sourspot hitboxes and generally larger sweetspot hitboxes than those of Marth, he regains his disjointed hitboxes' primary flaw from Melee: the poor hitbox placements, as the tipper hitboxes of most attacks (neutral aerial and up smash are a few exceptions), retain their roles as the sourspots of his attacks, meaning that Roy is still forced to come up close to his opponents in order to be most efficient; however, due to their greater ease in landing as a result of their increased range, this flaw can be considered negligible, and therefore does not adversely affect Roy nearly as much as it did in Melee. Roy's primary flaws, however, are his susceptibility to combos despite his light weight, due to his fast falling speed, which also exacerbates his poor and easily gimped recovery, his other major flaw. While Roy can aid his recovery by using his side special, the Double-Edge Dance, as the first hit grants him slightly more vertical distance and longer airborne time, it is still inferior compared to Marth doing the same thing with his Dancing Blade due to Roy's faster falling speed and higher gravity. On the upside, his fast falling speed enhances his vertical endurance, making him moderately difficult to KO vertically. Despite this, Roy's vertical endurance is only average relative to the cast (18th best of 41, which is relatively worse than in Melee) due to either being lighter than many other characters. In conclusion, Roy can be considered a glass cannon like the space animals, because while he possesses devastatingly powerful attacks in his repertoire in addition to an effective combo game, his survivability is considerably below average due to being an easy-to-combo lightweight with a lackluster recovery.

Regardless of his flaws, Roy has inherited a myriad of buffs in his transition from Melee, immensely improved his comboing game and overall power, and thus becoming a more formidable fighter than he was before.

Changes from Melee to PM

Roy performing his new forward tilt (angled diagonally upwards).

Roy has been heavily buffed from Melee to PM and has been reworked to be more of a semi-clone of Marth, rather than a clone, in terms of animations and attack functions; in addition, his buffs have increased his KO potential and made him become stronger than Marth as opposed to weaker.

Aesthetics

• Roy's up taunt involves him pointing his sword forward while saying "僕 は 負けない" (Boku wa Makenai, meaning "I won't lose!").
• Side taunt involves him pointing his sword up, then swinging it across his body, and pointing it behind him, identical to his father Eliwood's pre-critical animation as a Lord in Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword.
• For his on-screen appearance, Roy comes onto the stage with a magic warp similar to how Marth does, but strikes a different pose (same as his Taunt from Melee) and shouts "Hee-ya!".

Attributes

• Roy's sword attacks have more reach.
• While still incredibly weak, all of Roy's sourspots are overall stronger than in Melee.
• Roy walks faster (1.2 → 1.4)
• Jump lag reduced by 1 frame (frame 5 → 4) allowing a slightly faster SHFFL and wavedash, improving his mobility and approach.

Ground Attacks

• Jab deals more damage (6%,5%,3% → 8%,6%).
• Forward tilt is now a quick, long-ranged stab, based off of Roy's attack animation as a Lord in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. It inflicts more damage (7%,10%,12% → 14%,9%) and knockback can be angled, has less start up (frame 9 - 13 → 8 - 12) and less cooldown (Interruptibility frame 40 → 38).
• Up tilt deals increased damage (6%,8%,10% → 9%,12%) has less start-up (frame 7 - 13 → 6 - 13), cooldown (Interruptibility frame 40 → 34) and now covers a larger, half-circle area above Roy. It additionally starts from his back (the opposite of Marth's), allowing to quickly repel opponents that manage to cross him up.
• Down tilt sweet spot is smaller.
• Dash attack's hitbox last 1 more frame, has more reach, deals higher damage and is cancelable, which allows him to DACUS; this further improves his mobility and is an additional approaching option.
• Dash attack's start-up is 1 frame slower.
• Forward smash has less start-up (frame 12 - 14 → 11 - 13) and cooldown (Interruptibility frame 54 → 53).
• Forward smash's sourspot deals higher damage and knockback.
• Up smash deals much more damage with higher knockback has more vertical reach and 1 frame less endlag.
• Down smash is now a spinning sword sweep with 11 frames less ending lag and same KO power as in Melee; however, it deals strong knockback even from behind and overall has more utility than his previous one. It also has a flame effect.
• Down smash hitboxes deal less damage than his old down smash and cannot hit foes on ledges as well.

Aerial Attacks

• Forward aerial deals more damage and knockback, the hitbox last 1 frame longer has 2 frames less endlag, and the sourspot has more knockback scaling.
• Neutral aerial possesses higher range, doing more damage and knockback. The hitboxes have less start up and longer duration (7 → 8 first hit, 17 → 20 second hit) to (6 → 11 first hit, 13 → 25 second hit), with the both hits active on all sides. The second hit does not have a sourspot. It also has a flame effect on the second hit.
• New back aerial is now a turn-around horizontal slash, similar to Ike's back aerial. Compared to the old back aerial, this one deals more damage and much more knockback, making it a powerful finisher. It also has 1 frame less startup.
• Down aerial has 6 frames less endlag and deals more damage, and the sourspot hitbox has been reduced in size, making the mediumspots easier to land. Its sweetspot is located between Roy's head and the base of his blade; additionally, the sweetspot is now a spike instead of a meteor smash, meaning it can no longer be meteor canceled. It also has a flame effect.
• Up aerial deals higher damage and knockback, making it a better juggling move.

Grabs and Throws

• Grab range increased.
• Up throw has slightly more KO potential.

Special Moves

• Flare Blade is more powerful in terms of knockback, and even when uncharged it deals more damage than before.
• Double-Edge Dance was improved significantly:
  • 3rd variation's sourspot deals slightly more damage.
  • 4th variation can be reversed and is a stabbing move that deals strong knockback.
  • 3rd up variation sourspot deals much higher damage.
  • 3rd down variation deals slightly higher damage and now has major gimping potential.
  • 4th variation has more vertical range while the sourspot does more damage.
  • 4th down variation hits better, and deals more knockback.
  • 4th up variation now inflicts vertical instead of horizontal knockback, and has shorter startup.
• All variations of Double-Edge Dance's 3rd and 4th have new animations.
• Blazer deals much more damage and now has more reliable knockback. Additionally, the very last hitbox of the move no longer inflicts set knockback, and the first hit deals enough knockback to OHKO Jigglypuff if the first hit is the only hit that connects. Also, at the height of the jump Roy can grab edges when he is facing away from it, similar to Falcon Dive and Dark Dive.
• Oddly, Roy no longer says "そこ!" (Soko!, meaning "There!") when he counters an attack.

Revisions

v3.01

• Grab release animation sped up to avoid potential grab release combos or re-grabs.
• Forward aerial landing lag and L-canceled landing lag matched to Melee.
• Some of Double-Edge Dance's sword swings could whiff when it looked like they hit, this has been fixed.
• New Final Smash doesn't use time manipulation anymore and has been fixed up in general to be less buggy.
• Model optimized to no longer cause significant lag.

v3.5

• Counter now properly covers Roy's feet after activation.
• Slow walk speed slightly increased.
• Double Edge Dance can now clank with projectiles and other moves (except for Down Four, which also can no longer be absorbed).
• Down aerial sweetspot now spikes.
• Up aerial landing lag increased.
• Dash grab range decreased.
• Double Edge Dance frame data now matches Melee.
• Sword Swing sounds now match Melee (using 3.5's revamp of Roy's previous Melee swings).

v3.6

Beta

• AI is now more intelligent when using Roy.
• Down tilt's tip's base knockback was reduced from 90 to 70.
• Down aerial's base knockback was reduced from 40 to 30.
• Down aerial's knockback growth was reduced from 70 to 60.

Full

• Roy's voice clips are more audible. His sounds were also adjusted to be different from Marth.
• Back aerial animation tweaked, making it easier to hit and/or sweetspot opponents. Knockback angle changed from 50 to 361.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		8% (sweetspot), 6% (sourspot)	Roy performs one single horizontal slash with his sword. Deals low damage and low knockback, even at the sweetspot.
Forward tilt		14% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Roy performs a forward stab his sword while taking a step forward. This move is similar to his normal attack animation (like for many rapier-based Lords) in Binding Blade. It has considerable range and power, with low start and end lag. Can be angled up or down.
Up tilt		12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Roy swings his sword in an arc upwards and outwards over his head towards the direction he's facing. Low start and end lag, with decent knockback.
Down tilt		12% (close), 10% (mid), 6% (far)	Identical to Marth's, Roy crouches and jabs his sword briskly at the enemy's feet. Low start lag with moderate end lag. Has great vertical knockback, which can lead into combos. The range can also prove great during neutral game spacing and edgeguarding.
Dash attack		14% (sweetspot), 10% (sourspot)	Identical to Marth's, Roy lunges forward and does a quick upward sweeping diagonal slash. Has somewhat moderate startup and ending lag. This move also has decent knockback and can lead into combos or dash dancing.
Forward smash		20% (sweetspot), 13% (sourspot)	Identical to Marth's, Roy performs a rotating one-handed slamming sword plunge to the ground. This move has low start with moderate ending lag along with great range, with extreme damage and knockback near the base of the sword. However, near the tip of the sword, the knockback and damage are severely reduced. Roy's original primary finisher like in Melee.
Up smash	Flame Sword	2% (hits 1-4), 12% (hit 5)	Roy thrusts his sword skyward as it ignites in flames. This move has low start up, but high ending lag with decent vertical range. This move traps opponents in for great damage, and can link into combos at low percentages. The tip of the sword can spike enemies at the very first frames of the attack, just as long as they don't link to another part of the sword. Causes a flame effect, should it hit.
Down smash		18%/14% (clean sweetspot/sourspot), 14%/10% (late sweetspot/sourspot)	A low outward slashing spin around Roy's body. This move has low start up and ending lag, with decent range and knockback. The move's more powerful near the base of the sword, and causes a flame effect if it connects.
Neutral aerial		4% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)	A full outward 360° spin four times with his sword extended with both hands. Two attacks may link together for decent damage, with relative knockback. Causes a flame effect if it connects.
Forward aerial		12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Identical to Marth's, Roy does a quick swipe forward. Despite the sourspot dealing relatively less damage than that of the sweetspot, it ironically delivers more horizontal knockback, making it the only move whose sourspot is technically stronger than its sweetspot. Often a main combo tool, but can still be punished if used incorrectly.
Back aerial		16% (sweetspot), 11% (sourspot)	Similar to Ike's back aerial, Roy performs a quick horizontal outward slash behind him. It is a decent tool for edgeguarding and gimping, though it is somewhat more difficult to connect due to the smaller, horizontal hitbox. Like Marth's back aerial, this move turns Roy around.
Up aerial		12% (sweetspot), 8% (sourspot)	Roy swipes his sword upwards, front to back, in a delayed backflip. The sweetspot has been given more knockback so Roy can execute better combos and juggles. However, the sourspot has lower damage and mediocre knockback. Closely identical to Marth's up aerial, but is considerably better at juggling due to the lower knockback, at the cost of being unreliable at KOing.
Down aerial		18% (body), 12% (blade), 9% (tip)	Identical to Marth's, Roy swipes his sword below via an outward wide slash. This move has been drastically changed from Melee. Though it retains the same start up, its ending and landing lag has been sped up. The middle of the blade is stronger, and its power is in between those of the sourspot and sweetspot. The sweetspot's knockback, positioned between Roy's head and his sword's hilt when the move is executed, has drastically been increased, making it better for edgeguarding. Additionally, it is no longer a meteor smash, but a powerful fiery spike, which means it cannot be meteor canceled, making it an even more dangerous move. However, other than a slight increase in damage, its sourspot has barely been changed.
Grab		—
Pummel		3%	Knees opponent.
Forward throw		5%	Roy throws the opponent forward at blinding speed. This throw can link into combos or chain grab at moderate percentages. Can also lead into other attacks, like his forward smash, for example.
Back throw		5%	Roy flings the opponent behind him. Unlike his forward throw, this throw cannot link into combos at low percentages as easily. However, it can link into various attacks.
Up throw		5%	Roy tosses the opponent upwards with one hand. Great for chaingrabs and combos.
Down throw		6%	Roy slams the opponent onto the floor. Has decent knockback and can link into his forward smash.
Floor attack (front)		6%	Roy sweeps his sword on the ground, front to back.
Floor attack (back)		6%	Roy performs a quick stab to the left followed by a horizontal slash to the right.
Floor attack (trip)		5%	Roy gets up and does a stab on one side followed by a horizontal slash on the other side.
Edge attack (fast)		8% (sword), 6% (body)	Roy flips onto the stage with a quick diagonal slash downwards.
Edge attack (slow)		10%	Roy slowly climbs up and performs a quick horizontal slice.
Neutral special	Flare Blade	10-45%, 50% (fully charged)	Similar to Marth's Shield Breaker, Roy holds the Sword of Seals over his head before doing a powerful overhead slash, which can cause a flame effect. This move can be charged, with the damage of the attack increasing the longer the special button is held. When fully charged, Roy slams his sword on the ground and produces a powerful explosion that can break shields and deals a ton of damage and knockback, being able to one-hit KO almost any character. However, Roy receives 10% recoil damage in the process.
Side special	Double-Edge Dance	Varies	A sequence of sword maneuvers with several variations based on the direction the control stick is held.
Up special	Blazer	5%/3% (hit 1 sweetspot/sourspot), 2% (hits 2-6), 4% (hit 7)	Roy soars upwards with his sword engulfed in flames, burning opponents within his reach. Similar to Marth's Dolphin Slash, though noticeably different in that it hits multiple times, is slower, and has significant hang time, giving Roy somewhat of an advantage against impromptu edge-guarding attempts. The move's animation in Project M has been modified as a reference to the Ryuuenjin (Dragon Flame Blade) used by Zero in Mega Man X4 and Capcom's Vs. series of games.
Down special	Counter	1.5x damage of countered move (min 1%)	Roy briefly flashes while entering a defensive stance, allowing him to counterattack within the first few frames of animation with a fiery slash. Opponents that attack Roy will be struck back with 1.5x the damage the attack would have normally dealt. Performing this move slows Roy's descent while airborne.
Final Smash	Critical Hit	20% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-41), 20% (hit 42)	Roy starts his attack similarly to Marth's, where he brings his blade back and charges. However, unlike Marth's version, he unleashes a large column of fire, which is strikingly similar to Entei's Fire Spin attack. Usually a one-hit KO. Like Marth, using it in the air without any intervening terrain will cause Roy to self-destruct (which can be avoided by pressing an attack button). The Final Smash is somewhat cinematic, causing the camera to focus directly on to Roy if he connects the attack.

Double-Edge Dance

Hit	Damage	Description
First Hit (Neutral)	5% (sweetspot), 4% (sourspot)	Does a downwards slash that deals little knockback; incapable of KOing.
Second Hit (Up)	6% (sweetspot), 4% (sourspot)	Does an upwards slash. Has a little more knockback then the first slash, but still cannot KO at high percents.
Second Hit (Neutral)	6% (sweetspot), 4% (sourspot)	Does horizontal slash forwards. The knockback of this move has been increased from Melee.
Third Hit (Up)	Clean: 9% (sweeetspot), 7% (sourspot) Late: 6% (sweetspot), 4% (sourspot)	Does a downwards vertical slash. At the beginning of the move, the attack meteor smashes opponents.
Third Hit (Neutral)	9% (sweetspot), 7% (sourspot)	Spins once and does an upwards slash. Oddly, compared to Marth's, it has higher base knockback, but lower scaling, making it typically impossible to link together with the fourth hit at low percentages on most characters and weaker at higher percentages; despite this, it is still a powerful finisher.
Third Hit (Down)	3% (hits 1-3), 4% (hit 4)	Stabs his sword at the ground, dealing multiple flame damage.
Fourth Hit (Up)	10% (sweetspot), 8% (sourspot)	Does a powerful upper slash. Deals flame damage. Closely resembles Marth's upward strike from Brawl.
Fourth Hit (Neutral)	12% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Spins and swings his sword at the ground. Deals flame damage.
Fourth Hit (Down)	3% (hits 1-5)	Holds his sword in a reverse grip and thrusts it downwards, dealing multiple flame damage. Based on Sol Badguy's Gun Flame attack (as well as his Order-Sol self's Fafnir Prototype version) from Guilty Gear.
Fourth Hit (Back)	11% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Turns around and thrusts his sword forward.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  EclipseKirby
•  Fullen
•  Lunchables
•  NEO
•  NinjaLink
•  Redd
•  Sethlon
•  Shokio
•  Smash G0D
•  Pitzer
•  Yono

Alternate costumes

Roy retains his costumes from Melee, with the addition of two new costumes, although they were touched to match the more realistic environment of Brawl.

PMDT has confirmed on their Twitter account that Roy will have an alternate costume based off his appearance in Fire Emblem: Awakening in a future version of Project M.

Roy's alternate costumes in PM

• Default: Based off Roy's design in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, although with a purple cape.
• Green: Based off the "other" units in Fire Emblem games.
• Red: Based off the "enemy" units in Fire Emblem games.
• Blue: Based off the "player" unit in Fire Emblem games. This costume was touched up from Melee, now matching up his appearance in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
• Gold: May be based off gold armor, which some knights wore when fighting.
• Black: A "dark" costume.
• Purple: A costume added in version 3.5. The color scheme makes a reference to his appearance in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Trivia

• Roy was the first Clone Engine character to be announced for Project M.
• Roy's SFX are of a significantly lower quality than those featured in Melee, although an unofficial patch proved that this was unnecessary for the official release.
• Unlike Mewtwo, Roy does not have a specific Wii Remote select sound; it is nothing more than a generic, metal clanking sound.
• The voice clip from Roy's up taunt comes from one of his victory quotes in Melee.
  • This voice clip, while rerecorded, would go on to be used in one of Roy's taunts in Smash 4. However, this is a coincidence.
• Being a Clone Engine character, there are some slightly odd cases with Roy's voice clips during battle:
  • Roy's voice is heard when he is in his Metal form. He shares this distinction with Mewtwo.
  • Prior to the v3.6 Beta, Roy's sound effects replaced Duon's, resulting in atypical behaviour when fighting it. His sound effects are now shared with Marth.

Roy's congratulations screen in Project M

• Roy is still missing his sheathe, because the PMDT stated that there would be file size and clipping issues. However, unofficial patches exist, which do not have the filesize issues (before BrawlBox gained a model optimizer, they could have crashed) and the sheathe clips roughly as much as those of other existing characters on Project M's roster.
• Like Mewtwo, anything that would normally be exclusive to Roy (namely, trophies and a codec conversation) reuses that of Mario's.
  • This includes his Congratulations video, but interestingly, not his congratulations screen (as he has his own).
  • In addition, when accessing replays in Brawl, Roy shows up as Mario.
• If Roy is under the effects of a Turbo and performs his neutral aerial right after using Blazer on a large character such as Bowser, Roy will launch high up into the air.
• Roy is one of the only two characters to have two spikes; the other is Donkey Kong; coincidentally, they share the same falling speed.

External links

• Project M character page
• Frame Data