Zero Suit Samus (SSBU)

Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Metroid
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Zero Laser

“	Although not as powerful as Samus, her speed is exceptional! Her Paralyzer not only has the ability to stun opponents, but it can also turn into a whip. For her Final Smash, she dons her suit and fires a powerful laser!	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Zero Suit Samus (ゼロスーツサムス, Zero Suit Samus) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Once again, Zero Suit Samus is unconnected to the standard playable Samus, although she temporarily transforms into the latter during her Final Smash. Zero Suit Samus is classified as fighter #29.

As in Smash 4, Alésia Glidewell's portrayal of Zero Suit Samus from Brawl was repurposed for Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Zero Suit Samus being the 19th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Fox or any character in his unlock tree, being the second character unlocked after Captain Falcon.
• Have Zero Suit Samus join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Zero Suit Samus must then be defeated on Brinstar.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Having been considered a dominating top-tier character throughout the lifetime of SSB4, Zero Suit Samus has received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, being nerfed overall. Her most notable nerf is that her throw combo potential has been reduced in a similar manner to Mario. This consequently makes it more difficult to capitalize on her punish game. Furthermore, nerfs to her forward smash, and the reduction of forward aerial's knockback weaken her already poor KO potential. Nonetheless, many of her fundamentals have been rebalanced and buffed in many cases; her already excellent mobility has been enhanced further (now possessing the fastest initial dash in the game), while some attacks such as down tilt possibly lay the foundation for new combos. While she remains a high-risk, high-reward character, Zero Suit Samus' learning curve is higher than in SSB4, with her combos and punishes being more difficult to use and her reward being less fundamentally overpowering than in SSB4. Nonetheless, ZSS remains a successful character in tournaments, particularly in Japan under Choco; however, her representation in North America has been below average despite finding success under players such as Marss and Nairo.

Aesthetics

• As with all veterans returning from SSB4, Zero Suit Samus's model mostly features a more subdued color scheme, though her eyes are a more vibrant green and less blue. Most of her suit is now a lighter shade of blue with a matte texture, which matches her in-game design in Metroid: Samus Returns.
• While Zero Suit Samus retains some design elements from SSB4, the material of her Zero Suit no longer looks homogeneous. Her physique has been altered as well, with her figure now being leaner and more muscular, as in Samus Returns concept art.
• Zero Suit Samus has a new idle animation. She now holds the Paralyzer in a high ready position, similar to one of her idle poses and victory animations.
• Zero Suit Samus's Grab aerial now droops and lays on the ground during landing lag.
• Zero Suit Samus's walking and running animations have been altered slightly; she now bobs with each step.
• Zero Suit Samus now strikes a pose during her down taunt animation.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Zero Suit Samus's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 4).
• Zero Suit Samus runs significantly faster (2.1 → 2.31).
  • Zero Suit Samus's initial dash is significantly faster (1.7 → 2.42), now being the fastest in Ultimate.
• Zero Suit Samus walks slightly faster (1.4 → 1.47).
• Zero Suit Samus' air speed is slightly faster (1.2 → 1.26).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • First hit of neutral attack can now jab reset, at least on an incline.
  • Neutral attack can no longer cross up shields. Its first and last hits also have slightly more ending lag (FAF 21 (first hit)/32 (third hit) → 24/35).
  • The first two hits of neutral attack no longer have set knockback.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt lost its anti-rebounding properties and intangibility, reducing its safety against aerial attacks.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 36 → 30) and an altered angle (60° → ?), giving it combo potential.
  • Down tilt deals slightly more knockback (60 (base)/85 (growth) → ?/?).
  • Zero Suit Samus now uses her left leg for her down tilt instead of her right.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash can now be angled, allowing her to hit smaller characters with downward angle forward smash.
  • Forward smash's hitboxes now properly match its animation (in Smash 4, the hitboxes would appear 1 frame after Zero Suit Samus extended her leg out for both kicks), giving it slightly less start up (frame 14 → 13 (first hit); frame 27 → 26 (second hit).
  • Forward smash deals slightly less knockback (28 (base)/106/109 (growth) → ?/?) and has slightly more ending lag (FAF 63 → 65). It also has a sourspot when hit up close, reducing its KO potential even further (despite already being one of the weakest smash attacks in Smash 4).
• Up smash:
  • While up smash has less vertical range, the finisher is closer to the ground, making it easier to follow up on at low percentages.
  • Up smash has increased knockback (70 (base)/145 (growth) → ?/?), now making it able to KO at high percents.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash is no longer treated as a projectile, meaning both characters experience freeze frames (or hitlag), instead of just the opponent. It also deals significantly less knockback (50/40 (base)/90/50 (growth) → ?/?) and stun, which significantly hinders its combo potential at low to mid percent.

Aerial Attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral air), 16 frames → 10 (forward air), 11 frames → 10 (back air), 9 frames → 5 (up air), 30 frames → 24 (down air)).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has slightly decreased range.
  • Neutral aerial has increased knockback (38 (base)/96 (growth) → ?/?).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has an altered animation (in fact, the animation's positioning has been made lower compared with Smash 4), allowing her to hit shorter characters when rising short hop.
  • Forward aerial's hits transition further (frame 16 → 13).
    • However, the move's duration was not reduced, effectively increasing the move's ending lag (by 3 frames), and thus diminishing its combo potential (when not landing with it).
  • Forward aerial's second hit deals less knockback (40 (base)/116 (growth) → ?/?), going from KO'ing at around 175% to now KO'ing at 194% from the center of Final Destination. However, the above change still renders the move incapable of comboing effectively in the air.
• Back aerial:
  • Sweetspotted back aerial has less range (5.5u/2.5u → ?/?), now strict to the foot.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less range and has slightly more ending lag (FAF 34 → 35), making it slightly more difficult to juggle her opponents.
• Grab aerial:
  • Grab aerial now deals consistent damage. It also has less aerial endlag, make it more useful to start combos without being used on landing.
  • Grab aerial now bounces off of the first thing it hits. Therefore it can only hit one thing before ZSS uses the move again. It also has less tether range.

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs have less endlag, especially her pivot grab (FAF 69 (Standing)/72 (Dash)/80 (Pivot) → FAF 59/67/62).
• Standing grab has a new hitbox on the hand that appears earlier (frame ?).
• The new mechanic that usually prevents passing through other fighters also usually prevents Dash Grab from whiffing due to being too close.
• Forward throw:
  • Zero Suit Samus has a new forward throw: a kick to the opponent's chest.
  • Forward throw has less knockback (50 (base)/75 (growth) → ?/?), diminishing its KO potential at the ledge though it can set up more tech chase situations.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has more base knockback (72 → ?), greatly reducing its combo potential, though it improves its edge guarding potential.
    • Back throw's increased knockback allows it to KO much earlier at low percents off stage from a Flip Jump.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals more damage (5% → 8%).
  • Down throw has more ending lag (FAF 46 → 52), but it transitions slower (possibly due to its frame speed modifier being removed), giving it significantly more ending lag. It also deals slightly more knockback. Combined with the increased damage and fast knockback physics to down throw, this removes follow up options as Zero Suit Samus now lacks the ability to combo into any aerial moves mostly her up aerial and Boost Kick. This is arguably the most nerfed move in Ultimate and is now her least useful throw.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has much more knockback (80 (base)/60 (growth) → ?/?), now being able to KO under 170% without rage (with max rage, it can KO under 140%).

Special Moves

• Paralyzer:
  • Paralyzer charges more quickly. It can fire a shot at any point while it's charging if the B button is released. This will always result in the uncharged shot being fired.
  • Paralyzer's shots are more orangish in color.
• Plasma Whip:
  • Plasma Whip's sweetspot does more damage (7.5% → 8%) and significantly more knockback (45 (base)/105 (growth) → ?/?), now able to KO at high percentages (though it's still much weaker than it was in Brawl, due to its much lower damage output). If the special move button is held during the move, it sends the opponent up and towards her, giving an opportunity for followups, similar to one of her custom moves from Smash 4. This version has more endlag, but the hitbox lasts longer.
  • Plasma Whip takes much longer to tether to the ledge. Its tether range was also reduced.
• Boost Kick:
  • Boost Kick connects much more reliably and the last hit has increased knockback (50 (base)/209 (growth) → ?/?). Boost Kick no longer has RCO lag.
  • Boost Kick has more landing lag (22 frames → 30). The size of Boost Kick's first hitbox was reduced (Zero Suit Samus has to be right next to the opponent in order for it to connect). The aerial version also deals less knockback.
• Flip Jump:
  • Flip Jump travels slightly faster.
  • The bounce from Flip Jump's footstool stomp is significantly shorter.
  • Flip Jump's footstool stomp has less endlag.
  • Flip Jump's kick has a smaller hitbox and can no longer be edge-canceled. [1]
  • Flip Jump no longer grants intangibility on Zero Suit Samus's legs after the full body intangibility ends.
• Final Smash:
  • Zero Suit Samus has a new Final Smash, Zero Laser, where she summons her gunship as before, but temporarily dons her Varia Suit (using the same model as the playable version) and fires a single, long-lasting laser from the top of the ship, similarly to Aura Storm. The players choose where to aim the laser with a targeting reticle.

Update History

2.0.0

• Forward smash now has a sourspot at close range.
• Flip Jump has altered knockback. This reduces the bury time at lower percents but increases it at higher percents.
  • Its reduced base knockback however, hinders the ability to KO aerial opponent at early percentage from a back throw.
• Zero Suit Samus can grab earlier after using forward aerial (73 frames → 71).
• Zero Suit Samus can grab earlier after using up aerial (75 frames → 59).

Moveset

• Zero Suit Samus can crawl and wall jump.
• Zero Suit Samus possesses a tether attack and grab.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			1.5%	A knifehand strike, followed by a pistol-whip with her Paralyzer, followed by a 12-6 elbow. The first hit can lock, but the height of the hitbox makes it impossible to hit grounded opponents on non-slanted terrain.
			1.5%
			3%
Forward tilt	↗		8% (leg), 6.5% (body)	A roundhouse kick. Can be angled. The down-angled version may cause tripping at low percentages.
	→		7% (leg), 6% (body)
	↘		8% (leg), 6.5% (body)
Up tilt			5% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	A butterfly kick-styled scissor kick performed from a variation of the 2000, a breakdancing move. It hits on frame 3, which is the lowest amount of start-up lag out of Zero Suit Samus' tilt attacks. It is also one of only two moves that hits in front of and behind her, with the other being neutral aerial.
Down tilt			8% (leg), 6% (foot)	A legsweep. This lowers her hurtbox moreso than her crouch, allowing her to duck under most projectiles with proper timing. This move is great for setting up combos.
Dash attack			8% (clean), 5% (late)	Activates her Jet Boots to perform a jet-propelled knee strike.
Forward smash			5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)	A mid-level side kick, followed by a spinning side kick at a slightly higher angle. Due to it activating her Jet Boots, the second hit has a visible sweetspot in the form of a small, fiery blast at the tip of her foot. Unlike typical sweetspots, it has the same damage output as the sourspot; the only change is that it has slightly higher knockback scaling. Her side smash can be angled, but only the second kick changes in angle.
Up smash			4% (hit 1), 0.8% (hits 2-6), 3% (hit 7)	Spins in place while twirling her Plasma Whip overhead.
Down smash		Slant Paralyzer	8% (near), 6% (far)	Aims her Paralyzer downward in front of herself and fires a paralyzing energy blast at the ground. This move has poor KO potential, instead being used to initiate combos. Opponents are paralyzed much longer at higher percentages.
Neutral aerial			8%	Spins in midair, swinging her Plasma Whip laterally around herself. Has low ending lag, allowing for combo opportunities if used from a short-hopped fast fall.
Forward aerial			5% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2)	A hook kick, followed by a roundhouse kick.
Back aerial			12% (foot), 10% (leg)	A spinning hook kick behind herself.
Up aerial			6.5%	A bicycle kick. Thanks to its minimal start-up and ending lag, very low base knockback and very high knockback scaling, and low landing lag, it boasts excellent juggling potential.
Down aerial		Slash Dive	6%, 5.5% (landing)	A diagonal flying kick, similar to Sonic and Sheik's down aerials. As such, the hitbox at the beginning can meteor smash her opponent. Out of all of her aerials, this move have the most start-up lag. Due to this move being a stall-then-fall, it is extremely risky to use off-stage. Because of this, it is rarely used as a meteor smash and most of times, lead to a SD. Even when she lands on the ground, there is extremely high ending lag making it easy to punish. Despite this, its extremely fast descent speed can enable it to counter a juggle if there is sufficient distance between Zero Suit Samus and the opponent.
Grab aerial		Plasma Whip	5%	Lashes in front of her with the Plasma Whip.
Grab		Plasma Whip	—	Performs a kneeling lunge to unfurl the Plasma Whip. A hitbox appears at her hand, allowing her to grab opponents with less lag.
Pummel			1.3%	A knee strike.
Forward throw			5% (hit), 4% (throw)	Kicks the opponent away.
Back throw			2% (hit), 6% (throw)	A mid-level roundhouse kick.
Up throw			2% (hit), 8% (throw)	A backflip kick. The most damaging out of all of her throws.
Down throw			4% (hit), 4% (throw)	Pins the opponent on the ground, and performs an axe kick.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	A modified butterfly kick performed from a windmill (a breakdancing move).
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Same as her frontal floor attack.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Performs a spinning low-level roundhouse kick.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a low-level roundhouse kick while climbing up.
Neutral special		Paralyzer	4~6%	Assumes a kneeling position to fire a paralyzing energy blast from her weapon. It can be charged, which increases its damage output the duration of its paralysis, but at the cost of lowered speed. Targets hit by paralysis cannot be paralyzed again until making contact with the stage.
Side special		Plasma Whip	2% (arm), 3.2% (whip, base), 1.2% (whip, middle), 4% (whip, held tip), 8% (whip, pressed tip)	Performs a kneeling lunge to unleash the Plasma Whip forward in a swirling motion. The whip hits repeatedly, while its sweetspot, which is located at the whip's tip, launches opponents away. Alternatively, holding down the special move button will have the tip of the whip snap upwards, knocking opponents up and towards her. While the held version deals less damage, it gives Zero Suit Samus an opportunity for followups.
Up special		Boost Kick	5% (hit 1), 1.2% (hits 2 - 6), 4% (hit 7)	Activates her Jet Boots to perform a jet-propelled diagonal split-legged flying kick, followed by a spinning hook kick. One of her best KO moves against a midair opponent. It can also be angled forward or backward, which allows it to catch an opponent's air dodge, rolls and edge get-up reactions.
Down special		Flip Jump	8% (stomp), 14% (kick)	A 720° Ce Kong Fan[2], a jumping technique used in contemporary Wushu. It functions as a third jump and grants intangibility on frames 3-12. It can deal damage in two ways: upon contact at the end of the jump, or by pressing either the attack button or special button during the jump. Upon contact, Zero Suit Samus performs a footstool stomp, which buries grounded opponents and meteor smashes aerial opponents. Pressing the attack or special buttons makes her perform a diagonal flying kick, which is very powerful. The flying kick also has a sweetspot at her foot that can meteor smash aerial opponents, but has slightly less knockback against aerial opponents.
Final Smash		Zero Laser	1.2/1.6% (laser loop), 20/25% (final burst)	Zero Suit Samus leaps up, rising into the air, then appears atop her Gunship in the background, wearing her Power Suit. A player-controlled crosshair then appears, and after a short amount of time (or when the attack button is pressed), the now-suited Samus begins firing her Zero Laser with an area roughly equal to that of the crosshair. Like the version used by her suited counterpart, it hits multiple times. Opponents take more damage closer towards the center of the crosshair. At the end of the move, there is a brief pause, then one final burst is fired with enough power to launch opponents. Once the move concludes, Samus reverts to her Zero Suit and returns to her previous position.

On-screen appearance

• Jumps out of her Gunship and uses her Jet Boots to briefly hover before landing.

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Tosses her Paralyzer into the air, spins once, and catches it behind herself while saying "Is that all?"
• Side Taunt: Swings the Plasma Whip in a circular motion while saying "Try me."
• Down Taunt: Holds her Paralyzer near her waist, and then performs a pirouette while twirling the Plasma Whip around her body and saying "You're mine."

Idle poses

• Stands up straight and looks around, holding her Paralyzer towards her face.
• Makes configurations to her Paralyzer.

Victory poses

• Slashes the air twice with her Plasma Whip and says "Be still."
• Uses Flip Jump and then performs a jet-propelled somersault while grunting.
• Performs a stretch kick and then swings her leg into position to perform a modified passé while grunting.

A flourished remix of the theme that would play when Samus Aran obtained a new power-up or addition to her Power Suit. It would also play when Samus defeated Ridley or Kraid.

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In competitive play

Notable players

•  Choco - Placed 9th in Umebura SP 2.
•  Marss - Placed 2nd in Heart of Battle and 25th at GENESIS 6.
•  Nairo - Placed 4th at Let's Make Moves.

Classic Mode: Grapplers! Whips! Claws!

Zero Suit Samus's opponents are characters who use tether recoveries.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Young Link and Toon Link	Skyloft	Dark World (for 3DS / Wii U)
2	Ivysaur	Spear Pillar	Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
3	Dark Samus	Brinstar Depths	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior
4	Yoshi	Peach's Castle	Super Mario World Medley
5	Simon and Richter	Dracula's Castle	Simon Belmont Theme (The Arcade)
6	6 Little Macs	75m (Battlefield form)	Tunnel Scene - X
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand, and the track Master Hand / Crazy Hand plays during the battle.

Role in World of Light

Although Zero Suit Samus does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. Zero Suit Samus' awakening battle is separate from that of Samus, who is vaporized in the opening cutscene.

Zero Suit Samus can be found and awakened in the upper-right volcanic area in the World of Light after defeating the Metroid spirit.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
29		Zero Suit Samus	Grab	7,500	Brinstar Depths (Ω form)	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior

Spirits

Zero Suit Samus's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Unlocking Zero Suit Samus in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

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  266. Zero Suit Samus

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Zero Suit Samus' fighter card.

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  Zero Suit Samus on Wrecking Crew.

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  Performing her down tilt on Coliseum.

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  Performing down smash on Frigate Orpheon.

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  With Samus on Gaur Plain.

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  Crawling with Snake on Shadow Moses Island.

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  Using her back aerial on Sheik on Luigi's Mansion.

Trivia

• Ridley's reveal trailer marks Zero Suit Samus' first appearance in a cinematic CGI Smash trailer since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Despite no longer being linked by in-battle transformation, Zero Suit Samus temporarily dons the Varia Suit during her Final Smash.
  • This makes Zero Suit Samus the only playable alter-ego of a different character to make a limited appearance as said character during her Final Smash only.
• For unknown reasons, Zero Suit Samus's taunt voice clips aren't present in the Sound Test.
• Zero Suit Samus is one of four characters to have appeared since Brawl to have a different Final Smash across every installment; the other three are Pit, King Dedede, and R.O.B..
• In the Japanese version of Ultimate, characters' voice actors and actresses are credited by name. In the case of Zero Suit Samus, Alésia Glidewell's name is cut short, resulting in "Alesia Glidew".
• Zero Suit Samus' character showcase video, unlock battles and Classic Mode credits use "Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior" from Super Metroid, a game where the Zero Suit did not yet exist. This may be a reference to how Samus would appear in various states of undress during the game's ending sequence, as "Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior" serves as the end credits theme for that game.
• Zero Suit Samus being unlocked using/immediately after Captain Falcon may be a reference to how the two have been depicted as "rival" bounty hunters in Event Matches in Brawl and for Wii U (along with Samus' suited self in Melee).
• This is the first game where Zero Suit Samus's default head icon depicts her hair tie as its natural red, as both previous depictions have matched the Zero Suit's cyan.

Notes

1.^ translates to "Aerial Cartwheel" or "Side Somersault"