Traction

"Friction" redirects here. For aerial friction, see here.

Because Luigi has a very small amount of traction, he slides very noticeably after finishing a dash.

Traction is a measure of how long it takes for a character to stop moving from a sideways force when grounded. Characters with low traction slide farther than others after walking, dashing, wavedashing, being hit by an attack while grounded, and so on.

Having high traction affords greater ground control over a character, so high traction is generally an advantage. Characters with low traction generally require more precise movement across the ground and cannot punish attacks as effectively out of shield since they will get pushed further away from the opponent. However, there are cases where low traction is useful: low traction is necessary for a long wavedash in Super Smash Bros. Melee and a long dash pivot cancel in Brawl, and there are cases where sliding away from a shielded attack can help escape multiple hits. In Super Smash Bros., characters with lower traction get pushed further away when being attacked when in shield, which makes follow-ups and potential shield breaks harder.

Luigi is well-known for having the least traction of any character in all games except Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; this originates from his low traction in most of the Mario platformers, which balances out his higher jumping.

Traction is also affected by terrain. For instance, nearly all characters have decreased traction on slippery surfaces such as ice. However, the Ice Climbers uniquely have the reverse of this functionality: their normally low traction becomes higher on slippery surfaces.

Traction rankings

Super Smash Bros.

Rank	Character	Value
1-5	Link	2
1-5	Samus	2
1-5	Fox	2
1-5	Pikachu	2
1-5	Ness	2
6	Captain Falcon	1.8
7	Donkey Kong	1.7
8	Yoshi	1.6
9	Mario	1.5
10	Kirby	1.4
11	Jigglypuff	1.1
12	Luigi	0.7

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Rank	Character	Value
1-4	Peach	0.1
1-4	Link	0.1
1-4	Zelda	0.1
1-4	Pichu	0.1
5-6	Pikachu	0.09
5-6	Jigglypuff	0.09
7-13	Donkey Kong	0.08
7-13	Young Link	0.08
7-13	Sheik	0.08
7-13	Kirby	0.08
7-13	Fox	0.08
7-13	Falco	0.08
7-13	Captain Falcon	0.08
14	Ganondorf	0.07
15-23	Mario	0.06
15-23	Dr. Mario	0.06
15-23	Bowser	0.06
15-23	Yoshi	0.06
15-23	Samus	0.06
15-23	Ness	0.06
15-23	Marth	0.06
15-23	Roy	0.06
15-23	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
24	Mewtwo	0.04
25	Ice Climbers	0.035
26	Luigi	0.025

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-6	Wario	0.07
3-6	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-6	Wolf	0.07
3-6	Sonic	0.07
7-8	Peach	0.068
7-8	Ganondorf	0.068
9	Falco	0.065
10	Link	0.064
11-16	Mario	0.06
11-16	Sheik	0.06
11-16	Fox	0.06
11-16	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
11-16	Olimar	0.06
11-16	R.O.B.	0.06
17	Pikachu	0.0596
18	Samus	0.0585
19	Bowser	0.0577
20-22	Meta Knight	0.055
20-22	Charizard	0.055
20-22	Marth	0.055
23	Toon Link	0.0547
24	Ness	0.0546
25	Snake	0.0542
26	Zelda	0.054
27	Ivysaur	0.0532
28	Donkey Kong	0.0529
29	Pit	0.0505
30	Captain Falcon	0.05
31	Kirby	0.0493
32-33	Diddy Kong	0.0484
32-33	King Dedede	0.0484
34	Lucas	0.045
35	Ike	0.044
36	Yoshi	0.0426
37	Squirtle	0.042
38	Ice Climbers	0.035
39	Luigi	0.022

Super Smash Bros. 4

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-5	Wario	0.07
3-5	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-5	Little Mac	0.07
6-9	Peach	0.068
6-9	Rosalina	0.068
6-9	Ganondorf	0.068
6-9	Palutena	0.068
n/a	Giga Bowser	0.067
10-11	Falco	0.065
10-11	Corrin	0.065
12-13	Link	0.064
12-13	Mii Swordfighter	0.064
14-24	Sheik	0.06
14-24	Fox	0.06
14-24	Roy	0.06
14-24	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
14-24	Olimar	0.06
14-24	R.O.B.	0.06
14-24	Villager	0.06
14-24	Wii Fit Trainer	0.06
14-24	Sonic	0.06
14-24	Mega Man	0.06
14-24	Ryu	0.06
n/a	Wario-Man	0.06
25	Pikachu	0.0596
26	Samus	0.0585
27	Bowser	0.0577
28-33	Meta Knight	0.055
28-33	Marth	0.055
28-33	Lucina	0.055
28-33	Robin	0.055
28-33	Cloud	0.055
28-33	Bayonetta	0.055
34	Toon Link	0.0547
35	Ness	0.0546
36	Zelda	0.054
37	Donkey Kong	0.0529
38-39	Pit	0.0505
38-39	Dark Pit	0.0505
40	Captain Falcon	0.05
41	Kirby	0.0493
42-43	Diddy Kong	0.0484
42-43	King Dedede	0.0484
44-52	Mario	0.045
44-52	Dr. Mario	0.045
44-52	Bowser Jr.	0.045
44-52	Greninja	0.045
44-52	Lucas	0.045
44-52	Duck Hunt	0.045
44-52	Pac-Man	0.045
44-52	Mii Brawler	0.045
44-52	Mii Gunner	0.045
53-54	Ike	0.044
53-54	Shulk	0.044
55	Yoshi	0.0426
56-57	Mewtwo	0.04
56-57	Charizard	0.04
58	Luigi	0.024

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Ultimate, traction has been significantly increased across the cast, with even the lowest traction values being higher than the highest traction values in SSB4. This allows for every character to slow down faster on the ground after moving horizontally, and most notably benefits characters with low traction (such as Luigi and Charizard), as shielded attacks now push them back a much shorter distance, and it is therefore easier for them to punish out of shield. However, the increased traction also results in slide smashes covering less distance than in SSB4 as well. Unlike in previous games, Luigi no longer has the most slippery shoes of the cast, nor is he even in the bottom tenth; the characters with the least traction are now the Mii Gunner and Banjo & Kazooie.

Rank	Character	Value
1	Sonic	0.138
2-3	Dark Pit	0.135
2-3	Pit	0.135
4	Pikachu	0.132
5-8	Isabelle	0.131
5-8	Mr. Game & Watch	0.131
5-8	Ness	0.131
5-8	Villager	0.131
9	Joker	0.13
10	Corrin	0.129
11	Wii Fit Trainer	0.128
12	Falco	0.127
13-14	Byleth	0.125
13-14	Ganondorf	0.125
15	Donkey Kong	0.123
16	Ivysaur	0.121
17	Mii Brawler	0.12
18-26	Kirby	0.116
18-26	Little Mac	0.116
18-26	Lucario	0.116
18-26	Lucas	0.116
18-26	Mewtwo	0.116
18-26	Pac-Man	0.116
18-26	Snake	0.116
18-26	Zelda	0.116
18-26	Zero Suit Samus	0.116
27	Fox	0.115
28-30	Incineroar	0.114
28-30	Lucina	0.114
28-30	Marth	0.114
31	Link	0.113
32	Ike	0.112
33-35	Daisy	0.111
33-35	Peach	0.111
33-35	Terry	0.111
36-43	Bayonetta	0.11
36-43	Charizard	0.11
36-43	Hero	0.11
36-43	Ken	0.11
36-43	Mii Swordfighter	0.11
36-43	Pichu	0.11
36-43	Ryu	0.11
36-43	Wolf	0.11
44-45	Chrom	0.107
44-45	Roy	0.107
46-50	Cloud	0.106
46-50	Dr. Mario	0.106
46-50	Palutena	0.106
46-50	Sheik	0.106
46-50	Wario	0.106
51-55	Captain Falcon	0.105
51-55	King K. Rool	0.105
51-55	R.O.B.	0.105
51-55	Robin	0.105
51-55	Young Link	0.105
56	Bowser	0.104
57-58	Inkling	0.102
57-58	Mario	0.102
59	Rosalina	0.099
60	Meta Knight	0.097
61	Luigi	0.096
62	Yoshi	0.095
63-64	Mega Man	0.094
63-64	Shulk	0.094
65-66	Diddy Kong	0.093
65-66	Olimar	0.093
67	Duck Hunt	0.09
68-69	Squirtle	0.088
68-69	Piranha Plant	0.088
70-71	Greninja	0.087
70-71	Jigglypuff	0.087
72	Toon Link	0.086
73-76	Bowser Jr.	0.085
73-76	King Dedede	0.085
73-76	Richter	0.085
73-76	Simon	0.085
77-78	Dark Samus	0.082
77-78	Samus	0.082
79	Ridley	0.08
80	Ice Climbers	0.077
81-82	Banjo & Kazooie	0.076
81-82	Mii Gunner	0.076