Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Roy (SSBU)

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This article is about Roy's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Roy.
For information on the playable Koopaling, see Bowser Jr. (SSBU).
Roy
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Roy SSBU.png
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Other playable appearances in Melee
in SSB4

Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Critical Hit
Roy (SSBU)
“ Get up close and personal for major damage! Unlike Marth, Roy's attacks are more powerful the closer you get to the base of his blade. For his Final Smash, his sword bursts into flame and sends anyone caught in the blast flying. ”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Roy (ロイ, Roy) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, officially confirmed on June 12th, 2018 and is an unlockable fighter akin to his appearance in Melee. Roy is classified as Fighter #25.

This is the first time in the Super Smash Bros. series where Roy is not left voiced in Japanese in all regions. In international releases, Roy is voiced in English by Ray Chase, who reprises his role from Fire Emblem Heroes. Jun Fukuyama's portrayal of Roy from Smash 4 was repurposed for the Japanese version of Ultimate.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

With the exception of the third method, Roy must then be defeated on Castle Siege.

Attributes

Roy is a middleweight swordfighter, although his main attributes deviate heavily from other fellow middleweights; he boasts excellent mobility with very fast dashing, air, and falling speeds, but has an only slightly above-average walking speed and a fairly slow air acceleration. Roy has an attribute unique to him that other swordfighters do not have which is his inverse tipper; contrary to Marth specifically, his Binding Blade does the most damage if attacking near the sword's hilt, although it does weak damage and knockback when otherwise tippered. While this gives Roy effectively bigger sweetspots than those who rely on a tipper to deal maximum damage, it weakens his spacing abilities despite being a swordfighter.

Roy's greatest strength is his KO potential, which is very high when compared to other middleweights, and can even be comparable to the power of some of the harder-hitting heavyweight fighters in the roster, such as Bowser and Incineroar. In conjunction with his overall fast frame data for a swordfighter, he can inflict large amounts of damage in a short amount of time. Neutral attack can catch aggressive approaches due to its speed and deceptively large hitbox, and can efficiently set up into his more powerful normal attacks. His forward tilt, up tilt, and forward smash are all very fast startup-wise, with each being among the strongest attacks of their kind; notably, forward smash can KO under 50% with rage near the ledge, even if uncharged. However, they each have noticeable ending lag. His up smash is an effective anti-air attack due to its quick startup, along with his sword arm gaining intangibility throughout its rather long duration.

Roy's KO potential also extends to his air game, with quick, powerful and damaging aerials; his neutral aerial is a useful combo starter, especially when using the first hit by itself on landing, which allows him to add extra damage to his combos and even open up KO setups at high percentages. His forward aerial autocancels in a short hop and is overall very quick, allowing him to even perform a wall of pain. At high percentages, it also boasts KO potential. Back aerial has the rare and deceptive quality of turning Roy around, as well as being rather quick despite its power, KOing at around 130% from center-stage. Up aerial is Roy's fastest aerial startup-wise, and is a reliable juggling move due to its large hitbox and average knockback, and can even KO by itself at high percentages. Lastly, down aerial is a strong meteor smash when sweetspotted and boasts decent KO potential when sweetspotted on-stage.

Roy is also extremely effective at shield pressure and mixups. Many of his aerials and his down tilt are safe on shield against shield grabs, allowing him to pressure the opponent's shield until they choose an option to escape, which Roy can then punish. Jab is a useful as a followup tool to shield pressure to catch the enemy coming out of shield and can lead into kill confirms such as jab into back air, forward air, or up air. Neutral air is also very effective as a crossup attack on characters who lack out of shield options that hit behind them. Up air can also function as a combo starter and is safe on shield, and leads into different followups dependent on whether the sweetspot or the sourspot connects. Roy can also simply grab opponents for shielding against him; he has simple but efficient throw combos such as down throw into neutral air or up air depending on percent. Roy even possesses some shield break setups if the opponent is not careful, rewarding Roy with a Flare Blade punish.

Roy's special moveset maintains his sheer speed and KO power; Flare Blade is known for being one of the strongest single-hitting attacks in the game, with the capability to one-hit KO any fighter in the game when fully charged. Combined with its ability to be reversed and its extremely high knockback, it adds up to be a very potent edgeguarding and ledge trapping tool, and has deceptively low ending lag despite its power to avoid punishment. Double-Edge Dance is a quick and efficient damage-racking series of high-speed sword slashes, along with being a reliable finisher at higher percentages if sweetspotted; it is fast enough for each hit to connect reliably and catch spot dodges. His main recovery move, Blazer, is an excellent out of shield option, due to gaining super armor on startup and having decent knockback growth when grounded. Lastly, his Counter may have a short window of active frames compared to other counterattacks, but it makes up for being one of the strongest counters in the game with a large 1.35x damage multiplier.

Despite Roy's numerous strengths, he has noticeable weaknesses. His biggest flaw stems from his own inverse tipper attribute; by relying on close-quarters attacks to deal damage, it gives him below-average effective reach compared to other swordfighters due to the sword's tip dealing weak knockback and damage. Roy thus cannot rely on a spacing playstyle in spite of his status as a swordwielder, since his sourspotted attacks are less reliable as combo starters. This forces him to get dangerously close to the opponent in order for his attacks to properly start combos and deal more damage. This is further worsened by many of his attacks having high ending lag, which makes Roy very punishable if his attacks are simply thrown out without caution. In all, he cannot perform optimally when spacing with the tip of his sword, but cannot afford to make mistakes when at close range without running the risk of massive punishment.

Lastly, Roy's offstage endurance is poor. His fast falling speed makes him fairly susceptible to combos, and as none of his moves are generally reliable enough to consistently break combos, many characters with reliable combo moves can rack up large amounts of damage and easily force him off-stage. To add to this issue, Roy's only recovery move, Blazer, is fairly ineffective despite his impressive mobility: although it offers excellent protection, can be angled, and covers a decent amount of horizontal distance, it covers little vertical distance, does not sweetspot ledges until the latter half of its duration, lacks the grounded version's super armor, and is predictable, leaving him prone to gimping, especially against characters with a reliable gimping projectile or counter. When coupled with his fast falling speed, he is highly susceptible to meteor smashes, and even a sufficiently strong semi-spike can launch him too far away to recover. Multihit moves that trade with Blazer's hitboxes can also semi spike Roy and gimp him.

Overall, Roy is an unconventional swordfighter who falls under the bait-and-punish and rushdown archetypes; the objective of his playstyle is to overwhelm his enemy by closing the distance between them quickly, then to deal large amounts of damage with fast attacks without leaving Roy himself open to punishment while remaining in close-range.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Roy was infamous for being the lowest ranked DLC character in SSB4, due to his poor, committal approach, unsafe aerials (especially compared to other fellow sword-wielding characters), along with his own "inverse tipper" attribute hindering his spacing abilities, which collectively resulted in his lower mid tier placement in said game, alongside having very little tournament representation and few notable results, similarly to his appearance in Melee. Likely as a result, Roy has been heavily buffed in his transition to Ultimate, and he's the only DLC veteran to be buffed in the transition.

Roy's most significant improvements are indirect, as he benefits noticeably from the changes to the universal gameplay mechanics in Ultimate. The ability to use any grounded move out of a dash and the decreased landing lag on his aerials greatly improve his combo, air game, and rushdown abilities, and give him less trouble at KOing. Complementing this, the universal mobility increase benefits Roy's core strategy of closing the distance on his opponents and landing hits with the hilt of the Binding Blade, as well as helping alleviate his vulnerability to camping. These buffs also help to further counterbalance his main weakness: the need to approach at dangerously close ranges in order to deal optimal damage and knockback, which is a flaw that had plagued him in previous games and was not present in his other fellow swordfighters.

Some of Roy's useful buffs are also direct. Moves like his dash attack, forward tilt, forward, back and up aerials, and Double-Edge Dance have increased power, significantly increasing his options at higher percentages and further toning down his trouble at KOing. Furthermore, KO confirms with his neutral attack and the first hit of neutral aerial or a sourspotted up aerial have become much more consistent and reliable. A small amount of his moves have also had their hitbox placements improved, which is notable in his forward smash and Double-Edge Dance, the former of which can now hit opponents in the lower platforms of Battlefield. His air game in general has improved due to improvements to all his aerials: forward aerial can now autocancel in a short hop like in Melee and has received knockback and angle adjustments that make it better for both combos and KOs, neutral and back aerials are stronger, up aerial has gained KO potential and down aerial has larger sweetspots.

However, while Roy has received comparatively few nerfs during the transition, a few of them are significant. His forward and down throws have less followups and combo potential due to the former's increased ending lag and the latter's increased knockback. Blazer now needs to travel half its maximum distance before it can sweetspot ledges and also deals less knockback, reducing its use as a KO option. Finally, Roy still has some of his flaws from past games, such as mediocre offstage survivability, a vulnerability to combos, and an ineffective spacing game.

Overall, Roy's core playstyle remains fundamentally the same as it was in SSB4, though due to his substantial buffs, he is considered to be much more viable and much less polarizing than he was in any of his previous playable appearances, as he now has enough raw power, range, and speed to play aggressively up close. He commands a moderately sizable playerbase and strong tournament results in competitive play, due to smashers like Kola and Goblin achieving success with him. As such, Roy is widely seen as a competitively viable high-tier character, with some players even believing that he is a top-tier character.

Aesthetics

  • Change As with other previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Roy's appearance is largely unchanged. Like Marth, his design has the various shades of red on his hair, outfit, armor pieces, and cape adjusted to be more vibrant and analogous with each other, with a notably brighter hue of purple for his cape especially. His armor, belt, gloves, and boots have been given subtle detailing. His eyes are sharper, and his skin tone is slightly tanned.
  • Change Roy's sword, previously referred to as the "Sword of Seals" (translated directly from its Japanese name in the trophy descriptions of Melee and SSB4), is now referred to in Palutena's Guidance as the Binding Blade, matching the English localization as of Fire Emblem Heroes.
  • Change Roy has a new crouching animation, although he shifts to the previous animation when holding a small item, like in SSB4.
  • Change Roy's sweetspotted moves now use a unique heavy sword SFX, similar to Ike's sword. He shares this distinction with Marth.
  • Change Roy's cape has better physics and rigging, allowing for more fluid animations. Additionally, the logo on Roy's cape is now part of his model, rather than being a flat texture.
  • Change Like Marth, Roy's voice clips are fully dubbed in English (voiced by Ray Chase) for non-Japanese versions.
    • Change Roy's side taunt has him saying "I won't lose!"
    • Change All of Roy's victory animations have been slightly altered with new camera angles. In addition, all of his victory lines have been dubbed in English, "That was a fierce battle!", "Failure is not an option!", and "Now the true battle begins!" respectively.
  • Change The Binding Blade and its sheath are no longer present in Roy's Defeated/No Contest animations.
  • Change As with all previous downloadable fighters in SSB4, Roy now has a unique Palutena's Guidance conversation.
  • Change In the Japanese language, Roy's jumping voice clip has been sped up.
  • Change Aside from when his shield breaks, Roy only vocalizes once when stunned, much like the rest of the cast.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Roy's jumpsquat takes 3 frames to complete (down from 5).
  • Buff Roy walks faster (1.15 → 1.208), slightly surpassing his Melee walking speed.
  • Buff Roy runs faster (1.95 → 2.145).
    • Buff His initial dash is significantly faster (1.4 → 2.2).
  • Buff Roy's air speed is faster (1.24 → 1.302).
  • Nerf Roy's fast-falling speed is slightly slower (2.9 → 2.88).

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff The sweetspot launches at a higher angle (62° → 69°), and has more base knockback (40 → 55), but less knockback scaling (60 → 40). In combination with Roy's faster jumpsquat, this greatly improves its combo potential, even giving it a KO setup into back aerial at high percents.
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff The sweetspot has more knockback scaling (100 → 105), improving its already outstanding KO potential.
    • Nerf The move has more ending lag (FAF 32 → 34).
  • Dash attack:
    • Buff Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 50 → 46).
    • Buff It has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 1.25×, which combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks makes it safer on shield.
    • Buff The sweetspot has more knockback scaling (82 → 85).
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff The move has one frame less startup (frame 14 → 13), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 55 → 54).
    • Change The move's hitboxes have been entirely reworked: the sweetspot is smaller (4.2u → 3.3u) and less extended horizontally (Z offset: 8.4u-5.1u → 9.1u-7.7u), the middlespot is larger (3.7u → 4.0u), and both the sourspot and middlespot have horizontally extended hitboxes with slightly altered placements, which fully cover the Binding Blade's trail (middlespot X/Y/Z offset: 0u/0u/1.5u → 2u-14u/1u/1.5u, sourspot X/Y/Z offset: 0u/0u/7.2u → 2u-9.5u/1u/7.5u).
      • Buff These changes significantly increase the move's vertical coverage, allowing it to hit opponents on low platforms above Roy, such as the ones in Battlefield.
      • Nerf However, these changes also make the sweetspot harder to land due to its reduced size and less favorable offset, with the middlespot being easier to land due to having the largest hitbox. The sourspot's higher offset also means it no longer matches the Binding Blade's entire length.
    • Change Both the sweetspot and middlespot have different knockback values (70 base/70 scaling → 60/75). This worsens their KO power at the edge, especially with rage, but improves it anywhere else without the need for rage.
  • Up smash:
    • Buff The clean first hit launches opponents more towards Roy (101°/116° → 118°/127°), whereas the late first hit and second to four hits have lower set knockback (95/60 → 85/55), allowing them to connect more reliably.
    • Buff The late first hit and second to fourth hits have received a -100% trip chance, preventing the move from tripping opponents on platforms and missing its last hit due to the trip's intangibility.
    • Change The clean first hit has lower SDI multipliers (1× → 0×/0.5×), but the late first hit and second to fourth hits have become vulnerable to SDI (0× → 0.3×).
  • Down smash:
    • Buff The back hit's sourspot is placed farther horizontally (X offset: 0u → -1.6u) and closer to the Binding Blade's tip, increasing its range.
    • Nerf The back hit's sweetspot stretches a shorter distance vertically and horizontally (Y/Z offset: 4.1u-5.5u/-13u - -7.5u → 4.1u-4.5u/-11u - -8u). This moves the sweetspot farther from the Binding Blade's hilt and closer to Roy's arm, making it harder to land.

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (11 frames → 9 (neutral), 13 → 8 (forward), 16 → 10 (back), 14 → 8 (up), 23 → 14 (down)).
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff The first hit has more base knockback (30 → 32), while the second hit's sweetspot has more knockback scaling (100 → 105). This improves the move's KO potential, without worsening its combo potential due to its lower landing lag.
    • Change The second hit uses weight-independent knockback, causing it to deal less knockback to lighter targets and more knockback to heavier ones. This worsens the move's KO potential but allows it to combo for longer in the former case, and vice versa in the latter case.
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 33 → 31), allowing it to auto-cancel if performed at the start of a short hop.
    • Buff It launches at a slightly higher angle (361° → 42°), and its sweetspot has more knockback scaling (80 → 83), improving its ability to start combos at low percents and KO at high percents.
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff The sweetspot deals more knockback (30 base/100 scaling → 35/107), allowing it to KO at around 125% from the center of Final Destination.
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff The sweetspot has much more knockback scaling (80 → 105), making the move more potent for juggling and granting it KO potential at realistic percents, starting at around 160% from ground level (compared to previously being unable to KO until around 220%).
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial auto-cancels earlier (frame 55 → 52), matching its interruptibility.
    • Buff The sweetspot has larger hitboxes (3.6u/3.6u → 4.4u/4.4u).
    • Change It has a slightly altered animation, setting the Binding Blade ablaze. Accordingly, it uses a flame effect and SFX rather than slash ones.
      • Change Due to having flame properties, it now sets off explosive items like Link's Remote Bomb.
      • Nerf Additionally, it can no longer damage Olimar's Red Pikmin.

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Nerf All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 30 → 37 (standing), 37 → 45 (dash), 35 → 40 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash and pivot grab have more startup (frame 8 → 10 (dash), 9 → 11 (pivot)).
    • Nerf Pivot grab has less horizontal range (Z2 offset: -13.4u → -12.8u).
    • Change Dash grab has a larger hitbox against grounded opponents (2.6u → 3u) and is placed slightly higher (Y offset: 7u → 7.25u), but doesn't reach as far horizontally (Z2 offset: 9.3u → 9.1u).
  • Pummel:
    • Nerf Pummel deals less damage (2% → 1.3%).
    • Change It deals more hitlag (4 frames → 14), but has much less startup (frame 6 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 16 → 7).
  • Forward throw:
    • Change Roy has a new forward throw: an elbow strike to the opponent's chest.
    • Nerf Due to the new knockback speed-up effect and Double-Edge Dance's slower startup, it has lost almost all of its combo potential, to the point where its only true followup is instant dash attack at extremely low percentages against a small amount of characters.
  • Down throw:
    • Buff Down throw has one frame less ending lag (FAF 43 → 42), improving its combo potential at low percents in combination with Roy's faster jumpsquat.
    • Nerf It has much more knockback scaling (60 → 90), worsening its combo potential at mid to high percents.
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (8% → 10%).

Special moves

  • Flare Blade:
    • Buff Flare Blade has less startup (frame 23 → 21).
      • Nerf However, its total duration remains unchanged, increasing its ending lag.
    • Buff It can be reversed during the charge, allowing Roy to catch opponents behind him.
    • Change The charging sound no longer changes in pitch if Roy is giant or tiny.
    • Change A fully charged Flare Blade triggers a Special Zoom on hit.
  • Double-Edge Dance:
    • Buff As with Dancing Blade, Double-Edge Dance transitions significantly faster into each hit. It can also now be buffered and is much harder to escape from.
    • Buff Double-Edge Dance's last forward hit has significantly larger hitboxes (5.175u/4.6u/4.025u → 7.0u/8.0u/7.0u).
    • Buff Double-Edge Dance's last forward hit has significantly increased knockback (60 base/130 scaling → 80/123), which when combined with the move's other changes, now make it a viable KO option.
    • Nerf Double-Edge Dance's first hit has increased startup (frame 6 → 9).
    • Nerf Double-Edge Dance's last forward hit has increased ending lag (FAF 56 → 59).
    • Change Roy uses a single voice clip when performing down-inputted fourth swing rather than three. The voice clip itself is the same one used whenever he performs his down aerial.
  • Blazer:
    • Nerf Blazer sweetspots edges later (frame 15 → 24), no longer doing so before the last hit comes out.
    • Change The last hit has more base knockback (40 → 75), but less knockback scaling (130 → 93). This makes it safe on hit at low percents, but also weakens its KO potential, especially at farther distances from the top blast line.
  • Counter:
    • Buff Counter has a longer counter window (frames 8-27 → 8-29).
    • Buff The counter grants intangibility earlier (frame 8 → 7).
    • Buff It deals more knockback, with the sourspot incurring a less significant knockback loss over the sweetspot (35 base/100/70 scaling → 60/50 base/90/80 scaling).
    • Buff The counterbox is bigger (9.2u → 9.7u). It's also positioned lower down (Y offset: 9.3 → 8.2), now fully covering below Roy.
    • Nerf It has more ending lag on both the counter (FAF 60 → 68) and the attack (FAF 37 → 41).
    • Nerf Its base damage is lower (9% → 8%).
    • Nerf It has higher hitlag multipliers (1.7×/1× → 1.9×/1.2×), making it easier to DI.
    • Change Along with an attack grunt, two of Roy's lines during a successful counterattack are dubbed, with him saying either "Now!" or "Gotcha!".
    • Change If a powerful enough attack is countered, the noise from Critical Hit will play if the counterattack successfully lands.
  • Critical Hit:
    • Nerf Critical Hit's finishing hit has less knockback scaling (55 → 47), worsening its already below average power.
    • Change It causes a flaming background to appear once the main hit is unleashed.
    • Change Roy removes the Binding Blade from its sheath once he has finished sheathing it.

Update history

Roy has been slightly buffed by the game updates. Down aerial auto-cancels 3 frames earlier, the multiple hits for Blazer and up smash connect more reliably, and dash grab has more range. Roy's approach and defense also indirectly benefit from and the universal nerf of projectiles.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.0.0

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Change Roy's character model has been adjusted.
  • Buff The grounded-only grabbox of dash grab was made bigger (2.6u → 3.0u) and placed higher (Y offsets: 7.0 → 7.25). This notably prevents it from missing a shielding R.O.B..
  • Buff Blazer's hits connect more reliably (Hits 2-4 FKB: 120 → 85).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Buff Up smash's hits connect more reliably.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 7.0.0

  • Buff Up smash has received a -100% trip chance, preventing it from tripping opponents on platforms and missing its last hit due to the trip's intangibility.

Moveset

  • For simplicity if, for example, Roy's blade does 6% damage while the tip does 4%, and the attack has no other hitboxes, it is written as 6%/4%.

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

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

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Slash 7.5%/4.8% A reverse-gripped upward slash. A great combo starter, due to launching at a rather high angle and having low knockback and ending lag. It can easily start combos into a grab, tilts, aerials, Double-Edge Dance or Blazer. In particular, it is notoriously effective at comboing into a reverse aerial rush back aerial for a highly potent KO confirm. It is widely considered to be one of the best neutral attacks in the game thanks to its great combo ability.
Forward tilt Sharp Edge 12.5% (sweetspot), 9% (near), 8% (far) A reverse-gripped downward slash. Comes out on frame 8 with somewhat low ending lag. Very powerful for a tilt considering its speed, being capable of KOing at under 130% from center-stage when sweetspotted.
Up tilt   12%/7% A reversed gripped overhead arcing slash. Like forward tilt, it has remarkably good speed and power when sweetspotted, capable KOing at around 120%. However, the ending lag is quite high, making whiffs punishable.
Down tilt Low Stab 11%/6.5% A kneeling thrust. Can set up a tech-chase due to launching at a semi-spike angle. Very safe on shield thanks to its good damage and very low ending lag.
Dash attack   13%/9% An inward horizontal slash across the ground. Very strong for a dash attack, KOing at around 110% near the ledge. However, it has noticeable startup and high ending lag, which makes it very unsafe on shield.
Forward smash   20% (close), 17% (mid), 12% (far) Rotates his body to perform a lunging, two-handed downward slash. Despite coming out rather quickly (frame 13), it has extremely high damage and knockback and is one of the strongest forward smashes in the game when sweetspotted, capable of KOing as low as 40% with max rage. However, it has high ending lag and a short duration.
Up smash Flame Sword 1% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 10% (hit 5) An upward thrust, which ignites the Binding Blade's tip and concludes with a small explosion. A good anti-air attack as Roy's sword arm is granted intangibility throughout the attack, though mediocre for ground combat due to it having small horizontal hitboxes. Has enough power to KO at around 100% uncharged.
Down smash   15%/10% (front hit), 17%/11% (back hit) A kneeling outward slash in front of himself and then behind himself. Roy's fastest smash attack when it comes to startup, but has the highest ending lag of the three. The back hit is stronger than the front hit. The front and back hits KO at around 120% and 100% near the ledge, respectively.
Neutral aerial Double Slash 6%/4% (hit 1), 8.5%/5% (hit 2), An inward slash followed by a spinning, outward slash. Deals decent damage and is a useful combo extender, and is Roy's main aerial approach tool due to its high amount of active frames. The first hit can start guaranteed combos, though it can be difficult to setup due to how fast it ends. Interestingly, it is set apart from identical neutral aerials in that the second hit possesses weight-independent knockback, KOing all characters at the same percentages regardless of their weight.
Forward aerial   11%/7% A downward slash. It comes out on frame 10 with the lowest amount of ending lag of Roy's aerials, auto-cancels from a short hop, and has KO potential at high percentages. It can also be used in quick succession due to its low ending lag, making it possible to perform a wall of pain.
Back aerial   12%/9% Rotates his body to perform an upward slash. Interestingly, it turns Roy around completely, similarly to Marth's and Jigglypuff's back aerials. Has great KO potential at high percentages and is also a devastating edgeguarding tool.
Up aerial   9%/6% A backflipping, upward arcing slash. Useful for juggling, and the sweetspot can even KO at very high percentages. The sourspot can lead into other aerials while falling.
Down aerial Half Moon 15%/10% A two-handed, downward slash between his legs, similar to Ike's down aerial. Has the capability to meteor smash when sweetspotted, though it can be very difficult to aim due to its slim hitbox. It's also risky to use offstage due to Roy's fast falling speed and poor recovery, possibly causing a self-destruct. This move has a flame effect.
Grab   — Reaches out with his free hand.
Pummel   1.3% A knee strike. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw   5% An elbow strike with his sword arm. Has very high base knockback, making it mainly used for sending opponents offstage.
Back throw   5% Tosses the opponent behind himself. Has extremely low knockback, making it unsafe at lower percents, but it can set up a tech-chase near platforms at higher percentages.
Up throw   6% Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. Roy's only throw with KO potential, starting around 170%. Can allow up aerial chains at low to mid percents.
Down throw Slam 5% A one-armed body slam. Roy's only combo throw and is very reliable due to the amount of followups it can potentially set up into, though, it has very low hitstun. Can follow up into neutral and up aerial at low percents depending on the opponent's DI.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge 		— —
Techs — —
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front) 		  7% Gets up while slashing to the left and then to the right.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back) 		  7% Gets into a kneeling position and then slices around himself as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip) 		  5% Hops briskly to his feet to perform a thrust to the left and a slash to the right.
Edge attack
Edge getups 		  8% Performs an outward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special Flare Blade 6%-35%, 36%-50% (fully charged), 10% recoil (fully charged) Rears back and ignites the Binding Blade before performing a lunging, two-handed downward slash that generates an explosion. Roy can turn while charging the move. Functions similarly to Eruption, as it can be charged before unleashing the explosion, with the explosion's size growing as it charges. It has very high knockback growth even while uncharged, and the ability to quickly increase its damage output via charging. When fully charged, it will OHKO every character in the game, with the exception of Shulk in the Shield Monado Art. A fully charged Flare Blade is also capable of instantaneously breaking a full shield, similar to a fully charged Shield Breaker. It also has deceptively low ending lag that allows it to be potentially safe on shield and can be used to bait approaches.
Side special Double-Edge Dance Varies A sequence of sword slashes with several variations based on directional input. There are four slashes total, with each capable of being altered in direction, allowing for eighteen total possible combinations. Standard strikes are trailed red, high strikes are trailed blue, and low strikes are trailed green. Unlike Marth's Dancing Blade, the last hit of each variation deals flame damage because of the Binding Blade igniting. The lower-held green strikes deal a fairly large amount of damage and is useful for damaging shields, the upward blue variant is useful for setting up juggle situations, while the final forward-held hit has surprisingly high KO potential when sweetspotted, being even stronger than Cloud's Limit Cross Slash, and is able to kill opponents near the ledge at lower than 80%.
Up special Blazer 5.5% (grounded hit 1), 4.5% (aerial hit 1), 1.1% (grounded hits 2-4), 1% (aerial hits 2-4), 8% (grounded hit 5), 6% (aerial hit 5) A jumping reverse gripped slash, which ignites the Binding Blade. Hits multiple times and can be angled diagonally, though this causes the slash to cover less vertical distance. The grounded version deals more damage and knockback, and has brief super armor before Roy leaves the ground, making it Roy's best option out of shield. Roy cannot sweetspot ledges with the move unless he has traveled half of Blazer's maximum distance.
Down special Counter 1.35× (minimum 9%) Parries and then counterattacks against any incoming attacks with an outward slash that ignites the Binding Blade. It has a 1.35× damage multiplier, the third-highest of any counterattack in the game by default, with Counter Throw and Gut Check tied for second (1.5×), Tetrakarn in first (1.6×), and Vision surpassing it while the Buster Monado Art is active.
Final Smash Critical Hit 1% (hits 1-10), 35% (hit 11) Swings the Binding Blade in a circular motion, which ignites its blade, before performing a two-handed, downward slash that generates a powerful explosion. Unlike Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit, Roy's is not a one-hit KO unless performed at the ledge. The circular swing can hit up to four times from the front, though it can hit up to ten times if performed on an opponent behind Roy. It is based on the Binding Blade's ranged attack in The Binding Blade.
Double-Edge Dance
Hit Damage Description
First Hit (Neutral) 3%/2% Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback to combo into its other hits. Can jab lock. The tipper lifts opponents off the ground slightly, making it combo into the second hit more consistently. Has less ending lag in the air.
Second Hit (Up) 3%/2% An upwards lifting slash. Has greater vertical reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground, with the tipper hit pulling them in slightly.
Second Hit (Neutral) 3%/2% Does an inward slash. Has a shorter hitbox than the first hit, which can lead to it sometimes missing if the first hit is landed from too far away. Deals very little knockback in order to connect more consistently. Can jab lock.
Third Hit (Up) 4%/3% Does an upwards slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents slightly up and away, leading into the upward finisher. Combo's well into the last hit forward.
Third Hit (Neutral) 4%/3% Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash.
Third Hit (Down) 4%/3% Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground. Good for not getting punished, as Roy steps back after he swings.
Fourth Hit (Up) 7%/5% Twirls counterclockwise and does an flaming upward slash. Launches opponents up, making it useful for starting juggling strings. Has the least ending lag of the three finishers. Fairly low knockback. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral) 6%/4% Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does powerful flaming vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback. The hilt by itself is incredibly powerful, KOing middleweights at the ledge around 80% (or even lower with rage), but the hit is much weaker when tippered, only beginning to KO around 161%.
Fourth Hit (Down) 2% (hit 1-4), 5/3% (hit 5) Does a flurry of five lower stabs. Deals the most damage of the three finishers, wearing down shields well, and can shield poke low shields. Has the highest ending lag and the lowest knockback of the three finishers, mainly should be used as a damage racking option.

On-screen appearance

  • Warps onto the stage using warp magic while crouching, with the Binding Blade stuck in the ground when he appears. He then pulls it out with a flourish before assuming his idle stance.
  • Roy's on-screen appearance

    Roy's on-screen appearance

Idle poses

  • Pumps his fist while smiling.
  • Rubs the edge of the Binding Blade's blade.
  • Roy's first idle pose

    Roy's first idle pose

  • Roy's second idle pose

    Roy's second idle pose

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Triumphantly holds the Binding Blade overhead.
  • Side taunt: Winds back before striking a pose while holding the Binding Blade in a reverse grip while saying "I won't lose!" (僕 は 負けない!, "I won't lose!")
  • Down taunt: Kneels and twirls the Binding Blade behind himself, hollering as he does so.
  • Roy's up taunt.

    Roy's up taunt.

  • Roy's side taunt.

    Roy's side taunt.

  • Roy's down taunt.

    Roy's down taunt.

Victory poses

  • Left: Swipes his sword once over his shoulder, then swipes it down and behind him while facing left, saying "Now, the true battle begins..." ("真の戦いは、これからだ", The true fight is after this.). Afterwards, the camera zooms in on his face, focusing on his eyes.
  • Up: Spins the Binding Blade one and a half times and then sheaths it, saying "That was a fierce battle." ("苦しい戦いだった", It was a difficult fight.).
  • Right: Flourishes his sword and poses with it by his side, saying "Failure is not an option!" ("守るべきもののために、負けられない！", For those whom I must protect, I will not lose!) before the camera dramatically zooms in on Roy's face.
An orchestral, sped-up cover of several bars of the Fire Emblem Theme, the title theme for the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which has since become the main theme of the series and appeared in every game.
  • RoyVictoryPose1SSBU.gif
  • RoyVictoryPose2SSBU.gif
  • RoyVictoryPose3SSBU.gif

In competitive play

Since the release of Ultimate, Roy looked promising in the meta, due to the universal decreased landing lag on aerials and using tilts out of a dash, which drastically fixed one of his biggest weaknesses. Along with his excellent mobility and some of the strongest KO power in the game, many professionals believed that Roy could potentially be a top-tier character. However, people also noticed that his Echo Fighter Chrom, despite having less power along with having a significantly worse recovery (one of the worst in the game) than Roy, is more consistent due to the lack of sourspots which made him noticeably better at spacing than Roy, along with a notorious sacrificial KO from his forward aerial to Soaring Slash. As such, Chrom was widely agreed to be one of the best characters in the game and was considered to be better than Roy. Despite this however, Roy still achieved many noteworthy results and is still agreed to be significantly improved from Smash 4, as he’s near-universally agreed to be a high-tier character.

Chrom would later receive a nerf to his Soaring Slash, which made it so that it’ll KO himself before his opponent when performing a sacrificial KO. Since then, most professionals believe that Roy is better than Chrom because of Roy’s better KO power and recovery. However, both Roy and Chrom were overlooked in favor of Lucina, who was quickly gaining prominence in competitive play as one of the best swordfighters in the game.

In more recent times, while Roy is still seen as a high-tier character, some players are starting to believe that he could potentially be a top-tier character, due to him achieving consistent success through players such as Kola, Goblin, Stroder, and Cyro. Roy also performs well against some meta relevant characters, such as Wolf, Zero Suit Samus, R.O.B., Sonic, Fox, and Olimar. Notably, Mew2King and Salem view Roy as the best swordfighter in the game. Samsora, ESAM, Tweek, Dabuz, Marss, and MkLeo also view Roy as a top-tier character, with some players saying that he is better than Lucina.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

Active

Inactive

Classic Mode: A Journey of Swords

Roy's congratulations screen.

Roy's opponents consist of entirely sword-fighters, with the exception of the final round.

Round Opponent Stage Music Notes
1 Lucina Lucina (SSBU), Chrom Chrom (SSBU), and Ike Ike (SSBU) Castle Siege Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure Free-For-All
2 Meta Knight Meta Knight (SSBU) Halberd Meta Knight's Revenge
3 Link Link (SSBU) Skyloft Ballad of the Goddess (Remix)
4 Shulk Shulk (SSBU) Gaur Plain You Will Know Our Names
5 Cloud Cloud (SSBU) Midgar Fight On!
6 Marth Marth (SSBU), Corrin (x2) (Corrin (SSBU)Corrin (SSBU)) Coliseum Winning Road - Roy's Hope
Bonus Stage
Final Master Hand Final Destination Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity)
Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)		 On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Roy has Winning Road - Roy's Hope accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Roy in World of Light

Although Roy does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Roy appears in The Final Battle as one of the last fighters imprisoned by Galeem. He is one of the few obligatory unlocks. Defeating him leads to a fight with Master Hand and the subsequent reveal of Bayonetta's location.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
25
Roy SSBU.png
 Roy
Attack
Attack
 12,500 Castle Siege (Ω form) Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure

Template:-

Spirit

Roy's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 coins. Unlocking Roy 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.

  • Binding Blade Roy.png

    612. Roy (Fire Emblem)

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music
642
Leif Spirit.png
 Leif (Fire Emblem) Fire Emblem Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
 9,300 Castle Siege N/A •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random
•The enemy heals over time 		Fire Emblem Theme
647
File:Eliwood.png
 Eliwood Fire Emblem Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
Neutral
 9,800 Castle Siege (Battlefield form) •Easy to Launch
•Hazard: Lava Floor 		•The floor is lava
•All fighters are easy to launch after a little while
•The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power 		Winning Road - Roy's Hope
649
Raven Spirit.png
 Raven Fire Emblem Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
 1,700 Coliseum •Defense ↓
•Attack Power ↑ 		•All fighters have reduced defense
•All fighters have increased attack power 		Attack - Fire Emblem
1,170
File:Garet Spirit.png
 Garet Golden Sun Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
 2,500 Temple (Battlefield form) •Hazard: Lava Floor •The floor is lava
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower 		Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun
1,204
Sagi.png
 Sagi Baten Kaitos Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
•Corrin Corrin (SSBU)
Neutral
 1,600 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Item: Timer •Reinforcements will appear during the battle
•The enemy is easily distracted by items 		The Valedictory Elegy
1,230
Welt.png
 Welt Soma Bringer •Roy Roy (SSBU)
Neutral
 3,600 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) •Defense ↓ •You have reduced defense
•Stamina battle 		Attack - Soma Bringer
1,411
File:Duran Angela Spirit.jpg
 Duran & Angela Mana Series •Roy Roy (SSBU)
•Zelda Zelda (SSBU)
•Tiny Bunny Kirby Kirby (SSBU)×2
Attack
 9,200 Gaur Plain (Ω form) •Item: Ramblin' Evil Mushroom •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd Filled with Hope

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
644
Lilina.png
 Lilina Fire Emblem Series •Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
•Roy Roy (SSBU)
Attack
 3,500 Gaur Plain (Battlefield form) N/A •The enemy's explosion and fire attacks have increased power
•The enemy favors side specials
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 		Beyond Distant Skies - Roy's Departure Roy
650
Ninian Spirit.png
 Ninian Fire Emblem Series •Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
•Roy Roy (SSBU)
Shield
 3,400 Castle Siege (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy can use their Final Smash twice in a row
•The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly 		Winning Road - Roy's Hope Eliwood
1,168
File:Isaac Spirit.png
 Isaac Golden Sun Series •Mii Swordfighter Mii Swordfighter (SSBU) (Moveset 1222, Isaac Wig, Isaac's Outfit, High Voice Type 1)
•Palutena Palutena (SSBU)
•Robin Robin (SSBU)
•Roy Roy (SSBU)
Grab
 8,900 Wuhu Island (Swaying Bridge) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Isaac) •The enemy's magic attacks have increased power
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•Reinforcements will appear during the battle 		Battle Scene / Final Boss - Golden Sun Garet

Alternate costumes

Alternate costume (SSBU)
Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU) Roy (SSBU)

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

Trivia

  • Roy's pose in his official artwork resembles his forward tilt.
    • Interestingly, Roy also performs his forward tilt in his splash art for Super Smash Bros. 4.
  • Roy is the first fighter to be introduced as a clone and later have an Echo Fighter of their own in a later installment.
  • Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter to not be in the same Classic Mode unlock tree as their echo; he is in Mario's character tree, while his echo, Chrom, is in Yoshi's unlock tree.
    • Additionally, as a semi-clone of Marth, Roy is the only character whose moveset is derived from him to not appear in Yoshi's unlock tree, as Lucina is also located there. Ganondorf also holds a similar distinction.
  • Despite also wielding a sword, Robin, Young Link, Toon Link, and Mii Swordfighter do not appear in Roy's Classic Mode route.
  • Like in Smash 4, Roy will revert to Marth's idle animation while holding a small throwable item, although now he also transitions to his Smash 4 incarnation's crouching animation.
  • In Roy's character showcase video, he is seen with a new dashing animation, but in the final build of the game, he reuses his dashing animation from Smash 4.
  • Whenever Roy frees a spirit from its puppet fighter after winning a spirit battle on the Spirit Board or fires a small shooting item such as a Ray Gun from the ground, his sheath appears with his sword inside on the left side of his belt. This is due to a positioning error when copying Marth's animation to Roy.
    • Marth, Lucina, and Chrom also share this oddity, although their sheaths won't disappear due to already being visible in battle.
  • Roy is the only male character unlocked in the Final Battle realm in World of Light.
    • Additionally, since Roy is found in the Final Battle, he is the only character with an Echo Fighter based off of them who cannot be found in the Light Realm, as Samus, Peach, Marth, Pit, Ryu, and Simon can all be found in it, while all Echo Fighters (except Dark Samus) can be found in the Dark Realm.
    • This also means that Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter that can be unlocked in World of Light first, with Chrom being found in the Sacred Land sub-world of the Dark Realm.
    • Roy is the only base character in World of Light that has a higher "power level" than his Echo Fighter. Roy has a power level of 12,500, matching the remaining fighters in the Final Battle area, while Chrom's power level is 10,600, being on a similar level as most of the fighters trapped within the Dark Realm.
  • Strangely enough, Roy's neutral aerial uses weight-independent knockback on its second hit, causing it to KO all characters at the same percentage[1] regardless of their weight. This is likely an oversight, as the neutral aerials of Marth and Lucina, as well as Roy's Echo Fighter Chrom, have weight-independent knockback on the first hit instead to link more consistently into the second hit, which deals normal knockback affected by weight.
  • Echo fighters notwithstanding, Roy is erroneously misplaced on the back of the NTSC physical case of Ultimate, where every character is meant to be displayed in order of their announcement to the series. This also affects Luigi, Zelda, Ike, Toon Link, Inkling, Ridley, Palutena, Corrin, and Cloud.
    • In Roy's case, he is positioned just before Diddy Kong.
    • Thusly, Roy is the only character with an Echo Fighter to not be placed next to them.
  • Roy's English Star KO voice clip has become a minor meme in the Smash community for being overdone and horrifying, to the point that his voice actor, Ray Chase, acknowledging it on Twitter.
  • On the Sound Test, Roy's voice clips are ordered differently from other non-DLC characters. Normally, blast KO clips are listed after heavy knockback clips, special move and Final Smash clips are listed in between normal attack clips and edge hanging clip, and the voice lines for victory poses is listed after taunt lines; in Roy's case, these are grouped together after his voice clip while carrying a heavy item in that order.

References

  1. ^ https://twitter.com/drafix570/status/1131908728758784000


v • d • e
Fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Veterans Bayonetta · Bowser · Bowser Jr. · Captain Falcon · Cloud · Corrin · Dark Pit · Diddy Kong · Donkey Kong · Dr. Mario · Duck Hunt · Falco · Fox · Ganondorf · Greninja · Ice Climbers · Ike · Jigglypuff · King Dedede · Kirby · Link · Little Mac · Lucario · Lucas · Lucina · Luigi · Mario · Marth · Mega Man · Meta Knight · Mewtwo · Mii Fighter (Mii Brawler · Mii Gunner · Mii Swordfighter) · Mr. Game & Watch · Ness · Olimar · Pac-Man · Palutena · Peach · Pichu · Pikachu · Pit · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard · Ivysaur · Squirtle) · R.O.B. · Robin · Rosalina & Luma · Roy · Ryu · Samus · Sheik · Shulk · Snake · Sonic · Toon Link · Villager · Wario · Wii Fit Trainer · Wolf · Yoshi · Young Link · Zelda · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie · Byleth · Chrom · Daisy · Dark Samus · Hero · Incineroar · Inkling · Isabelle · Joker · Kazuya · Ken · King K. Rool · Min Min · Piranha Plant · Pyra / Mythra  · Richter · Ridley · Sephiroth · Simon · Sora · Steve · Terry
v • d • e
Fire Emblem (universe) Fire Emblem universe
Fighters Marth (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Roy (SSBM · SSB4 · SSBU) · Ike (SSBB · SSB4 · SSBU) · Lucina (SSB4 · SSBU) · Robin (SSB4 · SSBU) · Corrin (SSB4 · SSBU) · Chrom (SSBU) · Byleth (SSBU)
Assist Trophies Lyn · Black Knight · Tiki
Stages Castle Siege · Arena Ferox · Coliseum · Garreg Mach Monastery
Item Killing Edge
Other Sothis
Trophies, Stickers and Spirits Trophies (SSBM · SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits
Music Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate
Masterpieces Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light · Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
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