Captain Falcon (SSBM)/Side special

Hitbox visualization of Captain Falcon's grounded Raptor Boost.

Hitbox visualization of Captain Falcon's aerial Raptor Boost.

Hitbox visualization showing Captain Falcon's grounded side special when it connects with an opponent.

Hitbox visualization showing Captain Falcon's aerial side special when it connects with an opponent.

Overview

Captain Falcon's side special move is officially known as Raptor Boost; he dashes forward and, if he comes into contact with an opponent, releases a fiery uppercut that launches the opponent upward, making it a great combo starter. However, if the move does not hit an opponent, Captain Falcon will fall over and leave himself highly vulnerable to punishes, thanks to the move's insanely high ¾ of a second of end lag. Additionally, if he dashes over an edge, he will become helpless until he lands.

The aerial version of the move meteor smashes opponents it hits, but this is extremely weak and impractical, since Captain Falcon cannot grab the ledge whilst using this move and becomes helpless whether or not it hits. This version of the move is almost never seen, and considered inferior to the grounded version, although it's occasionally used as an option to perform a sacrificial KO, when the opponent is very far off-stage. Aside from that, it does see niche use as a recovery tool, allowing Falcon to get back onto the stage or a platform since it gives him more horizontal distance than his air dodge; this is incredibly risky, though, as the opponent can easily intercept it with an attack, or even allow themselves to intentionally be hit, thus shortening the distance Falcon travels and letting him fall to his death.

Hitboxes

Grounded

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Search
0	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	6.2496	3.171672	0.0						Punch
1	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	6.2496	7.999488	0.0						Punch
2	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	6.2496	14.827176	0.0						Punch
Hit
0	0	7%	2		78	80	0	7.49952	25	0.0	0.0	0.0						Burn

Aerial

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Search
0	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	5.859	3.171672	0.0						Punch
1	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	5.859	9.99936	0.0						Punch
2	0	0%	0		0	0	0	3.999744	0	5.859	-4.827816	0.0						Punch
Hit
0	0	7%	2		60	70	0	7.49952	25	0.0	0.03906	0.0						Burn

Timing

Grounded search

Search box	15-79 (hits end at 33)
Animation length	79

Grounded hit

Hitbox	3-7
Animation length	24

Aerial search

Search box	18-79 (hits end at 33)
Animation length	79

Aerial hit

Hitbox	3-7
Hitlag	5 frames
Animation length	44

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Searchbox

Similar moves

• Gerudo Dragon

Captain Falcon's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · 3 · inf) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special