Marth (SSBM)

This article is about Marth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Marth. Also, for information about Marth's clone, see Roy (SSBM).

Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Fire Emblem
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	A (5)

“

Marth is a magnificent swordsman. While his swordplay is faster than that of Link, he lacks power, and his quickness is offset by a marginal endurance.

”

Marth (Japanese: マルス, Marusu) debuted in the first game of the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragons and the Blade of Light (Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi). Marth was placed in Super Smash Bros. Melee due to heavy requests from Japanese players; as his games had never been released outside of Japan prior to Melee, his character was among the most obscure in the game in other regions. His popularity as a character, alongside Roy, eventually caused Nintendo to begin releasing the Fire Emblem games internationally; the first internationally released game came two years after Melee.

Marth currently ranks 5th place on the tier list in the A tier. This is due to his excellent overall speed, disjointed range, power when tipped attacks are landed (particularly his forward smash and down aerial), juggle/combo ability (including the notorious Ken Combo), and a great edgeguard ability. Of the top and high tier characters, Marth also has a rather low learning curve, allowing him to be mastered relatively easily. On the downside, his approach options are limited in comparisons with other top tier characters due to a lack of a projectile, and his recovery, while extendable with a very fast up special recovery, is also rather predictable and covers poor horizontal distance.

How to unlock

To unlock Marth, players have to use all fourteen starter characters in VS. matches, complete Classic mode with all fourteen starter characters, or play 400 VS. matches. Upon completing this, Marth will be fought on Fountain of Dreams, with the song "Fire Emblem" playing.

Attributes

Marth generally falls under the character archetype of being fast, with the ability to easily outmanoeuvre most of his opponents; Marth has a very fast dash, a long wavedash and rather good jumping speed, with average falling speed, contributing to a good SHFFL. With a good dash dance and a disjointed hitbox, Marth has good approach options in the game, both in the air and on the ground.

One of Marth's greatest strengths is his range in his normal attacks; Falchion grants Marth a disjointed hitbox that can allow him to safely attack from a distance. Additionally, the tip of Falchion, its sweetspot, is remarkably easy to land with, making Marth stronger when he's farther from his opponent. This long hitbox with a far away sweetspot also contributes to Marth's combo game.

In addition to his disjointed range, Marth has almost unparalleled combo ability; despite a slightly below average air speed, with a combination of good jumping prowess, and an average falling speed, as well as quick, low lag, high ranged, easy to sweetspot aerials, Marth has among the best air games in Melee, and a great combo ability. Additionally, Marth's grab game is also good, due to a surpringly good grab range (the best for non-grapple grabs). His throws possess low damage and knockback, allowing him to chain his throws into each other and combo into other attacks. In particular, his up throw can chain throw most fast fallers at low to mid percentages, and it can directly segue into an up tilt or an aerial. Marth's long dash dance also makes him a superb tech chaser.

Marth also has plenty of powerful attacks; some of these attacks are very fast and have high range, such as his up tilt, while others can KO at close ranges, such as the Reverse Dolphin Slash technique. Marth's forward smash is feared due to its high priority, speed, and power, and it can actually "break" through some projectiles found in the game; it also works well when wavesmashed, due to Marth's long wavedash. Marth's down tilt and Shield Breaker act as good edgeguarding options. Most notably, however, is his down air; it acts as a powerful spike in NTSC regions, and an equally powerful meteor smash in PAL regions; it can KO reliably even as low as 40%, and many of Marth's attacks can easily combo into his dair, most notably his forward air as part of the Ken Combo. Marth also has access to a grounded meteor, in his Dancing Blade; this, however, is situational.

Marth's primary flaw is his rather lackluster recovery. His up special, Dolphin Slash, grants little horizontal distance and decidedly average vertical distance; its ending lag also makes it very easy to punish. Marth's average airspeed also prevents him from moving far after entering a helpless state. However, Marth can mitigate his recovery by using Dancing Blade as to give him some horizontal recovery, though this gives no vertical recovery, and it must be timed well.

Additionally, Marth has a slight weakness of lacking a projectile; while its effect on Marth is debatable, this limits his approach in comparison with other high tiered characters, such as Fox. Marth also has a slightly large target; in NTSC regions, he is also vulnerable to Fox's Waveshine combos.

Moveset

Note that all of Marth's attacks (save his grabs and Counter) have a sweetspot at the tip of his blade. Because of this, the term "tipper" refers to the sweetspotted version of the attack.

Ground attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Swings upward, back and forth, with the first hit resembling his up-tilt. Can be chained continuously. If Marth is wearing a Bunny Hood, this attack can be chained twice as fast.
• Dash attack - A quick upward diagonal slash with medium lag with extremely high priority. Depending if it's tipped or not, it can either send opponents behind him or above him. 10% base, 13% tip
• Forward tilt - A fast forward sword swipe, much like the dash attack with less lag and a higher angle.
• Up tilt - Swings his sword in a large arc above his head, with a large hitbox that can peg opponents behind him. Useful for juggling and can set up an aerial combo. Looks like the first hit of his neutral attack, though aims a bit higher. It also bears resemblance to his forward tilt. At high percentages, it is an extremely effective KO move, KOing reliably at 90% and above. 9% base. 12% tip
• Down tilt - A quick crouching sword poke. As it pokes out and is a semi-spike, it makes a very useful edgeguard. 9% base. 10% tip

Smash

• Forward smash - Rotates body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground, similar to the animation of his neutral special. Very fast and long ranged. The tip is on top knockback.
• Up smash - A powerful upward thrust. While effective on aerial opponents, the move has very weak sourspots next to Marth if used on the ground.
• Down smash - Sweeps his sword on the ground toward the front then toward the back. If tipped it sends opponents upward with high vertical knockback, star KOing opponents at high percentage, and its one of the strongest down smash in the game. If hit at the base, it sends opponents with low horizontal knockback, but it can still KO at high percentage. Despite its power, it is rather laggy.

Other

• Ledge attack - Flips onto ledge with a quick downward diagonal slash from left to right. 6% base. 8% tip.
• 100% ledge attack - Quick, low, horizontal slash with medium lag. Less range than normal ledge attack. 10% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from back) - Quick stab to the left followed by horizontal slash to the right. 6% base and tip.
• Floor attack (from stomach) - Sweeps the tip of his sword on the ground front to back. Less range than floor attack from back. 6% base and tip.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Two horizontal slashes around himself. Both hits connect easily, can follow up into each other, with the second having decent knockback if sweetspotted.
• Forward aerial - Forward vertical slash (up to down). This attack sends opponents upward if tipped, and is integral to Marth's Ken Combo.
• Back aerial - Bottom to top sword slash behind him. The attack has the unusual property of turning Marth around when used in the air; in this regard, his back aerial can be used to potentially set up a Ken Combo.
• Up aerial - A forward to back upward sword slash. Hit from close is as powerful as the tip but from medium distance is still weak.
• Down aerial - A forward to back downward sword slash. The attack, when sweetspotted, sends opponents flying downward. In NTSC regions, the attack is a spike, while PAL regions, it's a meteor smash. Due to its high ending lag and Marth's lackluster recovery, the attack is of moderate risk.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel - repeatedly knees opponent 2% damage.
• Forward throw - Grabs and pushes forward, tripping with the leg. 4% damage.
• Down throw - Hooks arm and drags to the floor sending the opponent backward. Set ups tipper forward smash at low percentages. 5% damage.
• Back throw - Pulls and extends leg simultaneously. 4% damage.
• Up throw - Powerful upward throw with one arm. Can chain throw fast fallers at low percentages, and is the third strongest up throw in the game. 4% damage.

Special moves

Marth's special moves

Neutral special	Shield Breaker
Side special	Dancing Blade
Up special	Dolphin Slash
Down special	Counter
Final Smash	—	Critical Hit

Regional Differences

Marth was slightly altered when included in the PAL versions of the game. While still the 16th heaviest character in the game, Marth lost some weight, making him immune to Fox's Waveshine combos; in the NTSC regions, his weight was just above the threshold to allow him to be waveshined.

Additionally, Marth's down air was converted from a spike to a meteor smash in PAL regions. As a result, his down air can be meteor cancelled; it is still a very reliable finisher, and unusually, it still sends foes at an angle.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

In single-player modes

In Classic Mode

In Classic Mode, Marth can appear in one-on-one matches, team battles alongside Link, and as a metal opponent in the mode's penultimate stage. In his appearances, bar his metal match, Marth appears on Great Bay. In all such instances, the track "Fire Emblem" plays on the stage, which does not occur in any other mode.

In Adventure Mode

Marth makes no appearances in the game's single-player Adventure Mode. Music associated with him, however, can play in the Underground Maze.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Marth and his allies are fought on Fountain of Dreams, as Marth was not designated a specific home stage. When fought on the stage, the song "Fire Emblem" plays instead of the standard music.

In Event Matches

Marth appears in multiple Event Matches:

• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Marth is the first opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Temple stage with a stock of 2 while Marth has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other four characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Luigi, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, and Mr. Game & Watch.
• Event 41: En Garde!: A one-on-one battle between the player as Marth and the enemy Link on the Temple stage, with the two characters having 2 stock each and unlimited time.
• Event 46: Fire Emblem Pride: The player battles and must defeat a team of Marth and Roy in an untimed match in the Hyrule Temple stage, with all three characters receiving 3 stock.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Japanese translations

Marth is considerably more verbose than Roy in the games, speaking in the Results screen, in his taunt, down special move, and he also has one unused soundbite.

• Marth's taunt in battle is "皆、見ていてくれ！" "Minna, miteite kure!" which translates to "Everyone, please watch me!".
• Marth's counter move is performed while saying "そこだ！" "Soko da!" or "させるものか！" "Saseru mono ka!" which roughly translates to "There!" and "I won't let you!" respectively.
• Marth's three possible victory statements are:
  • "今回は僕の勝ちだね。" "Konkai wa boku no kachi da ne?" which translates to "This time, victory is mine, right?"
  • "今日も生き延びることが出来た。" "Kyou mo ikinobiru koto ga dekita", which translates to "Today, too, I managed to survive."
  • "僕は負ける訳には行かないんだ。" "Boku wa makeru wake-ni wa ikanain'da!" which translates to "There's no way I can lose!"
• In the Debug Menu of the game, Marth has an additional phrase players can listen to that he does not say in the game: "レッツダンス！" "Rettsu dansu!", which loosely translates to "Let's Dance!"

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Marth as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Classic, Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Marth on any difficulty:

Marth (Classic Mode):

The betrayed prince of the Kingdom of Altea, the blood of the hero Anri flows in Marth's veins. He was forced into exile when the kingdom of Dolua invaded Altea. Then, wielding his divine sword Falchion, he led a revolt and defeated the dark dragon Medeus. Afterwards, Altea was annihilated by King Hardin of Akanea.

• Fire Emblem
• Japan Only

Marth (Adventure Mode):

Marth is a magnificent swordsman. While his swordplay is faster than that of Link, he lacks power, and his quickness is offset by a marginal endurance. His Shield Breaker gains power the longer it's held. The Dancing Blade combination uses both the Control Stick and the B Button to produce a series of up to four attacks.

• B: Shield Breaker
• Smash B: Dancing Blade

Marth (All-Star Mode):

The tip of Marth's blade causes the most damage, so you should try to create adequate distance between you and your enemy to gracefully strike with that point. Marth's Dolphin Slash is fast and powerful, but it leaves him vulnerable upon landing. Marth uses Counter to block a foe's attack and deal a return strike. If you're fighting a Counter-happy Marth, grab him.

• Up & B: Dolphin Slash
• Down & B: Counter

• 

  Marth [Classic Mode] trophy

• 

  Marth [Smash, Adventure Mode] trophy

• 

  Marth [Smash, All-Star Mode] trophy

Costumes

Marth's alternate costumes in SSBM.

Trivia

• Marth is the only hidden character to have a clone.
• Marth and Roy are the only characters in Melee that speak Japanese even when English is turned on. To date, they are the only two fighters to speak solely in Japanese.
• Marth and Roy are the only playable characters in Melee that don't have a stage representing their universe, though hacked data shows that one was planned.
  • As a result of not having a stage, Marth is fought on Fountain of Dreams in All-Star Mode and his character unlock battle. In Event Matches, he appears in Temple, and in Classic Mode, he appears on Great Bay.
• Marth, Roy, and Peach are the only characters in Melee with a special move that can counter.
• Marth was originally only going to appear in the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Melee, but was kept in all versions on request of an employee at Nintendo of America. American fans became interested in Fire Emblem because of Super Smash Bros. Melee, which helped Fire Emblem to enter the countries where the games in the series had not been released.

External links

• Marth HRC strategies
• Overswarm's Marth Tutorial