Roy (SSB4)

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For information on the playable Koopaling, please see Bowser Jr. (SSB4).

Roy in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Fire Emblem
Other playable appearance	in Melee
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Critical Hit

“	Roy Seals the Deal!	”
—Introduction tagline

Roy (ロイ, Roy) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 as the third downloadable character. First leaked through datamining of the 1.0.6 update, Roy would ultimately be revealed as DLC and was released alongside Lucas and Ryu on June 14th, 2015.

As in Melee, Roy is only voiced in Japanese regardless of the game's region, voiced once more by Jun Fukuyama; however, his lines have been re-recorded.

Changes from Melee

Roy has been tremendously buffed in his transition from Melee to SSB4 in which he was considered a low-tier character despite his impressive power. The hitbox placements on many of Roy's attacks (e.g. down air) have been improved and his power and speed have overall been increased. Furthermore, he benefits from the rage mechanic, allowing him to dish out even more knockback. Overall, Roy is now considerably and significantly better than his Melee incarnation.

Roy additionally received some minor and drastic changes that further distinguish his moveset and animations from Marth's, converting Roy to a near semi-clone status.

Aesthetics

• Roy's design blends elements from his original appearance in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade and his DLC appearance in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
• Roy now has a completely unique standing stance as opposed to a variant of Marth's.
• Roy has new idle pose.
• In a similar vein to those of Marth and Lucina, Roy's sword trails now indicate the sweetspot with a white arc - in Roy's case, it's near the hilt of the blade.
• Due to Roy earning many altered attacks that has him swinging his sword in a reverse grip or with two hands while looking like it takes some effort, this makes Roy's Sword of Seals seem to have more "weight" than compared to Marth's Falchion aesthetically. This is also referenced in one of Roy's new victory poses.

Attributes

• Many of Roy's attacks, such as his forward smash and his up special move, Blazer, now are performed while holding his sword with a reverse grip, and have slightly different swings compared to Marth as a result.
• Roy walks and dashes faster.
• Roy now stands at Marth's height which gives him slightly more range but makes his hurtbox bigger.
• The majority of Roy's attacks have less reach because of reduced hitbox sizes and altered placements.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack is no longer a combo but instead one powerful hit, similar to Ganondorf.
• Forward tilt is significantly more powerful, KO'ing starting at 110%.
• Up tilt deals more damage and is much stronger.
• Up tilt has a slightly tweaked animation, with Roy swinging his sword in a more overhead grip while bringing it to his side instead of behind him. The animation is also more vertical than horizontal.
• Down tilt now sends opponents at a semi spike trajectory, making it much better for edgeguarding.
• Down tilt no longer sends opponents at a vertical trajectory, almost completely removing all its combo potential.
• Dash attack deals 1% more damage and can now KO starting at 150%.
• Up smash has a stronger final hit, and the first few hits link together better. It also has slightly less ending lag.
• The first hit of up smash now has no knockback. This removes the attack's ability to spike, but allows the move to link together and deal damage more reliably.
• Up smash also has an explosion occur at the end, oddly similar to the Melee: SD Remix version.
• Forward smash has slightly less ending lag.
• Down smash's front hit sends foes at a more horizontal trajectory.
• Down smash deals less damage (28% fully charged → 21% fully charged).
• Down smash's back hit deals 2% more damage.
• The properties of Roy's down smash have been reversed, with the back hit being stronger.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial hits on frame 4 instead of frame 7. The second swing hits on frame 13 instead of frame 17. It also has less ending and landing lag.
• Forward aerial hits on frame 9 instead of frame 5 and 7.
• Forward aerial has slightly less ending and landing lag.
• Back aerial has less ending and landing lag.
• Up aerial has slightly less ending and landing lag.
• Neutral, forward and back aerials all deal more damage and are significantly stronger, now being able to KO reliably.
• Roy has a new down air, working similar to Ike's.
• The new down air is significantly stronger on both the sweetspot and sourspot, dealing 15% at the base and 10% at the tip (instead of 9% at the base and 6% at the tip). Its sourspot is also much stronger and can KO grounded opponents starting at 160%. It also has extended reach underneath Roy and has a much larger hitbox that is also easier to land. The move also has much less ending lag, and with proper timing, it can also be used out of a forward air to Ken Combo.
• The new down air has less diagonal reach and takes a bit longer to start up.

Grabs & Throws

• Down throw damage: 6% → 5%

Special moves

• Flare Blade can now be charged up to a maximum of 45% without causing recoil damage (up from 41% in Melee).
• Flare Blade has a different sound when charging; when fully charged, the sound vanishes before the move's explosion.
• Double-Edge Dance's 4th forward hit is significantly stronger, gaining KO potential starting at 110%.
• Double-Edge Dance's 4th forward hit now has a fire effect.
• Blazer now has invincibility frames on startup if used from the ground.
• Blazer's final hit is much stronger, now being able to KO at high percentages.
• Blazer's first hit has much lower set knockback. This allows every hit to connect even better than in Melee at the loss of its ability to OHKO the lightest characters.
• Blazer gains slightly less distance.
• Counter is much stronger and can now KO off countered smash attacks starting under 40%. The move's horizontal range is also longer.
• Counter has a slightly tweaked animation: Roy holds his hand out for the entirely of the move.
• Roy now has a Final Smash.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			7.5% (sweetspot), ~4.65% (sourspot)	Roy slashes his sword upwards.
Forward tilt			12.5% (sweetspot), 9% (near), 8% (far)	A swift and powerful overhead slash.
Up tilt			12% (sweetspot), 7% (sourspot)	Roy swings his blade in an arc.
Down tilt			11% (sweetspot), 6.5% (sourspot)	Crouches and pokes forward with his sword. Weaker than Roy's other tilts, but comes out quickly.
Dash attack			13% (sweetspot), 9% (sourspot)	Roy comes to a halt, still bending forward, and swings his blade.
Forward smash			20% (close), 17% (mid), 12% (far)	Roy lunges forward while swinging his sword.
Up smash		{{{usmashname}}}	{{{usmashdmg}}}	{{{usmashdesc}}}
Down smash		{{{dsmashname}}}	{{{dsmashdmg}}}	{{{dsmashdesc}}}
Neutral aerial		{{{nairname}}}	{{{nairdmg}}}	{{{nairdesc}}}
Forward aerial		{{{fairname}}}	{{{fairdmg}}}	{{{fairdesc}}}
Back aerial		{{{bairname}}}	{{{bairdmg}}}	{{{bairdesc}}}
Up aerial		{{{uairname}}}	{{{uairdmg}}}	{{{uairdesc}}}
Down aerial		{{{dairname}}}	{{{dairdmg}}}	{{{dairdesc}}}
Grab		{{{grabname}}}	—	{{{grabdesc}}}
Pummel		{{{pummelname}}}	{{{pummeldmg}}}	{{{pummeldesc}}}
Forward throw		{{{fthrowname}}}	{{{fthrowdmg}}}	{{{fthrowdesc}}}
Back throw		{{{bthrowname}}}	{{{bthrowdmg}}}	{{{bthrowdesc}}}
Up throw		{{{uthrowname}}}	{{{uthrowdmg}}}	{{{uthrowdesc}}}
Down throw		{{{dthrowname}}}	{{{dthrowdmg}}}	{{{dthrowdesc}}}
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)		{{{floorfname}}}	{{{floorfdmg}}}	{{{floorfdesc}}}
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)		{{{floorbname}}}	{{{floorbdmg}}}	{{{floorbdesc}}}
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)		{{{floortname}}}	{{{floortdmg}}}	{{{floortdesc}}}
Edge attack Edge getups		{{{edgename}}}	{{{edgedmg}}}	{{{edgedesc}}}
Neutral special	Default	Flare Blade	{{{nsdefdmg}}}	Roy charges his blade with flames, similar to Ike's Eruption before powerfully slamming it onto the ground and creating an explosion. One-Hit KO's Mario from the center of Final Destination when charged to the max.
	Custom 1	N/A	{{{nsc1dmg}}}	{{{nsc1desc}}}
	Custom 2	N/A	{{{nsc2dmg}}}	{{{nsc2desc}}}
Side special	Default	Double-Edge Dance	{{{ssdefdmg}}}	Roy unleashes a combo of sword slashes in a fashion identical to Marth and Lucina's Dancing Blade. The type of slashes he performs can be influence by directional inputs.
	Custom 1	N/A	{{{ssc1dmg}}}	{{{ssc1desc}}}
	Custom 2	N/A	{{{ssc2dmg}}}	{{{ssc2desc}}}
Up special	Default	Blazer	{{{usdefdmg}}}	Roy performs a jumping uppercut with his sword ablaze. Can be angled horizontally or vertically.
	Custom 1	N/A	{{{usc1dmg}}}	{{{usc1desc}}}
	Custom 2	N/A	{{{usc2dmg}}}	{{{usc2desc}}}
Down special	Default	Counter	{{{dsdefdmg}}}	Roy holds his sword to block attacks, then strikes back with damage dependent on the attack countered.
	Custom 1	N/A	{{{dsc1dmg}}}	{{{dsc1desc}}}
	Custom 2	N/A	{{{dsc2dmg}}}	{{{dsc2desc}}}
Final Smash		Critical Hit	{{{fsdmg}}}	Roy slowly swings his sword in a circle, trapping anyone near him, then hits them with an extremely powerful slash. Unlike Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit, Roy's version isn't a One-Hit KO.

Roy's special moves

Neutral special	Flare Blade
Side special	Double-Edge Dance
Up special	Blazer
Down special	Counter
Final Smash	—	Critical Hit

Taunts

• Roy's up taunt has him triumphantly hold his sword above his head; unlike Marth's taunt, he holds it sideways.
• Roy's side taunt has him posing while holding the Sword of Seals backhanded toward the screen, saying "僕 は 負けない!", which translates to "I won't lose!" This line was one of his victory quotes in Melee.
• Roy's down taunt is his returning taunt from Melee, where he kneels and holds his sword behind him while yelling. The yell is one of his attacking lines when using moves.

On-Screen Appearance

Appears from a spell circle, similar to others from his franchise, albeit crouching. The Sword of Seals is stuck in the ground when he appears, and Roy pulls it out before assuming his idle stance.

Idle Poses

• Pumps his fist.
• Swipes his hand lightly against the Sword of Seals while holding it in front of himself.

Victory Fanfare

This victory theme is a small orchestral cover from the title theme of the first Fire Emblem game, which has since become the main theme of the series. It is shared with Marth, Ike, Robin, and Lucina.

Alternate costumes

Reveal Trailer

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Trophy

Roy

Roy, the main character of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, returns for the first time since Melee! In The Binding Blade, Roy led the troops of Pherae into battle in his ailing father’s stead, and now he brings his speed and talent for short-range combat into this game.

Unknown

Roy (Alt)

His sword, the Sword of Seals, is uniquely powerful at the base of the blade. Flare Blade creates an explosion in front of Roy that can be charged by holding down the button. Take care, though, because at the highest levels of charge, Roy himself will catch fire and take damage! His side special, Double-Edge Dance, changes for each strike after the first depending on whether you hold up or down while attacking.

Unknown

Critical Hit

For Roy’s Final Smash, he traps enemies in a circular swing of the blade, brings it up behind him, and then, in a blast of fire, brings the blade down for a powerful finisher! The downward attack is powerful on its own but doesn’t have much range, so make sure you’re close enough to hit your enemies with the full combo and really seal their fate!

Unknown

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Critical Hit (Roy)

Gallery

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  Splash art.

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  Critical Hit.

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  Roy and Roy.

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  Flare Blade.

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Trivia

• As with Mewtwo, Roy's official artwork is posed almost identically to his Melee official artwork.
• The segment of Roy's trailer where he attacks Roy Koopa is a reference to how they are the only characters to share the same name.
  • This is referenced again in one of Roy's pictures on his profile page on the official website.
• In the 3DS version of Smash 4, Roy is the only character not to use a taunt during his pose in Classic Mode once he chooses a path. Instead, he uses one of his idle poses, his fist pump.
• All of Roy's sourspotted attacks make a punch/kick sound effect instead of a slashing sound effect. This is carried over from Melee.