Counter
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- This article is about the move for the Fire Emblem representatives. For Palutena's version, see Counter (Palutena). For other uses, see Counter (disambiguation). For the general class of moves, see Counterattack.
| Counter | |
|---|---|
 Marth's Counter in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. | |
| User | Marth Roy Ike Lucina |
| Universe | Fire Emblem |
| Article on Fire Emblem Wiki | Counter |
| “ | Block the enemy's attack with the sword. | ” |
| —Brawl's instruction manual | ||
| “ | Prepare for an attack, and strike back if hit. | ” |
| —Smash for 3DS's foldout (Marth) | ||
| “ | Counter an opponent's attack. Power is based on strength of enemy's attack. | ” |
| —Smash for 3DS's foldout (Ike) | ||
Counter (カウンター, Counter) is the down special move for Marth, Roy, Ike, and Lucina, all of whom are representatives of the Fire Emblem series. It is used as a counterattack to redirect damage and knockback at the attacker when the user is hit. In addition, the move serves as an excellent edgeguarding tool against opponents with predictable recoveries.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Counter is Marth and Roy's down special move in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Marth or Roy will strike a pose and a small, metallic "chink" sound will be heard. For about a second, any attack other than a grab which the character using Counter is struck by will turn them invincible for the duration of their retaliating swing. Marth's Counter deals a flat 7% damage regardless of the attack, while Roy's deals x1.5 the original attack's damage. If the attack is a projectile (such as Samus' Missile), it will simply be deflected behind them and upwards at about a 30 degree angle. It's worth noting explosive projectiles can still explode and will still do damage if they are struck when the invincibility ceases. If the attack is a smash attack, then the attacker will be knocked back at a 90 degree angle. If used in conjunction with Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic, it is the most powerful non-charged attack in Melee (if Oil Panic has absorbed the highest possible amount of damage, which is 250% damage and delivers a OHKO).
Marth's Counter has a faster start-up time and lasts twice as long as Roy's Counter, which makes Marth's Counter more effective but less damaging.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ike also has this attack as his down special move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ike's Counter is not as fast as Marth's, as his counter frames start roughly 6 frames after Marth's, but reflects back x1.2 damage, with the minimum damage being 10%. Marth's Counter reflects back x1.1 damage, with a minimum damage of 8%.
Since Ike's Counter is a bit slower, it cannot be used for immediate countering (although Ike's Counter has more knockback and greater range). Although Marth and Ike both have the same duration of counter frames, Ike has less vulnerability after the counter frames end, due to the slightly slower activation of his. Both Counters last the same amount of time from start (initiating the command) to finish (when the player is free to move again); Marth's simply activates faster, but his counter frames end 6 frames before Ike's. Marth's Counter leaves him vulnerable at the end of the attack while Ike's counter leaves him vulnerable at the beginning. If Marth or Ike counters a highly damaging hitbox (such as Mr. Game and Watch's fully-powered Oil Panic, after Oil Panic has absorbed three strong enough projectiles to reach 60% damage), it will one-hit KO anyone who is very close to Marth or Ike.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
All Counters received a visual redesign that includes a wave like that of a heart monitor. Marth's Counter has been buffed, dealing more knockback and now reflects back x1.2 damage. Lucina, as a clone of Marth, has the exact same Counter he does. Ike's Counter now activates slightly faster, now leaving him less vulnerable at startup. Roy's Counter also has been buffed, gaining more counter frames, knockback, and range, but its reflected damage multiplier was reduced to x1.35; this still leaves Roy's Counter with the highest damage multiplier (barring Shulk's Vision with Buster active, which has a x1.82 multiplier). All counters have OHKO potential, with Ike and Roy's Counters OHKOing when they counter a hitbox dealing 35% damage or more, and Lucina and Marth's Counters OHKOing when they counter a hitbox dealing 40% damage or more. Roy's Counter, however, deals slightly more knockback than Ike's, making it more consistent.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
Marth & Lucina
| 1. Counter | 2. Easy Counter | 3. Iai Counter |
|---|---|---|
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 |
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| "Prepare for an attack and strike back if hit. The power depends on your enemy's attack." | "Your counter stance lasts longer, but the attack power is lower." | "A successful counter knocks back opponents behind you. Faster but does less damage." |
| 1. Counter | 2. Easy Counter | 3. Iai Counter |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "Prepare for an attack and strike back if hit. The power depends on your enemy's attack." | "Your counter stance lasts longer, but the attack power is lower." | "A successful counter knocks back opponents behind you. Faster but does less damage." |
- Counter: Default.
- Easy Counter: Expanded hit window, but deals less damage.
- Iai Counter (known as Rush Counter in the PAL version): Faster, knocks opponents backwards, and deals less damage. However, it has a narrower hit window.
Ike
| 1. Counter | 2. Paralyzing Counter | 3. Smash Counter |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "Block and counter an enemy attack. The strength of your strike depends on their attack." | "A counter that paralyzes enemies instead of dealing damage." | "Deliver a slower, more powerful attack when countering." |
- Counter: Default.
- Paralyzing Counter: Paralyzes enemies instead of damaging them.
- Smash Counter: The counterattack is slower, but much more powerful, with a damage multiplier of x1.5. It will result in an OHKO if Ike counters a very strong attack (a hitbox that deals around 30% damage).
Roy
| 1. Counter |
|---|
 |
| "The strength of this counterattack relates to how strong the triggering attack was." |
- Counter: Default.
Like the other DLC characters, Roy has no custom move variations.
Origin
Counter is based on a core element of Fire Emblem gameplay: in all games of the series, when a unit attacks another unit, the targeted unit will perform a counter-attack to strike back at their attacker if they currently have an equipped weapon with a compatible range.[1]
Additionally, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance introduced the identically-named Counter skill, which reflects any damage dealt to the skill's user back at the enemy. The skill does not exist in Marth or Roy's native games, however, and their appearance in Melee predates its introduction. In both of Ike's games the Counter skill can be assigned to him through the use of the Counter scroll item. Through reclassing to the Warrior class, Marth, Roy and Ike can all obtain the Counter skill as bonus units in Fire Emblem Awakening; however, Lucina is unable to obtain Counter under any circumstances, as it is exclusive to male units, and her father, Chrom, cannot pass it down to her either, both because he doesn't have access to the Warrior class and because Aether is the only skill he can pass down to his daughters even if he did.
Gallery
Marth using Counter against Captain Falcon in Melee.
Roy, countering Marth's attack in Melee.
Roy counters Falcon Punch in Melee.
Marth's Counter in Brawl.
Ike's Counter in Brawl.
Marth's Counter in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Marth hitting Ike with his counter.
Ike's Counter in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Ike, about to strike Marth with his counter.
- LucinaCounter.png
Lucina's Counter in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Lucina hitting Robin with her counter.
Roy Countering Pac-Man's Key
Trivia
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- Marth's Counter can be used on Kirby's Inhale attack in Brawl or any other Vacuum created by an attack.
- If three or more Marths are playing, it is possible to repeatedly Counter to huge amounts of damage. For this to work with Ike or Roy, who have slower counter strikes and slower counter activations than Marth, it is recommended to have four players play as Ike or Roy.
- Marth can use Counter on the tides of lava and acid on Norfair and Brinstar. When the stage-wide wave of lava appears on Norfair, Marth can stand outside of the Capsule and time Counter correctly to avoid the damage.
- Since only damage is countered, not knockback, the forward smash of a Home-Run Bat will deal less knockback when countered.
- Marth, Roy and Ike hold their swords in reverse grip during the move if one looks closely. Marth faces away in his stance while holding his sword slanted downward in reverse grip, Roy rears down a bit as he holds the sword in front (Roy instead points it downward while standing upright in SSB4), while Ike holds the sword right in front of himself.
- Marth counters with an outward slash (akin to a composite version of his first input neutral attack and dash attack); Roy and Ike on the other hand both counter with inward slashes while holding in reverse grip (save for SSB4, where Roy instead counters with a forward-reaping swat akin to his far range basic attack animation from his game of origin).
- Lucina's counterattack shares the same animation as Marth's, only her slash is in a more upward arc and her legs are not properly positioned on the ground in the first few frames of the active hitbox window; however, her counter-readying pose mirrors her battle stance in Awakening, which is further referenced in her official Smash 4 artwork and her up taunt.
- Lucina however, if hit, briefly has her stance instantly shift to Marth's counter stance before she counters.
- An unused sound exists for Ike that was intended for his version of Counter, where he shouts "You're through!". In the final product, he shouts "Take this!", "Gotcha!" or "You're open!".
- A Lucina similar situation applies to Lucina, shouting "My turn!" and "You're mine!". These voice lines were implemented only for Lucina after the 1.0.8 patch, where she would sometimes say them after countering an attack.
- In SSB4, Marth no longer talks when his counter is activated and instead uses his generic grunts.
- In Roy's trailer, Marth can be heard talking while multi-countering and his voice clips for countering can still be heard in the Wii U and 3DS sound test as clips 22-24.
- In SSB4, there existed a bug where, if Marth were to use Counter just after being kicked off an edge, he propelled backwards, which mostly would result in being KO'd. This glitch was patched in a later update.
- Ike's Counter contains a window of invincibility during the first few frames of activation. As such, it can block Critical Hit without taking damage.
- Counter, as a Fire Emblem move, is shared by the most playable characters, with 4.
- For both Marth and Roy, this is the only sword-based move of theirs that does not have any supposed sweetspots or sourspots (barring the up smash and neutral special of the latter in Smash 4).
