Editing Roy (SSB4)

|ranking = 41

:{{Cquote|''Roy Seals the Deal!''|cite=Introduction tagline}}

'''Roy''' ({{ja|ロイ|Roi}}, ''Roy'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Initially [[Leak#Roy and Ryu data|leaked]] via data mining of update [[1.0.6]],<ref>[http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/13/ryu-and-roy-for-smash-bros-leaked Ryu and Roy for Smash Bros. Wii U, 3DS Leaked]</ref> Roy was formally announced alongside {{SSB4|Ryu}} during a [[Nintendo Direct]] on June 14th, 2015, and was made available that same day as [[Downloadable content (SSB4)|downloadable content]] alongside {{SSB4|Lucas}} and Ryu.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWM-SCjIuNg Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U - New Content Approaching 6.14.15]</ref> {{s|wikipedia|Jun Fukuyama}} reprises his role as Roy's voice actor from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', providing new voice clips that mimic the ones he recorded in the game.<ref>[https://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/06/25/ryu-roy-and-lucas-join-the-battle-sakurai-famitsu-column-vol-481/ Ryu, Roy, and Lucas join the battle!]</ref>

Roy is ranked 41st out of 54 on the [[tier list]], placing him in the E tier. This is a slight improvement to Roy's low-tier placement in ''Melee'', where he was ranked 21st out of 26. However, due to ''SSB4''{{'}}s tier structure, Roy is actually rendered as a mid-tier character.

Roy boasts good overall mobility and attack speed, owing to very fast [[dash]]ing and [[air speed]]s, alongside fast-starting attacks that allow him to quickly react to openings. When coupled with the [[fireemblemwiki:Binding Blade (weapon)|Binding Blade]]'s highly damaging sweetspots, which are close to its hilt, he boasts impressive power and a number of strong KOing options at close range.

He also benefits from gameplay changes brought about by ''SSB4'': the [[rage]] mechanic supplements his strong sweetspotted attacks, the changes to hitstun and shieldstun make his sweetspots significantly safer on hit, while the updated edge mechanics improve his recovery. Roy also has a varied combo game that is difficult to predict and grants him above average damage racking potential, with reliable combo starters from low to medium percents including forward and down throw, neutral attack, neutral and up aerial, and [[Double-Edge Dance]].

Roy, however, is strongly held back by a poor approach, owing to his slow [[air acceleration]] and unsafe aerials that cannot [[autocancel]] in a [[short hop]]. On a related note, Roy is ineffective at spacing: despite having disjointed range, the Binding Blade's inconvenient sourspots force him to space his sweetspotted attacks dangerously close to opponents.

Due to the above factors, Roy has attained below-average tournament representation. Despite this, he has achieved some degree of competitive success, thanks to the likes of players such as {{Sm|Hyper Kirby}}, {{Sm|Flow}}, and {{Sm|Cloudy}}.

Roy is frequently placed within a group of characters ({{SSB4|Bowser}}, {{SSB4|Dr. Mario}}, {{SSB4|Charizard}}, {{SSB4|King Dedede}} and {{SSB4|Pit}}) that are the most noticeably reworked [[veteran]]s in ''SSB4''. In Roy's case, several of his moves were de-cloned from {{SSB4|Marth}} in a similar vein to {{SSBB|Falco}} and {{SSBB|Ganondorf}} in ''[[Brawl]]'', to the point that he is now a semi-clone. Although Roy received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from ''Melee'' to ''SSB4'', he has overall been buffed.

Among Roy's buffs are his greatly improved mobility, now having a much faster dashing speed and one of the fastest air speeds in the game, as well as his moveset being notably more rewarding than in ''Melee'': most of his moves are different from Marth, such as his new neutral attack, forward and up tilts, dash attack and down aerial, most of which have reduced lag, improved hitbox placements, and increased power, improving his close-ranged offense and combo game, and giving him more reliable KO moves. His damage output is much higher, and his sweetspotted attacks are considerably more powerful, giving him a bevy of new KOing options, which generally alleviates his main weakness from ''Melee''. His attack speed is faster overall, with his aerials in particular having significantly reduced ending and landing lag, [[L-canceling]] notwithstanding. The addition of [[rage]] boosts his KO power even further, while his heavier weight allows him to use it quite effectively. He also has much better endurance thanks to a his much higher weight. Lastly, Roy's recovery is generally better, thanks to [[Blazer]]'s improved horizontal distance, his faster air speed, and the removal of [[edge hogging]].

*{{change|Roy's design is now a combination of his appearances in ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade}}'' and ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Awakening}}''. His taller height, more muscular physique, slightly smaller eyes, and Turkey red hair are from ''Awakening'', whereas his facial structure and hairstyle are from ''The Binding Blade''. Roy's {{s|wikipedia|cuirass}}, {{s|wikipedia|pauldron}}s, and boots are also from his attire in ''The Binding Blade'', whereas his {{s|wikipedia|vambrace}}s, {{s|wikipedia|poleyn}}s, greaves, and gloves are from his attire as an [[fireemblemwiki:Downloadable content in Fire Emblem Awakening#Characters|Einherjar]] in ''Awakening''.}}

*{{change|Roy now has eight costumes much like the rest of the cast. He has received six new alternate costumes, each of which is based on {{s|fireemblemwiki|Alen}}, [[fireemblemwiki:Lance_(character)|Lance]], {{s|fireemblemwiki|Marcus}}, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Zephiel}}, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Cecilia}}, and his father, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Eliwood}}.}}

**{{change|Roy uses various voice clips for any move between any [[tilt attack]], his [[dash attack]], and all [[aerial attack]]s except for his down aerial.}}

*{{change|Roy is significantly [[weight|heavier]] (85 → 95), going from a heavier lightweight to an average middleweight (tied with {{SSB4|Robin}} and {{SSB4|Pac-Man}}). This improves his endurance, but makes him more susceptible to combos.}}

*{{buff|Roy's [[air speed]] is drastically faster (0.9 → 1.24), going from the 12th fastest in ''Melee'' to the fourth fastest.}}

*{{change|As with the returning veterans, Roy's [[falling speed]] was decreased (2.4 → 1.8). Compared to the returning veterans, however, Roy falls faster. Improving his vertical endurance, but also making him more susceptible to combos.}}

**{{buff|Roy has a new up tilt, a reverse gripped overhead arcing slash. Compared to the previous up tilt, it deals more damage (6%/8%/9%/10% → 7%/12%) and the sweetspot has more knockback scaling, making it much stronger, while the sourspots deal consistent damage and less knockback scaling (120/118/116/100 → 103). It also has less start-up (frame 7 → 6) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 39) and its sourspot has more base knockback (20 → 30). Altogether, these traits make it better both for KOing and combos.}}

**{{nerf|Sweetspotted down tilt deals less damage (12% → 11%).}}

**{{buff|Sourspotted down tilt deals more damage (6% → 6.5%).}}

**{{nerf|Dash attack has more start-up (frame 12 → 13) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 50) compared to the previous dash attack.}}

*{{nerf|Neutral, forward, and up aerials autocancel later (frame 32 → 47 (neutral), frame 30 → 33 (forward), frame 30 → 38 (up)). Forward aerial in particular no longer has an autocancel window, losing its ability to autocancel.}}

**{{buff|Due to consisting of a sweetspot and a sourspot instead of a consistent hitbox, neutral aerial's first hit no longer deals consistent damage (4% → 6%/4%).}}

**{{buff|Roy has a new down aerial, a two-handed downward slash between his legs, similar to {{SSB4|Ike}}'s down aerial. Compared to the previous down aerial, it deals much more damage (6%/9% → 10%/15%), has more vertical range, its sweetspot is easier to land, and its sourspot has KO potential against grounded opponents. It also has higher knockback (40 (base)/70 (scaling) → 20/30 (base)/90 (scaling)) compared to the previous down aerial, improving its KO potential.}}

**{{nerf|Down aerial has less horizontal range, more start-up lag, and a shorter duration (frames 7-10 → 16-17) compared to the previous down aerial.}}

**{{buff|Up throw deals more damage (5% → 6%).}}

**{{nerf|It has reduced knockback scaling (130 → 100), hindering its KO potential in spite of its higher damage output.}}

**{{nerf|Down throw deals less damage (6% → 5%).}}

**{{buff|It launches at a higher angle (361° → 80°), which coupled with its lower damage output significantly improves its combo potential.}}

**{{buff|Front and back floor attacks deal more damage (6% → 7%).}}

**{{change|Due to the introduction of [[tripping]] in ''Brawl'', Roy has received a floor attack after tripping.}}

**{{buff|Blazer deals more damage (13.18% → 16.8%) and its last hit has increased knockback (10 (base)/100 (scaling) → 40/130), improving its KO potential. It also has lingering hitboxes at its end, and can be reversed before start-up. It also travels more horizontal distance and the grounded version received more intangibility frames on start-up.}}

|neutralname=Slash ({{ja|リフトスラッシュ|Rifuto Surasshu}}, ''Lift Slash'')

|neutral1dmg=7.5%/4.8%

|ftiltname=Sharp Edge ({{ja|オーバーバッシュ|ōbābasshu}}, ''Over Bash'')

|utiltdmg=12%/7%

|dtiltname=Low Stab ({{ja|ロースラスト|Rō Surasuto}}), ''Low Thrust'')

|dtiltdmg=11%/6.5%

|dashdmg=13%/9%

|usmashname=Flame Sword ({{ja|フレイムソード|Fureimu Sōdo}})

|dsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSB4|15}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSB4|10}} (front hit) {{ChargedSmashDmgSSB4|17}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSB4|11}} (back hit)

|nairname=Double Slash ({{ja|ダブルスラッシュ|Daburu Surasshu}})

|nairdmg=6%/4% (hit 1), 8.5%/5% (hit 2)

|fairdmg=11%/7%

|bairname=About Face ({{ja|アッパースイング|Appā Suingu}}, ''Upper Swing'')

|bairdmg=12%/9%

|uairdmg=9%/6%

|dairname=Half Moon ({{ja|メテオドロップ|meteodoroppu}}, ''Meteor Drop'')

|dairdmg=15%/10%

|dairdesc=A two-handed, downward slash between his legs, similar to {{SSB4|Ike}}'s down aerial. It has a powerful [[meteor smash]] hitbox near the Binding Blade's hilt, while the rest of its blade launches opponents upward. KOs around 130% when sweetspotted on-stage. However, it has considerable ending and landing lag, which makes it risky to use off-stage, especially due to Roy's very high falling speed.

|dthrowname=Slam ({{ja|グラブドロップ|Gurabo Doroppu}}, ''Grab Drop'')

|ssdmg=Varies

|ssdesc=A combination of sword swings, which can be influenced by directional inputs. Its animations are identical to [[Dancing Blade]] and its first hit stalls Roy's descent, although it is largely ineffective for recovery because of his falling speed being much faster than Marth and Lucina's. However, its overall knockback is slightly stronger than Dancing Blade, and the last hit of each variation deals [[flame]] damage unlike Dancing Blade because of the Binding Blade's blade igniting.

|usdmg=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)

|desc-side=Winds back before striking a pose while holding the Binding Blade in a reverse grip while saying "{{ja|僕は負けない!|Boku wa makenai!}}" (''"I won't lose!"'') This line was one of his victory quotes in ''Melee''.

|desc-1=Pumps his fist while smiling.

|desc-1=Swings the Binding Blade once over his shoulder, then swings it down and behind him while facing left with his free hand clenched, saying {{ja|真の戦いは、これからだ|Shin no tatakai wa, korekara da}} (''"The real battle is yet to come."'')

|desc-2=Spins the Binding Blade one and a half times and then sheaths it, saying "{{ja|苦しい戦いだった|Kurushī tatakai datta}}" (''"That was a difficult battle."'') This replaces his victory animation from ''Melee'', where he plunged the Binding Blade into the ground.

|desc-3=Flourishes the Binding Blade in a circle before posing with it by his side, saying "{{ja|守るべきもののために、負けられない！|Mamoru beki mono no tame ni, makerarenai!}}" (''"For the sake of those I must protect, I will not lose!"'')

Roy's initial perception among the community was very positive; players almost immediately recognized his powerful offense due to the prominent strengths of his sweetspotted attacks, heavily damaging throw set-ups, and significantly improved mobility. These views were especially noted because his semi-clone, {{SSB4|Marth}}, and by extension {{SSB4|Lucina}}, were considered poor characters at the time. Despite his extremely low representation, which was unseen of a perceived high-tier character, most of the community believed that Roy was a viable character, with some claiming him to be the premier swordfighter in the game. Even so, his viability was also disputed due to his sparse tournament placements and difficulty in initiating combo setups. Furthermore, characters considered worse than him received a variety of buffs in later updates, with a corresponding increase in tournament results and representation than Roy, while his weaknesses were made much more apparent to the community. As such, opinions on Roy quickly started to change for the worse due to his vulnerability to combos, weak recovery, and an ineffective close-ranged playstyle due to his poor approach and unimpressive range. In spite of his flaws and lacking tournament presence, Roy was ranked 32nd on the first ''4BR'' [[tier list]], placing him at the top of the low-tier.

Unfortunately for Roy, update [[1.1.4]] granted Marth and Lucina major buffs that significantly increased their effectiveness, while Roy only gained minor landing lag decreases to his aerials. This resulted in them, especially Marth, achieving improved results from professionals and saw their opinions reassessed as those of a high-tier and a mid-tier character, respectively. Conversely, Roy remained a low-tier character due to the minimal effectiveness of his buffs from update 1.1.4. The lack of significant breakthroughs to his lackluster approaches and middling combo game only served to further damage Roy's negative perception, which saw Roy being ranked 50th on the second tier list, placing him at the bottom of the low-tier.

However, Roy players began more success afterwards, most notably with Ryo's placement at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2016}} and {{Trn|CEO 2017}}, where he used Roy to place top 32 at both events. This helped improve opinions on Roy, who rose to 44th on the third tier list, placing him in the upper portion of the low-tier. Roy's results would improve even further after Cloudy's high placing of 9th at [[Smash Factor 6]] while upsetting {{Sm|Kameme}}, 33rd at [[2GGC: Fire Emblem Saga]] as well, {{Sm|Serge}} reaching 7th with Roy as a secondary, and {{Sm|komorikiri}} placing 16th at [[2GG Championship]] while defeating {{Sm|CaptainZack}}. Despite this, Roy remains ranked at 41st on the fourth and final tier list, though due to the expansion of the tiers, he is now ranked as a mid-tier character. Throughout the game’s competitive lifespan, Roy's standing relative to the cast was among divisive compared to most of the cast. While a number of top players consider his placement to be accurate due to his polarized toolkit causing him to struggle against numerous characters, many players agreed that Roy could potentially rise slightly higher thanks to his good power and mobility.

<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->

''Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the [[PGR 100]], which recognizes the official top 100 players in [[Super Smash Bros. 4]] of all time.''

''See also: [[:Category:Roy players (SSB4)]]''

*{{Sm|Cloudy|Mexico}} - The best Roy player in the world. Placed 9th at {{Trn|Smash Factor 6}} and 33rd at both {{Trn|2GGC: Fire Emblem Saga}} and {{Trn|Smash Factor 7}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|Kameme}} and {{Sm|Mr.R}}.

*{{Sm|komorikiri|Japan}} (#12) - Used Roy as a secondary. Placed 5th at {{Trn|Sumabato 20}} and 9th at {{Trn|Sumabato 21}} with a win over {{Sm|CaptainZack}}.

*{{Sm|TheFlow|France}} - The best Roy player in Europe. Placed 7th at {{Trn|Albion 3}}, 9th at {{Trn|talent.io}}, and 25th at {{Trn|SALT}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|Lima}} and {{Sm|Glutonny}}. Ranked 30th on the [[European Smash 4 Power Rankings]].

*{{Sm|Hyper Kirby|USA}} - The best Roy player in the United States. Placed 17th at {{Trn|MomoCon 2017}} and 25th at both {{Trn|DreamHack Atlanta 2017}} and {{Trn|MomoCon 2018}} with wins over players such as {{Sm|Kameme}}, {{Sm|Fatality}}, and {{Sm|ScAtt}}.

*{{Sm|Ryo|USA}} (#77) - Used Roy as a secondary to his Ike. Placed 9th at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2016}}, 25th at {{Trn|CEO 2017}}, and 33rd at {{Trn|2GGT: ZeRo Saga}}. He is also known for advancing Roy's metagame.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1=Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade|release1=2002 (JP)}}

{{clrl}}

|name=Roy (Alt.)

|desc=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.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|console1=GBA|game1=Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade|release1=2002 (JP)}}

|name=Critical Hit (Roy)

|image=CriticalHitRoyTrophyWiiU.png

|desc-ntsc=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!

|desc-pal=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!

|colspan=8|[[File:Roy Palette (SSB4).png]]

**He only has one voice clip upon being blast KO'd (also shared with Mewtwo, as well as {{SSB4|Jigglypuff}} and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}}).

*If Roy's [[on-screen appearance]] occurs on one of [[Distant Planet]]'s leaf [[platform]]s, he will descend with the leaf, but the Binding Blade will remain stationary in the air until it returns to Roy once the battle actually starts.

*Roy, Ryu, Cloud, {{SSB4|Corrin}}, and {{SSB4|Bayonetta}}'s voice clips are in much lower quality than the rest of the cast in {{for3ds}}.