Charizard (SSBB)

This article is about Charizard's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Charizard. In addition, for information about Charizard in regards to Pokémon Trainer, see Pokémon Trainer, Squirtle, and Ivysaur.

Charizard
Charizard
Universe	Pokémon
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Starter

Charizard is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in a sense; it is one of three Pokémon that are played through Pokémon Trainer, the other two being Squirtle and Ivysaur. Charizard originated from the original Pokémon as the second evolved form of Charmander, one of the initial monsters the player can start out with at the beginning of the adventure.

Attributes

Charizard is significantly different from the other heavyweights featured in Brawl. Charizard has a surprisingly fast running speed (tied with Pikachu) for a character of its weight. Charizard is also one of only three playable characters to posses wings, and as such is gifted with an extra mid-air jump and the ability to glide (the others being Pit and Meta Knight). Both the start-up and the actual glide are significantly slower than the other two gliders though, making it difficult to incorporate into strategies outside of safer, less-predictable recoveries. Overall, Charizard's dashing speed, multiple jumps, and flight capability make it potentially the most mobile heavyweight in the game.

Predictably, Charizard is a powerful character, and is considered to be the brawn of the three Pokémon. Its Smash Attacks are all quite powerful, with its forward smash being capable of killing a little below 80%. Charizard can put decent offensive pressure on the opponent with its multiple jumps, Flamethrower, b-air, up-tilt, and up-smash, and can also give out more defensive damage with moves like f-tilt, d-tilt and f-air (f-air is especially useful when properly ledge-hopped). N-air and Rock Smash work both defensively and offensively, so overall Charizard has balanced attack capabilities. Charizard also has potent specials. Its Flamethrower is great at racking up the damage at close range, and it also works well as an edge-guard or stalling tactic at mid-range. Complementing the damage-racking of Flamethrower is Charizard's side special, Rock Smash. It provides Charizard with an additional, relatively-safe power move; the headbutt packs a more portable punch than its smashes, and damage dealt from the rock fragments can combines to upwards of 50%. Charizard's up special Fly has super-armor frames and significant knockback, which both contributes to its solid recovery and can surprise high-speed, high-priority rushdown moves (like Meta-Knight's glide attack) by busting through for a potential kill.

Charizard's greatest asset is its grab; Charizard's long neck gives it one of the best standing grabs in the game, next to Dedede. The range is immensely helpful when dealing with higher-tier characters who have an easier time controlling the match. At low-percents, rushing in after a forward throw can usually net another grab, with another throw racking up a quick 20% at the beginning of matches. Forward and back throws are also easily followed up with short-hopped Flamethrowers/Rock Smashes, depending on what the situation calls for (opponent retreating/advancing). At percents above 120%, Charizard's down-throw is an effective killing move, should the opponent prove difficult to kill with standard attacks.

Despite his pros, Charizard suffers glaring cons. Its main weaknesses stem from a significant amount of ending lag after its power moves, its huge vulnerability to high-speed combos and chain-throws due to its size, and its lack of both a proper projectile and a sufficient defense against them. Additionally, Charizard suffers against well-spaced disjointed hitboxes; Charizard fights best at mid-close range, where swords and the like are generally superior (a Marth f-air can even cut through ALL of Rock Smash). Also, despite having the fastest running speeds, Charizard has the slowest walking speed of all. Finally, like all three of the Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon, Charizard is susceptible to stamina; after two minutes of play, its moves will be noticeably less powerful (in both damage and knockback). Given Charizard's high KO power and staying ability however, it could be said it is the least affected by stamina of the three.

Moveset

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Normal Moves

Ground

• Neutral Attack - Right hand slash, left hand slash, then a smack with the right wing.
• Dashing Attack - Slides forwards and raises one leg for a sliding kick. Slows Charizard significantly out of dash, and is easily shield-grabbed.
• Up Tilt - Hops into a triangular dual-wing stab above its head. Quick with excellent knockback, working well in conjunction with up-smash and n-air.
• Forward Tilt - Sweeps flaming tail forward. Decent range and power (on sweet-spot), but ill-advised at close-range.
• Down Tilt - Bites forward at the ground in front of it. Quick move with useful pop-up in-close, and powerful knockback at the jaws.

Aerial

• Neutral Aerial - Spins entire body in a somersault, hitting with its tail. Hitbox for sweetspot is very small, and otherwise has very little knockback. Has a long-lasting hitbox and cancels quickly, making it effective for defense, combo setups, or for attacking from beneath low-level platforms.
• Forward Aerial - Breathes a cone of flame forward and a little down. Good knockback, quick, and can work as a mildly effective Fence of Pain. However, the attack has no knockback further away from initial flame-blast near the mouth, and has noticeable landing lag.
• Back Aerial - Hits quickly behind it with its mouth and fiery tail. The upper hit-box can spike, but it is weak and exists only to knock the opponent into the more-powerful tail swipe. Most reliable aerial kill move when sweet-spotted.
• Up Aerial - Bites upwards. Fairly poor range and knockback. Move has significant sex-kick attributes.
• Down Aerial - Stomps downward. This move will always spike, and is highly effective when combined with multiple jumps.
• Glide Attack -Spins out of glide and hits with wings/jaws for solid knockback; a good interruption move and easily followed up on when used near ground.

Smash

• Forward Smash - Sweeps its head forward from bottom to top. Slow, but very powerful and far-reaching attack. Two-hit attack.
• Up Smash - Bats upwards with both of its wings, hitting twice. Decent knockback; maximum damge is given if both wings strike. Initial wing-swipe is very fast, making running up-smashes very effective.
• Down Smash - Stomps the ground once with both feet, causing earth to erupt from either side of it. Vertical knockback. Hits simultaneously on both sides with fantastic range and good power, but has a laggy start/finish and will only hit if the opponent is grounded.

Other

• Ledge Attack - A slow, biting headbutt with little range.
• 100% Ledge Attack - A mid-range tail swipe with moderate knockback.
• Floor Attack - A combination rising bite and tail sweep, which hits on both sides quickly.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel - Bites with sharp fangs. (2% damage)
• Forward Throw - Grabs opponent in jaws, spins them, then releases them in front of itself. A pseudo-chain throw on many characters at near-0% percents. (10% damage)
• Back Throw - Throws the opponent behind it quickly. (10% damage)
• Up Throw - Sets opponent above itself, then slams them with its head. (11% damage)
• Down Throw - Sets its opponent on the floor, and then breathes fire on them. Largely horizontal knockback. A reliable, if easy to DI, KO move at high percents, but the weakest of his throws damage-wise. (6% damage)

Taunts

• Up - Stomps and roars to the sky, while flapping its wings.
• Side - Stomps and makes a bizarre purring sound, and also flaps its wings once.
• Down - Stomps violently.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

File:Charizard SSE.jpg

Pokemon Trainer and Lucas see Charizard fly past

Charizard is first seen flying into a cave by Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer. The Pokémon Trainer recognizes that Charizard is one of the Pokémon he had been trying to catch. Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer head into the cave to attempt to capture Charizard. In the process, they encounter Ivysaur and capture it as well. Eventually, Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer defeat Charizard in battle and capture it. Unlike many of the characters in The Subspace Emissary, Charizard does not serve any story roles after its capture. The Pokémon Trainer retains this role and the player is free to choose whichever of the Pokémon s/he wants during play.

Trivia

• Charizard has the slowest walking speed in the game, but runs very quickly, tied with Pikachu for 7th fastest.
• All of Charizard's tail-based attacks have a sweet-spot at the flaming tip, burning the opponent for more damage and knockback (b-air, f-tilt, n-air, +100% ledge-attack, get-up attack).
• Charizard is the only flying/multiple-jump character in the game with a dedicated, single-hit Meteor Smash in its arsenal of regular attacks (Kirby's d-air becomes a drill after the initial hitbox), allowing it to spike opponents more safely/reliably than others.
• While performing Rock Smash, any attack that interrupts Charizard will cause him to visibly drop the boulder. However, any attack that actually goes through Rock Smash's attack frames will simply make the boulder itself disappear, after the visible hit-lag.
• Charizard is currently the heaviest playable Pokémon in the Super Smash Bros. series. Many Pokémon that appeared in Super Smash Bros are either middleweight (such as Lucario) or lightweight (such as Pikachu).
• In Super Smash Brothers, Charizards Forward Speical (Rock Smash) is very strong, dealing about 50% percent if timed correctly. It is also the best choice when fighting large, stationary bosses such as Galleom or Duon. However, in the Pokemon games, Rock Smash was considerably weak and relatively useless.

External links

• Pokémon Trainer's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!