Roll
- "Roll" redirects here. For other uses of "roll", see Roll (disambiguation).
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Rolling (or EscapeF or EscapeB internally in the Melee debug menu and in Brawl's files, depending on which direction the character is rolling) is a maneuver that moves the character left or right and renders them invincible for a short period of time. It is performed by pressing the control stick left or right while holding a shield button.
Characters experience invincibility frames while rolling, though the amount, duration and timing of these frames varies from character to character. It's an advantage to have quick and long rolls because if it's slow and short, the roll is more predictable and the character is more vulnerable when in a falled animation to attacks and some KO moves.
Interestingly, a character cannot roll off the stage if a player performs this move near an edge. The character will instead perform the remainder of the rolling animation in a stationary location right next to the ledge.
Rolling vs. wavedashing (Melee)
Many casual players believe that rolling and wavedashing play the same role and that the wavedash is just a superior version of the roll. This misconception exists because professional players wavedash in most situations in which casual players would roll. In fact, rolling and wavedashing play very different roles: Rolling provides intangibility and more distance than a wavedash, but has a determined length and is more easily punished; it is generally used to get behind an attacking opponent or avoid attacks that cannot be wavedashed away from. On the other hand, wavedashing allows a character to act faster and attack while moving sideways at the expense of intangibility; it is generally used to quickly alter spacing or move towards an opponent while standing without turning around (like a forward roll would cause). If the wavedash did not exist, upper-level smashers would replace the wavedash with a dash in most situations, not a roll.
Rolling Distances (Melee)
This list shows the overall rankings for how for the characters roll in Melee, taken from Mew2King's Melee information dump.
Average of forward and back rolls
| Ranking | Character |
| 1 | Mewtwo |
| 2 | Marth |
| 3 | Samus |
| 4 | Pichu |
| 5 | Sheik |
| 6 | Falco |
| 7 | Roy |
| 8 | Ganondorf |
| 9 | Luigi |
| 10 | Donkey Kong |
| 11 | Link |
| 12 | Pikachu |
| 13 | Ice Climbers |
| 14 | Captain Falcon |
| 15 | Fox |
| 16 | Zelda |
| 17/18 | Dr. Mario/Mario |
| 19 | Jigglypuff |
| 20 | Ness |
| 21 | Kirby |
| 22 | Yoshi |
| 23 | Peach |
| 24 | Young Link |
| 25 | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 26 | Bowser |
Forward rolls
| Ranking | Character |
| 1 | Mewtwo |
| 2 | Marth |
| 3 | Sheik |
| 4 | Pichu |
| 5 | Samus |
| 6 | Falco |
| 7 | Donkey Kong |
| 8 | Ganondorf |
| 9 | Roy |
| 10 | Luigi |
| 11 | Pikachu |
| 12 | Link |
| 13 | Ice Climbers |
| 14 | Captain Falcon |
| 15 | Fox |
| 16 | Zelda |
| 17/18 | Dr. Mario/Mario |
| 19 | Jigglypuff |
| 20 | Kirby |
| 21 | Yoshi |
| 22 | Peach |
| 23 | Ness |
| 24 | Bowser |
| 25 | Young Link |
| 26 | Mr. Game & Watch |
Back rolls
| Ranking | Character |
| 1 | Mewtwo |
| 2 | Marth |
| 3 | Samus |
| 4 | Falco |
| 5 | Pichu |
| 6 | Roy |
| 7 | Sheik |
| 8 | Ganondorf |
| 9 | Luigi |
| 10 | Link |
| 11 | Ness |
| 12 | Donkey Kong |
| 13 | Ice Climbers |
| 14 | Captain Falcon |
| 15 | Fox |
| 16 | Pikachu |
| 17-18 | Dr. Mario/Mario |
| 19 | Jigglypuff |
| 20 | Zelda |
| 21 | Kirby |
| 22 | Yoshi |
| 23 | Peach |
| 24 | Young Link |
| 25 | Mr. Game & Watch |
| 26 | Bowser |
Rolling Frames (Brawl)
These lists show the invincibility and the total lag frames of the rolls, but not the distance travelled or the size of the character while rolling.
The numbers before the slash (/) are the invincibility frames of the roll, and the number after the slash is the total number of frames taken to perform the roll. For example, Meta Knight's forward roll takes 23 frames to perform, but he is only invincible between frames 5 and 12.
Forward rolls
5-12 / 23
4-19 / 27
4-17 / 27
4-15 / 27
4-19 / 29
4-20 / 31
4-19 / 31
- Donkey Kong
- Fox
- Pikachu
- Luigi
- Zelda
- Sheik
- Falco
- Peach
- Ganondorf
- Ice Climbers
- Wolf
- Sonic
- Ness
- Captain Falcon
- Lucas
3-19 / 32
4-19 / 32
4-19 / 33
4-21 / 34
4-19 / 34
4-19 / 35
4-17 / 35
4-21 / 37
4-19 / 37
5-20 / 39
4-23 / 44
Backward rolls
4-19 / 27
4-19 / 29
4-20 / 31
4-19 / 31
- Donkey Kong
- Fox
- Pikachu
- Luigi
- Zelda
- Sheik
- Falco
- Lucas
- Wolf
- Ness
- Sonic
- Ganondorf
- Ice Climbers
- Captain Falcon
5-20 / 31
4-19 / 32
4-17 / 32
4-19 / 33
4-12 / 33
4-21 / 34
4-23 / 35
4-19 / 35
4-19 / 36
4-21 / 37
4-19 / 37
5-20 / 39
4-23 / 44
Gallery
Mario's forward roll animation in Melee.
Zero Suit Samus rolls backwards, away from Snake's aerial attack.
Trivia
- In the first Super Smash Bros., a glitch occurs if a player repeteadly rolls backwards against a wall. It causes the character to enlarge and go downwards as the player keeps rolling. If another action is inputted, however, the character returns to normal.
