Falco (SSBM)

Falco; in Super Smash Bros. Melee
	;
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearances	in Brawl; in SSB4; ;
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	S (2)

This article is about Falco's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Falco Lombardi.

“	Where his leader, Fox, has blinding speed, Falco has his own distinct skills and advantages.	”
—Description from Falco's trophy.

Falco (ファルコ, Falco) is a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is considered a clone of Fox, sharing many normal and special attacks, although their playstyles are somewhat different.

Falco is literally Fox but a bird so how about you just play Fox instead of this shameless rip off.

Aesthetics

Falco's taunt, idle pose, and victory animations are different from Fox's.

Attributes

Falco is taller than Fox, giving him more reach, but makes him easier to hit.
Falco is overall stronger than Fox in both KO and combo potential.
Falco has better jumping prowess than Fox.
Falco has more jump-squat frames than Fox (3 frames → 5 frames), making his SHFFL slower, but easier to perform.
Falco has a much higher wall jump than Fox.
Falco has slower ground mobility than Fox, due to lower walking (1.6 → 1.4) and running (2.2 → 1.5) speed.
Falco's wavedash is slightly shorter than Fox's.
Falco's rolls cover more distance than Fox's.
Falco is slightly heavier than Fox (75 → 80), allowing him to survive slightly longer, though he is still one of the lightest characters in the game.
Falco falls significantly faster than Fox (2.8 → 3.1). Combined with his heavier weight, it grants Falco much better vertical endurance. However, his faster falling speed makes him more susceptible to combos and chaingrabs and worsens his already poor recovery.
Falco has less gravity than Fox (0.23 → 0.17).

Ground attacks

Falco's forward tilt is stronger and lasts one frame longer than Fox's (frame 5-8 → frame 5-9).
Falco's up tilt deals overall less damage (12%/9% → 9%) and knockback (18 base/140 growth → 30 base/120 growth) than Fox's. This makes it unable to KO at realistic percentages, but makes it a very reliable combo tool.
Falco's down tilt deals more damage (10% → 13%) and deals much more knockback than Fox's.
Falco's down tilt has less range than Fox's.
Falco's forward smash deals more damage (15%/12% → 17%/14%) and deals more knockback than Fox's.
Falco's forward smash lasts 1 frame shorter than Fox's (frame 12-23 → frame 12-22).
Falco's up smash has more intangible frames on his head (frame 1-10 → frame 1-11).
Falco's up smash deals less damage (18%/13% → 14%/12%) and knockback (30 base/112 growth → 25 base/100 growth), making it drastically weaker than Fox's. It also lasts 2 frames shorter (frame 7-18 → frame 7-16) and has more ending lag.
Falco's down smash deals more damage (15%/13%/12% → 16%/13%) and is stronger than Fox's. It also gains more intangible frames on his legs (frame 6 → frame 1-6).

Aerial attacks

Falco's neutral aerial and back aerial have more reach than Fox's.
Falco's forward aerial has higher damage potential than Fox's if all hits connect (23% → 29%).
The first hit of Falco's up aerial has different knockback properties (134 fixed knockback/120 growth → 40/30 base/20 growth), making it overall easier to connect with the second hit than Fox's.
The second hit of Falco's up aerial is much weaker (40 base/116 growth → 22/30 base/120/20 growth) and deals less damage (first hit 5%/second hit 13%: 18% total → 6%/10: 16% total) overall than Fox's.
Each hit of Falco's up aerial has different knockback angles (first hit 92°/second hit 85° → 90°/70°/90°).
Although Falco's down aerial lacks multi-hit properties, it spikes opponents considerably more powerfully than Fox's (30 fixed knockback/100 growth → 10/20 base/100 growth).

Grabs and throws

Falco's grab range is longer than Fox's.
Falco's forward throw can chaingrab more efficiently than Fox's because of his longer grab range.
Falco's back and down throws are also weaker than Fox's, in damage and knockback output, with the down throw being harder to meteor smash on the edge.
Falco's up throw does not combo as well, with a followup often being dependent on the opponent's directional influence.

Special moves

Although Fox's Blaster possess rapid fire capabilities, and can be more effective for tacking on damage to opponents, Falco's Blaster fires more slowly, but it causes opponents to flinch, allowing for better combo setups and better capability at hindering an opponent's approach. It also fires faster when airborne, whereas Fox's can't, and the lasers cover much more distance.
Falco's Blaster animation is different. Whereas Fox holds it straight with both hands, Falco holds it sideways with one wing next to his head.
Falco's Falco Phantasm travels faster and possess meteor smash capabilities.
Falco Phantasm does not travel as far as Fox Illusion.
Falco's Fire Bird is stronger than Fire Fox.
Fire Bird's recovery distance is much shorter, travelling only half the length of Fire Fox. Fire Bird also lacks Fire Fox's charging hitboxes, making edgeguarding Falco much easier, especially with meteor smashes and spikes.
Fire Bird's animation differs slightly from that of Fire Fox; Falco does not spin during the travelling section of the move, whereas Fox does.
Falco's Reflector sends opponents straight upward, making it extremely useful for on-stage combos that can be hard to escape from; Fox's, however, semi-spikes the opponent with low set knockback, allowing for neutral resets, edgeguards, and guaranteed KO setups.

Overall, Falco's strategy at top-level play differs considerably from Fox's. Falco is more reliant on stage control and punishes; he is more suited to locking the foe down with lasers and damaging, guaranteed combos, and must maintain stage control at all times due to his poor recovery. Fox, on the other hand, is more reliant on edgeguarding and neutral resets due to the launch angle of his shine and his shorter, usually simpler punishes. Thus, while Falco and Fox may be indistinguishable from each other at low-level play, their general playstyles vary drastically at the tournament level.

PAL differences

Like some other characters, Falco received minor changes in the PAL version of Melee. Although these changes slightly nerf him, they do not significantly impact his competitive viability.

The latter half of down aerial doesn't spike but instead hits opponents on the Sakurai angle with drastically lower horizontal knockback, halving the time the move is able to spike.
Several characters can now tech out of Falco's down throw.

Moveset

Falco's aerial attacks

For a gallery of Falco's hitboxes, see here.

	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		4%	Two quick jabs, which can easily be jab canceled into each other or other moves. The second jab moves Falco slightly forward and is followed by a flurry of fast kicks.
		4%
		1% (loop)
Forward tilt		9%	Sticks his foot out to the side. Fast, and has impressive range for a tilt. Can gimp opponents, though has limited use outside this. This move can be aimed up or down.
Up tilt		9%	Flips his leg behind him. Short range, but very fast, and has incredible combo ability, being a great move that can quickly knock opponents into the air and follow up with aerials or a Shine. Considered one of the best up tilts in the game, after Marth, due to said combo ability.
Down tilt		13%	Swipes his tail in front of him. Although it has somewhat short range (shorter behind him than in the front), it has unusually high damage and knockback for a tilt. It knocks opponents straight upwards. It can KO some characters at as low as 90% if fresh. The strongest down tilt in the game along with Mr. Game & Watch
Dash attack		9% (clean), 6% (late)	Runs forward and sticks his leg out. Sends opponents upwards.
Forward smash		17% (clean), 14% (late)	Flips his body in front and kicks in front of him. Similar to Fox's f-smash, but much stronger, usually KOing at around 90-110%. A good option against an opponent who is trying to get on the ledge, especially if they are above 100% damage. Considered to be one of the best forward smashes in the game, after Marth.
Up smash		14% (clean), 12% (late)	Does a flip kick. It is drastically weaker than Fox's u-smash, but is a better juggler. However, there are usually better options available for knocking opponents into the air (like a u-tilt or a Shine). It can also hit behind Falco, albeit with significantly lower knockback. Falco's head is intangible during the early part of the animation.
Down smash		16% (feet), 13% (legs)	Does a quick split. High KO power, and with high knockback and semi-spike properties, it is an excellent edgeguarder, though it has rather short range. Both of Falco's legs are intangible whenever he starts up the move, even while he's charging, all the way until the hitboxes come out.
Neutral aerial		12% (clean), 9% (late)	A simple sex kick. Has high knockback when it first comes out, and it comes out quickly, good in a short hop. Not as good as Fox's due to the way shine works but still an amazing move.
Forward aerial		9% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2), 7% (hit 3), 5% (hit 4), 3% (hit 5)	Kicks forward five times. The move as high duration due to the number of kicks, and it is very difficult to connect all the hits. It also gives Falco quite a short time to react with another jump or recovery. Does incredible damage if all hits connect, much more than Fox's.
Back aerial		15% (clean right leg), 9% (clean left leg, late)	Does a quick no-look kick backwards, with sex kick properties. Good KO power, and great for edgeguarding. Has more range than Fox's but riskier to use offstage due to his faster falling speed and worse recovery, still one of the best back airs in the game.
Up aerial		6% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)	Whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. Can deal up to 15% damage if both hits connect. Considered widely inferior to Fox's up air and will not kill unless near the top blast zone at 130% (comparatively, Fox's up air will kill in the same place at 60%.)
Down aerial		12% (clean), 9% (late)	Spins around in place at a downwards angle while extending one foot. An extremely strong spike that can set up and follow out of Shine combos and KO characters quickly and efficiently. However, it is of extreme risk to use offstage, due to Falco's awful vertical recovery. Regardless, it is an excellent KO move and is among the most feared attacks in the game, with no sourspot and the hitbox lasting all of the move (however, in the PAL version of the game, the second half of the move produces weak horizontal knockback). Widely considered to be the best down air in the game due to it's quick speed, spike properties, approaching ability, combo ability, amazing power, and good range.
Grab		—	Ranked as tenth largest grab range in the game.
Pummel		3%	Knees opponent.
Forward throw		4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Punches opponent. Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, it doesn't have many comboing follow-ups. Can chaingrab floaty characters at low percentages.
Back throw		2% (throw), 2% (shots)	Throws opponent backwards, then fires three shots from his Blaster. Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, not too useful. It is possible to tech-chase an opponent with this move, depending on their DI.
Up throw		2% (throw), 2% (shots)	Tosses opponent upwards, then fires three shots from his Blaster. Excellent for setting up an aerial combo (most particularly a uair or nair), but can be DI'd out of at higher percentages.
Down throw		1% (shots), 1% (throw)	Slams opponent onto the floor, then shoots them four times with his Blaster. If the player can predict the opponent's reaction, a u-tilt is possible. This move can also set up a Shine combo. However, the move is relatively easy to tech out of. Like Fox's d-throw, it meteor smashes over the ledge if Falco grabs the opponent at the very edge of the platform, however, it is much weaker.
Floor attack (front)		6%	Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor attack (back)		6%	Punches forwards, then kicks backwards.
Edge attack (fast)		6% (body), 8% (legs)	Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out.
Edge attack (slow)		6% (body), 8% (legs)	Slowly gets up and kicks in front.
Neutral special	Blaster	3%	Falco fires a laser from his Blaster. Not nearly as fast as Fox's, but is more powerful and makes the opponent flinch. For this reason, it is excellent for stopping approaching opponents, and the lag can be canceled if the move is done during a short hop and Falco fastfalls to the ground (referred to as short hop laser. Can also stop opponents when they are offstage. If Falco does a short hop laser close to an opponent, they will be stunned momentarily, allowing Falco to get an easy grab or start an aerial combo with a u-tilt or a Shine. This attack has transcendent priority. Considered to either be one of the best or the best projectile in the game and the best neutral special because of its approach and comby ability, as well as strong pressure offstage.
Side special	Falco Phantasm	7%	Falco dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. Falco's quickest and safest horizontal recovery move. If it hits an opponent in midair, it is a very weak meteor smash. If B is quickly pressed again just after starting the move, it will be canceled and Falco will not dash forward. This also stops him in midair.
Up special	Fire Bird	16%	Falco charges up in flames and blasts off in a direction, which can be controlled with the control stick. Unreliable as an attack due to the charge time. Used for vertical recovery, however it travels a much shorter distance than Fox's Fire Fox. Unlike Fire Fox, it cannot damage opponents during the charge, leaving Falco vulnerable to meteor smashes during the charge - with the right timing, it is even possible to meteor smash Falco when he is moving.
Down special	Reflector	5% (startup), 1.5x damage for reflected projectiles	Falco's Reflector (informally referred to as the Shine) works just like Fox's, reflecting any projectiles that hit it right back at the opponent who fired them for more damage and knockback. Unlike Fox's Shine, it doesn't send the opponent on a semi-spike trajectory; rather, it knocks them straight upwards. This makes the move very useful for knocking opponents into the air and starting aerial combos, on par with the u-tilt. Can be jump cancelled, to avoid the ending lag, which can lead to double or multi-shines, as well as pillaring combos. This allows Falco to use it repeatedly to wear down shields, continue aerial combos or save a teammate in doubles. Considered to be one of the best moves in the game and the Best down special along with Fox due to its godlike combo ability along with down air.

Taunt

Spins once and crosses one arm while scoffing. In the Japanese version, he speaks one of two phrases: 俺の獲物に手を出すな！ ("Hands off my prey!") or 逃がすかよ！ ("I won't let you escape!")
Smash taunt: Falco can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the control pad (for one frame). This taunt can only be used once per match.

Taunt	Smash taunt

Idle poses

Turns slightly to the side. Unlike in future installments, this is Falco's intital idle pose, meaning he will always perform this animation even if he is holding an item.
Turns slightly to the side and waves his hand in front of his face.

File:Falco Idle Pose Melee.png

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Faaalll-cooo...!	Fal-co!
Pitch	Deep male	Male

Victory poses

A rendition of a portion of the main theme of Star Fox 64.

Does a bunch of kicks and says "Mission Complete!"
Jumps high into the air and poses on the ground, scoffing.; 逃がすかよ！ which translates to "I won't let you escape!" and 敵機撃墜！ which translates to "Enemy Aircraft Downed!".
Crossing his arms, he looks upward and says "Mission Complete!"; 俺の獲物に手を出すな！ which translates to "Hands off my prey!". This quote would later be translated into English for Brawl and SSB4.

In Competitive play

Matchups

**Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups**
																											Avg.

Falco is one of the two characters in the game to have no disadvantageous matchups whatsoever, along with Fox, but has more even matchups than most other top tier characters. Falco has seven even matchups, soft counters three characters, counters seven, and hard counters eight. He has the tools to beat every character, though he is particularly vulnerable to chaingrabs from characters such as Marth and Peach, and is very easy to gimp and edgeguard. These disadvantages give him some trouble against characters who have effective edgeguarding tools, such as Jigglypuff, Marth, and Fox. He tends to do well against characters who do not have the tools to properly respond to his combo openers, such as Captain Falcon, and does very well against characters with a lack of reliable horizontal finishers and/or edgeguarding ability, such as Young Link. Overall, Falco's matchup spread is among the best in the game.

Notable players

See also: Category:Falco professionals (SSBM)

Active

Inactive

Tier placement and history

Throughout the Melee tier lists, Falco has always been in the high/top tiers along with Fox and Sheik, with his lowest position being fifth place. While his current position (second) is debatable, with some players claiming there are other candidates for second position (such as Marth and Sheik), Falco and Fox can be considered "the best characters in Melee" with a noticeable margin between them and other fighters. Some players, such as Mew2King, even think that Falco could be at the top of the tier list above Fox, claiming that Falco succeeds in notable tournaments more consistently than Fox, while Fox's position is based more on potential than performance; several other advantageous traits Falco has over Fox may also influence that opinion, such as having a faster side special that can meteor smash, flinching lasers, a Shine with vertical knockback which can combo more characters, and a single hit down aerial that always spikes opponents powerfully.

However, since Mew2King's claim, there have been very few majors, if any, being won by a Falco main, instead usually being won by Fox players, and Fox is still widely considered the better space animal even in PAL due to his higher speed, longer recovery, more reliable KO moves in his up air, up smash, and Shine, and overall better versatility against every character, as opposed to Falco's primary niche against fast fallers, making Fox a more popular character among high level players.

PAL viability

Like several other top-tiered characters, Falco was nerfed in the PAL version of Melee. His powerful down aerial spike now only has the spike hitbox during the first 10 frames of the move, while the weaker hitbox sends opponents on the Sakurai angle instead. This makes timing Falco's down aerial more key to success in tournament play. However, this nerf does not significantly affect him, as most Falco professionals train to hit with the strong hitbox anyway, and the duration of said hitbox is still enough to approach the enemy with it and wear down shields. Thus, Falco's viability in PAL is more or less the same as in NTSC, barring a slightly easier matchup against Fox due to Fox's own nerfs in that version.

In Single-Player Modes

In Classic Mode

When unlocked, Falco can appear either in ordinary one-on-one matches, in a team with Fox or Captain Falcon, as an ally in team and giant battles, or as a metal opponent in the game's penultimate battle. With the exception of being on a team with Captain Falcon and the metal battle, Falco appears on either Corneria or Venom.

In Adventure Mode

In the game's Adventure Mode, Falco can appear in Part 2 of Stage 6; when unlocked, the player has the possibility of fighting against Falco in the stage, instead of Fox again.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Falco and his allies are fought on Venom.

In Event Matches

Falco appears in the following event matches:

Event 23: Slippy's Invention: In this event, the player must fight against Fox and Falco on Venom, in a standard two stock match; however, the two are under the effects of a Cloaking Device during the entire match, though they can still be damaged.
Event 32: Target Acquired: As Falco, the player must KO Jigglypuff as many times as possible in one minute on Corneria. However, Arwings also fire frequently at the stage, and Falco must KO Jigglypuff more often than the Arwings to win the event.
Event 36: Space Travelers: As Ness, the player must defeat five opponents in a row: Samus, Kirby, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. In the first three opponents, the fights are done on Fourside; after this, the player is then sent to Battlefield to fight against the last two.
Event 43: Birds of Prey: In this event, the player, as Fox, must fight against a team of Falco and Captain Falcon on the stage Big Blue. Everyone has two lives, but there is also a time limit of two minutes.
Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe: Falco is the second opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on the Venom stage with a stock of 2 while Falco has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and damage: Dr. Mario, Pichu, Young Link, Roy and Ganondorf.

Ending images

Classic Mode.
Adventure Mode.
All-Star Mode.

Japanese Quotes

If Falco Taunts when the Language is set to Japanese he says one of two quotes.

"俺の獲物に手を出すな！" (Ore no emono ni tewodasuna!) which means "Hands off my prey!"
"逃がすかよ！" (Nigasu ka yo!) which means "I won't let you escape!"

When Falco wins a match when Language is set to Japanese he will say one of the aforementioned quotes along with "敵機撃墜！" (Tekki Gekitsui!) which means "Enemy Aircraft Downed!."

Trophy descriptions

Falco

"Star Fox team pilot, Falco's constant air of casual indifference belies his precise piloting skills. He avoids discussion of what he did before joining the team, but many consider it likely that his past was filled with reckless behavior. He's not much for cooperation, but he does respect those more skilled than he is."

Game: Star Fox [03/93]

Falco [Smash]

"Where his leader, Fox, has blinding speed, Falco has his own distinct skills and advantages. He has both a higher jump and a longer reach than Fox, and although his Blaster lacks rapid-fire capabilities, it strikes with shocking force. Unlike Fox, Falco can stop enemies in their tracks with his Blaster fire."

B: Blaster
Smash B: Falco Phantasm