Assist Trophy

Assist Trophy
Official artwork of an Assist Trophy.
Universe	Super Smash Bros.
Appears in	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Item class	Summoning

“	Spawns a character to help you.	”
—Brawl manual description

The Assist Trophy (アシストフィギュア, Assist Figure) is an item introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that, when picked up, breaks open and summons a random character to aid the user.

Overview

Assist Trophies function very similarly to Poké Balls. However, no Pokémon come out of them and, once an Assist Trophy is grabbed, it is automatically activated, assuming the holder is standing on the ground and not in a jump, attack, or hitstun. This effectively gives that summoner a significant amount of landing lag if the Assist Trophy is caught in the air. It is also possible for an opponent to stunlock the summoner by hitting them with a weak attack, forcing the summon animation to reset infinitely until the Assist Trophy is dropped. In Brawl, some Assist Trophies must be unlocked in order to be used, such as Gray Fox from Metal Gear. In Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, all Assist Trophies in the base game are available from the start. Unlike the Poké Ball, this item can be eaten by moves such as Kirby and King Dedede's Inhale, and Munchlax. The number that can spawn is also more limited than Poké Balls, with only one in Brawl and Smash 4 and two in Ultimate.

Assist Trophies fall into three basic categories. The most common type are characters that attack opponents directly—once an opponent is targeted, the character chases them down and attacks them with a limited moveset. While these characters are often very powerful and capable of overwhelming the opponent, they are also very predictable, meaning they can easily be avoided and tricked. A majority of damageable characters are this type of Assist Trophy. The second type are characters that act on a set script and do not directly engage in the battle. They indirectly cause collateral damage from their actions, such as flying objects or explosions. The third type are characters that act in a support role to the summoner—they either grant status effects to the summoner or the opponent or both, or affect the appearance of the game itself. This is the rarest type of Assist Trophy.

The majority of Assist Trophies in Brawl are undamageable, with only Starfy and Lakitu being able to be interrupted or otherwise hit or even KO'd. In Smash 4, however, some Assist Trophies can be attacked, potentially interrupting their attacks or otherwise manipulating how they perform and even being able to KO them (this can be seen by their ending animations coming earlier than normal, them having their own death animation, or simply teleporting away). However, there is no reward for KOing an Assist Trophy.

In Ultimate, the number of damageable Assist Trophies was expanded to include nearly all that attack fighters directly. Every Assist Trophy that can be damaged now has a certain amount of hit points that decreases when they take damage. They start to emit smoke when at 50% of their starting HP and they emit a yellowish aura at 20% indicating they can be KO'd, and a hit with sufficient knockback will defeat them. If the attack that dropped the HP to 20% meets the knockback threshold, the Assist Trophy is KO'd instantly. The player who KO'd them will be granted one point as if they took an opponent's stock. When the Assist Trophy is close to becoming KO'd, the summoner can KO it to prevent other players from gaining a point. More than one Assist Trophy can be on the stage at once, which introduced the concept of Assist Trophies fighting each other, as some are programmed to go after any opponent instead of just fighters. In addition, certain Assist Trophies now have the ability to teleport on command, such as teleporting closer to an opponent when too far away or when crossing a blast line.

Players	HP mult.
2	1×
3	1.15×
4	1.3×
5	1.45×
6	1.6×
7	1.75×
8	2×

Starting in Smash 4, Assist Trophies that can be KO'd will have more HP if there are more players in the match. The same values are also used in Ultimate. Note that Training Mode will use the 4-player value even if there aren't enough CPUs enabled.

Starting in Smash 4, some Assist Trophies won't appear on certain stages likely due to either complications with the stage or the character's appearance in the background (e.g. because vampires don't have reflections Alucard cannot appear in Wii Fit Studio which features a giant mirror in the background, and because darkness would completely block out the drawings, Nikki cannot be summoned on stages that have a dark scenery). The stages where all Assist Trophies can appear are:

• Smash 4: Battlefield, Final Destination, Mario Galaxy, Kalos Pokémon League, Town and City, Pilotwings, Windy Hill Zone, Mario Circuit (Brawl), Bridge of Eldin, Kongo Jungle 64, Yoshi's Island (SSBM), Yoshi's Island (SSBB), Smashville, Lylat Cruise, and Big Battlefield.
• Ultimate: Training, Battlefield, Small Battlefield, Big Battlefield, Mushroom Kingdom, Yoshi's Island, Skyworld, Smashville, Windy Hill Zone, Yggdrasil's Altar, and Northern Cave.

List of Assist Trophies

Assist Trophy	Description	Universe
Akira	Runs around and attacks with various martial arts moves.	Virtua Fighter
Alucard	Wields his blade, Crissaegrim, alongside various other moves he used in his playable appearance in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.	Castlevania
Andross	Appears in the background and shoots tiles at the players.	Star Fox
Arcade Bunny	Operates a giant claw machine in order to grab opponents.	Nintendo Badge Arcade
Ashley	Conjures a cloud which causes various adverse effects.	Wario
Barbara	Strums on her guitar, creating damaging soundwaves, similar to Konga Beat, but with less range and duration.	Jam with the Band
Black Knight	Walks around the stage slowly, attacking any nearby opponents with his sword Alondite. Appears to be very resistant to attacks.	Fire Emblem
Bomberman	Drop bombs which create a cross shaped explosion similar to an X Bomb.	Bomberman
Burrowing Snagret	Emerges from the ground and wildly pecks at opponents, then hides underground before reappearing at another location.	Pikmin
Chain Chomp	Jumps at and bites players while chained to a stake.	Mario
Chef Kawasaki	Captures players using his ladle and cooks them in a boiling pot, which produces food, similar to Cook Kirby. If he doesn't catch anyone in his ladle, he may throw plates or try again.	Kirby
Color TV-Game 15	Two paddles on the sides of the stage bounce a ball back and forth, with the ball damaging players.	Color TV-Game
Dark Samus	Rapidly shoots gunfire and creates blasts of Phazon; can be KO'd if she takes enough damage.	Metroid
Devil	Moves the stage boundaries, causing the blast lines to move as well, leading to the possibility of easier KOs.	Devil World
Dillon	Performs rolling attacks, such as a quick charge; he can be KO'd if he takes enough damage.	Dillon's Rolling Western
Dr. Kawashima	Flings numbers onto the stage that can be attacked to knock them around. When they add up to 10 or more, they cause an explosion, with a sum of exactly 10 causing an explosion like a Smart Bomb.	Brain Age
Dr. Wright	Summons buildings to rise up out of the ground. This damages opponents who are standing in the area of the building, and produces great vertical knockback. Occasionally makes a massive skyscraper that deals even more knockback and damage.	SimCity
Elec Man	Moves around freely and attacks characters with his Thunder Beam; he can be KO'd if he takes enough damage.	Mega Man
Excitebikes	Excitebike racers ride around the stage, causing damage to those they collide with. Some of them, if on a stage with an edge, will go back and forth until their time runs out.	Excite
Flies & Hand	A hand holding a fly swatter moves around to swat the flies buzzing around the screen, damaging any enemy that gets in the way of its swatting.	Mario
Ghirahim	Fights with a sword and throwing knives. He will teleport back onstage if he goes over the edge, but he can be KO'd if he takes enough damage.	The Legend of Zelda
Ghosts	Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde make their way around the stage, moving as if in a maze while damaging and pushing opponents around.	Pac-Man
Gray Fox	Runs around slashing opponents. Also reflects stray projectiles.	Metal Gear
Guile	Crouches in place, throwing Sonic Booms and blocking any physical attacks that hit him. Intercepts nearby enemies with his signature Flash Kick move.	Street Fighter
Hammer Bro	Throws hammers at opponents.	Mario
Helirin	Floats around the stage while rotating, acting as a wall.	Kururin
Infantry and Tanks	Nintendo Wars infantrymen and tank sprites roam across the stage shooting at players. When spawning, they follow the direction of the summoner.	Nintendo Wars
Isaac	Pushes opponents off the stage by using a skill called Move, represented by giant magic hands. Its fixed knockback makes it easy to get trapped in.	Golden Sun
Isabelle	Throws fruit to heal the player who summoned her. Fruit will heal the summoner on contact; if it misses, anyone can eat the fruit off the ground.	Animal Crossing
Jeff	Shoots 5 homing rockets from his Multi Bottle Rocket 5 invention (4 small & 1 large) at his opponents.	EarthBound
Jill	Attacks opponents with her drill.	Drill Dozer
Kapp'n	Appears with his bus, which he drives across the screen. Any fighter he contacts will be trapped, dragging them off-screen.	Animal Crossing
Kat & Ana	Kat and Ana fly in different directions slashing at anybody in front of them, but always cross in the same spot.	Wario
Klaptrap	Lunges across the screen and latches onto foes before launching them.	Donkey Kong
Knuckle Joe	Delivers a series of Vulcan Jabs to his opponents and finishes with either a Smash Punch or an uppercut attack named Rising Break.	Kirby
Knuckles	Burrows underground before emerging with a rising uppercut. Can strike using a homing attack similar to Sonic's.	Sonic the Hedgehog
Krystal	Wanders around the stage and attacks opponents with her staff. Can deal freezing damage.	Star Fox
Lakitu and Spinies	Lakitu drops Spinies onto the field. The Spinies will meteor smash when falling from Lakitu. Upon landing, the Spinies walk around giving damage to opponents. Lakitu can be knocked off the screen or killed.	Mario
Little Mac	Runs and jumps around, attacking with powerful jabs and uppercuts.	Punch-Out!!
Lyn	The screen darkens, as Lyn focuses and then, having teleported, she delivers a single, powerful strike focused on the nearest opponent, similar to Galaxia Darkness in animation and knockback.	Fire Emblem
Magnus	Leaps around and swings the Magnus Club. He flinches if he's attacked and can be KO'd if he takes enough damage.	Kid Icarus
Metroid	Latches onto players and gives them damage. Can be attacked and shaken off, but prevents the victim from using recovery moves. However, if done right, the character can spam recovery moves indefinitely until the Metroid disappears.	Metroid
Midna	Grabs opponents and throws them, while dealing darkness damage. She can be KO'd if she takes enough damage.	The Legend of Zelda
Mr. Resetti	Gives speeches about different topics. If attacked, he causes an explosion.	Animal Crossing
Moon	Crashes into the stage, dealing massive damage with a very large area of impact.