Fox (PM)

Fox in Project M and Project+
Universe	Star Fox
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Fox (SSBM)
Alternate costume	Classic Fox

Fox is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M and Project+. He was remade to be nearly identical to his Melee counterpart in terms of attack hitboxes and animations, but not without slight nerfs due to his dominance in the Melee metagame. He is ranked 8th out of 41 at the top of the A- tier on the Project M official tier list, a considerable drop from his first-place position in Melee but a substantial improvement over his standing in Brawl, where he is ranked 15th out of 38 on its tier list. He retains the same placement in the official Project+ tier list, though he is now ranked near the end of the A+ tier.

Attributes

In Project M, Fox plays very similarly to his Melee counterpart, albeit with some nerfs. His KO power is somewhat reduced, his on-stage recovery is less safe, and his infamous shine spike is slightly less potent than it used to be. He retains his incredible mobility, his heavily disjointed hitboxes, deadly combos, and good options on both defense and offense. While his blaster deals less damage at a distance, it is still sufficient for camping out characters that refuse to approach Fox. Despite a damage and knockback nerf, Fox's up smash can still reliably KO at reasonable percentages, and can more easily combo fast fallers. Most of Fox's moves are still oriented toward comboing opponents, with his aerials and tilts remaining largely lag free and great for repeatedly hitting opponents. Fox's up throw can set up for many moves, like his up aerial, back aerial, or a tech chase at lower percentages on fastfallers with an up smash or another grab.

On top of the nerfs, he must deal with the weaknesses he had in Melee; his extremely high falling speed and gravity (the highest in the game) and low air speed make him very susceptible to combos and chain grabs and his extremely low weight makes him very easy to KO horizontally. The linearity of both Fire Fox and Fox Illusion make Fox easy to edge guard or gimp, especially with the increased landing lag on both special moves. As such, Fox often has trouble making it back to stage despite only being launched to a distance where many characters could easily recover. This is exacerbated in the harsher Project M environment, where many characters now have tools to punish and gimp Fox harshly for mistakes that players make with him.

Overall, he is still a dominant character in Project M, because he has transitioned fairly well from Melee.

Changes from Melee to PM

Aesthetics

• Fox has a new idle pose based off of his "standing" victory pose from Smash 64 and Melee (also his taunt in the former).

Attributes

• Fox's jumps are slightly higher (2.1 (short hop)/3.68 (full hop)/4 (ledge jump) → 2.33/3.91/4.23).
  • Due to Project M handling short hopping differently, it is slightly easier for Fox to short hop without changing his prejump frames, allowing for more consistent short hop double lasers and jump canceled aerials from his shine.
  • Additionally, the ability to act out of ledge jump greatly benefits Fox; previously, he was always forced to land on the ground from his ledge jump at normal heights due to his high gravity and falling speed, leaving him highly vulnerable without platforms. This makes it much less risky to use, with Fox now being able to properly double jump, air dodge, or use an aerial or special move out of his ledge jump.
• Fox has an altered size multiplier (x0.96 → x1.045). However, his overall size remains unchanged as his Brawl model is naturally bigger than his Melee model.
  • His shield size was also compensated to match (14.375 → 8.7).
• Fox's rolls have more ending lag (FAF 32 (both) → 33).
• Spot dodge has more ending lag (FAF 23 → 25).
• Air dodge has one extra frame of animation (49 frames → 50), slightly increasing the amount of time Fox cannot grab the ledge after using it.
• Fox can now tech out of Falco's down throw.
• Fox's star spit when Inhaled by Kirby or King Dedede retains it Brawl damage, dealing less than Melee as a result (16% → 12%), hindering its potential in Doubles.

Ground Attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit sends opponents at a more horizontal angle (70° → 55°), making follow-ups slightly harder.
  • The infinite has altered knockback (10 (base), 80 (scaling) → 5/3 (base), 25/20 (scaling)), and angles (78° → 40°).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has more ending lag (FAF 23 → 24).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash begins charging sooner (frame 7 → 4), increasing its relative start-up lag when charged (frame 5 → 8).
• Up smash:
  • Fox retains the ability to DACUS from Brawl.
  • Up smash's clean hit deals less damage (18% → 17%) and knockback (30 (base), 112 (scaling) → 26/108), now matching the PAL version of Melee, noticeably hindering its KO potential.
  • The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 10-17 → 10-16).

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has a longer animation (49 frames → 50), slightly increasing the amount of time Fox cannot grab the ledge after using it.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has a shorter initial auto-cancel window (frames 1-5 → 1-4).
  • Forward aerial auto-cancels later (frame 49 → 50).
  • The third hit deals less damage (6% → 5%), with its knockback scaling compensated (100 → 110).
• Up aerial:
  • The first hit deals less damage (5% → 4%), with its fixed knockback compensated (134 → 30).
    • However, it deals more damage if both hits connect due to the changes to stale-move negation (16.83% → 17%).
• Down aerial:
  • It deals more damage if all hits connect due to the changes to stale-move negation (19.38% → 21%).
  • Down aerial has a longer animation (49 frames → 50), slightly increasing its ending lag and the amount of time Fox cannot grab the ledge after using it.

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Fox's standing grab has more ending lag (FAF 31 → 32).
  • Dash grab has less startup lag (frame 12 → 11).
  • All of standing and dash grab' grabboxes are positioned slightly closer towards Fox (z offset: 8.59u/4.68u (standing), 7.81u/3.12u/-0.78u (dash) → 8.25u/4.5u (standing), 7.5u/3u/-0.75), decreasing their horizontal range.
  • Compared to Brawl, pivot grab has smaller grabboxes (4.5u/3.5u/3.5u → 3.91u/3.13u/3.13u) and altered placements (y offset: 7u/7u/7u → 6.75u/6.75u/6.75, z offset: -13u/-9u/-4u → -12u/-8.2u/-3.4u), reducing its horizontal range, and making it slightly more prone to low-profiling against smaller characters.
• Like in Brawl, Fox no longer vocalizes during his throws.
• Back, up, and down throws deal more total damage if all blaster shots connect due to the changes to stale-move negation (back/up: 7.46% → 8%, down: 4.73% → 5%).

Special Moves

• Blaster:
  • Blaster shots now decay in damage based on distance (3% (all) → 3% (close)/2% (mid)/1% (far)), hindering their damage racking and camping potential.
  • Blaster retains its ability to be wavebounced/B-reversed from Brawl, improving its mixup potential.
• Fox Illusion:
  • Fox Illusion has more landing lag once Fox goes into free-fall (3 frames → 7).
  • Fox Illusion can now be reversed on start-up, making it less prone to self-destructing.
  • Fox Illusion can now grab edges when Fox is facing away from it, making it less prone to self-destructing.
• Fire Fox:
  • Fire Fox has noticeably more landing lag, especially if Fox doesn't go into free-fall (6/3 frames → 20/7), making it more punishable, as opposed to near unpunishable like in Melee.
• Reflector:
  • Reflector no longer has intangibility on the first frame of activation.
  • Aerial Reflector no longer deals set knockback to aerial opponents (80 (set), 100 (scaling) → 55 (base), 35 (scaling)) and sends them at a higher angle (0° → 20°). This overall makes Shine spikes less effective, combined with the removal of intangibility on its first frame and the generally improved recoveries across the cast.
    • However, the new angle gives the move new, albeit difficult, follow-ups against aerial opponents, including into Footstool.[1]
  • Reflector an no longer perform waveshine infinites against walls, as opponents now fall down when the shine knocks them into a wall.

Revisions

v2.1

• Up throw issues have been addressed.
• Forward tilt does not halt momentum when used.

v2.5b

• General hurtboxes adjusted.
• Up smash animation made more alike to Melee.
• Down throw no longer spins the victim around oddly while being lasered.
• Fire Fox hitbox placement adjusted to match Melee.
• Reflector graphical effects placed where its hitboxes are properly.

v2.6b

• Animation transitions from Fox's idle pose for some moves adjusted to look cleaner.
• Blaster shots now decay in damage based on distance (3% (all) → 3% (close)/2% (mid)/1% (far)).
• Fire Fox distance ported from Melee.
  • Although due to the inherent differences of the Project M game engine from Melee's, compared to Melee the move gives slightly more distance when used at a completely horizontal angle and slightly less distance when used at a completely vertical angle.
• Up taunt has the "Here I come!" sound effect re-enabled.
• Reflector no longer has intangibility on the first frame of activation.
• Reflector can be released during the reflect lag to go into the end animation afterwards, preventing rapid hitting projectiles like Fox's standing laser that can re-hit before the reflect lag ends from being able to trap him in it.

v3.0

• Laser duration now matches Melee.

v3.5

• Up smash's clean hit deals less damage (18% → 17%) and knockback (30 (base), 112 (scaling) → 26/108), now matching the PAL version of Melee.
• Forward aerial's third hit deals less damage (6% → 5%), with its knockback scaling compensated (100 → 110).
• Up aerial's first hit deals less damage to compensate for the altered stale-move negation in Project M (5% → 4%), reducing up aerial's total damage output (18% → 17%).
• Fire Fox now matches NTSC Melee's version of the move. It travels a slightly greater distance and Fox falls later into the move.
• Fox can no longer jump cancel Reflector's recovery frames after reflecting a projectile.
• Ending Landmaster in the air now puts Fox in a helpless state.
• AI is more intelligent when using Fox.

v3.6 Beta

• Neutral attack's first hit sends opponents at a more horizontal angle (70° → 55°).
• Fox Illusion no longer slides backward during start-up.
• Fox Illusion has more landing lag once Fox goes into free-fall (3 frames → 7).
• Fire Fox has noticeably more landing lag, especially if Fox doesn't go into free-fall (6/3 frames → 20/7).
• Aerial Reflector no longer deals set knockback to aerial opponents (80 (set), 100 (scaling) → 55 (base), 35 (scaling)) and sends them at a higher angle (0° → 20°).
• Reflector sound and graphic effect is no longer activated twice if edge canceled on frame 1.

Changes from PM to P+

Fox received small changes and fixes in the transition to Project+.

Overall, like Marth, Fox is one of the least changed characters between Project M and Project+, and remains a viable character in competitive play.

Ground Attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit's animation is slightly altered to more closely resemble Melee's, and its furthest hitbox is positioned slightly farther, improving the move's range overall.
• Up smash:
  • The late hit deals less damage (13% → 10%), without its knockback compensated, hindering its KO potential.

Aerial Attacks

• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial has smaller hitboxes (5.156u/5.99u → 4.156u/4.99u).

Special Moves

• Blaster:
  • Laser spawn height now matches the current position of Fox instead of where he was on the previous frame.
• Fox Illusion:
  • Fox Illusion has a longer window to perform the shortest shorten distance (1 frame → 2).
  • Aerial Fox Illusion has altered knockback (68 (base), 60 (scaling) → 42/75).

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			4%	Punches twice, followed by a flurry of kicks.
			4%
			1% (loop)
Forward tilt			9%	Kicks his leg out. Can be angled up or down.
Up tilt			12% (foot grounded), 9% (leg & foot aerial)	Does a quick upwards back kick to the opponent. Can be used to juggle at low percentages.
Down tilt			10%	Performs a quick sweeping tail lash.
Dash attack			7% (clean), 5% (late)	Runs forward and sticks his leg out. Good combo ability, especially into an up smash.
Forward smash			15% (clean), 12% (late)	Fox performs a flying hook kick. Has moderately low knockback, but high knockback scaling.
Up smash			17% (clean), 13% (late)	Performs a quick bicycle kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. Fox's head is intangible when charging the move and during the early part of the animation.
Down smash			15% (feet), 12% (legs)	Does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. It is fast and has moderate knockback, sending opponents on a semi-spike trajectory. Useful for edgeguarding and spacing. Both of Fox's legs are intangible the moment the hitboxes come out.
Neutral aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Fox does a sex kick that loses power the longer it's out.
Forward aerial			7% (hit 1), 5% (hits 2-3), 4% (hit 4), 3% (hit 5)	Fox kicks forward five times. Good knockback when all hits connect, but is extremely hard to connect without a good set-up, especially on lighter characters.
Back aerial			15% (clean), 9% (late)	Does a quick no-look kick backwards, with sex kick properties. Great knockback when it first comes out, and one of Fox's best edgeguarding moves.
Up aerial			4% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2)	Whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. A good vertical finisher.
Down aerial			2-3% (hits 1-7)	Spins around, drilling downwards with his extended foot. A good move for racking up damage. A very weak spike.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Knees opponent. A fairly quick pummel.
Forward throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Fox bashes into the opponent to knock them back.
Back throw			2% (throw), 2% (laser)	Fox throws his foe backwards, shooting at them afterwards.
Up throw			2% (throw), 2% (laser)	Fox throws the foe upwards, and fires at them.
Down throw			1% (laser shots 1-4), 1% (throw)	Fox forces his foe onto the floor, and fires directly at them.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Fox does a kick in front and in back.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Fox punches forwards, and kicks backwards.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Fox spins around, kicking foes with who are close.
Edge attack (fast)			8% (legs), 6% (head)	Fox lunges at the opponent with a kick.
Edge attack (slow)			9%	Fox slowly gets up and hammers the ground with a kick.
Neutral special		Blaster	1-3% (laser)	Fox fires his blaster. The laser lose power the farther they travel.
Side special		Fox Illusion	7%	Fox dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. Enemies hit by the move will be launched at an upward angle.
Up special		Fire Fox	2% (charging hits 1-7), 14% (dash)	Fox charges up in fire and suddenly launches himself in one of many directions, depending on what direction is held.
Down special		Reflector	5% (activation), 1.5x damage for reflected projectiles	Fox activates his Reflector around him. When activated, it can do damage to opponents. Any projectiles are reversed back at opponents and do more damage than normal.
Final Smash		Landmaster	Varies	Fox summons his Landmaster. It's overall the most balanced out of all the three, it's only drawback being it's air mobility.

In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Fox players (PM)

•  Bobby Frizz - Formerly ranked 36th on PMRank 2018.
•  Bongo - Falcon main with a Fox secondary. Ranked #18 on PMRank 2023
•  GodTouch - Formerly ranked #36 on PMRank 2019.
•  JHamp - Formerly ranked #41 on PMRank 2019.
•  Silver - Considered one of the best Foxes in the world. Was ranked B+ tier (Top 24) on PMRank 2021-22 Mid-Season Contenders List.
•  Stango - The best active Fox main in the world. Ranked #4 on PMRank 2022.
•  Thalia - Ranked #31 on PMRank 2023.
•  Lucky - Formerly ranked 1st on the SoCal Project M Power Rankings.

Alternate costumes

Project M

Fox now has an alternate costume based off his appearances in Melee and in Smash 64, both of which are based on his designs in Star Fox 64 and other earlier Star Fox games. There are four variations of this costume: the original and the three team colors used in Melee.

Fox's alternate costumes in PM

Project+

Fox's classic costume received more recolors, including one based on his appearance in Star Fox for the SNES. He also has secret costumes inspired by the McCloud family bloodline.

Fox's alternate costumes in P+

Secret costumes:

Z-Secret Costume (James McCloud): An alternate costume that turns Fox into his father James McCloud, the former Star Fox leader, from Star Fox 64. Extra details includes his dark fur and signature shades.

R-Secret Costume (Marcus McCloud): An alternate costume inspired by Marcus McCloud, Fox's potential son from Star Fox: Command.

External links

• Fox's page at the Project M website
• Labbing Discord Tech Post