The Ice Climbers (アイスクライマー, Ice Climber) are playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. They were confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Although they are a team, the Ice Climbers are collectively classified as Fighter #15.
This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: More details on normals, smashes, and aerials as well as desynching and general mobility attributes for the leader Climber.
The Ice Climbers are a pair of middleweights (weighing the same as Lucario, Wolf, Villager, Mythra, and Steve) that are the archetypical tag team characters, though each Climber is a unique character in their own right. The partner (Nana by default) mimics what the leader (Popo by default) does with a seven frame delay. The player is essentially controlling two characters at the same time. The partner has higher mobility attributes (walking, dashing, air and fall speeds, gravity, and air acceleration), but at the same time takes more damage and knockback than the leader. Another unique trait that the partner possesses is their forward aerial's ability to meteor smash. Due to technically being two characters, the Ice Climbers are able to grab two different items. Unlike in previous installments, they are no longer hard to grab and throw unless the partner is the one being grabbed (when the leader is grabbed, the partner will panic). When separated, AI takes control of the partner, and guides them back to the leader. In this scenario, it is advisable to stick to and protect the partner. Should the CPU Climber get KO'd during the stock, the remaining Climber will have drastically reduced damage output, KO ability, and recovery, with Belay becoming practically useless and Squall Hammer losing a good deal of distance (whereas with both Climbers they are excellent recovery moves).
The Ice Climbers are great at dealing damage when together, have decent attack speed, and possess a few interesting attacks in their arsenal. Their neutral special move, Ice Shot, is a projectile fired by each Ice Climber which slides along the ground, making it impossible to avoid by crouching/crawling, though it can damage the Climbers themselves if the blocks are attacked. Blizzard, their down special move, can freeze opponents and has both Ice Climbers attacking one side whether on the ground or in midair. Squall Hammer is a decent approach attack with good damage and speed, spinning the Ice Climbers around each other in a forward-moving hammer attack. By mashing the button, they can gain a little height, making it a potential recovery option (albeit not an effective one). Belay, the up special, is a powerful KO move (though not as powerful as in Brawl) should the second Climber connect with the opponent, but it is generally a risky use of the move given that it separates the Climbers and puts them into a helpless animation. It is much more suited for recovery, as well as for saving the separated partner from falling offstage. Although minor, the Ice Climbers nevertheless have a unique fighter ability: their traction is not affected by the conditions of slippery surfaces such as ice, whereas they will slide somewhat on non-slippery surfaces.
One of the Ice Climbers' greatest weakness is their dependability on each other. While having decent damage output and KO potential, it becomes horribly diminished if the partner is KO'd, and the fact that the partner takes more damage and knockback further compounds this problem. When separated, while the AI guides the partner back to the leader, the partner is unable to act and defend themself from any other threats. Because of this, it is important for the leader to hurry back to the partner, though this can potentially lead the leader into dangerous situations as well.
Their main recovery method, Belay, is incredibly situational. If the partner is unable to reach the ledge, then it can put the leader at a disadvantage even if they make it back to the stage. Since the partner flings the leader much higher, it is possible to overshoot the ledge, leaving the leader unable to defend themselves while descending helplessly onstage.
Previously, the Ice Climbers were known for having some of the most infamously powerful damage racking capabilities thanks to wobbling in Melee and infinite chain grabs in Brawl, and additionally achieve a KO from them. Possibly as a result of this, in the transition from Brawl to Ultimate, the Ice Climbers were drastically nerfed. Their grab game was significantly impacted the most; the partner climber can no longer grab or act when the leader is grabbed or throwing someone (except when in the air), the leader's grabs have noticeably more startup and ending lag, and their infamous chain grabs were completely removed.
Outside of this, the Ice Climbers have received a mixed bag. On the nerf side, the base damage output on many of their moves has decreased and many of their attacks connect less reliably when they are together due to reduced hitlag. The partner climber also no longer performs Blizzard behind the leader when used on the ground and Blizzard itself is less effective as a spacing tool due to it being almost useless when used at max range as well as it has increased ending lag. The partner climber is also launched much easier than the leader due to taking increased damage and knockback from attacks, and the AI's intelligence has been reduced leading to more likely self-destructs, making it harder for each of them to stay together. Finally, due to changes in Belay's hitboxes, the move can gain significantly less height if the hitbox is out prioritized, and its overall size is smaller, making it harder to connect against grounded opponents.
However, in terms of buffs, as with almost every other returning veteran, their mobility has been considerably increased and the partner climber is now faster than the leader, making it harder to separate them. Some of their moves, including forward smash, down smash, and forward aerial have higher damage and KO power, and the Ice Climbers have superior combo potential due to the removal of hitstun canceling and the weakening of SDI. This is further complemented by the fact that desynching remains a very powerful tool that gives the Ice Climbers highly effective combos. Thanks to improved freezing properties, the Ice Climbers can freeze opponents easier and longer, which can lead to high damage, KOs while edgeguarding, shield pressure, and follow-ups if performed correctly.
Nevertheless, the Ice Climbers are significantly less effective than in Brawl, although to what extent is unknown, especially since they are difficult to play at a high level and it is unknown how far their desync combos can be developed and be applied into competitive matches. Even with the game mechanics giving them multiple benefits, the changes have either weakened or entirely removed the tools that have made the Ice Climbers prominent. Despite this, players such as Big D, Daiki, and ???? have achieved respectable tournament results while using them.
Due to the game's graphical improvements, the Ice Climbers gain a sleeker design with more subtle detailing in their hair and parkas, and their overall color scheme is significantly more vibrant. The duo wears coats with detailed furry lining, similar to Melee. The duo has slightly smaller more proportionate heads, more faint blushes on their cheeks, and slightly thinner eyes on top of losing the purple hue in their eyes. Their boots and hammers also appear to be covered in light powdered snow.
Both Ice Climbers face the foreground at an angle, instead of facing directly forward. In addition, they always face the screen regardless of which direction either of them turns, making all of their animations mirrored while altering some.
The Ice Climbers have a new idle pose of them turning to look behind themselves. It replaces the animation of them dropping their hammers and then lifting them back up.
Like other fighters, the Ice Climbers are more expressive than before, they appear excited when using their specials, scowl when shielding and charging their up and down smash, and the partner climber will also panic when the leader is grabbed.
In addition, the partner climber will have a worried expression and wince periodically when the main climber gets frozen, dizzy, or gets attacked.
Spot dodge and ledge-hanging animations have changed.
The Ice Climbers only jump once when using up taunt as opposed to three times.
At the end of a solo match, only the leading Ice Climber will be shown inside the losing pane on the results screen. Both Ice Climbers are still shown if the match ends in a No Contest.
Their victory theme has been shortened to only contain the second half.
The Ice Climbers' crowd cheer is "I scream, you scream, Ice Climbers!"
Nana's crowd cheer is no longer the back sound of the menu if she is currently the leader.
The Ice Climbers has been updated with universal features introduced in Smash 4.
Their black costume has slightly been modified: Nana's parka is now brown instead of black. Additionally, their costumes have been re-ordered; the Nana-leading costumes now occupy the second half of their costumes instead of the even-numbered costumes, which is how their costumes were ordered in Melee
The Ice Climbers' voice clip numbers in Sound Test are numbered individually (i.e. "Popo: Voice [number]"/"Nana: Voice [number]"), similar to other team-based fighters as well as the Mii Fighters, Assist Trophies, Poké Ball Pokémon and bosses.
The sound effects of the partner are quieter. This is best heard when they're either Star or Screen KO'd.
Like all characters, both of the Ice Climbers' jumpsquat animations take three frames to complete (down from 4).
The partner climber is generally faster than the leader. This helps them keep up if the two are separated.
If either Ice Climber lands a hit, the other one takes a small amount of hitlag, regardless of whether their attack connects or not.
This makes desyncing slightly more difficult.
The partner climber takes 1.02x times the damage and knockback from attacks, making them slightly easier to separate and KO.
The partner now stands slightly behind the leader, in addition to being slightly in the z-axis. This reduces the range of all of their ground moves, except down smash due to hitting behind the partner.
The Ice Climbers walk faster (0.96 → 1.008 (leader), 1.1088 (partner)).
The Ice Climbers dash faster (1.388 → 1.53 (leader), 1.683 (partner)). Their initial dash is also faster (1.4 → 1.68).
The Ice Climbers' air speed is faster (0.7708 → 0.83 (leader), 0.8715 (partner)).
The Ice Climbers' falling speed is faster (1.2 → 1.3).
The Ice Climbers' gravity is slightly higher (0.077 → 0.082), although it is lower relative to the cast.
As with all returning veterans, the Ice Climbers have much higher traction (0.035 → 0.077) although it is still the second lowest in the game.
The partner climber has higher air acceleration (0.09 → 0.0945).
The removal of chain grabbing hinders the Ice Climbers more than any other character, as it harshly reduces their damage racking and KO abilities and zero-to-death potential. They also greatly suffer from the ability to techfootstools as it removes their guaranteed lock setups from grabs.
The partner climber's AI is worse as they have more difficulty recovering and making it back to the leader which can lead to them self destructing.
The duration enemies are frozen from the Ice Climbers' ice attacks are much longer, allowing for easier unavoidable followups at high percentages. At very high percentages, it can even freeze them long enough to be unable to recover from near the ledge.
Ice Climbers arguably benefit the most from the reintroduction of wavedashing because of their very low traction, significantly increasing their approach and mobility, as well as giving them more mixups with grabbing and attacking opponents.
The partner climber's attacks affect the duo's staleness queue; in previous games, they would use the queue but could not alter it. This generally means that the duo's attacks will both stale and refresh twice as quickly.
When the leader is KO'd by reaching 0 HP during their last stock in Stamina Mode, the partner climber instantly enters the defeat animation regardless of being hit or not, similar to Rosalina's Lumas.
This consequently remove the partner climber's ability to intervene the results of opponents, hindering their impact on Stamina battles.
The final hit of up tilt has more combo potential due to the removal of hitstun canceling. The partner's final hit also deals more knockback (40 (base), 100 (scaling) → 38/118).
Up tilt deals less damage (1% (loop hits) → 0.8% (leader loop hits), 0.6% (partner loop hits), 17% → 15.4% (total)), the loop hits have increased knockback (10 (base), 20 (scaling) → (65/60/20)/10) and the final hit has more startup lag (frame 23 → 24).
The partner's down tilt deals consistent damage (4%/5% → 4.5%) making it deal more damage at close range but makes it deal less damage at the tip of the hammer.
Down tilt connects less reliably at higher percents when both climbers are present.
The partner's dash attack deals more damage (4% → 4.5%) and has increased knockback scaling (40 → 60). Dash attack also has a longer duration (frames 11-12 → 11-14).
The outer hitbox has been extended forward (Y offset: 5u → 5u—7.5u), increasing its range.
Forward smash has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 12-13 → 11-13). It also has less ending lag (frame 49 → 47) and has higher base knockback (30 → 50). The partner's forward smash also has higher knockback scaling (118 → 126).
It has an altered animation where the Ice Climbers don't slam their hammers as far, hindering its range. It also no longer has a sweetspot which deals more damage (13% → 12% (leader), 10% → 9% (partner), 23% → 21% (both)).
Down smash is a sweep that hits one side. The partner will use the same attack facing the other way.
Down smash covers more horizontal ground when together and it deals more damage (12%/10% → 13% (leader), 9%/8% → 9.7% (partner)). It also has less ending lag (frame 44 → 41) and deals more knockback than the previous sweetspots (30 (base), 105 (leader scaling)/113 (partner scaling) → 50/(100/120)).
Down smash only hits on one side when solo. It is also drastically harder to connect with both climbers and even if it does, its maximum damage output is much lower as it no longer has two hits (42% → 22.7% (both)).
All aerials have less landing lag (15 frames → 7 (neutral/back), 20 → 10 (forward), 30 → 14 (up), 42 → 20 (down).
The Ice Climbers can no longer use two back or up aerials in a short hop due to their faster falling speed as well as the latter having increased ending lag.
Back aerial deals less damage (11% → 10% (leader), 8% → 7.5% (partner), 19% → 17.5% (both)) although its knockback was mostly compensated (scaling: 107 (leader), 128 (partner) → 115/138) and connects less reliably when both climbers are present especially at higher percents.
The partner's attack now has more knockback overall, and is more in-line with the leader's, although it is still a bit weaker.
The Ice Climbers have a new up aerial: an upwards hammer swing in a horizontal arc. Compared to the old up aerial, it provides much more horizontal range and hits in front of them, covering them more efficiently than before. It also has higher knockback scaling (120 (leader), 142 (partner) → 129/154.80003) improving its KO potential despite its lower damage.
New up aerial deals less damage (10%/9% → 9% (leader), 7%/6% → 5.75% (partner)), has more startup lag, a shorter duration (frames 6-23 → 7-11) and more ending lag (frame 30 → 36) compared to the previous one. It also has less vertical range making it much harder to connect against grounded opponents.
Grabs have more startup (frame 6 → 8 (standing), frame 8 → 10 (dash/pivot)) and ending lag (frame 30 → 40 (standing), frame 40 → 48 (dash), frame 40 → 41 (pivot)).
The partner climber cannot act while the leader is held by an opponent's grab while on the ground, and enters a panicking animation instead (although this can be avoided with desyncs).
The partner climber can no longer grab, and will taunt during the leader's throw while on the ground. This removes their chain grabs and locks the Ice Climbers were infamous for in previous titles.
Up throw deals more damage (2% (hit), 4% (throw), 6% (total) → 3%/5%/8%) and the knockback scaling on the throw was not fully compensated (28 → 26).
Down throw has the leader grab the opponent with both hands, lift them up in the air, and slam them on the ground.
The changes to hitstun canceling improve down throw's combo potential beyond lower percents with a solo climber.
The removal of chain grabbing hinders down throw's damage racking potential at lower percents even with a solo climber. Down throw also has increased knockback scaling (100 → 116) hindering its combo potential.
The leader's front and back floor attacks deals more damage (6% → 7%).
The partner's floor attacks deals less damage (6% → 5.2% (front & back), 5% → 3.5% (trip)).
Ledge attack is a horizontal swing similar to their old over 100% ledge attack. It deals consistent damage compared to the previous two ledge attacks but the partner's ledge attack is weaker (8% (hammer), 6% (body) → 8% (leader), 6% (partner).
New ledge attack deals less damage compared to their old over 100% ledge attack (10% (hammer), 8% (body) → 8% (leader), 6% (body)) and the Ice climbers do not hunch over when performing it making them easier to hit.
Ice Shot deals more damage (1%-3% → 2-2%-3.5%). It also has less ending lag (frame 60 → 56).
Ice Shot can function as a projectile blocker since the sliding ice pieces won't get destroyed by any projectiles, and will cancel them out no matter how powerful they are.
Both Ice Climbers aim Blizzard forward while on the ground, similarly to their aerial version in previous games. This increases its damage output when used on the ground, but means that Blizzard can no longer hit opponents behind them, hindering its spacing potential.
The changes to freeze duration result in Blizzard freezing opponents for a significantly longer period of time overall, no longer allowing the opponent to thaw out almost immediately.
Blizzard deals less damage at close range (2% → 1.7%) and it has more ending lag (frame 80 → 85). It also no longer causes hitstun or freezes opponent when used at far range removing its ability to lock and hindering its spacing potential.
Iceberg spins and features a teetering Polar Bear that launches opponents with greater knockback. During the move, a Condor will circle around the top of the screen, which the Ice Climbers can grab onto, and it will also deal damage to opponents that touch it.
Opponents can no longer damage the iceberg and make it recede.
When paired, the Ice Climbers no longer make a whoosh sound upon activating Iceberg.
Iceberg lasts a shorter duration. While this does make it less obstructive to the partner Ice Climber, this makes it overall much easier for opponents to stall out and avoid entirely, while other changes made to the move make it less likely to cause problems for the partner climber anyway.
The iceberg no longer has solid terrain, and instead uses stronger windboxes to push both opponents and the Climbers out. This overall weakens the move's ability to interrupt recoveries, especially combined with the new vertical knockback, and prevents Climbers from standing on the peak. However, it also does not obstruct the Climbers as much, nor will it block ledges, making it less likely to cause the partner climber to SD. In addition, it can no longer be used to make the Climbers clip through stage objects, as this was caused by two merging walls.
The iceberg can be moved across the stage, although doing so can be risky if the Ice Climbers are not holding on to the Condor.
Iceberg no longer freezes opponents.
Iceberg no longer causes platforms to damage opponents.
The Ice Climbers received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but have been buffed slightly overall. Update 2.0.0 improved the partner climber's AI in order to make them follow the leading climber more reliably, though at the cost of making desyncing harder to perform. Aside from this, Belay's recovery potential was improved via its enlarged edge grabbox.
Following this, the Ice Climbers would not receive any noteworthy changes until update 9.0.0. This update decreased the partner's damage and knockback multipliers, which made them less susceptible to being separated from the leader. Belay was also improved noticeably, thanks to its tether recovery distance being lengthened and the leader no longer being inadvertently prevented from using it if the partner used it. Aside from these improvements, a few moves received quality-of-life buffs: dash attack has slightly more range and improved consistency, down smash's knockback was increased, and Squall Hammer will sweetspot edges earlier.
Lastly, update 13.0.1 granted the Ice Climbers a few decent buffs. Belay's start-up lag was decreased, which improved both its recovery potential and utility as a follow-up from up tilt. On a similar note, dash attack's overall lag was decreased, which made it safer and improved its utility for setting up aerial pressure. Lastly, down smash's knockback was increased yet again like in update 9.0.0.
Overall, the Ice Climbers fare mildly better than they did at the launch of Ultimate.
The Ice Climbers twirl their hammers over their heads. This creates a lingering hitbox that hits multiple times. A useful combo starter that can begin a chain of up aerials.
The Ice Climbers sweep their hammers across the ground in front of themselves. A steep semi-spike that functions very well as both a poking option in neutral and edgeguarding option, thanks to its quick startup, decent range, and low endlag.
The Ice Climbers leap forward, swinging their hammers in front of themselves. It deals mostly vertical knockback that can start combos, but has weak knockback and is ineffective for KOing.
The Ice Climbers sweep their hammers across the ground in a specific direction (the leader attacks in front, while the partner attacks behind). If the partner is absent, however, this move will only hit on one side.
Resembles the Ice Climbers' air attack from their original game. They perform a somersaulting overhead swing of their hammers in a manner similar to their forward smash. The partner's hammer has a sweetspot that can meteor smash opponents.
The Ice Climbers swing their hammers horizontally behind themselves. Both hits are extremely safe on shield, with the secondary climber's hit being one of the few moves that is positive on shield.
The Ice Climbers swing their hammers above themselves in an arc. An excellent juggle tool that can quickly rack up damage both desynced and synced, and can even function as a KO confirm from down throw at around 70% on most characters.
The Ice Climbers hold their hammers below themselves and fall downward. A stall-then-fall, though with a slower traveling speed than similar attacks of its kind; additionally, it is unable to meteor smash at all, unlike most attacks of its kind. As a result, it is usually used as a niche landing option.
The leader tosses the opponent upward and hits them with their hammer. It has the second highest base knockback of any up throw, but the weakest knockback growth, rendering it incapable at KOing, even at very high percents.
The leader lifts the opponent over their head with both hands and slams them on the ground. The Ice Climbers' only throw with KO potential, it can KO middleweights at around 214% on Final Destination. It is also effective for starting combos, especially when desynced.
Each Ice Climber summons a small stalagmite of ice and hits it with their hammer, causing it to slide along the ground, gradually shrinking as it travels. It bounces off walls and shields. If attacked by an opponent, the ice rebound and will hurt the Ice Climbers if they touch it. The ice can freeze opponents at high percents. The first midair use will pop the Ice Climbers up slightly.
The Ice Climbers stand back-to-back while spinning around an axis with their hammers outstretched, hitting opponents multiple times. The attack is concluded with them swinging their hammers upward, which launches opponents away. By repeatedly tapping the special move button, the Ice Climbers will rise in the air, allowing them to recover. This, however, also renders them helpless. If only one Climber is present, the move deals less damage and reduced knockback, and gains less height. Squall Hammer is usually used as a method to begin desyncs, and can trap opponents between each Ice Climber once a desync is achieved.
The leading Ice Climber throws the partner the air with a rope. The partner then pulls the leader upwards. If there is a nearby edge, the partner will target it, and then proceed to pull the leader to the ledge as well. While rising, the partner is invincible, allowing for a safe recovery for both Ice Climbers; additionally, the partner Ice Climber possesses a hitbox that deals powerful vertical knockback, though it is rather difficult to use as a combo finisher due to the difficulty of aiming the partner. Without a partner, the move will grant essentially no distance. Each Ice Climber becomes helpless after the move is used.
The Ice Climbers blow a gust of cold air in front of themselves, potentially freezing opponents. If used on an already frozen opponent, they will remain frozen for slightly longer. With both Ice Climbers present, this move can deal a maximum of 31.5%, though it is also a risky move due to its duration.
The Ice Climbers summon a rotating iceberg to rise up from the center of the stage. For the duration of the Final Smash, it can be moved left and right. The range of how far it can move is shown by the mist. The iceberg deals damage to opponents who touch it: the closer they are towards the top, the more damage they take. Towards the base of the iceberg is a Polar Bear, which has high launching power. A Condor also appears, flying above, which the Ice Climbers can grab onto. This allows the iceberg to be more easily controlled without worry of self destruction, although the partner will be at risk of potentially being pushed offstage if they fail to grab it. Upon ending, the iceberg will lower itself, and the Condor will fly off to the side of the stage.
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Before release, players were quick to note that the Ice Climbers lost their most powerful tool from Brawl: their infamous zero-to-death chain grab. That, along with changes to gameplay mechanics removing several combo tools, caused players to believe that the Ice Climbers wouldn't be viable, a belief that held on throughout the early metagame. As such, the Ice Climbers’ representation was minuscule.
It wasn't until a few months after Ultimate's release that the Ice Climbers' playerbase started to make breakthroughs, with the few that stuck with them discovering new desync setups and high-damaging combos. This allowed the Ice Climbers to gain better representation as the metagame progressed, with Kie using them as a co-main in Japan. Most notably, Big D picked up the Ice Climbers up and was able to place well at a national level. Despite this success, many players believe that the character's playstyle is too complicated for them to be viable, and the general consensus agrees that the Ice Climbers are in the lower end of mid tier at best and low tier at worst. The new advanced techniques, however, have helped their mains with how little match-up experience there has been from opponents to learn from.
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.
Referencing themselves being duos, Ice Climbers fight two characters from a given universe in each stage. To go with the duo theme, both Master Hand and Crazy Hand are fought regardless of the difficulty.
Although the Ice Climbers have been absent from the World of Light opening cutscene, they were vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.
The Ice Climbers are unlocked in the southern portion of the snowy mountain area. Unlocking them eliminates the ice paths so they can be traversed in both directions, as well as opening a path to the hidden forest.
The Ice Climbers' fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Ice Climbers have been unlocked. Unlocking the Ice Climbers in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Their fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with their artwork in Ultimate.
•The floor is frozen •The enemy's ice and water attacks have increased power •The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •Stamina battle
Their 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th costumes swap Popo and Nana, making Nana controllable. The stock icons and character select portraits change to reflect this. Popo and Nana act separately in terms of their costume's color.
One of the Ice Climbers' preview pictures shows them using Blizzard against a Metroid, referencing the species' weakness to cold in the Metroid series.
The Ice Climbers and R.O.B. are the only fighters that cannot receive a series bonus, since they don't have any primary spirits from their own series.
Prior to the update 10.1.0, Cloud also shared this distinction.
When the lead climber is grabbing and pummeling an opponent, the partner's animation will lag for every pummel hit.
Hitting the accompanying Ice Climber will not cause controllers to shake if the vibration setting is turned on. This applies to everything from normal attacks, throws, or Final Smashes.
When played on the world map for World of Light, only the leading Ice Climber appears.
If the partner is caught in a non-cutscene trapping Final Smash (such as Triforce Slash, Great Aether, or Omnislash) and the leader is KO'd, the partner will disappear, leaving the opponent attacking nothing. A similar situation occurs in Brawl.
When getting hit from behind, the Ice Climbers' back-hitting/wall bounce hitstun animation causes them to freeze for a brief moment before going into their tumbling animation. This is due to additional frames being added past the final point of the animation.
The animation itself mimics how hitstun animations worked from Smash 64 to Brawl.
The freeze itself is a reference to the duo's dying animation in Ice Climber, in which they freeze for a brief moment after touching an enemy.
When navigating the camera around the Ice Climbers during certain animations, such as their ledge hanging animations, the fur trim on the bottom of their coats and around their wrists seem to detach from their jacket, exposing multiple gaps.[1] There are also gaps when looking at their face at certain angles between the fur trim.
Additionally, zooming in on Popo's face reveals a gap between his hair and fur trim.
Also, looking closely at Nana's hair reveals a small gap underneath between her hair and forehead.
In a Stock or Stamina battle, if the leading Ice Climber gets KO'd, the vanishing effects of the partner do not appear whenever the leader respawns.
The Ice Climbers, Banjo & Kazooie, and Pyra/Mythra's routes all share the same theme, having dynamic character duos as opponents.
If one looks closely at one of the Ice Climber's non-leading feet during their tech wall jump animation, it twists the other way during the move. This can be more easily seen if the match is currently slowed down.
While most other characters have the announcer say "(character) wins!" at the victory screen, the Ice Climbers have the announcer say "Ice Climbers win!" The "(character) win!" audio clip is usually reserved for the Japanese version, though it is most likely used with the Ice Climbers because of their two-in-one nature and name. Rosalina & Luma and Banjo & Kazooie also share this distinction.
In Spanish, French, German, and Italian, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (los, les, die, and gli Ice Climbers, respectively). This trait is shared with Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Inkling, Hero, Zombie, Enderman, and the Mii Fighters.
In the Ice Climbers' battle portrait, the partner Ice Climber is slightly lower than they are in their full artwork, in order to make their face fully visible. Banjo & Kazooie are the only other fighter with such an edit.
The Ice Climbers and Lucas are the only playable characters who use sprites as their Fighters Spirit image.
The AI level for the partner Ice Climber (Nana by default) is 77 out of 100, which is slightly higher than a level 8 CPU (75 out of 100); the non-standard number is likely a pun on Nana's name, as one of the ways to say seven in Japanese is "なな (nana)".[2]
While most characters have two different sets of knockback-based voice clips, the Ice Climbers are the only exception to this rule as they use either their low or high knockback voice clips or remain silent, regardless of their knockback speed.
Additionally, the Ice Climbers are the only characters that retain their voice clips from Brawl but do not make use of their unused knockback voice clips, a trait shared with Link, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf from Smash 4.
When Popo is the leader, they vocalize their medium and one of the heavy knockbacks based on a small probability. Both are missing a light knockback and 1 heavy knockback which goes unused in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and also in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
The Ice Climbers are the only characters who have fewer dash-to-run frames when performing a pivot dash instead of a regular dash.
When playing on a custom stage, there's a visual glitch in the Ice Climber's on-screen appearance where the Condor does not disappear and only does so once "GO!" appears on the screen.
If both Ice Climbers perform a smash attack with the Home-Run Bat, Nana will vocalize first, which is during the windup rather than before the swing. This is a carryover from Brawl, where all characters will grunt during the windup animation. This is shared with Falco.
If Nana is the leader, the Ice Climbers' knockback voice clips won't play for unknown reasons.
The Ice Climbers' description on the North American amiibo website is based on their trophy description from Melee.
Uniquely, instead of being supported by a clear stand on their amiibo, the Ice Climbers are instead supported by a blue iceberg, which is not present in their official render. The only other characters to have a distinction present in their amiibo that is not present in their official artwork are Mr. Game & Watch (interchangeable poses), Ridley (plastic impact effect), Joker (plastic flame support), Banjo & Kazooie (plastic Jiggy support), and Min Min (plastic gust support).
The Ice Climbers are the only characters who wield weapons at all times to be affected by stance mirroring.
The Ice Climbers seen in Sora's reveal trailer after everyone has been turned back into trophies are actually two Popos.
During Palutena's Guidance regarding the Ice Climbers, Pit assumes that their absence in SSB4 was due to illegal teaming. This dialogue is a humorous reference to the Ice Climbers being cut due to the consistent technical issues that Masahiro Sakurai and the development team faced when attempting to make them function properly in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
When functioning as the partner climber, Popo and Nana are the only characters capable of dashing through other characters in Ultimate.
When one Ice Climber gets KO'd off the top blast line, the other Ice Climber has a greater chance of being KO'd the same way. For example, if the leader were to get Screen KO'd, the partner likely would as well, instead of the usual completely random chance.
If Sephiroth uses Shadow Flare against the AI-controlled Ice Climber, they will flinch and take the initial damage, but the shadowy orbs that normally follow from this attack will not appear.
^Meshima on Twitter: Nana AI level is 77 out of 100, slightly smarter than lv.8 CPU having 75. Probably the number of 77 comes from Japanese pronunciation (7 = "na" or "nana").
Due to the game's graphical improvements, the Ice Climbers gain a sleeker design with more subtle detailing in their hair and parkas, and their overall color scheme is significantly more vibrant. The duo wears coats with detailed furry lining, similar to Melee. The duo has slightly smaller more proportionate heads, more faint blushes on their cheeks, and slightly thinner eyes on top of losing the purple hue in their eyes. Their boots and hammers also appear to be covered in light powdered snow.
Nana's crowd cheer is no longer the back sound of the menu if she is currently the leader.
Like all characters, both of the Ice Climbers' 
If either Ice Climber lands a hit, the other one takes a small amount of hitlag, regardless of whether their attack connects or not.
