Master Hand (SSBB)

Master Hand
Official artwork of Master Hand in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A boss in	Brawl
Universe	Super Smash Bros.
Location	Final Destination
Voice actor	Pat Cashman

Master Hand reprises his role as the final boss of Classic Mode in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and once again is fought on Final Destination. His attacks are very similar to that of his Melee form with some changes. The amount of HP he has is still dependent on the difficulty as well. Crazy Hand also returns in Classic Mode, if certain conditions are met.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Master Hand in The Subspace Emissary.

Master Hand also appears in The Subspace Emissary, as the one giving orders to Ganondorf, Bowser and Wario. Soon after a Subspace Bomb is used on King Dedede's castle, Ganondorf receives new orders from Master Hand via a video screen.

Master Hand released from his bonds.

However, when all of the characters arrive in Subspace, Ganondorf reports to Master Hand after betraying Bowser. When Master Hand reveals himself, however, Ganondorf sees that he has actually been under the control of a powerful being called Tabuu, who had enslaved Master Hand using Chains of Light, knowing that he could control and use him for recruiting fighters to aid him in his goals.

Tabuu using chains of light on Master Hand

Ganondorf defiantly attempts to attack Tabuu, but is easily knocked back, though his fall breaks the Chains of Light that Tabuu used to control Master Hand with, thus freeing him. Master Hand subsequently falls into the ground, now wounded from the Chains of Light. Master Hand attempts to strike Tabuu as well, but is beaten with little effort, collapsing once again into the ground and lying motionless in defeat.

Master Hand is the only boss character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, who does not have a boss fight in The Subspace Emissary (other than Crazy Hand, who makes no appearance in the mode).

Moveset

Master Hand using Laser Nail against Mario.

Like all other enemies in the game, Master Hand's damage output is based on a value unique to the stage and the chosen difficulty level. This value (known to range from 0.0 to 11.0) is given as "d" in the following tables.

Individual

Notes: The "d" below is a multiplier based on the difficulty value. Final damage is rounded down to the nearest whole number. Boss Battles halves the final damage, rounding down again. The move names are fan-made in the absence of an official source.

Name	Damage	Description
Big Swipe	22 + 2.1d	Master Hand makes a wide swipe across the stage.
Floor Sweep	10 + 2.0d	Master Hand uses the back of his hand and sweeps across the platform 3 times.
Power Punch	25 + 2.5d	Master Hand forms a fist, hovers above the player, and then punches down with an explosive fist. Produces set meteor smash knockback if it strikes. It can only hit a player close to the ground, leaving it easily evaded by just jumping into the air as he uses the move. Deals flame damage and 10% shield damage.
Fake-Out Slap	22 + 2.2d	Master Hand forms a fist, hovers above the player as if to use Power Punch, but instead opens up and comes down with a slap. Buries the player if they're grounded. Compared to the previous game's Power Slap, the animation makes the move look more like a Power Punch until just before it fires. Semi-spikes very powerfully but, just like Power Punch, this attack only hits close to the ground which, when combined with the long telegraphing of the move, leaves it easily evaded by just jumping into the air.
Tri-Poke	9 + 1.2d (hits 1 & 2) 14 + 1.3d (hit 3)	Master Hand points at the player and follows them for a few seconds, before poking the player three times. The pokes can be chained together, but can be DI'd out of before the final poke. Can be evaded by just moving away from Master Hand before he starts poking. All hits deal 4% shield damage.
Finger Drill	2 + 1.0d (ascent/descent) 4 + 1.2d (multhits) 4 + 0.0d (end)	Master Hand spins vertically, flies above the screen, and then corkscrews down at the player. This is by far Master Hand's most difficult to evade attack; the only way to dodge it is to do a roll at the right time, but this will fail with most characters if their rolling dodge don't cover great distance (like Lucario) due to a combination of how fast it comes down and deceptively wide hitboxes. It can be avoided by moving off the stage, but the move's long duration and large hitboxes can make it difficult to safely get back on stage without taking damage. Additionally, with how fast the attack activates, and with the initial hitbox it produces as it rises, the player may be unable to get offstage in time. Some characters can avoid this attack easily by using a special attack that moves character a considerable distance quickly. Despite having an SDI multiplier of 2.0, the attack is very difficult to SDI out of, ensuring players will take the attack's full remaining damage output. The final hit deals moderate fixed knockback, making this attack incapable of KOing, but its extremely high damage output will put an undamaged player in KO range of the Hand's KOing moves on Intense difficulty, making it a dangerous move. The multihits hit every 14 frames and his wrist deals electric damage.
Finger Walk	12 + 1.8d (walk, "body") 8 + 1.5d (walk, fingers) 12 + 2.0d (kick, "body") 20 + 2.0d (kick, finger)	Master Hand "walks" across the stage on two fingers and "kick"s the player upon reaching them. The kick deals 20% shield damage.
Flying Punch	24 + 2.6d	Master Hand floats up out of view and then zooms in from the background with a punch. Deals electric damage and 20% shield damage.
Flying Slap	24 + 2.3d (early, sweetspot) 18 + 2.0d (early, sourspot) 13 + 1.2d (mid) 9 + 1.1d (late)	Master Hand floats up out of view and then flies in from the background and slaps the stage. The sweetspot is on the palm and deals very high semi-spike knockback. The sweetspot can hit both grounded and aerial players, however it is only active when Master Hand himself is close to the ground and all other hitboxes only hit grounded players, leaving it easily evaded by just jumping into the air. In addition, the sweetspot deals 25% shield damage while the rest deals 20% shield damage.
Jetstream	10 + 1.3d (startup) 22 + 2.4d (attack/return)	Master Hand arranges his fingers in a rough shape of a jet, fires upwards into the air, then swoops in from the background. During the startup, his wrist deals low, downward, fixed knockback. He only tracks the player's horizontal position and not the vertical, making jumping an easy way to avoid it. The rest of the attack deals perfectly vertical knockback and 20% shield damage.
Finger Bullet	8 + 1.8d	Fires a pair of bullets. If at low HP, three pairs of bullets. The bullets can be reflected.
Laser Nail	4 + 1.6d	Master Hand shoots laser beams from his fingertips and slowly moves across the screen. The lasers will deal a decent amount of damage each time a player makes contact with them, but will produce almost no knockback. These lasers penetrate the stage, potentially hitting fighters underneath it.
Squeeze	10 + 1.5d	Master Hand grabs the player and squeezes, acting as his pummel. Hits at most three times. Sets up for one of his two throws if not escaped.
Reverse Throw	14 + 1.6d	Master Hand throws the player backwards. Will OHKO on Intense in Classic Mode.
Vertical Throw	22 + 1.8d	Master Hand throws the player downwards into the stage.

In combination with Crazy Hand

The damage recorded here is only for Master Hand's contribution to the attack. For Crazy Hand's contribution, see Crazy Hand (SSBB).

Move	Damage	!Description
Applause	3 + 1.0d (sleep) 4 + 1.1d (clap)	The Hands slowly bring themselves together, before clapping five times. The initial hand motioning will put grounded players to sleep, ensuring they will get hit by the clapping. The claps hit the player towards the center of the stage, dealing high damage, with the final blow dealing the most knockback (though it's possible to DI out before the final hit if the player avoids getting caught in the middle). Difficult to evade, as the initial hand motioning comes out quickly and can put the player to sleep before they can react, and the claps cover the entire stage, necessitating the player to quickly get offstage (though hanging the ledge will provide complete safety from the move).
Cross Punch	N/A	Master Hand beckons to Crazy Hand, who then proceeds to punch Master Hand's palm.
Sandwich Punch	10 + 1.1d	The Hands slowly bring themselves together, before quickly moving back and punching into each other. The initial hand motioning is indistinguishable from Applause, but it does not produce any hitboxes (thus players can safely detect which move it is by putting their shield up as the Hands motion, which if it does not hit their shield, indicates it is this move). While powerful if it strikes, it is very easy to evade, as the long telegraphing without the initial hitbox of Applause gives the player ample time to prepare to evade, and going offstage or jumping into the air will be sufficient to evade it. Getting hit by the knuckles deals flame damage while the wrists deal normal damage.

Attack pattern

While Crazy Hand determines when a combo move will be used, it is Master Hand's choice which one to use.

Move 1

• Floor Sweep
• Laser Nail
• Power Punch
• Sandwich Punch

Move 2

• Finger Drill
• Grab
• Finger Bullet
• Applause
• Cross Punch
• Sandwich Punch

Move 3

• Flying Punch
• Flying Slap
• Jetstream

Move 4

• Grab
• Finger Walk
• Fake-Out Slap
• Applause
• Twin Laser (combo move, both Hands use Laser Nail)

Move 5

• Big Slap
• Twin Turbines (combo move, both Hands use Jetstream)

HP and damage taken

HP Values
Classic Mode	150			250			300			330			360
Round	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9	1-3	4-6	7-9
Boss Battles	84.8	87.2	92	96	104	106	108	122	120	120	140	137	152	188	175

Damage taken	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0	×1.0

Like all bosses in Brawl, Master Hand gains an additional ×0.6 damage resistance modifier when fought in co-op mode, effectively gaining 67% more health. This modifier is applied whenever the second player is in-game and is no longer applied if the second player loses all their stocks.

Unlike other bosses, Master Hand's attacks do not change in power at low HP, instead sticking to the same difficulty set the entire match. In Classic Mode his difficulty sets are: 1 (Easy/Normal), 2 (Hard), 3 (Very Hard), and 5 (Intense). In Boss Battles his difficulty sets are: 1 (Rounds 1-6), and 2 (Rounds 7-9).

Changes from Melee to Brawl

• Master Hand's idle pose now moves accordingly to the difficulty, being nearly as erratic as Crazy Hand's.
• Many of his attacks are faster, deal more damage, and are more difficult to dodge. Finger Walk and Big Swipe have almost instantaneous start-up.
• Finger Drill is more difficult to dodge: it can only be dodged if a player perfectly executes a roll, or leaves the stage until the attack finishes. Even then, many characters' rolls are too short to escape his vacuum, and going off the stage can make it hard to come back, as the attack has hitboxes that prevents the player from grabbing the ledge.
• After using Jetstream, Master Hand returns to his normal position on the right side of the stage, instead of appearing on the left and traveling back to the right side. Jetstream can no longer meteor smash during the start up.
• During the start of Master and Crazy Hands' Applause attack, characters are hit by the Fan effect while in the air.
• Flying Punch now deals horizontal knockback and can no longer meteor smash, removing its OHKO potential. However, it is much more effective at KOing onstage opponents due to dealing more knockback.
• Laser Nail moves forth and back once.
• Finger Bullet cannot be avoided by crouching.
• Finger Walk begins almost instantaneously and has more power, allowing Master Hand to suddenly hit, and potentially KO, nearby players.
• Big Swipe is faster, stronger, and covers a larger area.
• First throw now has horizontal knockback instead of upward knockback.
• Relative to the average knockback of their moves, Master Hand is now more powerful than Crazy Hand.

Playing via hacks

Like other bosses, there is a popular Gecko code for Master Hand that overrides his actions when player 3 performs certain inputs.

Enable Boss Control
4A000000	810F1F3C
D2000000	00000002
901F058C	5400843E
90020070	00000000
C277F780	00000010
7CDFF050	2C06414C
4082006C	2C1C0002
40810064	39820074
809E0038	A0EC0000
7C043800	41810050
A0EC0002	7C1C3800
41820044	3CC0804E
A0C6E4C0	A8EC0004
2C070000	41820030
A8EC0004	7C063800
4082000C	A38C0006
4800001C	2C07FFFF
4082000C	AB8C0006
4800000C	398C0004
4BFFFFD8	939E0038
60000000	00000000
4A000000	805A9320
14000078	00000000
E0000000	80008000

Controls for Player 3
4A000000	805A9320
30000070	00005A01
16000074	00000038
000A0034	10800034
0288000B	0188000E
01840011	02800014
01810019	0281001A
0481001B	0488001D
01820020	02820024
01800026	FFFFFFFF
E0000000	80008000

Action	Input
Big Swipe	+
Fake-Out Slap	+
Finger Drill	+
Finger Walk	+
Floor Sweep	+
Flying Punch	+
Flying Slap	+
Jetstream	+
Laser Nail
Power Punch	+
Tri-Poke
self destruct

Trophy

Master Hand's trophy in Brawl

Master Hand

A being tied to the link between this world, where trophies fight, and the world beyond. The meaning of his existence is unknown, as are his goals, but he seems to have obtained (and kept hidden) a power that borders on absolute. He also seems to feel a certain joy in challenging chosen warriors who've claimed many victories. He waits even now in Final Destination.

: Super Smash Bros.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl