Editing Roy (SSBM)

{{ArticleIcons|melee=y}}
{{Disambig2|Roy's appearance in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee''|the character in other contexts|Roy}}
{{Infobox Character
|name = Roy
|image = [[File:Roy SSBM.jpg]]
|game = SSBM
|ssbgame1 = SSB4
|ssbgame2 = SSBU
|availability = [[Unlockable character|Unlockable]]
|tier = D
|tierPAL = G
|ranking = 21
|rankingPAL = 22
}}
'''Roy''' ({{ja|ロイ|Roi}}, ''Roy'') is an [[unlockable character]] in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. He is a [[clone]] of {{SSBM|Marth}}, differentiated primarily by his [[sweetspot]]s being located near the center of his blade rather than the tip. Although ''Fire Emblem'' games were Japan-exclusive at the time, this did not stop Roy from being added to ''Melee''{{'}}s non-Japanese versions, since Nintendo of America found him fun to play as.<ref>[http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/12/13/sakurai-fe25/ Sakurai Interview: Fire Emblem 25th Anniversary - Source Gaming]</ref> His design in ''Melee'' comes from the version of ''Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade'' shown at Nintendo SpaceWorld 2001, though it has minor changes. Additionally, he is one of two ''Melee'' characters that only speak Japanese in all its versions (the other being Marth), and he is voiced by {{iw|wikipedia|Jun Fukuyama}}.

Roy currently ranks 21st out of 26 on the ''Melee'' [[tier list]], in the D tier, which is the largest tier difference of a clone compared to their base fighter (as Marth currently ranks 2nd in the S tier) and his worst placement in the series. Roy's advantages include an above average approach, due in part to having one of the best [[SHFFL]]s in the game, decent [[speed|movement]], a good [[down tilt]] as well as a respectable [[grab]]. However, Roy's flaws are significant, which include having poor flexibility in his [[combo]] game, terrible [[knockback]] in his [[aerial]] attack, and having very few moves that can [[KO]] reliably, being overly reliant on his {{b|sweet spot|hitbox}}ted [[forward smash]] as a finisher. He also possesses one of the worst [[recoveries]] in the game, as [[Blazer]] travels a very short distance vertically, and he is a [[weight|light]], [[fast-fall]]ing character that is susceptible to combos. As a result, Roy has significant KOing problems while being easy to KO himself. 

Overall, Roy's flaws greatly outweigh his strengths, leading to him struggle against the vast majority of the cast. While Roy is a significantly lacking character competitively at the top-level, a few players have challenged this sentiment, such as {{Sm|NEO}} and, most recently, {{Sm|Zain}}. However, with NEO's inactivity, and Zain's performances paling in comparison to his performances with Marth, he is regarded as an unviable character in the modern metagame, although his reception as a fighter has slightly improved thanks to Zain's efforts.

==How to unlock==
Roy must be defeated in battle before he can be unlocked. There are two ways the player can encounter Roy:
*One way is to complete Classic Mode, Adventure Mode, or All-Star Mode as Marth without using any continues. If the player fails to defeat Roy, they can re-fight him by doing this same method again.
**Playing one of Marth's mode endings via the {{SSBM|Debug menu}}'s "RegularEnding Real" menu also triggers this unlock battle; defeating Roy after doing this results in Roy being unlocked without Marth being unlocked as well.
*Another way is to play 900 VS. matches to completion. If the player fails to defeat Roy, they can re-fight him by playing another VS. match to completion. If this method is used, fighters with lower VS. match quotas must be unlocked before Roy can be fought. This prevents Roy from being unlocked before Marth.
Roy is fought on the [[Temple]] stage, with the track "Fire Emblem" playing.

==Attributes==
[[File:Roy's Melee Dash Attack.gif|thumb|Roy's [[dash attack]] infamously [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kht7deE4Zyw doesn't work properly] because the hitboxes are active for the same amount of frames as Marth while being much slower.]]

Overall, Roy does not fall into any specific fighter archetype; while having a slew of powerful attacks, Roy himself is rather nimble, having a notably fast [[dash]] and a long [[dash dance]], combined with very high falling speed. However, Roy has a relatively below-average air speed, similar to {{SSBM|Marth}}. A combination of a fast falling speed and low traction gives Roy a somewhat long [[wavedash]] (the sixth longest in the game).

Being a clone of Marth in ''Melee'', Roy inherits some positive properties emblematic of Marth's gameplan. Due to his movement properties and long wavedash, Roy has excellent ground-based movement. His down tilt also serves as a respectable poking tool and combo starter, as it will send opponents straight up when hit, allowing for potential follow-ups. Combined with an effective grab game, with the second-largest non-disjointed grab range (behind only Marth), Roy can somewhat emulate some of Marth's highly effective [[neutral game]] play by threatening grabs and using his down tilt out of his dash dance. With his ability to [[chaingrab]] some fastfallers such as {{SSBM|Fox}} and {{SSBM|Falco}} with his up throw, [[tech chase]] opponents and set up [[edgeguard]]s with his down and forward throws, as well as perform a handful of other combo setups that stem from his grab, Roy can establish a capable neutral game while creating tangible threats as well. Roy also has a very fast [[SHFFL]] due to his fast falling speed and low-startup aerials, strengthening his neutral game.

Roy also possesses high power in some of his ground-based attacks. Roy's forward smash, like Marth's, has quick startup and covers a large range; this is his primary KO move, and most of Roy's combos will end with a {{b|sweet spot|hitbox}}ted forward smash to send opponents off-stage. Its greater power up close can also punish overzealous opponents who carelessly step into Roy's threat zone, playing into his advantage state. His other two smash attacks are more situational, but both his down and up smashes are strong when landed; the latter even has multi-hit properties and can [[spike]] when struck at the tip, although this is very situational. Roy's specials are also quite strong as well; [[Flare Blade]] is a decent edgeguarding tactic and has huge knockback nearing [[one-hit KO]] thresholds when fully charged, [[Double-Edge Dance]] can serve as a backup poking tool with its strong third and fourth hits, as well as [[gimp]] certain recoveries such as [[Fire Bird]] or [[Fire Fox]], and [[Counter]] can be used as a devastating retaliation option, turning the tables against single, strong hits on unsuspecting opponents. Counter can also intercept linear recoveries, and because it scales based on move power, it will very likely KO most recovering opponents if landed, unlike Marth's Counter, which often simply resets the situation.

However, Roy's primary flaw is the [[sweetspot]] placement of his moves. While it may seem that Roy has great reach on paper due to his disjointed hitbox offered by the [[Binding Blade]], this fails to apply in practice. Unlike Marth, who can safely attack opponents from a distance, Roy must go into close proximity to opponents to deliver strong damage and knockback, as the sweetspot on his sword is closer to the hilt rather than at the tip. While attacks can become incredibly powerful at this close of a range, this causes Roy to become very vulnerable, especially against characters with powerful close-range threats. This would not be as much of a problem if Roy's sourspots had utility in setting up KOs or extending combos, but many of them do not, greatly exacerbating this weakness. While Marth's weakest sourspots actually complement his game plan, using his weaker hitboxes to precisely set up for his stronger ones, Roy's sourspots fail to meaningfully threaten the opponent in terms of knockback or damage.

As a result of relying on attacks with  very close sweetspots, Roy himself lacks reliable finishers. With the exception of his forward smash, his down smash, and the later hits of his Double Edge Dance, Roy has few options to quickly KO, and even these attacks need to connect in close ranges in order for them to have notable  KOing power. Further compounding Roy's problems with KOing are his aerials; even when sweetspotted, none of these aerials can reliably KO under 200%, as they require good setups in order to properly connect, and none of them can easily rack up damage in the first place. While he may have two meteor smashes (the third hit of his upward Double-Edge Dance and his down air) and one spike (tippered up smash), all three are highly situational, requiring particularly lucky or skilled setups in order to properly connect. When combined with poor offstage options from having high-lag aerials that are risky offstage and a poor recovery, Roy is almost completely dependent racking up damage with brief combo strings, culminating in a reliance on hard reads and errors by the opponent to garner KOs.

Because of his poor sweetspot hitboxes, Roy also has limited lengthy combo extensions, in stark contrast with Marth. Roy has slightly below-average air speed like Marth, though Roy cannot move fast enough in the air to compensate hitting with the hilt of his blade, frequently causing sourspotted attacks, resulting in low hitstun and hitlag attacks, impairing Roy's combo and aerial games, and even giving him a poor edgeguarding game, unlike Marth. Roy's moveset is only suitable for aggravating fastfallers, since he at least has chaingrabs and tech chases against them, and can juggle them on stages with few or no platforms such as [[Pokémon Stadium]] or {{SSBM|Final Destination}}. However, that is the extent of Roy's high-level punish game against the cast, and he has no reliable method of achieving any combos or KO setups on [[floaty]] characters such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} (aside from his Yoshi's Story and Pokémon Stadium OHKO) or {{SSBM|Peach}}. Roy's combo potential is thus below-average at best, being both stage and character-dependent, unlike Marth, and results in him having completely losing matchups against the aforementioned floaty characters.

Roy himself is easy to combo and edgeguard; like other fastfalling characters, his high falling speed harms him by making him extremely vulnerable to juggling. Even with fast falling speed, Roy's vertical survivability from the upper blast line is merely average due to a combination of his lighter weight than characters such as {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} and much slower falling speed than characters like {{SSBM|Falco}}. Like Marth, Roy also has a non-stellar recovery, though his faster falling speed and higher gravity only exacerbate it to make it far worse than Marth's, and among the worst in the game; adding to this, his high falling speed makes him extremely vulnerable to edgeguarding, as well as being easy to [[gimp]]. While Roy's [[Blazer]] recovery can be slightly more effective than Marth's [[Dolphin Slash]] in some situations, due to its greater horizontal distance, multi-hit properties that can aggravate edgeguarders, and its unique KOes off the low upper blast zones, it still has a much shorter vertical distance and high ending lag, leaving him open to punishes as he lands. Additionally, while Roy can still use Double-Edge Dance to recover horizontally, it is not as effective as Marth's Dancing Blade, due to his much higher falling speed.

While Roy may appear at first as though he has enough tools as a character to function viably, in reality, he struggles in many aspects. His excellent movement is not only outclassed by Marth, but simply does not compensate for his many weaknesses in both the advantage and disadvantage states. Roy's moveset is full of low-impact hitboxes that struggle to push any sort of advantage against non-fastfalling opponents, while he himself is almost trivial to combo, edgeguard, and KO. While Roy's raw power up-close can punish careless opponents, hoping that opponents make unforced errors is not a reliable strategy. As such, unlike Marth, Roy is a poor character at higher levels of play, with sparse representation.

==Version history==
'''NTSC 1.01'''
*{{bugfix|Fixed the [[Whispy blink glitch]].}}

==Differences from {{SSBM|Marth}}==
Roy is overall a considerably less effective character than Marth. All of his sweetspots are placed at the hilt or center of his blade, making it harder for him to space, and his down aerial's spike is a meteor smash hitbox that is difficult to hit with. Almost all of Roy's moves have hitboxes that come out slower, remain active for fewer frames, or stay out for the same period as Marth's, but with slower animation speed (leading to unfortunate hitbox timing on moves like his dash attack, the upper part of his neutral attack, three of his aerials and Blazer). Roy's sourspot does far less knockback and damage than Marth's, and his sweetspots do somewhere in between the knockback and damage of Marth's sourspots and sweetspots, making his KO potential much worse than Marth's. Additionally, his wavedash and moonwalk are both shorter than Marth's, resulting in him being slightly less mobile.

However, Roy does have some advantages. As he is slightly shorter than Marth, he is slightly harder to hit (although this makes his range shorter as a result); his up smash hits multiple times and can spike, making it more reliable than Marth's, and Flare Blade is much stronger than [[Shield Breaker]], being a one-hit KO when fully charged. Additionally, unlike [[Dolphin Slash]], Blazer has multi-hit properties and when reversed, can OHKO on stages such as Yoshi's Story and Pokémon Stadium against certain light weight characters, though it is situational and punishable if missed.

Overall, Roy's advantages are not enough to alleviate his significant weaknesses, and it results in him having far less successful tournament results and a much smaller playerbase in comparison to Marth.

===Aesthetics===
*{{change|Roy's idle animation, taunt and victory animations are different from Marth's.}}

===Attributes===
*{{change|Roy's sweetspot is placed at the hilt of his blade, meaning he fights at close range in order to be most efficient. Roy's sweetspot is larger than Marth's, but Marth can [[space]] the tipper sweetspot of his sword for maximum safety and damage.}}
*{{change|Some of Roy's attacks use the [[flame]] effect.}}
*{{change|Roy is lighter than Marth (NTSC 87 → 85). It hinders his survivability slightly but makes him less susceptible to [[waveshine]] followups from {{SSBM|Fox}} as he is knocked down by the shine.}}
*{{change|Roy is shorter than Marth. This shortens his hurtbox, making him harder to hit, but also slightly reduces the range in his attacks.}}
**{{buff|Due to his shorter height, Roy can grab smaller characters such as {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} and {{SSBM|Kirby}} while they are [[crouch]]ing with his standing grab, unlike Marth.}}
*{{buff|Roy's [[air speed]] is slightly faster than Marth (PAL 0.85 → 0.9).}}
*{{nerf|Roy's [[jumpsquat]] is one frame later than Marth's (frame 4 → frame 5). Not only does this mean catching opponents by surprise with aerials is slightly harder for Roy, but it also makes his wavedash slightly less useful than that of Marth.}}
*{{nerf|Roy's [[wavedash]] is shorter than Marth's.}}
*{{nerf|Roy [[walk]]s (1.6 → 1.2) and [[dash]]es (1.8 → 1.61) noticeably slower than Marth, and his [[dash-dance]] window is smaller as a result of his slower dash speed.}}
*{{change|Roy's [[falling speed]] is higher (2.2 → 2.4), causing him to have less vertical knockback than Marth, despite Marth remaining heavier than Roy, and makes his SHFFL faster than Marth's. However, his increased falling speed makes him much easier to combo, worsens his recovery, and means that he is usually unable to go off-stage for edgeguards or gimps, hindering his ability to close out stocks at low percentages.}}
*{{change|Roy's [[gravity]] is higher (0.085 → 0.114).}}
**{{nerf|As a result, Roy's jumps are lower than Marth's.}}

===Ground attacks===
*[[Neutral attack]]:
**{{nerf|Neutral attack only has a single hit; as such, it can't be [[buffer]]ed into a second hit.}}
**{{change|Sourspot damage was changed and mids do different damage, sourspot (4% → 3%), mid (4% → 5%).}}
***{{change|Due to the fact that mid has priority on both characters, the overall damage output is generally higher per hit; however, since it is only one hit, the rate of attack is slower. It is also much harder to land the sweetspot due to hitbox priority.}}
**{{change|The sourspot has much less base knockback with slightly more growth (20 base/50 growth → 5/60); the mid and sweetspot, however, have a higher base knockback (20 → 30).}}
***{{nerf|The sourspot is unsafe on hit until high percents as a result.}}
**{{nerf|The move's animation is slower, although the hitbox timings are unchanged. This makes it take a frame longer for Roy's arm to be outstretched, and also reduces the vertical range of the slash, due to the unchanged hitbox timing.}}
**{{change|One of the mid hitboxes is bigger (≈3.9u → 4.3u), while the tip hitbox, which for Roy is the sourspot, is smaller (≈3.9u → 3.52u). This makes it less likely for Roy to land the sourspot, but reduces the move's overall range.}}
*[[Forward tilt]]:
**{{buff|Forward tilt has a longer duration (4 frames → 5).}}
**{{nerf|It has more startup (frame 7 → 9), with more ending lag (FAF 36 → 40).}}
**{{change| The sweetspot and sourspot deal less damage sourspot (9% → 7%), sweetspot (13% → 12%), However his mids do higher damage(9% → 10%).}}
**{{buff|Base knockback was buffed on mid (30 → 60).}}
***{{buff|Due to the fact that mid has priority on both characters, the damage and knockback buff to the mid hitbox, generally improves KO potential.}}
**{{nerf|However, it is very difficult to land the sweetspot due to hitbox priority.}}
**{{change|One of the mid hitboxes is bigger (≈3.9u → 4.3u), while the tip hitbox, which for Roy is the sourspot, is smaller (≈3.9u → 3.52u). This makes it less likely for Roy to land the sourspot, but reduces the move's overall range.}}
*[[Up tilt]]:
**{{nerf|Up tilt has more startup (frame 6 → 7) and much more ending lag (frame 32 → 40).}}
**{{nerf|It has smaller hitboxes.}}
**{{nerf|It deals less damage (8%/9%/12% (early)/9%/10%/13% (clean) → 6%/8%/9%/10%).}}
**{{nerf|It has much less base knockback (50/40/30 → 35/20), making it drastically inferior for combos and KOing, and making the sourspot unsafe on hit at low percents.}}
*[[Down tilt]]:
**{{change|Instead of having horizontal knockback, Roy's down tilt has vertical knockback (30° → 80°), which allows it to leads into many combo setups, especially on fast fallers. In exchange, this makes Roy's down tilt much less useful for neutral resets and edgeguards against the rest of the cast.}}
**{{buff|The sweetspot deals more damage (10% → 12%) and has more base knockback (50 → 90), while the mid also deals more damage (9% → 10%) and has more base knockback (40 → 90).}}
**{{nerf|It has more startup (frame 7 → 8).}}
***{{buff|Though since the move's IASA frames weren't changed, it effectively has 1 frame less ending lag, improving its combo potential further.}}
**{{change|The sourspot deals less damage (8% → 6%) but has higher base knockback (25/20 → 40).}}
**{{nerf|The tipper hitbox is smaller, reducing the move's range.}}
*[[Dash attack]]:
**{{change|The sourspot of Roy's dash attack deals less damage (9% → 6%), the mids however deal more damage (11% → 12%)}}
**{{nerf|The move's animation is much slower, but with no change in hitbox timings, leading to an infamously terrible hitbox placement.}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kht7deE4Zyw]
*[[Forward smash]]:
**{{buff|Forward smash's sweetspot hitbox is larger and his mids are identical to the sweetspot essentially giving the effect of everything but the tip being the sweetspot.}}
***{{buff|Hitbox priority is on the hilt and mids making hitting the sweetspot extremely consistent while on Marth the sweetspot has lowest priority and mids are the same as the sour spot.}}
**{{nerf|Forward smash's tipper hitbox is smaller than Marth's tipper hitbox which gives the move slightly less range and doesn't benefit Roy as his tipper, while being his sourspot, has the lowest priority anyway and thus will never override the sweetspot.}}
**{{nerf|It has more startup with a shorter duration (frame 10-13 → 12-14) and more ending lag (frame 48 → 54).}}
**{{nerf|All of its hitboxes also deal less knockback, with his sourspot in particular dealing significantly less knockback (60 base/70 growth → 30/65) and his sweetspot having slightly less knockback growth (70 → 65).}}
**{{nerf|The sourspot deals 2% less damage (14% → 12%).}}
*[[Up smash]]:
**{{change|Up smash uses the [[flame]] effect.}}
**{{buff|Up smash has a longer duration (4 frames → 10).}}
**{{buff|It can serve as an unconventional [[spike]] if hit with the tip of Roy's sword on the second, third, and fourth hits.}}
**{{change|It deals more damage than Marth's sourspots, but less than his sweetspots (8%/15%/18% → 16.56%).}}
***{{buff|Overall, it does more damage consistently.}}
**{{buff|It deals consistent knockback on the final hit (196 set knockback/30/60 base/100/80 growth → 73 base/90 growth). This is considerably more knockback than Marth's sourspots, and while weaker than Marth's tipper sweetspot, it's closer in power to the sweetspot than the sourspot.}}
**{{nerf|It has more startup (frame 13 → 15).}}
**{{nerf|As it is a multi-hit move, it has the possibility of being [[SDI]]ed before connecting with the final hit.}}
**{{nerf|It has smaller hitboxes.}}
**{{change|Up smash has less horizontal range against grounded opponents, but its grounded hitbox actually link into the main attack, unlike Marth's which deals mediocre [[set knockback]].}}
*[[Down smash]]:
**{{buff|The front hit of down smash deals more damage (16%/11% → 21%/14%).}}
**{{nerf|Both hits of down smash have higher startup (first hit: frame 5 → frame 6, second hit: frame 20 → 23).}}
**{{nerf|It has more ending lag (frame 62 → 72).}}
**{{nerf|The sourspot of the back hit also deals less damage (11% → 8%).}}
**{{nerf|Both hits of the move deal drastically less knockback (front hit: 16/20/70 base/72/100 growth → 15/42 base/100/70 growth, back hit: 15/30/70 base/72/100 growth → 15/42 base/68/100 growth) than Marth's.}}

===Aerial attacks===
*{{nerf|Except for back aerial and down aerial, all aerials have more landing lag (15 frames → 20 (neutral aerial), 15 frames → 20 (forward aerial), 15 frames → 18 (up aerial)).}}
*[[Neutral aerial]]:
**{{nerf|It has more startup on both hits (6-7 (hit 1) 15-21 (hit 2) → 7-8 (hit 1) 17-20 (hit 2) and slightly more ending lag (frame 49 → 50). The second hit's shorter duration also prevents it from hitting in front after the main swing.}}
**{{nerf|The second hit also deals less damage (10% → 8%/6%).}}
**{{nerf|It has altered hitboxes, having less range overall.}}
*[[Forward aerial]]:
**{{change|It consistently sends opponents at a [[Sakurai angle]] unlike Marth (67°/361° → 361°).}}
**{{nerf|It has more start-up with a shorter duration (frame 4-7 → 5-7) and more ending lag (FAF 30 → 35).}}
**{{nerf|It deals considerably less damage (13%/10%9% → 8%/5%), and has significantly less base knockback (42/30/20 → 30/10).}}
**{{nerf|It has altered hitboxes with less range overall.}}
*[[Back aerial]]:
**{{nerf|It has more startup with a shorter duration (frame 7-11 → 8-10) and much more ending lag (frame 32 → 43) with no difference in animation, leading to an unfortunate hitbox placement.}}
**{{nerf|It deals moderately less damage (13%/10%/9% → 9%/6%), and the sourspot has much less base knockback (30/25/10 → 10).}}
**{{nerf|It has altered hitboxes, having less range overall.}}
*[[Up aerial]]:
**{{buff|It has a longer duration (frame 5-8 → 5-10).}}
**{{change|All hitboxes send at 80°, where as Marth sweetspot sends at 90°, sweetspot (90° → 80°).}}
**{{nerf|It deals moderately less damage (13%/10%/9% → 9%/6%).}}
**{{nerf|It has much less base knockback (40/30/20/18 → 20/10).}}
**{{nerf|It has altered hitboxes, having less range overall.}}
**{{nerf|It has more ending lag (FAF 46 → 49).}}
*[[Down aerial]]:
**{{buff|The sourspots have more base knockback (40/30 → 40).}}
**{{nerf|It is considerably more difficult to sweetspot with (the sweetspot is located around Roy's hand, rather than the tip of his sword as with Marth).}}
**{{nerf|It has more start-up (frame 6 → 7), and more ending lag (FAF 60 → 64).}}
**{{nerf|It deals less damage (13%/10%/9% → 9%/6%), and its sweetspot is a [[meteor smash]] instead of a [[spike]] (NTSC 290° → 270°), meaning it can be meteor canceled.}}

===Grabs and throws===
*{{nerf|Grab range is slightly shorter, but is still one of the farthest reaching non-tether grabs in the game.}}
*{{buff|All of Roy's throws deal 1% more damage (forward/back/up throw: 4% → 5%, down throw: 5% → 6%).}}
*{{change|Roy's [[forward throw]] sends opponents at a slightly lower angle (50° → 45°).}}
*{{change|Roy's [[back throw]] has less knockback growth (60 → 45). This improves its follow-up potential, but hinders its ability to set-up edgeguards at higher percents.}}
*{{change|Roy's [[up throw]] sends opponents at a different angle (93° → 97°).}}
*{{nerf|Roy's [[down throw]] has more knockback growth (50 → 60) and sends opponents at a slightly higher angle than Marth's (135° → 120°), hindering its ability to follow-up and [[tech-chase]].}}

===Special moves===
*[[Flare Blade]]:
**{{change|Flare Blade has a [[flame]] effect, and near the end of charging it, Roy glows white and the screen shakes violently.}}
**{{change|A fully charged Flare Blade has to be charged for a longer period.}}
**{{buff|It deals considerably more knockback than Marth's [[Shield Breaker]] (30/34/40 base/100 growth → 40/110 (uncharged)/50/83 (fully charged).}}
**{{buff|When fully charged, Flare Blade also deals drastically more damage than Shield Breaker (28% → 50%), resulting in a [[OHKO]] on hit.}}
**{{nerf|Flare Blade deals 10% [[recoil damage]] to Roy when fully charged.}}
**{{nerf|An uncharged Flare Blade also deals less damage than an uncharged Shield Breaker (7% → 6%).}}
**{{nerf|The move deals drastically less [[shield damage]] (uncharged:30/38 → 1, fully charged: 60 → 30).}}
*[[Double-Edge Dance]]:
**{{change|Double-Edge Dance has sourspots, unlike [[Dancing Blade]]. However, the sourspots range from dealing more or less damage than Dancing Blade's variations, depending on the angle. Most of Double-Edge Dance's hits also have different knockback (second (forward): 16 base/100 growth → 20/40 base/60/35 growth, second (upwards): 30/60/70/85 base/40 growth → 50/30, fourth (downward final hit): 20 base/130 growth → 30/110) and angle (first: 85°/96°/80°/76° → 96°/80°/60°/85°, second (forward): 105°/80°/70°/50° → 80°/56°/35°/105°, second (upwards): 90°/85°/70° → 96°, third (upwards): 80° → 280°/270°/60°, third (downward): 270° → 90°/75°/90° (multi-hits)/64° (final hit), fourth (upwards): 80° → 40°) properties compared to Dancing Blade's variations. The third hit upwards of Double-Edge Dance also meteor smashes instead of the third hit downwards like Dancing Blade.}}
**{{buff|Double-Edge Dance has normal priority as opposed to [[Priority#Transcendent priority|transcendent priority]] unlike Dancing Blade, allowing it to cancel projectiles. The first hit, all angles of the second hit, third hit inputted upwards, and fourth hit inputted upwards of Double-Edge Dance deal more damage than Dancing Blade's variations (first: 4% → 5%/4%, second (all angles): 5% → 6%/4%, third: 6% → 10%/8%, fourth: 10% → 13%/10%), and the fourth hit inputed forward deals much more knockback (15 base/120 growth → 35/135). The first hit also has less base knockback than Dancing Blade's (55 → 50/40), allowing it to connect better with the second hits.}}
**{{nerf|Double-Edge Dance's third hit inputted forwards has more base knockback, but less knockback growth (0 base/160 growth → 50/110) than that of Dancing Blade's variation. This makes it overall weaker than Dancing Blade's variation at higher percentages, while also making it more difficult to combo into the fourth hits at lower percentages. The third hit inputted downward also has more startup (frame 13 → 14), more ending lag, and is a multi-hitting move, making it weaker overall despite the final hit having more base knockback (50 → 70), and meaning it can be SDI'd before it connects with the final hit due to it being a multi-hit. The third hit inputted forward and downward and the fourth hit inputted forward also deal less damage (third (forward): 10% → 10%/8%, third (downward): 12% → 11.51% (due to how [[stale-move negation]] works on multi-hit moves), fourth: 14% → 13%/10%) and the fourth hit inputted upwards has much less base knockback than Dancing Blade's variation (40 → 22). The third hit inputted upward's meteor smash is also overall weaker than Dancing Blade's third hit inputted downward's meteor smash (50 base/100 growth → 80/36 base/60/40 growth).}}
**{{change|All three finishers use the flame effect, in addition to the downward-angled third hit.}}
*[[Blazer]]:
**{{change|It uses the flame effect.}}
**{{buff|[[Blazer]] deals slightly more damage (13%/10%/7%/6% → 13.18%).}}
**{{buff|It can be angled further forward for better horizontal recovery.}}
**{{buff|It has a longer duration (6 frames → 13).}}
**{{buff|It has slightly less landing lag than [[Dolphin Slash]] (34 frames → 30).}}
**{{buff|Its first hit has very strong set knockback (200 set knockback), allowing it to KO floaty characters like {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} at 0% on certain stages.}}
**{{nerf|It has considerably more startup (frame 5 → 9).}}
**{{nerf|It travels slower, making it easier to intercept.}}
**{{nerf|It deals drastically less knockback (80/60/20 base/70/90 growth → 0/10 base/100 set knockback/100 growth) and lacks KO power in most circumstances.}}
**{{nerf|Its knockback properties make it punishable on hit by most characters, even at 999%.}}
**{{nerf|It covers less vertical distance.}}
**{{nerf|It can be SDIed out of due to its multihit nature.}}
*[[Counter]]:
**{{change|Roy's Counter pose is slightly different. A successful counter uses the flame effect.}}
**{{buff|Roy's [[Counter]] does 1.5x the damage of the countered move, as opposed to Marth's dealing a flat 7%, making it a powerful KO move when used against strong attacks (such as [[Falcon Punch]], [[Warlock Punch]], or a charged smash attack).}}
**{{nerf|The counter has more startup with a much shorter duration (frame 5-29 → 8-20).}}
**{{change|It has less base knockback and more knockback scaling (90 (base)/35 (scaling) → 30/90) granting it improved KO potential at higher percents against stronger attacks, but dealing less knockback at low percents against weak attacks.}}
***{{nerf|It has a sourspot that has less knockback scaling (90 → 70).}}
**{{change|Roy has two unique voice clips when he successfully uses [[Counter]] instead of three like Marth's. Roy may either say "{{ja|今だ!|Imada!}}" ("''Now!''") or "{{ja|そこ!|Soko!}}" ("''There!''").}}

==Moveset==
''For a gallery of Roy's hitboxes, see [[Roy (SSBM)/Hitboxes|here]].''
[[File:RoyAerialAttacksSSBM.png|thumb|Roy's aerial attacks]]
[[File:RoyUpsmashSpike.gif|thumb|A demonstration of the spike hitbox of Roy's up smash.]]
All of Roy's attacks are at their strongest when they hit with the center of the Binding Blade; if an attack hits with both the sourspot and sweetspot hitboxes, then the sweetspot usually takes priority but sometimes sourspots do occur.

{{MovesetTable
|game=SSBM
|neutralcount=1
|neutralname=Slash ({{ja|スラッシュ|Surasshu}})
|neutral1dmg=5% (blade), 3% (tip), 6% (body)
|neutraldesc=Identical to Marth's; he slashes in front of himself. However, Roy notably only slashes once, and at a slower rate (which is generally the case for Roy) than Marth. Additionally, Roy's version is devoid of [[buffer]], meaning the player has to press the attack button one at a time instead of mashing it.
|ftiltname=Sharp Edge ({{ja|ハードエッジ|Hādo Ejji}}, ''Hard Edge'')
|ftiltdmg=10% (blade), 7% (tip), 12% (body)
|ftiltdesc=An upward swipe with the Binding Blade while leaning forward. Deals more damage if the opponent is closer to Roy. Can KO at high percentages or when the [[blast line]] is close by.
|utiltname=Anti-Air Slash ({{ja|アンチエアスラッシュ|Anchi Ea Surasshu}})
|utiltdmg=Clean: 8% (blade & arm), 6% (tip), 10% (body)<br/>Late: 8% (blade & arm), 6% (tip), 10% (body)
|utiltdesc=Swings his sword in a large arc above his head. Despite generally covering Roy's hurtboxes, it is less powerful, slower, and has less combo potential than Marth's.
|dtiltname=Low Stab ({{ja|ロースラスト|Rō Surasuto}}), ''Low Thrust'')
|dtiltdmg=10% (blade), 6% (tip), 12% (body)
|dtiltdesc=A sword poke to the ground. Has longer hitstun than most of Roy's other attacks, and also sends opponents favorably upward, making it a potent combo or follow-up starter overall. Its range and speed makes it a very favorable move to use in the neutral game, as well as when [[edgeguarding]]. Can at times lead into a forward smash.
|dashname=Raid Chop ({{ja|レイドチョップ|Reido Choppu}})
|dashdmg=12% (blade), 6% (tip)
|dashdesc=A quick upward sweeping diagonal slash. Like Marth's, can either send opponents in front of him, behind him, or above him. Because this move has a slower animation overall than Marth's, but the hitboxes are active for the same frames, the move starts before he even swings the sword, and ends before it reaches halfway through his swing in front of him. It is thus easily whiffed and its use is avoided by some players for this reason.
|fsmashname=Dragon Killer ({{ja|ドラゴンキラー|Doragon Kirā}})
|fsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|20}} (blade), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|12}} (tip)
|fsmashdesc=Rotates his body clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground, similar to the animation of his neutral special. It is rather fast, and is Roy's primary KO move. It is significantly powerful when [[Sweet_spot_(hitbox)|sweetspot]]ted.
|usmashname=Flame Sword ({{ja|フレイムソード|Fureimu Sōdo}})
|usmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|2}} (hits 1-4), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|10}} (hit 5)
|usmashdesc=A relatively quick sword thrust upwards with fire effects. Can act as an unorthodox [[spike]], which cannot be [[meteor cancel]]ed, if the enemy is hit on the sword's tip during the start of the attack, though this is highly situational. This attack is a multi-hit attack and the last hit has decent vertical knockback, if the enemy is hit at the base. All hits can approximately deal up to {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|16.56}} damage due to [[stale move negation]].
|dsmashname=Whirlwind Blade ({{ja|ワールウィンド|Wāruwindo}}, ''Whirlwind'')
|dsmashdmg={{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|21}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|14}} (front), {{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|16}}/{{ChargedSmashDmgSSBM|8}} (back)
|dsmashdesc=Sweeps his sword on the ground towards the front, then towards the back. A decent finisher when sweetspotted, useful for vertical KOs, though there is rather high ending lag. Deals less damage and knockback if sourspotted.
|nairname=Double Slash ({{ja|ダブルスラッシュ|Daburu Surasshu}})
|nairdmg=4% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2 base), 5% (hit 2 tip)
|nairdesc=Two swipes around him via an inward slash then a full outward spin, with decent knockback and damage if sweetspotted.
|fairname=Aerial Swipe ({{ja|フラッグカット|Furaggu Katto}}, ''Flag Cut'')
|fairdmg=8% (base), 5% (tip)
|fairdesc=Swipes sword in front of him with surprising range and tends to be a primary combo tool, due to its speed and duration. Like many of his aerials, it has little knockback, particularly at low percents and if sourspotted.
|bairname=About Face ({{ja|アッパースイング|Appā Suingu}}, ''Upper Swing'')
|bairdmg=9% (base), 6% (tip)
|bairdesc=Turns around and swipes inward with his sword, similar to his forward aerial in terms of usage and knockback. Like Marth's back aerial, this move turns Roy around.
|uairname=Luna Slash ({{ja|ルナスラッシュ|Runa Surasshu}})
|uairdmg=9% (base), 6% (tip)
|uairdesc=Swipes above outward while doing a delayed backflip. Meant to be a [[juggle]] tool, but is often subpar due to its low early knockback.
|dairname=Half Moon ({{ja|ハーフムーン|Hāfu Mūn}})
|dairdmg=9% (base), 6% (tip)
|dairdesc=Swipes below via an outward wide slash. It [[meteor smash]]es opponents who come in contact with Roy's body, but is rather weak and difficult to recover from off-stage. The move's sweetspot is extremely tiny; which is located at Roy's right arm and left shoulder (meaning that Roy has to overlap the opponent significantly), making it more difficult to hit with than {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}'s [[Rest]]. The aerial's meteor smash also has some situational utility for combo extensions on-stage.
|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})
|grabdesc=Roy reaches out with his free hand. Due to Roy being shorter than Marth, his grab range is just slightly shorter overall; however, it is the 5th longest grab range in the game, after Marth, and the second longest non-tether grab. This allows him to be able to utilize a [[dashdance]] grab in the [[neutral game]] that closely resembles Marth's. Any of his throws depending on the matchup can have some utility in setting up a [[tech chase]] scenario, at times onto platforms.
|pummelname=Knee ({{ja|つかみニーバット|Tsukami Nībatto}}, ''Grab Kneebutt'')
|pummeldmg=3%
|pummeldesc=Knees the opponent.
|fthrowname=Bounce ({{ja|ロールオーバー|Rōru Ōbā}}, ''Roll Over'')
|fthrowdmg=5%
|fthrowdesc=Grabs and pushes forward, tripping them with his leg. It can be followed up with a down tilt in some situations.
|bthrowname=Throw Away ({{ja|レッグフッカー|Reggu Fukkā}}, ''Leg Hooker'')
|bthrowdmg=5%
|bthrowdesc=Pulls the opponent behind him and extends his leg simultaneously.
|uthrowname=Emblem Toss ({{ja|キャスティング|Kyasutingu}}, ''Casting'')
|uthrowdmg=5%
|uthrowdesc=Thrusts opponent upwards. Can [[chain grab]] [[fast-faller]]s at low-to-mid percentages, and has unique continuation tools, dissimilar to Marth's. It is the second strongest up throw in the game, after {{SSBM|Mewtwo}}'s.
|dthrowname=Slam ({{ja|グラブドロップ|Gurabu Doroppu}}, ''Grab Drop'')
|dthrowdmg=6%
|dthrowdesc=Tosses the foe to the ground. Has chain grab and frame-trap potential.
|floorfname=&nbsp;
|floorfdmg=6%
|floorfdesc=Sweeps his sword on the ground, front to back.
|floorbname=&nbsp;
|floorbdmg=6%
|floorbdesc=A quick stab to the left followed by a horizontal slash to the right.
|edgefname=&nbsp;
|edgefdmg=8% (sword), 6% (hilt)
|edgefdesc=Flips onto ledge with a quick downward diagonal slash downwards. Hitbox only exists on Roy's right arm and his sword, meaning that foes close to the ledge Roy is hanging on can avoid the attack.
|edgesname=&nbsp;
|edgesdmg=8% (sword), 6% (hilt)
|edgesdesc=Slowly gets up and performs a quick arcing slice upwards. Just like his quick edge attack, opponents can avoid the attack if they are close to the ledge Roy is currently hanging on. One of the more punishable edge attacks in the game.
|nsname=Flare Blade
|nsdmg=6-41%, 50% (fully charged)
|nsdesc=Roy holds the Binding Blade over his head before doing a powerful overhead slash in a similar fashion to his forward smash. When the move is fully charged, Roy slams his sword on the ground, creating a large explosion that can [[one-hit KO]] any character in the game, but he takes 10% recoil damage as a side effect. Has notably good knockback compared to Marth's and can set up edgeguards, or KO. This attack has [[Priority#Transcendent_priority|transcendent priority]].
|ssname=Double-Edge Dance
|ssdmg=Varies
|ssdesc=A sequence of sword maneuvers with several variations based on the direction the [[control stick]] is held. The third, upward hit can meteor smash recovering opponents, unlike Marth's. Similar to Marth's, however, the first move is a [[recovery]] tool, and can also be used to [[gimp]] or edgeguard [[space animals]]. All variations have transcendent priority.
|usname=Blazer
|usdmg=5%/3% (hit 1), 2%/1% (hits 2-4), 1% (hits 5-7)
|usdesc=Roy soars upwards with his sword, engulfed in flames. This move can be aimed by quickly pushing the control stick in a direction after the initial jump. It deals more hits on heavier characters such as {{SSBM|Bowser}}. Can deal approximately up to 13.19% damage if all hits connect and not tippered. The very first hit of this move deals incredible base knockback, capable of a pseudo-[[one-hit KO]] on very [[weight|light]] and [[floaty]] characters specifically, [[blast zone|off the top]] on low ceiling [[stage]]s, even at 0%, if the first hit is the only hit that connects - especially from a point of elevation. This is most easily done with a reverse Blazer, giving the move a utility that loosely resembles the move [[Rest]], but only in certain [[match up]]s. Furthermore, Roy's up special as a recovery can be curved more horizontally than Marth's, though has less vertical distance, and the multi-hit nature can make it more tricky to deal with when edgeguarding him, and [[Edge#Edge_sweet_spot|sweetspot]]'s well.
|dsname=Counter
|dsdmg=1.5x the damage of the countered move (min 1%)
|dsdesc=Twirls his sword into a reverse grip and holds it over his left forearm, while bending down and performs a defensive stance. He will block incoming attacks by immediately raising his sword up in a reverse grip and slash in a downwards arc. Its damage and knockback depend on the strength of the move countered, unlike Marth's, which has set damage (7%) and low knockback growth. This can give it unique damage and KO potential, as well as greater situational utility.
}}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Double-Edge Dance
! Hit
! Damage
! Description
|-
| First Hit (Neutral) || 5% (base), 4% (tip) || Does a vertical slash, has little knockback: incapable of KOing.
|-
| Second Hit (Up) || 6% (base), 4% (tip) || Does an upwards slash.
|-
| Second Hit (Neutral) || 6% (base), 4% (tip) || Does a stab, has a little more knockback then the first slash, but still not much.
|-
| Third Hit (Up) || Clean: 10% (base), 8% (tip)<br/>Late: 7% (base), 5% (tip) || Does a downwards vertical slash. Can [[meteor smash]] at the beginning of the move.
|-
| Third Hit (Neutral) || 10% (base), 8% (tip) || Does a fairly powerful horizontal slash.
|-
| Third Hit (Down) || 3% (hits 1-3), 5% (hit 4) || Stabs his sword at the ground, dealing multiple [[flame]] damage.
|-
| Fourth Hit (Up) || 13% (base), 10% (tip) || Does a jumping slash. Deals [[flame]] damage.
|-
| Fourth Hit (Neutral) || 13% (base), 10% (tip) || Does a powerful vertical slash. Deals [[flame]] damage. Slightly slower but more powerful than fourth hit (up).
|-
| Fourth Hit (Down) || 3% (hit 1-4), 5% (hit 5) || Does a flurry of lower stabs, each stab dealing [[flame]] damage.
|}

===Stats===
'''NTSC'''
{{Attributes
|cast = 26
|weight = 85
|rweight = 17-19
|dash = 1.4
|rdash = 14-18
|run = 1.61
|rrun = 7
|walk = 1.2
|rwalk = 6-10
|trac = 0.06
|rtrac = 15-23
|airfric = 0.005
|rairfric = 21-26
|air = 0.9
|rair = 12-14
|baseaccel = 0.02
|rbaseaccel = 2-23
|addaccel = 0.03
|raddaccel = 13-19
|gravity = 0.114
|rgravity = 7
|fall = 2.4
|rfall = 4-5
|ff = 2.9
|rff = 8
|jumpsquat = 5
|rjumpsquat = 16-22
|jumpheight = 30.958
|rjumpheight = 19
|shorthop = 10.626
|rshorthop = 24
|djump = 21.82
|rdjump = 18
|ellag = 4
|rellag = 2-23
}}

'''PAL'''
{{Attributes
|cast = 26
|weight = 85
|rweight = 16-19
|dash = 1.4
|rdash = 14-18
|run = 1.61
|rrun = 7
|walk = 1.2
|rwalk = 6-10
|trac = 0.06
|rtrac = 15-23
|airfric = 0.005
|rairfric = 21-26
|air = 0.9
|rair = 11-13
|baseaccel = 0.02
|rbaseaccel = 2-23
|addaccel = 0.03
|raddaccel = 13-19
|gravity = 0.114
|rgravity = 7
|fall = 2.4
|rfall = 4-5
|ff = 2.9
|rff = 8
|jumpsquat = 5
|rjumpsquat = 16-22
|jumpheight = 30.958
|rjumpheight = 19
|shorthop = 10.626
|rshorthop = 24
|djump = 21.82
|rdjump = 18
|ellag = 4
|rellag = 2-23
}}

===[[Announcer]] call===
[[File: Roy Announcer SSBM.wav]]

===[[Taunt]]===
{{Taunt/SSBM|char=Roy|desc=Leans back and holds his sword behind him in an attack position, shouting "Heee-ya!"}}

===[[Idle pose]]===
{{Idle|desc=Gets in a ready pose.|image=Roy Idle Pose Melee.gif}}

===[[Crowd cheer]]===
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1"
|-
!{{{name|}}}
!Cheer (International)
!Cheer (Japanese)
|-
! scope="row"|Cheer
|[[File:Roy Cheer International SSBM.ogg|center]]||[[File:Roy Cheer Japanese SSBM.ogg|center]]
|-
! scope="row"|Description
|Roy's - our - boy! || Roy Roy Roy!
|}

===[[Victory pose]]s===
{{Victory/SSBM
|victory-theme=FireEmblemThemeMelee.ogg
|victory-desc=A rendition of a portion of the main theme of the ''Fire Emblem'' series.
|desc-1=Swipes his sword once over his shoulder, then swipes it down and behind him while facing left, saying "{{ja|守るべきもののために、負けられない!|Mamoru beki mono no tame ni, makerarenai!}}", which is localized as: "For those whom I must protect, I cannot lose!".
|desc-2=Spins the Binding Blade one and a half times and then thrusts it into the ground in front of him, looking to slightly to the left, and says either of the following lines: "{{ja|苦しい戦いだった。|Kurushī tatakai datta.}}", which translates to: "It was a painful fight", or "{{ja|僕 は 負けない。|Boku wa Makenai.}}", which translates to: "I won't lose".
|desc-3=Flourishes his sword and poses with it by his side, saying "{{ja|真の戦いは、これからだ。|Shin no tatakai wa, korekara da.}}", which translates to: "The true battle, is soon to begin".
|char=Roy}}

==In [[competitive play]]==
===Most historically significant players===
<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->
:''See also: [[:Category:Roy players (SSBM)]]''
*{{Sm|LAG|Mexico}} - Currently considered one of the best active Roy players. Mainly places in online tournaments, although he has been ranked in offline rankings, such as 30th on the [[Mexican Power Rankings]].
*{{Sm|Leon|France}} - Although better known for using {{SSBB|Marth}} in ''[[Brawl]]'', he placed well in many French tournaments with Roy. He won a smaller French tournament at {{Trn|Bushido Nibaï Impact II}}, and later used Roy at some of the more populated regionals in Europe, such as placing 13th at {{Trn|Avalon I}}.
*{{Sm|NEO|USA}} - Historically considered to be the best Roy player of all time, with many results other Roy players still have yet to match. He was the closest a Roy player has come to winning a North American regional tournament, with his 2nd place at {{Trn|Pound}}, and made other peaks using mainly Roy with secondaries, such as 2nd at {{Trn|MLG Chicago 2005}} and 5th at the major {{Trn|MLG New York Opener 2006}}. His 9th place finish at {{Trn|MLG Los Angeles 2005}} remains the best solo-Roy result at a major/supermajor.
*{{Sm|Sethlon|USA}} - Was considered to be the best Roy player in the world following NEO's retirement, due to his popularity and widely acclaimed combo video ''Ashes to Ashes''. While his results were not at the same caliber as NEO, he made some respectable placements such as 49th at {{Trn|GENESIS}}.
*{{Sm|Zain|USA}} - Plays Roy under the moniker "DontTestMe". He began playing Roy in the Slippi era to moderate success, defeating {{Sm|Jflex}}, {{Sm|KJH}}, {{Sm|2saint}}, {{Sm|Ginger}} and {{Sm|bobby big ballz}} in online tournaments. Offline, he often only uses Roy at events he does not take as seriously; nevertheless, his performances are considered the best Roy results in the post-Slippi metagame, and includes him placing 7th at {{Trn|Wavedash 2023}}, defeating {{Sm|Kürv}} and {{Sm|Chango}} and going head-to-head in close game 5 sets with {{Sm|S2J}} and {{Sm|Magi}}, as well as mid-set counterpicking against {{Sm|Aklo}}'s {{SSBM|Link}} at {{Trn|Nounsvitational 2024}}.

===Tier placement and history===
On the current tier list, Roy ranks 21st, in the D tier. Roy has consistently ranked low on most revisions of the [[tier list]], with his highest being only 15th on two separate occasions. His severe weaknesses, such as his poor effective threat range, fast-falling physics, coupled with a very poor recovery and nearly non-existent combo game on floaty characters, have resulted in terrible matchups against certain high-tiered characters (particularly non-fastfallers) that can completely stop his mains from progressing far into tournaments. His numerous flaws hold him back far too much in competitive play to place consistently in high-level tournaments without the use of a secondary character.

Roy's moveset also does not boast the same potential creativity of other characters, especially Marth, owing to his over-reliance on his very few good combo extenders and KO moves. This has resulted in much less nuance and optimization possible in Roy's [[metagame]], making the Roy matchup very easy to learn and catch up with. Additionally, because he is very similar to Marth, a top-tiered character that many competitive players know how to fight against, Roy players cannot rely solely on the opponents matchup inexperience to win sets. While {{Sm|NEO}}, arguably the greatest Roy player of all time, managed to place top 8 consistently in the early ''Melee'' metagame, even he had to use Marth and Sheik secondaries to succeed at higher-stakes tournaments such as MLG. NEO, and many of Roy's best players, have either become inactive in the tournament scene, or have dropped him for other characters (or other ''Smash'' games altogether), further hurting Roy's results in tournaments.

Roy's only notable results since the 2010s have been through Marth players, such as {{Sm|Zain}} and {{Sm|Mew2King}}, [[sandbagging]] with him in lower-stakes tournaments or matches. Zain has seen a notable amount of success with Roy in online tournaments and at the regional level; notably, he placed 7th out of 234 entrants at super-regional {{Trn|Wavedash 2023}} using only Roy, the character's best performance since NEO's placements in the Golden Age. However, the majority of Zain's best wins have been against fastfallers, outside of a handful of fringe sets where he barely [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TibrbqFhbqg scraped out wins] against {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} players, some of them not even ranked in the top 100. Thus, his tournament runs with Roy only reinforce what has been known about him for years already, both in terms of strengths and limitations, and it is clear that Zain's success with Roy is largely due to his already phenomenal abilities as a player with Marth, rather than Roy offering unique, groundbreaking qualities as a character to fuel that success. Despite Zain's attempts to push the character, Roy's current metagame prospects still remains rather stagnant, with players' opinions of him only marginally improving overall compared to the early metagame.

===The "Tier Wars" and comparison to Marth===
{{SSBM|Marth}}'s and Roy's differences became the center of controversy and discussion on [[GameFAQs]]' [[tier list]] debates, specifically in 2003 and 2004, when the competitive scene was still new. Marth players who generally supported the tier list claimed Marth had overall better attributes, in terms of speed, weight, and recovery capabilities. They also cited tournament results as proof of his superiority, with a multitude of top-level Marth users such as {{Sm|Ken}} placing extremely high in major tournaments, while Roy lacked any such representation to back up the arguments of the anti-tier advocates. Roy players who generally opposed the tier list, however, claimed that Roy's different attributes, such as his larger sweetspot in the center of his blade and general "superiority" in power, were enough to allow him to be as efficient of a character as Marth was; they also argued that top players needed to learn how to use Roy as a different character from Marth in an attempt to disprove the tournament results.

Owing to the fact that these debates took place before extensive testing of ''Melee's'' engine, the debates were plagued by numerous inaccuracies that have since been disproven with time. The point about Marth's extra weight, for instance, is now considered moot; his extra weight is decidedly negligible, and can even be interpreted as a disadvantage, considering his extra weight makes him susceptible to {{SSBM|Fox}}'s [[shine]] combos, while Roy's lighter weight makes him immune to such combos. More importantly, pro-tier advocates made a common assumption that Marth is, in all ways, faster than Roy. While Marth indeed has a faster dashing speed, this claim is questionable, considering that Roy's [[SHFFL]] is faster than Marth's due to his falling speed and lower short hop. Similarly, some points brought up about Roy's perceived strength is also now considered inaccurate. For instance, Roy's "superiority" in power has been disproven, as many of Marth's attacks, tippered and non-tippered, deal more knockback and damage than Roy's respective centered and non-sweetspotted strikes. The sweetspot in the hilt of the blade is now considered a disadvantage and one of the main reasons for Roy's poor tier placement; while Marth can attack from afar and still deal respectable damage, Roy cannot do so, lest his attacks hit with extremely low knockback; Roy's sourspot on the entire length of the Binding Blade, besides the hilt, is also much weaker than Marth's sourspot on the hilt of the Falchion.

Overall, the primary reason for Roy's deemed inferiority is precisely the one that the anti-tier advocates attempted to refute: Roy has too much trouble trying to KO his opponents. Marth has far more reliable and flexible ways to string together moves, deal damage, KO, and edgeguard (especially due to his {{mvsub|Marth|SSBM|down aerial}} [[spike]]). Roy, however, lacks the same flexibility in his comboing and KOing games, and is instead heavily reliant on predictable and repetitive chaingrab and down tilt setups, with almost all of his viable combos ending in a forward smash. Roy's edgeguarding game is also considerably worse than Marth's; while Roy's down tilt is more useful for combos, it is hardly useful at all for intercepting the majority of recoveries (unlike Marth's). Additionally, Roy has a notoriously poor offstage game, due to his falling speed and terrible aerial attack knockback, that are both incredibly weak even when sweetspotted and have a greater amount of ending lag, which severely hinders his ability to effectively edge-guard offstage without self-destructing. The current metagame for ''Melee'' reflects these differences and conclusions: Marth ranks in the S tier at 2nd place, and features numerous dedicated mains, while Roy ranks in the D tier at 21st, and has very few dedicated mains of his own.

==In 1-P Mode==
===In {{SSBM|Classic Mode}}===
[[File:BetaAllStarIntro.png|thumb|Roy's unused intro image.]]
Unusually, Roy does not appear in Classic Mode when unlocked, neither as an ally, nor as an opponent, making him the only fighter who never appears at all; the reason for this is unknown. Despite this, Roy does have an introduction image for the "Now Loading..." screen between matches in the game files.

===In [[Adventure Mode]]===
The Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Roy when he is unlocked. Like Marth, however, music associated with him can play in the [[Underground Maze]] stage.

===In [[All-Star Mode]]===
In All-Star Mode, Roy and his allies are fought on {{SSBM|Final Destination}}, as Roy was not designated an official home stage. Final Destination has the unusual property of playing the ''Fire Emblem'' music track when accessed this way.

===In [[Event Matches]]===
Roy appears in two Event Matches:

*'''[[Event 46: Fire Emblem Pride]]''': The player battles and must defeat a team of Marth and Roy in an untimed match on [[Temple]], with all three characters receiving 3 stock.
*'''[[Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe]]''': Roy is the fifth opponent fought in this series of staged battles. The selected character battles him on Temple with a stock of 2 while Roy 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: {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, {{SSBM|Pichu}}, {{SSBM|Young Link}} and {{SSBM|Ganondorf}}.

===[[Congratulations_screen#Super_Smash_Bros._Melee|Congratulations Screens]]===
<center><gallery>
RoyClassicMode.jpg|Classic Mode
RoyAdventureMode.jpg|Adventure Mode
RoyAllStarMode.jpg|All-Star Mode
</gallery></center>

==[[Trophies]]==
In addition to the normal trophy about Roy as a character unlocked by completing {{SSBM|Classic Mode}} as Roy on any difficulty, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing {{SSBM|Adventure Mode}} and [[All-Star Mode]] respectively as Roy on any difficulty. Each of the trophies can also be unlocked by playing 100, 200, and 300 versus matches respectively as Roy:

{{Trophy/Fighter
|name=Roy
|image=Roy Trophy Melee.png
|mode=Classic
|desc=The son of the lord of Pharae Principality, Roy was studying in Ostia when the Kingdom of Bern invaded League of Lycia. [[fireemblemwiki:Eliwood|His father]] fell ill at this time, so Roy assumed leadership of Pharae's armies. After his fateful meeting with the Princess Guinevere, his destiny became inextricably linked with the fate of the entire continent.
|gamelist-ntsc={{Trophy games|game1=Fire Emblem|release1=Japan Only}}
|gamelist-pal=:Future Release
|game=Melee
}}
{{clrl}}

{{Trophy/Fighter
|name=Roy
|image=Roy Trophy (Smash).png
|mode=Adventure
|desc=While Roy's moves are well balanced, he's a little on the slow side, and doesn't excel at midair combat. His blade, the Sword of Seals, gives him excellent reach, and makes his Double-Edge Dance slightly different than Marth's Dancing Blade. When it's fully charged, Roy's destructive Flare Blade delivers an instant KO.
|gamelist=:B: Flare Blade
:Smash B: Double-Edge Dance
|game=Melee
}}
{{clrl}}

{{Trophy/Fighter
|name=Roy
|image=Roy Trophy (Smash 2).png
|mode=All Star
|desc=Roy's blade is different than Marth's; he does the most damage hitting with the center of his sword. So, a fearless advance into the arms of his foe is Roy's best bet. Blazer is a bit slower than Marth's Dolphin Slash, but it's still a mighty attack that sets anyone it strikes aflame. Roy's attack after using Counter differs slightly from Marth's.
|gamelist=:Up & B: Blazer
:Down & B: Counter
|game=Melee
}}
{{clrl}}

==[[Alternate costume (SSBM)#Roy|Alternate costumes]]==
{|style="margin:1em auto 1em auto;text-align:center"
|-
|colspan=5|[[File:Roy Palette (SSBM).png]]
|-
|{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=25px}}
|{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=25px|cl=Red}}
|{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=25px|cl=Blue}}
|{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=25px|cl=Green}}
|{{Head|Roy|g=SSBM|s=25px|cl=Yellow}}
|}

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
Roy SSBM Artwork.png|Official artwork of Roy.
SSBMWebsiteRoy1.jpg|[[Idle|Idling]] on [[Fourside]].
SSBMWebsiteRoy2.jpg|Using his [[forward smash]] on {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} on [[Mute City]].
Blazer.jpg|Using [[Blazer]] on {{SSBM|Bowser}} on [[Brinstar]].
Roy's Counter Move.jpg|[[Counter]]ing {{SSBM|Marth}}'s [[neutral aerial]] on [[Temple]].
Roy's B move.jpg|Using his fully-[[charge]]d [[Flare Blade]] on Bowser and {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}} on Fourside.
Roy's Double Edge Dance Move.jpg|Using [[Double-Edge Dance]]'s 4th slash inputted forward on [[Yoshi's Story]].
</gallery>
</center>

==Trivia==
[[File:Royhal.png|thumb|Closeup of Roy's sword, showing the text "©HAL LABRATORY.INC"]]
*Close examination of textures for the Binding Blade shows the incorrectly spelt text "©HAL LABRATORY.INC" included in the file. It is not known why the signature is there.
*Roy is the only playable character in ''Melee'':
**That debuted in the 21st century.
**That is a clone of a [[newcomer]], as well as the only clone of an unlockable character.
**Whose icon on the [[character selection screen]] has a different background color on his name (the background color is almost pure black on his name while other characters have a red and black color mix for their background color for their names).
**Who makes no appearance as a CPU whatsoever in {{b|Classic Mode|SSBM}}.
*Roy's files and debug menu listings do not reference him specifically: he is instead referred to internally as "EMBLEM", most prominently in the [[debug menu]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tcrf.net/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee/Master_Debug_Menu#CHAR_SELECT|title=Super Smash Bros. Melee/Master Debug Menu|site=The Cutting Room Floor|published=2015-03-09|retrieved=2015-03-16}}</ref> and his texture files refer to him with the codename "Fe", an abbreviation of "Fire Emblem".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://smashboards.com/threads/melee-hacks-and-you-updated-1-7-11.247119/page-2#post-8291198|author=Steelia|title=Guide - Melee, Hacks, and You -- *UPDATED 1/7/11*|site=Smashboards|published=September 3, 2009|retrieved=March 16, 2015}}</ref> This suggests that Roy was chosen as the Marth clone relatively late in development.
*Roy does not feature a sheath during gameplay and his "Challenger Approaching" screen like Marth does; this is considered unusual, as Roy has a sheath in his victory poses, official art, character select portrait and all three of his trophies, as well as his unused Classic Mode introduction. This also happens in ''Smash 4'' and ''Ultimate'', but the sheath appears when he uses his [[Critical Hit|Final Smash]].
*Possibly as a result for his somewhat high learning curve and being a popular low-tier substitute for high-level smashers such as {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|Ken}}, the term "skilled Roy" is a common gag inside the ''Melee'' community for being an unbeatable character, with the phrase "A skilled Roy can beat any {{SSBM|Fox}}. This is why I main Roy." being a good example of it.
*Roy and Marth are the only playable characters in ''Melee'' that do not have a stage representing their universe, though hacked data shows that [[AKANEIA|one was planned]].
**In ''Melee''{{'}}s [[All-Star Mode]], Roy is fought on {{SSBM|Final Destination}}. In his two Event Match appearances and his unlock battle, he appears on [[Temple]].
*Roy and {{SSBM|Young Link}} are the only fighters to use their KO cry for other uses. Roy's is used when fully charging [[Flare Blade]] and Young Link's is used during his Star KO animation. {{SSBM|Kirby}} also mimics this unique property when he copies Roy and releases a fully-charged Flare Blade.
*Roy with his Flare Blade, {{SSBM|Mr. Game & Watch}} with his [[Judge]], and {{SSBM|Pichu}} with most of its electric attacks are the only characters in ''Melee'' to have attacks that directly inflict recoil damage. {{SSBM|Kirby}} can also harm himself if he copies either Roy or Pichu.
*Ironically, Roy's sword trails indicate that the sweetspot is at the tip of the sword.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nalj/smash/flash/0115/index.html Roy's page at Smabura-Ken] ([[smashwiki:26TP/Roy|Translation]])

{{SSBMCharacters}}
{{Fire Emblem universe}}
[[Category:Roy (SSBM)| ]]
[[Category:Trophies (SSBM)]]
[[es:Roy (SSBM)]]
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