Robin (SSBU)

Robin (, Reflet) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed on June 12th, 2018 alongside and the rest of the returning roster. As in the previous game, both male and female versions of Robin are playable, although the male Robin is showcased in promotional material and used as the default palette swap for the character. Robin is classified as Fighter #56.

and 's portrayals of male and female Robin respectively from Super Smash Bros. 4 were repurposed for Western editions of Ultimate. Additionally, and 's portrayals of male and female Robin respectively from SSB4 were repurposed for the Japanese editions of Ultimate.

Robin is ranked 62nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing him in the C+ tier. This is a slight drop from his 37th/38th out of 54 placement in SSB4, where he was tied with.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following: Robin must then be defeated on Castle Siege (the Ω form is used in World of Light).
 * Play VS. matches, with Robin being the 53rd character to be unlocked.
 * Clear with  or any character in his unlock tree, being the 5th character unlocked after.
 * Have Robin join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes
Robin is a tall, middleweight character who has very low ground mobility. Robin’s dashing speed is the second slowest in the game, and his walking speed is very slow. While his dashing speed is below average, Robin still has an average initial dash distance, which allows Robin users to rely on Fox-trotting as a quicker ground movement option. Outside of these attributes, Robin's other traits are typical of a middleweight; his air speed, traction, falling speed, and gravity are all average. However, Robin's air acceleration is above average. As a result of these attributes, Robin has difficulty chasing foes and fleeing from them at the same time, though his oddly decent aerial mobility compensates this to a degree.

Robin's tomes provide a myriad of spacing, pressuring, and additional damaging capabilities. Both the and Fire tomes can disrupt opponents, rack up damage, and open up windows to chain attacks together. and the slightly stronger Elthunder peppers at mid-range or shorter, while Arcthunder travels for longer and has trapping capabilities for pressure, combos and set-ups, and Thoron pierces through opponents and deals considerable knockback. Arcfire produces a trapping, multiple hitting pillar of flame that is instrumental for approaching or disrupting approaches, pressuring, and chaining together attacks. In addition to the Fire tome, Robin's neutral attack involves the Wind tome: the former tome generates a singular explosion of fire magic that deals strong diagonal knockback, while the latter tome generates a neutral infinite consisting of wind magic that deals high damage and concludes with a blast of wind magic that deals strong vertical knockback. Elwind provides respectable vertical recovery and its first hit can be used to punish aerial and post-recovery opponents by spiking them at point-blank with the first hit. Lastly, Nosferatu is a self-healing move which heals Robin, especially if cast from behind and while having a higher damage percentage than his opponent, while it also cannot be shielded due to functioning like a grab. However, it is tricky to use, as the opponent must be at almost point-blank range to land it, although Arcthunder's trapping ability can help Robin land it easier, and it grants full-body intangibility.

Aside from using tomes, Robin's Levin Sword is a potent weapon in its own right. It is a powerful, fairly long-ranged, and electrically-charged sword that functions as a terrific offensive tool due to its excellent pressure capabilities, its impressive combo potential and its high KO power. Robin whips this out for his smash and directional aerial attacks when a smash input is inputted, and for neutral aerial when the Levin Sword is already in use. It can be swung eight times before it breaks. Robin's down smash with the Levin Sword has good ledge trapping potential, as it can hit hanging opponents and the electric shockwaves cover both sides of Robin. Despite being vastly inferior to the Levin Sword in regards to KO potential, the Bronze Sword has combo potential due to its weaker knockback. His neutral aerial covers both front and back sides successively, which can be useful for spacing in the air, and is his most effective out of shield option. His down tilt can keep away grounded opponents in front of him.

Once Robin's tomes are depleted and the Levin Sword is broken, he can act as throwable items that deal immense damage, shieldstun and knockback. Properly managing Robin's discarded weapons is crucial for optimal play, as the opportunities they can potentially grant are significant. Outside of his magic and sword attacks, Robin has two useful throws: back throw is a viable KOing option near the edge that can combo into Thoron to get early K.Os, while down throw is a reliable combo starter.

However, as previously stated, Robin suffers from numerous weaknesses, such as being the second slowest runner in the game. Furthermore, Robin lacks defensive options and has trouble brushing off opponents, especially those who are directly beneath, making Robin susceptible to rush-downs and juggles. Robin’s tilts generally have short range, making it difficult for Robin to fight at mid-range outside of the use of tomes. Many moves, specifically smash attacks and special attacks, have significant ending lag, which leaves Robin wide open for punishment proceeding his execution. His forward smash, though extremely strong, has a very limited range, sometimes completely missing fighters when said fighters crouch, and is also extremely laggy. Down smash is a strong move with a great range, however the range has limited success as the farthest part of the range is also one of the weakest parts. Up smash is a strong move with considerably less endlag compared to his other smash attacks, however it has mediocre range, and even worse range while using the Bronze Sword, whereas Robin is unable to even hit fighters standing next to him.

Lastly, Robin's durability mechanic can severely weaken Robin if he loses one or more of the tomes or the Levin Sword. Losing the Levin sword, although it gives Robin a better combo game, gives him pathetic K.O power. Losing Thunder removes one of his only zoning options, as well as losing combo potential. Losing Arcfire loses damage and combo potential. Losing Elwind is the worst case for Robin, as his double jump is average, leaving Robin effectively helpless while recovering. Losing Nosferatu makes Robin's survivability weaker, especially with his average weight.

Overall, Robin is a tactically-based character with varied spacing, damage-accumulating and KO options that must be used wisely and opportunely. At the same time, the lack of mobile and defensive options leave Robin vulnerable to pressure and combos. With this, Robin players must keep track of his weapons' durability, intelligently respond to their opponents, and take precise offensive action for success in battle.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Robin has been given a mix of buffs and nerfs from the transition to Ultimate, but has been buffed overall. The universal reduction to landing lag now creates safer landing options (especially with the Levin Sword's high shield stun), and the universal 3-frame jump squat allows Robin to take advantage of his extremely powerful aerials.

Several of his attacks have reduced lag or increased KO power, while most of his formerly situational attacks are more effective due to altered hitboxes: up tilt now has grounded hitboxes, and up smash has much better horizontal reach above Robin, significantly improving their reliability. Neutral aerial can now use the Levin Sword, giving it much better utility and better edgeguarding capabilities. Robin's neutral attack, a staple in his neutral game, also fares significantly better due to several improvements with its consistency; the Elwind infinite connects significantly better, and the Arcfire finisher transitions earlier while using half the durability it used to in SSB4.

Robin's special moves have been heavily revamped. With the exception of the uncharged version, all versions of hit much harder and now function as effective KO moves, especially Thoron; the move can now also be charge-canceled by jumping. Arcfire is much harder to escape from and travels much farther, making it even more effective for combo initiating. Elwind can have its trajectory significantly altered and grants more distance, recharges faster, and pushes opponents if the wind blades hit the ground. Finally, Nosferatu has slightly more range, heals and deals damage at a faster rate, and has fewer uses, allowing it to generate a used tome much faster.

However, Robin's nerfs are also notable. Despite being given the same ground movement increases of about 10% like the rest of the cast, Robin is just as slow compared to the rest of the cast; as result, he is still one of the slowest characters in terms of grounded mobility. The biggest change is to the Levin Sword, which Robin no longer starts with at the start of the match, forcing several seconds of downtime before the Levin Sword is usable. Robin's most effective tools have also been nerfed: Arcthunder's significantly lower looping duration now prevents followups unless initiated at a distance, Arcfire is now canceled by any other hitbox, Elwind has fewer uses, and down throw has increased knockback, reducing the percent range in which combos (such as the "Checkmate", a down throw to up aerial) can be performed. Finally, Robin still possesses some of his former flaws, such as a mediocre grab, problems with escaping pressure due to awkward hitboxes, and aforementioned mediocre grounded mobility.

Overall, Robin has gained many new KO options, and has gained new benefits that patch up major issues present in SSB4, but at the cost of several of his previously potent moves being less effective, leading to mixed results.

Update history
Robin received a mix of buffs, nerfs and a single glitch fix via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. Update 2.0.0 made Elwind safer for recovering by shortening its edge lockout time when it is used backwards. Update 3.0.0 decreased the shield damage outputs of, Elthunder and Arcfire as part of a near-universal nerf to projectiles. However, update 6.0.0 provided a number of useful buffs for Robin. The most notable ones were to Thunder and Arcfire: the former had its charge times sped up significantly, whereas the latter gained a much longer duration. As a result, Robin's respectable zoning ability and trapping potential were improved by a fairly noticeable degree.

This update also granted Robin a few quality of life buffs: forward tilt's higher knockback improved its spacing potential, neutral aerial's overall lag was decreased (which also improved it as a follow-up from down throw), and the Levin Sword will now recharge slightly faster when using the Bronze Sword for smash attacks. Update 9.0.0 granted transcendent priority to neutral infinite's finisher as part of a near-universal buff, while update 13.0.1 improved neutral infinite's damage racking potential and range.

Overall, Robin fares mildly better than he did at the launch of Ultimate, although not enough to change his position in the metagame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Robin's hitboxes, see here.
 * The has very minimal KO potential due to dealing low damage and significantly low knockback. It also has unimpressive reach, shorter-lasting hits, and minimal freeze frames. However, its weak strength enables it to combo somewhat effectively, especially at higher percents. Conversely, the  has significantly greater KO potential, due to it dealing significantly more damage and knockback. In addition to dealing electric damage, it has a greater reach than the Bronze Sword, freeze frames and a lingering hitbox, the latter of which deals less damage if it hits late.
 * Robin cannot immediately use the Levin Sword: its durability must reach maximum capacity before being used. This only occurs at the beginning of the match.
 * Robin's tilt attacks solely use the Bronze Sword, while smash attacks use the Levin Sword, provided that it is not broken. All aerials can use either sword - if Robin tilts a direction in midair, the Bronze Sword will be used, but if Robin taps a direction like a smash attack, the Levin Sword will be used instead.
 * Robin can now also use the Levin Sword for a neutral aerial by pressing the attack button and the special move button simultaneously. However, this only works if the player has the A+B Smash Attack control option enabled.
 * If the player has smash attacks mapped to their C-Stick and the Levin Sword is available, the Robin will always use the Levin Sword for aerials if the C-Stick is used for the attack direction, as the game still reads the input as a smash attack despite Robin being in midair. If the C-Stick is mapped to tilt attacks, then using the C-Stick while in midair will always use the Bronze Sword (unless the Levin Sword was brought out beforehand, in which case it will need to be put away and the Bronze Sword brought out- see below).
 * After using the Levin Sword for any attack, Robin will continue to use it for all directional aerial attacks until it either breaks, or Robin uses an attack that resets the current sword to the Bronze Sword (i.e. neutral attack, tilt attacks, dash attack, floor attacks, and edge attack).
 * KOing opponents will speed up the recharging time for all of Robin's weapons.
 * Using smash-inputted aerials and smash attacks will speed up the recharging time for the Levin Sword.

Durability system
Robin has a unique fighter ability: true to the Fire Emblem series, where items break after being used too many times, Robin's tomes and Levin Sword do the same if they are used too often. If Robin attempts to use an attack that uses durability-affected weaponry and is interrupted by an attack while attempting to use it, then that will count as one use of the weapon, even if no damaging hitbox is produced. Robin always carries the last tome and sword that was used in each hand, provided their durability has not depleted. The amount of remaining durability is displayed in the form of a bar that appears above his icon on the HUD. Once a depleted weapon is restored, a unique animation of the weapon appearing in one hand with a flash of light will start, provided that Robin is standing completely still; tomes appear in the left hand while holding it up in the air, while the Levin Sword reappears in the right hand while flicking it in a manner similar to one of Robin’s idle poses. These poses can be canceled, similarly to taunts.

If Robin fully depletes a weapon, it will be tossed backward, hitting any opponents before it disappears. In the case where Robin is sent flying by knockback immediately after depleting a weapon, the used weapon will be dropped on the ground before Robin is knocked back. They disappear almost immediately after hitting the ground once, but they can also be picked up and thrown. The Levin Sword deals 15% when smash thrown, while the tomes deal 12.3% when smash thrown, making both attacks decent surprise KOing options due to their high base knockback. The discarded weapons can also lock if Z-dropped on an opponent.

If Robin does not have the proper tome for a given special move and tries to perform it, Robin will perform the animation but will not produce any hitboxes. For the Levin Sword, all such attacks will instead use the Bronze Sword, which cannot break, but has a shorter range, deals considerably less damage and knockback, and also lacks the Levin Sword's lingering electrical hitboxes.

Weapons restore gradually after they have been depleted, which is displayed as the meter refilling its units. When Robin scores a KO, it reduces the respawn timer for all currently-regenerating weapons by a small amount. Alternatively, aerials and smash attacks will hasten the respawn time for the Levin Sword.

Durability points for weapons do not replenish while Robin is using a tome, and the only way to replenish a weapon is to get a new copy of it. Respawning after being KO'd also has all of the weapons replenished, as does Pair Up, though only if it is used successfully.

Thunder tome
If the tome has less durability than the spell requires, it can still be performed, though the tome will be immediately depleted afterward. If copies Robin, he will lose the Copy Ability altogether once he depletes his tome.

On-screen appearance

 * Warps onto the stage via a Warp staff.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt: Points the currently held sword upward. Male Robin says "Let's tip the scales!" (, I'll change the state of war.), while female Robin says, "Time to tip the scales!" (, I'll change the state of war.)
 * Side Taunt: Magically suspends the active sword and tome in the air, rotates the sword in place and flips through the tome's pages using magic, and says, "Prepare yourself!" In Japanese, male Robin says, (Are you prepared?), while female Robin says , (Are you prepared?)
 * Down Taunt: Magically encircles themself with the active sword and tome before pointing their hand towards the camera. Male Robin says "You're not ready!" (, Let's do it then.), while female Robin says, "Here I go!" (, Let us go!)

Idle poses

 * Closes both eyes and turns around, opening the active tome to read it briefly.
 * Slowly waves the active sword forwards with a flourish.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Generates flames with a wave of their hands, then spreads out the free arm. Male Robin says "The key to victory lies within." (", The secret to victory is here.). Female Robin says "Ha! Checkmate." (", According to plan!).
 * If Lucina is present after a match, male Robin sometimes says "Lucina, I hope I didn't hurt you." (", Lucina, are you hurt?). If this quote plays, male Robin will not generate flames from his hands. This quote is rather glitchy, as it can play even if Lucina does not participate in a match.
 * Up: Crosses arms with weapons in hand, then spins clockwise and swings the Levin Sword. Male Robin says "I'm always three steps ahead." ("", I always think three steps ahead.). Female Robin says "A good tactician has nothing to fear." (", If you have a strategy, there is nothing to fear.).
 * Right: Faces the screen while back to back with, before turning around posing with their weapons. Male Robin says "It seems our fates are joined." (", We are bonded by mutual ties.). Female Robin says "I've got your back." (", I'll be your other half.).
 * If Lucina is present after a match, female Robin sometimes says "How can you protect Chrom if you can't protect yourself?" (", You can't protect Chrom like that!).
 * If Robin's Final Smash has been used during the match, Chrom will sometimes say "My strength is yours!" (, I'll protect you!), the same quote Chrom shouts when a unit pairs up with him in Awakening.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Robin players (SSBU)


 * - The best Robin player in the United States online metagame, reaching a peak of 13th on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v7 and strong performances at large online events such as 4th at and 7th at . Although not as active offline, he notably placed 33rd at the major.
 * - The best Robin player in the world in 2019, holding some of Robin's best results of all-time including 17th at and 33rd at . He went in active in 2020.
 * - The best Robin player in the world since 2023, most notably placing 13th at the supermajor upsetting, the best Robin performance in Ultimate.
 * - The best Robin player in South America who dominates competitive Ultimate in Venezuela, including winning, their largest event. Outside of Venezuela, he has also placed 49th at the.
 * - The best Robin player in the world in 2021 due to placements such as 25th at both and . Since then he is still considered one of the best Robin players in the United States, notably upsetting  at.

Tier placement and history
Despite being buffed during the transition from Smash 4, Robin remained a relatively unpopular character for most of competitive play, due to his lackluster speed, weak defensive options, and the weapon durability system. As such, Robin was often overlooked for other characters who did his job better, and despite efforts from players such as in the early metagame, Robin's representation in the metagame remained rather small, and only decreased further following Jul's inactivity.

Currently, there are a few notable Robin players who perform well regionally, including, who dominates competitive Ultimate in Venezuela; , who has a few notable major placements; and , who regularly places well at Mexican events. However, both morrocoYo and Whisky have limited appearances at a national-level, while Leaf's results remain inconsistent. As such, opinions on Robin have largely remained the same since the early metagame, which is reflected in Robin's current placement on the tier list, where he is ranked 62nd as a lower-mid tier.

: Thunder and Flames
Robin fights each round against two fighters (with the exception of Round 6): one that wields electricity, and one that wields fire.

Note: Every round except the bonus stage and boss plays a track from Fire Emblem.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Robin has  accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light
Although neither male nor female of Robin appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, they were vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Male Robin was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He can be found in the sub-area as the last fighter to be awakened aside from  before confronting Dracula; a ghost blocks Robin on the ladder below, and if  had been previously awakened by rotating the lever blocking him, said lever must be switched back to its original orientation for the cannon to ricochet off and destroy the ghost.

Spirits
Male Robin's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Robin has been unlocked. Unlocking Robin in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Female Robin also has a fighter spirit of her own, available through the shop. Unlike most fighters, the spirits for Robin only use their artwork from Ultimate, rather than also having alternative artwork from a previous appearance.

Trivia

 * Despite now being a playable character, still appears in Pair Up and Robin's victory poses, even if Chrom is in the fight with Robin.
 * This makes Robin one of the two characters who have a separate playable character in one of their victory poses, the other being (with  appearing in one of its victory poses).
 * Robin is the only character with no attacks that fall under the physical supertype, with all of Robin's moves being of only the following types:, , Throwing, and Typeless. This makes Robin the only character with no moves that can be buffed by the "Physical Attack ↑" Spirit effect
 * Male Robin will sometimes say the quote: "Lucina, I hope I didn't hurt you." when fighting against Lucina. However, this may occur even when Lucina is not present in the match.
 * Additionally, when the victory quote is used, the flame effects will not play.
 * When Robin uses Thoron, he will become immune to tripping from attacks that don't use the slip effect (such as 's uncharged Wario Waft or Banana Peels), even if the attack has a 100% trip chance (e.g. ). The only way to re-enable tripping is to respawn. This also happens with Kirby's Copy Ability, even if the Copy Ability disappears.
 * Both of Robin's fighter spirits are two of only 11 fighter spirits in the game to use their in-game render for their spirit artwork instead of original artwork from their game. The other characters are both male and female Pokémon Trainer, both male and female Wii Fit Trainer, Cloud's alternate costume from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, all three Mii Fighters, and Kazuya.
 * Both the thigh armor and leg warmers around Robin's boots appear to completely vanish when looked at from the inside. This oddity was not present in either gender's Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in-game models or on their official Ultimate artworks.
 * In Sound Test, most characters with male and female alternate costumes have two identical announcer voice clips, as placeholders to accommodate for languages with gendered nouns (for example, in Spanish is "Inkling chica" for female costumes and "Inkling chico" for male costumes). Unusually, Robin also has two announcer voice clips, even though their name is the same between genders in all languages. Furthermore,  and  only have one voice clip each, meaning this is unique to Robin.
 * Robin is the only character who travels to Mushroom Kingdom II in Classic Mode.
 * Coincidentally, the Robin puppet fighters' appearance in World of Light highly resembles future Robin's appearance when possessed by in Fire Emblem Awakening, especially the ones who are affiliated with Galeem, complete with red eyes.