Fox (SSBB)

Fox (, Fox) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, confirmed at Nintendo World 2006. He was the first fighter to appear on the DOJO!! that did not appear on the E3 2006 video.

Fox is now voiced by Jim Walker in English and in Japanese, both reprising their role from Star Fox Assault, replacing Shinobu Satouchi from Smash 64 and Melee.

Fox is currently ranked at 15th place on the tier list, placing him in the middle of the C tier, a noticeable drop from his position at the top of the Melee tier list, and also his worst placement in the series. Fox maintains his incredible movement, fast frame data, high damage output, effective setup moves (especially his down aerial), and a very fast up smash with enough strength and reach to KO the majority of characters reliably under 100%. Additionally, Fox possesses the fastest projectile in Brawl in his (which is also transcendent), a decent recovery with respectable mixup options, and an effective semi-spike and defensive stalling tactic in his. Fox is notoriously frail, however, sustaining the fourth most knockback in Brawl, with rather poor vertical endurance (despite strong vertical momentum cancelling abilities), and among the worst horizontal endurance. His endurance problems are exacerbated by his extreme falling speed and acceleration, which leave him heavily vulnerable to combos and juggles, locks, and chain throws, some of which (including 's and 's) can bring Fox to KO percentage from zero damage, if not zero deathing him outright. Additionally, Fox's attacks are very poor on shield, with high ending lag, low shield stun, and insufficient reach to hit opposing shields safely. Fox also has poor horizontal aerial movement and mobility, a tendency to over-rely on his up smash to KO, and a projectile without any flinch. Nonetheless, Fox's offensive prowess tends to outweigh his significant flaws, with his matchups being above average overall (despite a few hard counters), along with above average tournament results (which are significantly better in Japan, where he ranks 7th on the tier list).

Attributes
Fox is a lightweight who boasts impressive mobility, having the 3rd fastest dashing speed and the second fastest walking speed in the game (with having the fastest walking speed). Almost all of his attacks come out quickly and combo with each other. Fox's excellent speed is counter-balanced by the small and short reaching hitboxes in most of his attacks. This can complicate approaches, and his Blaster doesn't make up for that because it doesn't make opponents flinch. However, it is able to force approaches, unless the opponent has a lasting reflector, an absorbing move such as PSI Magnet, or their crouch is low enough to avoid it.

One of Fox's primary advantages is his impressive KO power. His up smash is a fast and powerful vertical finisher, and is also his only move that can KO reliably under 100%. It's a good move due to its high knockback scaling, impressive speed for a smash attack, and respectable reach. It can also be combo'd into, most notably from a down aerial. Up aerial is also a great finisher; it can KO quickly when used near the upper blast line and is useful in juggling situations to close stocks early. Fox's impressive vertical KO options can be dangerous to characters with poor vertical endurance or momentum cancelling.

Fox his a variety of other useful moves besides his finishers. His forward aerial can add extra height to Fox's jump, due to producing a hovering effect if used shortly after jumping (known as Foxcoptering) - this can extend his recovery and allow him to quickly recover vertically, which isn't possible with his primary vertical recovery move (Fire Fox). His back air has high horizontal knockback and a generous auto-cancel window. As far as specials go, Fox's Blaster can easily build damage from a distance, refresh stale moves if it hits, and steal KOs in a Time match. Fox's Reflector not only reflects projectiles, but can semi-spike opponents when used in the air, making it a useful tool for gimping poor and/or slow recoveries, and also slows Fox's aerial movement. The jump cancel has been replaced with a dash cancel, allowing a continuous shine volley across the stage (it works best at 70% and above depending on the character). As far as recovery goes, Fox Illusion can be used to gain a horizontal boost, and can also be canceled before completion to trick opponents, as opposed to Fire Fox, which comes off much slower but can move vertically. However, Fire Fox is easily edgeguarded, due to leaving Fox vulnerable during the charge required to use the move (though it can damage opponents if they get too close). Fox is also able to wall jump, boost grab, and DACUS (though his sliding up smash doesn't gain much less distance than his DACUS).

Fox's most notable attribute, as well as the most notorious, is his short jump in relation to the rest of the Brawl cast (much like having the slowest falling speed in the game). Fox possesses the third fastest falling speed in the game (which is unusual for a character as light as he is), as well as having the higher gravity by quite a margin. It has advantages and some hindrances, all of which must be known to make the best use of Fox. Some advantages of such speed are that it makes him difficult to juggle and gives him strong vertical momentum canceling. However, his extreme gravity results in him barely travelling anywhere when he is hit by vertical hitting moves which do not inflict tumble. This results in him being very susceptible to certain chaingrabs (particularly 's buffered d-throw chaingrab that has a 0-death on Fox) and well as low knockback moves which can string into themselves multiple times (most notably 's forward tilt). His high gravity also makes him sustain more knockback once he enters tumble, which along with his low weight, makes his endurance among the absolute worst in Brawl.

Another of Fox's weaknesses regards his transition from Melee to Brawl; Brawl{'}s general gameplay changes hinder Fox more than they help him. The introduction of hitstun cancelling as well as the cast's universally decreased falling speeds greatly reduce the potency of Fox's combo game like most characters. This means Fox can struggle to rack up damage and approach as effectively as he could in Melee. Fox's only strong damage racking tool at lower percents is his up tilt which while effective, can be SDIed out of. The changes to air dodges also hinders Fox, as it not only hinders his combo ability, but it also removes his ability to wavedash, which was one of his most vital movement options. The removal of DI against non tumble hitstun also immensely hinders Fox, as it means that he is now susceptible to inescapable chain grabs, as well as making it much more difficult to escape moves which chain into themselves multiple times (although this does also benefit his up tilt).

Lastly, Fox has a poor grab game. The blaster shots fired from his up and back throws are very easily avoided with successful DI, while up throw now struggles to combo because of its higher ending lag, combined with the cast's slower falling speeds. Back throw lacks KO potential and it has a poor launch angle for setting up edgeguards. Down throw is a decent setup throw which deals good damage but unlike Falco's, it does not have any guaranteed follow ups. While forward throw is Fox's strongest throw, it cannot KO before 150% at the edge. Because of it's glaring problems, Fox's grab game is very inconsistent and unreliable.

The end result is that Fox is a glass cannon. He can have difficulty approaching characters with superior range, forcing him to rely on his Blaster to approach if needed, which some characters can avoid rather effortlessly. His combination of being very light, and having very high falling speed and extreme gravity, along with an exploitable recovery gives him extremely poor endurance, especially against characters who can abuse his falling speed/gravity. However, he has excellent mobility on the ground, many quick and highly damaging moves, a very strong offensive game due to his speed and attack power, and once the opponent is knocked back he has flexible follow up options, but his speed can make him tough to control. Fox is overall a very fragile character who is very difficult to play and master but once he is mastered, he can be very difficult for most of the cast to deal with. This makes him a very solid character, although he does possess near unwinnable matchups against certain characters.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Melee
Fox was notorious for being considered by many to be the best character in Melee with some players even seeing him as broken due to his infamous dominance. As a result of this, Fox has been significantly nerfed overall despite technically receiving more buffs. All the traits that made Fox excel in the previous game are still intact: his excellent mobility, great frame data, the ability to force approaches with his Blaster, and his impressive and effective KO and damage racking ability (though the damage output on some of his attacks were toned down slightly). Some of his moves have seen improvements to their speed and some of his moves have seen various adjustments to either make them more reliable or to increase their utility such as his forward and down aerials. His aerials in general have lower landing lag and more lenient auto-cancel windows making the removal of L-canceling a fairly small loss for him compared to other veterans. His recovery has also been improved as his air speed is faster, his falling speed/gravity are lower, Fox Illusion travels more distance, his double jump is higher and he can use his forward aerial to increase the height of his jumps making him harder to edgeguard overall.

However, the changes to Brawl's mechanics have severely harmed him. He is much more frail than in Melee due to the changes in the knockback formula making his vertical endurance in particular significantly worse, despite being heavier. The introduction of hitstun canceling hinders him overall as while it makes him less susceptible to combos, it also significantly hinders his followup potential. The removal of DI against moves which don't put opponents into tumble also significantly hinders him as it makes him far more susceptible to inescapable chain grabs and locks most notably from and. The removal of wavedashing also severely harms him more than almost any other veteran as he was one of the characters who could abuse it the most due to his fast jumpsquat as well as his Reflector which could be jump cancelled.

As for his direct nerfs, the reduced range on Blaster has weakened his ability to zone and force approaches. His new back aerial is slower, has a shorter duration and has less range hindering its spacing potential. His general combo game is far worse: down throw can no longer tech-chase, up throw is ineffective for combos and chain-grabs due to the slower fall speeds as well as its greatly increased ending lag. His KO'ing ability is weaker: up smash and up aerial, his two best finishers in Melee, have had their damage and knockback reduced as well as being slower, and they are also more difficult to combo into in the new physics and with the loss of Fox's Shine combos although his up smash is still a very strong vertical finisher and Fox still has ways to combo into it mainly with his down aerial although he can also potentially combo into it for a kill with his late neutral aerial or even his reflector at specific percents.

The most severe nerf was to his Reflector. While it has seen some improvements such as having lower ending lag, stronger stalling capabilities, increased intangibility and has altered knockback preventing it from knocking down lighter characters at lower percents, it has slower start-up and can no longer be jump-cancelled hindering its safety. The removal of wavedashing drastically harms Reflector's utility as wavedashing was what gave Shine its incredible followup potential making the main reason why the move was so oppressive in Melee.

Overall, while Fox's buffs do not compensate from the nerfs he received from Brawl's new mechanics as well as the nerfs some of his key moves received, he's still considered a viable character who only has a few extremely bad matchups and he is still overall stronger compared to most other Melee veterans.

Ground attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Pummel:
 * Down throw:
 * Edge attack:
 * Down throw:
 * Edge attack:
 * Down throw:
 * Edge attack:
 * Down throw:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:

Special moves

 * Fox Illusion:
 * Fire Fox:
 * Landmaster:
 * Fox Illusion:
 * Fire Fox:
 * Landmaster:
 * Fire Fox:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:
 * Landmaster:

Notable players

 * See also: Category:Fox players (SSBB)


 * - Best Fox in Europe.
 * - Best American Fox.
 * - One of the best Fox players in the world during Brawl's lifespan.
 * - Considered to be one of the best Fox mains in the USA, with wins over, , , , , and.
 * - Best Fox in Japan and one of the best in the world. He has wins over players such as, , and
 * - One of the best Fox players in the world during Brawl's lifespan.
 * - Considered to be one of the best Fox mains in the USA, with wins over, , , , , and.
 * - Best Fox in Japan and one of the best in the world. He has wins over players such as, , and

Tier placement and history
At the start of Brawl's Ultimate Metagame, players immediately began noticing the nerfs Fox received from Melee to Brawl. Although he technically received more buffs than nerfs, the nerfs he received significantly outweighed the buffs. Fox's combo game, Reflector, grab game, Blaster, and KO Ability were all nerfed. Not only that, but Fox also fairs much worse in this engine in comparison to Melee. The introduction of hitstun canceling hinders him overall as while it makes him less susceptible to combos, it also significantly hinders his follow-up potential. The removal of DI against moves which don't put opponents into tumble also significantly hinders him as it makes him far more susceptible to inescapable chain grabs and locks most notably from and. The removal of wavedashing also severely harms him more than almost any other veteran as he was one of the characters who could abuse it the most due to his fast jumpquat as well as his Reflector which could be jump canceled. While Fox was never seen as a bad character, the nerfs were drastic enough for him to be significantly lower than his iteration from Melee as he was ranked as a mid/low-mid tier character amongst the first few tier lists.

Over time though, Fox's perception would be greatly improved with more representation from players such as, , and  who began to show that the character had a lot of potentials. With many advanced techs such as Short hop laser and Reflector stalling, Fox began seeing some success in tournaments with Yui and TKD performing very well in their respected regions, getting 17th at Genesis 2, and  getting 2nd at CEO 2011. Also, it was discovered that Fox had a plethora of good matchups versus many of the top and high tiers such as, , , , ,  and even. Fox also notably did amazing versus nearly every character that is placed below him (with the exception of ). By the 5th tier list, Fox rose up to 16th and went up to 15th by the last tier list. However, some players argued that this was too low for Fox and that he should have been ranked even higher. Japan in particular believes that Fox is a top-tier character as they have him ranked 7th on their tier list (although this is highly debatable). None-of-the-less, Fox is considered to be a viable character that can perform well in tournaments but has a few poor matchups that can give him trouble versus certain characters.

Role in The Subspace Emissary
An Arwing is seen engaging the battleship Halberd, but is soon struck and begins to fall toward it. This causes and / to be blown overboard in its wake.

It is later shown that the Arwing crash-landed at the edge of a jungle, near a lake. discovers the Arwing, but Rayquaza rises from the lake and territorially attacks the Arwing with an Energy Ball, setting it aflame. As Diddy is snatched up by the provoked Pokémon, Fox is ejected from the cockpit of the burning Arwing and proceeds to effortlessly rescue Diddy from the clutches of the serpentine Pokémon using his Fox Illusion and. After the two defeat the giant Pokémon, Fox attempts to leave, but is dragged back by Diddy and follows him deeper into the jungle. Soon, they fight a Shadow Bug clone of Bowser and defeat it. Suddenly, the real fires his Dark Cannon at them, and Fox barely dodges the shot. Although Diddy is eager to fight Bowser, Fox knows that they can't survive against his Dark Cannon, so he grabs Diddy and jumps off a cliff.

After recovering from the fall and quickly making their way through The Swamp, they are ambushed by Bowser again, who succeeds in turning Diddy into a trophy. Bowser then attempts to turn Fox into a trophy, but he manages to dodge the shot, so Bowser sends some Shadow Bugs to clone Diddy's trophy, outnumbering Fox. suddenly appears out of nowhere in his Arwing and saves Fox from Bowser by destroying his Dark Cannon, forcing Bowser to escape. The Diddy clone begins to absorb more Shadow Bugs, becoming gigantic as a result. Fox uses the opportunity to revive the real Diddy, and the three fight the clone. After Falco unwillingly joined the group, they find a ship carrying 's trophy to a floating island. The Great Fox suddenly appears, and as Falco and Diddy attempt to free DK, Fox plans to take down the Halberd with the Great Fox.

The Great Fox duels with the Halberd, but it ends up getting carried away by it, gets crashed into a mountain, and flies away in smoke. Later on, as Peach and Zelda (disguised as ) are making their escape after frees them, Fox is seen attacking the Halberd again in his Arwing. During the fire-fight, some of the Arwing's Blasters hit dangerously close to Peach. Sheik does a very high range teleport on top of the Arwing and breaks open the cockpit. Both Sheik and Fox fall out of the Arwing and on the Halberd deck. They start running towards each other at high speeds and just before they break into a fight, Peach randomly offers them a cup of tea. Although Fox is shocked by this, when Sheik accepts hers, he accepts his as well. Just as they do, a group of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches fall from the Halberd's cockpit and form into Duon. The three are joined by and  (who knocked them down there in the first place), as well as Falco who arrives on another Arwing, and defeat the monster. Duon leaves behind the real trophy as it disappears. Fox prepares to blast the trophy, but Peach approaches it and revives Mr. Game & Watch. With taking back control of the Halberd, he flies his ship into the daylight and eventually landing on The Canyon, coincidentally the same time The Falcon Flyer lands, after previously escaping the doomed Subspace Factory. Fox,, Peach, Zelda, Lucario, Snake, and Mr. Game & Watch are now greeted with , the rest of the Canyon heroes, and the Falcon Flyer heroes, they all unite and become one big team, now plotting against Subspace. Fox joins the rest of the heroes in the assault on the Subspace Gunship and the attack on Tabuu, although he would be one of the many heroes to be transformed into trophies by Tabuu. However, like the other heroes, his trophy could be found and be revived by, , and in Subspace. After being rescued, he join the rest of the heroes to go to The Great Maze and defeat Tabuu.

Playable appearances
After Outside the Ancient Ruins is completed, Fox is removed from the player's team, and is not seen until Battleship Halberd Exterior is completed.


 * The Lake
 * The Swamp
 * Battleship Halberd Bridge
 * Entrance to Subspace
 * The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part I))

Exclusive stickers
The following stickers can either be only used by Fox, or by a select few characters including Fox:
 * Andrew: Launch Resistance +7
 * Arwing: [Leg] Attack +6
 * Falco (Star Fox 64): [Weapon] Attack +11
 * Falco (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +14
 * Falco (Star Fox Adventures): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +11
 * Fox (Star Fox Command): [Tail] Attack +18
 * Fox (Star Fox Adventures): [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
 * Fox (Star Fox 64): [Energy] Attack +18
 * Fox (Star Fox: Assault): [Energy] Attack +33
 * Krystal (Star Fox Adventures): [Electric] Attack +28
 * Krystal (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +12
 * Krystal (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +17
 * Miniature Dachshund: [Tail] Attack +28
 * Panther: [Tail] Attack +18
 * Pigma: [Arm] Attack +7
 * ROB: [Electric] Resistance +15
 * Wolf: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
 * Wolfen (Star Fox 64): [Tail] Attack +16
 * Wolfen (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +30

In Classic Mode, Fox can appear as an opponent or ally in Stage 7 along with, , and on Lylat Cruise. Fox can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if he hasn't appeared in Stage 7.

All-Star Mode
In All-Star Mode, Fox is fought in Stage 16 alongside and  on Lylat Cruise.

Solo Events

 * Event 2: Landmaster Ignition: The player controls Fox with a Smash Ball ready and must survive against and . Fox must rely on his Landmaster as his opponents will take less knockback from all his regular attacks.
 * Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars: Fox is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
 * Event 23: Molten Norfair: must survive the lava wave on Norfair by getting inside the safety capsule while fending off against Fox and.
 * Event 38: The Wolf Hunts the Fox: The player controls and must defeat Fox and  on Lylat Cruise.

Co-Op Events

 * Co-Op Event 19: Shadow of Andross Both players control Fox and Falco and must defeat Wolf on Lylat Cruise while an Andross Assist Trophy is used against them.
 * Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on.

Trophies
Fox's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing and All-Star mode respectively with Fox.

Trivia

 * Fox holds the world record for Co-Op Target Smash!! Level 3 with Pit (completed in 4.03 seconds).
 * The early trailers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured Fox constantly holding his Blaster, instead of holstering it as usual.
 * If Fox uses a forward aerial during a Mini Light Brawl, the momentum created by the attack actually causes him to float upwards.
 * Fox,, , , and are the only characters in the Subspace Emissary to fight more than 2 bosses (excluding boss re-creations in the Great Maze). Fox can be chosen to fight Rayquaza at The Lake and Duon at the Battleship Halberd Bridge, as well as Tabuu in the final battle at Tabuu's Residence.
 * Fox's trophy is the only one for a playable character that doesn't give the character's full name.