Peach (SSBU)

Peach (, Peach) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Peach was revealed for the game along with the rest of the veterans on June 12th, 2018. However, unlike previous Smash Bros. games since Super Smash Bros. Melee (her first playable appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series), Peach is now an unlockable character rather than being available from the start. Peach is classified as Fighter #13, the first fighter number of the Melee veterans.

As in Super Smash Bros. 4, 's portrayal of Peach from Super Smash Bros. Brawl was repurposed for Ultimate.

Peach, alongside her Echo Fighter, is ranked 9th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing her in the S tier. This is a notable improvement from her 20th out of 54 placement in SSB4, and is her best placement in the series.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following: With the exception of the third method, Peach must then be defeated on Princess Peach's Castle. In World of Light, she is fought on Mushroom Kingdom U.
 * Play VS. matches, with Peach being the 12th character to be unlocked.
 * Clear with  or any character in his unlock tree, being the 3rd character unlocked after.
 * Have Peach join the player's party in World of Light.

Attributes
Peach is a somewhat light character who is quite slow in terms of walking speed and dashing speed, and has an extremely slow falling speed and very low gravity, while her air speed is only average. While this is an unfavorable combination of traits, it is compensated by her unique floating ability and her very high air acceleration.

Peach's aerial game is one of her greatest strengths. Her floating ability grants her the power to hover at any height she chooses, giving her a distinct advantage in aerial combat. Floating also helps her to control space; floating low to the ground and using retreating aerials makes her difficult to punish, and this greatly helps her own approach as well. With good spacing, she can attack the opponent's shield with little fear of reprisal. Float can increase her mobility and movement options, allowing her to frustrate her opponents with quick and unpredictable mixups. Additionally, floating aids Peach's off-stage presence when combined with her slow falling speed, despite her low jumps and the high ending lag of her aerial attacks (except for down aerial); not only does it help her cover certain angles when edgeguarding, it can also be used to aid her horizontal recovery or potentially even allow her to go underneath stages to stall. Neutral aerial is her fastest aerial with the lowest landing lag, and deals an impressively high amount of damage despite its speed while also possessing a decently long duration; when combined with her ability to float close to the ground, neutral aerial's combination of fast startup, low base knockback and low landing lag makes it an incredibly good combo tool at lower percents that can even lead into itself with enough technical skill, especially after a down tilt, while its damage output and knockback scaling ensures that it still has decent KO potential at higher ones. Her forward aerial is her slowest aerial attack, but it is also her strongest one, and it can be used while floating to search for a finishing move with relative safety, especially given its disjointed hitbox and fairly low landing lag relative to its strength; however, it possesses a weaker sourspot on her arm. Her back aerial possesses a decent combination of fast startup with good range and power in addition to being her most reliable follow-up from a down throw, and although it suffers from notable ending lag compared to other back aerials, Peach's float and slow falling speed compensate for this. Up aerial hits twice and is impressively disjointed, while the first hit can potentially drag down opponents after a short hop height down aerial for grounded follow-ups; however, its horizontal range compared to Peach's other aerial attacks is somewhat lacking. Finally, her down aerial has the lowest ending lag of all her aerial attacks, and can be used as a potential combo starter at low to middle percents thanks to the final hit's vertical angle.

Comparatively, her grounded attacks are less effective in direct comparison, but are not without utility. Neutral attack comes out on frame 2, making it not only Peach's fastest attack, but also one of the fastest neutral attacks in the entire game; conversely, it is fairly weak compared to other two-hit jabs. Up tilt has a disjointed hitbox above her and can be used as an anti-air attack. Forward tilt is a potential follow-up from down throw, has decent horizontal and vertical range while being disjointed, and uniquely has a vertical launch angle. Down tilt is her fastest tilt attack, and while it is less disjointed than her other tilts, it possesses decent combo potential; with sufficient technical skill, it is possible to follow up the move with multiple neutral aerials performed from ground-level floats. Dash attack is relatively fast and decently disjointed, with the first hit reliably leading into the second, and it can also serve as a potential KO move at very high percents. She has a decent grab game, as her down throw can be followed up with a back aerial, forward tilt or neutral aerial, forward and back throws can easily setup edgeguards, and back throw can even serve as a KO move at extremely high percents. Peach also has a potent if somewhat situational set of smash attacks, all of them possessing reasonably good range: her forward smash can be angled up or down, giving her access to three different weapons (golf club if unangled, frying pan if angled up, or tennis racket if angled down), each with their own useful properties; down smash is a multi-hit attack good for catching rolls and edge recovery options; and her up smash is a particularly powerful move when sweetspotted, while also granting intangibility to her head and arms.

Her special moves have their uses as well. is a counterattack where if either Peach or Toad himself are attacked, the latter will retaliate with spores hitting multiple times. Like most other counterattacks, the move can be used as an edgeguarding tool against certain recovery moves with damaging hitboxes, most notably 's Aether and 's Soaring Slash. Unlike most other counterattacks, Toad does not scale relative to the strength of the attack countered. Toad's spores can be reflected or absorbed, with the former property rendering the move useless against many reflectors, such as 's Cape or 's. Peach Bomber is a move where Peach lunges forward and strikes with her rear; it can be used as a horizontal recovery option in addition to her aforementioned floating ability, its travel distance is increased if the move is smash-inputted, and in addition to being decently strong if successfully landed, it is also very difficult to punish out of shield because of how she rebounds after successfully hitting a target, though it suffers from high ending lag if whiffed. Peach Parasol is a serviceable vertical recovery move, and can be used as an out-of-shield option thanks to its fast startup and decent range. It is also fairly difficult to contest from above thanks to its large disjoint above her and lingering hitbox if the parasol is kept open after ascending. Finally, Vegetable serves as her projectile, and as a throwable item, it is quite a versatile one; the move also has a 1/250 chance of spawning a powerful Bob-omb and a 1/166 chance of spawning a shield-shattering Mr. Saturn.

While Peach has exceptional strengths, that does not mean she has no weaknesses. Faster opponents may be able to overwhelm her before she can begin throwing vegetables or otherwise defend herself. If thrown into the air, she can have difficulty landing, and when combined with her floatiness, this makes her susceptible to juggling and vertical combos. Peach's ability to approach suffers against swordfighters like and  or zoners like  and, as she lacks the agility to get in close before they can hit her. Her recovery, while very good, is also a potential point of failure, as while she can travel a great deal of horizontal distance, she can also be left vulnerable if forced to rely on Peach Parasol and her vertical recovery is average at best (discounting the incredibly dangerous and situational Bob-omb), as well as predictable. Additionally, her vegetables, being item projectiles, can be picked up by opponents and used against her, despite being fairly useful overall.

Overall, Peach is a technical character that, once mastered, is a major threat to any opponent. Her floating ability, very high air acceleration, and solid aerial attacks give Peach a fantastic air game that allows her to easily outmaneuver her opponents, and initiate devastating set-ups, which is further supplemented with useful specials. However, Peach players have to be aware of her slow grounded movement, somewhat light weight, and extreme floatiness by maximizing her floating ability to constantly transition between the ground and the air, and carefully utilize her moveset to avoid being punished for even a simple mistake.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4
Peach has been greatly buffed overall in the transition to Ultimate. Although most of her kit remains largely identical to their SSB4 counterparts, it has seen noticeable improvements in addition to being further bolstered by gameplay mechanics.

Peach has received a new down tilt with faster startup, and it benefits from the removal of teching for grounded meteor smashes, making it a consistently powerful combo tool that is also safer to use. Forward smash now allows her to choose which weapon to use via angling, instead of having to use it repeatedly to cycle weapons, greatly increasing its reliability. Her special moveset has also seen buffs: is faster as a counterattack and deals more damage; Peach Bomber is faster in the air and stronger; improving its recovery and KO potential; and Vegetables deal more knockback and are faster to both pluck and throw, improving her projectile game.

The changes to gameplay mechanics, however, have given Peach the most improvements. As with most characters, Peach's mobility is faster and her aerials have less landing lag, noticeably aiding her approach and combo game. The new 0.85× damage multiplier for aerial attacks performed in a short hop affects Peach the least out of any returning veteran, as her float bypasses the multiplier, allowing her to attack low to the ground with her aerials; this not only makes her combo game one of the rawest in the game in terms of damage and KO power, but also considerably strengthens her shield pressure.

Peach has received a few nerfs though, both indirect and direct. The changes to rage and air dodging both help and hinder Peach. The former improves her survivability and allows her to take general advantage of it more effectively, but notably removes Peach Parasol's infamous ability to one-hit KO opponents by landing only the first hit if she is at a high percentage. The latter makes her combo game more oppressive as well as improving her edgeguarding game, but this also makes her own air dodges among the slowest in the game in terms of ending lag.

In terms of direct changes, her forward aerial, previously one of her most effective KO moves, is weaker and has received a sourspot, making it more difficult to use effectively. Her dash attack and back throw both have reduced knockback as well. Peach also still retains some of her weaknesses from the previous game, such as her overall poor mobility, and her somewhat light weight and extreme floatiness rendering her vulnerable to vertical KOs and juggling, the latter of which gives her trouble landing safely.

Overall, Peach has considerably improved from her SSB4 incarnation thanks to a superior mobility and combo game, and the changes to Ultimate's mechanics have further strengthened her caveats. However, game updates have brought some noticeable nerfs to Peach; though the metagame's optimization has shown this has only mildly impacted her viability. Ultimately, Peach fares much better than she did in SSB4, and this is considered to be her strongest incarnation in the series, even above her initial Melee iteration.

Update history
Most likely as a result of her dominating performances in the competitive scene of Ultimate, Peach was nerfed overall by game updates. She received a few nerfs in, her Toad can no longer be used to stall indefinitely in the air, now only stalling at its first use, and her Vegetables deal less shield damage, hindering the projectiles' shield pressure capabilities.

Patch has arguably nerfed her harder than in any other patch in the game's lifespan: Both back throw and forward aerial deal less knockback, further weakening what was considered to be her more effective KOing options, Peach Bomber has more endlag when connected, hindering its safety against shields, and Vegetable has more endlag, leaving Peach more vulnerable to enemy attacks when plucking turnips. Moreover, the removal of held item attacks makes her options when holding a turnip less versatile.

Peach has received a few small buffs however in various updates. Thanks to its changes in 2.0.0, 3.1.0, and 5.0.0, Peach Parasol connects more reliably against opponents and grabs the ledge much easier, patch 3.1.0 allows jab to connect more efficiently, and forward smash's golf club swing deals more knockback, improving its KO potential. Patch 4.0.0 made it so Toad's spores connect more reliably when countering an attack from behind, and 13.0.1 made so Peach Bomber can now allows Peach to grab the edges for its entire duration.

Overall, while Peach, along with Daisy, have been nerfed, the Princesses are still seen as some of the game's best characters, and remain highly prevalent and successful in the competitive scene.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Peach's hitboxes, see here.
 * Peach can float for 2.5 seconds.

On-screen appearance

 * Appears spinning out of a shower of hearts, then winks and poses with her parasol saying "Hi!".

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Faces the screen, takes out, and twirls her parasol while saying "Sweet!". Possibly a reference to an idle animation in .
 * Side taunt: Dances once in a taunting manner as little music notes flutter around her while singing "La la la la laaa laaa!" in a tune similar to "Ring Around the Rosie".
 * Down taunt: Faces the screen, winks, points with her index finger in a somewhat bent posture and says "Uh-huh!" A heart will also pop up by her head.

Idle poses

 * Looks over her shoulders and brushes something off her dress.
 * Raises her arms up and stretches.
 * Adjusts her ring before raising her hand and looking at it. This idle animation only plays if Peach is currently facing right.
 * Fiddles with her hair.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: While motioning from right to left, she leans on her parasol. She then raises it while doing a stationary twirl, and poses with it open while resting it on her shoulder. Throughout the motioning, she says "Aw, did I win?"
 * Up: Twirls with her arms raised as hearts surround her. Afterwards, she poses with her right hand on her hip and her left hand up towards her chest while saying "This is fun!"
 * Right: Waves while walking forward, blows a kiss (in the form of a pink heart), and says "Peachy!" Afterward, she rests her right arm across her waist, and waves with her left hand.

: No Damsel in Distress
Peach's opponents are villains in various universes that have all captured a certain damsel before.

Note: All stages Peach travels to are either Mario or Donkey Kong stages.

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

Role in World of Light
Although Peach does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (except ) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Peach is on a desolate platform in the Molten Fortress sub-area where Giga Bowser is fought, a callback to her usual role as a damsel in distress. The player must enter the pipe and free the spirit of Aisya to activate the blue ! Switch in order to progress to Peach.

Spirits
Peach's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Peach has been unlocked. Unlocking Peach 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. Her Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with her artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Peach makes an appearance in various Primary and Support Spirits.

In Spirit Battles
Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

Trivia

 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first Smash Bros. game where Peach holds an object, more specifically her parasol, in her character artwork.
 * Peach's pose in her official artwork resembles an official piece of artwork from her series in which she holds her parasol in a similar manner.
 * One of Peach's new victory poses resembles part of her Hole-in-One animation from , albeit without the parasol.
 * There are two inconsistencies on Peach's model that were not present in her model in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U:
 * The red lace at the bottom of her dress will vanish when viewed from inside.
 * Looking around her neck will expose a gap.
 * Possibly due to Daisy being an Echo Fighter of her, this is the first Smash game since Melee to not include Peach's Daisy-based alternate costume.
 * Peach has the most idle poses out of the entire cast, with four as opposed to the usual two. The only other exceptions to this are and, who only have one, and , who has none.
 * Peach is one of five characters whose unlocking battle in World of Light is not on either or an Ω form. The other four are, , , and.
 * Peach,, , , , and are the only fighters to appear as allies in spirit battles.
 * Peach appeared in two spirit battles as an ally, unlike the listed fighters that appeared in one spirit battle.
 * Peach, Corrin, Hero and Steve are the only characters who fight the same fighter multiple times in Classic Mode route; in Peach's case, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings appears as an opponent in Rounds 1 and 4.
 * This is the first game where Peach's default head icon depicts her crown as its natural gold, as all previous depictions have matched her dress' pink. She shares this trait with.
 * Oddly, on the Sound Test, voice clips for Peach's "Aw, did I win?" victory pose are separated. The "Aw" is followed by her other victory quotes, which are followed by the "did I win?". This oddity was not present in Brawl or Smash 4.