Captain Falcon (SSB)

Captain Falcon (, Captain Falcon), written as C. Falcon, is the main character from the franchise, and appears in Super Smash Bros. as one of the four unlockable characters. His appearance is based on his incarnation from F-Zero X for the Nintendo 64. He is voiced by Ryō Horikawa, who would go on to voice him in the later games.

Captain Falcon is ranked 3rd overall on the tier list for his overall very quick movement speed (despite a slow walking speed, he has the fastest dashing and falling speeds in the game, and an average air speed) and very strong combo ability, with his being an especially useful move that can combo in a huge variety of ways, including being able to lead into another up aerial or a  for aerial combos, as well as a Falcon Dive or  as a combo finisher. Along with powerful edgeguarders in his and up aerial semi-spike, and an effective meteor smash with a very long duration in his down aerial, this gives Falcon a strong aerial game. His combo game isn't limited to the air, thanks to his and  that can easily setup other moves due to their low knockback. His combos involving aerials, up smash, and forward throw are able to 0-death many characters without much difficulty. Captain Falcon also has strong vertical endurance and is overall fairly difficult to KO onstage.

Captain Falcon's primary weaknesses include his vulnerability to combos from many characters due to his very fast falling speed and high weight and size. His ground game is also much more limited than his air game, due to him lacking options on the ground outside up smash,, grab, and neutral attack, as well as having somewhat limited out of shield options. He is also highly vulnerable to edgeguarding, due to his large size and subpar recovery, due to it being predictable, as his primary recovery move, Falcon Dive, gives short horizontal and vertical distance, while also being unable to grab edgehoggers, and his very fast falling speed hindering it further. Additionally, Captain Falcon lacks a projectile and a reliable way to deal with them, making characters like difficult to deal with.

Regardless, Captain Falcon's strengths outweigh his flaws by a noticeable margin, resulting in strong matchups, and he has some of the highest representation and results of any character. He ranks higher in the NTSC-U than in the NTSC-J Japanese version due to him being buffed, whereas in the Japanese version he ranks 4th on the tier list.

How to unlock
Complete 1P Game with any character in under 20 minutes. The player must defeat Captain Falcon in a battle on Planet Zebes.

Attributes
Captain Falcon is a tall heavyweight who possesses excellent mobility. He has the fastest dashing speed in the game by quite a margin which easily allows him to approach and to run away. In addition to this, he also has the highest falling speed, the second highest gravity and average air speed.

Captain Falcon is a character who focuses on speed and power. His most notorious attributes are his incredible speed (the fastest dashing and falling speed) and combo ability. He also has the best dash-dance in the game, and a very strong aerial game. His up aerial is his most versatile move, being on par with 's up aerial for the best aerial in the game. Depending on where it hits, it can send the opponent in different directions. The most notable use of the move is to hit opponents straight up by hitting with the heel - this allows Captain Falcon to chain the move into multiple up aerials, and finish with a Falcon Dive for a KO, or a down air when his midair jump is available. If the opponent is too high for a single Falcon Dive to reach, a midair jump is often enough to allow the Falcon Dive to reach them. This is made more effective by the Falcon Dive sending opponent on a difficult-to-DI angle. Another notable use of the up aerial is its ability to hit opponents back on a semi-spike trajectory (by hitting with the mid-section of the leg while it's moving backwards) - this is very useful and effective for edgeguarding. He has a powerful meteor smash in his down aerial, which can be combo'd into in a variety of ways, including up aerial (as mentioned above), forward aerial, or back aerial at lower percentages. Either of these combos could be considered a Ken Combo variation, with even saying the Ken Combo was initially developed using Captain Falcon's up aerial→down aerial combo in Smash 64. Additionally, his down aerial is a very effective edgeguarder, being a meteor smash that can KO aerial opponents somewhat early, as well as having a very long duration, meaning it can be used along with an edge drop or midair jump around the edge to prevent the opponent from edge sweetspotting.

Some of Captain Falcon's attacks also have great range, most notably his up aerial and forward smash. The latter is additionally a powerful KO move, and a semi-spacing tool, being a reliable KO option without having to get too far in the opponent's reach. Captain Falcon additionally has among the best short hops in the game, being able to approach incredibly quickly using short hopped Z-cancelled aerials. He also has amazing vertical endurance due to his very high falling speed and high weight, and while he isn't particularly vulnerable to juggling anyway, his Falcon Kick can prevent juggling easily due to traveling downward quickly.

Captain Falcon, however, has limited effective ground options. His up smash is another one of his especially effective combo moves, being able to chain into itself up to three times depending on the falling speed of the opponent, and easily being to able to lead into aerials. Additionally, his forward throw is a very useful combo tool, being able to combo into forward aerial, up aerial, and up smash out of a dash, as well as a Falcon Punch on fastfallers or heavyweights at moderately high percentages. He also lacks a projectile and reliable ways to avoid them, which can give him trouble against characters like on larger stages. Simply put, he is among the most vulnerable characters to constant projectile camping and ground-based camping. The banning of Hyrule Castle has helped Captain Falcon's metagame as he is less susceptible to projectile camping. Captain Falcon's two most major weaknesses are his recovery and how vulnerable he is to combos. His high weight, moderately large hurtbox, and very fast falling speed makes it easy to combo him offstage, where his large size, very fast falling speed, and short and predictable recovery make him one of the easiest characters to edgeguard. Captain Falcon is known on a competitive level as being one of the top characters on and having one of the best matchups (45-55) against. However, Captain Falcon struggles with.

In doubles
Captain Falcon is considered to be one of the best characters in doubles due to his incredibly easy to utilize combos and movement speed. Thanks to his speed, he is one of the best characters at helping teammates to evade and get out of edgeguarding and combos from opponents. His throws can lead into partner combos as well. A notable team wobble is that two Captain Falcons can re-grab into another grab with correct timing. Captain Falcon's main issue is his recovery, so in competitive play, he is usually paired with someone who is on a much safer position offstage and can help him with combos, usually Pikachu or.

Differences between game versions
Captain Falcon was nerfed overall in his transition to NTSC-U as while his faster dashing and falling speeds give him an even better approach, and the higher presence of SDI makes him less vulnerable to combos, his jumps are slightly lower and Falcon Dive covers less distance, hindering his recovery and his combo potential. The higher presence of SDI can also work against him, making his combos less consistent.

Moveset
For a gallery of Captain Falcon's hitboxes, see here.

Most Historically Significant Players

 * See also: Category:Captain Falcon players (SSB)


 * - One of the best Captain Falcon players in the world and the best from South America. He has used Captain Falcon to win multiple tournaments such as and . His Falcon is most often seen against, beating players such as ,  and.
 * - One of the best Captain Falcon players to come from South America. He holds some of the best solo Captain Falcon results at Peruvian tournaments, placing 3rd at and 4th at.
 * - One of the most prominent commentators in the Smash 64 scene who also possesses a high-level Captain Falcon. Some of his best performances include 5th at and  and wins over KD3 and Dogs_Johnson in the ditto. He was previously ranked 29th during the 2018 64 League Rankings.
 * - One of the best solo Captain Falcon players in the United States. He has made top 8 at many majors such as 3rd at and 7th at both  and . He is currently ranked 13th on the 2021-2022 Smash 64 Power Rankings.
 * - One of the most regarded and longest active players in the Smash 64 scene. Commonly considered the best player in Mexico and at one point considered in the top 3 for North America during the early 2010s, only being behind Isai and SuPeRbOoMfAn. He has made top 8 at multiple Apex, GENESIS, and Snosa events, and still remains a top 10 player on many modern rankings.
 * - One of the best Captain Falcon players in the United States. Known for his constant counterpicking, but has primarily picked Captain Falcon for his performances at majors with examples being his win at and 3rd at . His win over wario at  marks him as the first American player to beat him and is considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of Smash 64.
 * - One of the best Smash 64 players in the world, primarily plays Captain Falcon as a secondary. Won and, using the character at both tournaments to beat wario in grand finals.
 * - A Captain Falcon player who has more recently marked himself as one of the best players in the United States, ranking 10th on the 2021-2022 Smash 64 Power Rankings. He has placed 2nd at with only Captain Falcon, beating  and . He has also placed 2nd at  and many other tournaments with the character alongside either Pikachu or.
 * - A long-time Smash 64 player also known as Stranded. He is regarded for having some of the best technical skills in the game and being one of the best in North America. He has placed highly at some of the largest Smash 64 tournaments of all time with Captain Falcon such as 9th at and 13th at . Ever since 2018, his Captain Falcon has been retired in favor of playing  and Fox.
 * - A old-school player who was one of the best Captain Falcon players at the time. He had a consistent streak of tournaments in Japan up until late 2014 and had two notable major performances with 4th at and 7th at . He retired in 2015 after some lackluster performances after Apex.
 * - One of the best Captain Falcon players in Japan, considered only second to Ruoka Dancho at the time. He took sets over top players such as kysk and and even outplaced Ruoka Dancho at a few tournaments seen with his 2nd place finish at . He similarly retired from tournaments in late 2015.
 * - A Captain Falcon and Yoshi co-main that is currently one of the highest ranking active Captain Falcon players. He has placed 3rd at where he beat  and Josh Brody with the character and also placed 7th at  and 9th at . He is currently ranked 12th on the 2021-2022 Smash 64 Power Rankings.
 * - Tri-mains Captain Falcon with and  and is the best Captain Falcon player of all time. Won a multitude of tournaments from 2017-2019 with Captain Falcon being his main character with, , and  being such examples. As such, he was considered the best player of 2018 on the 64 League Rankings.
 * - The best Captain Falcon player in Japan after both Ruoka Dancho and Sin's retirement. He has placed in the top 8 at every Japanese event he has entered from 2018-2023. He has traveled out of his region twice with his 5th at and at, he beat both Isai and Shears to place 9th.
 * - Considered the second best Captain Falcon in North America behind SuPeRbOoMfAn. He is the best player from Texas and has been considered a top 20 player ever since 2016. He has made multiple top 8 major placements with Captain Falcon with 3rd at and 5th at both  and, beating players such as  and.

Tier placement and history
Captain Falcon has always been considered a high-tier character, with his lowest placement being 5th on the first tier list. His flexible combos, speed, and power have allowed him to take on the majority of the cast extremely well, and has garnered him consistently strong representation and results from high—level players. As the metagame advanced further, Falcon has been notably one of the few characters that has a manageable matchup against, the best character in the game, although he still struggles to approach and make full use of his advantages against , who can camp him with his large hitboxes. These factors have led to a rock-paper-scissors flowchart, where those three characters together shape most of the metagame. Although other characters have since risen in usage in recent times, such as and  being able to disrupt Falcon’s advantage, he still enjoys excellent usage in all levels of play.

Dash pivot
This is an easy-to-perform technique that can be used effectively for mindgames. Essentially, it is a forward roll that is performed without using a roll. To utilize the technique, one begins with an initial dash and quickly taps the control stick in the opposite direction. If one holds it in the opposite direction, or even presses it, then Captain Falcon will dash-dance instead. What makes this technique very effective is that Captain Falcon has a long initial dash, and so one can use this to tech-chase an opponent depending on their position, or even perform a sort of pivot grab. One can also use the dash pivot to change one's position in battle, necessary for spacing: successive dash pivots in one direction after a hit can provide new approach options, lining up Captain Falcon for short hopped back/up aerials, while simultaneously performing a sort of pseudo-moonwalk, potentially throwing off the opponent's perception of Captain Falcon's movement. In addition to the aforementioned usages, one can use the dash pivot to edge-hog very effectively. With proper spacing, a well-timed dash pivot can thrust a player off a ledge into a ledge grab, allowing for many viable recovery blocking techniques (a taunt cancel implemented while flying off a ledge adds notable humour and dramatic flair as well). It can also be used to land an up aerial as a simple followup to a forward throw from the edge at mid-high percentages, as a great way to land the semi-spike portion of the move. Overall, the potential of this technique is quite significant, and it is an integral part of any decent Captain Falcon user's metagame.

Teeter canceled Falcon Kick
Falcon Kick is often used among advanced Captain Falcon users as the last hit of a combo (generally followed after a ) or as an edgeguarding move. If the player is dashing, he can teeter cancel and seemingly use a Falcon Kick out of a full sprint.

"Stairway to Heaven" combo
Captain Falcon's is notorious for its low and nearly purely vertical knockback as well as its high hitstun. This combo involves using up aerial chains to combo the opponent to near the top of the stage, where Falcon Dive can be used as a combo finisher to hopefully Star KO them. These up aerial chains are extremely common among Captain Falcon players.

Description
''A regular pilot in the great galactic race F-ZERO Grand Prix, Captain Falcon is skilled at collecting prize money. Much about his past remains hidden in shadow, but it's clear that many a villain hold a powerful grudge against him.'' Works:
 * F-ZERO (SNES)
 * F-ZERO X (N64)

Trivia

 * Captain Falcon is the only playable character in Smash 64 whose stock icon is not a small image of his head. Instead, his icon is a falcon, much like the one on his helmet and series symbol.
 * Captain Falcon in Smash 64, the s in Super Smash Bros. 4, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are the only playable characters in the series whose stock icons do not depict the character's head or body.
 * Captain Falcon has the most usable costumes in the game, with six. He uses the blue and green colors when he's fighting on Team Battle (but has four normally; indigo, black, red, and white). Most characters have four or five (but have 4 colors due to the Nintendo 64 controller having four "C" buttons). has six as well, but only four are usable outside of hacking (including green, red, light blue, and yellow). The other two colors (pink and dark blue) are only playable on the Yoshi Team in 1P Game.
 * Captain Falcon's "Congratulations!" screen is the only one to use a pre-existing image from an original game, in this case, the first unlockable title screen from . The image can also be seen in the back cover of the Japanese version of F-Zero X.
 * Since Captain Falcon was partially derived from during development, he shares some attack animations with her: up tilt, dash attack, and down smash. Samus's up tilt has different hitboxes, however.
 * Captain Falcon and are the only characters to have blue costumes that are only usable while playing on the blue team in VS Mode. Similarly, Captain Falcon's green/yellow costume is only available while playing on the green team, making him the only character to have two costumes that are only usable in Team Battle.
 * On the Character selection screen, Captain Falcon's portrait greatly resembles his artwork from F-Zero X.
 * Captain Falcon's inclusion marks the only time to introduce a new character from the universe.
 * Because of this, both he and are the only fighters to remain as the sole fighters from their own franchises as of Ultimate.
 * However, Captain Falcon currently remains the sole fighter from his universe as fighters from the sub-franchises can also count as Mario characters.

Captain Falcon (SSB)