Metal Box

The Metal Box (, Green Block) is an item from the series.

Origin
The Metal Box made its appearance in . It is a green that materializes after Mario activates its corresponding green  in the  area of the  level. After breaking it, the green Cap Block releases a which temporarily transforms Mario into Metal Mario, making him invulnerable (though he's still vulnerable to fall damage), but also extremely heavy.

In , the ! Blocks are replaced by red s that materializes after activating the red at the Rainbow Tower level. After breaking it, the ? Block releases a, which has different effects on each of the game's four playable characters. If the player collects the Power Flower as Wario, then he transforms into Metal Wario, which features the same effects as the Metal Cap.

As an item
The Metal Box item debuted as a transforming item in Super Smash Bros. Melee. However, the basic concept for the Metal Box, that being making the character a voiceless, armored heavyweight, originated in Super Smash Bros., with Metal Mario as a boss character in 1P Game. The effects of the Metal Box differ from Super Mario 64, including the character taking damage and falling faster.

The Metal Box transforms the player's fighter who breaks it into a Metal fighter. Metal fighters make different metallic sounds while walking, running, and landing, depending on their weight for the most part. All lightweight fighters except, , and the  make a faint "tinging" sound; all middleweight fighters make a standard "clanking" sound; and all heavyweight fighters except , , , and  make a much more noticeable "crunching" sound. Most of the aforementioned exceptional characters make the standard middleweight sound in spite of their weight. Mewtwo doesn't make any sounds, even when landing, and Mr. Game & Watch's footsteps and landing sounds are always electronic beep noises.

When used by Rosalina in Smash 4, her Luma also transforms into metal. When she uses it in Ultimate however, her Luma is not affected. When used by Olimar/Alph, however, his are not affected. In addition, only one of the Ice Climbers can use only one Metal Box and can turn into metal. Finally, controllable Final Smashes in Brawl and Smash 4 such as Giga Bowser, Wario-Man, Mega Lucario, and Giga Mac are not affected by breaking Metal Boxes.

In Melee, if the Metal Box is broken by disjointed attacks like 's forward smash or any attack from a sword-wielding character, they will still transform them into a Metal fighter. Interestingly, Ness' dash attack is the only disjointed attack that doesn't turn him metal. Also, if the Metal Box is hit by a projectile, it will disappear. Also, fighters can battle Metal Mario and/or Metal Luigi in Adventure Mode. In addition, they also fight a random metal character in Classic Mode.

In Brawl, the Metal Box, which now has an original, more realistic, and shinier texture, cannot be broken when hit by projectiles, and the metallic walking sound effect no longer changes depending on the characters' weights, so everyone has the same sound when walking. It also features an effect on the new ability to swim; while characters will not sink as Metal Mario did in , they will submerge deeper after falling into the water. This technique is used to reach a secret area in the Glacial Peak level of the Subspace Emissary. In Classic Mode, the player must also battle a random metal character.

In Smash 4, the transformation duration can no longer be extended by picking up additional Metal Boxes. In the 3DS version, the metal is translucent rather than opaque, but in the Wii U version, the metal texture is both opaque and reflective, with the current stage being reflected on the character's body.

In Ultimate, the Metal Box's effect appears to slowly take over the character rather than immediately, similar to Inkling's.

The Metal Box cannot appear in Golden Plains.

The 's Metal Slash ability will instantly KO any metal characters that it hits, and his Kaclang ability is able to turn him metal, being the only special move to do so.

Metal fighters can also be battled in the series' Classic Mode under the permanent effects of the Metal Box. In Super Smash Bros., the Metal Box does not appear as an item; however, Metal Mario, the opponent of the ninth stage of the 1P Game features the effect of the Metal Box. In Melee can battle Metal Mario and/or Metal Luigi in Adventure Mode.

Metal battles appear as a feature in Brawl's Special Brawl and in later games onward, where all fighters become metal under the permanent effects of a Metal Box. Also, in Ultimate's spirit battles, players can battle a puppet fighter that is either entirely made of metal or shifts into metal.

In all of its appearances, breaking the Metal Box feature the following effects:


 * The effects last 12 seconds, but the time limit decreases as the fighter takes damage, especially from fire attacks like Bowser's Fire Breath.
 * Increases the fighter's weight (3.0× in Melee; 4.5× in Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate) than normal; however, weight independent attacks can ignore the weight boost; this includes any attack that has the bury, paralyze, or stun effects.
 * Increases the fighter's jump force (1.55× in Melee and Brawl; 1.35× in Smash 4; 1.2× in Ultimate), although usually not by enough to compensate for the gravity and fall speed increase; however, it does not affect gliding, floating, or Yoshi's double jump.
 * Increases the fighter's falling speed (2.0× in Melee and Brawl; 1.7× in Smash 4; 1.4× in Ultimate), making recoveries harder, and more vulnerable to certain chain grabs. Certain characters with multiple double jumps will not gain any net vertical distance while under the effects of a Metal Box, as they will fall below where they had began the jump before being able to jump again.
 * Increases the fighter's gravity slightly (2.0× in Melee and Brawl; 1.7× in Smash 4 and Ultimate).
 * Decreases the fighter's walking speed slightly (0.7× in Melee, Brawl, and Smash 4; 0.8× in Ultimate).
 * Increases the fighter's knockback resistance by subtracting the amount of knockback taken from attacks by 30 units. Weak projectiles such as Link's Arrows, and most jabs, will merely deal damage without causing flinching if they don't deal more than 0 units of knockback. However, attacks that have the bury effect, or deal fixed knockback (in Ultimate only), will ignore the knockback resistance.
 * Mutes the character's voices (although, as sound effects are still retained, Duck Hunt, Samus, Mr. Game & Watch, Villager, Mii Fighters (in SSB4), Mega Man, wireframe Little Mac, Pac-Man, Isabelle, Dark Samus, Piranha Plant and Steve are unaffected by this); however, getting knocked beyond the blast line of any stage will make the character scream as usual, except for in SSB4.
 * Characters make metal sound effects when hitting a surface upon taking a step; however, the sound more closely resembles that of a thin sheet of metal, suggesting that the character isn't turned into metal, just covered with it.

In Smash Tour
The Metal Box appears as a red trophy item in Smash Tour. When used, it allows the player's fighter to start a battle in metal form.

In Super Smash Bros. 4
The Metal Box trophy appears in both versions.

Spirits
While the Metal Box itself does not have a spirit, several spirits will allow the player to start a battle in metal form.

Trivia

 * In Melee and Brawl, the metal effect ignores transparency, meaning that parts that should be transparent become opaque while the effect is active. This is most visible with Olimar in Brawl; his entire helmet becomes encased with metal. Other examples include Donkey Kong's fur and Ivysaur's leaves. In SSB4 onwards, transparency is taken into account; Olimar's face becomes metal while his helmet remains untouched.
 * In, while the metal texture reflects the actual stage, it does not reflect it in real-time, instead reflecting a pre-rendered screenshot of the stage. For example, the metal texture will only show a reflection of the Boxing Ring's Smash Bros. variant, as opposed to the default Punch-Out!! theme.
 * Despite being replaced by red ? Blocks in Super Mario 64 DS, the trophy lists that game as one of the Metal Box's appearances.
 * In, metal characters retain their textures, while every other game ignores textures and only displays the bump maps of the character models. This is most noticeable with Kirby, whose eyes disappear when he becomes metal in every game other than for 3DS, or Mario, whose hat insignia and eyes also disappear.