Blue Falcon

The Blue Falcon (, Blue Falcon) is Captain Falcon's vehicle for his on-screen appearance in all games except Super Smash Bros. Melee, as well as his Final Smash since Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Overview
The Blue Falcon appears in Melee as a vehicle shown in the opening movie along with Samus' Gunship and the Great Fox, as a stage element on Big Blue and, and a part of the and F-Zero Racers trophies. Its role as a stage element is continued in Brawl's Port Town Aero Dive and 's, appearing as a 2D sprite in the latter.

As a Final Smash, it starts when Captain Falcon calls (saying "Come on! Blue Falcon!") for his machine, the Blue Falcon. The Blue Falcon crashes through the stage in front of Captain Falcon. Whoever it hits when it first appears will be hit by the rest of the move. Characters who are not hit will stay in place until the end of the smash. A short cutscene appears, and the opponents are run over and sent flying, doing about 40% damage if every part of the attack hits and has high knockback. Smash 4 added the engine revving sound effect from the original F-Zero to the cutscene. Ultimate added a trail of flames on both sides of the Blue Falcon to create wing-like visuals similar to the Falcon Punch. Like certain other Final Smashes, if no one is hit when the Blue Falcon appears, then the attack fails. This Final Smash requires precise timing as one must get close to foes.

In Brawl, Captain Falcon's on-screen appearance in the Subspace Emissary also involves the Blue Falcon. After Olimar and his got terrified by a giant R.O.B., a red Pikmin points out the Blue Falcon, which opens its canopy and Captain Falcon ejects himself from the machine, then Falcon Punches the R.O.B.. The Blue Falcon does not appear in any place after this.

Damage & knockback
The number of targets hit by this Final Smash inversely affects knockback: on a single target, it is powerful enough to guarantee a KO, while a lot of targets may collide with one another, reducing the resulting knockback. Regardless of number of targets, damage remains a constant 40%. However, it could inflict only 5% if used twice in a row in Training mode. For unknown reasons, the launch angle of the final hit is not consistent, and can vary drastically, even if no DI is used.

Glitches
The following glitches are known to occur in Brawl.
 * If Captain Falcon uses Blue Falcon while there are other characters in a trapped animation, such as a in a Stone state or a character swallowed by Gulpin, the trapped characters' obstruction will disappear and they will be seen in their T-Stance during the entirety of Blue Falcon.
 * If Blue Falcon is activated while Captain Falcon is running on ice and slides into the opponent while using his Final Smash, the cutscene will show a close-up of the Blue Falcon, eventually going behind it. His opponents will not be hit by the attack. An example can be seen here. From this point onwards in the match or Training session, Smash Balls and any missing Dragoon pieces will not appear. This is because Captain Falcon self-destructed in the middle of the move so the game perpetually thinks the move is not complete.
 * If the above glitch is performed on a custom stage featuring ice leading all the way to blast zone, and Captain Falcon is giant while initiating the move, he will respawn from the SD with the Blue Falcon's model stuck to him. It will appear in the background when Captain Falcon faces left and in the foreground when facing right.
 * In Training, the invisible items glitch can trigger. If a player places an item on the middle of the race track, the item will be stuck on the race track. When the racing animation is finished and Captain Falcon performs a pose, the item becomes invisible at the end of the Final Smash, and will remain invisible until picked up.
 * If Captain Falcon is swallowed by the Bulborb on the Distant Planet stage and uses Blue Falcon on an opponent who is not inside the Bulborb, he will be trapped in a blind pose for the duration of the Final Smash.
 * Although the first hit of Blue Falcon is designed to never trigger a KO, for unknown reasons if Blue Falcon is used on an opponent right under or above the upper blast line, the opponent may still be star KO'd by the initial hit. They will still be in the ramming cutscene and be hit by the second portion of the attack, which results in a double KO, as they were hit by the machine originally. A video of it can be seen here; the glitch was discovered by.
 * If Captain Falcon uses Blue Falcon in Rumble Falls while the stage is sped up, the camera during the Final Smash will speed up as well.

Event
In Event 24: Come On! Blue Falcon!, the player plays as Captain Falcon and must use this Final Smash to KO two s before one complete lap of Port Town Aero Dive.

Origin
The Blue Falcon is Captain Falcon's ship in every F-Zero game to date, and is playable from the start in all of them. In comparison to other available ships, the Blue Falcon is always a well rounded, beginner-friendly ship. It typically is among the highest in acceleration and cornering, while having relatively low top speed and defense. The design seen in all of its Smash appearances closely resembles , but seems to employ a number of characteristics from other F-Zero titles. The sound heard upon activation if the attack connects is the exact same as the one heard in the original F-Zero as the racers pull up to the starting line at the beginning of each race. Additionally, the track seems to be in Port Town, Captain Falcon's hometown.

Trivia

 * If the Blue Falcon crashes into someone with armor, the victim does not get knocked away, but the Final Smash still initiates with the character being struck and still getting the same damage and knockback after the cutscene.
 * This is the only move that Captain Falcon uses that is derived from the games that he stars in. All of his other moves are original and created for the Smash Bros. series.
 * If the Blue Falcon is used successfully in Super Smash Bros. 4 and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, one can hear the sound effect that plays at the beginning of a grand prix race in older F-Zero games, especially the original F-Zero for the SNES.
 * Even if Captain Falcon is in a match, the Blue Falcon will still participate in races on all F-Zero stages, unlike other characters that can also appear as background characters (such as King Dedede on Dream Land).
 * When the Final Smash is used on certain characters, some of their items may vanish and will only reappear when the move ends:
 * If used on, her Paralyzer vanishes and then reappears after the move's end.
 * When the Final Smash is used on while using its green costume, the hat vanishes and then reappears.
 * A similar effect happens when is on his Wario Bike, except all items will vanish.
 * If one examines the Blue Falcon trophy, one can see Captain Falcon giving a thumbs up inside the cockpit.
 * This is the only cinematic Final Smash in Brawl, making it the first one in the series.
 * During the beginning of the Final Smash cinematic, if one looks closely, they might be able to see the opponent (or opponents, if any others) in their stun animation and playing their sound effect for a stun. Blue Falcon shares this distinction with Chain Attack and Mega Legends.
 * Additionally, in SSB4, the light puffs of smoke that appear if an opponent is at 100% or more damage are seen as well. As with the above trivia, Blue Falcon shares this distinction with Chain Attack.
 * Captain Falcon has two unique ending animations after the Final Smash ends: he lands on one knee and strikes a defensive pose if the move was used on the ground, and he does a backwards flip if the move was used in the air. However, in Brawl the grounded animation goes unused, despite being in the game's files.

Blue Falcon (Smash Final)