Metal Mario

Metal Mario (, Metal Mario) is a character from the series.

Origin
Metal Mario debuted in  as the metallic power-up form of Mario. He can be obtained by collecting the released from the Metal Box, which can be materialized by activating its corresponding green  in the  portion of the. In , only or a character wearing  can obtain the effects of the Metal Cap, which does not return in this game. Instead, it is obtained from a.

As Metal Mario, Mario is invulnerable, but also extremely heavy. As such, Metal Mario can easily defeat enemies by running into them, can withstand heavy winds, becomes immune to poison clouds, and can walk underwater; however, since he is extremely heavy, he cannot jump higher or farther, he cannot swim, and he sinks in quicksand faster.

Metal Mario makes his debut appearance as a separate character in Super Smash Bros., but has made his official debut as a Mario series character in  and would since become a recurring character in various Mario spin-off games.

As a boss
Metal Mario debuts as a mini boss in the ninth stage of the 1P Game and is fought on the Meta Crystal stage.

Despite appearing as a simple palette-swap of at first glance, Metal Mario is a powerful fighter who barely flinches to ordinary attacks, is unaffected by grabs and throws at low percentages. Crucially, he also has a handicap that allows him to take around 200% before being possible to launch, though it changes based on difficulty setting. Additionally, Metal Mario is to send the player's character flying slightly farther than normal from normal attacks and throws, but will deal the same damage as Mario. However, he is very weak to edge-guarding: once a player manages to knock him off the stage, he will often fail to recover due to his extremely fast falling speed, despite the decent distance from his Super Jump Punch. He also has an 8-frame jumpsquat, making any aerial attack much more sluggish.

Metal Mario doesn't sprint and rarely jumps; he simply walks from place to place at a steady pace. He also rarely uses his Fireball attack, even though a normal CPU Mario uses it often, and will not gain a copy ability from inhaling him. On lower difficulties, he mainly walks around the stage and hardly attacks, but becomes more powerful on higher difficulties.

As a playable character

 * Main article: Metal Mario (SSB)



Metal Mario can be controlled if loaded via the debug menu or the Gameshark code 800A4B3B 000D. Despite his power in 1P Game, many players consider him to be far worse than normal Mario. Despite his aforementioned strengths and knockback resistance, he is less resilient than his 1P Game counterpart, as his handicap is removed; additionally, his buffed knockback is neutralised. For all intents and purposes, playable Metal Mario is regular Mario with altered movement physics.

Metal Mario maintains some knockback-based armor, able to resist weak attacks at lower percentages, while being immune to 's Blaster and Luigi Cyclone's 1%-dealing hitboxes. He also has reduced combo potential, as he cannot efficiently follow up with combos after attacking due to an abysmal short hop, 8-frame jumpsquat, and awkward aerial and dashing physics. Metal Mario's fall speed of 100 is faster than his fast fall speed of 72 - the only character in the game like this - making Metal Mario fall slower when initiating a fast fall. Because of how fast Metal Mario falls, while it helps with vertical survivability, it hinders his recovery, makes getting out of combos very difficult, and also makes him vulnerable to chain grabs. Notably, Metal Mario's equivalent to Mario Tornado arguably hinders his recovery instead of helping, gaining almost no height.

As a boss
Metal Mario returns as a minor boss in Adventure Mode and is fought during Stage 11 on the stage after the player defeats the fifteen Fighting Wire Frames.

Unlike the previous game, Metal Mario is not considered by the game to be a separate character, but rather fighting under the permanent effects of the new Metal Box item, but has slightly faster falling speed and reduced knockback resistance. He is much more aggressive in this installment, no longer ignoring the player at all.

Metal Mario is joined by Metal Luigi, the metallic form of Luigi who appears if is unlocked, thus making the battle even more difficult. Similar to Metal Mario, Metal Luigi is considered to be Luigi under the permanent effect of the Metal Box (albeit with increased falling speed like his metallic brother). Defeating both characters will result in a Metal Bros. KO bonus where the player receives 8,000 points.

Unlike Metal Mario, Metal Luigi does not reappear as a non-playable character in any modes for the Super Smash Bros. series after this game.

In addition to their appearance in Adventure Mode, Metal Mario or Metal Luigi will likely appear as a random metal opponent on the penultimate stage in.

Trophy
The Metal Mario trophy can be randomly obtained through the 1-P mode of the Trophy Lottery.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4
In both Brawl and Smash 4, Metal Mario and Metal Luigi are no longer specific characters, and instead appear as a likely metal opponent fought alone in.

In, Metal Mario or Metal Luigi appear as an intruder just as any other opponent can, replacing one of the opponents before a battle. They can also be fought in, where they can appear on any random stage, not limited to Battlefield or Mario stages.

Metal versions of Mario and Luigi outside of Classic Mode in Brawl and SSB4 can once again be obtained by collecting a Metal Box.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Metal Mario returns as a boss character in Ultimate. He is fought after defeating the regular during the final stage of Bowser's.

Spirit
Metal Mario also appears as an Ace-class primary spirit, with a battle that acts as a homage to his boss fight in the first two games.

Metal Mario's Spirit Battle uses a Metal Mario puppet fighter and is fought on The Great Cave Offensive stage's Battlefield form, the stage referencing the Meta Crystal stage in Super Smash Bros. and the Battlefield form referencing Melee's Battlefield stage where Metal Mario is fought as a boss. During the battle, Mario is slow but has increased defense and attack, referencing how Metal Mario is a slow, but more powerful power-up form of Mario, as well as his sluggish behavior and knockback handicaps in Smash 64. In fact, he overall acts more sluggish, often approaching with a walk like his original fight.

Trivia

 * If one looks closely at the reflection on Metal Mario's trophy in Melee, the stage can be seen. This is easiest to spot on his hat, nose, or bottom.
 * Metal Mario along with Giant Donkey Kong and to a degree Master Hand (from the Master Hand Glitch) are the first characters to be non-playable in one game, then playable in all future games (with items and/or Special Modes). They would be followed by Giga Bowser.
 * In Super Smash Bros., Metal Mario's series symbol is a bit different from the Mario series, making it more metallic.
 * In Smash 64's 1P Game, when the Announcer introduces Metal Mario, his voice gains a slight change and becomes metallic. Although it may just be to place emphasis on Mario's metal composition, the Announcer's voice sounds noticeably deeper and the same change in voice does not occur for announcing any other character in Classic Mode.

Mario de Metal