R.O.B. (SSBB)


 * This article is about R.O.B.'s playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For his non-playable appearance in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary, see Ancient Minister. For other R.O.B.s as enemies in Adventure Mode, see R.O.B. Squad.

R.O.B. (, Robot) is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His full name is Robotic Operating Buddy and he is based on the R.O.B./Robot NES/Famicom peripheral. He was unveiled in a mass leak prior to the Japanese release of Brawl. R.O.B. was confirmed on the DOJO!! March 6, 2008.

R.O.B. has a set of realistic robot sounds, similar to how Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Bowser use realistic animal sound effects.

R.O.B. ranks 18th on the tier list at the bottom of the high-mid tier. R.O.B. possesses a strong camping game with two very effective projectiles; one is a fast transcendent projectile that can travel across entire stages while going through any hurtbox it connects with, and a powerful item-based projectile that produces a lingering hitbox when it lands, while being able to be picked up and glide tossed with. He also has one of the best recoveries in Brawl, that gains incredible distance while giving R.O.B. nearly free reign to act out of. R.O.B. additionally possesses great tilts and effective aerials, with them having great reach or large hitboxes. However, R.O.B. has significant problems KOing opponents, at least without racking up well in excess of 150+% damage; his finishers aren't powerful (with most having low knockback scaling, making it especially difficult for R.O.B. to KO heavier characters), while having slow start-up, poor hitbox placement, or both, that makes them difficult to land. Additionally, R.O.B. has a large hurtbox, which when combined with his heavy weight and slow aerial mobility, leaves him vulnerable to juggling. R.O.B.'s hurtbox also accentuates his problems dealing with projectile camping from characters like, especially since he lacks a reliable reflector. The hurtbox combines with his below-average mobility to create difficulty in initiating approaches when he lacks a Gyro to glide toss. Another problem R.O.B. has is his poor momentum cancelling options, giving him among the worst endurance for a character of his weight class. Overall, R.O.B. has average matchups, where he holds an advantage over nearly every character below borderline tier, but loses the majority of matchups with several s against characters above (including a notoriously poor matchup against ). R.O.B. has achieved above average tournament results regardless, especially in Meta Knight-banned tournaments.

How to unlock
Complete one of the following:
 * Play 160 VS. matches.
 * Collect 250 different trophies.
 * Have R.O.B. join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary (The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)).

With the exception of the third method, R.O.B. must then be defeated on Mario Bros. whether or not that stage has been unlocked beforehand.

Attributes
R.O.B. plays the role of a long-range attacker very well, with projectiles and means to keep opponents at bay. His base up close is a blind spot, making it important to keep foes away. Many of his attacks balance moderate power and range with short lag-time. His moves with actual KO potential, though, have considerable start up lag or keep him airborne longer than desired. R.O.B. is also prone to Stale move negation on his KO moves (notably his down smash which, due to its low knockback scaling, can have trouble KO'ing heavier characters even at around 200%) rendering him unable to KO at times (however, his up throw can KO reliably at above 160%). He can easily set up an edgeguard using a forward or back throw, but his most powerful aerials are difficult to land. Despite his moves boasting only moderate knockback, R.O.B. can generally keep knocking his opponent away with superior range and combine any of his moves together fairly easily. The resulting damage adds up rather quickly with an experienced player. R.O.B. is decently heavy and floaty (making R.O.B, and  the only floaty heavyweights), but he is also a large target. He has two projectiles, both with decent knockback and unique properties, which usually mess up the opponent's approach. The major flaw with these projectiles is that they are not spammable (as they must be charged/recharged). His aerial game is also good, with his forward aerial being fast and having moderate knockback, his neutral and back aerial being powerful but difficult to land, and his down air acting as a Meteor Smash (although it has a very slow start-up). His back aerial can also aid his exceptional recovery, both his back and down aerials push R.O.B. up slightly when using Robo Burner. With the addition of Robo Burner, he is quite interesting to experiment with on certain combination of attacks and techniques such as a Wall of Pain. In fact, a technique sometimes called "burner flashing," which is initiated by first using Robo Burner and then repeatedly pressing B, has been proven to be the farthest vertical traveling recovery move in one go. R.O.B.'s recovery does have its problems. He can't air dodge out of Robo Burner, making his recovery predictable for some characters and he can be juggled because he is floaty in both jumping and recovery, notably by and. His slow fast falling also makes his momentum canceling poor, getting KOed vertically at relatively low percentages, especially for his weight class. R.O.B.'s side special reflects projectiles, but characters with more spammable projectiles can easily overwhelm R.O.B. from afar, and it isn't useful as an attack. Overall, with a very flexible ranged game, R.O.B. can be a dangerous foe for many characters in the game.

Notable players

 * ''See also: Category:R.O.B. players (SSBB)


 * - Best R.O.B. main from Florida
 * - Best Tri-State R.O.B.
 * - Best R.O.B. in Canada
 * - Placed 7th at Umebura 1
 * - Best R.O.B. in the world
 * - Notably beat Mikeneko, Otori, and 9B
 * - Notably beat Mikeneko, Luminous, and Lagnel
 * - Notably beat Edge, Earth, and Choco
 * - Best R.O.B. in Carolina
 * - Best Northwestern R.O.B.
 * - Best Northwestern R.O.B.

Tier placement and history
R.O.B. was initially a top tier character, being ranked 6th in the first tier list (September 2008). He was considered a difficult matchup for many players, who weren't experienced enough at the time to get around his weaknesses, and he was very dominant, with his attacks known for being fast and having great hitboxes. However, as time progressed, R.O.B.'s weaknesses became more prominent, with players learning to get around the blind spots of his attacks, as well as the increasing dominance of, the character which countered R.O.B. the most. R.O.B. continued to drop down the tier list, with the biggest drop being him falling five places from the third tier list to the fourth. He currently ranks 18th place in upper-mid tier, in the eighth tier list, as of April 2013.

Role in The Subspace Emissary
The race of R.O.B.s appear under four roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. During The Subspace Emissary, they are a unit of the Subspace Army and are used to activate the Subspace Bombs, as well as guard the Ancient Minister and come in different variations; R.O.B. Sentry, R.O.B. Launcher and the R.O.B. Blaster. The bodyguards for the Ancient Minister are called "The R.O.B. Squad". When a pair of R.O.B.s are used to activate a Subspace Bomb, they are destroyed in the explosions.

In The Subspace Emissary, it is revealed that the Ancient Minister is actually R.O.B. and the whole reason he was destroying the Super Smash Bros. World was because Tabuu had destroyed a lot of R.O.B.s, which upset the Ancient Minister. Tabuu then threatened to extinguish the rest of the R.O.B. race if the Ancient Minister would not aid him in his plan. It is also revealed that R.O.B., the Ancient Minister, was once the ruler of the world and he lives on a floating island along with the other ministers. ,, , , and  were able to get on this same island. However, when they arrive, the Ancient Minister refuses to battle with them.

A hologram of appears and commands the R.O.B. minions to detonate all the Subspace Bombs in the building, only to have the Ancient Minister tell him off. Ganondorf then orders the R.O.B.s to attack the disobedient Minister. They burn the Minister's robes away to discover that their target is a R.O.B. himself. At that point, R.O.B. decided to stop destroying the world and joined the heroes. After he and his friends defeat a flock of Auroros sent in by Ganondorf, he mourned at the fact that the Subspace Bombs are about to selfdestruct, along with the R.O.B.s that set them off. Realizing that they cannot pull the R.O.B.s away from the bombs, Captain Falcon calls in the Falcon Flyer, DK grabs the melancholic R.O.B. and the Smashers depart, despite Meta Ridley getting in their way.

Captain Falcon drives the Falcon Flyer straight into the along with everyone else. Unfortunately, Tabuu uses his Off Waves to reduce them all into trophies; R.O.B. among them. ,, , and , who were revived by the Dedede Brooch, find them and bring them back to life. With all heroes reunited, they endure the Great Maze and fight Tabuu.

R.O.B. is one of the few characters who has two names displayed throughout the story. The first time is as the Ancient Minister and the second time as R.O.B. and  also have different names displayed, labelled at different times as "" and "", respectively.

Playable appearances
R.O.B appeared several times in the Subspace Emissary as the Ancient Minister until he was finally revealed to be a friendly R.O.B unit. He appeared in Midair Stadium, The Plain, The Battlefield Fortress (where he was seen being attacked by to prevent him from dropping a Subspace Bomb), The Cave, The Wilds (Part II), & finally in The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part I).


 * The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)
 * Entrance to Subspace
 * The Great Maze (if rescued in Subspace (Part II))

In Classic Mode, R.O.B. can appear as an opponent in Stage 9 if he has been unlocked on Mario Bros. (or Delfino Plaza if Mario Bros. has not been unlocked) R.O.B. can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if he hasn't appeared in Stage 9.

All-Star Mode
In All-Star Mode, R.O.B. is fought in Stage 5 on Mario Bros. (or Delfino Plaza if Mario Bros. has not been unlocked)

Solo Events

 * Event 24: Come On! Blue Falcon!: must use his Final Smash, Blue Falcon, to defeat two R.O.B.s on Port Town Aero Dive before one full lap is complete.
 * Event 27: Three-Beast Carnage: A tiny R.O.B must defeat a giant, a giant , and a giant on New Pork City.
 * Event 39: All-Star Battle x2: R.O.B. is one of the eight opponents fought in this event along with, , , , , , and.

Co-Op Events

 * Co-Op Event 10: The R.O.B.'s of Tomorrow: Lucario and the must defeat five R.O.B.s of varying sizes on Summit.
 * Co-Op Event 18: The New Weapon of Shadow Moses: Snake and R.O.B. must defeat two other R.O.B.s on Shadow Moses Island.
 * Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on.

Trophies
R.O.B.'s main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing and All-Star mode respectively with R.O.B..

Trivia

 * The entirety of R.O.B.'s "voice" is composed of NES-style noises, although this is difficult to discern during a fight. R.O.B.,, , and are the only characters that do not have voices.
 * R.O.B. is the only character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl without a stage representing his universe. Instead, Mario Bros. is used as his home stage. Delfino Plaza is used if Mario Bros. has not been unlocked yet.
 * In addition, R.O.B. and are the only characters that are unlocked on a stage that does not hail from their respective universe.
 * R.O.B. is the only character in Brawl who can hold 4 consecutive charges at the same time; a smash attack, a fully charged Gyro, Robo Beam and the automatic replenishing of his fuel capacity for Robo Burner.
 * While some characters cannot be put in helpless naturally, their helpless state can be seen via hacking. R.O.B. is the exception, as the game freezes if he is put in helpless state, meaning he was not programmed to have one.
 * R.O.B. is the only character to spin horizontally when using a . Despite this, the graphical effect continues to spin vertically.
 * On the base of R.O.B. it reads "FAMILY COMPUTER ROBOT". However, when using the gray palette swap, it reads "R.O.B. Robotic Operating Buddy", a reference to the English-language version of R.O.B.
 * Brawl is the only game since his debut where R.O.B. uses the same default color in all regions, regardless of the language, and is also the only game where the Famicom colors are the default in the international versions.
 * When spawning items on training mode with R.O.B., the items will spawn much farther than with other characters. This makes it specially difficult to spawn multiple Smart Bombs continuously in order to rack up the combo meter.
 * With a total of 22 years and five months (at the time of Brawl's release), R.O.B. held the record for the longest time gap between their debut as a playable character in Smash and their last appearance in their home series, beating the record of the until  in turn took the record in.