Isabelle (SSBU)

Isabelle in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Animal Crossing
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Dream Town Hall
Tier	D+ (69)

“	Isabelle Turns Over A New Leaf!	”
—Introduction tagline

Isabelle (しずえ, Shizue) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. She was announced as a newcomer at the end of the September 13, 2018 Nintendo Direct in tandem with the then-untitled Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Despite sharing many moves with Villager, Isabelle is not classified as an Echo Fighter and instead functions as a semi-clone. As a result, Isabelle is classified as Fighter #68.

Although Isabelle speaks Animalese within her home series and reveal trailer, she is completely mute in Ultimate.

Isabelle is ranked 69th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing her at the end of the D+ tier. Isabelle possesses good defensive play, and excellent ledge trapping; owing to her slingshot, special moves, and fast close-range moves. Isabelle also has a good juggle, making it difficult for the opponent’s to safely land via her up aerial, up tilt, and aforementioned traits. Isabelle is considered to have better close-range moves than Villager, such as Jab, Forward Tilt, and Up Tilt, the latter of which is an excellent combo starter. Somewhat akin to Sonic's perception in Ultimate, Isabelle is often considered to be frustrating to play against, particularly for her tendency to avoid unsafe interactions in some matchups. This can cause opponent's to make risky approaches, providing opportunities for Isabelle to punish. Notably, Isabelle's unique jab gives her the ability to perform the "Wobbelle" technique, which can trap opponents at the ledge up to KO percentages.

However, Isabelle has numerous drawbacks. Some include poor offense, low damage output, sluggish movement, low weight, a slow grab, and a difficulty in closing stocks. In addition, both Lloid Trap and Fishing Rod have significant flaws that hinder their reliability. Isabelle’s Lloid Trap can be easily destroyed by many characters, causing a explosion that uniquely hurts the user. Furthermore, if the trap hasn’t been set off or destroyed within ten seconds, it will disappear entirely. Fishing Rod will sometimes disconnect if a platform obstructs Isabelle’s ability to reel in her line. In addition, what happens when this occurs is rather unpredictable; ranging from breaking off immediately, to bringing her catch in, without performing a throw. While the latter can be desirable, the effect is neither common nor controllable. Losing her catch often results in no punish, and can leave her vulnerable to a counter attack.

Overall, Isabelle's weaknesses hold her back in competitive play and she is considered unviable in the current metagame. However, her standing and results have nevertheless improved since the launch of the game, due to buffs in balance patches and efforts from players such as Jaka, Nery, and Rokki.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Isabelle being the 21st character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Pikachu or any character in its unlock tree, being the 5th character unlocked after Mega Man.
• Have Isabelle join the player's party in World of Light.

Isabelle must then be defeated on Town and City (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Isabelle is a relatively short and floaty lightweight with slow overall mobility. As a semi-clone of her fellow Animal Crossing fighter Villager, both characters have several similarities to each other. However, Isabelle is characterized by a lighter weight, floatier physics and lacks the ability to wall jump. Aside from her slower falling speed, she demonstrates marginally quicker mobility, both on the ground and in the air. In turn, Isabelle sports the 12th slowest dashing speed (although she has a decent initial dashing speed), slightly above-average walking speed, average air speed, below-average air acceleration, the 6th lowest gravity (tied with Peach, Daisy and Steve), is tied with Wii Fit Trainer and Ice Climbers for the 10th slowest falling speed, an average jumping height, and the 5th highest traction (tied with Ness, Villager and Mr. Game & Watch). Moreover, Isabelle also has multiple attacks that are unique to her (such as all of her smash attacks), and even the moves she shares with Villager have different animations and mechanics.

Isabelle's grounded moves have their utility mainly due to their range and low startup, as all of her standard grounded moves have less than 10 frames of startup. Neutral attack is Isabelle's fastest grounded move, and while it is a weak single-hit move, it can be used to combo into her smash attacks at high percentages and is a reliable jab lock. Forward tilt is useful when spaced thanks to its decent knockback and range, while also serving as a situational KO option at higher percentages. Up tilt's disjointed hitbox makes it an effective anti-air attack and juggling option, while its low knockback and relatively fast speed also make it a useful combo move. Down tilt possesses decent range as well, while the sweetspot close to her is strong enough to KO at high percentages.

Dash attack is a projectile that can be used on platforms against opponents on the ground or on lower platforms, and it can also be used near the ledge for edgeguarding or potentially as a 2 frame punish. Her smash attacks also have some utility as well: forward smash is her strongest KO option if sweetspotted; up smash hits twice and is her best vertical KO move while also comboing into up aerial at low percentages; and down smash is a semi-spike that can be used for KOing near the ledge, edgeguarding, and 2 frame punishes.

Isabelle's aerials autocancel in a short hop. Neutral aerial is Isabelle's fastest aerial and typically her best out of shield option, and has sex kick properties that enable it to combo into Isabelle's other moves or break out of combos. Forward and back aerials involve her firing slingshot pellets that are useful for approaching, spacing and edgeguarding; back aerial has slower startup but less ending lag than forward aerial, and is stronger as well. Finally, up and down aerials have her always swing two turnips as opposed to also one or three like Villager, making them more consistent overall. With her ability to maintain offstage presence, due to her floaty nature, Isabelle's mix of fast and long-ranged aerials make edgeguarding one of the focal points of her strengths.

Isabelle's grab game also has some utility. Isabelle uses a net as part of her tether grab, which has a longer range than normal grabs, but more startup and ending lag as a result; however, Isabelle does not have a grab aerial in spite of said long-ranged grab. Isabelle can notably use her grab to pocket items. Down throw can be used to initiate aerial combos, forward throw can setup edgeguards rather effectively, and back throw is a potent KO throw, being among the strongest back throws in the game. Up throw deals decent damage, but its lack of utility otherwise makes it Isabelle's least useful throw.

Isabelle sports versatile special moves. Her neutral special, Pocket, allows her to steal an opponent's projectile and send it back at them, helping to discourage projectile camping against her. Her down special, Lloid Trap, has her planting Lloid into the ground. Lloid Trap will active whenever an opponent walks over Lloid or can be activated manually, making it useful for surprising opponents, though it also takes notable time to plant and leaves her vulnerable, not being active until frame 51. However, despite this flaw, Lloid establishes another notable strength Isabelle possesses, ledge trapping; when planted in the correct position, Lloid alone can cover rolling and jumping get up's while Isabelle herself can attempt to cover other get-up options, allowing her to have an easier time maintaining advantage.

In addition, Lloid has other forms of utility; it can combo into up aerial if Isabelle is close enough, making it a KO confirm at higher percentages. Lloid also has the niche application known as "Glyroid"; when manually detonating Lloid during her initial dash, Isabelle will quickly slide a short distance, allowing it to be used as a movement mix-up for approaching. Her side special, Fishing Rod, allows her to grab and throw opponents from distances farther than her grab can, while it also functions as a tether recovery and an edgeguarding tool, as the fact that it can hang offstage allows her to catch opponents with slower recoveries. Her up special, Balloon Trip, provides vast vertical and horizontal distance, though it travels a slightly shorter distance than Villager's version. This, in addition to her Fishing Rod's great horizontal distance, makes Isabelle notoriously difficult to gimp.

However, Isabelle does have her flaws, one of the most notable being her disadvantage state. Due to her floatiness and low weight, she struggles to return to the ground safely, which makes her more vulnerable to juggling and early knockouts. Additionally, Isabelle’s aerials offer limited coverage beneath her. Her options for mixing up movement are limited, with B-reversing Pocket and committal directional air dodges being among the few options available.

Many of her special moves have major flaws. While her Fishing Rod is a versatile command grab with a very good range, it is flawed in many ways. Unlike all other grabs in the game, it is unusually capable of being shielded and suffers from a lot of ending lag, making it very punishable. Lloid Trap is also very flawed; planting Lloid leaves her vulnerable and takes 51 frames to be active, it disappears after only 10 seconds and can easily be destroyed due to it only having 8% of HP, and in some cases the resulting explosion will damage Isabelle herself and some characters can even run through it without getting affected. While Isabelle's recovery is very long-distanced, she has no way to defend herself while using Balloon Trip, due to the move lacking a hitbox, and popping the balloons will render her helpless, meaning that despite her recovery being fairly good on paper, it is among the most easily edgeguarded in practice. Finally, Isabelle notably lacks some of Villager's most important tools for zoning in the neutral game, namely Lloid Rocket and Timber, making her noticeably worse at zoning than her counterpart.

Overall, Isabelle is a more risk adverse character than Villager, having inferior zoning and camping ability, but greater punish options and more reliable stage control. This is partially due to her special attacks having notable flaws, as well as possessing inferior endurance due to her lighter weight and slower falling speed. Some of her benefits are directly tied to being in an advantageous game state, despite having a worse neutral than Villager, making her strengths less accessible.

Update history

Isabelle received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed overall. Update 1.0.0 decreased the landing lag of her up and down aerials, which made them safer to use for set-ups and in general. Lloid Trap's detection range was also increased noticeably. Fishing Rod's line length was also increased when cast via a smash input, although the move itself received a few nerfs: its tilt inputted line's length was decreased, the smash input's frame window was shortened, and the rod's hook travels slower.

Update 2.0.0 fixed some infamous glitches, such as the infinite Assist Trophy glitch and Slingshot Crash, as well as enabled Isabelle's neutral aerial to auto-cancel earlier. Update 3.0.0 nerfed her forward and back aerials' shield damage as part of a near-universal nerf to projectiles. More notably, this same update modified Fishing Rod in two ways: its hook gained the ability to catch an opponent while it is idle, thus granting it a guaranteed set-up for a 2 frame punish, but at the cost of its active frames being decreased significantly. However, update 3.1.0 undid these changes to Fishing Rod.

In update 4.0.0, Isabelle received a number of worthwhile buffs. She travels farther when rolling, which compliments her defensive playstyle. Isabelle's neutral attack, which was near-universally viewed by players as one the worst moves of any kind in the game, received a number of changes that noticeably improve its utility, most notably granting her a unique edge trap technique dubbed the "Wobbelle". Her up smash and Fishing Rod's up throw became stronger KOing options, thanks to their increased knockback scaling. Lastly, Fishing Rod and Lloid Trap had their lag decreased; in particular, Lloid Trap's decreased start-up lag enables it to function much better against most opponents that dash over it.

Following update 7.0.0's buff to Fishing Rod's tether range, update 8.0.0 granted Isabelle a number of worthwhile buffs, similarly to update 4.0.0. Her up tilt, dash attack, up smash, and down aerial each had their lag decreased by varying amounts, with up tilt in particular becoming much more effective for combos as a result. In addition, Isabelle's up aerial received more base knockback, and her pummel's hitbox was enlarged in order to improve its consistency.

Update 13.0.0 granted Isabelle her final buffs, with the most notable of these being to her down smash: its KO potential was improved via increased knockback, whereas the enlargement and repositioning of its hitboxes improved its reliability both as a "Wobbelle" KO confirm and as a 2 frame punish. Down tilt's ending lag was decreased; in addition to making the move safer overall, this enables its close hitbox to set up at low percentages, similarly to dash attack's close hitbox as of update 8.0.0. Forward smash's clean hitbox became slightly easier to land, thanks to it gaining 1 more active frame. Lastly, forward throw's knockback was increased, which improved its utility as a stage control option.

Despite overall buffs, Isabelle fares worse now than she did at the launch of Ultimate. While her buffs are beneficial, they fail to address her fundamental issues, and the introduction of DLC characters has brought about several unfavorable matchups. Furthermore, the universal nerf to projectile shield damage has weakened Isabelle's defensive play and neutral game, especially due to her heavy reliance on her slingshot.

1.1.0

• Up and down aerials have less landing lag (12 frames → 9).
• Lloid Trap's detection range is longer (6.8u → 8.5u).

Fishing Rod:

• Maximum rod length with smash input increased (52 → 58).
• Maximum rod length with tilt input decreased (42 → 38).
• Decreased the travel speed of the hook (tilt: 2.2 → 2; smash: 3.8 → 3.6).
• Decreased the window for smash inputs (6 frames → 4).

1.2.0

• Dream Town Hall grants Isabelle invulnerability after the last hit.
• Created the Slingshot Crash glitch where if Villager or Isabelle Pocket one another's slingshot from a Pocket, the game will crash.

2.0.0

• Fixed item collided with two Fishing Rods that would behave erratically, most noticeably infinite Assist Trophy glitch.
• Fixed the Slingshot Crash glitch.
• Neutral aerial autocancels earlier (frame 39 → 34).

3.0.0

• Forward aerial deals less shield damage (0 → -3.5/-2/-1 (early/mid/late)).
• Back aerial deals less shield damage (0 → -4.5/-2.5/-1.5 (early/mid/late)).
• Fishing Rod's reel has fewer active frames (frames 2-11 → 10-11).
• Fishing Rod's reel can catch opponents in the air while it is not moving, giving it a guaranteed setup for 2 frame punishes.

3.1.0

• Fishing Rod was reverted to its pre-3.0.0 behavior.
  • The move has more active frames when reeling back (frames 9-11 → 2-11).
  • Fishing Rod no longer catches opponents while it is not moving.

4.0.0

• Isabelle's rolls travel a longer distance (2.25u → 2.85u).
• Neutral attack deals less knockback (21 base/38 scaling → 14/30), has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.5×) and deals more hitstun (8 frames → 14), allowing it to chain into itself more reliably and making it safer to use.
• Up smash's second hit has more knockback scaling (111 → 116).
• Fishing Rod has less startup lag (frame 25 → 21) and can be reeled in faster (frame 50 → 46).
• Fishing Rod's up throw has more knockback scaling (62 → 66).
• Lloid Trap has less startup lag once activated (frame 11 → 9). This means most characters can no longer run over it without getting hit.
  • The rehit interval was increased to compensate (8 frames → 9), which can result in fewer hits occurring when catching opponents partway through the attack.

7.0.0

• Adjusted variables related to Fishing Rod's ledge tether range (14, 10, -3, -10 → 20, 25, -3, -10), in order to improve its reliability as a tether recovery.

8.0.0

• Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 30), improving its combo potential.
• Dash attack has less startup (frame 9 → 7), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 42 → 40).
• Up smash:
  • The move has less startup (frame 11 → 9), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 48 → 46).
  • It starts charging sooner (frame 8 → 7).
• Up aerial has more base knockback (30 → 40).
• Down aerial has less startup lag (frame 14 → 11) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 46 → 43).
• Pummel has a larger hitbox (5u → 6.3u), allowing it to connect more consistently.

11.0.0

• Changed the length of vulnerability when crumpling to be consistent with other fighters.

13.0.0

• Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 35 → 32)
• Forward smash's clean hit has a longer duration (frames 14-15 → 14-16).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has higher knockback scaling (100 → 104 (front hit)/105 (back hit)).
  • The far hitbox on both hits is larger (4u → 5u). This gives the move more vertical range, although these hitboxes were moved closer to Isabelle (z offset: 12.5/-12.5 → 11.5/11-5) to compensate for their horizontal range.
• Forward throw deals more knockback (102 base/10 scaling → 107/20).

Moveset

• Isabelle possess a tether grab, which is her side special.

For a gallery of Isabelle's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Toy Hammer (ピコピコハンマー)	2%	Swings a toy hammer downward. It is very quick overall, but consists of only a single hit that inflicts very minimal damage and knockback both very low. These traits make it a useful locking option, and at low percentages, it can combo into itself multiple times. As of update 4.0.0, it has a wobbling-inspired technique known as the "Wobbelle", which enables it to reliably trap an opponent at an edge as long as Isabelle walks forward very slightly and immediately following each hit. As a result, the Wobbelle allows neutral attack to rack up damage even past 200%. It also allows neutral attack to combo reliably into Isabelle's tilt attacks, down smash and Pocket; its forward tilt, clean down tilt and especially down smash combos, in particular, are potent KO confirms. Although the Wobbelle is a useful technique, maintaining it requires precise timing between hits, and it is susceptible to SDI.
Forward tilt		Umbrella (かさ)	9%	Swings a candy umbrella horizontally. Compared to Villager's, it launches at a slightly lower angle and has higher knockback growth, which make it capable of KOing at reasonable percentages while near the edge. However, it has more ending lag compared to Villager's version.
Up tilt		Broom (ほうき)	8%	Swings a broom in an overhead arcing motion. It has minimal startup (frame 6) and, as of update 8.0.0, it can combo reliably into itself at low percentages, and into neutral, up and forward aerials at low to medium percentages. It can even combo into up smash's second hit at 0%, although this is only effective during its final frames and if the opponent fails to DI properly.
Down tilt		Weed Pluck (草ぬき)	13% (close), 8% (far)	Uproots some weeds. It has noticeably less ending lag than Villager's version, but a shorter hitbox duration compared to his. The move's damage output is also more polarized as the sweetspot deals slightly more damage, whereas the sourspot deals much less damage.
Dash attack		Jar (つぼ)	10% (beginning), 6% (pot)	Trips while holding a ceramic pot. Like Villager's, the pot itself is a projectile that will either break or bounce off the ground after hitting it. The hitbox on the pot disappears after bouncing off the ground. When used near an edge, it will fall off and continue to have a hitbox. Compared to Villager's, it has less overall lag.
Forward smash		Cracker (クラッカー)	17% (clean), 8% (late)	Fires a party popper forward. Somewhat fast startup (frame 14) for a smash attack, but has noticeable ending lag (27 frames). It also has two hitboxes: a small hitbox close to Isabelle and a bigger one farther away from her. However, it has poor range despite being disjointed. When clean, it is her most reliable KO option, although the clean hit only lasts for 2 frames. In comparison, its late hit fails to KO at reasonable percentages.
Up smash		Sign (ひょうしき)	2% (hit 1), 12% (clean hit 2), 10% (late hit 2)	Blows her whistle, causing a do-not-enter sign to spring up from the ground in front of her. It has 2 hits that connect into each other; the second hit can combo into up aerial at low percentages and, when clean, KO outright at reasonable percentages.
Down smash		Bucket (バケツ)	10% (front), 8% (back)	Empties a metal bucket of water in front of herself and then behind herself, similarly to Inkling's down smash. It is Isabelle's fastest, yet least damaging smash attack. Despite its below-average damage output, it is a decent KO option regardless, thanks to it being a fairly strong semi-spike with respectable startup (frame 8) for a smash attack.
Neutral aerial		Pom-Poms (ポンポン)	10% (clean), 6% (late)	Twirls around twice to perform discus punches and backfists while holding pom-poms. Its hitboxes are located on the pom-poms. Its fairly quick startup (frame 5) and decently damaging clean hit collectively make it decent for both edgeguarding and as an out of shield option. The late hit can lock at low percentages; when coupled with the move's minimal landing lag and useful autocancel window, it can be a useful setup into the Wobbelle.
Forward aerial		Front Slingshot (前パチンコ)	7% (clean), 4% (mid), 2.5% (late)	Fires a pellet from a slingshot. Functions identically to Villager's forward aerial.
Back aerial		Back Slingshot (後パチンコ)	9% (clean), 5% (mid), 3% (late)	Fires a pellet from a slingshot. Functions identically to Villager's back aerial.
Up aerial		Upward Turnips (上カブ)	10% (clean), 5% (late)	Swings a pair of turnips upward. Due to swinging 2 turnips, Isabelle's up aerial is overall more consistent than Villager's up aerial. It also has less landing lag compared to Villager's version, which makes it safer to use when landing on the stage.
Down aerial		Downward Turnips (下カブ)	10% (clean), 5% (late)	Swings a pair of turnips downward. Like her up aerial, Isabelle always swings 2 turnips, making it more consistent than Villager's down aerial. Isabelle's version is also safer to use upon landing on the stage, thanks to its lower landing lag. The clean hit will meteor smash opponents if sweetspotted, whereas any other part of the turnips will launch opponents horizontally.
Grab		Net (あみ)	—	Swings a net downward. Using it on an item will cause her to pocket it, just like Villager's net. Although Isabelle's standing and pivot grabs have the same overall lag as Villager's, her dash grab is 1 frame faster overall. Interestingly, Villager's throws were altered to varying degrees in his transition to Ultimate, yet Isabelle's back, up and down throws retain the properties of his respective throws from SSB4.
Pummel		Net Tightening (あみ締め)	1%	Yanks the net backward.
Forward throw		Forward Net Throw (前あみ投げ)	9%	Throws the opponent with an overhead swing. As of update 13.0.0, its overall knockback is higher than Villager's version instead of being identical to his. As a result, it is more useful than his version for stage control, creating space, and setting up edgeguards. Like Villager's version, however, its extremely low knockback growth makes it unable to KO at realistic percentages.
Back throw		Back Net Throw (後あみ投げ)	11%	Turns around to throw the opponent with a horizontal swing. Isabelle's most damaging throw, and the only one that can KO at reasonable percentages.
Up throw		Up Net Throw (上あみ投げ)	10%	Flips the net over and tosses the opponent upward. Like forward throw, it has very high base knockback and very low knockback growth. As a result, it is best suited for setting up aerial pressure and cannot KO at reasonable percentages.
Down throw		Down Net Throw (下あみ投げ)	6%	Turns her net horizontally and slams it on the ground. It can combo into aerials at low to medium percentages depending on the opponent's DI, with forward aerial being the most reliable followup.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Swings a broom in front of herself and then behind herself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Swings a broom behind herself and then in front of herself.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swings a broom in front of herself and then behind herself while getting up.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Throws a lunging punch while holding her pom-poms and climbing up the edge.
Neutral special		Pocket	1.9× (multiplier)	Pockets projectiles and items. After pocketing a projectile, using the neutral special input will produce and use the projectile. Using neutral special with a pocketed item will put the item in Isabelle's hand. This move functions identically to Villager's version.
Side special		Fishing Rod	≈9.5%-18.7%	Casts a fishing rod. The distance the rod's line is cast depends on whether or not it was inputted while flicking the control stick. It can be left out for ≈5 seconds before Isabelle will automatically begin to slowly reel it in. Pressing the special or attack button will automatically reel it in completely at any time. It will also reel in automatically if an item is grabbed. When an opponent is captured by the rod's hook, she reels them in and can throw the opponent in one of 4 directions. The forward and back throws are useful for setting up edgeguards, and the former can also KO at very high percentages while near the edge. Conversely, the up throw KOs at high percentages, and the down throw can start combos at 0% to medium percentages. Much like a thrown item, the damage output for the throws is directly proportional to how fast the bobber is moving at the time it captures the opponent. Fishing Rod can also be used as a tether recovery and can grab items. Unlike normal grabs, it cannot bypass shields, even when reeled in. Another unique quirk is that it is unable to bypass reflectors or counterattacks, and is even blocked by passive shields.
Up special		Balloon Trip	—	Sits on a swinging bench attached to a pair of rabbit head-shaped balloons. It covers a lot of distance, although its overall travel distance is slightly shorter than Villager's version. Pressing or holding the special button will cause Isabelle to rise. Pressing the attack button will cancel the move while propelling her slightly upward. If canceled with the attack button, the next use will only have 1 balloon until Isabelle lands on the stage.
Down special		Lloid Trap	1.6% (hits 1 and 2), 0.9% (hits 3-5), 12% (hit 6)	Plants Lloid the Gyroid into the ground. When someone steps over him, or when the down special is inputted again, Lloid propels himself vertically and hits the opponent repeatedly before exploding. If nothing happens for 10 seconds, Lloid will disappear. After receiving 8% (not counting the 1v1 multiplier), he will explode, which will also damage Isabelle if she is near the explosion.
Final Smash		Dream Town Hall	10% (collateral loop), 15% (collateral explosion), 50.5% (entirety)	When activated, Tom Nook, Timmy and Tommy appear and construct a town hall, trapping opponents that get caught in their construction zone. Once the town hall's construction is completed, Isabelle, Tom, Timmy and Tommy celebrate briefly before it explodes, which inflicts high damage and knockback. Although it is almost identical to Dream Home, it deals more damage and has both higher knockback and a faster final hit.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	88	1.815 – Initial dash 1.48 – Run	1.14	0.131	0.01	1.02	0.01 – Base 0.05 – Additional	0.07	1.3 – Base 2.08 – Fast-fall	3	32.5 - Base 15.69 - Short hop	32.5

Announcer call

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English

• French

• Japanese/Chinese

• Korean

On-screen appearance

• Isabelle exits the town hall while cheering before it shrinks and then disappears into a puff of smoke.

Isabelle's on-screen appearance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Waves her hand while looking toward the screen. It is based on the "Greetings" reaction.
• Side taunt: Claps her hands while facing the screen. It is based on the "Delight" reaction.
• Down taunt: Dances, waving her arms in an inward circular motion while stepping in place. She then jumps up, and lands facing the screen with her arms spread out. It is based on the "Complete" reaction in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.

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  Isabelle's up taunt.

• 

  Isabelle's side taunt.

• 

  Isabelle's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Closes her eyes and stretches her arms.
• Turns around twice and inspects her outfit while wagging her tail.

• 

  Isabelle's first idle pose.

• 

  Isabelle's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	I - sa - belle!	Shi - zue-san!	Forza Fuffi ale ale! Forza Fuffi ale ale!	Is - a -belle!	*claps 3 times* Ma - rie!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description		¡Canela! ¡Canela! ¡Ra-ra-ra!	Isa - belle!

Victory poses

• Left: Waves twice and spreads her arms.
• Up: Waves goodbye to Lloid as he flies upward in the background, then turns toward the camera and strikes a pose similar to the one in her Ultimate render.
• Right: Dusts herself off, jumps twice, and poses triumphantly with her hands on her hips. Her final pose is based on the "Pride" reaction.

A slightly sped up remix of the original Animal Crossing theme song's first phase.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Isabelle players (SSBU)

•  Axel~ - One of the best Isabelle players in North America, with most of their activity being in the post-online metagame. They have some of the best Isabelle placement at American events, including 25th at the supermajor Double Down 2022 and 33rd at the major The Big House 10.
•  Jaka - The best solo-Isabelle player in the world and the first solo-Isabelle ranked globally, ranking 100th on the OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse due to strong superregional results such as 4th at Smash Contest: DoKomi 2021 and 7th at VCA 2021. He continues to be a top 50 player in Europe and places highly at many European events, including 17th at the supermajor Tera.
•  kept - Plays Isabelle alongside Villager and Diddy Kong and is the best Isabelle player in Japan until 2023, having defeated players such as KEN and Tsubotsubo with Isabelle. Placement-wise, he notably placed 13th at VCA 2022 using Isabelle to defeat Tarik.
•  Nery - One of the best Isabelle players in North America ever since the early metagame, regularly placing highly at Mexican events including 9th at Smash Fest to the Sky, 13th at BIT MASTER MTY 6, and 33rd at Delfino Maza 2023. He has been ranked top 20 in Mexico a few times, with his highest being 14th.
•  Rokki - Known for having a large character pool and has used Isabelle at several notable events, including winning the superregional KOWLOON 8, using Isabelle for all of top 8 and defeating Hero along the way. Rokki has also used Isabelle to place 2nd at Midobura SP 3 and 13th at ITSUKUSHIMA 1.

Tier placement and history

In the early metagame, Isabelle was seen as an inferior version of her semi-clone Villager due to her special moves having notable flaws, her camping and zoning game being weaker, and her lighter weight and slower falling speed giving her worse endurance. With Villager himself being considered a weak character, opinions on Isabelle have therefore been worse, and she was widely considered a low tier, with many also calling her one of the worst in the game.

A few positive developments have since helped Isabelle's perception in the community. For one, update 4.0.0. introduced her neutral attack's "Wobbelle" technique, which can trap the opponent at an edge reliably with her neutral attack until KO percentages. In addition, although Isabelle's overall representation remains rather low, she still has several dedicated players who have performed well with her, either as a solo-main (notably Jaka and Nery) or as a secondary/co-main (notably kept and Rokki). In fact, Isabelle's representation has been consistently better than Villager's since January 2022, due to her posessing a higher and more skilled playerbase than Villager. As such, although she remained a low tier, she is no longer considered one of the worst characters in the game, and was ranked 73rd on the first tier list at the top of the low tier and 4 spots behind Villager. Following that list, Isabelle's results continued to improve, especially with Jaka's consistency in Europe as well as Rokki's victory at KOWLOON 8, which has led many players, especially in Japan, to believe she was better than Villager. As such, Isabelle rose to 69th on the second and current tier list, ranking at the top of D-tier and 3 spots ahead of Villager.

Classic Mode: Best in Show

Isabelle's congratulations screen.

Isabelle's opponents consist of nearly every female fighter that appears in the base roster of Ultimate. The only exemptions are Dark Samus and Spiky-eared Pichu. Popo of the Ice Climbers is the only male fighter fought in this route, although this is because neither Popo nor Nana can spawn alone, regardless of which of them is the leading Ice Climber. Additionally, the music tracks alternate depending on the Round: odd numbered Rounds play title themes from the Animal Crossing series, whereas even numbered Rounds play songs from that stage's home universe.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Villager (×4)	Smashville	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World (Brawl)
2	Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, and Pikachu	Wii Fit Studio	Super Hoop
3	Palutena, Lucina, Zelda, Corrin, and Robin	Temple (Battlefield form)	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer	This battle is a free-for-all.
4	Zero Suit Samus, Bayonetta, and Samus	Moray Towers	Split & Splat	Inkling and Ice Climbers (with Nana leading, and with their red costume equipped) are CPU allies.
5	Peach, Daisy, Rosalina & Luma, and Wendy	Princess Peach's Castle	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World
6	Sheik	Gerudo Valley	Ocarina of Time Medley
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Isabelle has Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding Isabelle in World of Light

Although Isabelle does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, she was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Isabelle can be found near a small town on a secluded road that requires the spirit of Kapp'n (Wild World) to be driven through a tunnel to reach. Freeing her unlocks a path to the town. From the Northwestern Town, the player must defeat the spirit of Ashnard, then take the bus to reach her fighter battle.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
68		Isabelle	Grab	3,900	Town and City (Ω form)	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World

Spirit

Isabelle's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Isabelle has been unlocked. Unlocking Isabelle in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Her fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with her artwork in Ultimate.

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  827. Isabelle

In Spirit Battles

Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
27		Baby Peach	Super Mario Series	•Tiny Isabelle •Mario		3,600	Princess Peach's Castle	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors dash attacks •The enemy has increased move speed	Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros. (Melee)
145		Dixie Kong	Donkey Kong Series	•Isabelle •Diddy Kong		9,100	Jungle Japes	•Item: Banana Peel	•The enemy is easily distracted by items	Swinger Flinger
192		Saria	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Isabelle •Young Link		9,900	Garden of Hope	•Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog •The enemy will charge up a powerful Final Smash	Saria's Theme
251		Medli	The Legend of Zelda Series	•Isabelle •Charizard		9,300	Pirate Ship	N/A	•The enemy has increased jump power	Dragon Roost Island
304		Crazee Dayzee	Yoshi Series	•Isabelle		1,700	Yoshi's Island	•Flowery	•You constantly take minor damage •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Meloetta)	Flower Field
336		Nago	Kirby Series	•Isabelle		1,900	Green Greens (Battlefield form)	•Item: Soccer Ball	•The enemy has an extra midair jump	Forest/Nature Area
358		Susie	Kirby Series	•Isabelle •Metal Meta Knight		3,400	Halberd (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy is metal	Pink Ball Activate!
433		Meowth	Pokémon Series	•Gold Isabelle ×2		3,300	Golden Plains	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Meowth)	Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
667		Lissa	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle •Robin •Chrom		3,300	Arena Ferox	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Duty (Ablaze)
681		Sakura (Fire Emblem)	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle •Corrin		9,100	Reset Bomb Forest (hazards off)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy heals over time	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (Remix)
685		Elise	Fire Emblem Series	•Isabelle		9,600	Coliseum	•Item: Recovery Types	•Timed battle (1:30) •The enemy heals over time •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Lost in Thoughts All Alone (for 3DS / Wii U)
741		5-Volt	WarioWare Series	•Isabelle		3,500	Gamer	•Earthquake •Sudden Damage	•All fighters take serious damage after a little while •Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage	Gamer
791		Cream & Cheese	Sonic The Hedgehog Series	•Isabelle •Tiny Squirtle		3,500	Green Hill Zone	•Hazard: Low Gravity	•Gravity is reduced •The enemy takes less damage while in the air	Rooftop Run	Cream
851		Harriet	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle		3,700	Town and City	•Strengthen Weapon •Item: Swords	•All fighters' melee weapons have increased power after a little while	Plaza / Title Theme - Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World
854		Kaitlin & Katie	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle •Tiny Isabelle		4,100	Smashville	•Hazard: Fog	•The stage is covered in fog	Tour - Animal Crossing: New Leaf	Kaitlin (normal Isabelle) Katie (tiny Isabelle)
858		Zipper T. Bunny	Animal Crossing Series	•Bunny Isabelle		1,800	Smashville	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Title Theme - Animal Crossing: Wild World
862		Digby	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle		3,900	Smashville	N/A	•The enemy has increased power for the first part of the battle	House Preview
912		Roll Caskett	Mega Man Legends Series	•Isabelle •Diddy Kong		3,700	Pilotwings	•Item: Hocotate Bomb	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Light Plane (for 3DS / Wii U)
1,015		Cereza	Bayonetta Series	•Tiny Isabelle •Bayonetta		1,900	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win	Let's Dance, Boys!
1,084		Coraline	StreetPass Mii Plaza Series	•Isabelle •Mii Gunner (Moveset 1111, Pirate Hat, Splatoon 2 Outfit, No Voice)		1,800	Wuhu Island (Speedboat)	N/A	•The enemy favors side specials	Mii Plaza
1,179		DeMille	Tomato Adventure	•Bunny Isabelle		1,800	Yoshi's Island (Melee)	•Item: Maxim Tomato	•The enemy becomes more powerful after eating •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Attack and Run!
1,212		Ashley Robbins Ashley Mizuki Robins	Trace Memory Series Another Code Series	•Isabelle •Clear Villager		3,700	Luigi's Mansion	N/A	•The enemy is invisible	Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion (Brawl)
1,218		Ouendan Cheerleaders	Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan Series	•Isabelle ×3		4,000	Pokémon Stadium	•Attack Power ↑	•The enemy has increased attack power after a little while •The enemy favors neutral air attacks	Ring a Ding
1,238		Looksley	Looksley's Line Up Tales in a Box: Hidden shapes in perspective!	•Isabelle •Villager		1,500	Paper Mario	•Invisibility •Item: Smoke Ball	•All fighters are invisible	Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! Medley
1,277		Arcade Bunny	Nintendo Badge Arcade	•Bunny Isabelle		3,700	PictoChat 2 (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Arcade Bunny) •Item: Franklin Badge	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Arcade Bunny's Theme
1,379		Lappy	ASTRAL CHAIN	•Giant Isabelle		2,400	Fourside (hazards off)	•Invisibility •Item: Throwing Types	•The enemy is invisible •The enemy is giant	Balloon Trip (for 3DS / Wii U)
1,408		C.J.	Animal Crossing Series	•Isabelle •Inkling		4,400	Wuhu Island (The boat)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Starfy) •Item: Unira	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Hostile assist trophies will appear when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy favors side specials •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Goldeen)	Kapp'n's Song

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
844		Lloid	Animal Crossing Series	•Villager •Isabelle		1,600	Mushroomy Kingdom	N/A	•The enemy favors side specials	Title Theme - Animal Crossing	Lloid
852		Brewster	Animal Crossing Series	•Falco •Villager •Isabelle		8,800	Luigi's Mansion	•Item Tidal Wave (Food)	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle •Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	The Roost - Animal Crossing: Wild World	Isabelle
856		Frillard	Animal Crossing Series	•Wario •Isabelle •Villager		2,400	Town and City	N/A	•The enemy loves to taunt	Town Hall and Tom Nook's Store - Animal Crossing: Wild World	Isabelle

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Isabelle's splash art.

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  Isabelle's amiibo.

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  Isabelle's fighter card.

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  Isabelle's unlock notice.

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  Artwork commemorating Isabelle and Villager's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as posted on the official Japanese Animal Crossing Twitter account.

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  Using her down smash on Squirtle on Delfino Plaza.

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  Using her up smash on Mushroom Kingdom U.

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  Isabelle sporting three of her alternate costumes while using Balloon Trip on Rainbow Cruise.

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  Using her forward smash on Link on Luigi's Mansion.

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  Using her neutral attack on Mario on Tomodachi Life.

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  Using Fishing Rod while near Goldeen on Tortimer's Island.

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  Using Lloid Trap on Gerudo Valley.

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  Using Pocket on Mario's Fireball on Skyworld.

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  Using Fishing Rid to grab Snake on Great Bay.

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  Using Balloon Trip on Fourside.

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  Alongside Inkling and Joker on Delfino Plaza.

Trivia

• Isabelle is the fourth character to be announced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii costume in Super Smash Bros. 4. The others are Inkling, Chrom, and King K. Rool.
  • She uses a party popper for her forward smash, which is used by the Mii Gunner outfit based on her instead of an arm cannon.
  • Isabelle is also the fourth summonable character to become a fighter in a later installment, following Charizard, Little Mac, and Dark Samus. Like Little Mac and Dark Samus, she was an Assist Trophy prior to gaining this distinction.
• The Nintendo Direct that revealed Isabelle as a fighter was supposed to air on September 6th, 2018. However, an earthquake struck Hokkaidō, Japan that day. Its aftermath prompted Nintendo to postpone the Direct—and by extension, news of Isabelle's inclusion in Ultimate—by one week, out of respect for those affected by the tremor. This makes Isabelle the only playable character in the series' history whose reveal was explicitly delayed for any given reason.
• Isabelle's reveal trailer initially appeared to be a reveal trailer for a new Nintendo Switch installment of the Animal Crossing series and was followed by an actual teaser trailer confirming the then-unnamed Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 2019.
  • Tom Nook is even seen watching Isabelle's own trailer on his computer before telling the audience he has to get back to work in order to prepare for the upcoming game. This segment can be considered its own mini teaser for New Horizons since Tom Nook is the primary helper at the beginning of that game instead of Isabelle as in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
  • At one point, Isabelle wishes that the mayor "wasn't so busy with the campsite and Smash." 'The campsite' refers to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which was released in October 2017.
  • This is the second time that an upcoming Nintendo game has been teased through a character reveal trailer. The first was Luigi's Mansion 3, which was teased by Luigi wielding the then-unnamed Poltergust G-00 in Simon and Richter's reveal trailer.
• In her reveal trailer, Isabelle opens an envelope inviting her to join Super Smash Bros. that is enclosed with a wax seal in the shape of the Super Smash Bros. logo. This is a callback to Villager's reveal in the first trailer for SSB4, and it is the second time (following Villager's reveal) that a Smash invitation was received via physical post.
  • Joker, Terry, Byleth, Min Min and Pyra also received similar invitations in their respective reveal trailers for Ultimate.
• There was an error on Isabelle's page on Ultimate's official website where her Animal Crossing symbol is the same shade of green as Villager's instead of chartreuse, her background color.
• Strangely, Isabelle's reveal trailer shows that Ultimate was still Rating Pending, even though the rating had already been revealed to be rated E10+ at the time. Whether this was an error on Nintendo's or ESRB's part is unknown, though European trailers kept the PEGI 12 rating.
• In a Famitsu column, Masahiro Sakurai noted that because Isabelle and Villager have significantly different proportions and personalities, it was not possible for Isabelle to be Villager's Echo Fighter. Therefore she was developed as a unique character, although she still shares many moves with Villager. This makes Isabelle the only type of clone so far whose reasoning for not being labeled as an Echo Fighter has been explicitly confirmed.
• Isabelle is the only character in the base roster whose official confirmation was not part of a Super Smash Bros.-centered Nintendo Direct. Instead, she was revealed as part of a general Nintendo Direct.
• Isabelle is one of five characters with a "hit-grab" (a grab that can be blocked). The others are Joker, Terry, Byleth and Ridley.
  • She is also the only character to have this property in the base game, since Skewer didn't gain this property until update 8.0.0, and the others were introduced as DLC.
  • Notably, all of these fighters debuted in Ultimate.
• Similar to Chomp, fighters trapped in Isabelle's grab appear to have the upper half of their models removed, presumably so that even large characters can fit inside the net. This also happens with Villager.
• With a weight value of 88, Isabelle is the lightest newcomer in the base version of Ultimate.
  • She is, however, the third lightest newcomer overall, behind Sora (85 units) and Sephiroth (79 units), respectively.
• In the initial design document for Ultimate, Isabelle was described as "A variation on Villager. She fights using office supplies and public property.".