Meta Knight (SSBB)

This article is about Meta Knight's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Meta Knight.

Meta Knight
Meta Knight
Universe	Kirby
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Starter

Unveiled at E3 2006, Meta Knight (メタナイト, Meta Naito) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Within the first Brawl trailer Meta Knight is seen reflecting one of Pit's arrows with his cape, which when on him, render him camouflaged with his surroundings by bending the light around him. It appears to be his Dimensional Cape, but is exaggerated for the trailer, like the Wario Waft.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Five mid-air jumps.
• One of the best recoveries in the game.
• Good at edge-guarding
• Can Glide.
• All four of his special moves can be used as his final jump.
• Surprising power, multiple jumps, range and priority as well as lack of any kind of lag gives Meta Knight one of the best aerial movesets in Brawl.
• Small Target.
• Very high priority moves
• Forward Tilt may be viable for most biggest priority in the game hitting over things such as Mr. Game & Watch's turtle Bair and Marth's Fair.
• Can rack up lots of damage very quickly with Mach Tornado.
• Fast running speed (sixth fastest).
• Has the fastest attacking speed in the game with barely any windup lag or ending lag.
• His Shuttle Loop attack has good knockback which is farther than any of his moves.
• Brilliant combo potential.
• Can perform a Wall of Pain variation.
• Can remain invincible for as long as he desires with his Dimensional Cape by initiating the ability and tapping upward very quickly on the C-stick while holding down on the control stick.
• Good juggler.
• Can easily chain Uairs together.
• Has great mobility on the ground, providing him great advantages.
• Seems to have a smaller chance of tripping than other characters when starting a dash, since his feet do not touch the ground.
• Extremely quick forward and backward rolls; viable for fastest in game.
• Has two great approaches, Mach Tornado and Drill Rush.
• Mach Tornado and Drill Rush are not affected by Stale-Move Negation.
• Can perform a variation of Wing Dashing (Though cannot pull it off as well as Pit)
• Incredible at gimping.
• Neutral air is surprisingly powerful and has great knockback, plus damages while hitting the ground.
• Can chain grab fast-falling characters (such as Wolf) with D-throw.
• Standard combo attacks behind him as well as in front of him.
• Dimensional Cape is great for mindgames or an infinite edgehog.
• Great range for someone of his size.
• Attack range can keep opponents at bay, regardless of how small it is.
• His low damage moves (F-air/B-air, U-air, all tilts) take a long time before they are affected by Stale-Move Negation.
• Excellent air and ground games.

Cons:

• Light and easily KO'd (fourth lightest, along with Pikachu).
• Mach Tornado does not auto-grab the ledge, rather it bounces off.
• Most of his attacks lack KO power.
• Reliant on edge-guarding for early kills.
• Crouching gives him almost no vertical height reduction.
• Very poor air speed but Glide can help this.
• Lacks projectiles.
• Unlike most characters, height increases when dashing, thus making Meta-Knight an easy target to projectiles.
• All specials put Meta-Knight into helpless state in mid-air (except Shuttle Loop)

Standard Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack - When held, Meta Knight yells and executes a lightning-fast series of slashes that also attack enemies behind him. Does 10% damage when just tapping the attack button.
• Dash Attack - Does a running kick. His only attack (other than his throws) that does not use his sword. When MK attacks with his foot, it does 6%. When the body hits it does 8%.
• Strong Side - Slashes twice in front of him, then once upwards. Only pressing the attack button once will cause Meta Knight to perform only the first hit; press it twice more to slash the second and third times. 1st slash does 4%, next does 3% and the last does 5%, altogether 12%.
• Strong Up - Stabs his sword above him while spinning. 6-8% damage.
• Strong Down - Stabs across the ground. Good for tripping, and moves him forward a little. 4-6%

Smash

• Side Smash - Pulls his sword back for a second, then slashes in front of him. This is Meta Knight's only slow attack. Around 19%.
• Up Smash - Slashes above him three times. Like Link's Up Smash, but faster. 4% each slash, in total 12%.
• Down Smash - Slashes in front of him, then behind. Arguably his best kill move. Front slash does 15%, and back slash does 18%.

Other

• Ledge attack - Slashes with blade, although it can be countered with a Perfect Shield and a counter strike. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack - Gets up slowly, then slashes with blade. 10% damage.
• Floor attack - Slashes on either side of himself. 6%, both slashes.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Slashes while spinning in a circle. Surprisingly powerful. Can hit twice for a total of 19% damage.
• Forward Aerial - Slashes in front of him three times. A good Wall of Pain. First slash does 3%, second does 3, and last does 4%. Altogether 10%.
• Back Aerial - Like his fair, but behind him and more slowly. To compensate for the slower slashes, this move has slightly more knockback. However, it still has almost no start-up lag. First slash does 3%, second does 3, and last does 4%. Altogether 10%.
• Up Aerial - Slashes above him very quickly, has decent knockback. Great for juggling opponents into the upper blast line. 6% damage.
• Down Aerial - Slashes below him very quickly. 7% damage.
• Glide Attack - Slashes in front of himself. A fairly powerful move with great knockback. 12% damage.

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel - Jabs opponents with the claws on his wings.
• Forward Throw - Kicks the opponent in front of him. 10% damage.
• Back Throw - Teleports and slashes the opponent behind him. 10% damage.
• Up Throw - Like Kirby's: jumps into the air holding his foe, and then crashes down. 12% damage.
• Down Throw - Also like that of Kirby: Throws opponent on ground and rapidly kicks them. However, unlike Kirby's, this has mainly horizontal knockback. 11% damage.

Stickers

Meta-Knight uses his sword in many of his attacks, so [Slash] and [Weapon] damage increasers will help him rack up a lot of damage really quickly. Being easily KO'd, it may be wise to use a strong [Launch Resistance] powerup to make him last a bit longer. Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Kirby have access to the Maxim Tomato Sticker which doubles its healing effect. Since there are several item blocks that will give you Maxim Tomatoes, use of this sticker will aid in Meta Knights survivability, especially if you are playing Co-Op, where healing items will need to be shared between the two. The [Ray 01] sticker lets him hold a Ray Gun, which will give him a ranged attack option should he need it.

Exclusive Stickers

The following stickers can be used only by Meta Knight or by a select few including him:

• Bonkers: [Weapon] Attack +16
• Cell Phone: [Slash] Resistance +4
• Dyna Blade: Launch Resistance +46
• Gordo: [Throwing] Attack +5
• Hot Head: [Flame] Attack +10
• King Dedede & Kirby: [Specials: Direct] Attack +21
• King Dedede (kirby Super Star): [Leg] Attack +28
• Kirby (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards): [Body, Spin] Attack +22
• Kirby (Kirby Air Ride): [Arm, Leg] Attack +17
• Maxim Tomato: Maxim Tomato Effect +50
• Meta Knight: [Slash] Attack +32
• Meta Knight Ball: Launch Power +8
• Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack +5
• Starman (Kirby: Squeak Squad): Launch Power +33
• Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack +4

Tips & Strategy

• Fast, perfect fall speed (not too fast, not too floaty), virtually no lag time, disjointed hitbox, five mid-air jumps, and capable of using the Wall of Pain technique (aptly named for him, "Jericho"), Meta Knight truly rules the air. Just like Sheik, if an enemy is about to KO, PURSUE! His Forward Air and Down Air are very useful against recovering opponents, and if they're above Meta Knight, you can simply juggle them off the screen. And don't forget Shuttle Loop- it's knockback at decent percents is lethal.
• At the beginning of the match, use Mach Tornado a couple times. It sets up your opponents with a nice 30%, and if you're near the top of the screen, the knockback at the end of the move can make some easy KO's.
• Use his forward, neutral, and down aerials to recover horizontally. The priority on these move are high, and you can easy end up knocking an edgeguarding foe into the air.. which is Meta Knight's domain. This can be extremely hazardous though, a higher priority projectile can cancel the move, making Meta Knight helpless.
• USE DOWN SMASH. It has relatively no lag, and the knockback is pretty decent. Use it in right in the middle of a bunch of enemies and you're setting yourself up for more combos, as well as isolating your opponents from each other, giving you time to pursue one of them for a 1 on 1.
• The low damage moves he possesses are blessings in disguise; they take an extremely long time to be affected by stale moves negation. This means your combos are hardly affected. This is extremely apparent in his Jericho; since his F-air/B-air moves are three weak slices, they take a huge amount of time to become weaker.
• Be careful when trying to use your forward smash; it is quite slow to start up. However, you can easily use it on slower characters with little trouble.

Combos

Meta Knight is extremely good at comboing, as described previously. Here are a few useful combos to try out:

• (For use at 0%) Sourspotted dash attack, N-air, F-tilt, F-air, Jericho
• (For use at 40-50%), drown-throw, F-air, D-air, Jericho
• (For use at any percentage, near the edge of the stage) Back-throw, D-air/F-air, Shuttle Loop
• (For use at 30-60%) Dashing Up-smash, U-air, U-air, U-air, F-air/B-air.
• (For use at 0%) Dash attack, B-air, F-tilt, F-air, N-air (Jericho).

Role in the Subspace Emissary

It is revealed that before the events of the Subspace Emissary, Meta Knight was attacked by the Subspace Army, who had the intent of taking the Halberd. He was able to hold them off until King Dedede attacked him, causing him to lose his ship.

When Meta Knight is first featured in the Subspace Emissary, he attacks a lone Marth outside of a large castle. Quickly, he learns that Marth is not his enemy as they are both surrounded by Primids. After a successful battle, both warriors chase the Ancient Minister who is carrying a Subspace bomb. Both are unsuccessful in their attempts in destroying the bomb, though luckily Ike appears and he uses his Great Aether to catch the Minister off guard and destroy the bomb. With the bomb destroyed, all three head back to the castle to clear out any remaining Primids.

Later, they are all seen traveling the wastelands together and battling Galleom. Meta Knight then saves Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer from a giant freefall after they defeat the same boss. Meta Knight then begins to ascend a large cliff face, followed by the Ice Climbers (who see his ascent as a racing challenge), in order to reach the Battleship Halberd. At the summit, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a sparring contest. After the contest, both board the Halberd which has just shaken off the defeated Great Fox.

The pair run into Solid Snake while on board and join forces with him to take back the Halberd. After rescuing Peach and Zelda, the trio continues on to the control deck. There they discover that the ship is being piloted by a gang of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches who fuse together to form a gigantic metallic monster called Duon. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the group, along with Peach, Sheik, Fox, and Falco.

Meta Knight takes back control of the Halberd and reunites with the members from other groups. The aircraft of the other heroes is placed inside the Halberd, which heads towards the Subspace Battleship with all of the Super Smash Bros heroes on board. After using the Subspace Battleship's main cannon to create another Subspace portal, Ganondorf spots the Halberd on the horizon and orders the battleship to open fire. The Halberd is struck down, but the heroes are able to escape on board Samus's Gunship, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Olimar's Hocotate ship, and Fox and Falco's Arwings. Kirby destroys the Subspace Battleship by ramming through it it with the Dragoon racing machine and the heroes enter Subspace to pursue Ganondorf and Bowser.

Meta Knight is turned into a trophy by Tabuu along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros heroes upon their entrance into Subspace. He is later revived by Kirby. He rejoins the others in the fight against Tabuu.

Event Matches

Event 3: Pink Ball Repulsion - The player plays as Meta Knight and has to defeat Kirby on the Battleship Halberd before the flying platform lands.[1]

Co-Op Event 5: The Yoshi Team of 50 - The two players are Meta Knight and Pit and they must KO 50 Yoshis on Rainbow Cruise within one lap.[2]

Special Movements

Taunt

Up: Disappears into his cape, and it shrinks horizontally while spinning. Has invincible properties when he has shrunk into the cape.

Side: Says "Fight me!" and slashes his sword twice before pointing it in the direction he is facing.

Down: Opens his wings and and says "Come!"

On-Screen Appearance

Uses his cape to teleport.

Idle Stance

• Looks to the side and behind himself.
• Covers himself with his cape then fixes it.
• Does a single swipe of his sword

Victory Pose

• Victory Theme: Electric guitar Rock n' Roll remix of Kirby Victory Theme
• Teleports away with his cape while saying, "Come back when you can put up a fight!"
• Flourishes his sword and says, "Victory... is my destiny," as he turns away from the camera
• Spreads his wings briefly, then flips his cape and says, "You've much yet to learn."

Wii Remote Choice

Says "Fight Me!"

Credits Music

• Meta Knight's Revenge

Trivia

• Meta Knight can fall with both his cape or wings depending on actions while in mid-air. When he does fall, he makes a unique "whoosh" sound.

• Although from the same game series as Kirby and King Dedede, Meta Knight is the only character to have a different victory theme than the others from the same series.

• Meta Knight can completely circle the outside of New Pork City and Hyrule Temple (melee) without landing by using a combination of his jumps, Shuttle Loop and glides. He is one of the two characters able to do so, Pit is able to perform this to by using his glide, jumps and Wing Refreshing and Jigglypuff can accomplish a circle by going through the sloping tunnel instead of around the bottom points.

• Meta Knight is one of three characters who doesn't have a final smash where it first zooms on to the character (the other two being Captain Falcon and Mr. Game & Watch). It only zooms in after he snares the opponent.

• When he uses Galaxia Darkness, Meta Knight will hit his teammates during team battle, even if friendly fire is turned off.

• All four of Meta Knight's special moves put him in a Helpless state.

External Links

• Meta Knight's page at Smash Bros Dojo!!
• Special Move Set
• Subspace Emissary Screenshots