Tripping

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The Mario on the far right can be seen Prat Falling.

Prat Falling (also called "tripping", "stumbling", or various other names; referred to in game files as "slipping") is a new occurrence in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Whenever the Control Stick is smashed, there is a very small chance that the character will trip, fall over, and sit down in a prone state with a confused expression. While apparently intended to stop excessive dashing and pivoting, characters can also trip when they intend to use a forward smash or side special move. A related technique is the trip cancel; when turning around, before tripping, an attack can be used to cancel the trip. The game keeps track of the total number of Prat Falls each character or name has experienced in Group Brawls.

Interestingly, the sound effect for tripping (when not induced by an opponent or item) changes depending on whether the character tripping is from a cartoon-ish or realistic universe: the realistic characters make unimpressive falling-down noises, while cartoon-ish characters (that is, most of the cast) make a distinctive timpani noise. The 'Ready to trip' sound effect for realistic characters (and some cartoon-ish characters) make a light, quick woosh sound, while most of the cartoon-ish characters make a swabbing noise like a sliding mop.

While sitting down, a character has the same options as if they are lying down. However, attacking while sitting does slightly less damage than attacking while lying down (about 5%), the attack animations look different, and the game treats them differently than if the character was lying down.

Causes of Prat Falling

• Smashing the control stick left or right, whether dashing or attacking (very small chance).
• Surfaces with a lack of traction (such as ice) have a higher likelihood of causing tripping.
• Getting hit with certain attacks (most Down tilts and other low attacks are designed to trip opponents).
• An uncharged Wario Waft will cause tripping (if it's not Wario-Man).
• Being hit with/stepping on a Banana Peel.
• When Tingle rains down banana peels (note these are 2D sprites, not actual Banana Peels), it causes constant Prat Falls to all opponents until he leaves the screen.
• Luigi's Negative Zone can cause incessant tripping.
• Some Meteor Smashes that hit grounded opponents at low percentages can also cause tripping.

List of tripping attacks

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	Attack	Trip chance
Mario	Down tilt	40%
	Cape	30%
Luigi	Down tilt	35%
	Dash attack (last hit)	30%
	Negative Zone	?
Peach	Down tilt	30%
	Down smash	20%
Bowser	Forward tilt (angled down)	40%
	Down tilt	30%
Giga Bowser	Forward tilt (angled side)	50%
	Forward tilt (angled down)	100%
	Up tilt	50%
Yoshi	Down tilt (clean)	30%
	Down tilt (tip)	40%
Wario	Down tilt	40%
	Down smash (before frame 32)	30%
	Wario Waft (uncharged)	100%
Toon Link	Dash attack	30%
Mr. Game & Watch	Judge #2	?
Kirby	Down tilt	35%/30%
Banana Peel		100%

Controversy

In casual matches Prat Falling rarely has a significant effect on gameplay, but this is not the case in competitive play, when it has the potential to turn a match around. It has been cited by many players as an unnecessary addition to the game as it introduces an element of chance, making Brawl less suited to tournaments as a player could win by being luckier than their opponent, despite being the worse player. Prat Falling cannot be used as part of a strategy as it is not possible to predict consistently enough, though all recoveries from a Prat Fall provide invincibility frames, thus making the character invulnerable for a brief period of time.

Random tripping is often removed in fan-made edits of Brawl, though attacks designed to trip are not affected.

Trivia

• The Super Smash Bros. Melee bonus, Pratfaller, does not have anything to do with Brawl's Prat Falling.

External Links

• GIF showing and explaining the technique of Prat Falling
• Another GIF showing Prat Falling