Fox (SSBM)

This article is about Fox's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Fox McCloud. Also, for information about Fox's clone, see Falco (SSBM).

Fox in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Fox McCloud
Universe	Star Fox
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	S (1)

“

A wily fox that uses speed to keep enemies off balance. (Melee's Instruction Manual)

”

Announced at E3 2001, Fox (フォックス, Fokkusu in Japanese) is a playable starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is emblematic of speed and he can dominate foes with his rapid attacks, quick movement and overpowering offense in all areas of his game. Because of these advantages, Fox has won many tournaments and currently ranks first on the tier list, suggesting that he has the most potential of any character in Melee, ousting Sheik from the number one position for the fourth time.

Fox, true to being on the top of the tier list, is an extremely efficient fighter, with fast attacks, as well as numerous options to approach the opponent. His aerial game is almost unsurpassed when SHFFL'd, and his shine combos are extremely effective. He can KO effectively on all four sides of the screen, and his high falling speed makes him resilient to vertical KOs. Despite being top tier, Fox is not flawless. He has an extremely high learning curve, requiring fast reflexes to properly use his shine and SHFFL combos. Additionally, his high falling speed makes him very easy to chain grab, and he suffers from a poor recovery due to his low air speed and high falling speed. His pros outshine his cons, however, and Fox is notable for being one of only four characters in all of the Smash games to have no disadvantageous matchups.

Attributes

Fox falls into a unique archetype: He is notoriously fast, yet he is equipped with a plethora of viable finishers. He has the second fastest dash speed, tied with Marth for the fastest walking speed, the fastest normal falling speed, the third fastest fast falling speed, fast dash-dancing, and fast attacks. His low traction is balanced with his fast falling speed and low airspeed, all of which give him a decent wavedash.

One of the reasons why Fox is ranked 1st is his unparalleled comboing ability. He is perhaps the most versatile character in the game, being able to overwhelm his opponents in seconds. Fox has high-damage and flexible combos, including several infinite combos (e.g. his famous waveshine infinite). His fast fall and low, fast short hop contribute to an extremely quick SHFFL. When it comes to KOing, Fox has very powerful up-sending finishers (particularly his up smash and his up aerial), and his shine spikes are deadly against the majority of the cast. Projectiles are generally ineffective against Fox due to his reflector, which comes out in one frame (making it tied for the fastest move in the series with Jigglypuff's Rest). Fox's Blaster can easily rack up damage because it is very quick and covers a great distance. While useful for pressuring, it does not make opponents flinch. Thus, it can't be used to break approaches. Fox has highly variable approaches, including SHDL/SHDB approaches, SHFFL'd aerials, and a good wavedash. Fox can also wall jump.

Fox is arguably the best edge guarder in the game. It would seem Fox was tailor-made for the role as he is equipped with everything he needs to do so. His shine suits the job perfectly; it's speed and set knockback guarantee the opponent's demise in nearly every situation. Fox's forward and down smashes can easily force his opponents off the stage and can punish them as they recover. His forward and back throws are also good for getting opponents off the stage, while his neutral and back aerials can also pressure opponents while they are recovering. In rare situations, Fox can use his down throw to meteor smash his opponents off the edge of a stage.

While not the best, Fox's grab game is decent. His throws do modern damage. Fox's decent grab range, coupled with his throw's low knockback allow him to set up potentially lethal combos. His up throw can lead into a sweet spotted up aerial, one of Fox's primary KO methods, and can even chain throw fast fallers. Unfortunately, most of Fox's throws send opponents a considerable distance away from Fox, allowing anyone with good smash DI to escape combos. Fox, himself, is ironically handicapped by his extremely fast falling speed which makes him easy to combo and chaingrab (although he is difficult to shield grab because of his shine).

As with any other character, Fox's strengths comes with major weaknesses. Fox is very easily KO'd due to a combination of being a light-weight, having the one of the slowest air speed, and having the fastest falling speed. Additionally, though it covers a great distance, Fox's recovery is offset by his high falling speed and can be caped and edge-guarded easily due to its linear nature. Any Fox player must avoid being weighed dotherown by these disadvantages.

Overall, Fox is probably the closest thing in the Smash series to a perfect character. His combination of speed and power is unrivaled by any other character in the game. Fox has a great deal of potential, more so than any other, but it takes an extremely high level of skill to fully unleash it.

Moveset

Ground moves

Normal

• Neutral attack: Fox jabs forwards with his paw, followed by a short series of fast kicks. A versatile jab that can combo into several other attacks, including up smash (similar to SSB). Very useful against shields, to jab reset, and into shine cancels. More useful against lightweights than heavyweights (such as Jigglypuff). The second jabs makes Fox move forward a bit. 2-4% damage on the first jab, 4% damage on the second jab, and 1% damage on the kicks.
• Dash attack: Fox runs forward and sticks a foot out. Low priority but good combo ability, especially into up smash. Very vulnerable to crouch canceling. 5-7% damage.
• Down tilt: Fox performs a sweeping tail lash. Moderately fast. Can combo at mid-percentages into aerials. It can also become a somewhat solid ground killer at higher percentages. 10% damage.
• Forward tilt: Fox sticks a foot out to the side. This is best used for a quick close-ranged spacing move. 4-9% damage depending on how it's angled.
• Up tilt: Fox performs a quick and surprisingly strong vertical back kick. It covers Fox's whole body; thus, it makes Fox and his vertically-aimed foot a hitbox. Its speed, power, and hitbox make it great for close-up spacing. It can easily combo into itself, up air, and up smash. Used as part as a chain-grab against fast-fallers with it being connected to his up throw. It can start killing around 120% on mostly the floaty lightweights. 9-12% damage.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash: Fox performs a flying hook kick. Has moderately low knockback for a smash, though is fast, and is actually quite reliable at higher percentages, KOing usually around 120%. This move does 12-15% uncharged, 16-20% fully charged.
• Up smash: Fox performs a back flip kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. It is very reliable at mid-high damages. Shine into up smash is very useful for kills. 18% uncharged, 24% full. Hitting an opponent behind Fox does 13-17% damage.
• Down smash: Fox does a split, hitting on both of his sides. It is fast and has moderate knockback. Useful for edgeguarding and an excellent spacing/killing move. 15% uncharged, 20% full.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Climbs up and sticks his feet out in a similar fashion to his forward smash in Template:G. 8% damage
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly climbs then very suddenly thrusts out his foot. 8% damage
• Floor attack- Kicks on both sides. 6% damage

Aerials

• Neutral air: Sticks the entire foot out. Sex Kick properties. A very quick aerial. Very good against shields and great power when it first comes out. 12% damage.
• Forward air: Fox kicks forward five times. Good knockback when all hits connect. Regrettably, this move is very awkward due to the short amount of forward distance, short range of the move, and bad physics of the kicks being chained together. All hits are extremely hard to connect without a good set-up, especially on lighter characters. Approximately 17% damage when all hits connect.
• Back air: Fox does a quick no-look kick backwards. Sex kick properties. Great knockback when it first comes out. One of Fox's best edgeguarding moves. 9-15% damage.
• Up air: Fox whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. A very high knockback move, good vertical killer, can combo out of up throw on virtually everyone. Can be Smash DI'd out of however. Two hits, 17% total.
• Down air: Fox spins around, drilling downwards with his feet. It can combo into up smash and out of up tilt. Useful into shines as well. It is the weakest spike in the game, giving almost no knockback when it is used on an opponent. However, when it is used on a wire frame, it sends them strongly diagonally downwards, like a spike. Using this move will not win any of the meteor smash bonuses with it, and meteor smashes send opponents purely downwards, and not diagonally downwards like a spike, giving proof that it is a spike. 19% damage when all hits connect.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel: A quick knee jab to the opponent. 2-3% damage
• Down throw: Fox throws the opponent into the ground and shoots him/her with his blaster. This throw does not make opponents bounce off the ground like other down throws (except Falco) because it is a meteor smash. Not useful due to being able to tech out of it, but you can read techs for kills. Can lead into up-tilt or his Reflector. It meteor smashes over a ledge if his body is partially overlapping it. 5% damage.
• Back throw: Fox throws backwards and shoots the opponent with his blaster. Used mainly for setting up edgeguards off-stage, though really not many other uses besides mixing up a Fox player's throw game. 7% damage.
• Forward throw: Fox punches the opponent forward; furthermore, this is Fox's only throw that does not involve him shooting his opponent with his blaster. Despite its generally poor combo ability, it can chain-grab on some heavy characters. Although, it is best used for edge-guarding. 7% damage.
• Up throw: Fox uses his laser and throws the opponent into the air. It can easily combo into up tilt, up aerial, and up smash. If wavedashes are properly used between throws, it can also chain-grab fast fallers at lower percentages; however, it can be Smash DI'd out of the chain-grab. 7% damage.

Special moves

Fox's special moves

Neutral special	Blaster Shot	Blaster
Side special	—	Fox Illusion
Up special	Fire Fox
Down special	Reflector

Taunt

• Fox crouches and says "Come on!", gesturing with an open hand for others to come to him.
• Fox says "kakate koi!" as an alternate taunt while playing with the language set to Japanese (it also means "Come on!").

Smash Taunt: Fox can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the Control pad. This taunt can only be used once per match.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Changes from SSB to Melee

• Now has a side special: Fox Illusion
• Blaster now has rapid-fire capabilities, though it no longer causes flinching, it just inflicts damage.
• Much lighter in weight.
• New forward aerial.
• Fire Fox travels a little further and has better rendered fire effects.
• New throw animations.
• Falls much faster.
• New forward smash.
• Different taunt.
• Much slower air speed. It went from one of the faster air speeds to now the slowest in the game tied with Falco.

Techniques

• Shine spike
• Waveshine
• Infinite Combo
• SHL/SHB or SHDL/SHDB

Statistics

~Courtesy of Mew2King's Super Hardcore Very In-Depth Smash Guide~

• Fox is tied for the fastest walking speed in the game, along with Marth.
• Fox has the 15th longest forward, back, and average roll in the game.
• Fox has the 16th fastest turning speed in the game.
• Fox is the 5th lightest character in the game in the NTSC version, and 4th lightest in the PAL version.
• Fox has the slowest barrel/crate carrying speed in the game.
• Fox has the 2nd fastest running speed in the game.
• Fox has the 2nd fastest average falling speed in the game.
• Fox has the 3rd fastest top falling speed.
• Fox has the fastest acceleration in falling speed in the game.
• Fox has the 12th longest wavedash in the game.
• Fox is tied for 7th highest primary jump in the game, along with Ice Climbers.
• Fox is tied for 6th highest second jump in the game, along with Ness.
• Fox is tied for 6th total jumping height in the game, along with Kirby and Pikachu.
• Fox is tied for 4th shortest short hop in the game, along with Bowser, Dr. Mario, Mario, Roy, and Young Link.
• Fox has the 6th shortest 0-99% ledge roll in the game.
• Fox has the 7th shortest 100-999% ledge roll in the game.
• Fox has the 4th longest ledge attack horizontal range (0-99%) in the game.
• Fox has the 6th shortest ledge attack horizontal range (100-999%) in the game.
• Fox is tied for slowest horizontal aerial moving speed in the game, along with Falco.
• Fox has the 14th longest grab range in the game.
• Fox is tied for 10th biggest shield in the game, along with Falco and Ness.
• Fox has the 7th shortest taunt in the game.
• Fox's blaster is the fastest moving projectile (other than the Great Fox's lasers) in the game.
• Fox is tied for 4th weakest forward smash (non-charged) in the game, along with Mewtwo.
• Fox has the 6th weakest forward smash (fully charged) in the game.

Trophy Descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Fox as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Fox on any difficulty:

Fox (Classic)

"Fox McCloud is the leader of a band of adventurers-for-hire known as Star Fox. Fox and his fellow pilots Peppy, Slippy, and Falco patrol the Lylat system in their mother ship, the Great Fox. From the cockpit of his Arwing, Fox leads the ceaseless pursuit of the evil scientist Andross, who doomed Fox's father."

Fox (Adventure)

Fox is among the quickest and nimblest of the Smash Bros. characters. His speed is offset by low firepower, however, and he's better at one-on-one fights than melees with multiple foes. His Blaster is unique: it does damage but it doesn't make enemies flinch. His Fox illusion is best used as a surprise attack.

• B: Blaster
• Smash B: Fox Illusion

Fox (All-Star)

Fox falls quickly, so he's a tough target to strike from below; however, this advantage can work against him when he goes flying sideways. You can use the Control Stick to set the direction of the Fire Fox technique while it's charging up. On a side note, Fox is also much lighter than he was in the N64 Super Smash Bros. game.

• Up & B: Fire Fox
• Down & B: Reflector

• Trophy19.jpg

  Classic

• Fox3.jpg

  Adventure

• Fox2.jpg

  All-Star

Palette swap

File:Alt-fox2.jpg

Fox's changeable clothing in SSBM

Trivia

• Fox is one of the only characters in Melee that can do a wall infinite, along with Ness, Pikachu, and Pichu.
• Fox is the only character to have completely lost his forward throw from Super Smash Bros. to Melee. Kirby and Jigglypuff both gained new forward throws in Melee, but their former forward throws were moved to be their up throws instead.
• For all three victory poses, Fox is the only character in Melee who says exactly the same quote - "Mission Complete."
• Fox is the only character in Melee with two medium-damage groans.