Not to be confused with gravity.
Piranha Plant falling in Ultimate.

Falling speed is the rate at which a character can move downward in mid-air. A character's falling speed can greatly impact the fighting style - for instance, Fox, a fast-faller, uses his aerial speed to perform attacks out of a short hop and fast fall very quickly afterwards, whereas Jigglypuff, a floaty character, uses its low falling speed to attack multiple times in mid-air. Falling speed is measured in units per frame.

While falling speed's main effect is determining how quickly a character can drop downwards, it also affects the physics of knockback. After a character is launched, their gravity still applies, slowing their vertical ascent until the reduction equals their falling speed; as a result, characters with higher falling speed have their vertical knockback reduced for longer, improving their vertical endurance while also hampering their ability to recover from horizontal blows. However, weight is still the main factor in how much knockback is sustained in the first place, and the two factors are independent - a fast-falling character is not necessarily heavy, and vice versa. Samus and Fox are notable examples of this.

The items Bunny Hood and Metal Box increase the user's falling speed. Some stages can also affect a character's falling speed, such as the flying-type portion of Pokémon Stadium 2 and the falling portion of Summit.

In Super Smash Bros. 4, the equipment bonus effects, Thistle Jump and Anchor Jump, can be used to alter a character's falling speed, with Thistle Jump decreasing it, while Anchor Jump increases it. However, both bonus effects also alter a character's gravity.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, moves that launch at angles between 70° and 110° now instead cause characters' falling speeds to be homogenized to a set value of 1.8 until hitstun ends, making falling speed no longer play a major factor on vertical survivability; however, it still plays a factor on moves outside of this range, as well as moves which deal weight-independent knockback, as they ignore this effect.

All characters can also fast fall at any time during a descent to increase falling speed, so long as they are not in tumble.

Categories of falling speedEdit

Characters are generally put into one of two groups of falling speed: floaty and fast-faller, each of which have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on playstyle.

Fast-fallerEdit

Fast-faller is a name that refers to characters with a fast falling speed. Fox, Captain Falcon, and King Dedede are prominent examples of fast-fallers, with Fox being unusually light for how quickly he falls.

Fast-fallers enjoy increased speed in the air and, in Melee, faster SHFFL'd approaches; however, they suffer from shorter recoveries. They are also susceptible to different combos from floaty characters. For instance, Captain Falcon can chain grab floaty characters with his down throw, but cannot do so against fast-fallers. On the other hand, he can tech-chase fast-fallers (or chain grab them given the right percents) with up throw, which he cannot do against floaty characters. Generally, fast fallers are more vulnerable to chain grabs and combos (although weight and character size are other factors as well); for instance, in Melee, Marth can chain his up throw on the space animals repeatedly and ultimately finish them off with a forward smash, but this combo is substantially less effective on a floaty character such as Peach or Jigglypuff (although, notably, this chaingrab does not work on fast-faller Captain Falcon, as he is too heavy).

FloatyEdit

Floaty is a name that describes characters with a slow falling speed. Jigglypuff, Peach, and Samus are prominent examples of floaty characters, with Samus being unusually floaty for how heavy she is.

Floaty characters have great benefits in terms of performing aerial attacks, since one would able to perform multiple aerial attacks in succession (such as Jigglypuff's slow falling speed and multiple mid-air jumps allowing it to do the wall of pain) and easier recoveries due to slow falling speeds allowing easier maneuvering. Downsides include vulnerability to being juggled, having easily predictable recoveries, or being KO'd vertically easily. On the flip side, floaty characters tend to be less vulnerable to chain grabs and combos.

Super Smash Bros.Edit

JPN
Rank Character Falling Speed
N/A   Metal Mario 100
N/A   Giant Donkey Kong 72
1   Link 64
2-3   Fox 60
  Captain Falcon
4   Donkey Kong 56
5-6   Yoshi 55
  Ness
7   Pikachu 52
8   Kirby 48
9   Mario 44
10-11   Samus 42
  Luigi
12   Jigglypuff 38
NA/PAL
Rank Character Falling Speed
N/A   Metal Mario 100
N/A   Giant Donkey Kong 72
1   Captain Falcon 66
2   Link 64
3   Fox 60
4   Yoshi 58
5   Donkey Kong 56
6   Ness 55
7   Pikachu 52
8   Kirby 48
9   Mario 44
10-11   Samus 42
  Luigi
12   Jigglypuff 38

Super Smash Bros. MeleeEdit

Rank Character Falling Speed
1   Falco 3.1
2   Captain Falcon 2.9
3   Fox 2.8
4-5   Donkey Kong 2.4
  Roy
N/A   Giga Bowser 2.4
6   Marth 2.2
7-9   Link 2.13
  Sheik
  Young Link
10   Ganondorf 2
N/A   Fighting Wire Frame (Male) 2
11   Yoshi 1.93
12-14   Pikachu 1.9
  Bowser
  Pichu
15   Ness 1.83
N/A   Fighting Wire Frame (Female) 1.8
16-18   Mario 1.7
  Dr. Mario
  Mr. Game & Watch
19-21   Kirby 1.6
  Luigi
  Ice Climbers
N/A   Sandbag 1.6
22-23   Peach 1.5
  Mewtwo
24-25   Samus 1.4
  Zelda
26   Jigglypuff 1.3

Super Smash Bros. BrawlEdit

Rank Character Falling Speed
N/A Giga Bowser 2.5
N/A Wario-Man 2.2
1   King Dedede 1.95
2   Captain Falcon 1.837
3   Fox 1.831
4   Wolf 1.8
5   Snake 1.73
6   Falco 1.708
7-8   Ganondorf 1.65
  Ike
9   Link 1.6
10-11   Donkey Kong 1.58
  Sheik
12-13   Pikachu 1.5
  Marth
14   Sonic 1.45
15-16   Zero Suit Samus 1.43
  Diddy Kong
17   Pit 1.42
18   Wario 1.4
19-20   Bowser 1.39
  Meta Knight
21   Lucas 1.37
22-23   Ivysaur 1.35
  Charizard
24   Ness 1.31
25-26   Squirtle 1.3
  Olimar
27   Yoshi 1.29
28-29   Mario 1.28
  Toon Link
N/A Fighting Alloy Team 1.28
30   Mr. Game & Watch 1.24
31   Luigi 1.22
32-35   Kirby 1.2
  Ice Climbers
  Lucario
  R.O.B.
36   Zelda 1.13
37   Samus 1.07
38   Peach 1.05
39   Jigglypuff 0.98

NotesEdit

  • Excluding Giga Bowser and Wario-Man, no character in Brawl can surpass a falling speed of 2 without fast falling. King Dedede comes the closest, falling slightly faster than Yoshi in Melee, with a maximum fall speed of 1.95.
  • Falco received the largest decrease to his falling speed in the transition from Melee to Brawl, going from 3.1 to 1.708, a difference of 1.392 units. Conversely, Zelda received the smallest decrease, going from 1.4 to 1.13, a difference of just 0.27 units.

Super Smash Bros. 4Edit

Rank Character Falling Speed
N/A Giga Bowser 2.5
N/A Wario-Man 2.2
N/A Giga Mac 2.2
1   Fox 2.05
2   King Dedede 1.95
3   Greninja 1.85
4   Captain Falcon 1.837
5-8   Little Mac 1.8
  Falco
  Mega Man
  Roy
9   Bayonetta 1.77
10-11   Diddy Kong 1.75
  Sheik
12-13   Zero Suit Samus 1.7
  Mii Brawler 1.7
14-15   Lucario 1.68
  Cloud 1.68
16   Meta Knight 1.66
17-21   Bowser Jr. 1.65
  Ganondorf
  Ike
  Duck Hunt
  Corrin
22   Donkey Kong 1.63
23   Wario 1.61
24-27   Link 1.6
  R.O.B.
  Ryu
  Mii Swordfighter 1.6
28-29   Marth 1.58
  Lucina
N/A Mega Lucario 1.56
30   Pikachu 1.55
31-35   Mario 1.5
  Robin
  Shulk
  Dr. Mario
  Mewtwo
36-37   Pit 1.48
  Dark Pit
38-39   Sonic 1.45
  Mii Gunner 1.45
40-41   Palutena 1.4
  Charizard
42   Bowser 1.39
43   Lucas 1.37
44-46   Zelda 1.35
  Olimar
  Pac-Man
47   Villager 1.32
48   Ness 1.31
49-50   Samus 1.3
  Wii Fit Trainer
51   Yoshi 1.29
52   Toon Link 1.28
53   Luigi 1.25
54   Mr. Game & Watch 1.24
55   Kirby 1.23
56   Rosalina & Luma 1.2
57   Peach 1.15
58   Jigglypuff 0.98

Update historyEdit

1.1.3Edit

  •   Lucario's falling speed: 1.56 → 1.68

1.1.5Edit

  •   Samus's falling speed: 1.25 → 1.3

Super Smash Bros. UltimateEdit

When launched at an angle between 70° and 110°, all characters use a falling speed of 1.8 until the hitstun ends. This doesn't apply to weight-independent knockback, however.

Rank Character Falling Speed
N/A Giga Bowser 2.2
1   Fox 2.1
2-4   King Dedede 1.95
  Little Mac
  Piranha Plant
5   Mii Brawler 1.92
6   Pichu 1.9
7   Mythra 1.87
8   Captain Falcon 1.865
9-11   Greninja 1.85
  Simon
  Richter
12   Sephiroth 1.84
13-18   Falco 1.8
  Young Link
  Roy
  Chrom
  Wolf
  Mega Man
19   Ridley 1.78
20-21   Bowser 1.77
  Bayonetta
22-23   Incineroar 1.76
  Banjo & Kazooie
24-25   Sheik 1.75
  Diddy Kong
26   Snake 1.73
27-29   Zero Suit Samus 1.7
  King K. Rool
  Kazuya
30-31   Lucario 1.68
  Cloud 1.68
32   Meta Knight 1.66
33-38   Ganondorf 1.65
  Ike
  Sonic
  Bowser Jr.
  Duck Hunt
  Corrin
39-40   Donkey Kong 1.63
  Joker
41   Pyra 1.62
42   Wario 1.61
43-47   Link 1.6
  R.O.B.
  Ryu
  Ken
  Byleth
48-51   Marth 1.58
  Lucina
  Inkling
  Shulk 1.58
52   Hero 1.57
53-56   Palutena 1.55
  Pikachu 1.55
  Mewtwo
  Mii Swordfighter
57   Charizard 1.52
58-61   Mario 1.5
  Dr. Mario
  Robin
  Min Min
62-64   Pit 1.48
  Dark Pit
  Terry
65   Mii Gunner 1.45
66   Sora 1.44
67   Steve 1.42
68-69   Ivysaur 1.38
  Toon Link
70   Lucas 1.37
71-74   Zelda 1.35
  Squirtle
  Olimar
  Pac-Man
75-76   Samus 1.33
  Dark Samus
77-78   Luigi 1.32
  Villager
79   Ness 1.31
80-82   Ice Climbers 1.3
  Isabelle
  Wii Fit Trainer 1.3
83   Yoshi 1.29
84   Mr. Game & Watch 1.24
85   Kirby 1.23
86   Rosalina & Luma 1.2
87-88   Peach 1.19
  Daisy
89   Jigglypuff 0.98

Update historyEdit

3.1.0Edit

  •   Mii Brawler's falling speed: 1.92 → 1.7

4.0.0Edit

  •   Mii Brawler's falling speed: 1.7 → 1.92

See alsoEdit