Meta Knight (PM)

Meta Knight in Project M and Project+
Universe	Kirby
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Meta Knight (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Concept Art Meta Knight, Dark Meta Knight

Meta Knight's Concept art Costume from Project M 3.0

Meta Knight's Concept art Costume in Project M 3.6

Meta Knight's Mirror World Costume in Project M 3.5

Meta Knight is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. As the dominant force of the Brawl metagame, Meta Knight returns from Brawl with moderate nerfs and a few new tricks.

Attributes

Meta Knight has a unique character archetype. He boasts multiple double jumps, above average walking speed, the fourth fastest dashing speed, the sixth fastest falling speed, the ability to glide, and average air speed. He is also tied for the fastest jump squat frames (3 frames), giving him a quick (albeit short) wavedash. He is small character, and is the fourth lightest character (being surprisingly heavier than Fox). These traits give Meta Knight above average mobility compared to most characters of his size and weight.

Among Meta Knight most positive traits that he has is his overall frame data, with most of them have little startup and ending lag, such as his down tilt. Though his overall reach is average, his sword, Galaxia, gives him a useful disjointed range, especially in relation to his size, as he is the only small character who wields a sword. These factors make him difficult to punish, and in turn allow him to pressure his opponents.

His speed also gives him a versatile moveset and combo game. Down tilt can either be used to start combo up close or be used to space and edge-guard from a distance, which is further helped with its long reach. Neutral aerial is very quick, has decent reach, and is decently powerful, allowing it to be used out of shield, or as an effective edge-guarding or combo move. Forward aerial can be used as effective wall of pain, especially on characters with poor horizontal recoveries such as Roy. Up aerial has very potent combo potential, notably on stages with low ceilings, where it can combo into Mach Tornado, Shuttle Loop, or even Dimensional Cape for early KOs (a variation of the Rufio combo). His grab game is also is notably effective, despite his average grab range. Forward throw is very quick, making it hard for the opponent to react. Back throw can set-up edge-guards and can kill lighter characters at very high percentages (though this is highly situational). His down throw is arguably his best throw, as it is almost guaranteed to follow-up into a variety of moves at low percents, can tech-chase, and can even chain grab certain characters at low percents.

Meta Knight also has a surprising amount of KOing options for his weight class. Forward smash has noticeable startup, but is decently powerful for a character of his size, and has little ending lag, making it relatively difficult to punish. Down smash is notably quick, allowing it to be used as a way to get Meta Knight's opponent off of him and a combo finisher, making it his quickest punish move. Back aerial is very quick and powerful, making a decent KO option at high percents. Finally, down aerial has very high knockback and range, and sends opponents at a semi-spike, being almost guaranteed to gimp characters with poor recoveries.

Finally, Meta Knight's recovery is considered to be among the best in the game relative to the cast. His midair jumps and special moves can all be used in different situations. Mach Tornado can be used from generally any angle even below the edge, and has good protection due to the hitbox surrounding Meta Knight. Drill Rush is his quickest recovery move horizontally, and punish edge-guarders who wait near the edge anticipating Meta Knight's return. Shuttle Loop has the most amount of horizontal distance due to it transitioning into a Glide, and the loop can even be used for vertical recovery if Meta Knight is facing away from the stage, he will instantly land on the stage. Finally, Dimensional Cape is the most unpredictable of his recovery moves, as Meta Knight is invisible during the move, it can even punish edge-guarders as the attack proportion of the move has very powerful knockback, and can even be cancelled by flicking the C-Stick.

However, Meta Knight does have notable flaws. His main flaw, similar to the space animals, is his frailty. His light weight combined with his very high fall speed make it so that he is KO'd fairly easily horizontally (though his vertical endurance is above average for his weight class). His high fall speed also make it so that he is vulnerable to many combos and chain grabs despite his light weight, combined with the harsher environment of Project M, this makes him have to wait out his opponent if he has taken too much percent and is forced to wait for a punish.

Despite his recovery being very good, it is limited when his options are missing, due to the fact that if he were to get hit out of any of his specials, he would lose his midair jumps and is forced to use one of his specials until he returns to a safe position. This also makes him vulnerable to meteor smashes and spikes, due to his high fall speed (though the former is somewhat compensated with meteor cancelling), his vertical recovery becomes much harder, as he lacks a reliable vertical recovery move without his jumps.

Finally, outside of edge-guarding, Meta Knight can generally have a hard time KOing despite having good options. His KO options either have slow start-up, low range, stale quickly, or are difficult to land. This gives him trouble when he is below a stock, as he can have a hard time getting the lead. Because of this, Meta Knight relies on combos that have the potential of doing high damage or pressure to his opponent, but many of these combos are either difficult to do, or are based on reads and mindgames.

Overall, his pros outweigh his cons despite the latter being noticeable, as his very quick speed, strong recovery, and formidable combo game, are enough to make a threat to the rest of the cast. Because of this, Meta Knight is viewed by the Project M community as a viable character (placing very high on the Project M 3.02 preliminary tier list and even on the finalized one). Though his tournament presence has gone down after the significant changes he received in transition to Version 3.5, it does not significantly impact his viability when compared to other characters such as Zelda and Mewtwo, and players such as Junebug still ranking him very high on his personal tier list [1].

Changes from Brawl to PM

Meta Knight's down aerial prior to version 3.5.

In transition from overwhelming dominance from Brawl, Meta Knight has received both buffs and nerfs, but was moderately nerfed overall. He had some of his overwhelming advantages weakened in the transition from Brawl, such as his recovery, up aerial, Mach Tornado, and Shuttle Loop. Despite this, he has been given new tools that make him a threat to the rest of the cast. Overall, he remains a threat to the rest of the cast, and is viewed as a viable character, though not to the same extent as in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Sword SFX changed to sound louder, making his attacks sound stronger.

Attributes

• Glide attack deals slightly more damage (12% → 13%) and base knockback (30 → 40).
• Meta Knight's already fast dashing speed has been significantly increased (1.847 → 2.1), now having the 4th fastest dash in the game.
• Meta Knight's air speed is significantly faster (0.752 → 1.0).
• Meta Knight's jump-squat is one frame faster (Frame 4 → Frame 3).
• Meta Knight jumps higher (2.4 → 2.7).
• Meta Knight has much more traction (0.055 → 0.09).
• Meta Knight no longer suffers a 32 frame meteor cancel delay (now being standardized to 15 frames), significantly improving his survivability against meteor smashes.
• Along with Pit and Charizard, Meta Knight can no longer glide with the jump button, though unlike these characters, who received a new special move that allows them to glide, Meta Knight only possesses his Shuttle Loop glide, significantly shortening his recovery. The duration and upward angling capabilities of the glide were also reduced (the entire duration was reduced from infinite to 80 frames).
• Number of mid-air jumps reduced (5 → 3), worsening his recovery.
• Meta Knight's falling speed was increased drastically (1.39 → 2.45) especially when compared to the rest of the Brawl cast, going from average to the 6th fastest falling speed in the game. It makes his SHFFL decent, in addition to him taking less vertical knockback. As a downside, it worsens his recovery and makes him susceptible to combos and chaingrabs, despite his small size and low weight.

Ground Attacks

• Neutral attack's multi-hits have more base knockback (8 → 25), allowing them to connect better, and final hit deals more damage (2% → 3%) and knockback (13 base/60 growth → 40 base/100 growth). It also has less ending lag.
• Neutral attack can no longer be held.
• Neutral attack's animation slightly altered to match it's animation in Smash 4.
• Dash attack comes out one frame faster (frame 5 → frame 4), and has an added late hit that deals 3%, giving it a longer duration.
• Each hit of forward tilt's interruptibility frames occur later.
• The first two hits of forward tilt have different knockback values (14/8 base/88 growth → 0 base/100 growth).
• Down tilt deals more damage (4%/5%/6%/7% → 5%/7%), and the inner half of the move now launching foes vertically and open for aerial combos, while the rest of the attack acts like the Brawl version.
• Down tilt has increased start-up (frame 3 → frame 6) and it's interruptibility frames occur slower (IASA 16 → IASA 20). It also gives less distance forward, making it less effective for pseudo-crawling.
• Forward smash deals more damage (14% → 16%) and knockback (28 base/99 growth → 30 base/110 growth), making it moderately stronger.
• Forward smash's interruptibility frames occur much slower (IASA 40 → IASA 49), and causes Meta Knight to step back more during its initial delay, which somewhat lessens its range overall.
• Forward smash's ending animation altered to match it's animation in Smash 4.
• Up smash deals more damage (9% → 12%), and increased knockback (62 base/145 growth → 40 base/185 growth).
• Up smash has less hitlag, making it harder to Smash DI, but makes it less safe on shield.
• The first hit of down smash deals more damage (11% → 13%), and the back hit has slightly more knockback growth (90 → 93).
• The first hit of down smash has much less knockback growth (93 → 80), and the back hit comes out slightly slower (frame 10 → frame 14).

Aerial Attacks

• All aerials have more landing lag (neutral aerial: 15 frames → 17 frames, forward aerial: 15 frames → 18 frames, back aerial: 12 frames → 16 frames, up aerial: 12 frames → 15 frames, down aerial: 15 frames → 16 frames).
• Neutral aerial has more range, and a longer duration (frame 3-24 → frame 3-28). The sourspot also deals slightly more damage (7% → 9%).
• Neutral aerial has more ending lag (IASA 32 → IASA 43).
• Forward aerial's final hit has decreased knockback (60 base/122 growth → 30 base/130 growth), which allows much easier wall of pain combos under Project M's physics.
• Forward aerial has much less KO potential as a result of its lower knockback.
• The first two hits of forward aerial have different knockback values (80/5 fixed knockback/100 growth → 115 fixed knockback/30 growth).
• Meta Knight has a new back aerial: a single quarter-circle slash at his back. The new back aerial deals more damage (10% → 14%), and is easier to wall of pain into itself.
• The new back aerial has more start-up (frame 7 → frame 10), and drastically less knockback growth (175 → 100).
• Up aerial deals more damage (6% → 8%).
• Up aerial, though still having juggling potential, now has more start-up (frame 2 → frame 5) and ending lag (IASA 14 → IASA 23), reducing it's combo potential despite it's decreased knockback growth (125 → 105). It also cannot be used repeatedly while jumping and rising as effectively.
• Meta Knight has a new down aerial: where he performs a somersault before slashing downward in a horizontal arc. The new down aerial deals more damage (9%/7% → 14%/11%) and knockback (15/30 base/105 growth → 30/20 base/80/90 growth). Though it has more start-up (frame 4 → frame 12), the more edgeguarding-friendly physics and the changes to air dodging, makes his down aerial (and to an extent, his other aerials) even more deadly gimping tools, now being almost guaranteed to gimp.

Grabs and Throws

• Pivot grab comes out one frame later (frame 8 → frame 9).
• Back throw is now weight-dependent.
• Up throw sends at a more favorable angle at lower percentages (77º → 90º), which allows it to lead into many tricks and follow-ups.
• Up throw's altered angle makes it less effective for KOing.
• Down throw sends opponents at a more favorable angle (60º → 50º), allowing easier tech-chases from it, and allowing Meta Knight to chain grab a few characters more effectively. It is also faster due to a reduction in the number of kicks.
• Down throw has different knockback values (50 base/110 growth → 30 base/200 growth).
• Down throw's reduced number of kicks results in it dealing less damage (11% → 9%). It also always forces opponents into tumble, reducing it's combo ability (though this is heavily compensated with the aforementioned angle, damage, and knockback changes).

Special Moves

• All special moves go into a special landing lag animation if used in the air, even if they were used very close to the ground.
• Mach Tornado has less start-up (frame 12 → frame 9), and the final hit deals more damage (3% → 5%) and knockback (35 base/170 growth → 50 base/128 (ground)/140 (air) growth).
• Mach Tornado's acceleration, deceleration and duration were decreased.
• The multi-hits for Mach Tornado have different knockback values (50/90 fixed knockback/45/100 growth → 30/40 base/0 growth).
• Drill Rush propels forward faster and its multi-hits link better due to base knockback values changes (50/60/100 → 60/40/70), and the first hit now sending opponents at an autolink angle, giving it much more utility in combos and approaching. The final hit also has increased knockback growth (100 → 115).
• Drill Rush no longer has a small jump at the end, reducing it's safety. The angling capabilities and distance of Drill Rush were also reduced.
• Aerial Shuttle Loop has a slightly longer duration (frame 8-36 → frame 8-37), and now deals vertical knockback instead of a semi-spike, allowing get early KOs off the ceiling. Grounded Shuttle Loop's late hit also deals more damage (5% → 6%).
• Grounded Shuttle Loop has less base knockback (90 → 85), a smaller hitbox, and a shorter duration (frame 8-36 → frame 8-31). Because of the aforementioned change, aerial Shuttle Loop is no longer a horizontal finisher.
• When using Dimensional Cape, flicking the C-stick before teleporting will perform a quick slash, dealing 14% damage. The normal slash itself deals more damage (14% → 16%), and significantly increased knockback (20 base/85 growth → 50/40 base/100/103 growth).
• Dimensional Cape's invincibility frames have more start-up (frame 18 → frame 23).
• Meta Knight can no longer perform the Infinite Dimensional Cape.
• Galaxia Darkness has a Darkness effect added.

Revisions

v2.6b

• Angled down aerial has hitboxes in Meta Knight's body.
• Grounded Dimensional Cape does not disable specials and airdodges.
• Grounded Shuttle Loop is able to go into special landing during the loop, like the aerial version.
• Pivot grab range reduced, and has a bit more startup to match other pivot grabs.
• Down aerial landing lag when not L-Canceled corrected.
• Dimensional Cape attack edge cancels into fall properly when sliding off edges.
• Dimensional Cape non-attack reappearance turn around timing adjusted to match the attack.
• Fixed a bug with glitched specials able to be performed out of aerials following the use of Dimensional Cape.
• Fixed a bug with momentum when Down B was used directly out of hitstun.

v3.5

• Number of mid-air jumps reduced: 4 → 3 (height of jumps compensated).
• Model size/hurtbox increased: 0.94x → 1.00x.
• Glide now has a max duration of 80 frames.
• Glide after first aerial usage now exits into special fall after 8 frames, refreshed by landing on the ground or ledge.
• Glide maximum upwards angle reduced: 80º → 45º.
• Glide Attack hitlag lowered: 1.5x → 1x.
• Glide Attack landing lag and special fall landing lag increased: 18 frames → 30 frames.
• Glide cancel special fall landing lag reduced: 30 frames → 15 frames.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Meta Knight from holding down to go through platforms with his multi-jumps.
• Neutral attack SDI multiplier on looping hitboxes: 0.8x → 1x.
• Forward tilt first hit IASA: 21 → 24.
• Forward tilt second hit IASA: 24 → 28.
• Forward tilt third hit IASA: 29 → 35.
  • This does not effect the full combo, and only if the hits are used individually.
• Down tilt IASA: 19 → 22.
• Dash attack ending lag increased: 15 frames → 16 frames.
• Dash attack active frames reduced: frame 4-20 → frame 4-15.
• Forward smash IASA: 40 → 46.
• Forward smash Z-offset increased.
• Forward smash inner hitbox removed.
• Forward smash body hitbox size reduced.
• Forward smash body hitbox moved outwards.
• Up smash has knockback changes: 62 base/145 growth → 40 base/185 growth.
• First and second hits of up smash hitlag increased: 0.75x → 1x.
• First and second hits of up smash SDI multiplier increased: 0.5x → 0.8x.
• Neutral aerial hitboxes terminate quicker: frame 32 → frame 30.
• Neutral aerial lingering hitboxes diminish in size.
• Neutral aerial middle hitbox damage increased: 8% → 9%.
• Neutral aerial middle hitbox deals more knockback: 0 base/80 growth → 15 base/100 growth.
• Neutral aerial middle hitbox duration lowered: 21 frames → 9 frames.
• Neutral aerial sourspot hitbox duration increased: 5 frames → 14 frames.
• Neutral aerial sourspot base knockback increased: 0 → 10.
• Neutral aerial sourspot outer sword hitbox removed.
• Forward aerial first hit SDI multiplier increased: 0.6x → 1x.
• Forward aerial second hit SDI multiplier increased: 0.8x → 1x.
• Knockback changes to first and second hit of forward aerial: first hit: 50/79 base/second hit: 110/25 base → 115 set-knockback on both hits.
• First and second hits of forward aerial growth increased: 0 → 30.
• First and second hits of forward aerial first hitbox angle changed: 80 → 361.
• First and second hits of forward aerial last hitbox angle changed: 280 → 285.
• First and second hits of forward aerial outer hitbox sizes reduced.
• Up aerial damage increased: 6% → 8%, (knockback growth compensated: 125 → 105).
• Up aerial hitlag lowered: 1.4x → 1x.
• Down aerial replaced with Brawl down aerial (*changes listed below will refer to Brawl).
  • Hits frame 6-7 as opposed to 4-5.
  • IASA: 24 → 34.
  • Inside hitboxes deal more damage: 7% → 9%.
  • Outside hitboxes deal less damage: 9% → 6%.
  • Inside hitboxes angle: 35º → 40º.
  • Outside hitboxes angle: 23º → 55º.
  • Inside hitboxes has less base knockboack: 30 → 15.
  • Hitbox size reduced from Brawl.
  • 8 frames of L-Cancelled landing lag.
• Standing Grab range reduced.
• Dash Grab total TransN movement distance decreased 25%.
• Turn grab box changed to match animation.
• Down throw has knockback changes: 60 base/110 growth → 30 base/200 growth.
• Down throw damage increased: 8% → 9%.
• Down throw IASA: 66 → 73.
• Mach Tornado final hit angle: 361º → 90º.
• Mach Tornado no longer passes current frame from air to ground on landing, now goes into special fall for 30 frames.
• Aerial Mach Tornado ending has reduced drift control and more horizontal air resistance.
• Aerial Mach Tornado base knockback and knockback growth values now match grounded Tornado.
• Drill Rush outer hitboxes moved back onto hand.
• Shuttle Loop sweetspot angle: 80º → 75º.
• Shuttle Loop base knockback reduced: 90 → 85.
• Shuttle Loop longer edge cancels, instead transitions into a non-driftable/interruptible flip animation.
• Removed late flub hit from grounded Shuttle Loop.
• Aerial Shuttle Loop now only hits for the first 9 frames.
• Dimensional Cape now goes into helpless state.
• Fixed a bug that enabled aerial Dimensional Cape to refresh jumps/Dimensional Cape usage by quickly touching the ground.
• Fixed ability to infinite Dimensional Cape by quickly alternating between ground and air states.
• Minimum start-up for instant Dimensional Cape slash: frame 7 → frame 11.
• Can no longer control Dimensional Cape during the ending animation.
• Can use any attack button for instant Dimensional Cape slash.

v3.6

Beta

• Added a dust effect when Meta Knight is nearing the end of his glide timer.
• Various slash, animation, and other graphical polishes.
• Weight significantly increased: 70 → 79.
• All specials now cause Meta Knight to lose all remaining jumps if used in the air. Keeps jumps if used from the ground. Previous behavior caused Mach Tornado, Drill Rush, and Shuttle Loop to lose 1 jump, and Dimensional Cape to lose all jumps if used in the air.
• Down tilt IASA: 22 → 20.
• Ported the first hitbox of down tilt knockback growth, damage, and angle stats (the launcher hitbox) to the second hitbox.
• Meta Knight has a new down aerial: where he performs a somersault before slashing downward in a horizontal arc. The new down aerial deals more damage (9%/6% → 14%) and more knockback (15 base/105 growth → 30 base/75 growth). Though it has more start-up (frame 6 → frame 12) the more edgeguarding-friendly physics makes his down aerial an even deadlier gimping tool, now being almost guaranteed to gimp.
• Standing grab range: 13 units → 14 units.
• Down throw always forces tumble, reducing it's combo ability.
• Mach Tornado damage per hit lowered: 2% → 1%.
• Mach Tornado has a re-hit rate of 5 frames (4 at the smaller sweetspot at the middle of the tornado), instead of ranging between 6-10 frames depending on how fast Meta Knight is spinning.
• Mach Tornado sweetspot and side hitboxes have 110 angle, 40 base knockback, and have priority. Larger center hitbox has 90 angle and 30 base knockback, usually only hitting if the opponent is grounded or below Meta Knight.
• Aerial Mach Tornado ending hitbox moved upwards slightly, to the same height as the grounded ending hitbox.
• Beginning of grounded Tornado no longer forces Meta Knight off the ground.
• Modified the coding of Mach Tornado to make mashing easier, but also to remove the ability to use d-pad specials to gain excessive height. Keeps the same practical height gain.
• Drill Rush multi-hit's rehit rate changed: 5 frames → 4 frames. Dealing a whole 1% more total damage as a result.
• Drill Rush increased size of multi-hit's frontmost hitbox: 3 → 4.5, and moved it backwards by 1 unit.
• Drill Rush multi-hits base knockback lowered by various amounts to improve linkage.
• Aerial Drill Rush final hit's hitbox sizes (sword/body) reduced: 6.56/7.38 → 5/6. Moved hitboxes inward by 0.64/2 units.
• All hitboxes on Shuttle Loop normalized to 1x hitlag.
• Flub hitbox on grounded Shuttle Loop reinstated.
• Aerial Shuttle Loop weak hit duration reverted to 3.02.
• Disabled vertical momentum during aerial Shuttle Loop startup, for more consistent height gain.
• Altered some sound effects of Shuttle Loop to be less busy.
• Grounded Shuttle Loop has Meta Knight take out his wings partway through, as his wings were animated but weren't actually set to display properly.
• Strong hitbox of Dimensional Cape knockback growth decreased: 115 → 100.
• Dimensional Cape hitbox size increased
• Ledge cancelling the Dimensional Cape slash causes you to go into regular fall instead of a helpless state.
• Altered ending coding of Dimensional Cape to be consistent between air/ground.
• Galaxia Darkness has a Darkness effect added.

Full

• Left foot enlargement of dash attack reduced to 1.3.
• Forward smash IASA: 46 → 49.
• Down aerial knockback growth increased: 75 → 80.
• Down aerial hitbox size increased: 4.25 → 4.5.
• Rear hitbox of Down aerial changed to 11% damage, angle 361, 20 base knockback, 80 knockback growth, and 5.8 size.
• Down aerial animation altered to have more force behind it.
• Mach Tornado can now grab the ledge during the ending animation.
• Voice clip for Drill Rush plays earlier.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Flurry Attack	1-3% (5 hits)	Meta Knight slashes all around him in a flurry, similar to some of the Sword ability moves in the Kirby series. The first swipe only hits from behind while the rest can connect normally. Only three hits can connect when turned away. Only hits for a single series of hits and cannot be rapidly tapped for an increase of blows.
Forward tilt			4%	Slashes twice in front of him (inward then outward), then once upwards. Last hit deals vertical knockback. 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 time. Even at higher percentages, all three hits can combo into themselves.
			3%
			5% (base), 4% (tip)
Up tilt		Up Thrust	6-8%	Stabs upward while spinning. Meta Knight's famous upward stab during his boss battles. Sweetspot is at the hilt of the sword.
Down tilt			7% (body), 5% (sword)	Thrusts his sword across the ground via low stab. Can set up for a grab at low percents and is great for controlling space. Can be used to pseudo-crawl, but not as effectively as in Brawl.
Dash attack			6-8% (clean), 3% (late)	Does a forward thrust kick into a braking stop with vertical knockback. Due to this move not involving his sword, this attack has normal priority.
Forward smash			16%	Pulls his sword back for a second, then slashes in front of him in a clearing outward strike. It's one of his strongest move in terms of knockback. Has very little ending lag. When fully charged, it can KO at 80%. Steps back a bit more during its initial delay than in Brawl.
Up smash			4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3)	Slashes above him three times in a spiraling stationary leap. Similar to Link's up smash, but is much faster, has less range, and deals less damage and knockback. Can KO at very high percentages.
Down smash			13% (both sides)	Slashes in front of him, then behind. Arguably one of his best KO moves due to its extremely fast speed and power. The second hit has slightly higher knockback than the first hit.
Neutral aerial		Sword Spin	12% (clean), 9% (mid), 4% (late)	Slashes while spinning in a forward-somersaulting circle, with a similar animation to the Sword ability's midair slash in the Kirby games. Has decent knockback. Good for offstage KOs if the move hits when clean and a good OoS option because of its speed and power.
Forward aerial			3% (hits 1-2), 4% (hit 3)	Slashes in front of him three times. Can perform a wall-of-pain variation, though Meta Knight's air speed somewhat hampers the effectiveness of it so it is not as effective when compared to Jigglypuff's wall of pain.
Back aerial			14%	Does one upward slash behind him. Good surprise offstage KO option at high percents or a powerful combo and gimping option at lower percents.
Up aerial			8%	Slashes above him very quickly. Has decent knockback, but noticeably more ending lag than in Brawl. However, it is still useful for keeping opponents in the air via powerful juggle potential.
Down aerial			14% (sweetspot), 11% (sourspot)	Meta Knight performs a somersault before slashing downward in a horizontal arc. Sends the opponent on a semi-spike trajectory and is quite deadly offstage, especially against opponents with poor horizontal recovery.
Glide attack			13%	Part of his Shuttle Loop glide attack, Meta Knight will slash forward once when the attack button is pressed. A very powerful gliding attack compared to the others. This is only sword-based move of his to lack transcendent priority.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Jabs opponents with the talons on his wings. A slow pummel.
Forward throw			6% (hit), 3% (throw)	Boots the opponent away and upward with a back-somersaulting kick. A very fast throw and can lead up into another grab at low percent.
Back throw			7% (hit), 3% (throw)	Warps behind the opponent and slashes at them with an outward strike.
Up throw		Air Drop	12%	Like Kirby's u-throw, Meta Knight jumps into the air holding his foe, and then crashes down. The differences are that his throw doesn't create an explosion, like Kirby's, does more damage, and has slightly more launching power.
Down throw		Fury Stomp	1% (hits 1-5), 3% (hit 6), 1% (throw)	Like Kirby's d-throw, Meta Knight stomps on the opponent multiple times, then ends by fall-stomping down on them with his foot's underside. Compared to Kirby's d-throw, it produces horizontal knockback. It can be followed by other attacks, and even another grab at low percentages.
Floor attack (front)			7% (body), 5% (sword)	Slashes on either side of himself.
Floor attack (back)			7% (body), 5% (sword)	Slashes on either side of himself.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Essentially the same as his other two floor attacks.
Edge attack (fast)			9% (body), 7% (sword)	Quickly slashes forward with his blade.
Edge attack (slow)			10% (body), 9% (sword)	Gets up slowly, then slashes with his blade.
Neutral special		Mach Tornado	1% (loop hits), 5% (last hit)	Spins at high speed, trapping foes in a tornado. This makes escape via directional influence difficult. When the Tornado is finished, the last hit causes slightly more than moderate knockback, but can be very dangerous if used near the top of the screen as Meta Knight could self-destruct if he cannot touch stage edges in his helpless state when off-stage or with the addition of being put helpless, can be punished. Mach Tornado can be controlled by pressing left or right to move in that direction, and going upwards is done by pressing the special move button rapidly, which also extends the amount of time Meta Knight spins, although as noted above, the amount of time is less than in Brawl. It is also a good recovery move, it gains some horizontal distance on top of a little vertical distance. It also has near instantaneous start-up lag, and with multiple large hitboxes that can clash with ground and aerial hitboxes, it provides great protection to Meta Knight. However, something to note is that Meta Knight will bounce off of edges rather than grabbing them if he hits them while he is in the tornado. He also cannot grab edges during the first few frames of his helpless animation out of the tornado.
Side special		Drill Rush	1% (hits 1-5), 6% (hit 6)	Leaps sideways with his blade outstretched. If he hits an enemy, he performs a combination lasting up to a good second, knocking Meta Knight's opponent slightly upward. Meta Knight can also change the course of the attack, although nowhere near as much as in Brawl, making it less useful as a recovery. After using the attack, Meta Knight becomes helpless. It is possible to cancel the ending lag of the attack by making the end hit the edge, allowing it to be virtually lag free, and allowing Meta Knight to grab the edge which can be used to help with hogging the edge.
Up special		Shuttle Loop	9% (clean), 6% (late ground), 5% (late air)	Jumps into the air with his sword pointed upwards, goes into a loop and glides forward with his blade extended. The Shuttle Loop has good knockback, making it one of Meta Knight's best KO moves. The ground Shuttle Loop has vertical knockback and invincibility frames at the beginning of the move and the air version also has strong vertical knockback, being a solid edge-guarding move due its high base knockback. It should also be noted that the end of the shuttle loop attack automatically initiates a glide, which can be used in addition to the vertical recovery to add good horizontal recovery. In addition, because Meta Knight can do a quick attack to conclude a glide, the shuttle loop can be timed to do two consecutive attacks — the initial upswing, and the quick swing from the glide. The move makes him helpless if the glide ends/is canceled, or if he does the glide attack.
Down special		Dimensional Cape	16% (slash 1), 14% (slash 2)	Teleports in a direction, controllable with the control stick. If the attack button is pressed or the special button is held, he will perform a slash. It can be used to disappear from projectiles, and even attacks. Many players disregard the cape, but it is very useful for surprising opponents, making recovery less predictable and for edgeguarding. This is an extremely "flashy" move, and is often used for showing off. Meta Knight can use this as a recovery move, but afterwards, he will enter helpless state, even if the attack connects.
Final Smash		Galaxia Darkness	40% to trapped opponents, 18% for others	Swings his cape out directly in front of him while shouting "Know my power!" or "Behold....". If he misses with his cape, Meta Knight pauses for a brief time, and the Final Smash fails. When it connects, characters nearby become trapped, the screen then darkens to black, and after a few seconds, a large, single slash appears near Meta Knight, as he then slices the trapped opponents with one, powerful strike. Characters who are trapped by Meta Knight's cape always receive high, upwards knockback that can KO above 60%, with super armor ignored. Any opponents who are not trapped are also attacked, but instead take weaker damage and upwards knockback. These slashes can also damage and even KO allies, without regarding Friendly Fire being disabled or not. The weaker slash part of Galaxia Darkness can be avoided by dodging with correct timing.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  Dawn
•  EclipseKirby
•  Emukiller
•  Gurukid
•  Holy
•  Infinity
•  Jolteon
•  K9sbruce
•  Kappy
•  Lunchables
•  Plank
•  Plup
•  Tyrant

Alternate costumes

Meta Knight has gained two new costumes. One is based off of his evil Mirror World counterpart, Dark Meta Knight, from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror; the other is based off of early concept art of the character from Kirby's Adventure seen in the collectible book that came with Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition, where he had a more stylized mask and armour, and resembled a butterfly.

The Concept Art costume received a makeover in 3.6, giving Meta Knight white eyes and a new sword to brandish.

Meta Knight's alternate costumes in PM

Trivia

• Meta Knight is the only character whose down aerial has changed into an entirely different move three times between updates.
• Meta Knight's Concept Art alternate costume has an error where his sabaton strap appears to have no texture. There is however, a patch that fixes this problem- as well as an error involving his cape.[2]
• If Meta Knight is hit enough times when he is shielding, his cape will occasionally disappear. However, this has no effect on gameplay.