Chrom (SSBU)

Chrom in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Fire Emblem
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Awakening Aether

“	Chrom Joins the battle!!!	”
—Introduction Tagline

“	The protagonist of Fire Emblem Awakening joins the battle as Roy's echo fighter. His Final Smash is Awakening Aether. Like Aether in the original game, this move has Chrom charge toward his opponent, slashing with his sword.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Chrom (クロム, Chrom) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was announced as a newcomer alongside Simon, Richter, Dark Samus, and King K. Rool in the Nintendo Direct on August 8th, 2018. He serves as an Echo Fighter of Roy, though his lack of sweetspots makes him parallel Roy the same way Lucina parallels Marth. Chrom is classified as fighter #25ε.

Matthew Mercer and Tomokazu Sugita, who voice Chrom in the English and Japanese versions of Fire Emblem Awakening respectively, reprise their roles in the international and Japanese versions of Ultimate. Both voice actors initially revealed their roles on their Twitter accounts [1] [2].

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Chrom being the 59th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his unlock tree, being the seventh character unlocked after Ridley.
• Have Chrom join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, Chrom must then be defeated on Arena Ferox.

Attributes

Chrom's retention of Roy's high air speed grants him decent survivability with his second jump; conversely, his extremely ineffective recovery gives him a low offstage presence and makes him very easy to gimp.

On the other hand, due to Chrom using the weighted average of Roy's damage numbers, most which are extremely polarized in power, Chrom's overall damage and KO potential are both above average. Additionally, his balanced blade gives him greater effective range, allowing him to space out the opponent much like his ancestor Marth and daughter Lucina, while still remaining effective up close, especially when taking into account his effective dash dance and approach speed.

As a result, Chrom is often considered a very accessible and effective character, even when compared to the character he is based off of.

Differences from Roy

Chrom's primary differences from Roy are his up special, Soaring Slash, and his lack of a sweetspot and sourspot on his sword. While Roy focuses more on getting up close to his opponent, Chrom can more effectively space out his opponents, at the cost of having lower damage output and knockback up close. Chrom also notably lacks any of Roy's distinctive flame effects and reverse-gripped animations, and his forward tilt moves him slightly forward.

Because Chrom lacks a sweetspot, he effectively functions as a semi-clone of his daughter Lucina as well, and as such plays quite similarly to her. In fact, Chrom plays more similarly to Lucina than to Roy. However, not only are Chrom's moves stronger than Lucina's thanks to the weighted average of Roy's attacks being stronger than Marth's, Chrom is also faster than her as well. As such, Chrom appears to be a superior version of Lucina, but because Soaring Slash offers nearly no horizontal movement, Chrom's recovery is massively inferior to those of Roy and Lucina, hindering his off-stage survival and making him much easier to gimp. This, combined with Chrom's lower jump height and faster falling speed compared to Lucina, results in him having one of the worst horizontal recoveries in the game. However, despite Chrom's off-stage survival being worse than those of both characters, his off-stage offense is actually stronger, due to Soaring Slash meteor smashing opponents as Chrom descends. This ensures a sacrificial KO that kills the opponent first.

Because Chrom's lack of Roy's sweetspots and fire spreads across his entire moveset, as well as his up special making his offstage presence much less safe for both Chrom and his opponent(s), Chrom is generally considered to be one of the most unique Echo Fighters, alongside Ken and Lucina. As such, they are not expected to share a spot on the tier list.

Aesthetics

• As with all other Echo Fighters, Chrom has different taunts and victory animations.
• Chrom has a different idle stance and slightly altered idle poses, with his left arm lifted, his sword pointed downward, and noticably less bouncing. However, this does not apply when holding a light item.
• Chrom's sword trails are blue and white, and do not fade out, making them identical to Lucina's.

Attributes

• Unlike Roy, all of Chrom's attacks lack a flame effect and instead have a wind/slash effect.
• Chrom's Falchion lacks a sweetspot and sourspot compared to Roy's Binding Blade. As a result, it always deals consistent damage and knockback throughout, like Lucina's Parallel Falchion.
  • Chrom has more effective reach than Roy, as Roy cannot take advantage of his long reach due to his sourspots.
  • Chrom can not secure KOs as early as Roy can.
  • Chrom lacks the combos and KO setups that Roy's sourspots grant.

Ground attacks

• Unlike Roy, Chrom does not hold his sword in a backward grip for certain moves like his neutral attack, forward tilt and up tilt.
• Chrom's forward tilt moves him slightly forward unlike Roy's variant. This effectively increases its range.

Special Moves

• Flare Blade
  • Chrom's neutral special, Flare Blade, functions identically, but has different visuals and sounds. Instead of charging up with flames for a fiery explosion, Chrom's sword charges with a wind effect before it unleashes a yellow shockwave. Additionally, as the move is charged, Falchion's blade slowly sparkles from the blade's base to the tip, while dust and debris kick up around Chrom.
• Soaring Slash
  • Chrom has a unique up special, Soaring Slash, which resembles Ike's Aether and Kirby's Final Cutter. Unlike Aether, where Ike throws his sword first, Soaring Slash has Chrom launch his opponent upward with his sword before performing an upwards slash akin to Final Cutter, resembling a move Chrom performs in the "Two Falchions" cutscene of Fire Emblem Awakening and a move he can perform in Fire Emblem Warriors. Like Aether, Soaring Slash grants Chrom super armor before he leaps upward.
  • Soaring Slash deals more damage compared to Blazer, and Chrom can go for a Sacrificial KO to close out a stock with it.
  • Soaring Slash has almost no horizontal travel compared to Blazer. As a result, Chrom is worse at edgeguarding and his offstage survivability is significantly worse.
  • Compared to Roy's Blazer, Chrom's Soaring Slash does not have intangibility on frame 9 and its super armor does not start until frame 10 (compared to Blazer's super armor starting at frame 4).
    • However, Chrom's super armor lasts significantly longer (6 frames → 20).
  • Soaring Slash's first hit comes out one frame slower than Blazer's (frame 9 → 10).
• Counter
  • Chrom has different quotes for a successful Counter, and only has two compared to Roy's three. He may either say "Not today!" or "No way!"
• Awakening Aether
  • Chrom has a unique Final Smash called Awakening Aether, inspired by Aether's portrayal in Fire Emblem Awakening.
  • Awakening Aether has increased knockback compared to Roy's Critical Hit, allowing it to KO opponents sooner in comparison.

Moveset

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			6.5%	An upward slash. A great combo starter, due to launching at a rather high angle and having low knockback and ending lag. It can easily start combos into a grab, tilts, aerials, or Double-Edge Dance.
Forward tilt			10.9%	A downward slash. Powerful for a tilt considering its speed. Unlike Roy's forward tilt, it moves him slightly forward.
Up tilt			10.4%	A overhead arcing slash.
Down tilt			9%	A kneeling thrust, identical to Marth and Lucina's down tilt.
Dash attack			12%	An inward horizontal slash across the ground. Very strong for a dash attack, KOing at around 130% near the ledge. However, it has noticeable startup and ending lag, which makes it very unsafe on shield.
Forward smash			18%	Rotates his body to perform a lunging, two-handed downward slash. Has high ending lag and a short duration, but hits hard for its speed and is a good punishing tool.
Up smash			1% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-4), 10% (hit 5)	An upward thrust, which surrounds the Falchion's blade with wind and concludes with a small explosion. A good anti-air attack, as Chrom's sword arm is granted intangibility throughout the attack, though mediocre for ground combat due to it having small horizontal hitboxes. Has enough power to KO at around 100% uncharged.
Down smash			12.3% (front hit), 14.2% (back hit)	A kneeling outward slash in front of himself and then behind himself. Chrom's fastest smash attack when it comes to startup, but has the highest ending lag of the three and is weaker. The back hit is stronger than the front hit.
Neutral aerial			4.7% (hit 1), 6.6% (hit 2)	An inward slash followed by a spinning, outward slash. The first hit can start guaranteed combos, though it can be difficult to setup due to how fast it ends.
Forward aerial			9%	A downward slash. Very quick, auto-cancels in a short hop, and has KO potential at high percentages. It can also be used in quick succession due to its low ending lag, making it possible to perform a wall of pain.
Back aerial			10.9%	Rotates his body to perform an upward slash. Interestingly, it turns Chrom around completely, similarly to Marth's and Jigglypuff's back aerials. Has great KO potential at high percentages.
Up aerial			7.5%	A backflipping, upward arcing slash. Useful for juggling, and can even KO at very high percentages.
Down aerial			14.2%	A two-handed, downward slash between his legs, similar to Ike's down aerial. Has the capability to meteor smash when sweetspotted (making this Chrom's only attack with a sweetspot and a sourspot, although they do identical damage). Unlike Roy's version, it lacks flame hitboxes.
Grab			—	Reaches out with his free hand.
Pummel			1.2%	A knee strike. A fairly fast pummel.
Forward throw			5%	An elbow strike with his sword arm. Has very high base knockback, making it mainly used for sending opponents offstage.
Back throw			5%	Tosses the opponent behind himself.
Up throw			6%	Heaves the opponent upward with his free hand. Chrom's only throw with KO potential, starting around 170%.
Down throw			5%	A one-armed body slam. Chrom's only combo throw and is very reliable due to the amount of followups it can potentially set up into. However, it has very low hitstun.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Gets up while slashing to the left and then to the right.
Floor attack (back)			7%	Gets into a kneeling position and then slices around himself as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Hops briskly to his feet to perform a thrust to the left and a slash to the right.
Edge attack			10%	Performs an outward slash while climbing up.
Neutral special		Flare Blade	8% (uncharged), 50% (fully charged), 10% recoil (fully charged)	Rears back and charges the Falchion in wind before performing a lunging, two-handed downward slash that generates a yellow wind/slash shockwave. Despite it's visual appearance and sounds, it functions identically to Roy's variant. As it charges, the Falchion will also slowly glow with a blue sparkle from the hilt to the tip. Like with Roy, Chrom can turn while charging the move. Functions similarly to Eruption, as it can be charged before unleashing the explosion, with the shockwave's size growing as it charges. It has very high knockback growth even while uncharged, and the ability to quickly increase its damage output via charging. When fully charged, it will OHKO every character in the game, with the exceptions of Bowser from center-stage and Shulk in the Shield Monado Art.
Side special		Double-Edge Dance	Varies	A sequence of sword slashes with several variations based on directional input. Four slashes total, with each capable of being altered in direction, allowing for eighteen total possible combinations. Standard strikes are trailed red, high strikes are trailed blue, and low strikes are trailed green. As with Roy, its overall knockback is slightly stronger than Dancing Blade. Unlike Roy's version, however, the last hit of each variation lacks flame hitboxes, and as each hit deals equal damage throughout the entire blade, it is effectively a stronger version of Lucina's Dancing Blade.
Up special		Soaring Slash	6% (hits 1, 4 and 5), 1.5% (hits 2 and 3)	Chrom performs a slash upwards, and then jumps with his sword still in hand, twirling in the air before coming back down. Similar to Ike's Aether, but without tossing his sword, making it more similar to Final Cutter, but without a projectile as Chrom lands. Just like Aether, Chrom gains super armor just before the leap. Compared to Roy's Blazer, it deals more damage, but offers very little horizontal distance. Offensively, it is infamous for being able to quickly and efficiently end stocks in the form of a sacrificial KO, notably because it KOs Chrom after his opponent, and most of his attacks can combo into this move.
Down special		Counter	1.35× (minimum 9%)	Parries and then counterattacks against any incoming attacks with an outward slash. As with Roy, it has a 1.35x damage multiplier.
Final Smash		Awakening Aether	1% (dash), 10% (hit 1), 36% (hit 2)	Chrom lunges forward, yelling "Anything can change!", "Now I'm mad!" or "Your end has come!" as he slashes with his sword. Any opponent(s) that he hits with it will be caught. After the opponent(s) have been caught, the camera angle changes to resemble that of attacks in Fire Emblem Awakening. Chrom then attacks the trapped opponent(s) again with a more powerful sword strike, sending them flying. Compared to Roy's Final Smash, it is stronger in terms of knockback, and can KO at earlier percentages in comparison.

Double-Edge Dance

Hit	Damage	Description
First Hit (Neutral)	2.85%	Does an outward slash. Deals very little knockback even at extremely high percents. Can jab lock. The tipper lifts opponents off the ground slightly, making it combo into the second hit more consistently.
Second Hit (Up)	2.85%	An upwards lifting slash. Has greater vertical reach than the first hit or the second neutral hit. Lifts opponents slightly off the ground, with the tipper hit pulling them in slightly.
Second Hit (Neutral)	2.85%	Does an inward slash. Has a shorter hitbox than the first hit, which can lead to it sometimes missing if the first hit is landed from too far away. Deals very little knockback, even at extremely high percents. Can jab lock.
Third Hit (Up)	3.75%	Does an upwards slash while turning clockwise. Launches opponents slightly up and away, leading into the upward finisher.
Third Hit (Neutral)	3.75%	Takes a step forward and does a leaning outward slash. May push opponents too far away for the fourth hit to connect at high percents.
Third Hit (Down)	3.75%	Leans in and does a horizontal slash low to the ground. Deals less knockback than the other third hits, which can make it useful for connecting with the neutral finisher at higher percents, when the third neutral hit may send too far away.
Fourth Hit (Up)	6.4%	Twirls counterclockwise and does an upward slash. Launches opponents up, making it useful for starting juggling strings. Has the least ending lag of the three finishers. Fairly low knockback. Has greater vertical reach than any other hit of the move.
Fourth Hit (Neutral)	5.2%	Turns counterclockwise, steps forward, and does very powerful vertical slash downward. This is the strongest finisher in regards to knockback, KOing middleweights near the edge by itself around 115%.
Fourth Hit (Down)	2% (hit 1-4), 4.2% (hit 5)	Does a flurry of five lower stabs. Deals the most damage of the three finishers, wearing down shields well, and can shield poke low shields. Has the highest ending lag of the three finishers.

On-screen appearance

• Warps onto the stage using warp magic while crouching, with Falchion stuck in the ground when he appears. Chrom then pulls it out with a flourish before assuming his idle stance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Looks at the screen as he twirls Falchion twice, then assumes a stance highly similar to his pose from his official art in Fire Emblem Awakening, saying "Come at me!"
• Side taunt: Flourishes Falchion behind his head, then points it forwards at an upward angle while saying "Come on!"
• Down taunt: Twirls Falchion twice, then holds the blade of the sword on his left hand as he finishes, saying "I will not fail!"

Idle poses

• Briefly clenches his left fist.
• Holds Falchion upwards and parallel to his body, while lightly rubbing its edge.

Victory poses

• Slashes towards the screen twice, then twirls Falchion twice and assumes a stance identical to his pose from his official art in Fire Emblem Awakening, saying "Anything can change!"
• Uses Aether as it appears as one of his skills in Fire Emblem Awakening, then flourishes Falchion to his left and points it forwards at an upward angle while saying "The training paid off!"
• Swings Falchion outwards, then twirls it twice and plants it on the ground while looking away to his left and saying "I will cut a path!" This is based on his "end turn" animation in Fire Emblem Awakening.

Against Lucina, Chrom has a chance to say, "Our bond is stronger than steel." during any of his victory animations.

Classic Mode: Fight as One

Chrom fights mainly in team battles, in homage to Awakening's Pair Up system, with the exception of the first round, which instead recreates his duel with Lucina.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Lucina	Arena Ferox	Id (Purpose)
2	Fox and Falco	Lylat Cruise	Space Armada	Lucina is a CPU ally.
3	Ness and Lucas	Onett	Pollyanna (I Believe in You)	Female Robin is a CPU ally.
4	Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong	Jungle Japes	Jungle Hijinks	Lucina is a CPU ally.
5	Peach and Daisy	Mario Circuit	Rainbow Road - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!	Male Robin is a CPU ally.
6	Simon and Richter	Dracula's Castle	Vampire Killer	Lucina is a CPU ally.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand / Crazy Hand	Female Robin is a CPU ally.

Role in World of Light

Although Chrom does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Chrom was one of the many fighters that fell under Dharkon's control upon Galeem's first defeat. He is in a desolate part of the Triforce of Courage section of the Sacred Land sub-area. The only way to reach him is by finding a treasure chest and jumping in it once opened in order to be transported to his location.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of all playable Fire Emblem characters and Assist Trophies, as posted on the official Japanese Fire Emblem Heroes Twitter account.

• 

  Screenshot of all playable Fire Emblem characters on Arena Ferox, as posted on the official Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter account.

• 

  Chrom's splash art.

• 

  Chrom's fighter card.

• 

  Chrom standing on Palutena's Temple.

• 

  Chrom using his Double-Edge Dance on Ganondorf in Arena Ferox.

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  Chrom standing on Suzaku Castle.

• 

  Chrom's Double-Edge Dance on Skyloft.

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  Chrom with Super Leaf equipped surrounded by sleeping Wolf, Lucario and Fox on Living Room.

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  Chrom's red costume and Female Robin on Coliseum.

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  Chrom shot by Piranha Plant's Spiky Ball on Halberd.

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  Chrom and Dark Samus on Skyloft.

• ChromAttacksLuigi.jpg

  Chrom attacking Luigi on Garden of Hope.

Character introduction video

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Trivia

• In Robin and Lucina's reveal trailer for Smash 4, a defeated Chrom remarks that he'll "get [his] chance another day". This later became true with his playable appearance in Ultimate.
• Chrom is the second character to become playable after previously being featured in a Final Smash, the first being Palutena, who appeared in Pit's Final Smash in Brawl, Palutena's Army.
  • Unlike Palutena however, Robin still summons him during his Final Smash.
• Chrom is the second newcomer in Ultimate that was previously featured as a Mii Fighter costume in Super Smash Bros. 4, after Inkling and followed by King K. Rool and Isabelle.
  • He is also the only Echo Fighter to have been featured as a fully-fledged Mii outfit in Super Smash Bros. 4.
• In SSB4's Palutena's Guidance, Viridi teases Chrom for being too similar to Ike, calling him a "carbon copy". Although Chrom is an Echo Fighter, his moves are instead derived from a different Fire Emblem fighter, Roy.
  • Additionally, Palutena mocks Chrom's lack of an Aether recovery move, but he gains the ability to use such a move in Ultimate, and is able to use it as a skill in Fire Emblem Awakening.
• Chrom is the first Echo Fighter of a semi-clone (Roy), and the first Echo Fighter that borrows moves from more than one character; in this case, both Ike and Roy.
• Chrom is the first Fire Emblem newcomer since Marth to not be from the latest Fire Emblem game at the time.
• Due to an error on the official site, Chrom's character showcase video was not visible on the mobile variants of the main page, and was barely visible on the desktop version. Strangely, the video was still visible when going into his blog post. This has been fixed.
• According to Sakurai's weekly Famitsu column, Chrom was added due to his popularity in Japan, while Dark Samus was added due to her popularity overseas.
• Despite Robin and Lucina having a distinct victory theme based off of "Id (Purpose)," Chrom does not also have it despite also originating from Fire Emblem Awakening like Robin and Lucina. Ironically, the original theme is used for his character showcase video and his Classic Mode credits.
• Chrom's classic mode references the Pair Up system in Fire Emblem Awakening, in which two units can team up to deal additional damage to an opponent. Chrom's teammates in this mode are Lucina and both versions of Robin, all of which come from the same game as him.
  • Additionally, Chrom's first battle is against Lucina in Arena Ferox, referencing their fight in Chapter 4 of Fire Emblem Awakening.
• Chrom is the only character who travels to Mario Circuit in Classic Mode.
• Chrom will revert to Marth's idle animation while holding a small throwable item. This is a trait shared with Roy.
• Chrom may occasionally yell "Sorry!" when KO'd. He is one of the few characters that speak during a KO.
• Chrom is the only Echo Fighter who is not unlockable in the same Classic Mode unlock column as the original fighter (Roy is in Mario's, Chrom is in Yoshi's).
  • However, he is in the same unlock column as his ancestor, Marth (who Roy is a semi-clone of) and his daughter, Lucina.
• Chrom has an additional voice clip in one of his victory poses. Against Lucina, he has a chance to say, "Our bond is stronger than steel." Unlike most character-exclusive victory clips, this one can be heard in the Sound Test.
• Chrom's sword and sheath are absent in his "Defeated/No Contest" animation. This oddity is shared with Roy.
• The final hit of Chrom's up smash has an identical sound effect to Fox Illusion and Falco Phantasm's dashes in Melee.
  • Likewise, the charging sound for Chrom's version of Flare Blade is almost identical to the sound of charging copy abilities in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
• Chrom’s third victory animation (where he plants the Falchion into the ground) is played in the opening movie on the Bridge of Eldin rather than Battlefield. This is likely a developer mod that was used exclusively in the opening for thematic purposes.