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Chrom (SSBU)

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This article is about Chrom’s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Chrom.
Chrom
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Chrom SSBU.png
FireEmblemSymbol.svg
Universe Fire Emblem
Availability Unlockable
Final Smash Awakening Aether
ChromHeadSSBU.png
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 up special move is adapted from Ike. 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.

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. Chrom's retention of Roy's high air speed allows 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.

Aesthetics

  • Change As with all Echo Fighters, Chrom has different taunts and victory animations.
  • Change Chrom's idle stance and animations are different as well. However, this does not apply to holding a light item.
  • Change Unlike Roy, Chrom does not use backhanded attacks for certain moves like his upwards and forward tilt.
  • Change Chrom is more talkative than Roy, speaking more words than having attack grunts.
  • Change Chrom's neutral special, Flare Blade, is identical to Roy's version of the move. However, instead of charging up with flames for a fiery explosion, Chrom's sword charges with a wind effect before it unleashes a yellow blast. Additionally, as the move is charged, Falchion's blade slowly sparkles from the blade's base to the tip, and shockwaves of dust appear around Chrom.

Attributes

  • Change Unlike Roy, Chrom's attacks lack a flame effect and instead have a wind/slash effect.
  • Change Chrom's Falchion lacks a sweetspot and sourspot. As a result, it always deals consistent damage and knockback throughout, like Lucina's Parallel Falchion. Overall, this gives Chrom more effective range than Roy, but in exchange for the high damage and KO power of Roy's sweetspots.

Ground attacks

  • Change Chrom's forward tilt attack moves him forwards, unlike Roy's variant.

Special Moves

  • Change Chrom's up special, Soaring Slash, is a variant of Ike's Aether. Instead of throwing his sword first, he launches the opponent upwards with his sword then performs an upwards slash, resembling a move he 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 upwards.
    • Buff Soaring Slash deals more damage compared to Blazer and Chrom can go for a Sacrificial KO to close out a stock with it.
    • Buff In comparison to Ike's Aether, Soaring Slash is faster and has less start-up lag.
    • Nerf Soaring Slash stops Chrom's horizontal momentum, making it much worse for recovering despite it traveling a higher vertical distance than Roy's Blazer. It also cannot reliably KO on stage and lacks Blazer's KO confirms.
      • Nerf As Chrom does not throw his sword up, it is easier to edgeguard Chrom than Ike's.
    • Nerf Compared to Roy's Blazer, Chrom's Soaring Slash does not have intangability on frame 9 and its super armor does not start until frame 10 (compared to Blazer's super armor starting at frame 4).
      • Buff However, Chrom's super armor lasts significantly longer (20 frames instead of 6).
  • Change Chrom has a unique Final Smash called Awakening Aether, inspired by Aether's portrayal in Fire Emblem Awakening.

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.

Alternate costumes

Chrom Palette (SSBU).png

Gallery

Character introduction video

<youtube>733o521fbdE</youtube>

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 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, it's of a different Fire Emblem fighter, Roy (though with elements from Ike).
    • 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 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 may occasionally yell "Sorry!" when KO'd. He is one of the few characters that speak during a KO.