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| '''Falco''' ({{ja|ファルコ|Faruko}}, ''Falco'') is a [[Unlockable character|hidden]] character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. He is considered a clone of {{SSBM|Fox}}, sharing many normal and special attacks, although their playstyles are somewhat different. | | '''Falco''' ({{ja|ファルコ|Faruko}}, ''Falco'') is a [[Unlockable character|hidden]] character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. He is considered a clone of {{SSBM|Fox}}, sharing many normal and special attacks, although their playstyles are somewhat different. |
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| Falco is currently ranked 2nd in the ''Melee'' tier list, making him the highest ranked unlockable character, clone character, and newcomer. Falco has many combo openers and the options to extend them, allowing him to easily chain together highly damaging strings of attacks that are hard to [[DI]] out of. Falco's [[down aerial]] spike is one of the most feared moves in the game, as it has almost no starting lag, can easily be comboed into, and can score very fast gimps on characters with bad recoveries as well as KO efficiently at rather low percentages. He also possesses very effective edgeguarding options, such as his back air, forward and down smashes, and his aforementioned down air. Falco also has one of the best neutral game options among the entire cast with his [[Blaster]], as it allows him to pressure from afar and approach noncommittally. All of these strengths give Falco the ability to maintain control of the stage in most matchups. Falco, however, is not flawless; he suffers from an extremely high falling speed, while being unusually light at the same time. He also possesses very low horizontal air speed. Because of said flaws, it makes him extremely vulnerable to chaingrabs and combos, especially from characters such as {{SSBM|Marth}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}, and {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, while his low weight makes him among the easiest to KO horizontally, especially should the player's [[Directional influence|DI]] be abysmal. Additionally, he has one of the worst long-distance recoveries in the game, with both of his recovery options traveling extremely short distances, compounded by his extremely fast falling speed and low air speed. Regardless of these flaws, Falco's strengths greatly overwhelm his weaknesses and he has amazing matchups, lacking any negative ones (making him and Fox in ''Melee'', {{SSB|Pikachu}} in ''Smash 64'' and {{SSBB|Meta Knight}} in ''Brawl'' the only characters with no negative matchups) and having only a handful that are considered even. | | Falco is literally Fox but a bird so how about you just play Fox instead of this shameless rip off. |
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| ==How to Unlock==
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| Players can unlock Falco by completing 100-Man Melee with any character within any time limit. Alternatively, players can take part in 300 VS. matches to unlock him.
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| When being fought, Falco will appear on {{SSBM|Battlefield}}, with the music from [[Corneria]] playing.
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| ==Attributes==
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| Falco falls into a similar character archetype as Fox: he possesses rather high speed to quickly overwhelm the opponent as well as a slew of effective finishers both on the ground and in the air. Contrary to what Falco's in-game trophy says, he does not sacrifice offensive power at all to gain increased jumping prowess; in fact, Falco seems to have gained even more options for KOs, attacks, and combos at a variety of percentages over Fox. Falco's attributes include high [[traction]] (giving Falco a somewhat short but quick wavedash), the highest [[falling speed]] in the game, and low [[air speed]] without momentum from his dash accounted for.
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| Falco's primary strength is his raw ability to KO without compromising too much speed or [[combo]] ability; many of Falco's KOing moves are very fast yet powerful with relatively low startup and ending lag. Falco's sliding forward smash covers a good distance, KOs easily at 90% and makes for a good edgeguard option. Falco's down smash is a powerful semi-spike that is also useful for edgeguarding. Falco's down tilt can KO some characters at as low as 90%; although it is a short ranged attack, it also comes out quickly. Falco's aerial KOing options are also highly varied; Falco's neutral and back aerial attacks are fast with high knockback and duration, and his down aerial is among the most feared attacks in the game; with no sourspot, high speed, spike properties, and a long duration, Falco can quickly and efficiently KO almost any character at low percentages if used correctly. A grounded down aerial can easily combo into a forward smash for yet another deadly KO option.
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| Falco's [[approach]] is also highly effective; with a very versatile projectile in his [[Blaster]], Falco can perform the [[short hop laser]] technique, either as a pressure option or as a way to approach. Performing this technique close to opponents almost guarantees free grabs, smashes, or ways to start shine combos. Coupled with low-lag aerials, a short short hop and a high falling speed, Falco has among the best SHFFLs in the game, giving him an incredible aerial approach. On the ground, many of Falco's attacks, while short-ranged, pack good power and relatively low ending lag; despite a short wavedash and an average dashing speed, Falco can still use these two to his advantage, with them being integral to his superb combo ability.
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| Falco sacrifices a bit of his clone's speed for power, but still excels at performing devastating combos. Many of Falco's approach options also make for great combo starters as well. The core of Falco's combo ability lies in his good SHFFLs and ability to waveshine. Falco's primary form of comboing comes in the form of his [[pillar]], which is notorious for wearing [[shield]]s down quickly. Pillaring, in its most basic form, is simply chaining the upward vertical knockback of Falco's shine into the spiking hitboxes of his down aerial. To keep his moves fresh, Falco can combo into his other moves, most notably his down and up tilts, wavesmashes, his up throw, and his back and neutral aerials. Falco's down tilt and up throw are viable substitutes for his shine, while his up tilt racks up damage and segues directly into more shines. His smashes also rack up damage quickly but also make excellent KO options after enough beatings from the pillars have been dealt. Jump-canceled shines combo directly into back aerials and neutral aerials. Should the opponent DI close the ground, Falco can chase his opponents with multiple waveshines, depending on the direction. Falco can alternatively wear down shields by weaving back and forth with waveshining.
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| Additionally, Falco's grab and throw game is decent. Falco's grab range is above-average (tenth longest in the game), and his throws have multiple options; his down throw can potentially combo into a down tilt or start a shine combo, his up throw can start up aerial combos, and his forward and back throws can start edgeguards. However, although he can chain throw floaty characters with his forward throw, he lacks a reliable chain throw, his throws have poor damage output, and his down throw can be teched, leaving him vulnerable.
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| Falco's properties, however, also compose his weaknesses. As with Fox, Falco is light (the 6th lightest character in the game), and is therefore able to be KO'd through the sidelines without difficulty, despite Falco being difficult to KO through the ceiling because of said falling speed. Additionally, despite his high jumps and ability to [[wall jump]], Falco's recovery is among the worst in the game; due to a low air speed and a high falling speed, Falco cannot maneuver effectively off-stage. His up special move, [[Fire Bird]], is also short and easy to gimp; due to its linear nature, attacks such as {{SSBM|Marth}}'s [[Counter]], {{SSBM|Link}}'s [[Spin Attack]], and {{SSBM|Mario}}'s [[Cape]] can easily knock Falco away from the ledge when using the moves. Additionally, due to its inability to harm attackers while it charges, Falco is vulnerable to any attack while using the move, particularly meteor smashes or spikes; with correct timing, opponents with reliable spikes, such as Marth or even another Falco, can easily gimp his recovery. As such, Falco is primarily reliant on his side special, [[Falco Phantasm]] to recover; however, even that doesn't travel a significant distance, and it still suffers from the linear problems of Fire Bird. To his merit, however, Falco can angle his Fire Bird in many different directions, and he can additionally shorten his Falco Phantasm to avoid going on stage and into the edge, mixing up his recovery options and leaving the opponent guessing.
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| Falco's high falling speed also makes him a target for chain throws, especially from characters such as Marth and Peach, though it also gives him the 3rd highest vertical endurance among ''Melee'' characters, despite being tied for being the 5th lightest character in the game (only {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}, two much heavier characters by comparison, surpass him in this regard). Falco, along with Fox, has the dubious distinction of having an entire combo named for KOing him easily simply due to his high falling speed (the [[space animal slayer]]).
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| Overall, Falco can be considered to be a slower, but stronger and more combo-heavy version of Fox; while his overall speed is only average among the other characters in the game, his attack speed remains very fast and he can easily land very damaging combos in a short amount of time, sometimes even leading to death for the other player if they cannot DI correctly. Combined with relatively safe approaches against nearly every character in the game, it is possible to make defending against Falco difficult, even at top-level play. Falco has many tools for offense and defense, so players should use his arsenal accordingly to gain the upper hand.
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| ===Similarities with [[Fox (SSB)|Fox from ''Super Smash Bros.'']]===
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| It has been said that Falco's play-style in ''Melee'' is very similar to {{SSB|Fox}}'s in ''Super Smash Bros.'' His special moves are arguably the most obvious. Below is the list of similarities:
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| *Both Fox in Smash 64 and Falco in Melee are heavier than Fox in Melee.
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| *Both blasters are slower and cause hitstun.
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| *Both [[Fire Bird]] and Smash 64 [[Fire Fox]] travel less distance, but are more likely to KO.
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| *Fire Bird can KO at the top at a reasonable percent, but does not have a hitbox while it is charging.
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| *Forward smashes are much stronger (Fox's in ''Smash 64'' is a little stronger than Falco's in ''Melee'').
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| *Down smashes have more semi-spike ability.
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| *Down tilts are close in damage (13% and 12%) and both produce decent vertical knockback, both being much stronger than Fox's down tilt in ''Melee''.
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| *Up aerials are easier to sweetspot.
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| ==Differences with Fox==
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| {{Competitive expertise}}
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| {{Technical data|All valid frame data differences between the two.}}
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| It is hard to determine whether Falco is better or worse than Fox, as they are top-tiered [[clones]].
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| Falco's pros are having more [[meteor smash]]es than Fox, having an incredibly deadly [[down aerial]], and having a Meteor Smash effect on [[Falco Phantasm]]. He has a good [[shine]] as well and he has better KO potential compared to Fox, as well as jumping significantly higher than him.
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| Falco's cons are having a poor recovery and is slower in terms of ground mobility. Some of his attacks, especially in regards to his [[up smash]], are weaker. His reflector cannot [[semi-spike]] but still can be useful in other cases.
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| Overall, Fox and Falco are both among the best characters (in some cases, the best), but Falco's KO power is more horizontal, while Fox's is more vertical.
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| ===Aesthetics=== | | ===Aesthetics=== |