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Fox (SSBB)

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This article is about Fox's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For the character in general, see Fox McCloud.
Fox
in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Fox
StarFoxSymbol.svg
Universe Star Fox
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Melee
in SSB4
Availability Starter
Final Smash Landmaster
Tier C (15)
FoxHeadSSBB.png

Fox (フォックス Fokkusu) was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl at Nintendo World 2006. Fox was the first fighter to appear on the DOJO!! that did not appear on the E3 2006 video. When he was revealed in the Nintendo World 2006 trailer, he was shown with his blaster in his hand at all times, leading to much speculation over how his attacks might change in Brawl. However, his gun is shown in its holster in all subsequent screen shots shown at the Super Smash Bros. DOJO!!.

Fox is currently upper-mid tier at 15th (C), a significant nerf from his position at the top of the Melee tier list. Fox maintains his incredible movement, fast attack speed, high damage output, effective setup moves (especially down aerial), and a very fast (8-frame) up smash with enough strength and reach to KO the majority of characters reliably under 100%. Additionally, Fox possesses the fastest projectile in Brawl in his Blaster (which is also transcendent), a long reaching recovery with good mixup, and an effective semi-spike and defensive stalling tactic in his Reflector. Fox is notoriously frail, however, sustaining the fourth most knockback in Brawl, with rather poor vertical endurance (despite strong vertical momentum cancelling abilities), and among the worst horizontal endurance. His endurance problems are exasperated by his extreme falling speed and acceleration, which leave him heavily vulnerable to combos and juggles, locks, and chain throws, some of which (including Pikachu's, the Ice Climbers', and Sheik's) can bring Fox to KO percentage from zero damage, if not zero deathing him outright. Additionally, Fox's attacks are very poor on shield, with high ending lag, low shield stun, and insufficient reach to hit opposing shields safely. Fox also has poor horizontal aerial movement and mobility, a tendency to over-rely on his up smash to KO, and a projectile without any flinch. Nonetheless, Fox's offensive prowess tends to outweigh his significant flaws, with his matchups being above average overall (despite a few hard counters), along with above average tournament results (which are significantly better in Japan, where he's in top tier (7th place)).

Attributes

Fox is a very light character who moves at very high speeds, clocking in as the third fastest runner and 2nd fastest walker in the game (with Marth being the fastest). Almost all of his attacks come off quickly and combine with each other. Fox's excellent speed is counter-balanced by the small and short reaching hitboxes in most of his attacks. This can complicate approaches, and his Blaster doesn't make up for that because it doesn't make opponents flinch. However, it is able to force approaches, unless the opponent has a lasting reflector, an absorbing move such as PSI Magnet, or their crouch is low enough to avoid it.

His up smash is a powerful vertical killer, and to a lesser extent, his up tilt. His up smash is also his only move that can KO under 100%, and is a good move due to its high knockback scaling, speed, and reach. It can also be combo'd into, most notably from a down aerial. His forward air can add extra height to Fox's jump, due to producing a hovering effect if used shortly after jumping (known as Foxcoptering) - this can extend his recovery and allow him to quickly recover vertically, which isn't possible with his primary vertical recovery move (Fire Fox). His back air has high horizontal knockback. As far as specials go, Fox's blaster can easily build damage from a distance, it refreshes stale moves if it hits, and it's also able to steal KOs. Fox's Reflector not only reflects projectiles, but can semi-spike opponents when used in the air (making it a useful tool for gimping poor and/or slow recoveries), and also slows Fox's aerial movement. The jump cancel has been replaced with a dash cancel, allowing a continuous shine volley across the stage (it works best at 70% and above depending on the character). As far as recovery goes, Fox Illusion can be used to gain a horizontal boost, and can also be canceled before completion to trick opponents, as opposed to Fire Fox, which comes off much slower but can move vertically. However, Fire Fox is easily edgeguarded, due to leaving Fox vulnerable during the charge required to use the move (though it can damage opponents if they get too close). Fox is also able to wall jump, boost grab, and DACUS (though his sliding up smash doesn't gain much less distance than his DACUS).

Fox's most notable attribute, as well as the most notorious, is his short jump in relation to the rest of the Brawl cast (much like Jigglypuff having the slowest falling speed in the game). His falling speed acceleration is the fastest, and his falling speed is the third fastest in the game (which is unusual for a character as light as he is). It has advantages and some hindrances, all of which must be known to make the best use of Fox. Some advantages of such speed are that it makes him difficult to juggle and KO vertically. However, his extreme falling speed acceleration is what makes him very susceptible to certain chaingrabs (particularly Pikachu's buffered d-throw chaingrab that has a 0-death on Fox) and locks (like Sheik's f-tilt lock). His fast falling speed also shortens his recovery.

The end result is that Fox is a glass cannon. The average range make it non- difficult for him to approach characters with strong defensive games and fighters with better protection space him quite easily, forcing him to rely on his Blaster to force approaches if needed, which some characters can avoid rather effortlessly. His combination of very low weight (seventh lightest character), very high knockback sustained (fourth highest), very fast overall falling speed (third fastest normal falling speed and fastest accelerated falling speed), mediocre air speed, and mediocre recovery for his weight create a tendency to KO at low percentages. However, he does everything very quickly, has a very strong offensive game, and once the opponent is knocked back he has flexible follow up options, but his speed makes him tough to control. Although he has many great skills and combo's, Fox can pull his weight around. In reality Fox is a skillful fighter. With many ways of a lot of combo attacks, great speed, with a balance defense and offense. If a real Fox player knows and/or can play him the right way, he can reach great heights. If possible, he might not be stopped.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Fox has suffered a moderate overall nerf in Brawl, though since with his significant nerfs he got some decent buffs to help compensate, as well as generally keeping the traits that made him excel in the previous games, he's still arguably viable. Overall, he's still very fast with great damage racking and effective KOing ability, though he's slightly weaker and much frailer, and can't pressure as effectively.

  • Buff Midair jumping height has been increased, and Fox now has the highest midair jumping height outside Yoshi, Ness, and Lucas.
  • Buff The kicks in the rapid hitting part of Fox's jab are faster.
  • Buff Up tilt has slightly better reach, and reaches farther in front of Fox.
  • Buff Fox's forward smash has less ending lag.
  • Buff Up smash has slightly improved reach.
  • Buff Forward aerial has been drastically improved; all of its kicks link properly now, they come out much faster, and the move can complete and autocancel upon landing when short hopped. Additionally, the move produces a "hover" effect, which can be used with jumping to increase the height of Fox's jumps (especially his midair jump), improving his recovery. Its damage output has also been significantly increased, with it dealing 6% more damage for a total of 23% when all hits connect.
  • Buff Down aerial has slightly higher damage output, with it dealing 2% more damage for a total of 21% when all hits connect. It additionally now has knockback scaling (though extremely slight), slightly improving the move's offstage gimping abilities (which Fox can use offstage now without self-destructing with his much slower falling speed).
  • Buff Up and back throw deal 1% more damage for 8% total, while down throw deals 4% more damage for 9% total.
  • Buff Fox can now shoot three lasers in a short hop.
  • Buff Reflector nearly completely halts aerial momentum, which can be useful for mindgaming purposes to land safely. Reflector also has less ending lag than non-jump cancelled Reflector in Melee.
  • Buff Fox can now DACUS.
  • Buff New back aerial is more powerful and now semi-spikes.
  • Nerf Brawl's change to the knockback formula (where it now adjust knockback based on gravity) causes Fox to sustain more knockback despite being heavier (he now sustains the fourth most knockback out of 39 characters). Brawl physics have also made Fox's vertical endurance drastically worse, where without momentum cancelling he has the fifth worst vertical endurance, and with momentum cancelling, Fox has the 11th worst (when in Melee, Fox had the 6th best vertical endurance out of 26 characters).
  • Nerf Down tilt is weaker and deals 1% less damage.
  • Nerf Up smash is slightly weaker and deals 1% less damage. Despite the power nerf it's still obscenely powerful for how fast and easy to land it is, and is thus still considered the best up smash in the game.
  • Nerf Down smash is slightly weaker and deals 1% less damage.
  • Nerf Neutral aerial is weaker and deals 3% less damage.
  • Nerf New back aerial, where Fox performs a quick spinning kick behind him. It is however considered a downgrade, as despite being slightly more powerful and semi-spiking, it has slower start-up lag, much more ending lag, much less hitbox duration, and less reach with a much smaller hitbox, overall making it a much less useful move.
  • Nerf Up aerial has significantly weaker knockback scaling, now requiring opponents to be around 140% or near the upper blast line to KO, instead of reliably KOing under 100% regardless of the opponent's proximity to the upper blast line.
  • Nerf Down throw now sends opponents up and away from Fox, instead of meteor smashing them into the ground to setup tech chases, significantly reducing the throw's ability to setup followups.
  • Nerf Blaster shots travel roughly half the distance they previously did, and can no longer go across entire stages.
  • Nerf Fire Fox is significantly weaker, with the charge dealing 4% less damage (for 8% total), while no longer being capable of KOing under 200%.
  • Nerf Reflector can no longer be jump cancelled, completely removing Fox's shine combos. It additionally has slower start-up, so it no longer comes out in 1 frame.
  • Change Some of Fox's attacks received a slight tweak in animation; Fox's feet enlarge during the rapid hitting of his jab and during the kicks of his forward aerial, Fox bends all the way forward during up tilt to touch the ground and brings his foot all the way forward to the ground in front of him, and his forward smash is now a butterfly kick.

Fox also had a few cosmetic changes, such as the aforementioned attack animation tweaks. He has been graphically updated, his design being now a mix of his appearances in Star Fox Command and Star Fox Assault. He also has a new voice in both English (Jim Walker) and Japanese (Kenji Nojima).

Brawl manual description

The famous Arwing pilot boasts first-class speed and agility in combat.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Normal

  • Neutral attack - Left jab (2%), right hook (2%), then a flurry of kicks, or the Rapid Kick (1-2%). However, the jab combo doesn't link very well unlike Falco's combo. Has a start-up of 2 frames.
  • Dash attack - Running kick. At low percentages, can lead into an up tilt, leading into various other combos. Its best use is undoubtedly the up tilt follow-up, though his down and up smash are also possible in certain situations. Somewhat short duration and range, though, and can easily be shield grabbed. Does 7%. Hitbox out on frame 3-6.
  • Forward tilt - A quick right kick. Moderate-low knockback, best used as a quick spacer. Can be angled up or down. 6% damage. Hits on frame 6.
  • Up tilt - A fast scorpion kick that covers Fox's back, though his whole body becomes a hitbox. Consists of three small, barely noticeable hits. 1st and 2nd hits do 3% each with little knockback and third hit does 4% with moderate knockback. Little ending lag. Hitbox out on frame 3. This attack, though its KO potential was reduced, is still very useful. It can easily chain into itself at lower percentages, able to rack up damage quickly, and can be used immediately after a down aerial at any percentage. At lower percentages it can combo into an up smash, and at moderate to higher percentages, it can setup an up aerial, that can even be used as a KO setup if the player reads the opponent's actions after the move. It can also possibly lead into other aerials as well. This move is the pinnacle of most of Fox's combos.
  • Down tilt - Low tail whip. Fox crouches on the ground and performs a 360-degree spin with his tail. The attack does more damage when the opponent is close to Fox, with a maximum of 9% and a minimum of 7%. Hitting with the tip of the tail sends the opponent upward. Not one of Fox's more useful attacks, though still somewhat useful. If the foe is hit upwards, it's good for an fair setup, and if knocked forward, it can lead into a dash attack. Has a start-up of 8 frames.

Smash attacks

  • Forward smash - A spinning kick. As with his other iterations with this move, this smash has moderate knockback. Hits on frame 14. Best used near the edge, this move KOs regularly above 130%. When used at 30-60% damage on the stage, it knocks the foe to the ground, which can lead into a dash attack, up tilt, and/or a aerial follow up. Does 15%-21%.
  • Down smash - Split kick. Hits on both sides. Strong move with great range, greater than Falco's, with about the same start-up time though it slightly has more ending lag. Is usually fresh when used, meaning it can be used as a surprise KO move after a down aerial. Hitbox out in frame 6-7. Does 14%-19% damage.
  • Up smash - A back-flip kick. The attack is significantly less effective if it hits while the opponent is behind Fox. KOs most characters at about 100% with high vertical knockback and slight horizontal knockback. KOs at 66% when fully charged. It's the strongest up smash out of all 3 Star Fox characters, similar to how Wolf has the strongest down smash of the three and Falco has the strongest forward smash. It is considered Fox's best and most reliable finisher as it has fast start-up (frame 10), good reach for an up smash, and it is by far Fox's strongest attack. It can also be setup using a down aerial at any percentage, and can extend up tilt combos at lower percentages. Is also usable as a sliding smash, being a very good way to punish and play mindgames against a distant opponent, such as using the sliding up smash while walking towards the opponent slowly. Usually considered the best up smash in the game. Does 17%-23%.

Other attacks

  • Ledge attack - Pulls himself up into a sliding kick. This has a somewhat similar animation to his forward smash from Smash 64. 8% damage.
  • 100% Ledge attack - Gets up slowly, then does an axe kick while whipping his tail. 8% damage.
  • Trip attack - Gets up and kicks on both sides with low range. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

  • Neutral aerial - Flying sex kick. Comes out quick (has a start-up of 4 frames) and is good for spacing. The long duration makes it a decent defensive move. Maximum of 9%.
  • Forward aerial - Quintuple kick. Increases jump height and reduces falling speed while in effect, useful at recovery attempts. Can deal up to 23%. Hits on frame 7.
  • Back aerial - A slow back kick, although it's quite powerful and sends opponents on a semi-spike trajectory. Useful for edgeguarding and it KOs under 150%. However, it has rather low range and has high ending lag, making it difficult to land, and also unsafe to use offstage in many situations. Does 15% damage. Hitbox out on frame 9.
  • Up aerial - An upward tail whip with a follow-up kick. Hitting with the tail causes 5%, while the kick causes 11% along with strong vertical knockback. His up aerial can no longer reliably KO under 150% as it did in Melee, but it can still be an effective vertical KO move at high percentages on airborne opponents. It is also effective for juggling at lower percentages. Can be setup using an up tilt. Hits on frame 10.
  • Down aerial - Drill kick. Does more damage the closer the opponent is to Fox and can deal up to 21%. It can meteor smash, but it is hardly noticeable at lower percentages due to its very weak power. While not the best choice for gimping an opponent, it does a good amount of damage, and if the whole move connects right before landing on the stage, it can immediately lead into an up tilt, grab, or down or up smash. Down aerial→up tilt combos are very useful and common in Fox's metagame. This move is also Fox's best momentum cancelling move. Overall one of Fox's most useful moves. Has a start-up of 5 frames.

Grabs & throws

  • Pummel - Knees the opponent. A fairly fast pummel. 1% damage each.
  • Standing grab - Grabs opponent by the neck.
  • Dash grab - Halts with one foot and grabs, somewhat predictable.
  • Pivot grab - The range is as great as he can boost grab, and has a long grab range.
  • Forward throw - Punches the opponent forward. 7% damage. Can pseudo-chain throw if a dash is buffered.
  • Back throw - Throws opponent backward diagonally and shoots them with his Blaster. Blaster shots can be avoided using DI. Up to 8% damage.
  • Up throw - Throws opponent up and shoots them with his Blaster. Can be avoided using SDI. Up to 8% damage.
  • Down throw - Slams opponent on the ground and shoots them three times with his blaster. 9% damage. Can be followed up with either a forward aerial at low percentages on certain characters or an up aerial on all characters. Fox's most useful throw.

Special moves

Taunts

  • Up: Fox charges fire and says "Here I come!". This taunt can be used for faking Fox's Up Special.
  • Down: Like in Melee, Fox backs up, bends down a bit, and says "Come on!", although it seems faster.
  • Side: Fox throws his blaster around himself, watches it flip, and catches it.

On-screen appearance

  • Ejects from an Arwing.

Cheer

Fox's NTSC and PAL cheer

Fox Fox! *claps three times*

Victory poses

  • Flips his tail up and looks to the side with a smug (prideful) expression on his face with his arms crossed.
  • Goes into shooting position with his blaster at 2 different angles, then points it at the screen saying "Mission Complete".
  • Flips his Blaster in the holster and says "This is Fox - Returning to base" and puts his hand on his hip. If Fox wins a battle against Falco, he does this pose, but instead says "Better luck next time, Falco".

In competitive play

Matchups

According to the current SWF matchup chart for Brawl, Fox's matchup spread has the seventeenth highest unweighted rank and has a weighted total of -58, seventeenth highest overall. Fox has mostly positive matchups, despite being hard countered by three characters. He is also soft countered by seven characters and even with eight characters. He soft counters ten characters, counters seven characters, and hard counters only Ganondorf. Fox is notably hard countered by Pikachu and Sheik as they can take advantage of his extremely fast falling speed acceleration attribute. Pikachu can perform a "0-death" chain grab on him by using its down throw to rack up damage in excess of 100%, then using a Thunderspike to KO, while Sheik can rack up 50%+ damage with her forward tilt. The Ice Climbers also hard counter Fox, as he lacks safe options to approach without getting grabbed. However, Fox's amazing speed and effective KOing options allows him to counter many characters that are below him on the tier list.

Notable players

See also: Category:Fox professionals (SSBB)

In event matches

Role in The Subspace Emissary

An Arwing is seen engaging the battleship Halberd, but is soon struck and begins to fall toward it. This causes Kirby and Zelda/Peach to be blown overboard in its wake.

It is later shown that the Arwing crash-landed at the edge of a jungle, near a lake. Diddy Kong discovers the Arwing, but Rayquaza rises from the lake and territorially attacks the Arwing with an Energy Ball setting it aflame. As Diddy is snatched up by the provoked Pokémon, Fox is ejected from the cockpit of the burning Arwing and proceeds to effortlessly rescue Diddy from the clutches of the serpentine Pokémon using his Fox Illusion and Reflector.

Fox in the SSE

After the two defeat the giant Pokémon, Fox attempts to leave, but is dragged back by Diddy and follows him deeper into the jungle. Soon, they fight a Shadowbug clone of Bowser and defeat it. Suddenly, the real Bowser fires his Dark Cannon at them, and Fox barely dodges the shot. Although Diddy is eager to fight Bowser, Fox knows that they can't survive against his Dark Cannon, so he grabs Diddy and jumps off a cliff.

After recovering from the fall and quickly making their way through The Swamp, they are ambushed by Bowser again, who succeeds in turning Diddy into a trophy. Bowser then attempts to turn Fox into a trophy, but he manages to dodge the shot, so Bowser sends some Shadowbugs to clone Diddy's trophy, outnumbering Fox. Falco suddenly appears out of nowhere in his Arwing and saves Fox from Bowser by destroying his Dark Cannon, forcing Bowser to escape. The Diddy clone begins to absorb more Shadowbugs, becoming gigantic as a result. Fox uses the opportunity to revive the real Diddy, and the three fight the clone. After Falco unwillingly joined the group, they find a ship carrying Donkey Kong's trophy to a floating island. The Great Fox suddenly appears, and as Falco and Diddy attempt to free DK, Fox plans to take down the Halberd with the Great Fox.

The Great Fox duels with the Halberd, but it ends up getting carried away by it, gets crashed into a mountain, and flies away in smoke. Later on, as Peach and Sheik are making their escape after Snake frees them, Fox is seen attacking the Halberd again in his Arwing. During the fire-fight, some of the Arwing's blasters hit dangerously close to Peach. Sheik does a very high range teleport on top of the Arwing and breaks open the cockpit. Both Sheik and Fox fall out of the Arwing and on the Halberd deck. They start running towards each other at high speeds and just before they break into a fight, Peach randomly offers them a cup of tea. Although Fox is shocked by this, when Sheik accepts hers, he accepts his as well. Just as they do, a group of Shadowbug Mr. Game & Watches fall from the Halberd's cockpit and form into Duon. The three are joined by Lucario and Snake (who knocked them down there in the first place), as well as Falco who arrives on another Arwing, and defeat the monster. Duon leaves behind the real Mr. Game & Watch trophy as it disappears. Fox prepares to blast the trophy, but Peach approaches it and revives Mr. Game & Watch. With Meta Knight taking back control of the Halberd, he flies his ship into the daylight and eventually landing on The Canyon, coincidentally the same time The Falcon Flyer lands, after previously escaping the doomed Subspace Factory. Fox, Falco, Peach, Shiek, Lucario, Snake, and Mr. Game & Watch are now greeted with Mario, the rest of the Canyon heroes, and the Falcon Flyer heroes, they all unite and become one big team, now plotting against Subspace. Fox joins the rest of the heroes in the assault on the Subspace Gunship and the attack on Tabuu although he would be one of the many heroes to be transformed into trophies by Tabuu. However, like the other heroes, his trophy could be found and be revived by King Dedede, Luigi, and Ness in Subspace. After being rescued, he join the rest of the heroes to go to The Great Maze and defeat Tabuu.

Playable appearances

After Outside the Ancient Ruins is completed, Fox is removed from the player's team, and is not seen until Battleship Halberd Bridge

Exclusive stickers

The following stickers can either be only used by Fox, or by a select few characters including Fox:

  • Andrew: Launch Resistance +7
  • Arwing: [Leg] Attack +6
  • Falco (Star Fox 64): [Weapon] Attack +11
  • Falco (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +14
  • Falco (Star Fox Adventures): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +11
  • Fox (Star Fox Command): [Tail] Attack +18
  • Fox (Star Fox Adventures): [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
  • Fox (Star Fox 64): [Energy] Attack +18
  • Fox (Star Fox: Assault): [Energy] Attack +33
  • Krystal (Star Fox Adventures): [Electric] Attack +28
  • Krystal (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +12
  • Krystal (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +17
  • Miniature Dachshund: [Tail] Attack +28
  • Panther: [Tail] Attack +18
  • Pigma: [Arm] Attack +7
  • ROB: [Electric] Resistance +15
  • Wolf: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
  • Wolfen (Star Fox 64): [Tail] Attack +16
  • Wolfen (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +30

Costumes

Fox's palette swaps, with corresponding tournament mode colours.
Fox's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trophies

Fox's main trophy is obtained by clearing Classic Mode with Fox, while the Assault one is obtained randomly.

Description

Main trophy - The leader of the commando unit for hire known as Star Fox. He uses both the team's mother ship, the Great Fox, and his personal Arwing fighter to challenge the evil scientist Andross. He made his name as an ace pilot but has lately shown himself also to be an adventurer with a knack for hand-to-hand combat.

SNES: Star Fox (NTSC), Starwing (PAL)
Nintendo DS: Star Fox Command

Assault trophy - The leader of the one and only Star Fox team. Fox McCloud is an expert pilot of both the Arwing and Landmaster. In on-foot battles, Fox starts with a blaster and continues on with four other types of weapons as he fights through the Aparoids. Fox also demonstrates his skills in air combat using the plasma cannons on the Arwing.

GameCube: Star Fox: Assault

Trivia

  • Fox holds the world record for Co-Op Target Smash!! Level 3 with Pit (completed in 4.03 seconds).[citation needed]
  • The early trailers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured Fox constantly holding his blaster, instead of holstering it as usual.
  • If Fox uses a forward aerial during a Mini Light Brawl, the momentum created by the attack actually causes him to float upwards.
  • Fox, Diddy Kong, Samus, Pikachu, and Lucas are the only characters in the Subspace Emissary to fight more than 2 bosses (excluding boss re-creations in the Great Maze). Fox can be chosen to fight Rayquaza at The Lake and Duon at the Battleship Halberd Bridge, as well as Tabuu in the final battle at Tabuu's Residence.

External links