Super Smash Bros. series

Grab

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Mario grabbing Donkey Kong in SSB.
File:Grab.jpg
Mario grabbing Diddy Kong in Brawl.
Image of Cloud grabbing Mega Man on Great Bay Ω from the Ultimate website.
Cloud grabbing Mega Man in Ultimate.

A grab (つかみ / 掴み) is an attack all characters possess which causes them to hold an opponent in place, usually in preparation for a throw or some other followup attack.

All characters possess a grab as part of their standard moveset, which can be performed by pressing the shield and attack buttons simultaneously on any controller in any game. Grabs can also be used with the R Button on the N64 controller, the Z button on the GameCube controller, sideways on the D-Pad with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Minus button on a standalone Wii Remote, the L button on a Nintendo 3DS or the ZR button on a New Nintendo 3DS, ZL or ZR on the Wii U GamePad, Classic Controller, and Wii U Pro Controller; L or R on the Switch Pro Controller or dual Joy-Con, and the SL button on a single sideways Joy-Con.

Two slight variants exist for each character's grab:

  • Dash grabs, introduced in Melee, can be used by grabbing while dashing. This carries the momentum from the dash to give the grab longer reach, but dash grabs are generally heavier on end lag and easier to punish than their normal counterparts.
  • Pivot grabs, introduced in Brawl, can be used by grabbing immediately after a pivot. This results in the character pivoting and performing a grab with generally the longest reach of their three grab types, and may be useful in varying one's approach. Pivot grabs tend to have more startup than both standing and dash grabs, and more ending lag than standing grabs but less than dash grabs.

Grabs are unblockable and cannot be shielded; they can thus be used as an easy way to open up a hole in an enemy player's defense. Upon a successful grab, the enemy is immobilized for a time. They cannot be held indefinitely, however: after a short amount of time, the grabbed character will break free in a phenomenon known as a grab release. A grabbed character can escape faster by button mashing, but grabs become more difficult to escape as damage accumulates.

During a grab, the grabbing character has access to five potential attacks: a pummel by pressing the A button, or a forward throw, back throw, up throw, or down throw by pressing those respective directions on the control stick. Damage can be racked up before a throw by using multiple pummels, but this runs the risk of the enemy escaping before a throw can be performed.

In the original Super Smash Bros., grabs are notoriously fast and throws are equally powerful. Pummels, up throws, and down throws did not exist, nor did grab releases (aside from Donkey Kong's forward throw). Pressing the A button with an enemy grabbed will input a forward throw, and waiting 1 full second without inputting anything automatically triggers a forward throw as well. Since Melee, the speed and power of most characters' grabs and throws have been toned down and many of the mechanics were introduced which are now widely understood as the series standard.

Several special moves are similarly able to grab and then throw opponents, which are similarly unblockable and put opponents in a unique state compared to normal grabs. These types of attacks are often referred to as “command grabs”.

List of grabs

Character Description Characteristic
All other fighters For the sake of brevity, any character not specifically mentioned in this list can be assumed to have a standard-type grab involving a simple grab, hold, or clinch from the character's free hand(s). Standard
Bowser Jr. Deploys a toylike claw from the Koopa Clown Car and grabs with it. Standard
Charizard Lunges forward for a bite alongside an extra hold with its arms. Standard
Dark Samus Whips forwards with her Grapple Beam. Tether
Duck Hunt Lunges forward for a bite. Standard
Greninja Creates a vortex of water in front of itself. Standard
Isabelle Swings downwards with a net. Can grab and pocket items. Standard
Ivysaur Swipes inwards with both of its vines at once. Standard
Link Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. Melee Fires his Hookshot forwards.
Super Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Fires his Clawshot forwards.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Simply grabs in front of himself with his free hand.
Super Smash Bros. Extended
Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Tether
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Standard
Lucas Whips forwards with Rope Snake. Tether
Luigi Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Simply grabs in front of himself.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Launches a plunger with a rope tied to it from the Poltergust G-00.
Super Smash Bros.Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Standard
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tether
Mega Man Uses the Super Arm. Standard
Min Min Fires both of her ARMS forward. Extended
Olimar Super Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Commands the first Pikmin in line to rush forwards and grab.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Commands all active Pikmin to rush forwards in a line and grab, with the range increasing proportionally to the number of active Pikmin.
Extended
Pac-Man Fires a Boss Galaga's tractor beam from out of his extended palm. Extended
Robin Creates a small magic vortex. Standard
Samus Whips forwards with her Grapple Beam. Super Smash Bros. Extended
Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tether
Sephiroth Reaches out with his right hand and telekinetically grabs the foe using dark magic. Standard
Snake Reaches forward with both arms to put the opponent in a restraining chokehold. Standard
Steve Pulls out a fishing rod, using it to reel an opponent in toward him. Tether
Toon Link Fires his Hookshot forwards. Tether
Villager Swings downwards with a net. Can grab and pocket items in Ultimate. Standard
Wii Fit Trainer Performs a Rowing Squat. Standard
Yoshi Opens his mouth and stretches his tongue forwards, holding enemies in his mouth on a successful grab. Extended
Young Link Fires his Hookshot forwards. Tether
Zelda Uses magic to restrain her opponent. Standard
Zero Suit Samus Extends the Paralyzer's plasma whip forwards. Tether

Notable grabs

  • In NTSC versions of Melee, Samus' grab can be extended to almost two and a half times its usual length using a special input combination. When this is done, her grapple beam also homes in on enemies if the L button is held, being the only tether grab able to do so, but only grabs enemies if the A button is pressed when the tip connects, and still cannot affect aerial opponents. This affects both her normal grab and dash grab, though not her grab aerial.
  • In Smash 4, Pac-Man's grab appears to be one continuous beam; however, it actually projects three short-lived hitboxes one after another in front of him, each one further outwards than the last. Because of its blind spots and lengthy endlag, the move is considered highly risky and unreliable. In Ultimate, however, its hitboxes were reworked to be larger and more continuous while its endlag was reduced, making the move more reliable and even a counter to spot dodges due to its long duration.
  • In Melee, Marth is notorious for having an unreasonably disjointed grab range, reaching farther than Yoshi’s tongue.

Tether grabs and extended grabs

Some characters, instead of grabbing opponents directly, throw forward a long rope- or whip-like object in order to grab opponents. This sort of grab is known as a tether grab, based on the tether recovery ability that many such characters also have (or, in Melee, the wall-grapple). Tether grabs are renowned for their very high range compared to most other grabs, but – particularly in early installments – are also much slower than standard grabs.

Other characters do not have a tether recovery but still possess a grab range that greatly surpasses other characters'. These characters can be said to have an extended grab.

Characters with tether grabs and extended grabs are noted in the table above. In general, characters with tether grabs also have grab aerials, while those with standard or extended grabs do not. The main characteristic of a tether grab is that it completely relies on a secondary model to work, allowing the model to move with the bone the grabbox is attached to. Steve is the only character with a tether grab that does not have either a grab aerial or a tether recovery.

Special moves that can grab

Some special attacks function as grabs (sometimes called command grabs, from the similar concept in traditional fighting games). When their hitboxes are viewed with Melee's Debug Menu, these attacks use the same magenta hitbox color as standard grabs. Grabbing special attacks put opponents in a unique state that is manipulated by the move in some fashion, and have their own independent rules as to whether and how opponents can escape.

  • Alolan Whip (grabs opponent, and throws them into wrestling ring ropes, and reacts in three different ways based on when Incineroar attacks when the opponent rebounds back to him)
  • Blunderbuss (sucks opponent in at close range can be thrown forwards, backwards, or upwards)
  • Chomp (bites opponent several times, then spits them out)
  • Confusion at close range (grabs the opponent, spins them around, and drops them)
  • Egg Lay (traps opponent in an egg, opponent takes half damage until they escape)
  • Falcon Dive and Dark Dive (grabs opponent in air and propels them away; can be done repeatedly if it connects the first time)
  • Flame Choke (grabs opponent and slams them into the ground)
  • Flying Slam (can grab and sacrificial KO opponents); replaces Koopa Klaw from Brawl onwards
  • Force Palm (grabs and throws forwards after about a second, cannot grab in midair or at long range)
  • Inhale (Traps opponent inside Kirby or Dedede, opponent can wriggle to affect movement. King Dedede's is noticeably more powerful.)
    • Using Inhale, Kirby can also copy Egg Lay, Chomp, Blunderbuss, as well as King Dedede's Inhale.
  • Koopa Klaw (can grab in the air or at close range on the ground, can only throw forward or backward, no invincibility frames); Melee only
  • Minecart (grabs grounded opponents when it is empty)
  • Monkey Flip (latches onto an opponent, can either attack or jump into the enemy to release, or let go)
  • Nosferatu (traps opponents and damages them while healing Robin)
  • Space Pirate Rush (grabs opponent, drags them across the ground, and throws them; can be ended early by jumping)
  • Suplex (grabs opponent and slams them behind the Brawler)

Hitboxes that can grab

A minority of special moves utilize hitboxes that grab opponents when they hit (sometimes called hit grab, also from the similar concept in traditional fighting games). Functionally, these moves have all the properties of hitboxes (damage, angle, effect, etc.), but instead of dealing knockback when they connect with an opponent, they place the opponent in a grabbed state. Practically, the most important difference from a regular grab is that they can be blocked. Additionally, should the hitbox have non-zero knockback, then if it connects with an opponent who cannot be grabbed, it will deal knockback instead. If a move is scripted as a projectile, they also can be reflected, but instead of changing the trajectory of the move, they act as if a regular projectile was collided with a shield, leaving both players unharmed.

  • Buster Wolf (punches the opponent, holding them in place for a moment, then blasts them away with an explosion)
  • Fishing Rod (throws out line; if the hook connects with a non-shielding opponent, the opponent is hooked and reeled in, then throws them in one of four directions)
  • Grappling Hook (throws out line diagonally upwards; if the hook connects, the opponent is pulled closer in then thrown; cannot grab opponents who are already in hitstun)
  • Skewer (from update 8.0.0 onwards, can't put opponents that are in an ungrabbable state into crumple)
  • Sword of the Creator (pulls Byleth towards the opponent, and throws them behind him at lower percentages, or meteor smashes them at higher percentages)

Properties

File:Grab.jpeg
An example of a grab failing to connect despite appearing as though it should connect, due to Mr. Game & Watch's arms and hands being ungrabbable

An important property of grabs is that they cannot be shielded, completely ignoring a foe's shield and grabbing them out of it; in comparison to other unblockable attacks, grabs are available to the entirety of the cast in all Smash games, preventing foes from overusing their shields against any character. This, along with grabs' generally fast startup, their ability to easily punish out of shield, and most throws allowing the player to execute diverse combos and chains, causes them to be used very prominently in competitive play, constituting the neutral game of characters as a triangle in which grabs beat shields, but are beaten by attacks as they are outranged by them. Grabs also ignore moves that conceptually block attacks, such as those that provide armor and most counterattacks, though they do not work against foes knocked down on the floor (with the only exception being in the original Super Smash Bros.). In Smash 4 and Ultimate, characters also gain invulnerability to grabs for 70 frames after being released from them, preventing chaingrabs and team wobbles; in Ultimate, this is indicated by the released character flashing yellow whilst the grab invulnerability is active. Most characters also cannot be grabbed by the arms and legs. This can lead to some unusual results against characters with extreme proportions.

Grab hitboxes react very interestingly throughout the Super Smash Bros. series when they collide with a regular hitbox that is within a character's grab range. In Super Smash Bros. and Melee, the grab has priority over the hitbox and will completely override whatever hitbox it collided with and grab the opponent; in Brawl, the grab still has priority over the hitbox, but the hitbox will deal full damage to the character that attempted the grab before they proceed to grab the opponent. In Smash 4, however, hitboxes outprioritize grabs; in this situation, the character that attempted the grab will receive full damage and knockback from the hitbox that the grab collided with, and the character that threw out the hitbox will be grab released and take 3% damage (or more if the grab came from a special move and the grab itself dealt damage, like the beginning of Falcon Dive).

Hitting a character with a grabbed foe in Super Smash Bros. causes them to make their hard-damage noise. From Melee onward, if a character grabbing another character is interrupted (that is, hit by an attack), the grabbed character will be sent flying horizontally. In Melee, characters oddly cannot escape from grabs if they are constantly hit by other characters at certain intervals, which is the main cause of wobbling.

In Ultimate, if two players attempt to grab each other at the same time, both players will take minor damage and will perform their rebound animation (unless they are in the air, where their grab release animation is used instead). This is similar to the 3% damage grab break effect from Smash 4, but affects both characters like a clang. The exact timing of when this can happen is specific to every animation of every character, and may even be assigned to actions that are not grabs. Before Ultimate, port priority was used to determine which fighter's grab was successful in the event of simultaneous grabs colliding.

A particular character can grab only one opponent at once, and similarly, a grabbed character cannot be grabbed by another one before being thrown or released. Prior to Ultimate, the Ice Climbers are able to grab two opponents at once, with Popo grabbing one and Nana grabbing the other. In Melee, when Nana grabs an opponent, she will act independently, being CPU-controlled. In Brawl, Nana is directly controlled by the player during the grab, enabling zero-to-death combos as each Ice Climber re-grabs the opponent immediately after the partner's throw. In Ultimate, Nana cannot grab at all, and does not act while Popo is grabbing and throwing an opponent.

In every game, certain body parts are unable to be grabbed. The ungrabbable limbs vary depending on the character. For instance, in Melee all of Kirby's hurtboxes can be grabbed, but only Jigglypuff's body is grabbable, while its hands, feet and hair curl aren't[1] . From Brawl onwards, ungrabbable limbs are usually just arms with only a few exceptions.

In game modes such as the Subspace Emissary and Smash Run, most enemies which are vulnerable to attacks can be grabbed and thrown.

Initial grab range by game

In Super Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros. grab ranges as tested by SuperSqank[2]. Testing method is between the character's bone 0 (position) and tip of furthest grabbox. The scale is different than the scale used in later games, with the conversion rate roughly being range/30 (So Fox's range for example is 400u, which would roughly convert to 13.33u using the scale from later games)

JPN
Rank Character Grab Range
1 Samus's head icon from SSB. Samus 1276u
2 Link's head icon from SSB. Link 1204.76u
3 Yoshi's head icon from SSB. Yoshi 977.9u
4 DK's head icon from SSB. Donkey Kong 691.25u
5 Jigglypuff's head icon from SSB. Jigglypuff 549.45u
6 Kirby's head icon from SSB. Kirby 524.8u
7 C. Falcon's head icon from SSB. Captain Falcon 486u
8 Pikachu's head icon from SSB. Pikachu 464.2u
9 Fox's head icon from SSB. Fox 400u
10 Ness's head icon from SSB. Ness 365u
11 Mario's head icon from SSB. Mario 345u
12 Luigi's head icon from SSB. Luigi 342u
NA/AUS/PAL
Rank Character Grab Range
1 Samus's head icon from SSB. Samus 1276u
2 Link's head icon from SSB. Link 1204.76u
3 Yoshi's head icon from SSB. Yoshi 977.9u
4 DK's head icon from SSB. Donkey Kong 691.25u
5 Jigglypuff's head icon from SSB. Jigglypuff 549.45u
6 Kirby's head icon from SSB. Kirby 512.2u
7 C. Falcon's head icon from SSB. Captain Falcon 486u
8 Pikachu's head icon from SSB. Pikachu 464.2u
9 Fox's head icon from SSB. Fox 400u
10 Mario's head icon from SSB. Mario 369u
11-12 Luigi's head icon from SSB. Luigi 365u
Ness's head icon from SSB. Ness

Differences between game versions

NTSC-J to NTSC-U
  • Buff Mario is slightly bigger (x1.0 → x1.12), increasing his grab range.
  • Nerf Kirby is slightly smaller (x0.94 → x0.91), reducing his grab range.
  • Buff Luigi is slightly bigger (x1.0 → x1.12), increasing his grab range.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Marth's grab range in Melee compared to Yoshi's, showing the huge disjointed range.
Yoshi's grab range compared to Marth's. Note that Marth's grab only succeeds due the large hurtbox of Yoshi's nose.

Melee grab ranges by character according to Zeckemyro and SuperSqank[3]. This testing is done by calculating the distance between bone 0 (the character's position) and the tip of the furthest grabbox. While Bowser and Yoshi have higher grab ranges than Marth (who was thought to have the longest non-tether grab in the game), this is only because the long range of their grabboxes was made to fit their larger bodies[4]. Marth has a better grab by comparison due to its better disjoint compared to his smaller size despite having less range overall (which is further complimented by its superior speed).

Rank Character Grab Range
1 SamusHeadSSBM.png Samus 43.0441u
2 LinkHeadSSBM.png Link 35.3001u
3 YoungLinkHeadSSBM.png Young Link 25.3015u
4 YoshiHeadSSBM.png Yoshi 20.5553u
5 BowserHeadSSBM.png Bowser 19.241u
6 MarthHeadSSBM.png Marth 18.7293u
7 RoyHeadSSBM.png Roy 17.827u
8 DonkeyKongHeadSSBM.png Donkey Kong 17.577u
9 KirbyHeadSSBM.png Kirby 15.2123u
10-11 SheikHeadSSBM.png Sheik 14.4522u
MewtwoHeadSSBM.png Mewtwo
12 JigglypuffHeadSSBM.png Jigglypuff 14.1866u
13 FalcoHeadSSBM.png Falco 13.3585u
14 MrGame&WatchHeadSSBM.png Mr. Game & Watch 13.046u
15 LuigiHeadSSBM.png Luigi 12.9875u
16 ZeldaHeadSSBM.png Zelda 12.7648u
17 FoxHeadSSBM.png Fox 12.1555u
18 PeachHeadSSBM.png Peach 11.9914u
19 GanondorfHeadSSBM.png Ganondorf 11.4993u
20 IceClimbersHeadSSBM.png Ice Climbers 11.2836u
21 CaptainFalconHeadSSBM.png Captain Falcon 10.7259u
22 PichuHeadSSBM.png Pichu 10.3509u
23-24 MarioHeadSSBM.png Mario 10.0189u
DrMarioHeadSSBM.png Dr. Mario
25 NessHeadSSBM.png Ness 9.9603u
26 PikachuHeadSSBM.png Pikachu 9.8431u

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Brawl grab ranges by Zeckemyro[5] and SuperSqank[6]. The units displayed are raw range between the character's position in 3D space (TopN bone/bone 0) and the tip of the furthest grabbox in in-game units.

Rank Character Grab range
1 SamusHeadSSBB.png Samus 39.0u
2-3 ZeroSuitSamusHeadSSBB.png Zero Suit Samus 35.75u
2-3 OlimarHeadSSBB.png Olimar (B./W. Pikmin) 35.75u
4 OlimarHeadSSBB.png Olimar (R./Y. Pikmin) 34.25u
5 LinkHeadSSBB.png Link 31.8u
6 YoshiHeadSSBB.png Yoshi 28.04u
7 ToonLinkHeadSSBB.png Toon Link 27.7u
8 LucasHeadSSBB.png Lucas 25.65u
9 CharizardHeadSSBB.png Charizard 25.57u
10 OlimarHeadSSBB.png Olimar (P. Pikmin) 25.5u
11 BowserHeadSSBB.png Bowser 23.5u
12 IvysaurHeadSSBB.png Ivysaur 23.0u
13 KingDededeHeadSSBB.png King Dedede 22.09u
14 DonkeyKongHeadSSBB.png Donkey Kong 21.24u
15 ROBHeadSSBB.png R.O.B. 16.5u
16 KirbyHeadSSBB.png Kirby 16.04u
17 MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png Meta Knight 16.0u
18 MarthHeadSSBB.png Marth 15.68u
19-22 JigglypuffHeadSSBB.png Jigglypuff 15.5u
WarioHeadSSBB.png Wario
SnakeHeadSSBB.png Snake
SquirtleHeadSSBB.png Squirtle
23 DiddyKongHeadSSBB.png Diddy Kong 15.0u
24 ZeldaHeadSSBB.png Zelda 14.8u
25 IkeHeadSSBB.png Ike 14.3u
26-27 FoxHeadSSBB.png Fox 13.8u
FalcoHeadSSBB.png Falco
28 WolfHeadSSBB.png Wolf 13.3u
29 PitHeadSSBB.png Pit 13.0u
30 GanondorfHeadSSBB.png Ganondorf 12.8u
31-32 SheikHeadSSBB.png Sheik 12.5u
MrGame&WatchHeadSSBB.png Mr. Game & Watch
33-35 CaptainFalconHeadSSBB.png Captain Falcon 12.0u
PeachHeadSSBB.png Peach
LucarioHeadSSBB.png Lucario
36 IceClimbersHeadSSBB.png Ice Climbers 11.8u
37-38 MarioHeadSSBB.png Mario 11.76u
LuigiHeadSSBB.png Luigi
39-40 PikachuHeadSSBB.png Pikachu 11.5u
SonicHeadSSBB.png Sonic
41 NessHeadSSBB.png Ness 10.8u

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Smash 4 grab ranges by Zeckemyro[7] and extra data for tether and extended grabs from SuperSqank. Numbers are raw horizontal range from the character's bone 0 position and the tip of the furthest grabbox. Certain tether and extended grabs will have asterisks next to their range due to not being able to get perfectly accurate values. Despite the innacurate values, the placements in this ranking are accurate.

Rank Character Grab range
1 SamusHeadSSB4-U.png Samus 40.0u*
2 Zero Suit Samus's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Zero Suit Samus 37.0u*
3 Link's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Link 36.0u*
4 Olimar's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Olimar (W. Pikmin) 30.0u*
5 Toon Link's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Toon Link 29.0u*
6 Pac-Man's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Pac-Man 28.0u
7 Yoshi's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Yoshi 26.65u
8 Olimar's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Olimar (R./B./Y. Pikmin) 26.0u*
9 LucasHeadSSB4-U.png Lucas 24.0u*
10 Olimar's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Olimar (P. Pikmin) 22.3u*
11 Bowser's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Bowser 20.0u
12 Donkey Kong's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Donkey Kong 19.5u
13-14 Charizard's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Charizard 19.0u
Villager's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Villager
15 Greninja's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Greninja 18.5u
16 Bowser Jr.'s stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Bowser Jr. 17.0u
17 King Dedede's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. King Dedede 16.0u
18 Zelda's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Zelda 15.3u
19-20 Palutena's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Palutena 15.0u
Duck Hunt's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Duck Hunt
21-22 Marth's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Marth 14.5u
Lucina's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Lucina
23 Mewtwo's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mewtwo 14.3u
24 RoyHeadSSB4-U.png Roy 14.2u
25 Rosalina and Luma's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Rosalina & Luma 14.0u
26 Lucario's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Lucario 13.5u
27 R.O.B.'s stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. R.O.B. 13.4u
28 Kirby's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Kirby 13.3u
29-36 Captain Falcon's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Captain Falcon 13.0u
Ganondorf's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Ganondorf
Meta Knight's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Meta Knight
Pit's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Pit
Dark Pit's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Dark Pit
Wario's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Wario
Sonic's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Sonic
Shulk's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Shulk
37-39 Mr. Game & Watch's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mr. Game & Watch 12.5u
Ike's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Ike
Robin's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Robin
40-56 Mario's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mario 12.0u
Fox's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Fox
Luigi's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Luigi
Ness's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Ness
Jigglypuff's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Jigglypuff
Peach's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Peach
Sheik's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Sheik
Dr. Mario's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Dr. Mario
Falco's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Falco
Diddy Kong's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Diddy Kong
Mega Man's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mega Man
Mii Brawler's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mii Brawler
Mii Swordfighter's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mii Swordfighter
Mii Gunner's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Mii Gunner
CloudHeadSSB4-U.png Cloud
CorrinHeadSSB4-U.png Corrin
BayonettaHeadSSB4-U.png Bayonetta
57-58 Pikachu's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Pikachu 11.2u
RyuHeadSSB4-U.png Ryu
59-60 Wii Fit Trainer's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Wii Fit Trainer 11.0u
Little Mac's stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Little Mac

Update History

1.0.4
  • Nerf Palutena's pivot grab's range was slightly decreased (Z2 offset: 19.4 → 17.4).
  • Nerf Zelda's pivot grab's range was decreased (Z2 offset: -18.7 → -15.7).
1.0.8
  • Nerf All of Diddy Kong's grabs have 3 more frames of ending lag (FAF: 29 → 32 (standing), 36 → 39 (dash), 34 → 37 (pivot)).
  • Buff Super Smash Bros. for Wii UClawshot now behaves like it does in the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS version. Link's grab range has been doubled in terms of Clawshot length and grab distance. Clawshot also grabs just before it droops back down to the ground, while Link's standing grab has been sped up by two frames.
  • Buff Link's grabs have less ending lag (FAF: 67/78/80 → 62/66/67).
  • Buff Samus's standing and pivot grabs have less ending lag (FAF: 80/92 → 76/88).
  • Buff Villager's grabs have less ending lag (FAF: 58/72/66 → 56/70/65).
1.1.0
  • Buff Link's dash grab and pivot grab are both 1 frame faster.
  • Buff Lucas's grabboxes are bigger (2.5 → 3.0 (early), 2.4 → 2.8 (late)) for all grabs.
  • Buff Palutena's grabs have 2 less frames of ending lag.
  • Buff Toon Link's dash grab is 2 frames faster and his pivot grab is 1 frame faster.
  • Change Wii Fit Trainer's grabboxes on all grabs are placed lower.
1.1.3
  • Buff Lucas's standing grab and dash grab had their ending lag decreased (FAF: 51/61 → 46/56).
  • Change Lucas's grabs have sped up animations.
1.1.5
  • Buff Greninja's standing grab has 3 frames less of startup: 14 frames → 11.
  • Buff Samus's grabs have decreased ending lag (FAF: 76/74/88 → 70/68/84).
  • Buff Zelda's grabs have more reach(Z2 offset: 10.5 (standing)/13.5 (dash)/-15.7 (pivot) → 11.5/14.5/-16.7).
  • Nerf Zero Suit Samus's grabs had their duration reduced by 4 frames with identical startup.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Grab ranges in Ultimate as tested by Zeckemyro[8] and CrimsonStarfall[9]. The number besides each position indicates the range using in-game units. Extended grabs will be followed by an asterisk (*) due to only being approximations. Their range was tested and is placed correctly. Jostle and the height of the grabboxes can affect their consistency in the midst of battle. The grabs are listed based on their raw horizontal range.

Rank Character Grab range
1-2 SamusHeadSSBU.png Samus 42.2u
DarkSamusHeadSSBU.png Dark Samus
3 MinMinHeadSSBU.png Min Min 40.0u*
4 ZeroSuitSamusHeadSSBU.png Zero Suit Samus 37.0u
5 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (W. Pikmin + 2) 36.5u*
6 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (W. Pikmin + 1) 33.5u*
7 Steve's stock icon. Steve 31.9u
8 LuigiHeadSSBU.png Luigi 29.8u
9 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (R./B./Y. Pikmin + 2) 29.7u*
10-11 YoungLinkHeadSSBU.png Young Link 29.5u
OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (W. Pikmin)
12-14 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (R./B./Y. Pikmin + 1) 28.2u*
ToonLinkHeadSSBU.png Toon Link
Pac-ManHeadSSBU.png Pac-Man
15 YoshiHeadSSBU.png Yoshi 26.0u*
16-17 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (R./B./Y. Pikmin) 23.6u*
OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (P. Pikmin + 2)
18 IvysaurHeadSSBU.png Ivysaur 23.0u
19-20 LucasHeadSSBU.png Lucas 22.9u
OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (P. Pikmin + 1)
21 OlimarHeadSSBU.png Olimar (P. Pikmin) 22.0u*
22 CharizardHeadSSBU.png Charizard 21.4u
23-24 BowserHeadSSBU.png Bowser 20.0u
KingKRoolHeadSSBU.png King K. Rool
25 DonkeyKongHeadSSBU.png Donkey Kong 19.5u
26-27 VillagerHeadSSBU.png Villager 19.0u
IsabelleHeadSSBU.png Isabelle
28 GreninjaHeadSSBU.png Greninja 18.5u
29 BowserJrHeadSSBU.png Bowser Jr. 18.0u
30 KingDededeHeadSSBU.png King Dedede 17.0u
31 RidleyHeadSSBU.png Ridley 16.5u
32 IncineroarHeadSSBU.png Incineroar 16.0u
33 SnakeHeadSSBU.png Snake 15.5u
34 ZeldaHeadSSBU.png Zelda 15.3u
35 MiiGunnerHeadSSBU.png Mii Gunner 14.8u
36-38 MarthHeadSSBU.png Marth 14.5u
LucinaHeadSSBU.png Lucina
DuckHuntHeadSSBU.png Duck Hunt
39 ROBHeadSSBU.png R.O.B. 14.4u
40-41 MewtwoHeadSSBU.png Mewtwo 14.3u
PiranhaPlantHeadSSBU.png Piranha Plant
42-43 RoyHeadSSBU.png Roy 14.2u
ChromHeadSSBU.png Chrom
44-47 GanondorfHeadSSBU.png Ganondorf 14.0u
WarioHeadSSBU.png Wario
SquirtleHeadSSBU.png Squirtle
Rosalina&LumaHeadSSBU.png Rosalina & Luma
48 TerryHeadSSBU.png Terry 13.7u
49 LucarioHeadSSBU.png Lucario 13.5u
50 Banjo&KazooieHeadSSBU.png Banjo & Kazooie 13.2u
51-55 CaptainFalconHeadSSBU.png Captain Falcon 13.0u
PitHeadSSBU.png Pit
DarkPitHeadSSBU.png Dark Pit
PalutenaHeadSSBU.png Palutena
RobinHeadSSBU.png Robin
56 LittleMacHeadSSBU.png Little Mac 12.9u
57-62 KirbyHeadSSBU.png Kirby 12.5u
SheikHeadSSBU.png Sheik
MrGame&WatchHeadSSBU.png Mr. Game & Watch
MegaManHeadSSBU.png Mega Man
ShulkHeadSSBU.png Shulk
BayonettaHeadSSBU.png Bayonetta
63-64 JokerHeadSSBU.png Joker 12.3u
BylethHeadSSBU.png Byleth
65-83 MarioHeadSSBU.png Mario 12.0u
DrMarioHeadSSBU.png Dr. Mario
CloudHeadSSBU.png Cloud
SimonHeadSSBU.png Simon
RichterHeadSSBU.png Richter
NessHeadSSBU.png Ness
JigglypuffHeadSSBU.png Jigglypuff
PeachHeadSSBU.png Peach
DaisyHeadSSBU.png Daisy
PichuHeadSSBU.png Pichu
FalcoHeadSSBU.png Falco
SonicHeadSSBU.png Sonic
WolfHeadSSBU.png Wolf
MiiBrawlerHeadSSBU.png Mii Brawler
MiiSwordfighterHeadSSBU.png Mii Swordfighter
InklingHeadSSBU.png Inkling
Sephiroth's stock icon. Sephiroth
PyraHeadSSBU.png Pyra
MythraHeadSSBU.png Mythra
84 PikachuHeadSSBU.png Pikachu 11.9u
85 CorrinHeadSSBU.png Corrin 11.8u
86-87 RyuHeadSSBU.png Ryu 11.6u
KenHeadSSBU.png Ken
88-91 MetaKnightHeadSSBU.png Meta Knight 11.5u
IkeHeadSSBU.png Ike
DiddyKongHeadSSBU.png Diddy Kong
WiiFitTrainerHeadSSBU.png Wii Fit Trainer
92-93 LinkHeadSSBU.png Link 11.0u
FoxHeadSSBU.png Fox
94 HeroHeadSSBU.png Hero 10.3u
95 IceClimbersHeadSSBU.png Ice Climbers 10.0u

Update history

2.0.0
  • Buff Luigi's standing and pivot grabs were given a longer duration (6 frames → 7) to match dash grab.
3.0.0
  • Buff The grounded-only grabboxes of the dash grabs of Marth, Lucina, Roy and Chrom were made bigger (2.6u → 3.0u) and placed higher (Y offsets: 7.0 → 7.25). This notably prevents them from missing a shielding R.O.B..
3.1.0
  • Buff Pikachu's standing grab was given more range (11.0u → 11.9u).
7.0.0
  • Buff Sheik's standing grab has more range (Z2 offset: 7.9 (grounded)/9.45 (aerial) → 9.4/10.95).
8.0.0
  • Buff Lucas's pivot grab stretches farther towards Lucas (Z offset: 0.5u → 3.5u), making it less likely to whiff at point-blank range.
  • Buff Incineroar's grabs have one frame faster startup (frame 8 → 7 (standing), 12 → 11 (dash), 13 → 12 (pivot)), with their total duration reduced as well (FAF 39/47/45 → 38/46/44).
11.0.0
  • Nerf Palutena's standing grab has considerably less range (Z2 offset: 11.4 (grounded)/13.2 (aerial) → 9.4/11.2)


Trivia

  • Only two characters in the series – Luigi and Link – have had their grab type outright changed, with Link's grab changing from tether to standard, and Luigi's grab changing from standard to tether. Both of these changes occurred in Ultimate.
  • In Melee, characters hanging on ledges cannot be grabbed, but in every other game they can. This can be done if a certain character's grab animation is low enough to be able to grab a character hanging from a ledge if the latter character's head is above the ledge. An example video for SSB4 can be seen here. Example for SSB can be seen here
  • In Brawl, it is not possible to grab an opponent that is standing behind the grabber, even if the grab makes contact with a part of the target's body that extends in front of them. In the previous two games, grabs will connect regardless of the opponent's position.
  • Grabs are the only non-special moves to not cause the player's controller to rumble (should the feature be turned on) when used, only doing so if the grab connects with an opponent.

See also

References