Ken Combo
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The Ken Combo refers to a spike setup with Marth discovered and popularized by professional Marth player, Ken.
The combo itself is simply as follows: single jump, forward aerial; midair jump, down aerial. However, some players refer to the entire chain of neutral aerials and forward aerials followed by the spike as a "Ken combo" due to its effectiveness in Melee competitive play. Although the combo is quite simple, one must space very precisely to do it consistently; the down air can only be landed if one spaces the forward air correctly. The spacing for the f-air is character dependent. Against fast fallers, one must land the tipper f-air from below so that the opponent is sent upward and set to fall into the d-air after Marth jumps. If the tipper f-air is not landed, Marth cannot land the d-air after a jump. Conversely against floaties, Marth must f-air the opponent from below so they are not sent too high. Performing a Ken Combo without having to jump before using the down aerial is known as a jumpless Ken Combo.
Marth's Fair uses the Sakurai Angle, which, in Melee, means that the attack sends the opponents at an angle of 0° initially, but opponents will eventually be sent at an angle of 45° degrees after the knockback strength has surpassed an amount. This means that there is a window between too little knockback and too much knockback in which the Ken combo can be performed.
According to Ken, the Ken Combo was initially developed in the original Super Smash Bros. using Captain Falcon's up aerial followed with a down aerial meteor smash.
Variants
A difficult to perform variation of the Ken Combo called the Reverse Ken Combo can also be performed in Melee. It involves hitting with the forward aerial's rear hitbox, that produces weak knockback while keeping the opponent in place, then following up with the down aerial. One or two forward aerials can be performed.
Since Marth's down aerial is a meteor smash in the PAL version of Melee, a common workaround is to replace the down aerial finisher with a reverse Dolphin Slash instead. This combo is called a Euro Ken Combo or European Ken Combo, though it can still be performed in North American regions. A neutral aerial can also be used after the forward air, but opponents can potentially SDI out of the first hit.
In games after Melee
In Brawl and Smash 4, the Sakurai Angle (Which Marth's Foward air in Melee uses) has been changed so that instead of suddenly sending opponents at 45° degrees, it now gradually sends them at higher degrees until it does reach 45° degrees. This mean that by the time that the knockback is sufficient enough to trigger the 45° angle, it is also too much knockback for the move to combo, which removes Martth's Ken combo in both games.
In Brawl, several characters can perform their own versions of the Ken Combo, such as Wolf and R.O.B. The introduction of hitstun cancelling, however, means that opponents can air dodge away from future hits or even hit back before the next attack can occur.
The changes of hitstun cancelling in Smash 4 means that Ken Combos can theoretically be performed, such as by Roy. No character, however, has a Ken Combo as effective as the original variant seen in Melee, due to the Sakurai angle still being like it's Brawl Form, which many attacks use.
Gallery
Reverse Ken Combo.
An advanced Marth combo in Melee ending with a Ken Combo.
Another Marth combo in Melee, using some up throws, then a chain of forward aerials, leading into a Ken Combo.
A variation of the Ken Combo performed by Captain Falcon in Smash 64.
A variation of the Ken Combo performed by Wolf in Brawl
A variation of the Ken Combo performed by R.O.B. in Brawl
A variation of the Ken Combo performed by Olimar in Brawl
