Mario (SSB4)

Mario in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Mario
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Mario Finale
Tier	S (5)

Mario (マリオ, Mario) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was confirmed on June 11th, 2013 during the E3 2013 Nintendo Direct. He was also one of the main subjects of the Developer's Direct for Super Smash Bros. later during E3 2013. He was among the first wave of amiibo figurines for SSB4. Mario is once again voiced by Charles Martinet, who also reprises his long-time role as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, albeit mostly with the same voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Mario is currently ranked 5th out of 58 characters on the tier list, in the S tier. This is his best tier placement to date and a striking improvement from his 31st out of 38 ranking Brawl where he stood at the top of the bottom tier, as well as the largest tier rise from Brawl. His primary strength is his polarizing frame data; most of his moves come out extremely fast and have relatively low end lag. This results in Mario having one of the best neutral games in Smash 4, as it is difficult to actually punish him. His combo game, while not as versatile compared to Luigi or Sheik, is nevertheless potent, as Mario can rack up damage quickly and reliably, most notoriously with down throw into multiple up tilts. He also has a versatile moveset: a disruptive projectile in his Fireball, a reflection-based and reverse-based move in his Cape, and a decent but niche edgeguarding option with F.L.U.D.D. Mario's shortcomings include his below average range, giving him trouble against characters with long disjointed range such as Cloud and Marth, and his lack of consistent KO set ups. That said, due to his lack of severe weaknesses, as well as one of the lowest technical curves in the game, Mario has been among the most successful characters in tournaments, and amazing results at top level play, with a slew of dedicated mains. However, due to Mario's incredible tournament placings during the summer of 2016, many smashers now view Mario as one of the best characters in the game and possibly deserving of an even higher ranking on the tier list. Some players, notably ESAM, believe him to be the single best character in Smash 4.

Attributes

Like in the majority of his games and spin-offs, Mario is intended to be a balanced character in terms of attributes, possessing average walking, dashing and falling speeds, air acceleration, gravity and weight. However, he also has high air speed and jumping force, but low traction. These balanced stats do not give Mario the edge when it comes to overall movement, but they nevertheless make him adept at most situations where a key attribute is needed to gain the advantage, which when combined with his very quick frame data, grants Mario a very effective neutral game. As a result, despite his attributes implying a jack-of-all-trades type of character, Mario is more of a rushdown character in practice.

Thanks to his incredibly quick attack speed, he has a formidable close-range game, since few other characters like Sheik and Meta Knight are a match for this speed. His fast attack speed allows him to consistently apply pressure to the opponent, and he's capable of quickly racking up damage once he gets the momentum, which is easy to do so on characters that cannot match his attack speed without getting punished hard for it, like Palutena. Excluding his forward smash, forward aerial and special moves, all of Mario's moves have fast startup and low ending and landing lag (the latter in the case of his aerial attacks). All of his grounded moves are prime examples of his quick frame data: his neutral attack is his fastest move and an overall effective way to rack up damage, along with handy combo capabilities, while his up and down tilts are very effective combo starters that can help rack up plenty of damage, and the former easily chains into itself at low percentages, as well as being hard to escape. All of his smash attacks are excellent KO options, as they can reliably KO at high percentages without being endlag-heavy: his forward smash has the highest power of all of his smash attacks when sweetspotted, down smash is a semi-spike, making it useful for forcing opponents offstage, and up smash is very hard to punish due to its speed, power and the fact it grants intangibility on his head.

His aerial attacks are also very useful in any case: neutral aerial is a sex kick that can be useful in edgeguarding or for breaking combos. Back aerial has the longest reach and the highest knockback of Mario's aerial moves, allowing it to space effectively and reliably KO offstage. Up aerial's extremely quick startup, vertical launch angle and lack of sourspots let it combo into itself or other moves, on top of letting it easily break combos and setup the aforementioned . Down aerial is a great anti-juggling move that can also KO if used near the top blast line. It also benefits from frame cancelling, as its moderate landing lag is reduced, allowing for potential follow-ups. Finally, his forward aerial is a meteor smash with high base knockback for one, making it great for gimping all but the farthest reaching of recoveries.

His special moveset is highly varied and has plenty of uses. Fireball is a projectile with decently long range. It can be useful in the neutral game or in edgeguarding, thanks to its disruptive knockback, along with very useful chances to disrupt direct approaches. Super Jump Punch travels in a controllable diagonal direction and grants moderate distance, making it good at recovery. It also has intangibility upon startup, allowing it to be used out of shield very effectively. Due to its extremely quick startup, it is also a useful combo finisher, especially near the blast line. On the other hand, Cape reverses opponents, with the induced disorientation often being enough to allow a free hit or efficiently gimp a recovery, which aids in edgeguarding opponents. It is also a powerful reflector, making it highly useful in matchups against projectile-heavy characters, such as Mega Man. F.L.U.D.D. is a mechanism that shoots water, pushing opponents away, which compliments his Cape. Though situational, it can occasionally be used to give Mario some breathing space. As a result of his Cape, F.L.U.D.D. and his fast aerials, Mario also boasts a versatile edgeguarding game.

Another valuable strength of Mario is his grab game. Even though his grab reach is only average, his grabs are among the fastest in the game, and his pummel is moderately fast and can rack up quite some damage before throwing the opponent. His forward and up throws have the same overall use: they send the opponent at a disadvantageous position, where Mario can capitalize on their mistake. His back throw is by far his strongest throw and can reliably KO below 150% near the ledge on any character, and even earlier with rage. Finally, his down throw is a notorious combo starter. It can repeatedly lead into up tilt at low percentages, or down tilts to regrab on fast fallers or heavyweights and rack up at least 20% in the process. Alternatively, it can lead into neutral attack, forward tilt, down tilt, up smash and down smash at low percentages, as well as neutral aerial, up aerial, down aerial and Super Jump Punch at medium percentages. Finally, and due to the favorable angles his moves send at, his tremendously quick frame data and his extensive amount of combo starters, Mario's combo ability is among the most reliable in the game, and it is also worth noting that seven of Mario's moves can lock (forward tilt, neutral attack's first two hits, Fireball, down aerials landing hit, and neutral, forward and back aerials (the former and latter being usually effective when sourspotted, though a majority of them are only usable at low percents). This makes it almost always imperative for Mario's opponent to tech all attacks at low percentages when needed, otherwise Mario can capitalize on the opportunity, and tack on unavoidable massive damage in the process.

Despite Mario's slew of pros, he does have some weaknesses. Most characters are able to outperform him in various areas: notable examples include Bayonetta having a more versatile combo ability, Greninja having better mobility, Donkey Kong having higher power right off the bat and Cloud having larger reach. In particular, the latter two are his main weaknesses: his KOing ability is largely inconsistent, with very few guaranteed KO set-ups, and all of them being hard to confirm. While much of his moveset can get the job done, there is a noticeable gap in power between his strongest moves and his other ones, with this meaning he'll usually have to rely on his sweetspotted forward smash, up smash, down smash's back hit, or back throw to score kills, which are all further compounded by the poor reach of his attacks. As such, he cannot afford to get predictable, especially with the existence of stale-move negation. His lack of reach also prevents him from fighting at a safe distance and consistently forces Mario to approach characters. This leads into having some difficulty against characters with large or disjointed reach, though fortunately, these types of characters tend to have significantly slower attacks than Mario, meaning that this tends to be the least of his worries. Lastly, his recovery is limited and fairly linear, making it rather easy for the opponent to anticipate where he'll land, though it should be noted that Mario's high air speed, Capes reflecting abilities, and the invincible Super Jump Punch makes him surprisingly difficult to gimp.

Mario's custom moves define the fundamentals of customization, with all of them following an "X over Y" pattern. Fast Fireball deals less damage and barely causes flinching, but covers more range at a much faster pace and can further improve his already above average camping abilities as well as disrupt most attacks. Fire Orb has less range and is much slower, but deals repeated damage and lingers after being shot, allowing for potential follow-ups. Shocking Cape is electric and has actual KO power, but cannot stall in the air as much as its other variants or reflect projectiles. Gust Cape pushes opponents away, especially at point-blank range, but it deals less damage and possesses more ending lag. Super Jump grants almost twice as much distance, but is unable to hit opponents. Explosive Punch deals high flame damage, but travels a short distance at a fixed direction. Scalding F.L.U.D.D. hits multiple times and can disrupt an opponent's approach better, but is not as useful in edgeguarding. High-Pressure F.L.U.D.D. takes much longer to charge and pushes Mario back when triggered, but its push effect is greatly amplified.

Overall, Mario has many clear strengths, and very few glaring weaknesses. Despite being intended as a jack-of-all-trades character, his very quick speed overall and largely reliable combo ability allows him to get the edge easily against most characters, as it is hard to escape from him once he gets to combo the opponent, while being easy for him to escape and regain the advantage. Because of this, he has the one of, if not the, lowest technical learning curves in the game, which has secured him high representation in all levels of play, with high-level professionals such as Ally and ANTi achieving a slew of strong tournament results.

Changes from Brawl

Mario has been significantly buffed from Brawl, where he was a low tier character. He is considerably nimbler and stronger than in past games, and is much more capable of comboing and KOing. His reach is somewhat greater as well. Also, as many characters with disjointed hitboxes who were a large threat to Mario in Brawl, such as Marth, were nerfed or reworked, Mario has an easier time handling them than in previous games, thanks to his better reach. Furthermore, the change to the ledge mechanics makes his linear recovery harder to edgeguard. Lastly, in tournaments and other situations where custom specials are available, his edge-guarding game is improved further with tools such as Fast Fireball, Gust Cape, and High-Pressure F.L.U.D.D., all of which are potent at gimping.

One of the only notable nerfs Mario seems to suffer from is an overall decrease in damage output, with it now being just average. However, due to the significant buffs to both his KO potential and combo ability, this nerf is pretty negligible. Overall, Mario has received major buffs to his maneuverability and combo game, and he is considered to be one of the most potent choices for competitive play, courtesy of being easy and effective to use for beginners and advanced players alike. This has also resulted in him having the largest tier rise from Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Instead of the more realistic look he had in Brawl, Mario has a more cartoonish and sleeker look that more closely resembles his appearances in the Mario games. His clothes are more brightly colored, and the seams in his overalls are much less accentuated. His proportions are more inline with recent 3D Mario games such as Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World.
• The sounds Mario's up taunt makes are similar to the sounds heard when powering-up and getting hit or using a pipe in Super Mario Bros.
• Mario's chest faces the foreground regardless of whether he's facing left or right.

Attributes

• Mario has significantly increased air speed (0.94 → 1.15), going from tied for 19th fastest in Brawl to tied for 9th fastest in SSB4.
• Mario dashes faster (1.5 → 1.6).
• Mario jumps higher.
• As with the majority of the cast in its transition from Brawl, Mario's falling speed has been increased (1.28 → 1.5) making him less vulnerable to juggling and vertical KOs, but slightly more susceptible to combos and it worsens his recovery .
• Mario's traction has been significantly decreased, going from being tied for the eleventh best out of 39 characters to the sixth worst out of 58 (0.6 → 0.45), which makes it harder for him to punish out of shield.
• The removal of hitstun cancelling allows Mario to easily chain his attacks better, but makes him easier to combo.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack, forward tilt, up tilt, and dash attack deal less damage (9% → 8% (neutral attack), 8% → 7% (forward tilt), 7% → 5.5% (up tilt), 9% clean/7% late → 8%/6% (dash attack)).
• Forward tilt has more ending lag (frame 25 → 31), and no longer has higher base knockback when angled down (13 → 8).
• Up tilt deals noticeably less knockback as a result of its decreased damage, which drastically increases its comboing and juggling ability, to the point of being able to deal around 25% damage on most characters if used repeatedly.
• Due to its reduced knockback, up tilt is no longer a reliable KO move.
• Down tilt has less ending lag (frame 35 → 28), allowing it to be a close range spacer and combo move.
• Down tilt has increased base knockback (20 → 35).
• Dash attack has more knockback (70 base/50 growth (clean), 45 base/30 growth (late) → 100 base/43 growth (both)).
• Forward smash has a larger blast radius, increasing its hitbox sizes. It also has more knockback growth especially on its sweetspot (100/90 → 103/99).
• Up smash has slightly more knockback growth (90 → 94).
• Down smash's back hit has more knockback (35 base/75 growth → 30 base/100 growth), making it a viable KOing option at high percents.
• Down smash's front hit deals much less damage (15% → 10%) and can no longer KO under 150% unless used near the edge. The move also has more ending lag (frame 38 → 44).

Aerial attacks

• Neutral, back, up and down, aerials all deal less damage (10% → 8% (neutral), 12% → 10% (down), 11% → 7% (up), 12% → 10.5% (back)). Their knockback, however, has been compensated except for neutral aerial (10 base/95 growth → 12 base/106 growth (back), 9 base/100 growth → 10 base/135 growth (up)).
• Forward aerial's clean hit deals more damage (13% → 14%) with increased knockback (20 base/75 growth → 32 base/78 growth).
• Back and up aerials have 2 more frames of landing lag (10 → 12 frames).
• Back aerial is much easier to use for a wall of pain due to Mario's much faster air speed and high jump.
• Back aerial's clean and late hitbox durations are shorter (3 frames → 2 (clean), 5 frames → 3 (late)).
• Up aerial has a more vertical launch angle (45° → 75°), making it a much better combo move. This also allows it to KO light and floaty characters at the upper blast line more reliably.
• Up aerial has more ending lag (frame 30 → 32) and autocancels later (frame 16 → 18).
• Down aerial first five hits have decreased SDI multipliers (1.5x → 0.8x), enabling them to connect drastically better. The final hit also deals significantly more knockback growth (80 → 100).

Throws/other attacks

• Mario now grabs with one hand as opposed to two. He still uses both hands during his pummel, however.
• Mario's grab range is slightly better.
• Dash grab and pivot grab come out faster (dash: frame 12 → 8, pivot: frame 11 → 9).
• All throws deal 1% less damage.
• Back throw has slightly more knockback growth (63 → 66), but the increase fails to compensate for the damage reduction the throw received, resulting in slightly less knockback overall. His back throw now requires an excess of 170% damage to KO Bowser, the heaviest character in the game, at all without rage.
• Down throw has drastically less base knockback (75 → 40), allowing it to combo into other moves more reliably at lower percentages, most notably up tilt.
• Down throw has a more horizontal angle (80° → 68°) with much more knockback growth (50 → 90), which makes followups less reliable at higher percents.

Special moves

• Fireball covers more range. They also deal slightly increased knockback at max distance (11 base/15 growth → 22 base/10 growth).
• Fireballs have more startup lag (frame 13 → 16), more ending lag (frame 44 → 53), and deals 1% less damage after traveling around half their maximum distance.
• Fireballs fall at a steeper angle when in the air. Though this gives them less horizontal range in the air, it can allow Mario to hit low recovering opponents, or linear recoveries easier. It also makes full hop Fireball a viable approach/fade back option.
• When a Fireball hits a foe, the sound effect when an enemy is defeated in Super Mario Bros. plays.
• Fireballs look more realistic, with smoke and ashes coming out of the flames. The same thing applies with the Mario Finale.
• Cape can now sweetspot edges instantly, allowing Mario to dash over one and grab it as soon as he falls off by using the move, which improves his edgeguarding ability.
• Cape deals slightly less damage and gives less lift in the air. Additionally, Cape Gliding is no longer possible, weakening Mario's approach with Cape.
• Hitting with the Cape now makes a sound effect akin to Mario spinning his cape in Super Mario World, but at a faster and higher-pitched sound.
• Super Jump Punch gains more recovery distance.
• Super Jump Punch makes a slightly higher-pitched "ding" on the last hit.
• The coins from the Super Jump Punch are now rendered in 3D and designed closer to the Star Coins from the New Super Mario Bros. games.
• F.L.U.D.D.'s range and pushforce has been increased.
• After using or fully charging F.L.U.D.D., it does not stay on Mario's back.
• Mario Finale's startup dramatically slows opponents down akin to other Final Smashes, making it much easier to land the attack, especially at close range.
• Mario Finale no longer has the small damage burst during the very beginning of the attack before the actual hitbox comes out which stops the opponent from being pushed far enough to possibly avoid the blast

Update history

Unlike other characters, Mario has only received minor changes in updates. The changes to shield mechanics in 1.1.1 have slightly harmed him overall; while the higher shieldstun increases the safety of his smash attacks on shield, especially his forward smash's sweetspot, they also make it harder for him to punish out of shield due to his low traction. Nonetheless, this has not significantly affected Mario's viability in tournament play, and he is considered to be much better relative to the cast than he was during the initial release, which is further compounded by the nerfs game updates have brought to his hardest matchups, most notably Diddy Kong, Sheik, Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta.

1.0.4

• Up tilt deals less damage: 6.3% → 5.5%, but the slight knockback decrease the damage reduction brings makes it slightly easier to followup at high percentage.

1.0.6

• Forward smash's sourspot covers more of Mario's arm, reducing its point-blank blind spot.
• Forward smash's sourspot can no longer send opponents behind Mario.

Technical changelist 1.0.6

Change	Old value	New value
Forward smash hitbox 0 position	Position: [-1.0, 0.0, 0.0]	Position: [-1.0, 0.7, 0.0] Stretch: [-3.0, 1.0, 0.0]
Forward smash hitbox 0 angle flipper	Standard (0, default)	Forwards only (3)

Moveset

• Mario can wall jump.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			2.5%	Two alternating jabs followed by a forward kick. Originates from Super Mario 64.
			1.5%
			4%
Forward tilt			7%	A reverse roundhouse kick that can be angled. Useful for jab locking at low percentages.
Up tilt			5.5%	A spinning uppercut based on the Mega Glove attack from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Infamous for effectively comboing into itself at low percents; however, this can be escaped with the proper combination of DI and SDI.
Down tilt			5% (foot), 7% (body)	A legsweep across the ground. Easily combos into other tilts as well as aerials at higher percentages.
Dash attack			8% (clean), 6% (late)	A slide kick forward with both feet, in a similar fashion to the running crouch attack in Super Mario 64. Can combo into Super Jump Punch at low percents.
Forward smash	↗		17.85% (fire), 14.7% (arm)	A palm thrust that produces a small blast of fire. Mario's strongest smash attack: it KOs at 99% sweetspotted and 118% sourspotted when angled up, at 105% sweetspotted and 124% sourspotted when unangled, and at 101% sweetspotted and 120% sourspotted when angled down. It also has relatively fast interruptibility (frame 48) compared to other smash attacks of its power.
	→		17% (fire), 14% (arm)
	↘		17.51% (fire), 14.42% (arm)
Up smash			14%	A headbutt in an upward arc starting from behind. KOs at 117% from the middle of Final Destination. Mario's most popular and reliable KO option due to coming out fast, granting intangibility on Mario's head while its hitboxes are active and having fast interruptibility (frame 40), all of which make it difficult to react to.
Down smash			10% (front), 12% (back)	A breakdancing sweep, based on the crouching attack in Super Mario 64. Mario's fastest smash attack, coming out as fast as all his tilts, and both hits semi-spike opponents, though they are rather weak. Front hit KOs at 162% and up from the middle of Final Destination. Back hit KOs at 133% and up from the middle of Final Destination.
Neutral aerial			8% (clean), 5% (late)	A flying kick similar to the one seen in Super Mario 64. A standard sex kick. Useful for breaking out of combos due to its very fast startup (frame 3).
Forward aerial			12% (early), 14% (clean), 10% (late)	A fist swing downward. When hit clean, it is a meteor smash with enough knockback to KO under 45% offstage. When hit early, while not possessing this feature, it can still KO at around 130% near the edge. However, it has slow start up (frame 16), high ending lag, high landing lag (26 frames) and is Mario's only aerial that doesn't autocancel in a short hop.
Back aerial			10.5% (clean), 7% (late)	A dropkick. It appears to be based on his original forward aerial from Super Smash Bros.. Has fast startup with low end lag, enabling it to combo into itself for a wall of pain. KOs at 127% near the edge.
Up aerial			7%	A back flip kick. Great for juggling and comboing, though this can be avoided with proper DI. It can also KO near the upper blast line above 140%.
Down aerial		Mario Tornado	1% (hits 1-5), 5% (hit 6), 2% (landing)	A series of discus spinning clotheslines ending with a backfist body-stretch, trapping opponents and then launching them away. It was one of Mario's special moves up until Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is likely based on the Spin Jump that originated in Super Mario World. A useful combo, approach and anti-juggling move that can also KO near the upper blast line above 140%.
Grab			—	Mario's grab range is relatively short.
Pummel			3.25%	Headbutts the opponent. A moderately slow pummel.
Forward throw			8%	Spins around once and tosses the opponent forward.
Back throw			11% (throw), 8% (collateral)	A powerful throw that has Mario spinning the opponent three times and throwing them in the opposite direction grabbed. Originates from Super Mario 64. Can KO even the heaviest of characters reliably at around 170% near the edge without the need of rage.
Up throw			7%	Throws the opponent high into the air with both hands. An effective combo throw for fastfallers at low percentages. It can also KO lightweights above 180% without rage.
Down throw			5%	Slams the opponent onto the ground. This throw can be followed up with several options, including Super Jump Punch, neutral attack, up smash, and most notably his up tilt. At higher percentages, it can be followed up with an up aerial or forward aerial, the latter which is a deadly KO setup at the edge.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Gets up and kicks behind him, then in front of him.
Floor attack (back)			7%	Gets up and punches behind him, then in front of him.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Kicks behind him, then in front of him while getting up.
Edge attack			7%	Does a somersault and kicks upwards from a laying down position.
Neutral special	Default	Fireball	5% (early), 4% (late)	Mario launches an orange fireball from his hand as a projectile. The fireball bounces along the ground several times before disappearing.
	Custom 1	Fast Fireball	3% (early), 2.3% (mid), 1.5% (late)	A weaker fireball is launched directly forward, akin to a shot from the Ray Gun. It does not bounce on the ground. Useful for spacing, but cannot hit opponents anywhere other than in front of Mario.
	Custom 2	Fire Orb	1.5% per hit	A large orb of fire is launched from Mario's hand in an arc. Unlike the other two variants of Fireball, it hits repeatedly, moves slower and does not disappear upon impact, allowing it to deal more damage and stop approaches from the front. However, it has significantly slower startup and ending lag.
Side special	Default	Cape	7%	Mario swings a yellow cape from Super Mario World that reflects projectiles and enemies. It can also be used as a brief but continuously available recovery.
	Custom 1	Shocking Cape	11.2%	An offensive variant of Cape that discharges electricity. It cannot be used to reflect projectiles, although it can destroy them on contact. This variation has a lesser stalling effect for Mario in the air. Does not turn opponents around but launches.
	Custom 2	Gust Cape	5%	A small gust of wind is shot from his cape, pushing opponents back. The cape itself deals slightly less damage. It is possibly the best edgeguarding tool in the game due to the larger range, increased pushback, and speed. If used in midair, it slightly pushes Mario upwards into the air, as well as adding to his forward momentum.
Up special	Default	Super Jump Punch	5% (hit 1), 1% (hits 2-5), 3% (hit 6)	Mario performs a rising uppercut that releases coins from opponents it hits, which are aesthetically similar to the ones from "New Super Mario Bros. U". Its extremely fast startup (frame 3) makes it highly useful as an out of shield option. It can also KO near the upper blast line when followed by up aerials.
	Custom 1	Super Jump	0%	Grants more distance than the standard Super Jump Punch, but at the cost of not having a hitbox.
	Custom 2	Explosive Punch	8% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2)	Much stronger than the Super Jump Punch and causes explosive fire damage instead of releasing coins, but at the cost of having far less recovery distance.
Down special	Default	F.L.U.D.D.	0%	Mario pulls out F.L.U.D.D. from Super Mario Sunshine, which will blast aqua jets of water to push back opponents, but not damage them. Mario can change the angle of the stream.
	Custom 1	Scalding F.L.U.D.D.	1.2% per hit	The jets of water fired are now extremely hot and deal rapid fire damage that keep the enemy in place rather than pushing them back. It has decreased range, but charges significantly faster.
	Custom 2	High-Pressure F.L.U.D.D.	0%	The water will push back foes further than the normal F.L.U.D.D. and does so with more recoil, but it takes 60% longer to charge.
Final Smash		Mario Finale	3% (bigger fireball), 2% (smaller fireball)	Mario shoots a massive, continuous spinning stream of flames horizontally across the stage. The vortex deals repeated damage and pulls the victims towards the blast line it is heading for.

On-screen appearance

• A green Warp Pipe appears. Mario leaps out in an iconic pose and shouts "Let's-a go!". It is based on how he warps to Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Transforms into Super Mario, as if he obtained a Super Mushroom, then shrinks back to normal size afterwards. It is based on Super Mario Bros. This taunt also increases Mario's hurtbox.
• Side taunt: Twirls around and takes off his hat, saying "Woohoo!" with either a surprised expression or with a stern expression, then puts his hat back on. It is based on his "level clear" animation from New Super Mario Bros.
• Down taunt: Spins in the air and falls to the ground with his legs in the air. This is a reference to his dying animation from Donkey Kong.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Moves his head from left to right and holds his fist in front of his face.
• Adjusts his hat.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Ma-Ri-O!	Ma-Ri-O!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A flourished remix directly from Brawl based on the sound clip that would play when Mario reaches the end of a level in Super Mario Bros.

• Winds up for a punch and steps forward while punching in front of the screen.
• Makes fire explode from his palm and strikes a pose.
• Does a short spin-jump and lands in a strong-man pose. It originates from his "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Mario	2312	2332	2212	2232	1312
	1313	1332	1212	1213	2213

Notable players

Active

•  Ally - The best Mario player overall and worldwide, 1st at EVO 2016 and Get On My Level 2016, 2nd at Pound 2016, ranked 1st on the Montreal Smash 4 Power Rankings and 6th on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings.
•  ANTi - The second best Mario player worldwide, 1st at CEO 2016, 2nd at The Big House 6, ranked 10th on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings.
•  Blacktwins - The second best Mario player in Canada (behind Ally), 3rd at Get On My Level 2015, 1st place at Nexus 2, ranked 1st on the Southern Ontario Power Rankings.
•  Dark Wizzy - Ranked 1st on the New York Capital Region Power Rankings, 25th at Super Smash Con 2016. His most notable wins are WaDi, ESAM and Zinoto.
•  FILIP - One of Japan's best Mario players, consistently places Top 8 at national Japanese tournaments, ranked 13th on the Umebura Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  JDB - Currently ranked 1st on the Smash 4 Kentucky Power Rankings. He notably defeated ESAM and Tyroy at Midwest Mayhem 5.
•  Ron - One of Japan's best Mario players, the best Wi-Fi Mario player in Japan, 2nd at Sumabato 12.
• Rice - Ranked 2nd on the NorCal Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  Teb - Formerly ranked 7th on the NorCal Smash 4 Power Rankings, defeated ESAM very early in GENESIS 3 pools.
•  vyQ - Ranked 1st on the Austria Smash 4 Power Rankings. One of Europe's best players, nearly beating ESAM and placing 9th at B.E.A.S.T 6.
•  Zenyou - The best solo Mario player in the United States, 7th at The Big House 5, 25th at Pound 2016, 33rd at CEO 2016 (eliminating Ally in the ditto).

Inactive

•  Mew2King - 3rd at PAX Prime 2015.
•  Xzax - 17th place at Apex 2015, 25th place at Paragon Los Angeles 2015, which contributed to him being ranked 39th place on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings. His last major use of Mario was at 2GGT: Fresh Saga where he defeated Aphro's Bayonetta.

Tier placement and history

Upon the game's release players immediately noticed the significant buffs Mario had received to his mobility, combo game, and most notably his KO power and reach. Meanwhile, although not a direct consequence, his tougher matchups from Brawl such as Marth, Meta Knight, and King Dedede were nerfed (especially with the former two's range reduced; the lack of range was Mario's critical flaw in Brawl). These buffs and the less hostile competitive environment caused Mario to be viewed as a viable character unlike in Brawl, where he is ranked as a low-tier character. The result of these buffs was a character with the lowest learning curve of any character in the game, who provides high reward for little effort, with caveats inclding great all-around mobility, a powerful, yet easy combo game, a useful zoning tool in his Fireballs, outstanding frame data that, in some cases, can leave him near-unpunishable (letting him abuse otherwise unsafe moves like charged smash attacks), and a strong recovery aided by a Cape that also works as a reflector. While some of these strengths were not perceived until much later, these caused him to quickly gain good tournament representation in all levels of play, and was considered a mid to high-tier character. Despite this, opinions of Mario slowly began to rise due to the fact he remained stagnant in game updates, as well as the nerfs to Diddy Kong, who was one of his most troublesome matchups. As a result of this, he started to gain much higher representation anrd results, especially by top players such as Ally and ANTi, both of whom have placed among the top 8 in large tournaments such as The Big House 5, with ANTi also taking top player ZeRo through very close games. This resulted in Mario ranking 8th on the first 4BR tier list in the A tier.

However, in the recent SSB4 metagame, Mario's already strong results would significantly improve. Game updates would nerf Sheik, Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta, some of his most difficult matchups, while Mario himself remained unchanged. Although it was unknown how these nerfs to the top tiers would affect him at first, it later became clear many characters (and players themselves) started to have a hard time fighting even inexperienced Marios. Furthermore, Ally would go on to win Get On My Level 2016, Smash 'N' Splash 2 and EVO 2016 using Mario (the latter being the largest Smash 4 tournament to date), while ANTi won CEO 2016 using Mario for the majority of the tournament (although he only won games with Cloud in Grand Finals). Due to this streak of successes, players would go on to say Mario was among the Top 5 characters in the game, which would coincidentally be reflected in him rising to 5th place on the second tier list, officially entering the highest tier.

Mario's top level results are noticeably stronger than some characters above him (such as Cloud), though some other characters below him (like Fox, Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta) have also received noticeably strong tournament representation and results, often higher than him. Some of Mario's even or disadvantageous matchups are also said to lurk in the lower tiers, with Peach, Donkey Kong, Marth, Lucina and Corrin being particular examples. As a result, Mario's tier ranking is rather debatable, though what is certain is that he has had by far the largest improvement from Brawl to Smash 4.

Trophies

Mario

As iconic as iconic gets, this gaming celebrity is known for saving the world from Bowser. He's got amazing jumping skills and makes use of a wide range of transformations. In his free time, he plays too many sports to count. In Smash Bros., he's a well-rounded fighter you can rely on. Say it with me: "It's-a me, Mario!"

It's-a him! Maaario! Whether he's wearing one of his special outfits or just his normal blue dungarees, this running, jumping, Bowser-bashing, princess-saving hero is an all-round superstar. And in this game, he's got enough tricks up his sleeve to deal with anything. If you don't know which fighter to pick, Mario's a solid choice.

: Donkey Kong Classics 09/1988

: Super Mario Bros. 10/1985

Mario (Alt.)

Super Jump Punch is an up-special move that lets you leap high into the air, carrying any fighters you strike along with you. You'll be invincible for a moment after you launch this attack. The default side-special move, Cape, will flip a fighter around. Keep a foe from returning with this move!

Mario's Super Jump Punch takes you high into the air, and if you catch an opponent with it, they'll go up with you. Try to hit them at the very start of the move to do the most damage. His default side special, Cape, can flip fighters around. If you're really crafty, you can even use it to keep someone from getting back on the stage!

: Donkey Kong Classics 09/1988

: Super Mario Bros. 10/1985

Mario Finale

Break the Smash Ball and unleash Mario's Final Smash. Mario will fire a devastating blast of fire in the direction he's facing. The attack covers a wide range and travels far, so it's best to fire this from one side of the stage to the other. The damage is impressive, and it can actually carry foes right off the screen!

When Mario gets his hands on a Smash Ball, he can activate this Final Smash. Flames spiral outwards in two intertwining stream, catching opponents in the wide blast with ease. It deals plenty of damage, and can also push foes off the screen entirely. Fire it from an elevated position to take full advantage of its vertical range!

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Alt. (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

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  Mario Finale

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Regulars: Mario is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• Below the Belt: Mario must protect a damaged Little Mac from a giant Little Mac.
• Family Ties: The player controls Bowser Jr., who is aided by a giant Bowser, and must defeat Mario and Luigi.
• Oh Yeah, Luigi Time!: A giant Mario serves as an ally to Luigi, who must defeat a giant Wario.
• Princess Punch-Up!: Mario and Peach are opponents in a stock battle against Zelda and Link.
• The FINAL Final Battle: The player must defeat Mario, alongside Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man.
• The Original Heavyweights: Mario must defeat Bowser and Donkey Kong.
• Wrecking Mario: Mario must destroy all of the building on Wrecking Crew.

Co-op Events

• 1988: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must defeat 3 Marios, each one larger than the last.
• A Lurking Menace: Mario and Luigi must defeat Bowser Jr. After some time, a giant Bowser will appear and the players must defeat him as well.
• Flat Fracas: A shadow Mario and a giant shadow Donkey Kong are opponents fought by Wario and Mr. Game & Watch.
• Solidarity: Olimar and Rosalina & Luma must defeat Mario and Luigi. When they are defeated, Bowser and Bowser Jr. must be defeated as well.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Wrecking Bros.: Mario and Luigi must destroy all of the building on Wrecking Crew. Wario and King Dedede will try to stop the players.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Mario in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Alternate artwork. (Without fireball.)

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  Mario's amiibo.

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  Neutral aerial.

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  Up aerial.

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  Mario finishing his forward tilt.

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  Cape.

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  Back aerial.

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  Side taunt, after KOing Luigi.

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  Mario and Luigi jumping.

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  Mario, Sonic, and Mega Man on Battlefield.

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  Mario and Luigi in a section of the Super Mario 3D Land stage.

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  Mario meteor smashes Kirby with his forward aerial.

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  Mario, Pikachu, Bowser and Pit on a red plane in Wuhu Island.

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  Mario's Fireball colliding with Sonic's neutral attack.

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  Mario and Luigi both staring at each other.

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  Mario, Peach, and Rosalina.

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  Facing Kirby, Samus and Toon Link.

• Smash.4 - Star Cursor 01.gif

  Mario's F.L.U.D.D. being deflected by Rosalina.

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  Mario in Smash Run.

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  Mario air dodging with Mega Man.

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  Mario with Mega Man's dog, Rush.

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  Mario jumping with the Wii Fit Trainer

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  Fox jumping near Mario.

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  Mario and an Orne in the 3DS version.

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  Mario in an outfit based on NES Open Tournament Golf.

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  F.L.U.D.D. in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Scalding F.L.U.D.D.

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  Mario using the High-Pressure FLUDD in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

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  Fast Fireball.

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  Fire Orb.

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  Super Jump.

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  Explosive Punch.

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  Shocking Cape.

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  Gust Cape.

Trivia

• A glitch from 1.0.7 shows when Mario performs his side taunt on Ω Gerudo Valley, his hair is missing when taking off his cap, revealing the inside of his head.
• The original project proposal for Smash 4 stated that the fighters would have four custom special moves instead of the three that are in the final game. Mario was used as an example. The unused special move in the proposal would've had Mario release two fireballs for his neutral special instead of one.
• Dr. Mario was originally going to be an alternate costume for Mario, but was instead developed as a separate character in favor of retaining Dr. Mario's unique traits from Melee.
• Mario is present on more newcomer posters than any other fighter. He appears in eleven promotional posters, namely for Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, Greninja, Robin, Bowser Jr., Duck Hunt, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Cloud, and Corrin.
• Mario is required to be used in 3 solo events, more than all other characters.
  • He and Luigi are also the only pair to be in more than 1 co-op event together.
• Mario's alternate trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U resembles his Adventure Mode trophy in Melee.
• Mario, Toon Link and Duck Hunt are the only characters in the 3DS version whose Star KO screams can be heard when their tokens are KO'd in StreetSmash.