Passive armor: Difference between revisions

'''Passive armor''' is an umbrella term encompassing occasions where a character experiences continuous [[armor]] without any restrictions. Examples of this include Tough Guy, Tough Body, and continuous super armor seen on transformation-related [[Final Smash]]es. [[Spirit]] abilities such as Super Slow Armor and Armor Knight can provide the effect to any character, albeit with statistical downsides such as decreased movement speed. [[Boss]]es can also be considered to have something akin to passive armor.

 

Passive armor was first formally introduced in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' for [[Nana]] and [[Giga Bowser]], where they have 5 and 20 units of subtractive [[Armor#Knockback-based armor|knockback-based armor]] respectively. In Nana's case, the armor makes her slightly harder to launch than Popo, while for Giga Bowser it is intended to make him harder to launch, taking advantage of his massive weight value. As the armor is subtractive, attack that inflict knockback below the threshold won't launch either character (though in the case of Nana this is rarely seen outside of cases like {{SSBM|Luigi}}'s [[Super Jump Punch]] sourspot, because of the particularly low threshold and the Ice Climbers' below average weight), however [[crouch cancelling]] could slightly increase the effectiveness of the armor. Though Nana doesn't have any form of passive armor as of ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', the introduction of {{SSBB|Bowser}}'s {{b|Giga Bowser|Final Smash}} Final Smash introduced passive super armor for the first time. ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' would expand on this further, adding [[Giga Mac]], [[Mega Charizard X]], and [[Mega Lucario]], albeit with significantly nerfed durations to transformation Final Smashes in general. ''Smash 4'' also introduced the Tough Guy mechanic for {{SSB4|Bowser}}, giving him 19 units of knockback-based armor permanently with no drawbacks. With Giga Bowser no longer being a fully-controllable character in ''Ultimate'', he received 95 units of knockback-based armor for his boss incarnation, rather than super armor. ''Ultimate''{{'}}s [[DLC]] would also introduce Tough Body as an effective clone of {{SSBU|Bowser}}'s [[fighter ability]] for {{SSBU|Kazuya}}, only it uses 14 units of knockback-based armor.

''Brawl'' includes [[sticker]]s, where stickers with Flinch Resistance provide passive knockback-based armor to the user equal to that sticker's Flinch Resistance value. ''Ultimate'' includes [[spirit]]s, which can provide passive armor effects; specifically, Slow Super Armor and Super Armor from the likes of Regigigas, Polar Bear, Walhart, and Gold Mario can provide passive knockback-based armor to any character. The thresholds are identical, though Slow Super Armor, as the name implies, comes with a significant drawback in reducing the user's movement speed.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Character !! Passive armor !! Subtractive? !! Game(s)

| [[Bowser]] || 19 KB || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSB4}}{{gameIcon|SSBU}}

| Flinch Resistance (sticker) || 35-168 KB (varies by sticker) || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSBB}}

|rowspan="3"| [[Giga Bowser]] || 20 KB || {{y}} || {{gameIcon|SSBM}}

| Super armor || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSBB}}{{gameIcon|SSB4}}

| 95 KB || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSBU}}

| [[Giga Mac]] || Super armor || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSB4}}

| {{SSBU|Kazuya}} || 14 KB || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSBU}}

| [[Mega Charizard X]] || Super armor || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSB4}}

| [[Mega Lucario]] || Super armor || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSB4}}

| [[Metal Box]] || 30 KB || {{y}} || {{gameIcon|SSBM}}{{gameIcon|SSBB}}{{gameIcon|SSB4}}{{gameIcon|SSBU}}

| [[Ice Climbers (SSBM)|Nana]] || 5 KB || {{y}} || {{gameIcon|SSBM}}

| Slow Super Armor (spirit skill) || 132 KB || {{n}} || {{gameIcon|SSBU}}

Tough Guy and Tough Body are [[fighter abilities]], originally introduced with Tough Guy in ''Smash 4''. These specifically apply to {{SSBU|Bowser}} and {{SSBU|Kazuya}}, respectively, in the form of passive knockback-based armor, summing to 19 and 14 KB respectively. {{SSBU|Giga Bowser}} also has the same mechanic in ''Ultimate'', though it isn't named, and it has a threshold of 95 KB. This armor requires the armor threshold to be breached to deal [[hitstun]] and [[knockback]]. Nana and Giga Bowser both have abilities with similar effects in ''Melee'', but it's subtractive, meaning that instead of requiring a threshold to be reached to deal full knockback, the knockback is subtracted by the value after calculation, preventing flinching if the value goes below 0.

Because Tough Guy and Tough Body's presence includes [[crouch]]ing, thanks to the 0.85× knockback reduction it provides, it improves the armor's ranges significantly; Kazuya particularly benefits from this thanks to his unique crouch-based attacks. Bowser's armored smash and tilt attacks, as well as Kazuya's armored smash attacks and [[Heaven's Door]], also benefit from the passive armor in ''Ultimate'', giving them effectively two layers of armor for attacks to break through. Because the armor is knockback-based, Tough Guy's effectiveness deteriorates as [[percentage]] builds. As the character using it takes more damage, they take more knockback, which gives Tough Guy a hard limit in every matchup. Additionally, effects that increase knockback, such as [[rage]], will also affect Tough Guy. For a character-specific example, {{SSBU|Hero}}'s [[Psyche Up]] applies a 1.2× knockback multiplier directly onto his moves which, as a result, significantly decreases Tough Guy's effectiveness—if not neuter it outright—until it's used.

!User/Item

!Move

!Part of Move

!Damage Limit

!Notes

!colspan=5|{{anchor|By Characters}} By Characters

|rowspan=4| [[Banjo]] & [[Kazooie]] ||rowspan=3| Neutral Attack ||rowspan=3| Rapid Jab || 83%/'''318%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||Closest hitbox

|rowspan=3| [[Bayonetta]] ||rowspan=2|Neutral Attack ||rowspan=2|Rapid Jab || 116%{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}<br>205%/'''333%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>13%/'''99%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}||Closest hitbox

|rowspan=4| [[Bowser Jr.]] ||rowspan=2| Neutral Attack || Jab 1 || '''18%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}} ||

|rowspan=1| [[Captain Falcon]] || Neutral Attack || Rapid Jab || 356%/'''500%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>128%/'''224%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}||

|rowspan=2|[[Daisy]] ||Neutral Aerial ||rowspan=2|Entire move|| '''5%-{{rollover|6%|From a short hop|?}}'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}|| Late hitbox

|rowspan=2| [[Dr. Mario]] ||rowspan=2|Neutral Attack || Jab 1 ||88%/'''145%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>4%/'''46%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}||rowspan=2|Farthest hitbox

|-

|rowspan=3| [[Duck Hunt]] ||rowspan=2|Neutral Attack ||rowspan=2| Rapid Jab || 13%/'''169%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}} || Closest hitbox

|Neutral Aerial|| Entire move || '''2%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}<br>'''3%-{{rollover|4%|From a short hop|?}}'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}} || Late hitbox

|rowspan=3|[[Hero]]||rowspan=2|[[Command Selection|Magic Burst]]||rowspan=3|Entire move||368%/'''523%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>147%/'''269%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}||At MP 100; does not include the last hit

|rowspan=4|[[Ice Climbers]]||rowspan=2|[[Ice Shot]]||rowspan=2|Entire move||27%/'''47%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||Closest range

|rowspan=2|[[Joker]]||rowspan=2|[[Gun/Gun Special]] ||rowspan=2|Entire move ||'''5%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}} ||Close range

|rowspan=4|[[King Dedede]]||rowspan=2|Neutral Attack||rowspan=2|Rapid Jab||{{rollover|Limitless|Only if crouching|?}}{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}<br>494%/'''681%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>194%/'''319%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}} ||Farthest hitbox

|66%/'''99%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>16%/'''38%'''{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}} ||Late hitbox

| [[Super Jump Punch]]|| Limitless{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}{{Head|Kazuya|g=SSBU|s=20px}}|| Sourspot

|rowspan=3| [[Mario]]||rowspan=2| Neutral Attack || Jab 1 ||5%/'''72%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}||rowspan=2|Farthest hitbox

|rowspan=6| [[Mega Man]]||Neutral Attack||rowspan=3| Pellets ||rowspan=3| 372%/'''510%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}<br>384%/'''524%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>5%/'''99%''', 16%/'''38%'''{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}||rowspan=3| {{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}Mid/Long range<br>{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}Mid and Long range, respectively

|rowspan=3|''[[Chef|Short Order Chef]] ||rowspan=3|Entire move || 101%/'''256%''' {{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}} || Steak

|rowspan=7|[[Ness]]||rowspan=2| Neutral attack || Jab 1 ||rowspan=2| 13%/'''41%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}||

|rowspan=2|[[Peach]] ||Neutral Aerial ||rowspan=2|Entire move|| '''2%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSB4|s=20px}}<br>'''3%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}|| Late hitbox

|-

|rowspan=2|[[Sephiroth]] ||rowspan=2|[[Shadow Flare]] ||rowspan=2| Initial projectile || {{rollover|54%/'''106%'''|while Sephiroth is in Winged Form, thresholds decrease by 1%|?}}{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}}<br>{{rollover|'''13%'''|while Sephiroth is in Winged Form, threshold decreases by 1%}}{{Head| Kazuya |g=SSBU|s=20px}}|| Uncharged

|-

|Forward Aerial ||rowspan=5|Entire move||rowspan=2| '''6%'''{{head|Bowser|g=SSBU|s=20px}} ||rowspan=2| Sourspot

!colspan=5|{{anchor|By Items}} By Items

!colspan=5|{{anchor|By Pokémon}} By Pokémon

!colspan=5|{{anchor|By Assist Trophy}} By Assist Trophy