R.O.B. (SSBB)

This article is about R.O.B.'s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Ancient Minister or R.O.B.

R.O.B.
R.O.B.
Universe	R.O.B.
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	Top (6)

R.O.B., known in Japan as the Famicom Robot (ロボット, Robotto), is a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His full name is Robotic Operating Buddy, and he's based off the R.O.B. NES peripheral. He was unveiled in a mass leak prior to the Japanese release of Brawl. He currently ranks 6th on the tier list, due to his great projectiles and tournament matchups.

R.O.B. was confirmed on the DOJO!! March 6, 2008.

How to Unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play 160 brawls, then defeat R.O.B.
• Get 250 different trophies, then defeat R.O.B.
• Get R.O.B. to join your party in The Subspace Emissary.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

R.O.B.s appear as members of the Subspace Army. Throughout The Subspace Emissary, two R.O.B.s are used to activate and detonate the Subspace Bombs left by the Ancient Minister. The R.O.B.s that set off the bomb are sucked into Subspace. R.O.B.s are also enemies confronted by Samus and Pikachu in the Hidden Base and Subspace Bomb Factory.

The playable R.O.B. in The Subspace Emissary is actually the true form of the Ancient Minister, who broke free from Ganondorf's control and refused to detonate more Subspace Bombs. However Ganondorf took control of the R.O.B. Squad and started a mass countdown of multiple bombs. When the Ancient Minister interfered, he was attacked and his disguise was burned off. After the attack, Captain Falcon and Olimar, Pikachu, Samus and the Kongs fought off the R.O.B. Squad and escaped the Ancient Minister's base. It then helps the others defeat Tabuu. [1]

Attributes

R.O.B is a surprising character. He seems like a joke character at first, but he has many assets that combine to make a good character. Many of his attacks are low lag, with moderate power. He has two projectiles, both with decent knockback. His aerial game is also good, with his down air acting as a spike, and his back aerial aiding in his exceptional recovery. This is combined with a very powerful up smash, a heavy weight, and a side special which reflects projectiles. R.O.B is a large target, however, and his projectiles are not spammable. He can be juggled because he is floaty, and his moves with potential to kill have considerable start up lag. Additionally, aside from his up smash, his smash attacks are not reliable killing moves. Still, R.O.B can be a dangerous foe for many characters in the game.

Standard Moves

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Dash Attack - R.O.B. does a quick swing of his arms.
• Neutral Attack - A couple of quick jabs with his arms.
• Strong Side - Leans forward and punches. Can be aimed up or down.
• Strong Up - Arms point upwards and his "torso" moves up on his "spine", causing this to pop up a bit. Can hit twice.
• Strong Down - Quickly pushes his arms forward along the ground. Quick, produces opportunity for multiple hits. May trip.

Smash

• Side Smash - Shoots a short beam from his eyes. Can be directed up and down like a shorter Robo Beam.
• Down Smash - Lowers torso on his spine and extends arms, spinning them. Low damage and knockback, but decent range and multiple hits, very quick
• Up Smash - Plants hands on ground and does a handstand, shooting boosters out of his base upwards.

Other

• Ledge attack - R.O.B. leaps onto the edge and swings both arms over-head. 7%
• 100% ledge attack - Rotates so that his right arm is directly pointing the stage and lunges his right arm forward. 10%
• Floor attack - Quickly gets up and spins with both arms extended in each direction. 6%
• Trip attack - R.O.B. lowers his torso, withdraws it's left arm and extends it's right arm to sweep the floor around. 5%

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Shoots his boosters out diagonally down in front of him, and spins with them going, deals about 11% damage with a good knockback and easy to hit with, slow coming out but when it does it's good, at low damage. R.O.B. can short hop and use this move a lot to hit enemies with.
• Down Aerial - Boosts R.O.B. up a little bit, shooting his boosters down where he was. Powerful, yet slow, and can spike, yet not quickly. Keeps him stationary in the air shortly.
• Up Aerial - Raises arms repeatedly above his head, hitting multiple times with good damage if used right
• Forward Aerial - Looks like his dash attack, just in the air, fast and strong.
• Back Aerial - Aims his base behind him and fires his boosters. Pushes R.O.B. forward a little bit. This can be used for recovery in between Robo Burners, creating virtually the best horizontal recovery move in the game along with Pound.

Grabs and Throws

• Down Throw: Drills opponent into the ground in front of him. 10%
• Up Throw: Grabs opponent, flies them into the air a short distance, turns them upside down, then crashes them into the ground (Similar to Kirby or Meta Knight's up throw). 10%
• Forward Throw: Tosses opponent forward. 10%
• Back Throw: Quickly swings opponent backward. 10%

Taunts

• Up taunt: Faces forward and spins his head and arms in opposite directions. (Similar to his Mario Kart DS pose)
• Side taunt: Faces towards the screen, tilts his head to the side and moves it in a full arc, all the while his eyes glow and spark. R.O.B. subtly claps twice.
• Down taunt: Faces forward, ratchets his arms down his spine and spins them back up to their original position. (This is a reference to how R.O.B. was powered up when ready to play)

Trivia

• R.O.B.'s standard colors are his Japanese Famicom appearance with red arms. The words on his base say: "Family Computer Robot". When R.O.B. uses his gray and purple North American colors, the words on his base change to say: "R.O.B. - Robotic Operating Buddy".
• R.O.B. is the only character without a stage representing his universe. Instead, the Mario Bros. stage doubles as his stage. Delfino Plaza is used if Mario Bros. has not been unlocked yet.
• According to the last update on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! website, R.O.B.'s symbol is to both represent one of his Gyros, and an altered version of the mark for the Subspace Emissary.
• Giant robotic cranes resembling R.O.B. appear in the Port Town Aero Dive stage. These also appeared in F-Zero GX, the game the stage is based off of.
• R.O.B.'s entrance animation may be a reference to Kirby's Dream Land 3, where the player must get pieces of R.O.B. throughout the level for Professor Hector so he can build him.
• An "on and off" switch can be seen on the back part of his base.
• During his down taunt, his wire appears to simply spin in mid-air, disconnected from his body.
• R.O.B. is the only playable "accessory". Most accessories are items, like the Super Scope.
• R.O.B. is the only character in Brawl who can hold 3 consecutive charges at the same time; his down B when fully charged, his Neutral B when it hasn't been used in some time and his Up-B when you've been standing on the ground long enough for it to charge.
• R.O.B. can eat food, despite being inorganic. In a similar vein, ROB is also apparently capable of feeling sadness and pain, and can fall asleep.

External Links

• Smash Bros. DOJO!! Page on R.O.B.