Robin (SSB4): Difference between revisions

The male English and Japanese voice actors, David Vincent and Yoshimasa Hosoya, reprise their roles as the male Robin from ''Fire Emblem: Awakening'', as does the Japanese voice actor Miyuki Sawashiro for female Robin. Lauren Landa replaces Michelle Ruff for female Robin's English voice.

As he possesses the slowest [[dashing]] speed, lacks the melee range that his counterparts have, and has one of the slowest and shortest grabs, Robin is not designed to rush in and fight; rather, he performs optimally by applying pressure with his tomes and Levin Sword, while also capitalizing on his opponents mistakes with his powerful punishes. Robin himself is a fighter with many punish attacks in general, as all his specials, grab and standard attacks have properties that can give him an advantage over some situations.

His best punishing tool is the Levin Sword, a long ranged electrically-charged sword that deals high damage and has high KO potential in general. His Levin Sword aerials can chain into each other at lower %, making it handy for building a ton of damage in a short amount of time. Conversely, the weaker Bronze Sword isn't nearly as good, though it has a high-ranged and powerful [[jab]] and is good for comboing once Robin gets an opponent in the air. Two of his other specials are punish tools too: [[Elwind]] is a long-distance [[recovery]] that has the ability to spike below Robin point-blank in the air, allowing him to punish bad recoveries, while [[Nosferatu]] is a high-risk, high-reward life-draining command [[grab]] that heals even more if cast from behind, and/or while having a higher damage percentage than his opponent. His down throw is an especially potent punishing tool, as it is capable of setting up devastating follow ups, which can lead to high damage or even a KO with the proper read. (In some instances, is a guaranteed KO set up option).

Robin's other special moves each have unique properties and great utility in general, as it lets him control space, stop approaches or set up KOs. [[Thunder (Robin)|Thunder]]'s versatility and unique properties as it charges that offer him multiple options at any given time: It can apply pressure at a range or lead into damaging/KO set ups with [[Arcthunder]]. [[Arcfire]] is instrumental for disrupting [[approach|approaches]] and applying pressure. These two projectiles allow Robin to disrupt approaches quite well, and because they open up windows for Robin to attack, they can be imperative for Robin to land attacks on quick opponents, especially with the Levin Sword, which deals enough damage to compensate for being knocked around if the opponent gives too much pressure. Even his used tomes or Levin Sword can be used as long ranged finishers, as they can be thrown at high speed once depleted for high knockback.

However, for all his tools and strengths, Robin has significant flaws that hold him back. As previously noted, he possesses the slowest running speed in the game, which can be fatal in a movement based game like Smash. Furthermore, his defense is rather lackluster as he lacks the means to get opponents off of him (he especially struggles to deal with opponents who are directly below him), which makes him susceptible to being rushed down or juggled. Though he has relatively good jab, his tilts are underwhelming in reach, making it difficult for Robin to fight at midrange outside of the use of tomes (which come with their own drawbacks of having significant recovery) or the Levin Sword (which has limited usage). Robin's durability mechanic is a notable weakpoint, as his offensive options are greatly limited when either the Levin Sword or Tomes are exhausted. His recovery is generally poor, though this varies from matchup to matchup.  

Robin is a character who fights at his own pace. Once he gets momentum, it's very easy for him deal massive damage to the opponent with a few good reads, while incurring very little damage. He has various KO options and set ups, which gives him multiple opportunities of securing the kill. On the other hand, his abysmal mobility and poor defense leaves him vulnerable to pressure, and it can be  quite difficult for Robin to mount a comeback if the opponent manages to get the momentum. Overall, Robin is a character that requires quick thinking and aggressive play to succeed with. Making a good read at an opportune time can mean the difference between a win and a loss, and can potentially allow you to tip the scales in your favor.

Robin's tilts solely use the Bronze Sword, while his smash attacks use the Levin Sword (provided it is not broken; Robin uses the Bronze Sword if so). All his aerials except neutral aerial can use either sword—if Robin tilts a direction in midair, his aerials will use his Bronze Sword, but if Robin taps a direction like a smash attack in the air, he will use the Levin Sword. After using the Levin Sword for any attack, Robin will continue to use it for all directional aerial attacks until he uses an attack that resets his equipped sword to the Bronze Sword (or until the Levin Sword breaks). The attacks that switch to the Bronze Sword are his neutral attack, tilts, neutral aerial, dash attack, floor attacks, and edge attack.

|neutraldesc=Robin starts with an upward slash, followed by a downward slash. The move can then proceed to a third finishing hit or into a rapid combo, depending on whether the A button is held or mashed. The first is a fiery high-knockback explosion which can KO around 170%; it costs 1 durability from Arcfire and cannot be used if Arcfire is expended. The second is a barrage of wind blades that hits multiple times and ends with a high-knockback wind slash, which draws from Elwind's durability; it uses up 1 durability every 2 seconds for a maximum potential of 18 seconds. If both tomes are depleted, Robin will only be able to use the first two sword slashes. Its fast startup, deceptively high range and damage/KO potential make it a goto option on the ground.

|dsmashdesc=An overhead slash which ends with Robin slamming his sword onto the ground while crouching. With the Levin Sword, the slam creates short-term sparks on both sides of Robin, which can hit opponents even after he starts getting up. This property does not work with the Bronze Sword, meaning this move can only hit on both sides with the Levin Sword. Without Levin Sword, KOs around 150%, and with Levin Sword, KOs around 110%. Robin's most reliable punish move on the ground due to its length, but suffers from ending lag.

|fsdesc=After summoning Chrom via warp magic, Robin has him slash any opponents in his way. The foes are then flung into the air, followed by Chrom and Robin who proceed to relentlessly attack them with the Falchion as well as lightning and fire spells respectively. After the two are finished, Chrom shouts "We're not done yet!" (A reference to one of his Dual Strike quotes) and joins Robin for a final simultaneous strike that smashes the victims to the ground, where the recoil will send them towards the upper blast line.

Robin has a mechanic that is unique to him: as a reference to the ''Fire Emblem'' series, where items would break after being used too many times, most of Robin's weaponry will break if they are used too often, with differing weapons having a different number of uses. As an added visual indicator for durability, weapons that have depleted two-thirds of their uses will begin flickering.  

*July 14, the day that Robin was revealed, is one day before ''Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū'' was released in 2010, and is also two days prior to ''Fire Emblem's'' release for the GBA in 2003.

*Robin is the first and only playable ''Fire Emblem'' character in the game to not to have [[Counter]] as a [[down special move]] and a [[neutral special move]] involving a [[Shield Breaker|charged]] [[Flare Blade|sword]] [[Eruption|strike]].

*Robin is the first playable ''Fire Emblem'' character in the game that is not (and cannot be) a Lord in the games he appears in. Chrom and Lucina are ''Awakening's'' Lords.

**However, the player will still receive a Game Over if their Tactician dies, a trait shared by nearly all Lord characters and main protagonists.

*When Robin is KO'd, both variants of the character can yell respective defeat quotes from ''Fire Emblem: Awakening'': male Robin can say "Reckless fool...!" while female Robin can yell "I was careless!".

*For male Robin's up taunt, he says, "Let's tip the scales." However, female Robin's up taunt, while graphically identical, slightly changes the quote with her saying, "Time to tip the scales," which is what Robin originally said as a possible critical hit exclamation in ''Fire Emblem: Awakening''.