Super Smash Bros. series

Roll

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The editor who added this tag elaborates: Rolling distances for Brawl. Rolling frames and distances for SSB may also be added.
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This article is about the defensive maneuver. For other uses, see Roll (disambiguation).
A Gif of the Wii Fit Trainer doing a roll dodge.
Wii Fit Trainer does a rolling dodge backwards.

A rolling dodge, or simply roll (called EscapeF and EscapeB internally in Melee's debug menu and Brawl's files, depending on which direction the character is rolling) is a maneuver that moves the character left or right and renders them intangible for a short period of time. It is performed by pressing the Control Stick left or right while holding a shield button.

Characters experience intangibility frames while rolling, though the amount, duration and timing of these frames varies from character to character. It's an advantage to have quick and long rolls because if it's slow and short, the roll is more predictable and the character is more vulnerable when in a followed animation to attacks and some KO moves. Most characters use a rolling, somersaulting or spinning animation for this technique, hence the name, though others without a very acrobatic physique (such as Zelda or Mewtwo) will instead step back, slide or even teleport (the latter being the case for Palutena and Rosalina) into the direction the Control Stick is flicked, while others such as Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch use a cartwheeling animation. Yoshi and Samus use unique special animations for it: Yoshi rolls while in his Egg, and Samus goes into Morph Ball mode, though both rolls are considerably slow.

After rolling, characters will always end up facing the opposite direction they rolled into. That is, characters that roll backwards will remain facing the same way, while characters that roll forwards will turn around. This allows rolling through a character to then execute attacks with more ease, but can disrupt them when trying to dodge and approach the opponent at the same time. Interestingly, a character cannot roll off the stage if a player performs this move near an edge; the character will instead perform the remainder of the rolling animation in a stationary location right next to the ledge.

Computer players often use rolls to evade attacks, especially at high levels. Due to the rolls' unique trait of moving the character while dodging attacks, most casual players tend to overrely on them attempting to keep themselves safe from attacks, even using them over their regular shields. In reality, due to its noticeable duration and vulnerability frames near the end, excessive rolling can leave the user more vulnerable against attacks, as the opponent can read their reaction and throw an attack into the direction they are going to roll into to punish them, or use attacks that hit at both sides and/or have long-lasting hitboxes, such as down smashes and neutral aerials. Additionally, simply faking a rush can threaten and condition such a player into rolling, allowing the rusher to punish them.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, rolling repeatedly causes each subsequent roll to be executed slower (thus increasing its lag) and grant less intangibility frames, leaving the player far more open to punishment should they fail to use the technique sparingly. This trait also applies to sidesteps and air dodges, in a way so overusing any dodge also affects the others.

Rolling vs. wavedashing (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

Many casual players believe that rolling and wavedashing play the same role and that the wavedash is just a superior version of the roll. This misconception exists because professional players wavedash in most situations in which casual players would roll. In fact, rolling and wavedashing play very different roles: rolling provides intangibility and generally more distance than a wavedash, but has a determined length and is more easily punished; it is generally used to get behind an attacking opponent or avoid attacks that cannot be wavedashed away from. On the other hand, wavedashing allows a character to act faster and attack while moving sideways at the expense of intangibility; it is generally used to quickly alter spacing or move towards an opponent while standing without turning around (like a forward roll would cause). If the wavedash did not exist, upper-level smashers would replace the wavedash with a dash dance in most situations, not a roll.

Rolling frames (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

These lists show the intangibility and the total lag frames of the rolls, but not the distance travelled or the size of the character while rolling.

Characters Intangibility Frames Total Frames Vulnerable End Frames
Captain Falcon 4-19 31 12
Donkey Kong 4-19 31 12
Dr. Mario 4-19 31 12
Falco 4-19 31 12
Fox 4-19 31 12
Ganondorf 4-19 31 12
Ice Climbers 4-19 31 12
Kirby 4-19 31 12
Luigi 4-19 31 12
Mario 4-19 31 12
Ness 4-19 31 12
Peach 4-19 31 12
Pichu 4-19 31 12
Pikachu 4-19 31 12
Sheik 4-19 31 12
Zelda 4-19 31 12
Yoshi (forward) 4-19 34 15
Jigglypuff (forward) 2-18 34 16
Jigglypuff (back) 4-19 34 15
Mr. Game & Watch 4-19 35 16
Marth (forward) 4-19 35 16
Marth (back) 4-23 35 13
Roy (forward) 4-19 35 16
Roy (back) 4-23 35 13
Mewtwo (forward) 4-21 37 16
Link 4-19 37 18
Mewtwo (back) 4-19 37 18
Yoshi (back) 4-19 37 18
Young Link 4-19 37 18
Bowser 4-19 39 20
Samus 4-30 44 14

Rolling distances (Super Smash Bros. Melee)

This list shows the overall rankings for how far the characters roll in Melee, taken from Mew2King's Melee information dump.

Average of forward and back rolls

Ranking Character
1 Mewtwo
2 Marth
3 Samus
4 Pichu
5 Sheik
6 Falco
7 Roy
8 Ganondorf
9 Luigi
10 Donkey Kong
11 Link
12 Pikachu
13 Ice Climbers
14 Captain Falcon
15 Fox
16 Zelda
17/18 Dr. Mario/Mario
19 Jigglypuff
20 Ness
21 Kirby
22 Yoshi
23 Peach
24 Young Link
25 Mr. Game & Watch
26 Bowser

Forward rolls

Ranking Character
1 Mewtwo
2 Marth
3 Sheik
4 Pichu
5 Samus
6 Falco
7 Donkey Kong
8 Ganondorf
9 Roy
10 Luigi
11 Pikachu
12 Link
13 Ice Climbers
14 Captain Falcon
15 Fox
16 Zelda
17/18 Dr. Mario/Mario
19 Jigglypuff
20 Kirby
21 Yoshi
22 Peach
23 Ness
24 Bowser
25 Young Link
26 Mr. Game & Watch

Back rolls

Ranking Character
1 Mewtwo
2 Marth
3 Samus
4 Falco
5 Pichu
6 Roy
7 Sheik
8 Ganondorf
9 Luigi
10 Link
11 Ness
12 Donkey Kong
13 Ice Climbers
14 Captain Falcon
15 Fox
16 Pikachu
17-18 Dr. Mario/Mario
19 Jigglypuff
20 Zelda
21 Kirby
22 Yoshi
23 Peach
24 Young Link
25 Mr. Game & Watch
26 Bowser

Rolling frames (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

Characters Intangibility Frames Total Frames
Meta Knight (forward) 5-12 23
Lucario 4-19 27
Pit (forward) 4-17 27
Zero Suit Samus (forward) 4-15 27
Diddy Kong 4-19 29
Squirtle 4-19 29
Captain Falcon 4-19 31
Donkey Kong 4-19 31
Falco 4-19 31
Fox 4-19 31
Ganondorf 4-19 31
Ice Climbers 4-19 31
Luigi 4-19 31
Lucas 4-19 31
Ness 4-19 31
Peach (forward) 4-19 31
Pikachu 4-19 31
Sheik 4-19 31
Sonic 4-19 31
Wolf 4-19 31
Zelda 4-19 31
Kirby 4-20 31
Peach (back) 5-20 31
Jigglypuff (forward) 3-19 32
Pit (back) 4-17 32
Ivysaur 4-19 32
Jigglyuff (back) 4-19 32
King Dedede 4-19 32
Mario 4-19 32
Olimar 4-19 32
Meta Knight (back) 4-12 33
Ike (forward) 4-19 33
Snake (back) 4-19 33
Yoshi (forward) 4-19 34
R.O.B. 4-21 34
Charizard (forward) 4-19 35
Marth (forward) 4-19 35
Mr. Game & Watch 4-19 35
Snake (forward) 4-17 35
Marth (back) 4-23 35
Charizard (back) 4-19 36
Ike (back) 4-19 37
Link 4-19 37
Toon Link 4-19 37
Yoshi (back) 4-19 37
Zero Suit Samus (back) 4-19 37
Wario 4-21 37
Bowser 5-20 39
Samus 4-23 44

Rolling frames (Super Smash Bros. 4)

In Smash 4, rolls have been sped up slightly for the majority of the cast, making them safer for repositioning and getting away from attacks. However, the intangibility on all forward and back rolls has since been decreased by 1 frame in version 1.1.0 of the game, and once again by the same amount in version 1.1.1. The following list shows the frame data of rolls as of 1.1.5.

Characters Intangibility Frames Total Frames
Duck Hunt 4-15 26
Fox 4-14 26
Pikachu 4-14 26
Toon Link 4-14 26
Little Mac 4-12 26
Captain Falcon 4-15 27
Dark Pit 4-15 27
Diddy Kong 4-15 27
Meta Knight 4-15 27
Pit 4-15 27
Sheik 4-15 27
Sonic 4-15 27
Zero Suit Samus 4-15 27
Roy 4-17 29
Donkey Kong 4-16 29
Dr. Mario 4-16 29
Falco 4-16 29
Mario 4-16 29
Mii Brawler 4-16 29
Mr. Game & Watch 4-16 29
Olimar 4-16 29
Pac-Man 4-16 29
R.O.B. 4-16 29
Wario 4-16 29
Wii Fit Trainer 4-16 29
Lucario 4-14 29
Greninja (forward) 4-14 29
Mewtwo 4-13 29
Bowser Jr. 4-17 30
Jigglypuff 4-17 30
Kirby 4-17 30
Link 4-17 30
Lucas 4-17 30
Lucina 4-17 30
Luigi 4-17 30
Marth 4-17 30
Mega Man 4-17 30
Mii Gunner 4-17 30
Mii Swordfighter 4-17 30
Ness 4-17 30
Palutena 4-17 30
Peach 4-17 30
Rosalina 4-17 30
Ryu 4-17 30
Shulk 4-17 30
Villager 4-17 30
Zelda 4-17 30
Corrin 4-14 30
Cloud 4-15 31
Charizard 4-18 32
Ike 4-18 32
Robin 4-18 32
Greninja (back) 4-14 32
Bowser 4-19 33
Ganondorf 4-19 33
King Dedede 4-19 33
Yoshi 4-21 35
Bayonetta* 6-19 36
Samus 4-23 39

*Activates Bat Within if hit on frames 3-5.

Rolling distances (Smash 4)

An icon for denoting incomplete things.

Average of forward and back rolls

Ranking Character
1 Samus
2 R.O.B.
3-4 Greninja, Charizard
5 Little Mac
6 Falco
7-8 King Dedede, Marth
9 Sheik
10-11 Sonic, Link
12 Diddy Kong
13 Lucina
14 Ganondorf
15 Meta Knight
16-17 Luigi, Ike
18 Donkey Kong
19 Pac-Man
20-21 Duck Hunt, Captain Falcon
22 Fox
23 Lucario
24-25 Jigglypuff, Kirby
26-27 Rosalina, Wario
28-29 Shulk (Speed), Mario
30 Dr. Mario
31-32 Bowser Jr., Mega Man
33-34 Shulk, Pikachu
35-36 Palutena, Robin
37-38 Yoshi, Pit
39 Dark Pit
40 Bowser
41-42-43 Zero Suit Samus, Olimar, Peach
44 Ness
45-46 Zelda, Mr. Game & Watch
47 Wii Fit Trainer
48-49 Villager, Toon Link

Forward rolls

Ranking Character
1 Samus
2 Little Mac
3 R.O.B.
4 Falco
5 Charizard
6 Greninja
7 Marth
8 King Dedede
9 Link
10 Sonic
11 Meta Knight
12 Lucina
13 Diddy Kong
14 Sheik
15 Ike
16 Ganondorf
17 Luigi
18 Kirby
19 Donkey Kong
20 Fox
21 Captain Falcon
22 Pac-Man
23 Lucario
24 Wario
25 Jigglypuff
26 Duck Hunt
27 Dr. Mario
28 Mario
29 Rosalina
30 Robin
31 Shulk (Speed)
32 Pikachu
33 Shulk
34 Pit
35 Mega Man
36 Bowser Jr.
37 Yoshi
38 Dark Pit
39 Peach
40 Olimar
41 Mr. Game & Watch
42 Zelda
43 Ness
44 Zero Suit Samus
45 Bowser
46 Palutena
47 Toon Link
48 Wii Fit Trainer
49 Villager

Back rolls

Ranking Character
1 Samus
2 Greninja
3 Charizard
4 R.O.B.
5 Sheik
6 King Dedede
7 Marth
8 Little Mac
9 Falco
10 Sonic
11 Link
12 Diddy Kong
13 Ganondorf
14 Lucina
15 Luigi
16 Donkey Kong
17 Duck Hunt
18 Ike
19 Pac-Man
20 Meta Knight
21 Palutena
22 Captain Falcon
23 Lucario
24 Fox
25 Shulk (Speed)
26 Jigglypuff
27 Rosalina
28 Bowser Jr.
29 Mario
30 Mega Man
31 Wario
32 Dr. Mario
33 Shulk
34 Kirby
35 Pikachu
36 Bowser
37 Yoshi
38 Robin
39 Zero Suit Samus
40 Pit
41 Dark Pit
42 Ness
43 Olimar
44 Peach
45 Wii Fit Trainer
46 Zelda
47 Villager
48 Mr. Game & Watch
49 Toon Link

Gallery

Trivia

  • In Super Smash Bros., a glitch occurs if a player repeatedly rolls backwards against a wall. It makes the character slowly move sideways out of the plane of gameplay. If another action is inputted, the character returns to normal. [1]