Traction

"Friction" redirects here. For aerial friction, see here.

Because Luigi has a very small amount of traction, he slides very noticeably after finishing a dash.

Traction is a measure of how long it takes for a character to stop moving from a sideways force when grounded. Characters with low traction slide farther than others after walking, dashing, wavedashing, being hit by an attack while grounded, and so on.

Having high traction affords greater ground control over a character, so high traction is generally an advantage. Characters with low traction generally require more precise movement across the ground and cannot punish attacks as effectively out of shield since they will get pushed further away from the opponent. However, there are cases where low traction is useful: low traction is necessary for a long wavedash in Super Smash Bros. Melee and a long dash pivot cancel in Brawl, and there are cases where sliding away from a shielded attack can help escape multiple hits. In Super Smash Bros., characters with lower traction get pushed further away when being attacked when in shield, which makes follow-ups and potential shield breaks harder.

Luigi is well-known for having the least traction of any character in all games except Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; this originates from his low traction in most of the Mario platformers, which balances out his higher jumping.

Traction is also affected by terrain. For instance, nearly all characters have decreased traction on slippery surfaces such as ice. However, the Ice Climbers uniquely have the reverse of this functionality: their normally low traction becomes higher on slippery surfaces.

Traction rankings

Super Smash Bros.

Rank	Character	Value
1-5	Link	2
1-5	Samus	2
1-5	Fox	2
1-5	Pikachu	2
1-5	Ness	2
6	Captain Falcon	1.8
7	Donkey Kong	1.7
8	Yoshi	1.6
9	Mario	1.5
10	Kirby	1.4
11	Jigglypuff	1.1
12	Luigi	0.7

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Rank	Character	Value
1-4	Peach	0.1
1-4	Link	0.1
1-4	Zelda	0.1
1-4	Pichu	0.1
5-6	Pikachu	0.09
5-6	Jigglypuff	0.09
7-13	Donkey Kong	0.08
7-13	Young Link	0.08
7-13	Sheik	0.08
7-13	Kirby	0.08
7-13	Fox	0.08
7-13	Falco	0.08
7-13	Captain Falcon	0.08
14	Ganondorf	0.07
15-23	Mario	0.06
15-23	Dr. Mario	0.06
15-23	Bowser	0.06
15-23	Yoshi	0.06
15-23	Samus	0.06
15-23	Ness	0.06
15-23	Marth	0.06
15-23	Roy	0.06
15-23	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
24	Mewtwo	0.04
25	Ice Climbers	0.035
26	Luigi	0.025

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-6	Wario	0.07
3-6	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-6	Wolf	0.07
3-6	Sonic	0.07
7-8	Peach	0.068
7-8	Ganondorf	0.068
9	Falco	0.065
10	Link	0.064
11-16	Mario	0.06
11-16	Sheik	0.06
11-16	Fox	0.06
11-16	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
11-16	Olimar	0.06
11-16	R.O.B.	0.06
17	Pikachu	0.0596
18	Samus	0.0585
19	Bowser	0.0577
20-22	Meta Knight	0.055
20-22	Charizard	0.055
20-22	Marth	0.055
23	Toon Link	0.0547
24	Ness	0.0546
25	Snake	0.0542
26	Zelda	0.054
27	Ivysaur	0.0532
28	Donkey Kong	0.0529
29	Pit	0.0505
30	Captain Falcon	0.05
31	Kirby	0.0493
32-33	Diddy Kong	0.0484
32-33	King Dedede	0.0484
34	Lucas	0.045
35	Ike	0.044
36	Yoshi	0.0426
37	Squirtle	0.042
38	Ice Climbers	0.035
39	Luigi	0.022

Super Smash Bros. 4

Rank	Character	Value
1	Lucario	0.0736
2	Jigglypuff	0.0718
3-5	Wario	0.07
3-5	Zero Suit Samus	0.07
3-5	Little Mac	0.07
6-9	Peach	0.068
6-9	Rosalina	0.068
6-9	Ganondorf	0.068
6-9	Palutena	0.068
n/a	Giga Bowser	0.067
10-11	Falco	0.065
10-11	Corrin	0.065
12-13	Link	0.064
12-13	Mii Swordfighter	0.064
14-24	Sheik	0.06
14-24	Fox	0.06
14-24	Roy	0.06
14-24	Mr. Game & Watch	0.06
14-24	Olimar	0.06
14-24	R.O.B.	0.06
14-24	Villager	0.06
14-24	Wii Fit Trainer	0.06
14-24	Sonic	0.06
14-24	Mega Man	0.06
14-24	Ryu	0.06
n/a	Wario-Man	0.06
25	Pikachu	0.0596
26	Samus	0.0585
27	Bowser	0.0577
28-33	Meta Knight	0.055
28-33	Marth	0.055
28-33	Lucina	0.055
28-33	Robin	0.055
28-33	Cloud	0.055
28-33	Bayonetta	0.055
34	Toon Link	0.0547
35	Ness	0.0546
36	Zelda	0.054
37	Donkey Kong	0.0529
38-39	Pit	0.0505
38-39	Dark Pit	0.0505
40	Captain Falcon	0.05
41	Kirby	0.0493
42-43	Diddy Kong	0.0484
42-43	King Dedede	0.0484
44-52	Mario	0.045
44-52	Dr. Mario	0.045
44-52	Bowser Jr.	0.045
44-52	Greninja	0.045
44-52	Lucas	0.045
44-52	Duck Hunt	0.045
44-52	Pac-Man	0.045
44-52	Mii Brawler	0.045
44-52	Mii Gunner	0.045
53-54	Ike	0.044
53-54	Shulk	0.044
55	Yoshi	0.0426
56-57	Mewtwo	0.04
56-57	Charizard	0.04
58	Luigi	0.024

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Ultimate, traction has been significantly increased across the cast, with even the lowest traction values being higher than the highest traction values in SSB4. This allows for every character to slow down faster on the ground after moving horizontally, and most notably benefits characters with low traction (such as Luigi and Charizard), as shielded attacks now push them back a much shorter distance, and it is therefore easier for them to punish out of shield. However, the increased traction also results in slide smashes covering less distance than in SSB4 as well. Unlike in previous games, Luigi no longer has the most slippery shoes of the cast, nor is he even in the bottom tenth; the characters with the least traction are now the Mii Gunner and Banjo & Kazooie.

Rank	Character	Value
1	Sonic	0.138
2-3	Dark Pit	0.135
2-3	Pit	0.135
4	Pikachu	0.132
5-8	Isabelle	0.131
5-8	Mr. Game & Watch	0.131
5-8	Ness	0.131
5-8	Villager	0.131
9-10	Joker	0.13
9-10	Min Min	0.13
11	Corrin	0.129
12	Wii Fit Trainer	0.128
13	Falco	0.127
14-15	Byleth	0.125
14-15	Ganondorf	0.125
16	Donkey Kong	0.123
17-18	Ivysaur	0.121
17-18	Mythra	0.121
19	Mii Brawler	0.12
20-28	Kirby	0.116
20-28	Little Mac	0.116
20-28	Lucario	0.116
20-28	Lucas	0.116
20-28	Mewtwo	0.116
20-28	Pac-Man	0.116
20-28	Snake	0.116
20-28	Zelda	0.116
20-28	Zero Suit Samus	0.116
29	Fox	0.115
30-32	Incineroar	0.114
30-32	Lucina	0.114
30-32	Marth	0.114
33	Link	0.113
34	Ike	0.112
35-37	Daisy	0.111
35-37	Peach	0.111
35-37	Terry	0.111
38-46	Sephiroth	0.11
38-46	Bayonetta	0.11
38-46	Charizard	0.11
38-46	Hero	0.11
38-46	Ken	0.11
38-46	Mii Swordfighter	0.11
38-46	Pichu	0.11
38-46	Ryu	0.11
38-46	Wolf	0.11
47-48	Chrom	0.107
47-48	Roy	0.107
49-53	Cloud	0.106
49-53	Dr. Mario	0.106
49-53	Palutena	0.106
49-53	Sheik	0.106
49-53	Wario	0.106
54-58	Captain Falcon	0.105
54-58	King K. Rool	0.105
54-58	R.O.B.	0.105
54-58	Robin	0.105
54-58	Young Link	0.105
59	Bowser	0.104
60-61	Inkling	0.102
60-61	Mario	0.102
62	Rosalina	0.099
63	Meta Knight	0.097
64	Luigi	0.096
65-66	Yoshi	0.095
65-66	Steve	0.095
65-66	Mega Man	0.094
67-68	Shulk	0.094
69-70	Diddy Kong	0.093
69-70	Olimar	0.093
71	Duck Hunt	0.09
72-73	Squirtle	0.088
72-73	Piranha Plant	0.088
74-75	Greninja	0.087
74-75	Jigglypuff	0.087
76	Toon Link	0.086
77-80	Bowser Jr.	0.085
77-80	King Dedede	0.085
77-80	Richter	0.085
77-80	Simon	0.085
81-82	Dark Samus	0.082
81-82	Samus	0.082
83-84	Ridley	0.08
83-84	Pyra	0.08
85	Ice Climbers	0.077
86-87	Banjo & Kazooie	0.076
86-87	Mii Gunner	0.076