Wolf (SSBB)

This article is about Wolf's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Wolf O'Donnell.

Wolf
Wolf O'Donnell
Universe	Star Fox
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Unlockable

Wolf (ウルフ, Urufu) is a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Wolf was confirmed in the months leading up to the release via a Japanese leak of the game. He appears to be somewhat similar to Fox and Falco, although he differs from them in several ways. He's considered the "heavy" of the three, being stronger, taller, and slower (although his attacks are actually fast). His normal attacks are unique whereas his special attacks are similar to Fox's, but very different in function. Wolf was officially confirmed on March 31st, 2008. His Japanese voice actor is Hisao Egawa and his English voice actor is Jay Ward.

Appearance

His look in this game is a variation of his Assault/Command outfit. He still wears the spiked shoulder pads, but it is now separated instead of being connected. He wears forearm guards with fingerless gloves for his claws. His vest is unzipped, showing a black sleeveless undershirt and what seems to be a locket. He also dons a studded collar around his neck, a wolf-shaped belt buckle, an Assault-styled booster pack on his back, and a chain snapped on his belt which makes a clanking noise every time he lands on a platform. He acts feral here, something he doesn't show in Assault or Command (although he does howl and growl in Command). While he occasionally does kicks, most of his regular attacks involve clawing the enemy. He also goes in all-fours when crouching, although he cannot crawl. He howls when being Star KO'd, and two of his taunts - where he looks at the sky and howls, and the other where he slams his right hand to the ground and growls like a defending wolf - complement his feral nature here. His English voice differs from his Assault appearance in that he speaks with a slight western accent.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Multiple quick attacks.
• Highly balanced for his weight and has good combo potential.
• Fairly heavy, thus making him harder to KO than others.
• His Blaster is very effective for defending.
• Good aerial game and air speed (fourth fastest along with Captain Falcon).
• Reflector doubles the projectile's speed.
• Reflector has farther range than Fox's making it easier to use as a counter
• Great range on forward smash.
• Down throw can be used as a semi-chain grab for opponents with low percentage.
• Dash attack sends opponent upward, which can be followed by an aerial attack/combo.
• Can KO his opponents at relatively low damage percentages.
• Has two meteor smashes- Down Aerial and Side Special (if sweetspotted).
• Blaster also serves as a melee attack (If used up close).
• Newfound scarring tactic makes him harder to edge-guard after he has grabbed the edge.
• Wolf Flash's angle makes it a decent recovery move and has a sweetspot that can give easy KOs.
• Down Special gives short amount of invincibility frames.
• Fire Wolf is an effective Guard Break.
• All of his aireals other than his f-air auto cancel.
• Using any aerial other than down-aerial immediately after a short hop will result in very little lag, which can be very useful for setting up combos or other tactics.
• Can Wall Jump.
• Low ending lag on all ground attacks.
• Back throw can combo into a Side Special easily racking up significant damage as well as returning strong knockback.
• Very high priority on many attacks.
• Crouch greatly lowers height.
• Flash cancels can allow huge horizontal recovery.
• Most of his attacks are slash based which can flinch his opponents easily.
• Down Smash comes out quickly, has a lot of knockback, a very low trajectory, and is a good killing move.
• Quite evasive since he has an extremely quick, decent sized roll and his Dodge comes out fast.
• Back Air and Forward Air come out quite fast and have little lag.
• Has a very long Smash-boost.
• Down throw can semi-spike.
• Can move when using his blaster in the air allowing approach options while defending.
• Fire Wolf is not as obvious as Fox's or Falco's.
• Fastest base falling speed (along with Captain Falcon and Fox).

Cons:

• Optimal recovery takes some mastering (and even then is sub-par).
• Landing lag on recoveries (if used offensively).
• Surprisingly slow dash (dashing has little change in Wolf's ground speed compared to his walking).
• Wolf Flash goes slightly diagonal unlike Fox's Illusion or Falco's Phantasm which goes horizontal and can result in a Self-Destruct if used incorrectly.
• Has a very small edge sweetspot.
• Blaster has some start-up lag, the laser fires slowly and has shorter range than Fox's and Falco's.
• Typical fast faller cons: can be juggled fairly easily and is easy to combo and chain grab.
• Up Special causes him to quickly drop straight down after the attack, making him unable to maneuver toward the ledge if he misses it slightly.
• Steep learning curve.
• Flash Canceling is very difficult to preform.
• Fast falling hardly changes his fall speed.

How to Unlock

• After beating Adventure Mode, go back to "The Ruins", skip the first door you pass when riding the second elevator down (with the purple spikes). Instead enter the second door at the bottom and defeat him.
• Play 450 VS matches. Then defeat him afterwards.
• With Boss Mode unlocked, finish Boss Mode as Fox or Falco.

Role in Subspace Emissary

Wolf is an optional character in Subspace Emissary, much like Toon Link and Jigglypuff. He only appears if the player enters a new door in The Ruins that appears after you've finished Subspace Emissary. That door will take them to Lylat Cruise, where Wolf appears for a fight. Other than that, he doesn't have a major role.

Standard Moves

Normal

• Dash attack- Running back-flip kick. Causes 9% damage (Note: This is one of the few dash attacks that negates players' inertia).
• Standard attack- Right claw, left claw, then bite. Causes 9% damage if all swipes connect. Last hit has knockback.
• Forward Tilt- Double claw swipe. If connected properly, beginning has a stall animation and then pulls the claws apart. Causes 11% damage dispersed in two hits.
• Down Tilt- Low right kick. Causes 6% damage.
• Up Tilt- Quick right kick. Deals 10% damage.

Smash

• Forward Smash- Thrusts his arm forward, then quickly rotates his claws 180°. It strikes the opponent three times, and does 5% damage each hit. Does 7% damage each hit if fully charged.
• Up Smash- Upward scissor kick. Hits the opponent twice and causes 18% damage uncharged and 25% damage charged.
• Down Smash- Swipes claws on both sides. Does 13% damage if the opponent is behind Wolf and 14% if the opponent is in front. Fully charged it deals 18/19% damage.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial- Spinning tail whip. If the opponent is as close as possible it will deal 8% damage and knock them back. Otherwise it will constantly deal 1% damage.
• Forward Aerial- Left claw swipe. Deals 11% damage.
• Back Aerial- Back kick. Extremely fast and good knockback. Does a maximum of 13% damage.
• Up Aerial- Claw swipe from top to sides. Deals 12% damage.
• Down Aerial- Double axe handle. A spiking move that causes 15% damage.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel- Right knee. Deals 1%, but is very quick.
• Forward Throw- Uppercuts the opponent forward.
• Back Throw- Throws the opponent up and claws them backward.
• Up Throw- Throws the opponent up and slashes them with both claws.
• Down Throw- Throws the opponent on the ground and claws them.

Special Moves

Strategies & Tips

• Wolf Flash is a nice surprise attack. After your opponent jumps, try nailing them with a Wolf Flash, you might get lucky and hit them at the end of the dash.
• Most of Wolf's attacks are fast, so use them to combo your opponent.
• Wolf's down throw can be a semi chain grab if used at low-percent opponents.
• Don't underestimate his Blaster. It may be slow and doesn't go as far but can slow down approaches.
• Wolf's Reflector gives him a short invincible time-frame (Unlike Fox or Falco's Reflector). This is good against blocking or dodging instant final smashes, like Meta Knight's or Link's final smash.
• The incredible range of Wolf's Forward-Smash makes it highly effective at countering opponents who use attacks with a wide area of effect followed by a recovery lag. Good examples are Lucas's and Zelda's Up-Smash, or midair Down-Special attacks such as Bowser's, Yoshi's, Kirby's, and King Dedede's.
• Throw up the Reflector to lay some serious hurt on an attacking opponent with Curry Breath.
• When an enemy is trying to recover offstage, shoot them with the blaster to cancel their jumps, creating a semi-meteor smash.
• The Reflector is also a great edgeguarder with its ability to stun opponents as they recover. Many Wolf CPUs demonstrate this edgeguarding technique.

Stickers

Unlike Fox who mainly uses kicks (but leg stickers would help with some attacks), Wolf focuses on attacking with his claws, so [Arm] and [Slash] damage stickers would work best with him. [Specials: Direct] works with most of his Special moves, while [Energy] damage isn't as recommended for Wolf as the rate of fire on his Blaster is very low (ironically, the stickers featuring him are mostly good Energy attack boosters, with his Star Fox Command sticker being the best Energy sticker).

There are two peculiar sticker boosts that may confuse the player. The [Bite] boost and [Tail] boost confuses players because Wolf doesn't have a noticeable bite and tail attack. His bite attack is the third part of his neutral attack.

Special Movements

Taunts

Up: Leans backwards and howls.

Side: Does a few kicks and says "What's the matter, scared?".

Down: Slaps one hand down and snarls.

Smash Taunt: In Lylat Cruise, Wolf can do various Star Fox Conversations by pressing down on the Control Pad in one frame.

On-Screen Appearance

Wolf flies onto the stage on his Wolfen and jumps out.

Victory Pose

Victory Theme: Star Fox 64 Victory Theme

• With his back facing the screen, he raises his arm and then turns around to look at the screen while saying, "Weaklings, the bunch of you!"
• He claws the air twice, pauses for a bit, and then does a kick before posing. During this, he says, "I'll be the one... to take you down."
• He bends over a bit and snarls before standing up, crossing his arms, and laughing.
  • (When winning a match against Fox he says, "Play time's over, Star Fox!")

Wii Remote Choice

Says "Play time's over!"

Credits Music

• Star Wolf

Snake Codec Message

• Snake: "Colonel, there's a guy in here who looks like a wolf..."
• Colonel: "You mean the fighter named Wolf."
• Snake: "'Wolf." Real imaginative name..."
• Colonel: "He's the leader of a ragtag team called 'Star Wolf.' They're the longtime rivals of Star Fox."
• Snake: "Kind of strange for a wolf to have friends, isn't it?"
• Colonel: "Well, I don't think he works well with others. I suppose they're more like hangers-on than actual comrades. But he's a remarkable pilot. And his ship, the 'Wolfen,' is no slouch either."
• Snake: "But this is hand-to-hand combat, Colonel. He's out of his element."
• Colonel: "Careful, Snake. Those claws of his aren't just for show."

Events

• Event #38: The Wolf Hunts the Fox: KO both Fox and Falco as Wolf on Lylat Cruise. (Completing this event on Hard unlocks the Star Fox: Assault version of Wolf's theme for use on Lylat Cruise).
  • Description: Wolf will be the one to finish you! It's Star Fox's final battle!

• Co-op Event #19: Shadow of Andross: KO Wolf and avoid Andross as Fox and Falco on Lylat Cruise.
  • Description: It's a fierce attack by Andross and Wolf. Take them, Star Fox!

Trivia

• When Wolf appears in Subspace Emmisary, the small tune which plays is the beginning of the N64 version of the Star Wolf Theme, however, SSBB uses the Star Fox: Assault version of Wolf, though the Star Fox: Assault version of his theme is unlockable.

• Wolf's Landmaster Final Smash is the same one as Fox and Falco's Final Smashes except he uses a red and black coloured Landmaster. Wolf never owned a Landmaster in the Star Fox series. The trophy states that he analyzed Fox's Landmaster and built his own which explains the color. It is the strongest of the three Final Smashes, but it does not last as long.

• Sometimes Wolf loses some of his arm when hitting the screen.