Zero Suit Samus (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Zero Suit Samus' appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Zero Suit Samus.  Also, for information about the result of Zero Suit Samus using her Final Smash attack, see Samus Aran.

Unveiled at E3 2006, Zero Suit Samus (, Zero Sūtsu Samusu), often abbreviated as ZSS or 0SS is a character that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Zero Suit Samus lacks power and stamina compared to Samus, but is faster. She uses a gun known as the Paralyzer, which can also be converted into a Plasma Whip. Her whip can be used to recover, similar to Samus's Grapple Beam.

The impact from Samus's Final Smash is enough to remove her Power Suit, transforming her into Zero Suit Samus. Zero Suit Samus is able to transform back into normal Samus by using her Final Smash, which causes her to get her suit back while performing a move similar to the Crystal Flash from Super Metroid. 

Midplay:
Samus can also switch to Zero Suit Samus while in battle by doing the up taunt, down taunt, and up taunt in quick succession. It appears to be rather difficult to achieve, as DOJO!! states, "It's not easy [...] Try it out next time you feel like showing off."

Though there is a very easy way to do it with either the GameCube/Classic Controller or Wii Remote + Nunchuk:

1. Hold the GameCube/Classic controller/*Wii Remote sideways so your left and right hand thumbs are on the "Up" and "Down" taunt Control Pad buttons respectively.


 * For the Wii remote + Nunchuk, put your thumbs on the "1" and "2" buttons.

2. Press "Up taunt" first. This is the only thing that actually needs to be pressed in the right order.


 * Press "1" on the Wii remote to activate the "Up" taunt first.

3. During Samus's "Up taunt", rapidly press both "Up" and "Down" as fast as you can, make sure you are actually doing it as fast as you can.


 * For the Wii remote + nunchuk, press the "1" THEN "2" buttons and repeat rapidly. Do not press "1" + "2" at the same time, or else this will activate the side taunt.

You should be able to transform very easily using this method.

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Brawls:
Select Samus on the character screen and hold the following button before the match starts with the corresponding controller that is being used:


 * GameCube/Classic controller: Hold the R button.
 * Wii Remote and Nunchuk: Hold the Z button.
 * Wii Remote: Hold the Minus (-) button.

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Adventure Mode:
After Samus regains her power suit, you might think that Zero Suit Samus is gone for good. The DOJO!! update for April 14 reveals that you can still play as Zero Suit Samus by pressing the following buttons when selecting characters for a stage:


 * GameCube Controller: Wiggle the C Stick in any direction
 * Classic controller: Wiggle the Right Stick in any direction.
 * Wii Remote with Nunchuk: Press the C button.
 * Wii Remote: Press the Minus (-) button.

Also according to the DOJO!!, this works for all multi-form characters, not just Samus.

Role in Subspace Emissary
Samus is first seen breaking into the base of the Subspace Army. Soon she comes across a Pikachu being drained of its electrical power. Samus uses her whip to break the container the Pikachu is being held in, summoning a security force of R.O.B.s. Later, she comes across her Power Suit, but is confronted by two Shadow Bug clones mimicking her Power Suit.

After reacquiring her Power Suit, Samus and her new companion Pikachu come across Ridley. He grabs Samus and starts to drag her against the wall, until Pikachu returns the favor and uses Thunder, causing him to drop Samus. Once they defeat him, the duo exits the base and come across a cave.

Samus and Pikachu make their way to the Subspace Bomb Factory and find the Ancient Minister with the R.O.B. Squad. They prepare to fight, but then realize that he looks very sad. Soon, Diddy and Donkey Kong and Captain Falcon and Olimar find the factory and enter. A hologram of Ganondorf appears and orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate the bombs. The Ancient Minister tries to stop them, but is set on fire when Ganondorf orders them to retaliate. After The Ancient Minister is revealed to be a R.O.B. himself, the characters set out and all join the quest.

Pros:

 * Tied with Sheik for fourth fastest Dash in the game.
 * Fast tilts and aerials with solid knockback, range, and damage.
 * Attacks chain together easily.
 * Quite agile and easy to use in the air.
 * Great recovery techniques, from the flip jump to her tether recovery.
 * Most weapon-based attacks provide great horizontal range.
 * Her aerial kicks are quite strong; if your opponent's damage is beginning to get high a clean kick can KO them or knock them flying.
 * Longest grab range against aerial opponents.
 * Up Smash and Up Special provide great vertical range.
 * Up Smash is very quick and good for racking up damage.
 * Standard Special and Down smash paralyze, which can guarantee more hits.
 * Side Smash covers both sides.
 * Down smash can lock fast-fallers, dealing damage up to about 100%.
 * Down Special acts as third jump, can provide up to four free wall-jumps in certain cases.
 * Can Wall-jump.
 * Can Crawl.
 * Up Special and Side Special are both a Tether Recovery in addition, making her the best Tether-recovery dependent character.
 * Longest Tether Recovery in the game.
 * Down Special, Down Aerial, and Up Special can all spike the opponent if used properly.
 * Down Aerial is a Stall-Then-Fall aerial.
 * None of her attacks put her into a state of helplessness.
 * Transformation, even at the start, drops three Power Suit Pieces, which are powerful throwing items.
 * Plasma Wire pulls an opponent above you down, which can lead to further combos. If used when below a platform that it can go through, it can trap others to rack up damage.
 * Plasma Wire can spike opponents that are above Zero Suit Samus.
 * One of the more powerful users of B-Sticking for Plasma Whip and Plasma Wire especially.
 * If she tries to footstool jump during her Flip Jump, she gets a special jump that gives her an extremely long horizontal range. This can also be used on teammates and on most items.
 * Flip Jump is an effective yet relatively safe edgeguard.
 * Plasma Wire, if augmented with her Flip Jump, gives her phenomenal recovery.
 * Attacking out of Flip Jump is a powerful spike.
 * Side Smash, Up Smash, Nair, Side Special, and Up Special all consist of a disjointed hitbox.
 * Although having the best tether recovery in the game, she's not as reliant on tethers as Olimar and Ivysaur are due to her Flip Jump and how her Plasma Wire can give a decent vertical boost if used in conjunction with a jump and can be used to counter edge-hogs or in a stage with no grabbable ledges like Summit.

Cons:

 * All spikes are difficult to pull off, and can backfire badly and result in SDs.
 * If her grab misses, she is vulernable for quite some time.
 * Much lighter than Power Suit Samus, and she is easier to knock around.
 * Her own Power Suit Pieces can be used against her.
 * Down Smash only hits on one side unlike most of the other characters.
 * Short Hop is high, which makes approaching a opponent on the ground with an aerial attack difficult.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack - Palm Strike, Pistol Whip, Hip Thrust
 * Dash Attack - Similar in appearance to Fox's dash attack. Leaps off of the ground, leg extended horizontally, traveling forward a bit
 * Forward Tilt - Similar in appearance to Sheik's Forward tilt. An around-the-body kick 45 degrees from horizontal (Up Forward Tilt). Can also be angled closer to horizontal (Forward Forward Tilt) or a quick, short ranged low leg sweep (Down Forward Tilt)
 * Down Tilt - Similar in appearance to Sheik's down tilt, a prone leg-sweep. Knocks upwards.
 * Up Tilt - Does handstand-splits while spinning in place, legs moving up to vertical. Hits twice.
 * Forward Smash - Slashes forward with the whip. Fairly long range, disjointed hitbox, good knockback, hits a bit behind.
 * Down Smash - Shoots paralyzer gun at the ground in front of Zero Suit Samus. Only hits in front. Low damage, delayed knockback, but stuns the target in place for a short time (depending on how much it was charged).
 * Up Smash - Samus spins, extending the Plasma whip up above her head in a swirl. Hits multiple times, long vertical (disjointed) range and decent horizontal range.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Samus spins the whip around her body in a similar trajectory to Marth's Neutral Air. Fairly long range.
 * Forward Aerial - Two forward kicks, each slightly faster and only slightly weaker than Samus's Back Aerial. The second kick is stronger then the first.
 * Back Aerial - Backwards kick, similar in speed, appearance, and knockback to Samus's Foward Aerial.
 * Up Aerial - Flip kicks both legs above her head, similar to Fox's Up Aerial.
 * Down Aerial - A Stall-Then-Fall. Samus stalls momentarily in midair, and then shoots down diagonally (similar to Sonic or Sheik's Down Air). If it hits in midair, pulls down with the trajectory of the attack, into the second hit. Upon hitting the ground, it hits a second time, knocking anyone close away a fair bit (not enough to KO). Like most stall, then shoot down moves, this can be used to cancel vertical knockback if used while being knocked back horizontally. This move can spike, but very dangerous when not over land, as it will not stop like Sonic's.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grab: Reaches forward with Plasma Whip. Slow and laggy.
 * Down Throw: Slams opponent on ground and kicks them (similarly to Captain Falcon's Up Tilt).
 * Forward Throw: Hits opponent forward with gun.
 * Back Throw: Kicks opponent.
 * Up Throw: Flips into the air and kicks the opponent.
 * Pummel: Knees them.

Stickers
Since Samus and Zero Suit Samus share the same trophy base, it's important to chose which one you want to use, since Smash Balls don't appear in Adventure Mode, if one transforms into Zero Suit Samus, they will be unable to change back until the end of the level (Or in the Great maze, a save point). Focus on Leg, Energy and Weapon damage, and you should be able to boost both Samus and Zero Suit Samus evenly.

Snake's Codec Message
Snake: "Mei Ling, Samus took her clothes off!"

Mei Ling: "That's just her in the Zero Suit, Snake."

S: "Without that bulky Power Suit, she's gotten a lot more agile... You know, I bet if I took off all this heavy gear, I could catch her... "

M: "Um, yeah, you wish. Even without the Power Suit, all that training she did with the Chozo has made her a super athlete. I don't think a normal human could ever keep up. Just look at her."

S: "...Her loss."

Taunts
Up: Throws her Gun into the air and catches it, then says "Is that all?".

Side: Uses her whip, flicks it and says "Try me..."

Down: Dances in her whip around her and says "You're mine!".

On-Screen Appearance
Her Power Suit falls off and she stands up.

Victory Pose
Victory Theme: Metroid Power-Up Theme
 * Side Kick flex
 * Cartwheels to the screen
 * Slashes with her energy whip and says "Be still."

Credits Music

 * Ending (Metroid)

Trivia

 * Zero Suit Samus is the only character in Brawl to have to two Tether recovery moves, one used for horizontal range and one used for vertical range.
 * Samus is usually a silent protagonist in the Metroid series. However, ZSS talks with every taunt and in one victory pose. Aside from introductory narrations, she had previously never spoken outside of Metroid Fusion, with Brawl still being the only one to give her an actual voice-over. But she is not the first or the only character to be given a voice in Smash Bros which they never had in their own games, though she did make sounds when hurt in the Prime series.