Snake (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

''This article is about Snake's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Solid Snake.''

Unveiled at E3 2006, Snake (, Sunēku) is a character appearing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Instead of using a gun, like he usually does in his games, he was designed instead to use explosive-type weapons and CQC (close quarters combat) from his own games.

A popular rumor states that Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear, wished Sakurai (or "practically begged" according to Sakurai himself) to include Snake in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the game was in an advanced development stage and in an early launch in Japan, thus making it too late to include him as a character. However, it was later announced at E3 2006 in one of the first teaser videos for Super Smash Bros. Brawl that Snake would be included in the game, making him the first official "guest" character in a Super Smash Bros. game.

Snake currently ranks 2nd on the tier list (the highest ranked unlockable character), thanks to his quick and powerful neutral and tilt attacks, great range and very high priority overall, being surprisingly the third heaviest and extremely hard to KO with good DI, almost all of his moves having high KO power, amazing tech-chasing with his down throw, his large variety of projectiles, being one of the faster heavyweights in the game mainly due to his DACUS, excellent matchups, stage control with projectiles and all-in-all, placing very well in tournaments.

How to Unlock

 * 1) Play 15 matches in VS Mode on Shadow Moses Island
 * 2) Play 130 matches in VS Mode
 * 3) Have Snake join your party in the Subspace Emissary

If you do any of these things except for #3, you will have to defeat him in a Brawl on Shadow Moses Island to unlock him.

Attributes
Snake is a super heavyweight character, probably because of him being a "normal" human in the Smash Bros. Universe, plus the gadgets and weapons that he carries. He is well known not only for his powerful smash attacks and very high priority, but also his strong, relatively quick tilt attacks and his neutral attack combo. His best killing move is his up tilt due to its power, speed and huge disjointed hitbox, rather than his smash attacks (while his forward smash can KO on very low percentages, it is one of the laggiest smashes in the game, even when using the C-stick). Snake's forward tilt is also a good KO move because it has the knockback and damage of a smash attack with the speed and priority of a tilt attack. A Snake with good directional influence will usually not get KOed until around 150% or even as high as the mid-200% against most characters (except powerful characters like Donkey Kong) outside of spiking him out of his Cypher. Snake is also known to have the second lowest crawl in the game (only losing to Squirtle), and is able to dodge most projectiles. He also has the most projectiles in the game (five), and a variety of edge-guarding techniques, including C4, the Remote Missile, landmines, and his b-air. His Hand Grenade can be used for camping, the effectiveness of which can be increased by shield-dropping the grenades then picking them up to throw them with more strength, though, unlike other explosives, they do not detonate on contact. They can be used defensively by holding one until it's about to detonate, then shielding just before it goes off. The explosion will damage anyone nearby but not Snake, so it's useful for stopping approaching opponents and then launching a counter-attack. His Up smash, the mortar, is the longest ranged up smash in the game. In addition, the up smash is also known to have a great Smash-Boost that makes Snake cover a lot of distance very quickly, compensating for his slow dash speed while at the same time releasing a projectile. His C4 has a variety of applications, aside from placing it on the stage itself as a defensive move, as it can be used in team battle to create a "suicide-bomber" (where the C4 is placed on a teammate like a Gooey Bomb), as well as being used on Snake himself to regain his vertical recovery move, the Cypher.

On the down side, Snake has a fast falling speed, making him juggled fairly easily. This is helped by his Reverse Neutral B giving him a long, fast movement to the opposite direction. Bigger problem areas are aerial attacks and recovery. Although all of his aerials deal both high damage and knockback, they also have large ending lag -- in particular his neutral, forward and down air attacks, as these take large amounts of time to complete and can easily lead Snake to his death if there is no ground beneath him. The Neutral and Down Aerial can also be escaped by players with good Smash Directional Influence and/or Quarter-Circle Directional Influence, which prevents him from getting the last hits on the attacks with good knockback while also leaving him open for punishment. With the disadvantages of having fast falling speed and large ending lag and landing lag on his aerial attacks, Snake has one of the worst aerial games (although his aerials themselves are about as strong as his tilt attacks) which makes him vulnerable to counter-picking on stages like Rainbow Cruise and Norfair where he is forced to attack in the air. In recovery, while he can plant C4 to make recovery nearly infinite, its slow and predictable nature leaves him vulnerable to spikes. It is extremely common for professional Snake players to have excellent Directional Influence, as this increases Snake's longevity exponentially. Also, grab releasing him (even with special grabs such as Wario's Chomp) after he's used his Cypher but before he's landed on the stage does not make him regain his Cypher recovery, as these moves do not cause flinching and his Cypher doesn't put him in helpless state.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral A - Punch, Punch, Spinkick. A natural combo. The kick has high knockback, and KOs at moderate percentages, but the last kick can usually be shielded effectively. Incredibly high priority for a jab. 14% damage. This is the combo from Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes games for CQC (Close Quarters Combat). 1st jab can also be canceled to ftilt or grab, and hits on frame 3.
 * Dash Attack - Snake does a somersault forward, and ends up half-crouching at the end. Easily transitions to crouching/crawling. Can KO light characters around 130%. The somersault and subsequent transition to crouching are visually identical to those moves used by Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series. Can be cancelled to his up smash to make him slide a long distance, and it's much easier to cancel it if the attack connects and tap jump is off. Hits on frame 5. 6-11% damage.
 * Down Tilt - Snake is fully prone while crouching, and he sweeps his legs around. Not as good as his forward and up tilt, so it's best to use his other moves (except for when ducking under a projectile such as Falco's Blaster or under half of Ganondorf's moveset). Hits on frame 6. 10% damage.
 * Up Tilt - Snake kicks one leg up vertically. This is a quick attack with great range and power, long lasting hitbox and it has a long horizontal disjointed hitbox which makes it a great finishing move, even for punishing hitting his shield depending on the range and shieldstun. Much stronger on lightweights than on heavyweights, though it still guarantees kills at the heaviest characters at 150% or higher if fresh. Higher knockback when the hit connects earlier on in the attack, though the sourspot is only slightly weaker. Hit on frames 6-13. 12-13% damage.
 * Forward Tilt - Does a knee-thrust forward with great speed and large range, and if A is pressed again, he will follow-up with an overhead swing of both arms, which has high knockback and an incredibly large range (it has a huge disjointed invisible hitbox like his up tilt). A natural combo. This move is seen during a cutscene in Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes when Snake fights Grey Fox. Hitting on with the knee attack aerial characters has considerable knockback, but it still can set up the second hit of the move at low percents. The knee-thrust can sometimes cause tripping, which provides a perfect set-up for his Up Tilt. This move is very abusable for damage racking and getting kills, and also great used Out of Shield, as out of it takes only 11 frames for the hitbox to come out. One of his best moves. The knee hitbox hits on frame 4. 17-21% damage.

Smash Attacks

 * Up Smash - Snake takes out a mortar, which comes from Metal Gear Solid 4, and slams it in front of him. He charges up the mortar, and fires a shell into the air. The movement of the shell is almost entirely vertical, but there is a very small amount of forward motion. Unlike other Up Smashes, charging time does not increase damage; it increases the speed at which the shell is fired, making it go higher. When fully charged it travels great distances, almost the entire height of the 'large' stage builder area, making it by far the longest ranged Up Smash in the game. If the shell makes contact with an opponent while traveling upwards, the opponent takes damage but the shell does not explode, though it does stop moving upwards and it begins to fall back down to the ground. The shell explodes if it makes contact with a ceiling, an opponent, a wall or the ground no matter what direction it's moving in. The action of slamming down the mortar has enough vertical knockback to move opponents into the mortar's line of fire. The shell cannot damage Snake. Best used as smash-boost.  Oddly enough, the shell does not break blocks in the SSE, but yanking the mortar out does.  14% damage.
 * Down Smash - Snake crouches and starts digging a hole in the ground as he charges, and sets a landmine. This is taken from Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Explosive damage and knockback of the mine increase with charge time. This is a very slow smash, and does not actually deal any damage right away. A short while after planting the mine, it becomes active, and will detonate if anyone (including Snake) steps on it. If the platform the mine is set on disappears (such as on Rainbow Cruise or Delfino Plaza) the mine falls down and if it makes contact with anything, even the ground, it explodes. You can't plant more than one mine at a time, but you can move it by using the attack again, which removes it from its previous position and plants it at Snake's current position. 14-19% damage.
 * Forward Smash - This attack is from Metal Gear Solid 3. Snake takes an RPG-7 rocket launcher and aims it at the ground directly in front of him, causing an explosion when released. It requires a few seconds to load the warhead, giving enemies a good chance to attack (similar to Ganondorf's Warlock Punch). Extremely high knockback from close to blast lines, but low range for it's power and start-up, and it cannot be used as a projectile as it is aimed down at the ground, similar to Samus's down tilt. It is a very good KO move when near the edge of the stage, and it can even be a One-Hit KO in certain situations. It has the 3rd highest knockback of all the side smashes in the game when near the edge or center of Final Destination. Best used for punishing an opponent's laggy attack as it deals both high shield damage and high shield stun. Can also be used to edge guard against predictable recoveries. Hits on frames 41-43, ends on frame 79. 23-32% damage.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Snake performs four quick kicks in the air. The fourth kick has high knockback. Best performed soon after a double jump, but it can also be used in a full single jump. One of his moves that can prevent juggling if predicted well. Better against large characters, although it can be Smash DIed out of. 28% damage if all kicks connect.
 * Down Aerial - Stomps multiple times beneath him, the last hit having high knockback (another attack best performed after double jump). Doing a short hop then immediately performing this move is a good way to guarantee every single hit, and can K.O. at low percentages. This is good by short hopping Out of Shield with buffered Down Aerial to punish moves at close range, like the ending of Mach Tornado if Meta Knight lands it close to Snake, auto-canceled or not, if he can't Smash DI out of it. It's also very good when ledge dropping and immediately after jump and using this move. 28% damage if all stomps connect, the last stomp doing 13% damage.
 * Back Aerial - Snake kicks his legs out behind him, making him lie flat in the air. High range and knockback, long duration, but high end lag like his other aerials. Good at countering juggles if predicting well the opponent. Has enough knockback to KO opponents on the ground or in the air at about 100% damage. Though it deals the same damage, his body has slightly more knockback than his legs. On an interesting note, it should be noted that this has very high priority. His move with least duration (42 frames). Hits on frames 6-26. 10-16% damage.
 * Forward Aerial - Snake lifts a leg to head height and axe-drops it down. Similar to Donkey Kong's forward aerial, it is slow yet powerful. Connection with the foot results in a very powerful meteor smash which knocks the opponent straight downwards. Connection with the leg has high upwards knockback. One of the easier meteor smashes to pull off. Hits on frame 23. 14-15% damage.
 * Up Aerial - Thrusts his legs straight upwards, similar to his Back Aerial except upwards and also akin to his Up Tilt, but in mid-air. The move has considerable ending lag. This attack is very good for Star KOing airborne opponents with damages of 100% and over when sweetspotted. Very effective on light, floaty opponents (i.e. Jigglypuff, Kirby, or Meta Knight). His aerial with least landing lag (22 frames landing lag instead of 30 of his all other aerials). Hits on frame 10 ends on frame 47. 10-14% damage.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grab - Holds his opponent in a restraining chokehold, which is a grabbing position unique to Snake. The pivot grab has great range, but his standing one grabs on frame 8 instead of the average frame 6. He can also both boost grab to increase his dash grab range and reverse boost grab to do a sliding pivot grab. Along with Yoshi, he is the only character in the game able to force jump breaks against all characters (when in a straight platform or a platform downwards angled).
 * Pummel - Tightens his chokehold. 2% damage. A very quick pummel, but it's not very good at forcing ground breaks.
 * Back Throw - Throws opponent over his knee; The same type of throw is also seen in the MGS games. Can kill at high percents. Has stronger base knockback than his forward throw, but it still has exacly the same knockback scale. 9% damage.
 * Up Throw - Back suplex, similar to Jigglypuff's back throw. 10% damage.
 * Down Throw - Lays opponent on the floor, putting the opponent into the downed status. It is great for combining with other attacks and can chain grab by predicting what the opponent will do. 12% damage.
 * Forward Throw - Flips them over and drops them (scoop slam). A strong throw, although slightly weaker than his back throw. 9% damage.

Taunts

 * All: Puts a cardboard box over himself, which is removable. Depending on which button you press, Snake will get in the box in a different position. When he removes it, the enemy receives some damage (if they are in close range). The box can also be picked up and thrown by opponents. This deals 1-3% damage, making it the second damaging taunt in the Smash series after Luigi's down taunt. If an opponent is in the air and is hit by the box, it will act like a meteor smash and the opponent will go straight downwards.
 * Smash Taunt: Kneels down and contacts his support team - Colonel Campbell, Otacon, and Mei Ling, and also Slippy Toad (only when in a Brawl with Falco) - via his codec. Snake then receives information on one of his opponents; this goes for every fighter in the game, including himself, and with separate conversations for Sheik and Zero Suit Samus. This is possible only on Snake's home stage Shadow Moses Island, and is performed by down taunting extremely quickly. Snake will hold a pose for a few seconds, then a conversation between Snake and his support team will begin. You can do this only once each round and if you are hit while Snake is holding his pose before the conversation starts, it is cancelled. However, you can be hit while the conversation is going, though the conversation ends if Snake is KO'd, which, in a nod to the Metal Gear Solid game over screens, causes the character Snake was talking with to shout "SNAAAAAAAAKE!!". It can be done with any number of other players on the screen, but if there is more than one opponent the game will randomly choose one character to talk about.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Snake has stowed away somewhere on the Halberd, hiding inside a cardboard box. When his time comes, Snake emerges from his box and begins to investigate, but when he sees Lucario and Meta Knight, he hides again inside his box. Lucario sees through the box by looking at his aura, and pulls off Snake's disguise. Snake is surprised to see that he has been discovered (an exclamation point appears above his head along with the Metal Gear "Discovery" sound) and quickly assumes a fighting stance. Meta Knight is glad to oblige, when Lucario senses security Primids coming from the corridor behind him, so they end up forming a partnership with Snake. After battling through the onslaught of Primid, Snake and the others meet up with Zelda and Peach. Shadowbugs make clones of Peach and Zelda, which the trio fights. Later, Snake, Lucario and Meta Knight find the bridge of the ship and are surprised to see a group of Mr. Game & Watches are controlling the ship. Snake and Lucario throw all of the Mr. Game & Watches out of the window, and they all land on the front deck. The Mr. Game & Watches revert into Shadowbugs and combine into a giant metallic monster called Duon. Lucario, Snake, and Falco join Fox, Sheik, and Peach to battle and defeat the monster. Snake shows up with everyone else at the Entrance to Subspace and, like everyone else, he is turned into a trophy by Tabuu's off waves. He can be revived by collecting his trophy in Subspace, making him eligible for the final battle against Tabuu.

Snake is one of the few characters in the entire SSE storyline to have dialogue. When he reveals himself, he states to the player "Kept you waiting, huh?". This is a reference to the fact that his first appearance in the Smash series was in Brawl, even though he was originally going to appear in Melee, several years earlier, but he was left out because of time constraints and also because he was seen earlier in the storyline in his box during the epilogue of The Forest. At the same time, it's also a direct reference to Naked Snake's line at the beginning of Metal Gear Solid 3, which reffered to the fact that said game was originally intended to be released for the Playstation 3, but due to the PS3's long development period and fans' restlessness, it was released for the Playstation 2.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can only be used by Snake:
 * Eva: [Electric] Resistance +44
 * Meryl Silverburgh: [Weapon] Attack + 7
 * Naked Snake: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +32
 * Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes): [Arm, Leg] Attack + 7

Trivia

 * He was the first third-party character to be announced for any Super Smash Bros. game.
 * Snake is the only character whose official art on Smash Bros. DOJO!! portrays him in a different pose from his original art from his old profile. (pictured)
 * Snake is one of the only characters to talk in Subspace Emissary, saying "Kept ya waiting, huh?". By doing this, he also breaks the fourth wall, a common element in the Metal Gear series.
 * Snake is the only character who talks when he eats food or other edible items. He often makes a "Nom" sound, but will sometimes say "Tasty!", and very rarely "Good!". However, when Wario eats his own bike, you can hear him say something like "Yom!"
 * Snake carries an H&K MK23 SOCOM .45 caliber pistol in a leg holster, but he never uses it in combat. Similarly, Captain Falcon carries a futuristic pistol, Sheik carries a dagger, and Ganondorf carries a broadsword, but none of them use these weapons in-game
 * Snake's crowd cheer, 'Snake! Snake! SNAAAAAAAKE!!!', seems to be a nod to his 'Game Over' screens.
 * Snake's appearance at the start of a Brawl comes from the intro cutscene in Metal Gear Solid 2. In MGS2, his stealth camouflage disengages after landing on the carrier due to a malfunction. In Brawl, his stealth camouflage simply disengages to reveal himself to his opponent(s).
 * Snake is the highest ranked heavyweight in the Smash Bros. series. Also unique to Snake's weight, he is the only "Super-Heavy" character who does not shake the screen when he lands.
 * Snake is the only character in the Smash Bros. series to come from an M rated game.