Mario (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


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

Mario returns once again for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His moveset is basically the same as the previous games, except that his Down Special Move has been changed to F.L.U.D.D., while Mario Tornado has become his Down Aerial.

His tier position is the worst it has ever been, ranking 30 out of 37 (the lowest ranked character in the Mario series), compared to 5 of 12 in SSB, and 14 of 26 in SSBM, largely because of his slightly nerfed range and power, lack of outstanding attributes (outside of edge-guarding), his poor and unreliable recovery, the reduced hitstun means generally weaker combos, and his slightly below average matchups clocks him in the E tier.

Attributes
Mario is considered a beginner character that people can learn with. This is due to him having no major size or speed flaws and is considered all around and balanced. He is a middleweight, and he is well balanced in both power and speed. Despite being an average-sized middleweight, Mario is one of those who King Dedede can infinitely chain grab without a wall, which is a true problem at high level play. Some of his finishers require some sort of setup in order to work well, as they do not kill at impressively low percents or have particularly good range. For example, his forward aerial is a meteor smash which helps him edgeguard, but it is slow and can be difficult to meteor smash with, it has quite low knockback for a meteor smash as well, but if sour-spotted, it deals good horizontal knockback that can kill off-stage foes at high percentages. His forward special, the Cape, allows him to turn enemies around and reflect projectiles. The cape also propels him forward a little when used in the air. Additionally, the cape reverses momentum and can be used to Cape Glide which greatly enhances his edgeguarding capabilities. His Neutral Special, the Fireball, is spammable and helps him control approach. His Down Special, F.L.U.D.D., has to be charged up and deals no damage but pushes enemies back similar to Kyogre or Water Gun which also can be used as edge-guard on recoveries like Link's Spin Attack. This can make it impossible to recover for some characters, while for others, it is a mere hinderance. Also, it takes a long time to charge, meaning Mario must wait a good amount of time before it is effective, although it can be saved by shielding and rolling. Excluding F.L.U.D.D. and Fireball, Mario does not have many long ranged attacks. For his recovery, he can wall jump and use his Cape, along with his Super Jump Punch. Super Jump Punch, however, is a relatively poor recovery move in general and is easily edge-guarded due to its predictable trajectory (straight upwards, slightly diagonal), though, it is considered to be a great out-of-shield option.. F.L.U.D.D. can also be used to push him back horizontally. His Smash attacks are quick, so he can execute them with little start-up lag. He is also known for being a good juggler with his quick attacks and aerials.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Jabs with his right, then his left, and then kicks with his right foot. All are from Super Mario 64. Beneficial in making combos. First hit jab locks character laying on the ground. 9% damage
 * Dash Attack - Slides forward and kicks with both feet. Also from Super Mario 64. Low priority, damage, and knockback. (Has IASA frames near the end of the attack)7-9% damage.
 * Forward Tilt - Does a roundhouse kick with his right leg. Has average damage and knockback, but has some range compared to some moves. (Has IASA frames after the kick; some odd momentum properties if exploited.)  Does 8% to foes.
 * Up Tilt - Delivers an uppercut while spinning. Similar to a move in Super Mario RPG. Average damage and above-average knockback. 7%
 * Down Tilt - Sweeps low to the ground with his leg. Low damage, slow, high ending lag, low knockback, no hitstun. Near useless move because if hits he'll give the opponent a chance to hit for much more damage. Best never to use it. 5% to enemies, 7% if sweetspotted.

Smash

 * Side Smash - Steps back, and then moves forward, shooting fire out of his hand. One of Mario's longest-ranged moves. Damage is highest when sweetspotted (at the flame), but strangely, knockback is somewhat greater around the hand than when sweetspotted. Can also be angled up and down. The move is derived form Mario's ability to shoot fireballs. Does 18-23% normally, but up to 25% if aimed up and 22% if aimed down.
 * Up Smash - Sends opponents skyward with a headbutt. Has some good upwards knockback, and can Star KO some foes at middle-damage. 19% damage.
 * Down Smash - Does a break dance sweep. Some of the best knockback out of Mario's moves. Another move from Super Mario 64. 21% damage.

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Does a somersault and then kicks upwards, from a laying down position.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Gets up then does an attack, similar to his forward tilt.
 * Floor Attack -Gets up then punches behind him, then in front of him.
 * Trip attack-Kicks behind him, then in front of him while getting up.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Performs a Sex Kick kick in the air. Similar to an attack from Super Mario 64. Initially does 10% with high priority, then 5% afterwards.
 * Forward Aerial - Punches downward, this is a slow Meteor Smash. Spikes if it connects below Mario's body. Does 10-13%.
 * Back Aerial - Spins and kicks backward. Similar to his Fair in the original Super Smash Bros. 12% damage.
 * Up Aerial - Does a somersault and kicks upward. Incredible comboing potential. 11%
 * Down Aerial - Mario Tornado. Spins with fists then strikes with both on opposite sides. Like the original move, it looks somewhat like the Spin Jump from various Mario games, like Super Mario World. Up to 5% on the smaller hits, then 7% on the final for up to 12% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Headbutt
 * Forward Throw - Mario spins around once then throws his opponent in front of him.
 * Back Throw - Mario spins around several times then throws his opponent backwards. It is similar to when Mario grabs Bowser by the tail, and then swings him around in an attempt to throw into the bombs in Super Mario 64. While a fairly long throw, he can damage other characters with the character he is swinging around.
 * Up Throw - Mario throws his opponent high into the air.
 * Down Throw - Mario slams his opponent into the ground. Good for starting combos.

Taunts

 * Up - Turns into Super Mario. (Same as in SSB and Melee.)
 * Side - Takes off his hat, twirls around, and puts his hat back on, similar to the level clear animation from New Super Mario Bros. or "Super Mario Sunshine".
 * Down - Spins in the air and falls on his back, based on the dying animation from the original Donkey Kong.

Changes from Melee to Brawl
Mario has been nerfed from Melee to Brawl. He has less options and cannot combo as effectively because of the reduced hitstun. Many of Mario's attacks are slightly weaker and/or have less range. For example, his fireballs travel considerably less distance and deal 1% less damage. On the upside, they now have slightly more hitstun and a larger hitbox. Mario now has a slightly smaller model. Mario also has a new down special move (F.L.U.D.D.) and down aerial (Mario Tornado), making his recovery worse because he can no longer preform the Rising Tornado technique. Mario's cape now reverses the enemy's momentum rather than just reversing their direction. However, it's no longer as effective as an edge-guarding technique due the auto ledge grab feature. On the upside, it is more effective in assisting recovery. Mario's neutral aerial is weaker, and his forward aerial now requires a sweetspot to meteor smash (along with dealing 1% less damage and having lower knockback). However, his back aerial is stronger. Mario's back throw now launches enemies more vertical than horizontally (somewhat like Dr. Mario). Mario's side smash can now KO even without being sweetspotted.

In term of cosmetics, Mario has been updated graphically, with his overalls looking more realistic. His Fireballs look more realistic as well. While he has the same voice actor as in Melee, Mario now has a new voice, instead of having recycled voice clips from Super Mario 64. His back air now has the animation of his forward aerial in SSB.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
In the beginning, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into the Midair Stadium, where they come to life and have a friendly fight. The player chooses the one they want to play as. If Mario is chosen, the opponent will be Kirby, and vice-versa. After the battle between the two, the winner revives the loser, they shake hands, and wave to the crowd. However, red ominous clouds appear above the stadium, and the Halberd emerges from it. It releases Shadowbugs which form into the Primid. Peach and Zelda, who were watching the match, come to help, and after defeating all of the enemies, they are all confronted by the Ancient Minister. After seeing the two R.O.B.s setting up a Subspace Bomb, Mario runs to try and stop it, only to be blasted out of the stadium by a cannonball. During his descent from Skyworld, Pit finds Mario's trophy, and revives him. Once Mario recounts what happened, the two continued the descent from Skyworld. When they reach the ground, they fight Primids across green plains and attempt to stop the Ancient Minister from delivering a bomb. Mario attempts to reach the Minister, but falls short; Pit also tries to get him by using a Footstool Jump on Mario, but he also fails. They then continue on their quest.

At one point in the story, the princess the player saved back at the stadium will be turned into a trophy by Bowser. Shadowbugs take over the princess's trophy, creating a dark clone of her which tries to fire a Dark Cannon at Mario, (if the princess was Peach) or Link (if the princess was Zelda). However, Link/Pit destroys the gun, and fights the princess with his teammate. Mario/Link notices them standing by the princess's trophy, which disintegrates. Enraged, Mario/Link attempts to attack Link/Mario, but he dodges the attack. Link and Yoshi/Mario and Pit fight the other team. After either side is defeated, King Dedede uses Wario's cargo (which also contains Zelda/Peach, Ness, and Luigi's trophies) to snatch the opponents' trophies with a mechanical arm. When Mario sees Peach as a trophy for the first time, despite Luigi being right beside Peach in the stolen Cargo, he only seems to care about Peach and not about his own brother. There a few possibilities for why this is. It may be a reference to the running joke of Luigi being ignored in many Mario games. It could also be that the cut scene is exactly parallel to the same one as Link who sees Zelda's trophy. Another possibility is that Luigi's feet are showing but not his face, making his identity unclear. Fortunately, Kirby appears from behind and severs the arm while reviving the opponents. King Dedede turns around and tries to get away, but Pit/Link fires an arrow at him, thus damaging the cargo. The five follow Dedede across some plains and follow him into a cave, where they see Dedede's castle. They enter the castle after Bowser and his army crash through the roof of Dedede's castle, following Bowser through a hole in the castle wall. Mario and his friends then confront Bowser, who escapes in the Koopa Clown Car with the trophy of the princess the player didn't save. They later catch up to the Ancient Minister in a desert, and after failing to stop a Subspace Bomb from detonating, barely escape the blast. Mario then leads his team in helping Marth and Ike's group, and later teams up with the other heroes to destroy the Subspace Gunship and is defeated along with the other heroes by Tabuu. Mario is later resurrected and helps the other heroes at the end with the help of Sonic when they face Tabuu and the might of the Subspace Army.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can either only be used by Mario, or can only be used by a select few, including Mario:
 * 1-Up Mushroom: [Leg] Attack +4
 * Bowser (Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix): [Throwing] Attack +20
 * Bowser (Mario Kart 64): [Weapon] Attack +13
 * Bowser (Super Paper Mario): [Arm] Attack +23
 * Coin: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +4
 * Dice Block: [Arm] Attack +8
 * Dr. Mario: [Head] Attack +18
 * Koopa: [Body, Spin] Attack +10
 * Lakitu (Mario Kart: Super Circuit): [Leg] Attack +13
 * Mario (Mario Kart DS): [Leg] Attack +22
 * Mario & Yoshi: [Specials: Indirect] Attack +13
 * Mega Rush Badge: [Specials: Direct] Attack +8
 * Mushroom: [Arm, Leg] Attack +5
 * Peach (Super Princess Peach): [Weapon] Attack +23
 * Peach (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Slash] Attack +5
 * Rawk Hawk: [Arm] Attack +5
 * Red Fire: [Flame] Attack +26
 * Super Mario Bros.: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
 * Toad & Toadette: [Head] Attack +16
 * Waluigi (Super Mario Strikers): [Slash] Attack +15
 * Waluigi (Mario Superstar Baseball): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +8
 * Yoshi (Yoshi Touch & Go): [Arm, Leg] Attack +8
 * Yoshi (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door): [Throwing] Attack +5

Trivia

 * Although Mario can crawl in his 3D games, he lacks the ability to crawl. This is opposite for Luigi as he can crawl but can't Wall Jump when Mario can (though Luigi couldn't Wall Jump in Super Mario 64 DS).
 * Mario is tied with Kirby for being the most playable character in the Subspace Emissary, being playable in 9 levels. Under certain circumstances, he is also the most defeated character, as he can be seen as a trophy up to four times. Despite this, it is possible to never play as him at any time as your never forced to play as Mario unlike Kirby.
 * Mario's cape is the only reflector that can reflect the water from F.L.U.D.D..
 * Mario rarely smiles in Brawl compared to his games and in Melee (he didn't have a mouth in SSB). In fact, his only time smiling is during his on-screen appearance in a VS. Match, his up tilt and the trophy for his Final Smash (in most Mario games, he always smiles).
 * Mario, Bowser, and Ganondorf are the only returning characters in Brawl to have at least one completely different move. Mario's Down Special Move, FLUDD, is completely different, while Bowser and Ganondorf have new Side Special Moves: Flying Slam and Flame Choke. Though these moves are simillar in appearence to there previous Side Bs from Melee, they do however function differently. Mario's old Mario Tornado move is now his Down aerial, though it's pretty much the same (but faster) and it's like his old down arial except for it's last blow which deals Knockback. Mario's also the only veteran to have a new Down Special (F.L.U.D.D.).
 * If one looks carefully, you can see denim stitches on his overalls, similar to Peach's dress and Yoshi's scaly skin. These stitches are also visible in the more recent 3D Mario games, but they aren't as detailed as they are in Brawl.