Captain Falcon (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Captain Falcon's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Captain Falcon. For the clone counterpart of Captain Falcon, see Ganondorf (SSBB).

Captain Falcon (キャプテン・ファルコン, Kyaputen Farukon, full name, Douglas Jay Falcon) appears as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Originating from the F-Zero universe, Captain Falcon returns once again to compete in Brawl.

Captain Falcon is currently ranked 32 on the tier list as a result of the major nerf of his priority from Melee, combined with his slow attack speed with very low shieldstun with addition of poor hitboxes in his aerials to prevent him from approaching in the air effectively (making safe approaches nearly impossible, especially when considering his lack of projectiles), the impact of the new Brawl physics (Falcon was arguably hit the hardest by the physics changes; less hitstun and the loss of L-cancelling result in drastically fewer, weaker combos, and he can no longer dashdance effectively or moonwalk.), predictable recovery, low traction, and as a result of these issues, terrible match-ups (none of all are in his favor, some as low as 20/80 and only counters Ganondorf with a slight advantage, and has nearly neutral matchups against several characters, with a slight disadvantage) and poor overall tournament results.

How to Unlock
To unlock Captain Falcon, the player must do one of the following:
 * Play 70 brawls.
 * Beating Classic Mode on Normal difficulty or higher in under 12 minutes, and after doing either of these, defeating Captain Falcon in a brawl match will unlock him.
 * Alternately, one can have him join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary, which will unlock him.

Attributes
Captain Falcon is a moderately heavy character with strong attacks and has the second fastest running speed, behind Sonic. His fast dash, though its speed is useful, but combining it with very low traction causes him to trip more often. His attacks mostly consist of kicks and punches, including the famed Falcon Punch, which is one of the most powerful moves in the game. He is also capable of performing the Wall jump. He has the second fastest falling speed, but his air speed is one of the best in the game. Many of his moves have high knockback and damage, lending him considerable power, but they also have considerable start-up time and small sweetspots. His standard special, the Falcon Punch, deals high damage, can KO at early percentages and the direction can be reversed, but takes considerable start-up time. Raptor Boost makes him rush forward, then does a quick fiery uppercut that pops opponents in the air. When done in the air, he will instead punch targets downwards with a Meteor Smash, making it useful when recovering, since it can meteor smash the edge-guarders and even edgehoggers, but the move has low priority. Raptor Boost also has the ability to cut through most projectiles, but Captain Falcon lacks a projectile himself. Falcon Kick send him rocketing forward, downward when used in midair and deals decent damage and knockback, but it has terrible priority. Contrary to the name, Falcon Dive sends him upwards with a little horizontal movement. If his Falcon Dive connects, it will deal damage to an opponent and Captain Falcon will get off from them, sometimes stage spiking, and he will be able to use Falcon Dive again. Falcon Dive can also grab edgehoggers if they are within its grab range. In terms of recovery, though, Falcon Dive is a slow move, and it is easy to edgeguard. Captain Falcon's very fast falling speed makes this problem even worse. Many of his moves make powerful finishers- for example, his forward aerial (informally known by many different names, of which "Knee of Justice" is probably the most popular) is known for having extreme knockback, but it is hard to sweetspot, his back aerial has good priority and knockback, his down aerial makes a powerful meteor smash, and his forward smash deals high damage with high knockback. Despite having very low priority on most of his moves, some other moves have decent priority, notably his neutral attack in addition to be very fast. His other moves with decent priority includes his up tilt, his dash attack, and all his aerials (his forward aerial only has high priority when it is sweetspoted). However most of his other moves have low priority, in addition have considerable starting lag, but they are very powerful. His throws chain well, but Captain Falcon himself is a good candidate for chain grabs due to his heavy weight, large size, and fast falling speed. And he also has a very poor approach.

Falcon's critical problem lies in his guttural priority and shieldstun combining his slow ground attack speed resulting in lack of a reliable approach, and his lack of projectiles forces him to approach with the addition of his poor and small hitboxes in his aerials combined with very fast falling speed to also have hard time hitting in the air on grounded characters. Many of his ground attacks and three of his specials are easily cancelled by a number of unusual moves from other characters, such as certain jabs, and having slow start-up attacks makes things worse. This sometimes forces him to dodge many attacks instead, since he can't fight his opponents. His extremely low priority combined with below average attack speed and only decent range and fast mobility makes the approaches of Captain Falcon nearly impossible, meaning he is easily camped. Coupled with his lack of a safe approach, Captain Falcon will usually have a difficult time handling most opponents controlled by highly skilled players, especially small characters, because most of his attacks have very small with no low hitboxes.

In the end, Captain Falcon relies on his heavyweight, power, range, and fast mobility to make up for his abysmal approaches and his often sluggish attacks. He can KO and rack up damage quite easily when the opportunity presents itself, though he lacks a quick ground killing move.

Changes from Melee to Brawl
Captain Falcon has been severely nerfed from SSBM to SSBB (arguably the biggest nerf from Melee to Brawl). His attacks are slower and have lower priority (now the lowest overall in the game), which makes safe approaches nearly impossible. Additionally, his traction is significantly lower, now one of the lowest. Captain Falcon can no longer Nipple Spike and now has a harder time meteor smashing in general. The Knee Smash (forward aerial) is much harder to sweet spot and is slightly weaker in terms of knockback (though it is stronger in terms of damage output, if only by 1%). In recovery, his falling speed is significantly lower (but it is still very fast in comparison to other characters in Brawl). The Falcon Dive can now grab edge-hoggers and has a larger grab-zone. It also travels slightly more distance vertically, but much less horizontal distance; and can break targets in "Target Smash!!" mode. On the downside, Falcon Kick no longer enables him to regain his second jump, and Falcon Dive travels much less horizontal distance. The Falcon Punch can now be reversed for a short time during the startup. The Falcon Punch has less startup time, but lower knockback. Captain Falcon is now able to swing the Home Run Bat like other characters can. Because of this, he can now properly use a Home Run Bat for a Homerun Contest. Captain Falcon's down smash is stronger in terms of knockback, but has much lower priority like his other moves. Raptor Boost is easier to use and makes a "leapfrog" effect when attack connects in the air.

In terms of cosmetics, Captain Falcon has a slightly new design from F-Zero GX, most notably his scarf (from F-ZERO GP Legend). His victory theme changed to the finish from F-Zero GX/AX. He has a new "toppling" animation.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Punches twice then knees the opponent, which is followed by a series of punches. The first two punches and the kick do 4% and 5% respectively, and the punches at the end do 1% each. Extremely fast. Surprisingly much higher priority than many of his other moves though still not one of the jabs with best priority.
 * Dash Attack - Rams a shoulder into the opponent. Quick, but no true follow-up, extreme unsafety on shields due lack of shieldstun and high ending lag means it's still an unsafe approach move. Decent priority. Can KO at moderately high percentages. 9-12%.
 * Strong Side - Roundhouse kick. Low priority. Mediocre range. 7-10%.
 * Strong Up - An Axe kick with horizontal knockback. Decent priority. Good range. Somewhat slow. 10-13%.
 * Strong Down - Does a sweep kick with vertical knockback. Mediocre priority. Decent range. 9-12%.

Smash

 * Forward Smash - Rears back and jabs an elbow forward, making a fire effect in contact. High knockback and fairly good range, but slow, has abysmal shieldstun and with extremely low priority. 19-26%.
 * Up Smash - Kicks into the air twice. Good knockback. Mediocre priority. First kick does 10-11%, second hit does 10-12%. Total, 20-23%.
 * Down Smash - Kick forward, then backward. High horizontal knockback, but slow start-up. Higher knockback if the tip of the boot connects. Extremely low priority. 12-15% for each kick.

Other

 * Ledge attack - Flips over and brings his foot down. Very fast. 5-6%
 * 100% Ledge attack - climbs up the ledge and does an uppercut attack. Medium Speed.
 * Floor attack - Spin kicks his foes. Very fast.
 * Trip attack - Gets up and hits forward and backward with his fist.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Kicks horizontally twice for 10% total damage. Decent priority.
 * Forward Aerial - Knee Smash: Jabs a knee forward. If sourspotted, it deals 3% with low extremely low knockback and priority, but if sweetspotted, it deals 19% with extremely high knockback and priority, making it an excellent horizontal finisher. When sweetspotted, an electric effect can be seen.
 * Back Aerial - Punches backwards. Decent knockback and priority.
 * Up Aerial - Kick flips with good reach. The attack does more horizontal knockback if hit at the tip but more vertical knockback if his body connects. Good priority.
 * Down Aerial - Stomps downward. This is a powerful meteor smash when his boots hit the target. When it connects on his body, it deals diagonal knockback, which means that the Nipple Spike has been removed. Okay priority. This can also be auto-canceled like Ganondorf's Down Aerial following a short hop.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Knees the enemy's midsection.
 * Forward Throw - Punches the enemy and sends them forward.
 * Back Throw - Puts the enemy behind him and kicks.
 * Up Throw -Holds the enemy up and punches them upward with his left hand. Can combine with other attacks well.
 * Down Throw - Flips opponent and throws them on the ground. Can combine with other attacks well.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt - Clenches his fists while surrounded by a fiery aura.
 * Side Taunt - Jumps back, extends his hand out, and says "Come on!"
 * Down Taunt - Gives a salute while saying "Show me your moves!" This taunt can be done faster if Captain Falcon is facing left.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
In Subspace Emissary, Captain Falcon will team up with Captain Olimar and his Pikmin. When Olimar sends his Pikmin to attack a giant ROB, it wakes up the robot, causing it to shake off the Pikmin. Luckily, Captain Falcon drives his F-Zero machine straight towards them, jumps out in mid-motion, and Falcon Punches the ROB, thus destroying it and, upon landing, Olimar's remaining Pikmin (except for the red Pikmin beside Olimar). When Captain Falcon shouts "Falcon Punch!" in this Subspace Emisarry Cutscene, it strongly resembles the sound bit from the N64 version of the game. Once the two get out of the forest, they find a Primid transport platform that is holding the trophied Donkey Kong hostage. The two watch as Diddy Kong falls from Falco's Arwing, and fires peanuts at the ship. After Diddy Kong revives DK, Captain Falcon grabs Olimar, and jumps off the ledge and onto the ship. Then the four must fight off a horde of Primids. Afterwards, the ship will take them into the secret Subspace HQ, where they will meet up with Samus, Pikachu, and, eventually, a friendly ROB. After fighting off a large army comprising of various Subspace troops with the others, the heroes are unable to stop the ROBs which arm the last remaining Subspace bombs. Captain Falcon seemed to be analyzing the power of the Subspace Bombs, because afterwards, he motions to everyone to "Get out of this place ASAP". Captain Falcon presses a few buttons on his wrist, summoning his ship, the Falcon Flyer. Everyone piles into the ship and prepares to escape the doomed base when they are attacked from behind by Meta Ridley. After defeating the monster, they escape the floating island where a giant explosion of subspace engulfs the island. (In fact, the explosion is so fatal, the island doesn't return to normal even after Tabuu is beaten. Instead, a light -shaped like an "X"- is in its place.) Captain Falcon joins with the other heroes and uses his ship to help in the assault on the Subspace Battleship. He continues to help throughout the rest of the story.

Towards the end, Captain Falcon and everyone else glimpse Tabuu. In a single, devastating act, Tabuu turns everyone into trophies. All are brought back to life due to the Dedede Badges and efforts of Kirby, Luigi, Ness, and Dedede. With the aid of Sonic, Tabuu becomes vulnerable, and a final battle between the characters and Tabuu begins. The player may pick Captain Falcon to fight Tabuu, if the player has found and picked up the Captain Falcon trophy.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can only be used by Captain Falcon:
 * Blue Falcon: [Specials: Direct] Attack + 3
 * Capt. Falcon (F-Zero): [Slash] Resistance +23
 * Capt. Falcon (F-Zero GX): [Arm, Leg] Attack + 8
 * Capt. Falcon (F-Zero X): [Specials: Direct] Attack +19
 * Gomar & Shioh:	[Specials: Direct] Attack +10
 * Samurai Goroh:[Arm] Attack +18
 * Black Shadow(F-Zero GX):[Flame]Attack +25

Trophy description
A skilled F-Zero pilot and resourceful bounty hunter. All that's known of his past is that he hails from Port Town. He's won fame and fortune outracing his opponents in his beloved Blue Falcon. His incredible athleticism and never-say-die attitude makes him the pilot to turn to in times of trouble. F-Zero (Super Nintendo)

F-Zero GX (Nintendo Gamecube)

Trivia

 * Captain Falcon is one of the fuck characters to speak during The Subspace Emissary. He yells out "Falcon Punch!" while using the move on a giant R.O.B. and he says "Come on!" following with a snap to summon the Falcon Flyer.
 * Captain Falcon is one of the four characters that has a holstered weapon but does not use it at all. The others are Ganondorf, Snake and Sheik.
 * Captain Falcon's "Come on!" and "Blue Falcon!" are in Melee's master sound test despite not appearing anywhere else in that game.
 * Captain Falcon can be seen in the "How To Play" video in the game, despite being a secret character; in the Final Smash montage, Falcon can be seen sleeping from Peach's Peach Blossom. He also can be seen during Lucas' PK Starstorm during the montage (though he is harder to spot, since the scene lasts such a short time.).
 * Captain Falcon has a two hit side smash with the star rod and beam sword.
 * As shown in this screenshot, Nintendo took the time to model and texture-map Captain Falcon's eyeballs and teeth. (The teeth, of course, are necessary for some of Captain Falcon's moves in which he opens his mouth, and scenes in the Subspace Emissary where he opens his mouth - teeth must be visible or he would look strange.)
 * Captain Falcon is one of the only four characters to wear a helmet, the others being Olimar,  Samus, and  Wario's biker outfit.
 * SSBB is the only Smash Bros. game to have Captain Falcon's scarf hanging out off his shirt.
 * SSBB is currently the only Smash Bros. game where Captain Falcon is below high tier.
 * Captain Falcon has a total of 4 recovery methods: A Falcon Dive, a Raptor Boost, a connected Raptor Boost, and a Falcon Kick at a really great height or near a KO line, thus tied with Sonic for having the second largest amount of recoveries in the game.
 * Strangely, along with the other characters of his team, when Captain Falcon and the others jumped on his ship in the Subspace Emissary, they disappeared when they landed. It may be that they landed on the entrance hole when they landed, but this is unconfirmed.
 * If you look closely at Captain Falcon's character Brawl icon, you can see the sun from Final Destination (SSBB), making him the only character icon where it is held at Final Destination.