Fox (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * this article is about Fox's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Fox McCloud.

Fox (フォックス) was confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl at Nintendo World 2006. Fox was the first fighter to appear on the DOJO!!! that did not appear on the E3 2006 video. When he was revealed in the Nintendo World 2006 trailer, he was shown with his blaster in his hand at all times, leading to much speculation over how his attacks might change in Brawl. However, his gun is shown in its holster in all subsequent screenshots shown at the |Super Smash Bros. DOJO!!. He keeps all of his previous moves from SSBM. Fox is currently an C Tier character, a fairly large downgrade from his position in the most recent Melee tier list (first to twenty-first). While Fox still maintains his very fast movement and attack speed, being a candidate for 0-death chaingrabs and locks due his extremely fast falling speed acceleration, bad recovery, and low priority in most of his attacks cost him dearly. However, his tourney rankings in Japan are impressive leading to his position at number 5 on Japan's current tier list.

Attributes
Fox is a very light character who moves at very high speeds, clocking in as the third fastest runner and fastest walker in the game (along with Marth). Almost all of his attacks come off quickly and combine with each other. Fox's excellent speed is counter-balanced by his low priority (excluding his Up smash, which is better to save for KOing rather than use it for racking up damage). This can complicate approaches, and his Blaster doesn't make up for that because it doesn't make opponents flinch (though it's able to force approaches unless the opponent has a lasting reflector, PSI Magnet, or enough low crouch to avoid it). His up-smash and forward smash are powerful ground killers, especially up smash, and his up-aerial is very strong. Fox's only move that can reliably KO under 100% damage is his Up Smash (although that is still a good move due to its great power, speed, and priority). His forward aerial can add extra height to Fox's jump and also produces a hovering effect if used shortly after jumping (this usually makes up for his other recovery options), and his back air has high horizontal knockback. As far as specials go, Fox's Blaster can easily build damage from a distance, it refreshes stale moves if it hits, and it's also able to steal KOs. Fox's reflector not only reflects projectiles, but can semi-spike people when used in the air and also slows Fox's aerial movement. As far as recovery goes, Fox Illusion can be used to gain a horizontal boost (and can also be canceled before completion to trick opponents), as opposed to Fire Fox, which comes off much slower but can move vertically. However, Fire Fox is easily edgeguarded. Fox is also able to wall jump and can boost grab. He can also grab-release to dash-cancelled up smash as a staple KO on several characters in the game, such as Meta Knight.

Fox's most notable attribute (and the most notorious one) is his high gravity in relation to the rest of the Brawl cast (much like Jigglypuff having the slowest falling speed in the game). His falling speed acceleration is the fastest in the game, and his falling speed is extremely fast, unusual for a character as light as he is. It has advantages and some hindrances, all of which must be known to make the best use of Fox. Some advantages of this are it makes him difficult to hit in the air, and it allows him to approach with aerials quite well. Some hindrances of this are it makes him more susceptible to chaingrabs (particularly Pikachu´s buffered chaingrab) and locks (like Sheik's tilt lock), and it shortens his recovery.

The end result is that Fox is a glass cannon. As the 7th lightest character, 3rd fastest faller, mediocre directional Influence, poor recovery, and having the fastest falling acceleration, he tends to die at low percentages. On the upside, he does everything very quickly, but his absurd speed makes him tough to control.

Changes from Melee to Brawl
Overall, Fox is a faster, but slightly weaker character. His blaster travels roughly half the distance it previously did, but it also does roughly twice as much damage. His reflector (when used in the air) and forward aerial now give Fox hovering effects. His shine can now be canceled immediately without jumping, but Fox can no longer jump-cancel it. Fox's up tilt and neutral attack combo are faster. Fox's reflector no longer comes out in one frame, and it doesn't have set knockback anymore. Fox's falling speed has decreased, and his air speed has increased. However, both only changed a little. Fox's forward smash is faster, but it has less range and knockback. His up smash and up aerial have also been slightly weakened. Fox can now do a short-hop triple-laser. Fox also has a new B-air that has more power but slower startup. His jumps and Fire Fox are longer than they were in Melee.

Fox also had a few cosmetic changes. His up tilt and back-air have a new animation, and his forward smash is now a roundhouse (not a flying kick). He has been graphically updated and his design is now a mix of his appearances in Star Fox Command and Star Fox Assault. He also has a new voice (Assault voice actor) in both English (Jim Walker) and Japanese (Kenji Nojima).

Normal

 * Neutral attack - Left jab (2%), right hook (2%), then a flurry of kicks, or the Rapid Kick (1-2%).
 * Dash attack - Running kick. 7%.
 * Strong Side - A quick right kick. 6%.
 * Strong Up - Quick back kick. Causes 8% if the opponent is in front of Fox and 10% if the opponent is behind him. Can be used to juggle fast-fallers and large, heavy characters to roughly 45%.
 * Strong Down - Low tail whip. The attack does more damage the closer the opponent is to Fox, with a maximum of 9% and a minimum of 7%. Hitting with the tip of the tail sends the opponent upward.

Smash

 * Side Smash - A spinning kick. Moderate knockback. 16-22 damage
 * Down Smash - Split kick. Hits on both sides. Strong move with great range, greater than Falco's. 14%-19%.
 * Up Smash - A back-flip kick. The attack is significantly less effective if it hits while the opponent is behind Fox. KO most characters at about 100% with high vertical knockback and slight horizontal knockback. It's the strongest up smash out of all 3 Star Fox characters, similar to how Wolf has the strongest down smash of the three and Falco has the strongest forward smash. It is also the up smash with the fourth (arguably third) most knockback in the game and arguably the best due to it's very fast start-up. 17%-30%.

Other

 * Ledge attack - Pulls himself up into a sliding kick.
 * 100% Ledge attack - Gets up slowly, then does an axe kick.
 * Trip attack -

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Flying sex kick. Maximum of 9%.
 * Forward Aerial - Quintuple kick. Increases jump height and reduces falling speed while in effect, useful at recovery attempts. Can deal up to 23%.
 * Back Aerial - A slow back kick, although it's quite powerful. 15%.
 * Up Aerial - An upward tail whip with a follow-up kick. Hitting with the tail causes 5%, while the kick causes 11%.
 * Down Aerial - Drill kick. Does more damage the closer the opponent is to Fox and can deal up to 21%.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Knees the opponent. 1% damage each.
 * Standing grab - Grabs opponent by the neck.
 * Dash grab -
 * Pivot grab - Great as he can boost grab.
 * Forward Throw - Punches the opponent forward. 7% damage.
 * Back Throw - Throws opponent backward and shoots them with his Blaster. Can be avoided using DI. Up to 8% damage.
 * Up Throw - Throws opponent up and shoots them with his Blaster. Can be avoided using DI. Up to 8% damage.
 * Down Throw - Slams opponent on the ground and shoots them with his blaster. 9% damage. Can be followed up with a forward aerial at low percentages on certain characters.

Taunts

 * Up: Fox charges fire and says "Here I come."


 * Down: Like in Melee, Fox backs up, bends down a bit, and says "Come on."


 * Side: Fox throws his blaster around himself, watches it flip, and catches it.

Role in The Subspace Emissary
An Arwing is seen engaging the battleship Halberd, but is soon struck and begins to fall toward it. This causes Kirby and Zelda/Peach to be blown overboard in its wake.

It is later shown that the Arwing crash-landed at the edge of a jungle, near a lake. Diddy Kong discovers the Arwing, but Rayquaza rises from the lake and territorially attacks the Arwing with an Energy Ball setting it aflame. As Diddy is snatched up by the provoked Pokémon, Fox is ejected from the cockpit of the burning Arwing and proceeds to effortlessly rescue Diddy from the clutches of the serpentine Pokémon using his Fox Illusion and Reflector. After the two defeat the giant Pokémon, Fox attempts to leave, but is dragged back by Diddy and follows him deeper into the jungle. Soon, they fight a Shadowbug clone of Bowser and defeat it. Suddenly, the real Bowser fires his Dark Cannon at them, barely dodging the shot. Although Diddy is eager to fight Bowser, Fox knows that they can't survive against his Dark Cannon, so he grabs Diddy and jumps off a cliff.

After recovering from the fall and quickly making their way through The Swamp, they are ambushed by Bowser again, who succeeds in turning Diddy into a trophy. Bowser then attempts to turn Fox into a trophy, but he manages to dodge the shot, so Bowser sends some Shadowbugs to clone Diddy's trophy, outnumbering Fox. Falco suddenly appears out of nowhere in his Arwing and saves Fox from Bowser by destroying his Dark Cannon, forcing Bowser to escape. The Diddy clone begins to absorb more Shadowbugs, becoming gigantic as a result. Fox uses the opportunity to revive the real Diddy, and the three fight the clone. After Falco unwillingly joined the group, they find a ship carrying Donkey Kong's trophy to a floating island. The Great Fox suddenly appears, and as Falco and Diddy attempt to free DK, Fox plans to take down the Halberd with the Great Fox.

The Great Fox duels with the Halberd, but it ends up getting carried away by it, gets crashed into a mountain, and flies away in smoke. Later on, as Peach and Sheik are making their escape after Snake frees them, Fox is seen attacking the Halberd again in his Arwing. During the fire-fight, some of the Arwing's blasters hit dangerously close to Peach. Sheik does a very high range teleport on top of the Arwing and breaks open the cockpit. Both Sheik and Fox fall out of the Arwing and on the Halberd deck. They start running towards each other at high speeds and just before they break into a fight, Peach randomly offers them a cup of tea. Although Fox is shocked by this, when Sheik accepts hers, he accepts his as well. Just as they do, a group of Shadowbug Mr. Game & Watches fall from the Halberd's cockpit and form into Duon. The three are joined by Lucario and Snake (who knocked them down there in the first place), as well as Falco who arrives on another Arwing, and defeat the monster. Duon leaves behind the real Mr. Game & Watch's trophy as it disappears. Fox prepares to blast the trophy, but Peach approaches it and revives Mr. Game & Watch. Fox joins the rest of the heroes in the assault on the Subspace Gunship and the attack on Tabuu although he would be one of the many heroes to be transformed into trophies by Tabuu. However, like the other heroes, his trophy could be found and be revived in Subspace.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can either be only used by Fox, or by a select few characters including Fox:
 * Fox (Star Fox Command): [Tail] Attack +18
 * Fox (Star Fox Adventures): [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
 * Wolf: [Arm, Leg] Attack +15
 * Pigma: [Arm] Attack + 7
 * Krystal (Star Fox Adventures): [Electric] Attack +28
 * ROB: [Electric] Resistance +15
 * Krystal (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +12
 * Falco (Star Fox Command): [Energy] Attack +14
 * Fox (Star Fox 64): [Energy] Attack +18
 * Fox (Star Fox: Assault): [Energy] Attack +33
 * Arwing: [Leg] Attack + 6
 * Falco (Star Fox Adventures): [Specials: Indirect] Attack +11
 * Wolfen (Star Fox 64): [Tail] Attack +16
 * Krystal (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +17
 * Panther: [Tail] Attack +18
 * Miniature Dachshund: [Tail] Attack +28
 * Wolfen (Star Fox: Assault): [Tail] Attack +30
 * Falco 	(Star Fox 64): [Weapon] Attack +11
 * Andrew: Launch Resistance + 7

Trivia

 * Fox is among one of the most popular characters used for Target Smash!! (particularly for Challenges that requires one to do under the time limit) mainly due to him having the fastest falling acceleration and a spammable projectile in order to quickly destroy targets, while consequently hinder easy recovery due to the falling speed.
 * Fox holds the world record for Co-Op Target Smash!! Level 3 with Pit (completed in 4.03 seconds).
 * The early trailers of SSBB featured Fox continuously holding his blaster, instead of holstering it as usual.