Marth (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

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

Marth (マルス, Marusu) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Marth appears in the game's opening video, standing back to back with Meta Knight. He appears to have been improved since Super Smash Bros. Melee (where he was already considered one of the best characters), being given one of, if not the most powerful Final Smash in the game and having his Counter improved, among other things.

How to Unlock
Complete one of the following:
 * Play 10 matches in Brawl, then defeat Marth
 * Finish Classic mode on any difficulty, then defeat Marth
 * Get Marth to join your party in The Subspace Emissary

Pros:

 * Fairly quick running speed
 * Most attacks come out quickly
 * Long range and great knockback/damage on most attacks
 * Down Aerial is a powerful spike
 * Attacks that hit at the furthest range (tippers) deal the most damage and knockback
 * Forward smash is long ranged and has great knockback
 * Fast and long lasting counter
 * Fully charged Shield Breaker gives a bit of horizontal recovery midair
 * Side B is fast and deals good damage
 * Side B has an excellent Wavebounce which can be used for defense and offense
 * Down B and Neutral B(When fully charged) have Slight Wavebounces
 * Good Grab Range
 * Can do 2 Fairs or Uair in one Short Hop, one of the 4 characters that can (the others being Lucario, ROB, or Luigi.(with fair))
 * Can Juggle well
 * Excellent Edgeguarding abilities
 * Up Smash is strong and has good vertical range
 * Up B is a quick and an excellent killing move at high precentages

Cons:

 * Fairly light for a character his size.
 * Attacks that are not tippers have much worse damage and knockback.
 * A badly timed counter can lead to a KO
 * No Projectile
 * Relies on edgeguard kills
 * Side B no longer aids his recovery

Ground Attacks
Normal Smash
 * Dash A - A quick upward diagonal slash with a medium amount of lag.
 * Down Tilt - A crouching sword poke.
 * Forward Tilt - Much like the dash attck without as much lag.
 * Up Tilt - Swings his sword in a large arc above his head.
 * Forward Smash - A strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground.
 * Down Smash - Sweeps his sword on the ground on both sides of himself.
 * Up Smash - A powerful thrust upwards.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Two horizontal slashes around himself.
 * Forward Aerial - Forward vertical slash (up to down).
 * Up Aerial - A forward to back upward sword slash.
 * Down Aerial - A forward to back downward sword slash. At times it spikes.
 * Back Aerial - Bottom to top sword slash behind him. Causes him to turn around after use.

Grabs and Throws

 * Forward Throw: Grabs and pushes forward, tripping with the leg.
 * Down Throw: Hooks arm and drags to the floor.
 * Back Throw: Pulls and extends leg simultaneously.
 * Up Throw: Powerful upward throw with one arm.

Tips & Strategies

 * Dolphin Slash is a good killer at high percentages, but is very situational. A good way to set up for it is hit the first move of the Dancing Blade, wait a little, then get a tipper with the Dolphin Slash
 * A good way to get a KO is to repeatedly attack them in midair after jumping off the stage and edgehog them with your recovery.
 * Marth's Dair Spike is difficult to land in this game. When in midair, use a footstool jump and immediately use the Dair. This will space them enough to hit them with the tipper.
 * Marth's Dancing Blade can still aid his recovery, but unlike the last game, you can only do it once per jump. At almost the peak of Marth's first or second jump, perform the first slash of Dancing Blade, then Marth will get higher.
 * With the addition of wavebounceing, facing the opposite direction of the stage, Marth can maximize his recovery.
 * Marth has no projectile, however, by countering a strong projectile onto your opponent, such as Snake's C4 or any other explosive, you can get a KO.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Two R.O.B.s are seen activating a Subspace Bomb in a barren battlefield. Marth is seen at the top of a castle watching helplessly as the robots detonate the bomb. He stands and shines his sword, then hundreds of Primids are shown going to the castle. The gameplay starts with him confronting the Primids and descending through the building until he reaches the grounds. A video sequence starts again and he is ambushed by Meta Knight. During the duel (in the same video sequence), they are attacked from behind by the Primids, but they both manage to repel them. Realizing that the other is not an enemy, they join forces to defeat the Primid. After fighting against the Primids, both Meta Knight and Marth aim their attacks at the Ancient Minister, who is carrying another Subspace Bomb. They both miss, but luckily Ike shows up and attacks the Ancient Minister with his trusted Aether move. With the Subspace Bomb destroyed, the trio storm the castle once more.

In the desert, they see a vehicle driving off in the distance. Ike immediately jumps off the cliff to pursue it, followed by Meta Knight. Marth merely scratches the back of his head in disbelief before following them. When they find the vehicle, it transforms into Galleom, and the three fight it. After battling Galleom, it jumps off the cliff and falls through the ground, where it encounters Lucas and Pokémon Trainer. When it gets defeated again, it grabs Lucas and the Trainer, and tries to detonate a Subspace Bomb, but Lucas manages to free them from Galleom, and Meta Knight grabs them as they fall. When the Halberd duels with the Great Fox, Meta Knight leaves the group in order to board the Halberd. After the Ice Climbers are knocked off the mountain by the Halberd, and join Marth's group, Mario's group comes to aid them in fighting off the Primids that were dropped. After the battle, the Halberd (now under Meta Knight's control) and the Falcon Flyer land to pick them up. After an assault on the Subspace Gunship, they enter Subspace and encounter Tabuu, who turns them all into trophies. Fortunately, he, and some of the others, are revived by King Dedede, Luigi, and Ness, while the rest are revived by Kirby, and Marth helps the heroes face Tabuu.

Special Movements
Taunts

Up: Raises his sword in the air, and it shines.

Side: Slashes his sword twice in front of himself, then sheaths it.

Down: Slashes his sword once, and raises it in front of him saying "Minna, miteite kure" which is Japanese for "Everyone, watch me!", literally "All, continue watching after me!" (same as in Melee).

On-Screen Appearance: He is teleported in with Warp Powder. His pose is different from Ike's.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

 * Shorter sword
 * Shield Breaker is now a stab and charges faster
 * Tip of the blade isn't easy to hit with anymore
 * Standard A combo is slower
 * Grabs are considerably shorter
 * Dashing attack always knocks the opponent forward instead of occasional backwards
 * Counter deals 1.1x damage back with a minimum of 8%
 * Side B is faster and easier to get all of the hits
 * Dolphin Slash goes a bit more horizontal now

Info
Marth's Side Special, Dancing Blade, is the largest move-choice Special in the game, involving Marth swinging his sword once, then allowing players to choose between down, centered, or up for the second slash, down, centered, or up for the third, and then down, centered, or up for the finale. Marth's standard special move, Shield Breaker, is one that can destroy shields (pressing the shield button) and can also negate moves like Mario's cape. Marth's final smash is a single critical hit that is usually a total K.O. When the final smash is performed a life meter appears and goes down as the opponents are launched. The life meter uses the same graphics as seen in the Super Famicom (Super NES) game, Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo.

Trivia

 * Along with Sonic, Snake and Ness, he is seen in the opening video of Brawl. They're the only four unlockable characters to do so.
 * Marth is the only speaking character to only speak in Japanese in both English and Japanese versions. This is probably because the Fire Emblem game that Marth appeared in hasn't been released in English version yet(It probably wont ever be released in English).