Wolf (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


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

Wolf (, Urufu) is a hidden character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Wolf was confirmed in the months leading up to the release via a Japanese leak of the game. He appears to be somewhat similar to Fox and Falco, although he differs from them in several ways. He's considered the "heavy" of the three, being stronger, taller, and slower (although his attacks are actually fast). His normal attacks are unique whereas his special attacks are similar to Fox's, but very different in function.

Wolf was officially confirmed on March 31st, 2008, earning distinction as the last character to be officially confirmed. His Japanese voice actor is Mahito Oba and his English voice actor is Jay Ward. Wolf can be unlocked with one of the three following ways: After beating Adventure Mode, go back to "The Ruins", skip the first door you pass when riding the second elevator down (with the purple spikes). Instead enter the second door at the bottom and defeat him. You can also face Wolf after playing 450 brawls or defeating Boss Battles with Fox or Falco.

Wolf is ranked 22nd on the current tier list due to well rounded attacks and a great reflector, but having very poor accuracy in recovery and having extreme vulnerability to chain grabs (although his reflector helps a bit) bars him from the higher tiers.

How to Unlock

 * Beat Boss Battles with Fox or Falco, then defeat Wolf.
 * Participate in 450 brawls, then defeat Wolf.
 * Have Wolf join you in the Subspace Emissary.

Attributes
Of the three Star Fox universe characters, Wolf feels the most unique. For one, although his body is larger than either Fox or Falco, he crouches down in a stationary position making him the shortest of the three space animals while he is on the ground. His fighting style is very fluid, mixing his claws and his legs into a rather graceful string of attacks. He is somewhat weighted (mid-heavy and the third-fastest faller), and his orientation is more of a terrestrial fighter. His attacks come out quickly and have high priority, and he can string them together into a long chain of slashes and lunges. His Blaster is slower but stronger than the others, stuns opponents and is a melee attack up close, dealing additional damage. His Wolf Flash moves slightly diagonally which meteor smashes at the end of the attack (the top point of the jump), which is useful for edge guarding and as an anti air attack. Fire Wolf has the least start up lag of the three Star Fox characters, carries the opponent with him, and has good knockback at the end. Wolf also has solid K.O. potential with most of his attacks, particularly his f-air, b-air, d-air, and all of his smashes which come out quickly and have little lag. His d-air is an excellent Meteor Smash. Wolf also possesses a reflector (down special), which has many uses. First off, it reflects projectiles, returning them at double the speed and power. It comes out on 1 frame and can be held for as long as the player wishes. If held, it acts like a normal shield (besides protecting from attacks) in which it may break after constantly reflecting projectiles, although it will not break if simply held. It can also be used for gimping. It grants Wolf invincibility frames that allow him to avoid some attacks quickly (even many final smashes) or escape from some chain grabs. The reflector may also damage anyone for 3% with set knockback.

Wolf is well-rounded, but a few problems are apparent: his ledge sweet-spot is likely the smallest in the game and heavily effects his recovery, although he surprisingly gets a lot of distance from Fire Wolf and Wolf Flash (leaving his recovery only difficult to use and not as poor). His high falling speed and average jump boast a few slight weaknesses although he has a very fast lateral air speed. Also, his dashing speed is surprisingly slow (only a little faster than his walking speed, although this can be made up by just staying in the air, as Wolf has good air speed and on the ground he has both a long smash-boost and a forward smash to move quickly). His K.O. potential is decent, though unusually low for a heavy character as a result of the quick decay on his K.O. attacks. It should also be noted that Wolf is extremely susceptible to chain-throwing because of his falling speed, (though his reflector can escape them if they are not perfectly timed, since invincibility starts on frame 1), which combined with his high risk recovery makes chain grabs that allows him to be forced offstage extremely dangerous, but his weight does make him rather difficult to K.O compared to the other space animals.

What hurts is chain-grabbing and succeptibilty to certain combos combined with his dumbfire recovery. Having a such hard counter with many characters in tournaments can be a real problem.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack- A natural combo if A is pressed 3 times in a row; Wolf slashes with one arm, then the other, and bites on the third hit, dealing knockback. The three hits deal 3%, 2% and 4% consecutively; a total of 9% damage.
 * Dash attack- Wolf performs a back flip out of a run. Can be used to perform a DACUS. Causes 9% damage (Note: This is one of the few dash attacks that almost completely negates the players' inertia).
 * Forward Tilt- Double claw swipe, digging in and pulling his claws apart. Has an extremely high number of Freeze frames. Can be aimed up or down. Causes 11% damage dispersed in two hits.
 * Down Tilt- Low right kick. Causes 6% damage. Somewhat useful for edgeguarding.
 * Up Tilt- Quick right kick. Has some KO-potential. Deals 10% damage.

Smash

 * Forward Smash- Thrusts his arm forward, then quickly rotates his claws in a 180° angle. It has superb range, speed and strikes the opponent two times. Below average knockback. Gives great horizontal distance with fast start-up. Does 15% damage uncharged, 21% damage fully charged.
 * Up Smash- Upward scissor kick. Looks like Sonic's Up Aerial. Hits the opponent twice and causes 18% damage uncharged and 25% damage fully charged. It can also be used as a DACUS.
 * Down Smash- Swipes claws on both side, very quick speed. This move is one of Wolf's good finishers. Does 14% damage if the opponent is in front of Wolf and 13% if the opponent is behind Wolf. Fully charged it deals 19% damage in front 18% damage behind. It's the strongest down smash out of all 3 Star Fox characters, similar to how Fox has the strongest up smash of the three and Falco has the strongest forward smash of the three.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial- Spinning tail whip. If it hits right after the attack starts, it will deal 8% damage and knock them back. Otherwise it will constantly deal 1% damage.
 * Forward Aerial- Left claw swipe. Deals 11% damage and has good vertical knockback.
 * Back Aerial- Back kick. Extremely fast and good knockback, works well with RAR. Does 13% damage.
 * Up Aerial- Claw swipe from top to sides. Deals 12% damage. great for juggling.
 * Down Aerial- Double axe handle. A good meteor smashing move that causes 15% damage.

Grabs and Throws
Unlike Fox or Falco, none of his throws involve him using his Blaster.
 * Pummel- Right knee. Deals 1%, but is extremely quick. The first pummel refreshes other moves.
 * Forward Throw- Uppercuts the opponent forward. Can be used to chaingrab characters like Fox by dashing forward in time. 7%
 * Back Throw- Throws the opponent up and claws them backward. Knockback slightly vertical. 7%
 * Up Throw- Throws the opponent up and slashes them with both claws. 7%
 * Down Throw- Throws the opponent on the ground and claws them. Has Semi-spike properties. Good to set up a DACUS. 12%

Taunts
Up: Leans backwards and howls.

Down: Kneels down, slaps one hand on the ground and snarls.

Side: Does three kicks while saying, "What's the matter, scared?" in a teasing manner.

Smash Taunt: In Lylat Cruise, Wolf can do various Star Fox Conversations by pressing the button for the Down Taunt for one frame.

Role in Subspace Emissary
In the Subspace Emissary, Wolf doesn't play a major role and does not interact with other video game characters, but can join the player's party after beating Tabuu. The player must enter a special Red Door in The Ruins stage, which will take them to Lylat Cruise. The player sees Wolf flying his Wolfen. He then jumps off the Wolfen, and lands on the cruise. Wolf strikes a pose and then rushes at the player attacking him or her. The player must then defeat Wolf in a one-life stock battle. After defeat, he joins the party. (Although Wolf is never in a cutscene that shows both him and another character, he does seem to stare at the person who challenges him.)

Costume Gallery

 * Wolf's eyepatch and armor are different colors for each costume.

Cheer

 * "Wolf! (howl) Wolf!"

Trivia

 * Wolf's attributes in Star Fox Assault multiplayer differ from Brawl. For example, he is actually the fastest character in the game, but does have a poor use in the Landmaster.
 * Wolf appears to run and walk with a slight limp, although it may merely be a self-styled fighting approach.
 * Out of all three Star Fox characters, Wolf is considered the heaviest, however, he ranks last in the heavyweight weight class. This is similar to the Pokemon characters in Melee, in which Mewtwo was the heaviest of the four characters but was still a lightweight character.
 * Wolf is the only one of the last 3 unlockable characters in Brawl not to appear in the Event Match: Visitors to Flat Zone. Instead, Peach takes his place.
 * Although considered by most people to be the last unlockable character (due to his fairly high difficulty in all three situations which lead toward unlocking him), he is not required to be unlocked last, because after completing Adventure Mode one can complete Boss Battles with Fox or Falco, or find the hidden door in The Ruins before finding the hidden doors in The Swamp or The Lake, which lead to Toon Link and Jigglypuff, or completing Classic and/or and event. This is also similar is unlocking Jigglypuff in Melee, as Jigglypuff wasn't required to be unlocked first. (And could even be the last to be possibly unlocked in the original game).