Zero Suit Samus (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about Zero Suit Samus' appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see Zero Suit Samus.

Zero Suit Samus (ゼロスーツサムス), often abbreviated as ZSS, 0SS or Zamus is a character that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Zero Suit Samus lacks stamina compared to when she is in her suit, but is faster. She uses a gun known as the Paralyzer, which can also be converted into a Plasma Whip, which can be used for a tether recovery, similar to her Grapple Beam while in the powersuit. The only two games in which Zero Suit Samus is playable are Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid: Other M. While Samus is without her power suit in this game, her only form of attack is the paralyzer pistol, which does nothing but shoot paralyzing shots. The idea of a whip coming out of it was created for use in Brawl. Zero Suit Samus is voiced by Alesia Glidewell, who also voices Krystal from Star Fox and the assist trophy Knuckle Joe.

The impact from Samus' Final Smash is enough to remove her Power Suit, transforming her into Zero Suit Samus. Zero Suit Samus is able to transform back into normal Samus by using her Final Smash, which causes her to get her suit back while performing a move similar to the Crystal Flash from Super Metroid.

Zero Suit Samus ranks 13th on the current Brawl tier list; due to her amazing air and juggle game (her up aerial having the largest disjoint in the game), great spacing tools in Plasma Whip and Down Smash, high vertical aerial mobility, longest tether recovery and extremely quick neutral attacks. However she lacks options out of shield, safe options on shield, and aerial options below her which creates a weakness to long-range hitstun-inducing projectiles such as Lasers and Needles. She also sports what many players consider the worst grab in the game; despite its long reach, it is slow, predictable, and very easy to punish.

Midplay:
Samus can also remove her power suit while in battle by doing the up taunt, down taunt, and up taunt in quick succession. It appears to be rather difficult to achieve, as DOJO!! states, "It's not easy [...] Try it out next time you feel like showing off."

Though there is a very easy way to do it with either the GameCube/Classic Controller or Wii Remote + Nunchuk:

1. Hold the GameCube/Classic controller/*Wii Remote sideways so your left and right hand thumbs are on the "Up" and "Down" taunt Control Pad buttons respectively.


 * For the Wii remote + Nunchuk, put your thumbs on the "1" and "2" buttons.

2. Press "Up taunt" first. This is the only thing that actually needs to be pressed in the right order.


 * Press "1" on the Wii remote to activate the "Up" taunt first.

3. During Samus's "Up taunt", rapidly press both "Up" and "Down" as fast as you can, make sure you are actually doing it as fast as you can. The Up and Down has to be done 4 times before Samus removes her hand from her forehead for her to transform.


 * For the Wii remote + nunchuk, press the "1" THEN "2" buttons and repeat rapidly. Do not press "1" + "2" at the same time, or else this will activate the side taunt.

You should be able to transform very easily using this method. For the GameCube Controls, using one thumb to mash the directional pad works fine.

Another, very similar method is to place your index finger on the button for D-Taunt and your middle finger on the button for U-Taunt. Then, starting with the U-Taunt, just rock back and forth, Up-Down-Up. If you do it quickly, with several passes during the triggered U-Taunt, it's quite likely to trigger the transformation. (This is mostly for the GC controls, but applies to the others as well.)

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Brawl:
Select Samus on the character screen and hold the following button before the match starts with the corresponding controller that is being used:


 * GameCube/Classic controller: Hold the L or R button.
 * Wii Remote and Nunchuk: Hold the Z button.
 * Wii Remote: Hold the Minus (-) button.


 * To select Zero Suit Samus as a CPU opponent: Have a control set for the desired player number and select Samus. Next, hold down the corresponding button for that controller when starting the match.

(In all cases, you only have to hold the button until you are at the Select Stage screen. If you look at the Roster image in the upper-left area, you will see Zero Suit Samus' face instead of her Power Suit's helmet.)

Starting as Zero Suit Samus in Adventure Mode:
After Samus regains her power suit during the Subspace Emissary, Zero Suit Samus can still be selected by highlighting Samus on the character select screen and pressing the following buttons:


 * GameCube Controller: Wiggle the C Stick in any direction
 * Classic controller: Wiggle the Right Stick in any direction.
 * Wii Remote with Nunchuk: Press the C button.
 * Wii Remote: Press the Minus (-) button.

This technique can also be used to select an alternate form during tournament mode, and works for all other multi-form characters in addition to Samus.

Attributes
She starts the match with a huge advantage over most characters in that she has readily throwable projectiles that are extremely powerful and combo well with her glide toss. She can dash quickly, crawl, wall-jump, and has decent air speed and a high initial jump and second jump, allowing her to reach characters that are higher. Many of her attacks have the advantage of coming out fast, and can combo most heavy weights with her aerials very easily.

Her side special has a huge sweetspot at the end (one of the biggest in the game, second to Zelda's side b) and the sour spot has the ability to push the opponent into the sweet spot, effectively KOing most characters around 110% if it's not stale. Her down smash has deceptively long range, and sets up many combos, as well as killing ones. Zero Suit Samus is unique in the fact that many of her moves have large hit boxes and easy to hit sweet spots, this can devastate opponents as they are dealt a barrage of aerials and fast ground attacks. Her up smash is excellent because each hit refreshes her other moves and is great for setting up or stopping an opponents combo.

Another great killing move is her up aerial, a very fast flip kick that can KO as low as 90% if opponent is near the upper blast line and a very large sweetspot for such a powerful move. Both of her high jumps compliment this strategy. It is most often used to combo with a down throw or an up smash. She also has 2 spikes, her flip jump kick, if hit when she sticks her foot out, will spike opponents hard (even without doing this, the kick is still very powerful and can KO most characters at fairly medium percents with horizontal knockback) and her Up special, if hit at the tip, will spike anyone it hits. Both of these can be used for any situation, making her KO options very wide.

Zero Suit Samus, if mastered, is extremely dangerous and many characters can find themselves down a stock or worse if they aren't careful. However, Zero Suit Samus is a light character (especially for her height). Her attacks and combos require a lot of precision which makes her a difficult character to learn and play as effectively. A player of Zero Suit Samus must know precisely when to use her few moves with killing potential so as not to devalue them due to Stale-Move Negation. All of her tilts are quick, with decent range, and have the added bonus of launching her opponents into the air. Her aerial game is powerful with lethal kicks and long-ranged attacks, but her very high short hop makes approaches with aerials difficult. Her projectile, the paralyzer, can set opponents up for kills and does a little bit of damage. However, it's slow and needs to be charged up to go far. Her grab has good range due to being a tether grab, but it leaves her vulnerable if it misses which is dangerous for a such light character. Her smashes compliment her perfectly. Her up and down smashes are useful for their range and priority. The down smash is perfect for kill set ups, and the up smash makes for an excellent buffer/launcher, and can stop opponents mid air combos. In terms of recovery, her air speed and second jump are fairly high, and combined with her flip jump can most of the time make it back to the ledge with using a tether, but her plasma wire (like all tether recoveries) can be stopped by edge-hogging.

Ground Attacks

 * Neutral Attack - Palm Strike, Pistol Whip, Hip Thrust. Hits for 2%, 2%, 3%, respectively, for a total of 7% damage.
 * Dash Attack - Similar in appearance to Fox's dash attack. Leaps off of the ground, leg extended horizontally, traveling forward a bit. Can easily be followed with tilts at low to mid percents, and can lock if buffered properly. 7%.
 * Forward Tilt - An around-the-body kick 45 degrees from horizontal (when tilted upward). Can also be angled closer to horizontal (with forward held) or a quick, short ranged low leg sweep (when tilted down). Very low knockback. 6%.
 * Down Tilt - Similar in appearance to Sheik's down tilt, a prone leg-sweep. Knocks upwards. Can combine with other attacks well. 6%.
 * Up Tilt - Does handstand-splits while spinning in place, legs moving up vertically. Two hits for 5% then 6% damage, totaling 11%. Pretty good knockback at higher percents, and at low percents it sets up combos well. Replaces her down smash as a semi-effective means of hitting opponents on both sides.

Smash Attacks

 * Forward Smash - Slashes forward with the whip. Good disjointed range, but poor knockback, and high starting and ending lag. Hits slightly behind her as well. 10%-14% damage in front, 6% behind.
 * Down Smash - Aims down and shoots paralyzer gun at the ground in front of her, creating a lightning effect. Only hits in front. Low damage and delayed knockback, but stuns the target in place for a short time depending on how long it was charged. Unique attack that can be followed up by a side smash. Double down smash followed by up smash (or whatever is appropriate at the time) is an effective combo. 11-15%. Also moves Zero Suit Samus forward a little. Can infinite Fox at mid percents and other fast fallers to a lesser extent.
 * Up Smash - Samus spins, extending the Plasma whip up above her head in a swirl. Hits multiple times, long vertical disjointed range and decent horizontal range. Only the tip of the plasma whip does knockback. 12-16%

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Samus spins the whip around her body. Fairly long range. Always deals 10% damage, regardless of decay, and does not refresh decay on other moves. Fairly good knockback.
 * Forward Aerial - Two forward kicks, each slightly faster and only slightly weaker than Samus's back aerial. The second kick is stronger than the first. 6% then 11% damage, total of 17%. Because of the knockback of the first kick, it such a pain to hit with both kicks unless taking advantage of upward and forward momentum from a jump.
 * Back Aerial - Backward kick, similar in appearance to Samus's back aerial, but is a bit faster and has a larger hitbox. High knockback, and arguably her best kill move in the air. 13%
 * Up Aerial - Flip kicks both legs above her head, similar to Fox's Up Aerial. High KO potential on lighter characters at as little as 60%, especially if they are near the upper blast line. 10% sweetspotted, 7% otherwise. Sweet spot is directly in front of Samus.
 * Down Aerial - A Stall-Then-Fall. Samus stalls momentarily in midair, and then shoots down diagonally (similar to Sonic or Sheik's down airs). If it hits in midair, the first hit knocks the target into the second hit. Upon hitting the ground, it hits a second time, knocking anyone close away a fair bit. Like most stall-then-fall moves, this can be used to cancel some vertical knockback if used while being knocked back. This move can meteor smash, but it is very dangerous when not over land as it will not stop until it is used at very high altitudes, similar to Toon Link's Down Air. 4% on contact, 5% landing, total of 9% damage possible. Extremely fast vertical descent speed makes for an effective solution to her falling speed.

Grabs and Throws

 * Grab: Reaches forward with Plasma Whip. Very long range, especially her pivot grab, but is extremely laggy if misses. All of Zero Suit Samus's grabs have a start-up of 16 frames.
 * Pummel: Knees her victim. 2%
 * Forward Throw: Hits opponent forward with gun. Deals 2% then 7% damage, total of 9%. Can chain grab most characters at low percents.
 * Back Throw: Kicks opponent. Deals 2% then 4% damage, total of 6%.
 * Down Throw: Slams opponent on ground and stomps on them (similarly to Captain Falcon's Up Tilt). Deals 2% then 5% damage, total of 7%. Ideal for combos.
 * Up Throw: Flips into the air and kicks the opponent. Deals 2% then 8% damage, total of 10%.

Taunts
Zero Suit Samus, Falco, Meta Knight, and Peach are the only four characters with speaking parts in all three of their taunts.

Up: Throws her gun into the air, spins and catches it behind her and says "Is that all?".

Side: Activates her whip, flicks it and says "Try me".

Down: Samus spins multiple times quickly on one foot, twirling her plasma whip around her like a rhythmic gymnast and says, "You're mine".

Role in Subspace Emissary
Samus is first seen breaking into the base of the Subspace Army. Soon she comes across a Pikachu being drained of its electrical power. Samus uses her whip to break the container the Pikachu is being held in, summoning a security force of R.O.B.s. Later, she comes across her Power Suit, but is confronted by two Shadow Bug clones mimicking her Power Suit.

After reacquiring her Power Suit, Samus and her new companion Pikachu come across Ridley. He grabs Samus and starts to drag her against the wall, until Pikachu returns Samus' favor and uses Thunder on Ridley, causing him to drop Samus. An infuriated Ridley attacks. Once they defeat him, the duo exits the base and come across a cave.

Samus and Pikachu make their way to the Subspace Bomb Factory and find the Ancient Minister with the R.O.B. Squad. They prepare to fight, but then realize that he looks very sad. Soon, Captain Falcon, Olimar, Diddy and DK find the factory and enter. A hologram of Ganondorf appears and orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate the bombs. The Ancient Minister tries to stop them, but is set on fire when Ganondorf orders them to retaliate. After The Ancient Minister is revealed to be a R.O.B. himself, the characters set out and all join the quest.

Samus helps fight Meta Ridley, flees the island, is defeated by Tabuu and revived by the others. She can help to defeat Tabuu in the end.

Exclusive Stickers
Since Samus and Zero Suit Samus share the same trophy base, there are some cases in which certain stickers will not affect one of them, since Smash Balls don't appear in Adventure Mode, if one transforms into Zero Suit Samus, they will be unable to change back until the end of the level (Or in the Great maze, a save point). Leg, Energy and Weapon damage are stickers that both characters can use, so they may be useful.

On-Screen Appearance
Her Power Suit falls off as she stands up. Power Suit pieces can then be used as throwing items.

Victory Pose
Victory Theme: Metroid Power-Up Theme
 * Side Kick flex
 * Backflips to the screen
 * Slashes with her energy whip and says "Be still."

Credits Music

 * Ending (Metroid)

Trophy description
''Samus Aran without her mighty Power Suit. In this condition, she does not have the firepower she's famed for but is in full possession of the agility and athleticism she gained through her childhood training with the Chozo. Without the armor, she's also much, much faster. The weapon she carries is a self-protection device known as a Paralyzer that stops enemies cold.''
 * Metroid (Nintendo)
 * Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance)

Cheer
"Zero Suit Sa-mus!"

Trivia

 * Zero Suit Samus's grab, while a tether grab, is not a tether recovery. She shares this disability with Yoshi, Ivysaur, and Olimar.
 * Samus is usually a silent protagonist in the Metroid series. However, Zero Suit Samus speaks in each of her taunts, and in one victory pose. She had previously never spoken outside of Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Metroid Zero Mission, and then only in text. Brawl is the first instance of Samus's dialogue being performed by a voice actor. Samus's only voice prior to Brawl was in the form of grunts and "pain" noises in the Metroid Prime series. However, she is not the first or only character in the Smash series to get a true voice. In the video game Metroid: Other M, Samus speaks and has dialogue provided by a voice actor.
 * Zero Suit Samus makes a slashing sound similar to a sword slicing attack when she strikes with her legs. Examples of this are: Up tilt, Up aerial, and Down tilt. Falco and Zelda makes the same sound in Melee, when using Down Tilt and Forward Tilt, respectively.