Meta Knight (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

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

Unveiled at E3 2006, Meta Knight (, Meta Naito) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Originally from the Kirby universe, Meta Knight joins the brawl as a starter character who wields his short sword as he fights. He currently ranks first on the Tier List, in his own SS Tier, due to his large amount of tournament wins and his amazing match-ups. No match-up is thought to be a disadvantage for Meta Knight, although some matchups are considered to be even. In addition, some stages are considered to be less effective for him, such as Final Destination. This has led to some discussion over whether or not he should be banned. The SBR recently voted 70% against banning Meta Knight.

Attributes
Meta Knight is a small character roughly the same size and shape as Kirby (although Meta Knight has a cape that transforms into a pair of bat-like wings) and with the same weight as Pikachu. His wings provide Meta Knight with five mid-air jumps and the ability to glide. His moveset is mostly comprised of fast moves with relatively low damage and knockback. The low damage is compensated for by the fast speed and minimal lag of most of the attacks, allowing Meta Knight to easily set up combos and rack up damage. In particular, his Mach Tornado (neutral special) can quickly put up to 26% damage on the opponent. Another example can be seen in his Up Aerial, which when combined with his multiple jumps can combo into itself to 30% or more damage and/or other moves because of its speed. Meta Knight's knockback comes from his down and forward smashes, forward and neutral aerials, and his up special. The up special and down smash are both especially notable for their quickness. Additionally, the up special puts Meta Knight into a glide, allowing him to use his extremely powerful glide attack. Meta Knight is also the only character who can use all four of his special moves as legitimate recoveries, allowing him an unpredictable recovery and therefore making him hard to edgeguard. Overall, Meta Knight has perhaps the fastest attacking speed in the game.

He has only a handful of weaknesses: his lateral movement outside of a glide is very poor (in the bottom 5), several characters can chaingrab or combo him easily (usually by a grab-release), he has only four viable finishers (though he can gimp recoveries to remedy this), he has no projectiles, and his weight is low (tied for the fourth lightest). His low weight means that his jumps don't have to use much force to make him move. This gives Meta Knight a weakness not seen in any other character. When he gets a metal box his wings can't exert enough force to lift him, so if he goes off the edge of a stage he can't recover by jumping. Also, even though all four of his special moves are recovery moves they all leave him helpless (After Meta Knight glides after a Shuttle Loop he becomes helpless. Note that you can't change direction when gliding so doing so away from the stage would be dangerous and could lead to a self-destruct)so a mistake a beginner would make using Meta Knight could be using any of Meta Knight's specials and accidentaly going off stage, leaving him helpless and falling to his death. Also, he has no attack with the ability to spike opponents. Also to be aware of is that a lot of his multi-hit attacks like his Foward and Back Aerials, Foward Tilt, Up Smash, and Mach Tornado can all be escaped with Smash DI, and punished if Meta Knight is not careful.

He can fly with his bat wings!

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - When held, Meta Knight yells and executes a lightning-fast series of slashes that also attack enemies behind him. Does 10% damage when just tapping the attack button.
 * Dash Attack - Does a running kick. His only attack (other than his throws) that does not use his sword. When MK attacks with his foot, it does 6%. When the body hits it does 8%.
 * Strong Side - Slashes twice in front of him, then once upwards. Only pressing the attack button once will cause Meta Knight to perform only the first hit; press it twice more to slash the second and third times. 1st slash does 4%, next does 3% and the last does 5%, altogether 12%.
 * Strong Up - Stabs his sword above him while spinning. 6-8% damage.
 * Strong Down - Stabs across the ground. Good for tripping, deceptive range, very fast, and moves him forward a little. 4-6%

Smash

 * Side Smash - Pulls his sword back for a second, then slashes in front of him. This is Meta Knight's only slow attack. 15-19%.
 * Up Smash - Slashes above him three times. Like Link's Up Smash, but much faster. 4% each slash, in total 12%.
 * Down Smash - Slashes in front of him, then behind. Arguably his best kill move. Front slash does 12-15%, and back slash does 15-18%.

Other

 * Ledge attack - Slashes with blade. 8% damage.
 * 100% ledge attack - Gets up slowly, then slashes with blade. 10% damage.
 * Floor attack - Slashes on either side of himself. 6%, both slashes.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Slashes while spinning in a circle. Surprisingly powerful. Can hit twice for a total of 19% damage.
 * Forward Aerial - Slashes in front of him three times. Acts like a poor Wall of Pain. First slash does 3%, second does 3%, and last does 4%. Altogether 10%.
 * Back Aerial - Like his fair, but behind him and more slowly. To compensate for the slower slashes, this move has slightly more knockback. However, it still has almost no start-up lag. First slash does 3%, second does 3%, and last does 4%. Altogether 10%.
 * Up Aerial - Slashes above him very quickly, has decent knockback. Great for juggling opponents into the upper blast line. 6% damage. If you have tap jump on and use this move repetatively, you will rise up. The distance is based on the number of midair jumps you haven't used.
 * Down Aerial - Slashes below him very quickly. Sends the opponent at a horizontal trajectory and is quite deadly offstage. 7% damage.
 * Glide Attack - Slashes in front of himself. A fairly powerful move with great knockback. 12% damage.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel - Jabs opponents with the claws on his wings.
 * Forward Throw - Kicks the opponent in front of him. A very fast throw. 10% damage.
 * Back Throw - Teleports and slashes the opponent behind him. 10% damage and good knockback.
 * Up Throw - Like Kirby's: jumps into the air holding his foe, and then crashes down. The only difference is, that this throw doesn't create an explosion, like Kirby's. 12% damage.
 * Down Throw - Also like that of Kirby: Throws opponent on ground and rapidly stomps them. However, unlike Kirby's, this has mainly horizontal knockback. Can chain grab a few characters. 11% damage.

Taunts

 * Up Taunt - Wraps himself in his cape, as if teleporting via his Down Special, while grunting.
 * Down Taunt -Spreads his wings while saying "COME!".
 * Side Taunt - Says "Fight me!", while examining his sword, slashing twice, and finally pointing his sword in front of him.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
It is revealed that before the events of the Subspace Emissary, Meta Knight was attacked by the Subspace Army, who had the intent of taking the Halberd. He was able to hold them off until King Dedede attacked him, causing him to lose his ship.

When Meta Knight is first featured in the Subspace Emissary, he attacks a lone Marth outside of a large castle. He quickly learns that Marth is not his enemy when they are both surrounded by Primids. After a successful battle, both warriors chase the Ancient Minister, who is carrying a Subspace bomb. Both are unsuccessful in their attempts in destroying the bomb; luckily, Ike appears and uses his Aether to catch the Minister off guard and destroy the bomb. With the bomb destroyed, all three head back to the castle to clear out any remaining Primids.

Later, they are all seen traveling the wastelands together and battling Galleom. Meta Knight then saves Lucas and the Pokémon Trainer from a giant freefall after they defeat the same boss. Meta Knight then begins to ascend a large cliff face, followed by the Ice Climbers (who see his ascent as a racing challenge), in order to reach the Battleship Halberd. At the summit, Lucario challenges Meta Knight to a sparring contest. After the contest, both board the Halberd which has just shaken off the defeated Great Fox.

The pair run into Solid Snake while on board and join forces with him to take back the Halberd. After rescuing Peach and Zelda, the trio continues on to the control deck. There they discover that the ship is being piloted by a gang of Shadow Bug Mr. Game & Watches. Snake runs towards them and threw them all out of the window and onto the bridge, who fuse together to form a gigantic metallic monster called Duon. Once Duon is defeated, Mr. Game & Watch joins the group, along with Peach, Sheik, Fox, and Falco. (Meta Knight remains in the Halberd's control center and does not take part in the battle.)

Meta Knight takes back control of the Halberd and reunites with the members from other groups. The aircraft of the other heroes is placed inside the Halberd, which heads towards the Subspace Gunship with all of the Super Smash Bros heroes on board. After using the Subspace Battleship's main cannon to create another Subspace portal, Ganondorf spots the Halberd on the horizon and orders the battleship to open fire. The Halberd is struck down, but the heroes are able to escape on board Samus's Gunship, Captain Falcon's Falcon Flyer, Olimar's Hocotate ship, and Falco's Arwing. Kirby destroys the Subspace Battleship by slicing through it it with the Dragoon racing machine and the heroes enter Subspace to pursue Ganondorf and Bowser.

Meta Knight is turned into a trophy by Tabuu along with the rest of the Super Smash Bros heroes upon their entrance into Subspace. He is later revived by Kirby. He rejoins the others in the fight against Tabuu.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can be used only by Meta Knight or by a select few including him:
 * Bonkers: [Weapon] Attack +16
 * Cell Phone: [Slash] Resistance +4
 * Dyna Blade: Launch Resistance +46
 * Gordo: [Throwing] Attack +5
 * Hot Head: [Flame] Attack +10
 * King Dedede & Kirby: [Specials: Direct] Attack +21
 * King Dedede (kirby Super Star): [Leg] Attack +28
 * Kirby (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards): [Body, Spin] Attack +22
 * Kirby (Kirby Air Ride): [Arm, Leg] Attack +17
 * Maxim Tomato: Maxim Tomato Effect +50
 * Meta Knight: [Slash] Attack +32
 * Meta Knight Ball: Launch Power +8
 * Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack +5
 * Starman (Kirby: Squeak Squad): Launch Power +33
 * Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack +4

Trivia

 * Meta Knight can fall with either his cape or wings, depending on actions while in mid-air.


 * Meta Knight is the only character to have a different victory theme than the other characters from the same series. The theme is instead a Rock cover of Kirby's Victory theme.


 * All of Meta Knight's special attacks can be used as recovery moves, however, they all result in becoming Helpless if used in mid-air.


 * It is somewhat debated if Meta Knight should be banned from tournaments. A rumor saying that Meta Knight had been banned from Italian tournaments ran through the Smash Community in September, 2008. This rumor was later proven to be false by Italian Smashers themselves, who were just having a poll in the Italian Smashboards asking users if they thought Meta Knight deserved a ban (these kinds of polls were popular in all the Smashboards around the world at the time). The results of the poll were misunderstood and posted on Smashboards as if Italy had banned Meta Knight. There already have been some tournaments that have banned Meta Knight.
 * Ironically, the Prima Official Game Guide gave Meta Knight a 6/10 in the character ratings.
 * Out of all the Kirby characters, Meta Knight is the only one to speak in a sentence, seen in his Down/Side Taunts, Final Smash, and all 3 Victory Poses, most likely because he was the only character to have dialogue in the Kirby series (at the time of Brawl's release this was the case anyway, King Dedede has dialogue in Kirby Super Star Ultra and in the anime).
 * Both his Side and Down Taunts provoke battle. This is because he would always challenge Kirby to an honorable fight.
 * Meta Knight will never close his eyes, but they can change in size, they can also change color depending on the costume changes, they change just like they do in the anime.
 * Meta Knight can actually glide twice. First, by pressing and holding the jump button (whatever people prefer) and then using his Up special, although he would go into helpless after the second glide.
 * In the anime, Meta Knight is notably bigger than Kirby, however in the games, he's the same size as him.
 * One of Meta Knight's costume changes is reminiscent of Dark Meta Knight, his evil counterpart from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror.
 * If you use Mach Tornado and repeatedly press(not hold) B, Mach Tornado will go longer and rise into the air a little bit, about the size of his first jump off the ground.
 * Meta Knight and Snake are the only two characters in the history of Smash to have their own tiers.