Captain Falcon (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

This article is about Captain Falcon's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Captain Falcon.

“	A fighter that possesses both speed and power! But in exchange, he is frequently left open. Being able to successfully land his neutral special, Falcon Punch, can greatly influence the battle in multiplayer matches.	”
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Captain Falcon is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. His return was confirmed at the E3 2018 Conference on June 12th, 2018. Captain Falcon is classified as Fighter #11.

When unlocked, he is fought at Port Town Aero Dive.

Attributes

Strengths

• Extremely fast running speed.
• Capable of wall jumping.
• Considerable low knockback scaling on some attacks, allowing him to combo opponents with efficiency.
• Very good aerial game.
• Little landing and ending lag on most Aerial Attacks except for Forward and Down Aerials.
• Good variety of KO moves.
• Up Tilt, Down Aerial and aerial Raptor Boost can all Meteor Smash.

Weaknesses

• Fast falling speed.
• Subpar recovery.
• Many attacks have low range.
• Inability to deal with projectile users and long-range opponents.
• Using Falcon Kick in midair causes him to plummet and can lead to self-destructs.
• Most ground attacks have considerable ending lag.
• Falcon Punch has high starting lag.
• No projectiles.

Summary

Captain Falcon is a tall heavyweight character, yet he boasts some of the best overall mobility out of any character in spite of his weight class. Captain Falcon sports the 2nd fastest dashing speed, the 7th fastest falling speed, the 11th fastest air speed, and the 14th highest gravity. His jumps and wall jumps are also very high. Strangely, though, his walking speed is rather slow, while his traction and air acceleration are around average. Additionally, while his running speed is very high, his initial dash speed is only slightly above average, and crucially he hits this lower limit during his initial dash a few frames before transitioning to his running animation, making his effective movement speed in short bursts lower than expected. Compounding this is his turnaround dash animation, which causes him to slide in the opposite direction for a few frames, before sliding back into his origin location. While his high run acceleration can mask this to an extent, this effectively results in him making no progress in the direction he is turning into for several frames, resulting in his retreat being counter-intuitively one of the least safe in the game, especially when combined with his legs extending a long distance behind him. Nonetheless, his high mobility overall, combined with his strong punish game and generally low landing lag on his aerials, benefits him with a trademark speed-and-power combo.

Despite lacking a projectile, Falcon has an overall effective neutral game, courtesy of his mobility. His primary combo starter is grounded Raptor Boost; its low knockback along with its vertical launching angle and low ending lag make it a fearsome combo starter if landed, allowing it to combo into a plentiful number of moves. Neutral aerial can chain into itself at low percents, and Falcon can combo it into his other aerials if he lands with the first hit. His up tilt consistently meteor smashes opponents even if they are grounded, making it not only a great combo tool, but a decent edgeguarding tool as well. One of his best combo tools is his up aerial; at a wide range of percents, it can create incredibly long chains, especially into itself due to its low base knockback and overall low lag. Alternatively, Falcon can chain his up aerial into some of his deadliest finishers, most notably into his forward aerial, the Knee Smash.

Captain Falcon, like most of his fellow medium-heavyweights also boasts excellent KO power. He also has a formidable edgeguarding ability. His up and down smashes are both excellent baiting options due to their low ending lag, making them safe on shield and potentially even on whiff. Even if they both have rather noticeable startup, they are also long enough to punish spot dodges reliably. His up smash in particular even functions as a situational combo starter at low percentages, which can allow Falcon to deal insane amounts of damage in just a few measly hits. While his forward smash is his least useful smash attack as a whole, even it has its uses, being a powerful KO option that can be angled. His forward, back, and down aerials all deal high knockback, with his forward aerial in particular being the strongest of its type in the entire game. His down tilt, while having noticeable startup, sends at a semi-spike angle with high knockback, and it has low ending lag, making it not only a good spacing and poking tool, but also a great edgeguarding and KO move, the lattermost quirk being extremely rare for a down tilt.

Falcon's special moveset also has its uses. Falcon Punch, while being extremely situational in the long run, is one of the strongest neutral specials in the entire game, especially when reversed on the ground, and is perfect for punishing shield breaks. As mentioned earlier, Raptor Boost is an excellent combo starter on the ground. In the air, it has the potential to meteor smash, and it also serves well as a KO move in such cases. Falcon Dive is one of the strongest command grabs in the game, and while it is linear, it does cover a decent amount of distance. It also works well as a combo finisher and out-of-shield option due to its high knockback and being a command grab. Finally, Falcon Kick is effective in terms of dealing with pressure due to its speed and long-lasting hitbox, and it also possesses decent KO power when hit early on. It is also an excellent tool for returning to the stage quickly when used in the air.

However, Captain Falcon does have his fair share of weaknesses. While he is a powerhouse, most of his KO moves are difficult to land, the most prominent examples being his forward smash and Falcon Punch. His forward aerial is faster than those moves, but even then it suffers from a rather small sweetspot that lasts for only one frame, making it hard to land without an air dodge read or setup off of an up aerial. As a result, he often has to rely on edgeguarding to score KOs. Though his neutral game is good overall, his lack of a projectile leaves him susceptible to camping. While his above average weight and fast falling speed give him excellent endurance, they also leave him vulnerable to combos, which is further exacerbated by the fact that he has little to no fast options with which to break them.

Falcon's moveset in general is also full of issues. As mentioned earlier, most of his KO moves are slow and tough to land, which forces him to rely on edgeguarding to KO effectively. Falcon Kick is extremely unsafe offstage due to its lag and Falcon's fast falling speed, as it is not unlikely for him to self-destruct with it. While Raptor Boost can meteor smash in the air, it will leave him helpless if he misses, which could also result in a self-destruct. Other examples of unreliability within his moveset lie in his neutral aerial and up smash, both of which tend to have trouble connecting properly at high percentages. His overall range, while not necessarily lacking for a brawler, is also lackluster when compared to other characters with good physical reach, especially due to the fact that he lacks a projectile.

While Captain Falcon has a good ground game and an excellent air game, his grab game is rather mediocre. To begin with, his grab range is overall somewhat short despite his height, making it risky to throw out. His down throw remains a useful combo starter at low to medium percents, but has lost its utility as a semi-guaranteed setup into Knee Smash due to its knockback and angle adjustments. While Captain Falcon's back throw remains a useful KO move, his forward throw has lost its decent combo potential as an indirect consequence of his much higher traction, just like Meta Knight's forward throw. Although it remains a serviceable KO move, it is utterly outclassed by back throw in this regard. Captain Falcon's up throw suffers from similar issues to his forward throw: it has too much ending lag to combo properly, even in spite of his faster jumpsquat, and it is somewhat weak for a KO throw despite dealing more damage than in 3DS/Wii U.

Captain Falcon's biggest flaw is his recovery: despite his impressive air speed, his two recovery options, Falcon Dive and Raptor Boost, are linear, easily intercepted, and have small edge sweetspots. Raptor Boost also doesn't have a hitbox above him, which can leave him open to meteor smashes, which he usually has trouble surviving due to his linear recovery and fast falling speed. To his merit, he can reuse Falcon Dive if it connects with an opponent, and even stage spike them, though this is easily teched. Furthermore, since all characters can wall jump out of a tech, opponents can punish Falcon as he leaps back, possibly putting him in a worse offstage situation. In addition, while Falcon Dive covers an alarmingly high amount of horizontal distance due to its high drift, its vertical travel distance is quite mild, and Raptor Boost also renders him helpless, making it situational when combined with its poor travel distance. Although he has the second-best wall jump in the game, Falcon will be in danger offstage without his double jump.

Overall, Captain Falcon is the epitome of a hit & run character, yet also benefits from a bait and punish playstyle; when combining his excellent mobility and combo game, he can string very long combos for huge amounts of damage. Otherwise, if he can use his KO moves wisely, he does not have much trouble scoring KOs. However, his flaws are quite susceptible to be punished easily if the player is not careful due to Captain Falcon's susceptibility to combos and exploitable recovery. He also falls under the bait and punish archetype, requiring to have a very precise and patient gameplay style in order to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes to score KO's.

Changes from 3DS/Wii U

Attributes

• Like other fighters, strong attacks such as Falcon Punch will trigger a dramatic slow-motion effect on 1v1 fights.
• The racetrack in Blue Falcon has a new texture.

Ground Attacks

Aerial Attacks

Grabs and Throws

Special Attacks

• Falcon now grabs with one hand during Falcon Dive rather than two.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack: Captain Falcon punches forth once, then a second time, and finishes with a knee jab; if the button is pressed quickly enough, he will unleash a flurry of quick punches that finishes with a final strong punch.
• Forward Tilt: Captain Falcon performs a side kick; can be angled up and down.
• Up Tilt (Wheel Kick): Captain Falcon performs an axe kick; spikes when sweet spotted.
• Down Tilt: Captain Falcon kicks low to the ground.
• Dash Attack: Captain Falcon tackles forwards with a shoulder ram.

Smash Attacks

• Forward Smash: Captain Falcon throws a strong backhanded punch.
• Up Smash: Captain Falcon performs two high kicks.
• Down Smash: Captain Falcon kicks forwards, and then kicks behind himself.

Other attacks

• Floor Attack (Front):
• Floor Attack (Back):
• Floor Attack (Trip):
• Ledge Attack:

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial: Captain Falcon spins around while kicking forwards twice.
• Forward aerial (Knee Smash): Captain Falcon powerfully slams forwards with his knee; famously known as the "Knee of Justice"; incredibly powerful when sweet spotted.
• Back aerial: Captain Falcon strikes behind himself with one arm.
• Up aerial (Overhead Kick): Captain Falcon kicks overhead.
• Down aerial: Captain Falcon powerfully stomps downwards with both legs.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel: Knees the opponent.
• Forward Throw: Captain Falcon punches the opponent forwards.
• Back Throw: Captain Falcon tosses the opponent backwards and then kicks them away.
• Up Throw: Captain Falcon uppercuts the opponent away.
• Down Throw: Captain Falcon slams the opponent into the ground.

Special Moves

Captain Falcon's Special Moves
	64	Melee	Brawl	3DS/Wii U	Ultimate
Standard Special	Falcon Punch
Side Special	—	Raptor Boost
Up Special	Falcon Dive
Down Special	Falcon Kick
Final Smash	—		Blue Falcon

Taunts

• Up Taunt: Crouches down to power up with slight flames coming out from him.
• Down Taunt: Does a salute while saying “Show me your moves!” If facing to the left, he will point with his hand instead.
• Side Taunt: Reaches forward with a beckoning motion while saying “Come on!”

On-Screen Appearance

The Blue Falcon rushes on screen, stopping so Captain Falcon can come out.

Idle Poses

To be added.

Victory Poses

• Left: Kneels while briefly emitting a flaming aura, similarly to his up taunt and one of his Smash 64 poses.
• Up: Performs a 540 kick and then assumes a crouching fighting stance.
• Right: Performs a hook kick, then a roundhouse kick, and then another hook kick before striking a fist pumping pose similar to his character select animation in Super Smash Bros.

In competitive play

Many players have noted Captain Falcon's higher learning curve compared to 3DS/Wii U. As a result, his player base noticeably dropped, as his once easy-to-use combos (which included his dash grab and footstool combos) became harder to use or were removed entirely as a result of the game's mechanics; the changes to his playstyle required players to be more cautious in the neutral game. Despite his lower player base, however, his perception was anything but bad, as initial opinions on him varied anywhere between being a solid mid-tier to a solid high tier character. However, his nerfs, combined with the buffs to other characters, saw him ranked as a mid-tier character for much of 2019, and his best players were achieving lower placements in comparison to 3DS/Wii U. This was because his previous moveset was central to his playstyle, and he was becoming slightly more of a bait-and-punish character despite the faster gameplay of Ultimate.

Captain Falcon has received numerous buffs throughout the game's lifespan that have gradually improved his perception over time: patch 3.1.0 made his options on his punish game more reliable, while patch 8.0.0 gave noteworthy improvements to his close quarters combat and his combo game. As a result, his grounded neutral game has improved as well, and he has easier and more reliable ways to KO his opponents. Due to these buffs, Captain Falcon is generally considered an upper-end high tier character, while a couple of top players including ESAM believes the character might potentially become a top tier. While his overall representation is still relatively average compared to the rest of the cast, his results have started to improve significantly in the resurgence of offline tournaments thanks to players such as Jogibu, and especially Fatality, with the latter becoming a Top 24 PGRContender using solo Falcon.

Notable players

• AIR - Placed 13th at both Umebura Japan Major 2019 and Sumabato SP 9, 17th at both Kagaribi 5 and Umebura SP 7, and 25th at Umebura SP 6 with wins over players such as Abadango, Etsuji, and MASA. Ranked 92nd on the Experimental Smash Player Rankings.
• Andrik - The best Captain Falcon player in Mexico. Placed 3rd at Wavedash 2022, 4th at Tijuana At War 2022, 13th at Smash Factor 9, 25th at Smash Fest to the Sky and 33rd at Smash Factor 8 with wins over players such as MVD, VoiD, and BigBoss. Currently ranked 20th on the Mexican Power Rankings. Online, placed 9th at both Frame Perfect Series 3: ONLINE and SWT: Mexico Ultimate Online Qualifier with wins over players such as WaDi, Lui$, and Riddles.
• Huto - A Captain Falcon and Wario co-main from Japan. Placed 5th at Kagaribi 7, 7th at Seibugeki 12, 17th at Maesuma TOP 10, and 25th at both Maesuma TOP 8 and Maesuma TOP 9 with wins over players such as Abadango, Choco, and Shogun. Ranked 44th on the Experimental Smash Player Rankings.
• Fatality - The best Captain Falcon player in the world. Placed 2nd at Ultimate WANTED 3, 4th at CEO 2021, 5th at InfinityCON Tally 2021, 9th at both Glitch 8 - Missingno and Syndicate 2019 with wins over players such as ESAM, MVD and Kola. Ranked 37th on the PGRU v3 NA.
• Jogibu - The best Captain Falcon player in Japan. Placed 3rd at Sumabato SP 17, 9th at both Sumabato SP 13 and Sumabato SP 14, 13th at Mēsuma, and 17th at Kagaribi 4 with wins over players such as Kome, Asimo, and Akakikusu.
• NickC - One of the best Captain Falcon players in the world. Placed 5th at Smash at The Paramount, 13th at Let's Make Moves, Glitch 6, and Shine 2019, and 17th at Super Smash Con 2019. He has defeated ScAtt, Goblin and MuteAce.
• Nishiya - Placed 3rd at Sumabato SP 7, 9th at both Sumabato SP 19 and Umebura SP 7, 13th at Sumabato SP 9, and 17th at Maesuma TOP 2. Ranked 27th on the discontinued Japan Player Rankings and has wins over Nietono, KEN and ZAKI.
• Ogey - The best Captain Falcon player in Europe. Placed 1st at Brussels Challenge Major Edition 2022, 4th at SEL 4: Crêpes Strikes Back, 13th at Syndicate 2019, and 17th at both VCA 2021 and VCA 2022 with wins over Glutonny, Fatality, and Scend. Ranked 23rd on the PGRU v3 EU.
• Tsuba - Placed 1st at Mountain Top, 4th at Awakening 5, and 13th at ICARUS V. Has a win over quiK.

Classic Mode: Up Close and Personal

Captain Falcon fights opponents who specialize in close-range combat.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Donkey Kong	Jungle Japes	Battle for Storm Hill
2	Ganondorf	Gerudo Valley	Gerudo Valley
3	Ryu	Suzaku Castle	Ryu Stage
4	Roy	Arena Ferox	Attack - Fire Emblem
5	6 Mii Brawlers	Coliseum	The Devoted
6	Little Mac	Boxing Ring	Jogging / Countdown
Bonus Game
Final	Bowser, then Giga Bowser	Final Destination	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3

In Spirit Battles

As the Main Opponent

• Bullet Bill
• Funky Kong
• Machamp
• Hitmonlee (x2)
• Blaziken
• Baba
• Blood Falcon (x2)
• Zero (Metal Gear Solid 3)
• Duo (x2)
• Guile
• Nash
• Fighting Alloy Team (x4)
• Mach Rider
• Eagle
• Drake Redcrest
• Nick
• Henry Fleming

As a Minion

• Alfonzo & Engineer Link
• Jody Summer
• Black Shadow

Role in World of Light

Captain Falcon was among the fighters that were summoned to fight the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, Captain Falcon was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He attempted to escape in the Blue Falcon, but Galeem vaporized him and his vehicle before he could do so. He was then imprisoned by Galeem along with the rest of the fighters (excluding Kirby). A puppet fighter of him can be seen behind Mario in the group of puppet fighters under Galeem's control.

Captain Falcon can be found early in the mode if the player goes through Villager's path instead of those of Marth and Sheik. He is in the middle of a racetrack that can only be traversed with the assistance of Pico's spirit.

Palette Swaps

Gallery

External links

· Fighters
Veterans	Bayonetta  · Bowser  · Bowser Jr.  · Captain Falcon  · Cloud  · Corrin  · Dark Pit  · Diddy Kong  · Donkey Kong  · Dr. Mario  · Duck Hunt  · Falco  · Fox  · Ganondorf  · Greninja  · Ice Climbers  · Ike  · Jigglypuff  · King Dedede  · Kirby  · Link  · Little Mac  · Lucas  · Lucario  · Lucina  · Luigi  · Mario  · Marth  · Mega Man  · Meta Knight  · Mewtwo  · Mii Fighters (Mii Brawler  · Mii Gunner  · Mii Swordfighter)  · Mr. Game & Watch  · Ness  · Olimar  · Pac-Man  · Palutena  · Peach  · Pichu  · Pikachu  · Pit  · Pokémon Trainer (Charizard  · Ivysaur  · Squirtle)  · R.O.B.  · Robin  · Rosalina & Luma  · Roy  · Ryu  · Samus  · Sheik  · Shulk  · Snake  · Sonic  · Toon Link  · Villager  · Wario  · Wii Fit Trainer  · Wolf  · Yoshi  · Young Link  · Zelda  · Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers	Banjo & Kazooie  · Byleth  · Chrom  · Daisy  · Dark Samus  · Hero  · Incineroar  · Inkling  · Isabelle  · Joker  · Kazuya  · Ken  · King K. Rool  · Min Min  · Piranha Plant  · Pyra/Mythra  · Richter  · Ridley  · Sephiroth  · Simon  · Sora  · Steve  · Terry

F-Zero universe
Characters	Captain Falcon (64  · Melee  · Brawl  · 3DS/Wii U  · Ultimate)
Side Characters	Assist Trophy	Samurai Goroh
	Mii Fighter Costume	Captain Falcon
	Stage Hazards	F-Zero Racers
	Miscellaneous	Blue Falcon  · Falcon Flyer
Stages	Mute City  · Big Blue  · Port Town Aero Dive  · Mute City SNES F-Zero Grand Prix
Music	List of Music (F-Zero series)
Collectibles	Trophies	Melee Trophies  · Brawl Trophies  · 3DS Trophies  · Wii U Trophies
	Stickers	List of Stickers (F-Zero series)
	Spirits	List of spirits (F-Zero series)
	Masterpieces	F-Zero