Ice Climbers (SSBM)

The Ice Climbers (, Ice Climber) are playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Previously never officially voice-acted in any official capacity prior to Melee, they are both voiced by Sanae Kobayashi in the game, who would go on to voice them in subsequent Smash Bros. installments.
They rank 8th on the tier list (in the B+ tier). Among the Ice Climbers' strengths are their devastating grab game. When both Popo and Nana are alive, the Ice Climbers can land a zero-to-death on any character in the game off of a grab through wobbling, and can perform hand-offs in settings where wobbling is banned to achieve nearly or sometimes equally as punishing results. They are immune to chain grabs and some other combo setups, as if one Climber gets grabbed, the partner can hit them out of the grab at any time. The Ice Climbers have access to fast and powerful smash attacks, great disjoint on their hammer moves, such as up aerial and back aerial, and one of the longest wavedashes in the game, aiding their offensive capabilities. They also can perform various techniques through desyncing, which allows the player to control both Climbers at different times; when combined with their Blizzard projectile, this makes the Ice Climbers especially difficult to break through defensively. Their unique attributes and threat of an instant KO off of a grab forces other characters to adopt unique and often frustrating playstyles against the Ice Climbers.
However, the Ice Climbers are crippled by the difficulty of keeping both Climbers together at the same time. The Ice Climbers can easily be separated when hit by most attacks, which gives the opponent an opportunity to freely KO the CPU-controlled Climber, leaving the player with just one Ice Climber until they lose a stock. A single Ice Climber, known as "Sopo", loses access to its grab punishes and has one of the lowest damage outputs and worst recoveries in Melee. The Ice Climbers also are hindered by their low traction, which causes them to slide farther across the stage when hit in shield, limiting their ability to land shieldgrabs and other punishes. Despite their threat of a zero-to-death, the Ice Climbers tend to lose against most other top tiers, as opponents can focus on KO'ing the partner climber to make wobbling and most chain throws impossible. This includes an especially poor matchup against , as her float canceling techniques allows her to attack the Ice Climbers from the air without much fear of getting punished, and her down smash can effectively combat their ground game. Additionally, the Ice Climbers' low gravity and air speed makes them vulnerable to air stalling and evasion tactics, such as by the aforementioned Peach, or by , with its multiple midair jumps and back aerial. Regardless, the Ice Climbers have strong matchups against the majority of the cast, and can hold their own against most high and top-tiers.
==Attributes==
The Ice Climbers have arguably the most unusual fighting style in all of Melee; the player is tasked with controlling two characters at once, and their fighting potential becomes considerably worse should Nana (or Popo depending on which costume is selected) be KOed. Outside of this, their unique physics make them difficult to use; they boast an above average jumping height alongside low air and falling speed, and their traction is also among the lowest in the game.
As a result of this quirk, the Ice Climbers have among the most powerful ground-based approaches in the game. Disjointed hitboxes, a variety of useful tilts and smashes, and a long, floaty wavedash give the Ice Climbers a wide variety of options on the ground. Their most powerful tool on the ground is their grab; despite having below-average grab range, they boast low knockback throws, giving them significant chain throwing potential. They can also perform the Wobbling infinite out of a grab, which is the most powerful single technique in the game if players can master it. In addition, the presence of Nana allows players to significantly rack up damage on opponents when they grab them. The presence of Nana also makes grabs and chain throws against Popo difficult to utilize, as she can potentially attack opponents during their grab to break it. Furthermore, the Ice Climbers have among the best projectiles in the game, Ice Shot; it is a ground-based projectile that limits the opponent's approach options, and falls off edges very quickly, allowing it to cover various low recovery options. While short-ranged, Blizzard can also have approaching applications, as Popo and Nana face the same direction when the attack is used during a short-hop; it can also be used as a reliable tool to rack up damage off a grab if Nana uses it while Popo pummels. The Ice Climbers also have the ability to perform the Freeze glitch, which prevents their opponent from moving in any capacity when performed. Due to its game-breaking potential, the tactic is banned in tournaments.
The Ice Climbers' desynching techniques also have powerful ground-based applications. Since it essentially allows the control of both Climbers to some degree, experienced players can force Nana to perform certain tasks while Popo is occupied. This includes grabbing opponents immediately after Popo has thrown them (known as a hand-off) and attacking them while Popo keeps them locked in place, among other powerful benefits. Desynching, however, requires significant practice to use consistently, making the Ice Climbers one of the most technically demanding characters in the game (although there are some reliable set-ups, such as spot dodging and holding B).
Despite a powerful ground-based approach, they have a difficult aerial approach. A high jumping height, low falling speed, slightly laggy aerials, and the second lowest air speed in the game (behind only ) give the Ice Climbers a poor SHFFL. Their low aerial and falling speeds also makes pursuing airborne enemies difficult. Some of the Ice Climbers' aerials have powerful applications; their down aerial keeps the enemy mostly in place due to its set knockback, allowing Popo to regrab if Nana uses it after a throw, their up aerial allows for follow-ups, and their neutral and back aerials are good spacing tools, with the latter having reliable KOing ability under 150%. However, due to their poor air speed and falling speed, and only one situational meteor (their forward aerial), their air game does not complement their powerful ground game overall. These various traits also give the Ice Climbers a below-average edgeguarding game, and they lack an extremely effective off-stage option. In addition, the Ice Climbers have the second worst traction in the game; similar to Luigi, this makes them highly reliant on wavedashing to approach, and technical errors, such as mistimed air dodges, can set them up for significant punishment. Owing to their slightly below-average weight and low falling speed, the Ice Climbers are also highly vulnerable to being KOed from the upper blast line.
Players who use the Ice Climbers must also know how to prevent themselves from losing Nana, as when she is KOed, Popo cannot fight nearly as effectively. As the Ice Climbers' attacks were designed to be two-in-one, Popo's attacks alone lack damage racking ability, making it much harder to accumulate percentage on the opponent despite the power of his smash attacks. Popo also cannot perform nearly as many chaingrabs without Nana, and cannot Wobble by himself, greatly reducing the threatening nature of their usual grabs. In return, Popo is left vulnerable to chaingrabs and throw setups himself due to his low air speed and falling speed, and is limited in his recovery options; he is essentially forced to recover with Squall Hammer, which travels only horizontally. Unfortunately, most high-tiered characters have attacks, such as Fox's shine and Peach's forward aerial, that can easily separate Popo from Nana. Their recovery, while long, is prone to endangering Nana, as she can either miss the ledge entirely or be left vulnerable against edgeguarders. All of these flaws require Ice Climbers players to be situationally aware and abuse their powerful ground and grab games to prevent their Climbers from being separated and KOed.
==Version history==
NTSC 1.02
*
PAL
*
==Moveset==
For a gallery of the Ice Climbers' hitboxes, see here.
:Note: A majority of the move summaries refer to the combined damage of the both Ice Climbers; with the partner usually dealing 1% less than the leader due to stale move negation.
:Note: Although both Ice Climbers can perform a ledge attack, they cannot perform it at the same time, as only one character is allowed on the ledge at a time.
===Stats===
===Announcer call===
Ice Climbers English Announcer SSBM.wav|English
Ice Climbers Japanese Announcer SSBM.wav|Japanese
===Taunt===
===Idle pose===
===Crowd cheer===
 	Cheer (International) 	Cheer (Japanese)
Cheer 	 	
Description	Ice - Climber! Ice - Climber!	Ice Climb - er!
===Victory poses===
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Ice Climbers players (SSBM)
* - One of the best Ice Climbers players in the late-2010s, peaking at 20th on the MPGR 2018. He is known for his several top 8 major finishes at his peak, having placed 4th at , 5th at , and 7th at both and , while notably defeating Mang0 at both Low Tier City 6 and Mainstage. Outside of these events, he is also known for winning over and defeating at . 
* - One of the best Ice Climbers players in the late-2010s, peaking at 19th on the MPGR 2018. He is best known for his performances in the second half of 2018, where he placed 5th at defeating and 9th at both and , defeating , , and at these events. Though he remained largely absent from large events for the rest of his career, he nevertheless remained impactful, defeating Mew2King once again at and winning over .
* - Widely regarded as the greatest Ice Cimbers player of all time due to his innovation of the character and extensive longevity, playing at a top level from the early days of Melee all the way up to the large-scale wobbling ban in 2019. He was also one of the best players during the Golden Age, with retrospective ranking RetroSSBMRank especially ranking him at 2nd in 2005. He is the only Ice Climbers player to ever win a major, through his 1st place at . He is also the only Ice Climbers player to ever take a game off .
* - One of the best Ice Climbers players in the mid-2010s, peaking at 27th on the SSBMRank 2016 and SSBMRank 2017. He first broke out onto the global scene by placing 2nd at , defeating , , , and along the way. He became one of the best Ice Climbers for the next few years, placing 7th at and 9th at both and , defeating many other established players during this time such as , , and at these events.
* - One of the best Ice Climbers players in the world in the first half of the 2010s, peaking at 11th on the SSBMRank 2014. He was known for his strong Sopo play and for not relying on wobbling in his gameplan. Despite the latter, he has finished top 8 at multiple majors, most notably placing 2nd at , defeating , , and along the way, 3rd at defeating SFAT and , and 7th at . These performances remained the best non-Wobbling results until the post-Slippi era.
* - One of the best Ice Climbers players in the post-Slippi and post-Wobbling eras, peaking at 30th on the SSBMRank 2024. She was first known for defeating en route to her 9th-place finish at . She has since become the most active Ice Climbers players at the highest level of competitive play, with many other notable achievements such as placing 13th at defeating and defeating both and Jmook once again at .
* - Switched to Ice Climbers in the post-Slippi era and was the best Ice Climbers player in 2024 and one of the best European players in this era. He is known for performing one of the greatest cinderella runs of this era, where he placed 3rd at defeating a slew of top players including , , and , marking the greatest Ice Climbers performance in the post-Wobbling metagame. Alongside other strong performances such as winning , the largest European event of the year, and his performance at , he was eventually ranked 10th on the SSBMRank 2024, becoming the first new European player to rank top 10 on a year-long ranking since first ranked in the top 10 a decade prior.
* - Prominent tournament organizer who is also known for being one of the best Ice Climbers players throughout the 2010s, peaking at 17th on the SSBMRank 2016. Though active since the Golden Age, he found his greatest success towards the middle of the decade, which includes placing 5th at and 7th at , , , and and defeating players such as at GENESIS 3 and at .
* - The first successful Ice Climbers player since the widespread wobbling ban in 2019. He is known for defeating multiple top ten players throughout 2022, including and , and for his 4th place finish at the , becoming the first Ice Climbers player to place top 8 in the post-Wobbling metagame. His 9th place ranking on the SSBMRank 2022 was the highest global ranking for an Ice Climbers player since Wobbles in 2013, and the highest for a non-wobbling Ice Climbers main since 2011.
* - One of the greatest Ice Climbers players of all time. He first made a name for himself in the Golden Age of Melee, with notable performances such as placing 5th at and 9th at ; his frequent usage of Ice Climbers' infamous infinite in the latter event led to coin the term "wobbling". However, his most iconic performance took place after that era, where he finished 2nd at and defeated , , and to enter Grand Finals on the Winners side. This performance is often considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Ice Climbers performances of all time. He was ranked 8th on the SSBMRank 2013, which is the highest ranking for an Ice Climbers player since the start of global rankings in 2013.
===Tier placement and history===
The Ice Climbers were once a middle to low-middle tiered character, as in the beginning of Melee, professionals did not discover their powerful grounded presence and threatening wobbling techniques, as their flaws, such as their poor aerial approach and difficulty in maintaining both climbers, were highlighted more often. With the discovery of the Ice Climbers' desynching combos and wobbling, more players advocated for their potential, showcased in , and ’s discoveries, leading the Ice Climbers to rank either 7th and 8th on every tier list after the seventh. Since the advent of letter tiers, they have also ranked at the top of the B tier aside from the eleventh tier list, where they were ranked in the S-tier due to 's second place finish at EVO 2013 with the Ice Climbers, with the S-tier meaning to recognize characters who are generally considered viable in competitive play. 
Major events began banning wobbling in 2019, and by the post-Slippi era, the tech was banned at almost all events. The Ice Climbers were ranked 8th on the thirteenth tier list during this time; however, this placement was determined with the assumption that wobbling was not banned, and players were initially unsure where the Ice Climbers would fall in the future tier lists, especially with major advancements for other characters like and indirectly worsening the potency of the Ice Climbers due to the increasing gap in potential. On the other hand, Ice Climbers players switched to handoff combos, which, while less deadly than wobbling, remained an incredibly strong technique, and several new Ice Climbers players eventually rose in the new metagame, most notably , , and . As such, most players agree that the Ice Climbers remain viable even in spite of the wobbling ban.
===Wobbling Controversy===
Wobbling is an advanced technique exclusive to Ice Climbers in Melee where desyncing the pair, grabbing an opponent, then slightly tilting the control stick forward or down and mashing the attack button at exactly 200 BPM will create an infinite combo that the opponent cannot escape from. This is possible due to the opponent being alternately pummeled and hit with a tilt attack to reset the escape mashing. Techniques with similar effects exist in future installments, but they have different activation prerequisites and are harder to execute. The name was coined by after seeing fellow smasher place 9th in NCT2 after discovering the technique from Japanese tutorial videos online and using it extensively in the tournament. "Wobbler" is a slang term used to refer to an Ice Climbers player who relies heavily on landing a grab to wobble their opponent.
The technique has been controversial since its inception due to its relative ease of use and low risk, high reward nature that would bring whole games to a halt and upset competitors and spectators alike. However, the early Melee communities were more scattered, with every tournament having their own stance on wobbling; some tournaments allowed the technique, while others banned it. Following (where wobbling was legal), and competitive Melees ensuing resurgence in popularity, tournament rulesets generally became more unified, and as a result, wobbling was legal at nearly all tournaments from 2013 to the beginning of 2019. was well-known as a fierce opposer of legalizing wobbling, and he banned it at his events in Michigan, including . He eventually decided to allow wobbling at his events, arguing that Michigan smashers needed practice fighting against the technique should they choose to compete in other regions.
In 2018, around the time of the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the discussion regarding wobbling started to grow again, and more and more Melee community members began to support a wobbling ban, beginning to outnumber those who opposed a ban for the first time. The "Platinum Age" saw an increasing amount of top-level Ice Climbers mains using wobbling to make deep bracket runs at major tournaments, including , , , , , and , upsetting many players on their way. As wobbling's presence in Melee grew, many players were concerned about the long-term health of the game, arguing that the unpopularity of wobbling would both discourage players from competing and turn away spectators at major tournaments; top players were known to often grow extremely frustrated when fighting the Ice Climbers. Many top players, including and , openly supported a wobbling ban.
In early 2019, the pro-ban movement gradually began to take off as local and regional tournament scenes began banning wobbling at their events. On February 8th, 2019, the Tennessee Smash Community made a reddit post announcing that wobbling would be banned at tournaments in several Tennessee cities. The official ruleset limited the Ice Climbers, upon grabbing the opponent, to eight separate attacks before regrabbing; violating these rules would result in a warning, game loss, or set loss at the tournament organizer's discretion. As news of the ban spread around the Melee community, other regions began announcing their own bans of various degrees, including Georgia, Maryland/Virginia, Mississippi, Chicago, and the United Kingdom.
 was the first major to officially announce a wobbling ban. Throughout 2019 and 2020, various majors announced their own bans of the technique, including , , Pound 2020, and . Today, wobbling is banned at most tournaments, although some smaller events may choose to legalize the technique at their own discretion.
==In 1-P Mode==
===In ===
The Ice Climbers can appear in a one-on-one, as an ally, on a team with , or as a metal opponent. The Ice Climbers are fought on Icicle Mountain except in the metal battle.
===In Adventure Mode===
The Ice Climbers' sole appearance is on Stage 10: Icicle Mountain. The player is initially tasked with navigating the stage for 51 seconds; following this, two pairs of Ice Climbers attack the player. The player must then KO both Ice Climbers pairs to proceed to the next stage.
===In All-Star Mode===
The Ice Climbers and their allies are fought on Icicle Mountain.
===In Event Matches===
The Ice Climbers appear in the following Events:
*Event 11: King of the Mountain: The player must survive for 1 minute 2 seconds on Icicle Mountain. Two pairs of Ice Climbers will hinder the player and have unlimited lives.
*Event 21: Ice Breaker: The player must KO two Nanas in a one-stock match. The Ice Climbers mainly jump, but they recover if they are knocked off the stage. KOing Popo anytime results in a failure.
*Event 30: All-Star Match 3: The Ice Climbers are the last opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles them on the Icicle Mountain stage, and the player's character has a stock of two lives while the Ice Climbers have one. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat them and the other three characters with the overall time and life they have: Kirby, and .
===Congratulations Screens===
IceClimbersClassicMode.jpg|Classic Mode
IceClimbersAdventureMode.jpg|Adventure Mode
IceClimbersAllStarMode.jpg|All-Star Mode
==Trophies==
In addition to the normal trophy about Ice Climbers as characters unlocked by completing as Ice Climbers on any difficulty, there are two trophies about them as fighters, unlocked by completing and All-Star Mode respectively as Ice Climbers on any difficulty. Each of the trophies can also be unlocked by playing 100, 200, and 300 versus matches respectively as Ice Climbers:
==Alternate costumes==
Nana becomes the leading, player-controlled character when using the 3rd and 4th costumes shown below. The stock icon and character select portraits for these costumes change to reflect this.
			
			
==Gallery==
SSBM Ice Climbers HQ.jpg|Official artwork of Ice Climbers.
SSBMWebsiteIceClimbers1.jpg|Taunting on Pokémon Stadium.
SSBMWebsiteIceClimbers2.jpg| attacking Nana on Yoshi's Story.
Ice Climbers Ice Shot Melee.jpg|Using Ice Shot on Pokémon Stadium.
SSBMWebsiteIceClimbers4.jpg|Multiple Ice Climbers in a Coin Battle on Kongo Jungle.
SSBMWebsiteIceClimbers5.jpg|Using Belay on Fourside.
SSBMWebsiteIceClimbers6.jpg|Using Squall Hammer on Mute City.
CaptainFalconClassicMode.jpg|Knocked back by 's Falcon Kick on Corneria.
YoshiAllStarMode.jpg|Using Belay on Fourside.
==Trivia==
*The CPU level of the trailing Ice Climber is equal to the percentage of the leader, divided by 20, rounded down, and then clamped to the interval 1-9. 
*Changing the language to Japanese on an English copy of Melee changes the Ice Climbers' name to "Ice Climber", as the Japanese language does not differentiate words as plural like in English.
*The Ice Climbers are tied with for the world record in the Home-Run Contest, and are the only character other than Ganondorf to have reached the max distance. Unlike Ganondorf, however, the Ice Climbers have to exploit the Freeze glitch in order to be able to reach these distances in the Home-Run Contest.
*The Ice Climbers are the only starter character from a newly represented universe.
*Even though the Ice Climbers are called "Ice Climbers" in western versions, their chant still says "Ice Climber" (the Japanese name of the character).
*When in the magnifying glass while playing as Nana, she'll have Popo's hair instead of hers.
*Nana's 4th costume has her wear a red coat in her portrait, but it is purple in-game.
*With a total of sixteen years and ten months (at the time of Melees release), the Ice Climbers held the record for the longest time gap between their debut as a playable character in Smash and their last appearance in their home series (which was also the only appearance), until took the record in Brawl. R.O.B.'s record would in turn be surpassed by in .
*In the poll for possible new characters for Melee, the Ice Climbers ranked ninth among characters from miscellaneous Nintendo games, with only 4 votes, tied with Samurai Goroh from and the protagonist at the bottom of the list.
*The Ice Climbers' voice actress, Sanae Kobayashi, was only 21 years old when she recorded her audio for Melee. This makes her the youngest member of the game's voice cast.
==References==
==External links==
*Ice Climbers's page at Smabura-Ken 
 
Category:Trophies (SSBM)
es:Ice Climbers (SSBM)