Captain Falcon (PM)

Captain Falcon is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He was remade to be nearly identical to his Melee counterpart in terms of attack hitboxes and animations.
Captain Falcon is currently ranked 9th out of 41 on the official tier list, placing him in the top portion of the A- tier. This is a marginal drop of his 6th place out of 26 in Melee, and a drastic improvement over his 34th place out of 38 in Brawl. He retains this placement in the official Project+ , now at the bottom of the A+ tier.
==Attributes==
Captain Falcon had the reputation of being one of the worst Brawl characters in spite of his speed and power, as Brawls physics crippled him and resulted in a massive drop in his tier position. Because of this, he has been reverted back to his Melee incarnation, while retaining a few buffs from his Brawl iteration. Since Project M returns to the physics of Melee, Captain Falcon's combo abilities are once again efficient, as the removal of hitstun canceling no longer allows opponents to air dodge like they could in Brawl. Additionally, the Knee Smash, his main finisher in Melee, is once again as easy to sweetspot as it was in Melee. Captain Falcon also benefits from the normalization of sidesteps; it was lackluster in Melee, but since all sidesteps were made to be roughly the same in terms of frame data in Project M, he is no longer as susceptible to pressure. However, Captain Falcon can still be considered a glass cannon because his high falling speed hinders his already poor recovery and makes him susceptible to combos and gimps.
Captain Falcon fares slightly better in Project M than he did in Melee partially due to the small buffs he's received, but also partially due to the addition of many more semi-floaty characters that Falcon can easily overwhelm and combo, leading him to have good matchups against a majority of the new characters. The expanded stage list, which allows for stage bans even in best of 5 sets, also allows Captain Falcon players to avoid being hard counterpicked to his worst stage in Melee, Fountain of Dreams. In addition, metagame shifts have been favorable to him. Arguably his worst matchup in Melee, , has been slightly nerfed and has worse matchups against the new characters, causing him to be used less often. Other characters from Melee that were difficult to handle have also been nerfed, bringing Falcon's matchups against them closer to even. Due to these factors, Falcon is acknowledged to be better relative to the cast than he was in previous games.
==Changes from Melee, Brawl to PM==
Captain Falcon was mostly reverted to his Melee version while keeping a minority of improvements from Brawl.
===Aesthetics===
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===Attributes===
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===Ground Attacks===
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===Aerial Attacks===
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===Special Moves===
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==Revisions==
===v2.1===
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===v2.5b===
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===v2.6b===
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===v3.0===
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===v3.01===
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===v3.5===
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===v3.6 Beta===
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==Moveset==
Up to date as of version 3.6.
 	 	Name 	Damage 	Description
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	2% 	Captain Falcon punches twice, then knee strikes the opponent, which is then followed by a series of rapid punches. Stopping at the knee strike is known as the Gentleman.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	3% 	Captain Falcon punches twice, then knee strikes the opponent, which is then followed by a series of rapid punches. Stopping at the knee strike is known as the Gentleman.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	8% (clean), 6% (late) 	Captain Falcon punches twice, then knee strikes the opponent, which is then followed by a series of rapid punches. Stopping at the knee strike is known as the Gentleman.
Neutral attack 	Neutral attack 	 	1-2% (loop) 	Captain Falcon punches twice, then knee strikes the opponent, which is then followed by a series of rapid punches. Stopping at the knee strike is known as the Gentleman.
Forward tilt 	↗ 	 	12% (leg), 11% (body) 	Captain Falcon does a roundhouse kick forward. This move can be angled up or down.
Forward tilt 	→ 	 	11% 	Captain Falcon does a roundhouse kick forward. This move can be angled up or down.
Forward tilt 	↘ 	 	10% (leg), 11% (body) 	Captain Falcon does a roundhouse kick forward. This move can be angled up or down.
Up tilt 	Up tilt 	 	13% 	Captain Falcon brings his leg above his head and slams it down in an axe-like fashion.
Down tilt 	Down tilt 	 	12% 	Does a sweep kick that deals vertical knockback.
Dash attack 	Dash attack 	 	10% (clean), 7% (late) 	Captain Falcon does a running shoulder tackle forward, hitting any opponent in his path.
Forward smash 	↗ 	 	 	Captain Falcon leans back and jabs an elbow forward, dealing powerful flame damage. Has slow startup, but decent reach. This move can be angled up or down.
Forward smash 	→ 	 	 	Captain Falcon leans back and jabs an elbow forward, dealing powerful flame damage. Has slow startup, but decent reach. This move can be angled up or down.
Forward smash 	↘ 	 	 	Captain Falcon leans back and jabs an elbow forward, dealing powerful flame damage. Has slow startup, but decent reach. This move can be angled up or down.
Up smash 	Up smash 	 	/ (hit 1), / (hit 2) 	Captain Falcon performs a spinning double kick in one short hop. A fast move that has good vertical range, but poor range horizontally.
Down smash 	Down smash 	 	(front), (back) 	Captain Falcon kicks forward and then backward.
Neutral aerial 	Neutral aerial 	 	5-6% (hit 1), 7% (hit 2) 	Captain Falcon kicks forwards twice. A powerful combo tool.
Forward aerial 	Forward aerial 	Knee Smash 	18% (clean), 6% (late) 	Often simply referred to as "The Knee", Captain Falcon jabs a knee forward. During the initial frames, the entire hitbox acts as a powerful Sex kick with electrical properties and great horizontal knockback. After the initial frames, it becomes a weak but sufficient semi-spike.
Back aerial 	Back aerial 	 	14% (clean), 8% (late) 	Captain Falcon delivers a strong backhanded punch from behind.
Up aerial 	Up aerial 	 	12%/13% (clean), 10%/12 (late) 	Captain Falcon does a flip kick with fast start-up and good all-around range. Primary used as a combo tool.
Down aerial 	Down aerial 	 	16% 	Captain Falcon stomps downward with both feet. Acts as a powerful meteor smash, dealing a large amount of hitstun. It the attack connects within Captain Falcon's torso, it becomes a "nipple spike", a powerful spike that deals flame damage.
Grab 	Grab 	 	— 	
Pummel 	Pummel 	 	3% 	Captain Falcon knees the opponent. A fairly quick pummel.
Forward throw 	Forward throw 	 	5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) 	Captain Falcon punches the enemy forward.
Back throw 	Back throw 	 	5% (hit 1), 4% (throw) 	Captain Falcon puts the enemy behind him and kicks.
Up throw 	Up throw 	 	4% (hit 1), 3% (throw) 	Captain Falcon holds the enemy up and punches them upwards. This throw can be used to start a chain grab on fast fallers at mid-high percents.
Down throw 	Down throw 	 	7% 	Captain Falcon swings the foe overhead and then slams them on the ground with a single arm. This throw can be used to start a chain grab on most non-fast fallers.
Floor attack (front)	Floor attack (front)	 	6% 	Captain Falcon gets up and flips while kicking.
Floor attack (back) 	Floor attack (back) 	 	6% 	Captain Falcon stands on both hands and perfprms a spinning double kick.
Floor attack (trip) 	Floor attack (trip) 	 	5% 	Captain Falcon gets up and punches both sides.
Edge attack (fast) 	Edge attack (fast) 	 	9% 	Captain Falcon pulls himself up and kicks forward.
Edge attack (slow) 	Edge attack (slow) 	 	10% 	Captain Falcon slowly climbs up does an uppercut.
Neutral special 	Neutral special 	Falcon Punch	27% (close), 25% (mid), 23% (far)+1% damage when reversed	Captain Falcon winds up and releases his iconic fiery punch. Can be reversed up to four times, with the attack's power increasing only on the first turn. Captain Falcon's momentum will be halted the moment he unleashes the punch while airborne.
Side special 	Side special 	Raptor Boost	7% 	Captain Falcon dashes forward. If he doesn't hit an opponent, he falls over, leaving him wide open for an enemy attack. If he hits an opponent on the ground, he launches a fiery uppercut, knocking them into the air. If he hits an opponent while in midair, he punches downward, meteor smashing them. This move can be used to edgehog, and works as a leapfrog recovery in midair.
Up special 	Up special 	Falcon Dive 	5% (grab), 12% (release), 8% (escape) 	Captain Falcon grabs his opponent and releases them with a fiery explosion. Goes into helpless if he misses but if the move connect, he's free to use the same move again without landing.
Down special 	Down special 	Falcon Kick 	15%/12%/9% (ground), 15%/13%/11% (air), 10% (landing) 	Captain Falcon rushes forward with a flaming high-speed kick. If he goes off a ledge, he continues dashing forward. If started in midair, he kicks down at a diagonal angle. Restores his midair jump, making it a useful move for horizontal recovery at long distances.
Final Smash 	Final Smash 	Blue Falcon 	10% (car), 20% (ram), 10% (release) 	Captain Falcon calls in his F-Zero racer, the Blue Falcon. The opponent is hit by the vehicle as it zooms past, sending them to an unknown F-Zero track. Captain Falcon proceeds to run them down in the Blue Falcon, resulting in high knockback.
==In competitive play==
===Most historically significant players===
See also: :Category:Captain Falcon players (PM)
* - Ranked 18th on PMRank 2023.
* - Considered the best active Falcon in the world. Ranked #16 on PMRank 2023.
* - One of the best Falcon players in the world.
* - Ranked #21 on PMRank 2023.
* - Uses Captain Falcon as a secondary; won Cashed Out using primarily Falcon.
* - The best Captain Falcon player in SoCal. Ranked 25th on the PMRank 2016.
==Alternate costumes==
===Project M===
Captain Falcon's set of alternate costumes now includes a purple outfit with a tucked in scarf based off of his appearance in the original Super Smash Bros. and his appearance from F-Zero X, and a retro version inspired by his initial F-Zero appearance seen in the original SNES F-Zero.
							
							
===Project+===
Captain Falcon's default costume now includes a reference to Dr. Stewart from the F-Zero series. His retro costume includes team colors, as well as a reference to Phoenix, a driver who resembles Captain Falcon in F-Zero GX. Lastly, he has a new costume based on the clothes he wears while piloting the Super Falcon introduced in the F-Zero X Expansion Kit. His Red Super Falcon costume is based on the colors of Ultraman, the alien superhero and namesake of the Ultraman series. Green Super Falcon resembles the colors of Kamen Rider, in particular the classic outfits known for teal and black suits with red eyes. Brown Super Falcon is based on the colors of Super Arrow from F-Zero X. The final recolor is based on Captain Falcon's classic Blue Falcon color scheme with a full face visor and additional helmet details.
Secret costumes:
 
Z-Secret Costume: Mach Rider from the NES game of the same name
R-Secret Costume: Helmetless Captain Falcon
==Trivia==
*Captain Falcon's artwork in Project+ bears a striking resemblance to his pose in the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate panoramic artwork. 
==External links==
*Captain Falcon's page at the Project M website
*Labbing Discord Tech Post
Category:Captain Falcon
Category:Characters (PM)