Samus (SSB18)

**Samus** (サムス, Samus) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. OC 2018. She is the fifth of the original eight to be confirmed (following Mario, Link, Pikachu and Kirby).

## Attributes

Samus is unique among her fellow heavyweights. She is a floaty character with below average walking and dashing speeds, average air speed and slow falling speed. While this gives her an easier time chasing aerial opponents and forcing air dodges, it also causes her to be juggled easier. When combined with her few reliable landing options and slow falling speed, opponents have more time to punish Samus as she attempts to return to the stage. In addition, many of her moves artificially extend her hurtboxes, leading to trades, an opponent grabbing her invisible hurtboxes and in some cases getting punished after landing a move despite her being visually out of range of the opponent's counterattack. Furthermore, some of the hitboxes on her moves, most notably up smash, forward smash and up aerial, have the issue of failing to connect properly or even whiffing outright.

Samus' moveset is defensive, as she uses her projectiles to space, rack up damage from a distance and pressure shields. Charge Shot is her most consistent KOing option out of her special moves, courtesy of its increased speed and power. Missile is mostly used for spacing, due to neither its Homing or Super variants possessing reliable KO potential, while Bomb gives Samus various mix-ups and can aid her recovery. However, Missile and Bomb also possess valuable utility, in that they can guarantee a shield break when used in conjunction with a sufficiently charged Charge Shot or a sweetspotted back aerial. Lastly, Screw Attack is a decent out of shield option, a KOing option near the upper blast line and a viable combo finisher from aerial combo strings. Combined with rage, it can KO very early.

In addition, Samus has a strong air game. Her back aerial is one of her best moves courtesy of its power, damage output and speed. Her down aerial can be a powerful meteor smash, forward aerial is a good pressuring tool due to its long duration, and up aerial is an excellent combo option. Lastly, her neutral aerial is a viable KOing option.

Samus' grab game is also somewhat useful, as her Grapple Beam has impressive range, doubles as a tether recovery (with its range as such having been increased since Brawl) and is a capable spacing tool when used as a grab aerial. However, it still possesses considerable ending lag despite it having been reduced since Brawl. Down throw is very useful for starting combos that deal respectable damage and can be used with her neutral, forward and up aerials at varying percentages. Many of her combos can rack up more than 30% and when using platforms to her advantage, or string together multiple times and then be finished with Screw Attack, leading to a KO or dealing 40%-50% at the very least. Lastly, her pummel is tied with Baxter's as the second fastest in the game, although it is also the weakest one in the game.

However, Samus' ground game is mediocre overall. All of her smash attacks are punishable, with only her forward smash being a fairly reliable KOing option due to its quick start-up lag. Her neutral attack is very mediocre, which is noticeably exemplified in its inability to connect at high percentages and thus limits Samus' anti-pressuring ability. Her tilts can combo, KO, and have decent range, but suffer from her unique hurtbox issue. Due to this and her average dashing speed, most Samus players will often find themselves in the air, where her strengths lie.

## Moveset

### Taunts

* Up: Salutes vigorously with her left arm as her thrusters activate.
* Side: Faces the screen and demonstrates her Arm Cannon's mechanics.
* Down: Aims her Arm Cannon behind herself, then kneels while aiming it in front of herself.

### Idle poses

* Rubs her Arm Cannon with one finger.
* Brings her Arm Cannon down and then pulls it back up.

### Victory poses

* Fires multiple shots from her Arm Cannon while kneeling, then strikes a pose. The pose is based on her appearance on the cover of Metroid II: Return of Samus.
* Performs a reverse roundhouse kick, readies her Arm Cannon, then strikes a pose.
* Throws two punches, fires a shot from her Arm Cannon, then strikes a pose.