Samus

**Tier** | **A+** (9)

## General

Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran) is the main protagonist of the Metroid series. She is a bounty hunter of the Galactic Federation, an organization that fights against the alien race known as the Space Pirates. Infused with alien Chozo DNA, Samus, clad in a robotic-like Power Suit, possesses exceptional athletic ability and is skilled with a multitude of different cybernetic weapons. She is an orphan who was the sole survivor of a pirate raid on her home space colony K-2L. She is a playable character in all 3 of the Smash games and in Super Smash Bros Crusade.

Samus is one of Nintendo's oldest and most famous characters, having debuted in Metroid for NES in 1986. She is best known for a surprise secret ending of Metroid, in which many players at the time, under the impression that Samus was a male, were shocked to learn that Samus was female (which was very uncommon for the game industry at the time).

Samus is ranked 9th in the S Tier for 0.8.4, her highest position ever in a *Smash* game. This is due to possessing one of the best defensive games in the game which comes equipped with a powerful and effective Missle Spam and a fast Zair which acts as a very fast keep-away. Samus also has an excellent recovery, great KO power, great edge-guarding with her Charge Shot, Missle, Bomb and Zair, one of the most powerful projectiles in the game power & priority wise, a powerful Dair and has great options out-of-shield. However, Samus is rather slow, her range on her normals is below-average, her shield roll is punishable due to it being the slowest in the game and her combos are rather short, but they do deal a good amount of damage.

## Changes from Brawl to Crusade

Samus was significantly buffed. Samus has regained her kill power and has infinite range on her Charge Cannon (which has one of the highest priority in the game) and her Bombs are more useful for mindgames and for recovery. Her Zair is also improved due to *Crusade's* large ledge system, and her Missiles (Side and Smash B) now cancel quickly upon landing as they did in *Melee*. However, Samus does have nerfs: Samus' Screw Attack has significantly less vertical distance, Samus is slower then she is in *Brawl* and has slightly less range in her attacks.

In cosmetic changes, nothing really changed. She is smaller then she was in Brawl.

## Attributes

Samus has a wide array of both projectiles and physical attacks, which can be used in promising combinations. Samus is a heavyweight and ranks in the middle of the speed-class. However, she is tall, which makes her easier to hit (a common problem amongst most of the game's heavyweights). She has average KO power and high floatiness for her weight class. Samus can be awkward to fight effectively with against the game's faster, more graceful characters, but with a good combination of long and short-range attacks, she can be deadly. Samus has the third-slowest falling speed in the game, behind Peach and Jigglypuff. This is both advantageous and disadvantageous. On the upside, her floatiness can be used to bolster her aerial game. Staying in the air longer allows Samus to follow-up with other aerials; given that many of her moves have low knockback, she can create all sorts of continuous strings of low-to-moderate percentage attacks. More importantly, her floatiness allows her to have an above-average recovery game. On the downside, her slow fall speed also makes her recovery predictable and fairly easily edge-guarded (though, her floatiness makes her edgeguarding game easier and safer). Samus can also be easily juggled because her fast fall is still very slow and as a result of this her momentum canceling is poor and only makes her live slightly above average vertically despite being the 7th heaviest in terms of weight. Despite her ground moves being weak in term of knockback, they deal decent damage. Samus has much time to dodge attacks while throwing foes off with things like Bombs (and Bomb Jumping), or she can speed things up by using her surprisingly long Grapple Beam to zip to the safety of the edge. One of the most valuable uses of her slow falling speed is successfully meteor smashing an opponent who has no ground on which to land and still being able to recover easily. She also has the largest ledge sweetspot.

Samus critical weakness is, despite the increased kill power, is her finisihing ability. Samus has a great camp game and a great spacing game, but once she gets "up, close-and-personal" with the opponent, she has very little options due to the lack of a quick KO move, and the slowest shield roll in the game. Charge Shot, when at full-power, is her quickest kill move due to the decreased start-up lag while firing, however it is really to see coming so it can easily be shielded, despite the shieldstun it receives. Samus' can kill more reliably while in the air due to her Dair, but she will have a hard time because she will have difficulty to get the opponent in the air, due to her bad "up-close-and-personal" game. Her best way to get the opponent in the air is Zair, but deals low knockback.

Her neutral special, Charge Shot, does great knockback at higher percentages and is a deadly projectile for edgeguarding, when fully charged. Samus has two kinds of Missiles: the Homing Missile homes on opponents and deals 5% damage; and the Super Missile moves in a fast, straight line and deals 10 % damage and noticeable knockback. Her up special, Screw Attack gives her decent vertical height, is a good out of shield option and can trap opponents for damage racking. Her down special, Bomb, makes Samus shift into morph ball mode and lays a bomb, which will explode after a set time period. Her grab has great range, but it is laggy if she fails to grab an opponent (although performing a dash grab can remedy this). In the air, her Grapple Beam can damage opponents and can be used as a tether recovery.

Samus works best when transitioning well from the air to the ground. None of Samus's aerials have landing lag, with her forward and up aerials having no knockback except at the final hit. Samus can capitalize on this by canceling into more powerful moves like her forward smash and down tilt, or by using a fully charged Charge Shot in the event the opponent is a bit too far away. Missiles also factor into the air to ground transition; landing immediately after the missile has been fired negates the significant firing lag, so one can immediately follow up with another missile (of either kind). This lag negation allows for a "double missile" effect where Samus can fire one missile, land, and almost immediately fire another. These missiles can also stop opponents recovery, such as Pikachu's Skull Bash, Luigi's Green Missile, Jigglypuffs Rollout or Captain Falcon Raptor Booster, setting them up for an immediate meteor smash. A Missile→Charge Shot combination is an excellent combo, but can sometimes be predictable, so Samus mains must learn to launch them unexpectedly. Her aerial Grapple Beam ("zair") actually acts as a move to complement this strategy, stunning opponents from far away with high speed, and also cancels immediately upon landing, which can combo into a down tilt or smash. Coupled with the Charge Shot's potency, Samus has no problem frustrating opponents from a safe distance, chipping away at her opponent's approach to best suit her. Although Samus has three different projectiles, she still lacks a reliable way to deal with opponents' projectiles especially since her shield roll is very slow (slowest in the game).

## Samus's Normal Moves

**Combo**

* Punches and attacks with Arm Cannon in an arc. Does 3%, then 7%, with a total of 10%. Good on short-hopping opponents close-up, otherwise the second hit can be easily shielded or shield grabbed. Start-up of 3 frames.

**Dash Attack**

* Shoulder tackles. Does 10% damage. Decent dash attack with diagonal-vertical knockback, but will rarely KO before extremely high percentages and is better for setting up a back aerial or other air games. Hits on frame 8-16.

**Forward Tilt**

* Spin kicks forward. Does 9%. Samus's best mid-range defense/spacing move. Hits on frame 7-9.

**Up Tilt**

* Axe kicks down. Similar to Captain Falcon's up tilt, though no disjoint and a little weaker. The move has two hitboxes, one centered on Samus's foot that inflicts 13% damage and is a spike, and another on Samus's leg that deals 12% and horizontal knockback. Good knockback, long duration (hits on frame 15-18). Good for use beneath platforms, meteor smashing opponents against the ground into the air. Otherwise useful as a kind of anti-air move, especially in edge-gimping situations.

**Down Tilt**

* Creates a fire burst on the ground with arm cannon. This is very similar to Snake's forward smash, however weaker and much less start-up lag. 14% damage and high vertical knockback, especially for a tilt. Samus's quickest KO move, but laggy if shielded, has a small hitbox, and doesn't defend against short-hops well. Start-up of 6 frames.

**Side Smash**

* Thrusts Arm Cannon forward. Below-average KOing power for a side smash, having high knockback scaling, but very low base knockback. It has fast start-up (10 frames), which can counter balance its poor reach and below-average knockback; surprising opponents up close after a cancelled forward aerial or whenever the opportunity presents itself. It can also be angled upwards or downwards. Does 14%-20% damage.

**Up Smash**

* Releases 5 fire bursts in an arc above herself. Moderately fast start-up lag (11 frames), but has punishable ending lag with poor horizontal reach. The first four hitboxes have negligible knockback, designed to link each hitbox. However, the up smash is easy to escape out of with DI, especially on the first hit. It does high damage with moderate knockback and works as a very situational anti-air. Does 4-6% for each hit, dealing 23%-32% if all hits connect.

**Down Smash**

* Spins around on the ground with her feet, sending her victims upward (back hit sends foes diagonally in front of Samus). Good for spacing. Fast start-up (9 frames), but the back hit does not happen quickly (only hits on frame 17) and the down smash has some ending lag, but the lag pays off if the leg behind her makes contact. Does 15-21% in the frontal hitbox and 14-19% in the rear hitbox.

**Neutral Aerial**

* Sex kick. Does 9% initially, 6% if hit afterwards. Below-average knockback. Samus's large character model makes this neutral longer-ranged than many of the others in the game, but it's still a primarily defensive maneuver. Hits on frame 5-24.

**Forward Aerial**

* Creates fire burst in front of her. Does 3-4% per hit, 18% total. Decent knockback on final hit. Cancels quickly enough on landing to follow up with a down tilt if someone was caught before the final fire burst. Great on ledge-hops, and an overall useful offensive move. This move can be comboed into starting from a Down Throw for good damage. Start-up of 7 frames.

**Back Aerial**

* Samus regains her N64 Back Aerial, a reverse axe kick. Though it isn't particularly fast, it deals good knockback and damage, making it a good finisher. Deals 13% damage.

**Up Aerial**

* Spins in a drill upward. Inflicts 11% damage if all hits connect. Multiple hitboxes with low knockback makes this move one of Samus's setup moves. Incredibly difficult to air dodge from. Low frames for startup (5 frames). L-canceled uair can set-up a Screw Attack.

**Down Aerial**

* Swings arm cannon in an arc underneath herself, can meteor smash with average power and has a fairly large hitbox. Inflicts 15% worth damage. A great move to use while floating backwards over run-ins, but has a sweeping hitbox that needs good placement and is fairly slow. This is her only way to KO at lower percentages. Start-up of 18 frames and it ends on frame 22. Most reliable finisher used in the end of Samus' combos.

**Z-Aerial**

* Sends grapple forward, with long range. Does 4% damage, 7% with tip. A staple Samus move that makes Samus one of the best campers in the game, as it has the fast movement of a projectile that cannot be reflected. Combine with Homing Missile/Super Missile-cancels and Charge Shots for a tremendous long-range obstacle course for opponents. Longest zair (grab air/Z-Button in midair) in the game. Hits on frame 9-18.

**Forward Throw**

* Flings forward. Does 9% damage. Low launch power but a dash attack can make up for it at low percentages.

**Back Throw**

* Flings backward. Does 8% damage.

**Up Throw**

* Spins opponent above her head and shocks opponent upward, similar to Zero Suit Samus's up smash. Gradually deals a total of 9% damage. Last shock from throw deals decent knockback, but not enough to KO.

**Down Throw**

* Slings back over her head then slams down. Does 6%. Forward aerial is a good follow-up.

**Ledge Attack**

* Gets up from the ledge and does a quick sweep kick.

## Samus's Special Moves

 Neutral Special
 Side Special
 Up Special
 Down Special
 Final Smash

## Notable Appearances

* Metroid (1986)

* Super Metroid (1994)

* Metroid Prime (2002)

* Metroid: Other M (2010)