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This article is about Marth's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Marth.
โ€œ Marth is an exceptional swordfighter with a long reach. He'll do the most damage with attacks using the tip of his sword, so spacing is an important factor. โ€
โ€”Description from the Super Smash Blog.


Marth is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee. His return was confirmed at the E3 2018 Conference on June 12th, 2018.

How to Unlock[]

  • Play VS matches, with Marth being the 23rd character unlocked.
  • Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his character tree, with Marth being unlocked after Lucario.
  • Have Marth join the party in World of Light.

For the first two methods, the player must fight and defeat Marth on Castle Siege.

Attributes[]

Strengths[]

  • Fast mobility.
  • Disjointed reach.
  • Deals high damage and knockback when connecting with the tip of attacks.
  • Possesses combo setups with sourspots.
  • High KO potential with tippered attacks.
  • Strong ledgetrapping and edge guarding ability.
  • Strong juggling abilities.
  • Fast startup on moves.
  • Possesses a counter.
  • Safe recovery due to Dolphin Slash.

Weaknesses[]

  • Polarizing KO potential due to reliance on spacing.
  • Struggles with pressure up close.
  • Poor grab game.
  • High end lag on moves.
  • Lacks landing options.
  • Easily pressured due to average weight.
  • Lacks a projectile, making him susceptible to zoning pressure.

Summary[]

To be added.

Changes from 3DS/Wii U[]

Marth received a mixture of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, but generally nerfed. The universal ability to dash cancel grants him more options for spacing grounded moves when combined with his fast dashing speed, and the reduction to landing lag make his aerials safer for approaches and extending combos.

However, Marth's most notable nerf is removal of his jab cancel, and his sourspots, while still possessing combo potential, were weakened in terms of knockback, further polarizing Marth's KO potential. The faster pace of Ultimate also makes tippers more difficult to land, in contrast to other sword fighters who aren't so reliant on effective spacing like Lucina, Roy, and Ike, who benefits from the greater change. To conclude, while Marth gained some strengths in the transition, the buffs that other sword fighters greatly outweigh his own, particularly buffs received by sword fighters who were considered inferior to Marth previously.

Aesthetically, Marth maintains the same design from the previous title based off his appearance from Shadow Dragon, albeit with some minor differences that more closely resemble his appearance from Fire Emblem Heroes. Marth's tipper sound effect was changed to be the same as Ragnell's sound effect, presumably to make it more noticeable. For the first time, Marth is localized by Yuri Lowenthal, who reprises the role of Marth since Code Name S.T.E.A.M., while Hikaru Midorikawa reprises his role as Marth through new voice lines.

Attributes[]

Ground Attacks[]

  • Neutral Attack has a shorter duration and different knockback values, removing its ability to jab lock.
  • The tipper hitbox of Dash Attack deals more base knockback.
  • The sourspot hitbox of Forward Smash deals less knockback.
  • Down Smash launches at a more horizontal angle.

Aerial Attacks[]

Grabs and Throws[]

Special Attacks[]

  • Shield Breaker can be angled, and deals more damage if it connects with an opponent's head, with the exception of Kirby, Meta Knight, Jigglypuff, and Pac-Man.
  • Dancing Blade executes faster, but has longer end lag and deals less damage.
  • Dolphin Slash produces afterimages of Marth when executed.
  • Counter produces the Critical Hit sound when retaliating while Marth shouts, "My turn!", "Nice try!", or "Predictable!"

Moveset[]

Ground Attacks[]

Normal[]

  • Neutral Attack: Marth slashes in an upwards arc in front of himself, and then slashes a second time.
  • Forward Tilt: Marth slashes in a wide upwards arc in front of himself.
  • Up Tilt: Marth slashes his sword overhead.
  • Down Tilt: Marth quickly stabs low to the ground.
  • Dash Attack: Marth swings his sword forwards.

Smash Attacks[]

  • Forward Smash (Dragon Killer): Marth swings his sword forwards in a downwards arc until it impacts with the ground in front of him.
  • Up Smash: Marth stabs his sword upwards.
  • Down Smash: Marth slashes low to the ground on one side, then the other side.

Other attacks[]

  • Floor Attack (Front):
  • Floor Attack (Back):
  • Floor Attack (Trip):
  • Ledge Attack: Slashes his sword in front of him.

Aerial Attacks[]

  • Neutral aerial: Marth slashes twice in front of him horizontally, then slashes once at his back.
  • Forward aerial: Marth slashes quickly in a downwards arc in front of himself.
  • Back aerial (About Face): Marth turns and slashes his sword in an upwards arc behind himself.
  • Up aerial: Marth slashes his sword above himself.
  • Down aerial: Marth swings his sword below himself; spikes when sweetspotted.

Grabs and Throws[]

  • Pummel: Marth throws his knee into the grabbed opponent.
  • Forward Throw: Marth does a quick elbow strike to the opponent's chest, launching them forwards.
  • Back Throw: Marth tosses the opponent backwards.
  • Up Throw: Marth hurls the enemy upwards.
  • Down Throw: Marth slams the opponent on the ground.

Special Moves[]

Marth's Special Moves
Melee Brawl 3DS/Wii U Ultimate
Standard Special Shield Breaker
Side Special Dancing Blade
Up Special Dolphin Slash
Down Special Counter
Final Smash โ€” Critical Hit

Taunts[]

  • Up Taunt: Points Falchion at the sky and says "This is it!" The tip of his blade shimmers.
  • Side Taunt: Sheaths Falchion and says "I won't lose!"
  • Down Taunt: Holds Falchion pointed up, then swings it down to his side, saying, "Keep your eyes open!"

On-Screen Appearance[]

  • Warps onto the stage before unsheathing his Falchion.

Idle Poses[]

  • Places his hand on his chest and breathes deeply.
  • Brushes his hair aside.

Victory Poses[]

  • Swings Falchion to his side before sheathing it saying, "I live to fight again."
  • Stabs Falchion forward before holding it out to his side saying, "The day is mine!"
  • Jumps forward and slashes twice before landing and holding Falchion in a reverse grip close to him while saying, "I cannot afford to lose!"

In competitive play[]

In stark contrast to pre-release Ultimate, where it was speculated that Marth could be the best character in the game, Marth initially saw a near-nonexistent playerbase due to nerfs such as smaller tipper hitboxes and the removal of perfect pivoting to space tippers consistently. As a result of the nerfs, all of Marth's prominent players from 3DS/Wii U dropped him in favor of other characters, most notably his echo Lucina, who is widely considered to be more effective and easier than Marth as a character. Despite seeing brief usage from MkLeo in 2019, Marth was considered an "irrelevant" character in tournament play, with data collected from OrionRank co-founder Barnard's Loop showing that Marth had the third-worst representation in the game in April 2020.

Subsequent patches buffed several of Marth's tipper hitboxes, making it easier to connect tippers reliably. Furthermore, since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marth has saw steadily improved representation at locals and minor circuits. While this could mean that his buffs have impacted him for the better, no one is certain of his current viability yet. Nevertheless, Marth is considered to be more viable in the current metagame than in the early metagame.

Classic Mode: A Kingdom of Dragons[]

Marth fights draconic opponents on various medieval-themed stages, referencing the prevalence of dragon enemies in all his games. The Mii Fighters sport dragon-themed costumes. As a reference to how Marth fights a dragon as the final boss in his own games, he fights Rathalos, a wyvern (clearly labeled as a dragon in the original Japanese), as the boss of his route. The name is also likely a reference to Dohlr, a former Kingdom of Manaketes (Dragon shapeshifters).

Role in World of Light[]

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

During the opening cutscene, Marth took notice of the massive number of Master Hands, telling the other fighters that they would "need to take down about ten [Master Hands each]." ("ไธ€ไบบใงๅไฝ“ใใ‚‰ใ„ๅ€’ใ›ใฐใ„ใ‘ใ‚‹ใ‹?", Maybe we can win this by taking about ten each?) He was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed his beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters (excluding Kirby).

During the mode itself, Marth can be unlocked early on shortly after rescuing Mario, where the player arrives at a crossroads and has the choice to rescue him, Sheik, or Villager. If one of the others is rescued first, Marth's path will be blocked by a force field created by Master Hand, which will disappear upon defeating a boss or can be circumvented by looping back to the other side.

Palette Swaps[]

Tips[]

Tips about a character's background and how to use that character can appear at random intervals on the loading screen. The player can also access the full list of tips at any time in the "Vault" section. The following tips are copied verbatim from the in-game text.

  • Marth's Origins: Marth debuted in the first Fire Emblem game in 1990, but that game wasn't released in North America until the Nintendo DS remake in 2009.
  • In His Series: Marth is the protagonist of the first Fire Emblem series game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. He's the prince of Atlea and was driven from his homeland.
  • Shield Breaker (Neutral Special): This move leaves you wide open, but if you charge it to maximum, it can break an enemy's shield in a single hit.
  • Midair Shield Breaker (Neutral Special): Marth will move forward slightly if the move is used in midair, so it can be used to recover when trying to get back to the stage. He'll move farther when the move is fully charged.
  • Shield Breaker Techniques (Neutral Special): By entering up or down the moment the move starts, you can change the direction the blade strikes. You can do just a little bit more damage by hitting an opponent's head.
  • Dancing Blade Combo (Side Special): Keep pressing the button to turn this into a four-hit combo. Holding different directions will change the angle of the strike!
  • Dancing Blade's Color (Side Special): Marth's sword leaves a trail as he swings it, and the color reflects the attack's height. Blue is high, red is middle, and green is low.
  • Dancing Blade's Sideways Swing (Side Special): Hold toward the foe you're attacking on the fourth swing for an attack that launches foes much farther than the up or down versions.
  • Dancing Blade Up (Side Special): Press up on the fourth swing for a slice that will launch your foes. This swing is excellent for netting some KOs!
  • Dancing Blade Down (Side Special): During Marth's Dancing Blade combo, tilt the control stick down on the fourth swing to finish the combo with a powerful series of blows to your opponent's feet!
  • Aerial Dancing Blade (Side Special): Use Dancing Blade midjump to make Marth rise slightly in the air. Even during short hops, you'll be able to use the attack multiple times with this method.
  • Dolphin Slash (Up Special): Just before the attack comes out, Marth will be invincible, but it works a little faster in the air than when on land. Once you get used to using it, you can even use it to break up an opponent's combo.
  • Counter (Down Special): The counter depends on the attack it is countering. A countered smash attack may KO an opponent!
  • Critical Hit (Final Smash): In this Final Smash, Marth rushes forth with blazing speed. If you go too far, you can press the button again to stop on the spot.
  • Dragon Killer (Side Smash): The tip of the blade has astounding launching power. It's a bit hard to aim for a hit with it, but that just means the rush you get from landing a clean hit feels even better.
  • About Face (Back Air): This is a unique move in that Marth can change his direction while attacking. After the beginning part of the move, he'll change direction in midair.
  • Sword Characteristics: For moves that use Marth's sword, the base is weak and the tip is strong. Try to maintain a good distance when fighting so you hit your opponents with the tip.
  • The Three Fastest Walkers: Marth and Lucina are tied for #1, with Fox at #3. Walking doesn't leave you as open as running; patience can be a virtue in battle!

Gallery[]

External links[]

Smash Ultimate logo glow  ยท Fighters
Veterans Bayonetta  ยท Bowser  ยท Bowser Jr.  ยท Captain Falcon  ยท Cloud  ยท Corrin  ยท Dark Pit  ยท Diddy Kong  ยท Donkey Kong  ยท Dr. Mario  ยท Duck Hunt  ยท Falco  ยท Fox  ยท Ganondorf  ยท Greninja  ยท Ice Climbers  ยท Ike  ยท Jigglypuff  ยท King Dedede  ยท Kirby  ยท Link  ยท Little Mac  ยท Lucas  ยท Lucario  ยท Lucina  ยท Luigi  ยท Mario  ยท Marth  ยท Mega Man  ยท Meta Knight  ยท Mewtwo  ยท Mii Fighters (Mii Brawler  ยท Mii Gunner  ยท Mii Swordfighter)  ยท Mr. Game & Watch  ยท Ness  ยท Olimar  ยท Pac-Man  ยท Palutena  ยท Peach  ยท Pichu  ยท Pikachu  ยท Pit  ยท Pokรฉmon Trainer (Charizard  ยท Ivysaur  ยท Squirtle)  ยท R.O.B.  ยท Robin  ยท Rosalina & Luma  ยท Roy  ยท Ryu  ยท Samus  ยท Sheik  ยท Shulk  ยท Snake  ยท Sonic  ยท Toon Link  ยท Villager  ยท Wario  ยท Wii Fit Trainer  ยท Wolf  ยท Yoshi  ยท Young Link  ยท Zelda  ยท Zero Suit Samus
Newcomers Banjo & Kazooie  ยท Byleth  ยท Chrom  ยท Daisy  ยท Dark Samus  ยท Hero  ยท Incineroar  ยท Inkling  ยท Isabelle  ยท Joker  ยท Kazuya  ยท Ken  ยท King K. Rool  ยท Min Min  ยท Piranha Plant  ยท Pyra/Mythra  ยท Richter  ยท Ridley  ยท Sephiroth  ยท Simon  ยท Sora  ยท Steve  ยท Terry
FireEmblemSymbol Fire Emblem universe
Characters Marth (Melee  ยท Brawl  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Roy (Melee  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Ike (Brawl  ยท 3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Robin (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Lucina (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Corrin (3DS/Wii U  ยท Ultimate)
Chrom (Ultimate)
Byleth (Ultimate)
Side Characters Assist Trophies Lyn  ยท Black Knight  ยท Tiki
Mii Fighter Costumes Chrom  ยท Black Knight
Background characters Claude von Riegan  ยท Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd  ยท Edelgard von Hresvelg  ยท Rhea
Others Anna  ยท Sothis
Stages Castle Siege  ยท Arena Ferox  ยท Coliseum  ยท Garreg Mach Monastery
Item Killing Edge
Music List of Music (Fire Emblem series)
Collectibles Trophies Melee Trophies  ยท Brawl Trophies  ยท 3DS Trophies  ยท Wii U Trophies
Stickers List of Stickers (Fire Emblem series)
Spirits List of spirits (Fire Emblem series)
Masterpieces Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light  ยท Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
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