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Marth/Super Smash Bros. series

From Fire Emblem Wiki, your source on Fire Emblem information. By fans, for fans.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

SSB.png This article or section is a short summary of Marth in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
SmashWiki features a more in-depth article.
SSBM Marth.jpg

Marth appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as an unlockable playable character, along with Roy of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. Being that no Fire Emblem games had been localized anywhere in the world at the time, the Japanese development team intended for them to be removed from international releases; however, the localization team liked them and left them in anyway, leaving their voices and sound effects in the original Japanese as a reflection of their status as having no English-language presence.[1] The two proved popular with international audiences, prompting Nintendo to give the series international releases, starting with Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Marth himself, however, would not appear in an internationally-released Fire Emblem title until Shadow Dragon seven years later.

For his Melee appearance, Marth received an updated and more heavily detailed redesign loosely based on his Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem appearance. He is unlocked by playing 400 VS. matches, using all fourteen starter characters in Classic or Adventure Mode, or using all the default characters as a human player in VS. Mode. Wielding Falchion, his attacks and movements are very loosely based on his Fire Emblem appearances. Almost every attack with Marth is sword based, save for grab and pummel related moves. In competitive tournament environments, Marth has been consistently rated as one of the best characters in Melee, owing to his high speed, rapid combo-attack abilities and good range for a character with no projectile attacks, and is currently ranked in second place on the widely-accepted Melee tier list, in its S tier.

Special moves

  • Shield Breaker (Japanese: シールドブレイカー Shield Breaker): Marth's standard special move. An arcing sword strike which can be charged up for a short period of time to strengthen the blow; at full strength, it can pierce shields.
  • Dancing Blade (Japanese: マーベラスコンビネーション Marvelous Combination): Marth's side special move. A combination of four sword strikes, which attack in different directions depending on which way the analog stick is pointed for each swipe.
  • Dolphin Slash (Japanese: ドルフィンスラッシュ Dolphin Slash): Marth's up special move. A sweeping upward strike which carries Marth into the air; can be used as a recovery move to try and climb back onto a stage if Marth falls off.
  • Counter (Japanese: カウンター Counter): Marth's down special move. Marth assumes a brief defensive stance and will retaliate if struck in this stance, cancelling the foe's attack.

Trophies

Marth
SSBM Trophy Marth.png The betrayed prince of the Kingdom of Altea, the blood of the hero Anri flows in Marth's veins. He was forced into exile when the kingdom of Dolua invaded Altea. Then, wielding his divine sword Falchion, he led a revolt and defeated the dark dragon Medeus. Afterwards, Altea was annihilated by King Hardin of Akanea.

Fire Emblem (Japan Only)

Classic Mode
Marth [Smash]
SSBM Trophy Marth Smash 01.png Marth is a magnificent swordsman. While his swordplay is faster than that of Link, he lacks power, and his quickness is offset by a marginal endurance. His Shield Breaker gains power the longer it's held. The Dancing Blade combination uses both the Control Stick and the B Button to produce a series of up to four attacks.

B: Shield BreakerSmash B: Dancing Blade

Adventure Mode
Marth [Smash]
SSBM Trophy Marth Smash 02.png The tip of Marth's blade causes the most damage, so you should try to create adequate distance between you and your enemy to gracefully strike with that point. Marth's Dolphin Slash is fast and powerful, but it leaves him vulnerable upon landing. Marth uses Counter to block a foe's attack and deal a return strike. If you're fighting a Counter-happy Marth, grab him.

Up & B: Dolphin SlashDown & B: Counter

All-Star Mode

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

SSB.png This article or section is a short summary of Marth in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
SmashWiki features a more in-depth article.
SSBB Marth.png

Marth appears again in the third Super Smash Bros. game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, again as an unlockable character albeit with more relaxed unlock criteria. Marth can be unlocked three ways: completing ten matches in VS. mode, clearing Classic Mode for the first time on any difficulty, or by clearing his debut stage in the Subspace Emissary single-player story mode. Marth is mostly unchanged from his Melee incarnation, with some of his special moves receiving minor buffs, and like every other playable character he now wields a Final Smash attack, Critical Hit. As in Melee, Marth is again viewed competitively as a highly viable character to use, and ranks in fifth place on the widely accepted Brawl tier list.

In The Subspace Emissary, Brawl's story mode, Marth is first encountered at the Battlefield Fortress, which he fights to defend from a siege by the Subspace Army. While he holds them off at first by himself, he soon encounters and joins forces with Meta Knight to take on the army. In a battle with the Ancient Minister, the two meet Ike, who joins them in pursuing the Subspace Army through the desert. During their desert exploration, they fight and defeat the Subspace boss Galleom, who they send tumbling into the ruins below. Marth later joins with the rest of the characters and accompanies them in an attack on Subspace itself. Their first attempt meets with failure and Marth, along with everyone else, is turned into a trophy by Tabuu, but is freed by Ness, Luigi, Kirby, and King Dedede, and can be chosen to challenge Tabuu in the final battle if his trophy is saved.

Special moves

  • Shield Breaker (Japanese: シールドブレイカー Shield Breaker): Marth's standard special move. A lunging stab which can be charged up for a short period of time to strengthen the blow; at full strength, it can pierce shields.
  • Dancing Blade (Japanese: マーベラスコンビネーション Marvelous Combination): Marth's side special move. A combination of four sword strikes, which attack in different directions depending on which way the analog stick is pointed for each swipe.
  • Dolphin Slash (Japanese: ドルフィンスラッシュ Dolphin Slash): Marth's up special move. A sweeping upward strike which carries Marth into the air; can be used as a recovery move to try and climb back onto a stage if Marth falls off.
  • Counter (Japanese: カウンター Counter): Marth's down special move. Marth assumes a brief defensive stance and will retaliate if struck in this stance, cancelling the foe's attack and dealing to the foe more damage than Marth would have sustained.
  • Critical Hit (Japanese: 必殺の一撃 Critical Hit): Marth's Final Smash. A single rapid strike across the battle field which deals immense damage to the foe if it hits, accompanied by a rapidly depleting Fire Emblem-style HP bar.

Snake's Codec

Mei Ling: Snake, have you heard the saying "Politics makes strange bedfellows"?
Solid Snake: Don't tell me that's a Chinese proverb.
Mei Ling: Err, no... It means that when the going gets tough, you might need unexpected partnerships in order to succeed. Marth was a prince whose kingdom was usurped. He didn't even have an army to fight with him. But as he battled his way forward, he found new allies to fight at his side, and in the end, he was able to reunite the war-torn land of Altea.
Solid Snake: So he built his army from the ranks of his defeated enemies...
Mei Ling: Marth did his share of fighting too. Even when he had an army, he was always alongside his men in the thick of battle. Then he was betrayed by one of his most trusted friends. I can't even imagine how that feels...
Solid Snake: ...I can.

Trophies

Marth
SSBB Trophy Marth.png NA: The prince of Altea, in whose veins the blood of heroes runs. He and a small group of stalwarts fought to free Altea after it was invaded by the kingdom of Doluna and the dark dragon, Medeus. With his divine sword, Falchion, he fought and defeated Medeus. However, Altea was then invaded by King Hardin of Akaneia and eventually destroyed.
PAL: The Prince of Altea, in whose veins the blood of heroes runs. He and a small group of stalwarts fought to free Altea after it was invaded by the kingdom of Doluna and the dark dragon, Medeus. With his divine sword, Falchion, he fought and defeated Medeus. However, Altea was then invaded by King Hardin of Akaneia and eventually destroyed.

SSBWU console icon NES.png Fire Emblem (Japan Only)

Classic Mode


Critical Hit
SSBB Trophy Critical Hit.png Marth's Final Smash. He thrusts his sword skyward, then rushes to meet his targeted enemy with furious speed. The blow he strikes is so powerful that his foe is instantly launched off the screen. As in Fire Emblem, a window appears that shows the character's hit points dropping rapidly to zero--but this is just for effect. Smash Bros. does not use a hit-point system.

SSBWU console icon Wii.png Super Smash Bros. Brawl

All-Star Mode

Stickers

SSBB Sticker Marth.png Marth
from Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo
Bonus: [Weapon] Attack +19
Usable by: marthike

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

SSB.png This article or section is a short summary of Marth in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
SmashWiki features a more in-depth article.
SSB4 Marth.png

Marth is playable once again in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, this time as a starter character available from the game's beginning. For this appearance, coming after his most recent appearances in the two Fire Emblem remakes for Nintendo DS, he has received a significant redesign and now appears as he does in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. However, the design of Falchion is still taken from the original Mystery of the Emblem, instead of using its own remake redesign.

In the transition to these two games, Marth is widely considered to have sustained significant nerfs to his prowess in gameplay, likely in response to the dominant role he played in the prior two games: most prominently, Falchion's blade length has been decreased, hampering Marth's range, which in prior games was central to his success. He is also slightly slower and has slightly laggier moves. The tier list places Marth in the 11th position in the A tier.

As in Melee, Marth once again has a clone character accompanying him: his descendant, Lucina. According to director Masahiro Sakurai, originally Lucina was planned as an alternate costume for Marth himself, but as development progressed her attributes diverged from Marth's and she was ultimately turned into a separate character.[2] Roy also returns as downloadable content, but has had his moveset differentiated somewhat from Marth's.

Like all playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Marth also has an amiibo figurine, released in the first wave of Super Smash Bros. amiibo. This amiibo can be scanned by Smash Bros. to add a trainable AI Marth into matches, which can be ported between copies of the game.

Special moves

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U introduce customizable special moves, allowing players to customize their characters with variants on their usual special moves with somewhat different functionality. All of his special moves and their variants are shared with Lucina.

  • Shield Breaker (Japanese: シールドブレイカー Shield Breaker): Marth's standard special move. A lunging stab which can be charged up for a short period of time to strengthen the blow; at full strength, it can pierce shields.
    • Storm Thrust (Japanese: ストームスラスト Storm Thrust): This Shield Breaker variant produces a gust of wind that pushes opponents back. The longer the charge, the larger the gust.
    • Dashing Assault (Japanese: アサルトダッシュ Assault Dash): When released, this Shield Breaker variant propels Marth a significant distance forward along the ground.
  • Dancing Blade (Japanese: マーベラスコンビネーション Marvelous Combination): Marth's side special move. A combination of four sword strikes, which attack in different directions depending on which way the analog stick is pointed for each swipe.
    • Effortless Blade (Japanese: イージーコンビネーション Easy Combination): This Dancing Blade variant performs the entire four-blow combo no matter what speed the special button is pressed, but is weaker and will do the same attack type every time.
    • Heavy Blade (Japanese: ヘビーコンビネーション Heavy Combination): This Dancing Blade variant widens the spacing between all four hits and has reduced knockback, but deals greater damage.
  • Dolphin Slash (Japanese: ドルフィンスラッシュ Dolphin Slash): Marth's up special move. A sweeping upward strike which carries Marth into the air; can be used as a recovery move to try and climb back onto a stage if Marth falls off.
    • Crescent Slash (Japanese: クレセントスラッシュ Crescent Slash): This Dolphin Slash variant carries Marth at a diagonal angle, and deals more damage if it strikes higher in the jump.
    • Dolphin Jump (Japanese: ドルフィンハイジャンプ Dolphin High Jump): This Dolphin Slash variant has increased height, but deals no damage at all.
  • Counter (Japanese: カウンター Counter): Marth's down special move. Marth assumes a brief defensive stance and will retaliate if struck in this stance, cancelling the foe's attack and dealing to the foe more damage than Marth would have sustained.
    • Easy Counter (Japanese: イージーカウンター Easy Counter): This Counter variant extends Marth's "ready" time, but the counterattack will deal reduced damage.
    • Iai Counter (Japanese: 居合いカウンター Quick-Draw Counter): In this Counter variant, upon activating the counter attack, Marth slides past the opponent while slashing, sending the opponent flying behind him.
  • Critical Hit (Japanese: 必殺の一撃 Critical Hit): Marth's Final Smash. A single rapid strike across the battle field which deals immense damage to the foe if it hits, accompanied by a rapidly depleting Fire Emblem-style HP bar.

Palutena's Guidance

Pit: Get a load of Mr. Fancy Pants here.
Viridi: Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, Pit?
Pit: Why would I be jealous of Marth?
Viridi: Well, he's a prince, for starters. A handsome prince. And you're just—
Palutena: Anyway, Prince Marth's most dangerous attack comes from the tip of his sword. Avoid his blade when you're at midrange.
Pit: So I should either attack him from a distance, or get up close and personal.
Palutena: He's got a counter as well, so be on guard when you go hand to hand. If you're attacking from afar, use items to improve your chances.

Trophies

Marth
SSB3DS Trophy Marth 01.png
SSBWU Trophy Marth 01.png
NA: The first hero from the Fire Emblem series, Marth is the prince of Altea and descendant of the hero Anri. In Smash Bros., he's known as an exceptional swordfighter, swinging his blade with grace. Striking with the tip will maximize the damage dealt. Teach aggressive foes a lesson with his strong Counter move.
PAL: Marth, the prince of Altea, is the hero of the first ever Fire Emblem game and its remake, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. In this game, his graceful sword skills are what set him apart. Strike with the tip of his blade to deal extra damage, and use his Counter skill to defend yourself, no matter which direction you're being attacked from.

SSBWU console icon FC.png Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (Japan) • SSBWU console icon SFC.png Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (Japan)

Classic Mode (both versions)


Marth (Alt.)
SSB3DS Trophy Marth 02.png
SSBWU Trophy Marth 02.png
NA: Marth's side special Dancing Blade is a four-stage attack. Aim and time your strikes carefully! The tip of his sword does the most damage. For his up smash, Justice Sword, he thrusts his blade into the air. You can use it to block attacks from above and launch nearby foes.
PAL: Marth's side special, Dancing Blade, is a four-stage attack. Aim and time your strikes carefully! As usual, the tip of his sword does the most damage. For his up smash, Justice Sword, he thrusts his blade into the air. You can use it to block attacks from above, and even to launch nearby enemies off the ground.

SSBWU console icon FC.png Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (Japan) • SSBWU console icon SFC.png Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (Japan)

All-Star Mode (3DS)/
Trophy Shop (Wii U)
Critical Hit (Marth)
SSBWU Trophy Critical Hit (Marth).png NA: Marth raises his Exalted Falchion to the sky and then rushes forward to deal an incredibly powerful blow, almost certainly KO'ing anyone and everyone who gets hit! When it's used in the air, he'll fly forward a certain distance. On the ground, however, he'll only dash to the edge of the platform he's standing on.
PAL: Marth raises his Exalted Falchion to the sky, then rushes forwards to deal an incredibly powerful blow, almost certainly KOing anyone and everyone who gets hit! When used in the air, he'll fly forwards a set distance, but on the ground, he'll only dash up to the edge of the platform he's standing on.

All-Star Mode (Wii U)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

SSB.png This article or section is a short summary of Marth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
SmashWiki features a more in-depth article.
SSBU Marth.png

Marth is once again playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and for the first time dubbed in English by his current voice actor Yuri Lowenthal. In the Japanese version, his voice actor, Hikaru Midorikawa, does a noticeably different voice for Marth compared to the previous Smash Bros. games.

The Codec Conversations and Palutena's Guidance talking about Marth are reused from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U respectively.

Similarly to his transition from Brawl to Smash 4, Marth was nerfed during his transition to Ultimate. Although he received increase in his dash speed and a buff to Dancing Blade, the game's mechanic and a smaller sweetspot on his moves severely hinders his KO power. As a result, many people view him as inferior to his Echo Fighter Lucina, as well as other Fire Emblem characters such as Roy, Chrom, and Ike. He ranks 54th on the tier list, which is his lowest ranking in the series.

In the World of Light, Marth notes the amount of Master Hands flying towards them, and states that the characters "need to take down at least ten of them." He was then vaporized, alongside all the other characters except Kirby, and placed under Galeem's control.

Marth can be saved relatively early, as the player has the choice to rescue either him, Sheik, or Villager after rescuing Mario. If the player chooses to rescue Sheik or Villager, Marth's path will be blocked off and he cannot be saved until the player is able to defeat a boss or loop back into the other side.

Special moves

  • Shield Breaker (Japanese: シールドブレイカー Shield Breaker): Marth's chargeable standard special move. Marth lunges forwards and stabs the opponent, dealing more damage when fully charged. The move also deals signficant shield damage and can break shields at full charge. A new addition to the move is the ability to angle the move upwards or downwards, which is also retained in Lucina's variation.
  • Dancing Blade (Japanese: マーベラスコンビネーション Marvelous Combination): Marth's side special move. A combination of four sword strikes, which attack in different directions depending on which way the analog stick is pointed for each swipe. The move is significantly faster than its previous incarnations, making it easier to perform all four moves; this also holds true for Lucina, Roy, and Chrom's variations.
  • Dolphin Slash (Japanese: ドルフィンスラッシュ Dolphin Slash): Marth's up special move. A sweeping upward strike which carries Marth into the air; can be used as a recovery move to try and climb back onto a stage if Marth falls off. It grants great vertical distance but little horizontal distance.
  • Counter (Japanese: カウンター Counter): Marth's down special move. Marth assumes a brief defensive stance and will retaliate if struck in this stance, cancelling the foe's attack and dealing more damage to the foe than Marth would have sustained. It's high ending lag makes it rather punishable when whiffed.
  • Critical Hit (Japanese: 必殺の一撃 Critical Hit): Marth's Final Smash. A single rapid strike across the battle field which deals immense damage to the foe if it hits, accompanied by a rapidly depleting Fire Emblem-style HP bar. This move can one-hit KO opponents in normal circumstances.

Spirit data

Marth's fighter spirit can be obtained either by completing his route in classic mode or buying it in the vault.

#610
Fire Emblem Series
Marth
SSBU Spirit Marth.png

Trivia

  • Although no Fire Emblem content appears in the first Super Smash Bros., Marth was at one point planned to be a playable character.[3]
  • In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Marth's classic trophy description erroneously states that Archanea destroyed Altea. In actuality, Altea is controlled by Archanea for a period of time and is reclaimed by Marth near the end of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.
  • In the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Marth's classic trophy lists Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) as his other game appearance. In the western version, the trophy has no other game appearance listed.
  • In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Marth's game appearances for his trophies are the same in all versions, despite making his western debut outside of Smash in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Additionally, the Famicom and Super Famicom symbols are used even in the western versions.

Gallery

Main article: Marth/Gallery § Super Smash Bros. images

References

  1. Sakurai, Masahiro, マルス, 速報スマブラ拳!!, Published: December 4, 2001, Retrieved: February 20, 2015
  2. RawmeatCowboy, Sakurai talks Lucina's inclusion in Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS, why Chrom didn't make the cut, GoNintendo, Published: July 18, 2014, Retrieved: July 19, 2014
  3. https://sourcegaming.info/2015/12/13/sakurai-fe25/