Air friction
Air friction is a measure of how long it takes for a character to stop moving from a sideways force when in midair. It is the aerial equivalent totraction, which only applies when grounded. Air friction is measured in negativeunits/frame². There is also falling friction, which applies in some circumstances when a character is falling faster than their maximumfall speed.
Air friction only applies when the player is not holding theControl Stick in a horizontal direction (or the input is being ignored, such as when inhitstun). If the player is attempting to slow down,air acceleration applies instead, and air friction is ignored. This allows characters to be designed with several properties:
- High acceleration and high friction means a character will change velocity quickly in all situations.
- High acceleration and low friction means a character will respond quickly to the player's controls, but be very slow to decelerate if the player lets go.
- Low acceleration and high friction means a character will respond slowly to the player's controls, but be very quick to decelerate if the player lets go. This would lead to an unintuitive situation where a player trying to slow down will take longer than simply allowing friction to take over.
- Low acceleration and low friction means a character will change velocity slowly in all situations.
Air friction also determines how far a character travels when they are aerialgrab released (along withgravity inSuper Smash Bros. Melee andSuper Smash Bros. Brawl). A character with low air friction will travel a long horizontal distance whereas characters with high air friction will not travel far at all. This is because air friction acts as a force against the momentum granted by the aerial grab release. This results in characters with higher air friction being left in a more vulnerable position after being aerial grab released. This is especially significant inBrawl, due to the long amount of time the grab released opponent cannot act. Characters with high air friction inBrawl are much more vulnerable to aerial grab release followups (unless they have extremely high gravity to compensate), especially if they can be forced into an aerial grab release from the ground. This is the reason whyWario's aerial grab release inBrawl sends him nowhere horizontally, making him extremely vulnerable to followups.
Falling friction applies when a character is falling faster than their maximum fall speed, but is not currentlyfast falling, or is fast falling but falling faster than their fast fall speed. This can occur if a status increasing a character's fall speed wears off, or starting inBrawl if a character air dodges while fast falling, which ends the fast falling status, although starting inSuper Smash Bros. 4, using an aerial during a fast fall will instantly bring a character back down to their regular fall speed, bypassing this stat. It can also apply due to the downwards velocity applied bystall-then-fall aerials, however most of these suppress a fighter's horizontal and falling friction for the duration of the move, and thus they won't begin to slow down until the move ends. Finally, inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, if a character's fall speed during vertical knockback is higher than their base fall speed, this stat will be applied to slow their descent oncehitstun ends.
It is circumstantial as to whether high or low air friction is good or bad and it is also game dependent (as with the aforementionedBrawl aerial grab release example). Low air friction means a character will not slow down as much if the player attempts to use aneutral aerial when moving, and will cause them to travel a bit further duringcombos. But on the other hand, high air friction helps resist being KO'd to a degree, and it may be beneficial in some cases to slow to a stop quicker without providing directional input.
Air friction values[edit]
 | This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki byexpanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates:Falling friction values for other games |
Super Smash Bros.[edit]
 | This article or section may require additional technical data. The editor who added this tag elaborates:only JPN/NA values here; check for potential EUR/AUS changes You can discuss this issue on thetalk page oredit this page to improve it. |
| Rank | Character | Air friction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jigglypuff | 1 |
| 2 |  Kirby | 0.5 |
| 3 |  Pikachu | 0.45 |
| 4-5 |  Ness | 0.4 |
 Yoshi | ||
| 6-8 |  Donkey Kong | 0.3 |
 Fox | ||
 Samus | ||
| 9-10 |  Captain Falcon | 0.2 |
 Mario | ||
| 11 |  Luigi | 0.15 |
| 12 |  Link | 0 |
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
| Rank | Character | Air friction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jigglypuff | 0.05 |
| 2 |  Sheik | 0.04 |
| 3 |  Ness | 0.03 |
| 4-9 |  Donkey Kong | 0.02 |
 Falco | ||
 Fox | ||
 Ganondorf | ||
 Ice Climbers | ||
 Kirby | ||
| N/A | Male Wire Frame | 0.02 |
| 10-13 |  Dr. Mario | 0.016 |
 Mario | ||
 Mewtwo | ||
 Mr. Game & Watch | ||
| 14 |  Yoshi | 0.013 |
| 15-20 |  Bowser | 0.01 |
 Captain Falcon | ||
 Luigi | ||
 Pichu | ||
 Pikachu | ||
 Samus | ||
| N/A | Giga Bowser | 0.01 |
| 21-26 |  Link | 0.005 |
 Marth | ||
 Peach | ||
 Roy | ||
 Young Link | ||
 Zelda | ||
| N/A | Female Wire Frame | 0.005 |
| N/A | Sandbag | 0.001 |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
| Rank | Character | Air friction | Falling friction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Wario | 0.08 | 0.006 |
| N/A | Wario-Man | 0.08 | 0.006 |
| 2 |  Jigglypuff | 0.0375 | 0.0375 |
| 3 |  Ness | 0.0225 | 0.0225 |
| 4 |  Sheik | 0.021 | 0.03 |
| 5 |  Squirtle | 0.018 | 0.018 |
| 6-12 |  Donkey Kong | 0.015 | 0.015 |
 Fox | 0.015 | ||
 Ganondorf | 0.015 | ||
 Ice Climbers | 0.015 | ||
 Kirby | 0.015 | ||
 Meta Knight | 0.015 | ||
 Olimar | 0.015 | ||
| 13-14 |  Ivysaur | 0.014 | 0.014 |
 Lucas | 0.0225 | ||
| 15 |  Falco | 0.013 | 0.013 |
| 16 |  Mr. Game & Watch | 0.012 | 0.012 |
| 17-21 |  Diddy Kong | 0.01 | 0.016 |
 Mario | 0.01 | ||
 Peach | 0.01 | ||
 Sonic | 0.01 | ||
 Toon Link | 0.01 | ||
| N/A | Fighting Alloy Team | 0.01 | |
| 22 |  Yoshi | 0.00975 | 0.00975 |
| 23 |  Ike | 0.009 | 0.009 |
| 24-26 |  Charizard | 0.008 | 0.008 |
 Pit | 0.008 | ||
 Zero Suit Samus | 0.5 | ||
| 27-31 |  Bowser | 0.0075 | 0.0075 |
 Captain Falcon | 0.0075 | ||
 Luigi | 0.0075 | ||
 Pikachu | 0.0075 | ||
 Samus | 0.0075 | ||
| N/A | Giga Bowser | 0.0075 | 0.0075 |
| 32-33 |  King Dedede | 0.006 | 0.006 |
 Zelda | 0.006 | ||
| 34-35 |  Lucario | 0.005 | 0.005 |
 Snake | 0.005 | ||
| 36-37 |  R.O.B. | 0.004 | 0.02 |
 Wolf | 0.01 | ||
| 38 |  Link | 0.0038 | 0.0038 |
| 39 |  Marth | 0.00375 | 0.00375 |
Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]
| Rank | Character | Air friction | Falling friction |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Wario-Man | 0.08 | 0.006 |
| 1 |  Mega Man | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| 2 |  Wario | 0.04 | 0.006 |
| 3 |  Jigglypuff | 0.0375 | 0.0375 |
| 4 |  Ness | 0.0225 | 0.0225 |
| 5 |  Mewtwo | 0.016 | 0.015 |
| 6-19 |  Bowser Jr. | 0.015 | 0.015 |
 Donkey Kong | 0.015 | ||
 Duck Hunt | 0.015 | ||
 Fox | 0.015 | ||
 Ganondorf | 0.015 | ||
 Greninja | 0.015 | ||
 Kirby | 0.015 | ||
 Mario | 0.015 | ||
 Mii Brawler | 0.015 | ||
 Olimar | 0.015 | ||
 Pac-Man | 0.015 | ||
 R.O.B. | 0.02 | ||
 Sheik | 0.03 | ||
 Ryu | 0.015* | 0.015 | |
| N/A | Giga Mac | 0.015 | 0.0075 |
| 20 |  Lucas | 0.014 | 0.023 |
| 21 |  Dr. Mario | 0.01212 | 0.015 |
| 22-23 |  Meta Knight | 0.012 | 0.015 |
 Mr. Game & Watch | 0.012 | ||
| 24-32 |  Falco | 0.01 | 0.013 |
 Mii Gunner | 0.015 | ||
 Palutena | 0.01 | ||
 Peach | 0.01 | ||
 Rosalina & Luma | 0.01 | ||
 Sonic | 0.01 | ||
 Toon Link | 0.01 | ||
 Villager | 0.01 | ||
 Wii Fit Trainer | 0.01 | ||
| 33-36 |  Cloud | 0.009 | 0.009 |
 Corrin | 0.009 | ||
 Ike | 0.009 | ||
 Shulk | 0.009 | ||
| 37-42 |  Bayonetta | 0.008 | 0.015 |
 Charizard | 0.008 | ||
 Dark Pit | 0.008 | ||
 Diddy Kong | 0.016 | ||
 Pit | 0.008 | ||
 Zero Suit Samus | 0.5 | ||
| N/A | Giga Bowser | 0.008 | 0.0075 |
| 43-48 |  Bowser | 0.0075 | 0.0075 |
 Captain Falcon | 0.0075 | ||
 Little Mac | 0.0075 | ||
 Luigi | 0.0075 | ||
 Pikachu | 0.0075 | ||
 Samus | 0.0075 | ||
| 49 |  Robin | 0.007 | 0.00375 |
| 50-51 |  King Dedede | 0.006 | 0.006 |
 Zelda | 0.006 | ||
| 52-54 |  Lucario | 0.005 | 0.005 |
 Roy | 0.00375 | ||
 Yoshi | 0.00975 | ||
| N/A | Mega Lucario | 0.005 | 0.005 |
| 55-56 |  Link | 0.0038 | 0.0038 |
 Mii Swordfighter | 0.0038 | ||
| 57-58 |  Lucina | 0.00375 | 0.00375 |
 Marth | 0.00375 |
*Ryu is a special case thanks to hisfighter ability. If Ryu jumps, his air friction is 0, meaning he will not slow down at all unless the player attempts to decelerate. If Ryu becomes airborne through other means, his air friction is a standard 0.015.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
*Ryu and Ken are a special case thanks to theirfighter ability. If Ryu/Ken jumps, their air friction is 0, meaning they will not slow down at all unless the player attempts to decelerate. If Ryu/Ken become airborne through other means, their air friction is a standard 0.015.
Trivia[edit]
- In every game she appears in,Zero Suit Samus has by far and away the highest falling friction, to the point of being an anomaly, slowing down to her base fall speed almost instantly after her down air animation ends. The reason for this is unknown.
- Ryu andKen's unique air friction mechanics (which give them fixed jump arcs unless they try to decelerate) aim to emulate the jumping physics of theStreet Fighter series, in which fighters cannot change trajectories upon jumping.
