Ladder (stage element)
- For other usage of ladder, seeLadder (disambiguation).
Ladders are an object present in certain stages inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl,Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. They can be used to quickly move vertically withoutjumping.
Characters can grab onto a ladder by tilting up or down on thecontrol stick when passing by one. While on the ladder, they can then climb up or slide down by tilting the control stick vertically until they reach either of its ends, or let go of it by tapping the control stick horizontally.
While on a ladder, characters are considered to be in the air, so they are immune tobury and other such effects. All characters have the same speed on ladders (1.4units/frame ascending and 1.8 descending) and multiple characters can occupy the same space on a ladder. Additionally, grabbing onto a ladder restores all of a character's jumps and they can grab it even if they arehelpless—Pac-Man inSmash 4 is a notable exception in that his jumps aren't restored if he grabs a ladder while helpless fromPac-Jump.
Locations[edit]
Ladders appear in the following stages:
- Rumble Falls
- 75m
- PictoChat
- Stage Builder stages (Brawl andUltimate only)
- The Subspace Emissary
- Wrecking Crew
- Palutena's Temple
Ladder attack[edit]
While on a ladder, inBrawl andfor Wii U, characters cannot do anything other than climb, descend, or let go, which leaves them vulnerable to attacks if they remain on the ladder. Starting inUltimate, however, they can also useaerial attacks while remaining stationary on the ladder, a property known officially as aladder attack, giving them a means of fending off attackers. This provides a new level of nuance and strategy to playing on stages that feature ladders, especially any fan-made custom stages that use ladders in interesting ways.
Any aerial attack can be used while on a ladder, though some cause the user to let go of the ladder, namely:
- Allstall-then-fall down aerials (exceptBowser's)
- Link andYoung Link's down aerials
- Ivysaur's down aerial
- Lucario's down aerial
- Mii Gunner's forward aerial
- R.O.B.'s back and down aerials
- Steve's down aerial (with sufficient materials)
Additionally, certain aerial attacks function differently when used as a ladder attack:
- Bayonetta cannot perform the extended versions of her neutral and up aerials, instead simply firingBullet Arts once before going back to her ladder grabbing animation. Similarly, she cannot use the second and third hits of her forward aerial.
- Min Min cannot perform consecutivePunches with her forward and back aerials, and remains stationary while attacking.
- Steve cannot use his neutral and up aerials consecutively by holding the attack button (it has to be pressed repeatedly instead), and remains stationary when using his down aerial with insufficient materials (or if an anvil is already out).
- Sora can only perform the first attack of both his neutral and forward aerial, which means he won't be able to use his three-hit combo on a ladder.
Trivia[edit]
- Even thoughBowser can climb ladders inBrawl, he cannot do so in his playable appearance inSuper Paper Mario, which was released beforeBrawl.
- Diddy Kong's climbing animations are a reference to the animation of climbing up and down vines inDonkey Kong Jr., except Diddy Kong is turned around.
- Mewtwo, Rosalina, and Bayonetta don't actually touch the ladders, let alone climb them. Instead, they use their powers to float up and down across it.
- R.O.B doesn't move his arms at all when climbing up the ladders.
- Steve is the only fighter to not have animations while climbing.
- TheDracula's Castle sub-area inWorld of Light features ladders on the map. This is the only way to seePokémon Trainer's climbing animations.
- InBrawl andSmash 4, every character has their ladder climbing speeds defined individually despite all of them being the same (with the exception of Pokémon Trainer which is 0). These were changed inUltimate to be a "common" attributes that are used by all characters.
