The Mario on the far right can be seen Prat Falling.

Tripping (転倒,Falling Down; officially calledprat falling and referred to in game files asslipping) is a gameplay mechanic introduced inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl in which a fighter trips, falls over, and sits in a prone state with a confused expression. Certain attacks can cause opponents to trip, and someitems (includingPoké Ball Pokémon andAssist Trophies) will cause tripping without directly attacking at all. Most attacks have a chance to trip provided theknockback dealt does not lift the target off the ground, while a few attacks areguaranteed to trip opponents.

InBrawl only, when thecontrol stick istapped so that the character performs adash, there exists a 1% chance that the character will trip. In addition, if the character attempts to perform a turnaround during their run, there is a 1.25% chance that they will trip.Brawl keeps track of the total number of Prat Falls each character orname has experienced inGroup Brawls.

Kirby in his tripped position after stepping on aBanana Peel.

The sound effect for tripping changes depending on whether the character tripping is from a "cartoony" or "realistic" series. In general, characters from more serious or "realistic" franchises make a light, quick whooshing sound, followed by an unimpressive falling-down noise, while more cartoonish characters make a swabbing noise, like a sliding mop, before landing with a distinctive timpani noise. This sound effect is significantly louder inSSB4 than inBrawl.

When sitting down, a character has the sameoptions as when lying down; however, a tripped character is more vulnerable. Unlike prone or supine fighters, sitting fighters can begrabbed; in addition, getup attacks from a sitting position are weaker than from a lying down position, usually dealing 5% as opposed to 6%, lackingtranscendent priority, and possessing only 8intangibleframes inBrawl and 7 intangible frames inUltimate (getup attacks are usually intangible until the attack's hitboxes end). Rolls and neutral getups are generally subpar to their lying down counterparts as well, possessing fewer invincibility frames while still retaining their long animations.

Causes of tripping[edit]

Dash-dancing is based on the initial dash animation, so tripping can occur during dash-dancing.

• InBrawl, whenever thecontrol stick is smashed left or right to input a dash or running-turnaround, there is a 1% / 1.25% chance for the player to trip, respectively. Note that by doing a side-smash or side-special input, they will usually start with some dash frames, so these can also have a 1% chance to trip.
  • There is a 10 second grace period after a random trip where another will not occur.
  • Terrain with low traction, such as ice, increases the chance of tripping. The trip chance is divided by the terrain's traction to get the new trip chance (e.g. 1%/0.2=5% for Ice).
• Any attack with more than 55 units of knockback, and an angle that doesn't lift the foe off the ground has a low chance of tripping them. This rate is 13.5% inBrawl, and from version 1.1.4 ofSSB4 onward and inUltimate, it was changed to 7%.
  • In addition, some attacks have an additional trip chance. For example, a move with an additional trip chance of 40% has a combined trip chance of 53.5% (Brawl, oldSSB4) or 47% (currentSSB4,Ultimate). Even with less than 55 units of knockback, moves with a bonus trip chance always add the base trip chance.
• Tingle from theAssist Trophy can summon a banana peel effect, causing constant tripping to all opponents until he leaves the screen.
• Luigi'sNegative Zone can cause incessant tripping.
• Certain hazards such as the wall on Port Town Aero Dive can cause tripping.
• InUltimate, theEarthquake effect inSpirit Battles causes players to trip constantly unless they have a Falling Immunity spirit effect active.

List of tripping attacks inBrawl[edit]

Most attacks can only make an opponent trip if the target is not already sitting down and the attack knockback does not knock the target into the air. However, some have theslip effect and will therefore result in a trip regardless of these circumstances; these are represented in this list with "Slip".Copy Abilities not mentioned are the same as their originals.

List of tripping attacks inSSB4[edit]

As inBrawl, attacks can only trip if they do not knock the target into the air, so most attacks with trip chances will never trip or will only trip at low percents. Some attacks have the "slip" effect and cause soft trips that immobilize for around 30 frames, while attacks with trip chances cause hard trips that immobilize for around 40 frames. Attacks with slip are again noted here with "Slip".

*The unused fourth variation of this move has a trip chance of 40% instead.
**As this causes thestun effect, it can only cause tripping if the target cannot be stunned.

List of tripping attacks inUltimate[edit]

While some moves have been added, removed, and some probabilities have been altered, tripping has largely been unchanged fromSmash 4. Attacks with "slip" are again noted here with "Slip".

Controversy[edit]

Brawl's addition of random tripping was highly controversial. Though sometimes a mere annoyance in a brawl, random tripping has the potential to significantly impact matches. Since tripping leaves the player in a significant state of vulnerability while moving them a small distance forward, it is a common occurrence for players to unintentionally trip into an otherwise avoidable attack; the effects of this can range from minor damage to a premature KO. Tripping also leaves a player in a vulnerable position, akin to atech-chase situation. Upon tripping, a player has three main getup options; rolling, standing up, or using agetup attack, and this means that an opponent can more successfullypredict the action of the tripped player, often using this to land an easy combo or KO.

On the other hand, in rare cases random tripping can also make it slightly more difficult to read an opponent; a fighter may read an opponent's action and input a punish, but instead, the opponent trips, keeping them out of thereach of the attack.

The randomness ofBrawl's tripping mechanic was generally negatively received, viewed as counterproductive to the idea of a skill-based match with a minimum of disruptive, chance-based elements. Furthermore, unlike some other heavily chance-based elements such asstage selection oritem availability, random tripping cannot be turned off inBrawl. Owing to its negative reception, gameplaymods generally remove random tripping from gameplay.

While random tripping is considered a detriment to tournament play, forced tripping by certain moves is generally better-received, since, unlike random tripping, its deliberate use can be planned for and planned against. As such, while random tripping was removed inSSB4 and remained absent inUltimate, forced tripping is still important in some characters' metagames in these two games, such asDiddy Kong and his banana peels.

Trivia[edit]

• Super Smash Bros. Melee features abonus called "Pratfaller". It has no relation to later games' tripping, and is instead awarded to players who always fall face-up aftertumbling.
• Tripping was first discovered during theBrawl demo atE for All. It was not recognized as random at the time, and some players tried to learn how to trigger it at will for use as a technique. For a time, it was known as Ink Dropping, as noted inGimpyfish'sfamous SmashBoards thread.
• While characters from theKirby andKid Icarus universes generally use the "cartoonish" tripping sound,Meta Knight andPalutena use the "realistic" sound, even though they have similar aesthetics to the other characters in their respective series; this is presumably due to their being more "serious" and adultlike in terms of personality, although other such characters asMewtwo orRosalina do not follow this rule.
  • Toon Link andYoung Link are the onlyThe Legend of Zelda characters to make the "cartoon" noise.
  • Mii Brawlers use the "cartoon" tripping sound effect, while Mii Gunners and Mii Swordfighters use the "realistic" noise.
  • Wolf uses the "realistic" tripping sound whereasFox andFalco use the "cartoony" sound.

• Unofficial lingo
• Game controls
• Game mechanics