Listings of each character in Brawl. Ground, aerial or both.

[PKNintendo]

So the purpose of this thread is to list and place each character into one of the 3 categories.

Ground based: These characters has a better ground game than aerial, ground moves are generally better too.
Aerial based: These characters have a better aerial game than ground, aerial moves are generally better too.
Both: These (few) characters are balanced in both ground and air game versatility.

Now before we start, I will post my opinion of each character, on to why they're ground, aerial or both. Now I don't know each character inside out, so I expect some character boards to give me some corrections.

Ground based fighters
Bowser

Charizard

Diddy Kong

Fox

Ice Climbers

Ike

Ivysaur

King Dedede

Link

Olimar

Pikachu

Pit

Samus

Snake

Sonic

Zelda

Aerial based fighters
Captain Falcon

Falco

Ganondorf

Jigglypuff

Luigi

Mario

Ness

Squirtle

Peach

Wario

Toon Link

Wolf

ZSS

Ground & Aerial based fighters
Donkey Kong

Game & Watch

Kirby

Lucario

Lucas

Marth

M.K

R.O.B

Sheik

Yoshi

Discuss away!

 

[PKNintendo]

Percentages go here.
EX: Character A is a ground based character.

Character A
ground=60%
aerial=40%

 

[Levitas]

Lucas is both, though he's not really good at either.

And it's pretty much even on the amount of his game in either state.

 

[PKNintendo]

Lucas is both, though he's not really good at either.

And it's pretty much even on the amount of his game in either state.

I thought he was purely ground?

 

[Brinzy]

Zelda is 70% ground and 30% aerial. Most of her aerial ability comes from single SH or FH attacks (as in she's really only trying to land one aerial at a time) and approaching with nair. The minority of this are dair and uair. Honestly, outside of making an approach with nair, she should only be in the air to land a kill move. The rest of her game is on the ground, where she's much better.

 

[Crystanium]

Captain Falcon is aerial. He performs better in the air than he does on the ground, though his jab can be useful to link other attacks like grabbing or using the Falcon Dive.

As for Samus, how do you come up with the idea that she's grounded? I main her and I can't even tell which one she'd be, though someone once told me that she'd be considered both.

 

[Amazing Ampharos]

Every character uses both ground and air stuff, and it's largely a matter of playstyle which you focus on.

Captain Falcon and Ganon are way better in the air than on the ground. Most of their grounded moves are just awful, but they both have at least three good aerials and one good aerial special move.

Squirtle's sliding shenanigans are ridiculously important to him just as much as his aerial prowess is.

I don't know where you "draw the line" on these characters; Mr. Game & Watch's aerial game is way better than his ground game if you just compare the two, but he has a really good ground game as well (top tier, etc.). Likewise, King Dedede does actually have a really good aerial game; his ground game just happens to be even better. It's a bit odd that you'd group the two of them like that though; you either need to move Mr. Game & Watch to pure aerial or King Dedede into the mixed group since they're pretty much opposite in this regard.

 

[smaci92]

urrrhmmm...Ice climbers are definitely ground and aerial based characters...Desyncing can be on the ground or in the air...Chaingrabbing is ground. Other then that, their air games is much better IMO. They have pretty decent aerials...

ZSS is definitely not ground-based. Her ground game is alright, but her aerials are used more IMO

 

[Levitas]

I thought he was purely ground?

He's got follow-ups, KOs, up close options, low % combos, and a few edgeguards on the ground.

He's got approaches, spacing moves, combo starters, and some KOs in the air.

All in all, you'll be in the air more, but when it matters, it's split 50-50.

 

[sonic 12111]

wow this list makes no sense. most all characters need a ground and aeirial based game to play decent but it all depends on the player. but definately mk is an air or both. his whole game is in the air

 

[DtJ Hilt]

what about say... toon link? He would definitely be an aerial character. The only attacks he would normally use on the ground are his FSmash and Specials, but all of his projectiles are usually used while he's in the air, much moreso than they would be on the ground.

Toon Link = Aerial, not both.

Also Pikachu should be moved to both. Definitely not ground based. Same with Wolf.

 

[Wildfire393]

Captain Falcon is definitely an Aerial-based character. His only real usable options on the ground are Jab and Grab (and Jab usually leads to Grab), with MAYBE the occasional Falcon Kick, Dash Attack, or Down-Tilt. In the Air, he's got his best move (Uair), and the rest of his aerials are solid to boot.

Charizard seems like he should be in Both or Aerial. All of his aerials are solid, useful moves. Aerial Side-B is devastating. His Tilts and Grab are alright, but they don't seem to measure up to his Aerial potential, especially given his slow walking speed and near-useless dash attack.

DK should be both. His tilts and smashes are mighty, but they are nothing without the power of his Bair, Uair, and Nair to glue them together. And a grounded DK is entirely at the mercy of projectile spammers.

Fox should definitely be aerial (or possibly Both). Again, all of his aerials are very good. His Dair is his best combo move, his Uair is one of his best KO options, his Bair is a solid KO option, his Fair is a great damage-racker in combos, and his Nair shorthopped is still a better version of his Dash attack. His ground game consists of the very occasional Dash Attack, Usmash Killer, and Ftilt/Jab/Grab, which mostly happen out of aerials.

Ivysaur should be both. His full potential is only realized when his long-ranged ground moves are interspersed with his Bair.

Samus seems like she should be aerial. Zair Zapping, Shorthopped Missiles, and Dair are basically her only three good moves.

ZSS should be Both. Her game involves transitioning fluidly from tilts/jabs/dash attacks to Uair/Fair/Bairs.

 

[Rashid]

I'm pretty sure Pit is hybrid. Otherwise, Wing cancelling wouldn't have much of a use. =p

 

[GofG]

The reason why there is so much disagreement is because the notion that a character is either ground or aerial is absurd. I can think of only ONE character who isn't both, and that's Jigglypuff, simply because Jigglypuffs are not supposed to be on the ground at any point during the match.

 

[Barge]

Ice climbers are like...80% ground, 20% air.
Most of our game is grabs and aerial approaches.

 

[Remzi]

Yoshi is most definitely both.

 

[smaci92]

Ice climbers are like...80% ground, 20% air.
Most of our game is grabs and aerial approaches.

well barge...it really depends how you use them. If you're Fly Amanita, Chibi, or me, then they're like 80% air, and 20% ground...with an occasional 0 death. If you're Bunny, then they're the opposite...she uses her's on the ground mostly with tilts, chaingrabs, and desyncs on the ground...

 

[DtJ Hilt]

The reason why there is so much disagreement is because the notion that a character is either ground or aerial is absurd. I can think of only ONE character who isn't both, and that's Jigglypuff, simply because Jigglypuffs are not supposed to be on the ground at any point during the match.

eh, to an extent. I could say that Olimar's game is mostly ground based. Most of what Olimar's advantages lie is dependant on his range (Pivot Grab, FSmash) and his dominant Kill moves are his grabs and Smashes. His aerials are mediocre, other than UAir, but that's merely situational. Even with this move, olimar doesnt dominate from the air. He fights on the Ground. So he's a ground character.

And I'm sure many other characters would be like this to an extent, but I will say that a large majority of the characters would be classified as both, as their ground and air game would both be needed greatly.

 

[JOLT143]

Samus is both, her best move is zair, and both her main killing moves are ariel also, bair and dair. otherwise, ground. I'd say 55% ground, 45% air

 

[PKNintendo]

Sorry I was gone. Updated some.

 

[Adapt]

ZSS is around 60% air, 40% ground

Nearly everytime I do good, I check my game statistics and my ratio of air attacks to ground attacks is somewhere between 60/40 and 50/50. My game play appears to be similar

 

[TP]

Ganon needs to be in either both or air. Certainly not ground. When your best move is clearly your Uair, you shouldn't spend too much time on the ground. I'd say put him in both.

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

I'd say Ike is actually 60% air and 40% ground. After his jab Fair, Bair, and Nair are his next best and most used moves.

They might even be used more in some matches and less in others though.

 

[deepseadiva]

Nearly everytime I do good, I check my game statistics and my ratio of air attacks to ground attacks is somewhere between 60/40 and 50/50. My game play appears to be similar

Ha, Brawl notes that?

Why don't we just ask all the important mains their stats?

 

[Crystanium]

Every character uses both ground and air stuff, and it's largely a matter of playstyle which you focus on.

That's not what we are discussing, I don't think. We're discussing which character performs better on the ground or in the air. Sure, Bowser, for example, has two nice aerials that can KO, but it doesn't mean that he's meant to be aerial, as he may perform much better on the ground.

Captain Falcon and Ganon are way better in the air than on the ground. Most of their grounded moves are just awful, but they both have at least three good aerials and one good aerial special move.

And you can now see what we are talking about.

DK should be both. His tilts and smashes are mighty, but they are nothing without the power of his Bair, Uair, and Nair to glue them together. And a grounded DK is entirely at the mercy of projectile spammers.

I agree whole-heartedly. For example, regarding his aerials, they are so much like Ness', and Ness is an aerial character as he relies mostly on his aerials and less on his special moves. Both have powerful u-air, d-air, and b-air.

 

[ArcPoint]

Wolf performs WAY better in the air, I have no idea what you were thinking other than Fsmash and blaster, which aren't that great when they're spammed (At least, in-person).

Wolf is aerial. He only has like, one safe move on the ground. POSSIBLY 2.

 

[manhunter098]

DK is definitely air and ground, his u-air and b-air are absolutely essential to his game. I would also say that Fox is also definitely air and ground, his d-air links into so many different combos and setups to kill with and all his aerials are very useful and quite strong. Yoshi is also definitely pretty air based, his b-air is a great move and his u-air combined with jump armor is absolutely deadly and one of his best methods of killing.

I would also say Wolf and Olimar are pretty aerial as well.

 

[PKNintendo]

Updated again.

Geez everyone is aerial in Brawl.

 

[Rashid]

I'm pretty sure Pit is hybrid. Otherwise, Wing cancelling wouldn't have much of a use. =p

Just to grab your attention.

Wing Cancelling (or so I've seen, I don't know what it's called. XP Starts Wings on ground into aerial) is used with aerials. Doesn't that mean aerial style? Pit also has a good ground game, that's what we all know. Aerials make for good approaches besides arrows. I'm not very experienced with Pit yet, but I know FOR SURE he's both aerial and ground(ed). >=3

 

[zamz]

Falco's definitely more aerial. For an example, watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmC1XP4gMps. To a Falco, the ground is hot lava and we touch it as little as possible. Few characters (if any) will empty-jump as often as we do. Our projectile is harder to punish as long as we stay in the air, and instant-aerial phantasm becomes a viable move. We use B-Air, N-Air and D-Air religiously, and almost exclusively approach through the air.

Other than Gravity, a grounded chaingrab, or the rare chance we're trying to get the kill...we spend most of the game floating.

 

[cj.Shark]

id put pit as both. even though pit is better grounded his moves always send them up into the air and he also spends like 40% of the match off the stage. ledgecamping and whatnot.