Ice Climbers

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Template:Articleabout Template:SSB Infobox The Ice Climbers, named Ice Climber in Japan, are a pair consisting of a little boy named Popo and a little girl named Nana, who originate from a NES game called Ice Climber. Though they've only had one single game of their own, aside from VS. Ice Climber, they've made frequent crossover appearances in other Nintendo games, including Game & Watch Gallery 4, WarioWare: Twisted!, WarioWare: Touched!, Tetris DS, a mention in Game & Watch Gallery 3, and another appearance in NES Remix. Both Ice Climbers are playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

History

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. Melee

The Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Main article: SmashWiki:Ice Climbers (SSBM)

The Ice Climbers appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee, as one of the new characters. On top of being new, they were also default. The two are unique, as they fight as a team, but act as two separate characters. Thus, they act as a literal 2-in-1 player. For instance, if the player chooses to play as them, the player will get to control Popo, while Nana is controlled by the computer.

They can be very hard to avoid, as they are a team, but if Nana is defeated first, the other is easier to fight. If Popo is defeated first, it will count as a defeat for both, even if Nana wasn't actually defeated. Their attacks are not incredibly powerful, but they can use two attacks at once, as well as use two items at once, and hold and throw two people at once. However, their reach is very short, making their grab game difficult to master.

Both Popo and Nana are voiced by Sanae Kobayashi.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Main article: SmashWiki:Ice Climbers (SSBB)
Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers return to the series in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with an updated appearance, retaining their moveset and gameplay mechanics from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Their appearance now adds detailed fur to their parkas. Their Hammers also have a more detailed appearance, actually showing the wood rings on their hammers. The Ice Climber stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is called Summit, which matches the Ice Climber style completely. The fish from Balloon Fight can be found on this stage. Their battle entrance features them holding on to a Condor, with them jumping off to land on the stage. Their Final Smash is Iceberg, in which they create a large iceberg in the middle of the stage.

The Subspace Emissary
The Ice Climbers' snapshot in The Subspace Emissary.

The Ice Climbers were first seen climbing up the Glacial Peak, completely oblivious to the shootout between the Great Fox and the Battleship Halberd. However, they do see Meta Knight climbing past them, trying to get to the Halberd. The Ice Climbers see this as a challenge, and race him to the top, managing to reach it first. However, they discover the Aura Pokémon Lucario up there, who challenges Meta Knight. Popo and Nana could only watch. Just after the battle, the Halberd rams the Great Fox into the mountain. While Meta Knight and Lucario take this chance to get inside the Halberd, the Ice Climbers fall into the Canyon, where they find themselves with Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike. The Subspace Army attacks them all, but they are saved by Mario, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, and Pit. The Ice Climbers eventually go to Subspace with all of the heroes, where they all get turned into trophies by Tabuu. Fortunately, Kirby is then revived by a badge created by King Dedede, so he saves Popo and Nana along with some other characters. The entire team then goes after Tabuu.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

The Ice Climbers do not return as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, making them the only playable characters in the entire series that have been playable in more than one game to be cut. The director of the games, Masahiro Sakurai, has stated this is because they were unable to run smoothly on the 3DS version of the game. Instead, they appear as a trophy in both versions of the game; the trophy is a random unlockable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS; to unlock the trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the player has to KO his/her rival four times in a single Rival Smash match.

Despite Sakurai mentioning that the Ice Climbers were running perfectly in the Wii U version, they were not kept in since Sakurai has stated he wanted both versions to share a consistent roster. Icicle Mountain's theme from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ice Climbers's theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl returns in the Wii U version as alternate themes for the Wrecking Crew stage, despite the characters removed.

On a side note, the Polar Bears from their series appear as enemies in the 3DS-exclusive game mode, Smash Run.

Profiles and statistics

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Trophies

# Name Image First Game/Move Description
37 Ice Climbers
(Classic)
File:Trophy37.PNG Ice Climber
10/85
That's Popo in the blue and Nana in the pink. These two stars of the game Ice Climber have scaled many an icy summit in their mountaineering careers. Back in their glory days, they chased eggplants, cucumbers, and other vegetables that inexplicably fell from frosty summits when a condor reigned supreme. They're rarely seen apart.
38 Ice Climbers [Smash]
(Adventure)
File:Trophy38.PNG B Button: Ice Shot
Smash B: Squall Hammer
This unique twosome fights together as a team. Your score will not be affected if the CPU-controlled character is KO's, but a lone Ice Climber won't be able to use teamwork moves, which will make for a tough and frantic solo fight. The Ice Shot fires mini-glaciers out of their hammers, while Squall Hammer is at its strongest when Nana and Popo combine their strength.
39 Ice Climbers [Smash]
(All-Star)
File:Trophy39.PNG Up & B Button: Belay
Down & B: Blizzard
The colors of the Ice Climbers' parkas denotes who's in the lead: Nana's in pink or orange, while Popo's in green or blue. Their hairstyles are also slightly different. Belay allows them to cover great distances, but doesn't give foes the chance to target their landing. Blizzard is best used in close quarters; in the fray, Nana and Popo will sometimes freeze opponents.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Snake's codec

  • Snake: So those two are the Ice Climbers, huh?
  • Mei Ling: Snake, have you ever heard of a "blood bond"?
  • Snake: Sure.
  • Mei Ling: It refers to a bond between two people that's so strong they'd die for each other. The Ice Climbers have conquered frozen glaciers and dangerous mountaintops together. I think they've formed a bond that we can't even fathom.
  • Snake: I dunno. Seems to me they'd get in each other's way fighting to see who gets to the top first.
  • Mei Ling: Snake, in China they say, "Though brothers may quarrel at home, outside they defend each other from slight."
  • Snake: Is that really a Chinese proverb?
  • Mei Ling: Even though they may get in each other's way occasionally, they'll pull together in times of need. They're an inseparable team, Snake. Don't underestimate them!

Trophies

Name Image Game Description
Ice Climbers BrawlTrophy025.png NES Ice Climber The one in blue is Popo, and the one in pink is Nana. They use their incredible jumping powers and hammers to break blocks and climb to the summit. They grab veggies, and if they can catch the condor at the end, they conquer the mountain. Other than breaking blocks, their hammers are good for sending foes flying, climbing down from blocks, and destroying icicles.
Iceberg BrawlTrophy026.png Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl The Ice Climbers' Final Smash. This giant ice mountain appears in the middle of a stage--it's incredibly slippery, so it's hard to control yourself when traversing it. In addition to being slick, this ice is also COLD, so opponents will take damage just from touching it. Attack the ice, and it will take damage and slowly shrink. Is it actually useful? That's a mystery.

Stickers

Image Game Effect
File:Nana Sticker.jpg Ice Climber [Specials: Direct] - Attack +29
Usable by: Ice Climbers

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

Name 3DS Image Wii U Image Appears in NTSC-U Description PAL Description
Ice Climbers IceClimbersTrophy3DS.png Ice Climbers trophy from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U NES Ice Climber (10/1985) This pair of adventurers starred in an action game released in 1985. Popo wears blue, and Nana wears red. The goal of their adventure was to reach the top of the mountain, collecting vegetables and defeating animals along the way. Grabbing the condor earned them a nice bonus too! Popo (in blue) and Nana (in pink) are the daring adventurers from the two-player platformer Ice Climber, released in Europe in 1986. In that game, your goal is to head up a mountain, breaking blocks and taking out pesky critters along the way. When you get to the top, you can collect veg and grab on to the condor to get bonus points! Nice!

Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Name in other languages

Ice Climbers

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Popo and Nana

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Trivia

  • In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Ice Climbers, being that they wear cleats, have regular traction on ice; unlike other characters, they do not slip and can travel across frosty landscapes with ease.
  • In the German version, Popo has been renamed "Pepe", because in German "Popo" means "buttocks".
    • Although in Spanish "Popo" (accented on the second O) means "poop", Popo still has his name.
  • The Ice Climbers' Chinese name literally translates to "Snowman Brothers", despite the fact that Nana is female.

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