Smashing in 3D: A Look at Mewtwo's Tail Hurtboxes

This topic came up a couple times recently in the Mewtwo discord, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to consolidate all my info on the matter in a more public and lasting format.

One of Melee Mewtwo's most infamous weaknesses is his highly vulnerable tail. Its prominent hurtboxes constantly get in the way. Turning around will actually extend Mewtwo's hurtboxes in the direction he was originally facing, so players have to take great care to ensure they're facing their opponent whenever reasonably possible. It's not uncommon to see Mewtwo players dashdance through a mixture of dashing forward, wavedashing forward/back, moonwalking, and stickywalking.

Mewtwo did retain some hurtboxes on his tail in the transition to PM, but they're better fitted to the tail itself (more accurate sizing, and they don't drift around at odds with the tail's movement as sometimes occurs in Melee). So that means Mewtwo players still have to work around the tail hitboxes, right?

Well... Maybe not.

If you look closely, you can probably guess what's going on here. If not, you may find this enlightening.

When the PMDT animated Mewtwo they took advantage of the fact that Smash utilizes three dimensions, even though most movement occurs in just two. Mewtwo's tail, and thus his tail hurtboxes, are offset into this third dimension during most animations that don't involve attacking with the tail.

Here is a slow-motion gfy showing many of his movement animations from the side. It's not perfectly aligned, but it's close enough to show the offset tail in motion while also revealing several important animations where his tail is still vulnerable: jumpsquat, heavy landing, and any falling animation except special fall.

The falling animation is rarely an issue. The more important concern is thus that you (still) don't want to wavedash while facing away from your opponent in situations where you're in immediate danger, as hitboxes that hit fairly low to the ground may clip Mewtwo's tail. On the upside, the fact that Mewtwo's tail is (mostly) safe in other animations better enables Mewtwo to take advantage of basic ground movement options such as dashdancing. His dash may not be particularly fast (slightly below average initial velocity at 1.4), but his hurtbox displacement during the initial frames of his dash is pretty good. Contrast the position of Mewtwo's hurtboxes while standing (where he just barely gets clipped by Roy's ftilt at full extension), when dashing away at the last possible moment, and after a dash forward.

While this doesn't magically transform Mewtwo into a dashdance-oriented character, it's still an important option to bear in mind. Having even an average dashdance is important for increasing the tempo, threat level, and safety of Mewtwo's ground game. It allows him to more effectively pressure space (short, ambiguous movement to complement his midrange burst movement capabilities), while also improving his defensive capabilities. If Mewtwo is dashing forward, his fastest option for immediately shifting his hurtboxes out of danger is to simply dash away. Shield stop->wavedash back is the next best option, and will overtake dash back over longer timeframes (~15+ frames). Wavedash back is less effective due to the momentum retained during jumpsquat, and dash back->wavedash is also inferior to either of the first two options due to the tail's vulnerability during jumpsquat and landing lag.