Do the different animations in the alternate costumes affect hurtboxes?
Some of the alternate costumes use different animations, like Inkling for example or, more recently, Byleth. Inkling's idle animation is different depending on if it's a female or male Inkling for example. Wouldn't that mean that their hurtboxes behave differently in their idle animation? Is there an actual theoretical/practical gameplay difference (however minor) between alternate costumes?
Because some people seem to have trouble seeing very obvious differences in animations, here's an example grabbed from Sakurai's Direct:
Notice how they hold their swords over their right shoulder. Let's say you had a Fox fire his Blaster from the left at the same height as their heads. If hurtboxes and hitboxes follow the animations (which is what I thought would be the case), wouldn't that mean that Fox would hit female Byleth in the head, while male Byleth's right hand would be hit?
Best Answer
Agreeing with senpai, alternate costumes and associated different animations do not change the hurtboxes (and hitboxes) for the characters. However, I want to back this statement with a quote from the Smash Wiki page.
Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Robin, Corrin, Inkling, and Byleth all have male and female variants; and Olimar and Bowser Jr. have model swaps that change them into different characters with different names, complete with corresponding voice and Announcer clips, though like all other alternate costumes, they bear no gameplay differences.
And also this previous Arqade answer, which states that it is mechanically impossible for alternate costumes to have different hurtboxes (and hitboxes).
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Answer 2
Wouldn't that mean that their hurtboxes behave differently in their idle animation? Is there an actual theoretical/practical gameplay difference (however minor) between alternate costumes?
This is correct. Odd-costumed Byleth uses idle animations 1 and 2, while even-costumed Byleth uses idle animations 3 and 4, and they are sufficiently different that even though their hurtboxes are the same, there is a minor gameplay difference. (Note that they do use the same "base pose", so they both return to the same shape after executing other actions, before the idle animations start.)
Answer 3
No, alternate costumes have never changed the hurtbox of any character. Hitboxes (and by extension, hurtboxes), are derived from the default skin. This is why characters like Male/Female Corrin & Robin share the same height, as they have the same hitbox and hurtbox on their attacks. This also applies to characters less "alternate costume" but more "echo fighter", like the Koopalings.
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