Ice Climbers

Ice Climbers
The Ice Climbers as seen in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Series	Ice Climber
First Appearance	Ice Climber
Species	Human
Year Created	1985
Created by	Nintendo
Voiced by	Sanae Kobayashi

The Ice Climbers <sup>(JPJapanese: アイスクライマー

Romaji: Aisu Kuraimā

Meaning: Ice Climber)</sup>, Popo ^{(JPJapanese: ポポ)} and Nana, an elder twin boy dressed in a blue inuit parka (who leads the duo) and a younger twin girl dressed in a pink inuit parka (who is the follower), respectively, are the protagonists of Nintendo's NES video game series of the same name and its arcade expansion for the Nintendo VS. System, VS. Ice Climber.

True to their name, the Ice Climbers are fundamental twin partners in justice, though each Ice Climber is differentiated from each other especially by the color of their inuit parka outfits. To fittingly reflect their characteristic leitmotifs, the Ice Climbers, true to their epitome as pioneer mountaineers, seek to scale various glacial and enormous mountains, yet must also avoid various obstacles and antagonists during their routes to each summit. In order to successfully accomplish each level, the duo must catch a vegetable-stealing condor. In their illustrious timeline, the duo have pursued the aforementioned condor who, peculiarly, had possession of cucumbers, eggplants, and various other vegetables, while fending off Polar Bears, Nitpickers and Topis along their routes.

Created by Toshihiko Nakago and Shigeru Miyamoto, the Ice Climbers and their series are among Nintendo's most recognizable and legendary mascots and franchises, respectively. Ice Climber has been referenced in several Nintendo games, especially after the Ice Climbers have made their official appearance as playable characters in GameCube's fighting video game crossover, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and years later in Wii's fighting video game crossover, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Their first appearance was in 1985 in their eponymous game and immediately garnered attention for its unique, and perhaps more-so its accessible, gameplay, and being one of the few NES games that allowed for multiplayer mode. Although hardware limitations formally limited them to simple 8-bit sprites, official artwork depicts them with chibi proportions.

The Ice Climbers make their initial debut in the Super Smash Bros. series in Super Smash Bros. Melee as playable characters, and once again in the sequels, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In all three installments, choosing certain colors will render Nana as the leader and Popo as the follower instead of the traditional vice versa.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

Together, the Ice Climbers both wear wintertime inuit parka outfits, have shade brown chin-length hairstyles, blushing pink cheeks visible on their faces, and are proficient in using their hammers, their primary weapon for defense. The duo also wears brown gloves, white boots with wooden soles and ice cleats underneath them, attached by blue (Popo) and pink (Nana) boot-straps, and have long black eyes that are almost typically depicted with a white shine. Thus, these traits collectively make them somewhat identical to Kirby. Additionally, their boots and hammers also appear to be covered in light-powdered snow.

Popo is the elder leader of the mountaineer duo, being a young, light-skinned boy who typically wears an indigo/blue Inuit parka outfit. He has spiky brunette hair that stops near his eyes. His parka's hood resembles the Freeze Copy Ability's hat Kirby can collect. The coloration for most of his clothing ranges from indigo-to-blue.

Nana is the younger companion of the mountaineer duo, being a young, tomboyish and light-skinned girl who typically wears a pink/light magenta Inuit parka outfit. Her parka's design matches that of her brother, but she has smoother hair that parts near the middle. The sole major difference between Nana and her brother, Popo, is that most of her clothing replaces Popo's blue/indigo coloration scheme with pink/light magenta.

The Ice Climbers have never unequipped their hoodies or gloves, not even revealing their full hairstyles. As such, the duo are potentially referred to as “eskimos.”

Personality

True to their quintessential incarnations in their original series, the Ice Climbers are overall mischievous, considerate, lighthearted and energetic mountaineers who are entertained by climbing summits and routing through glacial and enormous mountaintops. Demonstrated in the Ice Climber franchise, the Ice Climbers are heroic and valiant, proven when the duo begin their pursuit after the vegetables. Despite being in their early childhood, the Ice Climbers have surprisingly high intelligence and are proficient in brawling and/or fighting antagonists, by landing powerful hits using their predominate weapons (their sole means of defense), their wooden mallets. However, their sole interest in mountaineering does not mean that the Ice Climbers are not sentient of themselves or oblivious of other events occurring around them, as the duo are reactive of possessing cryokinesis and scaling the glacial peak to access the Battleship Halberd (battling against the Great Fox), respectively.

The Ice Climbers are also considered genuine silent protagonists. The duo hardly ever speak, only uttering simple phrases and vocalizations, such as their signature line, "Yup!" during their taunt in the Super Smash Bros. series, which can be heard in the Sound Test.

Additionally, when the Ice Climbers meet up with Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he flies ahead of them and the mountaineers follow him behind in a fit of rage, rendering Meta Knight's phenomenal speed as a challenge. This shows that the duo seek entertainment in climbing mountains in such a manner that not only do the two desire racing other skilled people to the top, but also demonstrating more of their confidence and courageousness as the duo scale several mountains while simultaneously foregoing the threat of antagonists who lurk and invade themselves in mountains the Ice Climbers proceed to scale, an example being the Subspace Army. Despite being professional fighters themselves, the duo ironically despise spectating and/or dealing with fights or arguments, as shown in the Subspace Emissary where Meta Knight and Lucario prepare to fight each other while the Ice Climbers spectate in fear before becoming relieved after their reconciliation.

As an archetypical tag-team duo, the Ice Climbers, themselves, have an incredible dependence on each other for almost all situations. Popo and Nana have reliance on each other for teamwork to achieve full level of their fighting prowess and combat, which often leads to occasional trouble: antagonists can receive the free opportunity to easily separate them if the Ice Climbers are reckless, and if under the absence of one climber, the remaining climber will be drastically hindered in combat and skills; in turn, Popo and Nana's skills are at their best when combined, so their levels of prowess are half as effective alone.

Abilities

During first glace, the Ice Climbers appear to be nothing more than simplistic mountaineers. However, in truth, Popo and Nana have omnipotent abilities and tactics that make them stand out from their cute and small appearances.

• Hammermanship: The Ice Climbers are known for wielding their sole weapon, their hammer. This allows them to excel at close to mid-ranged combat, and offers them exceptional attacking range despite their short stature.
• Combat Skills: Using their hammers, the Ice Climbers are capable of combating their opponents through multiple and countless strategies, by swift hammer sweeps, hammer swings, long-ranged hammer swipes, hammer flicks, and most categorically, swift and powerful hammer slams.
• Raw Power: The Ice Climbers excel in overall raw power, courtesy of their aforementioned combat skills above, but also due to their hammers sustaining high weight, offering them the opportunity to inflict high levels of damage output and knockback by smashing their hammers onto opponents, and knocking them out with only a few hits.
• Agility: The Ice Climbers have above-average agility (in more simple terms, running speed), which offers the duo the opportunity to outspeed their opponents or catch up with one another if separated.
• Jumping prowess: A sentiment originated from Ice Climber, the duo possess an excellent jumping prowess, allowing them to excel in reaching impressive heights. This is especially prevalent and versatile when it comes to climbing mountains.
• Flexibility: In collaboration with the duo's small size and short stature, the Ice Climbers benefit from their aforementioned agility and jumping prowess, but also from their high air acceleration, which allows the duo to easily mix up their movement in the air (despite their extremely slow air speed). In addition, the duo also benefit from hyperactive attacking speed, which allows the Ice Climbers to constantly pressure the opponent and take on an aggressive playstyle.
• Cryokinesis: The psychic ability to control and create ice and cold temperatures. This allows the Ice Climbers to perform omnipotent tactics (such as summoning a giant iceberg or devastating snowstorm, blowing out gusts of blizzard from their palms), or simple and powerful techniques, including freeze tags, freeze touches or freeze sneezes.
  • The Ice Climbers have an extremely powerful and magical gift from birth, that of generating and controlling ice, cold and snow at will. Using this power, Popo and Nana are capable of several versatile applications: the duo have demonstrated both immense power (by creating a gigantic ice palace) and subtle usage (by generating an icy path to walk on water or by creating several geometric shapes by combining her magic with her creative spirit). The duo also have demonstrated the ability to generate freezing rays from their hands or to create stalactites.

Appearances

Ice Climber

The Ice Climbers make their first appearance in the video game of the same name where Popo and Nana competed each other in climbing to the top of 32 different mountains. On their route, the duo had to break blocks with their hammers to open up paths and ride on clouds to reach to the summit of the mountain, while also making their climb difficult was a number of antagonistic animals that lurked through the mountains. Topis wandered on the icy platforms and Nitpickers flew above them. Additionally, if the Ice Climbers spent too much time remaining in a particular place of the mountain without moving on upwards, dangerous Polar Bears would emerge out of their territory, rolling the screen upward by stomping the ground with the force of their high weight. Upon reaching the highest antagonist-free point of the mountain, the duo will get a chance to collect valuable vegetables and upon reaching the mountain's summit, the duo are required to grab onto the condor's talons for more glory.

VS. Ice Climber

The Ice Climbers make their official reappearance in the arcade expansion of Ice Climber for the Nintendo VS. System. Popo and Nana challenge one another in scaling up to 48 glacial mountains, including the original 32 mountains from Ice Climber for NES. However, upon completing up to eight mountains in a row, the Ice Climbers are treated with scaling a "super bonus stage," having to scale a giant mountain with narrow and precise platforming, and must reach to the summit with a flag planted on top of it in a limit of 40 seconds. Additionally, the Ice Climbers will get a chance to collect an additional and more unique set of valuable vegetables upon reaching the mountain's summit and, as a side note, encounter the Butterfly at the peak, flying through the air, requiring the duo to grab it before time runs out. Aside from that, the mountains also feature another notable, albeit less commonly encountered antagonist: the bee, who attempts to catch Popo and Nana off-guard by emerging from the sides.

Popo and Nana arriving on stage, via a condor, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Other appearances

• Super Smash Bros. Melee: The Ice Climbers appear as playable characters.
• Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land: When Kirby gets the Freeze ability, he dons Popo's parka in the same manner it is worn in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
• WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!: One of 9-Volt's classic Nintendo micro games is based on Ice Climber. It consists of Popo grabbing the condor's feet.
• Kirby Air Ride: Just like in Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby wears Popo's parka when he has the Freeze ability.
• WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$: This cameo is the same as the cameo in the original WarioWare.
• WarioWare: Twisted!: One of 9-Volt's classic Nintendo-styled micro games is based on Ice Climber. The player smashes enemies with a hammer.
• WarioWare: Touched!: One of 9-Volt's Nintendo micro games is named "8-bit-hero". Players touch the pixel that differs from a 6x7 "pixel checkerboard" in the top image. On third difficulty, the sprite is Popo.
• Tetris DS: An Ice Climber backdrop makes an appearance in level 15 of the standard mode.
• Picross DS: Ice Climbers appears in Normal Mode level 11-N.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Ice Climbers return as playable characters.
• Art Style: PiCTOBiTS: Popo appears in normal mode stage 4 and Nana in dark mode stage 4.
• WarioWare D.I.Y.: In one of the microgames the player must make Popo jump to grab the eggplant from a Nitpicker.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: The Ice Climbers return as playable characters.

Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary

The Ice Climbers are major protagonists of the Subspace Emissary, marking their first appearance in the Glacial Peak, climbing the glacial and enormous mountain leading to the Battleship Halberd and the Great Fox battling against each other in the sky. Upon noticing Meta Knight flying past them, the duo perceive this as a challenge, angering them and leading to the duo racing him to the top of the mountain while fending off a sizeable portion of the Subspace Army along their route to the top. When the Ice Climbers and Meta Knight reach the top of the mountain, the trio find a meditating Lucario there (waiting for Meta Knight and the Ice Climbers' arrival), who challenges Meta Knight to a battle, while the Ice Climbers spectate in fear. After the fight, the victor revives the trophicated loser, and Meta Knight and Lucario reconciliate, relieving the Ice Climbers, but more than that, the Ice Climbers are especially delighted that Meta Knight and Lucario have befriended each other instead of continuing to be rivals. However, relief was short-lived, as the Battleship Halberd crashes the Great Fox into the mountain. Meta Knight and Lucario manage to board the Halberd, and the Ice Climbers are knocked back to the ground towards the canyon from the earthquake inflicted by such impact (along with a multitude of Shadow Bugs raining from the sky), where Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer and Ike are located. After the Ice Climbers defeat a portion of the Subspace Army (with the assistance of Mario, Kirby, Pit, Link and Yoshi), the Ice Climbers team up with the other fighters.

The Isle of Ancients has been engulfed by a plethora of activated Subspace Bombs, and the ten fighters notice this (Ice Climbers among them). After annihilating the Subspace Gunship with the assistance of the Falcon Flyer (containing Samus Aran, Pikachu, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, and R.O.B.) and the reowned Halberd (retaken by Meta Knight, Lucario, Solid Snake, Peach, Princess Zelda/Sheik, Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, and Mr. Game & Watch), the Ice Climbers and the other fighters invade the Subspace.

The Ice Climbers and the other fighters eventually confront Tabuu. Unfortunately, Tabuu trophicates the rest of the fighters once again using his off waves without enough warning, including the Ice Climbers. However, the duo were miraculously revived by Kirby (who was revived by eating a Dedede Brooch), and accompanies Ness, Luigi, King Dedede and the rest of the fighters into the Great Maze. In the end, the Ice Climbers and the other fighters not only finally defeat Tabuu, but the latter's defeat also results in the Subspace successfully wiping out into nonexistence. The Ice Climbers and the other fighters then manage to escape from Subspace, and all the colonies composing the Great Maze (World of Trophies) are restored to their rightful positions in the real world, with the rifts of Subspace all being sealed off, excluding the Isle of Ancients. Because of the plethora of detonated Subspace Bombs engulfing said isle, it is impossible for the Isle of Ancients to return. As such, it is claimed to be permanently erased from existence. Instead, it leaves a giant luminous cross in its place, where the rest of the fighters look at in triumph and victory, including the Ice Climbers (with Nana peeking to the luminous cross while embracing behind Popo).

Adventure Mode: World of Light

Although the duo were absent from the opening cutscene, it is assumed that the Ice Climbers were among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to fight an army of Master Hands before Galeem has unleashed his beams of intense light that has annihilated all fighters (excluding Kirby), including the Ice Climbers, and placed them under Galeem's imprisonment before duplicating them as puppet fighters with the intention of unleashing this army upon the planet to stop Kirby from freeing his comrades. Gameplay-wise, the Ice Climbers are found in the southern portion/bottom of the icy mountain next to the Temple of Light (where Pit and Simon are unlocked), located at the top left corner of The Light Realm. Unlocking them eliminates the icy paths in order for them to be successfully traversed in both directions, as well as unblocking an additional path to the shrouded forest, making the Ice Climbers' unlock obligatory for completing the mode. Together, the Ice Climbers and Kirby explore through the World of Light and eventually defeat Giga Bowser, Galleom, and Rathalos, who are powering Galeem's shield. A puppet of Master Hand appears to intercept, but the Ice Climbers effortlessly destroy it. The fighters, including the Ice Climbers, eventually defeat Galeem, but this victory is short-lived as Dharkon and his army of Crazy Hands take advantage of the situation and forces Galeem to retreat. Thus, the World of Light is then swallowed by darkness.

The fighters, including the Ice Climbers, continue to free the puppets and spirits under Dharkon's control, and defeat Ganon, Dracula, and Marx to force Dharkon to appear from the center of the Dark Realm to confront them himself. After the Ice Climbers and the other fighters defeat Dharkon, he retreats, but Galeem soon comes back and persuades him, launching an assault with a new army of spirits and puppet fighters. Both of them attempts to defeat the other, but Mario, Simon, Pit, Zelda, Kirby, the Ice Climbers, Fox, Greninja, Bowser, Samus, Sonic, and the rest of the fighters soon catch up in the middle with both Dharkon and Galeem noticing. Thus, the final battle is about to begin.

While sparing either Galeem or Dharkon will result in a bad ending (where they will cleanse the universe in their respective image and engulf the Ice Climbers and the other fighters in the process), in the true ending, the Ice Climbers and the other fighters rescue Roy and Dark Samus and defeat a puppet of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Galeem calls on Palutena and the original Master Hand as reinforcements, while Dharkon calls on Bayonetta and the original Crazy Hand. The fighters, including the twin mountaineers, also free all four from Galeem and Dharkon's control. As Master Hand and Crazy Hand are out of the two respective entities' control, the former defeats an onslaught of 50 puppet fighters to eliminate both light and darkness for the Ice Climbers and the other fighters to have a final confrontation against Galeem and Dharkon.

In the end, the Ice Climbers and the other fighters successfully defeat Galeem and Dharkon. In response, their armies disintegrate as they fall into the ocean and explode, cleansing the universe of their influence and restoring the original world, and the spirits are free to return to their original worlds.

Trophy Information

Super Smash Bros. Melee

(Classic)

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 where a condor reigned supreme. They're rarely seen apart.

(Adventure)

This unique twosome fights together as a team. Your score will not be affected if the CPU-controlled character is KO'd, 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.

(All-Star)

(US version): 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.

(European version): The colors of the Ice Climbers' parkas denotes who's in the lead: Nana's in red or orange, while Popo's in green or purple. 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

(Ice Climbers)

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)

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.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

(US version): 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!

(European version): 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!

Trivia

• On the official box artwork illustration of Ice Climber for the Famicom, Nana (the only one of the duo to be illustrated on the official art) is depicted with blonde hair, although in-game, she and Popo's hair color were restricted to black hair. In their subsequential appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, the Ice Climbers are brunette instead.
• In various languages, Popo's name is restricted to "Pépé." This is because "popo" means "buttocks" in Turkish and "poop" in Spanish.
• The Ice Climbers and their franchise cease to return as playable characters in Super Smash Bros. 4, but the duo make a cameo as a collectible trophy instead. In a column for the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Masahiro Sakurai claimed that technical limitations of the Nintendo 3DS prevented their inclusion; the duo were reportedly difficult to implement on the system, and since the characters were unlikely to have a new game in their series, Sakurai deemed the Ice Climbers "low-priority" characters. While the duo and their franchise were successfully functional on the Wii U, Sakurai decided to ultimately cut them to retain the roster identical.
  • During Palutena's Guidance regarding the Ice Climbers, however, Pit assumes that their absence in SSB4 was due to illegal teaming, in which this dialogue is a humorous reference to the aforementioned reason above for the Ice Climbers' absence in Smash 4.
• Contrary to popular belief, the pair are not canonically siblings. In an interview with Masahiro Sakurai, he has referred to the pair as "childhood friends like boy-and-girl pair" and goes on to state that their relationship is “more than friends, but less than lovers,” along with revealing that their relationship is platonic.
  • Following this, Super Smash Bros. Brawl reaffirmed Sakurai's stance on the relationship both in-game and in supplemental material. The Ice Climbers' Smash Bros. DOJO!! page refers to them as friends in two instances while detailing their special moveset. In particular, the description regarding Belay reads, "When you use Belay with two climbers, they perform a feat that leaves you dazzled at the depths of their friendship!" Another circumstantial point is the final stanza of the description regarding Blizzard reads: "Ahem... And let’s overlook our friend’s occasional impulse to wander off, shall we?"
    • Despite this, however, issue 152 of Nintendo Power seemingly lost his comment in translation and instead referred to Popo and Nana as siblings regardless.
    • Additionally, Solid Snake's codec conversation regarding the Ice Climbers depicts Mei Ling mentioning that Popo and Nana have a "blood bond," which is a long-standing custom practiced around the world that involves a pair of distinct people swearing loyalty to one another. This implies that Popo and Nana are supposed to be siblings due to possessing relentless dependability to each other and promising to never leave each other behind.
    • An extra hint of their relationship is that during the 2-player cooperative mode of Ice Climber, Popo and Nana are theorized to be "frenemies." When scaling mountains, Popo and Nana can either scale the mountain and collect vegetables with teamwork, or through means for one of them to reach the top of the mountain while leaving the other one behind to prevent them from catching up to their pace. This is further supplemented by the elements of the Bonus Stage and Super Bonus Stage, where either Popo and Nana must grab the condor's talons or reach the top of the mountain with the flag planted on the summit first, respectively.
• The Ice Climbers have never unequipped their hoodies or gloves, not even revealing their full hairstyles. As such, the duo are potentially referred to as “eskimos.”
• The Ice Climbers are the only characters to appear in multiple Super Smash Bros. installments before being cut, then returning back to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• The Mega Man Robot Master, Ice Man, has potentially taken some of his design from theirs: possessing a similar inuit parka design and the same power of manipulating ice, cryokinesis.
• The Ice Climbers are said to be somewhat inspired by Kirby's overall design, more especially their facial features: featuring the same rosy pink cheeks, and the same pair of large oval-shaped, glossy periwinkle eyes. Additionally, the hood of Popo's parka's resembles the Freeze Copy Ability's hat Kirby can collect.
• The Ice Climbers' jumping and hammer-swinging animations are the only canonical animations transitioned from their original series to the Super Smash Bros. series.

External Links

• Virtual Console Ice Climber at Nintendo.com
• Ice Climber at Nintendo.com
• Arcade Archives "Ice Climber" at Nintendo.com