Glass Joe

Glass Joe is a pathetic boxer from the Punch-Out! series. He is always the first opponent you fight in any of the games he is in. He is mostly based off of his Punch Out! Wii appearence. He still looks a frail, middle aged man who's nervous everywhere he goes. He also speaks whatever language you have chosen, and not just French.

He was removed from the roster on June 19, 2013, but his page will remain unchanged.

Pros and Cons
Glass Joe is a relatively interesting character. His damage output is rather bad, which really hinders his ability to KO. He's one of the weakest characters in the game, although that's where his main issues stop. He's very good at combo's, although due to damage scaling he won't be dealing very much damage. His range isn't all that bad, and his priority is nothing to sneeze at. He's a goofy character, but still a respectable one.

He isn't very noob friendly, however. He's light, he's weak, and his moves require very good execution. Unlike his other Punch-Out! reps, Joe is really only meant for the professionals. In the proper hands he can be very dangerous, but he still has some nasty issues (mainly that damage output) that can't be overlooked. To be fair, though, it doesn't completely wreck him.

Overall, Glass Joe is just hard to use, that's all. You can consider him a grappler without any special grabs, or a rushdown character with poor damage output and surprisingly good defensive options. His main issue is his damage output; get past that and you have yourself a solid character. Sure, he's light, but he's mobile. While his tier placement is unknown, it is known that he's not the joke that we is in the Punch-Out! series.

Pros

 * A very mobile character; can get to places with ease; both on the ground and in the air.
 * Range on most of his moves isn't bad.
 * Priority is very good.
 * Can play pretty defensively for such a rushdown character.
 * Has a solid set of specials.
 * Can deal some wonderful shield damage.
 * His moves are, for the most part, very fast.
 * Grab game isn't too bad; however...

Cons

 * ...his grab game isn't very good, either.
 * Pummel doesn't even deal 1% (0.95% to be exact).
 * Damage output is very, very bad. He's in the Bottom 10.
 * His combo's are hurt by damage scaling, although they aren't ruined.
 * A rushdown character should be able to deal good damage.
 * Knockback on most of his moves is terrid.
 * Some of his more useful moves have pretty bad ending lag.

Ground Game

 * Jab: Glass Joe steps back and jabs. Very weak, but also very fast. It can be used up to three times consecutively, with each jab being weaker than the previous, but having increased range. The first jab deals 3%, the second 2%, and the final 1% for an overall total of 6%. Very weak, but very effective.


 * Utilt: Glass Joe jabs the opponent upward. A 2-hit move, very quick and low damage dealing. Works well for combo's, but doesn't have much use out of it. Also a very good link into Usmash; depending on your opponent's health you may be able to link 2 Utilts into eachother (and then Usmash, again depending on the opponent's health). Deals 7%.


 * Ftilt: Ftilt: Joe steps back, and punches the opponent. Can be faked out by pressing Ftilt a second time. While it's very good for mindgames, the startup is very costly for the fakeout. If you opt to use the original move, it will deal a little less damage; however, it comes out nice and fast. Both have their advantages and should be used when necessary. The fake-out deals 8%, and the regular move deals 6%.


 * Dtilt: Glass Joe punches in a way that would trip the opponent. This move grounds your opponent, but Glass Joe doesn't have many moves that hit grounded opponents. If you're fast enough, you can link a Fsmash into this, but only at very low percentages. A decent move that deals 8%.


 * Usmash: Joe punches upward four times, finishing with a fairly powerful punch. Well, powerful for Joe, anyway. Linking this from a Utilt or two is an easy way to get a relatively high damage. Really, that's the main use for this move. It's also a decent anti-air, although its uses outside of that are varied. The four punches deal 2%, and the last punch deals 6% for a max total of 14%. The damage doesn't change when charged.


 * Fsmash: Joe punches forward with all his might. After he uses this, he pants for one second. Obviously, it's a punishable move, but it's also Joe's best finishing option (aside from Final Smashes). The knockback is the best Joe is gonna get. It also has good priority and range, so really, the only problem is the ending lag. The attack deals 16% unharged and 21% charged.


 * Dsmash: Joe punches downward in both directions. The move has some nasty range, and while the damage and knockback have room for improvement, the range certainly makes it a move that you can pull as a punisher. It's no projectile but it's an overall safe move to use. It's not impossible to punish this, though, so be careful. The attack deals 12% uncharged and 16% charged.

Air Game

 * Nair: Joe punches in both directions, arms stretched out. Another move with very good range and poor damage. Despite appearence, this move does not have sex kick properties, so the damage does not change. To say the least, it's a good move because of that. The attack deals 9%. Most useful in 3 or 4 player matches.


 * Uair: Joe head butts the opponent upward. Joe has better anti-air options than this, but this still isn't bad. It's a decent move to use as a mix-up, to say the least. The attack deals 8%. You can use this move up to three times during one jump.


 * Dair: Joe kicks the opponent downward. Despite the appearence of the move, this is actually a meteor smash. It's a very weak one, and at lower percentages it's very ineffective. It becomes useful at around 70% against Mario. Obviously it varies against other characters, but Joe has better moves to use in the air. The attack deals 9%.


 * Fair: Joe punches the opponent in a forward-downward direction. It's similar to Mario's Fair, but it's much quicker and weaker. It still has functions of a spike, and it's actually pretty useful. It isn't a move that should be used whenever, but it can be put into combo's. This means you can get a stock off of your opponent nice and early. The attack deals 8%.


 * Bair: Joe turns his head around and performs a backwards punch. There's a small amount of startup to this move, but otherwise there's nothing to it that really makes it useless. The damage isn't that bad; it's great for Glass Joe. Probably Joe's best aerial attack, and one you'll want to use often. Deals 11%.

Throws

 * Grab: Joe grabs the opponent. Very simple. Dash grab is basically the same thing, just with Joe dashing, and the Pivot Grab has better range.


 * Pummel: Glass Joe punches the opponent. This is insanely quick; you can easily get 6 pummels in. However, the attack is extremely weak, even for Glass Joe standards: Each hit deals 0.95%.


 * Fthrow: Joe throws the opponent forward. Joe must have one really good throwing arm; the damage isn't that great but the knockback is. The throw deals 6%.


 * Bthrow: Joe chucks the opponent backwards and performs a quick, crouching punch. You can follow this up with a move that hits a grounded opponent, but Joe doesn't have many of those. The throw deals 7%.


 * Uthrow: Joe jumps up and throws the opponent upward. This is actually a good KO method on high locations, and even on middle terrain it can work if your opponent has a high enough %. The throw deals 6%.


 * Dthrow: Joe throws his opponent to the ground. He then steps on them twice. You can't follow this up, but the damage is very good, namely for Joe himself. The throw deals 10%.

Specials

 * Special: Charging Glass Punch. Glass Joe leans back, preparing a punch. By pressing the Speical button, you can determine how long Glass Joe charges his punch. After about two seconds, Glass Joe's boxing glove catches fire. If you hold it for another second, he glares at his hand and (in pain) wipe his hand back and forth, getting the fire off. If you release by that point, you can release his punch.

This is a unique special in that it's similar to other moves, yet it's totally different. It's still a standard punch, no doubt (in fact, some may think this punch has an extreme resemblance to Little Mac's and Balrog of SF, but neither of those are really true). The longer Joe holds the punch, the more damage the attack does. Not charging at all is what you'll mainly use for combo's; although if you can charge the maximum amount of time (3 seconds) and land the hit, it's an instant Shield Breaker.


 * At minimum charge, the attack deals 6%. There's not much lag to it and it has bad priority.
 * Releasing before the two second mark, the attack deals 9%. Same as above.
 * Releasing when Joe's hand sets aflame deals 10%. More lag but better priority.
 * At maximum charge, the attack deals 14%. There's a LOT of ending lag to it but amazing priority. Travels the exact length of Final Destination. Will put you in a helpless state if you wind up going offstage.

This is a very important move for Glass Joe, and will likely determine how he plays overall. It's not a game changer, but it's a move to look out for.


 * Side Special: Lunging Joe. Glass Joe leans back quickly and lunges forward with a punch. If Joe misses, it'll be costly; he'll be open to attack for about half of a second, which is more then enough time to start some devastating combo's, and the like. If he hits, though, he can do one of the following:


 * By pressing the Special Button, Joe will instantly cancel into a Charging Glass Punch. With a nicely timed Shield Break you can get max charge out of that. The attack deals the same as the above, minus 3% on each of them.
 * By pressing any other button, Joe will quickly use whatever attack that was the button pressed. Example, he would use his Dtilt if that input was pressed. It's horribly restricted to grabbing and normals only, though.

The punch of this attack deals 6%. An okay move overall, but probably Joe's worst Special.


 * Down Special: Spinning Joe. Glass Joe leans down and starts spinning rapidly. He quickly forms a mini-tornado, which doesn't last very long. He then stops, dizzy (takes about half a second to recover) and then returns to a neutral stance. A relatively humorous attack, although it isn't very useful... aside from one major point.

The attack may not be very useful for dealing damage, combo's, and the like, but it does deal wonderful shield damage. Unlike his other moves, this can literally break quite a few shields from scratch. The range on this move is poor so you'll have to use it wisely or you'll get punished. The attack deals, at max, 11%. Yeah, not very powerful; but good for some maddening shield breaks. Against Pichu, this move will actually hit the poor guy on the last hit; that's how small his shield is.


 * Up Special: Baguette Flight. Glass Joe grabs a Baguette out of his pocket. He holds it up, and... a propellor pops out of the top. Glass Joe can fly around for a short period of time. He can use any of his aerial moves while doing this, but that's it. The flight lasts for 2 and a half seconds; you can stop using this move at anytime by pressing down.

As a recovery move, it's very good. Despite the oddities of it, it really isn't that bad. It covers nice distance in a decent amount of time. You can use your aerials at will, so he isn't defenseless. A very good move to get Joe where he needs to go. Do note that you can't use the move a second time until 30 seconds passes by. Not too bad of a setback.

Easily a move Joe users will want to use. In the right hands it can get Joe out of any situation. Sadly there aren't invincibility frames to it, but overall it's still a great move.

Final Smashes

 * Final Smash: Headgear. Glass Joe reaches into his pocket and... pulls out his headgear from the Wii version of Punch-Out!. He places it on his head and taunts the opponent.

While the headgear is on, any attacks dealt to Glass Joe's face deal no damage. Joe quickly flinches, but no damage is dealt. After a certain amount of attacks, which vary on strength and priority, the gear will come right off. Some attacks, like Mac's Star Punch, knock the headgear right off. A full list is coming soon.

This is a very good Final Smash, as it basically protects Glass Joe's entire face from attacks. That's larger than you'd initially think. There are seriously some attacks that can be downright cheap that are useless against this. Tron Bonne's Lunch Rush cannot hit a crouching Joe, and even Ultimate Smashes like Yoshi's are negated by the headgear.

While it's not an offensive Final Smash, it's still good for some protection on Joe. And he needs all the protection he can get.


 * Battle Attack: Attack of the Glass Punch. Glass Joe rapidly punches forward 10 times. The tenth hit will always stun the opponent, no matter what. Glass Joe will sigh, exhausted, and then let out one final punch. Glass Joe will either hit the oppponent and deal no damage, as they get out of stun and watch Glass Joe collapse; or Joe will hit them with a powerful punch that deals 50%. If Glass Joe has above 60% he will perform the weak punch; anything under will result in the powerful punch.

Quite an interesting move for Glass Joe. The expressions on his face are quite funny. Aside from humor, this move will knock back opponents who approach from the air, but deal slightly more damage. If one punch connects on the ground, your opponent cannot escape. Generally you'll want to land this move on the ground, as landing ten hits and a potential 50% move is better than dealing one hit.

It can't be put into combo's, necessarily, and does pretty bad shield damage. Even Pichu can survive a full barrage of punches with a shield (albeit a bad one). It's not a bad Battle Attack, though, and it has uses. The 10 punches deal 1% each. Yeah, a max of 60% on a move of Glass Joe's. If these punches hit an opponent in the air, they deal 3%.


 * Ultimate Smash: Glass Frenchyuken. Input command is Forward + Special; you need to have the 5 gauges.

Glass Joe crouches, preparing to use an uppercut. If he misses, he makes an “OH, NO!” expression while performing it. This is actually a 6 hit move, with each hit dealing 8%. As you can tell, the damage isn't very worth it. It can be put into combo's and such, but a max total of 48% isn't worthwhile on an Ultimate Smash.

However, if he hits, he will get a surprised expression on his face. He will punch the opponent in the gut, and then he becomes angry. He face becomes beat red, and he screams, “VIVA LE FRANCE!” and performs a devastating uppercut. This move deals 100%, and darn is it much better. The combo potential is gone, but it's a wonderful punisher. Also works very well with Hit Stun.

...Okay, so it's a huge spoof of Ryu's Shin/Metsu Shoryuken, but it's only a spoof!