Vertical Throwing Power

The trouble with testing any attack against just one character in Melee is that there are weight differences, different rates at which attacks become more powerful, and different platform and ceiling heights, so throwing just one character won't give an accurate portrayal of overall strength. What this list does is use 3 test subjects: Purin / Jigglypuff (the lightest vertically, a.k.a. slowest faller), Mario (the standard measurement often considered to be the "average" in almost anything), and Falco (the heaviest vertically, a.k.a. fastest faller), all tested on Final Destination. This list shows what percentage each character has to be at to hit the magnifying glass (the ceiling of FD is pretty high, so the velocity of thrown opponents at non-death percentages is also important) and also the percentage that will turn the throw into a killing throw. Then, all 6 of these numbers are averaged to come up with an overall percentage which the characters are ranked by(from strongest to weakest up throw).

Key:

/#\ = % Purin / Jigglypuff hits magnifier
^#^ = % Purin / Jigglypuff dies
|#| = % Mario hits magnifier
{#} = % Mario dies
(#) = % Falco hits magnifier
[#] = % Falco dies
# = Average of the above

Notes: All percentages are before the throw is performed. For example, Mario is at 101% when Mewtwo throws him up, Mario will then be dealt 12% damage and will die at 113%. Also, no directional influence has been used.


1) Mewtwo - /18%\ , ^86%^ , |30%| , {101%} , (90%) , [159%] , 80.667%

2) Roy - /79%\ , ^151%^ , |96%| , {170%} , (160%) , [232%] , 148%

3) Link - /98%\ , ^171%^ , |112%| , {186%} , (175%) , [249%] , 165.167%

4) Dr. Mario - /94%\ , ^173%^ , |112%| , {191%} , (185%) ,[263%] , 169.667%

5) Marth - /91%\ , ^175%^ , |111%| , {196%} , (185%) , [269%] , 171.167%

6) Kirby - /101%*\ , ^173%^ , |121%*| , {190%} , (188%*) , [257%] , 171.667%

7) Zelda - /96%\ , ^123%^ , |115%| , {216%} , (205%) , [305%] , 176.667%

8) Young Link - /114%\ , ^185%^ , |128%| , {201%} , (192%) , [263%] , 180.5%

9) Mario - /108%\ , ^196%^ , |128%| , {216%} , (210%) , [296%] , 192.333%

10) Samus - /54%\ , ^230%^ , |82%| , {263%} , (223%), [404%] , 209.333%

11) Ness - /75%\ , ^211%^ , |104%| , {236%} , (288%) , [357%] , 211.833%

12) Luigi - /122%\ , ^222%^ , |145%| , {244%} , (236%), [334%] , 217.167%

13) Purin / Jigglypuff - /38%\ , ^223%^ , |83%| , {266%} , (263%) , [446%] , 219.833%

14) Donkey Kong - /127%\ , ^250%^, |149%| , {276%} , (253%) , [380%] , 239.167% 

15) Mr. Game & Watch- /105%\ , ^ 266%^ , |140%| , {301%} , (284%) , [445%] , 256.833%

16) Ganondorf - /142%\ , ^261%^ , |171%| , {288%} , (283%) , [398%] , 257.167%

17) Captain Falcon - /145%\ , ^263%^ , |174%| , {290%} , (286%) , [401%] , 259.833%

18) Fox - /138%\ , ^285%^ , |167%| , {317%} , (302%) , [448%] , 276.167%

19) Falco** - /162%\ , ^320%^, |161%| , {341%} , (278%) , [453%] , 285.833%

20) Donkey Kong Carry Jump*** - /56%\ , ^354%^ , |101%| , {402%} , (296%) , [613%] , 303.667%

21) Peach - /172%\ , ^318%^ , |200%| , {349%} , (332%) , [478%] , 308.167%

22) Pikachu - /190%\ , ^389%^ , |236%| , {434%} , (425%) , [619%] , 382.167%

23) Pichu - /198%\ , ^394%^ , |245%| , {440%} , (433%) , [624%] , 389%

24) Donkey Kong Carry - /195%\ , ^442%^ , |242%| , {493%} , (456%) , [706%] , 422.333%

25) Yoshi- /278%\ , ^501%^ , |324%| , {551%} , (516%) , [741%] , 456.833%

26) Ice Climber**** - /135%\ , ^471%^ , |201%| , {543%} , (497%) , [838%] , 447.5%

27) Ground Koopa B-> Forward***** - /52%\ , ^587%^ , |241%| , {895%} , (788%) , [1232%*******] , 632.5%

28) Air Koopa B-> Forward***** - /55%\ , ^587%^ , |244%| , {898%} , (789%) , [1232%*******] , 634.167%

29) Sheik - /467%\ , ^1074%******^ , |569%| , {1293%******} , (1845%) , [2267%*******] , 1252.5%

30) Koopa********- /N/A\ , ^N/A^ , |N/A| , {N/A} , (N/A) , [N/A] , N/A


*Kirby bounces after doing the up throw, which can throw off the magnifier a bit.
**Falco's laser during throws at lower percentages stops the target, but at higher percentages actually produces knockback.
***Donkey Kong's Carry Jump is at maximum height of the jump.
****The Ice Climbers can make their throws more powerful by tacking on hits using the partner. To give you a basic idea of how much it adds, an Up Smash, uncharged, will lower killing percentages by about 5%.
*****The Koopa Klaw forward throw was performed before Koopa / Bowser could get any bites in.
******These Sheik throws cannot KO any character in Final Destination. However, distance IS increased with damage. Knowing this, and also the knowledge that the height of Final Destination is a little under halfway between the main platform and the middle two platforms of Battlefield, these percentages were reached.
*******These throws cannot KO the opponent at 999% on Final Destination and not even 999% at the top of Battlefield. Finding the proportional rate at which the opponent increases height using Mario as a standard for the thrower gave these percentages. They are probably a bit inaccurate.
********Koopa's / Bowser's Up Throw always sends opponents the same distance no matter what the percentage.

Credits: Nobie, who made this here list, and Formula, who helped him test out some of the percentages to save time.