Knockback

File:Knockback.jpg

As the damage meter goes up, so does the knockback of most moves.

Knockback is a measure of how far an attack sends its target. For example, Bowser's forward smash is an attack of high knockback; it launches opponents very far, so far that at high damages it's more powerful than a Home-Run Bat's smash attack. Pikachu's neutral attack, on the other hand, has very low knockback - it hardly sends opponents anywhere, even at ludicrous damages.

Basic physics

The knockback of most attacks increases as the target's damage increases. Knockback is also affected by the target's weight, gravity, and a few other conditions (such as type effectiveness). The damage dealt by an attack is a significant factor in how much knockback it deals, but it is not the primary factor - this is the reason stale moves have less knockback than fresh ones, and why many chargable special moves deal less knockback when fully charged (the knockback values of the fully-charged move are altered to compensate for the higher damage, whereas the same is often not true when not fully charged).

Each hitbox of a move has two knockback values: a base knockback and a knockback scaling (also known as knockback growth). Base knockback is the minimum amount of knockback the attack can deliver (in normal circumstances), and knockback scaling is a factor that controls how much the knockback increases as damage increases. Moves with high base knockback deal high knockback under any circumstances, such as the swing of a Home-Run Bat. They additionally tend to be more effective at KOing when less knockback is needed to KO (such as against lighter characters, when near the edge of the stage, or when an opponent is handicapped to sustain more knockback). On the other hand, moves with high knockback scaling take less damage to reach KO potential, such as Luigi's forward smash. They additionally tend to be more effective at KOing when the opponent requires more knockback to be KO'd (such as against heavier characters, when far away from a stage's blast line, or when an opponent is handicapped to sustain less knockback). Advanced techniques to extend survival such as DI and momentum cancelling are also less effective the stronger a move's knockback scaling is.

In Melee, the highest knockback delivered and received by each character is given in match results, though the number lacks meaning. In Brawl, the velocity applied (in units per 1000 frames) is provided instead of the knockback value (though it's simply knockback divided by 0.03). The unit is given as "mph"; while this would presumably mean "miles per hour", this is obviously not the case, as a 1,000 mph hit barely sends characters anywhere. The following table gives an idea of various knockback strengths:

Knockback values in Brawl

Knockback	Velocity	Example
10	333.33	One stage builder block per second
33.6	1120	Jigglypuff's short hop
43.2	1440	Jigglypuff's first jump
63	2100	Fox dashing (without running)
102.6	3420	Falco's first jump
131.43	4381	Sheik's footstool jump
172.5	5750	The approximate knockback needed to KO from the center of Final Destination with the Sakurai angle DI'd down.
186	6200	The approximate knockback needed to KO from the center of Final Destination with the Sakurai angle and no DI.
204.75	6825	The approximate knockback needed to KO from the center of Final Destination with the Sakurai angle DI'd away.
300	10000	Jigglypuff's Shield Jump

Formula

Melee/Brawl

File:SSBBKnockbackFormula.png
Technically the Melee formula is unknown, but it is extremely likely to be identical to the Brawl one.

Brawl uses a second formula to alter knockback based on the target's gravity:

The result of this formula is added to the vertical component of the knockback. As a result, characters with higher gravity take more knockback then those with lower gravity, depending on how vertical the angle is.

Variables

• p is the percentage of the target, counted after the attack's damage is added.
• d is the damage the attack dealt.
• w is the weight of the target. Note: in Smash 64, heavier characters have a lower weight value than lighter ones, in accordance to the formula.
• s is the attack's knockback scaling (also known as knockback growth) divided by 100 (so a scaling of 110 is input as 1.1).
• b is the attack's base knockback.
• r is a ratio based on a number of factors, including:
  • Difficulty
  • Handicap
  • Smash charge interruption bonus
  • Type effectiveness

If the move has a weight-based knockback value set (so the move deals set knockback), then d is set to that value, and p is always 10.

Other physics of knockback

• Bouncing off a surface reduces knockback by 20% in Melee and 15% in Brawl. Landing a meteor smash or spike on a grounded opponent counts as a bounce, if enough knockback was dealt. Because the bounce occurs after the hit, the amount of hitstun suffered is not reduced a corresponding amount, meaning that downwards-hitting attacks tend to be excellent combo starters.
• If a character is hit while charging a smash attack, they will take more knockback (20% more in Brawl).
• Based on type effectiveness, Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon will take more or less knockback from certain moves.
• Characters that take a certain amount of knockback will slightly damage opponents they run into while flying. This hitbox belongs to the character that dealt the knockback, and KO'ing with one is how one achieves the Dead-Weight KO bonus.
• In Melee, if a second attack hits a target after 10 frames, the knockback delivered is added to the current knockback, so hitting a vertical-flying opponents with a horizontal-launching attack will result in a diagonal trajectory; if the second hit strikes before 10 frames, the knockback is completely overwritten. In Brawl, the second hit always completely replaces the first hit's direction unless the first hit was much stronger, in which case the direction is unaltered.

Set knockback

Set knockback, sometimes referred to fixed knockback, is a property of some attacks where the knockback dealt by the attack does not depend on the opponent's percentage or how much damage the attack does. This results in it dealing the same amount of knockback regardless of stale-move negation.

List of set knockback moves

Super Smash Bros.

• Fire Flower
• Mario's Super Jump Punch (excluding last hit) and Mario Tornado
• Kirby's Final Cutter (meteor smash and up slice)
• Fox's down aerial, up aerial (first hit), and Blaster
• Mario's down aerial
• Luigi's sourspotted Super Jump Punch
• Yoshi's up tilt and down tilt.
• Pikachu's forward aerial
• Kirby's up aerial and landing hitboxes after using every aerial except his back aerial.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

• Most neutral attacks have set knockback during the first hits.
• Mario's and Dr. Mario's Mario Tornado, excluding last hit
• Dr. Mario's Super Jump Punch (when used as an Up-B cancel)
• Fox's Reflector, down aerial, and up aerial (first hit)
• Ice Climbers' down aerial
• Yoshi's down tilt
• Luigi's taunt
• Kirby's Hammer (in the air) and Final Cutter
• Bowser's up throw
• Captain Falcon's uncharged smash attack with a Home-Run Bat
• Falco's Blaster (both neutral special and shots during throws)
• Young Link's forward smash (first hit)
• Roy's Blazer
• Luigi's sourspotted Super Jump Punch
• Red Shell

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• Many jabs, such as Kirby's, have set knockback.
• King Dedede's down throw
• Luigi's down taunt
• Toon Link's forward smash (first hit)
• Kirby's Final Cutter (up and downwards stroke)
• Fox's Reflector and up aerial (first hit)
• Falco's Blaster
• Bowser's up throw
• Captain Falcon's neutral aerial (first hit)
• Wolf's Reflector
• Snake's forward tilt (first hit on grounded opponents)
• Sonic's up aerial (first hit)
• Isaac's Move

No knockback

In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there are attacks with zero knockback as well. They normally make damage to the foe, but without any flinching, so that they can still make any actions while they are being attacked. Other than this, however, some of this attacks can also be used for racking up damage quickly, as they hit foes easier since they don't make them flinch. When a player is about to KO another character, these attacks can also be used to mockingly steal his/her KO, as the enemy will get KO'd as usual, but due to KO priority, it will belong to the character that dealt the attack with no knockback.

Fox's Blaster is an infamous example of this, as it can quickly deal great amounts of damage to non-skilled players, as well as mostly being used to steal KOs in three or four-player battles. Other attacks that deal no knockback are: Togepi's Leech Seed, the middle hits of Roy's Blazer and Charizard's forward air, Fox's shots in his throws (except forward throw), thrown Grenades, Olimar's antennae, and in the Subspace Emissary, Amaranthine gas and some consecutive-hitting attacks used by bosses (such as Rayquaza's, Thunder). Mario's and Dr. Mario's Capes also have similar properties, except that they use the Reverse effect. Fox's Blaster in Brawl can also turn idle foes around it they are shot repeteadly.

In Melee, phantom hits damage foes, but without any knockback. It is possible for any character to receive no knockback from attacks by certain factors, such as by being giant and metal simultaneously on a low damage ratio battle, or during the actions of certain attacks in Brawl, such as Charizard during the first frames of Fly. This is known as launch resistance. Additionally, if Master Hand or Crazy Hand is used on a battle by glitches or hacks in Melee, when he grabs a foe and then crushes it, other foes near him will still take damage, but with no knockback.

Knockback chart

The following is a chart demonstrating how much knockback each character sustains in Brawl. While weight is the primary attribute for determining how much knockback a character sustains, there are other attributes that factor in, such as a character's gravity. This results in some characters sustaining more knockback than lighter characters.

The knockback value shown is how much knockback a character sustains when hit with Marth's Critical Hit at 0%, arranged from least knockback sustained to most knockback sustained.

Rank	Character	Knockback sustained	Velocity applied
1	Bowser	490.8	14724
2	Donkey Kong	494.667	14840
3	Snake	499.367	14981
4	King Dedede	501.4	15042
5	Charizard	504.667	15140
6	Samus	505.333	15160
7	Ganondorf	508.467	15254
8	Yoshi	508.7	15261
9	R.O.B.	509.533	15286
10	Wario	509.867	15296
11	Ike	513.3	15399
12	Link	515.633	15469
13	Captain Falcon	517.133	15514
14	Lucario	520.033	15601
15	Ivysaur	520.833	15625
16	Mario	525.1	15753
17	Wolf	525.7	15771
18	Luigi	525.9	15777
19	Sonic	531.9	15957
20	Ness	532.367	15971
21	Pit	532.8	15984
22	Lucas	534.4	16032
23	Toon Link	536.2	16086
24	Diddy Kong	536.6	16098
25	Ice Climbers	536.967	16109
26	Peach	539.533	16186
27	Marth	546	16380
28	Zelda	550.467	16514
29	Olimar	556.267	16688
30	Sheik	558.5	16755
31	Zero Suit Samus	561.567	16847
32	Falco	561.9	16857
33	Kirby	565.5	16965
34	Pikachu	566	16980
35	Meta Knight	566.933	17008
36	Fox	573.367	17201
37	Mr. Game & Watch	574.133	17224
38	Squirtle	577.567	17327
39	Jigglypuff	589.1	17673

Trivia

• Brawl has a knockback cap of 2500 (or 83 1/3 units per frame), fast enough to move from the edge of Battlefield to the center in less than 1 frame.
  • Smash 64 also has a knockback cap of 2500.