Neutral aerial

"Nair" redirects here. For the Mexican smasher, see Nair^.

Snake's neutral aerial in Brawl.

Mario's neutral aerial in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Mr. Game & Watch's neutral aerial in Melee.

A neutral aerial (ニュートラル空中攻撃, Neutral midair attack; often abbreviated as Nair or n-air, and referred to as AttackAirN internally) is an aerial attack that is performed by pressing only the attack button, and no direction on the control stick, while in midair. Its official term varies between titles; it is known as a standard midair attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee, a standard air attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4, and a neutral air attack in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Most characters' neutral aerials are fast moves that hit around themselves, making them useful at particularly close ranges and for stuffing the opponent by beating out slower aerial attacks. Many neutral aerials are also sex kicks, and tend to have little landing lag, especially in Melee when L-canceled. In Brawl and Smash 4, with A-sticking, the player is able to do neutral aerials without losing any horizontal momentum.

List of neutral aerials

Character	Description
Banjo & Kazooie	Performs the Twirling Wing Whack, hitting multiple times.
Bayonetta	Performs a spin kick all around herself. If the button is held, Bayonetta continues to spin at a faster rate while firing Bullet Arts from her feet for up to around one second.
Bowser	Retreats into his shell and spins horizontally. Performs a cartwheel that hits multiple times.
Bowser Jr.	Deploys two boxing gloves from the Koopa Clown Car to his respective sides and spins horizontally.
Byleth	Spins Failnaught around in a circle, hitting multiple times.
Captain Falcon	Performs a sex kick. Throws out two consecutive kicks with his respective legs.
Charizard	Somersaults forward and swings its tail around itself.
Chrom	Slashes horizontally inward in front of himself, then horizontally outward around himself.
Cloud	Slashes in a full circle around himself with the Buster Sword, starting from behind and above.
Corrin	Swings both the Omega Yato and an arm transformed into a spear in a circle around himself.
Daisy	Twirls at an angle with her arms extended.
Dark Pit	Spins the Silver Bow around himself, hitting multiple times.
Dark Samus	Throws out a spin kick in front of herself, then behind herself.
Diddy Kong	Performs a cartwheel.
Donkey Kong	Spins horizontally with his arms extended.
Dr. Mario	Performs a sex kick.
Duck Hunt	The dog performs a cartwheel.
Falco	Performs a sex kick. Twirls with his wings spread, hitting multiple times.
Fox	Performs a sex kick.
Ganondorf	Throws out two consecutive kicks with his respective legs.
Greninja	Puts its hands and feet together and unleashes a blast of water around itself.
Hero	Slashes around himself, starting from behind and above.
Ice Climbers	Swing their hammers at an angle horizontally around themselves.
Ike	Slashes around himself with Ragnell, starting from the front and above.
Incineroar	Performs a splash.
Inkling	Performs a headspin.
Isabelle	Spins horizontally while holding pom-poms.
Ivysaur	Aims diagonally below itself and spins in a corkscrew. Turns its bud towards the screen and spins its leaves around itself, hitting multiple times.
Jigglypuff	Performs a sex kick.
Joker	Slashes in a full circle around himself while performing a twirling somersault, starting from the front. If active, Arsene performs a twirling kick parallel to Joker's slash, forming a perfect circle around themselves.
Kazuya	Performs the Jumping Knuckle, a downward-angled punch that meteor smashes opponents if sweetspotted.
Ken	Kicks at a diagonally downward angle.
King Dedede	Performs a splash.
King K. Rool	Performs a splash.
Kirby	Performs a sex kick. Performs a cartwheel (dubbed by the Kirby franchise as "Twinkle Star").
Link	Performs a sex kick.
Little Mac	Throws out a weak punch at a diagonally downward angle.
Lucario	Spins horizontally and releases aura from its hands.
Lucas	Generates PSI blasts around himself while tumbling, hitting multiple times.
Lucina	Slashes horizontally inward in front of herself, then horizontally outward around herself.
Luigi	Performs a sex kick.
Mario	Performs a sex kick.
Marth	Slashes horizontally inward in front of himself, then horizontally outward around himself.
Mega Man	Fires up to three energy shots forward from the Mega Buster. Like his neutral attack and forward tilt, it is a three-stage natural combo.
Meta Knight	Performs a somersaulting slash.
Mewtwo	Discharges electricity around itself, hitting multiple times.
Mii Brawler	Performs a sex kick.
Mii Gunner	Swings their arm cannon around themselves, starting from behind and above.
Mii Swordfighter	Slashes in a full circle around themselves while performing a twirling somersault, starting from behind and above.
Min Min	Rotates her Dragon ARM around herself.
Mr. Game & Watch	Opens up a parachute. Tosses out a pair of fish from a bowl at his respective sides, hitting multiple times.
Mythra	Spins the Aegis Sword in front of herself, hitting multiple times.
Ness	Performs a split kick. Twirls at an angle with his arms extended. Twirls at an angle and releases PSI sparks from his hands.
Olimar	Spins horizontally, hitting multiple times.
Pac-Man	Changes into his Classic Form and somersaults.
Palutena	Spins her staff around herself, hitting multiple times.
Peach	Twirls at an angle with her arms extended.
Pichu	Attacks with a somersault.
Pikachu	Performs a sex kick. Attacks with a somersault. Discharges electricity around itself, hitting multiple times.
Piranha Plant	Turns towards the screen and spins its leaves around itself, hitting multiple times.
Pit	Spins the Palutena Bow around himself, hitting multiple times.
Pyra	Spins the Aegis Sword in front of herself.
R.O.B.	Somersaults backward with his thrusters activated.
Richter	Twirls the Vampire Killer around himself, hitting multiple times.
Ridley	Somersaults backward and swings his tail around himself.
Robin	Slashes in an outward arc in front of himself, then behind himself. It can be done only with the Bronze Sword in Smash 4, and either with the Bronze Sword or the Levin Sword in Ultimate.
Rosalina & Luma	Rosalina: Flips forward slowly and emits a starry trail from her feet around herself. Swings her wand around herself, emitting a trail of stardust. Luma: Kicks forward, then backward.
Roy	Slashes horizontally inward in front of himself, then horizontally outward around himself.
Ryu	Strikes with his knee at a diagonally downward angle.
Samus	Performs a sex kick. Throws out a spin kick in front of herself, then behind herself.
Sephiroth	Snaps his fingers and surrounds himself with dark energy.
Sheik	Performs a sex kick.
Shulk	Slashes in a full circle around himself with the Monado, starting from behind and below.
Simon	Twirls the Vampire Killer around himself, hitting multiple times.
Snake	Performs four kicks in quick succession.
Sonic	Curls into a ball and somersaults.
Sora	A 3 hit combo of a front-flip swing, an upward slash, and a second front-flip. Can be canceled after each phase.
Squirtle	Retreats into its shell and spins horizontally while squirting water around itself. Performs a cartwheel.
Steve	A quick swing with his sword.
Terry	A quick aerial chop.
Toon Link	Slashes horizontally outward in front of himself, then behind himself.
Villager	Performs a cartwheel.
Wario	Spins horizontally while in a splash pose.
Wii Fit Trainer	Assumes the Jackknife pose, stretching her arms and legs outward and clashing them above herself.
Wolf	Attacks with a somersault, hitting multiple times. Performs a sex kick.
Yoshi	Performs a sex kick.
Young Link	Performs a sex kick.
Zelda	Twirls at an angle and releases magic sparks from her hands, hitting multiple times.
Zero Suit Samus	Swings the Plasma Whip horizontally around herself.

Notable neutral aerials

Mario's neutral aerial in Melee.

• Donkey Kong is the only character in the original Super Smash Bros. not to have a sex kick as his neutral aerial.
• Dr. Mario's neutral aerial is the only sex kick in the series that is stronger during its late frames, rather than during its early frames.
• Luigi's neutral aerial from Melee onward is the only sex kick in the series to launch opponents straight upward. It is considered one of Luigi's best moves in all these games, as well as one of the best neutral aerials in the series, due to its fast startup and the clean hit's sheer power allowing it to function as an effective combo breaker that can KO at high percents, while it is also capable of starting combos of its own with either the clean hit or late hit in combination with its low landing lag.
• Ness in Smash 64 and Link in Melee have an interesting property on their neutral aerials as once their hitboxes are activated, they do not end until the animation ends. In Ness' case, this happens because the timer used before the command to end the move's hitbox is the wrong type of timer, making the hitboxes last longer than they should, to the point that they last the entire rest of the animation. In Link's case, there is no command to end the hitboxes, so they just continue for as long as the animation continues.
• Mr. Game & Watch has the only neutral aerial in Melee that cannot be L-canceled, due to being coded as a special move. This oddity is also present in his back aerial and up aerial.
• R.O.B.'s neutral aerial in Brawl sports a slow startup, but has a long-lasting hitbox that maintains extreme power throughout the entire move, and auto-cancels immediately after the hitbox ceases. This is often cited as R.O.B.'s best finisher, as well as one of the best neutral aerials in the game. In Smash 4, its power has been drastically reduced, but it is a much more effective combo starter in combination with the changes to hitstun canceling and DI. This continues to be the case in Ultimate as well.
• Cloud's neutral aerial is long ranged, fast and auto-cancels from a short hop, making it difficult to punish. In Ultimate, it is much harder to use due to having noticeably less range.
• Ike's neutral aerial in Ultimate has noticeable startup lag, but long-range with coverage all around Ike, alongside a very low landing lag in proportion to these attributes, and launches opponents vertically. This makes it one of his safest approach options and gives it a myriad of combos even up to high percents, with KO setups into his up aerial. While update 8.0.0 nerfed his neutral aerial reduced this combo into up aerial at high percents, it still deals low knockback at low percents and has a new KO setup with Aether. Since Ike's optimal strategy relies heavily on his neutral aerial, it has become quite infamous in the Smash community.
  • Palutena's neutral aerial has gained notoriety for similar reasons. Its fast startup, wide coverage around Palutena, autolinking multi-hits and moderate landing lag combined with her fast dashing speed allow her to repeatedly combo the move into itself and rack up a large amount of damage at low percents while dragging opponents across the stage, making it one of her strongest punish options. This move was also nerfed like Ike's instead it was nerfed in patch 7.0.0, which made it have less knockback in the finishing hit, albeit it can still combo into lower percents.
• King K. Rool's neutral aerial has Belly Super Armor through its duration. Coupled with its fast startup and landing lag, it is a versatile move that can be used for starting combo, contesting approaches or juggling, edgeguarding and a variety of other purposes.
• Steve's neutral aerial can uniquely be repeated if the attack button is held, and is comparable to his very similar neutral attack/forward tilt.
• Min Min's neutral aerial has several unique properties:
  • It can be performed from both sides depending on the attack or special button.
  • It can change speed and damage depending on the ARM she's using.
• Kazuya's neutral aerial is the first and only one that can meteor smash opponents.
• Both Mega Man and Sora's neutral aerials are the only ones in the series to consist of a natural combo.