Star KO

A Star KO is a type of KO. When a character falls off the top of the screen (save for a few exceptions, see below), they fly through the background, and eventually disappear as a star. Rarely, the character will fall in front of the stage. In SSB, they simply fall past, but in SSBM, they will bump against the screen.

Exceptions

Members of a team don't experience Star KO's, instead undergoing the usual colorful explosion. In addition, in the beginning the second trailer for SSBB, Kirby uses his Up smash to knock Mario and Link off the top of the screen, but the usual colored explosion occurs, instead of a Star KO. It is unknown if the Star Ko has been removed from SSBB or if it hadn't been programmed at the time (Similarly to how Wario's jerky animations in the second trailer may be intentional or merely unfinished).