Stomp (archetype)

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The stomp is a common move archetype in the Smash series, that have been the down aerials of several characters. Stomps are single hit aerials that involve the character stomping downwards, which meteor smash opponents they connect with. Being powerful (except in the case of Melee Zelda) and reliable meteor smashes, they have made very effective edge-guarding maneuvers, as well as very reliable combo starters at low to mid damages. Stomps also tend to have sweet spots located on the character's feet and legs.

Characters with a stomp

• Ganondorf: The most famous stomp, Ganondorf thrusts both his feet straight downwards, inflicting heavy damage and massive knockback, while electrifying foes it lands on. Its knockback is so powerful, it's the strongest meteor smash, as well as the strongest aerial attack, in both Melee and Brawl, by a considerable margin. Airborne opponents hit by it offstage are virtually guaranteed to be KO'd by it or sent down too far to recover if hit while having the slightest amount of damage (unless they meteor cancel near immediately in Melee). It's additionally so powerful it's the only meteor smash that has been an especially reliable KO move on grounded opponents (with it reliably KOing any grounded character below 100% or very slightly above it in the case of the most vertically resistant characters). It does however have some of the slowest start-up lag among aerials, but its surprisingly low ending lag makes it low risk to use offstage, and L-cancelling in Melee/auto-cancelling in Brawl make it very useable on grounded opponents. Its hitboxes are also massive, covering more than Ganondorf's entire very large body in Melee while covering most of it in Brawl, which help make the meteor surprisingly easier to land than most meteors despite the slow start-up.

• Captain Falcon: Visually similar to Ganondorf's stomp, but weaker with smaller hitboxes while having faster start-up and ending lag. Captain Falcon has had the move in each Smash installment, with it being especially effective in Smash 64 and Melee. The move however was nerfed in Brawl in about every area, most notably being given smaller hitboxes and the upper hitbox taking up a larger portion of Falcon's body while now hitting opponents forward, significantly reducing its edge-guarding and combo starting capabilities.

• Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong stomps downwards with his right foot, while making a tough guy pose facing the screen. Donkey Kong has had this move in every Smash installment, though its animation was different in Smash 64, where he faced forward while stomping with both feet. It was powerful in Melee, but noticeably weaker than Ganondorf's and Falcon's stomps, while in Brawl, it had a significant power buff that made it the third strongest stomp after Ganondorf's and Zelda's, and one of the strongest meteors in the game. While slow and laggy, it has very large hitboxes covering most of Donkey Kong's body that all meteor smash, which has had made it one of the most reliable meteors.

• Ness: Ness' stomp involves him turning his head around to look behind while stomping down with his right foot, which he has had in every Smash installment. The move is a bit peculiar among meteor smashes, where it has extremely high base knockback, being even stronger than Ganondorf's at 0%, but has low knockback scaling that make it not as effective as other meteors on damaged opponents, and make it incapable of KOing grounded opponents under 200%. Nonetheless, its base knockback is so high, that it can KO offstage at even 0% if the opponent doesn't meteor cancel, especially in Smash 64 and Brawl, which has made it considered one of the most lethal meteors in those games where meteor cancelling is remarkably more difficult and less effective in the latter while being nonexistent in the former. Compared to other meteors, its start-up and ending lag isn't as slow, but the move has smaller hitboxes than other stomps (though they still cover most of Ness' body).

• Charizard: Charizard faces the screen roaring while stomping down with both feet. It's powerful, but not as strong as all the other stomps in Brawl except Falcon's. While the attack is very safe offstage, with its non-heavy ending lag and Charizard's multiple midair jumps plus super armor recovery, it's difficult to land, with its very slow start-up, Charizard's poor aerial mobility, and its surprisingly small hitboxes (they only cover Charizard's stubby legs and barely any of Charizard's body, unlike other stomps). It always meteor smashes if it lands though with no sour spots, making it still one of the more reliable meteors in Brawl. For a peculiarity of the move, when landed on grounded opponents, its produces a diagonally-vertical trajectory that isn't a meteor smash, with slightly more power. This makes it potent as a finisher on grounded opponents (though still significantly less so than Ganondorf's), and also misled people, who didn't realise it was producing a different hitbox on grounded opponents, to think it was the second strongest meteor in Brawl when it was seen to KO grounded opponents faster than all other meteor smashes except Ganondorf's.

• Zelda: Zelda looks down as she quietly stomps her foot downward. In Melee, despite being pretty fast for a meteor smash, it was seen as near useless, as the knockback it produced was so pitifully weak it could never KO at realistic damages (it was by far the weakest single strike meteor in Melee, not being able to KO grounded opponents until ridiculously high damages over 500%). It's small hitboxes also made it difficult to land despite the fast start-up. In Brawl, the move was made to function like her Lightning Kicks, with it gaining a very powerful sweetspot on her foot, that electrify opponents as they're sent soaring down, while the sourspots are just as weak as the move was in Melee. When sweetspotted, it's the second strongest stomp in the game, and fifth strongest meteor overall. While potentially very lethal and fast, it's very difficult to land, with the aforementioned small hitboxes and sweetspot issues. Also, the move's sweetspot cannot be landed on grounded opponents, which makes the move practically useless outside edge-guarding and completely incapable of KOing grounded opponents.

Gallery

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Smash 64

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  Captain Falcon

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  Donkey Kong

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  Ness

Melee

• Melee Ness Stomp.png

  Ness

• Melee Ganon Stomp.png

  Ganondorf

Brawl

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  Captain Falcon

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  Charizard

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  Donkey Kong

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  Ganondorf

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  Ness

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  Zelda

Other types of aerial archetypes

• Drill: A down aerial that involves the character "drilling" downward in some way, while often being weak meteor smashes.