Forward aerial

"fair" redirects here. For the American smasher, see Smasher:fair.

Zelda using Lightning Kick, her forward aerial attack, in Ultimate

Captain Falcon using Knee Smash, his forward aerial attack, in Brawl.

Jigglypuff's forward aerial attack in Melee.

A forward aerial (前空中攻撃, front/forward midair attack; commonly abbreviated as fair or f-air, internally AttackAirF) is an aerial attack that is performed in midair by pressing the attack button and tilting the control stick in the direction the character is facing. Its official term varies between titles; it is known as a front midair attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee, a front air attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4, and a forward air attack in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Forward aerials generally cover the area in front of the user, with a good horizontal reach. Compared to back aerials, on average they have less power but better frame data, making them well-suited for spacing, approaching and edgeguarding.

List of forward aerials

Character	Description
Banjo & Kazooie	Banjo swings one fist in a downward arc.
Bayonetta	Whips one of her hand pistols forward, then the other one, and finally follows up with an overhead axe kick. A three-stage natural combo.
Bowser	Swings one arm in a downward arc. Swipes his claws with one arm in a downward arc.
Bowser Jr.	Deploys a wrecking ball from the Koopa Clown Car and waves it in front of himself. Possesses a landing hitbox.
Byleth	Hits with the side of Areadbhar's blade.
Captain Falcon	Throws out two consecutive kicks with his respective legs. From Melee onward, this is his neutral aerial. A knee strike that is extremely powerful during its first active frames, but much weaker during its later frames. It is known as the Knee Smash.
Charizard	Flaps its wings forward to send out a fiery wind, hitting multiple times. Swipes its claws with one arm in a downward arc.
Chrom	Slashes in a heavy downward arc.
Cloud	Slashes in a large downward arc with a double grip after a delay.
Corrin	Slashes in a downward arc.
Daisy	Grabs her crown and swings it in a downward arc.
Dark Pit	Performs a series of horizontal buzzsaw-like slashes with the Silver Bow, hitting multiple times.
Dark Samus	Unleashes five small electric blasts from her Arm Cannon from top to bottom.
Diddy Kong	Performs a spinning dropkick.
Donkey Kong	Performs a double axe handle swing.
Dr. Mario	Swings one fist in a downward arc.
Duck Hunt	The dog thrusts his lower back to propel the duck, who performs a corkscrew peck.
Falco	Performs five consecutive spin kicks. Spins in a horizontal corkscrew to perform a drilling peck, hitting multiple times. Possesses a landing hitbox in Smash 4 and Ultimate.
Fox	Performs a spinning dropkick. Performs five consecutive spin kicks. Performs five spin kicks in quick succession, rising slightly with each kick. Possesses a landing hitbox in Ultimate.
Ganondorf	Punches in a large downward arc.
Greninja	Slashes horizontally with a large kunai made out of water.
Hero	Slashes in a heavy downward arc.
Ice Climbers	Swing their hammers in a downward arc.
Ike	Slashes in a downward arc.
Incineroar	Performs a dropkick.
Inkling	Performs a dropkick.
Isabelle	Fires a pellet from a slingshot.
Ivysaur	Swings both vines in a downward arc.
Jigglypuff	Performs a dropkick.
Joker	Throws out two consecutive kicks with his respective legs. If active, Arsene throws out a roundhouse kick in tandem with Joker's second kick.
Kazuya	Performs a flying kick.
Ken	Performs a flying kick.
King Dedede	Swings his hammer in an upward arc from a horizontal spin. Swings his hammer in a downward arc from a somersault.
King K. Rool	Performs a dropkick.
Kirby	Performs a spinning dropkick, hitting multiple times. Performs three consecutive spin kicks. Possesses a landing hitbox in Melee.
Link	Slashes horizontally in a circle around himself. Slashes horizontally in front of himself, then does a full spin and delivers a second slash.
Little Mac	Weakly throws out a hook.
Lucario	Performs a stretch kick.
Lucas	Performs a lunging kick, releasing a PSI spark from his foot.
Lucina	Slashes in a downward arc.
Luigi	Peforms a spinning dropkick. Performs a vertical knifehand strike.
Mario	Peforms a spinning dropkick. Swings one fist in a downward arc.
Marth	Slashes in a downward arc.
Mega Man	Swings his Flame Sword in a downward arc.
Meta Knight	Performs three consecutive arcing slashes.
Mewtwo	Swipes horizontally with one hand infused with dark energy.
Mii Brawler	Throws out two consecutive kicks with their respective legs.
Mii Gunner	Fires a blue energy shot from their arm cannon.
Mii Swordfighter	Performs three consecutive stabs at different angles.
Min Min	Extends and fires her ARMS. Can also change depending on Megawatt, Ramram, and Dragon.
Mr. Game & Watch	Thrusts a cement brick in front of himself. Tosses out an igniting bomb downwards, exploding after half a second or hitting a part of the stage (platforms).
Mythra	Slashes the Aegis Sword in front of herself in a wide arc starting below herself.
Ness	Thrusts both palms forward. Thrusts both palms forward and emits PSI sparks from them, hitting multiple times.
Olimar	Grabs his leading Pikmin by its stem and swings it in a downward arc. If no Pikmin are following Olimar, he still performs the move, but it has no effect.
Pac-Man	Performs an outward spin kick.
Palutena	Performs a lunging kick, releasing a spark from her foot.
Peach	Grabs her crown and swings it in a downward arc.
Pichu	Spins in a horizontal corkscrew and discharges electricity from its head, hitting multiple times. Deals recoil damage to Pichu.
Pikachu	Spins in a horizontal corkscrew and discharges electricity from its head, hitting multiple times.
Piranha Plant	Swings its pot in an upward arc.
Pit	Separates the Palutena bow and stabs with both blades simultaneously. Performs a series of horizontal buzzsaw-like slashes with the Palutena Bow, hitting multiple times.
Pyra	Slashes the Aegis Sword in front of herself in a wide arc starting below herself.
R.O.B.	Swings both arms in a downward arc.
Richter	Whips horizontally with the Vampire Killer. Can be angled diagonally up or down, and function as a tether recovery.
Ridley	Performs three consecutive stabs with his tail at different angles.
Robin	Slashes in an upward arc ending in front of himself. Can use either the Bronze Sword or the Levin Sword.
Rosalina & Luma	Rosalina: Somersaults backward and emits a starry trail from her feet in front of herself, hitting multiple times. Luma: Performs a headbutt.
Roy	Slashes in an downward arc. Slashes in a heavy downward arc.
Ryu	Performs a flying kick.
Samus	Unleashes five small fiery blasts from her Arm Cannon from top to bottom.
Sephiroth	Stabs forward with the Masamune.
Sheik	Swipes her arm in a downward arc.
Shulk	Slashes in a downward arc.
Simon	Whips horizontally with the Vampire Killer. Can be angled diagonally up or down, and function as a tether recovery.
Snake	Performs an axe kick.
Sonic	Spins in a horizontal corkscrew, hitting multiple times.
Sora	A three-hit combo of a downward swing, an upward swing, and a front-flip swing. Can be canceled at any phase.
Squirtle	Performs a dropkick. Performs a dropkick with a water vortex around its legs.
Steve	A arcing forward swing of a pickaxe. If initiated using the short hop aerial shortcut in Ultimate, becomes a quicker forward swing with a sword instead.
Terry	A diagonally angled kick.
Toon Link	Slashes in an upward arc from a horizontal spin.
Villager	Fires a pellet from a slingshot.
Wario	Performs a flying kick.
Wii Fit Trainer	Performs the Single-Leg Extension, stretching an arm in front of herself and a leg behind herself, both at a diagonal angle. The leg part also has a hitbox allowing her to hit someone behind her as well.
Wolf	Swipes his claws with one arm in a downward arc.
Yoshi	Swings his head in a downward arc.
Young Link	Slashes horizontally in front of himself, then does a full spin and delivers a second slash.
Zelda	Performs a magically infused lunging kick that is extremely powerful if it hits near Zelda's foot, but extremely weak otherwise. It is known as the Lightning Kick.
Zero Suit Samus	Throws out two consecutive kicks with her respective legs.

Notable forward aerials

Mario's forward aerial attack in Melee

• The forward aerials of Cloud, Donkey Kong, the Ice Climbers (only the partner's in Brawl and Ultimate), Mario (from Melee onward), Steve, Snake, Yoshi, and Wii Fit Trainer can all meteor smash.
  • Snake's is among the strongest meteor smashes in both Brawl and Ultimate and boasts great reach, but is conversely one of the laggiest forward aerials.
  • Wii Fit Trainer’s meteor smash is located on her back-kicking leg, making it the only forward aerial with a hitbox placed behind the user.
• Both Bayonetta and Sora's are the only ones in the series to comprise a natural combo.
• Villager's, Mii Gunner's, Isabelle's, and (in Ultimate) Mr. Game & Watch's are the only projectile forward aerials, and can be reflected, pocketed, and for Mii Gunner's and Mr. Game & Watch's, absorbed.
• Captain Falcon's from Melee onward, the Knee Smash, deals extremely high damage and semi-spike knockback with the clean hit, and is his signature finisher in several combos, making it highly renowned, especially for its superior Melee iteration. It is the strongest forward aerial in each game from Smash 4 onward, and is also the most damaging forward aerial in Ultimate.
• Zelda's is one of her Lightning Kicks, and similar to Knee Smash, but faster, deals extremely high damage and knockback when sweetspotted, but is extremely weak when sourspotted. Its strongest iteration in Melee has a very generous sweetspot with outstanding frame data, to the extent that her Lightning Kicks alone comprise the majority of her attacks used in competitive gameplay.
• Sheik's is one of the best aerials in the series, with an extremely early autocancel window and long range enabling her to space approach very safely, as well as chain into itself multiple times. In Melee, it is a devastating semi-spike with very high power for its speed. Conversely, its much lower knockback in Smash 4 and Ultimate allows it to better combo into itself and most of her other moves.
• Marth's is considered one of the best in Melee and Brawl due to its low lag all around, long range with a wide arc, and edgeguarding capabilities.
• Jigglypuff's is useful in performing the wall of pain, especially in Melee.
• Fox's from Brawl onward gives him a small vertical boost with each kick. In Smash 4 and Ultimate, its usage of the autolink angle with extremely high set knockback allows a single looping hit to effectively act as a meteor smash in a fast fall, potentially KOing very early, especially when followed with a footstool jump.
• Mewtwo's in Smash 4 and Ultimate is considered one of the best in the game due to being one of the strongest of its kind, yet also having very low lag all around, as well as combo potential at low percents.
• In Smash 4, Bayonetta's was widely considered one of the best forward aerials in the game due to the first hit's large hitboxes and low lag, allowing it to easily hit opponents and combo into various other moves, including setting up ladder combos, as well as loop into itself to drag opponents offstage.
• Mii Gunner's is the only one in the series that adds a backward velocity to the user.
• Much like Marth's in Melee and Brawl, Wolf's in Ultimate is often considered one of the best in the game due to its fast frame data, wide vertical arc and high launch angle that allow it to chain into itself and other moves even up to high percents.
• Simon and Richter's (along with their back aerials) have two unique distinctions from all others in the series: they can be angled up or down, and function as tether recoveries.
• Steve's is the only one that changes if performed using the short hop aerial shortcut in Ultimate; it becomes a faster and weaker combo-starting sword swing with similar properties to his neutral aerial. This property is shared with his back aerial.
• Sephiroth's can cling to walls up to three times before landing, allowing him to remain off-stage for prolonged periods of time.
• Min Min's is the longest ranged and most disjointed forward aerial in the game, especially when using the Dragon.
  • It, along with her back aerial, are the only aerials to be able to be charged like a smash attack if smash inputted rather than tilt inputted.