Neutral aerial

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

Snake's neutral aerial in Brawl.

Sheik and Link’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, internally AttackAirN) 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.

In Brawl and Smash 4, with A-sticking, the player is able to perform neutral aerials without losing any horizontal momentum.

Neutral aerials are the weakest type of aerial on average. However, most are fast moves with low landing lag, often hitting both sides with lingering hitboxes to cover large areas of space. Neutral aerials are largely versatile all-around attacks, being useful for close-range combat, beating out slower attacks, ledge trapping and various combos, especially for late percent confirms with a weak hit. Many neutral aerials are sex kicks, or some type of spinning attack, often with multihits.

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.
• Ness's in Smash 64 and Link's in Melee do not clear their hitboxes until the move's animation ends, due to an incorrect type or complete lack of a timer in their code, respectively.
• Dr. Mario's is the only sex kick in the series that is stronger during its late frames, rather than the early frames.
• Luigi's 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, due to its fast startup and strength allowing it to function as a powerful combo breaker, while its low landing lag allows combos with any part of the move.
• In all games, Link's is considered among the best due to its minimal lag, lingering hitboxes and deceptively strong clean hit making it safe on shield, able to cancel out most projectiles and fairly spammable all around.
• 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 is considered one of the best in all games, having slow startup but a long-lasting disjointed spinning hitbox along with an excellent auto-cancel and landing lag. In Brawl, it is a powerful KO move, while from Smash 4 onward it is an outstanding combo starter.
• Bowser's new neutral air from Smash 4 onward is unique in having each of his four limbs coded as a distinct hit, as opposed to conventional multihits that are hitboxes all of the same part value and separated by frames or rehit rates.
• Unlike the similar counterparts of his Fire Emblem peers, Roy's uses set-weight knockback for the second hit, but not the first, instead of vice versa. This makes it a very uncharacteristic finisher that KOs all characters at the same percent.
• Cloud's is long-ranged in Smash 4 especially, is fast and auto-cancels from a short hop, making it difficult to punish.
• Ike's in Ultimate has noticeable startup lag, but large all-around coverage, very low landing lag and a vertical launch angle. This makes it one of his safest approach options and gives it a myriad of combos, with high-percent KO confirms into his up aerial or Aether. It has become infamous in the competitive Smash community due to the heavy emphasis of Ike's gameplay around this single move.
• Palutena's has gained notoriety in Ultimate for similar reasons. Its fast startup, wide long-lasting coverage around Palutena, autolinking multi-hits and forward launch angle allow her to easily chain the move into itself across stage lengths while inflicting large damage.
• Wario's in Ultimate has an unorthodox design, where it has two distinct hits, each with early and late portions, but with the first hit's early part being stronger than the late part and vice versa for the second hit. All parts have high knockback scaling; as a result, both hits only combo at certain timings and percents, depending on whether the first hit was clean or late. This complex mix of traits causes the move's behavior to vary widely.
• Pikachu's new neutral air in Ultimate is notorious for its ability to start extensive loops between itself and up tilt.
• Ganondorf's is the strongest in Ultimate, and is also considered among the best due to its large, lingering hitboxes, very high maximum damage and deceptively good frame data.
• King K. Rool's uniquely has Belly Super Armor. Coupled with its low startup and landing lag, it is a versatile approaching, combo and edgeguarding move.
• Steve's, like his neutral attack/forward tilt, can uniquely be repeated if the attack button is held.
• Min Min's 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 is the first and only one that can meteor smash.
• Both Mega Man and Sora's are the only ones in the series to consist of a natural combo.
  • Sora's is notorious for being able to loop into itself extensively through "noops", which are virtually inescapable due to being nearly immune to SDI.