Neutral attack


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A neutral attack, often referred to as a jab (and officially standard attack or weak attack before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), is the most basic attack a character can perform. It is performed by pressing the attack button while standing on the ground, with no input from the control stick. Typically, neutral attacks are fast, short-ranged, weak attacks meant for easy close-range punishes or escaping pressure.

Almost all neutral attacks in the series are natural combos: a type of attack with multiple stages which lead directly into each other. Just after the first attack is thrown, pressing the attack button again – regardless of whether the first attack connected – will result in an immediate follow-up attack. Certain natural combos also have a third stage, with a few that have a fourth stage. Mario's iconic neutral attack, a simple punch-punch-kick combo, is a well-known example of a three-stage neutral attack.

From Brawl onwards, holding the attack button instead of pressing it for the first hit of certain neutral attacks will cause the character to continually perform the first attack at a very high speed until it hits an opponent. This property is known as consecutiveness, and can be a helpful way to ensure an opponent will be hit by one without requiring strict timing. Additionally, when a neutral attack connects, regardless of whether it possesses consecutiveness, the next stages can be activated by simply holding the button, rather than pressing it repeatedly like in the previous games.

Types of neutral attacks
Since generally all nonfinal stages of a natural combo have the simple purpose of leading into the final one, most neutral attacks are defined by the nature of their final stage. To this end, there are three types of enders:

Standard


Characters like Mario, Sonic, Cloud Strife, and Ness have neutral attacks that end with a simple final hit, launching opponents away. Certain characters with one-hit neutral attacks that are not natural combos, such as Pikachu, Ganondorf, and Roy, fall into this category as well. Because this is by far the most common type of neutral attack, there is not a universally accepted term for it.

Infinite
A neutral infinite (often called a rapid jab, and officially known as a flurry attack in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is a constantly-looping flurry of incredibly fast and weak attacks that link into each other. Once this attack is launched, it can be indefinitely looped by pressing the attack button repeatedly in SSB and Melee, or by simply holding it from Brawl onward. Despite their indefinite nature, neutral infinites can be escaped relatively quickly with proper DI and SDI, especially prior to Smash 4. Later games mitigate this by speeding up their hit rate and lowering their SDI multipliers (as well as weakening SDI itself), as well as slightly pushing the attacker back each hit after landing a certain number of hits.

The neutral infinite ends once the attack button is released. Prior to Smash 4, this causes the character to simply stop attacking – however, from Smash 4 onwards, neutral infinites have a final hit known as a finisher that is designed to launch opponents away, and is used once the attack button is released. Since no new button input is made to activate this final hit, it is not its own stage of the natural combo.

Characters like Kirby, Fox, Sheik and Bowser Jr. are known for possessing neutral infinites. Meta Knight is unique for having only a neutral infinite, and no standard neutral attack beforehand. Instead, his forward tilt is a three-part attack.

Choosables


A choosable neutral attack is one that can end either in a neutral infinite or in a standard final hit (which, in the context of a choosable, may be referred to as a Gentleman). The infinite is chosen by repeatedly pressing the attack button during the nonfinal hits of the combo – once it is launched, it functions identically to the typical neutral infinite. Likewise, the Gentleman is chosen by pressing the attack button less frequently, or by simply holding it once the first hit connects with an opponent.

While choosables appear in every installment, they are much more common in Smash 4 and Ultimate. Characters like Captain Falcon, Young Link, Pit, Little Mac, and Corrin are known for possessing choosables.

List of neutral attacks
Consecutiveness only applies from Brawl onward, as the feature did not exist in previous games.

Notable neutral attacks

 * Pikachu, Pichu, Isabelle and Steve all have incredibly fast neutral attacks that hit once and, from Brawl onwards, are consecutive. Each one is easily capable of chaining into itself, especially at low damage percentages. This may lead to the false conception that they are neutral infinites. Villager's neutral attack in SSB4 also had a similar effect, over two hits instead of one, but it was changed to a true neutral infinite in Ultimate.
 * Meta Knight is the only character with no "normal" neutral attacks before he begins the infinite. Even pressing the attack button once causes him to commit to at least one full cycle of the attack, leading an in-game tip to humorously state that Meta Knight "doesn't do 'standard attacks'." In Brawl, it is also one of only two neutral attacks in the series to hit all around the character instead of just in front of them.
 * Olimar's neutral attack in Brawl consists of two headbutts that deal direct damage and knockback; however, the resultant flicks from his antenna have their own hitboxes which strike for extra damage, but deal no knockback. This makes it the only neutral attack in the series to have a damaging hitbox which does not make opponents flinch.
 * Ike's neutral attack in Brawl is notable for being used for combos by only using the first and second part via crouch-cancelling the third. This allows for easy damage multipliers and combos. The attack also has a powerful knockback at high percent which will KO characters around 170%.
 * Mega Man's neutral attack is the only one that is a projectile. It also flows freely with his near-identical forward tilt and neutral aerial, effectively allowing Mega Man to fire his Mega Buster while walking and jumping without interruption.
 * The first hit of Wii Fit Trainer's neutral attack combines a spear hand with a back kick for an attack that hits on both sides of their body, being one of three neutral attacks to do so&mdash;the others being ' in Melee and 's in Brawl, though Meta Knight's doesn't hit both sides simultaneously. Also unique to Wii Fit Trainer's neutral attack is that the third hit, when sweetspotted at the foot, can bury opponents. It is the only neutral attack capable of burying or inflicting any movement-inhibiting effect for that matter.
 * Both Robin's standard finisher and neutral infinite involve the use of tomes, and thereby have the unique ability both to affect their special moves and be affected by them. Arcfire and Robin's standard finisher ender draw from the same durability meter, as do Elwind and their infinite. The longer the infinite is held, the more durability will be sapped from Elwind. If a tome is broken, the relevant neutral attack part will not be usable until the tome respawns.
 * Ryu has two different attacks which can be achieved through a neutral attack input; in Ultimate, he and his new echo fighter Ken each have three. For both characters, quickly pressing the attack button instead of holding it results in a three-stage combo. However, the second and third stages can only be accessed upon a successful hit. Otherwise, repeatedly tapping the button will simply cause the first hit to be used repeatedly, in a modified form of consecutiveness. Both of these properties are unique to Ryu and Ken. Holding the button results in a different attack altogether, which is not a natural combo. In Ultimate, Ryu and Ken are also the only fighters to have proximity normals, of which their neutral attacks are an example. Holding the attack button while close to opponents results in them performing an attack similar to their held up tilt, but with virtually no knockback.
 * Inkling's neutral infinite covers opponents in . If Inkling runs out of ink, it can still be used, but it will possess no hitboxes.
 * If the attack button is held instead of pressed during Simon and Richter's neutral attack, they will hold the Vampire Killer forwards in front of themselves and remain stationary. Input from the control stick, while the button is being held, will cause them to rotate their whip, loosely flinging a short section of it in the held direction. This can destroy small projectiles, and its weak knockback can be used for unusual gimps, but its overall utility is rather limited. It is overall similar to Sheik's Chain in Melee and Brawl.
 * Particularly in SSB4, Villager's neutral attack functions quite unlike any other in the series. It is a two-hit natural combo whose second hit can be canceled back into the first hit, allowing for an endless volley of repeating punches. It is also a consecutive move that uniquely repeats both hits instead of just the first one. Both of these factors may lead players to the conclusion that it is an infinite, but this is inaccurate, as it lacks a finishing hit. Its nature as a repeating and consecutive natural combo also means the time between hits can be shortened by rapidly pressing the attack button instead of holding it, which cannot be done for any true neutral infinite. In Ultimate, a true infinite was added as a third stage of the natural combo, giving it a proper final hit, but its unique two-hit consecutiveness remains.
 * In all games, there is only one character with a four-stage neutral attack: Captain Falcon prior to SSB4, and Bayonetta from SSB4 onwards. Both are unique in other ways, as well.
 * Particularly in Melee, the third hit of Captain Falcon's neutral attack—a knee strike—is quick, safe, highly damaging, and overall an excellent way to end close-range strings. However, on the NTSC version of the game, it is notoriously difficult to trigger this attack without also using the notoriously slow and ineffective infinite that follows it. Because of the difficulty in utilizing this attack, combined with its importance in Captain Falcon's moveset, this portion of the attack became well-known enough to garner its own nickname, the Gentleman.
 * Bayonetta's neutral infinite is the only one in the series that cannot be held indefinitely. After being held for sufficiently long, even if it is not hitting anything, the final hit will come out with no input from the player, and the attack will end.
 * Samus' neutral attack is infamous for being the only one where the first hit does not combo into the second at any reasonable percent, allowing an opponent to always shield the second hit, or even interrupt it with a neutral attack (or similarly fast attack) of their own.
 * Bowser Jr.'s neutral infinite finisher is notable for having the most knockback of any neutral attack and by far the most of any neutral infinite, able to KO at around 120% near the ledge. This is in addition to having a large disjoint, making it a relatively safe, reliable KO move.
 * Kazuya has one of the most unique neutral attacks in the series, with two variations depending if the third button press is delayed or not. If the button press is delayed, Kazuya performs the Flash Punch Combo, which functions as a standard three hits jab, but deals significantly more damage (15% base) and knockback than other moves of this kind. Otherwise, if the third press is not delayed, Kazuya transitions to the 10-Hit Combo, an unique series of 10 attacks that moves Kazuya forward. If all hits connect, the combo deals an impressive 38% base damage, and the last hit is unblockable. However, because of its high SDI multiplier, it's very difficult to connect the entire 10-Hit Combo without the opponent falling out. As such, Kazuya players usually prefer to use the Flash Punch Combo, while the 10-Hit Combo is used mostly as a mixup to push opponents off the edge and interrupting it early to capitalize on sloppy escape options.