Bumper

Hit an opponent with this item for a little pinball action - but be careful, because the bumper just might bump you! The Bumper (, Bumper) is an item in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It acts as a combination of a throwing item and a stage obstacle in most cases.

Origin
As outlined on its relevant trophies, the Bumper is based on bumpers found within real-life pinball machines. In these machines, pinballs that hit bumpers will be quickly sent in the opposite direction from where they hit it; a majority of such bumpers also have a "starburst" decal applied to them, which was carried over to their appearances throughout the Super Smash Bros. series.

As an item
The Bumper can be picked up and thrown by players; if it hits opponents, it deals some damage, with its knockback properties varying on the game. In Super Smash Bros., it deals weak, set knockback, but in Brawl and Smash 4, the item's knockback scales, and it can potentially KO opponents at mid-range percentages, at about 60%.

Upon being thrown, the item's behaviour varies on the game in question:
 * In Super Smash Bros., the item will continue flying through the air until it lands on a floor; upon doing so, it will adhere to the surface, and any players who touch it will be sent back in the direction from which they hit the item, and also take 1% damage. In addition, every time the item is hit, it will move back away from the opponent, and it can potentially jump off platforms.
 * In Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate, the item will either stop in midair or stop upon hitting a flat surface; in both cases, the Bumper will send players flying to either the right or left if they touch it, though it will stay in place when it does so. In certain situations, a character can be trapped between a Bumper and a wall get repeatedly pushed in-place until it disappears.

In all cases, the Bumper will disappear after about ten seconds have passed.

As a stage hazard
In Super Smash Bros., a floating Bumper appears above Peach's Castle, moving side to side. Acting as a dynamic barrier, it can KO or potentially prevent players from getting Star KOed. Floating Bumpers are also seen in, and also Break the Targets and Board the Platforms, either as stationary or moving hazards. Of note is that in the game, Bumpers cannot be placed in the air, making the Bumper in all of these instances unique compared to the item. In Super Smash Bros. 4, the Castle Bumper keeps its old design and its property of dealing 1% of damage when touched, unlike the Bumper item. It does not, however, use the original sound.

Damage
Note: A Bumper cannot be dropped when on the ground; instead, the Bumper will be thrown by a standard throw.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Bumper item appears as a trophy in Brawl. It is received by hitting a total of 5,000 meters or 15,000 feet with all fighters Home-Run Contest records.

Trivia

 * Super Smash Bros. Melee is the only game where the Bumper is absent, making it the only item from the original game not to appear in said game. However, its role appears to have been given to the Flipper, which serves a near-identical purpose. Furthermore, the Flipper's ability to be placed in midair was used for the Bumper since its return in Brawl and onwards.
 * Set Bumpers can be reflected in Smash 64. As a result, if the platform is small enough (such as the top of the right structure on Hyrule Castle or the pipes of ), can reflect a Bumper repeatedly until his Reflector breaks, at which point the super-reflected Bumper will deal extreme damage (but still set knockback).
 * When thrown on a platform that disappears or shrinks, the bumper will bounce when the platform does either.
 * In Brawl, when a Bumper is placed in midair, it can be picked up while rotating into place before it is fully set. With luck, a player can attack an opponent with a bumper and grab it again.
 * When rolling around a Bumper, it may go off even though it may not affect the player.
 * The Bumper can be moved around by Landmaster.
 * Bumpers have strange effects on certain Assist Trophies:
 * If one of Dr. Kawashima's numbers collides with it, it will start repeatedly going off, causing the number to freeze. Even after the Bumper vanishes, the number will stay perfectly still well after the other numbers have stopped spawning, and will only leave the screen if it is attacked, which will cause it to regain its momentum.
 * If the teleports onto a bumper, it will stand inside of the Bumper, flinching but not being knocked back, rendering it useless until either it or the bumper vanishes.
 * The Bumper is the only normal item in the Super Smash Bros. series to return to an installment after being cut from a previous installment.
 * Bumpers don't normally spawn on stages that travel across various areas or other moving stages (Delfino Plaza, Wuhu Island, Skyloft, etc.). This is likely due to the stage's collision being affected by it's mobility, which complicates the difficulty of stabely placing a Bumper in middair.
 * Oddly enough, if a player spawns them in Brawl or SSB4 through Training Mode, Bumpers can never be placed in middair unlike other stages where it is normally available. In Ultimate, Training Mode completely removes the Bumper in those moving stages.