Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare

Flare (, Flare) is Sephiroth's neutral special move. In a similar manner to and Frizz, it can be charged up to Megaflare (, Megaflare) and then Gigaflare (, Gigaflare) before being released.

Overview
All three versions of the move launch a projectile that travels horizontally. The projectile will explode upon hitting an opponent, the stage, or another projectile, or after traveling a certain distance. The charge can be cancelled during the Flare and Megaflare stages with the shield or jump button, but this simply stops the move; the charge cannot be stored for later and will automatically launch when fully charged.

Flare is a large red fireball that moves slowly and travels about two-thirds length of Final Destination. Its slow speed allows Sephiroth to combo into or off it, similar to King K. Rool's Blunderbuss. While Flare has fairly high base knockback, it has poor knockback scaling. This makes it difficult to KO onstage even at high percents, though it still has reasonable offstage KO capabilities.

Megaflare is a stronger blue fireball that moves faster but covers just under half the distance as Flare. Unlike Flare, Megaflare boasts impressive kill power, being able to KO at the ledge starting at 100%, and even earlier offstage. The explosion is also a larger multi-hit and lingers for longer.

Gigaflare is a small sparkling projectile that results in a large and extremely powerful explosion, though barely traveling past melee range. The ensuing explosion is large enough to hit opponents nearly halfway across Final Destination, though the explosion is the strongest at the center, being able to KO as low as 20%, while the outer edges typically will only kill at percents where Megaflare could have also done so. In Winged Form, it is capable of KO'ing certain characters at 0% at ledge, as well as breaking a full shield. With proper spacing, Sephiroth is able to combo off Gigaflare's explosion, namely with grab, forward tilt and forward smash. The latter is notable for being able to potentially KO at 0%, making it a deadly shield break punish.

Due to their long startup and ending lag, all three attacks are impractical as conventional projectiles, especially against opposing projectiles which will collide with them and detonate them early. Instead they are more useful as long range pressure, or used to bait opponents by cancelling the charge. Charging Flare at ledge is extremely potent at dealing with recoveries. Flare and Megaflare can be used against an offstage opponent to limit their mobility options, as they both travel a good distance and have strong kill power. When given time to set up, Gigaflare can cover a huge area at the ledge, allowing for early kills or launching them off stage again. Additionally Gigaflare can potentially cover every possible ledge option, though it can be avoided with good timing. The charge can also be cancelled if the opponent attempts to avoid the projectile for further pressure.

While moving, the projectile can be reflected and absorbed normally. However, the explosion itself is not considered a projectile and cannot be reflected, and Gigaflare's explosion additionally is no longer an energy attack and cannot be absorbed. Spacing is crucial when using a reflector or absorber, as the former will not offer any protection against the damaging explosions, and absorbing the projectile instead of Flare or Megaflare's explosions will only heal based on the damage that the projectile would do. This is most noticeable when absorbing Gigaflare, which does much of its damage through the explosion, thus only healing a minuscule amount. Reflectors, however, will increase the power of both the projectile and explosion. A reflected Gigaflare is strong enough for a nearly guaranteed OHKO.

When releasing Megaflare, Sephiroth may say ("Go."), and when releasing Gigaflare, he may say  ("Burn to nothing."). Releasing Gigaflare will also cause the screen to slightly darken.

Origin
Flare first appeared in Final Fantasy — originally localized under the name NUKE — where it was a high-level Black Magic spell. Despite its name and appearance, it is often listed as a non-elemental spell. However, in Final Fantasy VII, it appears as a fire-elemental spell (which is reflected in its Super Smash Bros. appearance). Safer∙Sephiroth uses Flare in the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII; in the English version, this was changed to the similar move Shadow Flare. It can also used by the party by using the Contain Materia.

Megaflare first appeared in Final Fantasy III as an attack used by Bahamut; it has since come to be known as the dragon's signature attack in every game it appears in, often shown as a massive explosion or destructive beam of energy fired from its mouth. In a few rare instances, most notably the series, it is available as a standalone spell.

Gigaflare first appeared in Final Fantasy V as the demon Twintania's most powerful attack. It would later appear in Final Fantasy VII as Neo Bahamut's attack, and like Megaflare, would come to be closely associated with more powerful strains of Bahamut, though other monsters like the Archeodemon and Enuo would have access to it in their repertoire.

Flare is more powerful than both Megaflare and Gigaflare in Final Fantasy VII, with 115 power compared to 65 and 80 power, respectively.

Trivia

 * Sephiroth has currently never used both Megaflare or Gigaflare in any Final Fantasy game.
 * Teraflare, another form of Flare, is used by Bahamut ZERO in Midgar.
 * Similar to Terry's Buster Wolf and Power Geyser, Gigaflare briefly flashes a dark color that is unrelated to Special Zoom.

Fulgor / Megafulgor / Gigafulgor