Beam Sword

Beam Sword
Beam Sword artwork from Brawl.
Universe	Super Smash Bros.
Appears in	SSB Melee Brawl
Item class	Weapon

“	This is an item of great power. It also has the longest range of all Clobbering Items when thrown.	”
—Super Smash Bros. instruction manual.

The Beam Sword (ビームソード, bīmu sōdo) is a long-range battering item, similar in appearance to a lightsaber. Available in all three games, it can be wielded and charged for melee attacks or can be thrown, like all other battering items.

Origin

File:RealLifeBeamSword.jpg

Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi square off in one of cinema's most famous scenes. Their lightsabers are now a highly distinctive pop culture icon.

Fox charges up a forward smash with the Beam Sword. The retracting blade references weapons in various forms of science fiction.

The Beam Sword acts as a reference to the lightsaber from the Star Wars film series, though multiple literary works prior to the series had similar weapons, such as Fritz Leiber's Gather, Darkness from the 1940s. In the original Super Smash Bros., the weapon would make sound effects similar to those found in the actual films, including the famous, distinctive, and sharp crackling noise when two swords collided. While the sound effects were removed in the PAL and American releases of the games, the Japanese release of Melee continued this tradition, and in Brawl, all regions now contain the famous sound effects from the film series. Furthermore, in the latter two games, the Beam Sword's blade could shrink in some animations, furthering the connection between the item and its source.

Operation

File:BeamSwordBrawl.jpg

Fox uses the Beam Sword on Link in Brawl. The item's long range is its most noteworthy property in both Melee and Brawl.

As a battering item, the beam sword is intended to bolster the player's power, as well as potentially add some options to their game via throwing. An added bonus, however, is that the Beam Sword's range can significantly increase in size when used in Melee and Brawl, particularly in the case of charged smash attacks. In each of its subsesquent appearances, its range has increased, with Brawl's variant of the weapon potentially having thrice the range of its Melee counterpart.

The Beam Sword is one of few unusual items Peach can pull out via her Vegetable attack, though the chances of this are slim (1 out of 58 chance). In addition, the behaviour surrounding the event is unorthodox for Brawl; in the first minute of plucking the item, the sword's range is severely decreased, as Peach will use her item throwing animation rather than her standard item swinging animation. After a minute, the item pickup sound will play and the Beam Sword regains its usual properties, though the player can also toss the sword and pick it up again to restore its proper attributes.

Damage

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Missing data for Ike and Pit; expansion for characters that inflict two hits like Falcon also suggested.

Action	SSB	Melee	Brawl
A	12%	7%	5%
F-Tilt	18%	11%	7%
Dash	16%	13%	7%
Dash (Mewtwo)	N/A	18%	N/A
Dash (Peach/Zelda)	N/A	23%(13%+10%)	7%
F-Smash	25%	15% - 20%	11 - 15%
F-Smash (C. Falcon)	25%	15% - 14%(5%+9%)	18%(8%+10%) - 26%(11%+15)
F-Smash (Sheik)	N/A	14%(5%+9%) - 19%(6%+12%)	23%(11%+12%) - 32%(15%+17%)
F-Smash (Marth/Roy, if first swipe connects)	N/A	14%(1%+13%) - 20%(1%+19%)	16%(5%+11%) - 23%(7%+16%)
Drop	5%	7%	8% - 10%
Forward tilt throw	15%	12%	11% - 12%
Up tilt throw	16%	10% - 13%	13%
Down tilt throw	13%	8% - 14%	12%
Dash attack throw	19%	9% - 14%	14%
Forward smash throw	19%	10% - 15%	15%
Up smash throw	20%	10% - 17%	16%
Down smash throw	13%	10% - 18%	12% - 16%
Air Drop	13%	8%	10%
Air Forward tilt throw	17%	8% - 12%	12%
Air up tilt Throw	17%	10% - 11%	13%
Air down tilt throw	19%	6% - 14%	10%
Air forward smash throw	19%	7% - 12%	12%
Air up smash throw	20%	2% - 13%	13%
Air down smash throw	20%	6% - 14%	10%

Trophies

The Beam Sword trophy in Melee.

Melee trophy

"With its distinctive glowing blade, the Beam Sword is eye-catching and lethal. At first, the blade is about the size of a short sword, but the length changes depending on who wields it. The blade also lengthens in direct proportion to the power of an attack, so it reaches its maximum size when swung as a smash attack."

: Super Smash Bros.

Brawl trophy

File:Beam Sword - Brawl Trophy.jpg

The Beam Sword trophy in Brawl

A sword with a blade of glowing energy. The length of the blade changes depending on the fighting spirit of the wielder. It has four attacks: a standard attack, a strong side attack, a side smash attack, and a dash attack. When doing a side smash attack, the Beam Sword's blade grows to three times its normal length--that's the best reach of all battering weapons.

: Super Smash Bros.

Gallery

• BeamswordSSB.jpg

  Beam Sword in Smash 64