Aether

The beginning of the move, in which Ike throws the sword upwards.

Aether is Ike's Up B attack in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He first throws his sword in the air. During this time, he can take damage, but cannot flinch. After the sword hits the apex of its trajectory, he jumps up, catches it, and comes hurtling towards the ground. It appears functionally similar to Kirby's Up B move, the Final Cutter. Although it gains very little horizontal distance, it is a decent recovery move, for as Ike's sword reaches the top before Ike, it can hit anyone attempting to edgehog and give Ike an opening so he can leap up and grab a ledge. If the attack is initiated in close range, it hits the opponent upwards and sucks them into a multi-hit combo in midair, which finishes with a spike when Ike swings the sword down. Also, this move can make edgehogging very easy. Stand at the edge facing the edge and perform Aether. Instead of falling off the stage to his death, he turns around and grabs the edge, sending the opponent downwards quickly, often to their death, as few characters have a good enough recovery. Aether is also a great follow-up to his down throw, and can be used as an impromptu projectile to hit enemies through solid platforms, interrupt enemies' aerial attacks, or set off bomb-traps in the Subspace Emissary.

Although this move is functionally similar to Kirby's Final Cutter, it does not give off a shock wave upon landing, even though Ragnell is capable of doing so in the Fire Emblem games.

Origin

Aether is a move specific to Ike in the Fire Emblem games. In both games Ike appears in, it involves throwing his sword upward, jumping, catching it, and coming down with a spinning cut that heals Ike equal to the damage inflicted, and a second rising strike is performed as Ike puts space between himself and his opponent. This second strike ignores the enemy's Defense score. However, neither effect is applied to Brawl. Additionally, in Ike's own games, Aether starts off dashing towards the enemy, instead of starting off aerially, but does entail the process of tossing up his sword, etc.

Trivia

• Aether is the name for a chemical compound used to put people to sleep, used as an anesthetic. Also spelled "ether".

• When Ike's size is changed, Aether will go higher (smaller) or lower (giant) than he throws Ragnell. This gives Aether the same height for any size.

Notes

• The beginning part of Ike's Aether (when the sword is out of his hand) gives him super armor. As such, it is possible to avoid some of the most devastating Final Smashes, as well as him not moving for a while when his sword strikes a Smart Bomb.