Back aerial

Diddy Kong, Lucario and Samus’s back aerial in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Wolf's back aerial in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

A back aerial attack (後空中攻撃, Rear/back midair attack; commonly abbreviated as bair or B-Air, and referred to as AttackAirB internally) is an aerial attack that can be performed in midair by pressing the attack button and tilting the control stick in the direction opposite to which the character is facing. Its official term varies between titles; it is known as a back midair attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a back air attack from Super Smash Bros. Brawl onward. The majority of these attacks are kicks, and tend to be considerably stronger and/or faster than a fighter's other aerial attacks while also having good range; some are notable for being their fastest and most reliable KO moves, such as those of Ike and Zero Suit Samus, and can be used to approach with a technique known as a reverse aerial rush. Back aerials are also good defensive options, as they can catch an opponent trying to attack them from behind where few other attacks would be effective if usable at all.

List of back aerials

Unless stated otherwise, all back aerials are aimed behind the user.

Character	Description
Banjo & Kazooie	Kazooie performs an aerial Rat-a-Tat Rap 3 times.
Bayonetta	Performs a back kick at a high angle.
Bowser	Leans back and thrusts his shell spikes. Performs a dropkick.
Bowser Jr.	Deploys a wrecking ball from the Koopa Clown Car and swings it in a straight line.
Byleth	Stabs Areadbhar behind himself.
Captain Falcon	Performs a backwards facing back-fist.
Charizard	Swings one wing horizontally, followed by its tail. Swings its tail in an upward arc.
Chrom	Slashes in an upward arc, turning Chrom around after its use.
Cloud	Slashes horizontally with the Buster Sword.
Corrin	Sprouts dragon wings and thrusts them backward, hovering slightly and propelling himself forward.
Daisy	Thrusts her rear, generating a flower particle from it.
Dark Pit	Separates the Silver Bow and stabs with both blades simultaneously.
Dark Samus	Performs a back kick.
Diddy Kong	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Donkey Kong	Performs a dropkick. Performs a back kick.
Dr. Mario	Performs a dropkick. Performs a spinning dropkick.
Duck Hunt	The dog thrusts his lower back backward to propel the duck, who performs a turning peck.
Falco	Performs an outstretched back kick, hitting to both sides. Performs a quick back kick.
Fox	Performs an outstretched back kick, hitting to both sides. Performs a roundhouse kick.
Ganondorf	Performs a backwards facing back-fist.
Greninja	Performs three consecutive kicks at different angles.
Hero	Slashes in a delayed heavy upward arc.
Ice Climbers	Swing their hammers horizontally.
Ike	Slashes horizontally with Ragnell.
Incineroar	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Inkling	Jabs with the Splattershot.
Isabelle	Fires a pellet from a slingshot.
Ivysaur	Swings one vine after the other in a downward arc.
Jigglypuff	Performs a roundhouse kick. Turns Jigglypuff around in Ultimate.
Joker	Slashes in an upward arc. If active, Arsene chops in a downward arc, causing the duo's attacks to interlock with each other.
Kazuya	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Ken	Performs a roundhouse kick.
King Dedede	Performs a back kick. Swings his hammer in an upward arc. Swings his hammer horizontally.
King K. Rool	Punches in a downward arc from a turnaround.
Kirby	Performs a dropkick.
Link	Kicks twice with one leg after the other.
Little Mac	Weakly throws out a spinning backhanded punch.
Lucario	Extends one arm and unleashes a blast of aura.
Lucas	Performs a somersaulting kick in a downward arc, emitting a PSI spark from his foot.
Lucina	Slashes in an upward arc, turning Lucina around after its use.
Luigi	Performs a dropkick. Performs a spinning dropkick.
Mario	Performs a dropkick. Performs a spinning dropkick.
Marth	Slashes in an upward arc, turning Marth around after its use.
Mega Man	Uses the Slash Claw, generating three crescent-shaped energy swipes from his hand.
Meta Knight	Performs three consecutive horizontal slashes at different angles.
Mewtwo	Swings its tail in an upward arc.
Mii Brawler	Performs a back kick.
Mii Gunner	Unleashes a fiery blast from their arm cannon.
Mii Swordfighter	Slashes horizontally.
Min Min	Fires and extends her ARM behind her. Can change depending on Megawatt, Ramram, and Dragon.
Mr. Game & Watch	Holds a turtle behind himself that bites opponents, hitting multiple times. Possesses a landing hitbox.
Mythra	Swings the Aegis Sword behind herself in a wide arc starting below herself.
Ness	Performs a dropkick. Performs a dropkick, releasing a PSI spark from his feet.
Olimar	Grabs his leading Pikmin by its stem and swings it in an upward arc. If no Pikmin are following Olimar, he still performs the move, but it has no effect.
Pac-Man	Performs a dropkick.
Palutena	Bashes with her shield.
Peach	Thrusts her rear. Thrusts her rear, generating a heart particle from it.
Pichu	Performs a series of belly turns. Performs a series of belly turns while discharging electricity around itself, hitting multiple times. Causes recoil damage to Pichu.
Pikachu	Performs a back kick. Performs a series of belly turns. Possesses a landing hitbox. Performs a series of belly turns, hitting multiple times. Possesses a landing hitbox.
Piranha Plant	Spits out a fiery blast.
Pit	Separates the Palutena Bow and stabs with both blades simultaneously.
Pyra	Swings the Aegis Sword behind herself in a wide arc starting below herself.
R.O.B.	Points his base behind himself and activates his thrusters, propelling himself forward.
Richter	Whips horizontally with the Vampire Killer. Can be angled diagonally up or down, and function as a tether recovery.
Ridley	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Robin	Stabs at a diagonally downward angle. Can use either the Bronze Sword or the Levin Sword.
Rosalina & Luma	Rosalina: Performs a dropkick, releasing a miniature spiral galaxy from her feet. Luma: Performs a dropkick.
Roy	Slashes in an upward arc, turning Roy around after its use.
Ryu	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Samus	Performs a back kick.
Sephiroth	Performs a horizontal slash with Masamune.
Sheik	Performs a back kick.
Shulk	Stabs at a slight upward angle with a double grip.
Simon	Whips horizontally with the Vampire Killer. Can be angled diagonally up or down, and function as a tether recovery.
Snake	Performs a dropkick.
Sonic	Performs a roundhouse kick.
Sora	Performs a horizontal swing with his Keyblade.
Squirtle	Jabs with its tail. Jabs with its tail and spins horizontally, hitting multiple times.
Steve	Swings his pickaxe in an arc. If initiated using the short hop aerial shortcut in Ultimate, becomes a quicker swing with a sword instead.
Terry	Spins around and kicks behind himself.
Toon Link	Slashes in an upward arc.
Villager	Fires a pellet from a slingshot.
Wario	Leans his full body back, hitting with his head and arms.
Wii Fit Trainer	Assumes the Cobra pose to perform a dropkick.
Wolf	Performs a back kick.
Yoshi	Performs a dropkick. Swings his tail repeatedly in vertical arcs.
Young Link	Kicks twice with one leg after the other.
Zelda	Performs a magically infused lunging kick that is extremely powerful if it hits near Zelda's foot, but extremely weak otherwise. It is known as the Lightning Kick.
Zero Suit Samus	Performs a roundhouse kick.

Notable back aerials

Dr. Mario's back aerial in Melee can semi-spike, while Mario's cannot.

• Marth, Lucina, Roy, and Chrom's back aerials turn them around in midair, unlike any other aerial attack in the series. In Ultimate, Jigglypuff's back aerial also has this property.
• R.O.B. and Corrin's back aerials propel them forward. R.O.B. covers more overall distance, while Corrin travels faster.
• Simon and Richter's back aerials have two unique distinctions from every other in the series: they can be angled up or down much like forward tilts and forward smashes, and function as tether recoveries. Their forward aerials also have these properties.
• The back aerials of Villager and Isabelle are projectiles, and as such, can be reflected and Pocketed.
• Pikachu's back aerial in Ultimate is infamous for being able to combo into itself multiple times at low percentages.
• Lucas and King K. Rool's back aerials are the only ones in the series that can meteor smash.
• Bowser's back aerial in Brawl and Palutena's back aerial are the only two in the series that provides invincibility (as opposed to intangibility), specifically on Bowser's shell and behind Palutena from her shield, allowing them to safely cancel out any projectile and win trades with opposing aerial attacks. Palutena's in Ultimate is particularly effective due to its solid power and difficulty to punish.
• Zelda's back aerial is one of her Lightning Kicks, and deals very high damage and knockback at high percents when sweetspotted, but is extremely weak when sourspotted. It is the strongest back aerial in every game it appears in. It is particularly powerful in Melee, but its utility has been reduced in later games due to the removal of L-canceling, its sweetspot being smaller and lasting less time as well as receiving much more ending lag and a less favorable auto-cancel window starting in Smash 4.
• Samus's back aerial is the strongest in Smash 64 due to its unusually high knockback scaling. In addition to this, it is also one of the fastest back aerials in the game. In later games, the move would become slower, harder to land and weaker although it still remains a powerful KO move.
  • Falco's back aerial in Smash 4 and Ultimate is similar to Samus' in Smash 64 (although it is not quite as powerful) having no base knockback but very high knockback scaling if its clean hit is landed which makes it one of the strongest. It is additionally one of the fastest back aerials in Smash 4 coming out on frame 4 although in Ultimate, it does not come out until frame 9.
• Jigglypuff's back aerial in Melee and (to a lesser extent) Brawl is used for the highly effective wall of pain. In Smash 4, it has increased lag and knockback, losing its wall of pain ability, but KOing much more reliably at high percents.
• King Dedede's back aerial in Brawl is considered to be the best in the game due to its fast startup, low ending lag, good reach, long lasting hitboxes, and strong power. He can perform it twice in one short hop and can string it together repeatedly at low percents as well as use it for the wall of pain and edgeguarding. When it's not stale, it is also a reliable KO move. All of these traits make it arguably King Dedede's best move. In Smash 4 and Ultimate, he has received a new back aerial that has increased KO power, but at the expense of significantly more startup and ending lag along with less range.
• Ganondorf's back aerial is one of the strongest in all its appearances. In Melee, it is the second strongest back aerial, surpassed only by Zelda's.
• Charizard's back aerial in Smash 4 and Ultimate deals 16% damage and is notorious for its high disjoint and power, being the second strongest back aerial in both games.
• Mr. Game & Watch has the only back aerial in Melee that cannot be L-canceled, due to being coded as a special move. This oddity is also present in his neutral aerial and up aerial.
• Kirby's back aerial is an effective back aerial in every Smash game being a fast and solid KO move (especially in Smash 64 and Smash 4) and it can be used to perform the "fence of pain". It also has great range and very low landing lag especially prior to Smash 4.
• Dr. Mario's back aerial in Melee is a semi-spike with high base knockback, making it effective for edgeguarding.
• Fox's back aerial in Brawl is a powerful semi-spike when sweetspotted, and is very safe to use from a short hop due to its nearly immediate auto-cancel window after its hitboxes cease. From Smash 4 onward, the move has lost its sourspot hitboxes giving it less range and utility and it is considerably weaker compared to the sweetspots in Brawl. It also gained a worse auto-cancel window in Ultimate.
• Wolf's back aerial in Brawl is incredibly fast (frame 6), has good power for its speed, and boasts an extremely lenient auto-cancel window that allows the move to have no lag on landing with good timing. In Ultimate, the move is much slower, having more than twice the startup (frame 13) it did in Brawl along with more ending lag and landing lag. However, it is much more powerful and its generous auto-cancel window remains, giving it great utility for poking and pressuring an opponent's shield and making it one of Wolf's most reliable KO options as well as one of the best back aerials in the game overall.
• Bowser's back aerial in Smash 4 and Ultimate deals a tremendous 19% damage and is one of the strongest in both games.
• Steve's back aerial is the only one which changes depending on whether it is performed using the short hop aerial shortcut in Ultimate or not. It is a more powerful pickaxe swing behind him if performed without the short hop aerial shortcut, but becomes a faster and weaker sword swing with similar properties to neutral aerial if performed with the short hop aerial shortcut. This property is shared with forward aerial. Like other moves involving Steve’s weapons, it can be upgraded with dug-up resources, and is incredibly powerful in its diamond form, similarly to Wolf and Robin’s back aerials.
• In Ultimate, Ryu, Ken, Terry and Kazuya have all a similar back aerial, a powerful and fairly fast straight roundhouse kick. However, because they automatically turn to face their opponents in 1v1 battles, they are required to cross-up or to use a reverse aerial rush to be able to hit their opponent with their back aerials.