Down smash

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The first part of Ganondorf's down smash, he kicks in front of him.

The second part, Ganondorf kicks behind him.

Olimar's down smash in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Down smash (abbreviated d-smash) is a smash attack performed by any character by tapping the Control Stick downward and pressing A at the same time or by pressing down on the C-stick. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the C-stick can not be used in one-player mode. It is generally an attack that hits low to the ground and hits on both sides of the character performing the attack, though a small minority only hit to the front of themselves via the down smash (including Mewtwo's in Melee, and Lucas and Zero Suit Samus's in Brawl).

In Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it can be charged by holding down the A button for up to two seconds, resulting in higher damage and knockback. A typical attribute of a down smash is that they hit both the front and rear of the user, making them useful for crowds. They are usually defensive moves and for most characters it is faster than their side smash. Most down smashes will attack the front and back in an alternating fashion, such as Mario's, where he does a spin to kick enemies, but a few can hit both areas at the same time, such as Fox's, where he does "the splits" to kick the area in front of and behind him in one motion. The disadvantage to most down smashes is that they tend to have lower knockback than either the character's up or forward smashes. Mewtwo's down smash in Melee does not, and there are several down smashes in Brawl and Smash 4 that do not.

List of down smashes in Super Smash Bros.

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Does a breakdancing sweep. Mario swirls around while breakdancing on both sides. A decent spacing and KO-ing move.	17% if it hits in the front.
Luigi	Similar to Mario. Faster than Mario's, and good damage and power.	17% damage.
Donkey Kong	Extends his legs while spinning.	19% damage.
Yoshi	Sweeps his tail around, weak horizontal knockback for a smash attack, and has some ending lag.	14% on both sides
Link	Slashes in front of him, then behind him. Good range and speed, and can KO usually around 150%. Great for combo finishers. There is, however, some cooldown lag.	16% damage.
Samus	Extends her leg and twirls. Good spacing move or KO-ing if done near the ledge.	16%.
Kirby	Thrusts his legs out while spinning.	18% damage.
Fox	Does a split kick. Is a great horizontal killer, or set-up for edge-related kills.	14% damage.
Captain Falcon	Extends his leg and twirls. If the attack connects closer to the body, the opponent will be sent upwards. If it connects with the tip, the opponent will be sent in a more horizontal direction. Somewhat short duration, for a move of this criteria, but an awkward move for one of C. Falcon's.	16%
Pikachu	Does a breakdancing sweep. Considered the strongest down smash in the game in terms of knockback. This is a slightly less powerful version of the side smash, and seldom used outside of mindgames. However, it is still very powerful and it can be used to punish excessive rolling.	10-16%, where the forward hit does 16, and back hit does 13.
Jigglypuff	Does a split kick. The hitbox extends quite a bit beyond Jigglypuff's feet, and this disjointed hitbox is most often used for edge-guarding, as it allows the player to avoid getting hit by the recovering opponent while still being able to prevent the opponent from grabbing the ledge.	16% damage.
Ness	Does a "Walk the Dog" with his yoyo.	17% damage.

List of down smashes in Super Smash Bros. Melee

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Does a breakdancing sweep. Extremely fast, one of Mario's stronger moves.	16% if hits in front, 12% in back.
Luigi	Similar to Mario with upwards knockback. Knockback provides for aerial combos against low-damage enemies and KO's against high-damage enemies.	17% if hits in the front.
Dr. Mario	Similar to Mario, but with more knockback.	18%.
Peach	Twirls her dress. Very high damage and powerful knockback if multiple hits land. It's the strongest down smash in the game.	6%-95%, depending on number of hits.
Bowser	Spins while inside his shell, doing great damage with multiple hits from his spines. Subpar range, can be DI'd out of, and has noticeable ending lag, but still powerful nonetheless.	1%-27%, depending on number of hits.
Donkey Kong	Holds up his arms and punches downwards. Sweetspot is on the hands.	16% hands, 14% arms.
Yoshi	Swipes his tail in front then behind him.	10% front, 8% back.
Link	Slashes in front then behind him. First hit comes out fast, though second hit has some lag. This move has decent range, and since the hitbox is on the floor, it makes this move good for spacing, and has some KO power.	13-16% front, 11-14% back uncharged; 17% front, 15% back.
Young Link	Identical to Link.Hits all usually follow into each other with the final having the most knockback, though DI-able and is an unreliable finishing attack. Fully charged is usually the toughest time to get all hits successfully connecting. The last hit has the unusual property of being able to send opponents to the left or right of him.	13% front, 11% back.
Zelda	Kicks in front then behind her. Short range with a sightly disjointed hitbox and poor power, but fast. Has transcendent priority.	11% uncharged, 15% fully charged.
Sheik	Balances on her head and breakdances, with multiple hits, but low knockback and KO potential.	13% uncharged, 17% fully charged.
Ganondorf	Kicks in front, then behind him. Similar to Captain Falcon. Can chain together, can be DI'd out of second hit.	8% first hit, 13% second hit. Total 21% uncharged, 28% fully charged.
Samus	Sweeps her leg in a circle. Fast, good knockback.	16%.
Ice Climbers	Swing their hammers around themselves in a 360° style. Fast but somewhat short-ranged, good for tight spacing.	Leader, 12%, Partner, 11%, up to 31%.
Kirby	Does a spinning split kick.	14%
Fox	Does a split kick. It is fast and has moderate knockback. Useful for edgeguarding and spacing.	15%
Falco	Similar to Fox. An excellent killer, with semi-spike properties, though it has rather low range.	16%
Captain Falcon	Kicks in front then behind him. Small noticeable startup, but good speed and knockback.	18% front, 16% back.
Pikachu	Spins around while emitting sparks. Easily used from a successful crouch cancel, and sets up for an aerial at lower percentages.	14% if all hits connect.
Pichu	Similar to Pikachu. It has more range than it appears and has invincibility frames, as well as being powerful.	13%
Mewtwo	Shoots a blast of darkness in front of it. Good knockback and speed, with moderate range; however, it has the unusual property of being unable to hit both sides of it.	15%
Jigglypuff	Extends its foot on both sides of it. Great for spacing, if used near the edge can lead into an edgeguarding KO.	14%
Marth	Slashes in front, then behind him. Identical to Link in animation. If tipped, it sends opponents upward with high vertical knockback, star KOing opponents at high percentage, and is one of the strongest down smashes in the game. If hit at the base, it sends opponents with low horizontal knockback, but it can still KO at high percentage. It is rather laggy.	Both hits, 11% base, 16% tip.
Roy	Similar to Marth. A decent finisher, useful for vertical KOs, though there is rather high ending lag.	21% in front, 16% in back.
Ness	Does a "Walk the Dog" with his yoyo. Has good range but decent to very poor knockback depending on the opponent's falling speed. It is also very slow and laggy in both starting and ending lag. This attack is incapable of KOing unless his opponent is at extreme percentage.
Mr. Game & Watch	Slams two hammers to the sides of him.	8-22% at the sweetspot, 5-14% fully charged at the handles.

List of down smashes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Does a breakdancing sweep that travels very fast. Like Mario's other attacks, it has fast start-up and ending lag, but short reach. It is Mario's weakest smash attack, however, it is still a good KO move at around 120%.	15% in the front, 12% in the back.
Luigi	Same as Mario's, but more vertical knockback.	17% on both sides when hit at close range, 16% on both sides when it hits farther out.
Peach	Spins around with her outstretching skirt slashing and sucking in opponents, like Pikachu's. Has been nerfed in Brawl in power, damage, and ability to trap opponents better, being extremely hard to get hit by all slashes, although long duration, fast start-up, and being able to semi-spike opponents hanging on edges can help somewhat. Has a 20% chance of tripping. Up to four hits.	5% for each hit
Bowser	Spins around very fast within his shell, slicing anybody within range. This move is harder to escape in Brawl than in Melee. Seven hits.	Total of 21%.
Donkey Kong	Crashes his two fists on either side of himself. Very fast, great knockback. More powerful at the hands.	17% hands uncharged, 14% arms uncharged.
Diddy Kong	Similar to Luigi's. A fast breakdancing sweep with horizontal knockback.	16% damage in the front, 12% damage in the back.
Yoshi	Swings his tail around on either side of himself. Mediocre horizontal knockback.	14% front, 13% back.
Wario	Breakdances, but balances on his back and hits with his head. Has active hitboxes for the entire duration of the move, but lasts an abysmally long time, leaving him vulnerable. Gradually gets weaker as the move progresses.	Clean 13%, mid 10%, late 5%.
Link	Slices his sword along the ground in front of himself and then behind himself. This is also used in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.	17% arm, 16% blade/body/tip (second hit only), 14% tip (first hit only).
Zelda	Kicks forward and backward with incredible speed. Requires less than a second to use, and is the fastest down smash in the game.	Does 12% damage in front, 10% at back. If both hits connect, it will deal 22-30%.
Sheik	Breakdances on her head and spins around kicking while leaping back up. Has three hitboxes, making it tough to shield.	First hit, 13% Second and third hits, 10%.
Ganondorf	Kicks strongly in front of him, then shifts his foot to kick behind him. If hit with first kick, the attack mostly carries opponent to second hit. Is somewhat laggy.	5% first hit, 14% second hit, up to 19% uncharged, 26% fully charged.
Toon Link	Same as Link's, only faster, and first hit usually carries into second. KOs at very low percentages if only the first hit connects and if the opponent has poor horizontal recovery.	Front, 6% (7% on aerial opponents), back, 11%.
Samus	Sweeps her leg around in a circle around herself to inflict vertical knockback. Very fast, but has ending lag.	15% front, 14% back.
Zero Suit Samus	Fires a close-range, uncharged paralyzer bolt at the ground in front of herself. No initial knockback, but commonly used to set up for side smash or Plasma Whip.	11%
Pit	Similar to Link's. Slashes once in front, then behind.	13% front, 10% back.
Ice Climbers	They swing their hammers once around themselves, going about 270 degrees around. Second most damaging down smash in the game, but mediocre knockback.	Leader,12%, partner, 8%. Total, 8%-41% uncharged, 11%-56% fully charged.
R.O.B.	Lowers arm unit on torso unit, and then quickly spins arms around many times for good range, multiple hits, good knockback, and a useful damage racker.	11%
Kirby	Feet enlarge and Kirby spins, jutting them out to the side. It is similar to Fox's down smash, except that Fox does not spin during the attack.	14%
Meta Knight	Extremely quick front and back swipe. It is Meta Knight's best ground KO move and is one of the fastest smash attacks in the game.	Front slash does 12%, and back slash does 15%.
King Dedede	Similar to Ice Climbers, but it is slower, stronger, and has more range. Deals vertical knockback.	15%
Olimar	Sends two Pikmin to leap out on both sides. Very quick, but has less knockback than his side smash.	Red Pikmin: 13%. Blue Pikmin: 12%. Yellow Pikmin: 11%. White Pikmin: 6%. Purple Pikmin: 15%.
Fox	A long-ranged split-kick. A fast and useful move; however, the lag at the end of the move leaves him vulnerable.	14%
Falco	A short-ranged split kick. Can semi-spike occasionally while edgeguarding if hits with his front foot's heel. Less end lag than Fox's, making it less punishable. A good move to use as punishing a dodged or shielded attack.	15%
Wolf	Claws on either side of himself at blinding speeds. Arguably Wolf's best ground KOer. It is the best down smash of the space animals.	14% front, 13% back.
Captain Falcon	Kicks powerfully forward, then swings his leg behind him to kick again. Laggy, but good knockback and somewhat useful range.	18% front, 16% back.
Pikachu	Spins around while emitting blasts of sparks from its body. Multiple hitboxes are able to pull in opponents very easily. Short range, and a good damage racker. If DI'd out of, it becomes a semi-spike.	15% if all hits connect.
Squirtle	Spins around quickly in its shell. Poor range.	11%.
Ivysaur	Whips its two vines on either side of itself for moderate horizontal knockback. Very punishable ending lag.	8%
Charizard	Leaps up a small distance, then crashes down quickly. Causes an earthquake that pushes opponents away.	16%
Lucario	Pulls hands apart quickly on either side with aura imbued at the tips. Powerful, but some start-up lag.	Does 10% at minimum power, 20% at max power.
Jigglypuff	A split kick similar to Kirby's and Fox's down smash. It is always a semi-spike.	12%
Marth	Slashes in front, then the back. High vertical knockback if tippered, but its long duration makes it a seldom-used move.	At the front, it does 14% untipped and 17% when tipped. At the back, it does 13% untipped and 16% when tipped.
Ike	Does an odd performance 180 degree wrist turning sword swing on either side of himself. His fastest ground attack.	Does 13% in front, 16% in the back.
Ness	Does a "walk the dog" trick with his yo-yo. Hits behind, then in front with his yo-yo. Can damage while charging, but charging does not increase damage or knockback of the move on release.	4% charging, 13% following hit.
Lucas	Blasts a huge amount of PSI hexagons at his feet, but only on one side. Can still hit people behind him that are close enough, similar to Falco's side smash. Great knockback and range, but huge start-up and ending lag. Can be a semi-spike. Strongest in the game if all hexagons hit and fully charged.	Three hits of 17%, 14%, then 11%, up to 58% fully charged.
Mr. Game & Watch	Swings two mallets down on either side of himself. Great vertical knockback. A good semi-spike if not tippered, and comes out faster than most attacks.	Deals 13% when the handles (sourspot) hit. When the tip (sweetspot) hits, it deals 15%
Snake	Plants a motion-sensing mine in the ground. Detonates if contacted by another hitbox or hurtbox. Only one can be planted at a time, and if the platform the one was on disappears, the mine blows up when it lands on the ground. The longer this attack is charged, the more transparent the mine becomes and the more damage it will cause upon explosion.	14%
Sonic	Darts forwards and backwards very fast in his spinball mode. Some start-up lag, but decent power.	12%

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Missing SSB4 fighters

Types

• Sweeping: The character attacks one side of their body, then another. Best used to punish after a spotdodge.
• One-sided: The character attacks only hits the frontside.
• Simultaneous: The character hits to both sides of his/her body at the same time.

Fighter
Bowser		Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Bowser Jr.				Simultaneous
Captain Falcon	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Charizard			Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Dark Pit				Sweeping
Diddy Kong			Sweeping	Sweeping
Donkey Kong	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Dr. Mario		Sweeping		Sweeping
Duck Hunt				Sweeping
Falco		Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Fox	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Ganondorf		Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Greninja				Simultaneous
Ice Climbers		Sweeping	Sweeping
Ike			Sweeping	Sweeping
Ivysaur			Simultaneous
Jigglypuff	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
King Dedede			Sweeping	Sweeping
Kirby	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Link	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Little Mac				Sweeping
Lucario			Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Lucas			One-sided	One-sided
Lucina				Sweeping
Luigi	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Mario	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Marth		Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Mega Man				Simultaneous
Meta Knight			Sweeping	Sweeping
Mewtwo		One-sided		One-sided
Mii Brawler				Simultaneous
Mii Gunner				Sweeping
Mii Swordfighter				Sweeping
Mr. Game & Watch		Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Ness	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Olimar			Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Pac-Man				Simultaneous
Palutena				Simultaneous
Peach		Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Pichu		Simultaneous
Pikachu	Sweeping	Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Pit			Sweeping	Sweeping
R.O.B.			Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Robin (Levin Sword)				Simultaneous
Robin (Bronze Sword)				One-sided
Rosalina				Sweeping
Roy		Sweeping
Samus	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Sheik		Simultaneous	Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Shulk				Sweeping
Snake			Special
Sonic			Sweeping	Simultaneous
Squirtle			Simultaneous
Toon Link			Sweeping	Sweeping
Villager				Sweeping
Wario			Simultaneous	Simultaneous
Wii Fit Trainer				Simultaneous
Wolf			Sweeping
Yoshi	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Young Link		Sweeping
Zelda		Sweeping	Sweeping	Sweeping
Zero Suit Samus			One-sided	One-sided

Notable down smashes

Peach's down smash in Melee.

• Peach's down smash in Melee is arguably the most feared of all smashes due to its knockback, quick start up, and extremely high damage. It deals very high knockback all-around, sends opponents on a semi-spike trajectory, and if its multiple hits land (usually caused by the opponent crouch cancelling), it can theoretically deal as much as <span class="explain" title="% when fully charged">64.96%%. The move was severely nerfed in Brawl, and became near useless outside of interrupting attacks.
• Mewtwo's down smash is the only down smash in Melee that does not cover both the front and rear of the user.
• Snake's down smash allows him to plant a mine, which does no damage unless stepped on (this includes Snake), and is deactivated when he plants another or is KO'd. If for any reason the mine falls from the platform it was on, it detonates on impact with anything.
• Zelda's down smash is the fastest down smash in both Melee and Brawl.
• Zero Suit Samus's down smash only hits the area in front of her, and deals very little knockback, but paralyzes whoever is hit by it, opening up a chance for a follow up attack and guaranteeing a KO at high percentages. The knockback is overridden by any other knockback during the stun.
• Ness's down smash in Melee and Brawl has unique properties when charged. Rather than at the beginning of the attack, it is charged up in the middle of the attack, but only if Ness' yo-yo comes to rest on a flat surface. Charging the smash does not increase damage or knockback, but opponents can be damaged while the move is charging.
• Lucas's down smash only reaches a very short distance behind him; characters must be almost touching him to be struck by the rear hitbox. Because of this, it is considered to be one-sided.
• The first hit of Ganondorf's, Toon Link's and Mii Gunner's down smashes purposely knock opponents into the second hit.
• Villager is the only fighter to have a down smash that can never KO under any circumstances when grounded, as it only buries opponents on hit.

See also

• Down smash/Knockback chart
• Forward smash
• Up smash