Back aerial

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it.

File:BA.jpg

Wolf's back aerial.

The back aerial attack (abbreviated as "bair", "BAir", or "ABA") is an aerial attack that is performed in midair by pressing the attack button and tilting the control stick or d-pad in the direction opposite to which the character is facing. Its official term varies between titles, where it is known as a "back midair attack" in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a "back air attack" in Brawl. The majority of these attacks are kicks.

List of back aerials in Super Smash Bros.

In general, back aerial attacks in Super Smash Bros. are slow but with good range and good knockback. All except Link's are one-hit moves:

• Pikachu: Kicks the opponent behind him. Good range, usually used either to combo or to edgeguard. 16% damage.
• Kirby: Kicks opponent with both feet. The best example of a wall of pain move of SSB, good damage + good for combos, great edgeguard tool. 16% damage.
• Yoshi: Kicks opponent with both feet. Yoshi's overall slowest DJC aerial, good after up tilts, leads into other DJC aerials. 16% damage.
• Samus: Raises her foot and then thrusts it behind her. Samus's overall best move. Huge range and power and Samus's main KOing/spacing move. 14% damage.
• Donkey Kong: Kicks opponent with both feet. Too slow to be overly useful, but good for comboing against wall. 15% damage.
• Link: Kicks feet behind him one at a time. Very quick move usually used for combos, more of a backwards double kick. Good in almost all circumstances and overall Link's most useful aerial for comboing. 15% if both hits connect.
• Luigi: Kicks opponent with both feet. Good range but slow, think Mario's but with more range and less speed. 6%
• Mario: Similar to Luigi's. Good KOing move, think Luigi's but with less range and more speed. 7%
• Jigglypuff: Kicks opponent with one foot. An overall good move if it had more range, very quick, low power, virtually useless at low percents, can combo into itself at mid-percents.7%
• Fox: Kicks opponent with one foot. Yet another good aerial for fox, good for edgeguarding Falcon's and Samus's among others.9%
• Captain Falcon: Punches backward with one hand. More of an advanced comboing move compared to his other aerials, more difficult to use in combos but overall better than up aerial against floaty characters. 16% damage.
• Ness: Kicks opponent with both feet. 16% damage.

List of back aerials in Super Smash Bros. Melee

• Bowser: Throws his back out, extending the spikes on his shell. This does 13% at outset and can semi-spike. A good bit of ending lag if not l-canceled. This attack may be used as a edge-guard, though risky.
• Captain Falcon: A backhand behind him, doing 14% damage.
• Donkey Kong: Does a back kick like Mario, except with one foot. This does 13% at the start.
• Dr. Mario: A short-duration back kick, dealing 7-8%. Can semi-spike.
• Falco: A back kick, similar in appearance to Donkey Kong's, dealing 15% at the start. This is considered a sex kick.
• Fox: Similar to Falco's, a back kick dealing 15% initially.
• Ganondorf: Similar to Captain Falcon's except it has consistent power throughout, doing 16%.
• Ice Climbers: Both climbers swing their hammers behind them. When both climbers are present, this does 22-23% altogether.
• Jigglypuff: A spinning back kick, similar to Samus. This does 12%, and is a necessity for the Wall of Pain.
• Kirby: A basic backwards kick dealing 14% damage at outset. Used for Fence of Pain.
• Link: Does a spinning double kick, inflicting 13% in total, though it is weak.
• Luigi: A short-duration back kick that has consistent power throughout. 11%.
• Mario: Similar to Dr. Mario's, except it does 11% at outset.
• Marth: A reverse aerial sword swipe. Deals 13% at the tip, 10% at the base. This move turns Marth around in the air.
• Mewtwo: Lashes its tail behind it. Inflicts up to 13%, depending on the distance from the opponent.
• Mr. Game & Watch: Holds out a turtle behind him, hitting several times. Does up to 18% with meager power. However, this attack cannot be L-canceled.
• Ness: A back kick dealing electricity damage. The initial frames inflict 16% with good power; any later than that will inflict 10% with not-so-good power.
• Peach: Swings out her hip for 14% damage at the start. Can be used as a KO move.
• Pichu: Spins with its entire body horizontal. Deals 9% throughout the attack.
• Pikachu: Spins like a frisbee dealing 12%. Some landing lag if not L-canceled.
• Roy: Similar to Marth's, except weaker, doing 8-9%. This attack turns Roy around in midair.
• Samus: Does a spinning back kick. If the attack lands at her foot, it does 14% with good power; otherwise, it deals 10% with not-so-good power.
• Sheik: A simple back kick. Landing the foot hit-box deals 14%; closer to the body does 8-10%.
• Yoshi: Wags his tail several times behind him. Maximum 20%.
• Young Link: Similar to Link's, where he does a double spin kick for 13% in total, though like Link's version it's also a weak air attack.
• Zelda: Does the powerful Lightning Kick behind her. This does 20% when the sweetspot lands. This is a bit faster than her fair thunder kick.

List of back air attacks in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• Mario: A twizzle-kick of sorts, he kicks behind himself with both feet and spins. 12% clean, 7% late.
• Luigi: The same as Mario's with longer range. 12% clean, 8% late.
• Peach: Bashes her bottom backwards. One of her few KO moves. 13-14% clean, 7% late. Deals 20-21% damage if she performs Float double aerial, but it is difficult to land both hits at high percentage.
• Bowser: Forces his shell backwards. 15% clean, 7% late.
• Donkey Kong: A simple backwards kick. Moderately long duration, great range and powerful. 13% clean, 8% late.
• Diddy Kong: A fast turnaround motion with his leg stuck out. 9%
• Yoshi: Flips his tail up and down. Lots of damage given if all hits connect. 14%
• Wario: Falls over in the air. Can be used to fly as Wario-Man. 10%
• Link: Two backward kicks. Very fast. Relatively weak, but can combo into other moves if Link lands immediately after landing the first hit. 11% if both hits connect.
• Zelda: Lightning Kick. She jabs her heel behind her giving an extremely powerful initial, electricity-imbued attack for the first hitbox is sweetspotted. The second hitbox is very weak. 20% if sweetspotted. 4% when sourspotted.
• Sheik: Extends her leg backward very fast, the hitbox stays out long. The sweetspot is on her foot. One of her few KO moves.11% in few frames. 6% during the rest.
• Ganondorf: Punches backward. Very similar to Captain Falcon's, but instead of having a long duration it has a large hitbox with a large sweetspot but fairly long landing lag. 16% damage.
• Toon Link: Slashes backwards with his sword. Can chain into itself at low percents and can also KO at higher percents. 10% damage.
• Samus: A backward kick. The sweetspot is on her foot, otherwise it's weak. 14% if sweetspotted. 10% if sourspotted.
• Zero Suit Samus: Identical to Samus', but slightly faster and stronger in terms of knockback. 13%.
• Pit: Jabs his swords backwards. Good knockback, but hard to sweetspot. 15% damage.
• Ice Climbers: Spin around with hammers slightly extended. Deceptively powerful. 8-19%
• R.O.B.: Pushes boosters behind himself. Propels him forward and deals decent knockback. 11%.
• Kirby: Extends both feet backwards. Used for Fence of Pain. Often considered the best move in Kirby's arsenal. 12% first frames. 9% later frames.
• King Dedede: Similar to Kirby's, but with one foot. It has a large hitbox, with disjoint during the first frames of the move. Generally considered on of the best back aerials in the game. 13%. 9% subsequent hitbox.
• Meta Knight: Slashes three times behind himself very quickly, slightly slower/more powerful than his forward aerial, which has the same properties. 10% if all hit connects.
• Olimar: Swings a Pikmin backward. Red: 13%, Blue: 13%, Yellow: 12%, White: 5%, Purple: 13%.
• Fox: A standard kick, Fox spins with his leg outstretched. It has some ending lag in the air that but can be used as a KO move. 15%.
• Falco: Kicks backwards similar to fox but with less knockback. 13% otherwise 9%.
• Wolf: Jams his leg backwards with a deceiving range. Short duration but very fast and powerful. 13% when sweetspotted, 11% when the middle hitbox connects, and 9% when sourspotted.
• Captain Falcon: Punches behind himself. 14% damage.
• Pikachu: Spins around for multiple hits. 11% if all hit connects.
• Squirtle: Does an attack similar to Mario's. 10% first frame, 6% after the first frame.
• Ivysaur: Spins around with vines extended. Low damage and very low knockback, but excellent range. 5% damage.
• Charizard: Spins around surprisingly quickly with tail extended and wings slightly extended. 2 possible hits, one with wings and one with tail. Decent knockback on tail hit, wing hit will always link into tail hit. Has a sweetspot on the fire, but it's hard to sweetspot as it has a small size. 7% damage. 16% when hit with all attacks and sweetspotted.
• Lucario: Punches backwards. Aura extends from palm. 8% at minimum power and 16% at maximum power.
• Jigglypuff: Spins around with foot extended to about twice its regular size. Used for the wall of pain. 12% damage.
• Marth: Similar to Toon Link's in animation, Marth thrusts his sword upwards. However, this attack is notable because it turns him around. When tipped, this attack can KO around 150%. 11% at the base, 14% at tip.
• Ike: A quick spin with sword extended. Powerful, can be auto canceled in short hops (it misses against smaller characters and very fast start-up but it has a very long cooldown like all of his aerials and moveset in general. 14% damage.
• Ness: Plugs backwards with both heels. Initial hitbox quite powerful with electrical properties, second hitbox fairly weak, although buffed from Melee. It is a very powerful move. 15% sweetspotted, 8% normal.
• Lucas: Flips and hooks his foot downward. Can meteor smash at a certain angle (on the tip of Lucas's foot). Can KO at low percentages. 10% if sourspotted, 7% during last frames, 12% if sweetspotted.
• Mr. Game and Watch: Snapping turtle, hits multiple times with good range, however it can be SDIed out of and be punished before the move has ended. Eats through shields. Last hit can be powershielded, but is very difficult to perform. 15% if all hits connect.
• Snake: Kicks backward with both feet, body becomes horizontal. Large duration and high knockback (although it deals the same damage, his body has slightly more knockback than his legs), but has a fairly long cooldown and 30 frames landing lag. Doesn't auto cancel in short hops. Large range and disjointed hitbox. 14%. Does 16% when sweetspotted. 10% if the later hitbox is landed.
• Sonic: Similar to Diddy Kong's, he spins around with his foot extended. One of his few KO moves. 13% damage.

Notable back aerials

• Jigglypuff's back aerial in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl, used for the highly effective "wall of pain".
• R.O.B.'s back aerial propels him forward.
• Peach's back aerial has almost no landing lag if not in the midair.
• Kirby's back aerial in Melee, an attack similar to Jigglypuff's back aerial but instead has almost no start-up lag. The move is dubbed the "fence of pain".
• Marth and Roy's back aerials allow them to turn around while still in midair. These are the only aerials able to do so in the Super Smash Bros series.
• Dr. Mario's back aerial is a semi-spike with high base knockback, making it effective for edgeguarding.
• Ness and Zelda's back aerials in Melee, are powerful semi-spikes. Zelda's back aerial semi-spike can only be achieved from a hit with the sweetspot at her toe, while Ness's has to be hit in the intial frames to be powerful.
• Toon Link's quick back aerial, with minimal knockback in Brawl. The move is effective for positioning the opponent for an immediate down aerial.
• Pikachu's back aerial has extremely short range but the hitbox surrounds Pikachu.
• Mr. Game & Watch's back aerial is the feared Turtle, a disjointed five-hit combo.
• Lucas's back aerial is the only one in the entire series to meteor smash.
• Samus's back aerial in Melee, one of her combo moves, which, when sweetspotted, is a very powerful low-percent killer, and when not sweetspotted, is a wall of pain on some fast and medium fallers.