Down special move

Stone, Kirby's down special move in all four Super Smash Bros. games.

The down special move (commonly referred to as down B) is a special move performed by pressing the special move button while holding the control stick downwards.

Down specials are the most varied of special moves and are often of the character's more "gimmicky" attacks - the majority of reflectors, absorbers, counterattacks, item-creating moves, mid-match character transformations, difficult recoveries and chargeable attacks are down specials. They tend to involve minimal character movement.

Certain down specials do not function in the air at all, such as Peach's Vegetable and Donkey Kong's Hand Slap prior to SSB4. Others will display unique animations in the air but still fail to activate, like the first part of Villager's Timber.

Reverse down special

In Brawl, some characters' down special moves can be reversed by pushing the control stick or D-pad in the opposite direction a few frames after inputting the move. There is no animation for reversing a down special. Unlike other reverse specials, a reverse down special has a limited number of characters that can do it and fewer who will gain an advantage from it. The characters who can perform it are: Bowser, Yoshi, Pit, Ice Climbers, R.O.B., Pikachu, Marth, Ike, Ness, Lucas, Fox, Wolf, and Mr. Game and Watch. Since only Bowser, R.O.B., and Yoshi have a use for a reverse down special on the ground, some characters can use it in the air to gain a boost in the opposite direction and surprise opponents like Marth, Ike and Pikachu. The boost is most likely caused from a reverse down special having no animation and swaps the momentum around with the character.

List of down special moves

Character	Down Special Move	Custom Special Moves
Bayonetta	Witch Time	N/A
Bowser	Bowser Bomb	Custom 1: Turbulent Bomb
		Custom 2: Slip Bomb
Bowser Jr.	Mechakoopa	Custom 1: Impatient Mechakoopa
		Custom 2: Big Mechakoopa
Captain Falcon	Falcon Kick	Custom 1: Falcon Kick Fury
		Custom 2: Lightning Falcon Kick
Charizard	Rock Smash	Custom 1: Sinking Skull
		Custom 2: Rock Hurl
Chrom	Counter	N/A
Cloud	Limit Charge/Finishing Touch	N/A
Corrin	Counter Surge	N/A
Daisy	Vegetable	N/A
Dark Pit	Guardian Orbitars	Custom 1: Impact Orbitars
		Custom 2: Amplifying Orbitars
Dark Samus	Bomb	N/A
Diddy Kong	Banana Peel	Custom 1: Shocking Banana Peel
		Custom 2: Battering Banana Peel
Donkey Kong	Hand Slap	Custom 1: Focused Slap
		Custom 2: Hot Slap
Dr. Mario	Dr. Tornado	Custom 1: Soaring Tornado
		Custom 2: Clothesline Tornado
Duck Hunt	Wild Gunman	Custom 1: Quick Draw Aces
		Custom 2: Mega Gunman
Falco	Reflector	Custom 1: Accele-Reflector
		Custom 2: Reflector Void
Fox	Reflector	Custom 1: Big Reflector
		Custom 2: Amplifying Reflector
Ganondorf	Wizard's Foot	Custom 1: Wizard's Dropkick
		Custom 2: Wizard's Assault
Greninja	Substitute	Custom 1: Exploding Attack
		Custom 2: Substitute Ambush
Ice Climbers	Blizzard	N/A
Ike	Counter	Custom 1: Paralyzing Counter
		Custom 2: Smash Counter
Inkling	Splat Bomb	N/A
Jigglypuff	Rest	Custom 1: Leaping Rest
		Custom 2: Wakie Wakie
King Dedede	Jet Hammer	Custom 1: Armored Jet Hammer
		Custom 2: Dash Jet Hammer
King K. Rool	Stomach Attack	N/A
Kirby	Stone	Custom 1: Grounding Stone
		Custom 2: Meteor Stone
Link	Bomb	Custom 1: Giant Bomb
		Custom 2: Meteor Bomb
	Remote Bomb Rune	N/A
Little Mac	Slip Counter	Custom 1: Compact Counter
		Custom 2: Dash Counter
Lucario	Double Team	Custom 1: Glancing Double Team
		Custom 2: Stunning Double Team
Lucas	PSI Magnet	N/A
Lucina	Counter	Custom 1: Easy Counter
		Custom 2: Iai Counter
Luigi	Luigi Cyclone	Custom 1: Mach Cyclone
		Custom 2: Clothesline Cyclone
Mario	Mario Tornado	N/A
	F.L.U.D.D.	Custom 1: Scalding F.L.U.D.D.
		Custom 2: High-Pressure F.L.U.D.D.
Marth	Counter	Custom 1: Easy Counter
		Custom 2: Iai Counter
Mega Man	Leaf Shield	Custom 1: Skull Barrier
		Custom 2: Plant Barrier
Meta Knight	Dimensional Cape	Custom 1: Shield Piercer
		Custom 2: Stealth Smasher
Mewtwo	Disable	N/A
Mii Brawler	Head-On Assault	Custom 2: Feint Jump
		Custom 3: Foot Flurry
Mii Gunner	Echo Reflector	Custom 2: Bomb Drop
		Custom 3: Absorbing Vortex
Mii Swordfighter	Blade Counter	Custom 2: Reversal Slash
		Custom 3: Power Thrust
Mr. Game & Watch	Oil Panic	Custom 1: Efficient Panic
		Custom 2: Panic Overload
Ness	PSI Magnet	Custom 1: PSI Vacuum
		Custom 2: Forward PSI Magnet
Olimar	Pikmin Order	Custom 1: Order Tackle
		Custom 2: Dizzy Whistle
Pac-Man	Fire Hydrant	Custom 1: On-Fire Hydrant
		Custom 2: Dire Hydrant
Palutena	Counter	Custom 1: Lightweight
		Custom 2: Celestial Firework
	Counter/Reflect Barrier	N/A
Peach	Vegetable	Custom 1: Light Veggie
		Custom 2: Heavy Veggie
Pichu	Thunder	N/A
Pikachu		Custom 1: Thunder Burst
		Custom 2: Distant Thunder
Pit	Mirror Shield	N/A
	Guardian Orbitars	Custom 1: Impact Orbitars
		Custom 2: Amplifying Orbitars
Pokémon Trainer	Pokémon Change	N/A
Richter	Holy Water	N/A
Ridley	unnamed	N/A
R.O.B.	Gyro	Custom 1: Fire Gyro
		Custom 2: Slip Gyro
Robin	Nosferatu	Custom 1: Distant Nosferatu
		Custom 2: Goetia
Rosalina	Gravitational Pull	Custom 1: Catch & Release
		Custom 2: Guardian Luma
Roy	Counter	N/A
Ryu	Focus Attack	N/A
Samus	Bomb	Custom 1: Slip Bomb
		Custom 2: Mega Bomb
Sheik	Transform	N/A
	Bouncing Fish	Custom 1: Jellyfish
		Custom 2: Pisces
Shulk	Vision	Custom 1: Dash Vision
		Custom 2: Power Vision
Simon	Holy Water	N/A
Snake	C4	N/A
Sonic	Spin Charge	Custom 1: Auto-Spin Charge
		Custom 2: Gravitational Charge
Toon Link	Bomb	Custom 1: Time Bomb
		Custom 2: Short-Fuse Bomb
Villager	Timber	Custom 1: Timber Counter
		Custom 2: Super Timber
Wario	Wario Waft	Custom 1: Rose-Scented Waft
		Custom 2: Quick Waft
Wii Fit Trainer	Deep Breathing	Custom 1: Volatile Breathing
		Custom 2: Steady Breathing
Wolf	Reflector	N/A
Yoshi	Yoshi Bomb	Custom 1: Star Bomb
		Custom 2: Crushing Bomb
Young Link	Bomb	N/A
Zelda	Transform	N/A
	Phantom Slash	Custom 1: Phantom Breaker
		Custom 2: Phantom Strike
Zero Suit Samus	Flip Jump	Custom 1: Shooting Star Flip Kick
		Custom 2: Low Flip