Great Aether

Template:Infobox Final Smash Great Aether is Ike's Final Smash. It was described by the DOJO!! as a more powerful version of his Aether. Ike becomes invincible and swings his sword in front of him and anybody who he hits is sent upward. He then leaps into the air, slashes the character(s) seven times with his sword aflame, kicks him/them twice, slashes him/them four more times, and knocks them downward with a powerful finishing blow, similar to Link's Triforce Slash. Upon impact with the ground, a large explosion knocks away the trapped character(s) and any character that happens to be too close.

The attack does about 64%-74% damage (52%-62% from the attack, 12% in the explosion), and is one of the most damaging Final Smashes in the game. Because the knock back from the explosion is vertical, enemies may not die immediately due to the high blast lines on some stages. In most cases, however, the move does provide significant knock back to launch enemies off the screen. Multiple enemies can be picked up in this attack and, although Ike is invincible during this move, Ike's victims can be attacked by other players along the way down. The full height that the move elevates to the highest point of the stage and particularly stays to the center. On 75m it is an automatic KO because the enemy is brought up to the top platform, very close to the stage boundary. On Pirate Ship it can also OHKO, but only on Jigglypuff. It will also OHKO in the World 1-2 Version of The Mushroomy Kingdom.

At the beginning and middle of the move, Ike yells "Great...AETHERRRR!!" (in the Japanese version, he shouts, "DAI...TEN...KUU!" which can be roughly translated to Great Aether). Due to the fact that Ike moves to the center of the stage when this move activates, on some created stages the downswing can be somewhat of a Sacrificial KO. As with a standard Aether, Ike tosses his sword up into the air, and jumps after it, before attacking his foe in mid-air.

CPU opponents tend to get hit by this move, even if not caught in the initiation. When they try to "add to the woes" of one caught in the move (as Sakurai suggested at DOJO) they don't understand to get out of the way, when Ike plummets down, and get caught in the explosion.

Trophy Description

Ike's Final Smash--a powered-up version of his signature move, Aether. Ike faces a foe and swings his sword up for a hit, then tosses his sword into the air, performs multiple nasty strikes, and finally unleashes a mighty overhand blow to send his opponent plummeting down. It's a very impressive sight, but if Ike misses with the first upward swing, he can't use the move.

Origin

Oddly enough, this move has never been seen before in the Fire Emblem series. It is possibly a reference to a recurring event in Ike's games known as the "Trial of the Blue Flame", where the goddess of order would be awakened and purge the world of life. However, the flame in Great Aether is regular flame, not blue.

Or it could be a reference to the final blow given to Ashera at the end of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, where Ike uses Yune's Power.

Trivia

• Interesting to note, when Ike first appears in the Subspace Emissary, he uses a regular Aether on the Ancient Minister, but he yells out "Great Aether". Maybe because the voice of the final smash sound more heroic, as the way he appears.
• Ike's Final Smash can be cancelled, as could Toon Link's Triforce Slash by attacking at the right time.
• Mr. Game and Watch can use his up aerial to make those trapped escape the hits of Great Aether by pumping the trapped upwards. This also happens if a Pokéball with Latias and Latios is sent out right before the Final Smash is activated.
• Ike can kill both his victims AND himself when using his final smash. This is done by using it on a custom stage that has a gap in the center.
• There is a glitch that can be done when fighting Ice Climbers. When having the Final Smash without being activated and fighting Ice Climbers with high damage gauge, he can grab the leading Ice Climber and throw him out of the stage (or by some other ways, but the important thing here is to kill the leading Ice Climber first), and then quickly unleash the Great Aether on the second Ice Climber. The previously KO of the leading IC will cause the second to disappear, but Ike will still use the Great Aether, resulting in Ike slashing and hitting the air with the Great Aether.
• If Kyogre is sent out from a Pokéball during Great Aether, it can push the victims out of it with Hydro Pump.
• On Spear Pillar and Norfair, Great Aether can result in a 300% damage instant KO. On the former stage, using it when the beam of light is firing down the center will achieve this effect; on the latter, one needs to wait till the wall of lava reaches halfway across the stage to unleash the technique.

External Links

Great Aether

Confirmation