In the sticker system used by Super Smash Bros. Brawl, some attacks are coded as being indirect (stickers display them as Specials: Indirect in NTSC and Indirect in PAL). Generally this indicates that an attack is a projectile or is similarly long-ranged and not involving hand-to-hand contact; despite the name, they do not have to be part of a special move.

The main effect of indirect attacks is that most enemies in The Subspace Emissary resist them to a small degree. This is presumed to encourage close-range combat as opposed to camping and turtling to defeat enemies in the mode. The only enemies to not resist them are Floows and the bosses Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Porky, Meta Ridley, and Tabuu. Indirect attacks also affect certain items: Uniras are not moved or dislodged by indirect attacks, and Metal Boxes do not activate when struck by one.

List of indirect attacks by charactersEdit

Character Attack Notes
Banjo & Kazooie Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster
Shock Spring Jump aerial version, falling pad
Rear Egg
Bayonetta Bullet Arts
Bullet Climax
forward smash
up smash
down smash
Bowser Fire Breath
Bowser Jr. Clown Cannon
Abandon Ship! clown car, explosion
Mechakoopa
Shadow Mario Paint
Byleth neutral aerial landing
Failnaught
Aymr shockwave
Captain Falcon  down smash hit 1 interior
Charizard  forward aerial
Flamethrower
  Rock Smash fragments
 Mega Charizard X Dragon Rush and Fire Blast
Chrom Awakening Aether
Cloud Blade Beam
Omnislash for the normal version, every hit except the final aerial slash and landing; for Ver. 5 , only the dash and initial hit
Corrin Dragon Fang Shot water ball
Dragon Ascent surrounding water when initiating the move
Daisy Vegetable
Dark Pit Silver Bow
Guardian Orbitars
 Dark Pit Staff
Dark Samus Charge Shot
Missile both types
Bomb
Phazon Laser except arm cannon at start
Diddy Kong Peanut Popgun peanut, thrown
Rocketbarrel Boost hit 1, loose barrels
  Rocketbarrel Barrage ram
  Banana Peel
 Hyper Rocketbarrel
Donkey Kong   Hand Slap only the grounded version 
  Konga Beat
Dr. Mario  forward smash electricity
Megavitamins
Doctor Finale
Duck Hunt Trick Shot
Clay Shooting
Wild Gunman
Falco   neutral attack infinite end wind
Blaster
 Phantasm
  Landmaster shot
Fox   neutral attack infinite end wind
Blaster
 Illusion
  Landmaster shot
Giga Bowser Fire Breath
Greninja Water Shuriken
Hydro Pump
Secret Ninja Attack mat
Hero Frizz / Frizzle / Kafrizz
Zap / Zapple / Kazap for Zap, with sufficient mp only: every hit except last, lightning pillar; for Zapple: every hit except last, lightning pillar; for Kazap: bolt projectile, initial shock, shockwave
Woosh / Swoosh / Kaswoosh
Command Selection Sizz, Sizzle, Bang, Kaboom, Whack, Thwack, Magic Burst, Kamikazee
Ice Climbers Ice Shot
Blizzard
Inkling Splattershot
Super Jump start, landing
Splat Bomb
Killer Wail
Isabelle dash attack
forward aerial
back aerial
Lloid Trap
Ivysaur Bullet Seed seeds
Razor Leaf
Joker Gun / Gun Special
Eiha / Eigaon
Kazuya Devil Blaster
Final Blaster
Ken Hadoken
Shippu Jinraikyaku / Shinryuken only the Shippu Jinraikyaku version, first six kicks
King Dedede Inhale spit star
 Waddle Dee Toss
Super Dedede Jump stars
 Waddle Dee Army wind
  Gordo Throw bouncing gordo
 Dedede Burst
King K. Rool Blunderbuss
Crownerang
Kirby Inhale spit star
   Final Cutter wave
 Ultra Sword
copy abilities any neutral special that is indirect
Link   Hero's Bow
  Gale Boomerang
   Bomb
 Triforce Slash
 forward smash sword beam
  Bow and Arrows
  Boomerang
 Remote Bomb
 Ancient Bow and Arrow
 Hookshot
Little Mac  Giga Mac Rush
Lucario   neutral attack tip
  down smash front interior
 forward smash tip
Aura Sphere not charging  
  Aura Storm beam
Lucas   up smash
  down smash
PK Freeze
PK Fire
PK Thunder thunder projectile
PSI Magnet end
PK Starstorm
Lucina up smash sides
Luigi Fireball
 grab aerial
Mario    forward smash fire
Fireball
F.L.U.D.D.
Mario Finale
Marth up smash sides
Mega Man neutral attack pellets
forward tilt
forward smash
neutral aerial pellets
up aerial
down aerial
Metal Blade
Crash Bomber
Leaf Shield
Mega Legends black hole bomb explosion
Mewtwo  forward smash tipper
 up smash
 down smash
Shadow Ball
 Disable Disable cannot actually hit items in Melee, so it's indirectness is irrelevant
Mii Brawler Shot Put
Mii Gunner forward aerial
 back aerial
up aerial
Charge Blast
Flame Pillar
Lunar Launch
Laser Blaze
Stealth Burst
Bomb Drop
Grenade Launch
Gunner Missile
Absorbing Vortex
Full Blast
Mii Swordfighter Gale Strike
Shuriken of Light
Chakram
Min Min forward smash dragon laser
forward aerial smash version, dragon laser
back aerial smash version, dragon laser
Punch (neutral special) grounded Ramram (ring)
Punch (side special) Ramram (ring, both tilt and smash versions) and Dragon (laser)
Mr. Game & Watch  neutral attack end
Chef food
 forward aerial bomb
 up aerial
Mythra Ray of Punishment / Chroma Dust light projectiles
Sacred Arrow falling arrows and beam
Ness  dash attack every hitbox except largest one, ID2 of first hit
PK Flash
PK Fire
PK Thunder thunder projectile
PSI Magnet end wind
PK Starstorm
Olimar up smash
down smash
Pikmin Throw Purple, SSE
forward smash
Pac-Man Bonus Fruit
Fire Hydrant
Palutena forward smash outer windbox
down smash outer windboxes
 up smash
Autoreticle
Explosive Flame
Black Hole Laser
Peach   Toad
Vegetable
Pichu Thunder Jolt
Thunder bolt
Pikachu Thunder Jolt
Thunder bolt
Piranha Plant Ptooie
Poison Breath poison cloud
Pit  Palutena's Arrow
 Palutena's Army
  Palutena Bow
  Guardian Orbitars
 Three Sacred Treasures
Pokémon Trainer Triple Finish
Pyra Blazing End spinning aegis sword
Prominence Revolt flame pillar
Burning Sword flame pillar
R.O.B.   up smash
  forward smash
  neutral aerial
  back aerial
  down aerial
Robo Beam
Gyro
 Diffusion Beam
 Super Diffusion Beam
 Guided Robo Beam
Richter Axe
Cross
Holy Water
Ridley Plasma Breath
Robin up smash with levin sword, sides
down smash with levin sword, shockwave
Thunder
Arcfire
Elwind
 Nosferatu when it catches an opponent
discarded levin sword and tomes
Rosalina & Luma Star Bits
 Power Star
 Grand Star
Roy Critical Hit
Ryu Hadoken also applies to Shakunetsu Hadoken
Shin Shoryuken / Shinku Hadoken for Shin Shoryuken, only the first hit
Samus Charge Shot
Missile both types
Bomb
Zero Laser except arm cannon at start
 Grapple Beam
Sephiroth Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare
Shadow Flare
Scintilla
Sheik  neutral attack infinite end wind
Needle Storm
  Light Arrow hit 1
  Burst Grenade
 Sheikah Dance dash
Simon Axe
Cross
Holy Water
Snake up smash only mortar shot when not exploding 
 down smash
 forward smash
Hand Grenade
Remote Missile
Cypher
C4
 Grenade Launcher
taunt
Sonic Spring Jump falling spring
Sora up tilt low first hit
up smash low first hit
Magic all three spells
Sealing the Keyhole
Squirtle  up smash
Water Gun charged only 
Steve down tilt
up smash
down smash
down aerial
Minecart
TNT
Terry Power Wave both ground and aerial versions
Triple Wolf
Power Geyser
Toon Link Hero's Bow
Boomerang
Bomb
  Triforce Slash
Villager dash attack
forward smash
 up smash firework
forward aerial
back aerial
Lloid Rocket
Timber watering can , tree, woodchip
Wario  forward smash front
Chomp bite, explosion
Wario Bike thrown, tires
Wario-Man up smash wind
forward smash front
Chomp bite, explosion
Wario Bike thrown, tires
Wii Fit Trainer Sun Salutation
Header soccer ball
Wii Fit
Wolf Blaster laser
 Wolf Flash during
 Landmaster shot
Yoshi Egg Throw
Yoshi Bomb stars
  Super Dragon fire breath, fireball
Young Link Fire Arrow
Boomerang
Bomb
Triforce Slash
 Hookshot
Zelda   up aerial
Din's Fire
  Light Arrow hit 1
  Phantom Slash only the dash 
Zero Suit Samus down smash
  up smash hit 1, whip hits 2-6
 forward smash whip
  neutral aerial
Paralyzer
  Plasma Whip all but grounded hit 1
 Plasma Wire
 Power Suit Samus all but final hit
 armour pieces
 Gunship
 Zero Laser every hit except the final blast

List of indirect attacks by itemsEdit

All items, with the exception of battering items when swung and the Screw Attack, are indirect.