Kirby successfully avoiding a Teal Coupe in Onett with his sidestep.

Intangibility is a state in which characters will not be hit by attacks. This is different from invincibility because, instead of attacks' damage and knockback simply being canceled, it won't hit at all. For example, a projectile will travel right through them. Intangibility is often attributed to dodges, techs, edge-grabbing, get-up attacks and animations, certain body parts during certain moves, and the start of a shield break. Since the character is not hit, a long-lasting attack (or very short intangibility time) may still hit the character once it ends.

Intangibility's negative aspect is that on the Planet Zebes, Brinstar, and Norfair stages, characters will fall straight through the stage's lower hazard rather than sustaining damage and bouncing back up, possibly causing an otherwise preventable KO. They may occasionally also be KO'd if they are standing on the track on Mute City (SSBM), Port Town Aero Dive or Mute City SNES. In Smash 4, Master Giant's "glowing hands" attack also completely ignores any form of intangibility as well as invincibility (including respawn).

In Super Smash Bros. Melee's debug menu, intangibility is displayed by affected hurtboxes changing from their usual yellow color to a blue color during the intangibility period. A similar feature is present in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Training Mode via an invincibility toggle, which causes intangible parts of characters to acquire a blue tint.

Examples

 
  • Smash attacks in this table are not charged.
User/Item Move Part of Character Intangibility Frames Notes
By Characters
All characters Spot dodge/Roll/Air dodge
Edge grab
Techs (Standard, Rolling, Wall, Ceiling)
Edge recovery actions (Climb, Attack, Roll, Jump)
Floor recovery options (Get up, Roll, Attack)
Perfect shield
Entire body Varies
Shield break animation *Lasts until the character lands and gets back up
Wall jump 1-14   *Only applies to those who can wall jump
Tripping 1-5 (soft trip); 1-13 (hard trip) 
Footstool jump 9-12 (regular footstool); 1-4 (phantom footstool) 
Banjo & Kazooie Shield Arms 1-2  *Activation
Shock Spring Jump Entire body 15-17 (Uncharged), 31-33 (Fully Charged) 
Bayonetta Witch Time Entire body 5-16 
8-23 
Bowser Shield Head; Arms 1 (head), 3-5 (arms)  *Activation
Netural attack Arms 7-8; 9-11  *Applies to the first and second attacking arm, respectively
Forward tilt Arm 8-10 
10-14   
*Applies to the attacking arm
Up tilt 7-12 
11-16  
Down tilt Arms 10-12, 20-22  
10-12, 15-17  
*Applies to the first and second attacking arm, respectively
Up smash Entire body 16-17 
Up aerial Head 10-20 
3-13   
Down aerial Arms and legs 14-60 (midair)  
1-15(landing) 
1-26(landing) 
Flying Slam Entire body 1-23   *Only when opponent is grabbed
Whirling Fortress 1-4 
1-5 
*Only when used on the ground
Captain Falcon Up tilt Leg 14-17   *Applies to the attacking leg
Up smash Legs 22-23, 28-29  *Applies to the first and second attacking leg, respectively
Charizard Shield Head 1-4   *Activation
Up tilt Wings 7-23 
Forward smash Entire body 22-26 
22-25 
20-24  
Up aerial Head 6-11 
11-15  
Chrom Up smash Arm 10-23  *Applies to the sword arm
Counter Entire body 7-9 (startup), 1-6 (counterattack) 
Cloud Down tilt Leg 7-17   *Applies to the bent leg
Blade Beam Entire body 10-17   *Limit Break version only
Cross Slash 6-11  
Climhazzard 5-12  
Corrin Shield Head 1   *Activation
Dragon Lunge Entire body 2-5 
2-7 
*Jumping
Dragon Ascent 10-17 
7-17 
Counter Surge 6-7 (startup)  
1-49 (counterattack) 
Daisy Up smash Arms and head 14-20 
Toad Entire body 8-10 (startup); 1-3 (counterattack) 
Dark Pit Shield Head 1-3  *Activation
Power of Flight Entire body 9-19 (ground); 15-19 (midair) 
Dark Samus Shield Head and right arm 1-5 (activation); 3-5 (deactivation)  
Screw Attack Entire body 3-6 (ground); 3-4 (midair) 
Diddy Kong Shield Rear-most arm 3-5   *Deactivation
Donkey Kong Shield Head 1-4 (activation); 3-5 (deactivation) 
Forward tilt Arm 6-9   *Applies to the attacking arm
Up tilt 5-11  
Down tilt 5-7  
Forward smash Arms and head 20-26 
Up smash 12-16 
12-15 
Down smash Arms 11-14  
Up aerial Head 5-10  
Giant Punch Entire body 
Arm 
17-18 
4-20 
* Only occurs when fully charged
* Applies to the attacking arm
* Does not occur when fully charged
Spinning Kong Entire body 
Arm/arms   
4-6 (ground); 2-5 (midair) 
19-24 (ground); 10-38 (midair) 
* When used on the ground, applies on the rear-most arm only
*When used in the air, applies to both arms
Dr. Mario Up smash Head 9-11 
9-13 
Super Jump Punch Entire body 3 
Duck Hunt Shield Head 3-5   *Deactivation
Falco Up smash Head 
Legs
1-11 
7-12, 13-18  
*Applies to each attacking leg, respectively
Down smash Legs 1-6 
3-8  
Reflector Entire body 1 
Fox Up smash Head  1-9 
Down smash Legs 6 
6-7  
Reflector Entire body 1 
2-3 
Ganondorf Shield Head
Arm
1-4 (activation) 
3-5 (deactivation) 
*When deactivating, applies to the front-most arm
Greninja Shield Arm 3-5   *Applies to the front-most arm
Substitute Entire body; head and foot 7-34 (startup); 1-5 (activation); 1-56 (counterattack)  *After frame 17 of startup, intangibility occurs on its head and front-most foot
Hero Kamikazee Entire body 1-42 
Zoom 30~  Intangibility disappears as soon as Hero starts descending
Ice Climbers Belay Partner 5-16 
1-65 
1-15  
Ike Counter Entire body; head 8-33 (startup); 1-4 (counterattack)  *After frame 15 of startup, intangibility occurs on his head
Incineroar Shield Arms 1-3   *Activation
Down tilt Legs 8-11   *Intangibility occurs on the non-attacking leg on frame 8; occurs on both legs for remaining frames
Up tilt Head 6-11  
Up smash Arms 13-18  
Cross Chop 13-26  
Revenge Entire body 1-19 (counterattack)  
Isabelle Pocket 5-23  
Ivysaur Up smash Flower 26-29 
Up aerial 12-13  
Bullet Seed Entire body 1-3 
Jigglypuff Down smash Feet 7-26 
9-10 
14-15  
14-16  
Rest Entire body 1-29 
1-26 
1-27  
Joker Summoning Entire body 2-62  *Only triggered when not moving on the ground
Gun/Gun Special 4-13 (forward dodge, ground); 5-14 (backward dodge, ground); 1-6 (jump); 5-16 (forward/backward dodge, midair)  *Applies for both versions
Wings of Rebellion 1-25 (ground); 3-25 (midair)  
Rebel's Guard 1-14   Counterattack
Tetrakarn/Makarakarn Entire body; head, arm 3-4 (startup); 1-8 (counterattack); 1-29 (reflection)   *When reflecting, gains intangibility on his head at frame 1, and on his front-most arm for the remaining frames
Ken Neutral attack (held, close) Upper body 4-10  
Forward tilt (tapped, far) Leg 7-12   *Applies to the attacking leg
Up tilt (held) Upper body 4-10  
Up smash Arm 9-12   *Applies to the attacking arm
Up throw Leg 27-32   *Applies to the attacking leg
Oosoto Mawashi Geri 7-8   *Applies to the attacking leg
*When canceling into the Inazuma Kick, applies intangibility on frame 1
Tatsumaki Senpukyaku 13-22 (ground, tapped); 13-42 (ground, held; midair)  *Applies to both standard and input versions
*Applies intangibility to the pivoting leg on the ground, and to the attacking leg in midair
Shoryuken Entire body; arm 5 (standard) 
1-14 (input) 
*When inputting, applies intangibility to the attacking arm on frames 1-3 and 7-14, and to the entire body on frames 4-6
King Dedede Up tilt Head and left arm 7-13 
Inhale Entire body 4-18   *Occurs when inhaling opponents only
*Inhaled opponent gains intangibility on frames 4-7
Super Dedede Jump 18-21 
King K. Rool Shield Arm 1-2   *Applies to the front-most arm
Up tilt 4-9   *Applies to the attacking arm
Up smash Head 6-11  
Up aerial 7-13 
Blunderbuss Entire body 1-8 (capture); 27-60 (forward launch); 32-65 (backward launch); 27-61 (upward launch)  *Intangibility applies to the opponent only
Gut Check 4-15 (startup); 1-7 (counterattack); 1-14 (reversed counterattack) 
Kirby Shield Arm 3-5  *Deactivation
*Applies to the front-most arm
Up tilt Foot 4-10  *Applies to the attacking foot
Up smash 12-17 
Down smash Feet 7-26 
7-9 
5-14 
Inhale Entire body 4-18  *Occurs when inhaling opponents only
*Inhaled opponent gains intangibility on frame 4
Hammer Flip 2-10   *When fully charged
Link Shield Head 1-3  *Activation
Little Mac Shield Right arm 3  
Jolt Haymaker Entire body 1-17  *After frame 3, applies intangibility to his lower body
Rising Uppercut 1-3 
Slip Counter 4-5 (startup); 1-20 (counterattack)
Lucario Double Team Entire body 4-13 (startup); 1-29 (counterattack) 
Lucas Up smash Head 
Head and arms  
15-29   
PK Thunder Entire body 1-9  *Applies to PK Thunder 2 only
Lucina Dolphin Slash Entire body 4-5  
Counter 5-6 (startup); 1-7 (counterattack) 
Luigi Up smash Head 7-10 
9-11 
9-13   
Green Missile Entire body 18-22 (uncharged/misfire)  *Always offers 5 frames of intangibility upon releasing the charge
Super Jump Punch 2 ; 5-8 
8-10 (ground), 6-8 (midair) 
Mario Up smash Head 7-10 
9-11 
9-14 
9-12  
Super Jump Punch Entire body 2-5 ; 3-6     
Marth Dolphin Slash Entire body 5 
1-5 
1-5 (air), 4-5 (ground) 
4-5  
Counter 1-5 (counterattack) 
1-2 (startup), 1-8 (counterattack) 
5-6 (startup), 1-7 (counterattack)  
Mega Man Up tilt Entire body 5-7 
Down tilt Legs 3-12  
Rush Coil Entire body 7-10  
Meta Knight Dimensional Cape Entire body 12-39 (no attack) 
12-32 (ground attack, no direction/backward; aerial attack, no direction/backward) 
12-29 (ground attack, forward; aerial attack, forward) 
Mewtwo Shield Head and tail 1-5   *Deactivation
Teleport Entire body 8-17 
9-17 
9-19 
Disable 10-16 
Mii Brawler Up smash Leg 8-12  *Applies to the attacking leg
Helicopter Kick Legs 8-37 
Thrust Uppercut Arm 3-7  *Applies to the attacking arm
Feint Jump Entire body 2-4  *Applies same frames of intangibility when jumping off of a wall
Counter Throw 5-6 (startup); 1-17 (counterattack) 
Mii Gunner Cannon Jump Kick Entire body 6  *Only when used on the ground
Mii Swordfighter Stone Scabbard Entire body 5-12 
Blade Counter 1-16 (startup), 1-8 (counterattack) 
5-6 (startup), 1-5 (counterattack) 
Min Min Shield ARMS 1-3 (activation); 5 (deactivation) 
Down tilt Leg 10-14   *Applies to the attacking leg
Up smash Legs 7-15  *After frame 9, applies intangibility to the attacking leg only
Down smash 6-8  
Neutral aerial ARMS 8-18 (Ramram); 14-32 (Megawatt); 10-23 (Dragon/Dragon Plus)  *Applies to the attacking ARM
ARMS Jump Entire body; ARMS 8-13 (uncharged); 8-25 (fully charged)  *When fully charged, applies intangibility on her ARMS on frames 8-17, and on her whole body during frames 18-25
Mr. Game & Watch Up tilt Hands 1-39 
Up smash Head 24-28  
Fire Entire body 5-13  
Oil Panic 2-25  *When absorbing a projectile
Ness Up tilt Head 5-19 
5-6 
PK Thunder Entire body; head 1-2 
1-32 
*Applies to PK Thunder 2 only
* Grants intangibility on his head for frames 10-32
Pac-Man Shield Hands 2-3   *Activation
Up tilt Fist 7-10 
Palutena Forward tilt Right arm 14-35 
Warp Entire body 16-31 
16-32 
Counter/Reflect Barrier 6-12 (startup), 1-5 (counterattack) 
Celestial Firework 1-15 
Peach Up tilt Head 
Head and arm 
9-13 
10-13 
Up smash Head and arms 13-22 
14-20   
Toad Entire body 8-10 (startup); 1-3 (counterattack) 
Pichu Shield Ears 1-2 (activation); 1-5 (deactivation)  Closest hitbox
Up smash 9-11 
Down smash Entire body 7-10 
Down aerial Ears 14-17 
Thunder Entire body 1-10  *Only if the bolt comes into contact with Pichu
Pikachu Quick Attack 1-20  
Thunder 1-8 
1-10  
*Only if the bolt comes into contact with Pikachu
Piranha Plant Shield Upper lip 5   * Deactivation
Forward tilt Jaws 7-8   *Applies to the 1st hit only
Up tilt Head 6-13 
Forward smash 16-17 
Up smash 12-18 
Up aerial 7-9 
Footstooled Attack Head and stem 10-13  *Only about half of the stem is intangible
Long-Stem Strike Head 21-26 (uncharged); 80-86 (fully charged) 
Pit Shield Head 1-3  Activation
Power of Flight Entire body 9-19 (ground); 15-19 (midair) 
Pokemon Trainer Pokemon Change Entire body 1-120 
1-25 
*In Brawl, it is the maximum amount of frames it takes for the game to load
Richter Shield Head 1-4 (activation); 1-5 (deactivation) 
Uppercut Entire body 5-6  
Ridley Shield Wings; tail 1-4 (activation); 1-5 (deactivation)  *When activating, the rear-most wing loses intangibility on frame 4
*When deactivating, applies intangibility on the wings and tail
Up tilt Wing, arm, and head 8-12  *Grants intangibility on the attacking wing, rear-most arm, and head on frames 8 and 9; frames 10-12 grant intangibility on just the attacking wing
Up smash Leg 12-17  *Applies to the attacking leg
Wing Blitz Wings 36-50 (ground forward); 36-55 (aerial forward; ground/aerial backward); 34-57 (up) 
R.O.B. Robo Burner Entire body 2-4   Only when used on the ground
Robin Nosferatu Entire body 15-18 
Rosalina & Luma Up tilt Head 4-10 
Up smash 7-16  Luma
Roy Up smash Arm 10-23   *Applies to the sword arm
Blazer Entire body 9  
Counter Entire body 7-9 (startup), 1-5 (counterattack) 
Ryu Neutral attack (held, close) Upper body 4-10  
Forward tilt (tapped, far) Leg 7-12   *Applies to the attacking leg
Up tilt (held) Upper body 4-10  
Up smash Arm 9-12   *Applies to the attacking arm
Up aerial 6-11 
Up throw Leg 25-30   *Applies to the attacking leg
Tatsumaki Senpukyaku Legs 13-28 (ground, tapped); 13-60 (ground, held); 13-44 (midair)  *Applies to both standard and input versions
*Applies intangibility to only the attacking leg in midair
Shoryuken Entire body; arm 5 (standard) 
1-14 (input) 
*When inputting, applies intangibility to the attacking arm on frames 1-3 and 7-14, and to the entire body on frames 4-6
Samus Shield Head; shoulders 1-5 (activation); 3-5 (deactivation)   *Applies intangibility to head and shoulders when activating/head and arms when deactivating
Screw Attack Entire body 1-5 (ground), 1-3 (midair) 
3-6 (ground), 3-4 (midair) 
Sheik Shield Head and arms 1-4  *Activation
*Applies intangibility to her head and arms on frame 4
Up smash 8-15 
Down smash Legs 5 
Vanish Entire body 18-55 
14-55 (ground); 19-53 midair 
Transform 27-36 
Shulk Monado Arts Entire body 1-14 
Vision 6-7 (startup); 1-45 (counterattack, ground); 9-40 (counterattack, midair); 1-36 (forward counterattack) 
Simon Shield Head 1-4 (activation); 1-5 (deactivation) 
Uppercut Entire body 5-6  
Snake Shield Head 1  *Activation
Dash attack Head and arms 5-12 
Sonic Up smash Entire body 18-20  
Spin Dash 1-6 
1-5 
*Applies intangibility as soon as the charge is released
Spring Jump 5-7 
Squirtle Forward tilt Tail 1-8 
Terry Dodge Attack Entire body; upper body 1-9  *Applies intangibility to entire body on frames 1-3; upper body on frames 4-9
Forward tilt Leg 8-13  *Applies to the attacking leg
Up tilt Arm 7-11  *Applies to the attacking arm
Burning Knuckle 15-21 (ground input, tapped); 21-28 (ground input, held); 14-19 (aerial input, tapped); 18-23 (aerial input, held)  *Applies intangibility on his attacking arm
Rising Tackle Legs; entire body 9-20 (standard); 5-24 (input) *If input is done on the ground, intangibility applies to the entire body for frames 5-16. If done in the air, it applies for frames 5-11.
Power Dunk Entire body 6-12 (input, tapped); 6-13 (input, held) 
Buster Wolf Arm; entire body 10-23 (startup); 1-57 (attack)  *When the attack lands, Terry and the opponent both gain full-body intangibility
**Opponent's full-body intangibility lasts from frame 1-32
Villager Up tilt Head and arm 7-25  *The arm holding the stick
Pocket Entire body 5-23  
Wario Up smash Head 8-14 
Chomp Entire body 2-17   *When eating an explosive
Wii Fit Trainer Up tilt Arm 3-12  *Applies to the attacking arm
Up smash Entire body 9-12 
Wolf Reflector Entire body 5-8 
Yoshi Shield Head, arms, and feet 1-6 (activation); 1-5 (deactivation)  *When activating shield, grants intangibility on his head, arms, and legs
*When deactivating shield, grants intangibility on his head and arms
Forward smash Head 12-16 
Up smash Foot 11-13  *Applies to the attacking foot
Egg Lay Entire body 29-51  *When swallowing the opponent
*Opponent gains intangibility for 7 frames when escaping the egg
Young Link Shield Head 1  *Activation
Zelda Down smash Leg 4-16 
4-13 
*Applies to the attacking leg
Nayru's Love Entire body 4-11 
4-13 
Farore's Wind 33-53 
17-34 
Transform 34-43 
Zero Suit Samus Flip Jump Entire body 13-43 
3-12  
*Applies same frames of intangibility when jumping off of a wall
By Items
Daybreak 2-50 (assembly), 1-197 (firing)  
Dragoon 2~    *Begins as soon as the last part is collected.
*Ends after the attack
Lightning Bolt 1-24 (size change)  *When reverting back to normal size, applies intangibility on frames 1-20
Poison Mushroom 1-20  *Applies the same amount of intangibility frames when reverting back to normal size
Super Launch Star 1-15 
Super Mushroom 1-20  *Applies the same amount of intangibility frames when reverting back to normal size
By Pokémon
Ditto Varies  *When performing any move or action that grants intangibility
By Stage Element
Great Cave Offensive (Cannon) 1-71  *When being shot out
Spring Stadium (Trampolines) 4-9  *When jumping
*Not triggered by short hopping

Trivia

  • In Ultimate, if one turns on the "Intangibility display" in Training Mode, intangibility will be displayed on Bowser while he is in his helpless state, and it will appear as though he is fully intangible. This is because during his helpless animation, only his shell and torso are tangible, in order to prevent unexpected interactions.