Not to be confused with KO Star.
A star knock-out or star finish (星になって, Become a star), abbreviated as star KO, is a type of KO. When characters are knocked beyond the upper blast line (save for a few exceptions, see below), they fly through the background, away from the stage, yell/scream/etc., and eventually disappear as a star (there is a random chance of a screen KO instead, where characters hit the camera, which is rarer). This has the longest duration out of any KOs.
Most conditions on the characters, such as the effects of Superspicy Curry or standby mode after breaking the Smash Ball, are still visible on the characters while they are star KO'd. Exceptions include metal characters (unless while playing in Super Smash Bros. Melee's 1-player modes), characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl who are giant or tiny due to Super or Poison Mushrooms, and frozen characters in Super Smash Bros. 4. In Flat Zone 2 and Hanenbow, conditions are not aligned with the character (i.e. the frozen block and character fly off separately).
In Super Smash Bros. 4, star KOs are no longer a certainty; the upper blast line will cause a normal KO explosion or a star/screen KO at random when crossed. Players launched at extremely high speeds will also prevent Star KOs from occurring. In addition, presumably to solve balance issues, star KOs no longer occur near the end of a timed match.
Exceptions
Members of Enemy teams, such as the Fighting Wire Frames and Fighting Alloy Team, do not experience star KOs, instead undergoing the usual colorful explosion (with the exception of the oversized Wire Frames that appear in Event Match 37). Team battles in the Classic and Adventure Mode also feature playable characters that cannot be Star or Screen KO'd. In Super Smash Bros., members of a team (such as the Fighting Polygon Team) can be Star KO'd. Common enemies in the Subspace Emissary mode cannot be Star or Screen KO'd (with the exception of playable characters).
Bonuses
- Star KO: Star KO an opponent. (10000 points in SSB, x300 points in Melee)
- Solar Being: Get star KO'd. (800 points in Melee)
- Shooting Star: Finishing the match while getting star KO'd. (1500 points in Melee)
--73.153.157.205 23:07, 21 January 2016 (EST)== Trivia ==
- The Star KO could be a reference to the Pokémon anime series, as when Team Rocket is defeated, they occasionally (but not always) get sent flying and shout "We're blasting off again!" before vanishing into a star.
- In the original Super Smash Bros., Kirby's various Copy Ability hats remain on when he is Star KOed.
- There are a few ways to get star KOed by self-destructing: by standing on a platform that moves above the upper blast line, using Pikachu's Quick Attack to the maximum height from the top platform of Hyrule Castle, Kirby utilizing his 5 midair jumps and Final Cutter on the top platform of Hyrule Castle, Wario's fully charged Wario Waft, by being carried away by a Landmaster tank, using Sonic's Spring Jump from a high enough point on the stage, as well as Jigglypuff's shield jump.
- In Super Smash Bros. 4, some stages have star KOs disabled outright due to circumstances such as gyrating backgrounds or background elements too close to the foreground that could possibly obscure a star KO'd player. These stages are: Dream Land (3DS), WarioWare, Inc., Boxing Ring, Green Hill Zone, Mushroom Kingdom U, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Maker (Wii U), Mario Circuit (Wii U), Jungle Hyjinxs, The Great Cave Offensive, Gamer, Wii Fit Studio, Duck Hunt (Wii U), Wrecking Crew, Wuhu Island, PAC-LAND and Miiverse.
- If the cage the Mii resides inside on the Find Mii stage sustains sufficient damage, the Mii and the cage will be Star KOed.
- In Super Smash Bros. 4, King Dedede and Cloud's voice clips for being Star KO'd are actually longer than the time allotted for the Star KO animation.
- In "Super Smash Bros. 4", the Star KO is actually shorter than a Screen KO, but only milliseconds shorter.