User:Darthrai/Sora (SSBU)

Sora in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
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Universe	Kingdom Hearts
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Ultimate Form

Sora (ソラ, Sora) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Along with Roxas, Riku and Terra/Aqua/Ventus, he was announced as a surprise DLC fighter as part of the KINGDOM HEARTS Bonus Fighters Pass on April 1, 2021. Sora is classified as Fighter #89.

Miyu Irino and Haley Joel Osment reprise their roles as Sora in Japanese and English, respectively, with new voice clips.

Attributes

Sora is a medium-weight character heavily focused on racking damage and combos. His strongest aspect is his air game, which is where his combo ability shines the most, as his aerials have good range and priority. His neutral aerial is a fast combo extender or starter, as players can keep Sora's forward momentum on hit due to each hit giving him a slight upward boost. Forward aerial is a fast and reliable KO option which can be set up into from most of his aerials, and while his back aerial can do the same slightly earlier, it does have some startup. Finally, his up and down aerials can serve as viable combo extenders due to their vertical launch angle and low knockback, further compounded by the vertical boost they provide on hit. Sora's fast aerials, in addition to his fast air speed, also give him a spectacular edgeguarding game, which opponents may have trouble breaking through.

This impressive air game is also mirrored in his ground game. He sports good ground mobility, allowing him to chase down his victims to start or extend combos reliably. His neutral attack is very quick, and has an above-average damage output, in addition to the first and second hit being capable of locking. All of his tilts serve as reliable combo starters due to their low knockback, vertical launch angles, and low ending lag. His most reliable KO moves are his forward smash and up smash, with the former having good range and strong knockback, and the latter is a good anti-air option due to its vertical range and can deal a large amount of damage, allowing Sora access to reliable finishers. His grab game also sports decent utility, as his forward throw can set up a tech-chase situation or edgeguard due to its horizontal launch angle, while his up and down throws can set up combos, with the former being able to chain-grab fast-fallers and high-fallers, and back throw is his strongest throw and can set-up an edgeguard.

His special moveset is also very versatile. Strike Raid is a projectile and is a good damage-racking tool because of its duration, and this can also turn it into a good edgeguarding tool. In addition, its hitboxes send the opponent towards Sora, allowing it to extend combos. Flowmotion can allow different attacks depending on the directional input, and like the rest of his attacks, is a good damage-racking tool. Command Deck is very useful as well: Blizzard can be used to freeze enemies for a short time, denying approaches; Thunder is an excellent anti-air move and can KO at high percents, and Fire is useful for its KO ability and covers Sora's entire body, like his down smash. Additionally, Aerial Recovery sports impressive maneuverability and does not leave Sora helpless, allowing him to extend his already-lengthy combo strings or extend his recovery with Flowmotion.

However, due to Sora's below average weight, and below average accelerated falling speed, he is easier to KO vertically and horizontally than a good amount of the cast, giving him mediocre endurance. Additionally, he lacks reliable ways to deal with projectiles despite having a projectile himself, as his main options are slow or require him to be on the ground, which gives him trouble breaking through fighters with a camping-heavy playstyle.

Arguably, his most crippling flaw is his over reliance on damage strings to rack up damage reliably; most of his attacks, including his aerials, have unimpressive damage outputs. While this does grant Sora his impressive combo game, it forces him to perform lengthy strings of combos to rack up amounts of damage that most other characters could achieve in far fewer hits, which gives him difficulty in taking stocks. This is further exacerbated by Sora having only two aerial KO moves, in the form of his forward aerial and back aerial, and two reliable grounded KO moves, his forward smash and up smash, with the latter having mediocre KO potential despite its high damage output in comparison to the rest of his moveset and Command Deck can only KO at high percents while using Fire or Thunder, with the latter only hitting above and in front of Sora. As such, this can prove problematic if Sora goes against opponents who perform good D.I., momentum canceling, or heavy characters like Donkey Kong. In addition, many of his grounded moves have punishable lag, which can leave Sora open to attack if he misses them, and all of his throws, while sporting good utility, cannot KO at reasonable percentages, with only his back throw doing so at very high percents.

His recovery options do grant him some control over his route, but leave him extremely open to gimping once he loses his double jump, further worsening his offstage survivability. Despite having a somewhat versatile recovery near the stage, once Sora is knocked far enough away from the stage with no double jump, his chances of survival are very low, as Aerial Recovery, though it does not leave Sora helpless, is rather slow and does not grant a high vertical distance. Additionally, Flowmotion covers very minimal vertical height, even when angled upwards, has a very slow startup, does not ledge snap until the end of the move, has a very small edge grab range, and leaves Sora helpless when used in midair, in addition to being somewhat slow.

Overall, Sora is a combo-heavy character who sports a playstyle similar to Sheik: the objective of his playstyle is to rack up damage quickly, and finish them off when he gets an opening. However, his mediocre recovery, low weight, and overreliance on lengthy combo strings to rack up damage hold him back somewhat.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Attack	Description	Damage
Standard attack	A downward slash, followed by a forward thrust, then finished with an outward slash. Based off his standard three-hit combo from KINGDOM HEARTS, with the finisher being similar to his standard strike against multiple targets. The first two hits can lock, allowing them to combo into tilts or other grabs.	3%, 3%, 5%
Down tilt	A kneeling thrust with the Kingdom Key. A great combo starter due to its low knockback and vertical launch angle. Slightly slower than his up tilt, but good for approaching as it can function as a safe poking tool.	4%
Down smash	Slams the Kingdom Key into the ground, causing orbs of light to circle him, dragging enemies towards him before launching them with the final hit. A good defensive option and a very reliable out-of-shield option due to its fast startup, along with its multiple hitboxes. Additionally, the final hit has a sizable hitbox, allowing it to consistently hit ledge hangs. However, the move is too weak to KO reliably. Based off his Explosion ability from KINGDOM HEARTS II.	11%-14%
Forward tilt	An upward angled outward slash, similar to Marth's forward tilt. An effective and versatile combo starter due to its low to moderate knockback and vertical launch angle. Based off his Upper Slash ability from KINGDOM HEARTS II.	8%
Forward smash	A thrust that sends Sora slightly forward. It has a very fast startup, good range and high knockback, KOing at around 100% from center-stage. Similar to his Sonic Blade ability from KINGDOM HEARTS.	12%-19%
Up tilt	An overhead arcing slash from front to back. Extremely quick, with wide coverage around Sora, while also being able to combo into itself and his aerials at a variety of percentages.	7%
Up smash	Thrusts the Kingdom Key upwards in the air and casts "Aero", which summons a powerful wind around the blade with high vertical coverage. It is his most damaging ground attack, but has mediocre KO potential.	21%-31%
Dash attack	An inward horizontal sliding slash before stopping with a spin. Based off his Sliding Dash ability from KINGDOM HEARTS II. Compared to Sora's dash attack from older versions of the game, it has less range in front of Sora and is a weaker combo starter, as the angle is more unfavorable and the reduced knockback growth makes it unsafe on hit at low percents. However, it can combo at mid and high percents.	9%

Aerial attacks

Attack	Description	Damage
Neutral aerial	Two spinning outward slashes. Sora stalls slightly when the move's hitboxes make contact, which allows it to potentially chain into itself or another aerial. Based off his Aerial Sweep ability from KINGDOM HEARTS II.	5%, 5%
Forward aerial	A one-handed downward slash. Causes him to rise slightly if it connects. Moderately strong and functions well as an aerial combo finisher, KOing at around 120% near the ledge. It also has low ending lag and can combo into itself at low and mid percents, making it one of his best edgeguarding options. Based off his standard aerial attack.	12%
Back aerial	A spinning outward slash. Rather slow, but KOs at around 120%, making it a powerful offstage KO option. Based off his default aerial finisher from KINGDOM HEARTS II.	11%
Up aerial	An upward slash. Causes him to rise slightly if it connects. A very effective juggling tool due to its low lag and knockback, and as Sora bounces slightly upwards, it allows him to rack up damage easily and potentially perform ladder combos. However, it has a small blindspot directly above Sora and can't hit up and behind him. Based off his standard aerial attack against targets above him.	9%
Template:SSF2	An arcing slash underneath himself. Causes him to rise slightly if it connects. In addition, it has low ending lag, allowing it to combo into itself.	8%

Grab and throws

Attack	Description	Damage
Grab	Swipes his hand to grab the opponent. A mid-ranged grab.	Template:N/A
Pummel	Hits the opponent with the hilt of the Kingdom Key.	1%
Forward throw	Hits the opponent three times with the Kingdom Key. Good for edgeguarding.	10%
Back throw	Swings the opponent behind him while striking them with an inward slash using the Kingdom Key. Sora's strongest throw in terms of knockback, but still a poor KO option, unable to close out stocks until very high percents.	7%
Up throw	Knocks the enemy into the air with the Kingdom Key. A great combo starter that can lead into any of his aerials at low percentages and chaingrab.	6%
Down throw	Pulls the opponent under him then thrusts the Kingdom Key into the ground while yelling "Take this!". This throw causes him to vault slightly into the air, allowing Sora to combo into a forward or neutral aerial until mid percents. It has extremely low ending lag, allowing it to chaingrab into itself at low-mid percentages. Based off his Finishing Leap ability from KINGDOM HEARTS II.	6%

Other attacks

Attack	Description	Damage
Floor attack	Gets up and sweeps around himself with the Kingdom Key.	6%
Ledge attack	Climbs up while jabbing the Kingdom Key forward.	7%

Special moves

Special move	Name	Description	Damage
Standard special move	Strike Raid	Throws the Kingdom Key forward. Once the Kingdom Key reaches a set distance, it stops in place and spins, hitting opponents multiple times, before it boomerangs back to him. These multiple hits can lock, and the final hit's knockback sends the opponent back to Sora. However, there is no hitbox when Sora throws the Kingdom Key.	4% - 14%
Side special move	Flowmotion	Flies forward while surrounded by a pink aura, performing one of five different attacks on opponents he makes contact with depending on the directional input. He can angle himself upwards or downwards slightly mid-flight with the corresponding button input.	Varies
Up special move	Aerial Recovery	Gracefully rises into the air with a backflip while circles surround him. The move does not leave him helpless, and allows him to use any other attack at any time, except another Aerial Recovery.	Template:N/A
Down special move	Command Deck	Performs one of three different Magic spells: Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder. Fire summons a ring of fireballs around Sora that deal high damage and knockback, Blizzard summons multiple small projectiles in front of Sora that freezes opponents, and Thunder fires a sharp lightning bolt from the Kingdom Key at an upward angle with good KO power. The spell list always cycles in the aforementioned order, and the current spell is indicated by an icon on Sora's damage meter.	Template:Mousetext, Template:Mousetext, Template:Mousetext
Final Smash	Ultimate Form	Sora yells out "Light!" as his Kingdom Key keyblade is replaced with the Ultima Weapon, and he transforms into his Ultimate Form from Kingdom Hearts III. He surrounds himself with blades of light as he zips across the screen multiple times, similar to Darkness Illusion, before ending the move with the Ultimate Finish as he reverts to his base form with Kingdom Key.	80-89%

Misc.

Misc.	Description
On-screen appearance	Exits out of a keyhole-shaped portal and summons the Kingdom Key. The portal is similar to the world keyholes found throughout Sora's home series, namely the keyholes from KINGDOM HEARTS II.
Taunts	Standard	Sora puts his hands behind his head while giving a winking grin.
	Side	Says "How'd you like that?" while raising his fist.
	Down/Up	Leans back to look at the sky and says "Give me strength!"
Idle poses	colspan="3" Template:N/A
Victory theme	A short remix of the song Hikari, specifically the -KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version- rearrangement from KINGDOM HEARTS.