Wizard's Foot
| Wizard's Foot | |
|---|---|
 Wizard's Foot in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
| User | Ganondorf |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
Wizard's Foot (烈鬼脚, Violent Ogre Leg) (commonly called the Wizkick, Warlock Kick, Ganon Kick, or similar variations) is Ganondorf's down special move.
Overview
Ganondorf rushes forward or downward with his leg extended (depending on if he is on the ground or in the air), covering a decent amount of distance forwards, dealing damage and relatively high knockback. It is functionally similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick, but the main differences are that it uses darkness instead of flame, it travels slower and it has more consistent power throughout its duration.
Much like a Falcon Kick, if Wizard's Foot goes into a wall (including the blocks in the stage Green Greens), Ganondorf will bounce off and gain height, though this animation has a significant amount of ending lag.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the grounded version of Wizard's Foot comes out on frame 14, lasts until frame 35 and it takes 77 frames to complete (69 frames if the move ends in the air). The move deals 15% along with high horizontal knockback, with the move KOing Mario at around 115% in the middle of Final Destination and at around 75% at the ledge. This makes it a rather powerful KO option although the grounded version is quite situational due to its slow speed. The move has a lot of ending lag so if Ganondorf misses the move or if the opponent shields it, he is left wide open for a punish, especially since he moves towards the opponent (although the move does deal a good amount of shield damage). This often makes the risk of using the move too high, with the move only really being useful as a punishment option. Even in situations where Ganondorf can land the move, he often has better punishment options which are either stronger, safer or both. As an additional note, when Ganondorf hits an opponent, he slows down a considerable amount (70% its original speed), which applies to every target Ganondorf hits.
In the air, the move functions quite differently. The move comes out on frame 15, lasts until frame 30 and takes 58 frames to complete. The move deals 14% and it is a powerful spike, which allows it to be used for edge-guarding. The move does have good knockback for a spike, which can lead to opponents being KOed although the move is difficult to land and as Ganondorf travels downwards with a considerable amount of lag, there are instances where Ganondorf will not be able to make it back to the stage if he does not use Wizard's Foot high enough. The move also has deceptively poor range, with Ganondorf's leg and foot completely exposed making the move difficult to land and easy to intercept. The move is also not very effective against opponents on stage. The move cannot KO Mario on Final Destination unless he is over 200% and if the move hits an opponent in the air and they land on stage, the move will not KO them at all.
If Ganondorf lands with the aerial version, a small shockwave is formed. This shockwave deals 12% damage, it can only hit opponents on the ground and it has low vertical knockback. Ganonorf can land both the aerial version and the landing hit at very low percents which deals 24%. The main issue with landing with an aerial Wizard's Foot however is that the move has an incredibly high amount of landing lag (57 frames). This makes the move incredibly punishable and the vertical knockback on the shockwave is very poor, which makes the move easily punishable on hit, right up until higher percents. Even when the move cannot be punished on hit, the move is still far too laggy for Ganondorf to be in an advantageous position.
These factors make using aerial Wizard's Foot as an attack incredibly situational attack as it is incredibly unsafe and difficult to land. This is further compounded with Ganondorf's down aerial as while down aerial is a meteor smash, it is much safer and stronger, making it the preferred option overall. Wizard's Foot is more consitently rewarding if it lands on an opponent off stage due to its spiking properties but down aerial is much more rewarding on stage and the risk for doing it is much lower.
There is one property the aerial version does have which does make it useful in some situations. When Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot in the air after a double jump and he does not land, it restores Ganondorf's midair jump (just like Falcon Kick). This does give Wizard's Foot some utility as it can be used to aid Ganondorf's recovery if he is launched quite high. It is even more applicable to use for this purpose than Falcon Kick due to Ganondorf's lower falling speed, allowing him to use it in instances where Captain Falcon would not be able to. While this does not greatly improve Ganondorf's very poor recovery, it does at the very least give Ganondorf an extra option when recovering in some situations, making it useful for this purpose.
Overall, Wizard's Foot is a very high risk, high reward move which is powerful when it lands in the right situations but the extreme risk of doing it makes it an incredibly situational move overall, with its main use being for recovering rather than using it as an attack.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The move was greatly weakened in Brawl. The grounded version received a huge loss in knockback, going from a powerful horizontal killer that could KO reliably under 125% to an attack that is completely unable to KO under 200% unless near the edge with the opponent missing their DI. The move also deals less damage, and had received late, weaker hitboxes. Small characters like Kirby or Pikachu can now also crouch under it, as its hitbox is surprisingly tiny.
The airborne version was also weakened, no longer restoring midair jumps, and its spiking ability was changed to a meteor smash as it is now meteor cancelable, now only limited to the initial hitbox. The loss midair jump restoration makes it much riskier to use for edge-guarding, as unless Ganondorf uses the Wizard's Foot when edge-guarding with perfect timing, he will fail to recover. The fact that it is now a meteor smash also reduces its practicality as an edge-guard, especially when Ganondorf has his down aerial to meteor smash with, which is much stronger than - and not nearly as risky as - the Wizard's Foot. Though with two meteors he can use his down aerial repeatedly until the opponent is at KO percent and meteor smashing them with the fresh Wizard's Foot. The meteor smash hitbox still produces a diagonal trajectory as it did in Melee, which allows it to meteor smash opponents that are above the stage provided they are close enough to the edge.
On the other hand, the ending animation can now be cancelled if spaced properly toward a ledge so that it ends very slightly offstage, allowing to get into an edge-guard position fairly quickly. Wizard's Foot also facilitates the use of the new Flight of Ganon technique, but it is not a necessary step, and performing it this way requires that Ganondorf be at the edge of a platform before he does the Wizard's Foot, due to the different ending animation on any other part of the platform. The airborne version was also made more powerful on its later hitboxes that now has powerful vertical knockback, increasing its effectiveness against grounded opponents and can easily KO opponents high up in the air from as low as 70% and also serves as a great anti-juggle tool. The move's hitboxes also now fully cover Ganondorf's leg and thigh, allowing it to hit much lower than in Melee.
Animation-wise for the grounded version, Ganondorf instead side-swings his right leg forward for the kick, and tucks in his body away from his direction when traveling forward; its travel speed is also a lot more slower than before, which can be severely affected when Ganondorf's kick collides with multiple targets in the way of his travel path.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
The aerial version received several noticeable buffs. It deals much higher shield damage; hitting with both the initial and late hitboxes deals roughly more than half of full shield health. It also interrupts much sooner, giving Ganondorf greater leniency to recover when used off-stage for edge-guarding or mix-up recovery, and allows it to be used over ground from not as high up without going into its laggy landing animation. The removal of meteor cancelling additionally makes the meteor smashing initial hitbox a pseudo-spike like in Melee, giving it better edge-guarding potential. However, it still remains inferior to his down aerial for edgeguarding, as using it without an on-stage full hop is invariable suicide even with the earlier interruptibility.
The grounded version was initially unchanged until patch 1.1.5, receiving a slight damage increase and more range due to widened hitboxes. The knockback entailing the damage increase now makes the move a decent KOing move around 160% from the center of Final Destination and 115% near the ledge and improves its safety on hit, while also allowing it to out-prioritize weak projectiles. However, it is still not as powerful as his other moves as well as it is Melee incarnation, while still being an unreliable approach option.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
The move on the ground was significantly buffed in power and speed. The foot now does 16% damage and the leg does 14% (as opposed to the other way around in Brawl and Smash 4), making the sweetspot easier to land overall which KOs around 93% near the edge of Final Destination, with the sourspot occurring only when used at point-blank. The move was also sped-up with reduced ending lag on the ground, making it much less susceptible to being punished while also being a decent combo starter when used at low percentages.
However, the hitboxes are significantly smaller, in addition to a hitbox being removed on the thigh. This makes the move much harder to land, and makes the aerial version less effective at anti-juggling.
Instructional quotes
 instruction booklet |
 |
A flying kick. Will dash diagonally down when airborne. |
 Move List |
 |
Propels forward with a kick charged by dark power. In the air, he plunges diagonally downward. |
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
| 1. Wizard's Foot | 2. Wizard's Dropkick | 3. Wizard's Assault |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "A magic kick that flies straight when on the ground and diagonally when airborne." | "Jump low into the air before doing the flying kick." | "A faster flying kick that goes straight through foes. In the air, the kick goes straight down." |
- Wizard's Foot: Default.
- Wizard's Dropkick: The kick moves at a 45 degree angle downward, and Ganondorf jumps to use it in the air when used on the ground; despite this it does not have the aerial version's shockwave and ending lag. This move significantly remedies Ganondorf's flaws towards projectiles and recovery, as it vaults over projectiles and the aerial version travels faster and further than Flame Choke while also not causing helplessness. Deals less damage and cannot meteor smash, and has slightly more start-up and slightly more ending lag in the air, but less ending lag on the ground. The kick's darkness is a dark blue color. :
- Wizard's Assault: A faster and further kick that travels through foes, but with more start-up and ending lag, slightly less damage, and sends opponents behind Ganondorf which makes it difficult to KO with. In the air the kick goes straight down, but the distance traveled makes it invariable suicide when used off-stage, even with a full hop and double jump. This custom is considered inferior to Wizard's Foot/Dropkick due to its flaws providing increased predictability and lack of KO power, less useful for off-stage and edgeguarding, and its advantages being considerably less effective than the latter's. The kick's darkness is a magenta color. :
Origin
The Wizard's Foot is a move original to Smash, as it is directly based off of the Falcon Kick. The main visual difference is the flame effects are replaced with purple particle effects as a reference to the dark magic Ganondorf possesses and frequently uses.
Gallery
Aerial Wizard's Foot in Melee.
Aerial Wizard's Foot in Brawl.
Ganondorf using an aerial Wizard's Foot on another Ganondorf.
Ganondorf's Wizard's Foot in Brawl.
Attacks Link in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Wizard's Foot used in the air in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Wizard's Foot used on the ground in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Wizard's Foot shown by the Move List in Ultimate.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
 Japanese |
烈鬼脚 |
 English |
Wizard's Foot |
 French |
Pied du sorcier |
 German |
Hexer-Haxen |
 Spanish |
Patada del hechicero |
 Italian |
Calcio mago |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
烈鬼脚 |
 Chinese (Traditional) |
烈鬼腳 |
 Korean |
열귀각 |
 Dutch |
Tovenaarstrap |
 Russian |
Нога мага |
Trivia
- In Brawl, when he hits a wall with Wizard's Foot he flies backwards, as opposed to Captain Falcon who backflips. In fact, the animation used when Ganondorf bounces off a wall by using this move is the same as the animation used when releasing an opponent from the Dark Dive.
- If used on the ground, it can send Ganondorf right over certain items, such as Diddy Kong's Bananas, without activating them.
- If Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot just as he hits a spring in a custom stage, he will launch more than twice as high. This can cause a self-destruct in the Subspace Emissary if he uses Wizard's Foot at specific springs in stages such as The Forest.
