Editing Aether

{{ArticleIcons|brawl=y|ssb4=y|ultimate=y}}
{{Infobox Special Move
|name=Aether
|image=[[File:Ike Up B SSBU.gif|300px]]
|caption= Aether in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.
|user=[[Ike]]
|universe={{uv|Fire Emblem}}
|interwiki=fireemblemwiki
|interwikiname=Fire Emblem Wiki
|interwikipage=Aether
}}

'''Aether''' ({{ja|天空|Tenkū}}, ''[[wikipedia:Five elements (Japanese philosophy)#Void (Aether)|Sky]]'' or ''Aether''), is the [[up special move]] of [[Ike]].

==Overview==
{{ImageCaption|File:Aether.jpg|File:BrawlAetherIke.jpg|align=left|width1=175px|width2=175px|caption= Ike using Aether in ''Brawl''.}}

Ike throws his [[Ike#Ragnell|sword]] in the air and crouches, preparing to jump. During this time, he gains [[super armor]]. After the sword hits the apex of its trajectory, he [[jump]]s up, catches it, and hurtles downward. He either grunts or shouts, "Aether!" while doing so.

Aether provides very little horizontal [[recovery]] and forces Ike to plummet downward after using it, and as a result, it is often considered one of the worst recovery moves in all of ''Smash''. However, some argue that the move has decent vertical distance, and the fact that he throws the sword in midair allows him to avoid [[edge-guard]]ing, allowing the move to be a decent recovery. Additionally, the move's poor horizontal distance is naturally supplemented by Ike's [[side special move]] [[Quick Draw]], making Ike's recovery overall passable in spite of Aether's drawbacks.

If the attack is initiated at close range, it knocks the opponent upwards and draws them into a multi-hit [[combo]] in mid-air, finishing with a [[spike]] when Ike swings the sword down and descends, with the landing hit negating the spike. The move can be used as an effective edgeguard if the final hit can be canceled: if Ike stands on the edge facing away from the [[platform]] and performs Aether, instead of falling through the stage to his death, he will turn around and grab the ledge, usually gimping the opponent. However, due to being unable to grab the edge until descending, this move can easily be [[edge-hog|ledgehogged]]. Although Ike is actively throwing Ragnell during the move, it is not considered a [[projectile]], but rather a disjointed hitbox. Aether is an effective follow-up to his down throw, and its disjointed hitbox can be used to hit enemies through solid platforms, interrupt enemies' aerial attacks, or activate [[Quark Mine|Quark Mines]] in the [[Subspace Emissary]]. It can inflict between 1% and 27% damage.

If Ike uses Aether six times without landing on a platform (i.e. by grabbing an [[edge]] after each Aether), he will not be able to grab an edge on the sixth use, and he will simply fall to his death if there are no platforms beneath him. This is to prevent Ike from [[stalling]] on an edge, and is important to know when using any [[technique]] involving Aether for [[Cruel Brawl]].

In ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', Aether functions similarly to its ''Brawl'' incarnation but can no longer grab a ledge when facing away from it. It also has significantly reduced armor, now only lasting three frames after Ike throws Ragnell.

In ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', the thrown sword no longer clips through the stage and instead follows the stage's contours, which hinders the move's safety while recovering. However, the super armor on startup is now significantly longer and starts at frame 5, which gives him a decent [[out of shield]] option. As meteor smashes now KO opponents once they are offscreen, the downward slash is also more effective for [[sacrificial KO]]s. Following update 8.0.0, the landing hit launches at a lower angle with significantly increased knockback scaling, which vastly improves its KO ability. These changes render the move capable of reliably KOing middleweights around 115% from center stage and around 70% near the ledge, if all hits connect. Aether's drastically improved KO potential has also granted Ike a new kill confirm from his neutral aerial, albeit only at mid percents when near the ledge.

===Glitches===
In ''Brawl'', if Ike is hit while throwing [[Ragnell]] in the air and is still on the ground when under the effect of the [[Timer]], he might perform his landing animation for Aether while Ragnell is still in midair, creating 2 Ragnells. He will be stuck like this until Ragnell lands on the ground. Ike will then pick up the Ragnell he held and the duplicate will disappear. Note that sometimes, Ike will simply just stop or Ragnell will instantly land without spinning.

In ''Ultimate'', a similar glitch occurs if Aether hits {{SSBU|Little Mac}}'s [[Slip Counter]] while the [[gameplay speed]] is modified. Ike's sword will be slowed down, but Ike's animation will not be. If used on the ground, he will enter the phase of his animation where he leaps up to grab the sword (assuming the counter doesn't hit him, such as if he is [[Invincibility|invincible]]), but will not actually move upwards, and will then continue performing the animation on the ground without the sword, with the sword then snapping to his hands when it reaches the end of its animation, just before the descending portion of the move. If used in the air, Ike '''will''' jump upward, but the sword will still be slowed down, and won't snap to his hands until its animation is finished.

===In [[The Subspace Emissary]]===
Ike uses Aether in The Subspace Emissary to destroy a [[Subspace Bomb]] carried by the [[Ancient Minister]]. Interestingly, Ike shouts "[[Great Aether]]" as he attacks, although he is clearly not using said [[Final Smash]]. This is due to Aether's Japanese name 天空 ''Tenkū'' consisting of two parts (two characters; one syllable each) that were split in the sound clip; as this does not work quite as well in English, the name switch was used to fill the line.

==Instructional quotes==
{{InstructionalQuotes
|ssbbchar=Ike
|ssbbdesc=Throw the blade high into the air, jump to catch it, and then descend in a two-handed strike.
|ssb4-3char=Ike
|ssb4-3desc=Throw your sword up, jump to grab it, and slash down.
|ssbuchar=Ike
|ssbudesc=Throws his sword upward, jumps to grab it, and then swings it on the way down.
}}

==Customization==
Special Move customization was added in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. These are the variations:
{{CustomSet|Ike|Up|name1=Aether|desc1-ntsc=Throw your sword up, jump to grab it, and then swing it on the way down.|desc1-pal=Throws the sword up, jumps to grab it, then slices with it on the way down.|name2=Aether Drive|desc2-ntsc=Throw your sword diagonally up, jump to grab it, and then swing it on the way down.|desc2-pal=Ike throws the sword diagonally upwards, jumps to grab it, then slices with it on the way down.|name3=Aether Wave|desc3-ntsc=Creates a shock wave when hitting the ground, but it's less powerful than normal.|desc3-pal=Makes a shockwave when hitting the ground to increase range. Somewhat less powerful, though.}}
# '''Aether''': Default.
# '''Aether Drive''': Throws the sword diagonally up, trading some vertical reach for more horizontal movement.
# '''Aether Wave''': Creates a shockwave upon landing, but deals less damage and the jump is slightly lower. This variation is similar to {{SSB4|Kirby}}'s [[Final Cutter]], except the shockwave from the move is a disjointed hitbox, not a projectile, so it cannot be reflected.

==Origin==
[[File:AetherOrigin.png|thumb|Aether in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.]]
Aether is a powerful [[fireemblemwiki:Skills|skill]] available to Ike upon promotion in ''{{iw|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance}}'' and ''[[fireemblemwiki:Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn|Radiant Dawn]]'', and later to [[Chrom]] and [[Lucina]] (or any of Chrom's other female children) in ''[[fireemblemwiki:Fire Emblem: Awakening|Awakening]]''. Aether is strikingly similar to the generic mercenary's critical hit animation from the ''Game Boy Advance'' Fire Emblem titles, and because Ike is a mercenary, this can be considered a reference. When activated, the skill deals two strikes to an enemy, combining the effects of the skills {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Sol|skill}} and {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Luna|skill}}. When Ike uses Aether in ''Radiant Dawn'', he throws his sword upward, jumps, catches it, then comes down with a spinning cut that heals Ike equal to the [[damage]] inflicted (the effect of Sol), followed by a second rising strike that is performed as Ike puts space between himself and his opponent, which treats the foe's Defense as if it was halved or 0 (the effect of Luna in ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' respectively). However, neither effect is applied to Aether in ''Smash'', and only the Sol portion of Aether's animation is incorporated. Its animation was changed in ''Awakening'', which went on to become the basis for [[Awakening Aether|Chrom's Final Smash]] in ''Ultimate'', though said animation has not been seen since.

''{{iw|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Heroes}}'' introduced many upgraded versions of Aether for Ike, such as Mayhem Aether for his "Fallen" version and "Radiant Aether" for his "Legendary" version, the latter of which has a somewhat similar animation to [[Great Aether]]. Aether skills in ''Heroes'' generally act the same as in other Fire Emblem titles, although they are inheritable to other units. Variations, however, are normally non-inheritable, and so far have only been featured on alternate iterations of Ike.

Aether's third custom variation in ''Smash 4'', Aether Wave, references Ragnell's ability to attack at a longer range. Like many legendary or otherwise special weapons in the series, it has an attack range of 2, compared to the standard melee weapon range of 1. When attacking an enemy from a distance, it release a wave of energy that cuts through the opponent when swung.

The Japanese name of the skill (literally meaning "heaven air/sky") refers to "the clear sky above the clouds", but it also can translate to ether (also spelled "aether") or firmament.
{{clr}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
SSB4 Ike Screen-4.jpg|Aether in {{forwiiu}}
Ike SSBU Skill Preview Up Special.png|Aether as shown by the [[Move List]] in ''Ultimate''.
</gallery>

==Names in other languages==
{{langtable
|ja={{ja|天空|Tenkū}}
|en=Aether
|fr=Éther
|es=Éter
|de=Aithir
|it=Etere
|nl=Aether
|ru={{rollover|Небеса|Nebesa|?}}
|ko={{rollover|에테르|Etereu|?}}, ''Aether''
|zh={{rollover|天空|Tiānkōng|?}}
}}

==Trivia==
*Aether is also the name of the setting of ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes''. Interestingly, the screenshots on Ike's pages in [[Smash Bros. DOJO!!]] page and the official ''Smash Bros. 4'' site show him performing Aether on {{SSBB|Samus}} and {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} respectively.
*In {{for3ds}}, the first use of Aether after using [[Great Aether]] will not have sword trails.
*If Ike uses this move while tiny, he'll throw the sword at a relative height, and then Ike will rise even higher than where he threw the sword. Conversely, he will rise a much shorter height while giant.

{{Special Moves|char=Ike}}

[[Category:Fire Emblem universe]]
[[Category:Up special moves]]
[[Category:Ike]] 
[[Category:Ike (SSBB)]]
[[Category:Ike (SSB4)]]
[[Category:Ike (SSBU)]]
[[Category:Glitches (SSBB)]]
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