Editing Dancing Blade

|image={{tabber|title1=Marth|content1=[[File:Marth Side B SSBU.gif|300px]]|title2=Lucina|content2=[[File:Lucina Side B SSBU.gif|300px]]}}

|user=[[Marth]]

|user2=[[Lucina]]

[[Roy]] and  [[Chrom]]'s [[Double-Edge Dance]] is a variant of this attack, which also shares the same Japanese, Chinese and Korean name.

In ''Melee'', the first attack is often used to gain horizontal recovery. Marth glows a color as he uses his attacks: red in the first attack, green in the second, blue in the third, and red again for the fourth. It is quite unlikely that Marth would have to use all four attacks, since both the third and fourth strikes have much higher [[knockback]] than the first and second. It is rather difficult to pull off the full attack, as the attack requires timing on each blow to follow up.

Dancing Blade has seen quite a few changes since ''Melee''. Unlike in ''Melee'', Marth does not glow when using this attack. Instead, the motion trail of his sword changes depending on the direction tilted, with Red always representing neutral, Blue always representing up, and Green always representing down. Secondly, the timing no longer matters, so it can be performed easily. If the first hit connects, it is nearly impossible to escape the rest of the combo when the timing is fast enough. The knockback on the third strike is decreased, allowing for better combos. The final can either be 2 [[KO]] moves at high percentages (Up can KO at 118% tipped, 142% base. Forward can KO at 140% tipped, 179% base) or a quick damage racker (Down can KO at 213% [[Tipper|tipped]], 305% base), while the upward final strike has a brand new animation (a turning upward flick as opposed to a turning slam-slash in ''Melee'').

In ''Brawl'', Marth's Dancing Blade can be reversed by tapping the control stick in the opposite direction a few frames after the side special move has been activated. There is no increase to damage, knockback and has no reverse animation, which makes reversing useful only if it is used to attack behind Marth. However, since Dancing Blade is so quick, it looks like there is a slight animation of Marth turning around, though it is actually the start of the animation of a normal Dancing Blade that continues on the other side when Marth turns around.

Dancing Blade returns in ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' as {{SSB4|Marth}}'s side special move, as well as that of his [[clone]], {{SSB4|Lucina}}. Visually, the [[tipper|tip]] of the sword in Marth's version glows more brightly than the rest of the trail, while Lucina's is a full bright white blur all along her blade, indicating the move's consistent damage across the entire blade (much like most of her other sword attacks). The attack generally deals more damage when angled downward, but has more ending lag, and the downward-angled third hit no longer meteor smashes. Additionally, it is much easier to escape out of, due to the move's lowered hitstun, less interruptibility, and its tendency to throw opponents out of the move even if the first hit connects. Overall, the move is now less effective than in ''Brawl'', although the changes to the move's knockback angles in the [[1.1.3]] update made the attack easier to chain together, making it more effective than how it was initially.

{{CustomSet|Lucina|Side|name1=Dancing Blade|desc1-ntsc=Attack up to four times. Press up or down to change the combo type.|desc1-pal=Strikes with your sword. Press repeatedly for a combo. Vary the strikes by inputting up or down.|name2=Effortless Blade|desc2-ntsc=You can't change the combo type, but you can wait longer between attacks. Lower damage.|desc2-pal=Hits four times even without careful timing, but the strikes are always the same and hurt less.|name3=Heavy Blade|desc3-ntsc=Each strike is stronger but launches foes, making it hard to pull off a combo.|desc3-pal=Each attack's power is much stronger, but can't be used as a combo since they launch foes.}}

#: In {{for3ds}}, this variation is a [[List of challenges (SSB4-3DS)|Challenge]] unlock, only obtainable by clearing [[100-Man Smash]] in less than 3 minutes.{{Main|Marth (SSB4)/Side special/Custom 1}}{{Main|Lucina (SSB4)/Side special/Custom 1}}

# '''Heavy Blade''': Deals much more damage and knockback, and the slashes have more range; the first swing has enough knockback to be a viable KO move, and the final swings are all capable of KOing at very low percentages. However, the input timing is more strict while the hits are slower, with the resultant increase in knockback also making each separate hit almost impossible to link together.{{Main|Marth (SSB4)/Side special/Custom 2}}{{Main|Lucina (SSB4)/Side special/Custom 2}}

Dancing Blade loosely resembles the [[fireemblemwiki:Astra (skill)|Astra skill]], which allows its users to unleash five consecutive blows upon an enemy when activated. Originally simply allowing for five strikes with no drawbacks, it has received various nerfs throughout the series, such as reduced damage per blow, removing the ability to land a critical hit, and removing the ability to make a follow-up attack. Despite this, Astra is commonly seen as one of the most powerful offensive skills in the series.

 

Astra does not exist in any of Marth's four native games, as the skill system debuted in ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War}}'' after Marth's original two games and was not included in the Nintendo DS remakes, though the skill itself was introduced prior to ''Melee''. Despite this, Marth's [[fireemblemwiki:Marth#Downloadable content|"King Marth"]] [[fireemblemwiki:Bonus units|bonus unit]] incarnation in ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Awakening}}'' possesses Astra as a default skill, likely as a reference to ''Smash''. Lucina is also able to obtain Astra through reclassing if her mother is [[Robin|a female Avatar]], {{s|fireemblemwiki|Sully}}, or {{s|fireemblemwiki|Olivia}}. In their default classes in ''Awakening'', {{s|fireemblemwiki|Lord}} and {{s|fireemblemwiki|Lodestar}} respectively, Lucina and Marth's motions while using it are a strong visual parallel to the Dancing Blade motions in the ''Smash Bros.'' series. Any character in ''Awakening'' can also use Astra if {{s|fireemblemwiki:Astra (weapon)|the bow of the same name}} is equipped. In ''Fates'', Lucina and Marth use similar motions to Dancing Blade in their regular attack animations. In ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Engage}}'', Lodestar Rush is a combat skill for Emblem Marth which can be used by any unit equipped with his Emblem Ring while engaged.

The English version of ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Fates}}'' went on to give the [[amiibo]] incarnation of Marth and his Lodestar class a skill named {{s|fireemblemwiki|Dancing Blade}} after the ''Super Smash Bros.'' move. The French, Italian, and Spanish translations also made this reference. However, this was likely not originally intended to be a direct reference, as it has a different Japanese name ("Gentle Blade") and an unrelated effect, granting the user +3 to their Speed stat but -1 to their Defense stat. The skill's English name would later be changed to ''Flashing Blade'' in ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Heroes}}'' alongside the other languages, accelerating cooldown for special skills by 1 point per attack if the user is faster.

Dancing Blade.png|The first strike of Dancing Blade in ''Brawl''.

SSB4_Marth Screen-8.jpg|The final forward strike of Marth's Dancing Blade in ''SSB4''.

LucinaDancingBlade2.png|Lucina attacking {{SSB4|Link}} with the final downward hit of Dancing Blade.

Marth SSBU Skill Preview Side Special.png|Marth using Dancing Blade as shown by the Move List in ''Ultimate''.

Lucina SSBU Skill Preview Side Special.png|Lucina using Dancing Blade as shown by the Move List in ''Ultimate''.

*Like [[Dolphin Slash]], the sound of Dancing Blade varies between versions, except that the differences are less apart from each other. ''Brawl'''s version includes loud slash sound effects while the ''Smash 4'' version is significantly quieter.

*Dancing Blade and [[Double-Edge Dance]] have the unique distinction in ''Smash'' of being two of the only attacks that can be considered a "Rekka". In fighting game terminology, a "Rekka" refers to a [[Special move|command input attack]] that allows for [[Natural combo|multiple follow-ups through additional command inputs]], often times having a "branching path" of available attacks and options. They are traditionally utilized for combo extensions and to hit-confirm into mixups. The name is derived from the [https://streetfighter.fandom.com/wiki/Rekkaken Rekkaken], one of the signature attacks of {{s|wikipedia|Fei Long}} from the {{uv|Street Fighter}} series, who originated this type of attack.