Electric

Pikachu's Thunder in Brawl, a powerful electric attack

The playable characters' appearances when hit by electric attacks in Smash 64

Electric is an attack effect in the Super Smash Bros. series that debuted in the original Super Smash Bros. Targets hit by electric attacks will be shocked and spark for a second or two. The electric effect is distinct from the paralyze effect, despite most attacks with the paralyze effect using electrical sound effects.

In Smash 64 only, characters hit by electric attacks briefly flash black, with their skeleton visible (except Samus, whose suitless shape is seen instead; and Kirby and Jigglypuff, whose bodies stay black but have their eyes protuding from them). This is no longer the case from Melee onward, as characters instead glow light blue after taking a hit. From Brawl onward, characters also use a special animation when hit by an electric attack, which has them continuously tremble in place during hitlag and before being launched, instead of using a single animation frame (this animation is shared for characters who are paralyzed).

In Smash 64, Melee, and Brawl, electric attacks always emit very loud sounds on hit. Starting in Smash 4, this has been toned down to a quieter "buzzing" sound.

In addition, electric attacks have several other effects:

• They multiply hitlag of an attack by 1.5x. In Melee, this multiplier only applied to the victim, not the attacker.
• In Smash 4, they cause attacks to inflict one more frame of hitstun than usual.
• They deal no damage to Yellow Pikmin, which will not flinch.
• In Brawl and Smash 4, flame and electric attacks make Hotheads grow larger and more powerful (in Ultimate, all attacks can do this, albeit not as quickly).

Electric attacks are boosted by Electric Attack stickers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's The Subspace Emissary and the spirit skill or trait Electric Attack ↑ as well as certain Spirit Battle conditions in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Electric attacks are resisted by Electric Resist stickers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the support spirit skills Electric Resist ↑ in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. These attacks also deal more damage to fighters equipped with a primary spirit with the trait Electric Weakness.

List of electric attacks

By characters

Character	Move(s)	Games
Captain Falcon	Knee Smash (sweetspotted)
	Lightning Falcon Kick
Dark Pit	Electroshock Arm
	Electrocut Arm
	Quickshock Arm
Dark Samus	Forward smash
	Up smash
	Down tilt
	Forward aerial
	Forward throw
	Grab aerial
	Charge Shot
	Screw Attack (last hit)
	Phazon Laser
Donkey Kong	Lightning Punch
Dr. Mario	Forward smash
	Shocking Sheet
Falco	Lasers during back, up, and down throws
	Reflector
	Blaster
	Explosive Blaster
	Burst Blaster
Fox	Reflector
	Charge Blaster
	Wolf Flash (sweetspotted)
Ganondorf	Neutral attack (except sourspot in Brawl and Smash 4)
	Down aerial
	Dark Dive
Giga Bowser	Up smash
	Neutral aerial
	Back aerial
	Down aerial
	Whirling Fortress
Hero	Zap/Zapple/Kazap
	Gigaslash
Joker	Up tilt (when Arsene is summoned)
Kazuya	Dragon Uppercut
	Demon God Fist
	Up throw (beam)
	10 Hit Combo (ninth hit)
	Devil Blaster
	Devil Fist (close hit)
	Final Blaster
King Dedede	Waddle Dee Toss (Waddle Doo lasers)
	Bouncing Gordo
Kirby (Copy Abilities)	Charge Shot
	Thunder Jolt
	PK Flash
	Shadow Ball (charge hitbox)
	Blaster (Falco)
	Pikmin Pluck (thrown Yellow Pikmin)
	Blaster (Wolf)
	Charge Blast
	Thunder (Robin)
	Devil Blaster
Link	Shocking Spin
Lucas	Forward tilt (sweetspot)
	Dash attack
	Up tilt (tip)
	Up smash
	Down smash
	Neutral aerial
	Forward aerial (sweetspot)
	Back aerial
	PK Thunder
	PSI Magnet
	Down aerial (last sweetspotted hit)
Lucina	Iai Counter
Mario	Shocking Cape
Marth	Iai Counter
Mega Man	Forward smash
	Up smash
	Mega Legends (Buster beams)
Meta Knight	Darkness Illusion (lightning bolt)
Mewtwo	Neutral aerial
	Pummel (in Melee and Smash 4)
	Shadow Ball (charge hitboxes)
	Floor attack
Mii Gunner	Charge Blast
	Echo Reflector
	Full Blast
Min Min	Punch (Megawatt)
Mr. Game & Watch	Judge (number 5)
Ness	PK Thunder
	PK Flash
	Dash attack
	Forward aerial
	Back aerial
	Rising PK Flash
	Lasting PK Thunder
	Rolling PK Thunder
	Forward PSI Magnet
Olimar	All Pikmin-based attacks with a Yellow Pikmin (all smashes, all aerial attacks except for neutral aerial, pummel, all throws, Pikmin Throw and customs)
	Pikmin Chain (Yellow Pikmin)
Pichu	Forward smash
	Forward aerial
	Down aerial
	Thunder Jolt
	Skull Bash
	Thunder
	Pummel
	All throws
	Forward tilt
	Down smash
	Back aerial
	Volt Tackle
Pikachu	Forward smash
	Forward aerial
	Down aerial
	Forward throw (back throw in Smash 64)
	Thunder Jolt
	Thunder
	Down smash
	Pummel
	Quick Attack
	All throws (except forward throw)
	Skull Bash
	Volt Tackle
	Thunder Wave
	Thunder Shock
	Shocking Skull Bash
	Meteor Quick Attack
	Quick Feet
	Thunder Burst
	Distant Thunder
	Forward tilt
	Neutral aerial
R.O.B.	Forward smash
	Diffusion Beam
	Super Diffusion Beam
Robin	All aerial attacks (neutral aerial in Ultimate only; Levin Sword)
	All smash attacks (Levin Sword)
	Pummel
	Thunder
	Thunder+
	Speed Thunder
Samus	Charge Shot
	Screw Attack (last hit)
	Forward and back throws
	Up throw (multi-hits)
	Grab aerial
	Zero Laser
	Dense Charge Shot
	Melee Charge Shot
	Screw Rush
	Apex Screw Attack
Sheik	Chain (tip)
Sora	Magic (Thundaga)
Wario-Man	Corkscrew
Wolf	Blaster (shots)
	Wolf Flash (sweetspot)
	Reflector
Zelda	Neutral attack
	Up tilt
	Dash attack
	Forward smash (last hit)
	Up smash
	Lightning Kicks (sweetspot)
	Pummel
	Down throw
	Neutral aerial (last hit)
	Down aerial (sweetspot)
Zero Suit Samus	Neutral aerial
	Up smash
	Forward throw
	Plasma Whip (whip body)
	Forward smash
	Plasma Wire
	Power Suit Samus
	Gunship lasers
	Zero Laser

By items

Item	Attack	Games
Assist Trophies	Barbara: Shockwaves
	Elec Man: Thunder Beam
	Phosphora: Electric shots
	Wily Capsule: Lightning projectiles, ramming into the player
Beam Sword	First hit of forward smash when used by Captain Falcon
Fan
Hothead	Spark
Key	Throw against enemies
Parasol	First hit of forward smash when used by Captain Falcon
Poké Ball (Pokémon)	Bewear: first hit of uppercut
	Dedenne: Discharge
	Ditto: Transform (if the summoner possesses electric attacks)
	Lugia: Aeroblast, contact with body
	Lunala: Moongeist Beam
	Raikou: Spark
	Zapdos: ThunderShock
Ray Gun	Shots

By enemies and bosses

Enemy/Boss	Attack	Games
Crazy Hand	Lasers
	Sweep attack
	Parts of drill attack
	Flying Punch
	Jet flight (comeback)
	Triple poke (second hit)
	Applause combo (fourth hit)
	Cross punch combo (startup)
Duon	Blue laser attack
Feyesh	Tentacle swipe
Ganon	Lightning discs
Glunder	Discharge
Jyk (zap variety)	Contact with body
Marx	Eye lasers
	Giant mouth laser
Master Core	Master Giant: Electric orbs
	Master Beast: Dark Thunder
Master Hand	Slamming punch
	Parts of drill attack
	Lasers
	Flying punch
Metal Face	Laser
Plasma Wisp	Plasma beam
Porky	Beam attacks
	Lightning bolt
Rayquaza	Dragon Pulse
	Thunder
Spaak	Spark and thunderbolt attacks
Tabuu	Electrical Shield
	Eye Lasers
	Off Waves
Waddle Doo	Eye beam
Yellow Devil	Lasers

By stage hazards

In addition to natural stage hazards, the Spirit Battle condition "The floor is electrified" creates a hazard that inflicts electric damage.

Stage	Hazard	Game(s)
Balloon Fight	Sparks
Corneria	Great Fox blaster charge
Kalos Pokémon League	Rayquaza in Dragon Chamber
Midgar	Ramuh's Judgment Bolt
Orbital Gate Assault	Forcefield
Unova Pokémon League	Zekrom's Fusion Bolt

Trivia

• In Ultimate, when a downed opponent is hit with an electric attack which lifts them off the ground but doesn't cause tumble, they will enter the reset animation in the air rather than their aerial flinch animation. The animation ends early if the opponent acts out of hitstun or lands on the ground again.
• In Melee, when Pikachu uses its back, up, or down throw on an opponent, it begins to spark immediately, without the "shock" being displayed when the move connects. Strangely, these moves have a normal hit effect, which makes this occurrence even stranger. This was fixed in Brawl, where they now have a proper normal. This also happens to Pichu, with these throws also being the only ones that don't cause recoil damage to it (besides dismissed Thunder), likely because they are not true electric attacks.
  • This can also happen with numerous other throws in Melee if their damage/angle/knockback is altered, even if they retain a normal effect.
• When a character is hit by an electric attack in Brawl and they have high enough damage, the crowd doesn't make any sounds unless the electric attack in question happens to hit an opponent that has already been launched by another, non-electric attack.
• In Ultimate, a bug exists where the knockback of an attack that triggers Finish Zoom starts during its freeze frames, causing victims to start launching with less knockback. The only attacks that are not bugged in this manner are attacks with the electric effect.
  • This causes a functional difference between Samus and Dark Samus, particularly with their Forward smashes. Despite otherwise being identical, Dark Samus uses the electric effect while Samus uses the flame effect, causing Dark Samus to KO at a lower percent if Finish Zoom is triggered.