Editing Final Smash

{{cquote|The basic gist of it? I suppose you could say it's kind of like a powerful and personalized {{b|hammer|item}}. (Or maybe not...)|cite=[[Masahiro Sakurai]], [http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/howto/basic/basic02.html Smash Bros. DOJO!!]}}

In ''Brawl'', the majority of Final Smashes are powerful enough that they have the potential to KO incredibly early or even [[one-hit KO]] if used properly. In ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'', Final Smashes were universally made much weaker, many of them no longer being able to KO opponents at low percentages. [[#Changes in Ultimate|In]] ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', they have been slightly nerfed overall once again. If a player doesn't use a Final Smash granted by the Final Smash Meter in about 20 seconds, the effect will expire. Final Smashes have also been tweaked to be less disruptive to the gameplay.

Final Smashes are affected by [[Rage]] and [[stale-move negation]] (and therefore will usually gain a freshness bonus) along with [[spirit]]s, but are not affected by stat changes from equipment or Mii Fighter sizes in ''Smash 4''.

[[Masahiro Sakurai]] revealed in an interview with former Nintendo president [[Satoru Iwata]] that he intended to include Final Smashes in the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', even going as far as to record [[Beta elements (SSB)#Beta gameplay elements|voice clips]] for each of them.<ref>https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/ssbb/4/0</ref> However, the [[Nintendo 64]]'s console limitations could've been the reason why they were scrapped and the idea wouldn't be implemented until ''Brawl''. Some of these voice clips, which were contained in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' {{SSB|debug menu}}, were eventually and correspondingly used in ''Brawl''.

A '''Pity Final Smash''' ('''Easy Final Smash''' in ''SSB4'' and ''Ultimate'') randomly occurs when any player is KO'd and is 5 points behind the current leader. Also, in ''SSB4'', at least 6 KOs between all players must be landed for any player to acquire one. This player respawns with the ability to perform a Final Smash. This Final Smash cannot be dropped by the player.

In a 2-player [[time]]d match in ''Brawl'', since the points differ by two for each kill, it is possible to go from a lead of 4 points to 6 without triggering the Pity Final Smash condition (which is to be exactly 5 points behind). If a player SD's, and consequently loses only one point, then a Pity Final Smash is possible.

Sakurai stated in a Nintendo Direct that every Final Smash would be standardized to be simple and straight to the point. As a result, Final Smashes were made universally faster in ''Ultimate'', removing most player-controlled ones; the KO potential of Final Smashes has also been reduced. Because of the universal speed increase and control removal applied to Final Smashes, many Final Smashes such as Bowser's Giga Bowser, Wario's Wario-Man, and Little Mac's Giga Mac had their functionality changed significantly (they no longer use their full moveset transformation Final Smash; it is instead a single hit that quickly returns to regular gameplay). Others such as Fox and Falco's Landmaster and Donkey Kong's Konga Beat, have been completely replaced. The [[Final Smash Meter]] (FS Meter) is also introduced, which is a toggle feature in the [[rules]] that allows players to gain a weaker form of their Final Smash by filling up their gauge during battle. However, while multiple meters can be full at once, only one Final Smash can be performed at a time. All other FS Meters are disabled while a Final Smash is active, then re-enabled once it concludes. As of update version 4.0.0, players can hold onto a full FS Meter for up to 20 seconds before losing it and starting over. In addition, when Victini appears, it will give the fighter who summoned it access to their Final Smash without filling up their meter.

|colspan=3|[[Octopus]]<ref name="ultimate overhaul" group="fs" />

*There are five Final Smashes that can affect a team player when [[Team Attack|Friendly Fire]] is turned off: [[End of Day]], [[Landmaster]], [[Puff Up]], [[Iceberg]], and [[Galaxia Darkness]] (in ''Brawl'' only).

*[[Ryu]] and [[Ken]] are the only fighters with two distinct Final Smashes in a single installment. [[Cloud]] also received a new Final Smash for his ''Advent Children'' costumes in version 10.1.0 in ''Ultimate'', but it is mostly an aesthetic change to his default one.

*Mario, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff are the only three characters in the Original 12 to have kept their Final Smashes the same from ''Brawl'' in both ''Smash 4'' and ''Ultimate'' without any functionality changes.

**This therefore makes Mario the only character part of the original 8 to not have his Final Smash change in function.

*[[Pit]], [[Zero Suit Samus]], [[R.O.B.]], and [[King Dedede]] are the only characters to have a different Final Smash in every installment since their introduction, with a total of three each.

*In ''Ultimate'', there are noticeably many characters whose Final Smash (or new Final Smash, in the case of veterans) wasn't officially announced until the game's initial release. This includes, {{SSBU|Young Link}}, {{SSBU|Meta Knight}}, {{SSBU|Diddy Kong}}, {{SSBU|Lucario}}, {{SSBU|R.O.B.}}, {{SSBU|Robin}}, {{SSBU|Daisy}}, and {{SSBU|Richter}}. While {{SSBU|Rosalina & Luma}}'s Final Smash was shown in their gameplay showcase video, it used the {{iw|mariowiki|Power Star}} like in ''Smash 4'', instead of the {{iw|mariowiki|Grand Star}} from the final build.