Editing Fireball

{{ArticleIcons|allgames=y|featured=y}}

|image={{tabber|title1=Mario|content1=[[File:Mario Neutral B SSBU.gif|300px]]|title2=Luigi|content2=[[File:Luigi Neutral B SSBU.gif|300px]]}}

'''Fireballs''' ({{ja|ファイアボール|Faiabōru}}, ''Fireball'') are small [[projectile]]s launched by [[Mario]] and [[Luigi]] as their [[neutral special move]]s. Each travels a short distance, does minor damage, and causes [[flinch]]ing common to [[flame]]-based attacks. The fireball's trajectory changes according to the stage's surface angle upon contact, though with different results for each character.

==Mario's Fireball overview==

Mario shoots a red fireball out of the palm of his hand. The fireballs fall down until they hit the ground, which will cause them to bounce off of the ground. They will bounce a few times before disappearing completely. This makes them more effective when fired from higher locations and toward downward slopes, traveling further. They are especially useful when used in the air, as Mario can control his aerial trajectory while using Fireballs. When firing at a wall or upward slope, the balls will bounce backward, which can be used as a more defensive maneuver for brief protection from oncoming foes, perhaps in the air or from behind (although this is naturally hardly ever practical in competitive play).  

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''===

In ''Super Smash Bros.'', Mario's fireballs come out on frame 16 with the animation lasting 45 frames, they are fairly large, last a long period of time (139 frames; just under 2 1/3rds of a second) and deal 7%. This makes them a rather effective camping tool when used in the air, as Mario can use them on stage to approach and stuff out his opponent's approaches. He can also use the move in a recovery situation, to force his opponent to play around his fireballs, making him harder to edgeguard. Overall, Fireball is a useful tool Mario has, being useful as a camping and recovery tool, as it forces his opponent to play differently to avoid his fireballs.  

In the Japanese version, Mario's fireballs dealt more knockback, although they dealt less damage (6% as opposed to 7%) and [[hitlag]].

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''===

In ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', Mario's Fireball has a new animation where Mario opens up his hand when he releases the fireball. This new animation is two frames faster which naturally allows Mario to throw out fireballs faster. The fireballs themselves have seen a visual update where they look slightly more realistic. The fireballs also travel noticeably faster when they hit the ground, making them harder to avoid from long distances.  

However, the fireballs have seen numerous downgrades which make them less effective overall. Firstly, the fireballs themselves are smaller and they do not last as long (lasting nearly half the amount of time they did in the previous game). While their increased speed when bouncing compensates for the grounded version, this noticeably hinders the aerial version of the move, making them less likely to hit opponents from afar. The smaller size of the fireballs also makes them noticeably easier to avoid and when combined with Mario's higher falling speed, this makes them much less useful for recovering. The fireballs also deal less damage and knockback (regaining their Japanese damage value but dealing even lower knockback), making them less rewarding when they do land.  

 

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''===

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''===

 

 

==Luigi's Fireball overview==

Luigi's fireballs differ from Mario's in a few ways. The fireballs themselves are green and they travel in a straight line, being unaffected by gravity (matching his [[floaty]] motif) and they drift around in a circle, rather than rolling and bouncing along the ground like Mario's. Despite the fact that Luigi's fireballs are green, they still have a normal [[flame]] effect, so opponents are still burnt in orange flames like any other flame attack. If the fireballs hit a terrain, they will bounce in a different direction, depending on the angle of the terrain. Due to its different launch trajectory, Luigi's fireballs are typically less useful than Mario's, as their straight arc overall gives them less utility (since they cannot be used to deal with opponents below Luigi and they are overall more predictable). They do have some advantages over Mario's however; they do slightly more damage (in ''Brawl'', ''Smash 4'', and ''Ultimate''), are more spammable, and have more vertical range.  

 

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]''===

In ''Super Smash Bros.'', Luigi's fireball uses the same animation as Mario's, making the attack the same speed. The fireballs themselves are the same size as Mario's although as mentioned before, they are green and travel in a straight line. In addition to this, they only deal 6%, 1% less damage than Mario's (outside of the Japanese version) and they do not last for nearly as long (only lasting 79 frames compared to Mario's which last 139 frames).  

 

Luigi's fireballs can still be used to camp but they are less effective for this purpose than Mario's due to their shorter duration. In general, Luigi's fireballs are not highly effective as a projectile and they are overall less versatile than Mario's due to their straight arc, although it is still a decent tool Luigi possesses.

 

In the Japanese version, Luigi's fireballs were more effective, dealing more knockback and lasting for 10 more frames, making them travel a greater distance.  

===In ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''===

In ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', Luigi's fireballs have seen the same visual update as Mario's (as well as naturally still being green) and the move now has a completely different animation to Mario's, where Luigi brings back his left/leading hand in a covering position and gestures it forward in a finger snap to release the fireballs. This animation however is one frame longer than the previous animation, which makes Luigi's fireballs three frames slower than Mario's.  

The fireballs themselves travel faster however, they have a shorter duration (50 frames compared to 79), they are smaller and they deal less knockback. This overall makes fireballs less effective by themselves, as they come out slightly slower and they are smaller and weaker. The fireballs are now the same strength as Mario's (much like in the Japanese version of ''Smash 64'') although they are now smaller than Mario's.

 

However, Fireball has gained some extra utility when used in conjunction with [[wavedashing]], as Luigi can now easily and quickly approach or back away while using Fireball. While performing the move during a wavedash, Luigi can slide off from a platform, which preserves his horizontal momentum, allowing him to travel the stage relatively quickly. This technique is called a Vududash, after the smasher {{Sm|Vudujin}}.

 

 

:{{Main|Luigi (SSBB)/Neutral special}}

In ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', Fireball remain similar to how it was in ''Melee'' although it has seen some improvements. The fireballs themselves are larger, they travel slightly faster and the move has 6 frames less ending lag. Because of this, Luigi's fireballs are now larger than Mario's and while they still have increased startup lag, they now have lower ending lag, making them more spammable overall. The move can also now bounce off of multiple walls. In the previous two games, the fireball would prematurely disappear if it hit a second wall although that is no longer the case in ''Brawl'', as the fireball will now simply bounce off the wall again.

 

 

 

In ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', Fireball was initially almost unchanged from ''Brawl'', with the only difference (besides having a visual redesign along with Mario's) being that they dealt marginally higher knockback. This meant that fireballs continued to be fast and spammable projectiles, especially in comparison to Mario's (whose fireballs now have the same startup lag as Luigi's, in addition to having higher ending lag).

 

 

Overall, Fireball is less effective than it was in ''Brawl'' (after the updates) although it is still a decent projectile overall.

 

 

Nevertheless, Fireball remains a rather similarly effective tool to how it was in ''Smash 4'' although it does not outclass Mario's fireballs as much due to the buffs his fireballs received in comparison.

{{CustomSet|Mario|Neutral|name1=Fireball|desc1=Throws a fireball that bounces along the ground.|name2=Fast Fireball|desc2=Throws a faster, slightly weaker fireball straight ahead.|name3=Fire Orb|desc3=Throws a big ball of fire. Slow, but hits repeatedly before disappearing.}}

# '''Fast Fireball''' ({{ja|高速ファイアボール|Kōsoku Faiabōru}}, ''High-Speed Fireball''): The performance of the move is much faster, having about half the startup time, and somewhat less ending lag, allowing the move to be used in succession. The fireball itself travels directly forward at high speed, but causes very little knockback and inflicts less damage. The fireballs are also slightly smaller, and travel half the length of {{SSB4|Final Destination}}. {{Main|Mario (SSB4)/Neutral special/Custom 1}}

# '''Fire Orb''' ({{ja|巨大ファイアボール|Kyodai Faiabōru}}, ''Giant Fireball''): Is much larger, moving slowly in an arc, and travelling about a quarter of the length of the default move. It has transcendent priority, and is a multi-hit move, which can be useful for follow-ups. However, it has more than double the [[startup lag]] and much more [[ending lag]], giving the move an overall very long duration, subsequently making it unsafe to use offstage. {{Main|Mario (SSB4)/Neutral special/Custom 2}}

{{CustomSet|Luigi|Neutral|name1=Fireball|desc1-ntsc=Throw a fireball straight ahead. It will bounce if it hits a wall or the ground.|desc1-pal=Throws a fireball straight ahead. If it hits a wall or the ground, it will bounce.|name2=Bouncing Fireball|desc2-ntsc=Throw a fireball that bounces along the ground. Gradually loses power.|desc2-pal=Throws a fireball that bounces along the ground, gradually losing its power and momentum.|name3=Iceball|desc3-ntsc=Throw a slow-moving, icy ball at your foes.|desc3-pal=Throws a slow, icy ball. It'll freeze opponents if they've already taken quite a bit of damage.}}

# '''Bouncing Fireball''' ({{ja|バウンドファイアボール|Baundo Faiabōru}}, ''Bound Fireball''): Allows Luigi's fireballs to bounce on the ground, acting much like  Mario's, with each successive bounce decaying in height. The fireballs do less damage as they travel further, going from 6% to 5%, then to 4%. The move has more than double the ending lag, however, and comboing with it is more difficult. {{Main|Luigi (SSB4)/Neutral special/Custom 1}}

# '''Iceball''' ({{ja|アイスボール|Aisu Bōru}}, ''Ice Ball''): The startup lag on the move is noticeably longer. The ball itself is a white/blue color, and moves through the air in a small circular motion rather than a large semi-circular one. The overall horizontal movement and range of the ball is decreased, and deals only 4% damage. However, the ball deals noticeably more knockback, and has the ability to freeze opponents starting from around 40-50% depending on the opponents weight. The ball itself also has a larger hitbox (2.4u -> 3.5u). {{Main|Luigi (SSB4)/Neutral special/Custom 2}}

Ice Ball.JPG|Luigi's Iceball being used in {{for3ds}}

[[File:MB Fireballs.png|thumb|left|200px|Fireballs, as they appear in ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Bros.}}''.]]

Fireballs were introduced in the game ''{{s|mariowiki|Mario Bros.}}'' Red and green fireballs would periodically travel across the screen as hazards. The red fireballs moved in a random pattern, being affected by gravity, and the green fireballs moved in a straight path, not being affected by gravity at all. Only the green ones appear in [[Mario Bros. (stage)|''Brawl''{{'}}s version]] of the stage, but they start out as red/purple before moving. They can be destroyed for points with [[Mario]] and/or [[Luigi]] bumping them from underneath with a jump should they be close enough to the platform above.

Although fireballs appeared in ''Mario Bros.'', the act of shooting fireballs originated in the 1985 game, ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', where the ability was obtained after collecting a [[Fire Flower]]. The power is lost when the player dies or takes damage. In the game, fireballs were small, traveled very quickly, and did not stop until they hit something. Also, in this game and other traditional [[Mario (universe)|''Mario'' games]], Luigi's fireballs are not unique, being red in color and behaving exactly like Mario's. In most games, only two fireballs could be on-screen at a time even if one could be rapid-fired after another. Luigi's green fireballs made their debut in the [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]], inspired by their appearance in ''Mario Bros.'', but reappear later in the ''Mario'' spin-offs such as ''{{s|supermariowiki|Mario Kart: Double Dash!!}}'', ''{{s|supermariowiki|Mario Superstar Baseball}}'', and ''{{s|supermariowiki|Mario Hoops 3-on-3}}''.

One of Mario's custom moves, Fire Orb, possesses the same name and a similar appearance as [[supermariowiki:Fireball#Super_Mario_RPG:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Stars|one of his special attacks]] from ''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' (renamed Fireball in the [[supermariowiki:Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)|Nintendo Switch remake]]), but it functions differently from the attack in that game.

===Iceball===

[[File:IceLuigi.png|thumb|{{s|mariowiki|Ice Luigi}}, as he appears in ''{{s|mariowiki|Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition}}''.]]

One of Luigi's custom moves, Iceball, is based off of [[supermariowiki:Ice Mario|Ice Luigi]] from ''{{s|supermariowiki|New Super Mario Bros. Wii}}'' and ''{{s|supermariowiki|New Super Mario Bros. U}}''.

{{clr}}

Mario_SSBU_Skill_Preview_Neutral_Special.png|Mario using Fireball as shown by the Move List in ''Ultimate''.

Luigi SSBU Skill Preview Neutral Special.png|Luigi using Fireball as shown by the Move List in ''Ultimate''.

FireballWiiU.jpg|Mario and Luigi throwing Fireballs in {{forwiiu}}.

SSBUWebsiteKirby1.jpg|{{SSBU|Kirby}}'s [[List of Copy Abilities|copy]] of Mario's Fireball in ''Ultimate''.

*In ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', upon Mario's Fireballs hitting an opponent, they produce the same sound as when enemies are defeated in the original ''Super Mario Bros.'' Oddly, Luigi's Fireballs do not have this property.

*The change made to Luigi's Fireball in the [[1.0.6]] version of ''Smash 4'' resulted in one of the [[tips]] for the move having to be changed, as it originally mentioned that unlike Mario's Fireball, Luigi's doesn't deal less damage when travelling further.

*Despite Luigi's Fireballs being green, they make red-orange burn animations upon impact with a character, as they use a standard [[flame]] hit effect.

{{clr}}