Editing Self-destruct

{{redirect|Suicide|the maneuver where the attacker KOs their opponent at the cost of their own stock|Sacrificial KO}}

A '''self-destruct''' (abbreviated as '''SD''') occurs when a character is [[KO]]'d without being hit by an opponent. This usually equates as intentionally (or unintentionally) jumping off the edge oneself, but falls also count as SDs when the stage KOs someone due to a hazard. In [[Time mode]], self-destructs subtract one point by default from a player's score; this penalty can be changed to zero or two points in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. In [[bonus mode]], the player's [[bonus points|score]] is lowered by 500 points. If characters get defeated by their own [[item]], it counts as both a fall and an SD, making them lose an additional point (Item Self-Destruct worth -1000). [[Friendly Fire]] also accounts for a loss of additional points. The character with the most self-destructs gets the Master of Disaster bonus (-1000) unless they have double or more the SDs of whoever has the second-most (and at least 3), in which case they get Self-Destructor instead (-2000).

Defeating one's own teammate counts as both a self-destruct for the attacker and a fall for the KO'd teammate (however, in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', patch 6.0.0 introduced a score-keeping bug where final results do not count the team SDs even though they are recorded in the final results and still subtract the score during a match). In the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' however, the character that defeated the ally earns a point while the ally loses a point, similar to a regular KO (which effectively means the team doesn't lose a point).

In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', a fall counts as an SD if they are KO'd without anyone having been [[KO#KO property|credited with the last hit]] on them, which can occur when:

*The character was standing on the ground, and went beyond a [[blast line]], without being hit off the ground by anyone before the KO. Platforms that go above the upper blast line, like in [[Rainbow Cruise]], can [[Star KO]] and [[Screen KO]] characters.

From ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' onward, however, an SD can only be attained if the KO'd character did not get hit by an opponent during the entire [[stock]] or for three entire minutes, as touching the ground after being hit does not automatically reset their KO property. Therefore, a character can be hit by any attack (or even be [[Footstool Jump]]ed off of), return to the stage, continue to play for a while, and intentionally KO themselves, but it will not count as an SD. Players, however, will often refer to any fall that is clearly the player's own fault as a self-destruct, regardless of whether the game counts it as such. This change may have been done because, in time mode, a player on the verge of getting KO'd could just SD to avoid giving a point to another player, and the new way of counting SDs prevents this behavior.

During [[Time]] battles in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', although SDs are tallied separately from falls in the results screen, the opponent in a 1-on-1 battle is still awarded a point for KOing the fighter who SD'd. This does not happen in Stock battles, nor in Time battles with more than two fighters present.

 

One example of a move with high self-destruction risk is [[Marth]] and [[Lucina]]'s [[Critical Hit]]. The [[Hero]]'s Kamikazee technique with his [[Command Selection]] is also notable for forcing a self-destruct, being the only move to do so.

 

The act of intentionally self-destructing to compensate for one's opponent doing so accidentally is often referred to by players as a "homie stock"; it is occasionally seen in friendly 1-on-1 matches, but is uncommon in competitive play.