Nosferatu

Nosferatu
Nosferatu in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
User	Robin
Universe	Fire Emblem
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Nosferatu

“	Grab foes with a dark curse, and heal with their energy.	”
—Smash for 3DS's foldout

Nosferatu (リザイア, Resire) is Robin's down special move in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Overview

When the move is used, Robin casts a spiral of dark magic in front of himself, acting as a special grab. Opponents grabbed take 0.8% darkness damage multiple times over several seconds for a total of about 15% damage; bystanders are also damaged by the attack. In the air, ensnaring an opponent with Nosferatu will cause both Robin and the opponent to slowly fall down. If the opponent lands before Robin does, Robin will continue floating in the air until the move has finished. Robin will then be helpless. It also changes Robin's active Tome to Nosferatu if not already in use.

In addition to its damaging properties, connecting with the move heals Robin. The damage healed is based on the difference in damage between Robin and his victim; the formula for damage healed is approximately 0.32d + 8.2, where d is Robin's damage minus the victim's damage, and the result has a minimum of approximately 13.5%. As a result, Robin will heal at least 13% damage if the opponent started with higher damage, and can heal over 40% if Robin has 100% or more damage than the opponent. In addition to all of this, if Robin uses the move from behind the opponent, the damage healed is multiplied by 1.2.

Compared to Robin's other tomes, Nosferatu can only be used a total of 4 times before it breaks. It respawns after 40 seconds have passed, giving it the longest respawn time of all of Robin's weaponry along with the least uses of any tome in Robin's arsenal. This move also has a set knockback value and cannot K.O. the opponent through normal means, giving it no worth as a KO move but good use when Robin desperately needs a heal at high percentages. However, because of this move's extremely limited uses, it can be recklessly spammed during safe intervals in battle in order to easily obtain a throwable used tome in the quickest time possible, as the used tomes themselves have good KO potential when thrown.

Customization

Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:

1. Nosferatu	2. Distant Nosferatu	3. Goetia
"A dark curse that steals the life force of enemies."	"Can ensnare opponents farther away, but it's less powerful than normal."	"Pulls opponents in before trapping them. No healing effect, but deals more damage."

1. Nosferatu: Default.
2. Distant Nosferatu: Nosferatu is used twice as far from Robin, making it easier to catch opponents without being directly in front of Robin. If the opponent is directly in front of Robin, the move will miss them entirely, as the dark energy is farther down, leaving Robin open to attack. This move deals 12% to the opponent, regardless if attacked from in front or from behind. When used in front of an opponent, it will cure Robin by 6%. When used from behind, it cures Robin by 8%. This move also takes a brief moment to catch opponents.
3. Goetia: Uses the tome Goetia, which is stronger than Nosferatu, but has no healing capabilities. It takes longer to start the move. At startup, Robin creates a dark vortex that pulls in foes before beginning to attack them. This attack has a relatively bigger range than Nosferatu, and summons a bigger dark energy spiral that engulfs the opponent and deals 19% damage.

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  Distant Nosferatu being used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  The vortex upon startup...

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  ...followed by Goetia.

Origin

Nosferatu is a special Dark tome from the Fire Emblem series (except for in the first five games and the Tellius series, in which Nosferatu is instead a generic tome or a Light tome). When a unit casts Nosferatu, however much damage he or she inflicts will return to the caster in the form of healing. This effect carries over into Smash 4. Additionally, Nosferatu tomes have lower accuracy, making it harder to hit enemy troops with it. This is reflected in Smash 4 by the difficulty in landing the move.

Goetia is another Dark tome that is introduced in Fire Emblem: Awakening. It is much stronger than Nosferatu, but does not have the healing property Nosferatu does. It is also easier to land in Awakening.

As a Tactician, Robin ordinarily cannot use dark magic in Fire Emblem: Awakening, though he can potentially wield such magic if he reclasses to one that can, such as a Dark Mage, however if Robin marries Aversa, his daughter Morgan gains the skill Shadowgift, which allows her to use dark magic tomes in any Tome-wielding class. Masahiro Sakurai gave Robin the ability to use Nosferatu as a Tactician in order to "capture certain aspects of the original title".

Gallery

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  Knoll performing Nosferatu on an enemy soldier as it appeared in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, one of the games it is usable in.

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  Robin performing Goetia in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

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  Nosferatu being used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Nosferatu used from behind the opponent.

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  The range of Nosferatu.

Trivia

• Nosferatu is the only down special move to belong to a Fire Emblem character that is not Counter.
• In Awakening, Goetia has a might of 19, which is reflected in the damage it does as the third variant of Nosferatu.
• This is one of the few moves that is able to hit behind the opponent without them automatically turning around upon taking damage.
• Robin will grunt menacingly once Nosferatu lands if he does not announce the move upon it.
• Nosferatu translates to literally mean vampire, giving the move its namesake.

References

Robin's special moves

Neutral special	Thunder
Side special	Arcfire
Up special	Elwind
Down special	Nosferatu
Final Smash	Pair Up