Missile

Missile
Samus firing a Missile and Dark Samus firing a Super Missile in Ultimate.
Users	Samus Dark Samus
Universe	Metroid
Article on Metroid Wiki	Missile

Missile (ミサイル, Missile) is Samus and Dark Samus's side special move.

Overview

A Super Missile in Brawl.

The user makes a brief animation of pointing their arm cannon in front of them, then firing a missile. There are two types of missiles:

• Regular Missiles (often called Homing Missiles) are fired by tilting (as opposed to tapping). They home on opponents to a degree (they do not move vertically very well), move slowly, and deal 5% damage. Homing Missiles appear rocket-shaped with a purple nose and yellow trail, as standard missiles appear in the 2D Metroid games.
• Super Missiles are fired by tapping. They move in a fast, straight line, as opposed to Homing Missiles, and deal 10% damage with decent knockback. In Melee, Super Missiles look the same as Homing Missiles except with a blue trail. From Brawl onwards, Super Missiles are distinguished with a fatter body and a green nose, as seen in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission.

In Melee, missiles are quite powerful, to the point where Super Missiles can KO at higher damage percentages due to average knockback. Samus can even create a form of obstacle course with missiles if she fires Super Missiles in the air if she falls to the ground and then back in the air by way of missile cancelling. If the missile is hit with a move that does at least 4%, the missile will break and not do any damage.

However, in Brawl, the Missiles have been severely nerfed in knockback and speed, and are best for comboing or spacing. CPUs still use this attack very prominently.

In Ultimate, Dark Samus, being an Echo Fighter of Samus, retains this move. Compared to Samus, Dark Samus fires her missiles at a slightly lower height, allowing her to hit certain smaller targets that Samus cannot (e.g. a crouching Pichu).

Instructional quotes

instruction booklet		Release guided missiles or tap to launch powerful direct shots.
instruction booklet		Launch a guided missile. Tilt the Control Stick to the left to launch a stronger missile.
Move List		Launches a homing missile. Flicking rather than tilting the control stick launches a Super Missile.
		Launches a homing missile. Flicking rather than tilting the control stick launches a Super Missile.

Customization

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

1. Missile	2. Relentless Missile	3. Turbo Missile
"Launch a homing missile. Perform like a smash attack to launch a Super Missile."	"Launch a slower, more persistent missile. Also, the Super Missiles decelerate after a bit."	"Launch a missile that takes a second to get going. Its direction can be adjusted."

1. Missile: Default.
2. Relentless Missile: Missiles move much slower, granting the Homing Missiles more control and slowing the Super Missiles to a crawl after a while. They deal less damage.
3. Turbo Missile: Missiles move faster, but briefly stop to lock on to an opponent before flying forward. They also deal less damage.

Origin

Samus firing a Missile in Super Metroid.

Missiles are explosive projectiles that are staples in the Metroid games. Once Samus finds a Missile Launcher, she can fire Missiles at any time as long as she has ammo remaining. Since Missiles do more damage than most Beam weapons and are the only way to access certain areas and damage some enemies, collecting Missile Expansions to increase ammo space is critical. In later games, different kinds of missiles are introduced, such as Ice Missiles.

SA-X firing a Super Missile in Fusion.

Super Missiles were introduced in Super Metroid as rarer, more powerful Missiles. In Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid: Other M, Super Missiles are fired by combining a Charge Shot and five Missiles.

Homing Missiles appeared in Metroid Prime as the standard for most missile types, but Super Smash Bros. Melee was released before Metroid Prime, meaning that the idea of homing missiles first appeared in Melee. From Metroid Prime 2: Echoes onwards, Samus can collect an upgrade called the Seeker Missile or Storm Missile, which allows her to fire up to five simultaneous missiles at five targets.

In the original Metroid, the Power Suit's visor and highlights would turn blue while in Missile Mode. Starting with the monochromatic Metroid II: Return of Samus, later Metroid games instead show Samus's Arm Cannon reconfiguring into the Missile Launcher, typically with the ends of the barrel opening up. Both visual details are included in Smash, although the blue visor and highlights would not be added to Samus's aesthetics until her appearance in Ultimate.

In Metroid Prime 2, Dark Samus is able to fire both Missiles and Super Missiles during her fight.

Gallery

• 

  A Super Missile in Melee.

• 

  The Homing Missile, which can be used when applying only slight pressure to the control stick.

• 

  The Homing Missile in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  The Super Missile in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Samus using Missile as shown in the Move List in Ultimate.

• 

  Dark Samus using Missile as shown in the Move List in Ultimate.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	ミサイル, Missile
English	Missile
French	Missile
German	Rakete (Samus) Spezialrakete (Dark Samus)
Spanish	Misil
Italian	Missile
Chinese (Simplified)	导弹
Chinese (Traditional)	導彈
Korean	미사일, Missile
Dutch	Raket
Russian	Ракета

Technical details

Samus:

• Samus (SSBM)/Side special
• Samus (SSBB)/Side special
• Samus (SSB4)/Side special
• Samus (SSBU)/Side special

Dark Samus:

• Dark Samus (SSBU)/Side special

Samus's special moves

Neutral special	Charge Shot
Side special	—	Missile
Up special	Screw Attack
Down special	Bomb
Final Smash	—		Zero Laser

Dark Samus's special moves

Neutral special	Charge Shot
Side special	Missile
Up special	Screw Attack
Down special	Bomb
Final Smash	Phazon Laser