Thunder (Robin)

Thunder
The various stages of Thunder in Ultimate.
User	Robin
Universe	Fire Emblem
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Thunder (tome)

Thunder (サンダー, Thunder) is Robin's neutral special move.

Overview

This is an auto-chargeable special move that fires a long ranged electric projectile. Like most moves of its nature, the move will automatically charge once the special button is tapped, and pressing the button will fire it during the said period. Also during said charging period, the move's charge can be stored by shielding or rolling (the latter done by tapping left or right). In midair, charging can be canceled with an air dodge or a double jump. Any stored charge is lost if Robin flinches from a hit while charging or is KO'd.

Charging or using this move changes Robin's active tome to Thunder. The tome has a limited amount of durability, which is expended when the attack is released, and when depleted, the tome is automatically discarded. The discarded tome acts as a projectile that will damage opponents as it falls, and can be caught and thrown like an item. After it breaks, a cooldown of 12 seconds passes before the tome is replaced and Thunder can be used again.

If Kirby copies this move and exhausts the Thunder tome that he acquires from inhaling Robin, the copy ability is discarded (with Kirby immediately losing Robin's "hair" hat alongside the effects used when discarding a copy ability through taunting) when the last projectile it produced disappears.

Trying to use the move while the tome is broken before its replacement will have Robin perform the animation for the cast, but only a small puff of smoke will come out with no effect whatsoever.

Stages

Thunder has 4 different stages, each with different projectile properties, damage, and knockback. Depending on what stage the attack is, the durability points used varies. A total of 20 durability points can be used before the tome breaks. When Elthunder is charged, the tome will flash yellow. When Arcthunder is charged, the tome will glow red. When Thoron is charged, Robin will put the tome away and launch the attack when B is pressed again.

All stages of the move can miss smaller characters while they are crouching, as they travel a distance above the floor. Robin is not prohibited from using higher stages of the spell than the remaining durability of his tome.

Stage	Description	Damage	Durability	KO percent
Thunder	A small white jolt of electricity that travels quickly in a straight line. The fastest stage of the move, though with mediocre range, knockback, and damage, unable to KO even at 999%. Travels a little under half of Final Destination, good for interrupting approaches at a safe distance. It can also be a combo starter at close range due to its low ending lag and knockback.	4.5%/5.5%	1	N/A
Elthunder	A yellow ball of electricity that travels in a straight line with less speed than Thunder. A fairly standard projectile that travels around three quarters of Final Destination with decent KO potential near ledges and offstage (KOing at around 130% at the edge of Final Destination), and due to its quick charge time and range, it is a decent spammable projectile. Charged after half a second. Japanese: エルサンダー, Elthunder	10.5%/11%	3	178%
Arcthunder	A bright purple slow-moving ball of electricity that gradually picks up speed. Travels slightly further than Elthunder. On contact, it traps opponents in an electric 'X' shape while inflicting damage. It has little to no KO potential on its own in Smash 4, but moderate KO potential in Ultimate due to a substantial increase in damage and knockback (KOing at around 125% near ledges). It is good for pressuring shields, although its function differs between games: the Smash 4 version is tooled for followups as it gives Robin enough time to attack while the victim is trapped in the move, while the Ultimate versions is better for direct KOing. Charged after about two seconds. Japanese: ギガサンダー, Gigathunder	3%/6% (hit 1) 1%/2.4% (looping hits) 1%/8% (final hit)	5	171%
Thoron	An extremely long beam of electricity that rapidly travels across the stage, dealing considerable knockback and passing through opponents and other projectiles. In Smash 4, holding down the special attack button increases its duration from 84 frames to up to 92, and in turn increases damage; in Ultimate, the duration is always 92 frames. Its is the strongest version of Thunder, KOing effectively in both games: its high launch angle in Smash 4 gives it reliable KO potential anywhere onstage at around 160% (150% if the button is held down), while its lower launch angle and higher base knockback in Ultimate makes it much more powerful near ledges and as an offstage finisher. The firing animation is distinct from the other charge levels as Robin tosses his sword during a turn and fires the Thoron via a back-handed manner before catching his weapon. This animation makes it very risky to use the air, as the player risks a self-destruct if they initiate it below ledge level. Thoron's hitbox is connected to Robin, and the entirety of the beam will move with Robin's movements if used in the air. One of Robin's reliable ranged finishers, apart from a thrown Levin Sword or tome. Charged after three and a half seconds. Japanese: トロン, Thoron	2.6%	8	138%

Instructional quotes

case foldout		A magical thunder attack. Gains power when charged.
Move List		Unleashes lightning magic that can be charged to cast Elthunder, Arcthunder, and Thoron.

Customization

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

1. Thunder	2. Thunder+	3. Speed Thunder
"Lightning magic that can be charged to cast Elthunder, Arcthunder, and Thoron."	"Cast stronger lightning magic. Can't be used as many times in a row as Thunder."	"Charges and travels faster than Thunder, but it isn't quite as strong."

1. Thunder: Default.
2. Thunder+: The move has a longer charge time to reach Thoron, taking five seconds. Each stage is stronger and larger than the standard variation, but the magic itself uses up more durability points than normal. Visually, Robin erupts small shockwaves (as opposed to a dusty wind effect from behind with the default version) while charging.

Stage	Changes	Damage	Durability
Thunder	The electric jolt is bigger, and travels slightly slower. It travels farther before disappearing.	5%	2
Elthunder	The electricity will travel at a steady pace, with increased knockback.	12%	5
Arcthunder	The electric ball will move slightly faster, and pick up speed as it travels. Has improved knockback.	5% (hit 1) 1.2% (looping hits) 1.2% (final hit)	8
Thoron	The beam is much faster and wider. It is longer and will damage the opponent multiple times when passing through them. Has high knockback.	3.5%	20

3. Speed Thunder: Takes two seconds to reach Thoron. Each spell deals different amounts of damage than the original variant, travels faster, is smaller in size, and deals less knockback. The Speed Thunder tome uses the same amount of durability points as the standard variation. When the tome is discarded, it takes ten seconds for the tome to respawn.

Stage	Changes	Damage
Thunder	The jolt of electricity is slimmer and travels a bit farther.	2%
Elthunder	The electric mass will travel the length of Final Destination. Also slightly smaller.	5%
Arcthunder	Travels less than the standard variation and no final hit, but has more hits. Only slightly faster.	2.5% (hit 1) 1% (looping hits)
Thoron	The beam's trail is shorter, and will only hit the opponent once. Power does not get boosted if the special move button is held.	10%

Origin

Thunder magic is one of the most commonly recurring types of offensive magic in the Fire Emblem series, and is one of the five categories of offensive magic, along with fire, wind, light, and dark. Thunder magic is commonly grouped with fire and wind into the collective school of anima magic, or the magic of nature.

In Fire Emblem, each class is restricted in what weapons they can use by how proficient they are in that weapon type. In many games, the anima magic categories organize their spells into a series of stages, with each spell being more powerful than the last and requiring more weapon experience to use, and the thunder spells used by Robin in Smash are taken from these stages. While Fire Emblem does not have a charging mechanic for spells like Smash does for Thunder, it could be taken as a reference to weapon experience.

• Thunder is the most basic thunder tome, and appears in every game in the Fire Emblem series. Its ball-of-lightning appearance in Smash comes from Fire Emblem Awakening.
• Elthunder was introduced in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and is one of the "El-" tomes, the second stage of anima magic, along with Elwind. Its ball-of-lightning appearance is original to Smash, since it has always been a bolt of lightning in Fire Emblem.
• Arcthunder was introduced in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. It is one of the "Arc-" tomes, the third stage of anima magic, along with Arcfire. The spell's X shape in Smash resembles how Fire Emblem shows it as many bolts of lightning converging on one target.
• Thoron, the fourth and final stage of standard thunder spells, was introduced in the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Most Fire Emblem games portray it as a fast-moving lightning beam, like in Smash.

In Fire Emblem Awakening, Robin's starting inventory in the main game features a Thunder tome, and begins the Premonition chapter at the beginning of the game with a Thoron tome. In Fire Emblem Fates, Thoron is a special weapon which can only be used by Robin as bonus amiibo content.

• 

  Linde casts Thunder in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

• 

  Ilyana casts Elthunder in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

• 

  Maribelle casts Arcthunder in Fire Emblem Awakening.

• 

  An enemy Mage casts Thoron in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Gallery

• 

  Thunder being charged in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Thunder being charged in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Elthunder being released in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Arcthunder in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Thoron being released in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Thoron as shown by the Move List in Ultimate.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	サンダー, Thunder
English	Thunder
French	Foudre
German	Donner
Spanish	Trueno
Italian	Tuono
Chinese (Simplified)	雷电
Chinese (Traditional)	雷電
Korean	선더, Thunder
Dutch	Bliksem
Russian	Гроза

Trivia

• Occasionally, if Robin short hops before beginning a Thunder charge, a second charge sound will begin playing and stack over the first charging sound the moment he lands. This is likely a glitch with no functional effect.
• When Robin discards a completely different broken tome with a fully charged Thunder, his hand will act as though it is still holding something despite there being nothing in it; the lightning spark effects for the charge indication will still appear in this case.
• Thunder's charge speed is completely unaffected by the Timer's slowdown effect. This allows for Robin to fully charge the move in situations where it would typically take too long, such as while offstage.
• With a speed of 7 units/frame and a max duration of 92 frames, Thoron is able to travel up to 644 units, roughly the distance from the right wall of The Great Cave Offensive to the left camera border or 4 units more than the distance between the left and right blast lines of Temple.
• The cover of the tome in Robin's hand changes as he charges the move from one stage to the next; as in Fire Emblem, the advanced stages of the Thunder attack are produced by different tomes.
• Despite employing different named moves, Robin's neutral special is simply named after its first stage in the Move List. This is unlike other moves with similar behaviors such as Sephiroth's Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare or Hero's Frizz / Frizzle / Kafrizz.
• In Ultimate:
  • If Kirby attempts to use the tome after depleting it, he will gesture to use it and create a puff of smoke like Robin, but Kirby's tome will cycle through each tome (Thunder, Arcfire, Elwind, Nosferatu) every frame.
  • After Robin uses Thoron, he will become immune to tripping from attacks that don't use the slip effect (such as Wario's uncharged Wario Waft or Banana Peels), even if the attack has a 100% trip chance (e.g. Pichu's forward tilt). The only way to re-enable tripping is to respawn. This is also true for Kirby.
  • Thoron is one of the few non-Final Smash moves that cannot cause Finish Zoom in non-stamina matches.

References

Robin's special moves

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