Side special move

Kirby's side special move, Hammer.

Samus' Super Missile is an example of a "smash" special move.

The side special move (also commonly called forward B, side B, smash B, or over B) is a special attack performed by pressing the special move button with the control stick held left or right.

Not counting Final Smashes, the side special is the only special attack to originate in a game other than the original Super Smash Bros. - namely, in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In the original, pressing the special button with the stick held sideways would result in a neutral special move. With the introduction of side specials in Melee, some characters' neutral specials were changed to be side specials, with a new neutral special taking their place.

Many side specials involve either significant sideways character movement or a projectile that has more horizontal range than the user's other projectiles. As a result, many can be utilized as approaches.

Smash special move

Some side special moves are different depending on whether or not the control stick (or pad) is tapped/"smashed" or simply tilted to the side. The side special moves affected by this are:

• Link's Boomerang: Flies a further distance and at a faster speed, also dealing more damage. Young Link and Toon Link's Boomerangs also have this property. Gale Boomerang is also affected, but its damage is not increased.
• Samus's Missiles: Instead of the regular missile, a more powerful, faster, non-homing missile known as a Super Missile is fired. The Mii Gunner's Gunner Missiles also have this property.
• Pikachu's Skull Bash: Starts off already slightly charged.
• Luigi's Green Missile: Starts off slightly charged.
• Ivysaur's Razor Leaf: Travels faster and is more powerful, but its trajectory cannot be arced as effectively.
• Diddy Kong's Monkey Flip: Flies faster and farther.
• Wario's Wario Bike: Moves faster and deals more damage.
• Duck Hunt's Clay Shooting: Moves faster and does more damage on contact. In the case of Clay Break it will never break until the 3rd hit, while in the case of Rising Clay it scales in damage faster and arcs up lower and later.
• Mii Brawler's Burning Dropkick: Starts off slightly charged.
• Mii Swordfighter's Airborne Assault: Starts off slightly charged.
• Mii Swordfighter's Chakram: Flies much farther, dealing more damage.

Reverse side special move

In Brawl, most side special moves can be reversed in the first few frames (except Bowser and Samus), although the usefulness is questionable, since any character can quickly turn around on the spot and immediately perform their side special move. The only true use for a reverse side special is while running; when running, the player cannot use their side special backwards without having to stop or turn around first. The reverse side special can be done while running and gives certain characters boosts when turning around, the most notable boosts being Donkey Kong's and Luigi's reverse side specials, where the former gets a quick boost backwards and has an unsurprising hit, and the latter will keep sliding forwards while being able to charge his move.

List of side special moves

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Ridley's

Character	Side Special Move	Custom Special Moves
Bayonetta	Heel Slide/After-Burner Kick	N/A
Bowser	Koopa Klaw	N/A
	Flying Slam	Custom 1: Dash Slam
		Custom 2: Dash Slash
Bowser Jr.	Clown Kart Dash	Custom 1: Koopa Drift
		Custom 2: Grounding Dash
Captain Falcon	Raptor Boost	Custom 1: Heavy Raptor Boost
		Custom 2: Wind-up Raptor Boost
Charizard	Rock Smash	See Down special move.
	Flare Blitz	Custom 1: Blast Burn
		Custom 2: Dragon Rush
Chrom	Double-Edge Dance	N/A
Cloud	Cross Slash	N/A
Corrin	Dragon Lunge	N/A
Daisy	unnamed	N/A
Dark Pit	Electroshock Arm	Custom 1: Electrocut Arm
		Custom 2: Quickshock Arm
Dark Samus	Missile	N/A
Diddy Kong	Monkey Flip	Custom 1: Back Flip
		Custom 2: Flying Monkey Flip
Donkey Kong	Headbutt	Custom 1: Jumping Headbutt
		Custom 2: Stubborn Headbutt
Dr. Mario	Super Sheet	Custom 1: Shocking Sheet
		Custom 2: Breezy Sheet
Duck Hunt	Clay Shooting	Custom 1: Rising Clay
		Custom 2: Clay Break
Falco	Falco Phantasm	Custom 1: Falco Phase
		Custom 2: Falco Charge
Fox	Fox Illusion	Custom 1: Fox Burst
		Custom 2: Wolf Flash
Ganondorf	Gerudo Dragon	N/A
	Flame Choke	Custom 1: Flame Wave
		Custom 2: Flame Chain
Greninja	Shadow Sneak	Custom 1: Shadow Strike
		Custom 2: Shadow Dash
Ice Climbers	Squall Hammer	N/A
Ike	Quick Draw	Custom 1: Close Combat
		Custom 2: Unyielding Blade
Inkling	Splat Roller	N/A
Ivysaur	Razor Leaf	N/A
Jigglypuff	Pound	Custom 1: Sideways Pound
		Custom 2: Pound Blitz
King Dedede	Waddle Dee Toss	N/A
	Gordo Throw	Custom 1: Topspin Gordo
		Custom 2: Bouncing Gordo
King K. Rool	unnamed	N/A
Kirby	Hammer	N/A
	Hammer Flip	Custom 1: Hammer Bash
		Custom 2: Giant Hammer
Link	Boomerang	N/A
	Gale Boomerang	Custom 1: Boomerang
		Custom 2: Ripping Boomerang
Little Mac	Jolt Haymaker	Custom 1: Grounding Blow
		Custom 2: Guard Breaker
Lucario	Force Palm	Custom 1: Advancing Force Palm
		Custom 2: Long-Distance Force Palm
Lucas	PK Fire	N/A
Lucina	Dancing Blade	Custom 1: Effortless Blade
		Custom 2: Heavy Blade
Luigi	Green Missile	Custom 1: Floating Missile
		Custom 2: Quick Missile
Mario	Cape	Custom 1: Shocking Cape
		Custom 2: Gust Cape
Marth	Dancing Blade	Custom 1: Effortless Blade
		Custom 2: Heavy Blade
Mega Man	Crash Bomber	Custom 1: Ice Slasher
		Custom 2: Danger Wrap
Meta Knight	Drill Rush	Custom 1: High-Speed Drill
		Custom 2: Shieldbreaker Drill
Mewtwo	Confusion	N/A
Mii Brawler	Onslaught	Custom 2: Burning Dropkick
		Custom 3: Headache Maker
Mii Gunner	Flame Pillar	Custom 2: Stealth Burst
		Custom 3: Gunner Missile
Mii Swordfighter	Airborne Assault	Custom 2: Slash Launcher
		Custom 3: Chakram
Mr. Game & Watch	Judge (Judgement in Melee)	Custom 1: Extreme Judge
		Custom 2: Chain Judge
Ness	PK Fire	Custom 1: PK Bonfire
		Custom 2: PK Fire Burst
Olimar	Pikmin Throw	Custom 1: Sticky Pikmin Throw
		Custom 2: Tackle Pikmin Throw
Pac-Man	Power Pellet	Custom 1: Distant Power Pellet
		Custom 2: Enticing Power Pellet
Palutena	Reflect Barrier	Custom 1: Angelic Missile
		Custom 2: Super Speed
	Explosive Flame	See neutral special move.
Peach	Peach Bomber	Custom 1: Flower Bomber
		Custom 2: Flying Peach Bomber
Pichu	Skull Bash	N/A
Pikachu		Custom 1: Shocking Skull Bash
		Custom 2: Heavy Skull Bash
Pit	Angel Ring	N/A
	Upperdash Arm	Custom 1: Interception Arm
		Custom 2: Quickdash Arm
Richter	Cross	N/A
Ridley	unnamed	N/A
R.O.B.	Arm Rotor	Custom 1: Reflector Arm
		Custom 2: Backward Arm Rotor
Robin	Arcfire	Custom 1: Arcfire+
		Custom 2: Fire Wall
Rosalina	Star Bits	Custom 1: Floaty Star Bit
		Custom 2: Shooting Star Bit
Roy	Double-Edge Dance	N/A
Ryu	Tatsumaki Senpukyaku	N/A
Samus	Missile	Custom 1: Relentless Missile
		Custom 2: Turbo Missile
Sheik	Chain	N/A
	Burst Grenade	Custom 1: Gravity Grenade
		Custom 2: Skimming Grenade
Shulk	Back Slash	Custom 1: Back Slash Leap
		Custom 2: Back Slash Charge
Simon	Cross	N/A
Snake	Remote Missile	N/A
Sonic	Spin Dash	Custom 1: Hammer Spin Dash
		Custom 2: Burning Spin Dash
Squirtle	Withdraw	N/A
Toon Link	Boomerang	Custom 1: Floating Boomerang
		Custom 2: High-Speed Boomerang
Villager	Lloid Rocket	Custom 1: Liftoff Lloid
		Custom 2: Pushy Lloid
Wario	Wario Bike	Custom 1: Speeding Bike
		Custom 2: Burying Bike
Wii Fit Trainer	Header	Custom 1: Huge Header
		Custom 2: Weighted Header
Wolf	Wolf Flash	N/A
Yoshi	Egg Roll	Custom 1: Heavy Egg Roll
		Custom 2: Light Egg Roll
Young Link	Boomerang	N/A
Zelda	Din's Fire	Custom 1: Din’s Flare
		Custom 2: Din’s Blaze
Zero Suit Samus	Plasma Whip	Custom 1: Plasma Dash
		Custom 2: Whip Lash