Grab

A grab is any attack that cannot be blocked. The vast majority of grabs are performed by pressing Z, R+A or L+A. Once grabbed, a character can be pummeled with A or Z and thrown by tilting the Stick in one of the four standard directions. A grabbed character will automatically escape after a certain amount of time depending on their damage; higher damaged characters will be held longer. Damage inflicted upon the grabbed character will increase grab time, and any button input by the grabbed character will decrease grab time.

Once a throw is begun, the character cannot escape, with the exception of Kirby's forward and back throws. All throws grant 8 frames of good invincibility when started.

Some B attacks are specialized grabs. These are:

• Bowser's forward B (can grab in the air, can only throw forwards or backwards. No invincibility)
• Yoshi's Neutral B (traps opponent in an egg, opponent takes half damage until they escape)
• Kirby's Neutral B (traps opponent in Kirby, opponent can wriggle to affect Kirby's movement)
• Captain Falcon's and Ganondorf's up Bs (grabs opponent in air and propels them away, can be done repeatedly if connects the first time)

Some grabs also function as a recovery technique when used in midair. By pressing Z in midair, certain characters will extend a long-range grappling item. When used on the ground, these grabs have the longest range, but a lot of lag if the grab does not connect. If the grab connects with a wall, the character will hang from that wall and can press Z again to be pulled up to where the end of the grab connected, allowing for second and third jumps to recover. These include:

• Link and Young Link's Hookshot (and Link's Clawshot in Brawl)
• Samus' Grappling Beam