Up smash

The Wii Fit Trainer charges her up smash.

Up smash (abbreviated u-smash) is a smash attack performed by any character by tapping the control stick upward and pressing A, or, outside of Melee's single player modes, by pressing up on the C-stick. The up smash can be charged by holding down the A button for up to two seconds in conjunction with the C-stick, resulting in higher damage and knockback. If the enemy has heavy damage, it can be easy for the player to Star KO or Screen KO them using these moves.

Unlike forward smashes and down smashes, up smashes can be performed immediately during any character's running animation, but not during their initial dash unless one performs a dash attack canceled up smash.

List of up smashes in Super Smash Bros.

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Headbutts upwards. His whole head becomes a hitbox, which although laggy, is a powerful finisher. Considered one of the strongest up smashes in the game.	19%
Luigi	Headbutts upwards. Lunges head upwards in an arc. Decent knockback.	19%
Donkey Kong	Claps overhead with some start-up lag. Very large hitbox. Grounded enemies are occasionally affected. Best used under a platform where an opponent is standing or a well timed anti-air attack.	21%
Yoshi	Headbutts upwards. Has good horizontal knockback from behind to top, average upwards knockback when hit near the end.	18%
Link	Slashes overhead with his sword three times. The move is a good close up defensive move but also has a good KO-ing property.	22% if all hits connect.
Samus	Shoots fire above her head in an arc.	50% if all hits connect.
Kirby	A fast flip kick that is very similar to Fox's and Pikachu's, but with slower start-up and slightly less knockback.	16%
Fox	Does a flip kick. He does a fast quick flip, with much vertical KO power.	16%
Captain Falcon	Does an uppercut. This is Captain Falcon's main combo starter. The attack sends the opponent straight up, but with low knockback and high hitstun. It is also trifled with unusually short range for an up smash. It is the weakest up smash in the game, but one of Falcon's most useful moves for its combo potential. The hitbox is Falcon's body and the small area above his raised fist.	17%
Pikachu	Flips over and hits with its tail; similar to Captain Falcon's, but with more range, more power, and more lag. Can combo into itself when used against heavier characters. Overall, a versatile move. Also leads directly into a Thunder which allows it to KO 20 to 30% quicker than normal, commonly known as Thunder Spiking. Used in combos.	18%
Jigglypuff	Hits with its head. If the opponent is hit early, this attack sends the opponent straight up for quick, low-percent kills. At the last few frames of the attack, the hitbox exists only in front of Jigglypuff and sends the opponent forward with much less knockback. This attack is often used as a finisher.	18%
Ness	Does an "Around The World" with his yoyo which acts as a good anti-air move. Strange hitbox, does not hit short characters on ground. Above average speed.	17%

List of up smashes in Super Smash Bros. Melee

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Headbutts upwards. A fast move with more range at the back of his head than in the front.	15%
Luigi	Headbutts upwards. Identical to Mario and Dr. Mario's headbutt with an up-and-behind trajectory, ideal for setting up aerial combos with Luigi. The player can also buffer it in at the end of a wavedash, which allows for an alternative vertical launcher to Luigi's common wavedash to down smash approach.	17%
Dr. Mario	Similar to Mario, but with less knockback and slightly faster. Unusually, the attack has spike properties, though these only work on grounded opponents.	16%
Peach	Quick upwards slap. If sweetspotted (located at her palm and her hand), the attack sends opponent upward with high vertical knockback. If sourspotted (located at her shoulders and her finger), the move has weak vertical knockback. When sweetspotted, this move can KO opponents at around 73% when fully charged.	8-25%
Bowser	Hops into the air, hitting with his shell.	11%-27%.
Donkey Kong	Claps overhead, good knockback. Somewhat slow, not to mention this will not hit a grounded foe at all.	18% uncharged, 24% fully charged.
Yoshi	Headbutts upwards.	13% uncharged, 19% fully charged.
Link	Slashes above him three times. Somewhat different from the move in SSB. All hits now have a noticeable arc above him with good range, instead of just the first hit being an arc and two smaller stabs upwards as in SSB. Good for racking up damage and setting up for air combos due to below average knockback for an up smash. Up to three separate hits.	Uncharged inflicts 15%. Fully charged will do 20%.
Young Link	Similar to Link but with less knockback.	Up to 11% uncharged, 15% fully.
Zelda	Waves her hand above her three times with magic.	14% uncharged, 20% fully.
Sheik	Puts her arms above herself and violently separates them to her left and right. Incredibly powerful when sweetspotted, being among the most powerful in the game, but otherwise does moderate knockback when sourspotted.	13-19% arms, tip does 17-23% in the NTSC version, 16-22% in the PAL.
Ganondorf	Kicks upwards twice. Similar to Captain Falcon. The most damaging up smash if both hits connect.	22% damage on the first hit and 19% on the second, for a combined total of 39.29%.
Samus	Shoots fire above her head in an arc.	21% uncharged, 29% fully charged.
Ice Climbers	Swings their hammers above them.	21% total uncharged; 28% total fully charged.
Kirby	Does a flip kick.	Does 15% damage.
Fox	Does a flip kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. It is very reliable at mid-high damages. Shine into up smash is very useful for KOs.	Does 18% damage.
Falco	Similar to Fox, but much weaker; although, it is a better juggler. This also hits behind Falco, albeit with significantly lower knockback.	Does 14% damage.
Captain Falcon	Kicks upwards twice.	The first kick deals 14% damage if the leg connects and 8% if the body connects, while the second kick does 13% on the body and 12% on the foot.
Pikachu	Flips over and hits with its tail. It is the most powerful up smash in knockback.	19% damage.
Pichu	Headbutts upwards.	16% uncharged, 20% fully.
Mewtwo	Holds his hand above him and shoots darkness.	15% uncharged, 20% full (if all strikes connect).
Jigglypuff	Hits with its head. Can lead into aerial combos and KO at high percentage.	14%.
Marth	Stabs his sword upwards. While effective on aerial opponents, the move has very weak sourspots next to Marth if used on the ground.	8% sides (sourspots), 15% base, 18% tip.
Roy	Similar to Marth. Hits multiple times, has Fire effects and spikes if sweetspotted.	17% uncharged, 22% fully.
Ness	Does an "Around the World" with his yoyo. Has average range and speed, but sub-par knockback. Like his down smash, this attack is incapable of KOing unless his opponent is at extremely high percentage.	22%.
Mr. Game & Watch	Headbutts above him with a scuba helmet from Octopus. Has some start-up lag but also has high knockback, as well as a long duration.	24% damage fully charged.

List of up smashes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Mario headbutts upward. Has fast start-up lag and its ending lag is rather low as well. It does have good base knockback and knockback scaling, but its KO power is rather average for an up-smash. This is Mario's only reliable finisher outside his forward smash, and it is his only attack that can KO vertically under 150%.	14%
Luigi	Luigi headbutts upward, similar to Mario's Up Smash, but it has higher knockback and sends foes on a more diagonal trajectory behind him. Can slide if Luigi dashes a few frames after charging it, which slides slower than Mario, but slides farther.	15% stronger hitbox. The weaker hitbox will do 12%.
Peach	Thrusts her arm up quickly. Very powerful when sweetspotted, but very weak when not sweetspotted. If Peach sweetspotted (Peach's body, as opposed to the arm) an opponent with a fully charged up smash, it can KO at around 55%.	17% body, 15% arm, 8% sides. When late, 12% body, 10% arm.
Bowser	Hops into the air, hitting with his shell. Hitting with the sides of the attack does less damage. Opponents who only shield his jump may be hit by his landing (this only applies to grounded opponents). Very high knockback.	Hit one, 20% shell, 15% head/tail. Hit two, 12% shell, 10% head/tail.
Donkey Kong	Claps overhead. Small hitbox that usually only hits foes directly above him, but great power and fairly fast.	18%
Diddy Kong	Does a weird cartwheel in place, hitting three times. Not very powerful (weakest in the game), but a decent combo move. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	5% first two hits, 6% third hit, 16% all three.
Yoshi	Headbutts above himself. The attack can hit behind Yoshi. Yoshi's head is intangible while the hitboxes are out.	16%
Wario	Spins in place and headbutts upward, hitting multiple times. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	15%
Link	Slashes over his head three times. Third hit has most knockback, but first two hits can be smash DI'ed out of. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	17% if all hits connect.
Zelda	Waves her hand above her head with magical energy. Comes out quickly, pulls opponents in and has a lot of hits, not to mention the great damage and knockback.	15% if all hits connect.
Sheik	Pulls with both hands to her sides in a downward way. Two hits without any noticeable animation and first hit can lead into the second at low percents. Does a great deal of damage and knockback when sweetspotted. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	Body (hits first), 17% Wind, 12%, up to 29%.
Ganondorf	Kicks once, but it hits all the way to the ground. Has a huge amount of IASA Frames in Brawl. Sweetspot is on the foot.	19% leg, 22% foot.
Toon Link	Slashes above his head once with his sword. It has good Star KO potential, and its decent speed and range make it a good choice to execute during a dash.	15%
Samus	Uses arm cannon and shoots fire above her head, hitting five times. Very weak knockback, one of the weakest of all up smashes, but does a lot of damage if all hits connect. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	Does 4% for each hit, dealing 23% if all hits connect.
Zero Suit Samus	Twirls her whip above her head. Doesn't have much startup lag and has great vertical range. Great for racking up damage. Only the tip does a lot of knockback.	12% if all hits connect.
Pit	Slashes above him with both of his swords. Faster, but less knockback than something like Link's, and with more vertical range and less horizontal. All the knockback is in the last slash; the other two have reverse knockback, sucking the opponent closer to set up for the final slash. If the player hits with only the first slash of this attack, it is actually a spike. However, this is extremely difficult to pull off. Has a start-up of 6 frames.	13% if all hits connect.
Ice Climbers	Swing hammers above their heads. Hits from frame 13 to 18.	Leader, 11%. Partner, 9%. Total, up to 20% uncharged, 28% fully charged.
R.O.B.	Does a handstand, shooting a burst from his thrusters into the air. His most powerful finisher, but has almost no horizontal range.	14%
Kirby	Does a backflip, kicking. Hits all the way around Kirby. Weaker if the opponent is hit behind Kirby (when he lowers his foot to the ground). Hits from frame 14 to 25.	15% in front, 12% in back.
Meta Knight	Slashes above him a few times. Similar to Link's, only much faster and not as powerful. Low knockback, but can KO at high percentages. First slash has a start-up of 8 frames, the second slash hits on frame 12 and the final slash hits on frame 17.	9% if all three hits connect.
King Dedede	Swings hammer over his head. It has powerful vertical knockback, with average base knockback and high knockback scaling along with a hitbox that covers the area in front of and behind Dedede, as well as above him. However, it has slow start-up lag (20 frames) and even worse ending lag with rather average damage output for an up smash. When uncharged, it is weaker than his up tilt as well as being much slower. As such, Dedede's up smash is often neglected and is not used often. The up smash KOs reliably around 121% uncharged.	14%
Olimar	Throws a Pikmin into the air. Olimar's fastest smash (hitbox out on frame 8), has surprising forward range. Possesses huge knockback when a purple Pikmin is used.	Red Pikmin: 15%. Blue Pikmin: 15%. Yellow Pikmin: 14%. White Pikmin: 9%. Purple Pikmin: 16%.
Fox	Does a flipping kick above his head. Very powerful and quick, critical for KOing foes. Arguably Fox's best KO move. Best Space Animal upsmash.	17% in front.
Falco	Just like Fox's, only weaker. Can be used as a sliding DACUS. The knockback is entirely dependent on where it hits; strong vertical knockback in the front, fairly low horizontal knockback in the rear. Moderately high knockback. It is also possible to combo a silent laser (see below) into either a normal or boosted up smash for a KO, provided the laser is close enough.	14%.
Wolf	Does a flipping scissor kick above his head. Can be used as a sliding DACUS. This move hits twice: the first hit usually pushes the opponent into the second. Wolf's Up Smash can be used in a DACUS. It has a small sweetspot on his body that deals the same damage as the main hitbox on his legs, but is much more powerful and sends opponents on a horizontal trajectory instead. Landing this sweetspot is very difficult, though, and is mostly luck-based, as it is landed most of the time when the opponent does a rolling dodge past the first hitbox and into Wolf's body. It is also sometimes landed during a DACUS. It is also interesting to note that this sweetspot KOs even quicker than Wolf's down smash (though the down smash does have slightly higher knockback scaling).	First hit, 6%, second hit, 12%.
Captain Falcon	Kicks upwards twice. Good knockback for a up smash, especially for a multi-hit up smash. This is one of Falcon's best moves due to the good vertical range, power, damage output, its usefulness as a running up smash (due to Captain Falcon's very fast dash speed), and juggling ability. It has very poor horizontal reach, which can make it difficult to land on grounded opponents, but the horizontal disjoint makes the range better than it looks and using it during a dash can help with this problem.	21% if both hits connect.
Pikachu	Flips over, hitting with its tail. Similar to Fox's, but with less range and less power, but it's faster.	14%
Squirtle	Slams hands onto the ground, sending twin geysers into the air. A powerful vertical finisher, this is Squirtle's most powerful attack. Hits on frame 19 and 25.	16% if both hits connect.
Ivysaur	Powder erupts from his bulb. Strongest Up Smash in terms of power, being able to KO at percentages as low as 32%, but suffers from long startup lag.	17%
Charizard	Slashes upward with both wings. Decent knockback; maximum damage is given if both wings strike. Initial wing-swipe is very fast, making running up-smashes very effective.	5% first hit, 11% second hit.
Lucario	Punches upwards with blue aura energy. Damages enemies in front and behind of Lucario, with the attack having an exceptional amount of active frames (lasting until nearly the end of the move). It's a great anti-air attack. Hitbox to the sides is greater when opponent is behind Lucario than in front of him.	8% minimum power, 18% max power.
Jigglypuff	Headbutts above itself. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	15% in the back, 13% in the front.
Marth	Stabs his sword above his head. When Marth hits someone at low percentages with his running up smash, it sends his opponent on a bizarre horizontal trajectory with very high base knockback. This is very effective at setting up edgeguard situations at low percentages, especially since Marth is arguably one of the best edgeguarders in the game. On a interesting note, Marth's up smash only sends opponents at low to mid percentages horizontally. Its slide smash is very long, due to Marth's low traction. Once they approach 70%, it only sends opponents vertically, no matter what part of the up smash connects.	Does 14% untipped, 17% tipped. Contains disjointed hitboxes along Marth's body that send opponents into the stronger hitboxes along Marth's sword and deal an extra 4% damage.
Ike	Swings sword above his head. Covers great range and is powerful, but incredibly laggy like almost all of Ike's other attacks.	17%
Ness	Does an "Around the World" with his yo-yo, arcing it above him. Weaker than most Up Smashes. Yo-yo can also damage while charging up. Interestingly, when it's 'charging', it doesn't increase in damage or knockback.	Does 4% while charging, 9% on opponents in front on the ground, 13% on opponents in the air or behind Ness.
Lucas	Releases an extremely powerful blast of PSI above him. Has a surprisingly far range above Lucas. Second strongest up smash in the game, but very high start-up and ending lag.	A hit of 2% (does not connect if opponent is far away), then 19%, up to 21%.
Mr. Game & Watch	Headbutt: Headbutts above him wearing a scuba helmet from Octopus. Has a fair amount of start-up lag.	18%
Snake	Fires a mortar into the air; more charge, more distance. Can be used as a sliding DACUS, which is probably the most well-known DACUS of all characters. The movement of the shell is almost entirely vertical, but there is a varying small amount of random horizontal movement. The shell has high base knockback but very low knockback scaling, making it unreliable as a KO move, though the angles it hits at can sometimes make the opponent not sure where to DI for relatively early kills. Charging the up smash does not increase its power, but it increases the speed at which the shell is fired, making it go higher. When fully charged, it travels great distances, almost the entire height of the 'large' stage builder area, making it have by far the greatest vertical reach of any attack. The shell explodes if it makes contact with a ceiling, an opponent, a wall, or the ground no matter what direction it's moving in. The action of slamming down the mortar has a hitbox that produces very weak vertical knockback that knocks opponents into the mortar's line of fire.	The shell hitbox does 10%, while the mortar hitbox does 4%.
Sonic	Jumps into the air, spinning in a ball. Has a few invincibility frames. Low knockback, though last hits can Meteor Smash. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	14% if all hits connect.

List of up smashes in Super Smash Bros. 4

Character	Description	Damage
Mario	Mario headbutts upward. Has fast start-up lag and its ending lag is rather low as well. It does have good base knockback and knockback scaling, but its KO power is rather average for an up-smash. This is Mario's only reliable finisher outside his forward smash, and it is his only attack that can KO vertically under 150%.	14%
Luigi	Luigi headbutts upward, similar to Mario's Up Smash, but it has higher knockback and sends foes on a more diagonal trajectory behind him. Can slide if Luigi dashes a few frames after charging it, which slides slower than Mario, but slides farther.	15% stronger hitbox. The weaker hitbox will do 12%.
Peach	Thrusts her arm up quickly. Very powerful when sweetspotted, but very weak when not sweetspotted. If Peach sweetspotted (Peach's body, as opposed to the arm) an opponent with a fully charged up smash, it can KO at around 55%.	17% body, 15% arm, 8% sides. When late, 12% body, 10% arm.
Bowser	Hops into the air, hitting with his shell. Hitting with the sides of the attack does less damage. Opponents who only shield his jump may be hit by his landing (this only applies to grounded opponents). Very high knockback.	Hit one, 20% shell, 15% head/tail. Hit two, 12% shell, 10% head/tail.
Donkey Kong	Claps overhead. Small hitbox that usually only hits foes directly above him, but great power and fairly fast.	18%
Diddy Kong	Does a weird cartwheel in place, hitting three times. Not very powerful (weakest in the game), but a decent combo move. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	5% first two hits, 6% third hit, 16% all three.
Yoshi	Performs a backflip unleashing the fury of his foot, similar to kirby's (only hits in front of and above yoshi) sweetspot at the beginning of the move.	16%
Wario	headbutts upward, hitting once similar to marios Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	15%
Link	Slashes over his head three times. Third hit has most knockback, but first two hits can be smash DI'ed out of. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	17% if all hits connect.
Zelda	Waves her hand above her head with magical energy. Comes out quickly, pulls opponents in and has a lot of hits, not to mention the great damage and knockback.	15% if all hits connect.
Sheik	Pulls with both hands to her sides in a downward way. Two hits without any noticeable animation and first hit can lead into the second at low percents. Does a great deal of damage and knockback when sweetspotted. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	Body (hits first), 17% Wind, 12%, up to 29%.
Ganondorf	Kicks once, but it hits all the way to the ground. Has a huge amount of IASA Frames in Brawl. Sweetspot is on the foot.	19% leg, 22% foot.
Toon Link	Slashes above his head once with his sword. It has good Star KO potential, and its decent speed and range make it a good choice to execute during a dash.	15%
Samus	Uses arm cannon and shoots fire above her head, hitting five times. Very weak knockback, one of the weakest of all up smashes, but does a lot of damage if all hits connect. Can be used as a sliding DACUS.	Does 4% for each hit, dealing 23% if all hits connect.
Zero Suit Samus	Twirls her whip above her head. Doesn't have much startup lag and has great vertical range. Great for racking up damage. Only the tip does a lot of knockback.	12% if all hits connect.
Pit	Slashes above him with both of his swords. Faster, but less knockback than something like Link's, and with more vertical range and less horizontal. All the knockback is in the last slash; the other two have reverse knockback, sucking the opponent closer to set up for the final slash. If the player hits with only the first slash of this attack, it is actually a spike. However, this is extremely difficult to pull off. Has a start-up of 6 frames.	13% if all hits connect.

Notable up smashes include

• Peach's up smash has the highest KO potential of all of Peach's attacks at 55%, if sweetspotted (Peach's body, as opposed to the arm) depending on the stage. Her up smash is the fifth strongest in the game.
• Olimar's up smash when fully charged with purple Pikmin is the fourth strongest up smash in the game.
• Mr. Game & Watch's up smash possesses surprising KO potential for its low startup lag. His up smash is the third strongest in the game.
• Lucas's up smash has a surprisingly far range above Lucas and its range is wide enough to hit two character lengths to the side of him. It is also the second strongest up smash.
• Ivysaur's up smash can KO at 32% and is the strongest up smash in the game.
• Ness's up smash has unique properties (similar to his down smash) by which it can be charged. Rather than at the beginning of the attack, the smash attack is charged up in the middle of the attack, but only if Ness's Yo-yo comes to rest on a flat surface. Charging the smash does not increase damage or knockback, but opponents can be damaged by the yoyo while it is charging.
• Roy: Similar to Marth's, but has a fire effect. Can spike if enemy is hit on the sword's tip during the start of the attack.
• Pit, Zelda, and Sonic: The only three up smashes in the entire series to Meteor Smash, though as mentioned above Roy's is a spike.
• Dr. Mario's up smash is the only move in his arsenal that is weaker in knockback than Mario's
• Ganondorf's up smash is the most damaging up smash in Melee if it is fully charged and both kicks hit. His up smash has been nerfed in Brawl, as it doesn't deal the most damage of all up smashes and only deals one kick.
• Charging Snake's up smash does not increase damage or knockback; instead, it increases vertical reach. Snake's up smash is also the furthest reaching DACUS, sliding 3/4 the length of Final Destination.
• Palutena's up smash has the most vertical reach.

Gallery

• 

  The first hit of Captain Falcon's up smash in Melee.

• 

  Ganondorf's up smash in Brawl. Note how, since he is no longer a clone of Captain Falcon, it is one single, slow kick instead of two rapid ones.

• 

  Link's up smash in Brawl.

See also

• Forward smash
• Down smash
• Up smash/Knockback chart