Helpless

Mario's helpless animation in Super Smash Bros.

Helpless (also known by various other names, called "fallspecial" in game data) is a state in which characters are unable to take any action, with the exception of grabbing a ledge or climbing a ladder, until they land on the ground. Helplessness is typically associated with just having used one's triple jump, although it also occurs after using certain other special moves (usually ones which help recovery). Helpless characters can move sideways and fast fall, but are otherwise defenseless.

Helplessness usually ends upon landing on the ground, although it also ends if characters flinch, allowing them to attack or re-use their triple jump. A helpless character is denoted by both a black overlay and a distinct falling animation.

A state similar to helplessness exists in falling after having one's shield broken and then being stunned.

Curiously, the helpless state gives characters an extra ability in Super Smash Bros.: the ability to fall through soft platforms without landing on them. Starting in Melee this can be done at any time.

Landfallspecial and superdashtechnique

As a unique animation is used for falling while helpless, characters enter a different animation than usual once they land on the ground. This is called "landfallspecial" in Melee. Because airdodging enters this state, and wavedashing involves airdodging into the ground, when wavedashing was tried in debug mode, "landfallspecial" appeared for the character state. This led some players to believe that the "landfallspecial" designation was specifically designed for wavedashing and that developers put wavedashing in the game intentionally, further fueling the various debates over wavedashing's legitimacy. At one point, the myth morphed to where, instead of just "landfallspecial", there was purportedly another debug mode designation, cited as "superdashtechnique", "superdashattack", or other variants, created solely for the wavedashing animation. All incarnations of this story have been proven false and should not be taken as evidence that wavedashing was intentionally put or left in Melee.

Moves that invoke helplessness

This article or section is incomplete. You can help SmashWiki by expanding or finishing it. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Not all moves that cause helplessness are listed.

Move	Notes
Air dodge	Melee only.
Agility
Balloon Trip	Can happen sooner if balloons are popped by opponents.
Belay
Blazer
Boost Kick
Burst Grenade
Corkscrew
Dark Dive	If the move's grab connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Dimensional Cape
Din's Fire
Dolphin Slash
Drill Rush
Duck Jump
Egg Roll	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
End of Day	Being ejected from the crashing spaceship puts Olimar into a state that is not exactly helplessness (it uses his tumbling animation, lacks the black overlay, and unlike helpnessness, prevents his Pikmin from chasing him), but it is essentially the same, as the player can only move to the left and right, and cannot attack or air dodge.
ExtremeSpeed	If Lucario hits a wall during the move, it will wall cling instead of becoming helpless. However, it cannot use the move again.
Falco Phantasm	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
Falcon Dive	Like Dark Dive, if the move connects with an opponent, Captain Falcon does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Farore's Wind
Final Cutter	Normally, the move does not end until Kirby lands on the ground. However, if the platform Kirby has landed on disappears while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Fire	Does not cause helplessness in Brawl.
Fire Bird
Fire Fox
Fire Wolf
Flame Choke	If the move connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless, although he (and his victim) will fall until he hits the ground.
Fly
Fox Illusion	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
Gerudo Dragon
Giant Punch	Does not cause helplessness in SSB.
Gliding	If the user has used all their double jumps, they are put into helplessness once the glide ends (either by stalling or by attacking).
Helicopter Kick
Hydro Pump
Hula Hoop
Jolt Haymaker
Lloid Rocket	Villager only enters helplessness if they ride then jump off of the Lloid Rocket, or does not hit an opponent during the ride.
Mach Tornado
Onslaught
Pac-Jump	Triggers helplessness when a fighter lands on the trampoline when it's red.
Parasol	Peach only enters helplessness if she decides to fastfall (which retracts the parasol) after using the move - she can also end the helplessness and resume parachuting by pressing up (re-opening it), the only character able to do so. However, if Peach was under the effects of items that make her shrink or grow while she fastfalls, she will become helpless, as her parasol disappears once she's back to normal. The Parasol item allows any character to do this in Melee.
Pikmin Chain	Normally, the Pikmin Chain makes Olimar helpless after the move is used in the air. However, if he uses grounded Pikmin Chain and the platform disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he uses ground Pikmin Chain while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless.
Piston Punch
PK Flash
PK Freeze
PK Thunder
Power of Flight
Quick Attack
Quick Draw
Raptor Boost
Rising Uppercut
Rocketbarrel Boost
Rocketbarrel Barrage	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
Rollout	Does not cause helplessness in Brawl; Jigglypuff will keep rolling and won't be able to move, however, if it rolls off the stage.
Screw Attack
Screw Attack (item)	When this item is thrown at opponents (Melee only), they execute a Screw Attack and become helpless.
Shuttle Loop	While the initial execution of the move does not make Meta Knight helpless, he does become helpless if the glide ends.
Spin Attack	Normally, the Spin Attack makes Link, Young Link, or Toon Link helpless after the move was used it in the air. However, if he stands on the platform while using grounded Spin Attack and the platform disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he used grounded Spin Attack while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless.
Spinning Kong
Squall Hammer
Super Dedede Jump	Normally, the move does not end until King Dedede lands on the ground. However, if the platform King Dedede has landed on disappears while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he hits a ceiling while using the move, or the move is cancelled by the user, he will become helpless.
Super Jump Punch
Teleport
Ultimate Uppercut
Vanish
Vine Whip
Waterfall
Whirling Fortress
Winged Pikmin
Wings of Icarus
Wolf Flash

Gallery

• 

  Fox's helpless animation in Melee.

• 

  Fox's helpless animation in Brawl.

• 

  Fox's helpless animation in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Trivia

• The moves Fire, Robo Burner, Spring Jump, and Cypher do not cause helplessness in Brawl, although they do restrict the user's choice of moves until they land - Mr. Game & Watch and Snake simply cannot use the recovery move again, while Sonic cannot use any special moves and R.O.B. cannot air dodge. Through a programming oversight, this condition prevents them from using their recovery move again if grabbed and released without pummeling before touching the ground (except for R.O.B.).
  • Pit can also avoid becoming helpless by attacking in the air when using Wings of Icarus.
• If Kirby copies a move that causes helplessness, he will be affected just as the original character would be.
• In Brawl, certain characters are unable to naturally become helpless, as they lack any moves that cause it. These characters are Jigglypuff, Sonic, Mr. Game & Watch, Snake, R.O.B., and Zero Suit Samus.
  • In fact, R.O.B. is not programmed to have a helpless state, and attempting to see it via hacking causes the game to crash. All other characters have a helpless state, even if they cannot enter it without hacking. In For 3DS/Wii U, Pac-Jump's red trampoline can put any character in a helpless state, and so all characters including R.O.B. have one.
• In Brawl, since Jigglypuff's and Mr. Game & Watch's air dodge animations carry over from Melee, pausing just before the animation ends allows the player to see their Melee helpless state.
• Characters can still space jump while helpless.
• Meta Knight is the only character whose entire set of special moves leaves him helpless.
• The unique animation caused by landing while helpless is the cause of the landing lag glitch.
• Mario's, Luigi's, and Dr. Mario's helpless animations are based on the Mario Bros.' death sprite in games such as Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.
• Villager's fall animation copies the defeat animation of the protagonist of Balloon Fight and also has increased fall speed when helpless, further cementing the similarities.