Invincibility

Invincibility frames are the period of time (measured in frames) during which a character cannot be damaged. Depending on which kind of invincibility the character has, the attack may "hit" or "miss".

Invincibility attacks

• Ike's Counter Only 1 frame.
• Marth's Counter Only 1 frame.
• Roy's Counter Only 1 frame.
• Fox's Fox Illusion Only 1 frame.
• Falco's Falco Phantasm Only 1 frame.
• Wolf's Reflector, First 6 frames.
• Marth's Dolphin Slash First 5 frames (5th frame is also hit frame, Brawl only).
• Mr. Game & Watch's Fire From frame 9 until frame 13.
• Bowser's Whirling Fortress Grounded version, first 5 frames.
• Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong frames 4-6 (Brawl only?)
• Sonic's Up smash before the hitbox come and Spring Jump when Sonic starts to jump.
• Pikachu's Thunder, Beginning frames when Thunder strikes Pikachu.
• Kirby's Inhale
• Zelda's Farore's Wind right before Zelda teleports.
• Sheik's Vanish right before Sheik teleports.
• Lucario's Double Team, the time when Lucario is able to strike back and when he strikes back (prevents trap final smashes).
• Jigglypuff's Rest, Approximately 20 frames after it's released, while its eyes are closing. (During the attack hitbox)
• Luigi's up special, right before he jumps.
• All Final Smashes grants invincibility at least in the start of it.

Blocking Invincibility

A character with blocking invincibility will be hit by attacks (so the attacker takes hitlag), but will not take damage or hitstun. For example, characters using a Starman have blocking invincibility, as well as characters about to throw someone (this invincibility lasts 8 frames). Other examples of blocking invincibility include:

• The 2 seconds (120 frames) after dismounting a revival platform.
• The secondary Ice climber for a second when Belay is used.
• The start of Lucas' and Ness' PK Thunder 2.
• The entire duration of Squirtle's Withdraw

Dodging Invincibility

A character with dodging invincibility will not be hit by attacks. For example, a projectile will travel right through him or her. This kind of invincibility is often attributed to dodges, techs, edge-grabbing, get-up attacks and animations, and certain body parts during certain moves. Since the invincible character is not hit, a long-lasting attack (or very short invincibility time) may still hit the character once the invincibility ends. Dodging invincibility can also be called "intangibility".

Negative Aspects

Overall, invincibility is generally a good thing. However, one negative aspect is that on the Brinstar and Norfair stages, you will fall straight through the lava, rather than sustaining damage and bouncing back up.