Blast line

When a character passes the blast line, a colorful "blast" (hence the name) occurs.

A blast line is a boundary on a stage that a character cannot cross without getting KO'd. Some stages have blast lines that are accessible by simply walking into them, such as the blast lines on either side of either Mushroom: Kingdom or Green Hill Zone. Most stages, however, contain blast lines on the side that are far away from any ledges, as well as upper and lower blast lines. Blast lines are the standard means of KOing an opponent. The only other ways to be KO'd are running out of stamina in Stamina Mode or getting crushed in The Subspace Emissary or on the Pirate Ship stage.

There are four main blast lines, usually referred to as "bottom"/"lower", "left", "right", and "upper" (alternatively, "north"/"south"/"east"/"west"). Brawl introduces four diagonal blast lines, which serve to prevent characters from living slightly longer just because they were sent towards a corner.

The upper blast line is different from the others in that a character can only die by crossing it while on a platform or during knockback (with the exception of the original Super Smash Bros.), or by being propelled upwards by Wario Waft or Jigglypuff's Shield Jump. A character can jump over the upper blast line without dying, as long as he isn't knocked back by an attack. This is the principle behind the Luigi Ladder, in which two Luigis rise higher and higher by trading Super Jump Punches with no knockback.

Characters KO'd via the upper blast line are either Star KO'd or Screen KO'd. Non-playable characters such as the Alloys die off the upper blast line as if it were any other blast line (with the exception of the Polygons) without Star KOs. Additionally, characters who are KO'd over the upper blast line during the usage of a Grab Air are also KO'd with a simple colored blast.

The game's camera refuses to pan or zoom enough during gameplay to actually "see" the blast lines (although the lines themselves are invisible, as can be evidenced when the camera is rotated while pausing). When a character is between a blast line and the camera's view (or above the upper blast line without dying), they will appear in a bubble and slowly take damage. This is known as hoop damage.

In The Subspace Emissary, the blast lines will not KO Player 2 if P2 is not hit by an enemy (similar to the upper blast line in normal gameplay). Player 2 will do an automatic Space Jump instead. Also, the upper blast line is stripped of its unique properties; characters don't need to be in knockback to be KO'd by it and don't fall into the background or foreground.

Items and projectiles that cross the blast lines are removed from play (except for, again, the upper blast line). A Smash Ball can freely cross blast lines until it chooses to leave.

Trivia

• On the Mushroom Kingdom stage of Super Smash Bros. and the Mushroom: Kingdom stage of Super Smash Bros. Melee, the camera can be panned far enough to see black signs with a red circle and the word "Danger" off to the side. The sign itself is behind the blast line.