Forward smash

Mario using his forward smash in Melee

Mario using his forward smash in Brawl.

A forward smash, officially side smash attack, also dubbed f-smash by the community, is a smash attack that any character can perform by tapping the control stick or d-pad in Super Smash Bros. 64 in a horizontal direction and pressing the attack button immediately afterward or simultaneously, or by tilting the C-Stick in a horizontal direction, though the latter does not work in the single-player modes of Super Smash Bros. Melee as it instead is used to move the camera. In Melee, Brawl and Smash 4, forward smashes can be charged for a maximum of one second (60 frames; 59 in Melee), resulting in higher damage and knockback.

The window in which the player can perform this technique after tapping the Control Stick forward is 3 frames; as this inputs a dash if not initiated properly, pressing the attack button in the last frame possible results in a small step forward smash. Like forward tilts, certain forward smashes can be performed at three different angles depending on where the control stick is directed, directing the attack in that diagonal direction. While the player needs to tap the Control Stick at that exact angle in Smash 64 and Melee, in Brawl it is possible by just charging the smash and then tilting the Stick in the desired direction. This cannot be done with the C-Stick.

List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros.

Character	Description	Damage
Captain Falcon	Delivers a spinning side kick imbued with fire. The fifth most powerful forward smash along with Ness and Pikachu, knockback wise.	18%
Donkey Kong	Brings his hand behind himself, then slaps the foe hard. Incredibly strong (the second strongest in terms of knockback), but one of the slowest smashes in this game, and also the slowest forward smash.	20%
Fox	Fox spin kicks, lunging forward onto the ground. Not an outstanding KO move, but good speed and decent range.	17%
Jigglypuff	Performs a lunging kick similar to Kirby's forward smash in terms of speed.	16% (clean), 13% (late)
Kirby	A furious spin kick with good range, speed, and power. In terms of knockback, it is the most powerful forward smash in the game.	17% (clean), 13% (late)
Link	Slashes from top to bottom. Deals good damage and has nice reach.	20% (center), 8% (tip). Deals 24% in the PAL version.
Luigi	A huge, powerful punch attack similar to Mario's forward smash. Weaker, but has less ending lag.	15%
Mario	Winds up to deliver a powerful punch with an enlarged fist. Slow, but a great KO move.	17%
Ness	Swings his baseball bat for a powerful attack. Can also reflect projectiles.	18%
Pikachu	Lets loose a powerful jolt of a electricity for great damage. Has a disjointed hitbox. Powerful, but has a slow startup.	18%
Samus	Punches with her arm cannon. A quick attack with fair knockback.	18%
Yoshi	Slams the foe with his head. Comparable to Mario's forward smash in terms of speed (the fourth most powerful forward smash).	18%

List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. Melee

Character	Description	Damage
Bowser	Rears his head back, then headbutts forward. Noticeably long start-up, but definitely the strongest smash attack in Melee.	24%.
Captain Falcon	Thrusts his elbow forward. Good knockback with a flame effect, but considerable starting lag. The third strongest forward smash. Can be angled.	20%, deals 1% more angled up and 2% less angled down.
Donkey Kong	Claps forward with surprising range and great knockback. Hitbox is located at Donkey Kong's hands.	20%.
Dr. Mario	Extends his palm, unleashing a powerful blast. Similar to Mario's forward smash, but has more knockback, less range and is stronger when used close to him as well as having an electric hitbox as opposed to Mario's fire.	19%, same damage changes as Mario's.
Falco	Performs a kicking attack much like Fox's, although it is stronger and has more knockback. The late hitbox sends the opponent vertically.	17% (clean), 14% (late)
Fox	Does a spinning kick while jumping forward. A rather quick move, with enough power to make it a viable finisher, and like Falco's forward smash, the late hitbox sends opponents vertically. However, it is weaker than Falco's and has less range.	15% (clean), 12% (late)
Ganondorf	Lunges forward with an elbow thrust, much like Captain Falcon. Deals high damage with a darkness effect, and can be angled. Enemies are sent flying upwards. Second strongest forward smash (only Bowser's is stronger).	22%, deals 2% more angled up and 3% less angled down.
Ice Climbers	Smash both hammers forward. Huge damage and knockback, dealing more damage than Bowser if they are together, still decent if apart.	14% leader, 13% partner.
Jigglypuff	Lunges forward while kicking. Some start-up lag, but strong nonetheless.	17% (clean), 14% (late)
Kirby	Jumps forward while kicking. Good reach.	15% (clean), 13% (late)
Link	Slashes forward. The player can perform a second, stronger smash by hitting the A button or C-Stick immediately following the first attack. Decent reach on both slashes. The first hit has knockback growth, so at above 30%, it's impossible to land the second, stronger hit.	14% then 13%.
Luigi	Performs a horizontal spearhand. A quick move that can be angled up or down. Weak at low precentages, but has the highest knockback scaling of all forward smashes.	13%, deals 2% more angled up and 1% less angled down.
Mario	Releases a blast of fire from his extended palm. Poor range, yet very powerful and very quick, with the fireball sweetspot dealing more damage and knock back. This move can also be angled.	19% sweetspot, 14% sourspot. Deals 1% more angled up, and 2% less angled down.
Marth	This is considered by many to be the best forward smash in Melee. Marth slashes quickly from top to bottom, with a powerful sweet spot at the sword's tip. It is very fast, and gives good range.	20% tipped, 14% base.
Mewtwo	Blasts psychic energy from its palms. Decent reach, but has a sourspot with weak knockback.	18% (sweetspot), 12% (sourspot)
Mr. Game & Watch	Hits the foe with a fire poker. Slow, but strong, with a long-lasting hitbox.	18%
Ness	Swings his famous baseball bat. A powerful move which can even reflect projectiles. Sweetspot is located at the bat's tip, it is the third strongest forward smash besides the Ice Climbers duo.	17% (sourspot), 23% (sweetspot)
Peach	Swings forward one of three items - golf club, tennis racket, or frying pan. All three items have a disjointed hitbox. The racket sends opponents flying horizontally stronger than the others, yet is the weakest damage-wise. The frying pan deals the most damage and launches opponents vertically. The golf club is the weakest in terms of knockback and is only slightly stronger than the racket, yet it has the longest range.	Frying pan 19%; Tennis racket 14%; Golf club 15%.
Pichu	Zaps the foe with electricity from its cheeks, like Pikachu, but with less range. This move, however, scores multiple hits, and the last hit deals high knockback.	6 hits: 15% total.
Pikachu	Looses a thunder jolt from its cheeks. Great knockback and disjointed hitbox, but some start-up lag.	21%
Roy	Much like Marth's, a huge vertical slash. Roy's, however, is slightly slower, but with amazingly strong knockback. It is however much weaker when hitting with the tip.	20% center, 13% tip.
Samus	Punches forward with her arm cannon. Quick, but not impressively strong. Can be angled.	14%, deals 2% more damage angled up and 1% less angled down.
Sheik	Performs two rolling kicks forward. The first kick usually leads right into the second, which does decent knockback.	6% then 9%.
Yoshi	Slams horizontally with his head. Some start-up lag, but good knockback power. Yoshi's head is intangible for a short period during the attack. Can be angled.	16%, deals 1% more angled up and 2% less angled down.
Young Link	Like Link's, this smash has a second available hit. This one is a bit faster with more horizontal knockback. The first hit is also weaker, so it is easy to trap foes and land both hits.	10% then 7%; 17% total.
Zelda	Zaps the foe with magic from her extended hands. Somewhat quick with slightly disjointed hitbox. Multiple hits.	5 hits: 15% total.

List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Character	Description	Damage
Bowser	Bowser reels back and headbutts forward. The most damaging forward smash in the game (does 46% damage fully charged) and has very high knockback and range, but since it has a long lag during start-up and cool-down, its effectiveness is limited.	10% (hit 1), 23%/21% (hit 2)
Captain Falcon	Thrusts his elbows in a somewhat slow motion. It received a huge power and speed nerf from Melee. However, it is still powerful. It still has its psuedo-counter effect from Melee.	20% (high), 19% (mid), 18% (low)
Charizard	Charizard while it rams its head forward and upwards, dealing two hits. It has long range, and amazing knockback, making it a great KO move, but it does have some start-up lag that accounts for this power.	5% (hit 1), 17% (hit 2)
Diddy Kong	Diddy Kong slaps in front of him while spinning around, hitting first with a weak right arm then again with a strong left arm. It's also possible to smash DI the first hit to avoid being hit by the 2nd slap.	5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2)
Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong claps his hands together in front of him. Has great knockback, especially when charged, and is quite quick compared to most smashes considering its power. It has long range despite not having a disjointed hitbox. The damage depends on where it hits.	18%-21%
Falco	Falco does a slashing cross-chop. The most powerful forward smash of the Space Animals, and very powerful in general. The attack is a bit slow and has some ending lag but it has pretty good range. It also has a huge sweetspot behind Falco. It is weak if hit by the tip.	15% (clean), 10% (late)
Fox	Fox performs a powerful spinning kick. It has moderate knockback and range.	15% (clean), 12% (late)
Ganondorf	Ganondorf jams his elbow forward, similar to Captain Falcon's Forward Smash. Deals darkness damage. Stronger than Captain Falcon's and with more range, but slightly slower. It can be angled but it doesn't have an effect on damage dealt. One of the strongest forward smashes in the game. The pivoted smash attack has more range than usual and has high shield stun. It has a disjointed hitbox.	24%
Ice Climbers	The Ice Climbers overhead-swing their hammers to the ground. Does not deal as much knockback as in Melee.	13%/12% (leader), 10%/9% (partner)
Ike	Ike overhead-swings his sword forward to the ground. It is extremely powerful and has a great, disjointed range but is incredibly slow (it has about 30 frames start-up; the third longest) and terrible end lag (the longest out of any forward smash) if he misses like most of his moves. It is slightly weaker at the tip though it is still very powerful.	17%-22%
Ivysaur	Ivysaur plants two vines on the floor and thrusts itself forward with a lot of force. Cannot be shield grabbed until after it gets on its feet. Good knockback makes it a decent finisher.	16%
Jigglypuff	Similar to Kirby, Jigglypuff jump-kicks forward. It has more startup lag and less range than Kirby's, and deals less knockback but more damage.	16% (clean), 13% (late)
King Dedede	King Dedede overhead-swings his hammer very slowly. This attack is disjointed. It is incredibly powerful when hitting by the tip in the air or by the head on the ground when sweetspoted. It has the highest knockback for a forward smash in the game when hitting with the sweetspots. However, it is also the forward smash with the slowest start up (43 frames) and is very weak when sourspotted. Less of a shockwave on the ground near the hammer. Strongest smash attack in the game.	13% (early), 24% (clean), 5% (late)
Kirby	Kirby lunges forward and jump-kicks. Quick start-up, good range, and huge knockback. It also can be angled.	16% (clean high), 15% (clean mid), 14% (clean low), 13% (late)
Link	Link swings his sword from side to side in front of him. This attack is a natural combo, for the attack button/C-Stick can be hit again to deliver a second, more powerful hit. First hit is now more powerful than Melee's, so the second hit is harder to hit with. The first strike is stronger at the tip while the second hit is stronger when close-up. Under some circumstances, this can do more damage than Bowser's forward smash.	14%-15% (hit 1), 17%-20% (hit 2)
Lucario	Releases a burst of aura. Lucario's Aura ability does affect this attack; if Lucario is at low damage, it will be weak, while at high damage, it has great strength. It has some start up lag, but has IASA frames shortly after the hitbox ends allowing another forward smash to be started without cooldown. Very hard to punish.	14% (arms), 16% (blast)
Lucas	Lucas quickly swings his stick forward. This can also reflect projectiles. Similar to Ness, but is faster. It is a bit less powerful (though it stil has good knockback), but only compared to the tip on Ness' bat, otherwise it is much better and more reliable to reflect projectiles with because of its speed. Even though weaker than Ness' baseball bat, it is an outstanding finisher if it connects.	15%
Luigi	Luigi horizontally spears with his left hand. His second best KO move, with only his Fire Jump Punch surpassing it. It is very quick and deals a great amount of knockback, one of the most powerful in the game, despite its very poor damage. Like Mario's forward smash, it can be angled, and deals even more knockback when aimed upward. Even when uncharged, the attack can KO below 75% when angled upward. When the opponent's damage goes above 260%, this move will have more knockback than a reverse Warlock Punch. When this move is used while Pivoting, it has more power and is less laggy. Due to its great horizontal and vertical knockback, Directional Influence does not have great effect on the knockback of this attack.	15% (high), 14% (mid), 13% (low)
Mario	Mario pulls his left hand back over his shoulder and thrusts his palm forward, releasing a blast of fire. A quick, ranged smash, and also quite powerful, especially when sweetspotted. Slightly disjointed hitbox. Like from Melee, the smash can be angled.	18% (fire, up), 15% (arm, up), 17% (fire, straight), 14% (arm, straight), 16% (fire, down), 13% (arm, down)
Marth	Marth swings his sword from behind to the front over his head. It is very fast (hits on frame 10), has a great disjointed range and is very powerful when opponents are hit at the tip of the sword. When uncharged, though, a good DI can make super-heavyweight characters, like Bowser, can survive up to 200% (when it´s not hit by the tip).	14% (base), 19% (tip)
Meta Knight	Meta Knight pulls his sword back and slashes across with astounding force, dealing a good amount of knockback. One of Meta Knight's slowest finishers (24 frames start-up), although this attack is less laggy than most forward smashes due to almost no ending lag.	14%
Mr. Game & Watch	Mr. Game & Watch overhead-swings a lighted match. Very powerful, with a long-lasting hitbox, making it difficult to punish.	18% (clean torch), 14% (clean handle), 8% (late)
Ness	Ness swings his baseball bat forward, with significant start up lag. The tip of the bat is more powerful than the rest of it, and it can reflect projectiles. Great finisher.	18% (base), 24% (tip)
Olimar	Olimar commands a Pikmin to perform a ramming attack, causing it to fly forward while spinning. This attack has great range due to its disjointed hitbox, but only delivers powerful knockback only at close range, for strength decreases the farther the Pikmin travels. The knockback depends on the Pikmin used.	R: 9%-15% Y: 6%-13% B: 6%-15% W: 3%-9% P: 13%-18%
Peach	Peach swings with either a tennis racket, a golf club or a frying pan. Each weapon has varying knockback, damage and range. The tennis racket does little damage and has very weak knockback when sourspotted, but higher knockback when sweetspot, and is the strongest semi-spike in the game, enough to KO at mid percentage (from 60% onwards). The golf club has long range, and decent power. The frying pan does the most damage, but doesn't have much knockback and has short range. At above 50%, the frying pan has decent vertical knockback. At above 100%, the frying pan is able to star KO the opponent when fully charged. Tennis racket and golf club can be use for edgeguarding. All three of them possess disjointed hitboxes.	12%/13% (racket), 15% (club), 18% (pan)
Pikachu	Releases a burst of electricity from its cheeks. It has a huge disjointed hitbox, but has noticeable start-up lag. The closer the opponent is to Pikachu, the more strength this attack has.	20% (early), 17% (mid), 14%
Pit	Slashes forward twice with bow swords. Very fast with good knockback when not stale. It is one of Pit's finishing moves.	7% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2)
R.O.B.	R.O.B. lets loose a blast of electric energy from his eyes. It has a disjointed hitbox, has knockback that is useful for setting up a spike, but is a tad weak for a forward smash. Can be angled.	14% (base), 13% (mid), 12% (tip)
Samus	Samus shoves her arm cannon forward quickly but forcefully. It can be angled, but the attack is very weak even if it is angled upwards due to its below average knockback.	14% (high), 13% (mid), 12% (low)
Sheik	Sheik spin-kicks forward twice. The first kick has less knockback and easily combos into the second, more powerful kick.	5% (hit 1), 9% (hit 2)
Snake	Snake slowly fires an RPG-7 at his feet. Large hitbox, can OHKO if fully charged anyone except Bowser without directional influence and used from the extreme end of Final Destination. Almost no vertical knockback but the second slowest forward smash in the game (It hits on frames 41-43) and quite short range for a powerful attack, even though it's disjointed. Best used as a surprise attack because it also deals high amount of shield stun and its great knockback, especially when near the edge of the stage.	22%
Sonic	Sonic punches in front of him. A good KO move, but it lacks in range and is slower than most of his other attacks. It can be angled.	14%
Squirtle	Squirtle retracts into its shell and launches forward. Moderate knockback and damage. It has launch resistance frames.	14%
Toon Link	Toon Link performs an attack which is similar to Link's Forward Smash, and also a natural combo. However, the first slash delivers set vertical knockback, while the 2nd strike has good knockback, though it's evadable and can be blocked even if hit by the first strike.	10% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2 front), 11% (hit 2 back)
Wario	Wario performs a shoulder charge, similar to that of the Wario Land games. Poor range, but above-average strength and extremely fast for a forward smash (9 frame attack). Has some amount of launch resistance (on frames 8-12).	19%
Wolf	Wolf stretches his arms in front of his body and thrusts forward, then twists his claws. This attack moves Wolf along the ground, starts quickly, is the longest ranging forward smash in the game, and often strikes opponents twice, but delivers below average knockback and has noticeable cool-down time (The third weakest in the game).	5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)
Yoshi	Yoshi thrusts his head forward. Decent knockback (comparable to Mario's forward smash). It can be angled, but is very hard to distinguish visually.	16%
Zelda	Zelda thrusts her arm out and lets loose a small burst of magic, which sucks foes in and deals multiple hits. The last hit has a lot of knockback. This is quite quick, powerful, and has a disjointed hitbox. Can be easily SDI'd out of.	1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5)
Zero Suit Samus	Whips forward with her plasma whip. Great range, but has noticeable startup lag. Large disjointed hitbox, and hits behind her too. Not as powerful as a regular forward smash.	10%-14% (front), 6% (back).

List of forward smashes in Super Smash Bros. 4

Character	Description	Damage
Bayonetta	Bayonetta summons Madama Butterfly for an enormous punch. Possesses projectile properties, meaning that it can clash with aerials and jabs, but deals immense knockback and damage.	14% (wrist), 16% (fist)
Bowser	Jumps forward and does a dropkick. Extremely powerful; can KO under 40% if fully charged while hitting clean, and is capable of KOing at even lower percentages if against a light character and in rage. If spaced properly, this smash can also hit opponents hanging on a ledge. Slow start up makes this smash hard to land in general.	Clean:23% (feet), 20% (body) Late: 17% (feet), 14% (body)
Bowser Jr.	Uses two drills on his opponents. Can be angled up or down. Only the last hit deals knockback, making it harder for opponents to predict when it will be safe to attempt a punish.	1% (hits 1-5), 11% (hit 6)
Captain Falcon	Rears back and lunges his elbow forward, burning opponents on contact. Can be angled up or down. Great reach makes this smash an effective punish on opponents who approach carelessly.	High: 20% Mid: 19% Low: 20%
Charizard	Winds up and does a swinging headbutt forward, slow start-up, but great range and knockback.	17% (clean, late body), 14% (late head)
Cloud	Cloud unleashes a lightning-quick triple slash in front of him at a speed contrary to his sword's size. The final hit has slightly more range and carries all the knockback. Depending on where each slash hits, this move can do from 18-20% damage. Slight startup and moderate ending lag, but very powerful for its speed, KOing at 98% from the middle of Final Destination.	3% (hit 1), 2-4% (hit 2), 12-13% (hit 3)
Corrin	Transforms his free arm into a spear and thrusts it ahead of him. It has tremendous reach, is stronger at the tip, and can be angled (allowing it to hit edgegrabbers). Charging the move sees Corrin hold the Omega Yato in front of him, damaging foes who are close enough.	0.5% (sword, 1-12 hits) 16% (tip), 15% (mid), 12% (close)
Dark Pit	Identical to Pit's.	5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)
Diddy Kong	Slaps forward while spinning around, then does a backhand punch. The second hit launches opponents. This smash can be surprisingly strong, but its range is also deceptively short, making it less useful as a punish and more effective as a combo finisher.	5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2 fist), 9% (hit 2 arm)
Donkey Kong	Winds up and claps both hands forward. Strong horizontal knockback and has good range. When fully charged, this smash deals greater knockback than a fully charged Giant Punch.	19% (arms), 20% (hands)
Dr. Mario	Releases a blast of electricity. Its range has increased from Melee and can now sweetspot at the arm. This move can be slightly aimed up or down. Range is poor, so proper spacing is imperative.	High: 19.992% (arm), 19.464% (hand) Mid: 19.04% (arm), 15.68% (hand) Low: 19.6112% (arm), 16.1504%
Duck Hunt	Signals the offscreen player to three fire shots forward. Its range grows the longer the charge is held, making it one of the game's best ranged KO moves (though its power is only average). This smash is most effective when all three hits connect, as the opponent will get pushed back to be hit by the strongest last hit, which can lead to being KO'd sooner, especially when hit at the edge.	4% (hits 1-2), 9% (hit 3)
Falco	Swings both his wings in an overhead powerful swipe. High knockback when sweetspotted, but can be easy to predict and avoid.	15% (clean), 10% (late)
Fox	Does a cartwheel kick forward. Has a long-lasting hitbox and covers much ground, but deals poor knockback. Good for approaches.	14% (clean), 11% (late)
Ganondorf	Leans back and thrusts his elbow forward. Extremely high knockback. Deals more knockback if an opponent is close to Ganondorf. Excellent for punishing.	24%
Greninja	Slashes forward with a water sword. Very fast and somewhat powerful.	14%
Ike	Lifts his sword over his head and slams it down in a powerful, two-handed overhead swing. One of the strongest smash attacks in the game, KOing under 50% if fully charged and hitting clean. Very slow start up however, with equally high end lag, making it very punishable when whiffed.	19% (early), 22% (clean blade), 17% (clean tip)
Jigglypuff	Lunges forward and delivers a jump kick forward. Can KO starting at 90%, though its range and start-up lag are very bad.	15% (clean), 12% (late)
King Dedede	Winds up his hammer then forcefully slams it down in an overhead swing. The strongest standard forward smash, moreso than Bowser's (only max aura Lucario's is stronger), and the second-most damaging in the game (only max aura Lucario's is more damaging). However it requires a great deal of start-up. This smash has deceptively low end-lag, making it useful as a feint into another move.	15% (early), 24% (clean), 6% (late)
Kirby	Lunges forward and delivers a very large jump kick that moves him forward. Can be angled up or down. Fast start-up makes it an effective punisher, especially against opponents who approach poorly, and is one of Kirby's best KO options at an edge.	High: 16% (clean), 12% (late) Mid: 15% (clean), 11% (late) Low: 14% (clean), 10% (late)
Link	Swings his sword downwards and then horizontally. A second slash can be inputted by tapping the A Button right after the first slash. When both hits connect, this smash is a very good KO move.	Hit 1: 7% (base), 14% (tip) Hit 2: 12% (body), 13% (sword)
Little Mac	Punches in front of him. Has three different angles. Angled up: Becomes an uppercut with very high KO potential and deceptive reach. No angle: Punches forward with good KO power. Angled down: A body hook that deals high damage (both normal and to shield), but very low knockback.	High: 19% (hand), 17% (arm) Mid: 19% (hand), 17% (arm) Low: 22%
Lucario	Releases a blast of aura forward. Knockback ranges from one of the worst with no aura to the best at max aura, capable of KOing near 0% if fully charged. It's the game's most damaging forward smash if sweetspotted and fully charged at full power, dealing 38% fresh.	16% (clean), 13% (late)
Lucas	Quickly swings a stick forward. This move can reflect projectiles. Faster start-up than Ness's, making it more useful for punishing.	14% (base), 15% (tip)
Lucina	Identical to Marth's, but possesses no tipper effect. This is compensated by being more generally powerful and damaging.	15.275%
Luigi	Bends his elbow and thrusts his arm out with an open hand stab. Can be angled up or down. Though its range is short, this smash is very quick and powerful.	15%
Mario	Releases a fiery burst in front of him. Its range, power and speed have been improved from Brawl. Can be angled up or down.	High: 14.7% (arm), 17.85% (fire) Mid: 14% (arm), 17% (fire) Low: 14.42% (arm), 17.51% (fire)
Marth	Rotates his body counter-clockwise with a strong arc-like swing from his head to the ground. Deals extremely high knockback, on par with Ganondorf's forward smash if tipped and has decently fast start up (10 frames). However its low range compared to Marth's previous iterations make landing the tip somewhat difficult. It can hit ledge-grabbing opponents with the right spacing.	13% (base), 18% (tip)
Mega Man	Charge Shot: Charges up energy in his Mega Buster before firing off a big, powerful burst. Very long range when fully charged (the longest of any forward smash), with high KO power to match.	11.5%-19.5%
Meta Knight	Pulls his sword back for a second, then slashes horizontally in forward. Somewhat slow, but it's the strongest attack in his arsenal, having high KO potential and moderately safe endlag. The smash's unconventional start-up and deceptive range makes it very effective at punishing bad approaches.	16%
Mewtwo	Blasts psychic energy from its palms. Decent knockback and speed, comparable to Mario's, though landing it can be tricky on a nimble opponent.	19% (blast), 15% (arms)
Mii Brawler	Punches forward. Its hitbox has a very short duration but high KO power to compensate. The end-lag, however, is atrocious. Can be aimed up or down.	18%*
Mii Gunner	Unleashes a stream of bullets. Has the longest range of any non-projectile smash, and has a long duration, but suffers from lower-than-normal damage and knockback. Useful for edgeguarding.	0.8% (hits 1-6), 5% (hit 7)*
Mii Swordfighter	Swings their sword with both hands while stepping forward. Deals slightly more damage and knockback if tipped.	14% (hilt), 15% (center), 16% (tip)*
Mr. Game & Watch	Takes out a flaming torch and swings if forward. Deals higher damage and knockback if sweetspotted, which has a flame effect. Orginates from Fire Attack.	18% (head), 14% (handle)
Ness	Swings his bat forwards. Extremely powerful when hit with the tip of the bat. The bat can reflect projectiles. Start-up is a bit slow.	18% (close), 18% (mid), 22% (tip)
Olimar	Thrusts a Pikmin forward, attacking as a projectile with a spinning body slam. Damage, knockback, and range vary based on the type of Pikmin used.	R: 7.2%-17.4% YB: 6%-14.5% W: 4.8%-11.6% P: 8.4%-20.3%
Pac-Man	Shoots Blinky forward. Has surprisingly good range, power and an effective lingering hitbox, but its start up is not very good, making it easy to avoid in most cases.	16% (clean ghost), 15% (clean arm), 9% (late)
Palutena	Summons a pair of ethereal wings and flaps them forward. Has a small wind effect at the tip, which can push opponents off the stage if they are charging certain special moves, which could potentially lead to premature KOs at the bottom blast-line.	16% (near), 13% (far)
Peach	Swings a clubbing weapon, cycling constantly between a golf club, a frying pan or a tennis racket. Each weapon has its own property: The golf club deals the most diagonal knockback (and has the longest range), the frying pan has the most vertical knockback, and the tennis racket is a semi-spike.	15% (golf club), 18% (frying pan), 13% (tennis racket)
Pikachu	Rears back and the leans forward, ejects a powerful electric shock. Very high knockback if it hits close.	15% (early), 18% (clean), 12% (late)
Pit	Slashes forward twice. Quick start-up and great range, but easy to punish if it misses.	5% (hit 1), 10% (hit 2)
R.O.B.	S3: Fires a short-ranged laser in front of himself. Good knockback with good range, but still a tad weak for a forward smash. Can be aimed up or down.	15% (base), 11.5% (mid), 6% (tip)
Robin	A quick, short-ranged stab with his/her sword. Good knockback with the Levin Sword, but low knockback with the Bronze Sword.	Bronze: 9.6% Levin: 16% (clean), 5% (late)
Rosalina & Luma	Rosalina: Thrusts her hands forward, hitting the enemy with a galaxy blast. Luma: Delivers a powerful straight punch. Decent range, high knockback, and can KO at 90% when combined. Can be aimed up or down.	Rosalina: 12% Luma: 7% (arm), 5% (body)
Roy	Holds his sword with both hands before spinning around into a two-handed downward diagonal slash. Very powerful when sweetspoted, capable of KOing fully charged at around 50% and has a long disjoint as Roy leans forward when performing it. It additionally has rather low start up for its power (comes out frame 14) but the hitbox does not last for long, and there is long end lag, making it very punishable when missed.	20% (close), 17% (mid), 12% (far)
Ryu	Performs the Joudan Sokutogeri, a powerful wind-back kick with his leg while moving a step forward that is derived from Street Fighter III. It has the highest range of all of Ryu's standard attacks, able to hit opponents 2 character lengths away from him, with some end-lag. Deals slightly more damage and knockback when hit at Ryu's heel.	16% (close), 17% (far)
Samus	Punches forward with her arm cannon, creating a ball of fire similar to Mario's forward smash in appearance and function. The move can be aimed up or down. Great knockback if it hits at the end of the cannon arm, mediocre otherwise.	High: 15% (fire), 13% (cannon) Mid:14% (fire), 12% (cannon) Low: 13.5% (fire), 11% (cannon)
Sheik	Delivers two spin kicks forward. The first has low knockback, while the second has significant knockback. Proper spacing is necessary to ensure that opponents are hit by both kicks.	5% (hit 1), 8% (hit 2)
Shulk	Stabs forward with the Monado, then extends the beam to hit farther. Has good range and power, but high ending lag. Can be angled up or down. The first hitbox of the smash comes out very quickly, making it an amazing punish for bad approaches.	5.5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2 blade), 11.5% (hit 2 beam)
Sonic	Winds up his fist, then throws a punch forwards. Decent range and quick start-up make it effective as a punish. Can be angled up or down. Can hit ledge-grabbers if aimed down.	14%
Toon Link	Similar to Link's, but the first hit deals practically no knockback. This would arguably make it better overall than Link's smash, as hitting with the first strike basically guarantees a follow-up into the second, much more powerful hit, but naturally its range is less than Link's. The double hit-nature of this attack makes sidestepping useless.	10% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)
Villager	Leans forward while dropping a bowling ball. One of the strongest forward smashes, and has nearly unpunishable endlag. The bowling ball can go over the edge, making it a reliable edgeguarding move despite its limited horizontal range. However, because the bowling ball is a projectile, it can be pocketed or reflected, which will likely be fatal for Villager.	15% (early), 17% (clean)
Wario	Leans back then delivers a backhanded punch. Better knockback and range than his old forward smash, but it is slower, has lost its transcendent priority, and lost its launch resistance.	19%
Wii Fit Trainer	Performs the Warrior pose, stomping forward while extending her/his arms in either side. Deals more damage if opponents hit the arms and less at the body.	15.5% (arms), 14% (body)
Yoshi	Winds his head back then hurls it forward, dealing a powerful headbutt. Extremely fast start-up and great range makes this arguably the best punish smash in the game.	13% (tip), 15.5% (nose), 14% (body)
Zelda	Charges magic energy in her right hand and flashes it forward, dealing multiple hits. Fairly good knockback and range, hard to punish.	1% (hits 1-4), 13% (hit 5)
Zero Suit Samus	Does a double kick forward. The second hit has a visible sweetspot, being the small burst of fire at the tip of Samus' foot, which is stronger and deals flame damage.	5% (hit 1), 11% (hit 2)

* This assumes the Mii is default height and weight.

Notable Forward Smashes

In Smash 64

• This game is notable for all characters having very powerful forward smashes.
• Kirby's forward smash is notable for being the most powerful, the fastest, and having far range.
• Ness's forward smash has no sourspot in Smash 64, but in future installments, it has three sourspotted areas in Melee and Brawl. In addition, it is also weaker in Melee and Brawl than in 64.
• Ness' (and Lucas in the later installments) forward smash are unique mainly because they are able to reflect projectiles, if timed correctly.

In Melee

• Bowser's forward smash is the most powerful smash attack in Melee, and the only one capable of KOing around 15 % to 38%, doing 32% fully charged, and can even send the Sandbag farther than the Home-Run Bat at certain percentages. In Brawl, it is powered up even more to 46%, making it the most damaging forward smash. In Smash 4, its damage has been lowered due to the removal of its initial hit, but its knockback is drastically more powerful, to the point where it is on par with King Dedede's forward smash for strongest forward smash in the game, while also being decently fast with deceptively high range.
• Falco's forward smash is widely considered the second best forward smash because of it's reasonable power, long active hitbox, and no sourspot.
• Link and Young Link (and Toon Link from Brawl onwards) have a second forward smash that can be performed by pressing the attack button again after completing the first slash.
• Marth's is widely considered to have the best forward smash in the game due to its speed, power, and range, and though it has a large sourspot, its sweetspot KOs at extremely low percents while sourspot itself KOs at reasonable percents. In Brawl, while Marth's forward smash is still considered one of the best, its sourspot KOs much later while the sweetspot KOs considerably earlier. In Smash 4, following the trend of previous games, the sourspot of Marth's forward smash deals even less knockback (now being mediocre), while the sweetspot is immensely stronger, being the third strongest forward smash in the game if tipped. Due to Marth's range being universally nerfed, this makes his forward smash an extreme example of a "space for the best results" type of move.
• Kirby's forward smash was one of the most nerfed smash attacks and one of the most nerfed moves in the entire smash series. It went from being fast, powerful, strong, and large hitbox to one of the most useless forward smashes in history.
• Peach's forward smash involves one of three randomly chosen weapons, each with varying range, damage, knockback and knockback angle, and also has a slight range behind her. In SSB4, these weapons are no longer selected at random and instead occur in a set order.
• Sheik's forward smash is one of the weakest smash attacks overall in the entire series. Having been buffed power wise in Brawl and Smash 4, it's weakest in this iteration.

In Brawl

• Ike's forward smash is the second strongest in Brawl. Although it doesn't deal as much damage as a few of the strongest characters, it has the highest knockback scaling and extremely long range, though this is counterbalanced by considerable start-up (about 30 frames) and ending lag. In Smash 4, its knockback was reduced, becoming the fifth strongest in the game, but is still considerably powerful.
• King Dedede's forward smash is the fastest-KOing forward smash in Brawl, with the second-highest base knockback and knockback scaling. It also has the lowest possible KO percent uncharged of any Smash Attack in the Series. It is by far the most powerful Forward Smash (and to an extent Smash Attack) in the entire series. In Smash 4, Bowser's forward smash is on equal footing in terms of knockback, but with less startup and 1% less damage.
• Lucario's forward smash (as well as its other smashes) leaves a small ranged Aura residue from its paws, allowing Lucario to attack from a small distance. It is nearly unpunishable if spaced correctly, even when shielded. It is especially powerful at high aura, which is more noticeable in Smash 4, where it is the most powerful forward smash in the game at max aura.
• Meta Knight's forward smash is his slowest move start up wise but has extremely low ending lag, allowing a buffered tilt straight after.
• Olimar's forward smash is a projectile where Olimar throws a Pikmin. This is also true for his up smash and down smash.
• Wario's forward smash is notable not just because of its speed and power, but to its transcendent priority and launch resistance as well, which allows it to plow through attacks similar to Little Mac's smash attacks.
• Wolf's forward smash sends him a considerable distance forward, and has almost no start-up lag.

In Smash 4

• Corrin's forward smash appears to be particularly difficult to punish if used correctly. It has the highest horizontal range in the game for forward smashes (beating Mii Gunner's and Shulk's) and proper spacing and angling makes the move safe from counterattacking. It's also the only forward smash to date and the only smash attack in SSB4 capable of damaging the opponent while the attack is being charged as Corrin holds the Omega Yato a good distance in front of him while he charges it, damaging anyone within range and comboing into the main attack itself. This makes it similar to Ness's up and down smashes from Melee to Brawl albeit charging the move at the beginning of the attack rather than in the middle of it.
• Duck Hunt's forward smash, similarly to their other smash attacks and Snake's up smash, increase in range the longer the attack is charged.
• Little Mac's forward smash can be angled upwards or downwards. Unlike other forward smashes that can be angled, they gain different properties if aimed up or down: a standard punch if aimed forward, an uppercut with a larger hitbox useful for KOing lighter characters if aimed upwards, or a body hook that deals much more damage and shield damage than the previous attacks, but with much less knockback if aimed downwards.
• Mega Man has one of the three only projectile forward smashes in the game, and its projectile increases in size, travel length and power as it charges. It also has the longest range of any forward smash when fully charged.
• Before the introduction of Corrin, the Mii Gunners's forward smash had the highest horizontal range of any of its kind in the game. It has long duration, but lacks knockback to compensate.
• Shulk has the second longest forward smash in the game, losing out to the former. However, his forward smash deals considerable knockback throughout, and is compensated with notably high ending lag. As of the introduction of Corrin, Shulk now has the third longest forward smash, while the Mii Gunner is now second.
• Rosalina's forward smash is notable for its speed, power, and transcendent priority, which makes it difficult to counter similarly to Meta Knight's attacks in Brawl.
• Roy's forward smash is arguably one of the most feared due to its relatively quick start up and explosive KO power (can KO at 30% on some characters with rage) but has noticeable cool-down making it punishable if whiffed.
• Villager's forward smash (a bowling ball projectile) is the only one that is able to be dropped off ledges, allowing him to edgeguard recovering opponents without leaving the stage. However, since it is a projectile, it can be reflected, or even pocketed by another Villager.
• Wii Fit Trainer's forward smash is one of the only forward smashes to hit on both sides with the same amount of power.

See also

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