Thunder (Robin)

Thunder
Robin charging Thunder.
User	Robin
Universe	Fire Emblem
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Thunder (tome)

“	A magical thunder attack. Gains power when charged.	”
—Smash for 3DS's foldout

Thunder (サンダー, Thunder) is Robin's neutral special move in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Overview

This is an auto-chargeable special move that fires a long ranged electric projectile. Like most moves of its nature, the move will automatically charge once the B button is tapped, and pressing the button will fire it during the said period. Also during said charging period, the move's charge can be stored by shielding or rolling (the latter is done by tapping left or right). In midair, shielding to cancel it will result in an air dodge instead, and any stored charge is lost if Robin is hit while charging or KO'd.

It also changes his/her tome to Thunder if it is not already in use. This attack has a certain number of uses before the tome that is the source of the spell breaks and is automatically tossed away. The discarded tome acts as a projectile and will damage any opponent from behind. After it breaks, a small cooldown time of around 10 seconds passes before the book is replaced and thus can be used again.

If Kirby copies this move and exhausts the Thunder tome that he acquires from inhaling Robin, the copy ability is instantly discarded (with Kirby immediately losing Robin's "hair" hat without any visual indication), and any projectile it produced will prematurely disappear.

Trying to use the move while the tome is broken before replacement will have Robin perform the animation for the cast, but only a small puff of smoke will come out with no effect whatsoever.

If the button is held when casting Thoron, it will deal more damage and travel further than if the button were tapped.

Stages

Thunder has 4 different stages, each with different projectile properties, damage and knockback that is determined by the charge of the attack. Depending on what stage the attack is, the durability points used varies. A total of 20 durability points can be used before the tome breaks. When Elthunder is charged, the tome will flash yellow. When Arcthunder is charged, the tome will glow red. When Thoron is charged, Robin will put the tome away and launch the attack when B is pressed again.

All stages of the move (excluding Thoron) can miss smaller characters while they are crouching or dodging as they travel a distance above the floor.

Stage	Description	Damage	Durability
Thunder	A small white jolt of electricity that travels quickly in a straight line. The fastest stage of the move, though with poor range, knockback and damage, unable to KO even at 999%. Travels a third of Final Destination, good for interrupting approaches at a safe distance. It can also jab reset larger opponents due to its speed and negligible damage.	3%	1
Elthunder	A yellow ball of electricity that travels in a straight line with less speed than Thunder. Travels more than half of Final Destination and still has little to no KO potential (KOing at 190% at the middle of the stage), though it is a more standard projectile compared to the other stages of Thunder. Due to its quick charge time and range, it is a decent spammable projectile. Charged after half a second. Japanese: エルサンダー, Elthunder	9%	3
Arcthunder	A bright red slow moving ball of electricity that gradually picks up speed. Travels the same distance as Elthunder. On contact, it traps opponents in an electric 'X' shape while inflicting damage, and has moderate knockback, though unable to KO until 185%. Good for pressuring shields and gives Robin enough time to either followup with an attack or grab the opponent while they are stuck in the move (only if both fighters are on the ground). Can combo into Nosferatu if timed right. Charged after about two seconds. Japanese: ギガサンダー, Gigathunder	10%	5
Thoron	An extremely long, large beam of electricity that rapidly travels across the stage, passing through opponents. Holding down the B button increases damage and knockback. Has considerable knockback, KOing at 160% (150% if the button is held down), and is a deceptively powerful offstage finisher due to the projectile's speed and length, giving it incredible accuracy. If used in the air, the player risks a self-destruct as the move has a lengthy ending animation. Regarding it, the firing animation is distinct from the other charge levels as Robin twirl tosses up his sword during a turn and fires the Thoron via a back-handed manner, then catches his sword as it falls back down. One of Robin's reliable ranged finishers apart from a thrown Levin Sword or Tome. Charged after three and a half seconds. Japanese: トロン, Thoron	10~19%	8

Customization

Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:

1. Thunder	2. Thunder+	3. Speed Thunder
"Lightning magic that can be charged to cast Elthunder, Arcthunder, and Thoron."	"Cast stronger lightning magic. Can't be used as many times in a row as Thunder."	"Charges and travels faster than Thunder, but isn't quite strong."

1. Thunder: Default.
2. Thunder+: The move has a longer charge time to reach Thoron, taking five seconds. The tome's durability is reduced to 10 points, and each stage is stronger and larger than the standard variation. The magic itself also wastes different durability points. Visually, Robin erupts small shockwaves (as opposed to a dusty wind effect from behind with the default version) while charging.

Stage	Changes	Damage	Durability
Thunder	The electric jolt is bigger, and travels slightly slower. It travels farther before disappearing.	5%	1
Elthunder	The electricity will travel at a steady pace, with increased knockback.	11%	2.5
Arcthunder	The electric ball will move slightly faster, and pick up speed as it travels. Has improved knockback.	13%	4.5
Thoron	The beam is much faster and wider. It is longer and will damage the opponent multiple times when passing through them. Has high knockback.	31%	10

3. Speed Thunder: Takes two seconds to reach Thoron. Each spell deals different amounts of damage than the original variant, travels faster,is smaller in size and deals less knockback. The tome's durability, as well as the durability points used, are the same as the standard variation. When the tome is discarded, it takes ten seconds for the tome to respawn.

Stage	Changes	Damage
Thunder	The jolt of electricity is slimmer and travels a bit farther.	2%
Elthunder	The electric mass will travel the length of Final Destination. Also slightly smaller.	5%
Arcthunder	Travels less than the standard variation. Only slightly faster.	7%
Thoron	The beam's trail is shorter, and will only hit the opponent once.	10%

Origin

Thunder magic is one of the most commonly recurring types of offensive magic in the Fire Emblem series, and is one of the five categories of offensive magic, alongside fire, wind, light, and dark. Thunder magic is commonly grouped with fire and wind into the collective school of anima magic, or the magic of nature. It is distinguished by having higher raw power compared to equivalent tomes of other anima types, but in exchange they tend to have relatively poor accuracy and very high weight.

In Fire Emblem, weapon use is governed by weapon rank, where units are restricted in what weapons they can use by how proficient they are in that weapon type. Whenever a unit uses a weapon, they gain experience in that weapon type and can advance to higher proficiency and gain access to more powerful weapons. In many games, the three anima magic categories organize their spells into a series of stages, with each spell being more powerful than the last, and the thunder spells used by Robin in Smash are taken directly from these stages. While Fire Emblem does not have a charging mechanic for spells like Smash does for Thunder, it could be taken as a reference to the idea of weapon experience.

• Thunder is the most basic thunder tome, and appears in every game in the Fire Emblem series. It is usually depicted as a lightning bolt summoned from above, with the exception of Fire Emblem Awakening, where it is a ball of lightning which the caster shoots forward, like in Smash.
• Elthunder was introduced in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and is one of the "El-" tomes which comprise the second stage of anima, along with Elwind, Elfire (which existed by itself in games before Genealogy), and the light spell Ellight. All of its Fire Emblem appearances depict it as a stronger lightning bolt summoned onto the enemy, unlike its ball shape in Smash.
• Arcthunder was introduced in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and appears only in it and Awakening. It is one of the three "Arc-" (or "Giga-" in the Japanese versions) tomes which constitute the third stage of anima magic, along with Arcfire and Arcwind. Both games show Arcthunder as multiple bolts of lightning converging on one target, resembling the X shape seen in Smash.
• Thoron was introduced in the original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. It is the fourth and final stage in the hierarchy of standard thunder spells, surpassed only by one-of-a-kind legendary weapons like Mjölnir and Rexbolt. Its counterparts are the fire spell Bolganone and the wind spell Tornado. The majority of Fire Emblem games portray Thoron as a powerful, fast-moving beam of lightning which is fired in a horizontal line at the enemy, like in Smash.

In Fire Emblem Awakening, Robin's starting class, the Tactician, allows him to use both magic and swords. Robin's starting inventory in the main game features a Thunder magic tome; he also begins the premonition chapter at the beginning of the game with a Thoron tome. Robin's pose when he releases Thoron originates from Awakening as well, where it is his critical/skill pose for tome weapons in said game, although in SSB4 Robin fires with his right hand instead of his left. In Fire Emblem Fates, Thoron is not available as an ordinary weapon, but appears as a special weapon exclusive to Robin in his appearance as bonus amiibo content.

• 

  Linde casts Thunder in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

• 

  Ilyana casts Elthunder in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

• 

  Maribelle casts Arcthunder in Fire Emblem Awakening.

• 

  An enemy Mage casts Thoron in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Gallery

• 

  Thunder being charged in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Elthunder being released.

• 

  Arcthunder in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

• 

  Thoron being released.

Trivia

• Occasionally, if Robin short hops before beginning a Thunder charge, a second charge sound will begin playing and stack over the first charging sound the moment he lands. This is likely a glitch with no functional effect.
• When Robin discards a completely different broken tome with a fully charged Thunder, his hand will act as though it is still holding something despite there being nothing in it; the lightning spark effects for the charge indication will still appear in this case.
• The "Thoron" variant of this move seems to have infinite range, as Robin can fire a Thoron beam from the left side of the "Run!" map's final stretch in Smash Run and still hit enemies touching the finish line.

Robin's special moves

Neutral special	Thunder
Side special	Arcfire
Up special	Elwind
Down special	Nosferatu
Final Smash	Pair Up