Fall Break

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Fall Break is an attribute present in certain moves that makes a character briefly cancel fall momentum to stop in midair or even cause them to bounce upward. All of these special moves can be used multiple times in the air, but have this effect only once even if hit afterward (with a few exceptions). This is refreshed when landing on the ground. Most often these are used as mix up tools for recovering, approaching, landing, etc.

Moves with Fall Breaks include:

• All Counterattacks
• All Tether Recoveries (excluding Z-airs and aerials)
• Mario's side special, Cape
• Samus's down special, Bomb
• Dark Samus's down special, Bomb
• Yoshi's up special, Egg Throw
• Fox's down special, Reflector
• Ness's neutral special, PK Flash, and down special, PSI Magnet
• Zelda's neutral special, Nayru's Love, and side special Din's Fire
• Dr. Mario's side special, Super Sheet
• Mewtwo's side special, Confusion, and down special, Disable
• Mr. Game & Watch's down special, Oil Panic
• Lucas's neutral special, PK Freeze, and down special, PSI Magnet
• Lucario's Down Air
• Wolf's down special, Reflector
• Pac-Man's down special, Fire Hydrant
• Ryu's down special, Focus Attack
• Cloud's neutral special, Blade Beam, and side special, Cross Slash
• Bayonetta's neutral special, Bullet Climax, and Forward Air
• Simon's side special, Cross
• Incineroar's neutral special, Darkest Lariat
• Piranha Plant's neutral special, Ptooie, side special, Poison Breath, and down special, Long-Stem Strike
• Joker's neutral special, Gun
• Hero's neutral special, Kafrizz, and side special, Kazap
• Banjo & Kazooie's down special, Rear Egg
• Terry's neutral special, Power Wave
• Byleth's side special, Areadbhar

Notable Fall Breaks

• Samus and Dark Samus' Bomb Drop triggers a bounce when imputed that can be used multiple times in midair, and can make them bounce a second time if they're within the explosion's range.
• Yoshi's Egg Throw grants a considerable hop when used for the first time in midair as a benefit for not having a 'true' recovery move.
• Pac-Man's Hydrant causes a Fall Break when dropped and will fail if a hydrant is already out, but can be used again when the hydrant despawns.
• Byleth's Areadbhar's Fall Break can be used an infinite amount of times akin to Samus' Bomb Drop.
• Bayonetta's Forward air and Cloud's Cross Slash are unique in that each hit possesses fall break property, but only if they connect to an opponent.
  • Additionally, Cloud's Limit Cross Slash halts all momentum for the entire duration of the move, making it one of the most defined fall breaks.

The following do not qualify as Fall Breaks:

• All Special Moves that travel in a set trajectory such as Sheik's Bouncing Fish, Fox's Fox Illusion, or Bayonetta's Witch Twist and After Burner Kick, to name a few examples.
• All Special Moves that lead to free fall.
• Some Special Moves cancel some or all momentum, such as Ness up special, Meta Knight neutral special and Wii Fit Trainer side special, but are moves that:
  • Make the stall serve a purpose in the animation.
  • Are meant to lead into another action.
  • Themselves can only be used once until landing.
  • Cause free fall.

Trivia

• In Melee, the first hit of Marth’s Dancing Blade is a crucial recovering tool, as it causes a fall break that stalls to improve his horizontal distance.
• In Brawl, Fox’s Reflector had no limit to how many times the move would cancel falling, making it notorious for its uses in landing and stalling.