Shadow Flare
| Shadow Flare | |
|---|---|
 Sephiroth using Shadow Flare in Ultimate. | |
| User | Sephiroth |
| Universe | Final Fantasy |
Shadow Flare (シャドーフレア, Shadow Flare) is Sephiroth's side special move.
Overview
Sephiroth snaps his fingers and shoots a thin beam of light forward. If the beam hits an opponent, they become surrounded by a circling ball of darkness. After 4 seconds, the ball flashes and strikes the target. The balls will always launch away from Sephiroth. Multiple balls can be stacked on the same opponent; the move can be charged by holding the button in order to stick up to 3 at once, and a total of 5 can be on a single opponent. Existing balls will have between 0.5 and 3 seconds added to their attack timer if the move hits again, to a maximum of 3.5 seconds. If the balls are currently attacking an opponent, no more can be added until the attack concludes. Each ball is an individual projectile that can be reflected, absorbed, or pocketed, though they have no hitbox against the target until they attack. The balls can hurt other players if contact is made, which may use them up.
If the control stick is tilted in the opposite direction after the side special input is performed, Sephiroth will turn around and perform Shadow Flare behind him. This can be used for mindgames.
As the number of balls placed per use is based on the amount of damage dealt, reflecting the initial beam will result in twice the amount of balls that would be placed, up to the maximum of 5. For example, reflecting a beam that would place 2 balls will stick 4 balls on Sephiroth, while reflecting a beam that would place 3 balls would only result in 5 balls, as the number of balls cannot exceed 5.
When using the move, Sephiroth may say 目障りだ ("Annoying." or "Pathetic."), 焼き付ける ("Burn."), 跪け ("Kneel."), 滅びる ("Perish."), くらえ ("Take this.") or simply chuckle.
Instructional Quotes
 Move List |
 |
Release a small burst of energy. If an opponent is hit, the energy will move around them for a short time and then detonate. |
Origin
Shadow Flare is a spell that first appeared in Final Fantasy III as a learnable action through the Geomancer class and has since been featured in various other games, often as a dark counterpart to the Flare spell. In Final Fantasy VII, Shadow Flare was a spell that can be used by Safer Sephiroth, Ultimate Weapon, Dragon Zombie, Ruby Weapon and it can be learned though the Enemy Skill Materia. Shadow Flare was the strongest non-Gravity spells in the Final Fantasy VII. Its depiction in Smash more closely resembles its iteration in the Kingdom Hearts series and in turn, the Dissidia series and Final Fantasy VII Remake as flaming dark orbs that surrounded the target before blasting them.
Gallery
Sephiroth using Shadow Flare as shown by the Move List in Ultimate.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
 Japanese |
シャドーフレア, Shadow Flare |
 English |
Shadow Flare |
 French |
Fission ombrale |
 German |
Schattenflamme |
 Spanish (PAL) |
Fulgor espectral |
 Spanish (NTSC) |
Bengala de sombra |
 Italian |
Bagliore d'ombra |
 Chinese (Simplified) |
暗影火光 |
 Chinese (Traditional) |
暗影火光 |
 Korean |
섀도플레어, Shadow Flare |
 Dutch |
Schaduwflare |
 Russian |
Теневая вспышка |
