Invincibility
Invincibility frames are the period of time (measured in frames) during which one cannot be hit.
These include:
- At the beginning of Get-up attacks and animations
- At the beginning of Techs (all kinds)
- When rolling or sidestepping.
- At the beginning of wall jumps
- At the beginning of certain moves, like Samus' and Bowser's Up + B's (Screw Attack and Whirling Fortress)
- Grabbing the edge of a stage
Some characters' A attacks have partial invincibility which applies only to select body parts for a short time.
These include, but are not limited to:
- Peach up smash (head and arms invincible)
- Fox, Falco down smash (legs invincible)
- Yoshi dash attack (head invincible)
- Ness up tilt (head invincible)
There is another invincibility during which you CAN be hit, but you won't be hurt, or even stunned. It's much rarer, and only happens:
- After you respawn, when you leave the platform (120 frames, or 2 seconds)
- When both Ice Climbers up B, the secondary climber gains it for nearly 1 second
- At the beginning of any throw (besides Bowser's Koopa Klaw throws) for 8 frames
Because any hitbox cannot hit the same object consecutively, attacks that hit this hittable invincibility will be unable to hit the character if the invincibility ends before the hitbox does. With the common invincibility, a long lasting hitbox (such as Mr. Game and Watch's forward tilt) will "wait it out" and hit the character when the invincibility ends.