Slash

Ike's forward smash hitting Snake, showing the boomerang effect.

There are various attacks in the Smash Bros. series that cause the slash effect. Usually caused by sharp objects, slash attacks are buffed by Slash Attack stickers and defended against by Slash Resistance ones. Slash attacks can be easily identified by their impact effects: they have a white and blue circular slash in Super Smash Bros. and a boomerang-shaped impending angle indicator in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (though grass attacks use this as well); while the impact sound is also often a clue, it cannot be used definitively (for example, many of Young Link's and Toon Link's sword attacks do not sound like slash attacks). There are two sounds for slashing in Super Smash Bros., and three in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Brawl, there is only one sound effect for all slashing attacks, only differing in speed and pitch. For example, Link's down air has a deep, slow slashing sound, while swipes of Bowser's claws are quick and have a higher pitch.

In Super Smash Bros. 4, a variant of the slash effect is used for attacks such as Luigi's forward smash and Bowser's up smash, known as the stab effect. The two effects appear to be functionally identical, differing only in visuals - the stab effect is shown as a straight line in the direction of the attack, rather than a curve.

List of slash attacks

By characters

Character	Move(s)	Games
Bowser	Up tilt
	Up smash (first hit; uses stab effect in Smash 4)
	Down smash
	Down air
	Whirling Fortress
	Up throw
	Back floor attack
	Neutral attack
	Down tilt
	Back air
	Koopa Klaw
	Forward air
	Trip attack
	Flying Slam (Subspace Emmisary)
	Dash Slash (custom Flying Slam)
Bowser Jr.	Forward tilt
	Up tilt
	Dash attack
	Forward smash
	Up smash
	Down air
	Down throw
Charizard	Neutral attack
	Up tilt
	Up smash
	Pummel
	Down tilt
	Back air (sweetspot of first hit)
	Glide attack
	Forward air
	Dragon Rush (both custom Flare Blitz and during Mega Charizard X)
Dark Pit	All attacks except up tilt, Electroshock Arm, Striking Flight (custom Power of Flight), Impact Orbitars (custom Guardian Orbitars), pummel, back throw, up throw and Dark Pit Staff
Duck Hunt	The duck's beak during rapid jab, all tilts, dash attack and all aerials (except neutral air)
Falco	Down tilt
	Falco Phantasm
	Up air (first hit)
	Neutral attack
	Up tilt
	Forward smash
	Neutral air (only last hit in Brawl)
	Forward air
Fox	Fox Illusion
	Up smash (sweetspot)
	Twisting Fox (custom Fire Fox)
Giga Bowser	Neutral attack
	Up air
	Whirling Fortress (all but first hit)
	Up tilt
	Down tilt
	Koopa Klaw
Greninja	Rapid jab
	All smash attacks
	Forward air
	Water Shuriken
	Shifting Shuriken (custom Water Shuriken)
	Stagnant Shuriken (custom Water Shuriken)
	Secret Ninja Attack
Ike	All attacks except first hits of jab, Eruption (except sourspot at the tip of the sword), pummel and throws
King Dedede	Super Dedede Jump (stars)
	Waddle Dee Toss (tossed Waddle Doos and Gordos)
	Gordo Throw
	Topspin Gordo (custom Gordo Throw)
	Quick Dedede Jump (custom Super Dedede Jump, stars)
Kirby	Final Cutter
	Up smash (sweetspot)
	Upper Cutter (custom Final Cutter)
	Ultra Sword (all but first hit)
Kirby (copy abilities)	Hero's Bow
	Nayru's Love
	Needle Storm
	Shield Breaker
	Mach Tornado
	Eruption (sword tip)
	Palutena's Bow
	Blaster (Wolf)
	Silver Bow
	Water Shuriken
	Metal Blade
	Gale Strike
Link	All attacks except neutral air, back air, Boomerang (sourspot in Melee, entire Boomerang in SSB), Bomb, first hit of grab air in Brawl, pummel and forward, back and down throws
	Ripping Boomerang (custom Gale Boomerang)
Lucas	Up smash (first hit)
Lucina	All attacks except pummel and throws
Luigi	Forward smash (stab effect in Smash 4)
Marth	All attacks except sweetspotted up air (Melee and Brawl), pummel and throws
Mega Man	Dash attack
	Back air
	Up air
	Metal Blade
	Tornado Hold (custom Rush Coil)
	Leaf Shield
Meta Knight	All attacks except dash attack, forward, up and down throws
Mewtwo	Forward tilt (sweetspot)
Mii Brawler	Down throw
Mii Swordfighter	All attacks except pummel and forward, back and down throws
Mr. Game & Watch	Back air
	Judge #4
	Down air (falldown)
	Octopus
Pac-Man	Dash attack
	Down tilt
	Neutral air
	Down throw
	Power Pellet
	Distant Power Pellet (custom Power Pellet)
	Enticing Power Pellet (custom Power Pellet)
	Pac-Jump
	Power Pac-Jump (custom Pac-Jump)
	Meteor Trampoline (custom Pac-Jump)
Palutena	Forward smash
	Down smash
Peach	Forward tilt (tip)
	Peach Parasol (open parasol)
	Down smash
	Up smash
Pit	All attacks except up tilt (excluding first hit in Brawl), Upperdash Arm, Striking Flight (custom Power of Flight), Impact Orbitars (custom Guardian Orbitars), pummel, back throw, up throw and energy pillars during Three Sacred Treasures
R.O.B.	Gyro
	Slip Gyro (custom Gyro)
Robin	Neutral attack (except third jab with the Fire Tome)
	All tilts
	Dash attack
	All aerials and smashes with the Bronze Sword
	Elwind
	Pair Up (Chrom's attacks)
Roy	All sweetspotted attacks except up smash, pummel, throws, Flare Blade, last hits of Double-Edge Dance, Blazer, Counter and Critical Hit
Sheik	Neutral attack (post-Melee and finisher in Smash 4)
	Dash attack
	Up smash (sweetspot)
	Needle Storm
	Chain (non-tip)
	Forward smash
	Forward air
	Up air
	Down air (falldown)
Shulk	All attacks except pummel and first hits of jab, forward smash, up smash, up air and down air
Snake	Cypher
Sonic	Up throw
	Forward air
Toon Link	All attacks except Boomerang, Bomb, pummel, forward, back and down throws
	Piercing Arrow (custom Hero's Bow)
Villager	Timber (axe)
	Timber Counter (custom Timber, axe)
	Super Timber (custom Timber, axe)
Wario	Chomp
	Down tilt
	Inhaling Chomp (custom Chomp)
Wii Fit Trainer	Up smash
	Neutral air (second hit)
Wolf	Neutral attack
	Forward tilt
	Down smash
	Forward air
	Up air
	Down air
	Blaster (bayonet attached to the blaster)
	Wolf Flash (sourspot)
	All throws except forward throw
Young Link	All attacks except neutral air, back air, sweetspot of down air, Fire Bow, Boomerang, Bomb, edge attacks and forward, back and down throws
Zelda	Forward tilt
	Nayru's Love
	Farore's Wind (except reappearance in Brawl)
	Farore's Windfall (custom Farore's Wind)
	Phantom Slash
	Phantom Breaker (custom Phantom Slash)
	Phantom Strike (custom Phantom Slash)
Zero Suit Samus	Up tilt (second hit)
	Up air

By items

Item	Attack	Games
Assist Trophies	Ghirahim: All attacks
	Kat & Ana: Sword attacks
	Lyn: Sword strike
	Saki Amamiya: Sword attacks
	Samurai Goroh: Katana slashes
	Spinies: Contact with body
Beam Sword	All swings and throws
Drill	Shot drill
Parasol	All swings, open parasol hit
Poké Ball Pokémon	Beedrill: Take Down
	Chikorita: Razor Leaf
	Clefairy: Gust
	Fletchling: Peck
	Keldeo: Secret Sword
	Latias and Latios: Steel Wing
	Lugia: Aeroblast
	Scizor: Metal Claw
	Snivy: Razor Leaf
	Staryu: Contact with body
	Suicune: Contact with head after attacking
	Unown: Take Down
	Weavile: False Swipe
	Zoroark: Fury Swipes
Ray Gun	Shots
Unira	Throws and contact when set
Warp Star	Aerial-only meteor smash

By enemies and bosses

Enemy/Boss	Attack(s)	Games
Armight	Sword throw and slashes
Auroros	Dive
Autolance	Stab and sword throw
Bucculus	Hits while grabbing a foe
Crazy Hand	Finger Drill (upper parts)
Cymul	Spin
Darknut	Sword swings
Duon	Forward charge
	Head bash (blue side active)
	Triple arm slash (blue side active)
Flage	Slash flurry
Geemer	Contact with body
Greap	Scythes
Green Kritter	Claw swipes
Master Hand	Finger Drill
Porky	Hitboxes while walking
	Stab attack
Puppit	Claw swipes
Ridley	Background fly attack
	Claw sweep
	Loop-de-loop
	Wind attack
Shaydas	Blade slashes
Stalfos	Sword swings
Sword Primid	All sword attacks
Ticken	Head charge
Trowlon	Beak hit

Trivia

• In Melee, two slash attacks that collide will produce a different set of clang sound effects, more reminiscent of metallic noises akin to swords clashing. This is the only game to have such a unique trait for slash attacks.
• In Brawl and Smash 4, there is a set of slash damage sound effects that are noticeably slower and deeper than regular slash sounds. These are normally reserved for Ike due to his use of a heavy broadsword, but Shulk's Back Slash makes one of those sounds if he manages to hit from behind with the move.