Armor

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Ike's super armor from his Aether move. Notice how Ike didn't take any knockback from Critical Hit, which is an invariable OHKO under standard circumstances.

Armor, also called launch resistance, knockback resistance, super armor (for infinite knockback resistance), or heavy armor (for finite knockback resistance), is an effect of certain moves or actions in all four Super Smash Bros. games. When a character has super armor, they will generally not flinch nor take any knockback when attacked by a harmful hitbox; while heavy armor also provides protection from attacks, a sufficiently strong attack can still deal more damage or knockback than the heavy armor can sustain, and cause the character to receive full knockback. Most types of armor only affect knockback and the attack's full damage is still taken; however, Kirby's Stone takes no damage at all, Focus Attack grants heavy armor that reduces the damage taken to half, and two Final Smashes grant super armor with the same damage reduction. Armor can also be known as light armor if it only protects against extremely weak low-knockback attacks, such as jabs or individual hits of multi-hitting attacks).

There are two unrelated phenomena with similar effects; one is known as faux super armor, which occurs when two characters are hit with the same hitbox while one has the other in a grab. Whoever has higher controller port priority takes full damage but only flinching slightly from the attack, while the other takes full damage and full knockback. The other phenomenon is called grab armor; in Brawl, when a grab connects with a character that also has an active hitbox, the character that attempted the grab takes the full damage from the hitbox but not the knockback, giving the illusion that grabs have launch resistance, though this will only occur if the grab actually connects with the other character's hurtbox, and in both previous games, the same character would not have taken the damage. In Smash 4, this situation is reversed; the character that attempted the grab will now take full damage and knockback from the hitbox, and the other character will only flinch slightly and take 3% damage or more, depending on the type of grab that was used.

Note that grab hitboxes ignore all variations of armor, and many bosses (except Giga Bowser in Melee and Master Core's final form in Smash 4) cannot flinch or be knocked back at all, effectively giving them permanent super armor.

In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee

Yoshi double jumping through an attack.

Armor is not an established mechanic in the first two games. In both games, launch resistance is limited to Yoshi's double jump cancel counter and crouch canceling, neither of which are infinite. The difficulty setting on the single player modes (and events in Melee) also affects the ability to be launched for both the player's character and the CPU characters, with the player's character taking more knockback and the CPUs taking less knockback as the difficulty setting increases. Adjusting the handicap levels in the multiplayer modes in Melee has the same effect.

According to the Japanese Super Smash Bros. website, Yoshi's double jump resistance works by subtracting 120 units from the knockback that would have been delivered, with Yoshi not flinching if the result is negative, and Yoshi taking the difference in knockback if the result is positive.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Armor was formally introduced in Brawl; several characters have moves that provide them with infinite launch resistance, usually to allow for such characters to counter attempts to disrupt the incoming attack. Some of these moves are not offensive, however, and there are a few cases of finite launch resistance, as listed below. Crouch canceling no longer affects knockback, but instead affects the amount of freeze frames sustained.

All of the moves are super armor unless otherwise stated.

Character	Moves	Notes
Bowser	Giga Bowser	Entire duration.
Charizard	Fly	Frames 4-13, making it useful when jumping out of shield and an effective combo breaker.
Diddy Kong	Rocketbarrel Boost	Grounded version only.
Donkey Kong	Giant Punch	Only if fully charged; while moving his arm forward but the attack needs to make contact with his left arm and before it is released.
	Spinning Kong	Only the grounded version; just before he starts to release it (frames 10-16 first hitting on frame 19); if he leaves the ground with Super Armor frames when using the grounded version, a glitch will make the Super Armor frames last for the entire move.
	Cargo throw	DK gains knockback-based launch resistance for the entire duration of the move. Also works while holding heavy items.
Ganondorf	Flame Choke	In the grounded version, when holding the opponent off the ground; the opponent also gets super armor. In the aerial version, the opponent gets super armor but Ganondorf does not, allowing for strange KOs in places like Norfair or Brinstar where Ganondorf will bounce off the acid, while the opponent will continue their plummet.
Ike	Aether	After throwing his sword in the air, but before he leaps up towards his sword.
	Eruption	Some frames after the special move button is released but before the sword hits the ground.
King Dedede	Super Dedede Jump	From the start until just before the apex of the jump.
Kirby	Stone	The entire duration of the period Kirby is in his Stone transformation. Will flinch when taking more than 29% damage while in the transformation and take the full knockback of the move that causes him to exit the transformation, but none of the damage.
Olimar	Pikmin Order	During the first few frames. Lasts until right after he puts his head down.
Pit	Mirror Shield	Grounded version only; while pulling the shield out: frames 4-6.
Snake	Cypher	From the beginning of the move until Snake lets go of the Cypher. Will flinch to hitboxes that deal more than 7% damage.
Squirtle	Forward smash	While moving forward.
Wario	Forward smash	While moving forward: frames 8-12.
	Wario Waft	When fully charged, during the first few frames.
Yoshi	Double jump	Yoshi retains the double jump armor from previous games, and it can still sustain 120 units of knockback. However, instead of taking the difference in knockback if the attack is strong enough to surpass the armor, Yoshi takes the full knockback of the hitbox.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Smash 4 continues the trend of implementing launch resistance to certain characters, though there is more variation with the strength of armor (some negligible, some infinite, and some based on damage). Crouch canceling now acts as a combination of Melee and Brawl's version of the tactic, although the knockback sustained is only reduced to 85% of the original value.

All of the moves are super armor unless otherwise stated.

Character	Moves	Notes
Bowser	All animations	Bowser has universal light armor against attacks that deal negligible knockback, a property nicknamed "Tough Guy" in the tips.
	Giga Bowser	Giga Bowser retains the infinite knockback resistance from Brawl.
Bowser Jr.	Clown Kart Dash	Can block attacks which deal up to 7% damage.
	Grounding Dash	During the startup of the move.
Charizard	Rock Smash	During the move's start-up, starting from frame 5. Is negated if the boulder is broken before Charizard headbutts it.
	Rock Hurl	Same as Rock Smash, except the super armor starts on frame 1.
	Fly/Rising Cyclone	During the move's start-up, like in Brawl.
	Flare Blitz/Blast Burn	During the active charge portion it has Heavy armor which blocks attacks which deal up to 14% damage.
	Mega Charizard X	Entire duration. Takes half damage.
Dark Pit	Electroshock Arm	Gains super armor during the uppercut.
Donkey Kong	Giant Punch	Only receives full super armor when the move is fully charged, when his arm is moving forward just before and during the punch (on frames 11-20).
	Spinning Kong	Only the grounded version, DK gains super armor when he pulls back or just before he starts spinning (frames 8-17, first hit on frame 19).
	Stubborn Headbutt	Gains super armor for the entire move, including start-up.
	Kong Cyclone	From the 2nd hit in front until shortly before the last 2-3 swings.
	Cargo throw	Gains knockback-based heavy armor while carrying the opponent or heavy object (i.e. boxes, crates etc.).
Ganondorf	Warlock Punch/Warlock Blade	When initiated on the ground, the move will have super armor until Ganondorf begins his punch/thrust forward; also has super armor even when reversed. Does not have super armor if initiated while Ganon is airborne, even if Ganondorf lands on the ground before punching.
	Flame Choke	In the grounded version, when holding the opponent off the ground; the opponent also gets super armor.
	Dark Fists	Frames 6-16 (when the hitbox of the first punch comes out).
Ike	Aether	Gains a brief duration of super armor while his sword is thrown upwards (frame 18-21).
	Eruption	Only gains super armor 3/4 to fully charged: shortly before the release (ends before hitbox appears) (frame 6-10).
King Dedede	Super Dedede Jump/Rising Dedede	Just like in Brawl, it has super armor during the rising portion of the move, until Dedede reaches the apex of his jump.
	Armored Jet Hammer	Once Dedede starts charging the move, it has super armor until Dedede unleashes the move or is interrupted by other means.
Kirby	Stone/Grounding Stone/Meteor Stone	Kirby can sustain up to 24% damage while transformed, where he'll take no knockback from all moves regardless of how strong their knockback is, while also taking no damage. Once he sustains more than 24% damage while transformed, he'll be launched as normal, while taking half the damage from the threshold-breaking hitbox. This is a variation of heavy armor.
	Hammer	When fully charged, it'll have super armor during its swing.
	Giant Hammer	Once Kirby begins charging the move, he'll have super armor until the frame he unleashes it or until he is interrupted by other means.
Little Mac	Straight Lunge	Gains percent based heavy armor during the charging and execution (taking 15% or more will knock him out of the move).
	KO Uppercut	Has brief super armor when the punch comes out (frame 8-9).
	All smash attacks.	They all have super armor during their start-up (forward: 8-15 (angled up/straight), 9-15 (angled down); up: 8-11; down; 7-10 (first hit), 15-17 (second hit)).
	Giga Mac	Entire duration.
Lucario	Mega Lucario	Entire duration. Takes half damage.
Mii Brawler	Ultimate Uppercut	During the start-up of the punch, only if fully charged.
	Exploding Side Kick	During the start-up, before kicking.
Olimar	Pikmin Order	Pikmin Order's armor frames are lesser than it was in Brawl.
Pac-Man	Power Pellet	Towards its end.
Pit	Upperdash Arm	During the uppercut.
Roy	Blazer	Has super armor on the grounded version during startup.
Ryu	Focus Attack	While charging the attack, Ryu will armor through a single hitbox that doesn't deal more than 39% damage, while also sustaining half the damage of the hit, but he will still be hit as normal (interrupted) if struck by a second hitbox regardless of damage/knockback. This is a variation of heavy armor albeit the strongest.
Wario	Wario Waft	During the startup when fully charged. (frames 5-10)
Wii Fit Trainer	Volatile Breathing	During the startup of the move.
Yoshi	Double jump	Yoshi retains the knockback-based heavy armor from Brawl.
All characters	Home-Run Bat	When the bat is about to be swung.
	Ore Club	When charging and releasing a smash attack.

External references

• A better 'Super Armor List' Thread: lists characters and their moves that have Super Armor, along with some frame data.
• The Armor Project: explains how knockback-resisting moves that are not super armor work, including Snake's Cypher and Yoshi's double jump.