Meta Knight (SSBB)/Forward aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Meta Knight's forward aerial.

Overview

Meta Knight slashes in front of himself three times. The move has decent knockback and always does up to 10% damage if all three of the slashes hit (regardless of stale-move negation). The move is one of Meta Knight's most useful moves in tight situations, as it has extremely fast startup and ending lag, very little landing lag, great range, and transcendent priority. The move is commonly used as a SHFF when Meta Knight is either approaching or retreating from the ground, and it can be used to great effect for spacing and pressuring when combined with other moves such as down aerials and forward tilts. The move is also very useful offstage, as when used in conjunction with some of Meta Knight's other aerials, it can set up a variation of the wall of pain technique, depending on the opponent's DI and recovery options, though this is slightly limited by Meta Knight's very low air speed.

Overall, like many of Meta Knight's other moves, Meta Knight's forward aerial is a very favourable option to use in many situations, and as a result has gained a reputation of being broken.

Hitboxes

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct
Hit 1
0	0	3%	0		0	100	80	3.5	0	0.0	1.0	6.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	3%	0		0	100	80	3.5	0	0.0	1.0	15.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	3%	0		0	100	5	3.5	0	0.0	10.0	6.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	3%	0		0	100	5	3.5	0	0.0	10.0	15.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Hit 2
0	0	3%	0		0	100	80	4.0	0	0.0	1.0	6.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	3%	0		0	100	80	4.0	0	0.0	1.0	15.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	3%	0		0	100	5	4.0	0	0.0	10.0	6.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	3%	0		0	100	5	4.0	0	0.0	10.0	15.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Hit 3
0	0	4%	0		60	122	0	5.0	0	0.0	1.0	3.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
1	0	4%	0		60	122	0	5.0	0	0.0	1.0	14.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
2	0	4%	0		60	122	0	5.0	0	0.0	10.0	3.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
3	0	4%	0		60	122	0	5.0	0	0.0	10.0	14.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash

Timing

Attack

Initial autocancel	1-3
Hit 1	6
Hit 2	10
Hit 3	13
Ending autocancel	22-
Animation length	39

Landing lag

Animation length	15

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Autocancel

Meta Knight's moveset

Neutral attack · Forward tilt (1 · 2 · 3) · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Glide attack
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash