| Nosferatu | |
|---|---|
 Nosferatu in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | |
| User | Robin |
| Universe | Fire Emblem |
| Article on Fire Emblem Wiki | Nosferatu |
| “ | Grab foes with a dark curse, and heal with their energy. | ” |
| —Smash for 3DS's foldout | ||
Nosferatu (リザイア, Resire) is Robin's down special move in Super Smash Bros. 4.
Overview
When the move is used, Robin casts a spiral of dark magic in front of himself, acting as a special grab. Opponents grabbed take 0.8% darkness damage multiple times over several seconds (155 frames) for a total of about 15% damage; bystanders are also damaged by the attack. In the air, ensnaring an opponent with Nosferatu will cause both Robin and the opponent to slowly fall down. If the opponent lands before Robin does, Robin will continue floating in the air until the move has finished. Robin will then be helpless. It also changes Robin's active Tome to Nosferatu if not already in use.
The opponent held by Nosferatu may be able to reduce their held time by Button mashing, depending on their percent. If their damage when initially grabbed is 0%, each input made will reduce the duration by an extra 5 frames. The higher their percent is when grabbed, the less effective each input will be. The effect is linear until 120%, where at that point mashing has no effect on the duration.
In addition to its damaging properties, the move heals Robin. Every time it does damage, Robin heals for (damage * 0.8) + (diff * 0.02), with "diff" being Robin's current damage minus the victim's damage (which cannot be negative, and updates over time). In addition, the healing is multiplied by 1.25x if the opponent is caught from behind. As a result, Robin will heal at least 13% damage if the opponent started with higher damage, and can heal over 40% if Robin has 100% or more damage than the opponent.
Compared to Robin's other tomes, Nosferatu can only be used a total of 4 times before it breaks. It respawns after 40 seconds have passed, giving it the longest respawn time of all of Robin's weaponry along with the least uses of any tome in Robin's arsenal. This move also has a set knockback value and cannot K.O. the opponent through normal means, giving it no worth as a KO move but good use when Robin desperately needs a heal at high percentages. However, because of this move's extremely limited uses, it can be recklessly spammed during safe intervals in battle in order to easily obtain a throwable used tome in the quickest time possible, as the used tomes themselves have good KO potential when thrown.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
| 1. Nosferatu | 2. Distant Nosferatu | 3. Goetia |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "A dark curse that steals the life force of enemies." | "Can ensnare opponents farther away, but it's less powerful than normal." | "Pulls opponents in before trapping them. No healing effect, but deals more damage." |
- Nosferatu: Default.
- Distant Nosferatu: Nosferatu is used twice as far from Robin, making it easier to catch opponents without being directly in front of Robin. If the opponent is directly in front of Robin, the move will miss them entirely, as the dark energy is farther down, leaving Robin open to attack. This move deals 12% to the opponent, regardless if attacked from in front or from behind. The move's healing formula per hit is
damage * 0.45, with no change based on damage difference; when used in front of an opponent, it will heal Robin by 6%, when used from behind, it heals Robin by 8%. This move also has a slightly longer start-up. - Goetia: Uses the tome Goetia, which is stronger than Nosferatu, but has no healing capabilities. It takes longer to start the move. At startup, Robin creates a dark vortex that pulls in foes before beginning to attack them. This attack has a relatively bigger range than Nosferatu, and summons a bigger dark energy spiral that engulfs the opponent and deals 19% damage.
Distant Nosferatu being used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
The vortex upon startup...
...followed by Goetia.
Origin
Nosferatu is a special Dark tome from the Fire Emblem series (except for in the first five games and the Tellius series, in which Nosferatu is instead a generic tome or a Light tome). When a unit casts Nosferatu, however much damage he or she inflicts will return to the caster in the form of healing. This effect carries over into Smash 4. Additionally, Nosferatu tomes have lower accuracy, making it harder to hit enemy troops with it. This is reflected in Smash 4 by the difficulty in landing the move.
Goetia is another Dark tome that is introduced in Fire Emblem: Awakening. It is much stronger than Nosferatu, but does not have the healing property Nosferatu does. It is also easier to land in Awakening.
As a Tactician, Robin ordinarily cannot use dark magic in Fire Emblem: Awakening, though he can potentially wield such magic if he reclasses to one that can, such as a Dark Mage, however if Robin marries Aversa, his daughter Morgan gains the skill Shadowgift, which allows her to use dark magic tomes in any Tome-wielding class. Masahiro Sakurai gave Robin the ability to use Nosferatu as a Tactician in order to "capture certain aspects of the original title".[1]
Gallery
Knoll performing Nosferatu on an enemy soldier as it appeared in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, one of the games it is usable in.
Robin performing Goetia in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Nosferatu being used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Nosferatu used from behind the opponent.
The range of Nosferatu.
Trivia
- Nosferatu is the only down special move to belong to a Fire Emblem character that is not a counterattack.
- In Awakening, Goetia has a might of 19, which is reflected in the damage it does as the third variant of Nosferatu.
- This is one of the few moves that is able to hit behind the opponent without them automatically turning around upon taking damage.
- Robin will grunt menacingly once Nosferatu lands if he does not announce the move upon it.
- Nosferatu translates to literally mean vampire, giving the move its namesake.
