There are various attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series that cause the electric effect. Targets hit by these attacks will be shocked and spark for a second or two. Electric attacks have other effects:
- They multiply the freeze frames of an attack by 1.5x.[1][2] Prior to Brawl, this multiplier only applied to the victim, not the attacker.
- They do no damage to Yellow Pikmin, which will not flinch.
- They are strengthened by Electric Attack stickers and spirits.
- They are weakened by Electric Resistance stickers and spirits.
- They make Hotheads grow larger and make them more powerful.
- In Smash 4, they cause attacks to inflict one more frame of hitstun than usual.
In the first three installments of Smash Bros., electric attacks always emit very loud sounds on hit. This has been toned down to a "buzzing" sound in Smash 4, making them much quieter.
The majority of magic, energy, and PK attacks use the electric effect, though this is hardly universal. The electric effect can be confused with the paralyze effect, as the only common moves that can paralyze use electrical sound effects.
List of electric attacks
By characters
| Character | Move(s) | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Captain Falcon | Knee Smash (sweetspotted) |   
|
| Lightning Falcon Kick |
| |
| Dark Pit | Electroshock Arm | 
|
| Electrocut Arm |
| |
| Quickshock Arm | ||
| Dark Samus | Forward smash |
|
| Up smash | ||
| Forward aerial | ||
| Forward throw | ||
| Grab aerial | ||
| Charge Shot | ||
| Screw Attack (entire move) | ||
| Phazon Laser | ||
| Donkey Kong | Lightning Punch |
|
| Dr. Mario | Forward smash |
|
| Shocking Sheet |
| |
| Falco | Lasers during back, up, and down throws |
|
| Reflector | ||
| Blaster |
| |
| Explosive Blaster |
| |
| Burst Blaster | ||
| Fox | Reflector | 
|
| Charge Blaster |
| |
| Wolf Flash (sweetspotted) | ||
| Ganondorf | Neutral attack (except sourspot in Brawl and Smash 4) |
|
| Down aerial | ||
| Dark Dive | ||
| Giga Bowser | Up smash | |
| Neutral aerial |
| |
| Back aerial | ||
| Down aerial | ||
| Whirling Fortress | ||
| King Dedede | Waddle Dee Toss (Waddle Doo lasers) |
|
| Bouncing Gordo |
| |
| Kirby (Copy Abilities) | Charge Shot |
|
| Thunder Jolt | ||
| PK Flash |
| |
| Shadow Ball (charge hitbox) |
| |
| Blaster (Falco) |
| |
| Pikmin Pluck (thrown Yellow Pikmin) | ||
| Blaster (Wolf) |
| |
| Charge Blast |
| |
| Thunder (Robin) | ||
| Link | Shocking Spin |
|
| Lucas | Forward tilt (sweetspot) |
|
| Dash attack | ||
| Up tilt (tip) | ||
| Up smash | ||
| Down smash | ||
| Neutral aerial | ||
| Forward aerial (sweetspot) | ||
| Back aerial | ||
| PK Thunder | ||
| PSI Magnet | ||
| Down aerial (last sweetspotted hit) |
| |
| Lucina | Iai Counter |
|
| Mario | Shocking Cape | |
| Marth | Iai Counter | |
| Mega Man | Forward smash |
|
| Up smash | ||
| Meta Knight | Darkness Illusion (lightning bolt) |
|
| Mewtwo | Neutral aerial |
|
| Pummel | ||
| Shadow Ball (charge hitboxes) |
| |
| Floor attack | ||
| Mii Brawler | Forward smash |
|
| Mii Gunner | Charge Blast |
|
| Echo Reflector | ||
| Full Blast | ||
| Mr. Game & Watch | Judge (number 5) |
|
| Ness | PK Thunder |
|
| PK Flash |
| |
| Dash attack |
| |
| Forward aerial | ||
| Back aerial | ||
| Rising PK Flash |
| |
| Lasting PK Thunder | ||
| Rolling PK Thunder | ||
| Forward PSI Magnet | ||
| Olimar | All Pikmin-based attacks with a Yellow Pikmin (all smashes, all aerial attacks except for neutral aerial, pummel, all throws, Pikmin Throw and customs) |
|
| Pikmin Chain (Yellow Pikmin) |
| |
| Pichu | Forward smash |
|
| Forward aerial | ||
| Down aerial | ||
| Thunder Jolt | ||
| Skull Bash | ||
| Thunder | ||
| Pummel | ||
| All throws | ||
| Forward tilt |
| |
| Down smash | ||
| Back aerial | ||
| Volt Tackle | ||
| Pikachu | Forward smash |
|
| Forward aerial | ||
| Down aerial | ||
| Forward throw (back throw in Smash 64) | ||
| Thunder Jolt | ||
| Thunder | ||
| Down smash |
| |
| Pummel | ||
| Quick Attack | ||
| All throws (except forward throw) |
| |
| Skull Bash | ||
| Volt Tackle |
| |
| Thunder Wave |
| |
| Thunder Shock | ||
| Shocking Skull Bash | ||
| Meteor Quick Attack | ||
| Quick Feet | ||
| Thunder Burst | ||
| Distant Thunder | ||
| Forward tilt |
| |
| Neutral aerial | ||
| R.O.B. | Forward smash |
|
| Diffusion Beam |
| |
| Super Diffusion Beam |
| |
| Robin | All aerial attacks (neutral aerial in Ultimate only; Levin Sword) |
|
| All smash attacks (Levin Sword) | ||
| Thunder | ||
| Thunder+ |
| |
| Speed Thunder | ||
| Samus | Charge Shot |
|
| Screw Attack (last hit) | ||
| Forward and back throws |
| |
| Grab aerial |
| |
| Zero Laser |
| |
| Dense Charge Shot |
| |
| Melee Charge Shot | ||
| Screw Rush | ||
| Apex Screw Attack | ||
| Sheik | Chain (tip) |
|
| Wario-Man | Corkscrew |
|
| Wolf | Blaster (shots) |
|
| Wolf Flash (sweetspot) | ||
| Reflector | ||
| Zelda | Neutral attack |
|
| Up tilt | ||
| Dash attack | ||
| Forward smash (last hit) | ||
| Up smash | ||
| Lightning Kicks (sweetspot) | ||
| Pummel | ||
| Down throw | ||
| Neutral aerial (last hit) |
| |
| Down aerial (sweetspot) | ||
| Zero Suit Samus | Neutral aerial |
|
| Up smash | ||
| Forward throw | ||
| Plasma Whip (whip body) | ||
| Forward smash |
| |
| Plasma Wire | ||
| Power Suit Samus | ||
| Gunship lasers |
| |
| Zero Laser |
|
By items
| Item | Attack | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Assist Trophies | Barbara: Shockwaves |
|
| Elec Man: Thunder Beam |
| |
| Phosphora: Electric shots |
| |
| Wily Capsule: Lightning projectiles |
| |
| Beam Sword | First hit of forward smash when used by Captain Falcon |
|
| Fan | ||
| Hothead | Spark |
|
| Key | Throw against enemies |
|
| Parasol | First hit of forward smash when used by Captain Falcon |
|
| Poké Ball (Pokémon) | Bewear: first hit of uppercut |
|
| Dedenne: Discharge |
| |
| Ditto: Transform (if the summoner possesses electric attacks) |
| |
| Lugia: Aeroblast, contact with body |
| |
| Lunala: Moongeist Beam |
| |
| Raikou: Spark |
| |
| Zapdos: ThunderShock | ||
| Ray Gun | Shots |
|
By enemies and bosses
| Enemy/Boss | Attack | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Crazy Hand | Lasers |
|
| Sweep attack |
| |
| Parts of drill attack | ||
| Flying Punch | ||
| Jet flight (comeback) | ||
| Triple poke (second hit) | ||
| Applause combo (fourth hit) | ||
| Cross punch combo (startup) | ||
| Duon | Blue laser attack |
|
| Feyesh | Tentacle swipe | |
| Ganon | Lightning discs |
|
| Glunder | Discharge | 
|
| Jyk (zap variety) | Contact with body |
|
| Marx | Eye lasers |
|
| Giant mouth laser | ||
| Master Core | Master Giant: Electric orbs |
|
| Master Beast: Dark Thunder | ||
| Master Hand | Slamming punch |
|
| Parts of drill attack |
| |
| Lasers |
| |
| Flying punch | ||
| Metal Face | Laser | 
|
| Plasma Wisp | Plasma beam |
|
| Porky | Beam attacks |
|
| Lightning bolt | ||
| Rayquaza | Dragon Pulse | |
| Thunder | ||
| Spaak | Spark and thunderbolt attacks | |
| Tabuu | Electrical Shield | |
| Eye Lasers | ||
| Off Waves | ||
| Waddle Doo | Eye beam |
|
| Yellow Devil | Lasers |
|
By stage hazards
| Stage | Hazard | Game(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Balloon Fight | Sparks |
|
| Corneria | Great Fox blaster charge |
|
| Kalos Pokémon League | Rayquaza in Dragon Chamber |
|
| Midgar | Ramuh's Judgment Bolt |
|
| Orbital Gate Assault | Forcefield |
|
| Unova Pokémon League | Zekrom's Fusion Bolt |
|
Trivia
The playable characters' appearances when hit by electric attacks in Smash 64 where some of the characters get shocked with cartoon animations showing; this is the only game in the series to use such an easter egg.
- In Super Smash Bros, characters hit by electric attacks will briefly flash black, with their skeleton visible. The exception is Samus, whose suitless shape is seen instead. Non-playable characters do not have this effect. Using AR codes can enable the player to play as a skeleton for an entire game.
- In Melee, when Pikachu uses its back, up, or down throw on an opponent, it begins to spark immediately, without the "shock" being displayed when the move connects. This was fixed in Brawl, where they were given a neutral effect. This also happens to Pichu, with these attacks also being the only ones that don't cause recoil damage to it (besides dismissed Thunder).
- In Brawl and Smash 4, characters use a special animation when hit by an electric attack, which has them continuously tremble in place during freeze frames and before being launched, instead of using a single animation frame, and is the same as their animation when paralyzed.
- When a character is hit by an electric attack in Brawl and they have high enough damage, the crowd doesn't make any sounds unless the electric attack in question happens to hit an opponent that has already been launched by another, non-electric attack.
References
| List of attack effects | |
|---|---|
| Introduced in Super Smash Bros. | Normal  • Coin  • Electric  • Flame  • Slash  • Sleep 
|
| Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee | Bury  • Darkness  • Flower  • Freezing  • Grab  • Inert  • Reverse  • Screw  • Stun 
|
| Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Aura  • Down  • Flinchless  • Grass  • Paralyze  • Plunge  • Slip  • Water 
|
| Introduced in Super Smash Bros. 4 | Blaster  • Magic  • Obliviate  • Stab  • Solar 
|
| Introduced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Autoreticle  • Chain  • Curse  • Dedede  • Grapple  • Ink  • Mushroom  • Poison  • Rapid  • Sparks  • Fist-Down  • Scintilla 
|