A projectile is any hitbox able to leave the user's damagable collision bubbles and move by itself, and most of them can be reflected. Ness' yoyo is an exception, as it is not classified as a projectile despite its glitch. All non-item projectile attacks in Melee are special attacks and throws, usually neutral B. Common examples of projectiles include: Falco's laser (neutral B), Samus' missiles (forward B) and Young Link's bombs (down B). An example of a throw projectile is Mewtwo's forward throw, which launches multiple tiny Shadow Balls which can damage any character.

A majority of characters in Melee have at least one projectile attack; the characters that don't are Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Ganondorf, Jigglypuff, Marth, and Roy. It is considered a disadvantage to not have a projectile, because projectiles are very useful in setting up an approach.

All projectile attacks will not create hit lag for the user. Most projectiles can be easily identified by attacking a metal box: if the character becomes metal, then the move is not a projectile.

Number of Projectiles per Character

This table includes all non-Final Smash projectiles for every character, as well as some important properties of each, such as whether it is a physical or energy projectile. Generally, energy-based projectiles are not affected by gravity and can be absorbed, while physical projectiles follow gravity and cannot be absorbed.

Character Projectiles Physical/Energy Unique Properties
Bowser Fire Breath Energy Can be tilted up and down.
Captain Falcon None
Diddy Kong Peanut Popgun Physical Can be grabbed in midair.
Banana Peel Physical Produces a banana peel.
Rocketbarrel Boost (when the barrels come off) Physical
Donkey Kong None.
Dr. Mario Megavitamin Physical
Falco Blaster Energy
Fox Blaster Energy Does not cause flinching.
Ganondorf None.
Ice Climbers Ice Shot Physical
Blizzard Energy
Ike None.
Jigglypuff None.
King Dedede Inhale (spit-out character) Physical
Waddle Dee Toss Physical
Kirby Inhale (spit-out character) Physical
Final Cutter's shock wave Energy Hugs the ground.
May copy another character's projectile.
Link Boomerang/Gale Boomerang Physical Tries to return to Link.
Bomb Physical Produces a bomb item.
Bow/Hero's Bow Physical
Lucas PK Freeze Energy Affected by gravity and can be tilted foward and backwards.
PK Fire Energy Large recoil.
PK Thunder Energy Controllable.
Lucario Aura Sphere Energy
Force Palm's aura Energy Doesn't reflect, reflectors negate it's damage.
Luigi Fireball Energy
Mario Fireball Energy Affected by gravity.
F.L.U.D.D. Energy Pushes opponents, does no damage.
Marth None.
Meta Knight None.
Mewtwo Shadow Ball Energy Huge recoil when used fully charged.
Mr. Game & Watch Chef Physical
Ness PK Flash Energy Affected by gravity and can be tilted foward and backwards.
PK Fire Energy Creates gravity-affected fire pillar on impact.
PK Thunder Energy Controllable.
Peach Vegetable Physical Produces a vegetable item.
Pichu Thunder Jolt Energy Hugs the stage.
Thunder Energy
Pikachu Thunder Jolt Energy Hugs the stage.
Thunder Energy
Olimar Pikmin Throw Physical Pikmin latch onto target.
Forward smash/Up smash/Down smash Physical Cannot be reflected.
Pit Palutena Arrow Energy Controllable.
Pokémon Trainer Flamethrower (Charizard) Energy Can be tilted up and down.
Rock Smash fragments (Charizard) Physical
Bullet Seed (Ivysaur) Physical
Razor Leaf (Ivysaur) Physical Can be tilted up and down.
Water Gun (Squirtle) Energy When charged, pushes opponents and does no damage unless uncharged. Can be tilted up and down.
R.O.B. Robo Beam Energy Can reflect off surfaces at certain angles, can be tilted up and down.
Gyro Physical Produces a Gyro item.
Roy None
Samus Charge Shot Energy
Missile Physical
Bomb Physical
Shiek Needle Storm Physical Can be tilted up and down.
Snake Hand Grenade Physical Can be picked up, grenade itself does not cause flinching and can be tilted foward and backwards (when tilted backwards it will fall next to Snake).
C4 (when used in the air) Physical
Remote Missile Physical Controllable.
Cypher (once let go) Physical
Up smash Physical
Taunt Physical Affected by gravity.
Sonic Spring Jump (when used in the air) Physical
Toon Link Bow Physical
Boomerang Physical Attempts to return to Toon Link.
Bomb Physical Produces a bomb item.
Wario Wario Bike (once dismounted, can be thrown) Physical
Wolf Blaster Energy
Yoshi Egg Toss Physical Can be tilted foward, backwards, up and down (when tilted backwards the egg will go next to yoshi).
Young Link Bow Physical
Boomerang Physical Attempts to return to Young Link.
Bomb Physical Produces a bomb item
Zelda Din's Fire Energy Cannot be reflected, but reflectors will prevent the user from being hit.
Zero Suit Samus Paralyzer Energy Stuns opponent in place.
Down Smash Energy Can be absorbed like a projectile, but oddly isn't considered one.