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Helpless

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Revision as of 21:53, April 19, 2022 by Unowninator (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by Unowninator (talk) to last version by Alex the weeb.)
A frame from Mario's helpless animation in Super Smash Bros.

Helpless (also known as freefall, special fall and various other names, and called "fallspecial" in game data) is a state in which characters are unable to take any action, with the exception of grabbing a ledge, maneuvering left/right, fastfalling, or climbing a ladder, until they land on the ground or pass a blast line. Helplessness is typically associated with just having used one's triple jump, although it also occurs after using certain other special moves (usually ones which help recovery). Many special moves involving controllable projectiles (such as Ness's PK Flash and Zelda's Din's Fire) cause helplessness as well in all games besides Ultimate.

Helplessness most commonly ends upon landing on the ground or being KO'd, although it also ends if characters flinch, allowing them to attack or re-use their triple jump. A helpless character is denoted by both a flickering black overlay and a distinct falling animation.

A state similar to helplessness exists in falling after having one's shield broken and then being stunned.

Curiously, the helpless state gives characters an extra ability in Super Smash Bros.: the ability to fall through soft platforms without landing on them. Starting in Melee, this can be done at any time (not just when a character is helpless).

Moves that invoke helplessness

Character Move Type Games Notes
Sora Aerial Sweep Up Special   Sora can input Sonic Blade at the apex of the move for an additional boost to his recovery.
Ike Aether Up Special     Normally, the move does not end until Ike lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Ike has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Pichu Agility Up Special   
All Air dodge   Melee only.
Shulk Air Slash Up Special   
Mii Swordfighter Airborne Assault Side Special    In Ultimate, a half-second window is granted after the move's usage to execute other actions before the helplessness is inflicted.
Mii Gunner Arm Rocket Up Special   
Villager, Isabelle Balloon Trip Up Special    Can happen sooner if balloons are popped by opponents. Villager's helpless animation is based on that of the "defeated" animation from Balloon Fight.
Ice Climbers Belay Up Special    
Sephiroth Blade Dash / Octaslash Up Special  
Roy Blazer Up Special    
Zero Suit Samus Boost Kick Up Special   
Sheik Burst Grenade Side Special   Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Mii Gunner Cannon Uppercut (SSB4)/Cannon Jump Kick (SSBU) Up Special    Functionally identical to one another, with only the animations being any different.
Cloud Climhazzard Up Special    If the follow-up attack is executed, Cloud will fall rapidly; normally, he will plummet until he either hits solid ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Cloud has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless. Additionally, in exceptionally tall stages (such as a custom stage or Smash Run), Cloud enters helplessness after one full second.
Wario Corkscrew Up Special    
Incineroar Cross Chop Up Special   Incineroar will only enter helplessness if it fails to hit solid ground again upon rebounding after using the move.
Daisy Daisy Parasol Up Special   Daisy only enters helplessness if she decides to fastfall (which retracts the parasol) after using the move — she can also end the helplessness and resume parachuting by pressing up (re-opening it).
Ganondorf Dark Dive Up Special      If the move's grab connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Meta Knight Dimensional Cape Down Special    
Zelda Din's Fire Side Special     Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Marth, Lucina Dolphin Slash Up Special     
Corrin Dragon Ascent Up Special   
Meta Knight Drill Rush Side Special    
Duck Hunt Duck Jump Up Special   
Yoshi Egg Roll Side Special    Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 and Ultimate.
Steve Elytra Up Special   In addition to normal helplessness when the move ends, Steve can also cause his glide to stall if he climbs too far.
Lucario Extreme Speed Up Special     If Lucario hits a wall during the move, it will wall cling instead of becoming helpless. However, it cannot use the move again.
Falco Falco Phantasm Side Special    Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 or Ultimate.
Captain Falcon Falcon Dive Up Special       Like Dark Dive, if the move connects with an opponent, Captain Falcon does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Zelda Farore's Wind Up Special     
Kirby Final Cutter Up Special      Normally, the move does not end until Kirby lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Kirby has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Mr. Game & Watch Fire Up Special   Only causes helplessness in Melee.
Falco Fire Bird Up Special     
Fox Fire Fox Up Special      
Wolf Fire Wolf Up Special   
Ganondorf Flame Choke Side Special     If the move connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless, although he (and his victim) will fall until he hits the ground or bypasses the lower blast line. If the opponent mashes out of the move before hitting the ground, Ganondorf does not become helpless.
Charizard Fly Up Special    
Fox Fox Illusion Side Special    Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 or Ultimate.
Ganondorf Gerudo Dragon Side Special   Melee only.
Donkey Kong Giant Punch Neutral Special     Does not cause helplessness in SSB or Ultimate.
Meta Knight, Charizard, Pit Gliding   If the user has used all their double jumps, they are put into helplessness once the glide ends (either by stalling or by attacking). Brawl only.
Samus Grapple Beam Grab aerial   Melee only.
Mii Brawler Headache Maker Side Special  
Wii Fit Trainer Header Side Special    Only causes helplessness if the user airdodges during the move.
Mii Brawler Helicopter Kick Up Special   
Mii Swordfighter Hero's Spin Up Special   
Link, Young Link Hookshot Grab aerial   Melee only.
Greninja Hydro Pump Up Special   
Little Mac Jolt Haymaker Side Special   Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Palutena Jump Glide Up Special   Attacking while under the move's effect cancels the glide and triggers helplessness.
Rosalina & Luma Launch Star Up Special   
Villager Lloid Rocket Side Special    Villager only enters helplessness if he rides then jumps off of the Lloid Rocket, does not hit an opponent during the ride, or if Lloid is destroyed. Based on defeated animation of Balloon Fighter.
Mii Gunner Lunar Launch Up Special   
Meta Knight Mach Tornado Neutral Special    
Robin Nosferatu Down Special    Robin only enters helplessness after Nosferatu finishes dealing damage to an opponent in mid-air or over a temporary platform that is no longer active.
Mii Brawler Onslaught Side Special   
Pac-Man
All		 Pac-Jump Up Special    All jumps trigger helplessness for Pac-Man. When the trampoline is red, both Pac-Man or any other character who lands on it will instantaneously enter helplessness.
Peach Peach Parasol Up Special      Peach only enters helplessness if she decides to fastfall (which retracts the parasol) after using the move — she can also end the helplessness and resume parachuting by pressing up (re-opening it). However, if Peach is under the effects of items that make her shrink or grow while she fastfalls, she will become helpless, as her parasol disappears once she's back to normal. The Parasol item allows any character to do this in Melee.
Mythra Photon Edge Side Special  
Olimar Pikmin Chain Up Special   Normally, Pikmin Chain makes Olimar helpless after the move is used in the air. However, if he uses grounded Pikmin Chain and the platform he's standing on disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he uses ground Pikmin Chain while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless. Brawl only.
Piranha Plant Piranhacopter Up Special  
Mii Brawler Piston Punch Up Special   Only available in SSB4.
Ness PK Flash Neutral Special     Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Lucas, Ness PK Freeze Neutral Special    Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate. Ness's variant is accessible via SSB4 customs only.
Lucas, Ness PK Thunder Up Special      
Pit, Dark Pit Power of Flight Up Special   
Pyra Prominence Revolt Up Special   Normally, the move does not end until Pyra lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Pyra has landed on disappears or something causes her to slide off while she is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), she will become helpless.
King K. Rool Propellerpack Up Special   Normally, when King K. Rool uses the move, he will enter a slow fluttering state when it ends. However, if he fastfalls during this state, he will enter the helpless animation. While K. Rool is not technically considered helpless during the fluttering state, he cannot perform any action during it.
Pikachu Quick Attack Up Special      
Ike Quick Draw Side Special     In SSB4 and Ultimate, a half-second window is granted after the move's usage to execute Aether. Otherwise, Ike will be sent into a helpless state.
Captain Falcon Raptor Boost Side Special      In Ultimate, hitting an opponent with this move won't cause helplessness and Falcon can use the move again.
Mythra Ray of Punishment / Chroma Dust Up Special  
Terry Rising Tackle Up Special  
Little Mac Rising Uppercut Up Special   
Palutena Rocket Jump Up Special  
Diddy Kong Rocketbarrel Boost Up Special    
Diddy Kong Rocketbarrel Barrage Final Smash   Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
Jigglypuff Rollout Neutral Special   (contact    ) Only causes helplessness in Melee, as in the later games, Jigglypuff will keep rolling and won't be able to move if it hits while mid-air (making it literally helpless until it lands or takes knockback).
Samus, Dark Samus Screw Attack Up Special      
All Screw Attack (item) Item   When this item is thrown at opponents (Melee only), they will involuntarily execute a Screw Attack and thus become helpless.
Ryu Shin Shoryuken Final Smash    Ryu becomes helpless after he executes the final attack, whether it connects or not.
Meta Knight Shuttle Loop Up Special     In Brawl, while the initial execution of the move does not make Meta Knight helpless, he does become helpless if the glide ends. In SSB4 and Ultimate, gliding does not exist and Meta Knight is made helpless after the move concludes.
Ryu, Ken Shoryuken Up Special    The helpless animation starts after Ryu/Ken falls below his starting point. Before that, Shoryuken is unique in that it allows none of the usual maneuvering after executing it (making Ryu/Ken literally helpless).
Mii Swordfighter Skyward Slash Dash Up Special   
Mii Brawler Soaring Axe Kick Up special    Normally, the move does not end until the Mii Brawler lands on the ground, grabs the edge of the stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform that the Mii Brawler has landed on disappears or something causes them to slide off while they are in the landing animation (Such as falling off the conveyor belt) they will became Helpless. In Ultimate, helplessness is only inflicted if the downward attack is not executed. If downward attack is executed and they fall during the endlag they will become helpless.
Chrom Soaring Slash Up Special   Normally, the move does not end until Chrom lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Chrom has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Sora Sonic Blade Side Special  
Link, Young Link, Toon Link Spin Attack Up Special       Normally, Spin Attack makes Link, Young Link, or Toon Link helpless after the move was used if in the air. However, if he stands on a platform while using a grounded Spin Attack and the platform disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he used grounded Spin Attack while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless.
Donkey Kong Spinning Kong Up Special      
Ice Climbers Squall Hammer Side Special    
Mii Gunner Stealth Burst Side Special   Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Mii Swordfighter Stone Scabbard Up Special    Normally, the move does not end until Mii Swordfighter lands on the ground or grabs the edge of a stage. However, if the platform Mii Swordfighter has landed on disappears or something causes them to slide off while they are still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), they will become helpless.
King Dedede Super Dedede Jump Up Special     Normally, the move does not end until King Dedede lands on the ground. However, if the platform King Dedede has landed on disappears while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he hits a ceiling while using the move, or the move is cancelled by the user, he will become helpless.
Wii Fit Trainer Super Hoop Up Special   
Inkling Super Jump Up Special   Despite lacking the flashing effect helplessness normally leaves on a character after using a specific action that causes it, Inkling cannot perform any other moves until she lands or grabs a ledge. There is a hitbox upon landing from this animation.
Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario Super Jump Punch Up Special       Their helpless animations are based on the Mario Bros.' death sprite in games such as Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3.
Mii Brawler Suplex Side special   Only available in Ultimate.
Mewtwo Teleport Up Special    
Mii Brawler Thrust Uppercut Up special   Only available in Ultimate. Replaces Piston Punch from SSB4.
Mii Brawler Ultimate Uppercut Neutral Special   Only available in SSB4.
Simon, Richter Uppercut Up Special  
Sheik Vanish Up Special     
Ivysaur Vine Whip Up Special   Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Shulk Vision Down Special    Shulk will only become helpless if he uses the reverse-inputted variant of the attack, and if the platform he’s on disappears before the animation is finished. However, Shulk is granted a brief window of time to execute any other action before the helplessness is inflicted.
Palutena Warp Up Special   
Squirtle Waterfall Up Special   
Bowser Whirling Fortress Up Special     
Ridley Wing Blitz Up Special  
Olimar Winged Pikmin Up Special   
Pit Wings of Icarus Up Special   Pit can also avoid becoming helpless by using an aerial attack when using this move. Brawl only.
Joker Wings of Rebellion Up Special   Can only access this move if Arsene is summoned via Joker's Rebellion Gauge.
Wolf Wolf Flash Side Special   
Hero Woosh / Swoosh / Kaswoosh Up Special   All three stages of this move cause helplessness.

Landfallspecial and "superdashtechnique"

As a unique animation is used for falling while helpless, characters enter a different animation than usual once they land on the ground. This is called "landfallspecial" internally in Melee. Because air dodging enters this state and wavelanding involves air dodging into the ground, when wavedashing is performed, Melee's debug menu shows "landfallspecial" as the character state. This originally led some players to believe that the "landfallspecial" designation was specifically designed for wavedashing and that developers intentionally put wavedashing in the game, further fueling the various debates over wavedashing's legitimacy. At one point, the myth morphed to where, instead of just "landfallspecial", there was purportedly another debug mode designation — cited as "superdashtechnique", "superdashattack", or other supposed variants — created solely for the wavedashing animation. All incarnations of this story have been proven false, and should not be themselves taken as evidence that wavedashing was intentionally put or left in Melee.

Freefall Carryover Drift

In Ultimate, if a fighter uses a special move which will put them into freefall, but they land before entering freefall, they may enter a glitched state if the special move's ending lag doesn't transfer from an airborne to a grounded state. Upon entering this state, the next time the opponent enters the air, they will initially adopt their normal air speed, but after a few frames will revert to the air speed they would have when entering freefall from the special move used, which is usually lower than their normal fall speed. This will persist until they double jump, grab a ledge or land on the ground again.

Gallery

Trivia

  • The moves Fire, Robo Burner, Spring Jump, and Cypher do not cause helplessness in Brawl, although they do restrict the user's choice of moves until they land - Mr. Game & Watch and Snake simply cannot use the recovery move again, while Sonic cannot use any special moves and R.O.B. cannot air dodge. Through a programming oversight, this condition prevents them from using their recovery move again if grabbed and released without pummeling before touching the ground (except for R.O.B.).
  • If Kirby copies a move that causes helplessness, he will be affected just as the original character would be. These moves are Giant Punch (Melee through Smash 4), Mach Tornado, PK Flash (until Ultimate), PK Freeze (until Ultimate), and Rollout (only Melee).
  • In all games except Melee, some characters are unable to become helpless through their own moveset.
  • In Brawl, since Jigglypuff's and Mr. Game & Watch's air dodge animations carry over from Melee, pausing just before the animation ends allows the player to see their helpless state.
    • Additionally, whenever Link, Samus, and Toon Link perform a grab aerial, it's possible to see their helpless animations by pausing just before the end of the animations.
  • Meta Knight is the only character whose entire set of special moves leaves him helpless.
    • Meta Knight is also the only character with two different helpless animations; one with his wings, and one without.
  • The unique animation caused by landing while helpless is the cause of the landing lag glitch.
  • Melee is the only Smash game in which all characters can become helpless through their own moveset.
  • Every game in the series except Smash 64 and Brawl has a method in which a character can become helpless as a result of someone else:
    • Melee has the Screw Attack, which can thrown at someone to make them perform a move similar to Samus's Screw Attack, leaving them helpless after it.
    • Smash 4 and Ultimate have Pac-Man's trampoline, which will make a character helpless if they bounce on it while it is red.
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