A one-hit KO, commonly abbreviated as OHKO (also referred to as an Instant KO in Melee), is an attack in the Super Smash Bros. games with such high base knockback that it will KO an opponent at 0%. Such attacks currently exist in every installment of the series.
Definition
In general, a move is considered a one-hit KO if:
- It is capable of KOing Mario at 0% through sheer knockback alone from the middle of the respective game's Final Destination (Dream Land in SSB).
- It is not a meteor smash unless the hitboxes are also capable of OHKOing onstage (meteor smashes like Beast Ganon's are therefore OHKOs in Brawl, while Luigi's down taunt is not).
- It deals damage and/or does not cause a KO by forcibly re-positioning the opponent (such as push effects and dragging Final Smashes). There are some exceptions, such as Samus' Zero Laser in Brawl, which has dragging hits before the final hit.
- It is not extremely situational (such as the first hit of Roy's Blazer against Jigglypuff on specific stages in Melee, or Jigglypuff's uncommonly high shield jump).
Another common standard is to compare the move's knockback to the smash attack of the Home-Run Bat, one of the few moves intended to be the quintessential OHKO by the developers.
Moves with the potential to OHKO are not necessarily guaranteed to do so, and may fail to OHKO under the following circumstances:
- The opponent techs, DIs, utilizes momentum cancelling, and/or crouch cancels to reduce the knockback or alter the trajectory of the attack.
- The opponent is flung into a wall, which absorbs enough knockback to prevent the OHKO, or successfully executes a wall tech.
- The move's sweetspot (if any) does not land (such as Roy's Flare Blade in every game featuring him).
- The move requires more hitboxes to land but some of them fail (for example, Lugia's Aeroblast in Melee, which can whiff if the character is hit on the edge and escapes).
- The stage is extremely large (e.g. Temple, New Pork City, and 75m), or the opponent is at the far edge of a stage.
- The move was weakened previously due to stale-move negation.
- Opponents are under an effect that makes them more resilient (such as being giant, metal, or in an event that reduces the knockback they sustain), or the player is weakened (such as being tiny or given a lower handicap).
- The launch rate is lower than standard, reducing knockback.
- The opponent's gravity is affected via equipment.
- The player is under the effect of a sticker or a spirit that increases resistance to flinch. It is only possible in Adventure Modes.
A Final Smash executed using Final Smash Meter always loses its OHKO potential, unless specific spirits prevent this.
List of One-Hit KOs
This page lists the moves that can OHKO within the rules mentioned above.
Certain moves and situations are not considered to meet the definition of one-"hit" KO's:
- Moves or hazards that inflict no knockback, for example, being flown off the screen by the Landmaster or eaten by the Summit's Fish or Distant Planet's Bulborb), as they simply drag opponents into the blast lines.
- Sacrificial KOs, self-destructs and instant KOs (such as Bowser's Flying Slam or Hero's Whack), as they do not deal any conventional knockback.
- Moves that hit an opponent who is close to a blast line (such as Pikachu's very powerful Thunder in Brawl or Ike's Great Aether on specific stages in the same game), as almost any typical attack ingame will be able to KO opponents at that point.
Some stage hazards or enemies are capable of OHKOing on their respective stages, and will be listed below.
In Super Smash Bros.
Moves that KO at 0% are almost nonexistent in the original Super Smash Bros. In fact, aside from the Home-Run Bat, only one move in the game is able to OHKO, and only under uncommon conditions.
Items
- A smash attack with the Home-Run Bat.
- If Fox uses Reflector on a walking Bob-omb, he (as well as any character caught in the blast radius) will be OHKO'd.
- If two Foxes use Reflector on a Green Shell, it will eventually gain OHKO power after 3-4 reflects.
Video
The following video demonstrates the main moves that KO at 0% in Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64:
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Unlike in Smash 64, there are multiple moves that can OHKO in Melee, including playable characters' attacks and stage hazards. They still remain relatively rare, however.
Playable characters' moves
- Roy's Flare Blade fully charged.
- Roy's Counter (sword hitbox) upon countering a hitbox that deals at least ~35% damage (sweetspot).
- Mr. Game & Watch's fully loaded Oil Panic after absorbing three strong projectiles (such as three PK Flashes).
Contrary to common belief, Roy's Blazer is not an OHKO, having very high fixed knockback but not quite enough to qualify under the required conditions. However, in particular situations, it could potentially KO very light characters at 0% in small stages if only the first hit connects, specifically Pichu and Jigglypuff. Likewise, Mr. Game & Watch's Judge #9 is not an OHKO, having very high knockback but not quite enough to qualify under the required conditions.
Items/Enemies
- A smash attack with the Home-Run Bat.
- Touching Moltres.
- Articuno's Icy Wind.
- Getting caught in Lugia's Aeroblast (if most hits connect). Touching Lugia's body can also lead to an OHKO if multiple hits chain (while a single hit KOs Mario as low as 35%).
- A thrown Polar Bear (smash throw).
- A Green Shell gains OHKO power when reflected 3 or 4 times by two Foxes using Reflector.
Stage hazards
- Rapid laser shots from the Great Fox on Corneria, as well as the turrets while the Great Fox is charging.
- On Flat Zone, if a falling tool is launched at enough speed (after either being hit by an extremely powerful attack such as a Home-Run Bat swing, or being launched after receiving enough damage), it will OHKO anyone it slams into.
- Banzai Bill's explosion on Princess Peach's Castle (if all hits connect).
While touching a blue Klaptrap on Jungle Japes causes a powerful meteor smash of OHKO power, it is otherwise unable to cause a conventional OHKO by the standards mentioned above.
Classic Mode bosses
The following will usually cause an OHKO on Very Hard difficulty only:
- Reverse Throw.
- Flying Slap.
- Finger Drill when preparing to launch.
- Fake-Out Slap.
- Flying Slap.
- Master Hand and Crazy Hand
- Crush (if all hitboxes land), Power Punch, Flying Punch (sweetspot) and Jetstream (sweetspot).
- Combined Master Hand and Crazy Hand
- Applause (if all hits connect) and Sandwich Punch.
Others
In Cruel Melee, almost all the attacks of the Fighting Wire Frames are powered so much that they can easily OHKO every character. These moves include, for example, forward smash and up smash, but also punches, kicks, and other moves.
Video
The following video demonstrates nearly all the moves and hazards that KO at 0% in Melee:
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Brawl continued the trend of adding several OHKOs into the game, resulting in a huge number of them (especially in The Subspace Emissary). However, the majority are boss attacks, with relatively few being standard moves of playable characters. On the higher difficulties of The Subspace Emissary, several boss attacks become invariable OHKOs.
Some notes:
- In The Subspace Emissary, the player's gravity and falling speed are automatically increased up to 19% from normal Brawls, making KOs less likely.
- In Boss Battles, boss attacks are normally weaker, having slightly more than one half of their original speed and power (with some notable exceptions). This is done to partially compensate the fact that the player has only one stock and no continues, items or stickers. As such, almost none of the boss attacks which OHKO in Emissary will do so in Boss Battles, except for Tabuu' Off-Waves on intense.
Playable characters' standard moves
- Ike's stage 8 Eruption. Must be fresh in versus mode.
- Mr. Game & Watch's fully loaded Oil Panic after absorbing three medium power projectiles (such as three PK Flashes) or a very strong one.
- The following counterattacks:
- Ike's Counter (sword and body hitboxes) upon countering a hitbox that deals at least ~45% damage.
- Marth's Counter (sword and body hitboxes) upon countering a hitbox that deals at least ~50% damage.
- Any sufficiently strong or repeatedly reflected projectile when reflected or countered, such as Zelda's Din's Fire, or a Green Shell.
Final Smashes
- Marth's Critical Hit.
- Lucario's Aura Storm at high Aura if most hits connect.
- If the initial take off lands, the attack OHKOs Mario when Lucario has only taken 95% damage (roughly a 55% Aura). Considering only the beam's power, it is an OHKO starting from 125% damage for Lucario (roughly a 73% Aura).
- Pokémon Trainer's Triple Finish if most hits connect (always needs the last hit to land for a KO).
- Ganondorf's Beast Ganon if most hitboxes land (at least one stomp and charge). If a character paralyzed by Beast Ganon is not hit by the charge afterward, they will be inflicted a meteor smash of OHKO power.
- Zelda's Light Arrow (first opponent only).
- Samus' Zero Laser if all hits connect.
- Olimar's End of Day if all hitboxes land (bury, ascent, and explosion). Offstage opponents hit by the rocket's thrusters will also experience an OHKO via meteor smash.
- Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon.
- Wario-Man's Wario Waft fully charged.
While close, Luigi's Super Jump Punch during Negative Zone is not considered a true one-hit KO under the general definition. Since characters will have taken damage during the Final Smash, it doesn't qualify as a one-hit KO. Even if the damage taken is removed, it doesn't start KOing Mario until 5%; Bowser is KOd around 7%, making it a very powerful tactic. In fact, while Negative Zone is active, characters' weight could be severely reduced, making KOs much more likely.
Items
- The Dragoon.
- A smash attack with the Home-Run Bat.
- Touching Moltres.
- Suicune's Aurora Beam.
- Deoxys's Hyper Beam.
- Electrode's Explosion when smash thrown. If an Electrode fails to burst, it can still be picked up and smash thrown with guaranteed OHKO power.
- If Wario runs over a buried Pitfall while riding on his Wario Bike, he will be sent flying at OHKO power. A thrown Pitfall can also meteor smash midair opponents with OHKO power.
- When a Hothead reaches its full power for the last seconds before fading, or after taking enough damage, any contact will be an OHKO (touching the sparks is even more powerful).
- If a Soccer Ball is launched at enough speed (after either being hit by an extremely powerful attack such as forward smash or a Home Run bat swing, or simply being launched after receiving enough damage), it will OHKO anyone it slams into.
Stage hazards
- The Ultimate Chimera's bite on New Pork City.
- If the the bite lands on the mouth's edge, it deals the same immense knockback of Marth's Critical Hit. If the bite traps the character inside the mouth (or the Ultimate Chimera turns around to inflict a reverse bite), both knockback and damage are even higher, rivalling Tabuu's Off Waves on the higher difficulties.
- Corneria's laser beams.
- Touching the hull of the Pirate Ship.
- The first and fourth spikes on Rumble Falls (can easily be teched).
While touching a Klaptrap on Jungle Japes causes a powerful meteor smash of OHKO power, it is otherwise unable to cause a conventional OHKO by the standards mentioned above.
Classic Mode bosses
Note: these moves will not OHKO in Boss Battles unless stated otherwise.
- Reverse Throw - Intense difficulty
- Reverse Throw - Intense difficulty
The Subspace Emissary and Boss Battles bosses
Note: these moves will not OHKO in Boss Battles unless stated otherwise.
- Iron Tail - Intense difficulty, low HP, tip. Can be teched.
- Collapse - sweetspot can OHKO on Very hard and Intense. Sourspot can OHKO on Intense.
- Double Lariat - all hits connect, Intense.
- Giant Jump - landing directly on opponent on Intense at low HP.
- Uppercut - sweetspot, Intense at low HP.
- Rush & Slam - Intense at low HP against grounded opponents. Heavyweights may survive at 0%.
- Mega Fire Ball - Intense difficulty, low HP.
- Falcon Flyer Pull - giant fireball at point-blank on Intense.
- Off Waves - Easy difficulty, less than half HP remaining or higher. Will also OHKO in Boss Battles, but only on Intense.
- Movement Throw - Hard difficulty or higher.
- Tabuu Shot (large energy ball) - Very Hard difficulty or higher.
- Blade Charge - Very Hard difficulty, less than half HP remaining or higher.
- Shadow Laser - Intense difficulty.
- Discharge Attack (body) - Intense difficulty.
- Tabuu Fire - Intense difficulty.
Being the final boss, Tabuu has the greatest number of OHKO moves, is the only boss with guaranteed OHKO moves below Very Hard difficulty, and also the only boss with guaranteed OHKO moves in Boss Battles.
Others
- In Cruel Brawl, almost all the attacks of the Fighting Alloy Team are powered so much that they can easily OHKO every character. These moves include, for example, forward smash and up smash, but also punches, kicks and a very high number of moves. Each of the Alloys has also more powerful specific attacks, such as kicks for the Blue Alloy or punches for the Red Alloy, which are both a guaranteed OHKO from the center of the stage even for Bowser. A similar type of strengthening (or slightly lower) was seen in Melee. Also, the Shadow Clones, Subspace Copies and opponents battled in The Subspace Emissary are powered up this way on the higher difficulties only.
Video
The following video demonstrates some moves and hazards that KO at 0% in Brawl:
This video shows some other OHKOs, including more boss attacks.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
Like Brawl, SSB4 continues to add OHKOs to the game, though mostly playable characters' moves. Also, Bayonetta's Infernal Climax becomes the first playable character's move capable of an Instant KO.
Playable characters' standard moves
- Roy's fully charged and almost fully charged Flare Blade (sweetspot).
- Mr. Game & Watch's fully loaded Oil Panic after absorbing three medium power projectiles or a very strong one.
- Villager's Pocket after it has absorbed a particularly strong projectile, most notably Timber. Powerful projectiles released by Pocket that can still be reflected will also OHKO, such as Zelda's fully charged Phantom Slash.
- Many other reflectors also share this behaviour, especially Ness's bat.
- The following counterattacks:
- Ike's Smash Counter and Shulk's Power Vision custom moves upon countering a hitbox that deals 30% damage or more.
- Corrin's Counter Surge, Ike and Roy's Counter, and Shulk's Vision upon countering a hitbox that deals 35% damage or more. These counters technically have varying degrees of knockback, but they nevertheless achieve a KO at 0% without DI.
- Mii Swordfighter's Blade Counter upon countering a hitbox that deals 37% damage or more.
- Lucina and Marth's Counter, Little Mac's Slip Counter, and Palutena's Counter upon dealing the 50% damage cap with their counters (this requires countering a hitbox that deals at least ~38.5% damage for Little Mac and Palutena, and at least 40% damage with Lucina and Marth).
Contrary to its name and intention, Little Mac's KO Uppercut does not KO until above about 30% damage. At 0%, it falls short of the necessary amount of knockback, KOing a character as light as Jigglypuff at 12%. Also, Ganondorf's reverse aerial Warlock Punch is the most powerful non-OHKO attack, KOing Mario from the center of Final Destination as low as 1% on its sweetspot, though it can easily KO all lighter characters at 0% when sweetspotted. With rage, it eventually gains OHKO power.
Playable characters' moves (with rage applied)
While the following moves do not guarantee OHKO power under normal circumstances, with rage, they can perform an OHKO:
- Lucario's fully charged forward and up smash, aura and rage stack.
- Ganondorf's reverse and / or aerial Warlock Punch.
- Kirby's Giant Hammer.
Final Smashes
- Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit.
- Some of Giga Mac's attacks when fully charged and sweetspotted:
- Straight Lunge, up smash and forward smash (when angled up or horizontally).
- Shulk's Chain Attack when boosted with the Hyper Smash Monado Art (extremely frame-precise, as the final hit must land before the Art expires).
- Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon (barely in OHKO threshold, easily DIed by holding towards the stage).
- Wario-Man's fully charged Wario Waft.
Items
- The Dragoon.
- A smash attack with the Home-Run Bat.
- Electrode's Explosion after being smash thrown.
- If a Hothead is powered up significantly by a flame-based hitbox (30% total or higher), it will gain OHKO power when smash thrown or emitting sparks.
- Equipment can increase the player's damage, increasing the amount of damage a Hothead can be charged by and thus making it easier to reach OHKO power.
- The Black Knight item from Smash Tour will cause smash attacks to have a 30% chance to have 5 times knockback, occasionally turning them into OHKOs.
Stage hazards
- Touching the hull of the boat on Wuhu Island.
- Touching the hull of the Pirate Ship.
While touching a Klaptrap on Jungle Japes causes a powerful meteor smash of OHKO power, it is otherwise unable to cause a conventional OHKO by the standards mentioned above.
Other
While it isn't accessible in regular battles, the bomb used in the Target Blast stage apparently has more than enough power to OHKO under normal conditions.
Classic Mode bosses
The following will usually cause an OHKO on 8.0 or higher difficulties:
- Waves (only used if the player does not defeat it in time: about 45 seconds). Ironically, the chances to survive are higher if the player is closer to the blast lines.
- The final explosion after unleashing the last wave (very small hitbox). However, it can never truly defeat the players as they have already won by the time the hitboxes land.
Video
The following video demonstrates all the moves and attacks that KO at 0% in Smash 4:
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Like SSB4, Ultimate continues to add OHKOs to the game, though still focusing on playable characters' moves (while Final Smashes and items have been slightly nerfed again from the previous game). Several characters also gain the ability to instant KO through Final Smashes or special moves; these do not count as OHKOs and belong in its respective page.
Playable characters' moves
- Roy and Chrom's fully charged and almost fully charged Flare Blade (sweetspot).
- Hero's fully charged forward smash with Oomph or Psyche Up active (if the sweetspot lands as a critical hit).
- Kirby's reversed aerial Warlock Punch (after inhaling Ganondorf).
- The following counterattacks:
- Roy and Chrom's Counter, Joker's Tetrakarn with Arsène, Shulk's Vision with Smash Art, and Mii Brawler's Counter Throw countering a hitbox that deals around 35% damage or more.
- Corrin's Counter Surge and Ike's Counter countering a hitbox dealing around 40% damage or more.
- Marth and Lucina's Counter countering a hitbox dealing around 43% damage or more.
- Any sufficiently strong or repeatedly reflected projectile when reflected.
- Any throwable item under extreme conditions which cause them to move at a very high speed. An example is R.O.B.'s fully charged Gyro.
Playable characters' moves (with rage applied)
- Hero's Hatchet Man with Psyche Up active.
- Hero's Kazap with Psyche Up, Oomph, and Hocus Pocus Giant active.
- Mr. Game & Watch's Oil Panic after absorbing a very strong projectile (like Hero's Kafrizz).
- Mr. Game & Watch's Judge #9.
- Ganondorf's reversed aerial Warlock Punch.
- Lucario's fully charged forward smash, aura and rage stack (after patch 9.0).
Final Smashes
- Marth and Lucina's Critical Hit.
- Lucario's Aura Storm at max Aura if all hits connect.
- Olimar's End of Day if it hits a fighter that cannot be buried. End of Day's bury hitbox deals 633.15 units of knockback, more than enough to KO any character on Ultimate's Training Mode Stage.
Final Smashes executed using Final Smash Meter always lose their OHKO power, with Critical Hit KOing Mario at 20%.
Items
- The Dragoon.
- A smash attack with the Home-Run Bat.
- Electrode's Explosion when smash thrown.
- A Hothead when brought from no charge to significant overcharge by a single fire attack that deals over 30% damage. Hothead's damage output depends on the average damage output of the moves used to bring it to full charge, and thus gains OHKO power when overcharged by an extremely powerful fire move. If the Hothead hits opponents while sparking, it can OHKO without being overcharged as much, but not when starting from zero charge.
- For example, a fresh fully charged Flare Blade will sufficiently overcharge a Hothead, but doing so in Training with stale moves disabled removes its ability to sufficiently charge it, as the additional 1.05× freshness bonus just barely grants Flare Blade enough damage to do so.
- Spirits can increase the player's damage, increasing the amount of damage a Hothead can be charged by and thus making it easier to reach OHKO power.
- The Deku Nut's explosion on a grounded target that cannot be stunned, such as Sandbag, or Kirby in his Stone transformation.
Stage hazards
- Touching the hull of the Pirate Ship.
- Touching the hull of the boat on Wuhu Island.
While being hit by a Klaptrap on Jungle Japes causes a powerful meteor smash of OHKO power, it is otherwise unable to cause a conventional OHKO by the standards mentioned above.
Other
While inaccessible in a regular fashion without hacking, the gun found on the Free the Spirit screen's stage is programmed in as its own usable item, inflicting 30% damage with OHKO power (mainly because the Free the Spirit stage is very small with close blast zones).[1] This situation is similar to Smash 4's Target Blast bomb.
Video
The following video demonstrates all the moves and hazards in Ultimate that inflict enough knockback to KO at 0%, alongside some powerful moves that don't. However, it also includes a few moves and hazards that do not inflict any knockback, such as Instant KOs:
Conclusive video
The following video demonstrates several one-hit KOs from every Smash game except Ultimate:
Gallery
Lucario's Aura Strom at max aura.
Marth's Critical Hit.
Chrom's Flare Blade.
Trivia
- Brawl features the most guaranteed OHKOs; however, the vast majority are from bosses.
- The Home-Run Bat is the only item (and by extension, the only attack) able to perform a guaranteed OHKO in every Smash game, at least on its sweetspot.
- Roy's Flare Blade and Counter are the only moves to maintain their OHKO power in every installment.
- At least one playable character from the Fire Emblem universe possesses a move with OHKO potential in every game. Other main characters appear as items with OHKO power (Black Knight in Smash 4).
- Marth's Critical Hit is the only Final Smash to maintain its OHKO power in every installment. Throughout all games, it is also the most powerful attack of any character's standard moveset (in terms of knockback) without any exterior factors or buffs, being impossible to survive if in direct sight of a blast line, even on the largest stages of each game.
- While the majority of OHKOs will fail to work on characters under the effects of a Super Mushroom or Metal Box, a few attacks have such high knockback that they will still OHKO under these circumstances. In Brawl, this includes Suicune's Aurora Beam, Marth's Critical Hit, the Ultimate Chimera's bite, and several boss attacks.
- Starting from Smash 4, a few Final Smashes have hitboxes that negate the effects of such buffs, such as Marth's Critical Hit.
- Tabuu on Intense difficulty in The Subspace Emissary has more OHKOs than any other boss or enemy in any Smash game, with 7.
- The most powerful moves in the Smash series are Tabuu's Off Waves (waves and contact with his body) on Intense difficulty in The Subspace Emissary and Boss Battles, and the Ultimate Chimera's bite in Brawl. Both these attacks are the most damaging moves, dealing 100%-200% damage and having immense knockback.
- Master Core's final explosion on 8.0 difficulty or above is the only OHKO that will never KO the player, since the battle is already won before the hitboxes land.
- Galleom's Tank Rush and Tank Rush & Slam can hit the player after the boss is defeated (with OHKO power on the higher difficulties), but since the battle is already won, the player can never be KOed.