- For other uses of "shield", see Shield (disambiguation)
- "Shield break" redirects here. For Marth's and Lucina's neutral special move, see Shield Breaker.
A shield (known as Guard by certain technical processes) is a bubble of energy encircling the user that blocks all attacks with the exception for grabs and other unblockable attacks. The shield is raised by pressing a certain button, which is (by default) the Z button on the N64 controller and Wii Remote with the Nunchuk, L or R button on the Gamecube controller, Classic Controllers and Wii U GamePad, and B button on the standalone Wii Remote. Shielding can only be done on the ground; pressing a shield button in midair produces an air dodge instead (or has no effect in Smash 64). Shields cannot be held forever; they shrink as time passes and attacks are blocked, and break when held for too long, causing the user to do a shield jump (popping them into the air before stunning them). Otherwise, they recharge when not in use. The colour of a shield is based on the team colour of the user; when not in a team battle, shields are red for player 1, blue for player 2, yellow for player 3, green for player 4, orange for player 5, cyan for player 6, purple for player 7, slate for player 8, and grey for computer players. Player 4's shield is grey just as the computer players' shield in Super Smash Bros.. In Brawl and Smash 4, when an attack hits a shield, a bit of the shield can be seen visually shattering, with pieces flying away. If the Control Stick is tilted slightly, the shield can be shifted to help block attacks from specific directions.
Technical details
Though the shield blocks most attacks without fail and comes out instantly, their shrinking causes them to not always cover the character's entire damageable collision bubble - thus, the user is still vulnerable to shield stabbing.
Shields are considered to be both aerial and grounded; therefore they can be struck by both aerial-only and by grounded-only hitboxes.
If a projectile hits a shield at just the right angle, it will be deflected, rather than blocked. The initial raising of the shield creates a small energy wave; if that wave hits a projectile, it will be reflected at an angle, though without harming the projectile user.
When shielding in Melee, one can adjust the depression of the L or R button to alter the density of the shield. A light shield will cover a wider area and shrink more slowly than a dense shield, but the user will skid back a larger distance when hit. If one uses the Z button to shield, the shield will be maximum size, however this shield will take a bit longer to put up, as the character will try to grab first. Variable shield density was removed from Brawl, presumably because it can only be used with a GameCube Controller or the original Wii Classic Controller (no other controller has analog buttons).
If a shield is fully raised and encircles an incoming attack during the first 4 frames (3 frames in SSB4), the attack will be powershielded, resulting in the shield taking no damage. In Melee, powershielding can also reflect projectiles back to opponents at half their usual damage during the first 2 frames.
When the shield is hit by an attack, the user will undergo an inactionable period known as shieldstun, which duration depends on the damage the attack would have done if it had been unshielded. Both the defender and (in a smaller proportion) the attacker are also pushed back; being pushed off an edge while shielding causes edge slipping.
Certain attacks have increased shield damage, meaning that they deal more damage to shields than to other targets. The Fan is one example, whose smash attack can break a shield in one hit. On the other hand, some attacks deal reduced damage to shields; this is exclusive to certain strong attacks in Smash 64 such as the Hammer.
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This article or section may require additional technical data. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Smash 4 numbers may not be accurate You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it. |
| Max HP | Depletion per sec. | Regeneration per sec. | Reset when broken | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smash 64 | 55 | 3.75 | 6 | 30 |
| Melee | 60* | 8.4 | 4.2 | 30 |
| Brawl | 50* | 16.8 | 4.2 | 30 |
| SSB4 | 50 | 7.7 | 3.8 | 30 |
* Takes 30% less damage from attacks. Additional shield damage is not reduced in this way. It is unknown if shields in Smash 64 have this behaviour.
The comparatively strong shields in Smash 64 may be tied into the reason as to why said game's throws are rather powerful; having strong throws would discourage players from overusing their powerful shields. Furthermore, if an attack hits a shield in Smash 64, any throws done out of a subsequent shield grab will only do half damage, reducing viable out of shield options.
Shield breaking
Each character has a shield with a particular size and strength. With each hit inflicted within a period of time, the shield will diminish until it is broken. This results in the character being thrown into the air, and being stunned for a few moments after landing. Stun time is dependent on damage; characters with more damage will be stunned for less time. This phenomenon is known as a shield break.
The purpose of a shield breaking is, along with grabbing, to prevent a player from staying in his or her shield indefinitely. Instead, the shield will get smaller and smaller, exposing more of the character to attack until the entire shield is depleted. Shield breaking moves are either ones that can be comboed to prevent a character from rolling out or from dropping the shield without being hit or ones that deal enough shield damage to break the shield in one hit. Certain moves, like Marth's fully charged Shield Breaker, can break shields in one hit. Items like the Fan and Mr. Saturn are also very effective shield breakers.
If a character's shield breaks while at the very edge of a stage, the possibility of the character being stunned until falling into a KO can occur. The knockback of some moves when breaking the shield transfers to the opponent, thus pushing the character with the broken shield off the edge.
Players who use Jigglypuff should be especially careful about its shield breaking. Like other characters, if Jigglypuff's shield breaks, Jigglypuff will fly upward and then be stunned for a short period of time. However, Jigglypuff flies several hundred times farther upward than normal. This is more than enough to KO Jigglypuff, unless there is a ceiling or some other obstacle preventing it from flying straight up (in which case, it will helplessly keep trying to float up until several seconds have passed, the obstacle is removed, or Jigglypuff is smacked out of it).
Players who use Rosalina & Luma are still able to control Luma's attacks even if Rosalina is stunned from a shield break.
Options from the shield
When holding their shield, characters do not have all the same options as they do while standing, but they are still able to use many moves. A character can roll to reposition themselves while retaining intangibility. From Melee onward, if a player predicts that the enemy will grab to penetrate their shield, they can quickly sidestep to avoid the grab.
Characters can also grab and jump out of their shield. Grabbing after blocking an attack is a prevalent technique known as shield grabbing - it allows one to quickly retaliate against an enemy attacker. Jumping from the shield allows characters to immediately SHFFL, wavedash or jump-cancel into their up smash or up special move. All these offensive and defensive options make shielding the centerpiece to a player's defensive game. Characters can also simply drop their shield and use any attack afterwards, though this comes with the disadvantage of having to wait 7 frames, or a longer period of 15 frames in Melee, while all other listed actions can be done instantly out of the shield.
Similar to the dash-cancel, characters can activate their shield while dashing, resulting in a short slide from the momentum. A character can also dash toward an opponent, feigning a rush, and then shield; the opponent may fall for the feint and try to retaliate, leaving him or her open to the rusher's real attack. In Smash 64 and Brawl, a technique known as dashing shield allows characters to conserve more forward momentum when shielding.
Character-specific
Yoshi's shield
Yoshi has a different shield from that of other characters'. Instead of using a bubble, he uses an egg for protection. This egg does not shrink, preventing any attempts at shield stabbing. Instead, as it weakens, the egg darkens from white to dark red (similar to the color of the percentage meters), or, in SSB4, gradually gets darker (due to eggs coming in multiple colors, including red). The egg prevents Yoshi from jumping out of his shield in Melee and Brawl and glide tossing in Brawl, but when lightshielding, Yoshi will slide a huge distance when attacked (possibly across the entire stage). Also, Yoshi has been known to randomly perfect shield (not completely understood, but may have something to do with the egg remaining full size), and is also invincible during his shielding animation. Given the fact that Yoshi cannot jump out of his shield in Melee and Brawl, in addition to his shieldgrab being slow, his out of shield game is much more limited than the rest of the cast, resulting in much more difficulty dealing with inclose pressure.
Jigglypuff's shield
While having a very large shield compared to its size, Jigglypuff's shield can cause devastating effects for the user if broken. Its leap - the force it is sent upwards with if its shield breaks - is equivalent to taking 300 units of knockback, which is more than enough to OHKO. If nothing stops it, Jigglypuff will self-destruct. This phenomenon is known as the Shield Jump and it can be helpful in some areas such as the Brinstar Escape Shaft in Melee's Adventure Mode and The Glacial Peak in the Subspace Emissary.
Origin
The concept of blocking attacks is a standard amongst the fighting game genre. In traditional fighting games, blocking involves characters bracing against attacks (such as by holding up their arms), which typically prevents the character from flinching or being affected by any of the attack's effects or gimmicks. Blocked attacks still deal minimal damage, and blocking too many attacks can break the character's guard and leave them vulnerable. Many fighting games require players to choose between blocking high or low attacks and does not allow players to block grabs or attacks from behind.
In Kirby Super Star, Kirby is capable of blocking attacks in effectively the exact same way as traditional fighting games - protecting him from flinching or losing his ability while still dealing minor damage if the attack is strong enough - though he automatically guards from all directions. In addition, if Kirby has the Mirror ability, guarding produces a multi-coloured bubble around his body that blocks all non-grab attacks without chip damage and is even capable of reflecting certain projectiles. It is this bubble that appears to be the inspiration for the shield bubble in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Yoshi's shield design, on the other hand, is possibly based on an occurrence in Yoshi's Island. When Baby Mario grabs a Super Star and starts running around, Yoshi follows by hiding in an egg and becoming part of his egg trail. The duo is invincible during this time. The shield may also be based on Yoshi becoming invincible once swallowing a Turbo Tulip in Yoshi's Story, although that is generally attributed to the Egg Roll instead. It is unknown why Yoshi is the only character to have a unique shield.
Gallery
A CPU Kirby shielding in Smash 64.
Captain Falcon angling his shield upwards in Smash 64
Yoshi's shield in SSB64.
Mario's shielding animation in Melee.
Mario's shield breaking in Melee.
Mario's stunned animation in Melee.
Mario shielding in Melee.
Zero Suit Samus shields to defend herself against Snake's attack.
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