An unblockable attack is an attack that cannot be defended against with a shield or a counterattack (although some can be perfect shielded). Unblockable attacks tend to be exceptionally powerful and are often Final Smashes, wielded by bosses, or attacks from rare Pokémon and Assist Trophies. Most characters have at least one unblockable attack, but very few have one that is not a grab or Final Smash.
Unblockable attacks can be avoided by intangibility, such as spotdodges and air dodging.
All grabs are unblockable and so will not be included in the following list.
List of unblockable attacks by characters
Move | User | Portion of move |
---|---|---|
Aether | Ike (Brawl only) | Sword while loose |
Aura Storm | Lucario | Entire move |
Beast Ganon | Ganondorf | Entire move |
Blue Falcon | Captain Falcon | Trapping hit |
Critical Hit | Marth and Lucina | Entire move |
Diffusion Beam | R.O.B. | Entire move |
End of Day | Olimar | Entire move |
Focus Attack | Ryu | Half or fully charged |
Galaxia Darkness | Meta Knight | Initiation |
Great Aether | Ike | Sword while loose |
Grenade Launcher | Snake | Entire move |
Guard Breaker | Little Mac | Entire move |
KO Uppercut | Little Mac | Entire move |
Konga Beat | Donkey Kong | Wind |
Landmaster | Fox, Falco, and Wolf | Entire move |
Light Arrow | Zelda and Sheik | First hit |
Mario Finale | Mario | Entire move |
Nayru's Love | Kirby (Brawl only) | Entire move, normal move by Zelda not unblockable |
Negative Zone | Luigi | Entire move |
Octopus | Mr. Game & Watch | Entire move |
Peach Blossom | Peach | Entire move |
PK Starstorm | Ness and Lucas | Entire move |
Power Suit Samus | Zero Suit Samus | Last hit pre-transformation |
Psystrike | Mewtwo | Entire move |
Puff Up | Jigglypuff | Entire move |
Pummel | Toon Link | Entire move |
Reflect Barrier | Palutena | The shield's hitbox |
Rocketbarrel Boost | Diddy Kong | Loose barrels |
Shield Piercer | Meta Knight | Entire move |
Super Dragon | Yoshi | Fireballs |
Super Sonic | Sonic | Entire move |
Throws | Toon Link | First hit Forward Throw, Back Throw, Up throw |
Triforce Slash | Link and Toon Link | Swipes |
Triple Finish | Pokémon Trainer | Entire move |
Up aerial | Mr. Game & Watch | Wind |
Vision | Shulk | If countered |
Waddle Dee Toss | King Dedede | Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos in certain situations |
Zero Laser | Samus | Last hit |
List of unblockable attacks by items
Item | Situation |
---|---|
Banana | Stationary |
Bumper | When active |
Daybreak | Any situation |
Deku Nut | Any situation |
Dragoon | Any situation |
Freezie | When it "bursts" (Brawl Only) |
Gooey Bomb | Any situation |
Hothead | spark |
Motion-Sensor Bomb | explosion (Blockable in SSB) |
Pitfall | Any situation |
Smart Bomb | Any situation |
Spring | Any situation |
Warp Star | Any situation |
Unblockable Poké Ball Attacks
Pokémon | Situation |
---|---|
Articuno | Any situation |
Bellossom | Any situation |
Clefairy | All attacks |
Electrode | Any situation |
Entei | Any situation |
Ho-Oh | Any situation |
Lugia | Any situation |
Moltres | Any situation |
Scizor | Any situation |
Snorlax | descent |
Suicune | Any situation |
Togepi | All attacks |
Unown | First attack |
Weezing | Any situation |
Wobbuffet | Any situation |
Zapdos | Any situation |
List of unblockable attacks by enemies and bosses
- The careening state of defeated Subspace Army goons
- Bucculus
- Crazy Hand - falling bombs (the explosion is blockable, Melee only)
- Duon - wind produced by spin attack
- Galleom - wind produced by various attacks such as dual smash, single stomp, and spin attack
- Master Core - waves released 45 seconds after transforming into its final form.
- Master Giant - slash made after a split second of the arm swinging across the stage
- Meta Ridley - Megafireball, attack where it smacks the Falcon Flyer (?)
- Polar Bear - Earthquakes caused by his stomping in Smash Run
- Rayquaza - wind produced by Thunder, spiral dive
- Tabuu - Off Waves, electric shield