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Down throw

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Zelda performs her down throw on R.O.B. in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

A down throw (下投げ, Down/lower/under throw; commonly abbreviated as d-throw or Dthrow, and referred to as ThrowLw internally), commonly abbreviated as d-throw, is a throw performed by tilting the control stick down after having grabbed the opponent. They were introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee; in the original Super Smash Bros., there were only forward throws and back throws. In the transition to Melee, Captain Falcon's previous forward throw became his down throw, and he instead received a new forward throw.

Down throws typically depict the user slamming the victim onto the ground, bouncing them off at diverse vertical angles, and possess low knockback to the point of not KOing even in Sudden Death, as well as low ending lag. Because of this, they are excellent combo starters for several characters throughout all games, acting as the go-to throw when the opponent is at low to medium percentages, or even high percentages depending on the specific down throw's combo potential. In Melee and Brawl, many down throws can also be used for chain grabs, most notably Sheik's in Melee and King Dedede's in Brawl, even leading to zero-to-death combos against some characters. However, despite their vertical launch angle and low knockback, some down throws possess too much ending lag to allow for any true combos, such as Toon Link's, Zero Suit Samus's in Ultimate, and Duck Hunt's, while still failing to KO at realistic percentages; such throws are generally considered useless, and ignored in favor of the characters' other throws.

List of down throws

Down throws with hitboxes consist of two or more hits on the grabbed opponent (the hitbox, then the throw), and can affect other opponents near the thrower.

Character Description Hitbox
Banjo & Kazooie Banjo slams the opponent into the ground, burying them. No
Bayonetta Stomps the opponent with one heel. Yes
Bowser Performs a belly flop. Yes
Bowser Jr. Deploys a drill from below the Koopa Clown Car and rotates it onto the opponent on the ground, hitting multiple times. Yes
Captain Falcon Lifts the opponent overhead and slams them onto the ground with one arm. No
Charizard Breathes fire at the opponent on the ground (akin to Flamethrower), hitting them multiple times. Yes
Chrom Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Cloud Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Corrin Turns into dragon form and stomps the opponent with his front legs. Yes
Daisy Toad jumps and headbutts the opponent onto the ground. Yes
Dark Pit Puts the opponent on the ground and stabs them with the Silver Bow. Yes
Dark Samus Lifts the opponent overhead with the Grapple Beam extended, then slams them onto the ground. No
Diddy Kong Throws the opponent onto the ground with a leapfrog-like maneuver. No
Donkey Kong Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Dr. Mario Slams the opponent onto the ground with both arms. No
Duck Hunt The dog slams the opponent onto the ground with his mouth. No
Falco Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl Slams the opponent onto the ground with both arms and fires four rapid shots at them from his Blaster, releasing them afterward.
Super Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Puts the opponent on the ground and fires one shot at them from his Blaster, releasing them afterward.
Yes
Fox Slams the opponent onto the ground with both arms and fires four rapid shots at them from his Blaster, releasing them afterward. Yes
Ganondorf Lifts the opponent overhead and slams them onto the ground with one arm. No
Greninja Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Hero Performs a horizontal somersault and slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Ice Climbers Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl Lifts the opponent overhead and slams them onto the ground with one arm.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Faces the screen and lifts the opponent overhead with both arms, them slams them onto the ground.
No
Ike Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm, then performs a knee drop. Yes
Incineroar Performs a chokeslam. No
Inkling Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Isabelle Slams the opponent onto the ground with her net. No
Ivysaur Slams the opponent onto the ground with its vines. No
Jigglypuff Puts the opponent on the ground and rolls on them. Yes
Joker Slams the opponent on the ground with a flourish of his arm. No
Ken Puts the opponent on the ground and punches them down. Yes
King Dedede Super Smash Bros. Brawl Sits on the opponent.
Super Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Jumps and slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Yes
Super Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate No
King K. Rool Performs a piledriver. No
Kirby Puts the opponent on the ground and repeatedly kicks them at an extremely fast rate. Yes
Link Puts the opponent on the ground and performs an elbow drop. Yes
Little Mac Performs a double axe handle swing against the ground. Yes
Lucario Lifts the opponent overhead and slams them onto the ground with both arms. No
Lucas Super Smash Bros. Brawl Piledrives the opponent onto the ground using PSI.
Super Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Piledrives the opponent onto the ground using PSI, aesthetically burying them before they are released.
No
Lucina Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Luigi Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl Slams the opponent onto the ground with both arms.
Super Smash Bros. 4Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Performs a Ground Pound.
Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 No
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Yes
Mario Slams the opponent onto the ground with both arms. No
Marth Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Mega Man Slams the opponent onto the ground with the Super Arm. No
Meta Knight Puts the opponent on the ground and repeatedly kicks them at a fast rate. Yes
Mewtwo Slams its tail down on the opponent from a somersault. Yes
Mii Brawler Puts the opponent on the ground and performs a karate chop. Yes
Mii Gunner Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Mii Swordfighter Super Smash Bros. 4 Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm, then performs a knee drop.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm.
Yes
Mr. Game & Watch Juggles the opponent as a ball from front to back, then slams them onto the ground. No
Ness Puts the opponent on the ground and unleashes fire on them from his index fingers (akin to PK Fire), hitting them multiple times. Yes
Olimar Super Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 The Pikmin grabbing the opponent slams onto them.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate The Pikmin grabbing the opponent leap a short distance upward with them, then fall back down and slam them onto the ground.
Yes
Pac-Man Puts the opponent on the ground and bites them three times in his Classic Form. Yes
Palutena Telekinetically slams the opponent onto the ground. No
Peach Super Smash Bros. MeleeSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. 4 Slams her rear down on the opponent.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Toad jumps and headbutts the opponent onto the ground.
Yes
Pichu Slams its tail down on the opponent from a somersault. Yes
Pikachu Slams its tail down on the opponent from a somersault. Yes
Piranha Plant Puts the opponent on the ground and bites them twice. Yes
Pit Puts the opponent on the ground and stabs them with the Palutena Bow. Yes
R.O.B. Turns the opponent upside down and drills them onto the ground. No
Richter Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Ridley Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Robin Slams the opponent onto the ground using magic. No
Rosalina & Luma Telekinetically slams the opponent onto the ground. No
Roy Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Ryu Puts the opponent on the ground and punches them down. Yes
Samus Lifts the opponent overhead with the Grapple Beam extended, then slams them onto the ground. No
Sheik Puts the opponent on the ground and performs an axe kick from a somersault. Yes
Shulk Puts the opponent on the ground and stabs them with the Monado. Yes
Simon Slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm. No
Snake Slowly puts the opponent on the ground, leaving them knocked down. No
Sonic Rolls onto the opponent on the ground, hitting them multiple times. Yes
Squirtle Sits on the opponent. Yes
Terry Unknown
Toon Link Puts the opponent on the ground and performs an elbow drop. Yes
Villager Slams the opponent onto the ground with his net. No
Wario Sits on the opponent. Yes
Wii Fit Trainer Slams the opponent onto the ground between both legs. No
Wolf Super Smash Bros. Brawl Puts the opponent on the ground, then somersaults backward and slashes them forward with one hand.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Jumps and slams the opponent onto the ground with one arm.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Yes
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate No
Yoshi Spits the opponent against the ground. No
Young Link Puts the opponent on the ground and performs an elbow drop. Yes
Zelda Puts the opponent on the ground and kicks out magic energy at them, hitting multiple times. Yes
Zero Suit Samus Puts the opponent on the ground and performs an axe kick. Yes

Notable down throws

  • Fox and Falco's down throws are the only ones to release projectiles, in the form of lasers that can be reflected and absorbed. Unlike their back throws and up throws, the lasers are fired at point blank and before the opponent is released (rather than after), making their down throws behave more normally, although this still means a thrown opponent wearing a Franklin Badge (or Hero with Bounce activated) will cause the lasers to hit Fox/Falco instead of the opponent, and interrupt the throw in Falco's case.
    • In Melee, both characters' throws also meteor smash opponents onto the ground with extremely high base knockback, making them useful for tech-chasing, and allowing them to KO opponents off the edge if they fail to meteor cancel. In Brawl, they instead launch at a horizontal angle, and the meteor smash property is possessed by Mr. Game & Watch's down throw, which is an even more effective tech-chasing option. From Smash 4 onward, no regular characters' down throws can meteor smash.
  • Snake's down throw uses a unique "down" effect, laying the opponent down on the ground immediately after the throw with no knockback. It also has very low ending lag, and thus functions as an extremely potent tech-chasing option, most notably in Brawl where Snake can regrab the opponent and repeatedly use the throw. In Ultimate, how long the opponent lays down on the ground before they can get up is proportional to their percentage, giving it guaranteed KO setups at very high percents.
  • Ryu and Ken's down throws have 50 extra shield damage on their hitboxes, which causes them to instantly break shields of nearby opponents. Along with Marth and Lucina's fully charged Shield Breaker, as well as the tipper of Ganondorf's Warlock Blade, they are the only moves that deal 50 extra shield damage.
  • King K. Rool's down throw, as well as R.O.B.'s in Ultimate and Banjo & Kazooie's, are the only throws in the series that bury opponents. This gives them a different followup dynamic from other down throws, which largely depends on how fast the victim mashes to escape. Lucas' down throw in Smash 4 and Ultimate also buries opponents, but only during its animation; they are launched normally afterwards.
  • Sheik's down throw in the NTSC version of Melee is notable for its chain grabbing ability, which works on most characters in the game up to high percentages, and can even lead to a zero-to-death against fast fallers, although it requires proper tech-chasing and following the opponent's DI. In the PAL version of the game, it launches at a more horizontal angle, severely hindering its chain grabs.
  • Falco, King Dedede, and Wolf's down throws in Brawl are all notable for their chain grabbing potential. Falco and Wolf's can chain grab the entire cast from low to mid percents (moreso the former), while King Dedede's possesses set knockback, allowing it to chain grab a large part of the cast at any percentage and even possessing wall infinites.
  • Lucas and Squirtle's down throws in Brawl are some of the strongest in the series, and among the few down throws that can KO reliably, doing so under 170% even with proper DI. In later games, they deal drastically less knockback that removes their KO potential, but the changes to hitstun canceling enable them to start combos at various percents.
    • Shulk's down throw in Smash 4 is the strongest in the series with the Smash Monado Art activated, KOing at around 110% at the edge and 180% from center stage. In Ultimate, however, it has been greatly nerfed, no longer KOing at the edge until around 170% even with the Smash Art's increased knockback multiplier.
  • Diddy Kong's down throw in Smash 4 is notable for easily comboing into aerial attacks against nearly any character, even at high percents, which originally allowed for a guaranteed KO setup into an up aerial. This ability to easily both combo and KO opponents initially created controversy over the character in competitive play, and the KO setup was infamously known as the "Hoo-Hah", due to StaticManny shouting the phrase whenever it happened to Hungrybox in a set vs. Player-1 at Paragon Orlando 2015. However, updates 1.0.6 and 1.0.8 severely nerfed Diddy Kong, decreasing his down throw's combo potential and his up aerial's KO potential, effectively removing the setup.
  • Luigi and Mr. Game & Watch in Smash 4 have the down throws with the best combo potential, giving them a large amount of combos in comparison to most other characters: Luigi's down throw can combo into up smash, any of his aerials, Luigi Cyclone and even Super Jump Punch to KO, while Mr. Game & Watch's can combo into jab, up tilt or up smash at low percents, then into any aerial, Fire, Oil Panic, or Judge - the last of which can lead to a one-hit KO if it rolls a #9.

Trivia

Exploiting a CPU with Snake's down throw
  • In the NTSC version of Melee, Bowser's down throw does no damage to Jigglypuff and Mr. Game & Watch. This is due to the throw's hitbox not having its timing properly adjusted for weight-dependent speed, causing it to be completely skipped against characters with a weight value of 60. This was corrected in the PAL version of the game.
    • Likewise, when Ness uses his down throw against Mr. Game & Watch in Melee, only the last hit affects him, so he only receives 4% damage. Additionally, in Brawl, Jigglypuff is unaffected by the first hit of Link's down throw.
  • In Brawl, regardless of level, a CPU attacked by Snake's down throw will always roll to the nearest ledge, never choosing another option. This makes it possible to infinitely use the move on them and set up an easy KO afterwards.
  • In Melee, as the first nine hits of Kirby's down throw are meteor smashes, KOing with it awards the Meteor Smash bonus, as well as other related, even though neither the final hit nor the throw itself are meteor smashes.
    • In spite of this, the first hit of Peach's down throw is a meteor smash, but KOing a nearby character with it doesn't award the bonus.