Missile
| Missile | |
|---|---|
{{{content1}}}
{{{content2}}} Samus and Dark Samus firing Missiles in Ultimate. | |
| Users | Samus Dark Samus |
| Universe | Metroid |
| Article on Metroid Wiki | Missile |
Missile (ミサイル, Missile) is Samus and Dark Samus's side special move.
Overview
The user makes a brief animation of pointing their arm cannon in front of them, then firing a missile. There are two types of missiles:
- Regular Missiles (often called Homing Missiles) are fired by tilting (as opposed to tapping). They home on opponents to a degree (they do not move vertically very well), move slowly, and deal 5% damage. Homing Missiles appear rocket-shaped with a purple nose and yellow trail, as standard missiles appear in the 2D Metroid games.
- Super Missiles are fired by tapping. They move in a fast, straight line, as opposed to Homing Missiles, and deal 10% damage with decent knockback. In Melee, Super Missiles look the same as Homing Missiles except with a blue trail. From Brawl onwards, Super Missiles are distinguished with a fatter body and a green nose, as seen in Super Metroid and Metroid: Zero Mission.
In Melee, missiles are quite powerful, to the point where Super Missiles can KO at higher damage percentages due to average knockback. Samus can even create a form of obstacle course with missiles if she fires Super Missiles in the air if she falls to the ground and then back in the air by way of missile cancelling.
However, in Brawl, the Missiles have been severely nerfed in knockback and speed, and are best for comboing or spacing. CPUs still use this attack very prominently.
In Ultimate, Dark Samus, being an Echo Fighter of Samus, retains this move. Compared to Samus, Dark Samus fires her missiles at a slightly lower height, allowing her to hit certain smaller targets that Samus cannot (e.g. a crouching Pichu).
Instructional quotes
 instruction booklet |
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Release guided missiles or tap  to launch powerful direct shots.
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 instruction booklet |
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Launch a guided missile. Tilt the Control Stick to the left to launch a stronger missile. |
 Move List |
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Launches a homing missile. Flicking rather than tilting the control stick launches a Super Missile. |
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Launches a homing missile. Flicking rather than tilting the control stick launches a Super Missile. |
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
| 1. Missile | 2. Relentless Missile | 3. Turbo Missile |
|---|---|---|
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| "Launch a homing missile. Perform like a smash attack to launch a Super Missile." | "Launch a slower, more persistent missile. Also, the Super Missiles decelerate after a bit." | "Launch a missile that takes a second to get going. Its direction can be adjusted." |
- Missile: Default.
- Relentless Missile: Missiles move much slower, granting the Homing Missiles more control and slowing the Super Missiles to a crawl after a while. They deal less damage.
- Turbo Missile: Missiles move faster, but briefly stop to lock on to an opponent before flying forward. They also deal less damage.
Origin
Missiles are explosive projectiles that are staples in the Metroid games. Once Samus finds a Missile Launcher, she can fire Missiles at any time as long as she has ammo remaining. Since Missiles do more damage than most Beam weapons and are the only way to access certain areas and damage some enemies, collecting Missile Expansions to increase ammo space is critical. In later games, different kinds of missiles are introduced, such as Ice Missiles.
Super Missiles were introduced in Super Metroid as rarer, more powerful Missiles. In Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid: Other M, Super Missiles are fired by combining a Charge Shot and five Missiles.
Homing Missiles appeared in Metroid Prime as the standard for most missile types, but Super Smash Bros. Melee was released before Metroid Prime, meaning that the idea of homing missiles first appeared in Melee. From Metroid Prime 2: Echoes onwards, Samus could collect an upgrade called the Seeker Missile, which allowed her to fire up to five simultaneous missiles at five targets.
In Metroid Prime 2, Dark Samus is able to fire both Missiles and Super Missiles during her fight.
Gallery
A Super Missile in Melee.
The Homing Missile, which can be used when applying only slight pressure to the control stick.
The Homing Missile in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
The Super Missile in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Samus using Missile as shown in the Move List in Ultimate.
Dark Samus using Missile as shown in the Move List in Ultimate.
