Donkey Kong (SSBM)/Down special

Hitbox visualization showing Donkey Kong's Hand Slap.

Overview

DK, as the name implies, slaps his hands on the ground, shaking the screen and launching any opponent who's within range into the air.

Among DK's plethora of strong neutral tools and powerful kill moves, the Hand Slap sees minimal use in competitive play. The primary reason for this lack of use is the move's laggy start-up and recovery. The first hit doesn't come out until 1/3 of a second after the move is input (which is within humans' reaction time), and the entire move (assuming the loop isn't restarted) takes an entire second before DK can input any other move. This leaves DK open to a punish. In addition, the move is completely worthless against opponents aerialing into DK, since it can only hit grounded opponents.

Despite this, the move does see niche use. The move deals bonus damage to shields and lots of shield stun and pushback, potentially leading to a shield break. In addition, the move's high fixed knockback beats crouch cancelling, since it causes even crouching opponents (Peach or lighter) to tumble. When tech-chasing, DK can use this move instead of attempting to guess where the opponent will go, since the move's range is so large it'll cover nearly all their tech options. If it hits, it can potentially combo into grab, which can kickstart DK's massive combo game.

Two particular matchups where Hand Slap sees much more use are against Ice Climbers and Luigi, both of whom have absolutely horrid air speed and bad air acceleration, crippling their aerial approaches. These characters prefer to approach using their wavedashes, which this move is incredibly effective against, assuming the DK isn't too close so as to be punished during start-up. Against the Ice Climbers specifically, there's a decent chance it'll separate Nana from Popo.

Hitboxes

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Hit 1
0	0	11%	1		20	100	110	8.999424	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
1	0	11%	1		20	100	110	8.999424	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
2	0	11%	1		20	100	110	8.999424	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
3	0	11%	1		20	100	110	8.999424	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
Hit 2
0	0	11%	1		30	100	110	9.99936	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
1	0	11%	1		30	100	110	9.99936	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
2	0	11%	1		30	100	110	9.99936	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick
3	0	11%	1		30	100	110	9.99936	0	0.0	0.0	0.0						Kick

Timing

Input loop	14-40
Hit 1	19-20
Hit 2	30-31
Animation length	60

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Loop point

Donkey Kong's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special