Wizard's Foot
| Wizard's Foot | |
|---|---|
 Ganondorf attacks Robin and Marth with Wizard's Foot. | |
| User | Ganondorf |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
| “ | A flying kick. Will dash diagonally down when airborne. | ” |
| —Super Smash Bros. for Wii U's Quick Guide | ||
Wizard's Foot (烈鬼脚, Violent Demon Leg) (commonly called the Wizkick, Warlock Kick, Ganon Kick, or similar variations) is Ganondorf's down special move. Ganondorf rushes forward or downward with his leg extended, dealing damage and relatively high knockback. It is functionally similar to Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick, but using darkness instead of flame.
Overview
Super Smash Bros. Melee
When on the ground, Ganondorf will do a horizontal kick engulfed in dark energy across a large area with decent start-up and powerful horizontal knockback, but slows down when it collides into something, making it not very useful for approaching. In the air, he will do a slanted vertical kick that spikes during all hitboxes, giving it edge-guarding potential. When the aerial version collides with the ground, a small shockwave is formed which slightly knocks up nearby opponents, but is also very laggy and can be punished. The aerial version, like Falcon Kick, restores Ganondorf's midair jump, aiding in his recovery.
Interestingly, the hitbox of aerial Wizard's Foot only covers up to Ganondorf's thigh, leaving his leg and foot completely exposed.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The move was greatly weakened in Brawl. The grounded version received a huge loss in knockback, going from a powerful horizontal killer that could KO reliably under 125% to an attack that is completely unable to KO under 150% unless near the edge with the opponent missing their DI. The move also deals less damage, and had received late, weaker hitboxes. Small characters like Kirby or Pikachu can now also crouch under it, as its hitbox is surprisingly tiny. Its ending animation can however be canceled if spaced properly so it ends just very slightly offstage, allowing to get to an edge-guard position fairly quickly.
The airborne version was also weakened, no longer restoring midair jumps, and its spiking ability was changed to a meteor smash as it is now meteor cancelable, now only limited to the initial hitbox. The loss midair jump restoration makes it much riskier to use for edge-guarding, as unless Ganondorf uses the Wizard's Foot when edge-guarding with perfect timing, he will fail to recover. The fact that it is now a meteor smash also reduces its practicality as an edge-guard, especially when Ganondorf has his down aerial to meteor smash with, which is much stronger than - and not nearly as risky as - the Wizard's Foot. Though with two meteors he can use his down aerial repeatedly until the opponent is at KO percent and meteor smashing them with the fresh Wizard's Foot. The meteor smash hitbox still produces a diagonal trajectory as it did in Melee, which allows it to meteor smash opponents that are above the stage provided they are close enough to the edge.
On the other hand, Wizard's Foot facilitates the use of the new Flight of Ganon technique, but it is not a necessary step, and performing it this way requires that Ganondorf be at the edge of a platform before he does the Wizard's Foot, due to the different ending animation on any other part of the platform. The airborne version was also made more powerful on its later hitboxes that has powerful vertical knockback, increasing its effectiveness against grounded opponents and can easily KO opponents high up in the air from as low as 70% and also serves as a great anti-juggle tool.
Super Smash Bros. 4
While the grounded version remained completely unchanged, the aerial version received several noticeable buffs. It deals much higher shield damage; hitting with both the initial and late hitboxes deals roughly more than half of full shield health. It also interrupts much sooner, giving Ganondorf greater leniency to recover when used off-stage for edge-guarding or mix-up recovery, and allows it to be used over ground from not as high up without going into its laggy landing animation. The removal of meteor cancelling additionally makes the meteor smashing initial hitbox a psuedo-spike like in Melee, giving it better edge-guarding potential. However, it still remains inferior to his down aerial for edgeguarding, as using it without an on-stage full hop is invariable suicide even with the earlier interruptiblity.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the known variations:
| 1. Wizard's Foot | 2. Wizard's Dropkick | 3. Wizard's Assault |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "A magic kick that flies straight when on the ground and diagonally when airborne." | "Jump low into the air before doing the flying kick." | "A faster flying kick that goes straight through foes. In the air, the kick goes straight down." |
- Wizard's Foot: Default.
- Wizard's Dropkick: The kick moves at a 45 degree angle downward, and Ganondorf jumps to use it in the air when used on the ground; despite this it does not have the aerial version's shockwave and ending lag. This move significantly remedies Ganondorf's flaws towards projectiles and recovery, as it vaults over projectiles and the aerial version travels faster and further than Flame Choke while also not causing helplessness. Deals less damage and cannot meteor smash, and has slightly more start-up and slightly more ending lag in the air, but less ending lag on the ground. The kick's darkness is a dark blue color.
- Wizard's Assault: A faster and further kick that travels through foes, but with more start-up and ending lag, slightly less damage, and sends opponents behind Ganondorf which makes it difficult to KO with. In the air the kick goes straight down, but the distance traveled makes it invariable suicide when used off-stage, even with a full hop and double jump. The kick's darkness is a magenta color. This custom is considered inferior to Wizard's Foot/Dropkick due to its flaws providing increased predictability and lack of KO power, less useful for off-stage and edgeguarding, and its advantages being considerably less effective than the latter's.
Origin
This attack appears to be unique to Smash Bros., similar to how Ganondorf is a clone of Captain Falcon and Falcon Kick is unique to Smash Bros. as well.
Trivia
- In Brawl, when he hits a wall with Wizard's Foot he flies backwards, as opposed to Captain Falcon who backflips.
- If used on the ground, it can send Ganondorf right over certain items, such as Diddy Kong's Bananas, without activating them.
- Ganondorf will move a little towards the direction of the move before the hitbox shows.
- If Ganondorf uses Wizard's Foot just as he hits a spring in a custom stage, he will launch more than twice as high. This can cause a self-destruct in the Subspace Emissary if he uses Wizard's Foot at specific springs in stages such as The Forest.
- The animation used when Ganondorf bounces off a wall by using this move is the same as the animation used when releasing an opponent from the Dark Dive.
Gallery
Aerial Wizard's Foot in Melee.
Aerial Wizard's Foot in Brawl.
Ganondorf using an aerial Wizard's Foot on another him.
Ganondorf's Wizard's Foot in Brawl.
Attacks Link in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Wizard's Foot used in the air in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
