Launch resistance



Launch resistance, also called knockback resistance or super armor, is a phenomenon that manifests itself during certain moves in all three Super Smash Bros. games. It is defined as a character not flying when hit during a certain time, or in some cases not flinching as far. Note that knockback resistance, as the name implies, only affects knockback. The attack's full damage will still be taken. Yoshi's Double jump, Snake's Cypher, Diddy Kong's Rocketbarrel Boost (On the ground) and Kirby's Stone are the only common moves with finite amounts of knockback resistance, while all other knockback resistance moves have infinite knockback resistance (extremely strong attack on Kirby's stone makes full knockback but no damage).

In Super Smash Bros.
Knockback resistance was limited to Yoshi's double jump cancel counter, Most characters while throwing, Giant DK at low percentages, and Metal Mario. Master Hand basically has infinite knockback resistance.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Yoshi retained his resistance, while Metal and Giant characters had their resistance decreased a whole lot. Giga Bowser also has some amount of knockback resistance when fought in Adventure Mode. Master Hand and Crazy Hand both have infinite knockback resistance. Captain Falcon also has very few frames of Launch resistance while using a Falcon Punch

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Many characters have knockback resistance, usually in the form of moves that give a temporarily infinite amount (a.k.a. super armor.) All of the moves are "super armor" unless otherwise stated.

External references
A better 'Super Armor List' Thread: lists characters and their moves that have Super Armor, along with some frame data.

The Armor Project: explains how knockback-resisting moves that are not super armor work, including Snake's Cypher and Yoshi's double jump.