Tabuu

Tabuu (タブー, Tabuu) is the leader of the Subspace Army, the main antagonist and final boss of Subspace Emissary. He is a powerful, supernatural entity who resides in Subspace. He uses the Subspace Bombs to send entire locations to his dimension, where he absorbs their power to increase his own. His name is likely a pun on the English word "taboo", which refers to something unacceptable or improper by society's terms.

Role in the Subspace Emissary
Tabuu is actually the embodiment of Subspace. His plan was to cut World of Trophies into pieces and take them to Subspace for his world. However, he himself can not leave Subspace, which is why he created the Subspace Army to act in his stead. According to the Ancient Minister trophy, Tabuu took over the Isle of the Ancients, the home of the R.O.B.s and forced them to serve him under the threat of annihilation. Tabuu first discovered that Mr. Game & Watch had Shadow Bugs in him and captured him to harness the power, and thus the Subspace Army was born. Tabuu studied and took control of the master of the Smash Bros. world, Master Hand, who enlisted the help of Ganondorf, Bowser and Wario. These three would hunt down any fighters that would stand in the way of Tabuu's plans.

Later in the story, after the heroes destroy the Subspace Gunship and enter Subspace, Ganondorf betrays Bowser by using a Dark Cannon. Ganondorf then goes to greet Master Hand. Ganondorf realizes that Tabuu was actually controlling Master Hand and that he was not actually following Master Hand's orders but was being tricked by Tabuu. Enraged, he charges a futile attack at Tabuu who effortlessly knocks him back. Ganondorf's body hits the puppeteered Master Hand, thus breaking him free of his Chains of Light (and turning Ganondorf into a trophy in the process). Master Hand also charges at Tabuu, but to no avail. Tabuu uses his Off Waves to turn everyone into a trophy as soon as they approach. However, thanks to the Dedede Brooch, Luigi, Kirby, and Ness are later revived, and they then revive King Dedede himself after Ness realises that it was thanks to him that they were revived. King Dedede joins the team of Luigi and Ness, and they rescue everyone else by collecting their trophies in Subspace Part I and Subspace Part II. Tabuu then creates a maze out of the worlds that have been consumed by Subspace and brings back the old enemies. He also creates dark clones of all the heroes to slow them down. Once the player has reached Tabuu, he will attempt to turn everyone back into trophies again. Before Tabuu can unleash his attack however, he is ambushed by a Spin Dash, courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog. This ambush by Sonic crippled Tabuu's off waves so that rather than immediately turning fighters into trophies it would be more a regular attack as seen in the final battle. Anyone can fight Tabuu, however the player must first pick up the trophies of the fallen comrades in order to do so. In the end, Tabuu is defeated. After his defeat, the Subspace Army is gone, lands are restored, and the Isle of the Ancients disappears afterward because of the effect of so many Subspace Bombs going off at once (commanded by Ganondorf so Tabuu could get a Subspace Gunship into the World) making it impossible for the Isle to escape Subspace.

Tabuu's true fate is unknown as all that is seen is him contorting in pain and then the Great Maze restoring to its original places, though it is likely he was destroyed.

Tabuu
''The ruler of Subspace and master of operations. Tabuu controls Master Hand with chains of light to excise this world and build up his great maze. He used Shadow Bugs to form Subspace and manipulates the servants of Master Hand to his heart's content. Born in a vastly foreign realm, he also possesses great leadership powers. Tabuu...No name is more suitable.''
 * Throw a trophy stand at Tabuu. Try dodging Tabuu's attacks and wait until he teleports and throw the stand. You can also throw it when he is doing Hand Slap or Bullet Rain.

Tabuu (Wings)
''Tabuu with wings extended. The dreadful energy surges cast from these wings instantly turn all fighters back into trophies. Knowing this, King Dedede assembles all able-bodied troops and sets a timed device on each of them. This device is a brooch that, after the designated time runs out, revives all fighters wiped out by Tabuu.''
 * Trophy obtained by beating Boss Battles mode with all characters.

See also: List of SSBB trophies (The Subspace Emissary)

Winged Tabuu
Tabuu reveals his wings (resembling a butterfly's in shape, but made of intricate curving symbols) only when he is about to unleash his strongest attack: the Off Waves. With wings extended, he charges energy, then releases a powerful explosion of crimson shock waves that annihilate all in their path. This attack, as shown in a cut scene, is an instant KO and is presumably unavoidable until, right before the final battle, Sonic appears and shatters Tabuu's wings, severely weakening their power.

Moveset
Tabuu is playable by hacking the game in Boss Battles mode and in other modes where Tabuu is fought. They first must hack, and must be Player 3 and using a Gamecube Controller.

Attacks
As the last boss of Subspace Emissary, Tabuu possesses a wide variety of dangerous attacks, which increase in power and speed at higher difficulties. Additionally, Tabuu's attacks are faster and stronger in The Subspace Emissary than in Boss Battles at comparable difficulty ratings.

Note that the names are not official, except Off Waves which was announced on the Dojo.

First Set of Moves

 * Shark Blade - Tabuu transforms into a wide, vaguely shark-shaped blade, which flies horizontally across the stage. It is dodgeable by air-dodging or, if at ground-level, ducking (unless playing as Meta Knight). A perfectly timed sidestep dodge may also work.


 * Diving Slash - Tabuu appears high above one side of the stage and dives, turning his arm into a blade of energy. Because he will always go near the ground, it can be dodged by jumping over his attack in the middle of the stage or going on the edge of the stage.
 * Golden Bracket - Tabuu transforms into an energy cage (resembling two glowing yellow brackets) and flies across the stage, grabbing the character and slamming him/her/it into the floor. If played on Intense difficulty, this becomes a One-hit KO. There is no predetermined way the brackets fly, and when you are not able to make a jump, you should make an air-dodge.

Second Set of Moves

 *  Chain of light - Tabuu creates a golden chain (similar to what he used to bind Master Hand) and throws it in front of him in an attempt to catch the player. If he succeeds, he will swing the player around before smashing them into the ground. If played in 2-Player mode, he will smash the player he caught into the other player.


 * Electrical Shield - Tabuu teleports right next to the player. The purple sphere inside his torso splits into several fragments, which fly in circles around him for a short time while emitting electricity. This attack has a decent range, but leaves Tabuu wide open for projectile weapons. It somewhat resembles an atom, with Tabuu being the nucleus and his fragmented energy core being electrons.


 * Rapid Chop - Tabuu teleports behind the player and repeatedly slashes the area in front of him, creating visible purple slashes. This move can easily catch and juggle players, but it has less range than the visible slashes would indicate. Again, Tabuu leaves himself wide open to projectiles-and if you get behind him, melee attacks are also viable.


 * Pinpoint Explosion - From one side of the stage, Tabuu makes a pointing gesture. Five locations along a line leading to the player's current location will flash once and explode after about two seconds. Avoided by taking note of and staying away from the flashes before they explode.


 * Ghost Projection - Tabuu splits himself in half and shoots out many ghost images of himself in all directions, which explode after achieving a certain distance. You can dodge the projections, but take note that they explode when they make contact with the ground, so you can still receive damage sidestepping the projection itself. They can also be destroyed (preferably by projectiles).

Third Set of Moves

 * Dragon Laser - Tabuu appears on the side of the stage and manifests a cannon shaped like a dragon's head (also bearing similarities to the Dark Cannons), which floats beneath Tabuu as it fires a powerful laser horizontally across the stage. Jumping is advisable, although some characters may have a harder time of it.


 * Bullet Rain - Tabuu appears in a random area in the air and fires a barrage of small bullets, finishing with a huge energy sphere. Easily avoided by staying behind him, or (for some characters) by distancing yourself and using all three of your jumps. This seems to be the least frequently used attack on the Third Move, but punishes overzealous jumping that would be done to avoid the other two attacks. Still, pattern memorization will give his location away if he's about to use this attack-namely, if Tabuu appears anywhere not off the edge of the stage, he's going to use Bullet Rain.


 * Shuriken Boomerang - Tabuu appears on one side of the stage and throws a huge, circular, three-bladed shuriken, which flies across the stage like a boomerang before he catches it. Avoided by jumping and using your Up-special (depending on character) to avoid the second swing. The boomerang only has three blades, but the speed of its spin makes it look like it has about nine. Note: At higher levels, you may need to dodge both the throw and the return in one jump.

Fourth Set of Moves

 * Off Waves - Tabuu appears in the background and unfolds his wings. He then proceeds to unleash three massive circular shockwaves that encompass the whole stage. If these hit, they will cause massive damage and knockback, enough to One-hit KO in Adventure: The Subspace Emissary and on harder difficulties of Boss Battles. To avoid these shock waves, a character must either roll or sidestep with accurate timing. If playing as Pokémon Trainer or Zelda/Sheik, using Down B the instant Tabuu extends his wings also works. It can also be avoided by using Perfect Shielding or by using moves with Super Armor, but the timing is extremely difficult. You may also air-dodge if you jump high enough with characters like Kirby and Jigglypuff. Used as the first 4th move and every 8 moves after that.


 * Eye Lasers - Tabuu grows to an enormous size, so giant that only his head appears on the side of the screen. He then fires a red laser from each eye. This attack is used every 8 moves. Can be very easily avoided by hiding right at the end of the stage, literally under Tabuu's chin, allowing you to easily damage him, mainly, by using up-tilts. (some moves that push your fighter backwards may move you into the beams, though). Unlike Master Hand and Crazy Hand's lasers, Tabuu's lasers do not drift off the stage, so one will be hit as long as they are in front of him. Also, they can be avoided by jumping, as they don't hurt you in the air.

Random

 * Teleport - Tabuu teleports around the stage and appears at a set spawn which is randomly decided from the large amount of spawns available. He also sometimes teleports behind the character and attacks with one of the available attacks. Tabuu makes a distinctive sound on his final teleport.


 * Explosive Teleport - Tabuu teleports around, leaving a red explosion everywhere he teleports. On higher difficulties, this can KO a player at low percentages, meaning that one must not be too eager to attack Tabuu during his teleports.

Trivia

 * Some of Tabuu's attacks are taken from other bosses; his Eye Laser is similar to Master and Crazy Hand's Finger Laser and his teleportation resembles the abilities of final bosses in the Kirby series, such as Marx. Additionally, Tabuu's Off Waves is also somewhat similar to the animation of Giygas's Inexplicable Attack from Earthbound.
 * A glitch occurs that if the character attempts to tech or air dodge Chain of Light, the character will get stuck beneath Tabuu's legs and unable to free him/herself until Tabuu kills the character. Two videos have been confirmed. Being metal can also cause this glitch. Either way, the character is in a basic, no-animation 'T' Pose, and will "follow" Tabuu, teleporting around the stage with Tabuu until he uses a move that makes the character flinch. This glitch is possibly caused by not flinching. The glitch may work when a character in Adventure Mode has a high flinch resistance sticker attached, and little to no damage.
 * Tabuu's attacks are considered to be predictable but extremely powerful. Dodging most of his attacks can be very easy, but Tabuu's Off Waves are very hard to avoid and are also Tabuu's strongest attack. Without the Off Waves, many people consider Tabuu to be easy due to his predictable moves and how he needs to wait until he can attack again.
 * Unlike what would be expected of a one-hit KO, Tabuu's Off Waves have minimal hitstun.
 * The dragon head summoned during the "Dragon Laser" attack resembles a Dark Cannon. Its attack is also somewhat like Marx's mouth laser.
 * A glitch can also occur when the character defeats Tabuu when he's using Eye Lasers. When the battle shows him flying off into the subspace background, his head will be covered in the same red colored light that shot out from his eyes.
 * Tabuu's wings are almost completely destroyed by Sonic in the pre-battle cutscene, but they are shown full in the battle-and afterwards, they're back to being shattered.
 * Tabuu is one of four bosses in the series who can grab characters. The others are Giga Bowser, Master Hand, and Crazy Hand.