Zero Laser

The Zero Laser is Samus' Final Smash. Samus charges her arm cannon and fires a large beam of energy that deals a high amount of damage. After firing the beam, Samus' Power Suit is "damaged" and falls off of Samus' body, transforming her into Zero Suit Samus.

After the beam has been fired and the Power Suit removed, the damaged pieces of the suit can be picked up and thrown as items by any player. The items have very high knockback and decent damage, but they also can be picked up and thrown at ZSS.

The Final Smash has a range of stretching about the distance across the thickest part of New Pork City. The Laser also goes through stage boundaries, like the up arrows in Pictochat.

In a posted video, it shows Samus using her Final Smash. It lasts about a total of 4 seconds. The move's damage varies from source, but depending on the time the opponent remains in the laser, it can do from 40-78% damage. While not a One-hit KO, if used near the edge of a stage the laser can push opponents past the blast line.

While Samus is using the attack, all nearby enemies behind her (as well as some items) will be pulled toward her and into the line of fire, if close enough. Also if enemies fall on top of the laser they too will be pulled into the attack.

The Zero Laser can also be angled slightly up or slightly down by tilting the control stick in the desired direction, though this does not have much of an effect on the laser's area of effect and cannot be moved above approximately a 30 degree angle.

The transformation into Zero Suit Samus takes quite a while, and thus is easily punished. Even if you manage to KO everyone, there's usually enough time for that player to come back to life and get into position to attack just as the transformation finishes. So it may be better to fire it far from the ground, making the opponents harder to punish her. It is also possible, if the opponent is close enought to Samus when the move is initiated, for the opponent to jump over Samus using an Up-Special or, for some characters, a jump AND an Up-Special, or multiple jumps (which is enough to clear the top of the Zero Laser if Samus is on the same surface as the opponent) and then land directly behind Samus, avoiding the move but also allowing them to attack Samus as soon as the laser stops.

Finishing the Final Smash in mid-air does not put Samus (or rather, Zero Suit Samus) into a Helpless state, however she will fall for quite some time until all her suit pieces fall off. If she is not above a platform, this is enough to KO her on most stages other than New Pork City or Temple.

Since the move doesn't engulf the entire screen and only a horizontal strip, some prefer to jump and then use the Zero Laser to maximize its area of effect. The reasoning behind this is that a shot fired on the ground will KO characters who are standing on the ground, but a shot that's fired a little bit above the ground will KO characters who are on the ground and characters who are a little bit higher.

As demonstrated in the Tokyo vs Kyoto match, Zero Laser's effect was slightly changed; it lasted 2 seconds longer than usual.

Origin
The move is unique to Brawl. Originally, Samus's Power Suit is lost in a crash after her starship is shot down in Metroid Zero Mission. However, rival bounty hunter Gandrayda can use a move nearly identical to the Zero Laser when mimicking Samus's form in Metroid Prime 3. Also in Metroid Prime 3, Samus could transform into a Phazon form, during which she uses a move strikingly similar to the Zero Laser, though this beam actually consists of two beams intertwined and rapidly fires streams of Phazon beams instead of one massive beam.

Glitches

 * A glitch can be performed with this Final Smash that makes it so Samus doesn't transform to Zero Suit Samus. Performing it is the same as performing the Puff Up, Diffusion Beam, and Golden Glitches: play on Bridge of Eldin (or any stage with reforming terrain; this does not include custom stage Drop Blocks.) when the destroyed bridge middle is repairing itself, go between the ledges, activate the final smash, and then when the bridge is whole again, Samus will pop back onto the bridge without transforming.


 * It should also be noted that Pit's Mirror Shield, pointed upwards, can negate all but the final blast of the Final Smash. Whether this is a glitch or not is unknown.

Trophy Description
''Samus's Final Smash. The beam emerging from her Arm Cannon is dreadfully powerful and causes great damage to enemies. The beam travels slowly but can be swept up and down. The recoil of the beam is so great that it tears off her Power Suit, revealing Zero Suit Samus. The pieces of her armor can be picked up and thrown as weapons.''

Origin
The Zero Laser may be inspired by the Hyper Beam, an extremely powerful attack used against Mother Brain at the end of Super Metroid, though their appearances differ. In Metroid Prime 3 a shapeshifting boss can turn into Samus and use a very similar attack to the Zero Laser, though due to the game's release date this is likely a coincidence or a reference to Brawl instead.