Nerf

A nerf is a term used to describe the weakening of a character (or aspect of a character), either through updating a game or by releasing a sequel. It is often done as an attempt to balance the roster. The opposite term is "buff".

The best example of this is Kirby's transition from the original Super Smash Bros. to Melee. Kirby went from being one of the best (tier-wise) characters to being one of the worst. Another example is Peach's transition from Melee to Brawl, her forward throw and down smash have been weakened, and she cannot double-jump cancel anymore.

"Nerf" as a verb has been in common use when talking about character or attack changes in all kinds of games, from RPGs to FPSs.

The term "nerf" is derived from the brand of toy known for its soft foam-like substance. This substance allows for safer play, as little chance of injury comes from impact with such items. In effect, a projectile is less damaging because it has been "nerfed."

Characters who had attributes nerfed from SSB to Melee

 * There have been two general nerfs for all characters. One is the fact that not all aerials have almost instantaneous start-up; the other is that grabs and throws have been significantly weakened, most no longer being KO tools.
 * C. Falcon: His up air doesn't semi-spike as good and the Falcon Punch is slower.
 * DK: His Giant Punch has less reach and less knockback, and puts him in a helpless state when done in midair.
 * Fox: His down smash doesn't semi-spike as well, his uair is more difficult to sweetspot, and his blaster no longer produces hitstun.
 * Jigglypuff: Sing doesn't put opponents to sleep as long, making it not as useful, Rest has a smaller hitbox.
 * Kirby: Arguably the most drastic nerf in a Smash Bros. game. He has much less power, speed, and reach in his attacks; his horizontal air speed is drastically slower; and he is easier to combo; thus making a character with terrible stats in Melee.
 * Link: Link's up-smash has a smaller hitbox.
 * Luigi: His air speed is slower; the Super Jump Punch lost its horizontal distance, and the height gained from Luigi Cyclone has been lowered (this results in it being more difficult to incorporate these abilities into a horizontal recovery) Green Fireball size has also been decreased.
 * Mario: Super Jump Punch's jumping distance has been reduced; his up smash is slightly weaker; Fireball size has also been decreased.
 * Ness: He has less speed and reach in his attacks; his up smash and down smash are much weaker; his forward smash is also much slower.
 * Pikachu: It has less reach in its attacks; it is now vulnerable to chain throws and thunder is no longer infinite.
 * Samus: Her dashing speed is slower; her Screw Attack no longer traps enemies, and her charge shot is no longer infinite.
 * Yoshi: His specials are generally less effective; his combo ability against floaty characters has been hindered.

Characters who had attributes nerfed from Melee to Brawl

 * Captain Falcon: Slower attacks; D-Air needs to sweetspot to meteor smash and has a smaller hitbox size, is weaker, and the nipple spike has been removed; F-Air (The Knee) is much harder to sweetspot and even the sweetspot has slightly less knockback; lower traction; Falcon Kick no longer regains his double jump after it has already been used; f-smash weakened significantly (went from being the 3rd most powerful f-smash to 19th). He is overall a slower and much weaker character. He is considered the most dramatically nerfed character in Brawl along Ganondorf both for the Brawl physics (no L-canceling, Moonwalking and much worse combos) and the major nerfs he received.


 * Falco: Nerfed in many of his KO moves; F-Smash is slower, weaker, and needs to sweetspot to be a good KO move; N-Air is no longer a KO move; D-Tilt does not KO until extremely high damages; Falco Phantasm's Meteor Smash is weaker. Fire Bird travels a shorter distance, is now a multi-hit attack, and is much weaker (is now incapable of KOing); slower dash speed; his reflector can no longer be held. His survivability was also nerfed in Brawl due to the addition of fallweight, which prevents him from taking vertical hits as well as he did in Melee (he will not last anywhere close to how long Bowser can last in Brawl vertically, like he could in Melee). However, these nerfs did not have much of an effect in competitive play, as Falco has the exact same tier ranking as in Melee (4th). This is mostly due to him picking up a new style that adapts to Brawl well (ex. he is now capable of major chain-throwing).


 * Fox: Shine combos no longer exist; up smash is slightly weaker (it is however, often considered the best u-smash in Brawl); uair is much weaker (no longer KOs under 150% reliably); Fire Fox is weaker and can no longer KO; and his Blaster travels roughly half the distance it did in Melee. Due to the addition of fallweight, he can no longer survive vertical hits to high percentages and he dies even sooner horizontally, therefore nerfing his survivability in Brawl. Reflector no longer comes out on frame 1.


 * Ganondorf: Slower attacks (most notably jab) and dash speed, leading to very poor approach options; shorter grab (now the shortest standing grab in the game, which combined with all his ground moves being slow makes his Out of Shield options terrible) lower jumping height; poorer mobility; Wizard's Foot no longer enables a midair jump if one was used already which significantly nerfs his recovery (went from a long recovery to one of the shortest horizontal recoveries in the game). A large amount of his killers were weakened significantly in Brawl, such as his d-smash, bair, nair, Dark Dive (which is no longer a KO move outside stage spiking), and the grounded Wizard's Foot. His u-tilt was also weakened significantly (but it is still the strongest tilt and it is much easier to land) and the u-smash was weakened as well (it is still very powerful). Overall, he significantly slower, especially due to the loss of L-Canceling and he has a harder time landing KOs due to having less rounded power (more attacks were weakened than strengthen, often on a higher scale) and harder to land attacks.


 * Jigglypuff: Reduced combo ability; Rest is a lot weaker in terms of knockback; three aerial attacks weakened (most notably its bair); f-smash is weaker; smashes are slower and have longer ending lag. Now ranks the slowest dash speed in the game, and has been seconded by Yoshi for highest air speed. Dair no longer can meteor smash, and less hitstun has made WoP harder to pull off.


 * Kirby: Kirbycide F-throw and B-Throw no longer Kirbycide; U-Throw can only Kirbycide on certain stages. Swallowcide now KOs Kirby and his victim at the same time. Even though the Kirbycide was nerfed, Kirby received major buffs in other, more important areas.


 * Link: Much slower air speed; shorter grappling device; infinite sword stab in neutral combo removed; Spin Attack no longer semi-spikes and is worse for recovery. His Boomerang, replaced with Gale Boomerang, has lost range and speed, and doesn't deal damage when returning (instead pulls foes with it). He is overall slower and is much worse in recovering (could be the only character along Ganondorf who has a harder time recovering in Brawl).


 * Luigi: Fair and dair are much weaker (fair is faster and the dair is easier to meteor smash with however); Super Jump Punch has more ending lag; Fireball's range is shorter. Loss of wavedashing has made approach mush harder.


 * Mario: The power and range of many of his moves have been slightly decreased; his F-Air now needs to sweetspot to meteor smash; Fireball's range reduced. Replaced Mario Tornado with F.L.U.D.D., reducing his overall recovery. Because of Brawl's new autosnap feature, cape is less useful.


 * Marth: Shorter grab range; shorter sword (therefore shorter range overall); tipping his attacks is more difficult, such as Dair; neutral attack combo is slower; dash speed slightly reduced. Shield Breaker is no longer as useful for edgeguarding and it's lost overhead range and power as it is now a stab instead of an overhead swing. Spike has been removed, and lack of wavedashing has resulted in a worse approach.


 * Mr. Game & Watch: D-Tilt is weaker; neutral attack is now a trapping move instead of a KO move; Oil Panic maximum damage reduced from 200% to 60%.


 * Peach: Shorter midair jump; decreased power in F-Throw; down smash completely nerfed in every aspect, especially in KO power and damage output (can no longer KO and it went from being the best d-smash to arguably the worst), could be considered the single most nerfed attack in the series; substantially reduced air speed; can no longer Double Jump Cancel.


 * Samus: Projectile game and finishers drastically weakened. Smash Missles are slower and drastically weaker (could KO under 150% in Melee but can't even KO at 300% in Brawl); Charge Shot is significantly weaker (could KO under 80% in Melee but can't KO under 125% reliably in Brawl); nair was significantly weakened (went from being the second strongest sex kick to one of the weakest). Her bombs are less effective for recovery, and now no longer explode when in contact with opponents (only after their internal timer is finished).


 * Sheik: D-throw is now completely incapable of chain throwing; all of her aerials were weakened; fair can still semi-spike but was weakened significantly; up smash is much weaker and sourspot can no longer KO reliably; the addition of fallweight has also hurt her survivability, she only slightly outlasts Zelda vertically and she is outlasted by Zelda when knockbacked horizontally.


 * Yoshi: Egg Roll can no longer can be used for recovery; smashes are weaker (particularly D-Smash); F-Air now needs to sweetspot to meteor smash and is much weaker (is now only a average meteor smash while it was the second strongest meteor in Melee); Yoshi Bomb and Egg Throw have lower knockback; he can no longer Double Jump Cancel. Egg Lay's KO potential is lower because of the slow falling speed of the egg and higher starting height.