Taunt

A taunt is a particular animation, generally useless for battle, used to showboat or provoke a response. Characters often taunt by saying some catchphrase (e.g. Captain Falcon's "Show me your moves!") and a movement such as waving or spinning around.

Although most taunts are for show only, and are ultimately worthless, some can actually affect gameplay. In addition, taunts have a few bonuses that go with them, such as the Fighter Stance bonus, which awards 500 points for taunting at the end of a match.

Super Smash Bros. Taunts
A taunt is performed in SSB by pressing the L Button.

See Taunt Canceling

List of taunts

 * Luigi: Folds his hand behind his back and playfully kicks the ground.
 * Mario: Grows to double size while playing the "Mushroom" sound effect.
 * D.K.: Holds his hands up and shrugs
 * Link: Poses and says "hup"
 * Samus: Poses and beeps.
 * Captain Falcon: Poses and says "Show me your moves!"
 * Ness: Nods and says "Okay."
 * Yoshi:Waves at the player and screams "Yoshi!"
 * Kirby:Waves and says "Hi!"
 * Fox: Folds his arm, looks to the side and says "Heh"
 * Pikachu:Waves and says "Pika pika!"
 * Jigglypuff: Wiggles and says "Jigglypuff"

Super Smash Bros. Melee Taunts
SSBM taunts are performed by pressing up on the D-Pad, aside from one special taunt. See Secret Taunt.

While most taunts are useless strategically, some carry a fair amount of use:


 * Luigi's taunt can function as an exceedingly weak attack (1% damage, set knockback), though if he hits with the bottom of his foot, it is a spike with moderate knockback.
 * Kirby's taunt will get rid of his current ability without damaging him.
 * Mario's taunt massively enlarges his hitbox.
 * Ganondorf's taunt makes him hover above the ground, which makes it possible to avoid Koopa shells and Bob-ombs.
 * Pichu's taunt can be used to dodge incoming attacks.
 * Link and Young Link can fool opponents into being hit by a Boomerang by firing the projectile and then taunting. The boomerang can then strike on its return.
 * Falco and Fox have a hidden taunt which can be performed on any Star Fox stage in SSBM. This taunt is done by tapping down on the directional pad for 1 frame. It randomly plays clips from a set of phrases spoken by the Star Fox Team. All of the possible phrases can be found in the Sound Test.

List of taunts

 * Dr. Mario: Rolls a pill down his arm, then pops it into the air and catches it.
 * Mario: Grows to double size while playing the "Mushroom" sound effect.
 * Luigi: Folds his hand behind his back and playfully kicks the ground.
 * Bowser: Roars to the sky.
 * Peach: Spins, leans forward, winks, and says "Sweet!"
 * Yoshi: Waves at the player and screams "Yoshi!"
 * D.K.: Shrugs his shoulders and roars something that sounds like "I don't Know?!"
 * Captain Falcon: Poses and says "Show me your moves!"
 * Ganondorf: Hovers and spins on a spot while laughing maniacally.
 * Falco: Spins and says "Heh."
 * Fox: Stands on his knee and says "Come on!"
 * Ness: Nods and says "Okay."
 * Ice Climbers: Points their hammers in the air and say "Yup" while the sound of wind blowing can be heard.
 * Kirby: Waves and says "Hi!"
 * Samus: Poses and beeps.
 * Zelda: Puts her hands together in prayer.
 * Sheik: Does a fighter stance.
 * Link: Says "Eh", and fixes his hair.
 * Young Link: Drinks Lon Lon Milk
 * Pichu: Hops and says "Pichu!" while facing one direction. Flails around on the ground and says "Pichu!" while facing the other direction.
 * Pikachu: Waves and says "Pika pika!"
 * Jigglypuff: Spins around, winks, and says "Jigglypuff". The direction Jigglypuff is facing changes which eye she uses to wink.
 * Mewtwo: Spins around and laughs.
 * Mr. Game & Watch: Rings a bell.
 * Marth: Holds his sword up in front of him, then swings it to his side while saying "Mina, miteite kure" ("Everyone, watch me!").
 * Roy: Does a fighter stance and says "Heeeah!"

Trivia

 * Young Link has the longest lasting taunt.
 * Crazy Hand has a taunt of sorts. One of his moves, as seen when he is played as in Debug Mode, consists of sparkling and generating lightning. The "attack" does nothing, and could be considered a sort of taunt.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Taunts
Mario's taunt was seen in the first trailer, and several others have been seen in various screenshots. Along with the standard taunts, during Wi-Fi Multiplayer mode, players will be able to use the D-pad to send short messages to their opponents. It is not known whether different animations will be used for the different taunts, though the Ice Climbers do have a screenshot showcasing what looks like an alternate taunt.