Mario Tornado

The Mario Tornado is the name given to Mario's Down B in the first two instalments of the Super Smash Bros. series. The move involves him rotating rapidly with his fists outstretched. The Mario Tornado can be used for recovery as well by rapidly tapping B, which allows you to rise in the air slightly. It is a multi-hit attack, and can spike in the original SSB64. This attack's knockback was always the same in the original Super Smash Bros., regardless of the enemy's damage. However in Super Smash Bros. Melee the knockback was greater if the enemy's damage meter was higher.

Dr. Mario's down special, the Dr. Tornado is similar, but knocks enemies in random directions, and rises much higher in the air when B is tapped. Another similar move is the Luigi Cyclone, which sucks in the opponent, and launches them into the air.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario's Down B has been replaced with F.L.U.D.D.. In the DOJO!! update revealing this change, a screenshot of the Mario Tornado is shown with the accompanying caption: "He still seems to have this move, though. Eh? Is it a normal attack?!" The E For All demo revealed that the Mario Tornado is now, in fact, Mario's down aerial move. The attack is quicker, but the damage is actually unchanged. In fact, this can be an effective KO move when used in midair.

Because of it being an aerial attack, it does not affect his falling speed, but it can slightly stop his momentum when Mario is knocked into the air.

Origin
The Mario Tornado is probably based on the Spin Jump that originated in Super Mario World. When the player presses the A button, Mario will spin around and jump, which would bounce harmlessly off enemies and break certain blocks. The form in the Smash series where he stretches out his fists in addition may have been based on the Tornado Jump from Paper Mario. In the later game, Super Mario Galaxy, he also has a spinning attack similar to this. Also, his Dair is similar to the Mario Tornado (in SSB and SSBM).