Projectile

A projectile is any hitbox able to leave the user's damagable collision bubbles and move by itself, and most of them can be reflected. Ness' yoyo is an exception, as it is not classified as a projectile despite its glitch. All non-item projectile attacks in Melee are special attacks and throws, usually neutral B. Common examples of projectiles include: Falco's laser (neutral B), Samus' missiles (forward B) and Young Link's bombs (down B). An example of a throw projectile is Mewtwo's forward throw, which launches multiple tiny Shadow Balls which can damage any character.

A majority of characters in Melee have at least one projectile attack; the characters that don't are Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Ganondorf, Jigglypuff, Marth, and Roy. It is considered a disadvantage to not have a projectile, because projectiles are very useful in setting up an approach.

All projectile attacks will not create hit lag for the user. Most projectiles can be easily identified by attacking a metal box: if the character becomes metal, then the move is not a projectile.

Number of Projectiles per Character
This table includes all non-Final Smash projectiles for every character, as well as some important properties of each, such as whether it is a physical or energy projectile. Generally, energy-based projectiles are not affected by gravity and can be absorbed, while physical projectiles follow gravity and cannot be absorbed.