Back Air Attack (abbreviated as "bair", "BAir", and "ABA", ) is an aerial attack that is performed in midair by pressing the A Button, and tilting the control stick in the direction opposite to which the character is facing. Its official term varies between titles, where it is known as a "Back Midair Attack" in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and a "Back Air Attack" in Brawl. The majority of these attacks are kicks.
List of Back Air Attacks in Super Smash Bros.[]
In general, back air attacks in Super Smash Bros. are slow but with good range and good knockback. They are all 1 hit moves outside of Link
- Pikachu: Kicks the opponent behind him. High priority move with good range, usually used either to end up tilt combos or to edgeguard the lesser priority recoveries like Fox (or Mario's Down Special for example), high power
- Yoshi: Kicks opponent with both feet. Yoshi's overall slowest DJC air, good after up tilts, leads into other DJC airs.
- Samus: Raises her foot and then thrusts it behind her. Samus's overall best move. Huge range and power and Samus's main KO'ing/spacing move.
- Donkey Kong: Kicks opponent with both feet. Too slow to be overly useful, but good for comboing against wall
- Link: Kicks feet behind him one at a time. Very quick move usually used for combos, more of a backwards double kick. Good in almost all circumstances and overall Link's most useful air attack for comboing
- Luigi: Kicks opponent with both feet. Good range but slow, think Mario's but with more range and less speed
- Mario: Similar to Luigi's. Good KO move, think Luigi's but with less range and more speed
- Kirby: Kicks opponent with both feet. The best example of a wall of pain move in Super Smash Bros, good damage + good for combos, great edgeguard tool
- Jigglypuff: Kicks opponent with one foot. An overall good move if it had more range, very quick, low power, virtually useless at low percents, can combo into itself at mid-percents
- Fox: Kicks opponent with one foot. Yet another good aerial for fox, good for edgeguarding Falcon's and Samus's among others.
- Captain Falcon: More of an advanced comboing move compared to his other aerials, more difficult to use in combos but overall better than up air against floaty character, or Samus, Luigi, and Jigglypuff. Good move to jump off platforms with.
- Ness: Kicks opponent with both feet.
List of Back Air Attacks in Super Smash Bros. Melee[]
List of Back Air Attacks in Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
- Mario: A twizzle-kick of sorts, he kicks behind himself with both feet and spins.
- Luigi: The same as Mario's but more powerful and has longer range. However, it has slightly more ending lag.
- Peach: Bashes her hip backwards. One of her KO moves.
- Bowser: Forces his shell backwards.
- Donkey Kong: A simple backwards kick. Moderately long duration, great range and powerful.
- Diddy Kong: A fast turnaround motion with his leg stuck out.
- Yoshi: Flips his tail up and down. Lots of damage given if all hits connect.
- Wario: Falls over in the air. Can be used to fly as Wario-Man.
- Link: Two backward kicks. Very fast. Relatively weak, but surprisingly high priority and 1st kick hitting grounded opponents combos into several of his moves.
- Zelda: The famous Lightning Kick. She jabs her heel behind her giving an extremely powerful initial, electricity-imbued attack for the first hitbox is sweetspotted. The second hitbox is very weak.
- Sheik: Extends her leg backward very fast, the hitbox stays out long. The sweetspot is on her foot.
- Ganondorf: Punches backward. Very similar to Captain Falcon's, but instead of having a long duration it has a large hitbox with a large sweetspot but fairly long landing lag.
- Toon Link: Slashes backwards with his sword. It can be chained at low percents and be used as a kill move at higher percents. One of the best combos in the entire game with unbelievable priority. Even more priority than Mr. Game & Watch's Bair.
- Samus: A backward kick. The sweetspot is on her foot, otherwise it's weak.
- Zero Suit Samus: Identical to Samus', but slightly faster and stronger in terms of knockback.
- Pit: Jabs his swords backwards. Good knockback, but hard to sweetspot.
- Ice Climbers: Spin around with hammers slightly extended. Deceivingly strong.
- R.O.B.: Pushes boosters behind himself. Moves him forward decent knockback.
- Kirby: Extends both feet backwards. Used for Fence of Pain. Often considered the best move in Kirby's arsenal.
- King Dedede: Similar to Kirby's, but with one foot. It has a large hitbox, with disjoint during the first frames of the move. Generally considered on of the best back aerials in the game.
- Meta Knight: Slashes three times behind himself very quickly, slightly slower/more powerful than his forward aerial, which has the same properties.
- Olimar: Swings a Pikmin backward.
- Fox: A standard kick, Fox spins with his leg outstretched. It has some ending lag in the air that but can be used as a kill move.
- Falco: Kicks backwards similar to fox but with less knockback.
- Wolf: Jams his leg backwards with a deceiving range. Short duration but very fast and powerful.
- Captain Falcon: Punches behind himself.
- Pikachu: Spins around for multiple hits.
- Squirtle: Does an attack similar to Mario's.
- Ivysaur: Spins around with vines extended. Low damage and very low knockback, but excellent range.
- Charizard: Spins around surprisingly quickly with tail extended and wings slightly extended. 2 possible hits, one with wings and one with tail. Decent knockback on tail hit, wing hit will always link into tail hit. Has a sweetspot on the fire, but it's hard to sweetspot as it has a small size.
- Lucario: Punches backwards. Aura extends from palm.
- Jigglypuff: Spins around with foot extended to about twice its regular size. Used for the famous Wall of Pain.
- Marth: Similar to Toon Link's in animation, Marth thrusts his sword upwards. However, this attack is notable because it turns him around.
- Ike: A quick spin with sword extended. Powerful, can be auto canceled in short hops (it misses against smaller characters and very fast start-up but it has a very long cooldown like all of his aerials and moveset in general.
- Ness: Plugs backwards with both heels. Initial hitbox quite powerful with electrical properties, second hitbox fairly weak, although buffed from Melee. Very Powerful.
- Lucas: Flips and hooks his foot downward. Can Meteor Smash at a certain angle (on the tip of Lucas's foot). Can KO at low percentages.
- Mr. Game and Watch: The famous snapping turtle, hits multiple times and has incredible priority, however it can be SDIed out of and be punished before the move has ended. Eats through shields.
- Snake: Kicks backward with both feet, body becomes horizontal. Large duration and high knockback (although it deals the same damage, his body has slightly more knockback than his legs), but has a fairly long cooldown and 30 frames landing lag. Doesn't auto cancel in short hops. Very high priority and disjointed hitbox.
- Sonic: Similar to Diddy Kong's, he spins around with his foot extended. One of his few KO moves.
List of Back Air Attacks in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U[]
- Mario: Kicks opponents behind with two feet; useful for setting up a chain of combos.
- Luigi: Same as Mario's.
- Peach: Knocks opponents back with her hips; can also KO fighters at higher perecntages.
- Bowser: Does a huge kick that's slow but does lots of damage; a powerful KO move. Has a long cool down period.
- Rosalina & Luma: Uses a galaxy-like attack that deals multiple hits; very useful for combos.
- Bowser Jr.: Swings a wrecking ball from behind; a powerful move.
- Donkey Kong: Kicks backwards.
- Diddy Kong: Kicks behind himself with one foot.
- Yoshi: Swings his tail back three times.
- Wario: Leans backwards in midair so that he is laying horizontally, striking with his while body.
- Dr. Mario: Same as Mario's.
- Link: Spins around, kicking backwards twice.
- Zelda: Kicks backwards with one foot surrounded in magic, known as the Lightning Kick; deals more damage if the tip of Zelda's foot hits and can be a powerful KO move.
- Sheik: Throws out a single kick behind herself.
- Ganondorf: Same as Captain Falcon's but deals slightly more damage.
- Toon Link: Turns around and swings his sword.
- Samus: Does a backwards kick; deals more damage at the tip of her foot and is a powerful KO move. Not useful for edgeguarding due to longer ending lag.
- Zero Suit Samus: Swings one foot backwards; can KO opponents and deals slightly more damage if sweetspotted. Left open to attacks from below.
- Pit: Stabs two swords backwards; the tip of Pit's swords deal more damage but it's hard to pull off.
- Palutena: Does an angelic attack with her shield; very useful for edgeguarding due to her floaty attack.
- Dark Pit: Same as Pit's.
- R.O.B.: Blasts backwards with his Robo Burner; deals more damage if the opponent is up-close, as well as giving the user a slight horizontal boost forwards.
- Kirby: Kicks backwards with two feet.
- Meta Knight: Does 3 spins with 3 hits (if all attacks connect).
- King Dedede: Spins around and swings his hammer upwards, similar to his Brawl forward aerial.
- Olimar: Turns and swings a Pikmin backwards, damage varies depending on Pikmin used.
- Fox: Does a backwards kick with a strong hit; deals multiple hits if you input, right-down while moving backward when airborne.
- Falco: Turns and kicks backwards.
- Captain Falcon: Turns and strikes backwards with a fist.
- Pikachu: Spins around to attack with its whole body.
- Charizard: Swings its tail backwards; deals more damage if it hits with the flame on the end of the tail.
- Greninja: Kicks backwards three times.
- Lucario: Thrusts one hand backwards, aura surrounding it.
- Jigglypuff: Spins and delivers a kick behind itself.
- Mewtwo: Swings his tail backwards; deals more damage at the tip of Mewtwo's tail.
- Marth: Swings his sword upwards behind himself; deals more damage at the tip of the sword, is useful for edgeguarding, and can help draw in opponents for combos.
- Ike: A fast spin with his sword outreached; a powerful move that can be used for combo set-ups since his air attacks are faster. Not very effective against smaller fighters.
- Lucina: Swings the sword backwards; useful for edgeguarding as well as being able to draw in opponents for combos. Doesn't have a tipper.
- Robin: Stabs the Leven Sword backwards dealing electrical damage; uses the Bronze Sword if the Levin Sword broke or if the smash input is not used, dealing less damage.
- Roy: Similar to Marth's, deals more damage at the base of the sword.
- Ness: Kicks backwards with PSI-energy surrounding his feet; useful for putting the user at a safe distance and can bait opponents into various attacks.
- Lucas: Does a backflip and then executes a horse kick behind himself in a downwards arc; the tip of Lucas's foot can Meteor Smash.
- Mr. Game & Watch: Uses a snapping turtle that deals multiple hits; can pull off combos, KO opponents, and pierce through shields. Keeps the user airborne for a short time.
- Little Mac: Does a weak hit with his fist.
- Duck Hunt: The duck pecks backwards; the tip of the duck's bill does more damage.
- Wii Fit Trainer: Kicks backwards with both feet.
- Shulk: Stabs backwards with the Monado.
- Sonic: Kicks backwards with one foot; a powerful kill move.
- Mega Man: Turns and attacks with the Slash Claw, hitting multiple times.
- Pac-Man: Kicks backwards with both feet.
- Ryu: Turns and delivers a heavy kick attack; Ryu's Heavy Back Kick from Street Fighter II.
- Bayonetta: A backwards kick that uses Bullet Arts if the button is held. A powerful KO move.
- Cloud: Does a backwards swing with his sword; useful for edge-guarding, quite fast, and is safe on shield.
- Corrin: Sprouts dragon wings that flap behind them; gives them a slight boost forwards through the air.
- Mii Sword Fighter: Mii Swordfighter turns and swings their sword upwards behind them.
- Mii Gunner: Mii Gunner turns and blasts a short-range explosion from their arm cannon.
- Mii Brawler: Spins around and delivers a single kick.
Notable Characters Back Air Attacks[]
- Jigglypuff's back air attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl, used for the highly effective "Wall of Pain".
- R.O.B.'s back air attack can aid his recovery, although it does nothing to get closer when he's still flying after getting hit, as his hover pad lets out a quick burst, moving him forward quite a lot. Also can hit enemys in front of R.O.B., both sides.
- Kirby's back air attack in Melee, an attack similar to Jigglypuff's back aerial but instead has no start-up lag. The move is dubbed the "Fence of Pain".
- Marth, Zelda, and Roy's back air attacks allow them to turn around while still in mid-air. These are the only air attacks able to do so in the Super Smash Bros series.
- Ness and Zelda's back air attacks in Melee, which are powerful semi-spikes. Zelda's backward air attack semi-spike can only be achieved from a hit with the sweetspot at the tip of her foot.
- Toon Link's quick back air attack, with minimal knockback in Brawl. The move is effective for positioning the opponent for an immediate down aerial. Has even more priority than Mr. Game & Watch's Bair.
- Pikachu's back air attacks has extremely short range but the hitbox surrounds Pikachu.
- Mr. Game & Watch's back air attacks is the feared Turtle, a five-hit combo with high priority and shield-destroying properties.
- Lucas's and King K. Rool's back air attack, the only ones in the entire series to meteor smash.
- Samus's back air attack in Melee, one of her combo moves, which, when sweetspotted, is a very powerful which can KO at lower percentages, and when not sweetspotted, is a Wall of Pain on some fast and medium fallers.
- Corrin's back air attack can assist in recovery, granting a horizontal boost forwards through the air when used.
- Villager's back air attack has impressive range and is in fact a projectile, the only projectile back air attack in the series to date.
Gallery[]
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