| “ | Hold the button down to charge; release to launch a fireball. Charging longer reduces the range but increases the explosion size. | ” |
| —Description from Ultimate's Move List. | ||
Flare, Megaflare, and Gigaflare are Sephiroth's three neutral specials.
Overview[]
Flare, Megaflare, and Gigaflare are three fire-based explosive projectiles that Sephiroth can cast. Much like Hero's chargeable spells, the type of projectile can change depending on how long Sephiroth holds the charge. However, also much like the Hero's Zap spells, the charge cannot be stored.
Flare[]
Flare is a red fireball that can be fired immediately upon startup. It travels the farthest of three, nearly going the entire length of Battlefield, but is also the weakest of the three.
Megaflare[]
Charging the move for a little bit transforms Flare into Megaflare, a blue fireball that does slightly more damage. However, it travels a much shorter distance, now going as long as the halfway point of Battlefield.
Gigaflare[]
Charging the move all the way transforms Megaflare into Gigaflare, a large explosion that Sephiroth casts directly in front of him. It is the strongest of the three as well as having the widest blast radius. Characters trapped in the blast will enter into a very brief stun state, allowing Sephiroth a small window of time to attack into a combo or into grab, effectively canceling the character's launch trajectory from the explosion.
Origin[]
The Flare family of spells are common magic abilities throughout the Final Fantasy series, though aren't normally used by Sephiroth in any of his appearances. Instead, they are used by different monsters, most commonly variants of Bahamut; the fact that they are used by other villains may be why Sephiroth is able to cast Flare spells in Smash.
Flare first appeared in the original Final Fantasy where it was named NUKE. It is a non-elemental, high level Black Magic spell. In Final Fantasy VII, Flare is apart of the Contain Materia; it is a Level 4 spell that costs 100 MP to cast and 15,000 AP to learn. Due to how common it is, Flare and its variants have been used in other games; these include during a sequence in Kingdom Hearts III and one of the moves Final Fantasy XV's Noctis Lucis Caelum can perform in Tekken 7.
Megaflare debuted in Final Fantasy III as one of Bahamut's attacks, which was originally depicted as a beam of energy. It has since been one of Bahamut's signature attacks, using it in all of its appearances. Megaflare also appears in the Kingdom Hearts series, either as a Sleight (Chain of Memories), a combo finisher (Re:coded), or a Magic command (Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance).
Gigaflare debuted in Final Fantasy V as one of Twintania and Archeodemon's most powerful attacks. It would later return in Final Fantasy VII as one of Neo Bahamut's attacks. Much like Megaflare, the move has since become closely associated with Bahamut and its multiple variations.
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| Sephiroth's Special Moves | |
|---|---|
| Ultimate | |
| Standard Special | Flare / Megaflare / Gigaflare |
| Side Special | Shadow Flare |
| Up Special | Blade Dash / Octaslash |
| Down Special | Scintilla |
| Final Smash | Supernova |