A KO, short for Knock-Out or Knock-Off, is the term used to describe the situation where a player is knocked back beyond the stage's blast lines by the opponent's actions.
Standard KO
The KO'd player is sent to a revival platform to re-enter the match. The following may then happen depending on the type of match:
- In a Time match, the KO'd player will lose a point, while the player who made the KO gains a point.
- In a Stock match, the KO'd player loses a stock. If a player loses all of their stocks they will receive the following:
- Single-player: A continuation or a Game Over (if the player doesn't have enough coins in Melee and Brawl, or chooses to quit).
- Multiplayer: Removal from the rest of the match.
- In a Coin match, the KO'd player loses half their coins, rounded down. SSBB prevents a player from losing more than 100 coins at once. The lost coinage will fly into play if the KO was made off the side.
- In the Subspace Emissary, the next character in the lineup is loaded and teleported into play without a revival platform. One stock is also lost.
- Characters can also be KO'd in the Subspace Emissary if they are crushed by moving walls, ceilings, or floors.
If a player has no stocks remaining, then they do not reappear. They are then either removed from play (multiplayer matches) or receive a Game Over (single player modes).
KO Property
In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, each character has a "KO property" which starts out empty. When a character is hit by an attack (be it a physical attack, a projectile, an item, etc.), their KO property is set to match whoever made the hit. The KO property is reset once a character lands on the ground and is no longer moving as a result of the attack's knockback. When the character is KO'd, the KO goes to whoever matches the KO property. If the property is null, the KO counts as a self-destruct. In simple terms, it goes to whoever made the last hit. Stage elements in SSB will reset the KO property to null with the exception of the acid on Planet Zebes, so for example, if a character is sent flying by an opponent's attack but is then hit by an Arwing's laser and KO'd, nobody receives the kill.
However, for whatever reason, this format was heavily altered for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In SSBB, a character's KO property is never reset during a stock. If a character is hit at any time during a stock, it becomes impossible to self-destruct; a KO will be given to whoever made the last hit. So if a character is hit by an attack and jumps off the edge, it will count as a KO, not an SD. It gives other characters free KOs when the target character dies on his/her own. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sometimes all fighters get a Star KO or Screen KO.
One-hit KO
A one-Hit KO (or abbv. OHKO) is an attack with such high base knockback that it KOs at 0%. However, almost all of the so-called OHKOs are highly conditional; they all share the following restrictions:
- The opponent does not tech, DI, momentum cancel, and/or crouch cancel.
- There is no wall (or ceiling) to absorb the knockback.
- Knockback may be insufficient to KO at 0% on very large stages (e.g. Hyrule Temple, New Pork City, 75m.).
- Knockback may be insufficient to KO at 0% if the attack had been landed previously (due to Stale-Move Negation).
- Knockback may be insufficient to KO heavy characters at 0%.
- The opponent is not giant and/or metal.
- The damage ratio is on 1.0 and no handicaps.
The typical rule of One-Hit KO's is being able to KO the majority of characters from the center of Final Destination at 0%.
Examples
- Mr. Game and Watch's Judgement Hammer with a number 9.
- Roy, Ike, or Marth (SSBB only) countering a damaging enough hitbox (much more likely to be an OHKO with Roy).
- Roy's fully charged Flare Blade.(Depends on Stage and Character.)
- Ike's stage 8 Eruption
- End of Day, depending on stage size (more likely to be OHKO on smaller stage if Olimar perfectly performed it on opponent).
- Puff Up, depending on stage size (more likely to be OHKO on smaller stage if the opponent is close to its body). Its OHKO power is very high in Brawl.
- Aura Storm, if Lucario has taken more than 200% damage.
- Marth (SSBB)'s Critical Hit, unless a move with Super Armor is used (i.e. Ike's Aether)
- Mr. Game and Watch's Oil Panic if it is filled with strong projectiles and/or Zero Suit Samus' Down Smash.
- Luigi's Negative Zone, if combined with Fire Jump Punch (or Down Taunt on lighter characters).
- Getting hit by a walking Bob-omb after being reflected by Fox's reflector in SSB.
- A Side Smash with the Home-Run Bat.
- Touching Moltres in both Melee and Brawl unless using Momentum Cancelling.
- Suicune's Aurora Beam.
- Deoxys's Hyper Beam (after the blast gets slightly narrower).
- Bonsly's Body Slam on light characters.
- The Dragoon.
- Wario Man's fully-charged Wario Waft.
- Little Mac's KO Uppercut.
- Getting bit by Ultimate Chimera on New Pork City is an OHKO, even for Giant characters, and deals 100% to 200% damage.
- If a Hothead is hit by a fire-based attack that does over 30%, such as Ike's stage 7, 8, and fully charged Eruption while it is uncharged, it will OHKO when Smash Thrown. Any sparks it gives off while traversing the stage at this strength will also OHKO.
- If a Soccer Ball is launched at enough speed, such being hit by an extremely powerful attack, like the Home-Run Bat, Marth's Critical Hit, or being launched after sustaining enough damage, it will OHKO anyone it slams into.
- Corneria's cannon laser shots.
- Touching the hull of the Pirate Ship.
- The first spike on Rumble Falls (can easily be teched).
- Getting crushed in the Subspace Emissary.
- Several enemies' attacks in the Subspace Emissary.
- Galleom's Spin and Falling Attack on Intense difficulty in SSE.
- Tabuu's Off Waves (on Normal or higher difficulties in SSE) (Hard to Intense in Boss Battle Mode). This attack is an immensely powerful OHKO for all the characters and deals from 100% to 200% damage. In the Easy difficulty of SSE, it deals massive damage (74% to 78%) and has sufficient knockback to OHKO most light or normal characters, but not heavy ones like Bowser (assuming they are at the center of the stage).
- Tabuu's Golden Bracket attack on Very Hard to Intense difficulty in the SSE or Intense difficulty in Boss Battle Mode. Anyway, since this attack deals massive orizontal knockback, it is able to OHKO characters with poor recovery (like Ike or Ganondorf) even in the Easy difficulty, which is the lowest possible.
- Tabuu's Dragon Laser attack on Very Hard to Intense difficulty in SSE (or even lower difficulties, if most hits connect).
- Tabuu's Chain of Light, Shark Blade, Pinpoint Explosion and Bullet Rain attacks on Intense difficulty in SSE.
- Tabuu's Explosive Teleport (random only) on Intense difficulty in the SSE.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Brawl continued the trend of adding several OHKOs into the game, resulting in a huge number of them (especially in The Subspace Emissary. However, the majority are Final Smashes, items, stage hazards, enemy and boss attacks, with relatively few being standard moves of playable characters. In higher difficulties of The Subspace Emissary (often Very Hard or Intense), several enemy attacks are invariable OHKO, as well as many boss attacks. Also, most of Tabuu's moves are guaranteed OHKO in every situation, some of them even in the higher difficulties of Boss Battle (where the player has only one life).
Playable characters' standard moves
- Ike's stage 8 Eruption (stage 7 Eruption can't be classified this way - though it could OHKO light characters when reversed, in midair or in particular situations, it usually KOs Charizard at 8%). If Ike gets inhaled by Kirby, the latter's stage 8 Eruption normally loses its OHKO power (except when reversed or used in midair).
- Mr. Game & Watch's fully loaded Oil Panic after absorbing three strong projectiles (such as PK Flash) or a very strong one.
- Ganondorf's reverse or midair Warlock Punch.
- Ivysaur's up smash is the most powerful in the game, and can OHKO every character in the lower difficulties of Classic and All Star mode (Easy and Normal only, or Hard in a few particular situations; however, it usually KOs characters starting from 18% in normal Brawls, with some notable exceptions).
- Jigglypuff’s Rollout and Rest may OHKO very light characters in some situations, but only when perfectly framed and activated while in contact with the opponent. Also, Rollout needs to hit the opponent throughout its path, from the beginning to the end, to gain its full power. These moves are a guaranteed OHKO for every character in the lower difficulties of Classic and All Star mode (Easy and Normal only, or Hard in a few particular situations).
- Pikachu’s Thunder if the enemy is near to the upper lines or in stages with an high platform, such as 75 m, Spear Pillar or Onett.
- The following counterattacks:
- Ike's Counter upon countering an extremely powerful attack (a hitbox that deals at least ~40% or 45% damage). Simply touching Ike's body when the move is performed deals the same knockback and damage of the slash itself, resulting in a OHKO as well.
- Marth's Counter upon countering an even more powerful attack (a hitbox that deals at least ~45% or 50% damage). Simply touching Marth's body when the move is performed deals the same knockback and damage of the slash itself, resulting in a OHKO as well.
- Every other counterattack contrasting an attack with extreme OHKO power, such as the Ultimate Chimera's bite.
- The following Self-destructs:
- If Jigglypuff’s Shield is kept for too much time or broken by an attack, Jigglypuff shall suffer a self-OKHO, being launched with massive vertical knockback (but without any damage).
Contrary to common belief, Mr. Game & Watch's Judge #9 is not an OHKO, having very high knockback but not quite enough to qualify under the required conditions (although it might OHKO very light characters in some rare situations, it usually starts to KO Jigglypuff only at 10%).
Final Smashes
- Marth's Critical Hit (even on Giant characters). It is the most powerful playable attack of all Smash games in term of knockback, and one of the strongest hits in absolute (being capable to OHKO even Metal characters in some particular situations, such as a very light character with poor recovery and in a small stage).
- Touching Jigglypuff during Puff Up (its OHKO power is extremely high in Brawl). The KO potential of this attack varies greatly depending on many factors: from leaving Jigglypuff isolated and harmless to instantly OHKOing every character, including Giant or even Metal ones. When Jigglypuff is swollowing at the beginning, nearby characters will be moved towards the side of the stage. Then, Jigglypuff unleashes an immensely strong push that OHKOs every character touched, simply by contact. Finally Jigglypuff begins to deflate: in this phase, it is sufficient to touch his body to be OHKOed with the same power of the previous push. Knockback's direction is not constant but mostly horizontal, leading to a guaranteed OHKO every character with low recovery.
- Ganondorf's Beast Ganon (if most hitboxes land). If a character paralyzed by Beast Ganon is not hit by the charge afterward, it can be inflicted a meteor smash of OHKO power.
- Lucario's Aura Storm at full power (it happens when at least one of this conditions is fulfilled: if most hits connect, if Lucario has got Aura or when Lucario has suffered enough damage prior the Final Smash).
- Pokémon Trainer's Triple Finish if most hits connect. The attack works exactly the same for either Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard.
- Zelda's and *Sheik's Light Arrow (barely in OHKO threshold, easily DIed). Power decreases by 25% for every target, making it quite difficult to OHKO two or more characters in a row (unlike every other long-range Final Smash, such as Zero Laser, Triple Finish or Beast Ganon, which always keep the original strenght). Zelda's Light Arrow deals massive horizontal knockback and has more OHKO power than Sheik's, which is more angled - especially for characters with low recovery (in this case it might OHKO two opponents, despite knockback being reduced every time).
- Wario-Man's fully charged Wario Waft.
- Olimar’s End of Day can OHKO one or more characters in three different situations. In the first, this attack gains OHKO power when all hitboxes land and all the moves are almost perfectly done (which also deals extreme combined damage, even over 100%). Secondly, when the Final Smash is activated, all the other characters will be meteor smashed with enough power to OHKO every midair opponent. At last, characters which are too near to the bottom lines risk to be automatically OHKOed when Olimar’s ships rises.
- Samus's Zero Laser if most hits connect or if the player gets trapped and pushed over the ending lines.
- Touching Zero Suit Samus while she is performing Power Suit Samus, or being sucked into the sparkling vacuum .
- Luigi's up smash when Negative Zone is active.
- Mario's Mario Finale if the enemy gets trapped in the flame vortex and pushed offscreen. However, in all the other situations this is one of the weakest Final Smashes of the game, KOing only at high percentuals.
- Ike's Great Aether when used in small stages or when there is an high platform; it is an invariable OHKO in 75 m, Spear Pillar and Onett.
Other KOs
- In Stamina Mode; losing all your HP will result in a KO, regardless of if the player remains on stage. As of Ultimate; the unconscious fighter will disappear shortly afterwards.
- Contacting a Danger Zone from certain stages (like The Great Cave Offensive) when at or over 100% damage.
- Getting crushed by being sandwiched between two heavy moving platforms or moving pieces of a stage (like Midgar).
- Getting hit by a forward-smash from the Death's Scythe while at least 80%, or a forward-tilt at 120%, will result in a KO; with the KO'd player disappearing after the hit.
- Mimikyu will 'devour' anyone who has at or over 90% damage by the time its attack 'Let's Snuggle Forever' ends.
- Getting swallowed by the Red Bulborb on Distant Planet.
- In Ultimate; some Final Smashes will automatically KO if the Final Smash ends with the opponent at or over 100% damage.
- Infernal Climax
- Plasma Scream
- Triforce of Wisdom
- Giga Bowser (creates an instant Screen KO)
- All-Out Attack
- Hero gets KO'ed when he uses his move Kamikazee.
Gallery
Trivia
- The smash attack with the Home-Run Bat is the only attack to be an OHKO in all six installments of Super Smash Bros.
- In the 2013 trailers and Developer Direct of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, characters were not heard screaming when KO'ed, mostly because the game was is still in progress.