The Negative Zone (ネガティブゾーン, Negative Zone) is Luigi's Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Overview[]
Luigi initiates the Final Smash by dancing, projecting a green void around him, inverting all of the colors within it and extending its range to just short of Final Destination (providing that it is used in the center). The area inside the zone will visually wobble slightly. After a few seconds, Luigi can freely move around with only a slight decrease in speed, presumably due to the effect of the void. The Final Smash does not end when Luigi is KO'd, though it can end when used in the air, as the void follows Luigi when he falls, and he will self-destruct due to not being able to act while dancing. After a few seconds, the void will close in on itself, and the Final Smash ends.
Opponents caught within Negative Zone will suffer a variety of status effects along with constant damage, which last even as the void is closing. Because Negative Zone does not directly attack opponents, invincibility from a Starman or dismounting from a revival platform does not prevent the effects from occuring. Opponents can be inflicted with the following:
- Reduced attack power
- Weight reduction
- Increased chances of tripping
- Flowering
- Dizziness
- Uncontrollable taunting
- Sleeping
- Slow
Because these effects usually incapacitate opponents, Negative Zone is effective for stopping opponents and giving Luigi numerous openings for attacks. Fireball launches much faster, and Fire Jump Punch is extremely powerful to the point of OHKO'ing characters due to their decreased weight. Similarly to Peach Blossom, Negative Zone is also an effective Final Smash in Team Battle, particularly if Luigi is paired with a powerful character (Ike, Bowser, Ganondorf, or Donkey Kong), as the zone may stun opponents, granting the window for the teammate to KO them, as they are unaffected by the Final Smash.
Trophy Description[]
Luigi's Final Smash. As exotic music plays, he performs a dance befitting a sorcerer's incantation. A barrier envelops him, negatively impacting all in his area. Random effects include getting launched, sleeping, moving in slow motion, tripping, fainting, and losing attack power. This technique is a reflection of the dark side he embraced in his brother's shadow.
Origin[]
The move is unique to Brawl. However, the name may be a reference to Luigi always being in his brother's shadow (causing a severe inferiority complex, ironically Luigi is considered stronger than Mario by the tier list), the fact that Luigi was originally just a palette swap of Mario's color scheme, the Negative Zone bonus areas in Super Mario Bros 2, the infamous "Minus World" glitch in the original Super Mario Bros., the inverted overworld in Super Mario Bros. 2, or the fact that every color viewed through the bubble is changed into its false color.
Trivia[]
- If one faces a CPU Luigi and he uses Negative Zone, he will almost always only spam his Fireballs over and over again, even if his AI is set to Level 9. The CPU will start to use different attacks after the circle begins fading out.
- Despite Luigi's Down Taunt having set knockback, it is still significantly more powerful in the Negative Zone, even powerful enough to OHKO lighter characters. This might mean that rather than making characters lighter, the Negative Zone decreases launch resistance.
- This is one of the three Final Smashes that includes the character performing a dance, the others are Peach Blossom and Waddle Dee Army.
- In the PAL version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the last line of the trophy reads: In contrast to the oddness of the dance, this is a terribly powerful Final Smash.