Rock Smash (いわくだき Iwa Kudaki?) is Charizard's Side Special Move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and its Down Special Move in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
Overview[]
Charizard takes a large rock and headbutts it, with the force of the headbutt having high knockback and very high damage. After this portion of the attack, the rock shatters into three smaller pieces that fly forward in a spread effect, dealing small amounts of damage. The attack is a powerful, but slow, finisher in normal matches.
It is a useful move against bosses, as they do not make any effort to dodge the slow attack, and because they don't experience knockback, they can receive the maximum possible damage from the move as they can be hit by the headbutt and all the pieces of the rock. In addition, since bosses are unaffected by knockback, this means every possible hitbox will connect, dealing massive damage, whereas playable characters will often be knocked out of range by the initial blow. Similarly, this means it is one of the few moves that can break a Smash Ball alone.
Rock Smash is great on shields and as an escape tool; use it while an enemy is using a combo on Charizard and the Super Armor on the move will prevent Charizard from being launched, end their combo, and possibly attack them with a high-damaging move.
This move does not appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as due to Charizard being on the returning Pokémon Trainer’s team again, Pokémon Change would replace Rock Smash as its down special move.
Charizard's Special Moves | |||
---|---|---|---|
Brawl | 3DS/Wii U | Ultimate | |
Standard Special | Flamethrower | ||
Side Special | Rock Smash | Flare Blitz | |
Up Special | Fly | ||
Down Special | (Pokémon Change) | Rock Smash | (Pokémon Change) |
Final Smash | Fire Blast (of Triple Finish) | Mega Evolution | Fire Blast (of Triple Finish) |
Custom Variations[]
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the move can be customized to Sinking Skull or Rock Hurl.
Sinking Skull[]
Sinking Skull will slam opponents into the ground temporarily while doing decent damage.
Strengths
- Buries opponents
Weaknesses
- Deals less damage
Rock Hurl[]
Rock Hurl has Charizard grab a rock and smash it against its head. It will send pieces diagonally up that will damage any opponent and carry an opponent if they were hit by the initial blast.
Strengths
- Send opponent upwards
- A piece of the rock hits upward
Charizard's Custom Special Moves | ||
---|---|---|
Custom 1 | Custom 2 | |
Standard Special | Fire Fang | Fireball Cannon |
Side Special | Blast Burn | Dragon Rush |
Up Special | Rising Cyclone | Fly High |
Down Special | Sinking Skull | Rock Hurl |
Origin[]
Rock Smash is a TM in Pokémon video games, being introduced in Generation II as the TM08. It had a Base Power setting of 20, having 15 Power Points, 100% accuracy and is a Fighting-type attack. In addition, outside of battle, it is used to destroy small rocks found on the road, or in caves.
In the third and fourth Generations, it was the HM06 and was even boosted to 40 Base Power in the latter Generation, but in the fifth generation, it was returned to TM status as TM94, and regained its status as a HM during the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire games. Perhaps ironically, in the main Pokémon series, Rock Smash is considered a weak move.
Trivia[]
- Whenever Charizard uses Rock Smash in the gloomy parts of the Rest Station in All-Star Mode, the rock will look like a chunk of ice. This also happens during the Ridley and Meta Ridley in Boss Battles Mode and in the Subspace Emissary.
- While performing Rock Smash, any attack that interrupts Charizard will cause it to visibly drop the boulder. However, any attack that actually goes through Rock Smash's attack frames will simply make the boulder itself disappear after the visible hit-lag.
- The average of the percentage damage of Rock Smash is 40% and in the main Pokémon series the base power of the move is 40 (Diamond and Pearl onward). This may be a reference to the actual move in the Pokémon main series.