Helpless

Helpless (also known as freefall, special fall and various other names, and called "fallspecial" in game data) is a state in which characters are unable to take any action, with the exception of grabbing a ledge, maneuvering left/right, fastfalling, or climbing a ladder, until they land on the ground or pass a blast line. Helplessness is typically associated with just having used one's recovery move(s), namely the up special, though some other special moves that provide additional movement also incur this state. Before Ultimate, many special moves involving controllable projectiles (such as Ness's PK Flash and Zelda's Din's Fire) caused helplessness as well.
Some special moves are programmed to transition to helplessness early upon contact with a platform. In the case of soft platforms, holding down to drop through them will result in the player becoming helpless before the move is usually over, though it can also be seen if the user breaks the platform it landed on with the landing potion of the attack (where applicable), or if blown off the platform with a move that deals no hitstun.
Helplessness most commonly ends upon landing on the ground or being KO'd, although it also ends if characters flinch, allowing them to attack or re-use their triple jump. A helpless character is denoted by both a flickering black overlay and a distinct falling animation.
A state similar to helplessness exists in falling after having one's shield broken and then being stunned.
Curiously, the helpless state gives characters an extra ability in Super Smash Bros.: the ability to fall through soft platforms without landing on them. Starting in Melee, this can be done at any time (not just when a character is helpless).
==Moves that invoke helplessness==
Character 	Move 	Type 	Games 	Notes
Sora 	Aerial Sweep 	Up Special 	 	Sora can input Sonic Blade at the apex of the move for an additional boost to his recovery.
Ike 	Aether 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until Ike lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Ike has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Pichu 	Agility 	Up Special 	 	
All 	Air dodge 	 	 	Melee only.
Shulk 	Air Slash 	Up Special 	 	
Mii Swordfighter 	Airborne Assault 	Side Special 	 	In Ultimate, a half-second window is granted after the move's usage to execute other actions before the helplessness is inflicted.
Mii Gunner 	Arm Rocket 	Up Special 	 	
Villager, Isabelle 	 	Up Special 	 	Can happen sooner if balloons are popped by opponents. Villager's helpless animation is based on that of the "defeated" animation from Balloon Fight.
Ice Climbers 	Belay 	Up Special 	 	
Sephiroth 	Blade Dash / Octaslash 	Up Special 	 	
Roy 	Blazer 	Up Special 	 	
Zero Suit Samus 	Boost Kick 	Up Special 	 	
Sheik 	Burst Grenade 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Mii Gunner 	Cannon Uppercut (SSB4)/Cannon Jump Kick (SSBU)	Up Special 	 	Functionally identical to one another, with only the animations being any different.
Cloud 	Climhazzard 	Up Special 	 	If the follow-up attack is executed, Cloud will fall rapidly; normally, he will plummet until he either hits solid ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Cloud has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless. Additionally, in exceptionally tall stages (such as a custom stage or Smash Run), Cloud enters helplessness after one full second.
Wario 	Corkscrew 	Up Special 	 	
Incineroar 	Cross Chop 	Up Special 	 	Incineroar will only enter helplessness if it fails to hit solid ground again upon rebounding after using the move.
Daisy 	Daisy Parasol 	Up Special 	 	Daisy only enters helplessness if she decides to fastfall (which retracts the parasol) after using the move — she can also end the helplessness and resume parachuting by pressing up (re-opening it). Additionally, Daisy will automatically enter helplessness after eight full seconds of floating.
Ganondorf 	Dark Dive 	Up Special 	 	If the move's grab connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Meta Knight 	Dimensional Cape 	Down Special 	 	
Zelda 	Din's Fire 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Marth, Lucina 	Dolphin Slash 	Up Special 	 	
Corrin 	Dragon Ascent 	Up Special 	 	
Meta Knight 	Drill Rush 	Side Special 	 	
Duck Hunt 	Duck Jump 	Up Special 	 	In Ultimate, the duo can cancel the move into an attack or an air dodge, after which they will still become helpless.
Yoshi 	Egg Roll 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 and Ultimate.
Steve 	Elytra 	Up Special 	 	In addition to normal helplessness when the move ends, Steve can also cause his glide to stall if he climbs too far.
Lucario 	Extreme Speed 	Up Special 	 	If Lucario hits a wall during the move, it will wall cling instead of becoming helpless. However, it cannot use the move again.
Falco 	Falco Phantasm 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 or Ultimate.
Captain Falcon 	Falcon Dive 	Up Special 	 	Like Dark Dive, if the move connects with an opponent, Captain Falcon does not become helpless and can use the move again.
Zelda 	Farore's Wind 	Up Special 	 	
Kirby 	Final Cutter 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until Kirby lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Kirby has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Mr. Game & Watch 	Fire 	Up Special 	 	Only causes helplessness in Melee.
Falco 	Fire Bird 	Up Special 	 	
Fox 	Fire Fox 	Up Special 	 	
Wolf 	Fire Wolf 	Up Special 	 	
Ganondorf 	Flame Choke 	Side Special 	 	If the move connects with an opponent, Ganondorf does not become helpless, although he (and his victim) will fall until he hits the ground or bypasses the lower blast line. If the opponent mashes out of the move before hitting the ground, Ganondorf does not become helpless.
Charizard 	Fly 	Up Special 	 	
Fox 	Fox Illusion 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4 or Ultimate.
Ganondorf 	Gerudo Dragon 	Side Special 	 	Melee only.
Donkey Kong 	Giant Punch 	Neutral Special	 	Does not cause helplessness in SSB or Ultimate.
Meta Knight, Charizard, Pit	Gliding 	 	 	If the user has used all their double jumps, they are put into helplessness once the glide ends (either by stalling or by attacking). Brawl only.
Samus 	Grapple Beam 	Grab aerial 	 	Melee only.
Mii Brawler 	Headache Maker 	Side Special 	 	
Wii Fit Trainer 	Header 	Side Special 	 	Only causes helplessness if the user airdodges during the move.
Mii Brawler 	Helicopter Kick 	Up Special 	 	
Mii Swordfighter 	Hero's Spin 	Up Special 	 	
Link, Young Link 	Hookshot 	Grab aerial 	 	Melee only.
Greninja 	Hydro Pump 	Up Special 	 	
Little Mac 	Jolt Haymaker 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Palutena 	Jump Glide 	Up Special 	 	Attacking while under the move's effect cancels the glide and triggers helplessness.
Rosalina & Luma 	Launch Star 	Up Special 	 	
Villager 	Lloid Rocket 	Side Special 	 	Villager only enters helplessness if he rides then jumps off of the Lloid Rocket, does not hit an opponent during the ride, or if Lloid is destroyed. Based on defeated animation of Balloon Fighter.
Mii Gunner 	Lunar Launch 	Up Special 	 	
Meta Knight 	Mach Tornado 	Neutral Special	 	
Robin 	Nosferatu 	Down Special 	 	Robin only enters helplessness after Nosferatu finishes dealing damage to an opponent in mid-air or over a temporary platform that is no longer active.
Mii Brawler 	Onslaught 	Side Special 	 	
Pac-ManAll 	Pac-Jump 	Up Special 	 	All jumps trigger helplessness for Pac-Man. When the trampoline is red, both Pac-Man or any other character who lands on it will instantaneously enter helplessness.
Peach 	Peach Parasol 	Up Special 	 	Peach only enters helplessness if she decides to fastfall (which retracts the parasol) after using the move — she can also end the helplessness and resume parachuting by pressing up (re-opening it). However, if Peach is under the effects of items that make her shrink or grow while she fastfalls, she will become helpless, as her parasol disappears once she's back to normal. In SSB4 and Ultimate, Peach will automatically enter helplessness after eight full seconds of floating. The Parasol item allows any character to do this in Melee.
Mythra 	Photon Edge 	Side Special 	 	
Olimar 	Pikmin Chain 	Up Special 	 	Normally, Pikmin Chain makes Olimar helpless after the move is used in the air. However, if he uses grounded Pikmin Chain and the platform he's standing on disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he uses ground Pikmin Chain while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless. Brawl only.
Piranha Plant 	Piranhacopter 	Up Special 	 	
Mii Brawler 	Piston Punch 	Up Special 	 	Only available in SSB4.
Ness 	PK Flash 	Neutral Special	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Lucas, Ness 	PK Freeze 	Neutral Special	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate. Ness's variant is accessible via SSB4 customs only.
Lucas, Ness 	PK Thunder 	Up Special 	 	
Pit, Dark Pit 	Power of Flight 	Up Special 	 	
Pyra 	Prominence Revolt 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until Pyra lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Pyra has landed on disappears or something causes her to slide off while she is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), she will become helpless.
King K. Rool 	Propellerpack 	Up Special 	 	Normally, when King K. Rool uses the move, he will enter a slow fluttering state when it ends. However, if he fastfalls during this state, he will enter the helpless animation. While K. Rool is not technically considered helpless during the fluttering state, he cannot perform any action during it.
Pikachu 	Quick Attack 	Up Special 	 	
Ike 	Quick Draw 	Side Special 	 	In SSB4 and Ultimate, a half-second window is granted after the move's usage to execute Aether. Otherwise, Ike will be sent into a helpless state.
Captain Falcon 	Raptor Boost 	Side Special 	 	In Ultimate, hitting an opponent with this move won't cause helplessness and Falcon can use the move again.
Mythra 	Ray of Punishment / Chroma Dust 	Up Special 	 	
Terry 	Rising Tackle 	Up Special 	 	
Little Mac 	Rising Uppercut 	Up Special 	 	
Palutena 	Rocket Jump 	Up Special 	 	
Diddy Kong 	Rocketbarrel Boost 	Up Special 	 	
Diddy Kong 	Rocketbarrel Barrage 	Final Smash 	 	Does not cause helplessness in SSB4.
Jigglypuff 	Rollout 	Neutral Special	(contact )	Only causes helplessness in Melee, as in the later games, Jigglypuff will keep rolling and won't be able to move if it hits while mid-air (making it literally helpless until it lands or takes knockback).
Samus, Dark Samus 	Screw Attack 	Up Special 	 	
All 	Screw Attack (item) 	Item 	 	When this item is thrown at opponents (Melee only), they will involuntarily execute a Screw Attack and thus become helpless.
Ryu 	Shin Shoryuken 	Final Smash 	 	Ryu becomes helpless after he executes the final attack, whether it connects or not.
Meta Knight 	Shuttle Loop 	Up Special 	 	In Brawl, while the initial execution of the move does not make Meta Knight helpless, he does become helpless if the glide ends. In SSB4 and Ultimate, gliding does not exist and Meta Knight is made helpless after the move concludes.
Ryu, Ken 	Shoryuken 	Up Special 	 	The helpless animation starts after Ryu/Ken falls below his starting point. Before that, Shoryuken is unique in that it allows none of the usual maneuvering after executing it (making Ryu/Ken literally helpless).
Mii Swordfighter 	Skyward Slash Dash 	Up Special 	 	
Mii Brawler 	Soaring Axe Kick 	Up special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until the Mii Brawler lands on the ground, grabs the edge of the stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform that the Mii Brawler has landed on disappears or something causes them to slide off while they are in the landing animation (Such as falling off the conveyor belt) they will became Helpless. In Ultimate, helplessness is only inflicted if the downward attack is not executed. If downward attack is executed and they fall during the endlag they will become helpless.
Chrom 	Soaring Slash 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until Chrom lands on the ground, grabs the edge of a stage, or bypasses the lower blast line. However, if the platform Chrom has landed on disappears or something causes him to slide off while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he will become helpless.
Sora 	Sonic Blade 	Side Special 	 	
Link, Young Link, Toon Link	Spin Attack 	Up Special 	 	Normally, Spin Attack makes Link, Young Link, or Toon Link helpless after the move was used if in the air. However, if he stands on a platform while using a grounded Spin Attack and the platform disappears (such as falling off a conveyor belt), or he used grounded Spin Attack while the stage is rotating, he will become helpless.
Donkey Kong 	Spinning Kong 	Up Special 	 	
Ice Climbers 	Squall Hammer 	Side Special 	 	
Mii Gunner 	Stealth Burst 	Side Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Mii Swordfighter 	Stone Scabbard 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until Mii Swordfighter lands on the ground or grabs the edge of a stage. However, if the platform Mii Swordfighter has landed on disappears or something causes them to slide off while they are still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), they will become helpless.
King Dedede 	Super Dedede Jump 	Up Special 	 	Normally, the move does not end until King Dedede lands on the ground. However, if the platform King Dedede has landed on disappears while he is still in the landing animation (such as falling off a conveyor belt), he hits a ceiling while using the move, or the move is cancelled by the user, he will become helpless.
Wii Fit Trainer 	Super Hoop 	Up Special 	 	
Inkling 	Super Jump 	Up Special 	 	Despite lacking the flashing effect helplessness normally leaves on a character after using a specific action that causes it, Inkling cannot perform any other moves until she lands or grabs a ledge. There is a hitbox upon landing from this animation.
Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario 	Super Jump Punch 	Up Special 	 	Their helpless animations are based on the Mario Bros.' death sprite in games such as Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 (in Luigi's case, this applies only in SSB and Melee).
Mii Brawler 	Suplex 	Side special 	 	Only available in Ultimate.
Mewtwo 	Teleport 	Up Special 	 	
Mii Brawler 	Thrust Uppercut 	Up special 	 	Only available in Ultimate. Replaces Piston Punch from SSB4.
Mii Brawler 	Ultimate Uppercut 	Neutral Special	 	Only available in SSB4.
Simon, Richter 	Uppercut 	Up Special 	 	
Sheik 	Vanish 	Up Special 	 	
Ivysaur 	Vine Whip 	Up Special 	 	Does not cause helplessness in Ultimate.
Shulk 	Vision 	Down Special 	 	Shulk will only become helpless if he uses the reverse-inputted variant of the attack, and if the platform he’s on disappears before the animation is finished. However, Shulk is granted a brief window of time to execute any other action before the helplessness is inflicted.
Palutena 	Warp 	Up Special 	 	
Squirtle 	Waterfall 	Up Special 	 	
Bowser 	Whirling Fortress 	Up Special 	 	
Ridley 	Wing Blitz 	Up Special 	 	
Olimar 	Winged Pikmin 	Up Special 	 	
Pit 	Wings of Icarus 	Up Special 	 	Pit can also avoid becoming helpless by using an aerial attack when using this move. Brawl only.
Joker 	Wings of Rebellion 	Up Special 	 	Can only access this move if Arsène is summoned via Joker's Rebellion Gauge.
Wolf 	Wolf Flash 	Side Special 	 	
Hero 	Woosh / Swoosh / Kaswoosh 	Up Special 	 	All three stages of this move cause helplessness.
==Landfallspecial and "superdashtechnique"==
As a unique animation is used for falling while helpless, characters enter a different animation than usual once they land on the ground. This is called "landfallspecial" internally in Melee. Because air dodging enters this state and wavelanding involves air dodging into the ground, when wavedashing is performed, Melees shows "landfallspecial" as the character state. This originally led some players to believe that the "landfallspecial" designation was specifically designed for wavedashing and that developers intentionally put wavedashing in the game, further fueling the various debates over wavedashing's legitimacy. At one point, the myth morphed to where, instead of just "landfallspecial", there was purportedly another debug mode designation — cited as "superdashtechnique", "superdashattack", or other supposed variants — created solely for the wavedashing animation. All incarnations of this story have been proven false, and should not be themselves taken as evidence that wavedashing was intentionally put or left in Melee.
==Freefall Carryover Drift==
In Ultimate, if a fighter uses a special move which will put them into freefall, but they land before entering freefall, they may enter a glitched state if the special move's ending lag doesn't transfer from an airborne to a grounded state. Upon entering this state, the next time the character enters the air, they will initially adopt their normal air speed, but after a few frames will revert to the air speed they would have when entering freefall from the special move used, which is usually lower than their normal fall speed. This will persist until they double jump, grab a ledge or land on the ground again.
==Gallery==
File:Fox helpless SSBM.png|Fox's helpless animation in Melee.
Image:Fox helpless.png|Fox's helpless animation in Brawl.
File:Helpless Fox SSB4.png|Fox's helpless animation in Super Smash Bros. 4.
File:SSBUWebsiteFox1.jpg|Fox's helpless animation in Ultimate.
==Trivia==
*The moves Fire, Robo Burner, Spring Jump, and Cypher do not cause helplessness in Brawl, although they do restrict the user's choice of moves until they land - Mr. Game & Watch and Snake simply cannot use the recovery move again, while Sonic cannot use any special moves and R.O.B. cannot air dodge. Through a programming oversight, this condition prevents them from using their recovery move again if grabbed and released without pummeling before touching the ground (except for R.O.B.).
*If Kirby copies a move that causes helplessness, he will be affected just as the original character would be. These moves are Giant Punch (Melee through Smash 4), Mach Tornado, PK Flash (until Ultimate), PK Freeze (until Ultimate), and Rollout (only Melee).
*In all games except Melee, some characters are unable to become helpless through their own moveset. These include Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Mr. Game & Watch, Snake, Ivysaur (in Ultimate), Sonic, R.O.B., Mega Man, Bowser Jr., Bayonetta, Banjo & Kazooie, Byleth, Min Min, and Kazuya.
**R.O.B. is not programmed to have a helpless state in Brawl, and forcing it to activate via hacking causes the game to crash. All other characters in the game have a helpless state, even if they cannot enter it without hacking. 
**Moves like Final Cutter, Stone Scabbard and Prominence Revolt do put their respective characters into a helpless state, but only when landing on the ground, making this mechanic unnoticable in normal gameplay. If the character is somehow pushed off the stage before exiting landing lag, they will retain their helpless state and fall to their deaths.
**Smash 4 and Ultimate introduced Pac-Man's Pac-Jump, which automatically triggers the helpless state to characters that touch the red trampoline. This is the only way to see the helpless animations of the aforementioned characters in normal gameplay.
**Jigglypuff's Rollout puts Jigglypuff in a similar state where they are unable to perform any actions but drift. This is not technically helpless.
*In Brawl, since Jigglypuff's and Mr. Game & Watch's air dodge animations carry over from Melee, pausing just before the animation ends allows the player to see their helpless state.
**Additionally, whenever Link, Samus, and Toon Link perform a grab aerial, it's possible to see their helpless animations by pausing just before the end of the animations.
*Meta Knight is the only character whose entire set of special moves leaves him helpless.
**Meta Knight is also the only character with two different helpless animations; one with his wings, and one without.
*Donkey Kong is the only character to have a move not result in a helpless state in the first game (being Smash 64), then having it result in a helpless state for the next games (from Melee to Super Smash Bros. 4), then reverting back to not resulting in such (being Ultimate). In this case, Giant Punch.
*The unique animation caused by landing while helpless is the cause of the landing lag glitch.
*Melee is the only Smash game in which all characters can become helpless through their own moveset.
* Kirby's helpless pose in each game is the same pose he makes when falling in his home series. Unlike his own games, Kirby only does this pose in Smash Bros. when using a move that causes helplessness, not by falling normally.
*Every game in the series except Smash 64 and Brawl has a method in which a character can become helpless as a result of someone else:
**Melee has the , which can be thrown at someone to make them perform a move similar to Samus's , leaving them helpless after it.
**Smash 4 and Ultimate have Pac-Man's trampoline, which will make a character helpless if they bounce on it while it is red.
Category:Game mechanics
Category:Game controls