Pummel

A pummel (, Grab, grasp, grip, or catch attack; referred to as CatchAttack by the internal game files, and officially as Grab Attack in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is an attack usable while an opponent remains trapped in the player's grab. It was first introduced in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is performed by pressing either the attack or grab button after a successful grab. Pummels deal very low damage (usually from 1% to 3% per use), but can be used repeatedly at a relatively fast rate until the opponent is eventually thrown or breaks free from the grab.
Most pummels consist of knee jabs or headbutts since the pummeling character will already be holding their opponent using their arms. Pummeling is primarily used to rack up extra damage before a throw, and to restore moves from stale-move negation. The latter utility becomes more critical from Brawl onward, as staleness has a greater effect on the knockback inflicted, allowing pummels to bring KO moves back to full strength, and in Brawl, to keep subsequent throws at the appropriate knockback for chain grabbing.
Since accumulated damage increases the period an opponent is grabbed for, pummels are more effective at high percentages. If too many pummels are attempted, the opponent can break free from the grab without allowing the pummeler to throw them. Because of this, a player should balance the number of times they pummel the opponent before throwing, which also depends on their character; those with fast pummels such as Fox can spare a few frames to get some extra damage on the opponent, whereas those with slow pummels such as Ganondorf risk the opponent wriggling out of their grab if they pummel at lower percentages, making it more worthwhile to simply throw them.
==Pummels across games==
The attack rate of pummels has been generally sped up throughout the series, though their damage has also decreased in the process.
In Melee, all pummels deal 3% damage, and most characters' pummels last 24 frames; the exceptions are , , , and 's pummels, which last 25 frames, as well as , , and 's, which last 30 frames. This causes them to be mostly identical across the cast. 
In Brawl, several characters have received more unique pummels that are faster, but deal less damage. The fastest pummel is 's, which deals 1% damage and lasts a mere 6 frames, while the slowest is 's, which deals 3% and lasts 29 frames. The average duration of pummels among the cast is 17 frames, down from 24 frames in Melee, making them much faster overall. Due to Brawls lack of decimal values for base damage, all pummels deal either 1%, 2%, or 3% damage (or in the case of 's pummel with White Pikmin, 4% damage).
In Smash 4, all returning veterans except retain their pummel speeds from Brawl. However, due to several newcomers such as , , , and possessing notoriously slow pummels, the average duration has been increased to 20 frames. The fastest pummel is now 's at 7 frames, due to Wolf being cut from the game, while the slowest is Mii Swordfighter's at 33 frames. Pummels are also far more unique across the cast because of the new ability to give moves decimal base damage, with several of them dealing a variety of decimal damage values; this results in some more damaging pummels than the most damaging from Brawl (discounting Olimar's with White Pikmin), with 's dealing 3.64%.
In Ultimate, while some variance remains between characters, pummels have overall been standardized across the board, much like in Melee, except keeping the average pummel duration closer to that of Brawl and Smash 4; this applies to their damage as well, which is considerably lower overall, with a minimum of 1% and a maximum of 1.6%, and the majority of pummels dealing 1.3%. As a result of these changes, previously fast pummels such as , , and 's deal slightly more damage, but are noticeably slower, while previously slow pummels such as , , and 's are significantly faster, but deal moderately less damage. This eliminates a large part of the imbalance between pummels in previous games, as characters no longer refresh other moves or rack up damage at a disproportionally fast rate compared to others based on pummeling speed.
It is worth noting that like other attacks, pummels inflict hitlag, and from Brawl onwards, opponents can still mash out of the attacker's grab during hitlag, so they are another factor to consider for a pummel's practical duration. Because of this, pummels that inflict less hitlag are more advantageous. In Ultimate, the actual duration of pummels is significantly shorter than in previous games (from 5 to 7 frames), but it is augmented by a much higher hitlag multipliers (typically upwards of 2x), which keep their average speed roughly the same as in previous games. However, it is also impossible to buffer the next pummel during the hitlag from the previous, and thus it is considerably harder to pummel at the maximum speed.
==List of pummels==
In the following table, the total duration lists the combined total frames of both the pummels' coded duration and the amount of hitlag they inflict. The damage values and durations for Ultimate do not account for the 1v1 multiplier.
Character 	Description 	Damage	Total duration
Banjo & Kazooie 	Kazooie pecks the opponent. 	1.4% 	19
Bayonetta 	Slaps the opponent twice. 	1.6%, 1.6%
 0.6%, 0.7%	27
 24
Bowser 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 3.1%
 1.6%	24
 27
 22
Bowser Jr. 	Hits the opponent with a toy hammer. 	2%
 1.3%	20
 19
Byleth 	Knees the opponent. 	1.5% 	21
Captain Falcon 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 18
 19
Charizard 	Bites the opponent. 	2%
 1.6%	19
21
Chrom 	Knees the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Cloud 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	29
 19
Corrin 	Hits the opponent with the Omega Yato's hilt. Knees the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	27
 19
Daisy 	Toad punches the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Dark Pit 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	18
 19
Dark Samus 	Chops the opponent with her free hand. 	1.3% 	19
Diddy Kong 	Headbutts the opponent. 	2%
 1%	19
 16
Donkey Kong 	Chops the opponent with one hand. 	3%
 2%
 1.6%	24
 19
 18
 21
Dr. Mario 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 3.64%
 1.5275%	24
 27
 19
Duck Hunt 	The duck headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	32
 19
Falco 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 19
Fox 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 1% 1.2%	24
 12
 15
Ganondorf 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.6%	24
 27
 34
 21
Greninja 	Squeezes the opponent with water. 	2%
 1%	29
 17
Hero 	Knees the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Ice Climbers 	Headbutt the opponent. The lead climber headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 1%	25
 21
 16
Ike 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 1.6%	26
 20
Incineroar 	Headbutts the opponent. 	1.6% 	20
Inkling 	Kicks the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Isabelle 	Yanks her net backwards. 	1.3% 	19
Ivysaur 	Constricts the opponent with vines. Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
1.3%	28
 19
Jigglypuff 	Slaps the opponent with its hair tuft. Punches the opponent with its free arm. Kicks the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	30
 24
 19
Joker 	Knees the opponent. 	1.5% 	19
Kazuya 	Strikes the opponent's sternum. 	3.4% 	33
Ken 	Knees the opponent. 	1.3% 	17
King Dedede 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 1.6%	24
 21
King K. Rool 	Headbutts the opponent. 	1.6% 	21
Kirby 	Punches the opponent. 	3%
 1% 1.55%	30
 12
 15
Link 	Hits the opponent with the Master Sword's hilt. 	3%
 2%
 2.1%
 1.3%	25
 18
 19
Little Mac 	Punches the opponent. 	2.1%
 1%	18
 15
Lucario 	Blasts the opponent with aura from its palms. 	 	10
 19
Lucas 	Headbutts the opponent. Zaps the opponent with PSI. 	3%
 1.2%
 1.3%	16
 12
 19
Lucina 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	18
 19
Luigi 	Headbutts the opponent. Squeezes the opponent with the Poltergust G-00. 	3%
 3.2%
 1.3%	24
 27
 19
Mario 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 3.25%
 1.3%	24
 27
 19
Marth 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 18
 19
Mega Man 	Squeezes the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	32
 19
Meta Knight 	Stabs the opponent with one wing. 	3%
 1%	27
 30
 15
Mewtwo 	Zaps the opponent with its palm. Blasts the opponent with dark energy from its palm. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 19
Mii Brawler 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3.25%
 1.3%	27
 19
Mii Gunner 	Hits the opponent with their arm cannon. Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	27
 19
Mii Swordfighter	Hits the opponent with their sword's hilt. Knees the opponent. 	3.25%
 1.3%	37
 19
Min Min 	Knees the opponent. 	1.5% 	20
Mr. Game & Watch	Hits the opponent with a bell. 	3%
 3.2%
 1.3%	30
 33
 19
Mythra 	Hits the opponent with a magic blast. 	1.5% 	20
Ness 	Headbutts the opponent. Blasts the opponent with PSI. 	3%
 1%
 1.2%
 1.3%	24
 12
 19
Olimar 	The Pikmin grabbing the opponent headbutts them. White Pikmin deal more damage than the rest. Olimar chops the opponent with one hand.	
 1% 	21 
 
 16
Pac-Man 	Headbutts the opponent. 	3.25%
 1.3%	28
 19
Palutena 	Blasts the opponent with magic from her staff. 	3.1%
 1.3%	26
 19
Peach 	Kicks the opponent. Toad punches the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 21
 19
Pichu 	Zaps the opponent. Causes 1% recoil damage to Pichu. Electrically headbutts the opponent. Causes 0.1% recoil damage to Pichu. 	3%
 1.4%	24
 1819 prior to version
Pikachu 	Electrically headbutts the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.9%
 1%	24
 17
 1618 prior to version 2.0.0
Piranha Plant 	Bites the opponent. 	1.4% 	19
Pit 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	18
 19
Pyra 	Hits the opponent with a fiery blast. 	1.5% 	20
R.O.B. 	Squeezes the opponent. Headbutts the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	19
 18
Richter 	Knees the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Ridley 	Stabs the opponent with his tail. 	1.6% 	21
Robin 	Zaps the opponent with magic. 	3%
 1.5%	39
 21
Rosalina & Luma 	Rosalina hits the opponent with her wand. 	2
 1.3%	20 
 19
Roy 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 18
 19
Ryu 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	18
 17
Samus 	Chops the opponent with her free hand. 	3%
 1%
 1.2%
 1.3%	24
 11
 19
Sephiroth 	Squeezes the opponent as corrupted Lifestream radiates from his hand. 	1.3% 	20
Sheik 	Hits the opponent with her free arm's elbow. Knees the opponent. 	3%
 3.1%
 1%	24
 27
 33
 15
Shulk 	Hits the opponent with the Monado's hilt. 	3%
 1.3%	33
 19
Simon 	Knees the opponent. 	1.3% 	19
Snake 	Tightens his chokehold on the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	20
 19
Sonic 	Knees the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	18
 19
Sora 	Bashes the opponent with the hilt of the Keyblade. 	1.5% 	20
Squirtle 	Headbutts the opponent. 	2%
 1%	18
 15
Steve 	Punches the opponent. 	1.5% 	20
Terry 	Performs a gut punch. 	1.5% 	20
Toon Link 	Hits the opponent with the Master Sword's hilt. 	2%
 1%	18
 16
Villager 	Yanks his net backwards. 	3%
 1.3%	30
 19
Wario 	Pokes the opponent with his free arm's index finger. 	2%
 1.6%	21
Wii Fit Trainer 	Squeezes the opponent. 	3%
 1.3%	34
 19
Wolf 	Knees the opponent. 	1%
 1.3%	9
 19
Yoshi 	Chews the opponent. 	3%
 2%
 1.3%	24
 18
 19
Young Link 	Hits the opponent with the Kokiri Sword's hilt. 	3%
 1%	25
 18
Zelda 	Blasts the opponent with magic. 	3%
 1.3%	25
 28
 20
Zero Suit Samus 	Knees the opponent. 	2%
 1.3%	18 
 19
====Notes====
==Gallery==
Sephiroth Pummel.jpg| pummeling in Ultimate.
GrabPummelSSB4.jpg| pummeling in .
Peachpummel.jpg| pummeling in Brawl.
PummelMelee.jpg| pummeling in Melee.
Category:Game controls
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Category:Attacks
es:Golpiza