Super Smash Bros. series

Star KO

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Not to be confused withKO Stars.
This article is about the KO that launches opponents into space. For the KO that launches opponents toward the screen, seeScreen KO.
Characters fly away from the main stage as they are turning into a star, demonstrated with Wario inLylat Cruise.

Astar knock-out orstar finish (星バースト,Star Burst), abbreviated asStar KO, internally known asHoshikie inSmash 4 andTwinkle inUltimate, is a type ofKO that can occur beyond the upperblast line in theSuper Smash Bros. series. They often last about 2 seconds and are the longest type of KO, often leaving their perpetrator safe from the victim.

Overview[edit]

When characters are knocked beyond the upperblast line (save for a fewexceptions), they fly through the background and away from the stage while usually screaming, crying, roaring, yelling or shouting, and eventually disappear as a star. InMelee,Brawl, andUltimate, this has the longest duration out of any KOs. Along with Star KOs, there is a chance of aScreen KO happening instead, where characters slam into the camera.

Most conditions on the characters, such as the invincibility of theSuper Star or standby mode after breaking theSmash Ball, are still visible on the characters while they are Star KO'd. Exceptions includemetal characters inMelee andBrawl (unless while playing inSuper Smash Bros. Melee's single-player modes),giant ortiny characters due toSuper Mushrooms,Poison Mushrooms, orLightning Bolts inBrawl,Smash 4, andUltimate, andfrozen characters inSmash 4 andUltimate. Star KO'd characters inUltimate arebillboarded 3D models on some stages.

Differences between games[edit]

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The editor who added this tag elaborates:Source of the Star KO voice clips of certain characters who use recycled voice clips; Morton's inSmash 4 andUltimate, and Young Link's inUltimate.

InSuper Smash Bros.[edit]

InSmash 64, the duration allotted for Star KOs, along with Screen KOs, are noticeably longer than inMelee onward. Depending on the camera angle, the victim will often not become visible until nearly after they finish their Star KO voice clip, making the animation not synchronize with the voice clip, with the exception ofPikachu andMario, whose Star KO voice clip is slightly longer than the rest of cast.

With the exception ofDonkey Kong,Samus,Fox,Captain Falcon,Ness andKirby, whose voice clips are unique toSuper Smash Bros., the rest of the cast use re-purposed voice clips for their Star KO:

  • Mario uses his falling voice clip fromSuper Mario 64.
  • Luigi uses Mario's scream from getting burned, also derived fromSuper Mario 64, albeit being noticeably higher pitched.
  • Link uses the second variant of his falling voice clip fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
  • Yoshi uses his defeat voice clip fromYoshi's Story.
  • Pikachu has its Star KO voice derived from thePokémon anime.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Starting with this game, theenemy team can no longer be Star or Screen KO'd under normal circumstances (with the exception ofEvent 37: Legendary Pokémon for unknown reasons), presumably so that the game will not delay a next enemy's spawn as much as inSmash 64. Most horde battles in single-player modes (exceptClassic Mode) also disable Star and Screen KOs for similar reasons (seebelow). Their animations are also much faster, now properly synchronizing with the voice clip across the cast. InMushroom Kingdom II,the victim fades out faster than usual before turning into stars.

AsDr. Mario shares his voice clips withMario, he also uses Mario's falling voice clip fromSuper Mario 64.Young Link, likehis adult self, uses his falling voice clip fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, whileGanondorf uses one of his damaging voice clips from the same game.Mr. Game & Watch, like many of his sound effects, makes a Game & Watch-esque beep.Zelda's Star KO voice clip is infamous in the community for being too higher-pitched and horrifying, often being compared to stereotypical screams in horror movies.

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Star KOs inBrawl are generally identical to its appearance inMelee, but the voice clips are given a reverberating effect, similar to those used forFinal Smashes and theannouncer's voice, as if the victim is far away from the stage (though they are actually added by the game rather than their sound files being echoed, albeit still fading out at the end). InFlat Zone 2 andHanenbow, if the victim's status conditions are still in effect, they will not be aligned with the character (i.e. the frozen block and character fly off separately).

For the first time in the series,Brawl introduces a character who is silent while being Star KO'd, that beingOlimar (even thoughPikmin 2 gave him a canon voice). Additionally, there are a handful of characters who shout "No!" while being Star KO'd, which areSnake andSonic, as well as veteranPeach.Kirby similarly makes an "Iyah!" sound, a Japanese phrase for expressing dismay or shock, whileWolf andR.O.B. emit a howl and multiple beeps respectively while Star KO'd. Likewise,Link uses the second variant of his falling voice clip fromThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, whileGanondorf uses the first variant of his damaging voice clip, taken from the same game. Similarly,Toon Link's comes from the "Meeting with Ganondorf" cutscene inThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, where he charges at Ganondorf with a slash, but to no avail.Samus andMr. Game & Watch's Star KO sounds are also renewed.

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

Star KOs inSmash 4 are almost identical to how they acted inBrawl, though voice clips now use a smooth echo effect instead of a reverberating effect used inBrawl. However, both Star and Screen KOs are no longer guaranteed to occur; the upper blast line will cause either a Blast KO, a Star KO, or a Screen KO at random. Players launched at extremely high speeds, however, are not Star KO'd or Screen KO'd. In addition, presumably as to solve balance issues, Star KOs no longer occur when there's onlyfive seconds remaining in a timed match and inSudden Death (unless an unknown glitch occurs or inTrophy Rush); Screen KOs were increased in length, and as a result, Star KOs actually last shorter than Screen KOs. Lastly, Star KOs are now intentionally disabled on some stages, largely those with 2D backdrops or background elements that obscure the victim.

Smash 4 introduces more characters that remain completely silent when Star KO'd, with these beingMega Man, theMii Fighters,Pac-Man,Villager, and the wireframe version ofLittle Mac.Rosalina andBowser Jr. use one of their falling voice clips fromMario Kart 7 andMario Kart Wii respectively, and the Koopalings (with the exception of Morton) use one of their defeat voice clips inNew Super Mario Bros. games. As a result, Lemmy shouts "No!" while being Star KO'd; maleWii Fit Trainer similarly does this (albeit in theNTSC version only), whileSonic has lost the trait in the English versions as of this game, as he instead uses his death sound ("Whoa!") fromSonic Generations. AsDr. Mario's voice clips have been updated to matchMario, he now uses Mario's Star KO voice clip fromBrawl.

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Snake is seen tumbling away from the screen whileCorrin is sideways due to her normal tumbling animation having her already facing toward/away from the screen. However, theBoss Galaga always makes their tumbling animation sideways, as demonstrated byZelda.

Ultimate introduces a new animation for Star KOs; the characters now tumble away from the screen, akin to how Screen KOs worked inMelee andBrawl, and seemingly go a much further distance away from the stage (though this is an illusion, since the characters actually start shrinking the further they fly away, as easily seen inTemple). Most characters also now use a sideways version of their tumbling animations, with the exceptions ofMr. Game & Watch (due to his 2D nature),Cloud,Corrin,Incineroar,Ridley,Inkling,Shulk,Joker,Min Min,Pyra,Mythra, andSora, who spin forwards like their normal tumbling animation (due to their normal tumbling animations having them already facing the screen). The star is also now a purple color. Additionally, theBoss Galaga will always cause a Star KO and cause the character to go into their normal Star KO animation seen in the previous games. The physics of Star KOs are otherwise unchanged fromSmash 4.

Isabelle,Steve, andPiranha Plant also remain silent when Star KO'd, in addition to all previous veterans that were silent during their Star KO. For the first time in the series, there are characters who speak a complete sentence during Star KO;Pit has a unique Star KO line, where he yells "I never learned how to read...!". This is a reference to Chapter 17 inKid Icarus: Uprising, where he yells the same line after his Power of Flight is cut en-route to the Aurum Fortress.Byleth speaks during a Star KO, shouting "My battle ends here...!", a reference to one of their defeat lines fromFire Emblem: Three Houses. Both characters also do not speak in the Japanese version. When theInklings are Star KO'd, they will use their "Splatted" voice clip fromSplatoon.Banjo & Kazooie use the former's falling voice clip fromBanjo-Kazooie, and Sora uses his death voice clip fromKingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. In addition to all previous cases retained fromBrawl andSmash 4,Daisy's Star KO also has her shouting "No!", as she does when falling off the stage inMario Kart Wii,Mario Party 9, andMario Party Island Tour. Similarly, Min Min shouts "哎呀！" (Oh no!), as she does when being blown away with a wind-based attack inARMS. Mr. Game & Watch now uses the same beep used for his up and side taunts, whileDark Samus reusesSamus' Star KO sound.Roy's English Star KO voice clip, much like Zelda inMelee, is infamous for being overdone and horrifying, to the point that his voice actor,Ray Chase,acknowledged this influence.

Origin[edit]

TheTeam Rocket trio "blasting off again" in the Pokémon anime.

It is arecurring trope, especially in Eastern media, for characters and objects to be sent flying into the sky, leaving behind a twinkling star when they vanished from sight. Since Star KO'ing an entire team inMelee yields the Rocket KO bonus, the Star KOs inSmash may be intended as a reference specifically to the trope's use as a running gag in thePokémon anime, where theTeam Rocket trio would often be sent "blasting off again" whenever they were defeated.

Exceptions[edit]

Unless otherwise noted, all of these exceptions also apply to Screen KOs.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Bonuses[edit]

InSmash 64[edit]

  • Comet Mystic (10000 points): Finished the match while in the middle of a Star KO.
  • Star Finish (10000 points): Cleared the stage via a Star KO.
  • Trickster (11000 points): Star KO'd every member of a team.

InMelee[edit]

  • Rocket KO (5000 points): Star KO'd every member of a team.
  • Shooting Star (1500 points): Finished the match while getting Star KO'd.
  • Solar Being (800 points): All KOs experienced were Star KOs.
  • Star KO (300 points per opponent): Star KO an opponent.

Trivia[edit]

  • In the originalSuper Smash Bros., Kirby's variousCopy Ability hats remain on when he is Star KO'd.
  • Super Smash Bros. is the only game in the series where a player can Star KO themselves without breakingJigglypuff's shield.
    • This can be best seen if Ness uses his jumps and PK Thunder straight up on eitherHyrule Castle, or his Break the Targets/Board the Platforms stages.
  • If the camera zooms out enough on certain large stages, the "trick" of the Star KOs can be revealed: once the defeated character hits the upper blast line, they get shifted toward the background as their tumble animation starts, before reappearing onscreen for the KO animation. This can be seen best in the Camera mode inSuper Smash Bros. Melee, by maneuvering the camera into a certain position. This trick can also be revealed inUltimate using the camera's frame-by-frame controls.
  • If the cage theMii resides inside on theFind Mii stage sustains sufficient damage, the Mii and the cage will be Star KO'd, though no sound effects play when this occurs.
  • IfRosalina is Star KO'd whileLuma remains on the battlefield,Luma will shrink to match Rosalina's animation.
  • InSSB4:
    • King Dedede andCloud's voice clips for being Star KO'd are longer than the time allotted for the Star KO animation.
    • If a character is way beyond the upper blast line and gets Star KO'd,the character will fall into the background faster than usual, but the Star KO length will still be the same. The same result can also be executed inMelee by going into the debug menu, selecting theHome-Run Contest stage and getting Star KO'd there.
    • Jigglypuff's mouth animates with its Star KO voice clip (though it can sometimes be seen smiling). If by any way Jigglypuff is Star KO'd without its voice clip playing (like beingfrozen), its mouth will not animate.
  • InUltimate:
    • If a character gets Star KO'd by Snake's Final Smash while a missile is still locked on to them, the missiles will chase them throughout the Star KO animation.
    • The onscreenradar will track a Star KO'd character, but will not track a character who has been Screen KO'd.
    • BothYoung Link andIvysaur's Star KO voice clip seem to have an error at the beginning, as it starts with a noticeable pause.
    • Ken's Star KO voice clip strangely doesn't appear in the Sound Test, making him the only character in the series with this distinction.
  • The star effect in64 andUltimate is considered a UI element instead as part of the foreground and will always appear over certain elements, such as the background inYoshi's Story.

See also[edit]