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Screen KO

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki

This article is about the KO that launches opponents toward the screen. For the KO that launches opponents into space, see Star KO.

Wolf getting screen KO'd in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

A Screen KO (手前やられ, Forefront defeat) is a special type of KO which has a chance of occurring when characters are launched past the upper blast line. In contrast to a Star KO, the character instead falls into the foreground and appears to crash into the screen, before they are KO'd at the bottom, which is how these KO's got their name.

Whether a character is Star KO'd, Screen KO'd, or merely blast KO'd is mostly random. In the first three games, Screen KOs are considerably rarer than Star KOs; as a result, Screen KOs rarely involve two or more characters at once. From Super Smash Bros. 4 onward, the frequency of Screen KOs has been increased, especially in the 3DS version of Smash 4, to be about as common as Star KOs.

Differences between games

In Smash 64

Yoshi gets Screen KO'd on Kongo Jungle in Smash 64.

In Smash 64, characters yell out their Star KO scream and fall down between the front of the stage and the camera, getting KO'd by the bottom blast line afterward, where they make their regular KO sound. Depending on the camera angle, this may not always be visible. The distance the character is from the camera is chosen randomly — sometimes doomed characters appear to be falling normally, while at other times they are just a quick flash of color going down the screen. Screen KOs have the same duration as a Star KO. Unlike the other games of the series, Screen KO'd characters do not actually hit the screen in any way.

In Melee

Bowser gets Screen KO'd on Princess Peach's Castle in Melee.

In Melee, all characters, with the exception of Mr. Game & Watch, have a unique tumbling animation for when they crash into the screen; upon striking the camera, the character also exclaims one of their two strong knockback yells (with the exception of Samus), then gets KO'd by the bottom blast line without making any sounds. How close a character being KO'd is to the camera is no longer determined by randomness, but by the stage being played on. On Mushroom Kingdom and Mushroom Kingdom II, for example, Screen KO'd characters are very close to the camera and thus appear much larger. With the introduction of Coin Battles, Screen KO'd characters also visibly drop numerous coins when they hit the screen.

While Screen KOs in 64 were roughly the same length as star KOs (around 2 seconds), Screen KOs in Melee are significantly faster than Star KOs (around 1 second). This difference is significant, and can potentially affect gameplay. For example, when a character is KO'd by Jigglypuff's Rest, getting a Star KO means that the character will not respawn fast enough to punish the sleeping Jigglypuff, due to the length of the Star KO animation. However, if a character is instead Screen KO'd, this provides them with more time to potentially get a solid hit on the vulnerable Jigglypuff. The Screen KO's shorter duration can also influence the outcome of matches that have gone to a last stock situation. If both characters are KO'd off of the top at around the same time and one is Screen KO'd instead of Star KO'd, the Star KO'd player will win the match due to random chance and the lengthier animation.

A bonus exists for getting Screen KO'd, Foresight, which grants the receiver 500 points for every time they are KO'd this way.

Flat Zone features a different animation for Screen KOs compared to other stages, where characters hit the screen in their tumbling animation instead of their standard screen KO animation.

In Brawl

In Brawl, with the exception of Meta Knight, King Dedede, Mr. Game & Watch, and Sonic, characters use a side version of their regular tumbling animations for a Screen KO, though the animations for the actual impact are not as nuanced as in Melee. Like Melee, Screen KOs are considerably faster than Star KOs, again potentially leading to some gameplay effects.

With strong knockback yells being scrapped and unused in Brawl, characters now either use their regular pain yells or remain silent when they hit the screen.

In SSB4

Cloud getting Screen KO'd in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

In SSB4, instead of using their tumbling animation, every character now uses a unique Screen KO animation depicting them flying towards the screen, hitting it face-first, then staying in place briefly before sliding down. Due to this new separate animation, several characters pose during their Screen KOs in a manner referencing their series, such as Kirby reusing a pose from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Cloud using a pose similar to his official render, and Shulk hitting the screen with his back in order for the Monado to be visible. Characters who share the same base model tend to share the same Screen KO poses, such as Ness and Lucas. While Smash 4 re-added strong knockback yells that were absent in Brawl, Screen KO'd characters in SSB4 no longer make any vocal sounds when they hit the screen, and instead, a comical "thud" sound effect is played.

As a direct result of the new Screen KO's "pause", Screen KOs now take a very slight amount of more time to resolve than a Star KO, which is seemingly a change made to not affecting gameplay as much compared to Melee or Brawl. Furthermore, Screen KOs and Star KOs are both disabled during the final five seconds of a match and Sudden Death — characters will simply create the usual colorful blast after crossing the blast line. Blast KOs can still occur even if the match has no time limit or if it is in an early part of a timed match.

Several characters have different Screen KOs between both versions. The maximum amount of characters that can be Screen KO'd at one time is three. If the 3D slider is turned on in the Nintendo 3DS version, the stage's field of view will momentarily "flatten" during a Screen KO while the KO'd character appears at the forefront, slightly protruding from the screen.

In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Screen KOs are disabled on Super Mario Maker, Jungle Hijinxs (normal form only), Flat Zone X, Duck Hunt, Wii Fit Studio, Pac-Land, and Umbra Clock Tower, and players instead are either Blast KO'd or Star KO'd on these stages. Screen KOs are available in all stages except Super Mario Maker and Umbra Clock Tower in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

In Ultimate

Screen KOs retain their unique animations from Smash 4. They once again complete faster than Star KOs, which will affect gameplay. For the first time in the series, one attack can cause instant Screen KOs, which is Giga Bowser Punch, and the Beetle item will now always cause a Screen KO. At the end of the animation, the colored blast from a Blast KO now appears off the bottom blast line. However, there are still stages where Screen KOs can't occur. These stages in VS. mode are:

They also will not happen on Mushroomy Kingdom and Wuhu Island's Battlefield and Ω forms (but star KO’s can), despite the normal versions of the stages having them.

Gallery

Samus hits the screen in her tumbling animation—this Screen KO animation is specific to Flat Zone in Melee.
Ganondorf about to hit the screen in Yoshi's Story in Melee.
Ness being Screen KO'd on Shadow Moses Island in Brawl.
Mario getting Screen KO'd on Delfino Plaza in Brawl.
Luigi getting Screen KO'd in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Shulk and Marth getting Screen KO'd, showing player indicator icons disappearing during the animation in Wii U.
Roy getting Screen KO'd while Shulk gets Star KO'd, showing the length of both KOs being about the same.
Mario and Little Mac getting Screen KO'd in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Giga Bowser instantly Screen KOs Olimar and Pit in Ultimate.
Inkling getting screen KO'd on Moray Towers after recently getting inked by another Inkling in the E3 build of Ultimate.

Trivia

In early gameplay videos of Brawl, characters would sometimes hit the upper blast line with the standard colorful blast generally seen only by certain single-player mode enemies; this characteristic would later return for Super Smash Bros. 4.
In both Melee and Brawl, it is possible to see a character about to hit the screen right before they are KO'd by pausing and then zooming out. This can be seen particularly in larger stages such as New Pork City and 75m. This is also possible in Ultimate, albeit zooming out makes the character disappear.
- Similarly in for Wii U, it's possible to see the white lines just when a character impacts the screen when pausing (though the character can't actually be seen). Unlike the trivia point above, this can be seen even in small stages.
In SSB4, when a character gets Screen KO'd, all of the remaining fighters' player indicator icons disappear until the character that is being Screen KO'd is actually KO'd (when the numbers on the damage meter break). This also includes CPU and amiibo fighters. The camera will also shift to a random position.
In SSB4 and Ultimate, Pit has two subtle Screen KO differences, depending on how his bow was last used: one with him holding his bow in his right hand, and the other with him holding the two separated parts of his bow as blades. This aspect is shared with Dark Pit.
In for Wii U and Ultimate, Mario, Kirby, Pikachu, and Dr. Mario use unique models during their Screen KO since, their bodies are pressed flat as if hitting a glass pane; however, Mario and his clone Dr. Mario only have a model for their heads, while Kirby and Pikachu have ones for their entire bodies.
- Kirby's model in this instance appears to reference Kirby: Triple Deluxe, which has a similar gimmick when Kirby is hit by certain attacks.
In SSB4, Bowser and Donkey Kong are the only characters to fall back when Screen KO'd, as all the other characters just slide off the screen. Ultimate later adds King K. Rool. Notably, these characters are the heaviest in the series.
- Bowser's Screen KO in SSB4 and Ultimate may be a reference to the ending of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where, after his airborne castle explodes, he's launched out of it, thereby "literally" breaking the fourth wall.
In for Nintendo 3DS, Screen KOs may cause the two images simulating the screen's 3D effect to be misaligned. This often occurs when multiple opponents are Screen KO'd, or if there are too many effects occurring in the background.
Fighters KO'd with a Screen KO while under the effects of a Super Mushroom or Mega Smash may clip through the camera, making their models transparent. If this happens, the other side of the model will be invisible, showing the stage behind them.
Lucina is the only Echo Fighter in Ultimate to have an entirely different Screen KO animation than her base fighter. Her Screen KO animation is also different in SSB4.
Inkling is the only character to have different Screen KO animations depending on which alternate costume the player selected.
The instant KO from Giga Bowser Punch is the only instance where characters can be Screen KO'd without having to cross the upper blast line; instead, they are punched straight onto the screen.
Notably, Bayonetta, Snake, and Incineroar show no actual emotion when Screen KO'd in Ultimate.
Shulk and Sephiroth are the only two characters in Ultimate to hit the screen with their back. This is a design choice in order to show Shulk's Monado (and its active Monado Art), and Sephiroth's Winged Form, respectively.
- All fighters hit the screen with their backs in Melee.

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