Damage

Damage is the basic measure of how vulnerable a character is to the knockback of attacks. At low damages, the character cannot be knocked back very far, and can only be thrown off-stage by the game's most powerful attacks. However, at high damages, attacks deliver considerably more knockback, increasing the risks of severely damaged characters to be KO'd.

Damage is represented by a numerical percentage that starts at 0% and can rise all the way up to 999%. Despite this formatting, getting to 100% does not mean a character is doomed - the number itself is somewhat arbitrary.

Each attack deals a set amount of damage, which is then modified by things such as stale-move negation before the target is launched. An attack that does no damage will not cause targets to flinch and not produce a regular hit sound, although it will still cause knockback. The damage an attack deals is a significant factor in how much knockback it causes.

List of aspects that are influenced by damage

 * Knockback — As a character gets more damage, they fly further when hit. Certain attacks have set knockback, and don't apply.
 * Grab time — Characters at higher damages can be grabbed for longer periods of time.
 * Status time — Generally, characters with higher damage are vulnerable for longer from a status effect (such as sleeping). The exception is being stunned though a shield breaking — the more damage a stunned character has, the faster they can recover.
 * Ledge recovery — A character's ledge animations change at 100% or more, becoming more sluggish and providing more invincibility frames. The slower attack also deals more damage.