Helpless

This article is about the state in Super Smash Flash 2 and Fraymakers. For the twenty-third level in Yeah Jam Fury, see Free falling.

Mario's helpless animation in Super Smash Flash 2.

Helpless, also referred to as free fall and special fall, refers to the state in Super Smash Flash 2 and Fraymakers of which no movement can be made by the player except for horizontal movement, fast falling, or grabbing a ledge. It often results from using a particular special move, particularly a recovery move, though certain special moves with no recovering abilities can cause this too. In Fraymakers, all characters become helpless when airdashing without canceling it into an aerial attack and landing it.

Helplessness most commonly ends upon landing on a platform or being KO'd, although it also ends early if the helpless character flinches, allowing them to attack use their recovery moves again. A helpless character is denoted by both a flickering black overlay and, in many cases, a distinct falling animation.

Characters are not able to enter a helpless state in the original Super Smash Flash, due to the game's severely limited mechanics.

Moves that invoke helplessness in Super Smash Flash 2

Character	Move	D	Notes
Bandana Dee	Waddle Copter		Will become helpless while descending if the player cancels the move by pressing the down input.
Black Mage	Warp		N/A
Bomberman	Jetpack		N/A
Bowser	Whirling Fortress		Grounded version cannot grant Bowser helplessness unless he enters midair while using it, such as being pushed off of a moving platform. This will use his normal falling animation.
Captain Falcon	Raptor Boost		Will become helpless if he does not hit an opponent and the move ends in midair.
	Falcon Dive
Chibi-Robo	Chibi-Copter		N/A
Donkey Kong	Spinning Kong		N/A
Falco	Falco Phantasm		N/A
	Fire Bird
Fox	Fox Illusion		N/A
	Fire Fox
Ganondorf	Flame Choke		Will become helpless if he does not come into contact with an opponent and the move ends in midair.
	Gerudo Hawk
Goku	Instant Transmission		Will become helpless if the move ends in midair without him hitting an opponent. The same applies for Kaiō-ken Goku.
Ichigo	Engetsuzan		N/A
	Kōtei-ki Tōshin
Isaac	Scoop		N/A
Kirby	Inhale		Can copy Mach Tornado, which retains its original helpless properties.
	Final Cutter		If the player lands on a platform, sometimes the momentum will make Kirby fall from it in a normal helpless state.
Krystal	Staff Rocket Boost		N/A
Link	Spin Attack		N/A
Lloyd	Tempest		N/A
	Tiger Blade
Lucario	Extreme Speed		N/A
Luigi	Super Jump Punch		N/A
Mario	Super Jump Punch		N/A
Marth	Dolphin Slash		N/A
Meta Knight	Mach Tornado		N/A
	Drill Rush
	Shuttle Loop
	Dimensional Cape
Naruto	Shadow Clone Slash		N/A
Ness	PK Thunder		Will enter helpless state if he uses PK Thunder 2.
PAC-MAN	Pac-Jump		If PAC-MAN or an opponent tries to bounce on the trampoline while it is red, they will then fall through it and become helpless.
Pichu	Agility		N/A
Pikachu	Quick Attack		N/A
Pit	Power of Flight		N/A
Rayman	Helicopter		Will become helpless while descending if the player cancels the move by pressing the down input.
Ryu	Shoryuken		N/A
Samus	Screw Attack		N/A
Sandbag	Bob-omb Toss		Will become helpless if it tries to use the move while holding a non-Bob-omb item or while invincible.
Sheik	Vanish		N/A
Simon	Ring Grapple		Will become helpless if he attempts to use the move in midair a second time (without hitting a wall the first time).
Sonic	Light Dash		N/A
Sora	Flowmotion		Will become helpless if the move ends while he is in midair and he does not make contact with an opponent.
Tails	Airlift		Becomes helpless should the move end while he is in midair without having grabbed an opponent.
	Fly		Will become helpless after a certain amount of special button presses made during the move.
Waluigi	Whirluigi		N/A
Wario	Corkscrew		N/A
Zelda	Farore's Wind		N/A

Moves that invoke helplessness in Fraymakers

Character	Move	Notes
All characters	Airdash	Will become helpless if used without canceling into an aerial attack and landing it.
CommanderVideo	Up special move	Will become helpless if used without canceling into a midair jump with the rainbow trail active.
Orcane	Side special move	N/A
	Puddle Teleportation	Will become helpless if used without a puddle present on-stage.
Ultra Fishbunjin 3000	Rising Uppercut	N/A
Welltaro	Rocket Jump	N/A

Gallery

Screenshots

Falco's helpless animation.

Fox's helpless animation.

Kirby helpless animation after a cancelled Final Cutter on Dream Land.

Luigi's helpless animation.

Naruto's helpless state.

PAC-MAN's helpless animation.

Peach becomes "helpless" when fast falling while she is using parasol.

Pikachu's helpless animation.

Samus' helpless animation.

Sonic's helpless animation.

Trivia

• Throughout the history of SSF2, many special moves have had their helplessness-causing status changed:
  • Black Mage's Haste, Goku's Kamehameha and Kaiō-ken Attack, and Wario's Shoulder Bash used to grant helplessness.
  • Goku's Instant Transmission, Sonic's Light Dash, and Tails' Airlift used to not invoke helplessness.