Super Special Moves

Super Special Moves (lit. "Super Sure-Killing Art"), are powerful attacks unique to every character, often costing one power stock to use and are a staple for nearly any traditional fighting game. They first appeared in the first Art of Fighting game and has virtually appeared in nearly every SNK fighting game.

Art of Fighting series
The first Art of Fighting is the first time Super Special Moves appeared in an SNK game (and by extension, any fighting game). In all 3 games, Super Special Moves require at least 75% of the Spirit Gauge.

Fatal Fury series
Fatal Fury 2 is the first Fatal Fury game to incorporate Super Special Moves. Up until Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, Super Special Moves could only be performed when the player's health was low (indicated by the flashing red bar). These types of Super Special Moves were dubbed as Desperation Moves, seeing as you could only perform them when on your last legs. Starting with the Real Bout Fatal Fury series, Super Special Moves were given a proper Super Gauge, where filling up the gauge grants the player a Super Special Move only with the gauge slowly running out indicating a timer for being able to perform such moves or other similar actions that cost the same resource, with even powerful versions being given if the Super Gauge was filled and the user's health was low. These versions were dubbed as Super Power Moves, and Potential Power Moves, respectively.

In Garou: Mark of the Wolves, the gauge (have 2 levels max) and by proxy the supers now function in a more traditional manner akin to The King of Fighters series where S. Power Moves and P. Power Moves (now costing 2 levels) alike are merely done as basic supers and/or MAX supers without any need of a low HP requirement and the gauge now stays filled until expended manually by the user.

Samurai Shodown series
Super Special Moves are the strongest attacks a character has in the Samurai Shodown series, but are handled differently from other series. Super Special Moves (along with Weapon-Flipping Techniques) can only be used when the Rage Gauge is filled, which only fills up when the player takes damage. As one would expect from the Samurai Shodown series, landing a Super Special Move does a ton of damage.

The King of Fighters series
Super Special Moves in The King of Fighters series are based off the Super Special Moves mechanics found in the Fatal Fury series, and as a result, are dubbed as Desperation Moves, with the gauge functioning the same as in The King of Fighters '94 through KOF '96, only it instead fills up only when taking damage, blocking damage and/or manually charging the gauge (which activates the time period for executing the DM/Super before the gauge empties fully on its own), and by proxy also allows for the use of free supers/DMs while on low HP (having the gauge filled up in tandem merely results in a stronger-damaging super).

Other than that, the concept of the Desperation Move follows the same concept of an S. or P. Power Move. However, KOF '96 also introduced SDMs (Super Desperation Moves), which are more stronger Supers with extended/changed animations different from their base versions to more of the cast as opposed to a few of the prior Fatal Fury characters.

KOF '97 however, introduced the Advanced Mode which carries over to most current iterations, as a more traditional take on the super gauge system akin to the prior S/P. Power gauge style in Real Bout Fatal Fury, only this time the gauge stays filled up to 3 level (or 4/5 levels depending on the round/team members left remaining in the match) until the levels/stocks are spent manually. Super Special Moves also have new MAX versions via the new MAX Mode mechanic introduced since, where they are essentially the SDMs from KOF '96 carried over to be executed in a more manual fashion. Since then, among KOF players, Super Special Moves are mainly called DMs in-name-only despite no longer functioning the exact same as in SNK's prior fighting game titles.

The old gauge style from the prior games has been reworked to be Extra Mode, only with some rebalanced perks; The King of Fighters '98 Unlimited Match in particular, features notable balance changes to Extra Mode itself to where fully charging the gauge no longer activates MAX Mode automatically (making it a lasting-single stock akin to Advanced Mode), puts free base Supers on a cooldown when used at low HP, and even increases the crisis HP threshold for each remaining team member using such a gauge system.

KOF '99 however, was unique in that while it retained the standard Advanced Mode system of gauge-handling, Supers can still react the same way as DMs where at low HP, they can be performed for free (and/or are all automatically powered up as SDMs with at least a single stock cost involved); Supers also no longer have their startup flash freeze the screen whenever the user has either Armor Mode or Counter Mode active. KOF 2000 however, along with a few other later games involved, was also the start of MAX Supers and/or SDMs (which in 2000, now cost 3 maximum power levels to perform) be executed outside of MAX Mode or some other mode as a merely an enhanced/altered version of the base DM/SDM input. While Super Special Moves all often had both base and MAX variants across the games, KOF 2000-onwards before KOF XIV, has instead made only certain attacks be normal Supers, and some be only MAX attacks (meaning not all characters could have both a base and MAX variant of a single super as they are now both in a separate category in their movelist), akin to some of the P. Power Moves across the Fatal Fury/Garou games. KOF 2001 introduces MAX Supers that are normally their own moves entirely without any base Super versions.

KOF 2002 also introduced MAX2 (nicknamed by fans as HSDMs/Hidden Desperation Moves), a MAX Super that can only be used while on low HP unique to each character. KOF Neowave, being a rehash of 2002 with its own rebalances, readjusts such moves (while also having their own unique gauge systems apart from the other KOF titles), while the re-release 2002 Unlimited Match gives a large majority of the cast brand new and/or completely readjusted MAX2s. Notably, while cancels from normal attacks and command moves into supers exist, Super Cancelling from specials did not come into play until the later NESTS Saga games, but at a cost unlike a Super Cancel from a normal/command normal, an extra gauge cost is normally put in place.

In KOF 2003 and KOF XI, most of the cast only get normal Supers to use, only this time, the Leader Super Special Move is introduced, where these are akin to MAX Supers/SDMs that can only be performed by the chosen leader of the team during/before the Order Select. KOF XI expands on this to where not only Super Cancels from specials make a return, but it is also possible to perform a Dream Cancel from a normal Super into a Leader Super, but with a more intensive resource cost (and are mainly best done in full-on combos by a Leader who is the last man standing on the team for the maximum stock amount).

KOF XIII on the other hand, reuses the concepts of how KOF 2001 handles supers, but overall, function the same in regards to usual damage increase and cost. This time however, mirroring the Leader Super Special Moves and MAX2s from the prior-mentioned titles, Neo Max Super Special Moves are introduced as a similar type of "strongest" super, only they tend to all be different from the prior MAX2 moves or Leader Supers from such titles. Unlike MAX2s, they do not require low HP to execute, as well as being accessible to all team members unlike Leader Supers; the user just now needs to have the required meter cost. KOF XIV and KOF XV on the other hand, not only now returns to having all base Supers have both base and MAX variations like in KOF '96-to-KOF '98, but instead convert the Neo Max Super concept into Climax Super Special Moves, which are functionally still the same.

The Last Blade series
To be added soon...

SNK vs. Capcom series
To be added soon...

Types of Super Special Moves
Note that a ton of these moves tend to share the same exact type of categorization as basic special moves.

Physical
Physicals are attacks where the user attacks forward, and basically are moreso the same as any basic attack where the hitbox is still connected directly to the user's hurtbox/collision box.

Projectile
Projectiles are attacks where the user launches something from their body toward their opponent, often dubbed as "fireballs" from the Capcom game days to mainly refer to flying projectiles that are different from stationary ones.

There do exist some projectile supers that are merely stationary energy attacks that can interact with projectiles with no ill effect on the user. And furthermore, various supers have projectile durability levels that determine whether or not they against any other incoming projectile, will clash or be fully-negated.

Command Grab/Throw
Command Grabs/Throws are attacks where the user can throw the opponent with a (usually) unblockable attack. Command Grabs require the user to be near the opponent, and unlike normal throws are named as such due to having the usual special move motion.

A similar type of move is known as the "proximity unblockable", which function more similarly to either close-standing (proximity) normals, normal throws or certain command grabs with no whiff animation. These types of moves can only be executed next to the foe and normally have no way of having their animation trigger from any further range, but unlike command grabs/throws can be rolled/dodged to where if foreseen due to lacking a grab animation in the early frames to where the attack can completely whiff despite being unblockable.

Ranbu
A Ranbu (乱舞, lit. Wild Dance) (named after the Kyokugenryu Karate's iconic Ryuuko Ranbu), also dubbed as an "autocombo", is an attack where where the user rapidly beats the opponent with a flurry of punches and/or kicks and tacks on a finisher, albeit each portion is automated. Normally these types of moves are akin to cinematic attacks where an initial blow must connect first for the sequence to even occur.

Most ranbu-type autocombo supers however, have a trait where the initial hit itself is devoid of any actual damage vs. the rest of the sequence if it cleanly initiates from the said initial hit; as a result, a user of a ranbu vs. an attack with a hitbox that happens to trade with the attacker will often have both fighters knocked away with no damage done to the target of the ranbu.

Rave
Raves, named after Geese Howard's Deadly Rave, are sequenced attacks akin to the aforementioned ranbu, where the user rapidly beats the opponent with a flurry of punches and/or kicks into a finisher. Unlike a ranbu however, where each attack is automated, each hit must be performed manually with a push of a specific button sequence up to the finisher itself, though for combo purposes can be dropped during certain inputs to purposely extend into a standard combo right after.

Counter
Counters are attacks that looks to catch an incoming attack, deflect it away, and automatically launch a counter-attack. What kinds of attacks are meant to trigger the counter is solely dependent on the move in question, and for the most part, projectiles can bypass such moves, as well as any kind of throw.

Install
Installs (named after a certain famed attack known as Dragon Install), otherwise known technically as Power-Up States are attacks grant the character new moves or increased stats.

Screen Filler
Screen Fillers are attacks that fill up the entire screen. These types of Super Special Moves are rare, and are usually reserved for Boss Characters. Sometimes they function akin to projectiles as a disjointed hitbox apart from the user's hurtbox/collision box.