Term used to describe why some attacks seem to have such high priority. An attack whose hitbox extends greatly away from the fighter’s hurtboxes is said to be disjointed. A lot of things influence which attacks seem to overpower others. Attack hitboxes might have hurtboxes underneath that are intangible or invincible, helping them win clashes. But even better is when active hitboxes don’t have anything underneath them at all, which is the case for disjointed pokes. This is common on fighters who use weapons—Cloud’s sword, Ness’s baseball bat, and Simon’s whip are basically invincible in effect, because they extend so far away from their wielders as threats, with nothing vulnerable underneath.
Aside from it being nice that disjointed attacks generally can’t be beaten, there are a few attacks in the game that look like they’re projectiles, but they’re actually disjointed pokes. Examples include Bayonetta’s follow-up gunshots and Mr. Game & Watch’s fully filled bucket splash. They might look like attacks that can be negated by shot-absorbing moves, but they’re more like far-reaching, disjointed portions of their body.