Editing Kirby (SSBM)

 

Currently, Kirby is ranked 25th in the F tier, an extreme drop from his 2nd place position in ''Smash 64'', and arguably the most severe decline in viability between games of any character in the whole series, with his placement in ''Melee'' being his worst placement in the series. While he has several throw options into [[Kirbycide]], a good ground game, a solid defensive game thanks to his crouch and small size and a decent [[edgeguarding]] game, Kirby's [[approach]] and KO ability are among the worst in the game; slow attacks, a low [[air speed]], an ineffective [[projectile]] in [[Final Cutter]], one of the worst grab games and numerous other flaws both on the ground and in the air prevent Kirby from easily approaching enemies, and he struggles against almost all characters as a result of this. Because of Kirby's various flaws, he has terrible matchups across the board and struggles to contend even against lower-tiered characters.

Kirby acts as a light, weak character that is intended to outmaneuver opponents through his small stature. While having an average dashing speed, he has a terrible air speed (being tied with {{SSBM|Ganondorf}} as the 3rd worst in ''Melee''), so his small size is intended to act as his primary way to approach. Owing to his low falling speed and high short hop, Kirby has a poor [[SHFFL]], while his high traction gives him a short [[wavedash]].

Despite his poor air speed, Kirby has a decent edgeguarding game. With six jumps and a low falling speed, Kirby can easily recover due to his multiple midair jumps, while Kirby's back air can be used as a rather powerful edgeguarding technique, the [[Fence of Pain]]. Assuming Kirby can knock opponents off the edge, he can make foes have a hard time recovering.

Owing to his small size, Kirby also has a solid defensive game. His small [[hurtbox]]es can potentially allow him to avoid attacks, while his small size also lends itself to a large [[shield]], making Kirby relatively safe from [[shield stabbing]]. A low crouch also makes his hurtboxes even smaller, supplemented with his down tilt as a potential camping and spacing tactic, as his makes him able to avoid most [[jab]]s.

Despite these benefits, Kirby's most fatal flaw lies in his awful approach. With a poor SHFFL, short wavedash, terrible air speed, short range, a laggy, predictable dash attack, and no viable projectiles, Kirby has extreme difficulty in approaching almost all of the cast; this is especially prevalent against characters with disjointed hitboxes (such as {{SSBM|Marth}}) or powerful pressure games (such as {{SSBM|Falco}}). The lack of a projectile can uniquely be rectified if Kirby uses {{b|Inhale|Kirby}} on an opponent; getting the desired Copy Ability, however, is risky, due to the attack's start-up and cool-down lag, and some characters will either fail to give him a useful projectile (such as {{SSBM|Fox}}) or a projectile in the first place (such as {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}), and it is very difficult to set up into an Inhale in the first place. Although most of his copy abilities give Kirby additional options, they would still be inferior to the original character he would copy; [[Fireball]] from {{SSBM|Mario}}, for instance, has the Fireballs disappear more quickly than Mario's, as Kirby's lower height causes them to reach the ground faster and to have less kinetic energy when they finally hit the ground.

Even when approaching opponents, however, Kirby's various attributes also give him an unremarkable combo ability; a low air speed prevents him from easily pursuing enemies in the air, and almost all of his aerials (except for back air) either have long startup and cooldown periods (down and neutral air), high knockback (up air), or poor hitbox placement (forward air). Kirby's only noteworthy combos are his up tilt juggles, his down throw tech-chases and his Fence of Pain as mentioned earlier, and even the latter combo is inferior to Jigglypuff's [[Wall of Pain]] due to Kirby's significantly slower air speed, making it risky to use. Kirby's wild card is his aforementioned Kirbycide technique, and even this is unreliable; his up throw requires precise placement at the edge of a stage, and Kirby always loses when performed in a last stock situation. While his forward and back throws are much easier to perform and Kirby always wins when performed in a last stock situation, they are the only throws in the entire ''Smash'' series that can be potentially broken out of. As a result, if the opponent can button mash out of the grab and throw quick enough, they will remain unharmed while Kirby loses a stock, giving him one of the worst grab games in ''Melee'', with all of his throws (except for down throw) having little to no utility due to their inability to set up combos and the forward and back throws' ability to be escaped from. To make things worse, after Kirby uses his forward or up throw, he will lose all his midair jumps.

Kirby was known as one of the most dominant characters in ''Smash 64'', even after receiving nerfs in the North American release. This was in part to his amazing power, attack speed, range and priority on his attacks, which subsequently gave him excellent KO and shield pressuring potential. In addition to this, he was also a very simple character to pick up and play (especially compared to the other high tiers); making him a highly solid character to pick up regardless of the player's skill level.  

As a result of this, Kirby was immensely nerfed in his transition to ''Melee'', to the point where he is not only the most nerfed character in transition from ''Smash 64'' to ''Melee'', but the most nerfed character in the entire ''Smash'' series.

Kirby's mobility both on the ground and in the air has been noticeably reduced; which has subsequently hindered his [[approach]]. The weakening of [[pivot]]s have also made Kirby's approach worse and he doesn't benefit too much from the introduction of [[air dodging]]; due to his high traction and low falling speed. As a result of this, he has an unimpressive [[wavedash]]. When combined with many returning veterans having greater approach potential, this has made his approach among the worst in the game; especially in the air.

In general, Kirby has suffered from ''Melee{{'}}s'' universal changes. Apart from the changes to pivoting, Kirby has greatly suffered from the changes to [[shield]]s. While Kirby is less vulnerable to shield pressure, his own shield pressure is much worse due to the universal reduction to [[shieldstun]] and shield damage. Because of this, Kirby's attacks are much less safe on shield (with Kirby lacking any moves which even leave him at a frame advantage on shield, with the exception of back aerial and up aerial, which can leave him at a one frame advantage on a perfect landing) with the reduced damage/increased ending lag on multiple moves along with the weakening of [[L-cancel]]ling only further exacerbating this. Because of this, Kirby can no longer perform any [[shield break combo]]s and his attacks are generally much more punishable. In addition, Kirby's out of shield options are also worse largely due to his new neutral aerial; which is much weaker, slower and has less range than his previous neutral aerial. When combined with his shield drop being longer, this means that Kirby either has to use his grab or back aerial to punish a majority of moves out of shield.

Kirby's damage output and KO potential have also been sharply reduced (even relative to the cast). A majority of Kirby's moves have reduced KO power, such as his smash attacks, neutral aerial, back aerial, his up throw (his previous forward throw) and [[Stone]]. When combined with his lower damage output on most of his moves, this significantly hinders his ability to rack up damage and close out stocks. His smash attacks are slower and weaker, making them less reliable and more difficult KO moves to land. While his new up aerial is rather powerful, it is offset by how difficult it is to combo characters.

Kirby's oppressive up tilt has also seen rather drastic nerfs both directly and indirectly. The move has a shorter duration, much less range and more ending lag which makes it much less effective at stuffing out approaches and generally makes it easier to punish. The move is also noticeably weaker; dealing much less damage. The introduction of [[DI]] has made the move much less reliable as a combo move while the changes to shieldstun combined with the move's decreased damage/increased ending lag has immensely hindered its safety on shield; completely removing its shield pressuring potential. Overall, while it is still one of his most useful moves, it is nowhere near as effective as it was previously.

Kirby generally has worse frame data, especially compared to the rest of the cast. These moves include his aforementioned up tilt and neutral aerial, his forward smash is noticeably laggier; no longer being the fastest in the game (in addition to being much weaker). His down aerial has also seen a drastic increase to its startup lag and its hits less times which significantly reduces its duration and maximum damage potential. It also greatly suffers from the introduction of [[meteor]] cancelling; significantly hindering its edgeguarding potential. Kirby also naturally suffers from the changes to L-cancelling; especially since most of his aerials have worse auto-cancel windows which remove's his neutral, forward and down aerial's ability to auto-cancel in a short hop. When combined with the changes to shieldstun, this significantly hinder the utility and safety of his aerials.

Kirby also does not benefit much from having an expanded move list. Kirby's grab game is now one of the absolute worst in the game: while his new forward and back throws can be used for [[sacrificial KO|sacrificial KOs]], however, they can be escaped with mashing, which can lead to Kirby either [[self-destruct]]ing at worst or leaving himself vulnerable to punishes after simply using his throws. As a result, his forward and back throws lack utility, being easy contenders for the worst throws in the game. Kirby's up throw is much weaker than his previous forward throw and it has gained two new issues; the move can no longer land on platforms above Kirby unless they are very close to the ground and Kirby now loses all of his jumps after using it (his new forward throw also has this issue); which has hindered the utility of the throw and has made it an unreliable KO option. Kirby's only useful throw is his new down throw; which can set up [[tech-chase]]s, though this is prediction reliant. His new side special [[Hammer]] is a very slow (yet powerful) move on the ground while in the air, yet it is very inconsistent and easy to escape its multi-hits; giving it very low utility compared to other side specials.

Lastly, Kirby's few flaws from the previous game have not been properly addressed. While his endurance has slightly improved due to his increased [[weight]] and [[falling speed]], it is still among the worst in the game. Kirby also still struggles to deal with opponents above him, especially with the nerfs to his up tilt combined with the universally increased falling speeds. His already limited combo options have been reduced even further due to the changes to his up tilt and his forward aerial; combined with the introduction of [[DI]]. His recovery has also become worse. His air speed and jump height have been reduced and [[Final Cutter]] covers much less distance, resulting in his recovery becoming very poor.

On the other hand, Kirby has received some buffs. Kirby has greater access to his [[Kirbycide]] as he can move around when swallowing his opponents (in addition to Inhale having reduced startup lag) and his new forward and back throws are more reliable tools to Kirbycide with (although this is completely nullified by the fact that those throws can now be escaped from). A few of his moves are also either slightly faster or stronger, such as his new up aerial, which is much stronger and has much less ending lag. All of Kirby's aerials also have less landing lag; with his average landing lag now being among the lowest. This makes the weakening of L-cancelling hinder him less than most other veterans/it otherwise would have.

Overall, Kirby's few weaknesses from the previous game; including his limited combo options and significant survivability issues have been further exacerbated and he has received numerous new weaknesses as well (including poor KO potential, poor range, an extremely ineffective grab game and poor approach). His only remaining strengths are that he can abuse his small size to avoid attacks, his tilts are solid and he still has decent edgeguarding potential although the latter two points are still not as effective as they were previously. Lastly, the universal changes have significantly hindered Kirby with his approach, combo and shield pressuring potential prowess.

 

Due to these changes, he is an easy contender for the worst character in the entire game and is widely considered to be non-viable in competitive play.

*{{nerf|Kirby [[walk]]s slower (0.933 (28) → 0.85).}}

*{{nerf|Kirby [[dash]]es slower (1.6 (48) → 1.4).}}

*{{buff|Kirby's [[traction]] is much higher (0.0467 (1.4) → 0.08), going from the 3rd lowest out of 12 characters to the 7th highest out of 26, making it easier for him to punish [[out of shield]].}}

*{{nerf|Kirby's already low [[air speed]] has been decreased even more (0.933 (28) → 0.78), hindering his [[recovery]], edgeguarding and ability to escape aerial pressure.}}

*{{nerf|Kirby's [[air acceleration]] is much lower (0.1067 (3.2) → 0.06).}}

*{{nerf|Kirby [[jump]]s extremely lower (40.96 (1228.8) → 26).}}

**{{change|Kirby's [[short hop]] is also drastically lower (25.5 (765) → 14.82), improves his ability to hit opponents low on the ground with short hop aerials, as well as his ability to quickly land and continue aerial pressure, but also hinders his ability to [[auto-cancel]] his aerials.}}

**{{nerf|All of Kirby's mid-air jumps also grant less height, hindering his vertical recovery and ability to chase opponents above it.}}

*{{nerf|Kirby's [[fast fall]]ing speed is significantly slower (2.533 (76) → 2). The difference between his falling speed and fast falling speed is much lower (increase: 58.3% → 25%), which makes it more predictable when landing and gives him fewer options in the air.}}

*{{buff|Kirby is [[weight|heavier]] (68.067227 (1.19) → 70), improving his endurance.}}

***{{buff|However, this improves its combo potential at higher percents.}}

**{{change|Kirby has a new dash attack: he lunges forward in a fiery spiraling headbutt.}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 50).}}

***{{nerf|When combined with its higher ending lag and the changes to shields, these changes significantly hinders the move's safety on shield going from giving Kirby frame advantage on shield to leaving him at a huge frame disadvantage on shield making the move easily punishable and naturally removing its use in shield break combos.}}

***{{buff|However, the move's increased knockback scaling makes the late hit much stronger.}}

***{{nerf|Because of this, neutral aerial's animation is significantly longer (49 frames → 79) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}

**{{nerf|Neutral aerial has much less horizontal range.}}

**{{nerf|Forward aerial's new animation is longer (39 frames → 49) increasing the amount of time Kirby cannot grab the ledge or use an [[airdodge]]/special after performing the move.}}

**{{buff|Forward aerial's far hitbox has been repositioned further out (z offset: 7.33 → 10.55).}}

**{{nerf|Back aerial has a shorter duration (frames 6-9 (clean)/10-25 → 6-8/9-20), slightly increasing its ending lag.}}

**{{nerf|Back aerial has a new animation which is longer than the previous animation (39 frames → 43).}}

**{{buff|Up aerial has more vertical range.}}

**{{buff|Up aerial has drastically lower ending lag (FAF 80 → 36).}}

**{{nerf|Up aerial has more startup lag with a much shorter duration (frames 10-79 → 11-13) with its hitboxes no longer lasting the entire animation once they have been activated.}}

**{{buff|Due to the increase to the [[tumble]] threshold, down aerial does not put opponents into tumble until much higher percents; making it more reliable against grounded opponents.}}

**{{change|The landing hit has reduced set knockback (80 → 60).}}

**{{change|Back throw has been altered: Kirby now jumps up and moves slightly backwards.}}

***{{nerf|In the process, it deals less damage (13% → 10%) and base knockback (100 → 70) considerably hindering its KO potential despite it sending opponents at a higher angle (70° → 90°).}}

*Slow edge attack:

***{{nerf|Additionally, a spat opponent can now get out of the star animation starting from frame 8, significantly hindering its reliability.}}

**{{nerf|Final Cutter travels less horizontal distance and height, hindering its recovery potential.}}

**{{nerf|The wave deals much less knockback (70 (base), 50 (scaling) → 60/30).}}

**{{nerf|Stone has more startup lag in the air (frame 23 → 29).}}

==Version history==

|neutralname=Right Punch ({{ja|右パンチ|Migi Panchi}}) / Left Punch ({{ja|左パンチ|Hidari Panchi}}) / Vulcan Jab ({{ja|バルカンジャブ|Barukan Jabu}})

|ftiltname=Spinning Kick ({{ja|スピニングキック|Supiningu Kikku}})

|utiltname=Back Kick ({{ja|カービィテイル|Kābi Teiru}}, ''Kirby Tail'')

|dtiltname=Squish Kick ({{ja|ローキック|Rō Kikku}}, ''Low Kick'')

|dtiltdesc=Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast with decent range. Very useful since Kirby can crouch under most attacks.

|dashname=Fire Kirby ({{ja|バーニング|Bāningu}}, ''Burning'')

|fsmashname=Smash Kick ({{ja|スマッシュキック|Sumasshu Kikku}})

|usmashname=Kirby Flip Kick ({{ja|エアカッター|Ea Kattā}}, ''Air Cutter'')

|dsmashname=Propeller Kick ({{ja|プロペラキック|Puropera Kikku}})

|nairname=Twinkle Star ({{ja|ティンクルスター|Tinkuru Sutā}})

|fairname=Spiral Kick ({{ja|カービィスパイラル|Kābi Supairaru}}, ''Kirby Spiral'')

|bairname=Drop Kick ({{ja|ドロップキック|Doroppu Kikku}})

|uairname=Floating Flip Kick ({{ja|エアカッター|Ea Kattā}}, ''Air Cutter'')

|uairdesc=Kirby flips in midair, kicking upwards. Great knockback (while also not being too slow), possibly Kirby's best KO move and the third strongest up aerial in '' Melee''. Sends opponents horizontally and can set up an edgeguard.

|dairname=Screw Driver ({{ja|スクリュードライバー|Sukuryū Doraibā}})

|dairdesc=Kirby spins around, drilling downwards with both his feet. Has a somewhat long start-up, but acts as a weak [[meteor smash]]. It also has a landing hitbox that has horizontal knockback, and can stack up with the six hits. Good move to stop recoveries, it even stops {{SSBM|Fox}}'s [[Fire Fox]].

|grabname=Grab ({{ja|つかみ|Tsukami}})

|pummelname=Slap ({{ja|つかみびんた|Tsukami Binta}}, ''Grab Slap'')

|fthrowname=Power Bomb ({{ja|パワーボム|Pawā Bomu}})

|fthrowdesc=Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. Based on the Jumping Body Slam from the Suplex ability in ''Kirby Super Star'', also known as Rock Drop in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra''.

|bthrowname=Brain Buster ({{ja|ブレーンバスター|Burēn Basutā}})

|uthrowname=Ninja Drop ({{ja|いずな落とし|Izuna Otoshi}}, ''Izuna Drop'')

|dthrowname=Victory Dance ({{ja|もうれつストンピング|Mōretsu Sutonpingu}}, ''Fury Stomping'')

|desc-us=Kir - by! Kir - by!

|desc-jp=Kaaaa - bii!

|desc-2=Skids right while looking up twice, bounces across the screen, shakes away from the camera, bounces to the center, then holds his hand up.

==In [[competitive play]]==

===Most historically significant players===

<!--This character has a ten player limit for this section. Before adding and/or removing a player, read these guidelines: https://www.ssbwiki.com/SmashWiki:Notability#%22Most_historically_significant_players%22_guidelines -->

:''See also: [[:Category:Kirby players (SSBM)]]''

*{{Sm|Cereal Rabbit|USA}} - Considered to be the best Kirby in NorCal and one of the best Kirby players of all time. Placing 17th at [https://start.gg/tournament/norcal-arcadian-3/event/melee-singles/standings NorCal Arcadian #3] and 33rd at {{trn|HTC Throwdown}}, these were the best Kirby results seen on the West Coast. His win over {{Sm|Crimson Blur}} is one of the best wins the character has seen. He is also the only Kirby player to have beaten one of the [[Five Gods]] with {{Sm|Armada}} who was using secondaries. Although it should be noted that this win is not taken too seriously as Armada was intoxicated in the set. He has not been active in the scene since 2016.

*{{Sm|KrazyKirbyKid|USA}} - A top Kirby player in the early metagame. At a few of the most notable tournaments at the time, he placed 5th at {{Trn|EVO South}} and made the most impressive Kirby-related major run with 9th at {{Trn|MOAST 3}}. He also has taken some sets over notable players of that era, mainly {{Sm|Rob$}}.

*{{Sm|Triple R|USA}} - The best Kirby player in the world and of all time. He made multiple feats with the character, placing top 8 at a few regionals with 5th at {{Trn|Push More Buttons}} and 7th at {{Trn|Kings of the North V}}, and placing 25th at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 2}}, the best result for a Kirby player in a major since MOAST 3. He has beaten players such as {{Sm|AbsentPage}} and {{Sm|Luigikid}} and has been ranked 3rd at the [[Minnesota Power Rankings]] several times. Similar to Cereal Rabbit, Triple R has not competed in a tournament since 2016.

Kirby has historically always ranked very low on ''Melee'' tier lists; compared to {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, Kirby's [[nerf|nerfs]] from ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' were much more significant, removing almost all of the aspects that made him dominant in the original ''Smash Bros.'' and leaving him with considerably fewer options in both offense and defense. Players immediately noticed that Kirby was left with poor KOing power, a poor approach, and a severe vulnerability to edgeguarding and premature falls due to his light weight, low air speed, and telegraphed recovery. Owing to Kirby's significant drawbacks, there have been only a few professional smashers that have developed his metagame for serious play, with a large number of them failing to place notably in large tournaments. While more prolific Kirby mains were active in the past, such as {{Sm|KrazyKirbyKid}} and {{Sm|Triple R}}, there exist few such professionals in present-day competitive ''Melee'', causing Kirby's metagame to remain highly stagnant. Additionally, even prior to the stagnation of his metagame, Kirby was considered to rely on the opponent's lack of matchup experience to win matches.

As a result of this stagnancy and Kirby's numerous flaws, Kirby has consistently ranked as one of ''Melee'''s worst fighters. He is currently ranked second-to-last at 25th place on the current tier list. However, some professional smashers, such as {{sm|Kira}} and {{Sm|Ginger}}, believe that Kirby is underrated, as his tournament results and player base have been notably better than other characters such as Bowser, Zelda, and Ness. {{Sm|Armada}} himself places Kirby [https://youtu.be/17n7Tcjrifg?t=124 at 24th on his own tier list], citing Kirby's crouch, tilts, and aerials as having mild utility while also having a decent edgeguarding game.

==In 1-P Mode==

==[[Trophies]]==

|name=Kirby

|desc=A denizen of the far-off, peaceful planet Pop Star, Kirby became a citizen of Dream Land after defeating King Dedede. Even though he's only about eight inches tall, Kirby is an extremely skilled technician. He has the unique ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, and his elastic body makes him a versatile adventurer.

|gamelist={{Trophy games|game1=Kirby's Dream Land|release1=8/92}}

|game=Melee

|name=Kirby

|image=Kirby Trophy (Smash).png

|desc=Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful.

|gamelist=:B: Swallow

:Smash B: Hammer

{{Trophy/Fighter

|name=Kirby

|image=Kirby Trophy (Smash 2).png

|mode=All Star

|desc=Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.

|gamelist=:Up & B: Final Cutter

SSBM Kirby HQ.jpg|Official artwork of Kirby.

LuigiAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}, {{SSBM|Ness}}, and {{SSBM|Luigi}} on Great Bay.

LinkAdventureMode.jpg|Posing with {{SSBM|Link}} on [[Green Greens]].

YoungLinkAdventureMode.jpg|Standing with {{SSBM|Young Link}} and Pikachu on Green Greens.

FoxAdventureMode.jpg|Taunting with Ness and Pikachu on [[Temple]].

*Kirby's special moves from ''Melee'' are used in the game ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby & The Amazing Mirror}}'', through the use of the ability called ''Smash''. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (neutral aerial from ''Melee'', although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He does not, however, receive Burning, which is his dash attack. He gets the ability from [[Master Hand]], who is a boss in the game.