Donkey Kong (SSBM)/Up special

Hitbox visualization showing Donkey Kong's grounded Spinning Kong.

Hitbox visualization showing Donkey Kong's aerial Spinning Kong.

Overview

Donkey Kong pulls his elbow up, then rapidly spins his arms. Similar to the Spacie's shine, it is a special move that functions as a jack-of-all-trades option. Due to its initial invincibility frames and quick startup, the grounded version is a common out of shield option, and a frame trap option after back aerial on shield. The first hit has a lot of base knockback and knockback growth, making it a highly usable kill option that can be confirmed from DK's combos and tech chases. The following hits are quite weak, but hit fast enough that it is not always easy to punish on shield or on crouch cancel, and can be made even more difficult to punish by going to the ledge, thereby grabbing it and bypassing the end lag. It can also be used to punish characters attempting to land on top of DK, such as a Fox doing a down aerial from a fullhop or shield drop.

The aerial version is DK's primary recovery move. It travels a long distance horizontally, and, coupled with DK's high weight and fall speed, allows him to live a long time and recover high repeatedly. It also gives DK intangibility on his arms as long as the hitboxes are active, unlike the grounded version, making it somewhat difficult to interrupt. However, when recovering below the ledge, it is very vulnerable to disjointed attacks and has very poor vertical distance, which makes it easy to kill DK at low percents with spikes, semi-spikes and even meteor smashes. As an offensive option, the first hit has somewhat strong knockback, making it an effective edgeguarding tool where DK can jump offstage to an opponents position, hit them with the first hit, then drift back to ledge. As a defensive option, it can be used as a combo breaker, thanks to the aforementioned intangibility and a 2-frame startup, or as a ledge recovery move, done by letting go of the ledge and immediately activating the move, before drifting back onto stage. While it is technically possible to ledgedash with DK, it is extremely risky, self-destructing DK if performed improperly and only rewarding him with 7 frames of GALINT if done frame perfectly, making Spinning Kong from the ledge a much more practical option.

Hitboxes

Ground

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Hit 1
0	0	12%	1		60	100	0	6.2496	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	12%	1		60	100	0	6.2496	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
Hits 2-3
0	0	8%	1		50	70	0	5.4684	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	8%	1		50	70	0	5.4684	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
2	0	8%	1		50	70	0	4.6872	7	3.33963	0.0	0.0						Punch
Hits 4-5
0	0	8%	1		10	90	0	4.2966	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	8%	1		10	90	0	4.2966	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
2	0	8%	1		10	90	0	2.3436	7	3.33963	0.0	0.0						Punch

Aerial

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Rebound	Effect	G	A	Sound
Hit 1
0	0	10%	1		40	80	0	6.2496	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	10%	1		40	80	0	6.2496	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
Hits 2-5
0	0	5%	1		20	70	0	5.4684	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	5%	1		20	70	0	5.4684	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
2	0	4%	1		20	70	0	4.2966	7	3.33963	0.0	0.0						Punch
Hits 6-8
0	0	2%	1		0	100	0	4.2966	29	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
1	0	2%	1		0	100	0	4.2966	51	6.65973	0.0	0.0						Punch
2	0	2%	1		0	100	0	2.7342	7	3.33963	0.0	0.0						Punch

Timing

Ground

Intangibility	3-5
Hit 1	3-5
Hit 2-3	19-34 (Rehit: 8)
Hit 4-5	35-58 (Rehit: 8)
Animation length	84

Hitboxes

Intangibility

Air

Intangibility	2-5
Hit 1	3-5
Arms Intangibility	11-42
Hits 2-5	11-42 (Rehit: 8)
Hits 6-8	43-66 (Rehit: 8)
Animation length	84

Hitboxes

Body

Arms

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Vulnerable

Intangible

Donkey Kong's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special