Kirby (SSBU)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Ultra Sword
Tier	D- (75)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Like all veterans, he was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Kirby is classified as Fighter #06.

Kirby is voiced in all regions once again by Makiko Ōmoto, using a combination of new voice clips and ones recycled from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Kirby is currently ranked 75th out of 82 on the Ultimate tier list, placing him in the D- tier and making him the lowest ranking of the perfect-attendance crew. This is roughly similar to his placement in the previous game, where he was ranked 49th out of 54. Kirby possesses fast tilts and low ending lag on his aerials, granting him access to quick and powerful combos, while his back air and dash attack grant him strong KO options. Kirby's relatively small size and low crouch also makes him hard to hit; his crouch especially allows him to avoid most grabs and some attacks. Finally, Kirby's Inhale grants him his opponent's neutral special move, which not only deals more damage than the opponent's, but can also be used to alleviate some of Kirby's weaknesses.

However, Kirby has poor endurance, as his light weight makes him susceptible to early KOs. His poor air speed and merely average ground mobility, as well as a lack of reliable projectiles and ranged attacks, presents a host of problems in neutral and offstage, as Kirby has trouble approaching and fighting those that can outrange him. He also has a poor set of special moves that fails to help with his weaknesses, as they are situational and suffer from high startup and/or ending lag and inconvenient attributes: Inhale has lackluster reach and high ending lag, has limited utility against projectiles and Kirby has a chance to lose his Copy Ability if he gets hit past the first 20 seconds after he got it; Final Cutter is useless out-of-shield due to its slow start-up, and the shockwave, Kirby's only projectile, doesn't become active until he returns to the ground, making it too slow to be of use; Hammer Flip is powerful and can be charged but it's too laggy to be a reliable finisher; and Stone makes him invincible to any attack below 25% of damage but he cannot act until after he transforms back, he will be forced out of the move if he gets grabbed and it has noticeable lag, especially in the air. Finally, Kirby's recovery, though far-reaching, is rather predictable, as Final Cutter grants decent distance, but it can't snap to the ledge until he reaches the peak of his ascent and lacks coverage directly above him or behind him, and his poor air speed and floatiness make him very vulnerable to edgeguarding, juggling and pressure.

Overall, Kirby is a close-range character who can rack up impressive damage at close range, complemented with his quick frame data, but struggles to make use of his strengths due to his unimpressive range, slow air speed, and built-in lightweight properties. As a result, Kirby is a rarity within the metagame. Nevertheless, he has still seen success from dedicated mains such as Guilheww, JeJaJeJa, and Konokururu.

Attributes

Kirby is known for being a small lightweight, being tied for the eighth-lightest character in the game. True to his franchise, Kirby is a slow, yet floaty character. He has a slightly below-average walk speed (31st slowest), average dashing and initial dash (42nd fastest and 43rd slowest). He also has the 5th slowest air speed, above-average air acceleration, 3rd lowest gravity, the 5th lowest falling and fast falling speeds, and above average traction. Due to these statistics, Kirby has difficulty approaching opponents. Kirby's recovery is versatile: despite his slow air speed and low jump height rendering him susceptible to edgeguarding, his five midair jumps, slow falling speed, long vertical airdodge, and Final Cutter's decent distance give him good stalling capabilities and decent safety.

Kirby's greatest strengths are his quick frame data, high combo potential, and the versatility of his moveset. The majority of Kirby's attacks are characterized by speed, with his tilts being among the fastest in the game, while his slowest moves instead boast high power as a trade-off, while still being quite fast for their power. Neutral attack and forward tilt are fast and have decent range, allowing Kirby to quickly distance opponents, with the latter being used for tech chase setups. Up tilt's low knockback and high speed allow it to combo into multiple moves, such as itself, an aerial attack, or an Inhale. Down tilt's low power is compensated by its very fast speed and it launching opponents at the Sakurai angle, which allows it to trip most opponents even over 80%. Should he trip his opponents with it, he can follow up with a variety of attacks, such as a dash attack, grab, or forward smash. Dash attack’s early hit is excellent for whiff punishing and scoring a KO, potentially KOing opponents starting at 90%, while the late hit can set up into an Inhale. His smash attacks have good range, high power, and great speed, making them excellent at scoring a KO. Kirby is also very small, making him hard to hit, and his very low [crouch]] allows him to avoid almost all grabs and several attacks. As a result, Kirby has an excellent ground and defensive game thanks to his quick frame data and evasive crouch, requiring opponents to be careful when approaching him in neutral.

The usefulness of Kirby's ground game also extends to his grab game. His grabs have short range but are among the fastest in Ultimate, while his pummel's meager damage output is counterbalanced by its very fast speed. His forward throw, unlike most other forward throws in the game, has combo potential, leading into aerial attacks from low to mid percentages. Back throw can be followed up by a back aerial at 0% on certain characters, can KO at high percents, and can send opponents offstage. Up throw is his strongest throw and is able to KO almost all characters around 170%, or even earlier if it lands on a platform. Lastly, while down throw has no combo potential, it is reliable for damage-racking when no other throw can yield better results.

Kirby's aerial game is also notable. Despite his poor air speed, his air acceleration is high and his aerial attacks also have great versatility. Neutral aerial has a long-lasting hitbox, the clean hit is disjointed and relatively strong, very low landing lag, and good coverage, making it a safe landing option. The weak hit of neutral air can combo into his tilts, grab, or even a smash attack. It can also be used as a combo finisher and as a KO move at high percents. Due to the move lasting longer compared to his other aerials, it can safely pressure shields. Forward aerial is Kirby’s most reliable approaching tool. Despite its moderately slow startup, it has disjointed hitboxes on Kirby’s feet, has a long lasting hitbox that can lead to a wall of pain at low percents, the final hit can lead to a KO at high percents, and has very little landing lag, which makes it very safe on shield and hard to punish. Up aerial has good vertical knockback, low landing lag and a fairly quick auto-cancel window, allowing for several potential follow-ups and even opportunities to KO when near the upper blast line. Back aerial has decent range, high knockback on the clean hit, and is Kirby's fastest aerial, making it one of his strongest options overall. Lastly, down aerial has considerable startup, but has multiple hits that drag opponents downward before the final hit meteor smashes them and has low ending lag, making it a deceptively powerful edgeguarding tool as well as a reliable combo starter with follow-ups on grounded opponents.

Kirby's special moves can provide some unique strengths. Inhale is his most notable example; it allows him to either copy the neutral special move of any character he inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. Depending on what character he inhales, the copy ability can give Kirby a move that helps him in matchups to various degrees, such as useful projectiles to counter-camp his opponent (Needle Storm, Charge Shot, Wolf's Blaster), powerful punish options (Giant Punch, Homing Attack), a reflector (Nayru's Love), or other benefits (Monado Arts). In addition, Kirby's version of the opponent's neutral special has a 1.2× damage multiplier. Kirby can also inhale projectiles; smaller projectiles will be swallowed, allowing him to heal himself, while larger ones (such as a fully-charged Charge Shot) can be stored in his mouth and spat out, essentially giving Kirby a reflector. The spat projectiles can be used to punish opponents at mid-range and can launch them away with high knockback. Inhale can also be used to Kirbycide or spit the opponent out offstage, although the opponent can escape by mashing. Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged, and Kirby can move and jump while charging. However, its high startup and endlag, along with its short range and Kirby's already-sluggish movement being further slowed when charging, makes it difficult to land outside of a shield break, covering ledge options, or after a jab lock. Outside his jumps, Final Cutter is his primary means of recovery, granting good vertical distance, as well as a disjoint in front of him during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shockwave projectile upon landing, making it difficult to punish if the opponent is not behind Kirby. Lastly, Stone causes Kirby to turn into an object and ignore up to 25% damage. It is also a strong attack, especially in the air, and can be canceled shortly after Kirby begins his descent, although these benefits are limited by its slow startup and ending lag, and Kirby is still vulnerable to grabs while transformed. It can also be used on the ground, where it has faster startup due to creating a shockwave and it launches at a semi-spike angle.

Kirby's most notable flaw, however, is his poor approach. Characters who have high mobility or who can camp with projectiles can wall out Kirby, such as Sonic and Samus. Kirby's lack of reliable burst options makes his approach in these matchups problematic and sometimes predictable. In addition, characters with long disjointed hitboxes such as Cloud can outrange and wall out Kirby since his range is short relative to the cast. Final Cutter's projectile has decent range and moves quickly, but has somewhat slow startup due to it requiring Kirby to perform the entire rising and falling portions of the move beforehand, and he lacks other projectiles outside of spitting inhaled projectiles/opponents, or from a copy ability. This requires conscientious use to avoid punishment. Despite having great air acceleration, Kirby's air speed is also too slow for him to take advantage of it, hindering his aerial approach and recovery despite possessing five midair jumps. Kirby also has several KO moves, but some can be hard to land without a setup due to their short range. Rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even further by a high-damage opponent, and his low weight means he will sometimes not survive long enough to take advantage of his own rage.

In addition, Kirby also has poor endurance. While being light and floaty can help him escape combos from other characters, this also means he risks getting KOed earlier. He is also vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. This imposes as a risk in approaching opponents in the air, while also preventing Kirby's aerials from being used effectively when in a disadvantage state, often forcing him to rely on his jumps, Stone, or neutral aerial to escape and return to the ground or ledge.

Overall, Kirby tends to run hot and cold. He can inflict an impressive amount of damage if he gets close to his opponent thanks to his excellent frame data and potent combo game, but doing so is challenging for him due to his poor approach. As such, Kirby functions well with a bait-and-punish playstyle, although being unprepared for an opponent's approach can be hazardous due to his low survivability.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Near the end of SSB4's metagame, Kirby had been considered a low-tier character due to a combination of lackluster attributes and underwhelming moveset despite its power. Likely owing to this, Kirby has been granted a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition to Ultimate, being overall buffed, though not enough to raise his standing on the tier list.

Kirby's buffs lie in the increased utility of his moveset as a whole, with overall improved frame-data and KO power on his finishers. The first two hits of his neutral attack can now jab lock and connect better into the looping hits (albeit at the cost of reduced damage output), while forward tilt is a stronger poke and KO option due to its reduced endlag and its increased knockback. His dash attack has been mostly reverted back to its Melee iteration, however, it is significantly faster, stronger, has less startup, far longer duration compared to his previous dash attack in SSB4, can cross-up on shields, covers more ground, and is more reliable for catching opponents thanks to only consisting of a single, long-lasting hitbox—these changes make it a stronger punish tool and a much more versatile move overall. His smash attacks are now stronger punish options, with forward smash having much more range, up smash having faster start-up, and down smash regaining its semi-spike angle, restoring its utility at edgeguarding. His smash attacks also have improved KO power, with forward and up smash dealing more knockback, and down smash's altered angle KOing earlier at the edge despite its reduced knockback. Several of Kirby's attacks, such as up tilt and all his aerials (except for up aerial) also have more range, partially alleviating one of his weaknesses from SSB4.

The universal reduction to landing lag has also greatly benefited his aerials, which already had among the lowest landing lag in SSB4; his aerials are not only safer, but now capable of leading into followups, with forward aerial's first two hits now being able to follow up into a grab or forward smash. His neutral aerial (being one of his most situational attacks) is now faster, has more range, has less endlag, and deals more knockback (the clean hit being one of the strongest neutral aerials in Ultimate). Up aerial received many of the same buffs as neutral aerial and both it and forward aerial deal more damage, regaining some of their lost KO power from Melee.

For Kirby's special moves, Inhale has been significantly buffed with faster startup, less ending lag, a much longer grace period in which Kirby cannot lose his Copy Ability, a lower probability of losing said ability after this period has ended, and a new 1.2× multiplier to his copied neutral special compared to his opponent (albeit without a corresponding increase to knockback), giving him a greater incentive and a higher reward from inhaling opponents. Furthermore, he can now eat the projectiles he swallows to heal himself (and store certain ones in his mouth as well, enabling him to spit them out as stars). Hammer Flip now renders Kirby nigh-impossible to stop for a longer time as long as he's grounded. Final Cutter is faster, snaps to the ledge slightly sooner, and its landing hit is much more powerful, which improves its utility. And Stone's aerial variant now has super armor during its startup, making it more difficult to interrupt Kirby out of the attack, as in previous Smash games he could be interrupted even when he fully transformed.

However, Kirby has also received several noteworthy nerfs. The most notable were to his grab game: his already mediocre grab range has been worsened (most notably on his pivot grab), and forward throw has him jump up higher after the throw, which runs the risk of possibly landing on top of a soft platform, negating all follow-ups when it happens too early (although following up neutral air or up aerial can allow more follow-ups), while back throw has lost most of its combo setups due to changes to the animation. Altogether, this grants Kirby a less effective combo game off of his grabs overall. Other nerfs include: Stone no longer hitting shielding opponents twice, reducing its shield pressure considerably; back aerial deals less knockback (although it has more range and the clean hit now lasts for slightly longer to compensate); and down aerial, one of his most reliable combo starters in SSB4, has more range on the looping hits, but slightly less on the final hit and is less advantageous on landing due to the removal of frame canceling, reducing the effectiveness of its follow-ups since its landing lag was not reduced enough to compensate properly. Furthermore, Kirby still retains many of the same issues that plagued him in SSB4, with mediocre range, sluggish aerial mobility and a high susceptibility to being camped.

Universal changes to the game's mechanics both benefit and hinder Kirby. The revamped air dodging mechanics have significantly improved his innate ability to edgeguard opponents more effectively, and directional air dodges have also given him a secondary recovery option, but this also makes him more susceptible to juggling and edgeguarding as well, due to his short-ranged aerials, predictable landing options, and his air dodges being among the slowest in the game. The changes to downwards velocity KOing opponents faster from the bottom blast line now render Final Cutter as a significantly more deadly edgeguarding and sacrificial KO option, further improving its utility. The increased shieldstun and increased startup on shield grabbing notably benefits Kirby's safety on hit, due to his moveset's naturally high damage and low ending lag, making him harder to shrug off and punish accordingly. Conversely, the changes to grabs' ending lag make Kirby's own grab riskier to throw out, as their ending lag can prove more punishable. The increase in mobility is a mixed bag for Kirby, as while his mobility has improved overall relative to the cast (most notably his aerial mobility), his problems with camping from the previous incarnation remain, exhibited with the increased prevalence of zoners. Overall, his edgeguarding and defensive options have been improved at the cost of his range issues becoming even more prevalent than in SSB4.

In the end, Kirby's changes now render his punish game much more deadly, make him much harder to shake off once he gains the advantage, and allow him to seal stocks at much more varied percentages, but the universal changes to the game's engine have made it slightly easier for opponents to keep him away and have rendered said punish game slightly more inconsistent. Because of this, Kirby is agreed to have not significantly improved from his appearance in SSB4, which, combined with several veterans being buffed to varying degrees, has resulted in Kirby being in a similar position overall, despite several game updates handing Kirby a myriad of buffs.

Aesthetics

• Kirby's appearance is largely the same as it was in SSB4, though his model features a more subdued color scheme. His feet have a pinkish tint, and his blush marks are slightly blurred. These changes make Kirby more closely resemble his appearance in recent Kirby games.
• Like many other characters, Kirby is more expressive, both with his face and his movement.
• Some of Kirby's animations, particularly his dash and initial jump, have been tweaked to closer resemble his appearance from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward.
• One of Kirby's voice clips when taking high knockback has been changed to his alternate KO sound from SSB4.
  • As a result, he gains a new KO clip, which sounds similar to one of his unused high knockback voice clips from Brawl.
  • Kirby's unused damage yell from Smash 4 is used when he takes medium knockback.
• Kirby's on-screen appearance has a more intense, fiery explosion than in previous games. The large, cartoony stars that appear have been removed, and while the sparkle effects are still present, they have been drastically toned down. All in all, it more closely resembles how it appeared in Super Smash Bros.
• Up taunt has been shortened, with Kirby striking the ending pose without dancing first. The pose itself has been tweaked; Kirby raises one of his feet, resembling the pose he makes when gaining abilities in his games.
• Kirby smiles during his side taunt.
• Kirby's victory poses have been modified. Two new dances are used, one with Kirby waving his arms and breakdancing, and another with Kirby moonwalking and sliding, both based on Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and ending in a unique pose. Kirby also splits into three separate Kirbys when not in team battles, referencing his home series. This is the first and only game to have Kirby's victory poses finish differently.
  • Kirby's idle pose at the end of his victory animation is more animated, with a gentle squash-and-stretch effect leading to a more rubbery feeling.
  • Kirby faces forward instead of away when "wiggling" in one of his victory poses.
• When Kirby gains a new Copy Ability, he briefly poses as he does in his home series. This animation can be canceled.
• Some Copy Ability hats have been changed.
  • His Samus helmet has a fully opaque visor, as it was in Super Smash Bros.
  • His Captain Falcon helmet has triangular eyes, and the visor is opaque as in Super Smash Bros.
  • Unlike Smash 4, his Jigglypuff cap matches his costume color, as in previous games up to Brawl.
  • His Zelda cap has been changed from the wimple she wore as a child in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to a hairstyle matching her new A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds-inspired look.
  • His Ganondorf cap is consistent with Ganondorf's Ocarina of Time appearance, effectively reverting to its design in Melee.
  • His Ike cap uses the hairstyle from his Path of Radiance design, as in Brawl.
  • His Wolf cap matches Wolf's Star Fox Zero-based appearance.
  • His Robin cap, upon exhausting the Thunder tome, will disappear as it does in all other cases, instead of just disappearing with no animation.
• Kirby's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "The Pink Demon", a direct translation of the Japanese title, for consistency with its appearance in Kirby: Planet Robobot.

Attributes

• Like all characters, Kirby's jumpsquat takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
• Kirby runs faster (1.57 → 1.727).
  • His initial dash is noticeably faster (1.5 → 1.9).
• Kirby walks faster (0.93 → 0.977).
• Kirby's air speed is slightly faster (0.8 → 0.84).
• Kirby's traction is much higher (0.0493 → 0.116), going from below average to being tied for the 17th highest, making easier for him to punish out of shield.
• The changes to taunt interruptibility benefit Kirby more than any other returning veteran, as he can act quicker after discarding a Copy Ability.
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 31 → 36).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
• Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 63), being tied with Rosalina for the second slowest air dodge in the game duration-wise, only behind Jigglypuff.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's first and second hits have altered angles (55° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 70° → 361° (hit 2)) and knockback (8 base/30 scaling → 20 base/25/20 scaling (hit 1), 15/30 → 25/15 (hit 2)) to keep opponents close to Kirby, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to jab lock, and noticeably improves their previously poor linking ability.
  • The first hit has less startup lag (frame 3 → 2), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 16 → 15).
  • The second hit transitions faster into the infinite (frame 8 → 5) and has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.3×), although with a slightly higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×).
  • The infinite has shorter gaps between hits (4 frames → 2), a consistent angle (55°/68°/80° → 361°), a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×) and SDI multiplier (1× → 0.4×), and deals less knockback (6/4/2 base/100 scaling → 7 base/35 scaling). This allows it to connect more reliably and makes it much harder to escape.
  • The infinite's finisher has less startup (frame 5 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 51 → 40).
  • The finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%) and launches at a lower angle (45° → 361°), with knockback not fully compensated (80 base/120 scaling → 70/115), improving its KO potential.
  • All hits except the finisher deal less damage (2% → 1.8% (hit 1), 3% → 1.6% (hit 2), 1% → 0.2% (infinite)).
  • The first hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.7×), giving opponents more time to SDI it.
  • The second hit and each hit of the infinite have a shorter hitbox duration (2 frames → 1), and the latter also has one frame more startup (frame 6 → 7), although this is compensated by its faster transition from the second hit.
  • The finisher has smaller hitboxes overall (4.5u/6.5u/5.5u → 5u/5u/5u).
  • The finisher has a much higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 3×), making it easier to DI after SDIing the infinite.
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 7×. This allows it to lock opponents into their shields between each hit, and thus pressure them more effectively, but also allows them to cancel shieldstun and punish Kirby more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
  • Kirby's punching hand disappears during his rapid jab; instead, the visual effects have been made thicker.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 24). Combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes it much safer on shield.
  • It has much more base knockback (12 → 40), improving its KO potential.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt's closest hitbox is larger (4u → 4.8u), slightly surpassing the late hit in Brawl.
  • The late hit and foot intangibility last one more frame (frames 6-9 → 6-10), matching its duration from Brawl.
  • It has less base knockback (40 → 30/26 (clean), 26 (late)) and more knockback scaling (116 → 132/125 (clean), 110 → 130/119 (late)), allowing it to combo better into his aerials from low to mid percents, while also improving its KO potential at very high percents.
  • The hitbox at the tip of Kirby's foot launches at a slightly different angle (100° → 98° (clean), 88° → 86° (late)).
• Down tilt:
  • Due to the increased traction across the cast, opponents do not slide back as much upon tripping from down tilt, improving its reliability for starting combos.
  • It has more knockback scaling (30 → 43), causing it to stop tripping opponents sooner, but improving its combo potential at higher percents if it doesn't trip due to the aforementioned change.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has reverted to its Melee iteration, where Kirby does a flaming tackle identical to the Burning copy ability from his home series, although it does not drop him off edges.
  • It hits only once instead of six times, possessing a clean hit, mid hit and late hit. This makes it more reliable overall than the previous dash attack, which could sometimes miss its last hit due to the looping hits' poor linking ability.
  • It propels Kirby a much farther distance forward, increasing its range.
  • It has less startup lag with its hitboxes active fully throughout (frames 12, 15, 19, 24, 30, 35-37 → 9-17 (clean)/18-26 (mid)/27-34 (late)).
    • However, the total duration has not been fully compensated, giving it 1 frame more ending lag despite the shorter total duration (FAF 54 → 52).
  • It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/3.5u/3.3u (hits 1-5), 3u (hit 6) → 5u (clean), 3.5u (mid & late)).
  • It has lower hitlag multipliers (2× → 1.3× (clean)/1× (mid)/0.8× (late)). In combination with its faster startup and consisting of a single hit, this makes it harder to DI.
  • The clean hit deals more damage (1% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6); 9% total → 12%), with knockback not fully compensated (100 base/70 scaling → 82/71), and launches at a more horizontal angle (65° → 46°). This turns it into a much stronger finisher, KOing opponents at around 160% from center stage and 105% near edges, compared to being unable to KO under 280% regardless of horizontal positioning.
  • The mid and late hits deal more damage than the previous dash attack's last hit (4% → 9% (mid), 6% (late)), and the former launches at a higher angle (65° → 76°), allowing it to KO slightly earlier despite its lower knockback values (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50).
  • The late hit deals much less knockback (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50), hindering its KO potential despite launching at a higher angle (65° → 76°).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash's clean hit deals more knockback (30 base/102 scaling → 32/109), improving its KO potential.
  • Kirby lunges farther forward, giving it more range.
  • It deals more damage when angled down (14% → 15% (clean), 10% → 11% (late)).
  • It deals less damage when angled up (16% → 15% (clean), 12% → 11% (late)), although the clean hit is still slightly stronger than in Smash 4 due to its higher knockback values.
  • The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • It has a different startup animation: Kirby pulls back before executing a thrust kick instead of performing a spin first, resembling Smash Kick, one of Smash Bros. Kirby's attacks in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has less startup (frame 14 → 12), with its leg intangibility frames moved accordingly (frames 14-19 → 12-17) and its total duration reduced (FAF 48 → 46).
  • The clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit having a shorter duration instead (frame 14 (clean)/15-16 (mid)/17-19 (late) → 12-14/15-16/17). This improves its utility as an anti-air, as the clean hit remains active when the hitboxes go above Kirby.
  • The clean hit deals more knockback (33/30 base/104/99 scaling → 36 base/104 scaling), improving its KO potential.
  • The mid hit's sourspot (12% → 13%) and late hit (12%/11% → 13%/12%) deal more damage.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash launches at a semi-spike angle like its foot hitboxes in Melee and Brawl (69° → 29°), significantly improving its edgeguarding ability and allowing it to KO earlier near edges.
  • It has less startup lag (frame 10 → 7) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 54 → 51).
  • It has much less knockback scaling (110 → 94), hindering its KO potential from center stage and across the stage.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral), 13 → 8 (forward), 17 → 10 (back), 12 → 7 (up), 17 → 16 (down).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 73 → 53).
  • The clean hit deals significantly more knockback (30 base/90 scaling → 35/117), allowing it to KO reliably at around 150% from center stage.
  • All hitboxes are bigger (8u → 9u (clean), 7u → 8u (mid), 6u → 7u (mid-to-late), 5u → 6u (late)).
  • It auto-cancels earlier (frame 56 → 51).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's first hit launches at a higher angle (45°/80° → 53°/84°) and deals less knockback (35 base/50 scaling → 43/39 (close), 35/38 (far)), allowing it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
  • The first and second hits have lower hitlag (1× → 0.8×) and SDI multipliers (1× → 0.5×), making them harder to escape.
  • The first and third hits have larger hitboxes (4.3u/4.3u → 5u/4.4u (hit 1), 4.9u → 5.1u (hit 3)), with the latter extending further horizontally (Z offset: 8u-12u → 7u-13u) and vertically (Y offset: 3.9u-4.2u → 3u-4.2u), improving their range.
  • Due to its reduced landing lag, and forward smash's improved range and knockback, the first hit has gained a KO setup into it at high percents.
  • The second hit extends further outwards (Z offset: 8u-12u → 7u-13u) and below Kirby (Y offset: 3.7u-4.2u → 2.8u-4.1u), improving its horizontal range, and allowing it to hit short or crouching characters, even in a rising short hop.
  • The second and third hit deal more damage (3% → 4% (hit 2), 5% → 6% (hit 3).
  • The third hit has a longer duration (frames 25-26 → 25-27).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has larger hitboxes (4u → 4.5u (clean), 3.4u → 3.5u (late)), and they extend further horizontally (Z offset: 7u-10.5u → 6u-13u (clean), 7u-10u → 6u-11u (late)), noticeably improving its range.
  • The clean hit has a longer duration (frames 6-7 → 6-8).
  • The clean hit has slightly less base knockback (20 → 15), hindering its KO potential.
  • The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 8-14 → 9-12).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8), less ending lag (FAF 40 → 36), and auto-cancels earlier (frame 22 → 20).
  • It deals more damage (9% → 10%) and has noticeably more knockback scaling (100 → 115), greatly improving its KO ability, without worsening its combo ability due to its reduced lag.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's looping hits deal more damage (1% → 1.3%, total: 7% → 8.5%), with knockback scaling compensated (107 → 100).
  • The looping hits have a noticeably lower hitlag multiplier (1.5× → 0.8×), alongside a larger hitbox (5u → 6u), increasing their range and making them harder to escape from.
  • It can no longer be frame canceled, with its landing lag not reduced enough to compensate. As a result, it has more landing lag relative to Smash 4 if the landing hit connects, hindering its combo potential.
  • The last hit has a smaller hitbox (6.2u → 5.6u).

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34 (standing), 39 → 42 (dash), 33 → 37 (pivot)), albeit they are still among the fastest in the game.
  • All grabs have less range (Z2 offset: 10.2u → 9.4u (standing), 12.1u → 11u (dash), -17.9u → -15.7u (pivot)).
  • Dash grab has slightly more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals less damage (1.55% → 1%).
  • It has less startup (frame 9 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 10 → 6), but deals considerably more hitlag (4 frames → 11), increasing its effective duration.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw has Kirby jump slightly higher and further backwards at the end of the animation, able to reach the height of Battlefield's lower platform. The additional height weakens its combo potential at low percents, while the additional backwards distance prevents him from benefitting from the extra height at higher percents.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has Kirby jump immediately after releasing the opponent, as opposed to a few frames later, causing him to be much higher in the air after the move ends. Additionally, Kirby lands a short distance forward relative to where the throw is initiated from, rather than in the same spot. This almost completely removes the throw's followups at low percents, and weakens its edgeguarding potential, as it pushes Kirby away from edges.
  • It has an altered animation where Kirby doesn't squish as much upon slamming the opponent to the ground.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has gained a collateral hitbox upon landing that deals 7%, similar to Meta Knight's up throw, increasing its effectiveness in battles with multiple opponents.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw's first nine hits deal more damage (0.8% → 1%, total: 10.2% → 12%).
• Edge attack:
  • Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).
  • It no longer inflicts 4 frames of hitlag on the opponent upon release, slightly reducing its hit advantage.

Special moves

• Inhale:
  • Inhale has less startup lag (frame 14 → 10), making it much easier to combo into.
  • It has a larger vortex hitbox (7u → 8.5u) with altered hitbox placements (Y offset: 7.5u → 7u, Z offset: 13u → 15.5u), and an additional vortex hitbox, increasing its range.
  • It has less ending lag when failing to inhale anything (FAF 73 → 64), and after copying an opponent (FAF 30 → 21), preventing the copied opponent from being able to hit Kirby before he can move.
  • The swallowing hitboxes are larger (4.2u/4.6u → 5.3u/5.8u), increasing the safety of copying an opponent when others are nearby.
  • It can catch projectiles to heal Kirby, albeit with noticeable ending lag.
    • Kirby can keep certain projectiles, like a fully charged Charge Shot, inside his mouth and then choose to spit them out as a star that deals damage or swallow them to heal himself.
  • Kirby dies later when performing a Kirbycide, though he still dies first. This gives the opponent less time to recover after Kirby is KO'd.
  • Kirby receives a 1.2× damage multiplier for his Copy Abilities compared to the copied opponent's neutral special.
  • Kirby cannot lose his Copy Ability by getting hit for 20 seconds after receiving it, allowing him to keep it much more efficiently.
  • The distance an opponent travels in a star scales with damage, allowing Kirby to KO spat opponents near edges more effectively at higher percents.
  • Rather than a 3.125% chance regardless of move, the chance for Kirby to lose his Copy Ability by getting hit is equal to the damage % taken, thus increasing it for hits that deal more than 3.125% damage.
    • This also means moves that deal less than 3.125% (like some multi-hit moves) are less likely to make Kirby lose his ability.
  • Inhale has a more opaque visual effect.
  • Kirby mouth's now uses the same texture used for his mouth. As a result, with the exception of both his default and P8 alternate costume, the color of Kirby's mouth no longer matches the color of his feet.
• Hammer Flip:
  • Hammer launches at a lower angle when not fully charged (53° → 48° (grounded), 55° → 50° (aerial)), slightly improving its KO potential.
  • The grounded version has intangibility (frames 2-10) and more super armor (frames 11-13 → 11-17) when fully charged.
  • The aerial version deals slightly more damage (15%-27% → 16%-28%) with no compensation on knockback.
  • The aerial version sends at a higher angle when fully charged (45° → 50°), slightly reducing its KO potential despite its increased damage.
  • Kirby may use his uncharged or fully charged voice lines from Smash 4 when swinging an uncharged Hammer.
  • A fully charged Hammer triggers Special Zoom.
• Final Cutter:
  • Final Cutter has less landing lag (34 frames → 30).
  • It can snap to the ledge earlier (frame 36 → 33).
  • The rising hit has a longer duration (frames 23-24 → 23-26). The set knockback during the additional active frames is lower (117/102 → 60/50) to link into the falling hit as well.
  • The landing hit no longer has set knockback (120 set/100 scaling → 85 base/95 scaling).
  • The shockwave projectile has a higher initial velocity (4.5 → 4.8), increasing its range.
  • The falling hit has smaller hitboxes (6.5u → 6u (meteor), 6u → 5.5u (late)).
  • The falling hit's meteor smash portion has slightly less set knockback (100 → 96), making it less effective for Sacrificial KOs.
  • The projectile has a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.7×), although this is compensated by the universal increase to hitlag.
• Stone:
  • Aerial Stone has super armor during startup (frames 19-28).
  • It deals more knockback while falling (65 base/70 scaling → 69/76).
  • The landing hit launches at a higher angle (0° → 25°) and has much more base knockback (40 → 86), although with its knockback scaling partly compensated (40 → 30), allowing it to set up edgeguards more effectively, while also increasing its KO power.
  • The aerial hit can no longer combo into the landing hit, significantly decreasing its shield damage.
  • If Stone is hit with a reversing move such as Cape, the transformation will visually spin around.
  • Stone can transform into a Treasure Chest found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's shrines.
  • If Kirby is metal when using Stone, the transformation will also be metal.
  • Kirby doesn't change back to normal if he lands underwater.
  • Kirby briefly does his guarding pose in the startup animation, referencing the animation that plays after obtaining the Stone ability in Kirby Super Star.
• Ultra Sword:
  • The final hit has less knockback scaling (100 → 95), hindering its KO potential.
  • It features a special background effect upon usage, in a similar fashion to the use of Super Abilities in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Update history

Aside from glitch fixes, Kirby has been buffed significantly via game updates. Update 2.0.0 improved his ground game by reducing the ending lag of his forward tilt, along with granting it increased base knockback, giving it newfound KO potential at very high percentages, while also boosting its safety at low percents. Dash attack's clean hit was also given a larger hitbox, and its damage output was increased overall. Update 3.0.0 improved the duration of his up smash's clean hit, making it easier to land on aerial opponents, and reduced the ending lag on his neutral aerial. Inhale's Copy Ability grace period was also extended, allowing Kirby to safely keep his abilities for longer, and the probability of him losing them when receiving damage was also reduced. Furthermore, his down throw's damage output was increased, and Final Cutter can grab ledges earlier, making it safer for recovery.

Update 6.0.0 granted Kirby some of his most significant improvements. Both neutral and up aerials had their startup reduced and their knockback increased, improving their combo and KO potential. Inhale had its startup reduced as well, and the grace period for Copy Ability was further increased, along with a further reduction to the probability of losing his abilities. Up smash's sourspot had its knockback increased, improving its consistency, and neutral attack's startup was reduced by 1 frame. Following this, update 7.0.0 enlarged Kirby's shield, making him much less susceptible to shield pokes.

Kirby has been buffed once more in update 8.0.0, strengthening a handful of his finishers such as down smash, back aerial, and Stone, with the former having decreased start-up, alleviating the nerfs they initially received in the transition to Ultimate. Dash attack had its clean hit's knockback increased and its previously high endlag reduced, with cross-ups now being much safer and as well as giving the late hit follow-up potential. Although forward aerial's increased damage output and knockback on the final hit makes it harder for him to follow up with his combos at low percents, it is an overall benefit since it renders his finishers to be more potent, while indirectly giving his other combo tools more flexibility. Update 13.0.1 added a minor buff/bug fix of Kirby's version of Lightning Buster less ending lag to match Mythra.

Overall, Kirby fares significantly better than he did at the launch of Ultimate, with his combo potential and mobility being greatly improved, as well as the combos doing more damage, which makes his neutral game more viable and leaves him less reliant on gimmicks to consistently close stocks.

1.1.0

• Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
• The animation for Final Cutter has been adjusted.

1.2.0

• After copying Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit, Key will no longer be discarded when it is recycled.

2.0.0

• Kirby's Dash attack has greater range and all hitboxes deal 2% more damage (10%/7%/4% → 12%/9%/6%), with knockback not fully compensated.
• Forward tilt has increased base knockback (12 → 40) and reduced ending lag (frame 28 → 24). This improves its safety as a spacing tool, and even allows it to KO at higher percents.
• Stone now has damage-based armor starting on frame 19 when used in the air. This makes the move harder to intercept.

3.0.0

• Up smash's clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit having a shorter duration instead (frame 12 (strong)/13-14 (mid)/15-17 (late) → 12-14/15-16/17).
• Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 63 → 55) and auto-cancels earlier (frame 56 → 51).
• The first 9 hits of down throw deal more damage (0.8% → 1%, total: 10.2% → 12%).
• Inhale
  • Kirby dies later when performing a Kirbycide with Inhale, though he still dies first (distance from the blastzone: (-10 → -4). This gives the opponent less time to recover after Kirby is KO'd.
  • Kirby cannot lose Copy Abilities received by Inhale for a longer period of time (5 seconds → 10).
  • Kirby is less likely to lose Copy Abilities when getting hit (Chance to lose: Damage Received/70 * 1.3 → Damage Received/70).
  • Fixed multiple Inhale Glitches:
    • Fixed a visual glitch where Kirby would retain parts of Metal status with Wii Fit Trainer.
    • Fixed a visual glitch where Kirby’s Bandana from Snake would move during the camera view of each frame.
    • Opponents now properly gain intangibility when caught by Inhale; previously opponents would become stuck in a hitstun during Inhale.
    • Removed Infinite floating glitch that occurs when Kirby uses multiple copied Mii Swordfighter's Gale Strikes in the air after perfoming a throw that left him in the air.
    • Removed Gliding glitch when Kirby uses a copied and B-reversed Mii Swordfighter's Gale Strike while running.
• Final Cutter can snap to the ledge earlier (frame 36 → 33).

3.1.0

• Kirby can no longer perform the initial dash cancel to Pikmin Throw.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in Kirby being unable to perform air dodges, shield and crouch after attempting to change then losing the chosen Monado Art.
• Scenarios where the opponent would not escape from Inhale after Kirby gets hitstunned at a specific frame has been fixed.

6.0.0

• Neutral attack's first hit has less startup (frame 3 → 2), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 16 → 15).
• Up smash's clean sourspot deals more knockback (30 base/99 scaling → 36/104), with the knockback values matching the sweetspots.
• Neutral aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 55 → 53), and the clean hit has more knockback scaling (100 → 117), KOing under 150% from the center of Final Destination.
• Up aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 38 → 36), and deals more damage (9% → 10%) with more knockback scaling (108 → 115), KOing under 160% from ground level.
• Inhale has less startup (frame 14 → 10) with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 68 → 64).
• Kirby cannot lose Copy Abilities received by Inhale for a longer period of time (10 seconds → 20).
• Kirby is less likely to lose Copy Abilities when getting hit (Chance to lose: Damage Received/70 * 100% → Damage Received/70 * 70%).

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased.

8.0.0

• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 52).
  • The clean hit has more knockback scaling (66 → 71).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash has less startup (frame 10 → 7), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 54 → 51).
  • It has more knockback scaling (89 → 94).
• Forward aerial's second and third hit deal more damage (3% → 4% (hit 2), 5% → 6% (hit 3); total: 12% → 14%), with base knockback on the third hit not fully compensated (30 → 24).
• Back aerial's sweetspot has more knockback scaling (100 → 104).
• Stone deals more knockback (65 base/70 scaling → 69/76 (aerial), 24 scaling → 30 (shockwave)).

13.0.1

• Kirby's version of Lightning Buster has less ending lag (FAF 71 → 69), now matching Mythra's.

Moveset

• Kirby can perform 5 double jumps, tied with Jigglypuff and Meta Knight for most double jumps in the game.

For a gallery of Kirby's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Punch (パンチ) / Follow-Up Punch (追いパンチ) / Vulcan Jab (バルカンジャブ) / Vulcan Finish (バルカンフィニッシュ)	1.8%	A one-two combo. When button mashed, Kirby performs the Vulcan Jab from the Fighter ability before concluding with the Smash Punch. It is very quick due to coming out on frame 2, and its first two hits have very minimal ending lag. These traits make it effective for jab canceling or as an out of shield option. Both hits can also jab lock.
			1.6%
			0.2% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt		Spinning Kick (スピニングキック)	8% (base), 7% (tip)	Throws a spinning roundhouse kick. It is quick, due to coming out on frame 5, having very little ending lag and can be angled. The tip of Kirby's foot is a sourspot, but it is out-prioritized by the other hitboxes. Due to its above average knockback, it can KO middleweights starting at around 140% at the edge of Final Destination when sweetspotted; this makes it a useful 2-framing option when angled downwards.
Up tilt		Kirby Tail (カービィテイル)	5% (clean), 4% (late)	A scorpion kick. Although its damage output is low, it is a very useful combo starter at low percents, due to it coming out on frame 4 and having both very minimal ending lag and disjointed range which also reaches in front of him. It also renders Kirby's foot intangible throughout its duration, which can give him protection above him and allows it to be used as an anti-air tool despite its rather poor range.
Down tilt		Squish Kick (ローキック, Low Kick)	6%	A crouching shin kick. It is fairly spammable due to coming out on frame 4 and having minimal ending lag. It also moves Kirby marginally forward when using it. When coupled with its tripping potential, and the fact that Kirby's crouch allows him to dodge many attacks with high hitboxes, it can be a very useful set-up option, especially after a crouch.
Dash attack		Burning (バーニング)	12% (clean), 9% (mid), 6% (late)	The Burn attack from the Burning ability from Kirby's Adventure. It has decent startup at frame 9 with a long-lasting hitbox that grows weaker over time. Its clean hitbox is one of the strongest dash attacks in the game, KOing middleweights at around 100% from the edge of Final Destination, though it is extremely punishable on shield due to its endlag. Unlike Melee, it does not slide off of edges.
Forward smash		Smash Kick (スマッシュキック)	15% (clean), 11% (late)	Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability from Kirby Super Star. Due to becoming active at frame 13, it is quite fast for a forward smash. It can be angled, moderately moves Kirby forward, and the clean hit is slightly disjointed, giving it deceptively good range. Its clean hitbox also deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth, which makes it a powerful and reliable KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights starting at around 70%. However, its late hitbox lacks reliable KO potential due to its high base knockback at the expense of very low knockback scaling. The hitbox also has a deceptively short duration, and it has noticeable ending lag (29 frames), making it unsafe on shield and punishable if not used correctly. A powerful punish option that is also capable of 2-framing reliably if angled downwards.
Up smash		Somersault Kick (サマーソルトキック)	15%/14% (clean), 14%/13% (mid), 13%/12% (late)	A bicycle kick. It can hit behind Kirby, while its clean hitbox deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth akin to forward smash, KOing middleweights at around 100% from anywhere on Final Destination. Kirby's foot is also rendered intangible throughout its duration. Has moderate startup and ending lag, coming out on frame 12 and having 27 frames of ending lag, which gives it the fastest interruptibility of Kirby's smash attacks. Its middle hit is noticeably weaker, but still has surprisingly respectable KO power for an up smash and launches at a more favourable angle, KOing middleweights at around 120% from anywhere on Final Destination. The late hit has extremely low knockback, not KOing opponents even at Sudden Death percentages, and the move has a sourspot at the tip of Kirby's foot that deals less damage.
Down smash		Propeller Kick (プロペラキック)	14% (clean), 10% (late)	A spinning split kick. It hits in front of and behind Kirby, and its clean hitbox deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth like his forward and up smashes. Comes out on frame 7, with the fastest startup of his smash attacks. It semi-spikes with above average power, with its clean hitbox KOing middleweights starting at around 100% from the edge of Final Destination, and is additionally a reliable 2-framing option that is very useful for edgeguarding as a result. It also renders Kirby's feet intangible starting from frame 3 until the clean hit ceases at frame 11. However, its late hitbox has significantly lower KO potential due to its lower damage, not KOing middleweights on the ledge of Final Destination until around 140%. Due to it having 31 frames of ending lag, it has the highest ending lag of Kirby's smash attacks, and combined with its long duration, it's very punishable if shielded or whiffed.
Neutral aerial		Twinkle Star (ティンクルスター)	10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (mid-to-late), 4% (late)	A cartwheel that also appears in the Smash Bros. ability. Its very low landing lag makes it a decent set-up option at low percents or a tool for shield pressure when short hopped, while its very high knockback growth makes it a decent anti-pressure option. In addition, on Final Destination, it can KO middleweights under 160% at center stage and at around 110% at the ledge if landing the clean hitbox, making it one of the strongest neutral aerials in the game, which also makes it a powerful out of shield option. It has large hitboxes that cover Kirby's body, especially at the beginning, giving good protection and coverage around him, and it can also edgeguard. It has properties of a sex kick and autocancels in a full hop. Due to coming out on frame 8, it has the second fastest startup of Kirby's aerials, although this also makes it slower in comparison to other sex kicks.
Forward aerial		Triple Attack (トリプルアタック)	4% (hit 1), 4% (hit 2), 6% (hit 3)	A series of three consecutive aerial kicks. Due to coming out on frame 10, it has the second slowest startup of Kirby's aerials. The first two hits have low knockback, which allows them to connect reliably into the third hit; however, they are notably inconsistent and the first hit doesn't use the autolink angle, meaning that it might experience fallouts as a result. Its low landing lag also allows the first or second hit to be used as set-up options into other moves, such as an up smash or forward smash at high percents. A versatile aerial that is good for combos and edgeguarding, it is capable of connecting into itself for a wall of pain in certain instances. As of update 8.0.0, it deals the highest damage of Kirby's aerials and, while this makes it more difficult to connect two forward aerials at low to mid percents, is able to KO middleweights near the edge of Final Destination around 130% or 170% near the center. It can also be used as an out-of-shield option if Kirby is too far away to hit the opponent with neutral aerial or up aerial, and its multiple hits can pressure shields when retreating. It auto-cancels in a full hop.
Back aerial		Drop Kick (ドロップキック)	13% (clean), 8% (late)	A dropkick. It functions as a sex kick, but it also has the lowest amount of start-up lag out of Kirby's aerials, due to it coming out on frame 6. It can autocancel in a short hop and its clean hitbox possesses very high knockback growth, which make it a viable KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination, its clean hitbox KOs middleweights at around 105-110%, which is around the same KO percentages of Kirby's clean neutral aerial. It also boasts good range due to its slightly disjointed hitbox, which makes it a viable edge-guarding option, and allows it use in a wall of pain, as well as a good approaching option if used in a reverse aerial rush. These attributes make it one of Kirby's best finishers.
Up aerial		Air Cutter (エアカッター)	10%	A bycicle kick similar to his up smash. Comes out on frame 8, tied with neutral aerial for having the second lowest startup of Kirby's aerials. A decent juggling option, it can also be used for continuing a combo due to its low landing lag. Can be used as an out-of-shield option if the opponent has a large enough hurtbox. Due to its decent damage and knockback, it is strong enough to KO middlweights at around 150% on Final Destination on ground level, making it a useful KO option after a full hop, or above platforms. It can auto-cancel in a short hop fast fall.
Down aerial		Screwdriver (スクリュードライバー)	1.3% (hits 1-5), 2% (hit 6), 2% (landing)	A diagonal corkscrew dropkick. A decent combo starter on grounded opponents due to its low ending lag. The final hit is a weak meteor smash, which makes it useful for edgeguarding and allows it to gimp characters with short recoveries. It can even lead into a footstool jump on fast-fallers and heavyweights. While it has the highest amount of start-up lag out of Kirby's aerials due to coming out on frame 18 and can't auto-cancel in a short hop, it has landing hitboxes, giving Kirby a decent window to safely land. The landing hit has low fixed knockback, giving it some combo potential. While possessing a rather good auto-canceling window and being good for edgeguarding, its usage offstage is only serviceable against characters with slow or exploitable recoveries, as the final hit cannot reliably KO characters even as high as 180% offstage due to its weak damage output. It has the highest landing lag of of Kirby's aerials and, despite its low endlag, it's unsafe on shield due to the final hit's low damage output, making it punishable when used recklessly.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out with one hand. Based on the startup animation of the Torrent Lariat from the Suplex ability from Kirby Super Star. It's one of the fastest grabs, but has somewhat short range.
Pummel		Grab Slap (つかみビンタ)	1%	A punch. Fast but weak.
Forward throw		Power Bomb (パワーボム)	5%	A throw resembling the Rock Drop from the Suplex ability from Kirby Super Star. Unlike the majority of forward throws, it possesses combo potential. Its most reliable follow-ups are neutral, forward and down aerials at low percents, and up aerial and Final Cutter at medium percents. Using it below a Battlefield platform will have Kirby land on said platform, hindering followups at lower percents. However, as of patch 6.0.0, the faster start-up on neutral and up aerials allow him to combo with them if he lands on a platform, but those follow-ups depend on the character.
Back throw		Brain Buster (ブレーンバスター)	8%	A back throw resembling the backwards dive from the Backdrop ability from Kirby's Adventure. Despite habing an average damage output and very low base knockback, it has very high knockback growth. As a result, it has decent KO potential. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 140%.
Up throw		Air Drop (いずな落とし, Izuna Drop)	10% (throw), 7% (landing)	The Air Drop from the Ninja ability from Kirby Super Star. Like Meta Knight's up throw, it can damage and launch bystanders upon landing. It is weaker than his back throw when used at the edge, but it is consistently strong regardless of where it is used on the stage. Great knockback, KOing middleweights at around 160% from anywhere on Final Destination without rage, though it is extremely susceptible to DI due to the long duration. Because Kirby jumps up to perform it, he can land onto platforms above him upon descending, which enables it to KO even earlier.
Down throw		Fury Stomp (もうれつストンピング, Fury Stomping)	1% (hits 1-10), 2% (throw)	The Fury Stomp from the Suplex ability from Kirby Super Star. It is Kirby's most damaging throw at 12%, which makes it useful for damage-racking when his other throws cannot do so. It can also damage nearby opponents. Due to its high knockback and unfavorable angle in comparison to other down throws, it launches too high for followups, so it is his most situational throw. However, it has enough knockback to KO middleweights at around 200% on Final Destination if Kirby has no rage, so it can be used as a situational KO option, but only on certain high platforms. On the top platform of Battlefield, it will KO middleweights at around 170-175% without rage.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Performs a spinning kick before getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Performs a Kicks on one side and then the other before getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)		Break Spin	5%	The Break Spin from the yo-yo ability from Kirby Super Star.
Edge attack Edge getups			9%	Performs a cartwheeling kick while climbing up. It has surprisingly good range compared to several other characters' edge attacks.
Neutral special		Inhale	10% (swallow), 6% (spit)	Inhales the opponent. It has a grabbox and can be held indefinitely. Upon Inhaling an opponent, Kirby can spit them out as a star to deal damage to them and any nearby opponents, copy their neutral special move, or walk around slowly and/or perform a short hop. However, the opponent can escape from Kirby's mouth via button mashing. Some characters will give Kirby a slight variation of their neutral special due to mechanics that would not work properly when copied, such as Luma Shot and Pikmin Pluck. When inhaling projectiles, Kirby will heal off a small amount of percentage, and when inhaling large projectiles, such as Samus's fully charged Charge Shot, it can be spat out as a star. Kirby's copied neutral special's damage output has a x1.2 multiplier compared to the opponent's version.
Side special		Hammer Flip	19% (grounded uncharged), 16% (aerial uncharged), 35% (grounded fully charged), 28% (aerial fully charged)	The attack of the same name from the Hammer ability. It is chargeable and, when fully charged, Kirby's hammer will ignite and deal recoil damage. He can also slowly walk and jump while charging. When it is used in midair, Kirby will swing his hammer twice, with each hit being equally powerful. While near the edge of Final Destination, uncharged Hammer Flip KOs middleweights at around 65%. Fully charged Hammer Flip KOs middleweights at around 6%. Although weaker, aerial Hammer Flip nevertheless possesses impressive KO potential. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 86%. Its fully charged version KOs them at around 33%. When fully charged and on the ground, it makes Kirby invincible from frame 2-10 and gives him super armor from frame 11-17. To counteract its power, it has long startup and endlag, making its usage in competitive play very limited outside of shield break punishes or covering get-up options from ledge.
Up special		Final Cutter	5% (ascent), 2% (descent), 5% (landing), 6% (shockwave)	The attack of the same name from the Cutter ability. It weakly meteor smashes any opponents he comes into contact with upon descending, which is somewhat useful as a sacrificial KO or to edgeguard opponents who run out of ledge invincibility, though not to the extent of similar moves like Aether. The sword also emits a shockwave upon hitting a solid surface, which is Kirby's only projectile aside from spitting out an Inhaled opponent. Solid vertical recovery distance and has serviceable horizontal distance when angled. Can also punish improper aerial approaches, but overuse will render Kirby vulnerable to punishment due to the high start-up. Because the attack doesn't have hitboxes covering Kirby when ascending and he cannot sweetspot the edge until the peak, he is vulnerable to edgeguarding. If the platform beneath Kirby disappears or if he is pushed off while he is still in the landing animation, he will be rendered helpless.
Down special		Stone	18% (impact), 14% (shockwave)	The Stone Change (while Kirby is on the ground) and the Stone Smash (while Kirby is in the air) from the Stone ability. While transformed, Kirby gains armor that can withstand at least 25%, though he can be grabbed while transformed. Stone Smash also grants super armor during startup (frames 19-28), and can also be canceled in midair by pressing the special button, which can be used for mindgames. Thanks to its high damage output, Stone Smash KOs middleweights at around 100% and deals considerable shield damage. Although Stone Change is considerably weaker, it is still a relatively potent semi-spike and comes out much faster thanks to its shockwave (frame 11 instead of 29). Stone's usage include combating juggles, or being used as a landing/edgeguarding tool; however, due to its high overall lag and predictability, it is not often used in competitive play.
Final Smash		Ultra Sword	3% (stun), 5% (hit 1), 2.5% (hits 2-9), 16% (hit 10)	The Super Ability of the same name. Kirby wields a gigantic sword to repeatedly slash the opponent before enlarging the sword and then concluding with a powerful downward slash. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 15%.

Stats

Kirby's gravity and falling speed are set to 0.068544 and 1.8, respectively, during hitstun when launched at angles between 70°-110°.

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	79	1.9 – Initial dash 1.727 – Run	0.977	0.116	0.015	0.84	0.03 – Base 0.065 – Additional	0.064	1.23 – Base 1.968 – Fast-fall	3	25.37 - Base 12.24 - Short hop	21.06378125, 18.528125, 15.931125, 13.34569531, 10.82288281

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Kirby rides in on his classic Warp Star, followed by a small explosion while flipping off of it.

• 

  Kirby's on-screen appearance

Taunts

All taunts remove Kirby's Copy Ability if he has one.

• Up taunt: Smiles and poses, producing a star.
• Side taunt: Spins around playfully, then says "Nyum!" while standing on one foot. Based on his "character chosen" animation in the original Super Smash Bros.
• Down taunt: Leans toward the screen and says "Hi!" while waving his arms.

• 

  Kirby's up taunt.

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  Kirby's side taunt.

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  Kirby's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Dozes off, then shakes his head awake.
• Turns to face away from the screen, then turns back.

• 

  Kirby's first idle pose.

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  Kirby's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Kir - by!	Ka - a - bii!	Kir - by!	Kirby! Kirby! Kirby!	Kir - by!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Kir - by!	Kir - by!	Kir - by! Kir - by!	Keo - bi!

Victory poses

Note: Outside of team battles, Kirby's victory poses have three separate Kirbys, referencing the Kirby Dance from his home series.

• Left: Moonwalks to the left, twists, slides to the right, and jumps into a pose where he stands on one foot. Based on Kirby's dances in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and ends with a pose similar to his Brawl render and his character select animation in Super Smash Bros., albeit much more subtle.
• Up: Cartwheels to the left twice, wiggles, and does a front flip before posing. The ending pose originated from the Kirby Dance in Kirby's Adventure.
• Right: Jumps twice, shuffles backwards, performs a breakdance, and poses. Based on Kirby's dances in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, with the ending pose also appearing in said game.

The victory theme of the Kirby universe is a cover of the short recurring theme that plays when Kirby completes a stage or defeats a boss, debuting in Kirby's Dream Land, though the shortened version that this track is based on debuted in Kirby's Adventure.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Kirby players (SSBU)

•  Guilheww - One of the two best Kirby players in the post-online metagame, being the only solo Kirby player to ever be ranked in the top 100 of a notable global ranking, ranking 93rd on the LumiRank 2024.1. His 13th-place finish at S Factor 11 is the highest placement for a Kirby player at a major event. In addition, he won the superregional Trick or Fortune, the first Kirby player to win a superregional.
•  JeJaJeJa - One of the two best Kirby players in the post-online metagame, having placed well at many events, including 33rd at the supermajors Super Smash Con 2022, Let's Make Big Moves 2023, Collision 2024, and Riptide 2024 as well as 17th at Port Priority 7. He is the first Kirby player to win a ranked event, doing so at Afterburner 2024, and has also won the superregional Ring Out. In addition, he was ranked 115th on the LumiRank 2024.1, the second-highest Kirby player ranked on a global ranking.
•  Jesuischoq - Considered the best Kirby player in the early metagame. Prior to his inactivity, he regularly placed highly at European events, including 2nd at the regional Smash4Glory - Ultimate Edition upsetting Glutonny, and 13th at the superregional VCA 2019.
•  Konokururu - One of the best Kirby players in the world in the post-online metagame and the best Kirby player in Japan. Although his placements have been less consistent than JeJaJeJa and Guilheww, he has placed well at several supermajors including 17th at Kagaribi 7, 33rd at Kagaribi 9, and 25th at Kowloon 12 with Kagaribi.

Tier placement and history

Since the release of Ultimate, several professionals immediately noticed Kirby's significant flaws from the previous installment had been retained, in spite of the mechanics suiting him better in comparison to SSB4. In addition, players notified his vulnerability to being camped, poor range, slow air speed, as well as platforms potentially negating all follow-ups should he start a combo with a forward throw. Despite some representation and decent results from players such as Jesuischoq and Ferretkuma, most of the community considered Kirby to be a low or bottom-tier in the early metagame, with some going as far as to consider Kirby could be one of the worst characters in the game.

Kirby later received many significant buffs in balance patches, more than almost every other character, especially in patches 6.0.0 and 8.0.0. These patches greatly improved his overall frame data, KO power and versatility to many of his attacks, allowing him to be more consistent in closing stocks and starting combos. In addition, although Kirby's representation remained rather small and was often in the bottom 10, he began seeing more success both online and offline from players such as Guilheww and JeJaJeJa, who were able to achieve strong results with him in national tournaments and in majors. These small positives were enough to raise opinions on Kirby's viability slightly. As such, although Kirby continues to have little impact on the metagame, he is usually not thought of as a candidate for the worst character in the game. This is reflected in Kirby's placement on the first tier list, where he is ranked 76th as a low-tier character. Although he only rose one spot to 75th on the second tier list, gradually improving results from dedicated players had led some players to believe Kirby should be ranked higher thanks to his improved advantage state.

Classic Mode: Gourmet Clash

Kirby's congratulations screen.

Kirby's opponents are characters who, like him, are known for their gluttonous appetites in their respective series. For each battle, Kirby and his opponent each spawn with 35% damage and several food items appear on the stage as the match begins.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music
1	Pac-Man	Pac-Land	PAC-MAN
2	Giant Yoshi	Yoshi's Island	Ground Theme - Super Mario World
3	Donkey Kong	Jungle Japes	Jungle Hijinxs
4	Giant Wario	Gamer	WarioWare, Inc.
5	King K. Rool	Kongo Jungle	Mangrove Cove
6	Giant King Dedede	Fountain of Dreams	Gourmet Race (64)
Bonus Stage
Final	Marx	Mysterious Dimension	Vs. Marx

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Kirby has Staff Credits - Kirby's Dream Land accompany the credits.

Character unlock tree

Kirby's Classic Mode character unlock tree includes the following characters in order:

1. Ness
2. Jigglypuff
3. Pac-Man
4. Zelda
5. Robin
6. Corrin
7. Lucas
8. Palutena

Each character can be unlocked by clearing Kirby's Classic Mode, or the Classic Mode of any preceding character, if all preceding characters have been unlocked. Once all the above characters are unlocked, clearing Classic Mode with any of them will default to Mario's character unlock tree, starting with Sonic.

Role in World of Light

Kirby facing the World of Light, from the mode's opening cutscene.

Kirby in the start of World of Light's gameplay

Kirby was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to assist in defeating an army of Master Hands.

After Galeem absorbed all of the Master Hands during the opening cutscene, he began to unleash beams of light that vaporized all of the fighters and later imprisoned all of them. Kirby was the sole survivor after escaping on his Warp Star, barely warping away from the beams before they could engulf him. Despite being the sole survivor, Kirby is still seen as a puppet in a few areas of the mode. It was later explained that Galeem had analyzed Kirby at some point during the story and was able to make puppet fighters in his image without needing Kirby himself.

Kirby crash-lands in a canyon area, and begins his quest to save the other fighters as the initial starting protagonist.

He is later seen alongside several other fighters, preparing their final stand against Galeem and Dharkon.

Spirits

Kirby's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode as Kirby. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold. Starting World of Light and playing as Kirby allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. His fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with his artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Kirby makes an appearance in various support spirits.

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  323. Kirby

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  326. Warp Star

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  327. Star Rod

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  328. Ultra Sword

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  329. Robobot Armor

In Spirit Battles

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
48		Boo	Super Mario Series	•Kirby		1,800	Mushroom Kingdom U (Slide Lift Tower)	•Invisibility	•The enemy is invisible •The enemy's shield has extra durability	Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion (Brawl)
50		Bob-omb	Super Mario Series	•Kirby ×3		3,500	Mushroom Kingdom	•Item: Bob-omb	•The enemy's throwing-type items have increased power •The enemy has increased move speed	Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3
66		King Bob-omb	Super Mario Series	•Giant Kirby		4,100	Peach's Castle	•Item: Bob-omb	•The enemy is giant •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Main Theme - Super Mario 64
69		Piantas	Super Mario Series	•Kirby Team ×2 ×2 ×2 ×2		1,600	Delfino Plaza	•Item Tidal Wave •Item: Mushrooms	•Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while	Delfino Plaza (Original)
71		Luma	Super Mario Series	•Kirby Team		3,500	Mario Galaxy	•Item: Stars	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Rosalina in the Observatory / Luma's Theme
74		Lubba	Super Mario Series	•Giant Kirby		4,100	Mario Galaxy	•Hazard: Low Gravity •Item: Super Launch Star	•Gravity is reduced •The enemy starts the battle with a Super Launch Star •The enemy is giant	The Starship Sails
116		Viruses	Dr. Mario Series	•Kirby		4,000	Mario Bros. (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Timed battle (1:30)	Fever	Chill Virus (blue costume) Weird Virus (yellow costume) Fever Virus (red costume)
285		X Parasite	Metroid Series	•Kirby Team ×10		2,100	Lylat Cruise	N/A	•The enemy favors neutral specials •Defeat an army of fighters	Sector 1
327		Star Rod	Kirby Series	•Kirby Team ×4		9,200	Fountain of Dreams	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod	Gourmet Race (Melee)	Kirby/Star Rod's shards
329		Robobot Armor	Kirby Series	•Metal Kirby Team ×4 (40 HP)		4,000	Halberd	•Item: Drill	•Stamina battle •The enemy is metal	Pink Ball Activate!
331		Dragoon	Kirby Series	•Kirby		13,500	Pilotwings	•Item: Dragoon Parts	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy •The enemy has increased move speed	The Legendary Air Ride Machine	Kirby
335		Gooey	Kirby Series	•Kirby		4,200	Dream Land	N/A	•Timed battle (2:00) •The enemy favors neutral specials	Gourmet Race (64)
339		Whispy Woods	Kirby Series	•Kirby Team ×5		9,300	Green Greens	•Hazard: Heavy Wind	•Dangerously high winds are in effect •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Boss Theme Medley - Kirby Series	Whispy Woods's apples
341		Nightmare's Power Orb	Kirby Series	•Giant Kirby		4,000	Fountain of Dreams	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Nightmare)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while •The enemy is giant •The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod	Vs. Marx
360		Waddle Dee	Kirby Series	•Kirby Team ×4		3,700	Dream Land GB	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Kirby Retro Medley (Green Greens)
362		Waddle Doo	Kirby Series	•Kirby ×3		2,500	Dream Land	•Hazard: Zap Floor	•The floor is electrified •The enemy starts the battle with a Super Scope	Butter Building (for 3DS / Wii U)
366		Scarfy	Kirby Series	•Kirby Team ×3		1,400	Dream Land	N/A	•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Green Greens (Melee)	Angry Scarfy (red Kirby)
368		Rocky	Kirby Series	•Metal Kirby (120 HP)		2,600	The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Timed stamina battle (1:00) •The enemy favors down specials •The enemy is metal	The Great Cave Offensive
370		Bomber	Kirby Series	•Kirby		3,500	Dream Land GB	•Item: Bomber	•The enemy starts the battle with a Bomber	Butter Building (Brawl)
380		Prince Fluff	Kirby's Epic Yarn	•Kirby		1,900	Super Happy Tree	N/A	•The enemy's throws have increased power •The enemy favors grabs and throws	Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)
432		Dugtrio	Pokémon Series	•Kirby ×3		1,500	Pokémon Stadium 2 (Ground type)	•Earthquake	•Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage after a little while	Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
438		Geodude	Pokémon Series	•Kirby Team ×4		1,400	Pokémon Stadium 2 (Ground type)	N/A	•The enemy favors down specials	Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
458		Ditto	Pokémon Series	•Kirby		3,400	Pokémon Stadium	N/A	•The enemy favors neutral specials •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Ditto)	Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
470		Marill	Pokémon Series	•Kirby		1,700	Pokémon Stadium 2	N/A	•Water and ice attacks aren't as effective against the enemy	Pokémon Gold / Pokémon Silver Medley
546		Diancie	Pokémon Series	•Reflect Kirby ×2		3,900	Kalos Pokémon League (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy reflects projectiles •The enemy favors down specials •The enemy takes less damage while in the air	Battle! (Champion) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y
553		Pyukumuku	Pokémon Series	•Tiny Kirby Team ×4		1,600	Wuhu Island (Frisbee Dog Park)	N/A	•Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Pyukumuku)	Battle! (Wild Pokémon) - Pokémon Sun / Pokémon Moon
559		Nihilego	Pokémon Series	•Kirby ×3		4,100	The Great Cave Offensive (Ω form)	•Hazard: Poison Floor	•The floor is poisonous •The enemy loves to jump •The enemy falls slowly	The Battle at the Summit!
623		Wrys	Fire Emblem Series	•Kirby (30 HP)		2,500	Temple	N/A	•Timed stamina battle (1:30) •The enemy tends to avoid conflict •The enemy heals over time	Shadow Dragon Medley
806		White Pikmin	Pikmin Series	•Tiny Kirby Team ×13 (10 HP)		4,400	Distant Planet (Battlefield form)	•Item: POW Block •Hazard: Poison Floor	•The floor is poisonous •Timed stamina battle (1:00) •The enemy favors dash attacks	Forest of Hope
809		Rock Pikmin	Pikmin Series	•Tiny Kirby Team ×8 (10 HP)		1,800	Garden of Hope (hazards off)	•Hazard: High Gravity	•Stamina battle •Your jumping power decreases •The enemy favors down specials	Garden of Hope (Original)
948		Ghosts	PAC-MAN Series	•Kirby •Jigglypuff •Squirtle •Pac-Man		3,500	Pac-Land (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Ghosts)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	PAC-MAN	Blinky
1,122		Unira	Clu Clu Land Series	•Kirby Team ×4		1,800	75m	•Item Tidal Wave •Item: Unira	•Certain items will appear in large numbers •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Clu Clu Land
1,155		Hakkun	Sutte Hakkun	•Kirby		2,100	Yoshi's Island	•Invisibility	•Timed battle (2:00) •You are invisible after a little while	Flower Field
1,180		Tomatrio	Tomato Adventure	•Kirby		1,600	Yoshi's Island (Melee) (Battlefield form)	•Item: Maxim Tomato	•The enemy is easily distracted by items	Mixed-Up Scramble
1,186		Mattel	The Legendary Starfy Series	•Kirby		1,800	Delfino Plaza (Large Island)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Starfy)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	Tortimer Island Medley
1,226		Magkid	Slide Adventure MAGKID	•Kirby Team ×4		1,800	PictoChat 2	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Devil)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy can deal damage by dashing into you •The enemy has increased move speed	PictoChat
1,278		Qbby	BOXBOY! Series	•Kirby Team ×4		9,300	Wii Fit Studio	•Item Tidal Wave	•Certain items will appear in large numbers	Ice Cream Island
1,330		Slime (Dragon Quest)	DRAGON QUEST Series	•Kirby Team ×5 (50 HP) •Giant Kirby (150 HP)		1,700	Gaur Plain (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy favors neutral air attacks •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III	King Slime (Giant Kirby)
1,336		Liquid Metal Slime	DRAGON QUEST Series	•Metal Kirby (8 HP)		5,700	The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form)	•Move Speed ↑ •Defense ↑ •Attack Power ↓	•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •The enemy starts the battle with a Franklin Badge •Timed stamina battle (0:30)	Battle for the Glory - DRAGON QUEST IV
1,343		Jiggy	Banjo-Kazooie Series	•Gold Kirby ×5 (10 HP)		2,000	The Great Cave Offensive	N/A	•Timed stamina battle •The enemy falls slowly	Treasure Trove Cove
1,355		O-Tetrimino	Tetris Series	•Kirby		2,000	Mushroomy Kingdom	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Thwomp) •Item: POW Block	•Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy favors down specials in the air	Tetris: Type B
1,433		Slime (Minecraft)	Minecraft Series	•Giant Kirby (120 HP) •Kirby Team ×3 (60 HP) •Tiny Kirby Team ×6 (30 HP)		3,300	Minecraft World (Taiga)	N/A	•Stamina battle •The enemy favors neutral air attacks •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Halland / Dalarna
1,473		Kittens	Super Mario Series	•Tail Kirby Team		1,900	Delfino Plaza (Large Island)	•Item: Balls	•The enemy has increased move speed and reduced weight •Defeat an army of fighters	Main Theme - Super Mario 64 (Remix)
1,490		Tama	Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin	•Kirby •Clear Kirby		1,500	Garden of Hope (Ω form)	N/A	•The enemy favors air attacks •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd •The enemy is invisible	The Mysterious Murasame Castle Medley	Holy Sword Tama (Clear Kirby)
1,517		Oatchi	Pikmin Series	•Giant Kirby •Alph		8,800	Distant Planet (Ω form)	•Item: Hocotate Bomb	•The enemy favors dash attacks •The enemy can deal damage by dashing into you	Garden of Hope (Original)
1,528		Wonder Flower & Talking Flower	Super Mario Series	•Tiny Kirby •Tiny Kirby Team ×20		1,900	Mushroom Kingdom U	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Skull Kid) •Item: Fire Flower	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch •Hostile assist trophies will appear	Pandemonium	Wonder Flower (Blue Kirby) Talking Flowers (Yellow Kirby)

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
67		Shine Sprite	Super Mario Series	•Rosalina & Luma •Kirby Team		13,100	Delfino Plaza (roof)	•Temporary Invincibility •Sudden Final Smash •Item: Stars	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash •The enemy will occasionally be invincible	Delfino Plaza (Remix)	Coins
72		Hungry Luma	Super Mario Series	•Rosalina & Luma •Kirby		1,900	Mario Galaxy	•Item: Super Launch Star	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Egg Planet	Hungry Luma
104		Geno	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars	•Sheik •Peach •Kirby •Bowser •Mario		13,700	Mario Galaxy (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Timed battle (2:30) •The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly	Rainbow Road Medley	Mallow
332		Rick	Kirby Series	•Pikachu •Kirby		4,100	Green Greens	•Hazard: Ice Floor	•The floor is frozen •The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower •The enemy has increased move speed	Planet Popstar	Kirby
333		Kine	Kirby Series	•Squirtle •Kirby		3,600	Wuhu Island (Rocks at sea)	•Buoyancy Reduced	•You can't swim •The enemy starts the battle with a Freezie	Kirby Retro Medley (Float Islands)	Kirby
334		Coo	Kirby Series	•Falco •Kirby		4,100	Dream Land	•Hazard: Heavy Wind	•Dangerously high winds are in effect •The enemy loves to jump •The enemy falls slowly	Forest/Nature Area	Kirby
690		Ball	Game & Watch Series	•Mr. Game & Watch •Pac-Man •Jigglypuff •Kirby		3,900	Flat Zone X (hazards off)	•Item: Balls	•The enemy favors grabs and throws •The enemy's throwing-type items have increased power	Flat Zone 2	Ball
723		Viridi	Kid Icarus Series	•Mii Swordfighter (Moveset 1232, Viridi Wig, Viridi Outfit, High Voice Type 6) •Giant Kirby		13,700	Reset Bomb Forest	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy's special moves have increased power •Timed battle (0:55)	Wrath of the Reset Bomb	Cragalanche
1,107		Fighting Alloy Team	Super Smash Bros. Series	•Captain Falcon Team ×4 •Zelda Team ×4 •Mario Team ×4 •Kirby Team ×4		3,300	Final Destination (Battlefield form)	N/A	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle	Cruel Smash	Green Alloy
1,119		Devil	Devil World	•Ridley •Kirby ×2		3,900	75m (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Devil)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear	25m Theme	Medaman
1,197		Munchy Monk	Rhythm Heaven Series Rhythm Paradise Series	•Ken •Tiny Kirby ×3		1,500	Spirit Train	•Item: Food	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy favors up specials •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Fruit Basket	Dumplings
1,216		Dr. Lobe	Big Brain Academy Series	•Dr. Mario •Kirby		3,400	PictoChat 2	•Hazard: Low Gravity •Hazard: High Gravity	•All fighters have reduced jump ability •Gravity is reduced after a little while	Title Theme - Big Brain Academy	Floating Objects (Shadow Shift)
1,286		Clip & Snip	Snipperclips - Cut it out, together! Series	•Pac-Man •Kirby		3,600	PictoChat 2	N/A	•The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge	Noisy Notebook	Snip
1,301		River Survival	Super Mario Series	•Bowser •Kirby •Yoshi •Rosalina & Luma		5,500	Kongo Falls (Ω form)	•Bob-omb Festival •Item Tidal Wave •Item: Food	•Survive until the timer runs out (1:00) •Bob-ombs will rain from the sky after a little while	Slide	Goomba
1,411		Duran & Angela	Mana Series	•Roy •Zelda •Tiny Bunny Kirby ×2		9,200	Gaur Plain (Ω form)	•Item: Ramblin' Evil Mushroom	•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd	Filled with Hope	Rabites
1,450		Chocobo & Moogle	FINAL FANTASY Series	•Mii Brawler (Moveset 3122, Isaac Wig, Yellow Tracksuit) •Kirby		1,600	Garden of Hope	•Item: Cucco	•Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle •The enemy starts the battle with a Bob-omb	Flower Field	Moogle
				•Mii Brawler (Moveset 3122, Chocobo Hat, Yellow Tracksuit) •Kirby
1,524		Sprigatito, Fuecoco, & Quaxly	Pokémon Series	•Ivysaur •Squirtle •Kirby		3,700	Delfino Plaza (Courtyard)	N/A	•The enemy favors side specials	Battle! (Trainer) - Pokémon Sun / Pokémon Moon	Fuecoco
1,525		Peach & Stella	Super Mario Series	•Peach •Tiny Kirby		12,800	Luigi's Mansion	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Lyn, Chef Kawasaki, Akira Yuki)	•Hostile assist trophies will appear •The enemy favors up smash attacks	Fossil Falls	Stella

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Kirby artwork, as posted by Kirby's official Twitter account.

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  Link, Kirby, Mario, and Cloud artwork, as posted by Tetsuya Nomura's official Twitter account.

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  Kirby's fighter card.

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  "Mario Kirby" tossing a Fireball on Battlefield.

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  "Jigglypuff Kirby" using Rollout with Jigglypuff on Onett.

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  Using his Hammer on Little Mac in the Boxing Ring.

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  "Fox Kirby" using a Blaster with Fox on Mario Galaxy.

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  Performing Final Cutter on Tomodachi Life.

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  Inhaling an Ice Shot on Summit with the Ice Kirby-inspired costume.

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  Getting kicked by Diddy Kong on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  Inhaling Donkey Kong's grapes on Gaur Plain.

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  With King Dedede on Green Greens.

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  Kirby's "unmasked Meta Knight" costume standing next to the real Meta Knight on Skyworld.

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  Kirby in his new Stone transformation below an aerial Mii Brawler on Skyworld.

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  Struck by Rosalina on Temple.

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  About to be eaten by Yoshi on Gaur Plain.

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  Kirby standing next to a Bomber on Green Greens.

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  Kirby struck by Knuckles's uppercut on The Great Cave Offensive.

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  Three Kirbys watching the Squid Sisters' concert on New Pork City.

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  Taunting alongside Meta Knight and King Dedede on Green Greens.

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  With Mario, Link, Inkling, Marth, Pit, Ridley and Villager on Battlefield.

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  With Sora, Mr. Game & Watch and Link on PictoChat 2.

Trivia

• Kirby's stock icon is one of only six to show eyes (the others being Meta Knight, R.O.B., Sonic, Zombie, and Enderman). The most likely reason is to actually tell that it is his stock icon, as it is otherwise a simplistic pink circle.
  • It also greatly resembles his stock icon in the original Super Smash Bros.
  • This is also not counting Captain Falcon or Larry, as the eyes depicted for the former are not his actual eyes, and the latter lacks his irises.
• Kirby's pose resembles his character artwork in Kirby Super Star, but rotated to slightly face the screen. Coincidentally, this was also used for his character select artwork in the original Super Smash Bros.
  • Coincidentally, his pose is also used for his Wrestler artwork in Kirby Fighters 2 (with the difference between the mask and the angry frown).
• Kirby is the only Kirby series character to keep his Final Smash between Smash 4 and Ultimate.
• Since Kirby is the starter character of World of Light and part of the starter roster, he is the only character that is not unlockable in the game for any mode.
  • This also makes Kirby the only character in the entire series that is never unlocked in any mode.
    • This means it is impossible to see the message saying that "Kirby Joins the Battle!". Modding the game to display this message (through setting Kirby's fighter spirit to rematchable) will reveal that Kirby does not have a text string for this instance, and the message will simply read "Joins the Battle!"
  • Despite his status as the mode's starter character and the closest thing to the main character, Kirby's depiction in marketing or artwork for Ultimate is no more prominent than any of the other starter characters, apart from Mario and Link who collectively serve as the game's mascots.
• Due to his various Copy Abilities, Kirby has the highest amount of voice clips for any character in the game, with 95 clips (121 if DLC is included).
• Because of the copy ability, Kirby has the most unique character models for any character in the game. There are 81 different models, with 648 models if alternate costumes are counted.
• Barring Yoshi who is the only fighter of the Yoshi series, Kirby is the only starter character in Ultimate whose universe has more than one character to not include any characters in their Classic Mode unlock table, as Meta Knight is in Link's, and King Dedede is in Donkey Kong's.
• Unlike other characters, Kirby can actually taunt online when playing outside of arenas, but only to discard his copy ability.
• As a result of not being captured, Kirby is one of the few characters that doesn't have copies of him produced by Dharkon or Galeem during their boss fights.
• Kirby's neutral item swing when using battering items has 2 fewer frames of ending lag, with an FAF of 24 as opposed to 26 for the rest of the cast.
• Since Kirby was never possessed by Galeem like everyone else, his presence in many spirit battles went unclear for some time, until Masahiro Sakurai addressed this in an interview; stating that Galeem managed to analyze Kirby halfway through the story, making it possible to create puppets of him.
  • Ironically, Kirby has the most spirit battle appearances of all characters, with 64 total.
• Kirby is one of the five veterans from Smash 4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Link, King Dedede, Mega Man, and Ryu.
• If the spirits in the collection are in numerical order, Kirby is the last character to be in a spirit battle as the main opponent, which is Wonder Flower & Talking Flower.
  • It is also the last character to be in a spirit battle as a minion, which is Peach & Stella.
• Masahiro Sakurai revealed in a YouTube video that Kirby's Sora copy ability initially had hair that clipped into his eyes, and this was adjusted before the final release.