King Dedede (SSBU)

King Dedede in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Dede-Rush
Tier	E+ (79)

King Dedede (デデデ, Dedede) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed as playable along with Rosalina & Luma and the rest of the veterans on June 12th, 2018. King Dedede is classified as Fighter #39.

Series creator Masahiro Sakurai's portrayal of King Dedede from Super Smash Bros. 4 was repurposed for Ultimate.

King Dedede is currently ranked 79th out of 82 on the current Ultimate tier list, placing him at the top of E+ tier, and the lowest ranked veteran from Brawl. While Dedede was significantly buffed, this is similar to his exceptionally low placement in Smash 4 at 51st out of 54.

King Dedede has some of the best endurance out of any fighter on the roster. Dedede is tied with Donkey Kong as the third heaviest character in the game and has one of the best vertical recoveries due to Super Dedede Jump, allowing him to survive to extremely high percents. Dedede's primary strengths lie in his hammer and deadly ledge traps. King Dedede's hammer provides him with large, disjointed hitboxes on many of his moves, making him one of the few super-heavyweights that can reliably space his opponent. Dedede's hammer can also be quite powerful, as he boasts some of the strongest smash attacks and aerials in Ultimate. Furthermore, Dedede's Gordo Throw combined with his various tilts and smash attacks can make Dedede one of the most intimidating characters on the ledge. King Dedede's moves were largely buffed in power, frame data, and combo ability in their transition to Ultimate. The most significant buff to Dedede's overall moveset is that Inhale now serves as a reflector, allowing Dedede to better fight against projectile camping. Inhale can also be used in conjunction with his Gordos, giving him another way to use his sole projectile against his opponent.

Changes made to the engine in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate have benefited Dedede's limited combo potential and linear recovery. Universal reductions to landing lag made neutral aerial and up aerial better combo tools than in Smash 4. Changes made to jumpsquats and air dodging enhance Dedede's edgeguarding and his poor horizontal recovery options. While air dodging was severely nerfed in Ultimate, Dedede is relatively unaffected by these changes due to his multiple jumps and high vertical recovery.

However, King Dedede has severe flaws that overshadow most of his positive attributes, especially when in disadvantage. Dedede's awful mobility is the source of many of his problems, with him especially struggling in the air thanks to having the slowest air speed in the game. While Dedede's overall speed is better than in Smash 4, it's still a challenge for him to approach or retreat from his opponent. Like many super-heavyweights, King Dedede has a large hitbox and few escape options, making him highly susceptible to combos and juggling. While this can be somewhat dealt with through Dedede's incredibly fast falling speed, his super-heavyweight attributes only compound the issues his sluggishness presents. Dedede's atrocious air speed in combination with his fast fall speed leave him exceedingly vulnerable offstage, making it troublesome for Dedede to get back to stage safely. Despite the universal decrease in lag, the slow frame data associated with Dedede's moves make a majority of his moveset highly committal. Dedede's specials all leave him open to punishment. Inhale and Jet Hammer, despite their newfound uses, still have slow ending lag. Dedede has to be careful when using Gordo Throw, as Gordos can be reflected back by the opponent with any move that does 2% or higher, causing significant damage. Super Dedede Jump is best used if Dedede can connect with the ledge, as the move has exceptionally high ending lag on stage. All of this leads to Dedede having a surprisingly hard time taking off stocks, as his powerful finishers are unsafe, and his deadly set-ups are difficult to establish in neutral.

King Dedede's sheer amount of problems have left him with negative competitive reception. While Dedede was initially viewed as an upper mid tier, his weaknesses only became more apparent as the metagame progressed. Dedede also received notable nerfs to his Gordo hitboxes and shield break set-ups in subsequent balance patches, lowering his competitive standing even further. Though players such as Atomsk and ZAKI have seen some success with the character, many of Dedede's early mains have either dropped him or relegated him to a secondary.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with King Dedede being the 30th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Donkey Kong or any character in his unlock tree, being the 4th character unlocked after Rosalina & Luma.
• Have King Dedede join the player's party in World of Light.

King Dedede must then be defeated on Fountain of Dreams (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

King Dedede is tied for the third heaviest character in the game alongside Donkey Kong, making him a super heavyweight. King Dedede shares some typical attributes with other heavyweights, such as a high damage output, high KO potential, great endurance, quick falling and fast falling speeds (both tied for second and third fastest respectively), overall sluggish mobility, large size and a high susceptibility to combos. In addition to having an average initial dash and the thirtieth highest gravity, he has the twenty-eighth slowest walking speed, eleventh slowest dashing speed, the worst air speed in the game, and the fourth slowest air acceleration. To counteract these flaws, however, King Dedede is gifted with four midair jumps.

As a super-heavyweight, King Dedede has immense endurance, both vertically and horizontally. His massive weight makes him difficult to launch, and his incredibly fast falling speed lets him return to the ground quickly. Despite having the worst air mobility, his four midair jumps and Super Dedede Jump, the latter of which travels a very long vertical distance and has super armor during its ascent and descent, gives him great recovery for a heavyweight. Super Dedede Jump also has a meteor smash hitbox during its descent, making it risky to intercept if he recovers high. His tech rolls are unusually long-distanced for a character of his size, making him difficult to tech-chase. Finally, King Dedede's trademark hammer grants him a long disjoint in many of his attacks, allowing him to safely space his opponents, especially if they are slow and have worse range than him.

True to a super heavyweight character, King Dedede is gifted with an abundance of finishers. King Dedede's dash attack is a notable example, as it deals huge damage, and reliably KOs under 100%, while being able to KO as low as below 60% near the ledge. King Dedede's smash attacks all possess great power, great disjointed range, and transcendent priority, while having their own perks: forward smash can reliably KO from 60% and below in most situations, has deceptively short ending lag for an attack of its power, while also being able to deal severe shield damage; up smash reliably KOs from anywhere on-stage around 100ish% without rage, while covering a large space all-around Dedede; lastly, down smash is his fastest smash attack in his arsenal and covers significant horizontal distance around both sides of Dedede, while easily KOing below 100% near the ledge and around 125% from center.

The rest of King Dedede's grounded moveset comes with merits: neutral attack can be useful for racking up damage, while the finisher's unique vertical knockback allows this move to KO at 150% under rage. King Dedede's forward tilt sports good range and startup lag, while its multiple hits are effective for dealing damage and starting combos, while also trapping rolling or floor-bound opponents; up tilt has quick startup lag and good range, allowing it to combo into itself while dealing good damage and leaving King Dedede's body and head intangible; lastly, down tilt deals good damage and has good range, being able to pursue opponents or retreat from them.

King Dedede's aerial game is also decent, thanks to his multiple midair jumps which allow him to stall and bait reactions from opponents. Neutral air is his fastest aerial due to coming out on frame 7, which can disrupt enemy combos, and its late hit can also set up combos for Dedede himself, such as up tilt or up air. Forward air has a lot of range in front of Dedede, which is good for spacing with its decent startup speed, and can wall of pain at lower percents. Back air is a potent kill option with a good range behind Dedede, which is also a good option for spacing and landing. Up air can beat out a lot of down aerials thanks to its long-range, and it also has strong KO potential. Down air, when sweetspotted, is a powerful meteor smash offstage, but its use in general is limited due to its slow startup and small awkward hitbox.

King Dedede's grab game has perks of its own. Although his grab has merely average range, this problem can be mitigated by dash grabbing. His pummel is good for racking up on damage, due to its quick speed, which is especially deadly at high percentages; forward throw has good edgeguarding potential, being able to follow up with Gordo Toss; back throw is Dedede's strongest throw, dealing the most damage and knockback while having limited degrees of damage racking and edgeguarding potential; up throw can also be used to launch opponents into previously thrown Gordos, and can follow up with an up aerial; lastly, down throw's low damage and knockback lend it great combo potential, easily stringing into itself, and initiating combos with Dedede's neutral, forward, and back aerials.

King Dedede's special moves have decent utility as well. Inhale acts as a strong command grab that can be B-Reversed for landing options against shielding opponents on the ground or on platforms above Dedede. The spit can force opponents into a recovery state by sending them offstage or even spit them under the stage, which is perhaps where Dedede is strongest. Inhale also doubles as a reflector, allowing him to contest against projectile campers. The Gordos from Gordo Throw act as powerful stage control options with KO potential in their own right at 140% and above and can set up deadly ledge traps. Lastly, Jet Hammer is an effective punishing tool with heavy armor that does very high damage and knockback, and with a max charge, it can break full shields.

In spite of these strengths, King Dedede still has noteworthy drawbacks. King Dedede's biggest problem is his approach, which is among the worst in the game. His mobility is sluggish, especially in the air, giving King Dedede immense difficulty catching up to or retreating from his opponents. King Dedede's below-average dashing speed also makes him over-reliant on fox-trotting to cover grounded distances, which itself is somewhat predictable.

Although King Dedede's fast falling speed allows him to easily return to the ground, his slow air speed, large hurtbox, heavy weight and lack of fast-enough escape options renders him vulnerable to combos and juggling. King Dedede's recovery is further hampered by his aforementioned slow air speed and fast falling speed, often forcing him to use his Super Dedede Jump to return onstage. Super Dedede Jump itself, in spite of traveling high, also causes King Dedede to descend very quickly; this, coupled with its limited horizontal maneuverability, renders Super Dedede Jump unreliable for recovering at certain distances offstage.

King Dedede's other specials can work against him as well. Inhale has high ending lag, allowing other characters to easily punish him after he finishes the move. Gordo Toss's Gordos can be reflected back at King Dedede from any attack that does 2% or higher, dealing immense damage to him and potentially resulting in a self-induced KO, requiring him to exercise caution or utilize Inhale on his reflected Gordos. Jet Hammer also takes a long time to charge, leaving King Dedede susceptible to attack, and its high ending lag leaves him vulnerable to punishment from his opponents.

Overall, King Dedede's high weight, endurance, range, and power allow him to punish his opponents with relative ease and survive for a very long time, but his poor overall mobility makes King Dedede's approach somewhat abysmal and renders his recovery somewhat predictable and overly reliant on Super Dedede Jump. Dedede players should be careful to not make a mistake, or else they might potentially risk getting heavily punished.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

King Dedede was infamous for being one of the worst characters in SSB4, owing to a large number of weaknesses such as notoriously poor frame data, his moveset's lack of power despite being a super heavyweight, and his special moveset's lack of utility outside of Gordo Throw. Even in game updates, he infamously received nerfs while not receiving a single buff in return. Possibly as a result of his poorly regarded status, King Dedede has been buffed overall in the transition to Ultimate.

Among King Dedede's biggest buffs are those to his ground game. Neutral attack's KO power was significantly improved, and it has undergone adjustments that make it harder for opponents to fall from the move as easily. Forward tilt connects much better overall, allowing it to deal its maximum damage more frequently, whereas up tilt has increased KO power (now having power comparable to its Brawl incarnation, especially with rage) and down tilt's angle was positively adjusted while its hitbox was fixed, which when combined with the changes to jostling allows it to connect much more frequently. Dash attack now deals significantly increased knockback and has had its hitbox fixed, now making it a usable (albeit still rather slow) punish option at the edge. His smash attacks are also more useful, with both forward and up smash dealing more damage and knockback, and his forward smash is now slightly faster.

King Dedede's aerial game has been improved overall as well. The universal reductions to landing lag improve King Dedede's limited combo and set-up ability, making his neutral aerial a more potent combo starter, and giving his up aerial's looping hits the capacity of starting drag-down followups. Particularly, his up aerial now deals significantly increased knockback, turning it once again into a reliable KOing option despite its angle rendering it more vulnerable to LSI. Forward aerial has also increased knockback, improving its ability to edgeguard. His grab game has been slightly buffed as well, thanks to his grabs lasting for one more frame and his standing and dash grabs reaching further, in spite of all his grabs receiving slightly increased startup and increased ending lag.

King Dedede's special moveset has also received several miscellaneous buffs, giving him options that either he previously lacked or were outclassed. Inhale has a much larger grabbox and has gained the ability to spit out inhaled projectiles with a one-time increase to their damage, effectively giving him a reflector, which helps alleviate his vulnerability to projectile camping. Gordo Throw's hitboxes are larger and more accurate, and the move has less ending lag after a Gordo has been thrown. Additionally, Inhale's new ability to suck in projectiles to spit them out combines well with Gordo Throw, giving King Dedede another way to throw or re-launch Gordos at a faster speed, which gives the projectile much more utility. Jet Hammer now deals more damage and knockback, has shield breaking potential, and it now has heavy armor before the move comes out that resists up to 14%, improving the move as a hard punish option.

Aside from direct changes, King Dedede also benefits from a few changes to universal gameplay mechanics. The universal increase to mobility has buffed his abysmal horizontal mobility (although it still remains among the worst across the series), while the streamlined jumpsquats and the new limitations to air dodge mechanics have increased the effectiveness of his aerial moveset, by giving him additional landing options when combined with the reduction on landing lag, and improving his edgeguarding ability, now making the latter more formidable. The changes to air dodging also don't affect him as much as other characters, thanks to him still boasting multiple jumps and a long-distanced recovery move in Super Dedede Jump, and he can potentially use a directional air dodge without having to resort to using his recovery move.

However, King Dedede is not without a few nerfs. His back aerial, despite having a visually more accurate animation, has smaller hitboxes, slightly decreasing its range. His neutral attack and up tilt deal less damage, making the former a less reliable option for racking up excess damage. He has also received some nerfs in game updates, such as his forward smash not breaking shields at once. Despite this, most of his nerfs have all been extremely minor in comparison to his more useful buffs.

Altogether, King Dedede's entire kit has been noticeably improved from SSB4, and while this doesn't change his core playstyle significantly (aside from Inhale becoming a reflector), it allows him to play to his strengths better thanks his moves gaining improved consistency and utility, allowing King Dedede to utilize his strengths better. However, it is important to note that, due to this, King Dedede still retains most of his core weaknesses from the previous game, such as slow movement speed, a lackluster disadvantage state, a vulnerability to some forms of camping, and a high susceptibility to rushdown and combos, with many of these changes failing to alleviate his weaknesses outside of Inhale becoming a pseudo-reflector. Combined with the vast majority of returning veterans also receiving buffs that have improved them, King Dedede has not significantly improved to raise his standing relative to the cast, despite performing much better than in SSB4.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, King Dedede's model features an altered color scheme. His clothing and general design are more cartoonish, with higher contrast colors and greater detail in his clothes; the fur on his coat and hat appears fluffier and more detailed, and his sash has more depth.
  • Normal map changes to the star textures on his hammer give the illusion that they protrude slightly more, as depicted in his official artwork.
• Like many other characters, King Dedede is more expressive. For instance, he now squints in a humorously seductive manner during his crouching animation. King Dedede generally has more furious expressions during attacks, his Screen KO, and his helpless animation.
• Down taunt now has a more exaggerated animation, with the belly-drumming animated to be more obvious.
• Two of King Dedede's victory poses were slightly altered:
  • His up-inputted victory pose now shows a Waddle Dee walking up to him. The ending animation is now more exaggerated, with Dedede bouncing while laughing gloatingly.
  • His right-inputted victory pose now finishes with him charging Jet Hammer.
• King Dedede's star KO voice clip has been shortened, as it no longer extends past the KO's animation.
• King Dedede's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "Self-Made King", a direct translation of the Japanese title, for consistency with its appearance in Kirby Star Allies.

Attributes

• Like all characters, King Dedede's jumpsquat animation takes three frames to complete (down from 6).
• King Dedede runs faster (1.36 → 1.496).
  • Initial dash is much faster (1.4 → 1.815), enabling fox-trotting for boosted ground mobility.
• King Dedede walks faster (0.98 → 1.029).
• King Dedede's air speed is much faster (0.63 → 0.735), now being nearly on par with Luigi's.
• King Dedede's gravity is higher (0.08788 → 0.097).
  • His short hop and jump are shorter as a result (38 frames → 36 frames (short hop), 55 frames → 48 frames (jump).
• King Dedede is much heavier (119 → 127), allowing him to survive even longer.
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 33 → 32).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 4-16).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-19 → 5-17) and more ending lag (FAF 33 → 37).
• Spot dodge intangibility starts sooner but also ends sooner (frames 4-19 → 3-18).
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 4-29 → 4-32).
• Air dodge has much more ending lag (34 → 43).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit has less ending lag (FAF 38 → 33).
  • The first two hits of neutral attack can now lock.
  • Neutral infinite has less startup lag (8 → 5), is faster, and connects more reliably.
  • Neutral infinite's finisher has less startup lag (6 → 4) and more knockback scaling (150 → 162).
  • Neutral infinite's finisher has 2 hitboxes rather than 1 (10u → 7u/7u), and the hitboxes extend farther vertically (Y offset: 10u-12u → 7.5u-13u (both)). The finisher has more range overall as a result.
  • The finisher has more ending lag (FAF 47 → 50).
  • Except for the finisher, each hit of neutral attack deals less damage (first hit: 4% → 2.5%, second hit: 4% → 2.2%, neutral infinite: 1% → 0.5%).
  • The infinite has gained a shieldstun multiplier of 5×. 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 King Dedede more easily if they shield 10 hits or more.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals more knockback (40 base/100 scaling → 65/92 (clean), 35 base/100 scaling → 55/92 (late)), improving its already potent KO potential. This is boosted further by the changes to the Sakurai angle on the ground.
  • The clean hit and first late hitbox extend further inwards (Z offset: 7.8u-11.8u → 5u-11.8u), improving their ability to hit opponents at the edge, and combined with the changes to jostleing remove its blind spot.
  • Dash attack hitbox duration lasts longer with 2 new sourspot hitboxes (Frame 26-36 → 26-42).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt's looping hits have altered angles (25°/96° → 22°/100°) and have altered knockback (20 base/24/80/90 set/100 scaling → 60/50/30/26 set/100 scaling), allowing the move to connect more reliably.
  • Forward tilt has an altered animation.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less startup (9 → 7) and ending lag (FAF 44 → 39).
  • Up tilt does slightly less damage (12%/10% → 11.5%/9.5%).
  • Up tilt deals more knockback (50 base/80 scaling → 65/94), making the move much stronger despite the damage reduction.
  • Up tilt's hitboxes are smaller (7u/8u → 6u/6.5u), reducing its range.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt's clean hitbox now extends inwards (Z offset: 12u → 12u-6u), which combined with the changes to jostle mechanics removes its blind spot.
  • Down tilt launches at a lower angle (45˚ → 35˚).
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup (42 → 40) and ending lag (FAF 82 → 78).
  • Forward smash deals more damage (15%/24%/6% → 16%/18.5%/25%/11%), and all but the shockwave and early hitboxes deal more knockback (30 base/93 scaling → 50/70 base/85/74 scaling).
  • There is now a hitbox on the handle during the early hit which instead of launching opponents pushes them into the sourspot of the main hit (which is still stronger than the early hit), making it slightly easier to land the main hit.
  • Forward smash has a new sourspot on the hammer's handle that's much weaker (though is still powerful in its own right), and the early hit deals less knockback (30 base/93 scaling → 85/55), hindering its KO potential despite its increased damage.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash deals more damage (14%/9% → 16%/10%) with no compensation on knockback, improving its KO ability.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (15 frames → 9 (neutral), 30 → 18 (forward/down), 21 → 13 (back), 22 → 13 (up).
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial possesses much greater combo potential due to its reduced landing lag and King Dedede's shorter jumpsquat, especially when hitting with the late hit.
  • Neutral aerial causes King Dedede's belly to wobble around during the move.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has more knockback scaling (90 → 98).
  • Forward aerial has a snappier animation, with a significant delay on when King Dedede flips.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial is now a horizontal hammer swing, which better matches the move's hitboxes.
  • Back aerial now has 3 unextended hitboxes rather than 1 extended one (10u → 6.5u/6.5u/6.5u). Compared to the previous hitbox, the new hitboxes have both less vertical range (Y reach: 20u–0u → 16.5u–3.5u), and less horizontal range (Z reach: -25u–1u → 0.5u–-24.5u).
    • The hitboxes are now able to interpolate with King Dedede's movement.
  • Due to his reduced short hop duration, King Dedede can no longer jump out of a short hop back aerial before landing.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's final hit deals more knockback (50 base/150 scaling → 55/167).
  • Up aerial launches at a lower angle (70°/80° → 60°), hindering its KO potential close to the upper blast zone, while also making it much more susceptible to DI and LSI.
• Down aerial:
  • The duration of the hitbox has been slightly increased (22-23 → 22-24).
  • It has an altered animation: King Dedede swings his hammer from his right instead of his left. It also has a more forceful animation.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have more startup (frame 7 (standing)/9 (dash)/10 (pivot) → 8/11/12) and ending lag (FAF 36 (standing)/45 (dash)/42 (pivot) → 40/48/43).
  • Standing grab's grabbox extends farther (Z2 offset: 11.5 → 12.5), improving its range.
  • Dash grab's grabbox extends slightly farther (Z2 offset: 14 → 14.4), slightly improving its range.
  • Pivot grab's grabbox does not extend as far outwards (Z2 offset: -19.5 → -19.3), which combined with the changes to jostling hinders its utility.
• Pummel
  • Pummel deals more hitlag (5 frames → 16), but has much less startup (frame 9 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 25 → 8), shortening its duration overall as well as making it harder to escape between each pummel.
  • Pummel deals less damage (3% → 1.6%).
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has improved combo potential due to King Dedede's faster jumpsquat and jump speed.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw has an altered animation, with King Dedede slamming his opponent face-first onto the ground.
  • Down throw now deals 8 frames of hitlag to King Dedede and the opponent before the throw occurs, rather than dealing 6 frames of hitlag to the opponent only. This makes down throw easier to DI and increases its ending lag, as its total duration was unchanged.

Special moves

• Inhale:
  • Inhale has less startup lag (frame 17 → 14).
  • Inhale acts as a reflector, giving a 1.5x damage boost to any projectiles spat out. Once Inhaled, the projectile is spat out almost immediately, and eliminates almost all of the move's ending lag.
    • Inhale can catch and spit Dedede's own Gordos. This gives him an option to relaunch Gordos that are hit back at him, and manually allows him to launch Gordos forward much further and at a much faster velocity compared to throwing one with Gordo Throw.
  • Inhale has a much larger grabbox.
  • Inhale's spit deals more damage (10% → 12%).
  • Spat out opponents deal more knockback to bystanders (70 base/70 scaling → 77/78).
  • Inhale has an updated, more opaque visual effect.
• Gordo Throw:
  • Gordos have significantly larger hitboxes on their bodies that don't shrink over time (3.1u/2.9u/2.6u/2.4u → 4u), and also have hitboxes that cover their spikes, considerably improving their area of attack, and doing a much better job at accurately representing the overall size and shape of the Gordos.
  • Gordos gain a surprised expression when deflected. Additionally, they have animated spines.
  • Gordos have a higher chance of sticking to walls (50% → 60%), improving their edgeguarding potential.
  • Gordo Throw has less ending lag (FAF 64 → 59).
• Super Dedede Jump:
  • Super Dedede Jump's landing hit deals more damage (11% → 12%).
    • It has altered knockback (80 (base)/100/80 (scaling) → 105/100 (base)/70/82 (scaling)).
  • Super Dedede Jump will snap to edge when reversed.
  • Super Dedede Jump descends more quickly.
  • King Dedede has blue trails form around him when using Super Dedede Jump, indicating armor.
• Jet Hammer:
  • Jet Hammer deals more damage (grounded: 11%-38% → 12%-40%, aerial: 10%-27% → 11%-32%).
    • Fully charged Jet Hammer deals more knockback (grounded: 5 (base)/66 (scaling) → 60/46, aerial: 10 (base)/70 (scaling) → 60/54).
  • Jet Hammer has heavy armor during the swing (frames 1-14) when used on the ground.
  • Uncharged and fully charged Jet Hammer's hammer head hitbox is larger (7.5u → 9u).
  • The fire from Jet Hammer is blue instead of red.
  • Fully charged Jet Hammer triggers Special Zoom upon hitting an opponent.
• Final Smash:
  • King Dedede has a new Final Smash called Dede-Rush, which features King Dedede taking his "Masked Dedede" persona from Kirby Super Star Ultra before trapping opponents inside of a caged boxing ring, attacking them with a barrage of missiles, and launching them with his Jet Hammer.
  • It deals more damage (46% → 59.6%) and knockback.
  • Unlike Dedede Burst in SSB4, it is not possible for opponents to escape once trapped.
  • Dede-Rush cannot trap more than one opponent at a time for extra damage.

Update history

King Dedede received a mix of buffs, nerfs and glitch fixes via game updates, but was buffed slightly overall. The most notable nerfs were to Gordo Throw: update 2.0.0 shrunk the Gordos' hitboxes, while update 3.0.0 both lowered their shield damage output and removed the Gordo-boosted Super Dedede Jump. Moreover, this same update further toned down King Dedede's ability to pressure shields by removing forward smash's ability to hit grounded characters twice, which removed its ability to instantly break shields.

Following these nerfs, update 7.0.0 would mark the first time King Dedede was buffed in Ultimate, as his shield was enlarged as part of a near-universal buff. Update 8.0.0 continued this trend by buffing some of King Dedede's moves, primarily in regard to KO potential. Up tilt's damage output was increased noticeably, and down tilt's launching angle was lowered. As a result, both moves now function as strong, yet reasonably fast KO options when they are sweetspotted, which King Dedede was sorely lacking up to that point. Forward aerial and especially up aerial gained higher knockback: in addition to improving their KO potentials, with down throw to up aerial now being a KO confirm, this also improved forward aerial's edge-guarding potential.

In addition to his improved offense, King Dedede's defense was improved slightly, thanks to Inhale's decreased start-up lag and enlarged grabboxes making it more reliable at catching projectiles and approaches. Lastly, update 11.0.0 buffed Gordo Throw in a few ways: its decreased ending lag and Dedede's faster reflection timing have collectively made it safer, and its edge-guarding potential was improved thanks to the Gordos' increased chance of sticking to edges.

Overall, King Dedede fares slightly better than he did at the launch of Ultimate. Although Dedede retains a lot of his fundamental flaws and did not improve as much as other tepidly received characters that were also buffed via updates, his buffs have nevertheless improved his KO potential and, to a lesser degree, his defensive potential.

2.0.0

• Fixed King Dedede's knockback facial expression after Inhaling an opponent holding an explosive item.
• Gordos' hitboxes on their spikes (4.8u→3.8u) and body (4.5u→4u) have been reduced.

3.0.0

• Forward smash no longer hits grounded opponents twice. This significantly hinders its shield breaking potential.
• Fixed reflected Charge Shot from Samus that would launch the other way using Inhale.
• Opponents now properly gain intangibility when caught by Inhale; previously opponents would become stuck in hitstun during Inhale.
• Gordo Throw deals less shield damage.
• Gordo Boosted Super Dedede Jump was removed.
• Aerial Gordo Throw's animation has been adjusted.

3.1.0

• Scenarios where the opponent would not escape from Inhale after King Dedede gets hitstunned at a specific frame has been fixed.

4.0.0

• Fixed an issue where Inhaling certain projectile would become stuck at the center of the stage.
• Fixed an issue where Gordo would become stuck under King Dedede after catching it back during invulnerabily.

7.0.0

• Overall shield size has been increased by 1.15×.

8.0.0

• Up tilt deals more damage (10%/8% → 11.5%/9.5%) with no compensation on knockback, drastically improving its KO potential, to the point it is only slightly weaker than his up tilt in Brawl without rage.
• Down tilt launches at a lower angle (45° → 35°), allowing it to set up tech-chases more effectively at low percents and improving its KO potential at high percents.
• Forward smash has had its jostling properties adjusted.
• Forward aerial has more knockback scaling (90 → 98).
• Up aerial's last hit has much more knockback scaling (147 → 167), greatly improving its KO potential, being able to KO under 150% from ground level without DI.
• Inhale:
  • The move has less startup (frame 17 → 14).
  • The grounded version's grabboxes are larger (Z offset: 4u → 4u—7u (initial), 5u—9u → 5u—12u (vacuum), greatly improving its range.

9.0.1

• Fixed an issue in which Dedede could fall though the stage when breaking Steve's blocks.

11.0.0

• Gordo Throw:
  • Has less ending lag (FAF 61 → 59).
  • Has an increased chance of the Gordos sticking on a wall (50% → 60%), improving its edge guarding ability.
  • Has increased the speed of Dedede reflecting a Gordo (FAF 61 → 55), with the timing of the reflection being shortened (FAF 29 → 25).

12.0.0

• Inhaling a small item/projectile while falling will make King Dedede fall slower, while inhaling a small item/projectile while rising will make him fall faster.

Moveset

• King Dedede can perform 4 double jumps, known as Hovering.

For a gallery of King Dedede's hitboxes, see here.

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Quick Swing (ふり抜き) / Swing Up (ふり上げ) / Spinning Hammerhead (回転ハンマーヘッド) / Battering Strike (ぶちかまし)	2.5%	A pair of hammer swings, followed by thrusting his hammer forward while twirling its head, followed by an upward swing. Unlike most neutral infinites, its finisher launches opponents at a nearly vertical trajectory and has KO potential, as it KOs around 150% without rage. However, it is the slowest jab in the game, with the first hit coming out at frame 10, and opponents can fall out of the neutral infinite if they are near the edge of the spinning hammer.
			2.2%
			0.5% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt		Extending Hammer (のび～るハンマー)	2% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5)	Thrusts his hammer forward while twirling its head. Very good range, though its fourth hitbox can only connect if the move lands at the hammer's head. However, its rather long ending lag makes this move unsafe if it does not connect at its farthest range. It is very useful for Dedede's edge traps, as its speed, range, and long-lasting hitbox allows it to trap rolls and neutral get-ups, but this is less rewarding than using his smash attacks. Also good for catching landings when reversed out of a run, and can beat out punish attempts for a landed back aerial.
Up tilt		Great King Headbutt (大王ずつき)	11.5% (head and neck), 9.5% (head's tip)	An upward arcing headbutt. King Dedede's head and upper body are intangible while its hitbox is active. It has fast start-up lag with low ending lag. This move can combo into itself at low percentages, and has KO potential at high percentages. Its high knockback makes it the 5th strongest up tilt in the game, being able to KO middleweights below at 120% on Final Destination.
Down tilt		Rolling (ころがり)	10% (early), 6% (late)	A cartwheeling tackle. Dedede's fastest move, coming out on frame 6. It is capable of being used after most defensive options and attacks, as a good out of shield option, or for disrupting opponents. It can also lead to itself and other attacks if the opponent does not tech.
Dash attack		Belly Flop (ずっこけ)	16% (clean), 13% (late)	His signature running splash. A slow and powerful KOing option, it is the strongest dash attack in the game, and is even stronger than some of the cast's smash attacks, KOing some super heavyweights at around 55% near the edge due to its exceptionally high knockback. The attack can be used for a hard read or setting up tech-chases. Can hit every character on the edge after their edge invincibility has ended. However, its high ending lag causes the attack to be very punishable when missed. Originates from Kirby's Dream Land.
Forward smash		Megaton Hammer (メガトンハンマー)	16% (early hammerhead), 25% (late hammerhead), 18.5% (handle), 11% (shockwave)	Rears his hammer back and swings it downward. It can KO as early as 30% near the edge, even when uncharged (which even Bowser and Ganondorf cannot do until 39% and 38%, respectively). When fully charged, it is even capable of OHKOing some lighter characters (such as Pichu) near the edge of Final Destination, and even the heaviest fighters at less than 10%. It is the strongest forward smash in the game by default; when factoring in Lucario's forward smash at maximum Aura and Hero's forward smash with a critical hit, it is the 3rd strongest. Overall, it is the 4th strongest attack of any kind in the entire game by default, being surpassed only by Judge 9, aerial reverse Warlock Punch, and Flare Blade when fully charged. It has very slow startup (frame 40), but deceptively short ending lag for its power. It also deals additional shield damage, to the point that its clean hit can break a full shield when fresh, and possesses both transcendent priority and a long-ranged quake hitbox. Originates from Kirby's Dream Land.
Up smash		Sweeping Hammer (なぎ払いハンマー)	16% (hammer), 10% (body)	An overhead arcing hammer swing. A decent anti-air option with great vertical knockback, KOing middleweights at 100%. Has good range in front and behind Dedede with consistent power throughout the duration, being able to hit short characters unlike in SSB4. It also has transcendent priority.
Down smash		Turning Hammer (ぶんまわしハンマー)	13%	Spins 360° to perform a horizontal hammer swing around himself. King Dedede's fastest smash attack, it sends foes at a low angle and can KO middleweights around 80% near the edge. Best used for catching rolls as well as edge attacks. It also has transcendent priority. Appears very similar to the Hammer Swing attack from the Hammer ability.
Neutral aerial		Belly Drum (たいこばら)	12% (clean), 7% (late)	A splash. Dedede's fastest aerial, coming out on frame 7. Functions like a sex kick, but unlike the majority of them, it sends at a much more vertical angle. When coupled with a fast fall, its late hit has followup potential, such as an up tilt at low percentages, neutral, forward or back aerial at mid percentages, and up aerial at higher percentages.
Forward aerial		Ice Crusher (かちわり)	12%	A downward hammer swing. Has good range in front of Dedede, but is unsafe on hit at lower percentages if spaced poorly (though due to this, it can also lock at lower percentages). This move does not autocancel in a short hop and has more ending and landing lag than his back aerial, but starts much earlier. It is capable of performing a pseudo-wall of pain while edgeguarding, and can be used to edgeguard attempts while recovering, due to its good range reaching through edges. It KOs middleweights at 157%.
Back aerial		Shake Off (ふりはらい)	16%	Turns around to perform a horizontal hammer swing. One of Dedede's best moves for spacing and KOing, doing so reliably below 120%. Can be autocanceled in a short hop, and is also relatively safe on shield when spaced at maximum range.
Up aerial		Stirring Up (上かき回し)	1% (hits 1-7), 5% (hit 8)	Thrusts his hammer upward while twirling its head. It has very good range above Dedede and can beat out numerous anti-juggling attempts. It is quite strong for a multi-hit move, being able to KO below 115% near the upper blast line. Like his forward aerial, it can hit edgeguarding opponents through edges.
Down aerial		Meteor Hammer (メテオハンマー)	15% (middle of hammerhead), 8% (hammerhead's edge)	Rears back and swings his hammer below himself. The sweetspot is a very powerful aerial-only meteor smash. On grounded opponents, it deals high horizontal knockback, KOing at around 100% near the edge. However, its usage is limited due to its high startup making it Dedede's slowest aerial.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Reaches out. Despite his size, King Dedede's grab range is average.
Pummel		Grab Headbutt (つかみヘッドバット)	1.6%	A headbutt. Slow but strong.
Forward throw		Golf Swing (ゴルフスイング)	4% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	An upward hammer swing. It can be used to set up an edgeguard or launch the opponent into a previously thrown Gordo. King Dedede's second strongest throw, KOing middleweights at around 160% at the edge of Final Destination.
Back throw		Reverse Golf Swing (反転ゴルフスイング)	4% (hit 1), 9% (throw)	Tosses the opponent behind himself and then performs an upward hammer swing. King Dedede's strongest throw, but due to the fact that it launches at a very high angle, it does not KO until very high percentages; it can KO middleweights at around 148% at the edge of Final Destination with no DI, but around 30% later with good DI. It is better at damage racking due to these factors. Like forward throw, it can be used to launch the opponent into a previously thrown Gordo.
Up throw		Receive (レシーブ)	4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	A jump set, a technique used in volleyball. It can lead to up aerial at low to medium percentages, but down throw is generally more rewarding and consistent. Like forward throw, can be used to launch the opponent into a previously thrown Gordo. It is King Dedede's weakest throw, as it only starts KOing middleweights at around 261% on Final Destination.
Down throw		Beatdown (たたき落とし)	6%	A one-handed body slam. King Dedede's best combo starter, it can initiate true combos into a neutral or forward aerial at very low percentages, and back aerial at low to mid percentages. At medium percentages, down throw to up aerial is a KO combo if the opponent DIs incorrectly. It also has slight KO potential at very high percentages, as it can KO middleweights at around 235% on Final Destination.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Gets up and kicks in front of himself and then behind himself.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Performs an inverted leg sweep, striking both sides as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Swings his hammer in of himself and then behind himself while twirling the hammer's head.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Performs a kick while climbing up. Reassembles the Slide Kick from the Kirby series.
Neutral special		Inhale	12% (spit), 1.5× damage (reflected projectiles)	Inhales the opponent. While they have been Inhaled within his stomach, King Dedede can then walk around and spit them out to inflict damage. He will also receive a 0.25× received knockback multiplier, making it almost impossible to KO him while someone is inhaled. Inhale can also be used to swallow items and spit back projectiles, acting as a reflector. The reflector property is quite notable, as unlike the rest of the cast, it has no reflection limit. Another quirk of its reflector is that it doesn't have priority over his hurtbox. As a result, it can't reflect projectiles that travel their full distance in 1 frame, such as a fully charged Failnaught or a Staff shot. Inhale is also a good landing mixup to catch sidesteps and shields.
Side special		Gordo Throw	10% (hammer), 14%/12.5%/11%/9.5% (Gordo)	Hits a bouncing Gordo with his hammer. The move can be angled upward, forward, or downward, which causes the Gordo's trajectory to behave differently and can be used for mindgames. By extension, his throws can be used to launch the opponent toward a previously thrown Gordo. The Gordos disappear after almost 3 seconds. An upward-angled Gordo can be used to deny most options at the ledge or even all when combined with an attack. Gordo can also stick to any surface that allows wall jumping, and is much more consistent than it was in SSB4. They can also be reflected by any attack dealing at least 2%. Of note is that Dedede can hit opponents with the hammer swing used to serve the Gordo, potentially leading into a hit by both the hammer and Gordo for a considerable amount of damage. Dedede can also Inhale his own Gordo and spit it out at a considerable speed, or re-catch the Gordo and throw it back, though unless it has been Inhaled before hand, this can be done only up to three times.
Up special		Super Dedede Jump	15% (drop), 12% (landing), 5% (stars)	His signature jump, which concludes with a diving double foot stomp. The stomp buries grounded opponents and meteor smashes aerial ones. Like Yoshi Bomb, it emits stars on both sides after Dedede stomps the ground, which can make it difficult to punish, especially against characters that lack a projectile. Although Dedede cannot grab edges during his descent, he can do so upon canceling Super Dedede Jump (by pressing the special button or tilting the control stick up). However, if it is canceled too late before landing, Dedede will endure landing lag that lasts for more than a second.
Down special		Jet Hammer	12% (uncharged grounded), 11 (uncharged aerial), 40% (fully charged grounded), 32% (fully charged aerial)	Activates the afterburner in his hammer to charge up a very powerful horizontal swing, which is released when the special button is released. Dedede can walk around slowly and jump once while charging. It has heavy armor during the swing (resisting up to 14%), and it can hit opponents hanging from the ledge after their invincibility wears off. The hammer will inflict the most amount of knockback if released just before the full charge. Dedede can hold the hammer out indefinitely, but it slowly does recoil damage if he holds it when fully charged up until 100%. A barely fully charged Jet Hammer can KO middleweights around 40% from center stage, whereas a fully charged Jet Hammer can KO opponents around 55% from center stage, as well as break shields.
Final Smash		Dede-Rush	8% (hit 1), 1.8% (missiles), 20% (hammer hit), 10% (last hit)	Strikes the opponent with his hammer, sending them into his trademark boxing ring with a cage set up. He then assumes his Masked Dedede persona and wields his New Dedede Hammer in order to attack his opponent with a barrage of missiles, followed by a powerful spinning hammer swing. Deals 59.6% in total with considerable knockback, but can only trap 1 opponent at a time.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	127	1.815 – Initial dash 1.496 – Run	1.029	0.085	0.006	0.735	0.01 – Base 0.04 – Additional	0.097	1.95 – Base 3.12 – Fast-fall	3	32.85 - Base 16.02 - Short hop	32.85

Announcer call

This article could use additional or higher-quality audio files. The editor who added this tag suggests: Needs announcer calls from other languages. If you have a good audio file for this article, upload it here.

• English

• Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Sits on a palanquin carried by 4 Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them.

• 

  King Dedede's on-screen appearance

Taunts

• Up taunt: Holds up his hammer in celebration, twirling it and hoisting it upwards three times.
• Side taunt: Twirls his hammer and laughs.
• Down taunt: Spins around in a circle, slapping his belly and chanting.

• 

  King Dedede's up taunt.

• 

  King Dedede's side taunt.

• 

  King Dedede's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Puts his hammer on his shoulder, briefly tapping against his shoulder twice.
• Smacks his belly twice.

• 

  King Dedede's first idle pose.

• 

  King Dedede's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	De-De-De! De-De-De! Dedededededede!	Dedede! Dedede! Dedededededede!	Ki - ing Dedede!	Dedede!	Roi DaDiDou!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Köooooo - nig Dedede!	Rey Dedede! Reeeeey De - deeeee - de!	Ko - rol' Dedede!	De-De-De! De-De-De! Dedededededede!

Victory poses

• Left: Swings his hammer twice before turning to the camera and while smiling smugly.
• Up: Laughs and repeatedly slaps his belly while a Waddle Dee walks into the scene. The Waddle Dee doesn't appear in Team Battles.
• Right: Twirls his hammer with a grimace, then charges Jet Hammer.

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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• 
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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:King Dedede players (SSBU)

•  Atomsk - One of the best King Dedede players in the world in the game's first few years. At the beginning of the game's lifespan, he boast the best North American results behind ZAKI, placing 25th at Pound 2019 and after the pandemic, marked a multitude of great regional results such as 3rd at CROSSxUP defeating Quidd and 4th at Hold The Line defeating Light, which are some of King Dedede's best wins in the current meta. He retired from competition after mid-2022.
•  Castelia - A notable King Dedede player who gained notoriety as one of the best King Dedede players in the online metagame, placing 3rd at Dabuz's Galaxy Sized Journey To EVO and 7th at Ultimate Naifu Wars 5. In the post-pandemic era, she is considered the current best King Dedede player in the United States, placing 33rd at both Glitch - Regen and supermajor Get On My Level 2023, and has defeated players such as Jake, KirbyKid, and PkChris at other events.
•  Peli - One of the best King Dedede players in the world before switching mains to Sonic. As a solo-main, he headlined the character in Europe, placing 9th at Valhalla III and 25th at Syndicate 2019, beating European talent such as iStudying, CurryGovernor, and Meru. He also won VCA 2021 and while he primarily played Sonic, it marked one of the best runs for a King Dedede player, as Peli used the character to defeat Space and Leon in his bracket. Currently, he has entered less tournaments and rarely uses King Dedede in bracket.
•  ZAKI - The best King Dedede player of all-time. He has been the sole representative of the character throughout the game's entire lifespan and holds the highest King Dedede placements at supermajors such as 25th at multiple Japanese tournaments including Umebura Japan Major 2019, Maesuma TOP 14, and Sumabato SP 49, as well as 33rd at EVO 2019, the largest Smash tournament of all-time. He is the only King Dedede player to be ranked globally, placing 130th on the OrionRank 2022.

Tier placement and history

At the beginning of Ultimate's metagame, many players noticed how, despite retaining some of his weaknesses, King Dedede was overall buffed from SSB4 thanks to improvements to Gordo Throw and stronger KO options, as well as retaining his resilient endurance and disjointed range. This perception would further improve thanks to players such as ZAKI and Atomsk, both of whom made notable impacts at major tournaments, with the former placing 2nd at Sumabato SP 2 and the latter placing 25th at Pound 2019. As a result, King Dedede became a more popular choice when compared to his appearance in SSB4, most notably in local and regional tournaments. By extension, the general perception casted him as an upper mid tier character, with potential to be a high tier character.

However, as the metagame progressed, game updates removing King Dedede's shield break combinations and shrinking the Gordos' hitboxes started to hurt his perception. Both ZAKI and Atomsk saw a decline in results while other players either dropped King Dedede in favor of others (Big D) or relegated him to a secondary (Peli). In addition, the combination of King Dedede's poor disadvantage state, inconsistent KO potential, and laggy frame data has caused him to struggle against most top tier and high tier characters, including Palutena, Mega Man, and Fox. Although King Dedede is widely considered to be better than in SSB4, he still remains a pretty unpopular pick and is ranked 79th on the current tier list. Top Dedede players share a similar opinion on the character with Atomsk and Peli considering him a low tier character and one that is hard to use to get consistent results in tournaments.

Classic Mode: Royal Rumble

King Dedede's congratulations screen.

King Dedede faces off against characters with royal titles such as kings and princesses.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	King K. Rool	Pirate Ship	Gang-Plank Galleon	The stage represents King K. Rool's ship, Gangplank Galleon.
2	Marth and Roy	Castle Siege	Fire Emblem Theme
3	Zelda	Hyrule Castle	Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda (64)
4	Peach and Daisy	Princess Peach's Castle	Underwater Theme - Super Mario Bros.
5	Bowser and Bowser Jr.	Find Mii (Battlefield form)	King Bowser - Super Mario Bros. 3	The stage represents Bowser's Castle.
6	Ganondorf	Bridge of Eldin	Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand (Less than 7.0 intensity) Master Hand / Crazy Hand (Intensity 7.0 or higher)	On intensity 7.0 and higher, Crazy Hand fights alongside Master Hand.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as King Dedede has King Dedede's Theme (Brawl) accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

Finding King Dedede in World of Light

King Dedede was among the fighters that were summoned to fight against the army of Master Hands.

During the opening cutscene, King Dedede was present on the cliffside when Galeem unleashed its beams of light. He was vaporized offscreen and placed under Galeem's imprisonment along with the other fighters, excluding Kirby.

Dedede can only be accessed in a sub-area themed after the Gourmet Race minigame from Kirby Super Star, where the player must collect exactly 11 pieces of food for him to appear on the podium.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
39		King Dedede	Attack	9,000	Fountain of Dreams (Ω form)	King Dedede's Theme (Brawl)

Spirits

King Dedede's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after King Dedede has been unlocked. Unlocking King Dedede in World of Light 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, King Dedede makes an appearance as a primary spirit under his Masked Dedede alter ego.

• 

  325. King Dedede

• 

  353. Masked Dedede

In Spirit Battles

Conditions in italic aren't listed on the Spirit Battle preview screen.

As the main opponent

Spirit				Battle parameters
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music
180		Moblin	The Legend of Zelda Series	•King Dedede Team ×4		1,900	Skyloft (Battlefield form)	•Move Speed ↓	•The enemy favors down specials •The enemy has reduced move speed	Overworld Theme - The Legend of Zelda
312		Raphael the Raven	Yoshi Series	•Giant King Dedede		4,000	Mario Galaxy	N/A	•The enemy is giant	Yoshi's Island (for 3DS / Wii U)
314		Pak E. Derm	Yoshi Series	•King Dedede		3,900	Yoshi's Story	•Jump Power ↓	•You have reduced jump power •Timed battle (1:30) •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Alolan Exeggutor)	Yoshi's Story (Melee)
316		Don Bongo	Yoshi Series	•Giant King Dedede		3,900	Yoshi's Story	•Move Speed ↑ •Move Speed ↓	•The enemy has increased move speed after a little while •The enemy is giant •The enemy has reduced move speed	Yoshi's Story (Melee)
340		Kracko	Kirby Series	•King Dedede •Pikachu ×2		3,500	Skyworld (clouds only)	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win	Boss Theme Medley - Kirby Series
365		Gordo	Kirby Series	•Clear King Dedede ×3		3,800	Green Greens (hazards off)	N/A	•The enemy's side special has increased power •The enemy favors side specials •The enemy is invisible	Kirby Retro Medley (Castle Lololo)
386		Peppy Hare	Star Fox Series	•Bunny King Dedede •Fox •Falco		8,800	Venom	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Main Theme - Star Fox 64 (Melee)
727		Dyntos	Kid Icarus Series	•King Dedede		7,500	Palutena's Temple (Battlefield form)	N/A	•The enemy is easily distracted by items	Lightning Chariot Base
819		Yellow Wollywog	Pikmin Series	•King Dedede ×3		3,800	Distant Planet	N/A	•The enemy favors up specials	Garden of Hope (Remix)
853		Lyle	Animal Crossing Series	•King Dedede		1,700	Smashville	•Defense ↑ •Attack Power ↑	•The enemy has increased attack power when the enemy's at high damage •The enemy has increased defense when the enemy's at high damage	Town Hall and Tom Nook's Store - Animal Crossing: Wild World
1,125		Fish	Balloon Fight Series	•King Dedede		3,900	Balloon Fight	N/A	•The enemy's neutral special has increased power •Timed battle (1:30) •The enemy favors neutral specials	Balloon Fight Medley
1,235		Chef (Personal Trainer: Cooking) Chef (Cooking Guide)	Personal Trainer: Cooking Series Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? Series	•King Dedede		3,500	PictoChat 2	•Item: Food	•The enemy becomes more powerful after eating •The enemy is easily distracted by items	Personal Trainer: Cooking
1,344		Gruntilda	Banjo-Kazooie Series	•Giant King Dedede (250 HP) •Giant Dr. Mario (40 HP) (45 HP) (50 HP)		13,900	Find Mii (Ω form)	•Hazard: Poison Floor	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The floor is poisonous •Stamina battle •The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod •Reinforcements will appear during the battle	Vs. Klungo

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
343		Dark Matter	Kirby Series	•Meta Knight (120 HP) •King Dedede (80 HP)		13,500	Halberd (Ω form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Nightmare)	•The enemy's melee weapons have increased power •The enemy can unleash powerful critical hits at random •Stamina battle	02 Battle	Possessed King Dedede (Kirby's Dream Land 2)
745		Captain Syrup	Wario Land Series	•Bayonetta •Giant King Dedede		3,500	Pirate Ship	N/A	•Items will be pulled toward the enemy •The enemy is giant •The enemy is easily distracted by items	The Great Sea / Menu Select	Genie
1,312		Yusuke Kitagawa	Persona Series	•Chrom •Giant King Dedede		2,500	Suzaku Castle (Battlefield form)	•Assist Trophy Enemies (Vince)	•Defeat the main fighter to win •Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while	Last Surprise	Goemon
1,328		Hero's Comrades	DRAGON QUEST Series	•Ike (120 HP) •Tiny King Dedede (120 HP) •Zero Suit Samus (100 HP) •Sheik (130 HP) •Tiny Robin (90 HP) •Zelda (110 HP) •Link (100 HP)		13,300	Yggdrasil's Altar	N/A	•The enemy has increased melee-weapon damage and move speed •The enemy's smash attacks have increased power •Stamina battle	The Hero Goes Forth with a Determination	Rab
1,359		Kim Kaphwan	Fatal Fury Series	•Ken •Giant King Dedede •Tiny Ridley		1,800	King of Fighters Stadium	•Jump Power ↓	•The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd •All fighters have reduced jump power	Let's Go to Seoul! - FATAL FURY 2	Chang Koehan

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  King Dedede's fighter card.

• 

  King Dedede's unlock notice.

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  King Dedede taunting on Green Greens.

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  Performing his neutral aerial on Magicant.

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  With a Poké Ball after performing his forward smash on Pokémon Stadium.

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  Crouching with Kirby on Green Greens.

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  King Dedede attacking another fighter on Wrecking Crew.

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  Inhaling a Bob-omb on Town and City.

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  King Dedede and Villager during the Squid Sisters' concert on Mario Galaxy.

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  Taunting with Meta Knight and Kirby on Green Greens.

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  Hitting Link with a forward smash on The Great Cave Offensive.

Trivia

• King Dedede's prank to the Kongs in King K. Rool's reveal trailer is considered an in-joke within the fandom, as it is perceived as his voice actor, series director Masahiro Sakurai, making a practical joke at the expense of the fans.
  • Ironically, both King Dedede and King K. Rool are opponents of each other's Classic Mode route.
• In the Korean version of the game, the Announcer calls him "King Dedede", despite having a slightly different name in Korean, "Dedede Daewang", which translates to "Dedede the Great". He shares this distinction with Hero.
• In the Chinese version of the game, the Announcer calls him "King Dedede" in the Simplified version, while the Traditional version has the "Dedede" announcement from the Japanese version.
• In the French and European Spanish versions, the name tag and voice clip from the announcer on the victory screen is slightly different from the one used on the character select screen, instead featuring a noticeable translation of "the" (le Roi Dadidou and el Rey Dedede, respectively). This trait is shared with Wii Fit Trainer, Pokémon Trainer, Villager, Ice Climbers, Inkling, Hero, and the Mii Fighters. Additionally, he and Duck Hunt are the only two fighters having this trait in the European version, but not in the American version.
• King Dedede is one of the few characters in the entire roster to have different facial expressions when attempting different types of grabs and missing them, being his standing grab (a confused expression) vs. his dash and pivot grabs (a continuously happy expression).
  • Others include Pikachu (standing vs. dash vs. pivot) and Squirtle (standing and dash vs. pivot)
• King Dedede is one of the five veterans from Smash 4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Link, Kirby, Mega Man, and Ryu.
• Dedede has his own damage effect known simply as Dedede, which applies to all hammer-related moves with the exception of Jet Hammer. It is identical to normal.
• Despite also having royal titles, Lucina, Chrom, and Corrin do not appear as opponents in King Dedede's Classic Mode route.
  • Additionally, Ganon does not appear as the boss in King Dedede's Classic Mode route despite also having a royal title.
• Despite Masahiro Sakurai not being credited as a character voice in the credits, his name is listed in the Japanese version of King Dedede's Sound Test. King Dedede shares this distinction with Yoshi (Kazumi Totaka), the Pikmin (Hajime Wakai), Winged Pikmin (Atsuko Asahi), Inkling (Yuki Tsuji), and the Tekken 7 announcer (Josh Keller).