King Dedede (SSBU)

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King Dedede in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Dede-Rush

“	He's not very fast, but he's one of few heavyweight fighters with great recovery. Apparently, a defeat by Kirby inspired him to train hard to learn a move called Hovering, which allows him to float after taking a deep breath.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

King Dedede (デデデ, Dedede) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. King Dedede is classified as fighter #39.

King Dedede’s voice clips from Smash 4 has been repurposed for Ultimate, of which he was voiced by the series creator, Masahiro Sakurai.

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 fourth character unlocked after Rosalina & Luma.
• Have King Dedede join the player's party in World of Light.

With the exception of the third method, King Dedede must then be defeated on Fountain of Dreams.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

After easily being considered one of the worst characters in Smash 4 and being a contender for the absolute worst, King Dedede has been significantly buffed in the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate. King Dedede's previously abysmal horizontal mobility has been buffed (although it is still among the worst across the series), while the effectiveness of his aerial moveset has been buffed even further as the reduced landing lag on his aerial attacks gives him landing options, while their increased knockback makes them more effective KO options. Additionally, due to gaining the ability to spit out inhaled projectiles, he has effectively gained a reflector, alleviating his vulnerability to projectile camping.

King Dedede's biggest buffs, however, were to the utility of his ground game. His already good neutral attack has been improved even further, his up and down tilts can now be reversed upon startup (with the former now regaining its Brawl strength), and his already strong smash attacks are stronger overall, and his previously slow forward smash is much faster overall. Altogether, King Dedede can easily be considered to be just as viable, if not more, as he was in Brawl, although his viability in tournaments has yet to be seen.

Aesthetics

• King Dedede's clothing and general design is more cartoonish, with higher contrast colors and simplified detailing on clothing.
• Normal map changes to the star textures on his hammer give the illusion that they protrude slightly more, as depicted in his official artwork.
• King Dedede's clothes have been given more detail. The fur on his coat and hat appears fluffier and more detailed, and his obi has more depth.
• Like many other characters, King Dedede is more expressive, both with his face and especially his movements. For instance, he now squints during his crouching animation.
• Down taunt now has a more exaggerated animation.
• King Dedede's hammer spinning victory pose now finishes with his hammer transforming into the Jet Hammer.
• King Dedede's victory pose where he stands next to a Waddle Dee and pats his stomach now shows Waddle Dee walking up to him.

Attributes

• Like all characters, King Dedede's jumpsquat animation now takes three frames to complete (down from 6).
• King Dedede dashes faster (1.36 → 1.496).
• 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 is much heavier (119 → 127), allowing him to survive even longer, but makes him more susceptible to combos.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral infinite is faster and connects more reliably.
  • Neutral infinite's finisher deals significantly more knockback.
  • The first two hits of Neutral attack can jab reset.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has less endlag.
  • Forward tilt's hits connect more reliably.
  • Forward tilt has an altered animation.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt is faster.
  • Up tilt has less endlag.
  • Up tilt deals more knockback.
  • Up tilt can be reversed upon startup.
  • Up tilt does less damage.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage and knockback.
  • Down tilt's blind spot has been removed, meaning the attack will also hit opponents that are very close.
  • Down tilt can be reversed upon startup.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack seems to make King Dedede skid further. However, in the gameplay footage that it is seen in, it missed the opponent, so it is hard to tell whether the range has been increased or not.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup lag.
  • Forward smash does more damage.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash has a larger hitbox.
  • Up smash deals more knockback.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash does more damage.

Aerial moves

• All aerials have less landing lag.
• Neutral aerial now causes King Dedede's belly to wobble around during the move.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has reduced endlag.
  • Forward aerial has increased knockback.
  • Forward aerial has a slightly altered animation.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has an altered animation. It is now a horizontal hammer swing that better matches the move's hitboxes.
  • Back aerial has reduced endlag.
  • Back aerial has increased knockback.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has reduced endlag.
  • Up aerial has more range.
  • Up aerial deals more damage.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial deals much more knockback.
  • Down aerial has a slightly altered animation.

Throws/other attacks

• Back throw has somewhat higher knockback, increasing its KO potential.
• Up throw lets King Dedede act sooner, allowing him to set up combos with it.
• Down throw has an altered animation, with him slamming his opponent face-first onto the ground.

Special Moves

• Inhale:
  • Inhale can catch and spit back projectiles, including his own Gordos.
  • Inhale acts as a reflector, giving a 1.5x damage boost to anything spat out.
  • Inhale has reduced endlag.
  • Inhale has a much bigger grabbox.
  • Inhale has an updated, more opaque visual effect.
• Gordo Throw:
  • Gordos have significantly larger hitboxes that cover the spines.
  • Gordos have increased knockback.
  • Gordos have smaller pupils when hit and have animated spines.
  • Gordos stick to the ledge more consistently.
• Super Dedede Jump:
  • Super Dedede Jump does more damage.
  • Super Dedede Jump will now snap to ledge when reversed.
  • Super Dedede Jump now has far less endlag when canceled.
  • Super Dedede Jump descends more quickly.
  • King Dedede now has blue trails form around him when using Super Dedede Jump, indicating armor.
• Jet Hammer:
  • Jet Hammer breaks shields when fully charged.
  • Jet Hammer does significantly more damage and knockback.
  • Jet Hammer has armor.
  • The fire from Jet Hammer is now blue instead of red.
• 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.
  • Unlike Dedede Burst in Smash 4, it is not possible for opponents to escape once trapped.
  • New final smash cannot trap more than one opponents at a time for extra damage.
  • This new Final Smash deals greater knockback, but deals less damage.

Role 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.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  King Dedede's fighter card.

• 

  King Dedede taunting on Green Greens.

• 

  Performing his neutral aerial on Magicant.

• 

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

• 

  Crouching with Kirby on Green Greens.

• 

  King Dedede attacking another fighter on Wrecking Crew.

• 

  Inhaling a Bob-omb on Town and City.

• 

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

• 

  With Meta Knight and Kirby on Green Greens.

• 

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

Character Showcase Video

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Trivia

• During the segment of the Nintendo E3 Direct that focused on King Dedede's Final Smash, his eyes are normal colored while he is wearing his mask. In the final game, his eyes are yellow.
• King Dedede is one of the few characters to have a completely different Final Smash in every Smash game since the concept's introduction in Brawl, along with Pit, Zero Suit Samus and R.O.B..
• King Dedede's pose in his official render resembles one of his idle poses.
• In Korean version of the game, Announcer calls him as "King Dedede", despite having a different name in Korean, "Dedede Daewang", which translates to as Dedede King.