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

“	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, where he was voiced by series creator Masahiro Sakurai, have been repurposed for Ultimate.

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.

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

Attributes

King Dedede is tied for the third heaviest character in the game with 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 third fastest fast falling speeds (both tied for second and third fastest respectively), overall sluggish mobility, and a high susceptibility to combos. In spite of having an average initial dash and the thirtieth highest gravity, King Dedede 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.

True to a heavyweight character, King Dedede is gifted with an abundance of KO options and finishers. King Dedede's dash attack is a notable example, dealing huge damage, easily killing shields, and being able to KO at a mere 55% on middleweight opponents. King Dedede's smash attacks all possess good damage and knockback, while having their own perks: forward smash can KO at 30%, has deceptively short ending lag, allowing King Dedede to quickly react, while also being able to destroy full shields with only a slight charge; up smash KOs at 100% and sports transcendent priority, while coming with good range and speed, easily being able to hit even the smallest of opponents, while dealing great vertical knockback; lastly, down smash is the fastest smash attack in Dedede's arsenal, KOing at 80%, having transcendent priority, and easily punishing rolling opponents.

The rest of King Dedede's grounded moveset comes with merits: neutral attack is very quick and deals multiple hits, being able to combo into itself, 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 help 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 start up speed, and can wall of pain at lower percents. Back air is a potent kill option with 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 onstage is somewhat limited due to its slow startup.

King Dedede's grab game is less overwhelming than his grounded and aerial attacks, but it is still sufficient. King Dedede's grab only has average range, but this problem can be mitigated by simply dash grabbing. King Dedede's 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, due to sending opponents forward, easily 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 deals very high damage and knockback, and with a max charge it can break full shields.

In spite of these strengths, King Dedede still has a few 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 high weight and falling speeds allow him to easily return to the ground, they also render him vulnerable to combos, juggling, and chain throws, while hindering his recovery. King Dedede's recovery is further hampered by his low air speed and jump height, 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. Gordo Toss' Gordos can be reflected back at King Dedede from any attack that deals 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 from distances, 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.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

King Dedede was infamous for being one of the worst characters in Super Smash Bros. 4, owing to the large number of considerable nerfs he received both at SSB4's launch and via game updates, while not receiving a single buff in return. Possibly as a result of his notoriously poor competitive reception, King Dedede has been buffed overall in the transition from SSB4 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, with his neutral aerial in particular being a more potent combo starter. Additionally, due to his Inhale gaining the ability to spit out inhaled projectiles, he has effectively gained a reflector, helping to alleviate his vulnerability to projectile camping. The new reflecting abilities of his Inhale also gives him more safety when using Gordo Throw.

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 already strong smash attacks are stronger overall, and his previously slow forward smash is much faster overall.

Altogether, King Dedede is better compared to SSB4. Thanks to solid results from players like ZAKI, Big D, Atomsk and Peli, his viability has increased to the point that most top players consider Dedede to be one of the best super heavyweights in the game. However, King Dedede's success has been hampered because of game updates shrinking his Gordos' hitboxes and significantly nerfing his forward smash's shield breaking potential. When coupled with the retention of most of his weaknesses from SSB4, King Dedede's true viability has become contentious as Ultimate's metagame has progressed. Players are debating on whether he is as effective as they originally imagined. While the general consensus is that Dedede is a mid-tier character because of his improvements compared to SSB4 and his niche at local and regional tournaments, other players, such as ESAM, consider him one of the worst characters in the game. As such, his viability is questionable.

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 has been slightly nerfed via game updates. The most notable nerfs were to Gordo Throw, as Gordos have smaller hitboxes and deal less shield damage, removing some shield break set-ups. Additionally, the Gordo-boosted Super Dedede Jump was removed altogether. Moreover, King Dedede's shield pressure was further toned down by removing forward smash's ability to hit grounded characters twice, which removed its ability to instantly break shields.

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×.

Moveset

• King Dedede can perform 4 midair jumps.

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			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. It is much faster than it was in SSB4, and connects more reliably.
			2.2%
			0.5% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt			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 tip of the hammer. 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 ledge 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 stuff out punish attempts for a landed back aerial.
Up tilt			10% (head & neck), 8% (tip of head)	An upward headbutt. King Dedede's head and upper body are intangible while its hitbox is active. Can combo into itself at low percents, and has limited KO potential at very high percents.
Down tilt		Rolling	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. Can also lead into itself and other attacks if the opponent does not tech.
Dash attack		Belly Flop	16% (clean), 13% (late)	His signature belly flopping tackle. 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 middleweights 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 ledge after their ledge 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			16% (head, early), 25% (head, late), 18.5% (handle), 11% (shockwave)	Rears his hammer back and slams it down. The most damaging and strongest forward smash in the game {and the second strongest forward smash overall, behind Lucario's at max aura). It can KO as early as 30% near the edge, even when uncharged, and when fully charged, it is even capable of OHKOing some lighter characters like Pichu near the edge of Final Destination. It has very slow startup, but deceptively short endlag and a long-ranged quakebox. It can break shields point blank with only a little bit of charging. Originates from Kirby's Dream Land.
Up smash			16% (hammer), 10% (body)	An upward hammer swing. A decent anti-air option with great vertical knockback, KOing at 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			13%	A spinning hammer swing around himself. King Dedede's fastest kill move, sending foes at a low angle and can KO around 80% near the edge. Best used for catching rolls as well as ledge attacks. It also has transcendent priority. Appears very similar to the Giant Dedede Swing from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
Neutral aerial			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 has transcendent priority, meaning that it cannot cancel out projectiles. When coupled with a fast fall, its late hit has follow-up potential, such as an up tilt at low percents, neutral, forward or back air at mid percents, and up air at higher percents.
Forward aerial			12%	Somersaults to perform a downward hammer swing. Has good range in front of Dedede, but can be unsafe on hit at lower percents if spaced poorly. This move does not autocancel in a short hop and has more landing and ending lag than his back aerial, but starts much earlier. Is capable of performing a pseudo wall of pain while edgeguarding. It can also lock and fend off edgeguard attempts while recovering, due to its long range reaching through ledges.
Back aerial			16%	A horizontal hammer swing behind himself. 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 max range.
Up aerial			1% (hits 1-7), 5% (hit 8)	Thrusts his hammer upward while twirling its head. Has tremendous reach above Dedede, and can beat out numerous down aerials. It is quite strong for a multi-hit move, being able to KO below 130%. Like his forward aerial, it can hit edgeguarding opponents through ledges.
Down aerial			15% (middle of head), 8% (edge of head)	A downward hammer swing. The sweetspot is a very powerful aerial-only meteor smash. The meteor smash only activates at 28% or higher. On grounded opponents, it deals high horizontal knockback, KOing at around 100% near the edge. However, its usage is very limited due to its high startup, causing it to be Dedede's slowest aerial.
Grab			—	Reaches out. King Dedede's grab range is average.
Pummel			1.6%	A headbutt. Quicker but less damaging than it was in Smash 4. Good for racking damage.
Forward throw			4% (hit 1), 6% (throw)	Strikes the opponent forward with his hammer. Can be used to set up an edgeguard or launch the opponent into a previously thrown Gordo.
Back throw			4% (hit 1), 9% (throw)	Strikes the opponent backward with his hammer. 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, depending on the opponent's weight and 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			4% (hit 1), 5% (throw)	A jump set, a technique used in volleyball. Can lead into 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.
Down throw			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 percents and back air at low to mid percents. At medium percentages, down throw to up aerial is a KO combo if the opponent DIs incorrectly.
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%
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.
Neutral special		Inhale	12% (spit)	Inhales the opponent. While they have been Inhaled, King Dedede can then walk around and spit them out to inflict damage. He will also receive a 0.25x 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 reflect limit. Inhale is also a good landing mix-up 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. Its trajectory can be angled upward, forward, or downward, which 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 consistent than it was in SSB4. They can also be reflected by any attack dealing at least 2%. Of further 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.
Up special		Super Dedede Jump	15% (drop), 12% (landing), 5% (stars)	His signature jump. It concludes with a diving double foot stomp that buries grounded opponents and meteor smashes aerial ones. Like Yoshi Bomb, it emits stars on both sides after the diving double foot stomp hits the ground, which can make it difficult to punish, especially against characters that lack a projectile. While it cannot grab edges during its descent, it can do so upon being canceled. 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 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, and it can hit opponents hanging from the ledge after their invincibility wears off. The jet hammer will inflict the most amount of knock back if released just before the full charge. Dedede can hold the hammer out indefinitely, but it slowly deals recoil damage if he holds it when fully charged up until 100%. A fully charged Jet Hammer can easily KO opponents below 50% near the edge, and is able to break shields with a full charge.
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. Adopting his Masked Dedede persona, he attacks his opponent with a barrage of missiles, followed by a powerful spinning hammer swing. Deals approximately 60% in total with considerable knockback, but can only trap one opponent at a time.

On-screen appearance

File:KingDededeUltimateEntrance.jpg

King Dedede's on-screen appearance.

• Is carried in on a palanquin by four Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them.

Idle poses

• Puts his hammer on his shoulder.
• Smacks his belly.

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  King Dedede's first idle pose

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  King Dedede's second idle pose

Taunts

• Up taunt: Holds up his hammer in celebration.
• Side taunt: Twirls his hammer and laughs.
• Down taunt: Spins around in a circle, chanting.

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  King Dedede's up taunt.

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  King Dedede's side taunt.

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  King Dedede's down taunt.

Victory poses

• Left: Swings his hammer twice before turning to the camera and posing.
• 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 activates the 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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In competitive play

At the beginning of Ultimate's metagame, many professionals noticed Dedede's improvements from the previous installment, albeit still retaining some of his weaknesses there. This led to most of the community considering him as a low-mid or even low tier character. However, as professionals such as ZAKI and Atomsk began making notable impacts in major tournaments, most players' perception changed, citing his positive qualities such as his great edge trapping with Gordos, resilient endurance, disjointed range, and stronger KO power in comparison to SSB4. This led to Dedede becoming a popular choice among all levels of play in comparison to his release, most notably in local and regional tournaments, with the general perception casting him as an upper mid-tier or even high tier character.

However, updates removing Dedede's shield break combinations as well as shrinking the Gordos' hitboxes hurt Dedede's success: ZAKI's results failed to reach his prior success, while Peli and Atomsk even dropped him in favor of other characters. While the latter two players subsequently reversed their decisions, albeit positioning him as a co-main instead of a solo main, Dedede's representation has nevertheless been toned down, with some players reconsidering him to be strictly a mid-tier character instead of a high tier character or, in some instances, a low tier character. In addition, Dedede's poor disadvantage state, inconsistent KO potential, and laggy frame data have caused him to struggle against most top tier and/or high tier characters, such as Palutena, Mega Man, and Fox. Although King Dedede is much better than he was in SSB4, his first definitive tier placement in Ultimate remains to be seen.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.

Active

•  Addy - Uses Dedede as a co-main/secondary alongside with Wario and is considered the best Dedede player in Mexico. Placed 4th in BIT MASTER MTY 5, 9th at BIT MASTER MTY 7, and 33rd in Smash Factor 8.
•  Atomsk - The best King Dedede player in the United States and North America since Big D's inactivity with the character. Placed 25th at Pound 2019 and 65th at GENESIS 6, beating players such as Gen. At some point, he dropped the character in favor of Banjo & Kazooie but now uses both as co-main. Formerly ranked 7th at the New Jersey Smash Ultimate Power Rankings.
•  Bryce - Placed 25th at Collision 2019 and has wins over Rivers, 6WX, Jakal and Dill.
•  El_Bardo - Placed 7th at Codec Call 3 and 33rd at Syndicate 2019. Currently ranked 29th in the Spanish Smash Ultimate Power Rankings.
•  Peli - The best King Dedede player in Europe. Placed 2nd at Schism 3, 5th at Regen 2019, 9th at Valhalla III, 25th at Syndicate 2019, and 65th at Frostbite 2019. Has wins over Larry Lurr, iStudying Meru, Antheia, and T.
•  ZAKI - The best King Dedede player in the world. Placed 2nd at Sumabato SP 2, 5th at Umebura SP 2, 25th at 2GG: Prime Saga, and 33rd at EVO 2019. Ranked 11th in the Japan Player Rankings.

Inactive

•  Big D (#49) - The best King Dedede player in North America and one of the best ones in the world. Placed 4th at both Battle of BC 3 and Don't Park on the Grass 2018, 25th at Get On My Level 2019, and 33rd at GENESIS 6. Has wins over players like Captain L, MuteAce, dyr, and Pandarian. While he did not officially drop the character, he only now uses Ice Climbers in bracket and rarely ever uses King Dedede or any of his other characters anymore.
•  DiZ - Played King Dedede early in Ultimate and placed 2nd at GatorLAN Spring 2019. Has dropped the character in favor of Piranha Plant, but still rarely plays him as a secondary. Currently ranked 8th on Central Florida Ultimate Power Rankings, and was ranked 6th while solo maining Dedede.

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
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
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 500 coins. 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. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, King Dedede makes an appearance as a Primary Spirit under his Masked Dedede alter ego.

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  325. King Dedede

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  353. Masked Dedede

In Spirit battles

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 •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Alolan Exeggutor)	Yoshi's Story (Melee)
316	File:Don Bongo.png	Don Bongo	Yoshi series	•Giant King Dedede		3,900	Yoshi's Story	•Move Speed ↑ •Move Speed ↓	•The enemy has increased move speed after a 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	File:Gordo.png	Gordo	Kirby series	•Clear King Dedede (×3)		3,800	Green Greens	N/A	•The enemy's side special has increased power •The enemy favors side specials •The enemy is invisible	Kirby Retro Medley
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	File:Dyntos Spirit.png	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 (x3)		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	File:Fish Spirit.png	Fish	Ballon Fight Series	•King Dedede		3,900	Balloon Fight	N/A	•The enemy's neutral special has increased power •Timed Battle •The enemy favors neutral specials	Balloon Fight Medley
1,235	File:Chef.png	Chef (Personal Trainer: Cooking)	Personal Trainer: Cooking 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	File:Gruntilda Spirit.png	Gruntilda	Banjo-Kazooie series	•King Dedede •Dr. Mario (x3)		13,900	Find Mii (Ω form)	•Hazard: Poison Floor	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The floor is poisonous •Stamina battle	Vs. Klungo

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Reference
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
343	File:DarkMatterSpirit.png	Dark Matter	Kirby series	•Meta Knight •King Dedede		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	File:Captain Syrup.png	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 •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	File:Hero's Comrades Spirit.png	Hero's Comrades	DRAGON QUEST series	•Ike •King Dedede •Zero Suit Samus •Sheik •Robin •Zelda •Link		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 •Reinforcement 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

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  King Dedede's fighter card.

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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

• 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 four characters to have appeared since Brawl to have a different Final Smash across every installment; the other three are Pit, Zero Suit Samus, and R.O.B..
• King Dedede's pose in his official render resembles one of his idle poses.
• 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 for 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 King".
• 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" (el Rey Dedede in the latter for example). 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 only two fighters having this trait in the European version, but not in the American version.
• King Dedede is one of the only two antagonists that can be unlocked in the Light Realm, the other being Bowser.
• Prior to 3.0.0, if King Dedede threw a Smart Bomb at his opponent and tried to Inhale them, the Inhale would not affect anyone until the bomb explosion was over. This glitch may likely have been caused by opponents stuck during the hitstun. When this happened, anyone caught in the Inhale from before will teleport into King Dedede's mouth once the explosion ended. Kirby could do this too. This was patched, where characters can now no longer be put into hitstun during Inhale.
• 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.
• King Dedede appears in the most DLC Spirit Boards, appearing in the Yusuke Kitagawa, Hero's Comrades, Gruntilda, and Kim Kaphwan spirit battles.