Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)

This article is about Banjo & Kazooie's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the characters in other contexts, see Banjo and Kazooie.

Banjo & Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Banjo-Kazooie
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	The Mighty Jinjonator
Tier	C- (62)

“	Banjo-Kazooie are Raring to Go!	”
—Introduction tagline.

Banjo & Kazooie (バンジョー&カズーイ, Banjo & Kazooie), formatted in their reveal trailer as Banjo-Kazooie, are a playable duo character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and are the first third-party fighters from Microsoft. They were revealed alongside Hero during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2019 as the third downloadable fighters from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Banjo & Kazooie were released as part of Challenger Pack 3 on September 4th, 2019. Although they are a team, they are collectively classified as Fighter #73.

Chris Sutherland reprises his role as both Banjo and Kazooie, with his portrayals from across the Banjo-Kazooie series being repurposed for Ultimate in all regions.

Banjo & Kazooie are ranked 62nd out of 82 on the current tier list, placing them in the C- tier and making them the lowest ranking characters from Fighters Pass Vol. 1. The duo have a strong projectile mixup game: their numerous projectiles such as Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster and Rear Egg grant the duo some effective setups and followup potential, with the ability to constantly knock opponents around and lead into combos if used properly. Egg Firing generates long-duration eggs that can disrupt approaches or gimp recoveries, Breegull Blaster can set up aerial combos and platform tech chases, while Rear Egg functions as the duo's main zoning and combo tool, with the niche ability to break out of combos or extend the duo's recovery. The duo's signature move Wonderwing is a long-duration dash with invincibility that is very powerful, has potential to be combo'd into, and can beat out almost every option other than grabs, giving them a safe recovery option and a powerful (albeit committal) reversal in disadvantage. Most of the duo's attacks feature disjointed hitboxes due to Kazooie, giving them some adequate range for close quarters. Their normal moveset has some effective attacks: down tilt functions as an amazing 2 frame punish and edgeguarding option thanks to its long duration and range, up tilt is a powerful anti-air and KO move with low enough endlag to combo into itself at low percents, and forward air is a viable KO tool with good reach. Finally, their status as a heavyweight, along with their two midair jumps, lack of helplessness from Shock Spring Jump and ability to extend their recovery with Rear Egg, gives the duo higher-than-average survivability, and Kazooie's dash speed grants the duo surprisingly fast long-distance movement. Overall, the pair has some solid strengths to control the flow of the game.

However, Banjo and Kazooie have some noticeable flaws. Their moveset suffers from being quite inconsistent due to problematic hitboxes, weak damage and knockback, or both, which can make general combat quite unwieldy. In addition, their frame data is generally unimpressive, with their landing lag also being rather high, which gives them limited attacks that can be thrown out in neutral. Their most intricate combos usually require a lot of technical skill, with effective usage of Rear Egg and Breegull Blaster combos being quite difficult to perform; while some can lead into Wonderwing punishes, most of these combos do extremely low damage. Finally, their damage output is relatively low, and when combined with the aforementioned problems gives them very few consistent followups or good reward for landing attacks, while also giving them few safe KO options. Combined, this means their gameplan is usually limited to winning neutral exchanges using their projectiles to get opponents to make mistakes. Their other problems include their weight, which makes them combo food for a lot of the cast, and their general movement, which is unimpressive outside of Kazooie's dash due to Banjo's slow walk speed, low traction, and poor air speed/jump height. Wonderwing is incredibly risky despite its perks, is designed to be out-prioritized by grabs, is limited to up to five feathers per stock, and is slow enough to be reacted to. Finally, the duo's grab game is passable: their grab is only average, and their pivot grab has the odd quirk of having lower range on aerial foes due to a coding error, while only back throw has the ability to directly KO, and down throw is very inconsistent despite burying opponents, which is unusual for a throw of its type (such as similar throws shared by King K. Rool and Snake).

Overall, Banjo and Kazooie function as an unusual mix of a heavyweight and a zoner: most of their gameplan revolves around picking openings granted by their projectiles, although their general inconsistencies tend to make them considered relatively weak for their archetype. Although Banjo and Kazooie saw minimal representation for the first few years of Ultimate’s lifespan, it has since improved thanks to the efforts of dedicated mains, especially Toriguri.

Attributes

Banjo & Kazooie, like Duck Hunt, are a tag team that fight together as if they were a singular character. Together, they are a heavyweight and are tied with Snake and R.O.B. as the 18th-heaviest fighters in the game. As Banjo is responsible for the duo's walking, the duo's walking speed is below-average, and their initial dash and traction values are among the worst in the game. Conversely, Kazooie handles the duo's dashing, in which she uses the Talon Trot to carry Banjo. In stark contrast to Banjo's walking speed, Kazooie's dashing speed is very fast; specifically, it is the 12th-fastest in the game, and is only surpassed by Charizard among heavyweights.

With Kazooie hidden in his backpack when the duo are not attacking or dashing, Banjo has a relatively average height and a somewhat wide hurtbox, being rather short as far as heavyweights go. Kazooie, however, lacks a hurtbox of any kind outside of dashing and the duo's up tilt. This means that all standard attacks involving her, other than up tilt, are disjointed. Similar to Charizard and Ridley, Kazooie's Feathery Flap grants the duo a second double jump. Additionally, the duo has a fast falling speed, high gravity, slow air speed, and average air acceleration.

The majority of Banjo & Kazooie's grounded arsenal makes use of moves from their first two games, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. The duo have a chooseable neutral attack: their standard neutral attack is a 3-hit combo that consists of Banjo using his Claw Swipe twice and then throwing an uppercut, whereas their neutral infinite consists of Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. It should be noted that the hitbox of Kazooie's neutral infinite is large enough to sometimes hit opponents standing directly behind the duo. This can cause the opponent to be continually jabbed into the duo's rear, keeping them locked in the hitbox and causing both of the fighters to be slowly moved backwards, often amounting to extremely high percentages by the time they reach the edge of a platform. This is somewhat niche, however.

Their forward tilt, Beak Bayonet, involves Banjo quickly thrusting Kazooie as a makeshift bayonet. Like Ridley's forward tilt, it can be angled and has a respectable amount of disjointed range, especially for its speed, making it useful for stopping predictable or vulnerable approaches. Their up tilt consists of Kazooie quickly propping Banjo upward in order for him to perform a stretch kick. Unlike most up tilts, it is strong enough to KO reliably, especially when it is used as a follow-up from their down throw. Despite its respectable power, its low base knockback and fairly low ending lag grant it minor combo potential at very low percentages. However, it has limited horizontal range in front of or behind them, though it can still potentially hit grounded opponents. Their down tilt, Beak Barge, involves Kazooie thrusting her beak forward as Banjo slides belly-first along the ground. It launches at a very low semi-spike angle, making it a very potent edgeguarding and tech-chasing option (as well as a useful option for 2 frame punishes), although it is laggy overall (being the duo's slowest tilt startup-wise) and has a meager damage output. Their dash attack, Banjo's Forward Roll, looks and functions very similarly to Donkey Kong's dash attack, but differs from his by having a noticeably stronger clean hit (which can function as a situational KO option), fewer active frames, and higher ending lag. It has some combo potential (especially from the late hit) and can be used as an approaching attack, but it is not as potent as Donkey Kong's.

Complementing their versatile tilts, Banjo & Kazooie sport very useful smash attacks. Their forward smash, the Breegull Bash, involves Banjo swinging Kazooie as a makeshift bludgeon. It is a relatively slow, yet long-ranged and powerful move that serves as a notable example of Kazooie's disjointed nature. The duo's up smash is the Bill Drill, a spinning attack with Kazooie's beak that is fairly useful as an anti-air attack and out-of-shield option, and is a reliable follow-up from the duo's burying down throw; it has the fastest startup of Banjo & Kazooie's smash attacks, but has minimal horizontal range outside of its initial scoop hitbox, and high ending lag. Their down smash is an original move, a wing-slam from Kazooie (accompanied by a simultanous floor punch from Banjo) covering both sides of the duo much like Ridley, albeit weaker and much faster, making it a useful tool for catching rolls. Notably, their forward and down smashes, especially the latter, have long-lasting hitboxes that slightly penetrate the stage downward, making them both deadly 2-framing tools at the ledge.

Banjo & Kazooie's aerial moveset also combines old and new moves. The duo's neutral aerial is the Twirling Wing Whack, a multi-hitting circular wing spin from Kazooie that functions very similarly to Pit's neutral aerial, albeit with slower startup. It can be used for dragdown combos, though such combos can be inconsistent due to the looping hits' launching angles and the move's high landing lag. Neutral aerial is also useful for edgeguarding off-stage opponents and air-to-airing airborne ones, in part due to the final hit always launching opponents forward. Their forward aerial is performed by Banjo, being a slow but powerful overhand punch, akin to Dr. Mario and Ganondorf's forward aerials. Its clean hit is strong enough to KO reliably while near the edge, and the move is almost always a guaranteed KO while offstage. Despite its power, forward aerial surprisingly has the lowest landing lag of the duo's aerial attacks, and can auto-cancel in a short hop. It can be used to start combos at low percentages, cover the duo's approach, pressure shields, and edgeguard quite safely.

Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap is used as their back aerial; unlike the neutral infinite version, this version hits three times, much like Yoshi and Mega Man's back aerials. This move has respectable power, and is a useful out-of-shield option as well as a reliable (albeit somewhat unsafe due to its lag) KO option offstage. Banjo & Kazooie's up aerial consists of Kazooie flapping her wings together in a scissoring motion, akin to Sonic's up aerial. It has decent disjoint above the duo, and its minimal startup and ending lag enable it to potentially combo into itself at medium percentages. With proper timing, it is possible to use up aerial initiate combos very soon after the duo lands on the ground. However, up aerial's minor damage output and knockback make it lackluster for juggling and almost unusable for KOing. Beak Buster makes an appearance as their down aerial; it is a stall-then-fall attack that meteor smashes opponents during its initial frames, and has a fairly large hitbox upon impacting the stage.

Banjo & Kazooie's special moves are fairly versatile as well. Their neutral special is Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster. Egg Firing, activated when the special button is tapped, sends blue eggs out of Kazooie's mouth that are affected by gravity in a similar manner to Mario's Fireball, and can be used to approach, zone, camp, combo, ledgetrap or edgeguard opponents; the move also briefly stalls the duo's aerial momentum when used in the air. Holding the special button, however causes the move to transition into Breegull Blaster, in which Banjo wields Kazooie like a gun as in Banjo-Tooie's first-person shooter segments, with low damage but faster and constant projectiles, all while being able to move and jump freely in a similar manner to carrying the completed Daybreak parts. While the long-range egg hitboxes of Breegull Blaster have weak knockback and are less useful (unlike the long-range hitboxes of Egg Firing), the close-range egg hitboxes on the other hand are actually the most useful part of Breegull Blaster; close-range Breegull Blaster egg shots can combo into additional close-range egg shots for potent ladder combos, and a single close-range egg shot can be comboed into up tilt at high percentages for a guaranteed KO confirm. Breegull Blaster also has two difficult-to-perform albeit highly potent advanced techniques (smash turnaround cancel and landing turnaround cancel; also known as Kazooie Fast Canceling or KFC) that can bypass the ending lag from canceling the move and even allow it to be comboed into forward smash or Wonderwing. However, because Breegull Blaster is a "mode" that takes a moment to be entered and exited, it is sometimes occasionally difficult to use the move in close proximity.

Banjo & Kazooie's side special is Wonderwing, which involves Banjo charging forward while Kazooie shields him with her magic-infused wings. It does high damage and knockback if it connects within the first half of the distance it covers, and its full-body invincibility that lasts through the entirety of the hitbox's duration allows it to out-prioritize nearly every other move in the game (with the exception of most grabs and hit grabs), as well as all counterattacks (aside from Mii Brawler's Counter Throw and Sora's aptly-named Counterattack). Wonderwing's duration and the size of its hitbox also allows it to act as a fantastic 2-framing option on the edge in a handful of matchups (mainly Chrom, Ike and Pichu), as the duo will run in place at the edge for some time. Wonderwing can also be an easy and effective way to brute force a predictable opponent out of projectile camping, though this may backfire if the opponent is baiting the move or otherwise ready for it. It also functions as an excellent recovery option with its horizontal speed, distance and invincibility, and it does not induce helplessness either. However, the move runs on a limited stock of five golden feathers that are not replenished until Banjo & Kazooie are KOed, so its usage must be carefully considered; additionally, despite crossing up shields, Wonderwing's high ending lag and long-lasting singular hitbox can make it fairly unsafe in any case where the opponent can see it coming.

Shock Spring Jump functions as Banjo & Kazooie's up special. It is a decent vertical recovery move that does not render them helpless and preserves their double jumps; it can be charged to increase its travel distance, and when used in the air, the Shock Spring Pad itself possesses a damaging hitbox that can be used to gimp some recoveries. Shock Spring Jump can also be used on-stage to jump higher than Banjo & Kazooie's full hop height, allowing it to come in handy when anti-airing opponents above the duo or when retreating from foes underneath. Rear Egg, their down special, has Kazooie lay an explosive Grenade Egg behind the duo. It bounces in an unpredictable fashion due to its shape and launches opponents upward. Grenade Eggs are also completely unaffected by stale-move negation unlike the rest of Banjo & Kazooie's moveset, further adding to Rear Egg's utility. Additionally, the Grenade Egg also functions as an item; it is catchable and throwable, despite its much shorter fuse compared to similar explosive-related attacks. All of these properties make Rear Egg an incredibly versatile projectile that can be used for zoning, approaching, ledgetrapping, comboing, camping, and neutral game control in general. Overall, their four specials have impressive utility with both physical and projectile options.

Banjo & Kazooie have a somewhat decent albeit imperfect grab game. Banjo's grab range is fairly decent, though oddly enough, his pivot grab has less range against airborne opponents. Forward throw has Kazooie kick the opponent forward with her feet; it can create space between Banjo & Kazooie and their opponent on-stage, though its utility is held back by its awkward launch angle and relatively low base knockback, especially compared to, for example, Jigglypuff's forward throw. Up throw sees Banjo toss the opponent upward, followed by Kazooie pecking at them; it can put opponents above Banjo & Kazooie and setup juggles, but has too much base knockback and too much ending lag to actually have any true follow-ups against most characters. Down throw looks and functions very similarly to King K. Rool's down throw, being a move where Banjo lifts the opponent upward with both of his hands and slams them downward to bury them; at high enough percentages, down throw has a guaranteed 50/50 setup into either up tilt or up smash in most matchups, with the former catching opponents who mash out and the latter catching ones who do not. Finally, back throw is the duo's KO throw, and closely resembles Mario's back throw; it has a collateral hitbox much like Mario's that gives it utility against bystanders (as well as the Ice Climbers and Rosalina & Luma), and it is incredibly powerful, being even stronger than Mario's back throw.

However, the duo has numerous other considerable weaknesses to balance their strengths. Outside of their dash attack, up tilt, smash attacks, forward aerial, back aerial, down throw, back throw, close-range Breegull Blaster and Wonderwing, Banjo & Kazooie's potential to KO can be somewhat limited despite their status as a heavyweight fighter. Many of their moves are unremarkable among their weight class in terms of power, and unlike other fighters with poor KOing abilities, Banjo & Kazooie have a fairly limited combo game. The duo's range is also unremarkable, despite Kazooie's lack of a hurtbox, which means that they will sometimes have issues trading blows with conventional swordfighters. Additionally, some of Banjo & Kazooie's aerial attacks have unusually high landing lag for how weak they are, with neutral aerial having 16 frames, up aerial having 12 frames, and back aerial having 18 frames. Similarly to Wario, Banjo himself has a wide hurtbox, and the duo is susceptible to combos and juggles due to their heavy weight, slow air speed, low jump height, and lack of fast escape options. Their overall mobility is unorthodox; their excellent run speed is offset by their poor initial dash speed, which is tied for the 5th slowest, their high vertical recovery options are hampered by their low jumps, poor air speed, and fast falling speed, and their grounded mobility is hindered by their traction being tied with the Mii Gunner's for the lowest in the game.

Additionally, the duo's special moves, while strong, have significant flaws. Breegull Blaster's long-range egg hitboxes are weak and less useful for zoning than Egg Firing, while Breegull Blaster can be unsafe on shield up close unless the aforementioned difficult-to-perform advanced KFC techniques are performed; also, Breegull Blaster's eggs become weaker with repeated use, discouraging excessive use of the move, though the damage output goes back to normal after a cooldown period if Breegull Blaster is not used. If the duo runs out of golden feathers, they lose access to Wonderwing, eliminating a potent move with plenty of offensive and defensive utility; Wonderwing is also vulnerable to grabs despite its invincibility—although due to its speed, an opponent taking advantage of this is relatively rare—and it is also notoriously unsafe on shield and on whiff, further punishing heavily its misuse. Rear Egg, while being a relatively potent combo tool, can be turned against the duo as opponents can grab it and use it due to its status as an item, as well as the fact that that a previously-laid grenade egg must explode or reach the blast zone before a new one can be laid, meaning the player must wait a while to try again if an egg misses an opponent; additionally, a grenade egg can be Pocketed by Villager or Isabelle, completely ridding Banjo & Kazooie of one of their most useful moves against those two aforementioned characters. Shock Spring Jump requires slight charge time to make their recovery reliable, and it also does not have a hitbox outside of the Shock Spring Pad itself, making it vulnerable to aggressive edgeguarding.

Overall, Banjo & Kazooie are fairly unorthodox characters that can be considered to fall in the heavyweight trapper archetype, similarly to Link, R.O.B. and Snake. As a result, their gameplan is centered on maintaining stage control with the help of their projectiles, yet also being capable melee fighters who have access to a few strong finishers (the most notable of which being Wonderwing). However, Banjo & Kazooie's capabilities fall somewhat short next to comparable characters: Rear Egg is slightly inconsistent at controlling space due to its Grenade Egg's short fuse, Wonderwing is very easy to punish if it is mistimed or read, and the duo's overall frame data and KO power are unimpressive for the heavyweight trapper archetype, limiting their potential to act aggressively. As such, they are quite versatile fighters that can adapt to multiple playstyles even over the course of a single match, though they are more adept at turtling or more methodical playstyles.

Update history

Banjo & Kazooie were buffed slightly via game updates. The only noteworthy buffs they received were increases to the knockback growth of their up tilt and forward smash via update 12.0.0, which slightly improved said moves' already respectable KO potentials. Due to the other changes they received being strictly quality-of-life adjustments, Banjo & Kazooie's competitive reception has remained virtually unchanged since their release.

8.0.0

• Edge attack's hitbox stretches much farther backward (Z offset: 12u—2u → 12u—-2.5u), allowing it to hit behind the duo and fully cover the edge.

9.0.0

• Rapid jab and its finisher have transcendent priority, preventing them from being canceled out by weak attacks.

11.0.0

• Changed the length of vulnerability when crumpling to be consistent with other fighters.

12.0.0

• Up tilt has more knockback scaling (114 → 119).
• Forward smash has more knockback scaling (94 → 97).
• Back aerial's third hit launches at a lower angle (46° → 41°), but has less knockback scaling to compensate (144 → 136).

Moveset

• Banjo & Kazooie, specifically Kazooie, can perform 2 double jumps, both of which are based on the Feathery Flap. Aesthetically, Banjo's animation for the duo's backwards jump is based on the Flap Flip, although it also resembles a "recoil" animation from Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie that is usually seen when the player activates a point of interest below the duo or after hitting an enemy with a weak attack.
• As opposed to Banjo & Kazooie's standard walking and initial dashing which are handled solely by Banjo, in the duo's dash animation he flips onto his back and Kazooie takes over the dash by performing the Talon Trot. Kazooie gains a hurtbox while she dashes, but her transition into the dash has no gameplay repercussions otherwise.
• The majority of Banjo & Kazooie's moves are inherently disjointed, as Kazooie does not possess a hurtbox outside of the duo's dash and up tilt.

For a gallery of Banjo & Kazooie's hitboxes, see here.

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

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Claw Swipe (ツメツメパンチ, Claw Claw Punch) / Rat-a-Tat Rap (キツツキアタック, Woodpecker Attack)	2.2%	A combination of Banjo's Claw Swipe and Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. If the button is held, Banjo will perform two alternating Claw Swipes and then throw an uppercut. If pressed repeatedly, he will Claw Swipe twice before crouching on all fours in order for Kazooie to perform the Rat-a-Tat Rap that concludes with Kazooie performing a headbutt. The first hit starts at frame 4, making it the duo's fastest ground attack. The third hit of the Claw Swipe launches opponents vertically, which can allow it to set up juggles due to its reasonably low ending lag. Forward aerial and up aerial are consistent followups, especially if opponents miss a tech on platforms, though this can be evaded by air dodging. Unlike most neutral attacks, Banjo will not repeat the first Claw Swipe if the attack button is held down. Rat-a-Tat Rap has a very meager damage output for a neutral infinite, although this can be mitigated if an opponent is hit extremely close to the duo while they perform the infinite, specifically around where Banjo's backpack is. This can result in the opponent being pushed back alongside the duo while they attack, allowing the move to rack up a large amount of damage.
			2.2%
			3.7%
			0.4% (loop), 1.6% (last)
Forward tilt		Beak Bayonet (くちばしスピアー, Beak Spear)	9% (beak), 7% (close)	The Beak Bayonet. Can be angled and has a sweetspot on Kazooie's beak. It has decent range and quick startup (7 frames), making it a useful spacing option, as well as being a good way of halting vulnerable or predictable approaches.
Up tilt			10%	Kazooie props Banjo up in order for him to perform a stretch kick. It is somewhat slow on startup for a tilt attack (11 frames), but it has impressive knockback, being able to KO most grounded opponents under 140%. The move also has a fairly large hitbox above Banjo's body, which makes it effective not only as an anti-air, but also as a follow-up from either down throw or a close-range Breegull Blaster egg shot for a KO confirm, although it has barely any hitbox towards the duo's front or rear, largely limiting its usage to the aforementioned scenarios. Despite its respectable power, it has fairly low ending lag; when combined with its vertical launch angle, this can allow it to set up juggles, with it following into itself against some heavyweights at low percentages. Unlike the duo's other attacks where she is visible, Kazooie possesses a hurtbox during this move, preventing the duo from evading low-hitting attacks.
Down tilt		Beak Barge (くちばしアタック, Beak Attack)	6% (beak), 5% (close), 3% (late)	Kazooie's Beak Barge. It is a semi-spike with good range and long-lasting hitbox (10 frames), all of which make it a good tool for on-stage edgeguarding and 2 frame punishing. It lowers the duo's profile to an even greater extent than their crouch, enabling them to duck under some moves like Wolf's Blaster shots. As a launched opponent will usually tumble onto the stage, this move often allows for read-dependent follow-ups such as neutral aerial (against taller/larger character) down smash, or another down tilt; its disjoint distance also makes it a great tech-chasing option in other situations, although its power and speed are somewhat poor, being the duo's slowest tilt attack at 12 frames. Finally, it acts as a pseudo-crawl and can cross-up against shields when performed close enough to their opponent.
Dash attack		Forward Roll (ローリングアタック, Rolling Attack)	12% (clean), 8% (late)	Banjo's Forward Roll, which closely resembles Donkey Kong's dash attack. Hits on frame 9 and sends the duo a respectable distance, allowing it to punish distant attacks. Its clean hit makes it fairly strong for a dash attack, as it can KO Mario at around 150% from the middle of Final Destination. Conversely, the late hit can be used as a combo starter at low to medium percentages, thanks to its launching angle and much lower strength. However, dash attack is equally punishable as it has large ending lag, and only the front of the duo is covered by the hitbox, leaving the entire move decently vulnerable.
Forward smash		Breegull Bash (ハリセンカズーイ, Harisen Kazooie[1])	16%	The Breegull Bash. This move is moderately slow (19 frames) and has high ending lag, but it is fairly powerful (especially relative to Banjo & Kazooie's overall moveset), KOing at around 100% from center stage. Its speed and the size of its hitbox makes it mainly useful for punishing short-ranged attacks and catching rolls. Its hitbox is wide enough to sometimes hit aerial opponents diagonally above and in front the duo, though not to the extent of hitting opponents standing on platforms above Banjo & Kazooie. Additionally, similar to down smash and especially down tilt, its high range allows it to 2 frame punish at the edge (although this move is more powerful and lasts for a shorter period than either ).
Up smash		Bill Drill (くちばしドリル, Beak Drill)	1% (hit 1), 1.5% (hits 2-7), 3.5% (hit 8), 13.6% (total)	A grounded, vertically inverted version of the Bill Drill. Hits multiple times and is powerful enough to KO at around 110%. It comes out decently fast (frame 9) and can act as a decent anti-air, though it has very high ending lag and mediocre horizontal range. Generally a consistent follow-up after down throw at high percentages, especially if the opponent does not mash out.
Down smash			15%	Banjo performs a forearm club while Kazooie slams both of her wings downward on both sides, similarly to Palutena, Charizard, and Ridley's down smashes. Deals the same amount of damage and knockback throughout the move. Hits on frame 13 and has the fastest interruptibility out of the duo's smash attacks while having good power despite its speed, being able to KO at the edge at around 85%. As a result, it is the duo's most reliable smash attack for quick punishes. Its long-lasting, constant hitbox also makes it reliable as a deadly 2 framing tool, alongside forward smash and down tilt.
Neutral aerial		Twirling Wing Whack (回転ウイングアタック, Spinning Wing Attack)	0.8% (hits 1-7), 4.1% (hit 8)	Kazooie's Wing Whack. Functions similarly to Pit and Dark Pit's shared neutral aerial, with this move's looping hitboxes even sharing the exact same properties as those of that move. Has rather slow startup (frame 10) relative to its damage output and knockback. Compared to Pit's neutral aerial, the combination of this move's slower startup with its surprisingly high landing lag (16 frames), inability to autocancel from a short hop, and the final hit's strangely diagonal launch angle makes it far less useful for starting, extending or finishing combos, while also making it less safe on shield. It has immense utility for approaching and interrupting vulnerable recoveries, although this is counterbalanced by the final hit's low knockback scaling and aforementioned diagonal launch angle. Its looping hits can drag opponents downwards to follow into most of the duo's grounded moves, although this can be difficult due to the move's aforementioned high landing lag and the looping hits' unpredictable launching trajectory; the move itself is also a very reliable followup from down throw or to finish a Breegull Blaster close-range egg ladder combo. Autocancels from a full hop.
Forward aerial			15% (clean), 12% (late)	Banjo throws a delayed overhand punch. It is tied with down aerial as the duo's slowest aerial attack with 15 frames of startup and has high ending lag. However, it has a slightly disjointed hitbox on his fist, autocancels from a short hop, has the lowest landing lag of Banjo & Kazooie's aerials (11 frames), is moderately safe on shield, and is very powerful, being able to KO Mario at 89% from the edge of Final Destination, while a clean hit offstage is an almost guaranteed to KO. Due to these strengths, it is great for pressuring shields, covering the duo's approach, and even setting up combos at low percents.
Back aerial		Air Rat-a-Tat Rap (空中キツツキアタック, Aerial Woodpecker Attack)	1.6% (hits 1-2), 4.8% (hit 3)	A backward-facing aerial three-hit version of Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. The first hit comes out on frame 8. It has good overall range and quick startup, making it a reliable aerial for edgeguarding. The first two hits use the autolink angle. However, the move has extremely high landing lag (18 frames) relative to how weak it is, limiting its combo potential on-stage and making it rather unsafe on shield. Autocancels from a short hop.
Up aerial			1.6% (hit 1), 5.8% (hit 2)	Kazooie flaps her wings upwards in a scissoring motion, similarly to Sonic's up aerial. Hits twice, with the first hit leading to the second. Has a wide hitbox with good range, with the first hit being able to hit grounded opponents if performed while the duo is falling. Additionally, it is Banjo & Kazooie's fastest aerial, coming out on frame 7, and has the quickest interruptibility of the duo's aerials; this allows the duo to perform up to four up aerials while using their jumps, somewhat similarly to Meta Knight's up aerial strings. Can set up juggles into itself at low to medium percentages. A landing up aerial against a grounded opponent can combo into up tilt, up smash, and also any aerial except for down aerial, depending the opponent's percentage. Even further boosting its utility is that the move's first hit on its own, depending on the positioning, can potentially set up KO confirms into up tilt, forward smash, forward aerial and Wonderwing on landing. However, it has relatively low hitstun due to its low damage and slightly higher ending lag compared to other weak up aerials, making up aerial ladder juggles easily escapable. The first hit may also occasionally launch opponents away from the second hit, and the move is extremely weak, having almost no KO potential even at extremely high percentages. Additionally, the move has 12 frames of landing lag, which is unusually high compared to other up aerials of comparable speed and strength. The move autocancels from a short hop.
Down aerial		Beak Buster (くちばしバスター)	10% (dive), 2% (landing)	Kazooie's Beak Buster. It is a stall-then-fall that meteor smashes at its beginning, with the later hitboxes dealing slightly diagonal vertical knockback. The move has a very weak landing hit that has little use aside from granting minimal protection. The move lasts for a fairly long time, often making off-stage use an inevitable self-destruct, though it is still possible to recover if it is used from a great enough height. It is mostly useful for returning to stage quickly, as the non-meteor smashing hitbox is unable to KO past realistic percentages. The move's high landing lag (27 frames) greatly limits its combo potential on-stage.
Grab		Grab (つかみ)	—	Banjo reaches out with his hand. Strangely, Banjo's pivot grab has noticeably shorter horizontal range against airborne opponents compared to grounded ones.
Pummel			1.4%	Kazooie pecks the opponent's head. Unique compared to other pummels, being marginally slower and stronger compared to other pummels like Mario, but faster and weaker compared to stronger pummels like Bowser.
Forward throw			5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Banjo faces away and Kazooie performs a double-footed stretch kick. The move's generally horizontal launch angle, along with its somewhat decent base knockback, makes it useful for creating space between Banjo & Kazooie and their opponent on-stage, as well as setting up edgeguards and potentially also tech-chases. However, it has lower base knockback and a more diagonal launch angle compared to some other forward throws, limiting its utility.
Back throw			11.4% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Banjo performs a giant swing, similarly to Mario's back throw. Deals collateral damage to nearby opponents. The duo's only throw with KO potential, it is very powerful, KOing at around 105% at the sides of the stage.
Up throw			5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Banjo throws the opponent overhead and Kazooie pecks them upwards. The move has relatively high ending lag after the opponent is thrown, has no true follow-ups guaranteed against all opponents, and cannot KO opponents. It is generally considered to be Banjo & Kazooie's worst throw.
Down throw			5.6%	Banjo performs a powerbomb, closely mirroring King K. Rool's down throw in both appearance and function. Like K. Rool's aforementioned down throw, as well as that of R.O.B., it buries the opponent. While it is initially ineffective and easily escapable at very low percentages due to its low base burying time, the move does become more useful at higher percentage; it can grant a read-dependent follow-up based on the opponent's reaction at medium percentages, and has a 50/50 KO confirm setup with up smash and up tilt at high percentages.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Banjo kicks behind and then in front of himself before getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Banjo kicks around himself before getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Banjo claps behind and then in front of himself. One of the only attacks to use a "slap" sound effect, with the others being Pound and Peach/Daisy's shared neutral attack. Unlike those moves however, the "slap" sound effect plays even if Banjo does not successfully hit any opponents.
Edge attack Edge getups			10%	Banjo pulls himself up before performing an inward swipe with his hand.
Neutral special		Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster	5.4%-3.8% (egg), 2.4% (Breegull Blaster hits 1-6), 1.6% (Breegull Blaster hits 7-12), 0.8% (Breegull Blaster hits 13+)	For Egg Firing, Banjo gets down on all fours while Kazooie spits out an egg. These eggs will obey gravity, bounce off the ground and linger for quite some time (around the length of half of Final Destination) before breaking on their own, and become weaker as time passes. It is a slow-moving projectile, similar in function to moves such as Fireball. It also stalls the duo's vertical momentum slightly if used in midair. If the special button is held, the duo will instead perform the Breegull Blaster, where Banjo takes Kazooie out of his backpack and uses her in a manner similar to the Super Scope. In this mode, pressing either attack button will cause Kazooie to quickly fire smaller and weaker eggs that travel in a straight line and as far as a third of Final Destination's length; subsequent eggs gradually deal less damage. These smaller eggs cause minimal flinching at long range and weak vertical knockback at close range. Banjo can move and triple jump freely while in this mode, and can turn around (the latter is not possible while firing). Crouching or shielding will put Kazooie away, which has minimal ending lag. Notably, Breegull Blaster is a very effective combo move if the close-range vertically-launching egg hitbox is landed, with close-range eggs comboing into more close-range eggs among other things. Breegull Blaster also has a KO confirm into up tilt at high percentages. Due to the mechanics of this move, Egg Firing can only be done repeatedly if the player button mashes, since holding the button transitions into the Breegull Blaster. To compensate for the lack of a dash while Kazooie is out, Banjo's walking speed is 10% faster than normal when Breegull Blaster is being used (although the duo maintains their two midair jumps).
Side special		Wonderwing	22% (clean), 16% (late)	Kazooie covers Banjo with her magic-infused wings while he charges forward at high speed. It is only usable up to 5 times per stock, which is denoted by the amount of Golden Feathers above their heads. Each successful use consumes 1 Golden Feather, although interrupting the move before the hitbox begins will not use up a feather. To compensate, it has a large amount of strengths: the move grants full invincibility from the start of the dash (frame 18) to the end, including immunity to almost all Final Smashes that do not grab the opponent, the clean hit deals a high amount of damage, shield damage, and knockback, and can KO at the edge at 60%, while the late hit is still powerful and can KO effectively offstage or catch options of edge-hanging opponents. It works very well as a horizontal recovery option, as it does not cause helplessness and travels an excellent amount of horizontal distance. However, the move is specifically designed to be out-prioritized by grabs, and grabbing the duo out of the move causes it to only deal 0.25× damage to the grabber. Its high startup and ending lag also makes it punishable if it misses or is shielded, which is compounded by the move's reduced shieldstun, especially on the late hit. If they attempt to use it without any feathers remaining, they simply stumble over; an aerial use will cause them to fumble in midair, and using it close to the ground will cause Banjo to land face-first in his floored animation. The number of Golden Feathers available will vary in Stamina Mode depending on starting HP.
Up special		Shock Spring Jump	3% (Shock Spring Pad)	Banjo & Kazooie spawn a Shock Spring Pad beneath them to propel themselves upward. The longer the special button is held, the more height they gain. Slows the duo's descent upon starting up if used in the air. Does not render the duo helpless. In the air, the pad itself acts as a projectile after its use like Spring Jump's spring, which can gimp recoveries; unlike that move, however, a grounded Shock Spring Pad cannot be reused by opponents or the duo.
Down special		Rear Egg	9.22%	Banjo bends over and Kazooie appears out of Banjo's backpack to lay a Grenade Egg from the backpack's rear flap behind the duo. The Grenade Egg has a fixed timer of ≈2 seconds and has a floaty, slightly unpredictable bouncing trajectory that varies based on where the egg lands when it hits the ground. The Egg explodes after this timer ends or upon contact with an opponent or hitbox. Only one Grenade Egg can be fired at a time; if the move is used while an Egg is already active, Kazooie will pop her head out from the backpack and shake her head. Much like Hand Grenade, it can be picked up, thrown, and Z-dropped like an item, and can be used against Banjo & Kazooie in this way. Grenade Eggs do very little knockback, although their short fuses allow for creative item play. Grenade Eggs can also setup combos. Using the move in midair will stall the duo slightly and makes it easy to catch an airborne Grenade Egg, and can be used to stall in midair similarly to C4.
Final Smash		The Mighty Jinjonator	10% (initial hit), 54.3% (total)	The duo summons the Mighty Jinjonator statue in front of them, dealing damage to anyone it hits. A cutscene then shows Banjo & Kazooie watching the Jinjonator burst from the statue before the opponent is tackled multiple times by it, followed by a final tackle that is accompanied by multiple Jinjos. Notably, it can only catch one opponent in the cutscene despite the initial hit from the Jinjonator being able to hit multiple opponents.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump Height	Double jump Height
Value	106	1.68 – Initial dash 2.18 – Run	1.06	0.076	0.014	0.92	0.01 – Base 0.06 – Additional	0.11	1.76 – Base 2.816 – Fast-fall	3	29.8 - Base 17.8 - Short hop	32

Announcer calls

• English/Japanese/Chinese

• French

• German

• Italian

• Russian

• Spanish

On-screen appearance

• Banjo hops out of a dark Jiggy silhouette with Kazooie visible, and then the duo both bow twice. The silhouette, the appearance of which is accompanied by a slide whistle-like descending sound, is a reference to the cutout wipe seen as the player moves from one area to another in the Nintendo 64 games, and the bows refer to the second half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's on-screen appearance.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Banjo stretches and Kazooie appears out of his backpack, yawning. Based on an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
• Side taunt: Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack and the duo looks at each other, then Banjo strikes a thumbs up while Kazooie happily opens her wings. Based on their introductory pose in the opening sequence of Banjo-Kazooie.
• Down taunt: Banjo bows twice, saying his signature "Guh-huh!" each time. Identical to the latter half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie. Unlike the other two taunts, Kazooie is not present.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's up taunt.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's side taunt.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack, rests her wing on his head as she looks around, then retreats back inside. Banjo looks at Kazooie while she is out.
• Kazooie playfully pecks Banjo on the head twice. Banjo rubs his head afterwards. It is similar to an idle animation seen in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's first idle pose.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's second idle pose.

Crowd cheer

	Cheer (English)	Cheer (Japanese/Chinese)	Cheer (Italian)	Cheer (Dutch)	Cheer (French)
Cheer
Description	Ba-Ba-Ba-Ban - jo! Ka-Ka-Kazoo - ie!	Ban - jo! (high voices) Ka - zoo - ie!	Bannnn - jo! Kazoooo - ie!	Bannnn - jo! Kazoooo - ie!	Ban - jo! (high voices) Ka - zoo - ie!

	Cheer (German)	Cheer (Spanish)	Cheer (Russian)	Cheer (Korean)
Cheer
Description	Bannnn - jo! Kazoooo - ie!	Bannnn - jo! Kazoooo - ie!	Ban - jo! *claps 3 times* Ka - zooie! *claps 3 times*	Banjo - Kazooie!

Victory poses

• Left: Banjo throws a Jiggy in the air, catches it, jumps, and poses. This references his brief dance scene when he collects a Jiggy in Banjo-Kazooie. Afterward, Banjo gives a thumbs-up while performing his signature "Guh-huh!", similar to the beginning of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie.
• Up: Banjo marches in place briefly before bowing twice, saying "Guh-huh!" both times, ending with Kazooie poking out of his backpack. The animation is almost identical to that seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.
• Right: Both dance around while playing their respective instruments, and then end in a pose referencing the ending of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie. Their poses are also identical to the ones they assume in their reveal trailer (save for Kazooie's expression).

A remix of the jingle that plays when Banjo & Kazooie collect a Jiggy in Banjo-Kazooie.

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In competitive play

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Banjo & Kazooie players (SSBU)

•  huto - Played Banjo & Kazooie from September 2019 to February 2020 and was considered one of the best Banjo & Kazooie players in the world, achieving notable placements at majors including 25th at Umebura SP 7 and 33rd at Umebura SP 6. He has since returned to using Wario.
•  OwlBBs - Known for using multiple characters including Banjo & Kazooie, and is considered the best Banjo & Kazooie player in Europe, regularly placing highly at British events including 5th at the superregional Invasion: April 2022 and 13th at the superregional Regen 2023. However, since 2023, he has been focusing on other characters.
•  Toriguri - The undisputed best Banjo & Kazooie player of all time, whose performances in the post-online metagame led to a positive shift in the duo's perception. He is both the only solo-Banjo & Kazooie player ranked globally, ranking 27th on the LumiRank 2024.1, and the only solo-Banjo & Kazooie player to place top 8 at a major, doing so at Maesuma TOP 14, Maesuma TOP 15 "FINAL", and Battle of BC 6, while notably defeating MkLeo at the latter event.
•  Wolfen - Known for being the best Banjo & Kazooie player in North America during the online metagame, notably placing 9th at SWT: Central America South Ultimate Online Qualifier. Offline, he also used Banjo & Kazooie to place 5th at the superregional Smash Legends 3 defeating MVD. However, since 2021, most of his results have been mixed with other characters, most notably Kazuya.

Tier placement and history

Early opinions on Banjo & Kazooie were mildly positive: although the duo had strong and flexible moves (such as their forward aerial, forward tilt, smash attacks, Wonderwing, and Rear Egg), an effective zoning game and edge trap ability, and a versatile recovery, they were hindered by some notable flaws, including their below-average speed, mediocre damage output, high landing lag on some of their aerials, and an inconsistent grab game. Early results from Banjo & Kazooie were below-average; however, there were still noteworthy performances from players such as huto, Raito, and Trela, while Tweek also used Banjo & Kazooie at Glitch 7 - Minus World to place 5th, although he promptly dropped the duo immediately after. As a result, the early consensus considered the duo as a mid-tier fighter, with the potential to be a high-tier character.

This opinion declined greatly by the end of 2019, as issues with Banjo & Kazooie's damage output and frame data became increasingly apparent, leading many players to drop them. Their representation remained stagnant for the next few years, and while players such as OwlBBs and Wolfen found great success with the duo online and offline, as time went on, both players began playing other characters alongside Banjo & Kazooie, or began slowly relegating the character to a secondary. With their representation remaining below-average, Banjo & Kazooie were ranked 66th on the first tier list as a low-mid tier.

Following the release of the first tier list, Toriguri began showcasing how Banjo & Kazooie's great zoning and combo abilities could make up for some of their weaknesses. After his breakout event at Maesuma TOP 12, Toriguri began making waves at Japanese events, eventually becoming the first solo-Banjo & Kazooie player to top 8 a major at Maesuma TOP 14, and finishing the year at 54th on the LumiRank 2024, the first time a solo-Banjo & Kazooie player was ranked in the top 100 globally. These results led the duo to rise four spots on the second tier list, ranking 62nd in the C- tier. Following the second tier list's release, Toriguri's performances gained even greater recognition, especially after his run at Battle of BC 6, where he surprised international audiences by 3-0ing MkLeo and placing 5th. This performance, among other strong performances and top player wins, has led many to believe Banjo & Kazooie should be ranked even higher. Conversely, other players pointed out how Toriguri's best wins were on players who had little to no experience on fighting Banjo & Kazooie, with players bringing up how Toriguri regularly has trouble against Gorioka's Joker despite dominantly defeating MkLeo. As it stands, many players consider Banjo & Kazooie to be stronger than initially perceived; however, it remains up to debate on how much stronger the duo actually is.

Classic Mode: Perfect Partners

Banjo & Kazooie's congratulations screen.

In reference to their status as a duo, Banjo & Kazooie fight against other notable duos in each Round. Rounds 1 through 5 feature music and stage combinations that reference various worlds from the original Banjo-Kazooie, with each of these Rounds playing a song from the Banjo-Kazooie series (regardless of what universe the stage originates from). The bosses of their route, Master Hand and Crazy Hand, also fit the duo theme and are always fought together (regardless of the difficulty).

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Duck Hunt	Spiral Mountain	Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie	Duck Hunt's color scheme references Banjo & Kazooie themselves.
2	Rosalina & Luma	Tortimer Island	Treasure Trove Cove	References Treasure Trove Cove. Rosalina could be a reference to Brentilda, Gruntilda's polar-opposite sister who gossips Gruntilda's secrets to Banjo & Kazooie.
3	Ice Climbers	Summit	Freezeezy Peak	References Freezeezy Peak, with the Ice Climbers matching its polar climate.
4	Link and Zelda	Mushroomy Kingdom	Gobi's Valley	References Gobi's Valley.
5	Fox and Falco	Luigi's Mansion	Mad Monster Mansion	References Mad Monster Mansion. Fox and Falco's color schemes are likely meant to resemble a wolf and a raven respectively, which are animals that would appear in a typical haunted setting.
6	Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong	Jungle Japes	Donkey Kong Country Returns	References the Banjo-Kazooie series and Donkey Kong Country series' shared origins, both having been created by Rare Ltd., as well as Banjo and Diddy Kong's friendship being mentioned in Diddy Kong Racing.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand / Crazy Hand	Much like Banjo & Kazooie, Master Hand and Crazy Hand work together as a duo. Additionally, they bear a resemblance to Motzand, a disembodied hand who appears in Mad Monster Mansion. Both Hands are fought in any difficulty.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Banjo & Kazooie has Spiral Mountain accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

The message that shows Banjo & Kazooie's availability in World of Light

Due to their status as downloadable content, Banjo & Kazooie do not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, they are unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Banjo & Kazooie, they are immediately unlocked.

However, in Sephiroth's reveal trailer, they are shown amongst the many fighters facing Galeem, which suggests that they too canonically face Galeem and Dharkon in World of Light.

Spirit

Banjo & Kazooie'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 Banjo & Kazooie have been downloaded. Unlocking Banjo & Kazooie in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Their fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with their artwork in Ultimate.

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  1,337. Banjo & Kazooie

In Spirit Battles

As minions

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
1,338		Tooty	Banjo-Kazooie Series	•Diddy Kong •Banjo & Kazooie		3,500	Spiral Mountain	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy shields often •Magic attacks aren't as effective against the enemy	Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie	Banjo & Kazooie

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Banjo & Kazooie's splash art.

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  Celebratory pose at the end of their character trailer.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's amiibo.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's unlock notice after downloading them from the Nintendo eShop.

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  Dashing on Yoshi's Island (Melee).

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  Jumping on Summit.

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  Using Egg Firing on Garden of Hope.

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  Hitting Falco with their forward smash on Great Bay.

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  Banjo & Kazooie, King K. Rool, Mario and Duck Hunt on Spiral Mountain.

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  About to be grabbed by Villager on Tortimer Island.

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  Performing their side taunt on Spiral Mountain.

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  Dashing on Big Blue's track.

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  Popping Villager's balloons with their forward tilt in Town and City.

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  Crouching alongside Duck Hunt on Windy Hill Zone.

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  Using Egg Firing, with Mumbo Jumbo visible in the background.

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  Pivoting on Summit.

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  Banjo & Kazooie alongside all of the other DLC fighters of Fighters Pass Vol. 1.

Trivia

• Banjo & Kazooie are referred to within the game files with the codename "buddy", alluding to the fact that the duo is almost always seen paired with each other when they make appearances. Additionally, files that pertain to Kazooie specifically often refer to her with the codename "partner".
• According to Masahiro Sakurai, Banjo & Kazooie were highly requested in the Super Smash Bros. 4-era Fighter Ballot, closely following the overall winner, Sora.
• Banjo & Kazooie were created by British video game company Rare Ltd., making them the first DLC fighter that was created outside of Japan. They were followed by Steve, created by the Swedish company Mojang.
  • Coincidentally, both companies are subsidiaries of Microsoft.
• The picture revealing Banjo & Kazooie's second alternate costume on Summit is a nod to Freezeezy Peak, the fifth level in Banjo-Kazooie, with the Super Launch Star in the image referencing the star on top of the Christmas tree in said level. The picture featuring their fifth alternate costume, also on Summit, might be another nod, with Banjo's white fur and the Polar Bear both referencing Boggy.
• Not counting ports and cameos, Banjo & Kazooie's inclusion in Ultimate marks their first physical appearance in almost a decade, since the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, released in 2010.
  • It also marks their first physical appearance on a Nintendo console in 14 years since Banjo-Pilot was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
  • It also marks the second time that Banjo & Kazooie have crossed over with Sonic, the first being the aforementioned Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
• In Banjo & Kazooie's battle portrait next to their damage meter, Kazooie leans in slightly closer to Banjo than she does in their full artwork, to fit both of their faces into the frame. The Ice Climbers are the only other fighter with such an edit.
• On their victory screen, Banjo & Kazooie's name will only take up one line in the American and PAL versions of the game while it takes up two lines in the Asian versions. Excluding Olimar, whose character name is changed to "Pikmin & Olimar" in the Japanese version, they are the only fighter with this distinction.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during their last stock in Stamina Mode, Banjo & Kazooie use a voice clip (uttered by Banjo) that is unique to this mode, not taken from either their KO or high damage voice clips. Joker in all languages, in addition to Byleth in the Japanese language, are the only other fighters with unique final stamina KO voice clips.
  • Additionally, their stamina KO voice clip unusually does not begin with a slight pause, an oddity shared only with Erdrick.
• When Banjo & Kazooie successfully perfect shield an attack, Banjo assumes a flexing pose resembling both the Extra Life statues from Banjo-Kazooie and an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
• Banjo & Kazooie, Meta Knight, Inkling, Joker, Hero, Sephiroth, Pyra, Mythra, and Sora are the only fighters to use their walking animation when navigating through the map in World of Light.
• As Banjo is the one who consumes food items, when Banjo & Kazooie dash while under the effect of Superspicy Curry, the flames shoot backward instead of forwards.
  • Oddly, the frantic expression caused by Superspicy Curry (where the character's pupils shrink and their mouth opens) applies to Kazooie as well as Banjo, despite Kazooie not eating the curry or breathing fire.
• Banjo & Kazooie are one of the few fighters to receive a unique feature on their amiibo that is not taken from their official render, with Banjo's raised leg being supported by a large Jiggy.
• During the brief time that Sakurai plays as Banjo & Kazooie in Mr. Sakurai Presents "Byleth", Banjo's nose does not protrude out of his damage meter like it does in the released game.

Notes

1.^ As noted in Mr. Sakurai Presents "Banjo & Kazooie," ハリセン does not have an english translation, as a harisen is a large paper fan used in manzai comedy. Coincidentally, this is also the japanese name for the fan item in the Super Smash Bros. series.