Diddy Kong (SSB4)

Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Donkey Kong
Other playable appearance	in Brawl
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Rocketbarrel Barrage
Tier	S (3)

Diddy Kong (ディディーコング, Diddy Kong) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was confirmed on February 21st, 2014, coinciding with the international release date of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Diddy Kong retains his realistic chimpanzee screeches from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Diddy Kong currently ranks 3rd out of 55 characters in the tier list, placing in S tier, making him the highest-ranked non-DLC character and veteran. This is a slight rise from his equally top-tiered placement of 4th out of 38 in Brawl. Diddy Kong's strengths lie in his powerful comboing ability, with attacks flowing very well together as a result of their surprisingly long reach for a character of his size, quick frame data, and low knockback. He also has a fair share of strong, effective finishers, such as his smash attacks, which he can combo into. He is also highly mobile and has a strong neutral game, thanks to his Banana Peel, Monkey Flip and Peanut Popgun, all which provide him great mobility and stage control. Diddy Kong also features many safe and reliable ways to KO thanks to his down tilt, forward air, back air, and throws. On top of this, Diddy Kong also has a strong and safe edgeguarding game thanks to back air and Peanut Popgun. Diddy's flaws are his susceptibility to being gimped, owing to how linear and short-ranged Monkey Flip is, as well as the unsafe properties of Rocketbarrel Boost, a poor damage output which is exacerbated by his poor aerial mobility when not using special moves, which hinders his aerial combo game and the lack of a reliable combo breaker. Despite a number of nerfs to his combo ability in updates, Diddy Kong has continued to obtain outstanding tournament results, particularly thanks to ZeRo. Currently, it is unknown whether Diddy Kong will keep his S-Tier spot in the long run as his best and most successful Diddy Kong main, ZeRo, announced that he is done playing competitive Smash 4 indefinitely.

Attributes

Diddy Kong, true to his appearance in the Donkey Kong games, is an overall agile character. He is a middleweight with fast walking speed, fast dashing speed, fast falling speed, strong jumps, as well as the ability to wall cling and crawl. However, he has low air speed, below average air acceleration and high gravity, hindering his aerial mobility.

Matching his great mobility overall, Diddy Kong's greatest strength is his quick attack speed. Along with having a variety of moves with quick frame data and low knockback, Diddy Kong's limbs have the unique ability of stretching, giving his attacks surprising range. This grants Diddy Kong one of the best combo abilities in the game, which is further supplemented by the utility of his moves. His grounded game has some interesting options: his up tilt covers a very reliable arc above himself, has follow-up potential at low percentages and great KO potential at high ones despite its speed. Down tilt has low knockback, giving it the ability to combo into itself, as well as KO set-ups into up smash and forward aerial. His smash attacks also have high speed and good power, making them great for finishing off opponents. Forward smash is fairly quick and has the highest knockback of Diddy Kong's attacks, along with having the least ending lag out of his smash attacks. Up smash has incredibly fast startup with good range, and is his most commonly used smash attack to finish an opponent's stock due to the plethora of set-up options into it. Down smash is a semi-spike, making it great for edgeguarding and covering rolls, though it should be used carefully due to it having the highest ending lag out of his smash attacks. Meanwhile, his neutral attack has quick speed and is safe on hit, though it lacks reliable KO potential and cannot jab cancel into Diddy's moves, making it overshadowed by his other options. Forward tilt has very good range, can be angled and deals good knockback, making it great for spacing opponents out, but it is commonly forgone in favor of his smash attacks due to it lacking reliable KO potential, like his neutral attack.

In contrast, Diddy Kong's air game is also strong in any case, due to his aforementioned range, speed, and balance of power. Neutral aerial has a long duration and decent vertical knockback, making it a useful combo extender. Forward aerial is fast, strong and has a long duration and can autocancel from a short hop fast fall, making it the all-purpose attack and one of the staples on Diddy's moveset. Back aerial is his second fastest one, and has decent power for its speed, making it useful for comboing and edgeguarding. Up aerial, while significantly nerfed over time, remains Diddy's fastest aerial and, due to its high base knockback, it is excellent at juggling the opponent. His down aerial, however, despite having very high power for a meteor smash, has a sourspot, high landing lag and lasts for only one frame. Thus, while it is a dependable edgeguarding tool, it is arguably Diddy's least useful aerial.

Diddy Kong's already great neutral game is further supplemented by his versatile special moves. Peanut Popgun allows Diddy Kong to shoot a peanut, a weak projectile that can be used for edgeguarding or disrupting approaches. While slow and difficult to land, the explosion from the overcharged popgun can also be used as an attack. It is also tremendously powerful, dealing 23% damage and heavy knockback, KOing earlier than even King Dedede's forward smash. Monkey Flip is a command grab that lets Diddy Kong latch onto and pummel an opponent. From there, it can be followed up by either a double punch or a jump attack, with the latter being a meteor smash and granting Diddy Kong a second use. Alternatively, it can be cancelled immediately into a strong flying kick. The jump also grants a lot of momentum, making it a great move for recovery. Rocketbarrel Boost is Diddy Kong's primary means of recovery, covering large amounts of distance, especially if fully charged. Diddy Kong can also ram and launch opponents, and if attacked during it, the rocketbarrels become unblockable projectiles. Finally, Banana Peel is a defining part of Diddy Kong's ground game. It can be used as a regular Banana Peel or out of shield, both of which can be used for predicting the opponent's floor recovery or leaving them open to a smash attack. All of these moves grant Diddy Kong excellent stage control options, and give him a fantastic neutral game when combined with his combo potential and strong mobility.

However, Diddy Kong has some weaknesses. One of his flaws is his damage output being below average overall, making it crucial for him to extend his combos in any way possible to rack up the most amount of damage. In addition, despite his small frame and only average weight, Diddy Kong is vulnerable to combos, due to his fast falling speed and high gravity, and he doesn't have a particularly reliable combo breaker. While his neutral aerial is something of an exception due to its long duration, it is only situational for combo breaking as it has surprisingly slow startup at frame 8. This makes it easy for characters with reliable combo abilities to easily rack up damage on him, while his weight isn't heavy enough to sustain heavy hits at high percents. Another flaw is his recovery. While his high jumps, wall cling and special attacks grant very long distance overall and allow for many mix-ups, this is counterbalanced by the numerous risks in using his recovery moves. Monkey Flip's kick input prevents Diddy Kong from using any other special move and, by extension, his Rocketbarrel Boost, which can limit his ability to use the move for recovery, and as mentioned before, Rocketbarrel Boost has to be charged to cover long distances, and the rocketbarrels will detach from Diddy Kong if he's hit or crashes into the stage. This means that any hit during the move can be detrimental to Diddy Kong, with meteor smashes often KOing him outright (it still takes good timing to gimp his recovery because of the sheer speed of his Rocketbarrel Boost). As a result, Diddy Kong's recovery is only average.

Finally, even though his air game is arguably one of the best in Smash 4, it is still flawed. Diddy Kong's aforementioned slow air speed is slow enough to the point that he can only perform Wall of Pain combos at low percentages. His neutral, up and down aerials are good combo combo starters (the lattermost also being a powerful meteor smash), his forward aerial is good for catching dodges due to its long duration and his back aerial is a good edgeguarding option due to its fast startup (frame 5), but none of his aerials have are powerful enough to KO until very high percentages unless under the rage effect. In addition, his forward and down aerials have a surprising degree of landing lag (26 and 28 frames, respectively), his neutral and down aerials have unfavorable autocancel windows, and his up aerial is his only reliable aerial KO option, though it can only KO reliably if used after a down throw (both of which were nerfed in the 1.0.6 and 1.0.8 updates, as the former had its knockback reduced and the latter had its knockback increased and its angle altered). Finally, all of Diddy Kong's aerial attacks are surprisingly easy to punish on shield as none of them are effective at wearing down shields.

Diddy Kong only has a few useful custom moves, having only two that are overall better than their defaults: Rocketbarrel Attack and Shocking Banana Peel. Rocketbarrel Attack has much less maneuverability and is slower, but is extremely powerful even when uncharged, granting Diddy Kong a lethal surprise KO option. Shocking Banana Peel has a different throw trajectory and is less effective when thrown directly at the opponent, but is able to paralyze the opponent, leaving them wide open to any attack. The rest of his custom moves have disadvantages that noticeably outweigh their advantages, with Exploding Popgun being particularly notorious. However, this doesn't matter much because his default specials are extremely useful.

Overall, despite his constant nerfs, Diddy Kong remains a very potent character. The combination of high combo versatility, easy to land KO options, strong stage control and the lack of a glaring weakness have granted him great results in tournaments, as demonstrated by smashers such as ZeRo and Zinoto, and is ranked third on the official tier list, being even higher than in Brawl.

Changes from Brawl

Initially, Diddy Kong was heavily buffed in his transition from Brawl to SSB4 despite already being a top tier character, but as of patch 1.0.8, it is ambiguous as to whether he was buffed or nerfed overall. He has received a major nerf to his Banana Peel move, which was previously the key to his past success, and many attacks deal less damage, weakening his damage racking abilities. To make up these nerfs however, he has attained many new easily usable combos, which are further benefited by the changes to hitstun canceling, and some of his moves were buffed to KO better. Overall, he is still seen as one of the most successful characters in competitive play, albeit not nearly as much as in early versions of the game.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in SSB4, Diddy Kong's attire is sleeker and more vibrant, and his fur is of a significantly higher visual quality than in Brawl. His hat's Nintendo logo has also been updated, his head is very slightly smaller, and his teeth are white instead of beige. Altogether, these changes make Diddy Kong appear virtually identical to his appearance as of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
• Diddy Kong is significantly more expressive.
• Diddy Kong's teeth are no longer visible while performing his side taunt.
• Diddy Kong now claps at the results and No Contest screens.

Attributes

• Diddy Kong's more elastic limbs stretch out farther in his attacks, which gives a significant increase in the reach of his attacks.
• Diddy dashes slightly faster (1.721 → 1.824).
• Diddy's air speed is slightly faster (0.82 → 0.88).
• Diddy's falling speed is faster (1.43 → 1.75), which improves his vertical endurance, but worsens his recovery, and makes him more vulnerable to combos.

Ground attacks

• Neutral infinite has received a finisher, an upward tail swipe.
• First and second hit of jab and the neutral infinite deal less damage (first hit: 3% → 1.2%, second hit: 2% → 1.2%, neutral infinite: 2/1% → 1%).
• Dash attack, forward tilt, up tilt, and down tilt deal less damage (dash attack: 9% → 7%, forward tilt: 11%/9%/8% → 10%/7%, up tilt: 7% → 6%, down tilt: 7% → 5.5%) with only the final hit of dash attack having its knockback compensated.
• Dash attack has more endlag, making the move slightly less reliable for quick setups.
• Up tilt has more knockback growth (130 → 150) and hits at a slightly higher angle (80 → 92), slightly improving its KO potential.
• Up tilt has more ending lag (frame 25 → frame 33) and its hitbox duration is a frame shorter.
• Down tilt's lower knockback makes it have more reliable followups.
• Down tilt's hitbox duration is a frame shorter.
• The second hit of forward smash deals less damage (13% → 11%/9%), although its knockback was compensated (90 → 116). It also has more ending lag (48 → 51).
• Up smash's hits connect better and the last hit has much stronger knockback (70 base/70 growth → 50 base/129 growth), no longer being the weakest.
• Up smash has more 4 more frames of ending lag and deals less damage overall (16% → 11%).
• Down smash hits are reversed, with the front hit being weaker and the back hit being stronger.
• With the aforementioned change, down smash's front hit is much weaker, dealing less damage (16% → 12%).
• Down smash's back hit is does more damage (12% → 15%) and has slightly more knockback growth (72 → 76) making the hit much stronger.
• Down smash has 1 more frame of ending lag.

Aerial attacks

• Forward and down aerials have slightly less landing lag (30 → 26 and 30 → 28, respectively).
• Neutral and up aerial have worse autocancel frames (neutral aerial: frame 27 → frame 59, up aerial: frame 1-3, frame 15 → frame 27. Neutral aerial can no longer autocancel in a short hop.
• Forward and up aerial deal less damage (14%/11% → 10%/8% and 11% → 6%, respectively) and their knockback wasn't compensated enough (forward aerial: 80 growth → 86 growth, up aerial: 30 base/90 growth → 64 base/89 growth).
• Diddy Kong has a new up aerial; instead of performing a flip kick, he now swings his leg up and halfway across his head. It sends opponents at a better angle for combos (76°). It also has less ending lag (41 frames → 39).
• Up aerial has more start up (3 frames → 4) and a shorter hitbox duration (5 frames → 4).
• Back and down aerial have more knockback scaling (100 → 102).
• Down aerial's sweetspot deals slightly more damage (12% → 13%).
• Down aerial has more start up (frame 13 → 17) and has a shorter duration (3 frames → 1). Additionally, it now has a sourspot, which deals 10%.

Throws/other attacks

• Dash grab comes out faster (frame 10 → 8).
• Pivot grab comes out slower (frame 8 → 9).
• Forward and back throw's animations are much slower, making them easier to DI.
• Forward throw deals 2% less damage.
• Back throw deals 2% more damage.
• Up throw's slightly lower knockback and the changes to hitstun make it much more reliable for comboing up until high percentages.
• Up throw deals less damage (4%, 5% (9% total) → 1%, 4% (5% total)).
• Down throw now sends opponents overhead instead of behind which makes it much more reliable for comboing, now being able to set up any aerial until mid percents (depending on the opponent's character).
• Down throw deals less damage (9% → 7%).

Special moves

• Peanut Popgun's explosion from overcharging now has a very powerful hitbox.
• Peanut Popgun deals 5% less damage when fully charged, and has more endlag per shot, essentially slowing its rate of fire down.
• Monkey Flip now allows Diddy to automatically pummel the opponent once he grabs onto them. The launch is also more powerful and can now KO at around 200%. It also travels slightly further.
• Monkey Flip's jump release deals less damage (10% → 8%).
• Rocketbarrel Boost is now able to move at horizontal trajectories, opening up more recovery options and making Diddy's recovery less linear in general.
• Rocketbarrel Boost needs to be charged longer to cover more distance than it did in Brawl.
• Diddy can now only have one Banana Peel out at a time, significantly reducing Diddy's ability to control the stage, and completely removing the double banana lock and the move's ability to zero-death opponents in Brawl. In addition, Banana Peels can now be destroyed by opponents and will disappear after touching the ground twice.
• Rocketbarrel Barrage no longer puts Diddy into helpless upon completion.
• Rocketbarrel Barrage deals less damage.
• The peanuts fired from the Peanut Popgun and Rocketbarrel Barrage no longer break into pieces, making the peanuts no longer consumable. This also hinders Diddy's potential of recovering damage this way, but also keeps the opponents from healing.

Update history

Likely as a result of his dominance in early competitive play, taking top spots in several tournaments, Diddy Kong was infamously nerfed by patches. Previously, Diddy Kong possessed powerful aerials that could easily be comboed into, most notably down throw to one or more up aerials, which was both a powerful KOing and damage racking tool which was simple to execute. However, patches 1.0.6 and 1.0.8 greatly weakened the hitstun, damage, and knockback of several of Diddy's most frequently used moves, particularly the aforementioned down throw to up aerial combo, bringing Diddy's competitive usage more in line with other frequently used SSB4 characters. The changes on shield mechanics slightly hinder him, too, as banana throw out of shield, one of his fastest punish options, comes out slower.

Nevertheless, while Diddy Kong initially seemed to be much less effective after the nerfs, his neutral game has not been nerfed significantly in these updates, and he has obtained slight buffs in other areas, so he is still seen as a popular and successful character in competitive play.

In patch 1.1.1, Diddy Kong had a glitch that had rendered him invulnerable to grabs of any kind until he performed any kind of dodging maneuver. This was later fixed in patch 1.1.2, nine days after 1.1.1's worldwide release.

1.0.4

• Neutral infinite's loop hits deals less damage per hit (1% → 0.6%).
• Neutral infinite's loop hits launch opponents at a higher angle (60° → 70°/90°), they have lower set knockback (8 → 6) and they have a lower hitlag multiplier (2x → 1.3x). All of these changes overall make neutral infinite connect more reliably.
• Neutral infinite's loop hits have bigger hitboxes (2.8u → 3u).
• Neutral infinite's final hit has a larger hitbox (4u → 5u) which is positioned higher (y offsets: 5 → 5.5), improving its range.
• Diddy Kong can no longer use Peanut Popgun to cancel non-tumble hitstun.
  • This naturally hinders the move's utility at lower percents especially, as Diddy can no longer use Peanut Popgun to potentially escape combos.
• Exploding Popgun can no longer hit damageable floors.
• Monkey Flip's grab has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 19-36 → 20-36).
• Monkey Flip and Flying Monkey Flip's grabs have smaller hitboxes (4u/5u → 3u/4u) which have been positioned closer to Diddy (z offset: 5/4 → 3/2), reducing their range.
• Diddy's barrel jets from Rocketbarrel Boost (and its custom variants) have received additional visual wind effects.

1.0.6

• Forward smash has more ending lag (FAF 48 → 51).
• Forward smash's sweetspot launches opponents at a higher angle (40° → 46°).
• Up aerial deals less damage (8% → 6%) without compensation on its knockback, significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • However, this also improves its combo potential at higher percents.
• Forward aerial deals less damage (12% (clean)/10% (late) → 10%/8%).
• Up throw deals less damage (6% (throw)/10% (total) → 4%/8%) without compensation on its knockback. This hinders its KO potential but improves its followup potential at higher percents.
• Down throw deals less damage (7% → 6%) and it has increased kncokback scaling (40 → 50). This gives the throw more knockback overall, hindering its combo potential at higher percents.
• Monkey Flip's kick now has an extra hitbox that deals 10% damage near the end of the kick.
• Monkey Flip's grab deals less damage (12% → 10%).
• Monkey Flip's jump deals less damage (10% → 8%).

1.0.8

• Jab improved. It transitions through to the second hit 2 frames faster, to the third hit 1 frame faster, and to the infinite portion 7 frames faster. The rapid hits additionally have reduced SDI capacity, and the final hit of the jab has increased reach, increased base knockback, and 4 less frames of ending lag.
  • The complete jab deals marginally less damage.
• Down tilt's damage was reduced by 0.5%, decreasing it's knockback. This, however, allows him to combo into moves like forward smash later.
• Up aerial's hitboxes on frame 3 are removed, causing it to cover less range and have more starting lag, it autocancels 12 frames later, and has less interruptibility (frame 36 → frame 39), lessening its usefulness for spacing attacks and making it harder to combo with. Its knockback growth was also decreased weakening its KO capabilities.
• All of Diddy's grabs have 3 more frames of ending lag.
• Up throw's damage was reduced (8% → 5%) and its knockback was increased, reducing its follow-up capabilities & making reliable KO followups slightly more difficult.
• Down throw damage increased: 6% → 7%.
• Down throw has increased knockback growth and a very slightly more diagonal knockback trajectory, reducing its follow-up capabilities and removing all guaranteed follow ups around 135%. Despite its higher knockback growth, it still cannot KO at realistic percentages.
• Up smash's final hit knockback growth: 126 → 129.

Technical changelist

Change	Old value	New value
Jab 1 damage	1.5%	1.2%
Transition from Jab 1 to Jab 2	frame 10	frame 8
Jab 2 damage	1.5%	1.2%
Transition from Jab 2 to Jab 3	frame 9	frame 8
Jab 3 weight-based knockback	30	25
Jab 3 hitbox sizes	4/3.5/3	4.2/3.7/3.2
Transition between third hit and looping hits of jab	frame 22	frame 15
Looping hits of jab now use a large, single hitbox as opposed to many small ones
Looping hits of jab damage	0.6%	0.5%
Looping hits of jab angle	70/90	60
Looping hits of jab weight-based knockback	6	4
SDI capacity of jab rapid hits	1.3	0.7
Unknown parameters of rapid jab hits changed	Default	6.8/6.0
Final hit of jab animation length	frame 8	frame 4
Final hit of jab knockback growth	180	177
Final hit of jab base knockback	30	45
Final hit of jab hitbox size	5	7.2
Final hit of jab Y-offset	5.5	6.8
Unknown parameters of final hit of jab changed	5.5	6.8/6.0
Down tilt given an additional hitbox identical to its other two hitboxes
Down tilt damage	6%	5.5%
Up air startup	3 frames	4 frames
Up air autocancel window	Frames 0-2/15	Frame 27
Up air base knockback	65	64
Up air knockback growth	99	89
Grab total duration	28 frames	31 frames
Dash grab total duration	35 frames	38 frames
Pivot grab total duration	33 frames	36 frames
Up throw (hit 2) damage	4%	1%
Up throw (hit 2) base knockback	30	50
Up throw (hit 2) knockback growth	100	120
Down throw damage	6%	7%
Down throw angle	105°	106°
Down throw knockback growth	50	59
Upsmash knockback growth	126	129

1.1.0

• Up smash links better.
• Down smash has increased knockback growth on both hits: 69/74 → 72/76.

1.1.1

• Created glitch where Diddy Kong cannot be grabbed if he shield jumps or shield grabs a multihit attack.

1.1.2

• Fixed glitch induced by the previous update where Diddy Kong cannot be grabbed if he shield jumps or shield grabs a multi-hit attack.

1.1.4

• Trip invincibility and all trip followups except floor attack have one less frame of invincibility.

Moveset

• Diddy Kong can wall jump, wall cling, and crawl.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			1.5%	Diddy Kong slaps forward twice, turns around to quickly kick the foe, and proceeds to repeatedly whip them with his tail. The attack finishes with an upward tail flick. The first hit comes out quickly at frame 3 and has good range, with the multi-hit portion of the move connecting somewhat reliably. In addition, the finisher is quite strong in comparison to that of most other jabs, having KO potential near the edge at high percents. However, the first and second hits have a large amount of ending lag when not followed up with the later parts of the jab, making interrupting the move before the multi-hit portion unreliable. Rarely used in situations where Diddy Kong’s down tilt is applicable instead.
			1.5%
			2%
			0.5% (infinite), 3% (last hit)
Forward tilt			10% (clean), 7% (late)	Diddy Kong leans to the side and thrusts both of his arms forward in a double punch. Can jab lock opponents and can be angled upwards or downwards. It also has decent knockback and long range, as Diddy Kong's arms expand a great size during the attack.
Up tilt			6%	Diddy Kong swats in the air above him with a slap and looks similar to an uppercut. Hits quite quickly and can combo into most of Diddy Kong's aerial attacks at low to mid percent ranges. The hitbox of the attack is active for 5 frames and has no sour spot, making it useful for punishing a neutral getup at the ledge. The attack also has high knockback scaling which gives it killing potential at high percentages, normally when down tilt to up smash stops connecting.
Down tilt			5.5%	Diddy Kong claps forward while crouching. Comes out very fast, hitting at frame 4, and has incredibly low ending lag. It can combo into many moves such as itself, a forward aerial, a forward smash or a down smash at medium percent ranges, and, most notably, a running up smash at high percentages, which is a safe and reliable killing option. Considered to be one of the very best moves in the game due to its ability to safely setup combos and score KOs.
Dash attack			2% (hits 1-2) 3% (hit 3)	Diddy Kong performs his signature Cartwheel attack from Donkey Kong Country. Its adjusted animation from Brawl now has it end with a ground-slap with both hands. The final hit has largely vertical knockback and can combo into aerials at low to mid percent ranges. However, the attack often fails to connect properly, making it unreliable.
Forward smash			5% (hit 1), 11% (sweetspot hit 2), 9% (sourspot hit 2)	Diddy Kong spins and slaps forward, then swings his fist immediately after. The first hit combos into the second, which has good knockback and killing power. However, it is easily punished if missed. It is a potential follow up after a down tilt, however the window for when this works is tight. Often only used in combination with his banana peel.
Up smash			2.5% (hits 1-2), 6% (hit 3)	Diddy Kong hops briefly and performs a stationary cartwheel. Damage wise, it is rather weak, in terms of knockback however, it is rather average, killing at approximately 120% on mid weight characters. It has one of the fastest startup times for a move of its' type, with the first hitbox coming out on frame 5, It also has rather good upwards and sideways range. It is a true follow up after hitting the opponent with a down tilt at high percent ranges, provided that Diddy Kong starts a dash beforehand, which can score a kill. This gives it a large amount of safety and consistency that circumvents its poor knockback.
Down smash			12% (front), 15% (back)	Diddy Kong performs a sweeping kick around himself. Hits very quickly for a smash attack, with the hitbox starting on frame 6. It is weaker that his forward smash but still has a good amount of kill power. The angle of its horizontal knockback makes it useful for forcing opponents off stage, which can be detrimental to characters with poor recoveries. A possible follow up after a down tilt.
Neutral aerial			6%	Diddy Kong does an aerial cartwheel similar to his dash attack. Very high ending lag, so much so that Diddy Kong should never use this move offstage. However, it deals a low amount of vertical knockback, which can lead to potential footstools or aerial follow ups, giving it usage as a combo extender.
Forward aerial			10% (clean), 8% (late)	Diddy Kong kicks both feet forward while spinning, similar to Mario and Luigi's old forward aerial in Super Smash Bros.. Hits very fast, starting at frame 6, and has deceptively long range. In addition, the hitbox of the move lasts for a long period of time. It also deals decent damage and knockback and has a generous auto-cancel window, making it a safe option in the neutral game to stop approaches. It can be safely buffered out of a short hop to hit tall characters without leaving Diddy Kong vulnerable. Finally, it is a potential follow up after an up throw depending on the oponents DI until high percents. However, the attack is not safe on shield, meaning that is it easily punishable if the opponent blocks it. Considered one of the best forward aerials in the game due to its combination of range, speed, and power.
Back aerial			9%	Diddy Kong thrusts his leg backward and spins it behind him. Extremely fast, Diddy Kong is capable of using two in a row out of a short hop, It is one of the fastest back airs in the game, coming out at an extremely quick frame 5 and ending on frame 31, it has slightly more range than Diddy Kong's forward aerial, and it kills approximately 7% earlier as well. These traits make for an incredibly safe killing aerial at later percents. Combos into itself for decent damage and is a possible follow up after an up throw until high percent ranges.
Up aerial			6%	Diddy Kong performs an overhead kick. Since the 1.0.6 and 1.0.8 updates, it now has low knockback and damage and only hits directly above him, as the initial low reaching hitbox that started on frame 3 was completely removed. However, it still hits extremely fast, with the attack now starting at frame 4, and can still combo into itself and Diddy Kong's other aerials at low percents. A possible follow up after an up throw although it is not a good tool for racking up damage when his other aerials could otherwise be used. At high percent ranges, usually around 130%, it can lead into a kill after an up throw if the Diddy Kong player manages to predict his or her opponents decision to air dodge. This is because a buffered up air following an up throw at high percents is only avoidable by buffering an air dodge, and if the opponent chooses to do this the Diddy Kong player can simply delay the up air.
Down aerial			13% (clean), 10% (late)	Diddy Kong swings both arms downward in a double axe-handle punch. A strong meteor smash and Diddy Kong's strongest aerial overall, though it is also his slowest. It has a large auto-cancel window at the beginning of the attack before the hitbox starts, which makes it a good tool for landing provided that you input the move shortly before touching the ground. It can also jab lock opponents at low percent ranges.
Grab			—	Diddy Kong grabs his opponent in a bear hugging style.
Pummel			2%	Diddy Kong jumps up to headbutt his target, angled from the side of his body.
Forward throw			9%	Diddy Kong tosses his opponent forwards. The throw is based on Diddy Kong's barrel toss animation from Donkey Kong Country. Can combo into a forward air at low percent ranges for good damage as well as forcing the opponent offstage. It is also quite strong compared to most other forward throws, killing at around 140%.
Back throw			12%	Diddy Kong tosses his opponent backwards. Diddy Kong's strongest and most damaging throw, KOing middleweights around 130%.
Up throw			1% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Diddy Kong throws his opponent up and handstand kicks them. Good combo tool before 130%, depending on character's weight. Can combo into back aerials, which in turn can combo into themselves, and potentially a forward air at low to mid percent ranges. It can also lead into one or more up airs from low to high percent ranges, although there exist better damage racking options and the Diddy Kong player shouldn't do this so as to not stale the already low killing power of his up air. A staled up throw can lead into an up air for a KO at above 120%. It can also lead to a kill unstaled at around 130% in a 50/50 situation if the Diddy Kong player can catch the opponent's decision whether or not to buffer an air dodge with an up air.
Down throw			7%	Diddy Kong throws the opponent onto the ground and hops over them. Can lead into aerial attacks from low to mid percent ranges although not as reliably as up throw can considering all of the nerfs this throw received in game updates. Also capable of leading into a footstool at low damage.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Diddy Kong gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Diddy Kong gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Diddy Kong gets up and kicks on both sides.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	A spinning tail slap.
Neutral special	Default	Peanut Popgun	3-12% (Peanuts), 23% (explosion)	Diddy Kong shoots a peanut from his Popgun. A safe projectile attack that is rather useful in neutral. It can also be canceled in the air if the shield button is held before inputting the special button, which is useful for B-reversing to make Diddy Kong's movement harder to predict. The longer Diddy Kong charges the attack, the farther and quicker the peanut will fly. If Diddy Kong overcharges the attack, however, it will cause a very powerful explosion that leaves him vulnerable but possesses massive knockback.
	Custom 1	Exploding Popgun	1% (Shot), 25% (explosion)	Diddy Kong charges his Popgun, solely for exploding, and it charges faster. If released early, Diddy Kong will then do a shot without a Peanut firing and it will hurt when up close at the cost of damage.
	Custom 2	Jumbo Peanuts	7-11% (Peanuts), 18% (explosion)	Diddy Kong shoots a giant peanut from his Popgun. The peanuts don't fly as far, but are more powerful than normal. Requires slightly less time to fully charge.
Side special	Default	Monkey Flip	14% (clean midair kick), 12% (mid midair kick), 10% (late midair kick), 1% (pummel), 3% (grab attack hit 1), 7% (grab attack hit 2), 3% (jump attack hit 1), 5% (jump attack hit 2)	Diddy Kong performs a sideways hop that has the potential to launch him onto an opponent's face if timed correctly. Tilting the control stick and pressing the special button will cause Diddy Kong to fly a shorter distance than he would if the player smashed the control stick instead, similar to performing the input for a forward tilt as opposed to a forward smash. Once he has clung onto his foe's face, he can double chop them and leap away by pressing the attack button, or can perform a pseudo footstool jump with the jump button. Finally, tapping the special button while he is flipping will cause Diddy Kong to attack with a flying kick instead of latching on to his opponent. However, if Diddy Kong chooses to use the flying kick he will not be able to use his rocketbarrel pack unless he touches the ground first, making it a risky option offstage. More reliable for returning to the stage than Rocketbarrel Boost overall, and should be used for this purpose in place of his rocketbarrels whenever possible or safe to do so.
	Custom 1	Back Flip	17% (clean), 12% (mid), 8% (late)	Diddy Kong hops backwards, and can perform a flying kick forwards with another button press. Can't grab however.
	Custom 2	Flying Monkey Flip	10% (clean midair kick), 8% (late midair kick), 1% (pummel), 3% (grab attack hit 1), 5% (grab attack hit 2), 7.5% (jump attack hits 1-2)	Diddy Kong jumps higher, but his flying kick and regular grab attack is weaker. The jump attack, however, is a much stronger meteor smash.
Up special	Default	Rocketbarrel Boost	10% (launch explosion), 6-8% (collision with opponent)	Diddy Kong charges his rocketbarrel pack from Donkey Kong 64 in a powerful attack. Can potentially fly very far and very fast when charged, however hitting a surface, or being hit, will make Diddy Kong lose his rocketbarrels before falling a huge distance while being unable to perform any action, often falling too far to survive. Diddy Kong will also gain 5% damage for hitting a surface.
	Custom 1	Rocketbarrel Attack	18% (launch explosion)	A more powerful attack than Rocketbarrel Boost, but has less maneuverability. Requires slightly more time to fully charge.
	Custom 2	Rocketbarrel Kaboom	7% (launch explosion), 6-8% (collision with opponent)	Charges faster and controls better than Rocketbarrel Boost, but will explode if Diddy Kong hits any terrain during the move.
Down special	Default	Banana Peel	N/A	Diddy Kong tosses a Banana Peel over his shoulder and into the air to have it fall onto the ground. Grounded opponents who touch the peel while on the ground or are hit by the peel when thrown will slip and trip on the floor. An integral part of Diddy Kong’s kit, as it allows him to take control of the stage, extend and create combos, set up kills, easily punish missed attacks from his opponents even if they are spaced properly, and otherwise dominate the neutral game. A held banana also serves as one of the best out of shield options in the game when thrown. Unlike in Brawl, only one banana peel can exist at one time, and it disappears when hit by an opponent or when thrown twice.
	Custom 1	Shocking Banana Peel	N/A	Diddy Kong tosses a banana peel into the air to have it fall onto the ground. Opponents who come in contact with the peel will be stunned momentarily. The stun time is longer if the opponent steps on the peel as opposed to getting hit by it.
	Custom 2	Battering Banana Peel	N/A	Diddy Kong tosses a banana peel straight up. Opponents who come in contact with the peel will be launched upwards as well.
Final Smash		Rocketbarrel Barrage	5-10% (Peanuts), 12% (collision)	Diddy Kong flies around on his rocketbarrel pack, shooting explosive peanuts everywhere. The peanuts travel large distances and have great power, however crashing into enemies with Diddy Kong himself does even more damage to his opponents than firing the peanuts at them. Has greater movement speed than it did back in Brawl, in addition to it no longer putting Diddy Kong into a helpless state when ended in the air, but it is even harder to control than it was previously.

On-screen appearance

• Diddy Kong bursts out of a DK Barrel and briefly strikes a pose.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Tosses his cap in the air and has it land on his head. This is a reference to his victory pose in Donkey Kong Country, after he defeats a boss or wins in a Bonus Area.
• Side taunt: Does a playful fighter's stance and cackles.
• Down taunt: Claps his hands above his head four times, switching feet in the process.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Scratches his rump, gets down on all fours, and shakes his fur.
• Jumps in place twice.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Did-dy Kong!	Diddy Kong!
Pitch	Group chant	Group chant

Victory poses

A flourished remix directly from Brawl based on the jingle that would play whenever Diddy Kong completely cleared a bonus room or defeated a boss in Donkey Kong Country.

• Shoots at the "camera lens" with his Peanut Popguns.
• Spins around with his Rocketbarrel and does a jig.
• Does a little dance and claps his feet while standing on one hand.

In competitive play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Diddy Kong	1121	1123	1113	1131	1133
	1211	3111	1213	1112	3121

Notable players

Active

•  Angel Cortes - The second best Diddy Kong player in the Tristate region and one of the original Diddy Kong players, 5th at Super Smash Con 2015 and Do or DI, 9th at SKTAR 4 and Olympus, 17th at Pound 2016, 33rd at Apex 2015 and GENESIS 3, formerly ranked 38th on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings.
•  Chrim Foish - Arguably the best Diddy Kong player in Canada, 4th at Enthusiast Gaming Live, 5th at Get On My Level 2015 and Summit 2015, 7th at Canada Cup 2016, ranked 4th on the Southern Ontario Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  cyve - The best Diddy Kong player in Europe, 2nd at B.E.A.S.T 5, 3rd at Key to The PG House's European qualifier, 9th at B.E.A.S.T 6, 33rd at Apex 2015, ranked 1st on the German Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  dyr - 9th at Shine 2016, 17th at CEO 2015, 9th at Super Smash Con 2017 and 17th at EVO 2016, ranked 1st on the Central Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  Edge - Japan's top Diddy Kong player. Often places high at Sumabato tournaments, including 1st at Sumabato 17, 3rd at Sumabato 19 and Sumabato 20, and 4th at Sumabato 22.
•  IC - A top Diddy Kong player from Tijuana. Ranked 1st in Tijuana and 14th in SoCal for the 2016-17 Winter Power Rankings
•  Shoyo James - 2nd at Midwest Mayhem 6: SoCal Invasion, 17th at The Big House 6, 7th at Apex 2016, 7th at Super Smash Con 2017 and 25th at Pound 2016 are some of his notable placings. Ranked 2nd on the New Jersey Power Rankings and ranked 42nd on the Panda Global Rankings.
•  Jezmo - The best Diddy Kong player in Australia, ranked 5th on the Australian Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  JJROCKETS - One of the original Diddy Kong players, constantly traveled the USA during 2015 for tournaments. 4th at Combo Breaker 2015, 13th at Shine 2016, 17th at Dismantle 2, 33rd at CEO 2015, The Big House 5 and The Big House 6, ranked 2nd on the Chicago Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  Jtails - One of the original Diddy Kong players. 1st at KTAR XI, 4th at Spring Fighter 2015, 7th at KTAR XVII, 9th at KTAR XII, SKTAR 4 and KTAR XVI, 13th at Apex 2015. Known for being a major innovator on Diddy's metagame.
•  K9sbruce - Ranked 6th on the SoCal Smash 4 Power Rankings and 48th on the Panda Global Rankings, often uses it as a secondary or counterpick.
•  Masha - One of the best Diddy Kong players in Japan. Has placed 4th at Karisuma 14 and 5th at Sumabato 19. He has wins over komorikiri, ikep, Chanshu, and Shogun.
•  MVD - One of the best Diddy Kong players in the world. 3rd at Paragon Los Angeles 2015, 4th at PAX Prime 2015, 5th at Sandstorm and CEO 2015, 9th at Super Smash Con 2015, 17th at EVO 2015, 25th at Pound 2016, 5th at GENESIS 5. He is currently ranked 2nd on the South Florida Smash 4 Power Rankings and 25th on the Panda Global Rankings.
•  Nietono - Regularly places high at Umebura tournaments, 3rd at Apex 2016, 7th at Umebura 25, 9th at Umebura F.A.T. and Umebura S.A.T., 13th at CEO 2016, 25th at GENESIS 3, and 4th at EVO Japan 2018. Ranked 8th on the JAPAN Power Rankings.
•  Paseriman - A top Diddy Kong Player from Japan. Has many notable placings at various Japanese tournaments and placed 13th at Frostbite 2018. Took sets off of notable players like Abadango, Ally, Raito, and takera.
•  Phantom - A top Diddy Kong Player. Ranked 3rd on the Chile Power Ranking. Has victories over Javi, Chag, Captain Levi and Yura.
•  Suinoko - 5th at Sumabato 15. Ranked 45th in Japan, has wins over players such as ikep and Rizeasu.
•  Zinoto - One of the original Diddy Kong players and one of the best in the world. He started gaining notability after 17th at The Big House 5, ranked 2nd on the Michigan Smash 4 Power Rankings and 31st on the Panda Global Rankings.

Inactive

•  AeroLink - 9th at Apex 2015. Has since dropped Diddy Kong in favor of Bayonetta.
•  C3PO - 13th at KTAR XVI and KTAR XVII, 17th at CEO 2016, 25th at Pound 2015, ranked 2nd on the Pennsylvania Smash 4 Power Rankings.
•  Mew2King - One of the original Diddy Kong players, 1st at Paragon Orlando 2015, 2nd at KTAR XI and Chokaigi 2015, 3rd at Sandstorm, 5th at Apex 2015.
•  RAIN - Regularly placed high at Umebura tournaments when he used him, winning Umebura 11 to Umebura 15 with him.
•  ZeRo - The best Diddy Kong player worldwide and of all time before his retirement. Won 56 tournaments consecutively with Diddy Kong as part of his main characters. Was ranked on the top spot for several SoCal Smash 4 Power Rankings, currently ranked 1st on the Panda Global SSB4 Rankings. He is currently on an indefinite hiatus.

Tier placement and history

Since the game's release, professionals noticed that Diddy Kong gained heavy buffs despite already being one of the best characters in Brawl, and soon, his players became extremely dominant in early competitive play. Diddy's throws perfectly set up his strong aerial game, with his infamous up/down throw to up aerial combo (known as the "Hoo-Hah") being an unavoidable KO confirm at a wide range of percentages, and his Banana Peel offered strong stage control in spite of its nerfs. Aside from this, his up aerial had the speed and range necessary to KO easily without the need of the "Hoo-Hah", as well as many of his moves being both speedy and hard-hitting and with good range (like forward smash). These traits resulted in him being deemed the best character in the game.

As a result of how disproportionately good Diddy Kong was for how easy he was to play, many professionals such as Mew2King and ZeRo picked him up, resulting in an abnormal number of Diddy dittos at the highest level of play. Even players who did not actively practice the game, such as Leffen and Armada, were able to gain strong results using him. Likely as a result of this, Diddy was heavily nerfed by updates 1.0.6 and 1.0.8, and his representation dropped significantly, becoming largely abandoned while Sheik was considered the best character instead. Despite this, the top players who continued playing Diddy, such as Angel Cortes, Jtails, MVD, Nietono, and most notably, ZeRo and Zinoto, continued to push his metagame, adopting a newer, more creative playstyle that emphasizes Diddy's strong neutral game (which was not nerfed).

As a result of these factors, Diddy was ranked 9th on the first 4BR tier list, near the bottom of the A tier, but thanks to continued strong results from multiple top players, along with the nerfs to Sheik, Zero Suit Samus and Bayonetta, some matchups that previously caused him trouble in updates 1.1.5 and 1.1.6, he then took the 1st spot, at the top of the S tier, on the second tier list, despite not being as dominant as he was originally. He has since then seen only a very slight drop to 2nd place in favor of Bayonetta in the third tier list, and then to 3rd place in favor of Cloud in the fourth and current tier list; although he remains at the S tier and is still considered to be one of the most viable characters in the game, the larger dominance of the former two characters in other regions has caused views on Diddy to slightly dwindle. Currently, it is unknown whether Diddy Kong will rise or drop in the current metagame as his most successful main, ZeRo, announced that he will be retiring from competitive Smash 4 scene in an unspecified time due to losing passion from competing tournaments and life issues.

Trophies

Diddy Kong

Donkey Kong's trusty partner. He sports his signature look: red hat, red shirt, Rocketbarrel Pack. In Smash Bros., he's incredibly agile. Charge the Rocketbarrel Pack by holding down the button before launch, and you can steer with left and right. Don't forget to drop banana peels—enemies love it!

Red cap? Red T-shirt? Rocketbarrel Pack? Yep, it's Diddy Kong. His agility lets him get attacks in quickly in this game. Fire up his Rocketbarrel Pack and keep the button held down to fly further. You can even steer him in the air! Tip: If you don't mind fighting dirty, make you opponent slip on a Banana Peel, then hit 'em while they're down.

: Donkey Kong Country (11/1994)

: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (11/1995)

Diddy Kong (Alt.)

The Banana Peel Diddy throws when you use his down special can be picked up and used against you, so be careful. His Monkey Flip side special is a rolling leap followed by a grab (or a kick if you press the button again midjump). If you grab someone, press the button again to attack or jump off them to go high into the air.

: Donkey Kong Country (11/1994)

: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (11/1995)

Rocketbarrel Barrage

Diddy Kong's Final Smash is an attack on all fronts! Diddy takes to the air with his Barrel Jet, tackling opponents as he fires explosive shots from his Peanut Popguns. His Final Smash is nearing its end when he begins flashing, so get as close to your foes as you can-the Barrel Jet will explode at the end of this Final Smash!

With a Peanut Popgun in each hand, Diddy showers his foes with a hail of explosive destruction. This Final Smash lets him fly freely through the air, dealing damage to anyone in his way. When his body starts to flash, that means the Final Smash is about to end, so try to catch your foes in the Rocketbarrel Pack's explosion!

• Diddy Kong Trophy.png

  Classic (3DS)

• Diddy Kong All-Star Trophy.png

  Alt. (3DS)

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Rocketbarrel Barrage

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Brawl: Diddy Kong is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents debut in Brawl, and reappear in Smash 4.
• Guardian of the Jungle: Donkey Kong, aided by 2 Diddy Kongs, must defeat 3 Duck Hunts.
• The Jungle in Chaos: Diddy Kong must defeat 20 Donkey Kongs wearing Bunny Hoods.

Co-op Events

• 1988: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong must defeat 3 Marios, each one larger than the last.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Diddy Kong in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

• 

  Diddy Kong's amiibo.

• 

  The pic of the day shown during Diddy Kong's reveal.

• 

  Forward tilt on Mario.

• 

  With Donkey Kong.

• 

  Rocketbarrel Boost.

• 

  Diddy hitting Villager and Little Mac with Rocketbarrel Boost.

• 

  Up smash with Little Mac.

• 

  Looking at Pikmin.

• 

  Peanut Popgun overloading.

• 

  Back air with Lucario and Samus.

• 

  Teching or rolling with Fox and Wii Fit Trainer.

• 

  Up taunt in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

• 

  Down taunt with Fox and a Banana Peel.

• 

  Damaging Bowser with an overcharged Peanut Popgun.

Trivia

• Diddy Kong's confirmation was the first time a character was revealed for an international release of a game as opposed to just the Japanese release.
• The elastic quality of Diddy Kong's limbs is similar to another Donkey Kong character, Lanky Kong.
• Diddy Kong's Banana Peels can only be thrown twice before disappearing once landing on the ground, while the actual item when spawned elsewhere can be thrown three times before disappearing.
• Prior to update 1.0.6, Diddy Kong's down-throw to up-air combo had quickly gained notoriety as a quick KO string. It gained the name "Hoo-Hah" after StaticManny interrupted a set between Hungrybox and Player-1.