Kirby (SSB4)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Ultra Sword
Tier	F (49)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was confirmed during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2013. Makiko Ōmoto returns as his voice actor with new voice-clips, sounding more akin to his appearances from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward.

Kirby is ranked 49th out of 54 on the current tier list, thus going into the F tier. This is a significant drop from his placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 20th out of 38 characters. Among his strengths are his quick frame-data for naturally-flowing combos, including up tilt, forward throw, and down aerial – the latter of which is also a great KO set-up attack – and good edgeguarding ability thanks to his versatile forward aerial and powerful back aerial. Kirby's multitude of jumps allow him to recover from long distances and mix up his landings. His small size also makes him difficult to hit, especially while crouching, and he can flexibly and efficiently KO opponents with his powerful smash attacks and back aerial.

However, this comes at the cost of poor endurance, which is further pronounced by the introduction of rage. Kirby is one of the lightest and floatiest characters in the game, and his recovery, despite its distance, is linear and predictable. Kirby's mobility and approach are poor, as he is slow, floaty, and lacks an effective projectile, making him vulnerable to effective campers, like Samus, and speed demons, like Sonic and Fox. He also has poor reach in most of his attacks due to his small size and short limbs, causing him to get outranged by characters with long and/or disjointed hitboxes, such as Mr. Game & Watch and Marth.

Overall, Kirby's weaknesses result in him being non-viable during the current metagame of SSB4. However, Kirby has achieved average tournament representation and some degree of success: Poyo, Triple R and Prince Kirby have each won numerous local tournaments and continue to place very well at them in singles and doubles play, while MikeKirby and K.I.D.Goggles have collectively achieved a handful of notable results at regional and national tournaments.

Attributes

Kirby is a small, short lightweight, tied for the fifth-lightest character in the game. Aside from his average dashing speed, his mobility is poor: he has below-average walking speed, low traction, while possessing the fourth-slowest air speed and falling speed, and the third-lowest gravity, albeit high air acceleration, being the 15th highest. His jumps have low height on their own, but he boasts six of them – tied with Jigglypuff and Meta Knight for the most jumps in the game.

Kirby is a simple character suitable for beginners, and this can be observed in the versatility of his moveset. Most of his attacks are characterized by quick speed and combo ability, with some outliers trading those strengths for raw power. His jab and forward tilt are both fast and effective close-quarter attacks, while up tilt is a very versatile attack which combos into itself when clean. Down tilt is weak, but its speed and sakurai angle allow it to trip opponents consistently. His smash attacks are notably strong without being particularly slow, making them excellent finishing moves in Kirby's kit.

Kirby's grab game is comparatively effective, as he boasts a fast grab, an effective pummel, and a set of useful throws. His forward throw can cleanly fit into any part of a combo and enables Kirby to set up long and highly damaging follow-ups, even a down aerial into a regrab. Back throw can KO on the ledge at high percentages, and up throw can KO even earlier off the top (especially if he lands on a platform with it. Lastly, down throw, while not especially useful overall, can rack up damage when no other throw can yield better results.

Complementing his six jumps, Kirby has an effective set of aerial attacks as well. Neutral aerial's long duration and short landing lag allow him to protect himself when landing, while forward aerial is an excellent all-around attack for combos, edgeguarding, and KOing at high percentages. His back aerial takes that principle even further, being his fastest and strongest aerial. Up aerial is a standard attack for juggling and low-damage combos, allowing for many potential follow-ups. Finally, his down aerial, while slow, is a multi-hitting spike with low landing lag and generally little risk, making it a great tool for both edgeguarding and setups on grounded opponents.

Kirby's special moveset has some interesting options. Inhale allows him to either copy the neutral special of any character he Inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. The latter can be useful for Kirbycide or put the opponent below the stage, almost eliminating their chances of recovering. Depending on what character he copies, the gained neutral special has the potential to greatly improve his kit – whether from an effective projectile like Falco's Blaster or Luigi's Fireball, or a massively beneficial and versatile technique like Monado Arts.

Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged. Its sluggishness, however, makes it very difficult to use outside of edge-guarding or after a shield break. Final Cutter is Kirby's recovery move and is decent at that, granting good vertical distance and decent horizontal distance, as well as decent protection during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shockwave upon landing, making it difficult to punish if not at point-blank range. Lastly, Stone causes Kirby to plummet straight down and ignore damage by any move that deals less than 30%. It is also powerful and can be canceled at any time, making it useful for playing mindgames.

However, Kirby has noticeable flaws. His most prominent weakness is his endurance. Being light and floaty, Kirby cannot endure strong hits at high percents. He is also very vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. Rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even earlier by heavily damaged opponents, while Kirby himself will typically not endure long enough in order to benefit from his own rage.

Kirby's poor mobility and range not only makes it significantly difficult for him to approach and pressure opponents, but also makes him susceptible to speed demons, like Sonic, or those with long and/or disjointed hitboxes like Marth and Cloud. In addition, his very long-distanced recovery is very slow, making aggressive edge-guarding and gimp-oriented moves, such as F.L.U.D.D. or meteor smashes, detrimental to him. Kirby's range is also mediocre at best, and his strongest moves happen to be his slowest, making it difficult for him to KO opponents outside of edge-guarding or without a set-up.

Overall, Kirby tends to run hot and cold, comparatively like Luigi and Falco. Kirby is characterized as a glass cannon who can inflict an impressive amount of damage if he gets close to his opponent thanks to his potent combo game, but doing so is difficult for him due to his poor approach. As such, Kirby functions well with a bait-and-punish playstyle, although being unprepared for an opponent's approach can be hazardous due to his unimpressive survivability.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Kirby has been considerably nerfed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Most of his issues in Brawl were not only retained, but worsened and he also suffers from new weaknesses. Kirby'smediocre range has been reduced further, with his feet becoming smaller and several general nerfs to his hitboxes' sizes. This makes it even easier for opponents to wall out Kirby, especially with the cast possessing greater range overall. Kirby's aerial mobility as also taken a hit, as his air acceleration is slower, and unlike most returning veterans, his air speed has been decreased, both hindering both his recovery and ability to escape aerial pressure. As with his transition from each new installment, as well as with most of the returning veterans, Kirby's damage output has been decreased. Some of Kirby's attacks have also seen negative changes that greatly hinder their utility, with forward aerial possessing more ending lag and no longer auto-canceling in a short hop due to a combination of its auto-canceling window remaining intact and Kirby's increased gravity and lower jumps, and dash attack and connecting less reliably due to its much shorter range, but the attacks that were affected the most were down throw and aerial Hammer Flip, losing most of their previous utility: the former has lost all of its follow-up potential due to its more unfavorable angle and increased knockback, while the latter has much more startup lag and has lost its recovering and edgeguarding potential, as to it is no longer being a semi-spike and now stalls Kirby's horizontal momentum instead of his vertical momentum.

Smash 4's adjusted mechanics have both assisted and hindered Kirby. The changes to hitstun canceling overall benefit Kirby, strengthening his ability to combo opponents. It does, however, make Kirby slightly easier to combo himself, especially due to his increased weight, falling speed and gravity. Without the ability to momentum cancel, Kirby's poor endurance has further become more of a liability, although he had poor momentum canceling in Brawl in the first place, and his increased weight somewhat compensates for it. The inclusion of rage further exacerbates this issue, and while it improves Kirby's own KO potential, his poor endurance combined with his lack of a ladder combo or early kill confirm prevents him from making great use of the mechanic. The changes to aerial grab releases, however, now make him much less vulnerable to those kinds of followups.

Kirby has seen some buffs, however. His considerably faster dashing speed improves his approach, while some less reliable attacks, like Inhale and down aerial, have been given new utility, with the former being faster and the latter connecting better due to using the autolink angle and its landing hit has less knockback and launches higher, making it better for combos, and forward and back throw are also more useful for combos due to the former's new angle and reduced ending lag, and the latter also has received KO potential thanks to its altered knockback, increasing its versatility overall. Other attacks, namely his up smash, down smash, back aerial, back throw and up throw, were given more KO power – and this can be further beneficial of in the new environment of Smash 4, in the absence of momentum cancelling and the presence of rage. Hammer Flip now can be charged, has more range, no longer has sourspots and Kirby can move and jump while charging the attack.

Overall, while Kirby still retains most of the strengths from Brawl, including his solid combo ability and KO potential for his character archetype, his weaknesses were amplified and he especially gained new weaknesses, the reductions to his range and aerial mobility. While the changes to the game's mechanics benefit him overall, they do not assist him as much as some of the other returning veterans. As a result, Kirby fares significantly worse relative to the cast in comparison to Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Due to the aesthetic used in SSB4, Kirby's overall color scheme is more vibrant. His feet are also slightly smaller, and his skin appears to have significantly more diffused shading, with decreased difference in brightness between the lit and shaded sides of his body. Altogether, these changes make Kirby appear significantly more in-line with his appearance as of Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
  • Kirby's mouth is now, by default, a texture rather than a modeled part of his body.
• Kirby has received two new alternate costumes, one of which is based on an unmasked Meta Knight.
• Kirby is significantly more expressive. He now sports a stern look when performing a number of moves, comparatively like how he does in Return to Dream Land, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, and Kirby: Triple Deluxe. His facial expressions when being attacked are also more exaggerated, such as his screen KOs depicting him as possessing teary eyes; his mouth closed; and the right side of his face pressed against the screen, or having wincing eyes; his mouth open; and his whole face pressed against the screen. Both of Kirby's screen KO expressions are based on his expression when an attack slams him against the screen in Triple Deluxe.
• Kirby's face now faces the screen, regardless of whether he is facing left or right.
• Due to removal of the sound effects and cheers from the Sound Test, Kirby's Sound Test section has now been re-merged into one section, with the voice clips used for the copy abilities listed after his regular voice clips.

Attributes

• Kirby is smaller. This makes his hurtbox slightly smaller, but hinders his range.
  • Due to the general change in size between small and large characters, Kirby's smaller size significantly improves his crouch's defensive potential.
  • However, Kirby's feet are smaller with several of his hitboxes being much smaller in order to match the new length of his feet. This significantly hinders his range.
• Kirby walks slightly slower (0.95 → 0.93).
• Kirby dashes significantly faster (1.371 → 1.57), especially compared to the cast, going from the 29th fastest out of 39 characters to the 31st fastest out of 58.
• Kirby's weight was slightly increased (78 → 79). This slightly improves his endurance, especially since he had poor momentum canceling in Brawl.
• Kirby's air speed is slower (0.85 → 0.8), going from the 11th worst out of 39 characters to the 4th worst out of 58.
• Kirby's air acceleration was decreased (0.11 → 0.095), going from the fifth highest in Brawl to being the 15th highest in SSB4.
• Kirby's falling speed was slightly increased (1.2 → 1.23). This slightly improves Kirby's vertical endurance, but makes him slightly more susceptible to combos.
• Kirby's fast falling speed was increased (1.9 → 1.968), although it is much slower relative to the rest of the cast, going from the 22nd fastest out of 39 characters to the 4th slowest out of 58.
• Kirby's gravity is higher (0.061 → 0.06405). This improves his aerial mobility, and somewhat alleviates the drawbacks of his floatiness, however, it slightly hinders his endurance and makes him more susceptible to combos, as well as reducing the height of his jumps.
  • As a consequence, double jumps are lower.
  • This also reduces the duration of his short hop (SH air time: 39 frames).
• Rolls have less ending lag (FAF 32 → 31).
• Rolls have less intangibility frames (frames 4-19 → 4-17).
• Spot dodge has less intangibility (frames 2-20 → 2-17) and has increased ending lag (FAF 26 → 27).
• Air dodge has decreased start-up (frame 4 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 50 → 33).
• Air dodge's intangibility is shorter (frames 4-29 → 3-27).
• Soft landing is faster (3 frames → 2).

Ground attacks

• The weakening of SDI makes rapid jab and dash attack significantly more difficult to escape from.
• Neutral attack:
  • The first hit's angle has been altered (361° → 55°). This allows it to connect better with the second hit, but removes its ability to lock.
  • The first and second hits have smaller hitboxes (3.3u → 3u).
  • The second hit has higher base knockback (8 → 15). This hinders its ability to lead into the rapid jab.
  • Neutral infinite now deals consistent damage (2% (near)/1% (far) → 1%).
  • Rapid jab now has a finisher in the form of the Smash Punch from the Fighter ability. This greatly improves its safety if it connects.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt has smaller hitboxes (5.1u/5.4u/4u → 3.1u/3.3u/3u).
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt deals less damage (7% (clean)/5% (late) → 5%/4%), without full compensation on its knockback scaling (102 (both) → 116 (clean)/110 (late)). This improves its combo potential, but hinders its damage racking and KO potential.
  • Clean up tilt's angle has been altered (92° → 100°).
  • It has a shorter duration and less intangibility (frames 4-10 → 4-9).
  • It has smaller hitboxes (5.5u/5u (clean)/4.5u/5u (late) → 4u/4u (both)).
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt no longer has a sourspot, causing it to deal consistent damage (5%/6% → 6%).
  • It has smaller hitboxes and two of the previous hitboxes were removed due to Kirby's shorter feet (4.5u/4u/3.5u/3u → 3.7u/3.7u).
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack's looping hits deal less damage (2% → 1%), which decreases its overall damage output (14% → 9%).
  • Its last hit uses a single small hitbox instead three larger hitboxes(5u/5u/8u → 3u), connecting less reliably from the looping hits and significantly reducing its range.
  • It has increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 54).
  • The last hit has higher base knockback (90 → 100) and no longer has a sourspot with set knockback.
  • The last hit's hitlag has increased (1× → 2×). This makes it safer on shield, but easier to DI.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has increased startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 12-16 → 13-15 (clean), frames 17-21 → 16-19 (late)).
  • It has smaller hitboxes (6u/5.5u/(5u/4.5u) (clean/late) → 4.2u (clean)/3.5u (late)).
  • The late hit deals less damage (13% → 12%/11%/10%), although its knockback was somewhat compensated (25 (base), 96/94 (scaling) → 90/69).
  • It is now interruptible, giving it less ending lag (FAF 50 → 48).
• Non-angled:
  • Clean non angled forward smash's knockback (38 (base), 98 (scaling) → 30/102) has been altered.
  • Its angle has been altered (38° → 361°) hindering its KO potential especially against aerial opponents.
  • The late hit sends opponents lower (73° → 60°).
• Up angled:
  • Clean up angled forward smash deals less knockback (38 (base), 100 (scaling) → 30/102).
  • Its angle has been altered (45° → 361°) improving its KO potential against grounded opponents.
  • The late hit sends opponents lower (82° → 60°).
• Down angled:
  • Clean down angled forward smash deals more knockback (38 (base), 96 (scaling) → 30/102), improving its KO potential.
  • Clean down angled forward smash no longer semi spikes (31° → 361°).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's clean sweetspot deals more knockback (34 (base), 100 (scaling) → 33/104), improving its KO potential.
  • The late hit has increased knockback scaling (50 → 52).
  • It has a shorter total duration due to now being interruptible (FAF 50 → 48).
  • It has less intangibility (frames 14-24 → 14-19).
  • The clean sourspot has less knockback scaling (100 → 99).
  • The mid hit has lower knockback scaling (100 → 98).
  • The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 17-24 → 17-19).
• Down smash:
  • Down smash is interruptible again, reducing its ending lag (FAF 56 → 54).
  • It has greatly increased knockback, especially on its far hitboxes (30/20 (base), 100/85 (scaling) → 25/(110/108).
  • The late hit deals consistent damage (11%/9% → 10%).
  • Its angles have been altered (76°/28° → 69°), losing its semi-spiking hitbox and launching a lower angle. This significantly hinders its edge-guarding potential while also making it susceptible to LSI.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial's angle has been altered (361° → 46°).
    • This removes its ability to lock.
    • This improves its followup potential.
  • It deals less damage (12% (clean)/10% (mid)/8% (mid-late)/6% (late) → 10%/8%/6%/4%).
  • Its initial auto-cancel window has been reduced (frames 1-8 → 1-4).
  • It has slightly higher landing lag (9 frames → 10 frames).
  • It deals more knockback (10 (base) 80 (scaling) → 30/90), slightly improving its KO potential despite its lower damage/altered angle.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's first two hits are weight independent and their angles were altered to connect more consistently with the last hit (45° → 45°/80° (hit 1), 80° → 366° (hit 2)).
  • The last hit has increased knockback scaling (138 → 148), making it better for spacing edgeguarding and improving its KO potential at very high percents.
  • It has less landing lag (15 frames → 13).
  • The last hit's hitlag has increased (1× → 1.2×). This makes it safer on shield, but easier to DI.
  • It has smaller hitboxes (5u/4.5u (hits 1-2)/6.5u/6.5u (hit 3) → 4.3u/4.3u (hit 1)/4.5u (hit 2)/4.9u (hit 3)).
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 44 → 48).
  • It can no longer auto-cancel in a short hop due to Kirby's lower short hop and increased gravity, causing its auto-cancel to fall short by one frame.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial has smaller hitboxes (7u/6u (clean)/6u/6u (late) → 4u (clean)/3.4u (late)), now being more in line with Kirby's feet. This significantly reduces its range as it is less disjointed, it covers less of Kirby's body and doesn't fully cover his feet, especially the late hit.
  • Its initial auto-cancel window is shorter (frames 1-4 → 1-2).
  • The clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 6-8 → 6-7) with the late hit's duration being compensated (frames 9-14 → 8-14).
  • The clean hit deals more damage (12% → 13%) with its knockback scaling only minimally decreased (105 → 104), improving its KO potential.
  • The late hit deals less damage (9% → 8%) without full compensation on its knockback scaling (110 → 112).
  • It auto-cancels later (frame 28 → 32), although it can still auto-cancel in a short hop.
  • It has more landing lag (9 frames → 17).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial deals less damage (10% → 9%) without full compensation on its knockback scaling (98 → 100).
  • It has lost its largest hitbox (5.5u/4.5u/4u → 4.5u/4u).
  • It has more landing lag (9 frames → 12).
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial's looping hits deals less damage (2% → 1% (loop hits)/12% → 7% (total).
  • The loop hits have a smaller hitbox (6u/6u → 5u).
  • It has more landing lag (15 frames → 17).
  • The loop hits now utilize the auto-link angle (270° → 366°). When coupled with their lower damage and the weakening of SDI, this significantly improves its reliability.
  • The last hit has slightly more knockback scaling (107 → 110) and a slightly larger hitbox (6u/6u → 6.2u).
  • The landing hit has an altered angle (30° → 60°) and lower set knockback (60 → 40), improving its combo potential.

Throws/other attacks

• All grabs has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 28 (standing), FAF 40 → 39 (dash), FAF 36 → 33 (pivot)).
• Dash grab has less start-up lag (frame 10 → 8).
• Standing and dash grab have less range.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals more damage (1% → 1.55%) and has less hitlag, now rendering it the third-fastest pummel in the game. This significantly improves its damage-racking potential.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals 3% less damage (8% → 5%), with its knockback scaling compensated (100 → 125).
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 62 → 59).
  • Its angle has been altered (65° → 75°). When coupled with the changes to hitstun canceling, these changes grant it combo potential past low percents.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has altered knockback (80 (base), 50 (scaling) → 30/120) and Kirby releases the opponent later (frame 33 → 41) with its duration unchanged, reducing its ending lag and improving its mix-up, combo and KO potential.
  • Its angle has been altered (120° → 130°).
• Up throw:
  • Up throw has increased knockback (70 (base), 70 (scaling) → 75/74), improving its KO potential despite its less favorable angle (85° → 78°).
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals less damage on the first nine hits (1% (hits 1-10) → 0.8% (hits 1-9), 1% (hit 10), 12% → 10.2% (total)) and the throw has significantly increased knockback (40 (base), 140 (scaling) → 60/180). Combined with the change below, this removes its combo potential.
  • It launches at a lower and more unfavorable angle (90° → 63°), and combined with the removal of chain grabbing and the loss of its combo potential as mentioned above, this hinders its damage racking potential.
  • However, the increased knockback allow it to KO middleweights around or below 200%.

Special moves

• Inhale:
  • Inhale's damage outputs have been reversed (6% (swallow)/10% (spit) → 10%/6%).
  • Inhale has decreased start-up and ending lag. Inhaling non-explosive items also now heals 1%.
  • The removal of grab armor hinders Inhale's safety, as it now results in Kirby getting hit instead of Inhaling the opponent.
  • Kirbycide now KOs Kirby first and the opponent is released from Inhale when this occurs, significantly hindering its utility. However, there are certain characters that, when Kirbycided from a certain angle, will be KO'd as well and thus lead to a Sudden Death.
  • Kirby's copy abilities now share the same hitbox data as their original counterparts as opposed to Kirby's versions having their own hitbox data. As a result, all of Kirby's copy abilities are now completely identical to their original counterparts in terms of their range, strength and hitbox durations (with a few exceptions) which benefits and/or hinders certain copy abilities.
    • This change however does not affect the copy ability's interruptibility or intangibility since they are now stored in Kirby's parameter file as opposed to the respective ability's hitbox data.
  • All of sound effects related to the move are now direct port of those from Kirby's Adventure.
• Hammer Flip:
  • Hammer Flip is now chargeable and Kirby can also move around while using it, regardless of its charge. However, fully charged Hammer Flip now deals recoil damage when held. Altogether, these changes make it function almost identically to Jet Hammer.
  • Due to consisting of a consistent hitbox instead of a sweetspot and a sourspot, uncharged Hammer Flip now deals consistent damage (23% (grounded sweetspot)/18% (grounded sourspot) → 19%, 17% (aerial hit 1 sweetspot)/13% (aerial hit 2 sweetspot)/15% (aerial hit 1 sourspot)/10% (aerial hit 2 sourspot) → 15% (both)).
  • Hammer Flip has slightly increased knockback (65 (base), 72 (scaling) (grounded sweetspot), 50/70 (grounded/aerial hit 1 sourspot), 65/75 (aerial hit 1 sweetspot), 60/70 (aerial hit 2) → 60/78 (all)). This makes the previous sourspots and the second aerial hit stronger however, they do not compensate for the grounded and first aerial hit's sweetspots reduced damage hindering their KO potential.
  • Fully charged Hammer Flip deals more damage (23% (grounded sweetspot)/18% (grounded sourspot)/ → 35%/27%, 17% (aerial hit 1 sweetspot)/13% (aerial hit 2 sweetspot)/15% (aerial hit 1 sourspot)/10% (aerial hit 2 sourspot) → 27% (both)) significantly improving its KO potential. Hammer Flip also has larger hitboxes and no longer has sourspots.
  • Due to its angle being altered (20° → 55°), aerial Hammer Flip's second hit is no longer a semi-spike, significantly hindering its edge-guarding potential. Aerial Hammer Flip also has greatly increased start-up lag regardless of its charge (frame 17 → 28), and can no longer be used for recovery as it now halts Kirby's horizontal momentum rather than his vertical momentum.
  • Hammer Flip no longer has transcendent priority.
  • Fully charged Hammer Flip now grants armor during part of the swing.
  • Fully charged Hammer Flip deals significantly more shield damage due to its higher damage combined with the 19% damage increase to shields and the increase to shieldstun, significantly improving its shield pressuring potential.
• Final Cutter:
  • Final Cutter's shockwave's range has decreased by half. The rising hit also deals less damage (8% → 5%).
• Stone:
  • If Kirby takes 25% or more total damage while using Stone, the deciding move will launch him out of his stone form, taking half the attack’s normal damage in the process.
  • Grounded Stone has less knockback scaling (45 → 40).
  • The 19% damage increase to shields and the increase to shieldstun significantly improve Stone's shield pressuring potential.
  • Stone's visual effects have changed. The Thwomp now uses its design from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, instead of Super Mario 64.
  • Like in Melee, Kirby vocalizes when exiting out of his Stone form.
  • The earthquake glitch has been removed.
• Ultra Sword:
  • Kirby has a new Final Smash, Ultra Sword. Kirby equips the Super Ability of the same name in order to repeatedly slash the opponent before launching them with a final slash. Like Cook Kirby, Ultra Sword is a trapping Final Smash. Compared to Cook Kirby, it is purely offensive, instead of being both offensive and supplemental. Ultra Sword also deals 6% more damage (34% → 40%), deals significantly more knockback, and is more reliable at trapping opponents, making it significantly more effective for KOing.
  • Unlike Cook Kirby, Ultra Sword does not provide healing items. However, this is largely negligible, as Cook Kirby's items were consumable by characters other than Kirby, and would not be generated if item spawning was disabled via Item Switch.

Update history

Kirby was initially perceived to be a low-tier in the initial release of the game, owing to his poor range, mobility, approaching options and endurance. Likely as a result, he has been buffed via game updates. Update 1.0.6 improved up and down smashes' KO potentials; re-purposed down throw into a viable damage-racking option; and decreased Inhale and Hammer Flip's ending lag. These changes were fairly minor, however, with Inhale and Hammer only losing a couple of frames of ending lag, while down smash received a lower launch angle, which resulted in the move being worse at KOing with sufficient DI. Update 1.1.0 brought a few more buffs: neutral attack became more reliable, Inhale was made faster and forward throw received less ending lag and a more vertical launch angle, making it a much better combo starter. Kirby also slightly benefits from the new shielding mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1, as they make down aerial's multiple hits and Stone's high damage output much more reliable at pressuring shields.

Update 1.1.3 brought about even more buffs for Kirby: his dashing speed was slightly improved and various moves saw an increase to their KO potential. Up throw, in particular, saw a substantial increase in knockback, KOing over 30% earlier, although Kirby's other moves only saw minor improvements to their knockback. Update 1.1.4 gave Kirby a miniscule improvement with hard tripping now grants Kirby 5 frames of invincibility. Lastly, update 1.1.5, buffed Kirby's smash attacks and all variations of Hammer Flip by slightly increasing their knockback. As a result, Kirby is noticeably better than he was during Smash 4's initial release, possessing better KO potential, a stronger combo game and having safer specials. However, he is still considered fairly weak, as most of his changes were not substantial and his weaknesses were not properly addressed, resulting in him continuing to struggle against a majority of the cast, especially considering the more substantial improvements other initial low-tiers received, along with the introduction of Bayonetta and Cloud, who both had strong matchups against Kirby.

1.0.4

• Copy abilities whose base character's neutral special was altered by the patch have been altered in the same way.
• Many behaviors, such as Stone and its custom variants and Final Cutter, have been adjusted.

1.0.5

• Fixed a glitch where Kirby could hover after using Silver Bow.

1.0.6

• Sourspotted upward angled forward smash deals less damage (13% → 12%).
• Up smash's clean hit's sweetspots have higher knockback scaling (96 → 102), improving its KO potential.
• Down smash has higher knockback scaling (102 → 108), improving its KO potential.
• Down smash launches opponents at a lower angle (76° → 69°). This makes the move susceptible to LSI, hindering its KO potential with optimal DI.
• Down throw deals more damage (0.4% (hits 1-9)/6.6% (total) → 0.8%/10.2%).
• Inhale has less ending lag (FAF 80 → 78).
• Opponent's are launched higher when swallowed (2.8 → 3), making Kirby less punishable when copying an ability.
• Inhale's visual effects slightly changed. Fiery effects now emit from Kirby after he Inhales explosive items.
• Hammer Flip has less ending lag.
• Kirby moves faster on the ground while charging Hammer Flip.
• Final Cutter has improved visual effects.

1.1.0

• Neutral attack's second hit has increased base knockback (8 → 15), making it connect more reliably into the infinite. Neutral infinite's finisher's start-up lag also decreased.
• Forward throw deals less damage (7% → 5%) with its knockback scaling compensated (100 → 125).
• Forward throw has less ending lag (FAF 62 → 59) and it launches opponents at a higher angle (65° → 75°), improving its combo potential.
• Inhale's start-up (frame 18 → 14) and ending lag decreased (FAF 78 → 73).

1.1.1

• Ice Breath's hitboxes moved forward; its farthest hitbox's size increased: 7u → 7.5u; and its angle altered: 40° → 30°. Altogether, these changes improve its range and spacing potential.
• Aerial Hammer Bash's weight-based knockback increased: 20 → 50.
• Hammer Bash's sourspot now takes priority over the sweetspot.

1.1.3

• Kirby dash speed: 1.50 → 1.57.
• Forward smash clean hit knockback growth: 99 → 100.
• Forward smash late hit knockback growth: 66 → 67.
• Up smash clean hit knockback growth: 102 → 103.
• Up smash mid hit knockback growth: 96 → 97.
• Up smash late hit knockback growth: 50 → 51.
• Down smash knockback growth: 108 → 109.
• Forward aerial knockback growth: 145 → 148.
• Forward aerial hitlag modifier increased: 1.0x → 1.2x, making it safer on shield but easier to DI on the final hit.
• Back aerial clean hit knockback growth: 102 → 104.
• Back aerial late hit knockback growth: 110 → 112.
• Up throw knockback growth: 63 → 74.
• Various knockback growth, hitbox size, and duration increases for Hammer Flip and all of its variants.
• Kirby is slightly heavier: 77 → 79.

1.1.4

• Hard tripping now grants 5 frames of invincibility.
• Fixed the glowing eyes glitch.

1.1.5

• Forward smash knockback growth: 100 → 102 (clean), 67 → 69 (late).
• Up smash knockback growth: 103/103/97 → 104/104/99 (early), 97 → 98, 51 → 52 (late).
• Down smash knockback growth: 109 → 110 (early).
• All variations of Hammer Flip knockback growth: 76 → 78.

Moveset

For a gallery of Kirby's hitboxes, see here.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Vulcan Jab (バルカンジャブ) / Smash Punch (スマッシュパンチ)	2%	A one-two combo. When button mashed, Kirby performs the Vulcan Jab from the Fighter ability before concluding with the Smash Punch, also from the Fighter ability. It is very quick due to coming out on frame 3, and its first two hits have very minimal ending lag. These traits make it effective for jab canceling or as an out of shield option.
			3%
			1% (loop), 2% (last)
Forward tilt			8% (base), 7% (tip)	A spinning roundhouse kick. It is quick, due to coming out on frame 5, and can be angled. The tip of Kirby's foot is a sourspot, but it is out-prioritized by the other hitboxes. It can KO middleweights starting at around 158% at the edge of Final Destination when sweetspotted with rage; this makes it a useful 2-framing option when angled downwards.
Up tilt			5% (clean), 4% (late)	Throws a scorpion kick. Although its damage output is low, it is an extremely useful combo starter at low percents, especially on fast-fallers, due to it coming out on frame 4 and having both minimal ending lag and disjointed range which slightly reaches behind him. It also renders Kirby's foot intangible throughout its duration, which can give him protection above him and allows it to be useful as an anti-air tool despite its rather poor range.
Down tilt			6%	A crouching shin kick. It is fairly spammable due to coming out on frame 4 and having minimal ending lag. When coupled with its tripping potential, it can be a very useful set-up option especially after a crouch, combined with the fact that Kirby's crouch allows him to dodge many attacks with high hitboxes.
Dash attack			1% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6)	The Break Spin from the Yo-yo ability. It is difficult to SDI out of, while its last hit can easily ward off opponents due to it dealing very high base knockback. However, it is punishable due to it coming out on frame 12 and having noticeable ending lag.
Forward smash	↗	Smash Kick (スマッシュキック)	16% (clean), 12% (late)	Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability from Kirby Super Star. Due to becoming active at frame 13, it is disproportionately for a forward smash. It can be angled and moderately moves Kirby forward, giving it deceptively good range. Its clean hitbox also deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth, which makes it a potent KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, it KOs middleweights at 86% and 77%, respectively, while angled upward; at 93% and 83%, respectively, while not angled; and at 100% and 91%, respectively, while angled downward. However, its late hitbox lacks KO potential due to its high base knockback at the expense of very low knockback scaling. A powerful punishing option that is also capable of 2-framing reliably if angled downwards.
	→		15% (clean), 11% (late)
	↘		14% (clean), 10% (late)
Up smash			15%/14% (clean), 14%/12% (mid), 12%/11% (late)	A bicycle kick. It can hit behind Kirby, while its clean hitbox deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth like forward smash. It clean hitbox KOs middleweights at 102% from anywhere on Final Destination in the 3DS version, and at 96% in the Wii U version. Kirby's feet are also rendered intangible throughout its duration, albeit only during its clean hitbox. However, its mid and late hitboxes lack KO potential.
Down smash			14% (clean), 10% (late)	A spinning split kick. It hits in front of and behind Kirby, and its clean hitbox deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth like his forward and up smashes. Its clean hitbox KOs middleweights at 113% from anywhere on Final Destination in the 3DS version and at 106% in the Wii U version. It also renders Kirby's feet intangible albeit only during its clean hitbox. However, its late hitbox has significantly lower KO potential.
Neutral aerial		Twinkle Star (ティンクルスター)	10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (mid-to-late), 4% (late)	A cartwheel that also appears in the Smash Bros. ability. Its very low landing lag makes it a decent set-up option at low percents or a tool for shield pressure when short hopped, while its high knockback growth makes it a decent anti-pressure and out of shield option. The clean hitbox can KO middleweights at around 121% while nearing the left/right blast lines. However, it has the highest amount of ending lag out of Kirby's aerials. It has the properties of a sex kick, and due to coming out on frame 8, it has the second fastest startup of Kirby's aerials, although this also makes it slower in comparison to other sex kicks.
Forward aerial			4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3)	A series of multiple forward kicks. The first two hits have low knockback, which allows them to connect reliably with the third hit. Its low landing lag also allows the first or second hit to be used as set-up options into other moves, such as an up smash or forward smash at high percents. A versatile aerial that is good for combos and edgeguarding, it is capable of connecting into itself for a wall of pain in certain instances. The third hit has enough knockback to KO middleweights near the edge of Final Destination at around 140% without rage, making it fairly efficient for edgeguarding despite its average knockback. It can also be used as an out-of-shield option if Kirby is too far away to hit the opponent with neutral aerial or up aerial instead.
Back aerial			13% (clean), 8% (late)	A double-footed reversed dropkick. It functions as a sex kick, but also has the lowest amount of start-up lag out of Kirby's aerials, due to it coming out on frame 6. Its clean hitbox also deals the most damage out of his aerials, and possesses very high knockback growth, which make it a viable KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination, its clean hitbox KOs middleweights at 115% in the 3DS version, and at 105% in the Wii U version. It also boasts good range due to its slightly disjointed hitbox, which makes it a viable edge-guarding option, and allows it to partake in a wall of pain.
Up aerial			9%	An aerial bicycle kick similar to his up smash. A very useful juggling option, it can also be used for continuing a combo due to its low landing lag. Comes out on frame 10, tied with neutral aerial for possessing the second lowest startup of Kirby's aerials.It can also be useful for continuing a combo due to its low landing lag. Can be useful as an out-of-shield option if the opponent has a large enough hurtbox. Due to its decent damage and knockback, it is strong enough to KO middeweights at around 171% on Final Destination on grounded levels with rage, making it a useful KO option after a full hop, or above platforms.
Down aerial			1% (hits 1-5), 2% (hit 6), 2% (landing)	A diagonal corkscrew dropkick. An effective combo starter on grounded opponents and, due to the last hit being a weak meteor smash, it is a useful edge-guarding option, especially since its low ending lag makes it relatively safe for usage off-stage. It can even lead into a footstool jump on fast-fallers and heavyweights. The last hit can also gimp characters with short recoveries. It can even lead into a footstool jump on fast-fallers and heavyweights. While it has the highest amount of start-up lag out of Kirby's aerials and of his moveset due to coming out on frame 18, and not auto-canceling in a short hop, it can be auto-canceled on landing, giving Kirby a decent window to safely land while tumbling. While possessing a rather good auto-canceling window, and being good for edgeguarding, its usage offstage is only serviceable against characters with slow or exploitable recoveries, as the final hit cannot reliably KO characters even as high as 180% offstage.
Grab			—	Reaches out. An extremely quick grab, although it has relatively short range. Kirby's throws are based on attacks used by the Backdrop, Suplex and Ninja abilities.
Pummel			1.55%	A series of multiple punches. While its damage output is unimpressive, this is offset by its excellent speed, as it is tied with Lucas, Ness, and Fox's pummels for the third-fastest in the game.
Forward throw			5%	The Rock Drop from the Suplex ability. Unlike the majority of forward throws, it possesses combo potential. Its most reliable follow-ups are neutral, forward and down aerials at low percents, and up aerial and Final Cutter at medium percents.
Back throw			8%	A back throw resembling the backwards dive from the Backdrop ability from Kirby's Adventure. Despite possessing an average damage output and very low base knockback, it has very high knockback growth. As a result, it has KO potential, yet can also combo into back aerial on certain characters at very low percents. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at 160% in the 3DS version, and at 150% in the Wii U version.
Up throw		Air Drop (いずな落とし, Izuna Drop)	10%	The Air Drop from the Ninja ability from Kirby Super Star. As of update 1.1.3, it is Kirby's strongest throw, and thus his most reliable one for KOing. It KOs middleweights at 158% from anywhere on Final Destination in the 3DS version, and at 150% in the Wii U version. Because Kirby jumps up to perform it, he can land onto platforms above him upon descending, which enables it to KO even earlier.
Down throw			0.8% (hits 1-9), 1% (hit 10), 2% (throw)	The Fury Stomp from the Suplex ability from Kirby Super Star. It is Kirby's most damaging throw at 12%, which makes it useful for damage-racking when his other throws cannot do so. It can also damage nearby opponents. Due to its high knockback and unfavorable angle in comparison to other down throws, it launches too high for followups, so it is his most situational throw. However, it has enough knockback to KO middleweights at around 200% on Final Destination if Kirby has no rage, so it can be used as a situational KO option, but only on certain high platforms. On the top platform of Battlefield, it will KO middleweights at around 170-175% without rage.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			7%	Performs a spinning kick before getting up.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			7%	Sweep kicks on both sides in a circle before getting up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	The Break Spin from the yo-yo ability from Kirby Super Star.
Edge attack Edge getups			7%	Performs a cartwheeling kick while climbing up. It has surprisingly good range compared to several other characters' edge attacks.
Neutral special	Default	Inhale	10% (swallow), 6% (spit)	Inhales the opponent. It has a grabbox and can be held indefinitely. Upon Inhaling an opponent, Kirby can spit them out as a star to deal damage to them and any nearby opponents (star damage varies based on the inhaled character’s weight), copy their neutral special move, or walk around slowly and/or perform a short hop. However, the opponent can escape from Kirby's mouth via button mashing. Kirby must wait roughly a second before he can inhale the same person again. Some characters will give Kirby a slight variation of their neutral special due to mechanics that would not work properly when copied, such as Luma Shot and Pikmin Pluck.
	Custom 1	Ice Breath	2.4% (nearest), 1.2% (near), 2.4% (far), 6% (farthest)	The attack of the same name from the Ice ability. It hits multiple times and can briefly freeze the opponent, which makes it very useful spacing and edge-guarding. However, Kirby is incapable of Inhaling.
	Custom 2	Jumping Inhale	8% (swallow), 13% (spit)	Jumps forward before Inhaling the opponent, which can allow it to function as a horizontal recovering option, comparatively like Lick. Its spit also deals more damage. However, its swallow deals less damage, the spit will not deal damage to nearby opponents (but will knock them away), and using it to Kirbycide will typically cause a Sudden Death. It also lacks the vacuum hitboxes outside of Kirby's mouth.
Side special	Default	Hammer Flip	19% (grounded uncharged), 15% (aerial uncharged), 35% (grounded fully charged), 27% (aerial fully charged)	The attack of the same name from the Hammer ability. It is chargeable and, when fully charged, Kirby's hammer will ignite and deal recoil damage. He can also slowly walk and jump while charging it, while a fully charged Hammer Flip briefly grants him 6% armor during part of the swing. When it is used in midair, Kirby will swing his hammer twice. While near the edge of Final Destination, uncharged Hammer Flip KOs middleweights at 92% and 82% in the 3DS and Wii U versions, respectively. Fully charged Hammer Flip KOs middleweights at 17% and 10% in the 3DS and Wii U versions, respectively. Although weaker, aerial Hammer Flip nevertheless possesses KO potential. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at 128% and 115% in the 3DS and Wii U versions, respectively. Its fully charged version KOs them at 44% and 36% in the 3DS and Wii U versions, respectively.
	Custom 1	Hammer Bash	21% (grounded head), 18% (grounded handle), 4% (aerial hit 1), 17% (aerial hit 2 head), 15% (aerial hit 2 handle)	The hammer deals slightly more damage, launching opponents at somewhat lower percents and at a more vertical angle, but it cannot be charged, which makes it function almost identically like it did in Brawl or when grounded in Melee. The first aerial swing is much weaker, but can combo into the second swing easier. While near the edge of Final Destination in the 3DS version, grounded Hammer Bash's head hitbox KOs middleweights at 87%, whereas its aerial version's head hitbox KOs them at 105%. Using it in midair also causes Kirby to slightly stall his descent, which improves his recovery. This quirk can also allow Kirby to reach the top of Palutena's Temple from its bottom platform after copying Monado Arts and activating Jump. However, the hammer has a sweetspot and a sourspot, which makes its KO potential slightly less consistent.
	Custom 2	Giant Hammer	22% (grounded uncharged), 20% (aerial uncharged), 40% (grounded fully charged), 32% (aerial fully charged)	Wields a massive hammer that is slightly stronger and grants unbreakable armor while charging once the hammer starts to glow, but has much higher start-up and ending lag. While near the edge of Final Destination in the 3DS version, uncharged grounded Giant Hammer KOs middleweights at 76%, whereas its uncharged aerial version KOs them at 90%. Fully charged grounded Giant Hammer KOs middleweights at 7%, whereas its fully charged aerial version KOs them at 29%.
Up special	Default	Final Cutter	5% (ascent), 2% (descent), 5% (landing), 6% (shockwave)	The attack of the same name from the Cutter ability. It can meteor smash opponents he comes into contact with upon descending. The sword also emits a shockwave upon hitting a solid surface, which is Kirby's only projectile aside from spitting out an Inhaled opponent. It does cover a decent amount of vertical distance. However, it is extremely predictable due to its high startup lag. Kirby also has poor horizontal mobility while using the move, there is a decent period of time where Kirby is rising without a hitbox and Kirby cannot sweetspot the edge until he starts to descend, all of which make it a rather exploitable recovery move. It can be used for edgeguarding, but its slow mobility limits its usage in this area, as well as limiting its utility in other scenarios. If a platform beneath Kirby disappears or if he is pushed off while he is still in the landing animation, he will be rendered helpless.
	Custom 1	Wave Cutter	15% (blade), 10% (projectile), 5% (Kirby)	When Kirby lands, he produces a shockwave with rocks flying outward. Kirby ascends quicker and he remains in the air for longer before dropping, making it a better recovery move. The move does not have any hitboxes until Kirby lands, however, although the landing hit and the rock shockwave are fairly strong. The rock-shovewave is very large and its power overall makes it more effective than Final Cutter's wave, although the move does have more landing lag.
	Custom 2	Upper Cutter	10%	Kirby only performs an ascending upwards slash and then enters free-fall. Kirby ascends very quickly, Kirby can grab ledges during the ascent if he is facing the ledge and he keeps his horizontal momentum once he enters free-fall. This makes the move a much better recovery move than Final Cutter. The move also has a very effective hitbox. The move comes out on frame 6 and it has great range. The move is also fairly strong, being capable of KOing Mario under 160% in the middle of Final Destination (without DI). The move does begin with a 60° angle, making it quite susceptible to DI however, the move gains a more vertical angle as Kirby ascends, with the move having a very favorable 80° angle at the top of the ascent, making it stronger and less susceptible to DI. The very fast startup, the great range and the solid power give Upper Cutter a lot of utility which Kirby lacks without it, giving him a better out of shield game, as well as giving him an additional combo ender that can even lead into KO confirms he lacks without Upper Cutter. While it does lack the falling hit Final Cutter has, Upper Cutter is overall a far superior move, being a much better recovering move and having a lot more utility in other areas, filling up holes Kirby had in his game plan with his default moveset. It is overall a clear replacement for Final Cutter and it is most likely Kirby's most valuable custom move in his kit.
Down special	Default	Stone	18% (impact), 14% (shockwave)	The Stone Change (while Kirby is on the ground) and the Stone Smash (while Kirby is in the air) from the Stone ability. Thanks to its high damage output and knockback, Stone Smash KOs middleweights at 108% and deals considerable shield damage. It can also be canceled in midair by pressing the special button, which can be used for mindgames. Although Stone Change only emits the shockwave and is thus slightly weaker, it is a semi-spike. Kirby cannot be damaged while he is transformed, although should he absorb ~25% total damage (slightly more in mid-air), the deciding hit will launch him out of his Stone form, inflicting half its normal damage. He can also be grabbed while transformed.
	Custom 1	Grounding Stone	10% (impact on grounded opponents), 12% (impact on aerial opponents), 6% (shockwave)	Takes less time to revert to Kirby's traditional appearance and buries grounded opponents on contact. However, it deals less damage, takes longer to transform, Stone Smash cannot KO grounded opponents, and Stone Change's semi-spike is much weaker. Can absorb ~14% damage.
	Custom 2	Meteor Stone	12% (clean), 10% (mid), 8% (late)	Takes less time to transform and meteor smashes opponents. However, it deals less damage and takes longer to revert to normal, which makes it much riskier to use off-stage. If performed on the ground, Kirby will be popped upward a small distance. Can absorb ~18%.
Final Smash		Ultra Sword	3% (stun), 5% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-9), 16% (hit 10)	The Super Ability of the same name. Kirby wields a gigantic sword to repeatedly slash the opponent before enlarging the sword and then concluding with a powerful downward-arcing slash. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at 31% in the 3DS version.

Stats

Stats	Weight	Dash speed	Walk speed	Traction	Air friction	Air speed	Air acceleration	Gravity	Falling speed	Jumpsquat	Jump height	Double jump height
Value	79	1.5 – Initial dash 1.57 – Run	0.93	0.0493	0.015	0.8	0.03 – Base 0.065 – Additional	0.06405	1.23 – Base 1.968 – Fast-fall	4	25.368114 - Base 12.241816 - Short hop	21.04669712, 18.50584782, 15.9203607, 13.3388484, 10.81397463

Announcer call

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• English/Japanese/Chinese

On-screen appearance

• Rides on a Warp Star and crashes it onto the stage.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Shuffles to one side, then shuffles to the opposite side before spinning and then holding his arm up. It is almost identical to one of his victory dances in his home series.
• Side taunt: Spins repeatedly, then stops to balance on a single leg and extend his right arm and say "Eeu!" It is almost identical to his "character selection" animation in SSB.
• Down taunt: Leans inward to face the screen and waves his arms while saying "Hi!"

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Hops to look offscreen at the other side, then hops back into his default position.
• Briefly nods off, then shakes his head and wakes up.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Kir - by!	Ka - a - bii!
Pitch	Group chant	Female

Victory poses

The victory theme of the Kirby universe is a cover of the short recurring theme that plays when Kirby completes a stage or defeats a boss, debuting in Kirby's Dream Land, though the shortened version that this track is based on debuted in Kirby's Adventure.

• Spins to turn his back to the screen and then briefly wiggles, does a front flip to face the screen, and then fist pumps victoriously.
• Skids to the right, spins and then fist pumps victoriously.
• Brings his arms down twice, performs a cartwheel, and then fist pumps victoriously.

In competitive play

Tier placement and history

Due to the considerable nerfs Kirby received in his transition from Brawl to Smash 4, he has typically been considered a non-viable character within SSB4's metagame, even despite the game's updates receiving noticeable improvements to him. This has been due to his only success occurring at local tournaments, whereas his results at regional and national tournaments have been very sparse. Several smashers also notified Kirby's overall poor matchup spread against characters with large disjoints, and strong/good KO power (Cloud and Mr. Game & Watch being primary examples) as well as zoning characters with effective projectiles (Pac-Man, Mega Man, Toon Link and Villager being good examples) are able to easily outperform him. These aspects culminated with Kirby being placed at 33rd on the first tier list as the 2nd highest low-tier character.

Kirby did not fare well after the next updates, as characters like Marth, Lucina, Duck Hunt, Shulk, Link and Mewtwo who were initially considered to be worse than Kirby proved to not only become better than him, but proved to be very troublesome matchups as well due to them possessing excellent tools to prevent Kirby from approaching. The inclusion of DLC characters, especially Bayonetta and Corrin, also impaired him due to proving themselves to be tough matchups for Kirby. This resulted in Kirby's scarce results to become even worse than before.

Kirby would then drop to 41st on the second tier list, and eventually to 47th on the third tier list, with the latter drop being tied with Pit and Yoshi's for the second-largest between the second and third tier lists. However, Komota later scored an upset by defeating Ally at Frostbite 2017 and placing 33rd at said tournament. Due to this, his ranking on the tier list has been widely debated, with some players believing he should be placed slightly higher due to niche matchups against much higher-tiered characters, such as Zero Suit Samus and Fox. However, due to his continually sparse results after Frostbite 2017, Kirby has since dropped to 49th on the fourth and final tier list.

Since then, Kirby has failed to make a significant impact at tournaments as he has little tournament representation outside of Komota who never places high at supermajors. Meanwhile, characters lower than Kirby have all performed much higher with ZAKI getting 17th at Smash 'N' Splash 4 and 2GG: Hyrule Saga while defeating MKLeo and Rags; Onpu and Rizeasu performing very well in Japan with the former taking WaDi to game 3 as Zelda; Pon, Gungnir and Rickles performing work with Ganondorf in their regions with Pon beating Ally, Gungnir getting 17th at Umebura Japan Major 2017 while defeating Taiheita and Earth; and Captain L using Jigglypuff as an effective secondary taking sets off of Larry Lurr, BestNess, John Numbers Blank, Strike, Pandarian and even took ESAM to game 5 with the character.

Due to Kirby's meager tournament results and his glaring weaknesses, some smashers claim that he should be even lower due to his overwhelming weaknesses with ESAM ranking him as the 3rd-worst character in the game, ranking him below King Dedede, Wii Fit Trainer, Zelda and even below Jigglypuff, who is widely considered to be the worst character in the game, as well as Raito and Dabuz claiming that he is the absolute worst character in the game instead. The other players, however, think that he is underrated and that he should be ranked relatively higher due to his excellent combo game, good KO power and great edgeguarding.

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character	Custom sets available
Kirby	3231	3232	3233	1231	1131
	3133	3131	2231	3221	3331

Most historically significant players

See also: Category:Kirby players (SSB4)

•  Jesuischoq - The best Kirby player in Europe. Placed 13th at talent.io, as well as 25th at Deflagration and Respawn 6. Formerly ranked 24th in the French Power Rankings and currently ranked 6th on the Strasbourg Power Rankings.
•  K.I.D.Goggles - Co-mained Kirby and Sonic. Placed 9th at Pound 2016 and Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, and 25th at Get On My Level 2016 and UGC Smash Open. Ranked 6th on the Upstate New York Power Rankings.
•  Komota - Placed 25th at Midwest Mayhem 8: North American Tour and 33rd at Frostbite 2017. Was formerly ranked 11th on the Michigan Power Rankings. Has wins over Ally and Darkshad.
•  MikeKirby - Considered to be the best Kirby player in the world. Placed 5th at KTAR XIV; 9th at KTAR XI; 13th at Glitch; and 49th at Apex 2015. Formerly ranked 10th on the New York City Power Rankings.
•  Poyo - Placed 33rd at CEO Dreamland and The Big House 7; 49th at Shine 2017; and consistently achieved high placings at Smash @ Xanadu tournaments. Formerly ranked 7th on the Kansas Power Rankings.
•  SmashG0D - Placed 13th at Olympus, 17th at Super Smash Con 2015, 25th at Glitch, and 49th at Pound 2016 before switching to Corrin.
•  Uto - The best Kirby player in Japan. Placed 5th at Meikobura 2017 and 25th at Super Sumabato. Has taken sets off players such as Ri-ma, Gungnir, DIO, Compact, Tsumusuto, and Take.

Trophies

3DS Classic Mode trophy

Wii U Classic Mode trophy

Kirby

Round little Kirby lives on the peaceful Planet Popstar, in Dream Land. He can inhale things with his big mouth, either copying their abilities or spitting them out again. In Smash Bros., Kirby can inhale opponents and copy their standard specials. He gets launched easily but recovers well.

Pudgy, little Kirby lives in the peaceful hills of Dream Land on the Planet Popstar. He can inhale things with his big mouth, either copying their abilities or spitting them out again. In Smash Bros., Kirby can inhale opponents and copy their standard specials. He gets launched easily but recovers well.

: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)

: Kirby Super Star (08/1996)

A roly-poly little fella from Dream Land on Planet Popstar. He can inhale pretty much anyone or anything with that big gob of his, then spit them out or copy their abilities. He can copy opponents' standard specials in this game, too! His light weight means he gets launched easily, but with a series of mid-air jumps, recovering's not too tricky.

: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)

: Kirby's Fun Pak (01/1997)

3DS All-Star Mode trophy

Wii U alternate trophy

Kirby (Alt.)

Holding the special button and left or right will charge up Kirby's Hammer Flip attack. Charging too long hurts Kirby! The hammer strikes twice in the air, but landing the single blow on the ground is more powerful. Kirby's up special Final Cutter slices up and down, firing a shock wave upon landing.

: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)

: Kirby Super Star (08/1996)

Charge up Kirby's Hammer side special to unleash Hammer Flip, a move with serious launch power. Charge it too much, though, and you'll get hurt! The move hits twice in mid-air, but does more damage on the ground. Final Cutter slices up and down before sending out an energy wave. Move Kirby mid-jump to change where he lands.

: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)

: Kirby's Fun Pak (01/1997)

Ultra Sword trophy

Ultra Sword

For Kirby's Final Smash, he swings a sword that's waaay bigger than he is. If the first swing hits, he'll keep going with a combo of lightning-fast slices, dealing tons of damage. For the last swing, the sword grows even larger and launches any victims. Make sure that first swing hits, though, or nothing else will happen!

For Kirby's Final Smash, he swings around a sword that's waaay bigger than he is. If the first swing hits, he'll keep going with a combo of lightning-fast slices, dealing tons of damage. For the last swing, the sword grows even larger and launches its target. It's great, so make sure that first swing hits, or none of the rest will happen!

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• All-Star Battle: Regulars: Kirby is among the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents are the eight starter characters of the "perfect-attendance crew" from SSB.
• Kirby's Crazy Appetite: Kirby must heal by eating food on the stage while three King Dededes try to hinder his progress. After some time, two more King Dededes will appear. Kirby will be at 100% on Easy, 125% on Normal and 140% on Hard, while the King Dededes will be at 50% on Easy/Normal and 0% on Hard.

Co-op Events

• A Fairy Nice Trip: Link and Pac-Man must survive against four Kirbys until reaching Fairy Land.
• Food Fight: A damaged Kirby and King Dedede must defeat Wario, Yoshi, and Pac-Man.
• Getting Healthy: Wii Fit Trainer and Little Mac must defeat Kirby and Pac-Man.
• The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
• Viral Visitors: Dr. Mario and Peach must defeat four Kirbys.
• Visiting Onett: Ness and Villager must defeat Kirby, Meta Knight, Fox, Falco, Olimar and Rosalina & Luma. All opponents are outer space-based characters.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Kirby in the Nintendo Direct from April 8th, 2014.

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  Kirby's Amiibo.

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  Kirby's appearance during E3 2013.

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  Kirby teetering in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

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  Using Final Cutter.

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  Using Hammer Flip on Bowser.

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  Using his down aerial on Fox in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

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  Using Final Cutter on Mario.

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  Using his neutral infinite on Mario.

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  Using Hammer Flip while in midair.

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  Kirby getting meteor smashed by Mario's forward aerial.

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  Kirby taunting alongside Toon Link and Pikachu.

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  Crouching while Sonic uses his neutral attack on Fox.

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  Kirby fighting Mario, Samus and Toon Link.

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  Taunting alongside Mario and Luigi.

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  Alongside Pikachu.

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  Crouching under Samus' Missile alongside Mario.

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  Kirby being hit by Villager's down aerial.

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  With King Dedede on Boxing Ring.

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  Using his side taunt alongside Wii Fit Trainer's forward tilt.

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  Jumping above Luigi's Green Missile while near a Smash Ball.

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  Kirby wearing an Ability Hat he copied from Charizard.

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  Charging Hammer Flip.

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  Riding Dragoon.

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  One of Kirby's new alternate costumes alongside Charizard and Meta Knight.

Trivia

• Kirby cannot copy custom moves. However, his custom side special affects his Olimar Copy Ability, as the attack changes to match the variant of Pikmin Throw.
• Based on unused animations discovered via hacking, the ability to charge Kirby's Hammer appears to have originally been intended for Brawl.
• Kirby has unused voice clips for all of Palutena's neutral specials, suggesting that at one point in development he was planned to be able to copy Palutena's custom moves, or that Palutena's default neutral special move was undecided.
• SSB4 is the only game in the series where Kirby's dash attack hasn't been changed, as his break spin attack from Brawl was retained.
  • In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it would revert back to his prior burning attack from Super Smash Bros. Melee.
• At a total of 80, Kirby has the most sound-clips out of all characters in SSB4, with his amount of clips being rivaled only by the Announcer.
• Kirby's alt. trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS has his gray alternate costume with blue eyes instead of gray eyes.
• Kirby's blue alternate costume depicts the interior of mouth as retaining its normal coloration on the character selection screen and during his normal expressions. However, it appears blue while Inhaling.
• Kirby's screen KO resembles his screen KO in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. His pose in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS more closely resembles his face's position in that game, whereas his facial expression in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U more closely resembles his expression in that game.
• A glitch existed where if Kirby copied either Mr. Game & Watch, Donkey Kong, Falco, or Wii Fit Trainer, broke the Smash Ball, and performed a down taunt while in standby, his eyes would no longer glow. Interestingly, if Kirby copied the ability again after using the Final Smash or self-destructing (excluding Mr. Game & Watch), his eyes would be glowing. This was fixed in update 1.1.4.
• During the development of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Kirby lacked different expressions in all aspects.
• One of Kirby's official artwork poses in Kirby: Planet Robobot is almost identical to his official artwork pose from SSB4, with the only differences being his Robobot Armor helmet and a closed smile.
• When Kirby performs any of his side special moves off-screen and is shown in the magnifying glass, Kirby's normal motion will be seen, but his hammer will not.