King Dedede (SSBB)

This article is about King Dedede's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see King Dedede.

King Dedede
King Dedede
Universe	Kirby
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Starter

King Dedede (デデデ, Dédédé: Dedede) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. King Dedede is a recurring villain in the Kirby series. He is an anthropomorphic blue penguin whose main weapon is his massive wooden mallet, which has now been mechanized. King Dedede has been classified as a "heavyweight", alongside Bowser and Donkey Kong; however, he is capable of puffing up for multiple jumps, like Kirby and Jigglypuff. He was confirmed on October 25, 2007 on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! site.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Forward Smash is one of the most powerful non-special moves in the game. It can kill most characters when they are at 50%.
• Down throw can lead to Tech-chase chainthrows that are impossible to escape for some characters.
• Many high-knockback long ranged moves.
• Four mid-air jumps
• Overall hard to knockout, since he is heavy he can't be knocked out off the top easily, his 4 mid-air jumps make it hard to K.O. him horizontally, and the Super Dedede Jump prevents bottom K.O.s
• Good Projectiles that stay on the stage and can absorb other projectiles. Chance of higher powered projectiles is fairly high. Except for Gordos, they cannot properly be reflected either. Waddle Doos do an attack on the ground that can do 27 damage if the full shock attack (similar to Pikachu's forward smash) hits.
• Even if the hammer from the foward smash doesn't make actual contact with the opponent, slighter damage and knockback can still be done as long as the opponent is close to the end of the hammer, somewhat like a small shockwave.
• Short-hopped aerials can have a devastating effect and are not nearly as slow as smash attacks. (Slightly slower than tilts)
• Can Infinite Combo against walls with Down throw.
• Like Kirby, Dedede's inhale can also suck in and swallow items.
• Side special may produce an item, most commonly a capsule, instead of a Waddle Dee, Waddle Doo, or Gordo, but it is fairly uncommon.
• One of few characters who has a running attack with deadly Knockback.
• Up-B can Meteor Smash opponents who attempt to air combo and has Super Armor frames during ascent.
• Great for fighting other heavyweights, due to his long, disjointed hitbox, extra jumps and long range projectile, most of which all the other heavyweight characters lack.

Cons

• Very Slow (Tied with Zelda as the 3rd slowest dash speed in the game)
• Large size makes him an easy target.
• Up-B is difficult to control, and often leaves room for over- or under-estimating the distance to a ledge, canceling results in Helplessness or accidental suicide.
• Up-B's can only recover at certain angles. You cannot auto-sweetspot the ledge unless you cancel in midair.
• Even at high percentages, opponents can break out of his Inhale quite easily, making Dededecide difficult.
• Easy to combo
• Easily juggled
• Predictable recovery
• A lot of lag on hammer-based attacks. (except for tilts)
• Running attack has a lot of lag before and after the attack
• If Up-B is canceled close to the ground, The landing lag is extremely large and easily can be taken advantage.
• Using and holding Down-B makes Dedede vulnerable until the attack is released.
• Charging Down-B slowly damages Dedede (after a certain amount of time) until released.
• Crouching gives him almost no vertical height reduction.
• If Up-B hits a ceiling it will automatically cancel and put Dedede into his helpless state.

Role in Subspace Emissary

It is revealed on the Dojo that Dedede was involved in helping the takeover of the battleship Halberd by the Subspace Army. During this time, Dedede learns of Tabuu's Off Waves and spends the rest of the story you see him in preparing for them.

The first time King Dedede is shown, he uses his Waddle Dees to ambush an unsuspecting and cowardly Luigi and turn him into a trophy. Then, as Wario approaches on his Cargo carrying two trophies (the princess that you didn't save from the Arena and Ness), he tries to take the new Luigi trophy and is suddenly ambushed by a herd of Waddle Dees who throw Luigi into the sled. King Dedede then steals the sled with the trophies in tow. Later, King Dedede rides past Mario, Link, Pit and Yoshi. King Dedede originally tries to steal Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi as trophies, but Kirby rescues them and King Dedede rides off, trying to escape them. Seeing that King Dedede has apparently kidnapped their friends, the party gives chase to King Dedede's hiding place; his castle.

Once inside, King Dedede is seen treating the trophies with surprising kindness. He takes out 2 badges with his likeness on them and places them on Luigi and Ness. However, he realizes that he does not have one to give to the Princess, so he sadly places the one he was wearing on her. The badges' effects are not immediately seen, which may be confusing to some viewers (One might be lead to believe that he may have done this simply to mark them as his property). As King Dedede looks proudly at his trophies, Bowser and his minions break open the ceiling. The falling debris knocks King Dedede out cold and buries him, Ness and Luigi under rubble. Shortly afterwards, two R.O.B.s arm and detonate a Subspace bomb outside of the castle, trapping King Dedede and his friends in Subspace.

Eventually, Luigi and Ness are revived thanks to the Dedede Badges. Ness makes the connection that King Dedede was the one who created the caps and therefore revived them, so he revives the King. Glad to see that they are okay, and that they revived him, King Dedede sets out with his two companions to save everyone from Subspace. Eventually they encounter Bowser's trophy, and King Dedede revives Bowser, but the Koopa King attacks him. King Dedede fights him alone and wins the fight, then revives Bowser again, but when Bowser tries to attack again, King Dedede stops him by batting the Koopa's nose. He then points out the Master Hand lying on the ground and the staircase leading upward, telling him that they should fight Tabuu instead of each other. King Dedede also finds his rival, Kirby, but is actually happy to see him alive (giving him a big hug when he sees him, then dragging him off to Tabuu's residence). While King Dedede is walking up a staircase, Wario attacks him (probably payback for stealing his ride). However, Wario backs off when he realises that Luigi and Ness can aid King Dedede, outnumbering Wario. Wario casually joins the group after they show him where Tabuu is.

Event Matches

Event 1: Two Trouble Kings - The player plays as Mario and faces the team of Bowser and King Dedede in single player and alongside Kirby in co-op. Matches Events

Standard Moves

Ground Attacks

• Dash Normal Attack - Trips and belly-flops forward, like he does in several Kirby games. A little slow, but deals a large amount of damage and has a long range.
• Neutral Normal - Two swipes with the hammer, then extends it and spins. Can deal a large amount of damage, but the spinning part is fairly easily DI'ed out of. If the A button is held during the spinning part, the spin can be held indefinitely.
• Forward Tilt - Extends his hammer forward and spins it. Similar to the third part of his Neutral A combo, but goes further and has slightly higher knockback and damage per hit, though fewer hits.
• Down Tilt - King Dedede lies on his side while crouching, with his head in the direction he is facing and his legs pointing behind him. When he down tilts, he extends just one of his legs and spins horizontally, sweeping with it.
• Up Tilt - Sets his hammer on the ground momentarily and jumps a little upwards, headbutting. Strong, quick attack. It has better knockback than his Up Smash.
• Forward Smash - Swings his hammer over his head at the ground in front of him. Extremely slow, but very powerful.
• Down Smash - Pulls back the hammer and charges it, then swings horizontally along the ground. Fairly quick, and launches upwards.
• Up Smash - Pulls back the hammer to charge, then swings vertically upwards from in front of him. Fairly slow but high damage

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Bellyflop. Sticks his arms out and legs back, attacking with his large stomach. Long duration, but fairly slow, not a lot of knockback, and a lot of landing lag.
• Forward Aerial - Swings hammer upwards in front of him. A little slow and hard to hit with, but a very solid hit.
• Back Aerial - Sticks a leg out behind him, then kicks with it a little. Long duration and good knockback and damage.
• Up Aerial - Sticks his hammer above him and spins it. Multiple hits, good for racking up damage.
• Down Aerial - Similar to his Up Aerial, just below him.

Grabs and Throws

• Down Throw - Slams opponent on ground and sits on top of them. Great for chain grabs.
• Forward Throw - Hits opponent with hammer.
• Back Throw - Hits opponent with hammer behind himself.
• Up Throw - Hits opponent upward by sticking both his hands upward.
• Pummel - Lays his hammer on the ground and headbutts them.

Stickers

Power up his hammer attacks with [Battering] and [Weapon] Damage boosts. Due to the large amount of lag behind several of his attacks, give Dedede a large Flinch Resistance powerup to decrease the chances of his attacks being interrupted.

Exclusive Stickers

The following stickers can only be used by a few characters including Dedede:

• Cell Phone: [Slash] Resistance + 4
• Dyna Blade: Launch Resistance +46
• Gordo: [Throwing] Attack + 5
• Hot Head: [Flame] Attack +10
• King Dedede & Kirby: [Specials: Direct] Attack +21
• King Dedede (Kirby Super Star): [Leg] Attack +28
• Kirby (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards): [Body, Spin] Attack +22
• Kirby (Kirby Air Ride): [Arm, Leg] Attack +17
• Maxim Tomato: Maxim Tomato Effect +50
• Meta Knight Ball: Launch Power + 8
• Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack + 5
• Starman (Kirby: Squeak Squad): Launch Power +33
• Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack + 4
• King Dedede (Kirby: Squeak Squad): [Throwing] Attack +30

Special Movements

Taunts

Up: Spins his hammer above his head.

Side: Spins his hammer at body level.

Down: Dances in a circle while drumming on his belly.

On-Screen Appearance

Gets carted in by four Waddle Dees, who disappear when King Dedede jumps off.

Victory Pose

• Pats his belly while a Waddle Dee stands in front of him
• Spins his hammer
• Slams his hammer down on his left side, does the same with his right

Wii Remote Choice

Laughs.

Strategies & Tips

• Never c-stick except for his down smash, charge Dedede's smashes so that they are timed correctly as a missed smash attack leaves Dedede VERY open
• Waddle Dee Toss should be used often, it is a great distraction technique because your opponents to have to deal with the Waddle Dees on the field. It is also a projectile that cannot be reflected properly, and there is a fairly high chance of pulling a Gordo, which flies in a different arc and can KO at fairly low percentages.
• Waddle Dees can be used defensively, as a Waddle Dee can absorb the blow from almost any other projectile attack in the game. They also prevent many attacks being used as approaches, like Captain Falcon's Raptor Boost, Ganondorf's Flame Choke, and Ike's Quick Draw.
• Do not underestimate the usefullness of Dedede's Inhale, when used correctly it can disrupt opponent's combos, open up several aerial combos, and Dededecides. A key moment to use the dededecide is when an opponent is attempting to edgeguard, and you are above. However, a skilled opponent should know how to escape it (rapidly moving the joystick will quickly escape at any percentage).
• Dedede's Down Throw can chain-grab against all but the lightest characters. To do this, grab and down throw, and immediately chase the opponent. Use a running Shield-Grab to re-grab them. Due to the fact that the Down Throw has low knockback and does not knock over and Dedede has a huge grab range, this will allow for another grab almost all of the time if done correctly. Beware lighter characters, however, as they are knocked over, and thus can tech-roll away and have enough time to attack you before your grab can go off. If you chain throw your opponent entirely off of the stage, a Forward Tilt can be used to get some extra damage in.
• Dedede has one of the most powerful defensive games. He has a large grab range, an un-reflectable projectile that also absorbs other projectiles, and long (disjointed) range on many of his hammer attacks, especially the Jab, Downsmash, and Forward Tilt. Take advantage of this to force your opponent to approach you, then punish his approach with a shield-grab, Forward Tilt, or Jab Combo. Shield grab is the best of these options, as it allows you to chainthrow across the level, racking up a good amount of damage and setting up for an edgeguard.
• Dedede has an excellent recovery if used properly. Always make sure you start his Up B far enough away from the stage not to get caught under the lip, but close enough to get back on the stage. It has massive vertical height, however, so do not worry about sinking too low on the level, as long as you stay above the blast line. Also, make sure Dedede is moving forward when you start his Up B, or there will be no Horizontal movement. Multiple jumps, heavy weight, and a good Up B make it very difficult to KO Dedede.
• When it comes to killing, Dedede's best options are his Back Aerial, his Down Smash, and his Up Tilt. These moves are fast and have high power. Dedede's Forward Smash can KO at very low percentages, but is very difficult to pull off, so use it sparingly. Gordo is also a powerful method of KO, but not a reliable one due to its random appearance.

Trivia

• When Dedede gets a Hammer or Golden Hammer, he swings both his own hammer, and the Hammer/Golden Hammer together, alternating swings for each hammer.
• Dedede's role in the Subspace Emissary, appearing to be evil at first but turning out to have good intentions in the end, is very similar to his role in other Kirby games.
• In the last DOJO update, it is revealed that Dedede's voice acting is provided by none other than Masahiro Sakurai himself.
• Dedede has made a cameo in SSB, seen flying in the back of Dream Land.

External links

• King Dedede's page at Smash Bros. Dojo!!.
• Video showing King Dedede's ability to float for multiple jumps (at :18)
• Screenshots of Dedede and the rest of the Subspace Emissary characters