Stone

Stone
	; Various Stone transformations in Melee.
User	Kirby
Universe	Kirby
Article on WiKirby	Stone

Stone (ストーン Sutōn), previously called Rock Shield in Super Smash Bros., is Kirby's down special move. Kirby transforms into a rock, becoming impervious to damage and knockback for a short time. Kirby can still be taken out of Stone form by grabs or grab-type moves such as Yoshi's Egg Lay or Lucario's Force Palm. To leave the transformation early, the player can press the B button while in rock form to return to normal, or wait approximately for 3 seconds after transforming.

Description

Offensively, Kirby can deal damage by using the move in midair and falling on opponents. When Stone is landed, it does excellent knockback, KOing most characters reliably under 150%; however, the move is rather situational as it is easily telegraphed and slow, making it a poor choice in most situations. Due to the sheer weight of Kirby in this form, he will slide off sloped surfaces. In the first two games, Stone does no damage at all if used on ground. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, however, the attack produces somewhat unnoticeable hitboxes on Kirby's sides, dealing 14% damage with horizontal knockback. Otherwise, the attacks deal 18% damage (20% in Smash 64).

In Brawl, the move is more powerful than Melee, and it pushes characters away, even if used from the ground. However, if Kirby is hit with an attack that causes at least 30% damage, he will receive full knockback from it, but no damage.

Appearance

In Super Smash Bros., Kirby can only transform into one type of stone. Since Super Smash Bros. Melee, however, Kirby will randomly transform into one of the following objects, all having the same properties:

The stone that Kirby normally turned into in his games
A spiked ball
A 100 ton weight, similar to his 8 ton one from Kirby Super Star
Lip's garbage block from Panel de Pon
A Thwomp. In Melee and Brawl, it has its design from Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and the first six Mario Party games; in Super Smash Bros. 4, the Thwomp has the design used since New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Glitch

In Brawl, there exists a glitch known as the Earthquake Glitch, which makes Kirby rapidly vibrate in place, producing hitboxes around him. This is achieved by using Stone on a downwards right facing platform that bends down at a 45º angle. It can be performed on both Stage Builder stages and the PictoChat stage, but it is generally attributed to PictoChat.

Origin

The move is one of Kirby's copy abilities from Kirby's Adventure, behaving in much the same way. Kirby Super Star introduced the detail of randomizing the transformations to various other types of objects, including a rarely seen golden statue of Mario or Samus. This game also introduced the mechanic of Kirby sliding across slopes while in this form. However, while Kirby could transform indefinitely in his games, he can only transform for a certain time in the Smash Bros. games.

Customization

Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the known variations:

Grounding Stone: Bury opponents upon landing, but takes longer to transform.
Meteor Stone: Takes longer to transform back, but foes will be meteor smashed when hit.

Description from the Melee Instruction Booklet

Transform into heavy objects and become invulnerable for a brief period.

Description from the Brawl Instruction Booklet

Transform into a heavy, invulnerable object. Press the B Button (or absorb enough attacks) to return to normal.

Description from the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS Foldout

Transform into a heavy object, and then drop.

Trivia

In Brawl, it can be seen in Boss Battles Mode and SSE that Kirby never automatically turns back into his normal form while being in his Stone form in midair, or at least for a very long time. However, this has no practical use in normal play.
If Captain Falcon's Final Smash, Blue Falcon is used on Kirby in Stone form, it will not work.