Kirby (SSBM)

This article is about Kirby's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Kirby.

Kirby
File:Kirbymelee.jpg
Universe	Kirby
Appears in	SSB SSBM SSBB
Availability	Starter
Tier	Bottom (25)

Announced at E3 2001, Kirby (カービィ, Kābī) is a character in all three games of the Super Smash Bros. series. Although tier-wise he was the third-to-top character in original beaten only by Pikachu and Fox, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he became severely nerfed.

Currently, Kirby is ranked second-to-last place (only above Pichu) due to his large nerf in attack power, speed, range, and combo ability from the original. His drastic nerfs have all-in-all resulted abysmal overall stats and match-ups (none are in his favour and he only has 2 even matchups, which are with Zelda and Mewtwo).

Attributes

Kirby's signature move is Swallow, which allows him to use opponents' neutral special moves. Kirby is also known for having five mid-air jumps (although the last couple of jumps barely give any height) and floaty descent, which gives him good recovery distance. However, his recovery is still slow and predictable. His multiple jumps also allow for good edgeguarding abilities and good mid-air evasion (due to slow falling speed when normal and fast falling speed when rock, especially with mid-air transformation). Kirby's small size, quick dodges, and low crouch (one of the lowest in the game) enable him to have good evasion. He also has a large shield in relation to body size, which makes him difficult to shield stab. Kirby is arguably the character most famous for his sacrificial KOs, Kirbycides. These are extremely useful in certain scenarios, but his back throw and forward throw can be intercepted. When Kirby is in stone form, he does not take damage (although he can be grabbed out of it).

However, Kirby has several significant problems. Many of his moves are slow, weak (almost all of his moves have tiny sweetspots), and short-ranged. He is easily KOd due to being light and floaty (and he can't escape most combos because of these things due to having a high amount of hitstun when hit). He has poor combo ability, his SHFFL'd aerials are slow, and his up special (final cutter) does not have good horizontal range. Also, his grab game is very limited. As aforementioned, his back and forward throw can easily be intercepted due to them being easily shaken out of and left Kirby to die, and only down-throw can be used to land another move. Kirby has a very small wavedash, making Wavesmashing hard. Lastly, Kirby's hammer is extremely weak and punishable if not sweetspotted, which is hard to do as the sourspot is much larger than the sweetspot.

Changes from N64 to Melee

• Now has a side special: Hammer
• New Dash Attack (Burning attack from Kirby's Adventure)
• New Forward Throw (His old forward throw is now his up throw)
• Stone can change Kirby into 5 objects, as opposed to one.
• Can walk around after inhaling someone.
• New Up Air. (Kicks upwards powerfully)
• His Old Up Air is now his Neutral Air.
• Huge decrease in air speed makes recoveries now very easy to gimp. (In SSB, he had the fastest air speed tied with Jigglypuff. Now, he has the fourth slowest air speed tied with Ganondorf.)
• New Forward Air. (Kicks three times forwards)
• Forward Smash has much more starting and ending lag (no longer fastest in the game)
• Up Tilt has had a decrease in speed.
• Back Air has a slightly different animation which means there is almost no hitbox on Kirby's front now.
• Dair lands differently and gives a small hit, even when L-cancelled. This makes it difficult to combo with.
• Up B is shorter.
• Slower, weaker, much worse combo ability, and worse priority overall.
• Back throw can Kirbycide.
• His side tilt increased damage by 1%.

Moveset

Normal

• Neutral-A: Kirby jabs forwards with his hand, followed by a short series of fast punches. Each punch does around 1%-2%.
• Dash Attack: Kirby runs forwards, on fire. Based on his fire ability in his games.
• Strong Down: Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast, decent ranged.
• Strong Forward: Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forwards. Decent range.
• Strong Up: Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards. Infamous for it's shield damage.

Aerials

• Neutral-Air: Spins around, hitting with his limbs. Long lasting hitbox.
• Forward-Air: Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback.
• Back-Air: Kirby does a no-look kick backwards. Can be used in the Fence of Pain. Good knockback.
• Up-Air: Kirby flips in mid air, kicking upwards. Great knockback, possibly Kirby's best kill move.
• Down-Air: Kirby spins around, drilling downwards wit his feet.

Smash Attacks

• Forward-Smash: Kirby jumps forwards, kicking. Has high knockback.
• Up-Smash: Kirby does a back-flip, kicking upwards. Has high knockback.
• Down-Smash: Kirby does the splits, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback.

Grabs & Throws

• Pummel: A quick jab to the opponent.
• D-throw: Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet.
• B-throw: Kirby flips backwards, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable.
• F-throw: Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable.
• U-throw: Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Trophy descriptions

Kirby is the single most represented character in trophy format in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Being a playable character, Kirby has his own set of "gameplay" trophies that are acquirable by completing any of the three Regular Match modes in the single-player modes with Kirby: Classic, Adventure, and All-Star.

Kirby (Smash Red)

Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful."

• B: Swallow
• Smash B: Hammer

Kirby (Smash Blue)

Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.

• Up & B: Final Cutter
• Down & B: Stone

Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: The Kirby Hat series, with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the Trophy Lottery, but the last two are awarded once you've unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.

Finally, the character Kirby himself is depicted on some other trophies not related to gameplay: Ball Kirby, Fighter Kirby, and Fire Kirby.

Palette Swaps

File:Alt-kirby2.jpg

Kirby's palette swaps in SSBM

Trivia

• Kirby's special moves from Melee are used in the game Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, through the use of the ability called Smash. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (Neutral Air from Melee, although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He gets the ability from Master Hand, who is a boss in the game.
• Surprisingly, Kirby has the second highest matchups with Sheik despite being a bottom tier, along with Dr. Mario, Samus, and Peach. Only Fox, Falco, and Ice Climbers surpass this (all of them having 60:40).

External Links

• YouTube:
• YouTube:
• YouTube:
• Kirby Video Archive
• The Competitive Kirby - t!mmy's Kirby Guide