Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)
- This article is about Banjo & Kazooie's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the characters in other contexts, see Banjo and Kazooie.
| Banjo & Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | |
|---|---|
 
| |
| Universe | Banjo-Kazooie |
| Availability | Downloadable |
| Final Smash | The Mighty Jinjonator |
| “ | Banjo-Kazooie are Raring to Go! | ” |
| —Introduction Tagline | ||
Banjo & Kazooie (バンジョー&カズーイ, Banjo & Kazooie), formatted in their reveal trailer as Banjo-Kazooie, are a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and are the first third-party representatives from Microsoft. They were revealed alongside Hero during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2019 as the third downloadable fighters from the Fighters Pass Vol. 1. Banjo & Kazooie were released on September 4th, 2019, and although they are a team, they are classified as fighter #73.
Chris Sutherland's portrayals of both Banjo & Kazooie from across the Banjo-Kazooie series were repurposed for Ultimate in all regions.
Attributes
Banjo & Kazooie are a duo that fights together as a singular character, akin to Duck Hunt. The duo is a heavyweight weighing as much as Snake and R.O.B. While their walking speed is below-average, and their initial dash and traction values are among the worst in the game, they have a very fast running speed, courtesy of Kazooie's Talon Trot, which is fairly uncharacteristic of their weight class. While Banjo is somewhat short for a heavyweight (having a relatively average size), his hurtbox is still fairly wide nonetheless, much like Wario. Outside of the Talon Trot and up tilt, Kazooie does not have a hurtbox, meaning that all standard attacks involving her are disjointed. Akin to Ridley and Charizard, the duo has two midair jumps. Additionally, they have a fast falling speed, high gravity, slow air speed, and average air acceleration.
Banjo & Kazooie's grounded arsenal makes use of the majority of moves from their first two games, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Banjo's Claw Swipe and Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap comprise their neutral attack. The former serves as a 3-hit gentleman jab, while the latter is a standard rapid jab. It should be noted that the hurtbox of Kazooie's jabs is large enough to sometimes hit enemies standing directly behind Banjo. This can sometimes cause the opponent to be continually jabbed into Banjo's back, keeping them locked in the hurtbox, amounting to extremely high percentages. Their forward tilt, Beak Bayonet, is a quick stab with Kazooie's beak, functioning similarly to Ridley's forward tilt. Banjo & Kazooie's up tilt is an original move, being a powerful upward kick from Banjo. Their down tilt, Beak Barge, is a low-to-the-ground slide that launches at a very low semi-spike angle, making it a very potent edgeguarding and tech-chasing option. Their dash attack is the Forward Roll, bearing similarity to Donkey Kong's dash attack, albeit with more kill power.
Complementing their versatile tilts, Banjo and Kazooie sport very useful smash attacks. Their forward smash is Breegull Bash, a slow but powerful move that highlights a comical maneuver in their home game. The duo's up smash is the Bill Drill, a spinning attack with Kazooie's beak that is fairly useful as an anti-aerial and out-of-shield option. Banjo & Kazooie's down smash is an original move, being a wing-slam from Kazooie on both sides of Banjo, in a similar vein to Ridley, making it a useful tool for catching rolls. Additionally, it can 2-frame opponents on the ledge very easily.
Their aerial moveset also combines old and new moves. The duo's neutral aerial is the Twirling Wing Whack, a multi-hitting circular wing spin from Kazooie that is functionally very similar to Ivysaur and Piranha Plant's neutral aerial. Banjo's forward aerial is an original move, being a slow but very powerful haymaker punch, much like Ganondorf's forward aerial. Banjo's hand is intangible during the attack, making it surprisingly disjointed and great for pressuring shields. Rat-a-Tat Rap makes a second appearance as a back aerial that hits three times, similarly to Ridley's forward aerial. The duo's up aerial is a two-hit move that has Kazooie close her wings together in a scissor motion that weakly launches opponents upwards, allowing the move to be chained into itself. Beak Buster makes an appearance as their down aerial, being a stall-then-fall attack that meteor smashes opponents during its initial frames.
Banjo & Kazooie's special moves are fairly versatile as well. Their neutral special, Egg Firing, sends eggs out of Kazooie's mouth that are affected by gravity in a similar manner to Mario's Fireball; the move also briefly stalls the duo's aerial momentum when used in the air. Holding the special button transitions into Breegull Blaster, where Banjo holds Kazooie like a "gun" akin to Banjo-Tooie's first-person shooter segments, with low damage but faster and constant projectiles, all while being able to move and jump freely similar to holding items such as the completed Daybreak parts. Wonderwing has Banjo charge forward while Kazooie shields him with her wings, and it does incredible damage and knockback if it connects, especially if hit during its initial frames, and its full-body invincibility that lasts throughout the entirety of the hitbox's duration enables it to outprioritize nearly every other move in the game, although the duo is still vulnerable to getting grabbed despite this. It also functions as an excellent recovery option with its horizontal speed and distance, and does not induce helplessness either. However, the move runs on a limited stock of five golden feathers that are not replenished until Banjo & Kazooie are KOed, so its usage must be carefully considered; additionally, despite crossing up shields, Wonderwing's high ending lag and long-lasting singular hitbox makes it fairly unsafe nonetheless. Shock Spring Jump makes an appearance as their up special, being a decent vertical recovery move that does not leave them helpless and preserves their midair jumps; it can be charged to increase its travel distance, and when used in the air, the Shock Spring Pad itself possesses a damaging hitbox that can be used to gimp some recoveries. Rear Egg, their down special, has Kazooie lay an egg-shaped grenade behind Banjo. It bounces in an unpredictable fashion due to its football-like shape, and launches opponents upward. The egg also functions like an item, being catchable and throwable despite its much shorter fuse compared to similar explosive-related attacks. All of these properties make Rear Egg an incredibly versatile projectile that can be used for ledge-trapping, comboing, camping, and neutral in general. Overall, their four specials give them impressive utility with both physical and projectile options.
Banjo has a respectable grab game, with above-average reach. Each of the duo's throws have vastly different functions. Forward throw has is only really useful for putting opponents off-stage, with its awkward angle and high base knockback making it useless for combos while its nearly nonexistent knockback growth prevents it KOing. Back throw is almost identical to Mario's back throw in both animation and function, being a useful KO option at the ledge at high percentages, albeit slightly stronger. Up throw is useful for setting up juggles with up air, but has too much end lag to actually have any true follow-ups. Down throw buries the opponent, leading into various guaranteed follow-ups at very high percents, although it is generally inferior to King K. Rool's similar down throw, due to it having less bury time. Overall, Banjo & Kazooie have a fairly standard set of throws.
The pair is not without weaknesses, however. Outside of their smash attacks and Wonderwing, Banjo & Kazooie's potential to KO is somewhat limited despite their status as a heavyweight fighter. Most of their moves are fairly weak, and unlike other characters with poor KOing abilities, Banjo & Kazooie have a very limited combo game. Similar to Wario, Banjo & Kazooie have a wide hurtbox, and they are susceptible to combos and juggles due to their heavy weight, fast falling speed, slow air speed, low jump height, and lack of fast escape options. Their overall mobility is unorthodox, with their excellent run speed being offset by their poor initial dash speed that is tied for the fifth-worst, their high vertical recovery options being hampered by their low jumps, poor air speed, and fast falling speed, and their grounded mobility being hindered by the lowest traction in the game alongside Mii Gunner. Additionally, the duo's special moves, while strong, are also flawed as well. Egg Firing has a slow firing rate on its own, and weak power when the pair transitions to Breegull Blaster; additionally, Breegull Blaster's eggs become weaker with repeated use, discouraging excessive use of the move. If the pair runs out of golden feathers, they lose access to Wonderwing, eliminating a potent move with plenty of offensive and defensive utility; Wonderwing is also vulnerable to grabs despite its invincibility as well. Rear Egg is quite situational, and the explosion itself is not very powerful. It is also difficult to run backward to grab the grenade egg and use it as a throwing item, and opponents can grab it and use it against the duo as well due to it being an item. Shock Spring Jump requires slight charge time to make their recovery reliable, and it also does not have a hitbox outside of the Shock Spring Pad itself, making it vulnerable to meteor smashes and aggressive edgeguarding in general.
Overall, Banjo & Kazooie have a lot of specialized tools to accommodate different opponents and playstyles. Their egg projectiles can be used in a multitude of ways, and their recovery, while flawed, is fairly strong, with many different ways to get back onto the stage. Banjo and Kazooie can be considered to be a classic all-rounder similar to Mario and Pit, in that they have no real clear or punishable flaw, but in contrast have no clear strengths or abusable abilities, as Wonderwing, while strong, is limited by its resource pool. Players must change their playstyle with the duo to combat their opponent's playstyle, taking advantage with all the tools the duo offers. In short, Banjo and Kazooie are a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none fighter that has solid performance overall, but lack superiority over other characters. Their power therefore comes from the ingenuity of the player and how they counter their opponent. While they have seen very little representation at top levels so far due to their relatively recent release, Tweek was able to place 5th at Glitch 7 shortly after their release, implying that the duo might be competitively viable, but to what extent is currently unknown.
Moveset
- Banjo & Kazooie can perform two midair jumps, both of which are based on the Feathery Flap, and the backwards jump being based on the Flap Flip.
- Kazooie does not possess a hurtbox, and therefore acts as a disjointed hitbox for the majority of moves involving her. This excludes the duo's dash animation and up tilt, as she becomes a hurtbox during those animations.
- Banjo's initial dash animation has him sprinting a brief distance. His dashing animation has Kazooie transition into the Talon Trot, in which she carries Banjo on her back while running. Both animations are aesthetic and do not affect the function of the duo's dash, though Kazooie gains a hurtbox while the dash is active.
For a gallery of Banjo & Kazooie's hitboxes, see here.
Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.
| Name | Damage | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neutral attack | Claw Swipe / Rat-a-Tat Rap | 2.2% | A combination of Banjo's Claw Swipe and Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. If the button is held, Banjo will throw two alternating hooks and then an uppercut. If pressed repeatedly, he will punch twice before crouching on all fours in order for Kazooie to perform a flurry of pecks that concludes with Kazooie performing a headbutt. The first hit starts at frame 4, making it the duo's fastest ground attack. The third hit of the regular neutral attack launches opponents vertically, which can allow it to set up juggles due to its reasonably low ending lag. Forward aerial is a consistent followup, especially if opponents miss a tech on platforms, though this can be airdodged out of. Unlike most neutral attacks, Banjo will not repeat the first hit if the attack button is held down. If an opponent is hit extremely close to the duo while they perform their neutral infinite (around where Banjo's backpack is), they will be pushed back alongside the duo while they attack, allowing the move to rack up large amounts of damage if the opponent does not SDI. | |
| 2.2% | ||||
| 3.7% | ||||
| 0.4% (loop), 1.6% (last) | ||||
| Forward tilt | Beak Bayonet | 9% (beak), 7% (close) | The Beak Bayonet. Can be angled and has a sweetspot on Kazooie's beak. It has decent range and quick startup (7 frames), making it a useful spacing option. | |
| Up tilt | 10% | Kazooie props Banjo up while he kicks upwards with one foot. It is somewhat slow on startup for a tilt attack (11 frames), but it has impressive knockback, being able to KO grounded opponents under 150%. The move also has a fairly large hitbox above Banjo, which can make for an effective anti-air. Despite its respectable power, it has fairly low ending lag; when combined with its vertical launch angle, this can allow it to set up juggles. However, it has very short horizontal range, making it difficult to hit grounded opponents who aren't directly touching the duo. Unlike their other attacks, Kazooie possesses a hurtbox during this move. | ||
| Down tilt | Beak Barge | 6% (beak), 5% (close), 3% (late) | Kazooie's Beak Barge. It is a semi-spike with good range and decent duration, all of which make it a good tool for on-stage edgeguarding. It lowers Banjo's profile to an even greater extent than his crouch, enabling him to duck under some moves like Wolf's Blaster shots. Conversely, its power and speed are poor, being the duo's slowest tilt attack at 12 frames. Finally it acts as a pseudo-crawl and is capable of crossing up against shields when performed close enough to their opponent. | |
| Dash attack | Forward Roll | 12% (clean), 8% (late) | Banjo's Forward Roll. Hits on frame 9 and sends the duo a respectable distance, allowing it to punish distant attacks. However, it is equally punishable on shield. | |
| Forward smash | Breegull Bash | 16% | The Breegull Bash. Moderately slow (19 frames) and has high ending lag, but very powerful, KOing at around 100% from center-stage. Its hitbox is wide enough to hit aerial opponents diagonally above the duo, making it particular useful for catching opponents on platforms such as Dream Land and Pokémon Stadium. | |
| Up smash | Bill Drill | 1% (hit 1), 1.5% (hits 2-7), 3.5% (hit 8), 13.6% (total) | A grounded version of the Bill Drill. Hits multiple times and is powerful enough to KO at around 110%. It comes out decently fast (frame 9) and can act as a decent anti-air, though it has very high ending lag and mediocre horizontal range. Generally a consistent follow-up after down throw at high percents. | |
| Down smash | 15% | Banjo slams a fist down while Kazooie slams her wings downwards on both sides. Deals the same amount of damage and knockback throughout the move. Hits on frame 13 and has the fastest interruptibility out of the duo's smash attacks, while having good power despite its speed, being able to KO at the edge at around 85%. As a result, it is the duo's most reliable smash attack for quick punishes. | ||
| Neutral aerial | Twirling Wing Whack | 0.8% (hits 1-7), 4.1% (hit 8) | Kazooie's Wing Whack. Functions similarly to Ivysaur and Piranha Plant's neutral aerials. Deals decent damage, but has rather slow startup (frame 10) and surprisingly high landing lag for an aerial of its kind (15 frames). The looping hits can drag opponents downwards for follow-ups, though this is difficult due to the move's aforementioned landing lag and the looping hit's unpredictable launching trajectory. Autocancels from a full hop. | |
| Forward aerial | 15% (clean), 12% (late) | Banjo throws a delayed overhead haymaker. It is tied with down aerial as the duo's slowest aerial attack with 15 frames of startup, and has high ending lag. However, it has a slightly disjointed hitbox on his fist, autocancels from a short hop, has the lowest landing lag of Banjo & Kazooie's aerials (11 frames), is moderately safe on shield, and is very powerful, being able to KO Mario at 89% from the edge of Final Destination. It can be followed up from neutral attack, up throw or down throw. | ||
| Back aerial | Air Rat-a-Tat Rap | 1.6% (hits 1 and 2), 4.8% (hit 3) | An aerial version of Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. The first hit comes out on frame 8. Has good overall range and startup, making it a reliable aerial for edgeguarding. The first two hits use the autolink angle; however, it has extremely high landing lag (18 frames), making combos from the first two hits read-dependent. Autocancels from both a short hop and a full hop. | |
| Up aerial | 1.6% (hit 1), 5.8% (hit 2) | Kazooie flaps her wings upwards in a scissoring motion. It functions similarly to Sonic's up air. Hits twice, with the first hit leading to the second. Has a wide hitbox with good range, with the first hit being able to hit grounded opponents if performed while the duo are falling. Additionally, it is fast in general (frame 7) while also being interruptible extremely early; this allows the duo to perform up to four up aerials while using their jumps, similarly to Meta Knight's up aerial strings. Easily juggles into itself at low percents, and can even lead into other aerials such as forward air. However, it has very low hitstun due to its low damage, making the move easily escapable. Additionally, the first hit may occasionally launch opponents away from the second hit, and the move is extremely weak, having almost no KO potential even at high percents. | ||
| Down aerial | Beak Buster | 10% (dive), 2% (landing) | Kazooie's Beak Buster. It is a stall-then-fall that meteor smashes at its beginning, with the later hitboxes dealing vertical knockback. The move has a very weak landing hit that has little use apart from granting minimal protection. The move lasts for an extremely long time, usually making offstage use an inevitable self-destruct, though it is possible to recover if it is used from high enough. It is mostly useful for returning to stage quickly, as the non-meteor smashing hitbox is unable to KO past realistic percents. However, the meteor smashing hitbox can be used for followups on grounded opponents at high percents, and can act as a powerful sacrificial KO offstage. | |
| Grab | — | Banjo reaches out. | ||
| Pummel | 1.4% | Kazooie pecks the opponent's head. | ||
| Forward throw | 5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw) | Banjo & Kazooie simultaneously perform a hip attack and double-footed front kick, respectively. Very low knockback growth even at very high percents, making it mostly used for sending opponents off-stage. Overall, it is the duo's least useful throw. | ||
| Back throw | 11.4% (throw), 8% (collateral) | Banjo performs a giant swing identical to Mario's back throw. Deals collateral damage to nearby opponents. The duo's only throw with KO potential, it is very powerful, KOing at around 105% at the sides of the stage. | ||
| Up throw | 5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw) | Kazooie pecks the opponent upward. It allows for more consistent follow-ups when down throw would otherwise be ineffective, most notably at very low percents. Can combo into aerials, although its high ending lag limits its true combo potential. | ||
| Down throw | 5.6% | Banjo performs a powerbomb that buries the opponent. Functions similarly to other burying throws, such as King K. Rool's down throw: it is ineffective and easily escapable at very low percents, but grants a read-dependent follow-up based on the opponent's reaction at medium percents, and guaranteed kill confirms at extremely high percents, such as up smash. Its combo potential, however, is somewhat limited if the opponent mashes well due to the low base burying time; generally, forward and up aerials are the most reliable follow-ups. | ||
| Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge |
— | — | ||
| Techs | — | — | ||
| Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front) |
7% | Banjo kicks behind and then in front of himself before getting up. | ||
| Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back) |
7% | Banjo kicks around himself before getting up. | ||
| Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip) |
5% | Banjo claps behind and then in front of himself. Notably one of the only attacks to use a "slap" sound effect, with others being Pound and Peach and Daisy's neutral attacks. | ||
| Edge attack Edge getups |
10% | Banjo pulls himself up before performing an inwards swipe. | ||
| Neutral special | Egg Firing | 5.4%-3.8% (egg), 2.4% (Breegull Blaster hits 1-6), 1.6% (Breegull Blaster hits 7-12), 0.8% (Breegull Blaster hits 13+) | For Egg Firing, Banjo gets down on all fours while Kazooie spits out an egg. These eggs will obey gravity, bounce off the ground and linger for quite some time (around the length of half of Final Destination) before breaking on their own, and become weaker as time passes. It is rather slow to fire, making the projectile mostly suited for stage control. If the special button is held, the duo will instead perform the Breegull Blaster, where Banjo takes Kazooie out of his backpack and uses her in a manner similar to a Super Scope. In this mode, pressing either attack button will cause Kazooie to quickly fire smaller and weaker eggs that travel in a straight line and as far as a third of Final Destination's length; subsequent eggs gradually deal less damage. These smaller eggs cause minimal flinching at long range and weak vertical knockback at close range. Banjo can move and triple jump freely while in this mode, and can turn around (the latter is not possible while firing). Crouching or shielding will put Kazooie away, which has minimal ending lag; this allows Breegull Blaster to start aerial combos. Due to the mechanics of this move, Egg Firing can only be done repeatedly if the player button mashes, since holding the button transitions into the Breegull Blaster. | |
| Side special | Wonderwing | 22% (clean), 16% (late) | Kazooie covers Banjo with her wings while he charges forward at a very fast pace. It is only usable up to 5 times per stock, which is denoted by the amount of Golden Feathers above their heads. Each successful use consumes 1 Golden Feather, although interrupting the move before the hitbox begins will not use up a feather. To compensate, it has a large amount of strengths: the move grants full invincibility from the start of the dash (frame 18) to the end, including immunity to almost all Final Smashes that do not grab the opponent, the clean hit deals a high amount of damage, shield damage, and knockback, and can KO at the edge at 60%, while the late hit is still powerful and can KO effectively offstage or catch options of edge-hanging opponents. It works very well as a horizontal recovery option, as it does not cause helplessness and travels an excellent amount of horizontal distance. However, the move is specifically designed to be out-prioritized by grabs, and grabbing the duo out of the move causes it to only deal 0.25× damage to the grabber. Its high startup and ending lag also makes it punishable if it misses or is shielded, which is compounded by the move's reduced shieldstun, especially on the late hit. If they attempt to use it without any feathers remaining, they simply stumble over; an aerial use will cause them to fumble in midair, and using it close to the ground will cause Banjo to land face-first in his floored animation. | |
| Up special | Shock Spring Jump | 3% (Shock Spring Pad) | Banjo & Kazooie use a Shock Spring Pad to propel themselves upward. The longer the special button is held, the more height they gain. Slows the duo's descent upon starting up if used in the air. Midair jumps and airdodges are still usable, as the duo are not rendered helpless. In the air, the pad itself acts as a projectile after its use like Sonic's Spring Jump, which can gimp recoveries; unlike that move, however, a grounded Shock Spring Pad cannot be used again by opponents or the duo. | |
| Down special | Rear Egg | 9.22% | Banjo bends over and Kazooie appears out of Banjo's backpack, firing a Grenade Egg from the backpack's rear flap behind the duo. The Grenade Egg has a fixed timer of around 2 seconds, and has a floaty, slightly unpredictable bouncing trajectory that varies based on where the egg lands when it hits the ground. Only one Grenade Egg can be fired at a time; if the move is used while an egg is already active, Kazooie will pop her head out from Banjo's backpack and shake her head profusely. Can be picked up, thrown, and dropped like an item, similarly to Snake's Hand Grenade. Grenade Eggs do very little knockback, although their short fuses allow for creative item play. Using the move in midair will stall the duo slightly and makes it easy to catch an airborne Grenade Egg, and can be used to stall in midair similarly to Snake's C4. | |
| Final Smash | The Mighty Jinjonator | 10% (initial hit), 54.3% (total) | The duo summons the Mighty Jinjonator statue in front of them, dealing damage to anyone it hits. A cutscene then shows the Jinjonator bursting from the statue while Banjo & Kazooie watch in awe, before the opponent is tackled multiple times by the Jinjonator, followed by a final tackle that is accompanied by multiple Jinjos. Notably, it can only catch one opponent, much like Dede-Rush. | |
On-screen appearance
Banjo hops out of a dark Jiggy silhouette, dusts his hands off, and then bows twice. The silhouette is a reference to the cutout wipe seen as the player moves from one area to another in the Nintendo 64 games, and the bows refer to the second half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.
Taunts
- Up taunt: Banjo stretches and Kazooie appears out of his backpack, yawning. Based on an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
- Side taunt: Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack and the duo look at each other, then Banjo strikes a thumbs up while Kazooie happily opens her wings. Based on their introductory pose in the opening sequence of Banjo-Kazooie.
- Down taunt: Banjo bows twice, saying his iconic "Guh-huh!" each time. Identical to the latter half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.
Banjo & Kazooie's up taunt.
Banjo & Kazooie's side taunt.
Banjo & Kazooie's down taunt.
Idle poses
- Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack, looks around, then retreats back inside.
- Kazooie playfully pecks Banjo on the head twice. Almost identical to an idle animation seen in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.
Banjo & Kazooie's first idle pose
Banjo & Kazooie's second idle pose
Victory poses
- Left: Banjo throws a Jiggy in the air, catches it, jumps, and poses. This references his brief dance seen when he collects a Jiggy in Banjo-Kazooie. Afterwards, Banjo gives a thumbs-up while performing his signature "Guh-Huh!", similar to the beginning of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie.
- Up: Banjo walks in place briefly before bowing twice, saying "Guh-Huh!" both times, ending with Kazooie poking out of his backpack. The animation is almost identical to that seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.
- Right: Both dance around while playing their respective instruments, and then end in a pose referencing the ending of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie. The pose is also similar to the one they assume in their reveal trailer.
In competitive play
Banjo & Kazooie were initially met with decent reception for their strong attacks in forward aerial and Wonderwing, ability to zone and edgetrap effectively, and versatile recovery. Their potential as a character was strengthened with Tweek's placing 5th at Glitch 7 with mostly them. However, the duo's flaws were quickly noticed with their below-average speed, problems against juggling, struggles with taking out stocks, decent lag on their moves, and both horrible grab range and ineffective throws. Their competitive presence also toned down after Tweek stopped playing the character and now many people are unsure on who's the best Banjo & Kazooie player in the metagame as they haven't gathered the results of the same level.
They have gathered a few notable players in huto and Trela, however, and the latter was able to beat VoiD's Sheik and Pichu at The Big House 9. There's also players such as ZAKI who started using them as a co-main to his King Dedede and Raito who uses them as a strong secondary. These results and aforementioned strengths have been enough for top players such as Mew2King and ESAM to place the duo as a mid and high-mid tier, respectively. Overall, their status as a character is respectable but doesn't have the results of other top to high tiers and even other DLC fighters.
Notable players
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Fall 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from July 13th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.
Active
Brood - Placed 33rd at Umebura SP 7 and 65th at EVO Japan 2020.- Hayato. - Placed 17th at Umebura SP 5 and 49th at Umebura SP 6.
- huto - Placed 5th at Waseda Festival 2019 and 33rd at Umebura SP 6.
Machu - Placed 25th at Play With Heart and 49th at Mainstage.
Moke - Placed 9th at Manchester Conquest 6 and 25th at Syndicate 2019 only using Banjo & Kazooie.- Raito (#17) - Uses Banjo & Kazooie as a co-main/secondary and is one of the best Banjo & Kazooie players in the world. Placed 13th at both Mainstage and Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas and 17th at Umebura SP 5 with Banjo & Kazooie in conjunction with Duck Hunt.
Trela - Placed 33rd at The Big House 9 with solo Banjo & Kazooie, and 49th at 2GG: Kongo Saga in conjunction with Hero. Has defeated VoiD and Biddy.- UtopianRay - Placed 9th at Return to Yoshi's Island and 33rd at Tri-state Showdown: Fall 2019 in conjunction with Palutena.
- ZAKI - Placed 13th at Sumabato SP 9 and 25th at Umebura SP 6 in conjunction with King Dedede. He has defeated Eim and Masashi.
Inactive
- Tweek (#3) - Placed 5th at Glitch 7 - Minus World using Banjo & Kazooie in conjunction with Pokémon Trainer. He has defeated Dark Wizzy by using them, but has since dropped them.
Classic Mode: Perfect Partners
Banjo & Kazooie's Classic Mode comprises opponents featured as a duo, akin to themselves being partners. Several of the music and stage combinations reference various worlds from the first Banjo-Kazooie game.
| Round | Opponent | Stage | Music | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duck Hunt  |
Spiral Mountain | Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie | The appearance and specific color choice of Duck Hunt refers to their resemblance to Banjo & Kazooie themselves. |
| 2 | Rosalina & Luma  |
Tortimer Island | Treasure Trove Cove | References Treasure Trove Cove. |
| 3 | Ice Climbers  |
Summit | Freezeezy Peak | References Freezeezy Peak, with the Ice Climbers matching its polar climate. |
| 4 | Link  and Zelda  |
Mushroomy Kingdom | Gobi's Valley | References Gobi's Valley. |
| 5 | Fox  and Falco  |
Luigi's Mansion | Mad Monster Mansion | References Mad Monster Mansion. The color palettes of Fox and Falco are likely meant to resemble a wolf and a raven, animals that would appear in a typical "haunted" setting. |
| 6 | Diddy Kong  and Donkey Kong  |
Jungle Japes | Donkey Kong Country Returns | References the Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie series' shared origins, both having been created by Rare Ltd., and possibly their shared universe, as implied by the events of Diddy Kong Racing. |
| Bonus Stage | ||||
| Final | Master Hand and Crazy Hand | Final Destination | Master Hand / Crazy Hand | Much like Banjo & Kazooie, Master Hand and Crazy Hand work together as a duo. Additionally, they bear a resemblance to Motzand, a disembodied hand who appears in Mad Monster Mansion. Both Hands are fought in any difficulty. |
Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Banjo & Kazooie has Spiral Mountain accompany the credits.
Role in World of Light
Due to their status as downloadable content, Banjo & Kazooie do not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, they are unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Banjo & Kazooie, they are immediately unlocked.
Spirits
Banjo & Kazooie's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 coins, but only after Banjo & Kazooie have been downloaded. Unlocking Banjo & Kazooie in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Each Fighter Spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with its artwork in Ultimate.
- Banjo and Kazooie.png
1,337. Banjo & Kazooie
In Spirit Battles
As a minion
| Spirit | Battle parameters | Inspiration | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Image | Name | Series | Enemy Fighter(s) | Type | Power | Stage | Rules | Conditions | Music | Character |
| 1,338 |  |
Tooty | Banjo-Kazooie Series | •Diddy Kong  •Banjo & Kazooie 
|
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3,500 | Spiral Mountain | N/A | •Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy shields often •Magic attacks aren't as effective against the enemy |
Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie | Banjo & Kazooie |
Alternate costumes
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Reveal trailer
Gallery
Banjo & Kazooie's splash art.
Celebratory pose at the end of their character trailer.
- BanjoKazooieJoinTheBattleSSBU.jpg
Banjo & Kazooie's unlock notice after downloading them from the Nintendo eShop.
Using the Talon Trot running animation on Yoshi's Island.
Banjo & Kazooie jumping on Summit.
Banjo & Kazooie using Egg Firing on Garden of Hope.
Banjo & Kazooie, King K. Rool, Mario and Duck Hunt on Spiral Mountain.
Banjo & Kazooie about to be grabbed by Villager on Tortimer Island.
Banjo & Kazooie performing their side taunt on Spiral Mountain
Banjo & Kazooie running on the track of Big Blue.
Popping Villager's balloons with their forward tilt in Town and City.
Crouching with Duck Hunt on Windy Hill Zone.
Using Egg Firing, with Mumbo Jumbo visible in the background.
An alternate costume of Banjo on Summit.
Trivia
- Banjo & Kazooie are referred within the game files with the codename "buddy", likely due to the fact that the duo are almost always seen paired with each other during all their appearances.
- Their reveal trailer is almost exactly like King K. Rool's trailer, where King Dedede uses a costume to fake out the Kongs, only to be attacked by the real King K. Rool. In this case, while King K. Rool was asleep at the Kong residence, Duck Hunt used a costume to fake them out, only for them to get attacked by the real Banjo & Kazooie.
- Duck Hunt dressing up as Banjo and Kazooie may reference the perceived similarities between them, as they are both pairs consisting of a mammal and a bird. This is also referenced through their Classic Mode route.
- The opening part is nearly identical, with the only difference being the addition of the Kongs fighting King K. Rool to the hand-drawn section.
- Their introduction tagline is a reference to Rare, the company from which their video game series originated. Rare also rebooted the Donkey Kong series with Donkey Kong Country, which the setting of their reveal trailer is based on.
- Despite this, only Microsoft is credited for their inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's copyright information under "Original Characters", as Rare is now fully owned by Microsoft. This is despite the fact that Atlus is credited separately from Sega (in spite of Atlus similarly being under Sega's ownership). While PlatinumGames are not credited for Bayonetta, the reason for this is that Bayonetta is owned directly by Sega rather than PlatinumGames.
- Banjo & Kazooie's reveal trailer holds several references to their home series:
- The segment where they team up with Diddy Kong to fight Donkey Kong references the battle against Conga the Ape in the first level of Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong is shown throwing an orange, referencing Conga's method of attack, while Diddy Kong represents Chimpy, a monkey who helps the duo defeat him.
- In another segment, Banjo is shown holding a Beehive and running away from bees, as a reference to the beehives in Banjo-Kazooie, which give the duo Honeycombs that restore their health when destroyed, and sometimes have bees flying around that attack the duo if the beehive is destroyed.
- After Banjo shows off his Final Smash in the trailer, King K. Rool ends up crashing into the ground, leaving a hole where he landed, then being buried under a boulder. This is a reference to the ending of Banjo-Kazooie, where, after being defeated by The Mighty Jinjonator, Gruntilda suffers that exact fate.
- At the end, Banjo is seen slowly walking up to Food next to an asleep giant Ivysaur, then consuming it and running away. This is a reference to an event in Banjo-Tooie, where in Mayahem Temple, they have to steal a Jiggy from the character Ssslumber by slowly walking up to it, in order to prevent him from waking up and protecting it.
- The picture revealing Banjo's pink alternate costume is a subtle nod to Freezeezy Peak; the most noticeable part is the Super Launch Star, which references the star on top the Christmas tree in the level.
- Not counting ports and cameos, this marks the first physical appearances of Banjo & Kazooie in almost a decade, since the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, released in 2010.
- Their inclusion in Ultimate marks their first physical appearance on a Nintendo console since Banjo-Pilot, released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
- Banjo & Kazooie are the first playable characters to originate from a non-Japanese franchise. While Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, and Dark Samus were also created by non-Japanese studios, they were done so for series that were first developed by Japanese developers.
- They are also the first playable characters to be owned by a concurrent hardware competitor of Nintendo.
- Their stock icon is similar to their pose on the cover art of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
- Banjo's backpack, unlike in their home series, has a second flap at the bottom that opens up when Kazooie fires Grenade Eggs and performs the Talon Trot. According to original character designer Steve Mayles, he originally wanted to achieve this in the original game, but due to technical limitations on the N64, he was unable to add the extra joint for the backpack.[1]
- Banjo & Kazooie are currently the only downloadable fighters in the game to not have a game on the Nintendo Switch. At the time of his release, Joker fit this criteria as well, as he would not appear in another Switch title until the release of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.
- On the character selection screen, the icon in the Japanese version show their names within only one row, while in the English version it is shown with two rows. This trait is shared with Captain Falcon, Mr. Game & Watch, Zero Suit Samus, Pokémon Trainer, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina & Luma, the Mii Fighters and Piranha Plant.
- When KOed by reaching 0 HP in Stamina Mode with no stock remaining, Banjo uses a unique knockout scream not taken from either his KO or high damage voice clips. Joker also shares this trait.
- When Banjo successfully parries an attack, he does the same pose as the Extra Life statues from Banjo-Kazooie.
- Banjo & Kazooie are the only fighter to vocalize while dashing.
- Banjo & Kazooie are one of four characters who do not use their dashing animation on the World of Light map, the others being Meta Knight, Inkling and Hero.
- Banjo & Kazooie and Hero are the only fighters that only appear as a minion puppet fighter. Piranha Plant and Terry do not appear in any spirit battles and the rest of the fighters appear as the main opponent.
- Due to Banjo & Kazooie's dash being Talon Trot, the flames of the Superspicy Curry shoot backwards (because it is Banjo that eats the curry, and Talon Trot has him being dragged behind Kazooie). They are the only character with this distinction.
- Banjo & Kazooie and Ice Climbers' Classic Mode routes share the same theme, that being dynamic character duos.
- Kazooie is the second female character voiced by a male voice actor, with the first being the Inkling Girl.
- Banjo & Kazooie are the only non-human playable characters featured in the Fighters Pass Vol. 1.
- In Banjo-Kazooie, upon collecting all 10 Jiggies in a world or unlocking a Note Door, Banjo marches in place briefly before bowing twice, emitting his trademark "Guh-Huh" each time. This animation is seen in three of Banjo & Kazooie's animations: their on-stage appearance, their down taunt, and one of their victory animations.
- Banjo & Kazooie are so far the only characters to have not been changed in version updates.
References
 Banjo-Kazooie universe
| |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU) |
| Stage | Spiral Mountain |
| Other | Jinjo · The Mighty Jinjonator |
| Spirits | Spirits |
| Music | Ultimate |
