Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Kirby (SSBU)

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This article is about Kirby's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the character in other contexts, see Kirby.
Kirby
in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Kirby
KirbySymbol.svg
Universe Kirby
Other playable appearances in SSB
in Melee
in Brawl
in SSB4
Availability Starter
Final Smash Ultra Sword
Kirby (SSBU)
Kirby's ability to copy other fighters is totally unique! While he is light and can be launched easily, he can also jump up to five times in the air, so he has great recovery. Look for his new Stone transformation, too.
Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was confirmed on June 12th, 2018. Kirby is classified as fighter #06.

Makiko Ōmoto once again reprises her role as his voice actor, using a combination of new voice clips and ones recycled from Super Smash Bros. 4.

Attributes

Kirby is known for being a small lightweight, being tied for the eighth lightest character in the game. Despite this, Kirby's mobility is subpar in the air and only average on the ground, giving him a mediocre mobility overall: he has the twenty-first slowest walking speed, fortieth fastest dashing speed, and a decently quick initial dash. He also has the fourth slowest air speed, fifteenth highest air acceleration, third lowest gravity, the fourth lowest falling and fast falling speeds, and above average traction. Due to these statistics, Kirby is a floaty character overall and has a hard time chasing opponents in the air. Although Kirby has five midair jumps, his recovery is average at best: despite his midair jumps and Final Cutter granting decent distance, his slow air speed combined with his low jump height means that he is extremely vulnerable to offstage edgeguarding.

Kirby's greatest strength is his fast frame data and combo potential due to the versatility of his moveset. The majority of Kirby's moveset is characterized by speed, possessing among the fastest tilts in the game, while his slowest moves instead boast very high power as a trade-off, while also being quite fast for their power. Neutral attack and forward tilt are fast and have decent range, allowing Kirby to quickly fend off opponents. Up tilt's low knockback and fast speed allows it to combo into itself or an aerial attack. Down tilt's low power is compensated by its very fast speed and it launching opponents at the Sakurai angle, which allow it to trip most opponents even over 80%. His smash attacks have good range, high power, and great speed, making them excellent at scoring a KO. Kirby is also very small, making him hard to hit, which combined with his very low crouch, allows him to avoid almost all grabs and several attacks. As a result, Kirby has a strong ground game, and a very useful defensive game thanks to his crouch, requiring opponents to be careful when approaching him in a neutral state.

The usefulness of Kirby's ground game also extends to his grab game. His grabs have short range but are among the fastest, while his pummel's meager damage output is counterbalanced by its very fast speed. His forward throw, unlike most other forward throws in the game, has combo potential, leading into aerial attacks from low to mid percentages. Back throw can be followed up by a back aerial at 0% on certain characters, and can KO at high percents. Up throw is his strongest throw and is able to KO almost all characters around 170%, or even earlier if it lands on a platform. Lastly, down throw is reliable for damage racking when no other throw can yield better results.

Kirby's air game is also serviceable, thanks to the versatility of his aerial attacks. Neutral aerial has a long duration, decent knockback on the clean hit, very low landing lag, and good coverage make it a safe landing option. Additionally, it can serve as a follow-up for combos and can be used as a KO move at high percents. Forward aerial is a powerful combo tool, chains fluidly and its first two hits can allow additional follow-ups due to its low landing lag. Up aerial has vertical knockback, low landing lag and a fairly quick auto-cancel window, allowing for many potential follow-ups and even opportunities to KO. Back aerial has decent range, and is Kirby's fastest and strongest aerial, making it one of his most useful options overall. Lastly, down aerial has considerable startup, but drags opponents downward before meteor smashing them and has low ending lag, making it a deceptively powerful edgeguarding tool. In addition, it is an effective combo starter with guaranteed follow-ups on grounded opponents.

Kirby's special moveset, while volatile, can provide some unique strengths. Inhale is his most notable example; it allows him to either copy the neutral special move of any character he inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. Kirby can also inhale projectiles, allowing him to heal himself, while certain ones (such as a fully-charged Charge Shot) can be stored in his mouth, enabling him to spit them out. The former, depending on what character he inhales, can give Kirby a move that helps him in matchups to various degrees, such as useful projectiles to counter-camp his opponent (Needle Storm, Charge Shot, Wolf's Blaster), powerful punish options (Giant Punch, Homing Attack), a reflector (Nayru's Love), or other massive benefits (Monado Arts). Kirby's version of the opponent's neutral special also has a 1.2x damage multiplier, encouraging him to rely on his Copy Ability. Additionally, since he can spit certain inhaled projectiles, Inhale gives Kirby a reflector; however, this has limited practical utility due to only working against a limited amount of projectiles, as well as the combined lag of inhaling and spitting the projectile, which is considerably slower than traditional reflectors. It can also be used to Kirbycide or put the opponent offstage, although mashing out fast enough will free the opponent. Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged, and Kirby can move and jump while charging. However. its high startup and endlag, along with its short range, makes it situational and hard to land outside of punishing a shield break. Final Cutter is Kirby's recovery move, granting good vertical distance and decent horizontal distance, as well as protection in front of him during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shock wave 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 25%. It is also very strong and can be canceled shortly after Kirby begins his descent, although similar to Hammer Flip, these benefits are limited by its slow startup and ending lag, and Kirby is still vulnerable to grabs while transformed.

However, Kirby has noticeable flaws, his most notable weakness being his poor endurance. Being light and floaty, Kirby cannot endure strong hits for long at high percents. He is also very vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. Further compounding this issue, his only aerials with less than 10 frames of startup is his back aerial, neutral aerial and up aerial, which becomes active on frame 6 for the former and frame 8 for the latter two. Not only does this impose a risk in approaching opponents in the air, but also prevents Kirby's aerials from being used effectively out of a disadvantage state, often forcing him to rely on his jumps to escape or return to the ledge, while also making him vulnerable to pressure.

Another big flaw is Kirby's poor approach. Characters who have fast mobility or can camp with projectiles can wall out Kirby, which includes examples such as Greninja, R.O.B., and Samus. Kirby's lack of reliable burst options makes his approach in these matchups problematic and sometimes predictable. In addition, characters with long disjointed hitboxes such as Ike, Chrom, and Mr. Game and Watch can outrange and wall out Kirby since his range is short relative to the cast. Final Cutter's projectile has decent range, but is very slow due to requiring Kirby to perform the entire rising and falling portions of the move beforehand, and he lacks other projectiles outside of spitting inhaled projectiles or opponents or using a copy ability. Despite having a great air acceleration, Kirby's air speed is also too slow for him to take advantage of it, hindering his aerial approach and recovery despite possessing five midair jumps. Kirby also has several KO moves, but most of them are hard to land without a setup due to their short range and Kirby's lack of setups into them. Rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even earlier, while he will typically not endure long enough in order to take advantage of it.

Overall, Kirby tends to run hot and cold. He 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. 4

Near the end of SSB4's metagame, Kirby had been considered a low-tier character, and was thus ranked as the 6th worst character in SSB4's most recent tier list (50th out of 55). In the transition to Ultimate, Kirby has been granted a mixture of buffs and nerfs, but has been buffed overall, although not enough to improve his standing considerably relative to the rest of the cast.

Kirby's buffs lie in the increased utility of his ground and aerial moveset. The first the first two hits of his jab can now jab lock, making them more useful for set-ups for downed characters, and the looping hits connect into the opponent much more reliably, albeit at the cost of reduced damage output. Forward tilt is a stronger neutral option, as its increased knockback gives it KO potential and its reduced ending lag makes it a harder move to punish overall. Dash attack has been completely reworked, reverting back to its Melee iteration—however, it is significantly stronger, dealing much more damage and knockback, has less startup compared to his previous dash attack in SSB4, can cross-up on shields, covers more distance, and is more reliable for catching opponents thanks to only consisting of one, long-lasting hit. These changes make it a stronger punish tool and a much more useful and versatile move overall than his previous dash attack. His smash attacks are stronger punish options, with forward smash having an increase in range, up smash having reduced start-up, and down smash regaining its semi-spike angle that makes it better for edgeguarding, similarly to one of its hitboxes in Brawl, and all three of have higher power, except for down smash, which has reduced knockback to compensate its lower angle, although it still KOs earlier close to the ledge. The landing lag in his aerials, already among the lowest in SSB4, was reduced even further and noticeably benefits him, making his aerials not only safer, but now capable of leading into followups, with forward air's first two hits now being able to follow up into forward smash, while his neutral aerial, one of his most situational attacks, has more range, more knockback and much less ending lag, making it safer and more reliable for pressuring, edgeguarding and KOing. Many of Kirby's attacks, such as up tilt and all his aerials except for up aerial also have more range, partially reducing one of his weaknesses from SSB4. Inhale has received a large number of of significant improvements: it has reduced ending lag, more range, Kirby has a doubled time period during which he cannot lose his Copy Ability, it is now harder to make him lose it, he can now eat the projectiles he swallows to heal himself (and store certain ones in his mouth as well, enabling him to spit them out as stars) and his neutral special receives a 1.2× multiplier compared to his opponent, giving him a greater incentive to Inhale opponents. Lastly, Stone has super armor during its start-up, making it harder to interrupt Kirby out of the attack, as in previous Smash games, he could be interrupted even when he fully transformed.

However, Kirby has also received a few noteworthy nerfs. The most notable were to his grab game: The universal changes to the ending lag of grabs makes Kirby's riskier to throw out, his already mediocre grab range has been worsened (most notably on his pivot grab), and his forward throw has him jump up higher after the throw, which runs the risk of possibly landing on top of a soft platform, negating all follow-ups when it happens too early. This worsens Kirby's combo game on stages with platforms, and when combined with the loss of back throw's combo potential, grants Kirby a less effective combo game off of his grabs overall. Additionally, Stone no longer hits twice against shielded opponents, reducing its shield pressure considerably, and back aerial, one of his primary KOing options in SSB4, deals less knockback, although the clean hit now lasts for 3 frames instead of 2. Lastly, his down aerial, one of his most reliable combo starters in SSB4, has more range on the looping hits, but slightly less on the final hit and is less advantageous on landing due to the removal of frame canceling, reducing the effectiveness of its follow-ups since its landing lag was not reduced enough to compensate properly.

Overall, while Kirby has been improved from SSB4, he still retains many of the same issues (mediocre range, sluggish aerial mobility, noticeable start-up on aerials barring back air, susceptibility to being camped) that made him a poorly viewed character in SSB4. Additionally, a majority of the characters that were ranked on the same tier as Kirby or lower in SSB4 have received notably bigger improvements than Kirby, which includes characters such as Pac-Man, Falco, Wii Fit Trainer, and King Dedede. This, coupled with his very sparse tournament results, has garnered him an overwhelmingly negative reception across the Smash community; multiple competitive players including ESAM, Leffen, Tweek, VoiD, Dabuz, and Samsora view Kirby just as poorly as in SSB4 or even as one of the worst characters in the game altogether, with Mew2King going as far as to give Kirby his own tier below bottom tier, dubbed as the "Kirby Tier". However, he has earned some minimal representation in all levels of play, with players such as Komota, Jesuischoq, SuperGirlKels, and Captain L. Jesuischoq usually does decent in French majors, and Komota has achieved a few noticeable results in majors. As of now, due to Kirby's lack of representation outside of them, his overall viability remains questionable.

Aesthetics

  • Change As with all veterans returning from Smash 4, Kirby's model features a more subdued color scheme.
  • Change Like many other characters, Kirby is more expressive, both with his face and his movement.
  • Change Some of Kirby's animations, particularly his dash and initial jump, have been tweaked to closer resemble his appearance from Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward.
  • Change One of Kirby's voice clips when taking high knockback has been changed to his alternate KO sound from Smash 4.
    • Change As a result, he gains a new KO clip, which sounds similar to one of his Melee knockback voice clips.
    • Change Kirby's unused damage yell from Smash 4 is now used when he takes medium knockback.
  • Change Kirby's on-screen appearance has a more intense, fiery explosion than in previous games. The large, cartoony stars that appear have been removed, and while the sparkle effects are still present, they have been drastically toned down. All in all, it more closely resembles how it appeared in the original Super Smash Bros.
  • Change Up taunt has been shortened, with Kirby striking the ending pose without dancing first. The pose itself has been tweaked; Kirby now raises one of his feet, resembling the pose he makes when gaining an ability in his games.
  • Change Kirby smiles during his side taunt.
  • Change Kirby's victory poses have been modified. Two new dances are used, one with Kirby waving his arms and breakdancing, and another with Kirby moonwalking and sliding, both based off of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and ending in a unique pose. Kirby also splits into three separate Kirbys when not in team battles, referencing his home series. This is the first and only game to have Kirby's victory poses finish differently.
    • Change Kirby's idle pose at the end of his victory animation is more animate, with a gentle squash-and-stretch effect leading to a more rubbery feeling.
    • Change Kirby faces forward instead of away when "wiggling" in one of his victory poses.
  • Change When Kirby gains a new Copy Ability, he briefly poses like he does in his home series. This animation can be canceled.
  • Change Some Copy Ability hats have been changed.
    • Change His Samus helmet has a fully opaque visor, as it was in Super Smash Bros.
    • Change His Captain Falcon helmet has triangular eyes, and the visor is opaque as in Super Smash Bros.
    • Change Unlike Smash 4, his Jigglypuff cap matches his costume color, as in previous games up to Brawl.
    • Change His Zelda cap has been changed from the wimple she wore as a child in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to a hairstyle matching her new A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds-inspired look.
    • Change His Ganondorf cap is consistent with Ganondorf's Ocarina of Time appearance, effectively reverting to its design in Melee.
    • Change His Ike cap uses the hairstyle from his Path of Radiance design, as in Brawl.
    • Change His Wolf cap matches Wolf's Star Fox Zero-based appearance.
    • Change His Robin cap, upon exhausting the Thunder tome, will disappear like it does in all other cases, instead of just disappearing with no animation.
  • Change Kirby's Boxing Ring alias has been changed to "The Pink Demon", making consistent with the Japanese release.

Attributes

  • Buff Like all characters, Kirby's jumpsquat takes 3 frames to complete (down from 4).
  • Buff Kirby runs faster (1.57 → 1.727).
    • Buff His initial dash is noticeably faster (1.5 → 1.9).
  • Buff Kirby walks faster (0.93 → 0.977).
  • Buff Kirby's air speed is slightly faster (0.8 → 0.84).
  • Buff Kirby's traction is much higher (0.0493 → 0.116), going from below average to being tied for the 17th highest, making easier for him to punish out of shield.
  • Buff The changes to taunt interruptibility benefit Kirby more than any other returning veteran, as he can act quicker after discarding a Copy Ability.
  • Nerf Forward roll grants less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 4-15).
  • Nerf Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frames 4-17 → 5-16), and more ending lag (FAF 31 → 36).
  • Buff Air dodge grants more intangibility (frames 3-27 → 3-29).
  • Nerf Air dodge has significantly more ending lag (FAF 33 → 63), now being tied with Rosalina for the second slowest air dodge in the game duration-wise, only behind Jigglypuff.

Ground attacks

  • Neutral attack:
    • Buff Neutral attack's first and second hits have altered angles (55° → 361°/180° (hit 1), 70° → 361° (hit 2)) and knockback (8 base/30 scaling → 20 base/25/20 scaling (hit 1), 15/30 → 25/15 (hit 2)) to keep opponents close to Kirby, akin to other neutral attacks. This allows them to jab lock, and noticeably improves their previously poor linking ability.
    • Buff Neutral attack 1 has less startup lag (frame 3 → 2) with its total duration compensated (FAF 16 → 15).
    • Buff The second hit transitions faster into the infinite (frame 8 → 5) and has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.3×), although with a slightly higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×).
    • Buff The infinite has shorter gaps between hits (4 frames → 2), a consistent angle (55°/68°/80° → 361°), a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.5×) and SDI multiplier (1× → 0.4×), and deals less knockback (6/4/2 base/100 scaling → 7 base/35 scaling). This allows it to connect more reliably and makes it much harder to escape.
    • Buff The infinite's finisher has less startup (frame 5 → 3) and ending lag (FAF 51 → 40).
    • Buff The finisher deals more damage (2% → 3%) and launches at a lower angle (45° → 361°), with knockback not fully compensated (80 base/120 scaling → 70/115), improving its KO potential.
    • Nerf All hits except the finisher deal less damage (2% → 1.8% (hit 1), 3% → 1.6% (hit 2), 1% → 0.2% (infinite)).
    • Nerf The first hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.7×), giving opponents more time to SDI it.
    • Nerf The second hit and each hit of the infinite have a shorter hitbox duration (2 frames → 1), and the latter also has one frame more startup (frame 6 → 7), although this is compensated by its faster transition from the second hit.
    • Nerf The finisher has smaller hitboxes overall (4.5u/6.5u/5.5u → 5u/5u/5u).
    • Change The finisher has a much higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 3×).
  • Forward tilt:
    • Buff Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 24). Combined with the increased shieldstun for ground attacks, this makes it much safer on shield.
    • Buff It has much more base knockback (12 → 40), improving its KO potential.
  • Up tilt:
    • Buff Up tilt's closest hitbox is larger (4u → 4.8u), now slightly larger than the late hit in Brawl.
    • Buff Its late hit and foot intangibility last one more frame (frames 6-9 → 6-10), now matching its duration from Brawl.
    • Buff It has less base knockback (40 → 30/26 (clean), 26 (late)) and more knockback scaling (116 → 132/125 (clean), 110 → 130/119 (late)), allowing it to combo better into his aerials from low to mid percents, while also improving its KO potential at very high percents.
    • Change The hitbox at the tip of Kirby's foot launches at a slightly different angle (100° → 98° (clean), 88° → 86° (late)).
  • Down tilt:
    • Buff Due to the increased traction across the cast, opponents do not slide back as much upon tripping from down tilt, improving its reliability for starting combos.
    • Change It has more knockback scaling (30 → 43), causing it to stop tripping opponents sooner, but improving its combo potential at higher percents if it doesn't trip.
  • Dash attack:
    • Change Dash attack has reverted to its Melee iteration, where Kirby does a flaming tackle identical to the Burning copy ability from his home series, although it does not go off edges.
    • Buff It hits only once instead of six times, possessing a clean hit, mid hit and late hit. This makes it more reliable overall than the previous dash attack, which could sometimes miss its last hit due to the looping hits' poor linking ability.
    • Buff It propels Kirby a much farther distance forward, increasing its range, and due to him leaping during the animation, it can cross-up shields despite the changes to jostle mechanics. This makes it safer on shield at close range.
    • Buff It has less startup, with its hitboxes active fully throughout (frames 12, 15, 19, 24, 30, 35-37 → 9-17 (clean)/18-26 (mid)/27-34 (late)).
    • Buff The clean hit deals more damage (1% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6); 9% total → 12%), with knockback not fully compensated (100 base/70 scaling → 82/66), and launches at a more horizontal angle (65° → 46°). This turns it into a much stronger finisher, KOing opponents at around 160% from center stage and 105% near edges, compared to being unable to KO under 280% regardless of horizontal positioning.
    • Buff It has larger hitboxes (3.5u/3.5u/3.3u (hits 1-5), 3u (hit 6) → 5u (clean), 3.5u (mid & late)).
    • Buff Due to the mid hit dealing more damage than the previous dash attack's last hit (4% → 9%), and launching at a higher angle (65° → 76°), it KOs slightly earlier despite its lower knockback values (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50).
    • Nerf It has more ending lag (FAF 54 → 60). Combined with no longer dealing multiple hits, this makes it much more punishable on shield if spaced poorly.
    • Buff The late hit deals more damage than the previous dash attack's final hit (4% → 6%).
    • Nerf However, it has much less knockback (100 base/70 scaling → 80/50), hindering its KO potential despite launching at a higher angle (65° → 76°).
    • Change It has a lower hitlag multiplier (2× → 1.3× (clean)/1× (mid)/0.8× (late)). This makes harder to DI, but makes it less safe in shield, especially in the later hitboxes.
  • Forward smash:
    • Buff Forward smash's clean hit deals more knockback (30 base/102 scaling → 32/109), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff Kirby lunges farther forward, giving it more range.
    • Buff It deals more damage when angled down (14% → 15% (clean), 10% → 11% (late)).
    • Nerf It deals less damage when angled up (16% → 15% (clean), 12% → 11% (late)), although the clean is still slightly stronger than in Smash 4 due to its higher knockback values.
    • Nerf The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
    • Change It has a different startup animation: Kirby pulls back before executing a thrust kick instead of performing a spin first, making it resemble Smash Kick, one of Smash Bros. Kirby's attacks in Kirby: Planet Robobot.
  • Up smash:
    • Buff Up smash has less startup (frame 14 → 12), with its total duration compensated (FAF 48 → 46).
    • Buff The clean hit and late hit had their duration reversed: the clean hit now lasts for 3 frames and the late hit only comes out on the last frame(frame 14 (clean)/15-16 (mid)/17-19 (late) → 12-14/15-16/17). This makes it more useful as an anti-air and makes it more consistent for KO'ing.
    • Buff The clean hit's sweetspot has more base knockback (32 → 36) and the clean hit's sourspot deals more knockback (30 base/99 scaling → 36/104), improving its KO potential.
    • Buff The late hit (12% (base)/11% (tip) → 13%/12%) and the tip of the middle hitbox (12% → 13%) deal more damage.
    • Change Its leg intangibility frames have been moved to match its faster startup (frames 14-19 → 12-17).
  • Down smash:
    • Buff Down smash launches at a semi-spike angle like one of its hitboxes in Brawl (69° → 29°), significantly improving its edgeguarding ability and allowing it to KO earlier near edges. It's also no longer vulnerable to LSI.
    • Nerf It has much less knockback scaling to compensate for its lower angle(110 → 89), hindering its KO potential at center stage and across the stage.

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerials have less landing lag (10 frames → 6 (neutral), 13 → 8 (forward), 17 → 10 (back), 12 → 7 (up), 17 → 16 (down).
  • Buff The universal reduction to landing lag benefits Kirby's combo potential in his neutral, forward and up aerials and makes his aerial attacks safe on shield despite the changes to shieldstun for aerial attacks.
  • Neutral aerial:
    • Buff Neutral aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 73 → 53).
    • Buff Its clean hit deals significantly more knockback (30 base/90 scaling → 35/117), improving its pressure ability and KO power.
    • Buff All hitboxes are bigger (8u → 9u (clean), 7u → 8u (mid), 6u → 7u (mid-to-late), 5u → 6u (late)).
    • Buff It auto-cancels earlier (frame 56 → 51).
  • Forward aerial:
    • Buff Forward aerial's first hit launches at a higher angle (45°/80° → 53°/84°) and deals less knockback (35 base/50 scaling → 43/39 (close), 35/38 (far)), allowing it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
    • Buff The first and second hits have lower hitlag (1× → 0.8×) and SDI multipliers (1× → 0.5×), making them harder to escape.
    • Buff The first and third hits have larger hitboxes (4.3u/4.3u → 5u/4.4u (hit 1), 4.9u → 5.1u (hit 3)).
    • Buff The third hit also extends further horizontally and vertically (Z offset: 8-12 → 7-13, Y offset: 3.9-4.2 → 3-4.2), further improving its range.
    • Buff The second hit extends further outwards (Z offset: 8-12 → 7-13), improving its horizontal range.
    • Change The hitbox is also lower down (Y offset: 3.7-4.2 → 2.8-4.1). This reduces its vertical range but makes it easier to hit short or crouching characters, even in a rising short hop.
    • Buff The third hit has a longer duration (frames 25-26 → 25-27).
  • Back aerial:
    • Buff Back aerial has larger hitboxes (4u (early)/3.4u (late) → 4.5u/3.5u), and the hitboxes extend further horizontally (Z offset: 7-10.5 (clean)/7-10 (late) → 6-13/6-11), noticeably improving its range.
    • Buff The clean hit has a longer duration (frames 6-7 → 6-8).
    • Nerf The clean hit deals less knockback (20 base/104 scaling → 15/100), hindering its KO potential.
    • Nerf The late hit has a shorter duration (frames 8-14 → 9-12).
    • Change The clean hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×).
  • Up aerial:
    • Buff Up aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 36).
    • Buff It deals more damage (9% → 10%) and has noticeably more knockback scaling (100 → 115), improving its KO ability, without worsening its combo ability due to its reduced landing lag.
  • Down aerial:
    • Buff Down aerial's looping hits deal more damage (1% → 1.3%, total: 7% → 8.5%), with knockback scaling compensated (107 → 100).
    • Buff The looping hits have a noticeably lower hitlag multiplier (1.5× → 0.8×), alongside a larger hitbox (5u → 6u), increasing their range and making them harder to escape from.
    • Nerf It can no longer be frame canceled, with its landing lag not reduced enough to compensate. As a result, it has more landing lag relative to Smash 4 if the landing hit connects, hindering its combo potential.
    • Nerf The last hit has a smaller hitbox (6.2u → 5.6u).

Throws and other attacks

  • Grabs:
    • Nerf All grabs have more ending lag (FAF 28 → 34 (standing), 39 → 42 (dash), 33 → 37 (pivot)), albeit they are still among the fastest in the game.
    • Nerf All grabs have less range (Z2 offset: 10.2u → 9.4u (standing), 12.1u → 11u (dash), -17.9u → -15.7u (pivot)).
    • Nerf Dash grab has slightly more startup lag (frame 8 → 9).
  • Pummel:
    • Nerf Pummel deals less damage (1.55% → 1%).
    • Nerf It has less startup (frame 9 → 1) and ending lag (FAF 10 → 6), but deals considerably more hitlag (4 frames → 11), increasing its effective duration.
  • Forward throw:
    • Nerf Forward throw has Kirby jump slightly higher and further backwards at the end of the animation, able to reach the height of Battlefield's lower platform. The additional height weakens its combo potential at low percents, while the additional backwards distance prevents him from benefiting from the extra height at higher percents.
  • Back throw:
    • Nerf Back throw has Kirby jump immediately after releasing the opponent, as opposed to a few frames later, causing him to be much higher in the air after the move ends. Additionally, Kirby lands a short distance forward relative to where the throw is initiated from, rather than in the same spot. This removes the throw's followups at low percents, and weakens its edgeguarding potential, as it now pushes Kirby away from edges.
    • Change It has an altered animation where Kirby doesn't squish as much upon slamming the opponent to the ground.
  • Up throw:
    • Buff Up throw has gained a collateral hitbox upon landing that deals 7%, similar to Meta Knight's up throw, increasing its effectiveness in battles with multiple opponents.
  • Down throw:
    • Buff Down throw's first nine hits deal more damage (0.8% → 1%, total: 10.2% → 12%).
  • Edge attack:
    • Buff Edge attack deals more damage (7% → 9%).

Special moves

  • Inhale:
    • Buff Inhale has less startup lag (frame 14 → 10), making it much easier to combo into it.
    • Buff It has a larger vortex hitbox (7u → 8.5u) with altered hitbox placements (7.5u → 7u (Y offset), 13u → 15.5u (Z offset)), and an additional vortex hitbox, increasing its range.
    • Buff It has less ending lag when failing to inhale anything (FAF 73 → 64).
    • Buff It has less ending lag after copying an opponent (FAF 30 → 21), preventing the copied opponent from being able to hit Kirby before he can move.
    • Buff Its swallowing hitboxes are larger (4.2u/4.6u → 5.3u/5.8u), increasing the safety of copying an opponent when others are nearby.
    • Buff It can catch projectiles to heal Kirby, albeit with noticeable ending lag.
      • Buff Kirby can keep certain projectiles, like a fully-charged Charge Shot, inside his mouth and then choose to spit them out as a star that deals damage or swallow them to heal himself.
    • Buff Kirby dies later when performing a Kirbycide, though he still dies first. This gives the opponent less time to recover after Kirby is KO'd.
    • Buff Kirby receives a 1.2× damage multiplier for his Copy Abilities when compared to the copied opponent's neutral special. This improves the utility of his Copy Ability.
    • Buff Kirby cannot lose his Copy Ability by getting hit for 20 seconds after receiving it.
    • Buff Kirby is less likely to lose Copy Abilities when getting hit.
    • Buff The distance an opponent travels in a star scales with damage, allowing Kirby to KO spat opponents near edges more effectively at higher percents.
    • Change Inhale has a more opaque visual effect.
  • Hammer:
    • Buff Hammer launches at a lower angle when not fully charged (53° → 48° (grounded), 55° → 50° (aerial)), improving its KO and potential.
    • Buff The grounded version has intangibility when fully charged (frames 2-10).
    • Buff The grounded version has more super armor when fully charged (frames 11-13 → 11-17).
    • Buff The aerial version deals slightly more damage (15%-27% → 16%-28%) with no compensation on knockback.
    • Nerf The aerial version sends at a higher angle when fully charged (45° → 50°), slightly reducing its KO potential despite its increased damage.
    • Change Kirby may use his uncharged or fully charged voice lines from Smash 4 when swinging an uncharged Hammer.
    • Change A fully charged Hammer triggers Special Zoom.
  • Final Cutter:
    • Buff Final Cutter has less landing lag (34 frames → 30).
    • Buff It can snap to the ledge earlier (frame 36 → 33).
    • Buff The rising hit has a longer duration (frames 23-24 → 23-26). The set knockback during the additional active frames is lower (117/102 → 60/50) to link into the falling hit as well.
    • Buff The landing hit no longer has set knockback (120 set/100 scaling → 85 base/95 scaling).
    • Nerf The falling hit has smaller hitboxes (6.5u → 6u (meteor), 6u → 5.5u (late)).
    • Nerf The falling hit's meteor smash portion has slightly less set knockback (100 → 96).
    • Change The projectile has a lower hitlag multiplier (1× → 0.7×), although this is compensated by the universal increase to hitlag.
  • Stone:
    • Buff Aerial Stone has super armor during startup (frames 19-28).
    • Buff The landing hit launches at a higher angle (0° → 25°) and has much more base knockback (40 → 86), although with its knockback scaling compensated (40 → 24), allowing it to set up edgeguards more effectively, while also increasing its KO power.
    • Nerf The aerial hit can no longer combo into the landing hit, significantly decreasing its shield damage.
    • Change If Stone is hit with a reversing move such as Cape, the transformation will visually spin around.
    • Change Opponents can no longer run through Stone, but can now push the transformations along the ground.
    • Change Stone can transform into a Treasure Chest found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's shrines.
    • Change If Kirby is metal when using Stone, the transformation will also be metal.
    • Change Kirby doesn't change back to normal if he lands underwater.
  • Ultra Sword:
    • Change It features a special background effect upon usage, in a similar fashion to the use of Super Abilities in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
    • Nerf The final hit deals less knockback (scaling: 100 → 95).

Update history

Kirby has been significantly buffed via game updates. His forward tilt has less ending lag and deals more knockback, giving it newfound KO potential at very high percentages, while boosting its safety. Neutral and up aerials have less ending lag, with the former being able to auto-cancel earlier as well, aiding Kirby's aerial game. Dash attack deals more damage on all hitboxes, while its clean hitbox has wider range, enabling it to rack up damage more easily. In the 3.0.0 patch, Kirby has been buffed further, with improvements given to a few of his more generally lackluster attacks. Kirby can retain inhaled Copy Abilities noticeably longer and is less likely to lose his Copy Abilities after the initial threshold. His down throw's damage-racking capabilities are improved, and his Final Cutter can grab ledges earlier, making it safer for recovery. Up smash's clean hit now has a longer duration, improving its reliability as an anti-air option. Lastly, the universal nerf to projectile shield damage allows Kirby to overcome camping strategies better. Patch 6.0.0 granted Kirby faster startup and more knockback on his neutral and up aerials, improving his combo game and kill power. Inhale had its startup reduced, along with copy abilities being less likely to get lost. Up smash's sourspot has more knockback akin to the sweetspot, improving his KO power further.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.1.0

  • Buff Up aerial has less ending lag (FAF 40 → 38).
  • Change Final Cutter has some animations updated.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 1.2.0

  • Bug fix After copying Pac-Man's Bonus Fruit, Key will no longer be discarded when it is recycled.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 2.0.0

  • Buff Dash attack has more range.
  • Buff Dash attack deals more damage (10% (clean)/7% (mid)/4% (late) → 12%/9%/6%) with knockback partly compensated.
  • Buff Forward tilt deals more knockback, causing it to KO at high percents.
  • Buff Forward tilt has less ending lag (FAF 28 → 24).
  • Buff The aerial version of Stone has super armor (frames 19-28).
  • Bug fix Fixed a visual glitch in Team Battles where the smoke effects of Kirby's doubles were still present if Kirby is on a winning team with more than two characters.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.0.0

  • Buff Up smash's clean hit has a longer duration, with the late hit having a shorter duration instead (frame 12 (strong)/13-14 (mid)/15-17 (late) → 12-14/15-16/17).
  • Buff Neutral aerial has less ending lag (FAF 63 → 55) and auto-cancels earlier (frame 56 → 51).
  • Buff The first 9 hits of down throw deal more damage (0.8% → 1%, total: 10.2% → 12%).
  • Inhale
    • Buff Kirby dies later when performing a Kirbycide with Inhale, though he still dies first. This gives the opponent less time to recover after Kirby is KO'd.
    • Buff Kirby cannot lose Copy Abilities received by Inhale for a longer period of time (5 seconds → 10).
    • Buff Kirby is less likely to lose Copy Abilities when getting hit (Chance to lose: Damage Received/70 * 130% → Damage Received/70 * 100%).
    • Bug fix Fixed a majority amount of Inhale Glitches:
      • Bug fix Visual glitch where Kirby would retain parts of Metal status with Wii Fit Trainer.
      • Bug fix Visual glitch where Kirby’s Bandana from Snake would move during the camera view of each frame.
      • Bug fix Opponents now properly gain intangibility when caught by Inhale; previously opponents would become stuck in a hitstun during Inhale.
      • Bug fix Infinite floating glitch that occurs when Kirby uses multiple copied Mii Swordfighter's Gale Strikes in the air after performing a throw that left him in the air.
      • Bug fix Gliding glitch when Kirby uses a copied and B-reversed Mii Swordfighter's Gale Strike while running.
  • Buff Final Cutter can snap to the ledge earlier (frame 36 → 33).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3.1.0

  • Nerf Kirby can no longer perform the initial dash cancel to Pikmin Throw.
  • Bug fix Fixed an issue that resulted in Kirby being unable to perform dodges, shield and crouch after attempting to change then losing the chosen Monado Art.
  • Bug fix Scenarios where the opponent would not escape from Inhale after Kirby gets hitstunned at a specific frame has been fixed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 6.0.0

  • Buff Neutral attack's first hit has less startup (frame 3 → 2), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 16 → 15).
  • Buff Up smash's clean sourspot deals more knockback (30 base/99 scaling → 36/104), with the knockback values matching the sweetspots.
  • Buff Neutral aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 55 → 53), and the clean hit has more knockback scaling (100 → 117), KOing under 150% from the center of Final Destination.
  • Buff Up aerial has less startup (frame 10 → 8), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 38 → 36), and deals more damage (9% → 10%) with more knockback scaling (108 → 115), KOing under 160% from ground level.
  • Buff Inhale has less startup (frame 14 → 10), with its total duration reduced as well (FAF 68 → 64).
  • Buff Kirby cannot lose Copy Abilities received by Inhale for a longer period of time (10 seconds → 20).
  • Buff Kirby is less likely to lose Copy Abilities when getting hit (Chance to lose: Damage Received/70 * 100% → Damage Received/70 * 70%).

Moveset

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

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack Vulcan Jab/Smash Punch 1.8% 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.
1.6%
0.2% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt   8% (base), 7% (tip) Throws a spinning roundhouse kick. It is quick, due to coming out on frame 5, having very little ending lag and can be angled. Due to its above average knockback, it can KO middleweights starting at around 132% at the edge of Final Destination.
Up tilt   5% (clean), 4% (late) A scorpion kick. Although its damage output is low, it is a very 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.
Down tilt Squish Kick 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.
Dash attack Burn 12% (clean), 9% (mid), 6% (late) The Burn attack from the Fire ability. It has decent start up at frame 9 with a lengthy hitbox that grows weaker over time. When struck cleanly, it has great power, KOing middleweights at around 98% from the edge of Final Destination.
Forward smash Smash Kick 15% (clean), 11% (late) The Spin Kick from the Fighter ability. Due to becoming active at frame 13, it's fast for a forward smash. It can be angled and moderately moves Kirby forward, giving it deceptive range. Its clean hitbox also deals respectable damage and has very high knockback growth, which makes it a powerful and reliable KOing option. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 80%. However, its late hitbox lacks reliable KO potential.
Up smash   15%/14% (clean), 14%/13% (mid), 13%/12% (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 around 110% from anywhere on Final Destination. Kirby's foot is also rendered intangible throughout its duration. However, its mid and late hitboxes lack KO potential. Comes out on frame 12 and has 29 frames of ending lag, so its speed is only average for an up smash.
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. Comes out on frame 10. Semispike with above average power, with its clean hitbox KOing middleweights at around 103% from the edge of Final Destination. 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 10% (clean), 8% (mid), 6% (mid-to-late), 4% (late) A cartwheel, similar to the aerial attack from the Smash 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 it's surprisingly high knockback growth makes it a decent anti-pressure and out of shield option. It has big hitboxes, especially at the beginning, giving good protection and coverage around Kirby. It can also edgeguard, but it has the highest amount of ending lag out of Kirby's aerials, although much safer than in SSB4 since its ending lag was reduced drastically. It has sex kick properties and autocancels in a full hop.
Forward aerial   4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3) The Aerial Spin Kick from the Fighter ability. 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. Good for combos. Can connect into itself for a Wall of Pain in certain instances. Autocancels in a full hop.
Back aerial   13% (clean), 8% (late) A 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. It autocancels from a short hop and 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 around 105%. It also boasts good range due to its slightly disjointed hitbox, which makes it a viable edge-guarding option, and allows it to use it in a wall of pain.
Up aerial   10% The Moon Somersault Kick from the Fighter ability. A decent juggling option, it can also be used for continuing a combo due to its low landing lag. Autocancels in a short hop.
Down aerial   1.3% (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 to use off-stage. 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 due to coming out on frame 18, and not autocanceling in a short hop, it can be auto-canceled on landing, giving Kirby a very large window to safely land while tumbling. Despite possessing a landing hit, it's landing lag is only moderate, with 16 frames,making it safe even if not autocanceled.
Grab   The Foe Grab from the Fighter ability. One of the fastest grabs, but has short range. Kirby's throws are based on attacks used by the Suplex and Ninja abilities.
Pummel   1% The punch version of the Arm Throw from the Fighter ability. Weak, but one of the fastest pummels.
Forward throw   5% The Pile Driver 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. Using it below a Battlefield platform will have Kirby land on said platform, hindering followups at lower percents, but extending them at higher percents.
Back throw   8% The Big Suplex from the Suplex ability. Despite having an average damage output and very low base knockback, it has very high knockback growth. As a result, it has decent KO potential. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 137%.
Up throw Air Drop 10% (throw), 7% (landing) The attack of the same name from the Ninja ability. Like Meta Knight's up throw, it can damage and launch bystanders upon landing. It is weaker than his back throw when used at the edge, but it is consistently strong regardless of where it's used on the stage. Great knockback, KOing middleweights at around 158% from anywhere on Final Destination, and the landing hit can KO at around 157%. 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   1% (hits 1-10), 2% (throw) The Fury Stomp from the Suplex ability. It is Kirby's most damaging throw at 12%, which makes it useful for damage racking. It can also damage nearby opponents.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Performs a spin kick before getting up.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Kicks on one side and then the other before getting up.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% The Break Spin from the Yo-yo ability.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  9% Performs a cartwheeling kick while climbing up. It has surprisingly good range compared to many other characters' edge attacks.
Neutral special 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, 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. 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. When inhaling projectiles, Kirby will heal off a small amount of percentage, and when inhaling large projectiles, such as Samus's fully charged Charge Shot, it can be spat out as a star. Kirby' s copied neutral special's damage output has a x1.2 multiplier compared the opponent's version.
Side special Hammer Flip 19% (grounded uncharged), 16% (aerial uncharged), 35% (grounded fully charged), 28% (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 grants 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 around 65%. Conversely, fully charged Hammer Flip KOs middleweights at around 6%. Although weaker, aerial Hammer Flip nevertheless possesses impressive KO potential. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 86%. Conversely, its fully charged version KOs them at around 33%. When fully charged and on the ground, it makes Kirby invincible from frame 2-10 and gives him super armor from frame 11-17. Despite this power, the move is considered essentially useless in competitive play outside of shield break punishes due to its small hitbox, terrible startup, and huge endlag.
Up special Final Cutter 5% (ascent), 2% (descent), 5% (landing), 6% (shockwave) The attack of the same name from the Cutter ability. It can meteor smash any 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. A good vertical recovery move and has decent horizontal distance when angled. However, it is extremely predictable due to its high start-up. Kirby cannot sweetspot the edge until he starts to descend, and if the platform beneath him disappears or if he is pushed off while he is still in the landing animation, he will be rendered helpless.
Down special 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, Stone Smash KOs middleweights at around 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 is slightly weaker, it is a semi-spike. Kirby cannot be damaged while he is transformed, although his Stone forms have a set amount of durability, and he can be grabbed while transformed.
Final Smash Ultra Sword 3% (stun), 5% (hit 1), 2.5% (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 slash. While near the edge of Final Destination, it KOs middleweights at around 15%.

On-screen appearance

Kirby rides in on his classic warp star, followed by a small explosion while flipping off of it.

Taunts

All taunts remove Kirby's copy ability, if he has one.

  • Up taunt: Smiles and poses, producing a star.
  • Side taunt: Spins around playfully, followed by a "Nyum!" while standing on one foot. (Based on his "character chosen" animation in Super Smash Bros.)
  • Down taunt: Leans toward the screen and says "Hi!" while waving his arms.

Idle poses

  • Dozes off, then shakes his head awake.
  • Turns to face away from the screen, then turns back.

Victory poses

Note: Outside of team battles, Kirby's victory poses have three separate Kirbys, referencing the Kirby dances from his home series.

  • Left: Moonwalks to the left, twists, slides to the right, and jumps into a pose where he stands on one foot. Based on Kirby's dances in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and ends with a pose similar to his Brawl render.
  • Up: Cartwheels to the left twice, wiggles, and does a front flip before posing.
  • Right: Jumps twice, shuffles backwards, does a breakdance, and poses while facing away from the camera. Based on Kirby's dances in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, with the ending pose also appearing in said game.
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.

In competitive play

Since the release of Ultimate, many professionals immediately noticed Kirby's significant flaws from the previous installment have been retained, and that his improvements to his other attributes are considered to be too negligible to fix them. As a result, his representation in the national levels has been minimal, with his reception being notoriously negative across the community. Kirby does, however, achieve at least some results in the local and regional scene. Jesuischoq has won a few local Europe tournaments and got good results in French majors, while Komota has made several respectable regional placings in the United States, as well as a noticeable 65th place finish at Frostbite 2019 . Most notably, SuperGirlKels has effectively used him as a secondary, notably using him to place in the Top 8 in ICARUS V and managing to take out Exodia along the way by using a combination of her main, Sonic, and Kirby. However, despite respectable local and regional results from said players, and game updates helping him, most of the community doesn’t consider them significant enough to address his key weaknesses from SSB4.

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Spring 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from February 1st, 2019 to July 7th, 2019.

Active

Inactive

  • Canada Captain L (#50) - Utilized Kirby as a secondary. Placed 1st in The Pinnacle 2018 using Kirby as one of his characters. While Captain L hasn’t officially dropped Kirby, he rarely uses him in bracket and opts to mostly use Pikachu in bracket.

Classic Mode: Gourmet Clash

Kirby's congratulations screen.

Kirby's opponents are characters who, like Kirby, are known for their large appetites. For each battle, Kirby and his opponent each spawn with 35% damage and several food items appear on the stage as the match begins.

Round Opponent Stage Music
1 Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSBU) Pac-Land PAC-MAN
2 Giant Yoshi Yoshi (SSBU) Yoshi's Island Ground Theme - Super Mario World
3 Donkey Kong Donkey Kong (SSBU) Jungle Japes Jungle Hijinxs
4 Giant Wario Wario (SSBU) Gamer WarioWare, Inc.
5 King K. Rool King K. Rool (SSBU) Kongo Jungle Mangrove Cove
6 King Dedede King Dedede (SSBU) Fountain of Dreams Gourmet Race (64)
Bonus Stage
Final Marx Mysterious Dimension Vs. Marx

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Kirby has Staff Credits - Kirby's Dream Land accompany the credits.

Character unlock tree

Kirby's Classic Mode character unlock tree includes the following characters in order:

  1. Ness
  2. Jigglypuff
  3. Pac-Man
  4. Zelda
  5. Robin
  6. Corrin
  7. Lucas
  8. Palutena

Each character can be unlocked by clearing Kirby's Classic Mode, or the Classic Mode of any preceding character, if all preceding characters have been unlocked. Once all the above characters are unlocked, clearing Classic Mode with any of them will default to Mario's character unlock tree, starting with Sonic.

Role in World of Light

Kirby facing the World of Light, from the mode's opening cutscene.
Kirby in the start of World of Light's gameplay

Kirby was among the fighters summoned to the cliffside to assist in defeating an army of Master Hands.

After Galeem absorbed all of the Master Hands during the opening cutscene, he began to unleash beams of light that vaporized all of the fighters and later imprisoned all of them. Kirby was the sole survivor after escaping on his Warp Star, barely warping away from the beams before they could engulf him. Despite being the sole survivor, Kirby is still seen as a puppet in a few areas of the mode. It was later explained that Galeem had analyzed Kirby at some point during the story and was able to make puppet fighters in his image without needing Kirby himself.

Kirby crash-lands in a canyon area, and begins his quest to save the other fighters as the initial starting protagonist.

He is later seen alongside several other fighters, as they make their final stand against Galeem and Dharkon.

Fighter Battle

No. Image Name Type Power Stage Music
06
Kirby SSBU.png
Kirby There is no fighter battle for Kirby, this fighter is available from the beginning

Spirits

Kirby's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 500 coins. Starting World of Light and play as Kirby 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 them with their artwork in Ultimate.

Additionally, Kirby makes an appearance in various Support Spirits.

In Spirit battles

As the main opponent

Spirit Battle parameters
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music
48 Boo Super Mario series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Neutral
1,800 Mushroom Kingdom U (Slide Lift Tower) •Invisibility •The enemy is invisible
•The enemy's shield has extra durability
Main Theme - Luigi's Mansion (Brawl)
50 Bob-omb Super Mario series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×3)
Grab
3,500 Mushroom Kingdom •Item: Bob-omb •The enemy's throwing-type items have increased power
•The enemy has increased move speed
Airship Theme - Super Mario Bros. 3
66
Kingbomomb.png
King Bob-omb Super Mario series •Giant Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
4,100 Peach's Castle •Item: Bob-omb •The enemy is giant
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Main Theme - Super Mario 64
69
Piantas.png
Piantas Super Mario series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Shield
1,600 Delfino Plaza •Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Mushrooms
•Certain items will appear in large numbers after a little while Delfino Plaza
71
Luma Spirit.png
Luma Super Mario series Kirby (×4) (Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU))
Shield
3,500 Mario Galaxy •Item: Stars •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Rosalina in the Observatory / Luma's Theme
74
Lubba.png
Lubba Super Mario series •Giant Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
4,100 Mario Galaxy •Hazard: Low Gravity
•Item: Super Launch Star
•Gravity is reduced
•The enemy starts the battle with a Super Launch Star
•The enemy is giant
The Starship Sails
116
Viruses Spirit.png
Viruses Dr. Mario series Kirby (×3) (Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU))
Attack
4,000 Mario Bros. (Battlefield form) N/A •Timed battle Fever
285
XParasiteSpirit.png
X Parasite Metroid series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (x10)
Attack
2,100 Lylat Cruise N/A •The enemy favors neutral specials
•Defeat an army of fighters
Sector 1
327
Star Rod.png
Star Rod Kirby series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Attack
9,200 Fountain of Dreams N/A •The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod Gourmet Race (Melee)
329
Kirbybot.png
Robobot Armor Kirby series •Metal Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Attack
4,000 Halberd •Item: Drill Stamina battle
•The enemy is metal
Pink Ball Activate!
331 Dragoon Kirby series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
13,500 Pilotwings •Item: Dragoon Parts •Items will be pulled toward the enemy
•The enemy has increased move speed
The Legendary Air Ride Machine
335 Gooey Kirby series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Neutral
4,200 Dream Land N/A •Timed battle
•The enemy favors neutral specials
Gourmet Race (64)
339
Whispywoods.png
Whispy Woods Kirby series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×5)
Shield
9,300 Green Greens •Hazard: Heavy Wind •Dangerously high winds are in effect
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
Boss Theme Medley - Kirby Series
341
Power Orb Spirit.png
Nightmare's Power Orb Kirby series •Giant Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
4,000 Fountain of Dreams •Assist Trophy Enemies (Nightmare) •Hostile assist trophies will appear after a little while
•The enemy is giant
•The enemy starts the battle with a Star Rod
Vs. Marx
360
Waddledee.png
Waddle Dee Kirby series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Neutral
3,700 Dream Land GB N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Kirby Retro Medley
362
Waddle Doo.png
Waddle Doo Kirby series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×3)
Attack
2,500 Dream Land •Hazard: Zap Floor •The floor is electrified
•The enemy starts the battle with a Super Scope
Butter Building (for 3DS / Wii U)
366
Scarfy Spirit.png
Scarfy Kirby series Kirby Team (×4) (Kirby (SSBU),Kirby (SSBU)x3)
Shield
1,400 Dream Land N/A •Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd Green Greens (Melee)
368
Rocky.png
Rocky Kirby series •Metal Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
2,600 The Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form) N/A •Timed Stamina battle
•The enemy favors down specials
•The enemy is metal
The Great Cave Offensive
370 Bomber Kirby series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
3,500 Dream Land GB •Item: Bomber •The enemy starts the battle with a Bomber Butter Building (Brawl)
380
Prince Fluff Spirit.png
Prince Fluff Kirby series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
1,900 Super Happy Tree N/A •The enemy's throws have increased power
•The enemy favors grabs and throws
Green Greens (for 3DS / Wii U)
432 Dugtrio Pokémon series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×3)
Shield
1,500 Pokémon Stadium 2 (Ground type) •Earthquake •Periodic earthquakes will shake the stage after a little while Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
438 Geodude Pokémon series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Shield
1,400 Pokémon Stadium 2 (Ground type) N/A •The enemy favors down specials Pokémon Gym/Evolution - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
458 Ditto Pokémon series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
3,400 Pokémon Stadium N/A •The enemy favors neutral specials
•Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Ditto)
Road to Viridian City - Pokémon Red / Pokémon Blue
470
Marill.png
Marill Pokémon series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
1,700 Pokémon Stadium 2 N/A •Water and ice attacks aren't as effective against the enemy Pokémon Gold / Pokémon Silver Medley
546 Diancie Pokémon series •Reflect Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Grab
3,900 Kalos Pokémon League N/A •The enemy reflects projectiles
•The enemy favors down specials
•The enemy takes less damage while in the air
Battle! (Champion) - Pokémon X / Pokémon Y
553
Pyukumuku.png
Pyukumuku Pokémon series •Tiny Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Shield
1,600 Wuhu Island N/A •Only certain Pokémon will emerge from Poké Balls (Pyukumuku) Battle! (Wild Pokémon) - Pokémon Sun / Pokémon Moon
559
Nihilego.png
Nihilego Pokémon series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×3)
Grab
4,100 The Great Cave Offensive (Ω form) •Hazard: Poison Floor •The floor is poisonous
•The enemy loves to jump
•The enemy falls slowly
The Battle at the Summit!
623
Wyrs.png
Wrys Fire Emblem series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
2,500 Temple N/A •Timed Stamina battle
•The enemy tends to avoid conflict
•The enemy heals over time
Shadow Dragon Medley
806
White Pikmin Spirit.png
White Pikmin Pikmin series •Tiny Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×13)
Grab
4,400 Distant Planet (Battlefield form) •Item: POW Block
•Hazard: Poison Floor
•The floor is poisonous
•Timed Stamina battle
•The enemy favors dash attacks
Forest of Hope
809
Rockpikmin.png
Rock Pikmin Pikmin series •Tiny Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×8)
Grab
1,800 Garden of Hope •Hazard: High Gravity Stamina battle
•Your jumping power decreases
•The enemy favors down specials
Garden of Hope (Original)
948 Ghosts Pac-Man series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Jigglypuff Jigglypuff (SSBU)
Squirtle Squirtle (SSBU)
Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSBU)
Shield
3,500 Pac-Land (Battlefield form) Assist Trophy Enemies (Ghosts) •Hostile assist trophies will appear PAC-MAN
1,122
Unira Spirit.png
Unira Clu Clu Land series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Attack
1,800 75m •Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Unira
•Certain items will appear in large numbers
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Clu Clu Land
1,155 Hakkun Sutte Hakkun Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
2,100 Yoshi's Island •Invisibility •Timed battle
•You are invisible after a little while
Flower Field
1,180
Tomatrio Spirit.png
Tomatrio Tomato Adventure Kirby (×3) (Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU))
Attack
1,600 Yoshi's Island (Melee) (Battlefield form) •Item: Maxim Tomato •The enemy is easily distracted by items Mixed-Up Scramble
1,186
Mattel Spirit.png
Mattel The Legendary Starfy series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
1,800 Delfino Plaza (Large Island) Assist Trophy Enemies (Starfy) •Hostile assist trophies will appear Tortimer Island Medley
1,226
Magkid Spirit.png
Magkid Slide Adventure MAGKID Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Neutral
1,800 PictoChat 2 Assist Trophy Enemies (Devil) •Hostile assist trophies will appear
•The enemy can deal damage by dashing into you
•The enemy has increased move speed
PictoChat
1,278
Qbby Spirit.png
Qbby BOXBOY! Series Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Grab
9,300 Wii Fit Studio •Item Tidal Wave •Certain items will appear in large numbers Ice Cream Island
1,330
SlimeOG.png
Slime DRAGON QUEST Series Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (x5)
•Giant Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
1,700 Gaur Plains (Battlefield form) N/A •Stamina battle
•The enemy favors neutral air attacks
•Reinforcements will appear after an enemy is KO'd
Fighting Spirits - DRAGON QUEST III
1,336
LMSlime.png
Liquid Metal Slime DRAGON QUEST Series •Metal Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Neutral
5,700 Great Cave Offensive (Battlefield form) •Move Speed ↑
•Defense ↑
•Attack Power ↓
•The enemy has super armor and is hard to launch or make flinch
•The enemy starts the battle with a Franklin Badge
•Timed stamina battle
Battle for the Glory - DRAGON QUEST IV
1,343
Jiggy Spirit.png
Jiggy Banjo-Kazooie Series •Gold Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (x5)
Shield
2,000 The Great Cave Offensive N/A •Timed stamina battle
•The enemy falls slowly
Treasure Trove Cove
1,355
O Block Spirit.png
O-Tetrimino Tetris series Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
2,000 Mushroomy Kingdom Assist Trophy Enemies (Thwomp)
•Item: POW Block
•Hostile assist trophies will appear
•The enemy prefers down specials in the air
Tetris: Type B

As a minion

Spirit Battle parameters Inspiration
No. Image Name Series Enemy Fighter(s) Type Power Stage Rules Conditions Music Character
67
Shinesprite.png
Shine Sprite Super Mario series Rosalina & Luma Rosalina (SSBU)
Kirby (×3) (Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU))
Neutral
13,100 Delfino Plaza (roof) •Temporary Invincibility
•Sudden Final Smash
•Item: Stars
•Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy will suddenly have a Final Smash
•The enemy will occasionally be invincible
Delfino Plaza (Remix) Piantas
72 Hungry Luma Super Mario series Rosalina & Luma Rosalina (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
1,900 Mario Galaxy •Item: Super Launch Star •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Egg Planet Hungry Luma
104 Geno Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars Sheik Sheik (SSBU)
Peach Peach (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Bowser Bowser (SSBU)
Mario Mario (SSBU)
Attack
13,700 Mario Galaxy (Battlefield form) N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•Timed battle
•The enemy's FS Meter charges quickly
Rainbow Road Medley Mallow
332
Rick Spirit.png
Rick Kirby series Pikachu Pikachu (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
4,100 Green Greens •Hazard: Ice Floor •The floor is frozen
•The enemy starts the battle with a Fire Flower
•The enemy has increased move speed
Planet Popstar Kirby
333
Kine Spirit.png
Kine Kirby series Squirtle Squirtle (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Shield
3,600 Wuhu Island (Rocks at sea) •Buoyancy Reduced •You can't swim
•The enemy starts the battle with a Freezie
Float Islands Kirby
334
CooSpirit.png
Coo Kirby series Falco Falco (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
4,100 Dream Land •Hazard: Heavy Wind •Dangerously high winds are in effect
•The enemy loves to jump
•The enemy falls slowly
Forest/Nature Area Kirby
690 Ball Game & Watch series Mr. Game & Watch Mr. Game & Watch (SSBU)
Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSBU)
Jigglypuff Jigglypuff (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Grab
3,900 Flat Zone X (hazards off) •Item: Balls •The enemy favors grabs and throws
•The enemy's throwing type items have increased power
Flat Zone 2 Ball
723
Viridi.png
Viridi Kid Icarus series Mii Swordfighter Mii Swordfighter (SSBU) (Moveset 1232, Viridi Wig, Viridi Outfit, High Voice Type 6)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
13,700 Reset Bomb Forest N/A •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy's special moves have increased power
•Timed battle
Wrath of the Reset Bomb Cragalanche
1,107
SPI-Fighting Alloy Team.png
Fighting Alloy Team Super Smash Bros. series Captain Falcon Team Captain Falcon (SSBU) (×4)
Zelda Team Zelda (SSBU) (×4)
Mario Team Mario (SSBU) (×4)
Kirby Team Kirby (SSBU) (×4)
Attack
3,300 Final Destination (Battlefield form) N/A •Take your strongest team into this no-frills battle Cruel Smash Green Alloy
1,119
SSBU Spirits Devil.png
Devil Devil World Ridley Ridley (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×2)
Shield
3,900 75m (Battlefield form) •Assist Trophy Enemies (Devil) •Hostile assist trophies will appear 25m Theme Bon-Bon
1,197
Munchymonk.png
Munchy Monk Rhythm Heaven series Ken Ken (SSBU)
•Tiny Kirby Kirby (SSBU) (×3)
Shield
1,500 Spirit Train Item: Food •Defeat the main fighter to win
•The enemy favors up specials
•The enemy is easily distracted by items
Fruit Basket Dumplings
1,216 Dr. Lobe Big Brain Academy series Dr. Mario Dr. Mario (SSBU)
Kirby (×2) (Kirby (SSBU)Kirby (SSBU))
Neutral
3,400 PictoChat 2 •Hazard: Low Gravity
•Hazard: High Gravity
•All fighters have reduced jump ability
•Gravity is reduced after a little while
Title Theme - Big Brain Academy
1,286
Snipclip.png
Clip & Snip Snipperclips - Cut it out, together! series Pac-Man Pac-Man (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Attack
3,600 PictoChat 2 N/A •The enemy starts the battle with a Killing Edge Noisy Notebook Snip
1,301
River Survival Spirit.png
River Survival Super Mario series Bowser Bowser (SSBU)
Kirby Kirby (SSBU)
Yoshi Yoshi (SSBU)
Rosalina & Luma Rosalina (SSBU)
Shield
5,500 Kongo Falls (Ω form) Bob-omb Festival
•Item Tidal Wave
•Item: Food
•Survive until the timer runs out
•Bob-ombs will rain from the sky after a little while
Slide Goomba

Alternate costumes

Alternate costume (SSBU)
Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU) Kirby (SSBU)

Gallery

Character Showcase Video

Trivia

  • Kirby's stock icon is one of four to show eyes (the others being Meta Knight, R.O.B., and Sonic), due to it being a simplistic pink circle otherwise, in order to tell that it is his stock icon.
  • Kirby's pose resembles his character artwork in Kirby Super Star, but rotated to slightly face the screen. Coincidentally, this was also used for his character select artwork in the original Super Smash Bros.
  • Kirby is the only Kirby series character to keep his Final Smash between Smash 4 and Ultimate.
  • Since Kirby is the starter character of World of Light and part of the starter roster, it means he's the only character that isn't unlockable in the game for any mode.
    • This also makes Kirby the only character in the entire series that is never unlocked in any mode.
      • This means it is impossible to see the message saying that "Kirby joins the battle!".
    • Despite his status as the mode's starter character and closest thing to a main character, Kirby's depiction in marketing or artwork for Ultimate is no more prominent than any of the other starter characters, apart from Mario and Link who collectively serve as the game's mascots.
  • Kirby has the highest amount of voice clips for any character in the game, with 95 clips.
  • Kirby is the only starter character in Ultimate whose universe has more than one character to not include any characters in their Classic Mode unlock table, as Meta Knight is in Link's, and King Dedede is in Donkey Kong's. Namely:
  • Unlike other characters, Kirby can actually taunt online when playing outside of arenas, but only to discard his copy ability.
  • As a result of not being captured, Kirby is one of the few characters that doesn't have copies of him produced by Dharkon or Galeem during their boss fights.
  • Ironically, while the Kirby Dance has traditionally been composed of reused animations in the game, Kirby uses the slide in one of his new victory poses despite not using it in the entire Smash series.
  • Since Kirby was never possessed by Galeem like everyone else, his presence in many spirit battles went unclear for some time, until Masahiro Sakurai addressed this in an interview; stating that Galeem managed to analyze Kirby halfway through the story, making it possible to create puppets of him.[1]
  • Kirby is one of the five veterans from Smash 4 to have their Boxing Ring alias changed in Ultimate, the others being Link, King Dedede, Mega Man, and Ryu.
  • Kirby is the only Kirby character to face Marx as his final boss in his Classic Mode route.

References