List of Copy Abilities

In every Super Smash Bros. game, Kirby has the ability to copy another character's neutral special move with his own neutral special move, Inhale. If Kirby swallows another Kirby, only damage is dealt, but if he swallows another Kirby that has a Copy Ability, it can be stolen. When Kirby copies an opponent, he will also bear a resemblance to that character, usually in the form of a hat which displays a prominent visual part of the character copied. When performing copied attacks, Kirby often mimics their voices or sounds as well as their poses, and uses the same weapons as their owners. Aside from the obvious range differences, copied attacks are functionally identical to the originals except where noted.

Kirby can discard the ability at any time by taunting. He may also lose it when taking damage (though there is a temporary "grace period" where this will not occur), and he will also lose it upon being KO'd. Also, anything spawned by the ability will vanish if Kirby loses it. For example, if Kirby tosses a Metal Blade onto the ground, picks it up, and taunts, the blade will vanish. Kirby will also lose his ability if the inhaled character's damage meter vanishes (indicating the character has been unloaded from memory), such as in Smash 4's All-Star Mode or certain Event matches.

Super Smash Bros. 4 introduced custom moves. Regardless of whether a neutral special has been customized or not, Kirby will only copy the default version of the move (with the exception of Olimar, as noted below). This applies with Palutena and the Mii Fighters' neutral specials as well.

Character						Special move	Notes
Banjo & Kazooie						Egg Firing	Kirby uses a plush Kazooie for the attack. Like Banjo and Kazooie, Kirby can use his aerial jumps while using the Breegull Blaster, though he benefits more as he can use all five of his aerial jumps (compared to the duo's two).
Bayonetta						Bullet Climax	Although Bayonetta will always aim in the same place, Kirby's shots from the handguns are lower than the shots from his feet.
Bowser						Fire Breath	Kirby can flame cancel in all versions of Melee, while Bowser can only do so in NTSC 1.0 and 1.1. Kirby's pose while breathing fire resembles the corresponding pose of Fire Kirby. In SSB4, Kirby imitates a monster grunt when performing this move, despite Bowser not vocalizing when he performs Fire Breath.
Bowser Jr. / Koopalings						Clown Cannon	Even if Kirby inhales one of the Koopalings, he will still wear Bowser Jr.'s bandana and ponytail.
Captain Falcon	File:Kirby cfalcon ssb.jpg					Falcon Punch	In SSB, Kirby can use the Falcon Punch as a horizontal recovery move. In Brawl, throwing it immediately after a jump gives him large boost upward. The visor was blank until Ultimate, when it was given the same "eyes" as Captain Falcon's visor and also became opaque for the first time since Smash 64.
Charizard						Flamethrower
Chrom						Flare Blade	Oddly, Kirby only vocalizes after charging for at least 2.5 seconds and only uses one voice clip. Inflicts recoil damage to Kirby if fully charged.
Cloud						Blade Beam	Does not gain Cloud's Limit Gauge and thus cannot perform the Limit Break version of the move.
Corrin						Dragon Fang Shot
Daisy						Toad
Dark Pit						Silver Bow	Prior to version 1.0.5 (3DS only), if Kirby uses the move at the end of his forward, back, or up throw, a glitch will occur in which he floats in the air until he stops charging the move.
Dark Samus						Charge Shot
Diddy Kong						Peanut Popgun	Strangely, if Kirby's gun explodes, and then the game is paused, Kirby will appear normally-colored instead of a burnt black.
Donkey Kong	File:Kirby Donkey Kong SSB.jpg					Giant Punch	In SSB, Kirby can charge-cancel the wind-up to turn more easily in the air.
Dr. Mario						Megavitamins	In Melee, Kirby's Megavitamins make the Koopa Shell sound upon impact. The Doctor ability, introduced in Kirby: Planet Robobot, has a similar appearance and allows Kirby to use a similar move.
Duck Hunt						Trick Shot	Unlike Duck Hunt, Kirby does not flinch when the can is shot nearby.
Falco						Blaster	Kirby sports the same "mohawk" that Falco had in his Melee design, even in later games. In Brawl, shots fired from the copied Blaster do not have the electric effect that Falco's Blaster has. Kirby's shorter stature means that he can laser lock characters that Falco himself cannot.
Fox	File:Kirby fox ssb.jpg					Blaster	Gives Kirby the ability to short hop double laser and even short hop triple laser as a result of his floatiness.
Ganondorf						Warlock Punch
Greninja						Water Shuriken
Hero						Frizz	Kirby gains Erdwin's Coronet (which closely resembles Erdrick's silver headpiece), the Supreme Sword of Light, and Erdwin's Shield, all items available to the Luminary in Dragon Quest XI. Unlike similar recharging abilities, such as Robin's tomes and Inkling's ink, Kirby also gains the Hero's MP Gauge system and follows the same rules when using it.
Ice Climbers						Ice Shot	Kirby does not gain a partner through this ability, so he can only fire one block of ice at a time. The Freeze ability's hat, introduced in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, has a similar appearance.
Ike						Eruption	Inflicts recoil damage to Kirby if fully charged.
Incineroar						Darkest Lariat	While Incineroar's lariat trail will match its palette color, Kirby's will always be gray.
Inkling						Splattershot	If Kirby uses up all of his ink, he loses his Inkling Copy Ability entirely, in a similar manner to Robin's Copy Ability. Although he always copies the orange Inkling's hairstyle, Kirby will use the first ink color that is not being used by another fighter. For example, if Kirby is fighting an orange Inkling, he will use blue ink; if he is fighting both an orange Inkling and a blue Inkling, he will use yellow ink; and so forth.
Isabelle						Pocket
Ivysaur						Bullet Seed	In Brawl, while Ivysaur can only hold Bullet Seed for 5 seconds, Kirby can hold it for significantly longer, allowing him to rack up higher amounts of damage.
Jigglypuff	File:Kirby jigglypuff ssb.jpg					Pound	Differs from Jigglypuff's Pound in that using this move toward a ledge sends Kirby off of the ledge, and it is notable for having much higher distance if Kirby leaves the ground at the end of the Pound animation; it is capable of traveling nearly the length of a Dream Land soft platform if spaced correctly.
						Rollout	Regardless of the game's current language settings, Kirby says "Purin," Jigglypuff's Japanese name, upon performing this move. In SSB4, Kirby can move left and right in midair after hitting an opponent with Rollout, due to having a higher fall speed than Jigglypuff. He also rebounds further backwards, due to his air friction being lower than Jigglypuff's. In Ultimate, Jigglypuff's ears fold inwards during Rollout; Kirby's do not follow this trait.
Joker						Gun	As Kirby does not copy the Rebellion Gauge, he does not have access to Arsene or Gun Special.
Ken						Hadoken	Like Ken, Kirby cannot perform the Shakunetsu Hadoken, but can use a stronger Hadoken through the traditional input. However, Kirby cannot perform the Oosoto Mawashi Geri or the Nata Otoshi Geri as Ken can. Incidentally, Kirby has separate voice clips for Ken's Hadoken instead of using the same voice clips used for Ryu's version.
King Dedede						Inhale	Kirby can use this to perform the obscure "Kirkirkircide". Kirby is noticeably less bloated after inhaling someone compared to both his normal Inhale and Dedede's Inhale.
King K. Rool						Blunderbuss	Unlike K. Rool, Kirby does not don a pirate hat.
Link	File:Kirby link ssb.jpg					Boomerang	Unlike Link's Boomerang, Kirby can throw it through solid walls if he is touching them, allowing for pseudo-sharking on stages like Hyrule Castle (especially from the Greenhouse side) or Dream Land. Resembles Sword Kirby.
						Hero's Bow	Resembles Sword Kirby.
						Bow and Arrows	Although Link's default design is based on his Champion's Tunic, Kirby gains the familiar green cap from his Hero of the Wild outfit when copying him. Resembles Sword Kirby.
Little Mac						Straight Lunge	Does not gain Little Mac's Power Meter and thus cannot perform the KO Uppercut. The hitbox is much lower down due to Kirby's size, enabling it to hit opponents hanging on the ledge. Also, if Kirby swallows Little Mac in his wireframe costume, his Straight Lunge will utilize the 8-bit sound effects unique to Wireframe Mac.
Lucario						Aura Sphere	Kirby's Aura Sphere is not linked to his current damage, due to not copying Lucario's aura. Essentially, Kirby's Aura Sphere acts like Lucario's at its base power (75% in Brawl, 70% in SSB4 and Ultimate). However, should Kirby's damage output be significantly augmented in some way, such as with the use of custom equipment or Amiibo power level, the Aura Sphere he uses will emit the characteristic sound it does when Lucario charges it at high percentages.
Lucas						PK Freeze
Lucina						Shield Breaker	Kirby wears the mask used by Lucina in her guise as "Marth", which she herself dons temporarily for her on-screen appearance and down taunt.
Luigi	File:Kirby luigi ssb.jpg					Fireball
Mario	File:Kirby mario ssb.jpg					Fireball	As Kirby is shorter than Mario, his Fireball is likely to vanish quicker if thrown while on the ground due to bouncing more often.
Marth						Shield Breaker	Lacks transcendent priority in Melee.
Mega Man						Metal Blade
Meta Knight						Mach Tornado	Unlike Meta Knight's version of the attack, the bottom-most hitbox does not cause aerial opponents to flinch. Kirby's eyes while wearing the mask are light-green in Brawl and yellow in SSB4 and Ultimate. The green coloration in Brawl is due to the mask giving a yellow tint to Kirby's blue eyes and Meta Knight's silver eyes (though they are currently depicted as yellow even without the mask). Kirby's Mach Tornado only does half the damage of Meta Knight's. Functionally resembles Kirby's Tornado ability.
Mewtwo						Shadow Ball	As Kirby is much shorter than Mewtwo, his Shadow Ball is more likely to collide with the ground unless he jumps first. This only applies to Melee.
Mii Brawler						Shot Put	Kirby wears a headband with the face of the Mii he copied. He doesn't copy headgear. Interestingly, Kirby retains the original spinning Charge Blast animation from SSB4.
Mii Gunner						Charge Blast
Mii Swordfighter						Gale Strike
Mr. Game & Watch						Chef	Kirby is not flattened.
Ness	File:Kirby ness ssb.jpg					PK Fire	Kirby wears his cap backwards, similarly to Yo-Yo Kirby, Wheel Kirby, and Paint Kirby. The ESP ability, introduced in Kirby: Planet Robobot, resembles a color-inverted version of Ness's cap and allows Kirby to use a move similar to PK Flash.
						PK Flash
Olimar / Alph						Pikmin Pluck and Pikmin Throw	Kirby's version of this move is specially adapted for him due to Pikmin not being completely tied into his moveset, unlike Olimar. Kirby will pluck a Pikmin and immediately throw it, hitting opponents for minor damage and dying once it hits the ground. The order in which Kirby plucks Pikmin follows the same rules as Olimar; in Brawl, it varies depending on the terrain, while in SSB4 and Ultimate, he always follows a set order. In SSB4, the version of Pikmin Throw that Kirby performs correlates with whichever side special move of Kirby's is set via character customization. Namely, if Kirby's side special move is set to Hammer Bash, his second side special, Kirby will perform Sticky Pikmin Throw, Olimar's second side special. The same is true if Kirby uses his third side special Giant Hammer, which will result in him performing Olimar's third side special, Tackle Pikmin Throw. However, this is less noticeable as Kirby's usage of the move is already quite similar to Tackle Pikmin Throw. Kirby can only have three Pikmin out at a time. If he attempts to pluck more while three are out, the move will fail. In SSB4 and Ultimate, Kirby looks like Olimar even if he copied Alph.
Pac-Man						Bonus Fruit	Kirby can Fruit Recycle in Ultimate.
Palutena						Autoreticle	Unused audio files in SSB4 include Kirby saying the names of Heavenly Light and Explosive Flame, Palutena's custom neutral special moves. In the final game, he only copies Autoreticle.
Peach						Toad
Pichu						Thunder Jolt	Inflicts recoil damage to Kirby.
Pikachu	File:Kirby pikachu ssb.jpg					Thunder Jolt
Piranha Plant						Ptooie
Pit						Palutena's Arrow	Resembles Cupid Kirby in both design and function.
Richter						Axe
Ridley						Plasma Breath
R.O.B.						Robo Beam	While R.O.B. does not emit a vocalization during this move, Kirby says "beep" in a monotone voice. Resembles Laser Kirby in both design and function.
Robin						Thunder	Once Kirby exhausts the Thunder tome, he loses the Copy Ability entirely. Unlike Robin, he does not drop a tome to throw.
Rosalina						Luma Shot	A yellow, unvoiced Luma appears when the button is pushed, and vanishes after losing momentum. Unlike Rosalina, Kirby's Luma cannot be attacked, and cannot block projectiles either. Also, the attack cannot be spammed, as it requires a cooldown before it can be used again.
Roy						Flare Blade	Inflicts recoil damage to Kirby if fully charged.
Ryu						Hadoken	Retains Ryu's ability to perform a stronger Hadoken and the Shakunetsu Hadoken with the appropriate input. Resembles Fighter Kirby, who is also capable of performing Ryu's other special moves in certain games. Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby: Triple Deluxe also include the ability to fire stronger fireballs (called "Mega Force Blast", or "Hadou-Shot" in Japan) instantly by performing the traditional Hadoken input.
Samus	File:Kirby samus ssb.jpg					Charge Shot	Originally a flat texture, the visor was made translucent from Melee to Smash 4, before being given an opaque glow in Ultimate that makes it more closely resembly Samus's own visor.
Sheik						Needle Storm
Shulk						Monado Arts	The Jump Art does not cause Final Cutter to go any higher than usual.
Simon						Axe
Snake						Hand Grenade	Kirby covers where his ears would be if a grenade explodes near him, mimicking Snake's behavior. He also walks differently while carrying a grenade that has not been thrown, again imitating Snake. He wears a headband, similarly to Fighter Kirby, Suplex Kirby, and Backdrop Kirby.
Sonic						Homing Attack
Squirtle						Water Gun
Terry						Power Wave	Kirby imitates Terry's "Power Wave!" and "Rock you!", and may also use a generic attack grunt when performing the move. Kirby cannot perform Power Geyser or Buster Wolf.
Toon Link						Hero's Bow	Resembles Sword Kirby.
Villager						Pocket
Wario						Chomp	Kirby can use this to perform the obscure "Kirbiocide".
Wii Fit Trainer						Sun Salutation	Resembles Snow Kirby's coloration from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Squeak Squad.
Wolf						Blaster
Yoshi	File:Kirby yoshi ssb.jpg					Egg Lay	Starting in Brawl, Kirby mimics the vocalization that Yoshi does when unleashing his tongue. In SSB4, the egg that Kirby lays matches the color of the copied Yoshi.
Young Link						Fire Bow	Resembles Sword Kirby.
Zelda						Nayru's Love	In Melee, Brawl, and SSB4, Kirby wears the same hat as the younger version of Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, despite the latter two games featuring Zelda in her Twilight Princess design. In Ultimate, this was changed to her hair and tiara from A Link to the Past and A Link Between Worlds.
Zero Suit Samus						Paralyzer

Trivia

• Link is the only character whose copy ability hat is based on an alternate costume, as in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby uses Link's cap from his "Hero of the Wild" costume, in spite of Link's default costume no longer including a cap.
• Zelda, Falco and the Hero are the only characters whose copy ability hats are not always based on the character's current appearance in Smash. Zelda's is based on young Zelda's hat from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in all games prior to Ultimate, despite Zelda not wearing this hat in any of her playable appearances. Falco's is based on his head design in Star Fox 64, despite this only being accurate to his depiction in Melee, as his design is changed in later Smash games. The Hero's incorporates a piece of equipment that the Luminary can wear in his original game, despite him not doing so in Smash.
  • Zelda is the only character whose copy ability hat has been based on a different version of the character copied, as Brawl and SSB4 use the Twilight Princess incarnation of Zelda.
• Hero is the only character whose weapon Kirby can copy, but not use.
  • While he doesn't use the Monado as a weapon, Kirby can still use it to apply Monado Arts to himself.
• Yoshi, Little Mac, and Inkling are the only characters whose alternate costume affects Kirby’s copy ability aesthetically.
• Terry is the first, and so far the only, character to add a cosmetic to Kirby's hands when copied by Kirby, being Terry's gloves.
• According to Kirby's voice actress, Makiko Ohmoto, she is usually not given any context when recording Copy Ability voice clips. However, when recording the voice clips for copying Terry, she immediately figured out who it was solely based on the two lines she had to record, as she was familiar with Terry's dialogue through playing Fatal Fury with her brother.