| Jet Hammer | |
|---|---|
 The mechanical parts of King Dedede's hammer can be seen when using or charging this special move. | |
| User | King Dedede |
| Universe | Kirby |
| Article on WiKirby | Jet Hammer |
Jet Hammer (ジェットハンマー, Jet Hammer) is King Dedede's down special move. If the player holds down the control stick and the special-move button simultaneously, they can charge up his hammer. The player can even walk around and jump while the hammer is being charged, but they can't save the charge and cannot cancel the move, unlike most other charging moves. Once it reaches full charge, the player can hold the charge indefinitely, but it will cause one percent of damage to King Dedede every second until the player releases the attack. However, once Dedede's damage is high enough, damage from holding a fully charged Jet Hammer will no longer occur.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Fully charged, the hammer deals massive damage and knockback, and the last few stages before fully charged deal even more knockback. However, despite its extreme power potential, Jet Hammer is considered Dedede's worst move in Brawl and is barely ever used in competitive play, with it having almost no practical use. Jet Hammer charges up slowly, and requires considerable amounts of charging before it reaches power levels beyond Dedede's other KO moves (which can all be completed before Jet Hammer charges enough to reach their power). While Dedede can move and jump around while charging Jet Hammer, he moves and jumps too slowly for it to make it useful, and any opponent can easily outmaneuver a Dedede charging Jet Hammer. Additionally, Jet Hammer has poor reach and surprisingly small hitboxes, which when combined with the aforementioned very slow movement and long charging time, makes it incredibly difficult to land the move on an opponent that isn't incapacitated. Since it has high ending lag and cannot be cancelled, with the aforementioned movement and reach issues, along with it having transcendent priority and no armor whatsoever, Dedede is completely defenseless when using the move, giving opponents a free punish if Dedede tries to use the move while they're not incapacitated. The final nail in the coffin is that while Jet Hammer can be incredibly powerful, fully charged it's still not as powerful as Dedede's uncharged forward smash and pales in comparison to a charged forward smash. Additionally, while Dedede's forward smash has extremely long start-up lag, it'll still come out well before Jet Hammer reaches near fully charged, and unlike Jet Hammer, it has massive reach and rather low ending lag, along with a quake hitbox that extends its reach farther, making the move much less punishable and actually more landable. As such, whether it be capitalising on an incapacitated opponent or trying to go for an especially early KO, Jet Hammer is obsolete to Dedede's forward smash, and the other mentioned issues keep it from being any sort of weaker but more reliable KO move.
There is a glitch that increases the effectiveness of this move by allowing King Dedede to skid across the stage at incredible speeds while charging it. This is done tilting the control stick in either left or right direction just barely enough to allow Dedede to move. If done properly, Dedede will continuously take only the first step in his walking animation and move across the ground at an incredible speed, which can be seen here. However, the extreme precision this requires to maintain beyond a split second makes it beyond the technical ability of human players, and leaves it as something only seen in tool-assisted demonstrations
Stages
In Brawl, Jet Hammer has stages of damage and knockback that are decided by the charge; there are nineteen stages of charge on the ground and another nineteen when in midair. Stages 1-18 are the charging stages while stage 19 is the fully charged stage. Like most chargeable moves, the fully charged state is not the most powerful; however, it does deal the most damage.
| Damage | Percent that can KO | |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 11% | 173% |
| Stage 2 | 12% | 149% |
| Stage 3 | 13% | 143% |
| Stage 4 | 14% | 131% |
| Stage 5 | 15% | 119% |
| Stage 6 | 16% | 114% |
| Stage 7 | 17% | 107% |
| Stage 8 | 18% | 102% |
| Stage 9 | 19% | 92% |
| Stage 10 | 20% | 88% |
| Stage 11 | 21% | 81% |
| Stage 12 | 22% | 72% |
| Stage 13 | 23% | 69% |
| Stage 14 | 24% | 65% |
| Stage 15 | 25% | 62% |
| Stage 16 | 26% | 56% |
| Stage 17 | 27% | 55% |
| Stage 18 | 28% | 49% |
| Stage 19 | 30% | 60% |
| Stage 19, behind hit | 20% | 108% |
| Aerial stage 1 | 10% | |
| Aerial stage 2 | 11% | |
| Aerial stage 3 | 12% | |
| Aerial stage 4 | 13% | |
| Aerial stage 5 | 14% | |
| Aerial stage 6 | 15% | |
| Aerial stage 7 | 16% | |
| Aerial stage 8 | 17% | |
| Aerial stage 9 | 18% | |
| Aerial stage 10 | 19% | |
| Aerial stage 11 | 20% | |
| Aerial stage 12 | 21% | |
| Aerial stage 13 | 22% | |
| Aerial stage 14 | 23% | |
| Aerial stage 15 | 24% | |
| Aerial stage 16 | 25% | |
| Aerial stage 17 | 26% | |
| Aerial stage 18 | 27% | |
| Aerial stage 19 | 28% | |
| Aerial stage 19, above hit | 16% |
Description from the Instruction Booklet
Charge up with B while walking around. Charge for too long and you'll take damage.
Gallery
Jet Hammer being held at full charge.
Jet Hammer being released before reaching full charge.
Released at full charge.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
Jet Hammer returns as King Dedede's down special. It has been heavily buffed from Brawl; it now has much greater range and is significantly more powerful, with a fully charged strike being capable of KOing below 50% and dealing massive shield damage. Additionally, overcharging the move now stops damaging Dedede at 100% instead of 150%.
Aesthetically, the lighting emanating from it is much more intense, noticeably lighting up the surrounding areas, and now has sparks ejecting from the hammer. It also produces wind visuals. Additionally, when charging the move, Dedede now has a grimacing facial expression and can be seen visibly sweating.
Description from the 3DS version's foldout
Charge by holding 
. Charging for too long hurts!
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the known variations:
- Armored Jet Hammer: Gain Super Armor while charging, but you take damage faster and deal less damage.
- Dash Jet Hammer: The attack sends you forward, but pushes you backward while at full charge.
Gallery
A closeup of Dedede's face during Jet Hammer, which more clearly shows the new lighting and sweating effects.
Dedede approaching Lucario from behind with Jet Hammer.
Origin
Kirby is seen performing a similar move with the hammer in Kirby Super Star, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, and Kirby: Squeak Squad called the Hammer Flip. The jet engine inside the hammer is a new feature shown in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In a later Kirby installment, Kirby Super Star Ultra, King Dedede made an appearance with a new mechanical mallet, however its appearance is much more exaggerated. It had the ability to shoot missiles and spew fire, as well as being electrified. Since Kirby Super Star Ultra was released 6 months after Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the mechanical hammer was a Brawl-specific creation, though it seems this was inspired by Brawl.
Trivia
- When the game is slowed down in Brawl, it can be clearly seen that the top end of the hammer disappears before the jet pops out.
