In every Super Smash Bros. game, Kirby has the ability to copy another characters' neutral special moves with his neutral special attack, Inhale. If Kirby swallows another Kirby only damage is dealt, but if the swallowed Kirby has a Copy Ability it can be stolen. When Kirby copies an opponent, he will also bear a resemblance of that character in the form of a hat of some sort 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.
Kirby can discard the ability at any time by using his taunt, though he may also lose it when taking damage.
Character | Super Smash Bros. | Melee | Brawl | SSB4 | Special move | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | ||||
Bowser Jr. | Clown Cannon | Kirby gains Bowser Jr.'s bandanna even after swallowing a Koopaling. | ||||
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. Kirby can perform a Reverse Falcon Punch in Brawl and SSB4. | |||
Charizard | Flamethrower | |||||
Dark Pit | Silver Bow | |||||
Diddy Kong | Peanut Popgun | In SSB4, shattered peanut shells no longer drop peanuts, but the explosion from overcharging the Peanut Popgun now deals damage. | ||||
Donkey Kong | File:Super Smash Bros. (U) snap0085.jpg | Giant Punch | In SSB, Kirby can charge-cancel the windup to turn more easily in the air. Also renders Kirby helpless in Melee, Brawl, and SSB4. | |||
Dr. Mario | Megavitamins | In Melee, Kirby's Megavitamins make the Koopa Shell sound upon impact. | ||||
Duck Hunt | Trick Shot | |||||
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 Kirby's floatiness. | |||
Falco | Blaster | Kirby sports the same "mohawk" Falco had in Melee. In Brawl, shots fired from the copied Blaster do not have the electric effects that Falco's Blaster has. | ||||
Ganondorf | Warlock Punch | Kirby can perform a Reverse Warlock Punch in Brawl and SSB4. | ||||
Greninja | Water Shuriken | |||||
Ice Climbers | Ice Shot | Kirby does not gain a partner through this ability, so he can only fire only one block of ice at a time. Resembles Freeze Kirby. | ||||
Ike | Eruption | |||||
Ivysaur | File:Kbulbasaur.jpg | Bullet Seed | While Ivysaur can only hold Bullet Seed for 5 seconds, Kirby can hold it significantly longer, allowing him to rack up an even higher amount of damage. | |||
Jigglypuff | File:Kirby jigglypuff ssb.jpg | Pound | It differs from Jigglypuff's Pound in that using this move toward a ledge sends Kirby off of the ledge, being 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 | Kirby says "Puu-rin!" (Jigglypuff's name in Japanese is "Purin") while doing the move, regardless of the game's current language settings. | |||||
King Dedede | Inhale | Kirby can use this to perform the obscure "Kirkirkircide". | ||||
Link | File:Kirby link ssb.jpg | Boomerang | Resembles Sword Kirby. Unlike Link's Boomerang, Kirby can throw the 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. | |||
Hero's Bow | Resembles Sword Kirby. | |||||
Little Mac | Straight Lunge | Does not gain Little Mac's Power Meter and thus cannot perform the KO Punch. | ||||
Lucario | Aura Sphere | Kirby's Aura Sphere is not linked to his current damage, due to not copying Lucario's Aura ability. As a result, Kirby's Aura Sphere acts as though Lucario were using it at 75% damage.
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 | Renders Kirby helpless after use in the air. | ||||
Lucina | Shield Breaker | |||||
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. Changed from an overhead slash in Melee to a stab in Brawl and SSB4. | ||||
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. After use, Kirby is rendered helpless. This move is similar to 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 Kirby jumps first. | ||||
Mii Brawler | Shot Put | |||||
Mii Gunner | Charge Blast | |||||
Mii Swordfighter | Gale Strike | |||||
Mr. Game & Watch | Chef | Kirby won't change into 2D like Mr. Game and Watch. | ||||
Ness | File:Kirby ness ssb.jpg | PK Fire | Kirby wears Ness' cap backwards, resembling Yo-Yo, Wheel, and Paint Kirbys. Renders Kirby helpless after use in the air. | |||
PK Flash | ||||||
Olimar | Pikmin Pluck | Since Pikmin are completely tied into Olimar's moveset, Kirby cannot use Pikmin Pluck correctly. Instead, he plucks a Pikmin and immediately throws it. The Pikmin hits opponents for minor damage and dies once it hits the ground. Kirby pulls Pikmin in the same order that Olimar does. With character customization enabled, an interesting quirk is revealed: Kirby's active side special correlates to the version of Pikmin Throw he will use. Namely, if Kirby's side special move is set to Hammer Bash, his second version, Kirby's will copy Sticky Pikmin Throw, the second version of Olimar's side special. The same is true if Kirby uses Giant Hammer, his third side special; he will copy 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. | ||||
Pac-Man | Bonus Fruit | |||||
Palutena | Autoreticle | |||||
Peach | Toad | |||||
Pichu | Thunder Jolt | Includes recoil damage. | ||||
Pikachu | File:Kirby pikachew ssb.jpg | Thunder Jolt | ||||
Pit | Palutena's Arrow | Resembles Cupid Kirby in both design and function. | ||||
R.O.B. | Robo Beam | While R.O.B. makes no sound for 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. | ||||
Rosalina | Luma Shot | The Luma vanishes after it loses momentum. | ||||
Roy | Flare Blade | Suffers recoil damage after swinging at full charge. | ||||
Ryu | Hadoken | Retains Ryu's ability to perform a stronger Hadoken and the Shakunetsu Hadoken with the appropriate input. | ||||
Samus | File:Kirby samus ssb.jpg | Charge Shot | ||||
Sheik | Needle Storm | |||||
Shulk | Monado Arts | |||||
Snake | File:SNAAAAAAAKE!.jpg | Hand Grenade | While Kirby has no visible ears, he covers where they 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, like Fighter Kirby, Suplex Kirby, and Backdrop Kirby do. | |||
Sonic | Homing Attack | |||||
Squirtle | Water Gun | |||||
Toon Link | Hero's Bow | Like Link, this Kirby hat looks like the one obtained with the Sword ability. | ||||
Villager | ||||||
Wario | Chomp | Kirby can use this to perform the obscure "Kirbiocide". | ||||
Wii Fit Trainer | Sun Salutation | |||||
Wolf | Blaster | |||||
Yoshi | File:Kirby yoshi ssb.jpg | Egg Lay | Oddly enough, Kirby grows a second tongue to use Egg Lay. In SSB4, the egg that Kirby lays matches the color of the Yoshi he copied. | |||
Young Link | Fire Bow | Resembles Sword Kirby. | ||||
Zelda | Nayru's Love | Kirby wears the hat worn by the younger version of Zelda from Ocarina of Time. | ||||
Zero Suit Samus | Paralyzer |