Item-swallowing is a technique in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 performable by Kirby, King Dedede, and Wario. These characters can use their neutral special moves to eat most items. Kirby and King Dedede use Inhale while Wario uses Chomp. Additionally, Munchlax uses the same list for the items it will eat.
When an item is swallowed, it takes some time for the character to swallow it. Light items are immediately swallowed, but non-explosive heavy items like barrels have the characters briefly remain bloated with the item in their stomach, before they eventually swallow it. Explosive items that are eaten will cause about 5% damage (6% to Wario or Kirby if he copied Wario's Chomp) and cause damage to nearby opponents for about 13% of damage (Wario or Kirby if he copied Wario's Chomp).
Food and other recovery items (except the Team Healer), Dragoon and Daybreak parts, Superspicy Curry, Super Mushrooms, Poison Mushrooms, Warp Stars, Super Stars, Metal Boxes, and Timers take immediate effect upon being eaten.
In Super Smash Bros. 4, it has been buffed, as Kirby and Wario can restore 1% damage from eating most items. Swallowing healing items has the same effect as using them normally. For example, swallowing a Fairy Bottle will heal 1% if the character is at less than 100% damage and will heal 100% damage if above. Wario and King Dedede gain 1.5x more HP from eating food items (Kirby can copy Wario's Chomp or King Dedede's Inhale for the same effect). Wario and King Dedede can also now eat energy projectiles like Ness's PK Fire and Mario's Fireballs, but do not receive any health. Finally, eating items, projectiles from items (like the Ray Gun's projectiles), and foods will increase the Wario Waft's charge for Wario.
Edible items
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- All normal items except for the ones listed below
- A revolving Hothead
- Link and Toon Link's Bombs
- Snake's Cardboard Box when thrown (counts as a heavy item)
- Gyros
- Hand Grenades
- Diddy Kong's Peanuts
- Power Suit Pieces
- Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos
- Wario's Wario Bike (counts as a heavy item) and wheels
- Peach's Vegetables
- Summit's Vegetables
- Apples on Green Greens
- An Auroros stuck in the ground
- A Koopa Troopa retreated into its shell
Inedible Items
Super Smash Bros. 4
- All normal items except for Smash Ball, Mr. Saturn, Cuccos, Poké Balls, Master Balls, Electrode, Grass, Custom Parts, Smash Run Powers, Trophies, and CDs
- Blast Box, Bob-omb, Bombchu, Gooey Bomb, Hocotate Bomb, Motion-Sensor Bomb, Smart Bomb and X Bomb count as explosive items
- A revolving Hothead
- A Koopa Troopa retreated into its shell
- Diddy Kong's Peanuts
Projectile attacks
Trivia
- When using Inhale, the player must usually stand directly next to an item. However, certain items will be actually pulled in from a greater distance.
- Interestingly, eating the peanut from Peanut Popgun shots does not heal any damage unless the shell has been broken. While it will stop the projectile, it leaves the character vulnerable while swallowing and thus is generally not recommended.
- Munchlax's function as a Poké Ball Pokémon is to eat all the items (except Trophies, CDs, Stickers, other Poké Balls and Smash Balls) on the stage.
- Yoshi cannot swallow items, making him the only character that can hold opponents in his mouth but cannot swallow items.
- Characters can eat Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos from Dedede's Waddle Dee Toss attack; however, Kirby doesn't turn to Beam Kirby when he swallows a Waddle Doo even though it occurs in the Kirby series.
- Characters who can swallow items can eat Sandbag in the Wi-Fi room, but another will reappear instantly.
- Wario swallows items quicker than Kirby and Dedede, but still takes a while to swallow big things, such as his bike.