Kirby (SSBB)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Melee in SSB4 in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Cook Kirby
Tier	D (20)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He was confirmed for Brawl in the first preview shown at May 2006's E3 show. Of all the characters shown, Kirby appears to be almost completely unchanged graphically. He is once again voiced by Makiko Ōmoto, using some recycled voice clips from Melee, while providing some new, slightly lower-pitched voice clips akin to his appearances in the Kirby: Right Back At Ya! anime.

He ranks 20th on the current tier list at the top of mid tier, which is a drastic improvement over his last place ranking in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Kirby has one of the strongest combo abilities in Brawl, as he has many great setup moves, and attacks that string together well. Additionally, Kirby possesses a strong grab game, with an above average grab range, two great setup throws, and a throw that can even KO (which is rare among characters in Brawl). Kirby also has a far reaching and generally safe recovery, disproportionately far disjointed reach in his attacks, fast and solid tilts, an all-purpose attack in his back aerial, solid edge guarding capabilities, and both fast and very powerful finishers (with his forward smash being especially effective). However, Kirby suffers from slow movement speed, which when combined with his lack of a solid projectile, creates difficulty approaching and dealing with opposing camping. Additionally, with his very light weight and poor momentum cancelling abilities, Kirby has one of the worst endurances. Kirby also has his power taper off greatly outside his finishers (giving opponents very high survival potential if Kirby can't land his finishers), and poor to mediocre aerials outside his back aerial. Overall, Kirby has above average matchups (with generally poor matchups against top/high tier characters, most notably, being countered by three of the four best characters), and has achieved average tournament results.

Attributes

Kirby is a small, lightweight character. His small size allows him to avoid many attacks (his initial dashing animation can go underneath Pit's Palutena's Arrow when not aimed). He is also able to crouch underneath attacks, which can be used to his advantage against tall characters such as R.O.B. and Ganondorf. His light weight is both advantageous and disadvantageous; he is less vulnerable to chain throws (including King Dedede's down throw), but he also gets launched farther when hit, making him easier to KO. He also has poor momentum canceling abilities, with slow falling speeds, and his fastest aerial attack, his up aerial, is only slightly shorter than his air dodge. His momentum canceling abilities, combined with his light weight, give him one of the worst survivabilities in the game. However, he makes up for this with a safe and one of the longest-reaching recoveries, with five midair jumps and Final Cutter to help him return to the stage. This has made Kirby a popular choice for beginners to learn with. His multiple jumps also give him good edgeguarding potential. Kirby has above average reach in his attacks for a character of his size, with many disjointed hitboxes, and a strong combo ability, with his forward throw, forward tilt, up tilt, and up aerial all being great damage rackers and setups. He also has high KO power with good finishers, with his smash attacks, back aerial, Hammer, and Stone all being able to KO opponents (although his back aerial stales quickly and his Hammer and Stone are laggy and generally require good reads to land). Kirby lacks a solid projectile, and his only projectile, the wave produced from Final Cutter, is slow and predictable. This complicates matchups against campy characters with solid projectiles, such as Falco and Pit. Kirby's biggest problem is his poor mobility. He has only the 25th fastest walking speed, the 28th fastest dashing speed, the second lowest jumping height, a slow air speed, and a slow falling speed. His poor air speed prevents him from being able to maneuver in the air well despite being an air-based character (his back aerial is his most used attack and all of his throws send his opponent upward), limiting his edgeguarding ability, and combined with his poor dashing speed and lack of a solid projectile, creates difficulty approaching and dealing with opposing camping.

One of Kirby's strong aspects is his ground game. His ground attacks have good range, start quickly, and end quickly as well. His forward tilt is a versatile ground attack that is good for spacing. His up tilt is one of the fastest up tilts in the game, has disproportionately long range, and is a good juggler and setup move at low percents. His down tilt has a chance to trip opponents, creating additional setups. His forward smash delivers high knockback and has low startup lag for such a powerful attack. It is considered his best KO move, along with his back aerial. His up smash is also a powerful finisher. However, it has a sourspot behind Kirby that cannot reliably KO. His down smash covers both sides, and delivers powerful vertical knockback. It also delivers horizontal knockback at the tips of his feet, making it good for edgeguarding.

Kirby also has a strong grab and throw game as well. He has a fast grab with above average range. His pummel is very quick and can deal some extra damage before a throw. His forward throw can lead to combos that can deal over 40%, depending on the weight and falling speed of the character. His back throw is useful for getting opponents off of the stage, and his up throw can even KO at high percents. Kirby's down throw is a good damage-racker, and is able to chain throw fastfallers at low percents. However, its ending lag hinders its combo and setup potential, though it is still decent.

Kirby's special moves have varying degrees of usefulness. His neutral special move, Inhale, gives him the unique ability to copy the neutral special moves of his opponents. He can use this to cover some of his weak areas, such as a lack of a solid projectile. However, the Copy Ability can be lost rather easily if he is hit hard enough. Kirby can also perform Kirbycide by walking off the stage with the opponent in his mouth. He can also spit out characters with poor recoveries below the stage, where the opponent is unlikely to recover, and Kirby, with his good recovery, can easily get back onto the stage. His side special move, Hammer, is a powerful attack and good finisher, but it has high startup lag. When used in the air, the first hit has less startup lag, and the second hit is a powerful semi-spike, making it a good edgeguarding tool. His up special move, Final Cutter, is his primary recovery move, and produces a shockwave upon landing, creating his only normal projectile. However, it can be edgehogged rather easily, it is too slow to be used effectively for camping, and experienced players will be able to shield the wave without much difficulty. When Kirby descends from Final Cutter, a meteor smash hitbox is produced, making it useful for edge-guarding from above. Kirby can also perform "Cuttercide" by using Final Cutter in midair and bringing down an opponent, where both players will usually die. His down special move, Stone, is powerful and can KO at high percents and leaves him invulnerable to attacks, but it has high ending lag, is predictable, and an opponent can punish him with a grab. It is useful as a surprise KO move, and on stages with water, where he can easily land a hit on swimming opponents.

Kirby's best aerial attack by far is his back aerial, one of his most versatile and useful attacks and is a staple part of his metagame. It has low startup and ending lag, almost no landing lag, is a good edgeguarding tool, can be used for Wall of Pain techniques, and can KO at high percents. Kirby players commonly approach by jumping while facing away from the opponent, getting closer, and using a back aerial when the opponent comes in range. Unfortunately, a wary opponent will be able to shield and punish rather easily. However, despite his strong back aerial and air-based play, the rest of his aerial attacks are poor. Outside of his back aerial, his aerial attacks suffer from a combination of high startup and ending lag, poor knockback, and poor range. His forward aerial is not particularly useful; all three hits will sometimes not lead into each other, depending on the opponent's position, and can be SDI'ed out of. It also has poor knockback, and the back aerial is considered superior for most uses. His up aerial is a decent juggler and has good combo potential, but its power was nerfed from Melee; it can no longer KO reliably under 150% unless near the upper blast line. It also has noticeable, albeit small, startup lag. His down aerial is a meteor smash, and is useful for "dragging down" opponents recovering vertically, and Kirby can easily recover. However, it has high startup lag, and is weak for a meteor smash, so it's not very effective if Kirby does not land many hits. His neutral aerial is his worst aerial and is often considered one of the worst aerial attacks in Brawl. It has incredibly high ending lag, mediocre knockback, and poor range. The ending lag makes it impractical for offstage use. However, it is not completely useless; it has no landing lag, and can be used as a air-to-ground transition, and can potentially be used as a setup for tilt attacks. Kirby can also use his side special move, Hammer, as an aerial attack, since it has powerful knockback, and the second hit is a semi-spike, making it useful for edgeguarding. However, the small hitbox is difficult to land and it leaves Kirby vulnerable if he misses. Kirby's poor air attacks outside of his back aerial, combined with his slow falling speed, make him prone to aerial juggling, and complicates matchups against characters who can fight well in the air, such as Meta Knight, and characters with good juggling abilities, such as Zero Suit Samus.

Overall, a competent Kirby player can utilize his strengths, such as his great combo ability, which, when combined with moves such as his solid tilts and back aerial, make him a competent force. Despite this, Kirby has weaknesses, in particular his poor mobility and approach options, that bring him down as a character.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Possibly due to being considered by many the worst character in Melee, Kirby has been significantly buffed in the transition to Brawl, and many of the flaws that severely crippled him have been addressed. Kirby has seen significant improvements to his aerial game, his recovery, his grab, and his hitboxes/range. The changes in mechanics also helped out Kirby as he still maintains a strong combo game despite the introduction of hitstun canceling, and the introduction of tripping benefits some of his moves such as his down tilt. The changes to locks also benefits him as he can use his jab and down tilt to lock his opponents and build up a lot of damage. Lastly, the overall slower pace of the game combined with his improved range makes it a lot harder for his opponents to zone him out.

Despite his buffs, he also received a few nerfs, mainly to his damage output as well as the frame data on some of his moves. Kirbycide can also no longer kill his victim first, making sacrificial KOs a much larger risk.

Nevertheless, Kirby has been significantly buffed overall, resulting in him going from arguably the worst character in Melee to an average character in Brawl.

Aesthetics

• Kirby has a slightly darker color scheme. His feet have a more subdued color scheme and his blushes are slightly smaller.
• Kirby makes a squeaky noise when he goes in and out of a crouch.
• Kirby's previous taunt has been moved to his down taunt and has a new voice clip. The voice clip for his old taunt is used for his Wii Remote selection sound.
• Kirby's Sound Test section has been split with his regular sounds (under the category "Kirby") and the sounds used for the copy abilities (under the category "Kirby's copy abilities").
• Kirby's red and green alternate costumes have been altered; the color of his feet is wine red and orange respectively, instead of maroon and dark green respectively. These changes make them based on red and green Kirbys as seen in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror.

Attributes

• Kirby is considerably heavier (70 → 78).
• Kirby walks slightly faster (0.85 → 0.95).
• Kirby's air speed is faster (0.78 → 0.85).
• Kirby's air acceleration is higher (0.06 → 0.11).
• Kirby dashes slightly slower (1.4 → 1.371).
• Kirby's traction is significantly lower (0.08 → 0.0493), especially when compared with the returning veterans, now going from the 7th highest to the 8th worst. This makes it harder for him to punish out of shield and due to the removal of wavedashing, it provides minimal benefits.
• Kirby's jumpsquat is longer (3 frames → 4).
• As with the returning veterans, Kirby's falling speed is slower (1.6 → 1.2). Compared to the returning veterans, however, Kirby falls faster, improving his endurance but making him more vulnerable to chain grabs and combos.
• Kirby's gravity is lower (0.08 → 0.061).
• Spot dodge has a longer duration (frames 2-15 → 2-20).
• Spot dodge has more ending lag (FAF 23 → 26).
• Rolls have a longer duration (frames 4-19 → 4-20).

Ground attacks

• All tilts and smash attacks have larger hitboxes.
• Neutral attack:
  • The first two hits have slightly less ending lag (FAF 16 (hit 1), 17 (hit 2) → 15 (both)). Kirby can also transition into his rapid jab faster and he can now hold down the first hit by holding the attack button.
  • The first two hits deal less damage (3%/4% → 2%/3%) the first hit has a shorter duration (frames 3-4 → 3).
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt deals less damage (11% → 8%/7%) without proper compensation on its base knockback (8 → 12) and has received a sourspot.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has a longer duration (frame 4 (clean)/5-7 (late) → 4-5/6-10) and has less ending lag (FAF 24 → 21).
  • It now grants intangibility to Kirby's foot.
  • It deals less damage (8%/6% → 7%/5%).
  • It has reduced knockback scaling (118/114 → 102). This hinders its KO potential but improves its combo potential at lower percents when combined with its lower damage.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt has less ending lag (FAF 30 → 21).
  • It deals less damage (10% → 6%/5%), has a shorter duration (frames 4-7 → 4-6), has reduced base knockback (40 → 30) and no longer semi-spikes (20° → 361°).
    • These changes however allow the move to trip and it has gained a 35% tripping chance. If the move trips, it has an inescapable grab followup if the trip occurs close enough to the opponent.
• Dash attack:
  • Kirby has a new dash attack: the Break Spin from the Yo-yo ability.
  • It deals more damage (8% → 14%), has less ending lag (FAF 60 → 48), and has more combo ability.
  • It has significantly smaller hitboxes and now consists of multiple hits making it easier to escape from. It also has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 9-43 → 12-37)
  • It can no longer slide off ledges.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 13-15 (clean)/16-21 (late) → 12-16/17-21).
  • Its late hit deals more knockback on all angled variants (18 (base), 96 (scaling) → 25/(96/94) improving its KO potential especially the up angled version.
  • Unangled forward smash's clean hit deals much more knockback (24 (base), 96 (scaling) → 38/98), significantly improving its KO potential and going from the 6th weakest forward smash in Melee to a forward smash with above average power.
  • Its angles have been altered (361° (clean)/75° (late) → 38°/73°).
  • Upward angled forward smash's sweetspot deals more damage (15% → 16%) and knockback (24 (base), 96 (scaling) → 38/100).
  • Its late hit launches opponents at a higher angle (75° → 82°).
  • Its sweetspot launches opponents at a higher angle (361° → 45°) hindering its KO potential against grounded opponents.
  • Downward angled forward smash's sweetspot deals less damage (15% → 14%).
  • Its late hit launches opponents at a less favorable angle (73° → 60°).
  • Its clean hit has increased base knockback (24 → 38) and semi-spikes opponents (361° → 31°).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash's early hit's sourspot deals more damage (13% → 14%).
  • It now grants intangibility to Kirby's feet.
  • It has more startup lag (frame 13 → 14), the early hit has reduced knockback (30 (base), 118 (scaling) → 34/100) and the late hit deals less damage (13%/12% → 12%/11%) with no compensation on its knockback.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash's sourspot has higher knockback scaling (80 → 85) improving its edgeguarding potential.
  • Its clean hit and foot intangibility have a longer duration (frames 7-9 → 10-14).
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-22 → 10-22).
  • It is no longer interruptible giving it more ending lag (FAF 50 → 56).
  • Its late hit no longer deals consistent damage (10% → 11%/9%).

Aerial attacks

• • All of Kirby's aerials have decreased landing lag (15 frames → 9 (neutral/back/up), 20 frames → 13 (forward), 20 frames → 15 (down)) although due to the removal of L-canceling, their landing lag was not fully compensated.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has received an new early hitbox which deals more damage (10% → 12%) (this hit exists in Melee but does not correctly spawn), improving its edgeguarding potential.
  • Its clean and mid hits have a shorter duration (frames 10-17 (clean)/18-29 (mid)/30-34 (late) → 10-11/12-15/16-20/21-34).
  • It has significantly increased ending lag (FAF 50 → 73), making it riskier to use offstage.
  • It auto-cancels much later (frame 38 → 56), preventing it from gaining the ability to auto-cancel in a short hop despite Kirby's lower gravity and falling speed.
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial's hits connect more reliably due to the first two hits having larger hitboxes and less knockback (30 (base), 70 (scaling) → 35/50 (hit 1), 28/30 (hit 2)). It can now also auto-cancel in a short hop due to Kirby's slower falling speed and lower gravity despite auto-canceling later (frame 38 → 41). The final hit also has a much larger hitbox which now covers Kirby's whole body.
  • It deals less damage (5% (hits 1 & 2), 8% (hit 3), 16% (total) → 4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3), 12% (total)) and the third hit's knockback scaling wasn't fully compensated (130 → 138). It also has more ending lag (FAF 40 → 44).
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial is a better wall of pain due to Kirby's superior aerial mobility. It also has larger hitboxes (6.472u/6.132u → 7u/6u (clean), 5.2u/4.4u → 6u/6u (late)).
  • It greatly benefits from the introduction of reverse aerial rush making it a much more viable approach option.
  • It deals less damage (14% → 12% (clean), 10% → 9% (late)) although its knockback was compensated (10 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/105 (clean), 100 (scaling) → 110 (late)).
  • It has a shorter duration (frames 6-20 → 6-14) and more ending lag (FAF 36 → 41).
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial has a much bigger hitbox making it significantly easier to land and it has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 11-13 → 10-15).
  • It has more ending lag (FAF 36 → 40) and auto-cancels later (frame 17 → 22).
  • It deals less damage (15% → 10%) and knockback (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/98), improving its combo ability, but significantly hindering its KO potential. It also now launches opponents vertically instead of horizontally (361° → 70°) improving its juggling potential but hindering its edgeguarding potential.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial is more effective at meteor smashing opponents due to the changes to meteor canceling, Kirby's lower falling speed, and with the introduction of the footstool jump, can be easily comboed into a move that sends the opponent down farther. It also has much larger hitboxes.
  • The last hit of comes out slightly faster (frame 33 → 32). The landing hit also has a longer duration (2 frames → 3).
  • Each hit of deals less damage (3% → 2%) reducing its total damage output (16% → 12%). Its knockback was also not fully compensated (30 (base), 100 (scaling) → 20/107) hindering its edgeguarding potential especially at lower percents.

Throws/other attacks

• Grabs:
  • Both standing and dash grabs have less startup lag (frame 7 (standing)/frame 11 (dash) → 6/10).
• Pummel:
  • Pummel is much faster (30 frames → 9) no longer being the slowest in the game.
  • It deals less damage (3% → 1%).
• Forward, back and up throws can no longer be used as a sacrificial KO. This hinders their utility but increases their safety as Kirby can no longer accidentally self destruct with them. This is further complimented by the fact that opponents cannot escape Kirby's forward or back throws anymore.
• Forward throw:
  • Kirby no longer loses all of his jumps after his forward throw.
  • Opponents can no longer escape during the middle of the animation.
  • It has much more combo ability at lower percents due to the changes to DI and the inability for opponents to escape abruptly.
• Back throw:
  • Opponents can no longer escape during the middle of the animation.
• Up throw:
  • Kirby no longer loses all of his jumps after his up throw.
  • The universally decreased falling speeds restore some of up throw's KO power.
  • If Kirby uses his up throw under a platform, he will land on it, significantly improving its KO potential on stages with platforms.
• Down throw:
  • Down throw deals more damage (0% (hits 1-9)/1% (hit 10)/7% (throw/total) → 1% (hits 1-10)/2% (throw)/12% (total)) and no longer puts opponents into tumble at lower percents.
  • It has much more combo ability at lower percents due to the changes to DI.
  • It has much higher knockback scaling (45 → 140) hindering its combo and chaingrabbing potential.

Special moves

• Inhale:
  • Kirby can now B-reverse Inhale (along with many of his copy abilities).
  • Inhale can eat items and has slightly improved range with a vacuum, which also improves his defensive options on the ground and in the air.
  • Sacrificial KOs now KO Kirby and his victim at the same time, no longer allowing Kirby to escape after the opponent is KO'd. Inhale's collateral damage has been decreased across the board; many characters deal 1% or 2% less damage when spit, while Fox and Falco deal 4% and 3% less respectively. Only the damage of a spit Kirby is unchanged (though Young Link and Toon Link also deal the same damage).
  • Kirby's shrink glitch from Yoshi's Egg Lay has been removed.
• Hammer:
  • Kirby can now B-reverse Hammer.
• Grounded:
  • Hammer's sourspot is much harder to connect with as the sweetspot now takes priority over the sourspot and the sourspot deals more damage (16% → 18%) and significantly higher knockback scaling (50 → 70).
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 22-28 → 24-25), has less horizontal reach, and its sweetspot has less knockback scaling (76 → 72).
  • Its angle has been altered (60° → 55°).
• Aerial:
  • The aerial variant functions differently, being two strong horizontal swings instead of a multi-hitting vertical loop swing.
  • It deals more damage (4% (early loop), 2% (late loop) → 17%/13% (hit 1), 15%/10% (hit 2)) and knockback (40/30 (set), 100 (scaling) → 65/50 (base), 75/70 (scaling) (hit 1), 60/70 (hit 2)) giving Kirby access to an aerial KO option and a semi-spike, as well as an anti-edgeguard tool.
  • It grants some momentum when used in the air, improving Kirby's recovery.
  • It has less ending lag (FAF 69 → 50).
  • It has less vertical reach and both hits of do not link into each other as reliably as before.
  • It has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 7-46 → 17-18/34-35) and more landing lag (16 frames → 27).
• Final Cutter:
  • Final Cutter is faster and travels more horizontal distance, improving its recovery potential. The meteor smash produced on descent now lasts for as long as Kirby falls, instead of just for the first few frames.
  • It requires stricter timing to be reversed. Additionally, Kirby now becomes helpless when pushed off a ledge just before the end of Final Cutter's landing animation.
• Stone:
  • Stone has higher knockback scaling (55 → 70) and produces an additional hitbox upon landing. The grounded version also now has a hitbox which is a semi-spike which deals 14% and is capable of locking and tripping opponents There is also less ending lag upon cancellation (FAF 31 → 28).
  • Stone cannot be cancelled as early (frame 48 → 54).
  • Kirby no longer vocalizes when exiting out of his Stone form, being replaced by a sound effect.
• Cook Kirby:
  • Kirby has a Final Smash: Cook Kirby. He puts on a chef hat and brings out a spatula and a frying pan, and he sucks nearby opponents, items, and projectiles into a cauldron where he then proceeds to cook them. It deals 34% damage with weak knockback and can generate more items.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Vulcan Jab	2%	Kirby jabs forwards with his hand, followed by a short series of fast punches. Based on the Vulcan Jab move he can perform with the Fighter ability in his main games.
			3%
			1-2%
Forward tilt			8% (base), 7% (tip)	Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forwards. Can be angled.
Up tilt			7% (clean), 5% (late)	Kirby performs a scorpion kick upwards. A good juggling move and can be followed by another up tilt, a back air, or an up air, depending on the opponent's percentage. The back hitbox is useful for punishing rolls behind Kirby. The damage depends on the opponent's position from Kirby.
Down tilt			5% (base), 6% (tip)	Performs a legsweep. Good chance that it will trip opponents. The attack can be followed by a grab or a dash attack for extra damage, or a KO move, usually a forward smash, and has greater setup potential if the opponent trips
Dash attack			2% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6)	Based on the Break Spin from the Yo-Yo ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby spins on his hands, while kicking with his feet. Hits multiple times.
Forward smash	↗	Smash Kick	16% (clean), 13% (late)	Based on the Spin Kick from the Fighter ability. Kirby lunges forward and delivers a very large jump kick that moves him forward. Can be angled.
	→		15% (clean), 13% (late)
	↘		14% (clean), 13% (late)
Up smash			15%/14% (clean), 14%/12% (mid), 12%/11% (late)	Kirby backflips while doing an upward kick, similar to Fox's up smash.
Down smash			14% (clean), 11%/9% (late)	Kirby performs a spinning split kick.
Neutral aerial		Twinkle Star	12% (clean), 10% (mid), 8% (mid-late), 6% (late)	Kirby spins in place, dealing damage with his arms and legs. Has incredibly high ending lag, making it near unusable offstage, and delivers mediocre knockback and range. Usually to put some space between the opponent. Has no landing lag.
Forward aerial			4% (hit 1), 3% (hit 2), 5% (hit 3)	Kirby does three spin kicks. The first two hits deal weak knockback to lead into the last hit, which delivers below-average knockback.
Back aerial			12% (clean), 9% (late)	Quickly crouches in midair then kicks his legs behind him. High knockback and has sex kick properties, though the duration is shorter than most sex kicks. The move has very low start-up lag and good range, with a slight disjointed hitbox. It is by far Kirby's most useful aerial, as well as one of his most useful attacks, and is very good at edgeguarding, and can perform Fence of Pain techniques.
Up aerial			10%	Kirby does a flip kick in midair, similar to his up smash.
Down aerial			2% (hits 1-6), 2% (landing)	Kirby performs a drill kick downward. The hitboxes are weak meteor smashes. Alone, the meteor smash is useless against all but characters with very weak vertical recoveries, such as Donkey Kong or Bowser. However, when the attack hits multiple times, or used with a footstool jump, it can be a deadly edge-guarding tool. Most useful for edgeguarding opponents recovering from below,
Grab			—
Pummel			1%	Punches enemy. Moderate speed.
Forward throw			8%	Based on the Pile Driver from the Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby flips and slams the opponent in a pile driver-like maneuver. At low percents, this throw has incredible combo potential and can lead into combos dealing over 40%, with additional followups potentially dealing over 60%.
Back throw			8%	Based on the Backdrop ability from Kirby's Adventure. Kirby quickly flips backwards and slams opponent head-first into the ground. Useful for getting opponents off stage or in the air.
Up throw		Air Drop	10%	Based on the Air Drop from the Ninja ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby holds the foe and rapidly jumps offscreen, then rockets back down to the ground, creating an explosion. KOs at around 160-175% on most stages.
Down throw			1% (hits 1-10), 2% (throw)	Based on the Quick Stamping from the Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby throws his victim into the ground, and then stomps on them several times quickly. He then finishes the assault with a jump attack. The stomps also damages nearby opponents.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Kirby gets up and does a spin kick.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6%	Kirby gets up, then kicks on one side, then the other.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)			5%	Kirby gets up then spins around, kicking.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			6%	Kirby does a flip kick onto the stage.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			6%	Kirby does a spinning split kick onto the stage.
Neutral special		Inhale	6% (copy), 10% (spit), 9-18% (star)	Kirby sucks up his opponent. He can exhale them as a star to deal damage, or copy their neutral special attack. The stars damage depends on the opponent's weight. Some characters will give him an alternative special move due to mechanics that would not work properly when copied over, like Olimar's Pikmin Pluck.
Side special		Hammer	23% (ground head), 18% (ground handle), 17% (air hit 1 head), 13% (air hit 1 handle), 15% (air hit 2 head) 10% (air hit 2 handle)	Kirby swings his hammer forwards in an arc, which sends his opponents skyward on contact. When used in midair, Kirby swings it two times, causing Kirby to rise slightly. Second aerial swing is a powerful semi-spike.
Up special		Final Cutter	5% (rise), 2% (drop), 5% (landing), 6% (wave)	Kirby jumps straight up and falls straight down with a curved blade, cutting anyone he comes in contact with on the way up and meteor smashing anyone he comes in contact with on the way down. When landing, Kirby creates a shockwave projectile that moves forwards quickly.
Down special		Stone	14% (shockwave), 18% (impact)	Kirby turns into a heavy object and plummets straight down. Enemies are sent flying on contact. Kirby cannot be damaged in this form, but he still can be grabbed.
Final Smash		Cook Kirby	24% (12 hits), 10% (release)	Kirby pulls in nearby opponents into a pot and cooks them. If items are on, then certain items will pop out of the pan as soon as the players are released.

On-screen appearance

• Rides in on a Warp Star and crashes down.

Taunts

When Kirby does a taunt, his Copy Ability gets discarded.

• Up taunt: A "Kirby Dance" similar to his victory dances in the Kirby games.
• Side taunt: Spins around, then stops, sticking out his left leg and saying "Eeu!". Almost identical to the "preview" animation shown when he is chosen in the original Super Smash Bros.
• Down taunt: Faces the screen and says his signature elongated "Hai!" Unlike the game's predecessors, the "Hai!" is no longer said in a teasing manner.

Up taunt	Side taunt	Down taunt

Idle poses

• Sleeps for a while, then shakes his head and wakes up again.
• Hops a bit to look towards the left, then hops again, returning to normal position.

Crowd cheer

	English	Japanese
Cheer
Description	Kir-By!	Ki-r-By!
Pitch	High female	High female

Wii Remote selection sound

• Makes a bouncy sound and says "Hai!", just like his down taunt. This sound clip is taken directly from his taunt in Melee.

Kirby's selection sound

Victory poses

All of Kirby's animations are variations of the Kirby Dance, performed when he completes a level in his games.

A flourished remix of the short, recurring theme that debuted in Kirby's Dream Land and which plays when Kirby completes a stage or defeats a boss.

• Up: Does some flips, then holds his hand up.
• Left: Spins, then holds his hand up.
• Right: Skids to each side, then holds his hand up.

Up	Left	Right

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Kirby has a decent matchup spread overall. He is countered by three characters, soft countered by seven, and has twelve even matchups. Conversely, he soft counters 9, and counters 5. Kirby generally does well against characters he can crouch under most of their moves, can combo with ease, have difficulty hitting him, or have some combination. These include characters such as Falco and Sheik. His light weight is beneficial against King Dedede, since the latter specializes in chain grabbing opponents, with Kirby's light weight rendering this strategy moot (although his light weight also renders him more vulnerable to KOs). However, he tends to struggle against characters who can outspeed him at most departments, such as Meta Knight, or camp him, such as the Ice Climbers and Olimar.

Tier placement and history

Players almost immediately saw Kirby's improvements from Melee (which included a stronger aerial game, grabs, and a more reliable recovery) and combined with the slower pace of the game to which he can keep up with, he was ranked 14th on Brawl's first tier list, and then rose to 13th place on the second and third tier lists. However, due to characters of higher tiers having more prominent strengths, and the flaws of Kirby's poor endurance along with speed, he dropped to 16th in the fourth one, 19th in the sixth edition, and to 20th in the seventh and eighth versions. Regardless, Kirby has considerably improved from Melee, and has his results and playerbase significantly increase, albeit still having trouble with most of the top and high tiers.

Notable players

See also: Category:Kirby professionals (SSBB)

•  ChuDat - Although more famed for his accomplishments in Melee, he actively played Brawl throughout its competitive lifetime, and was considered the best Kirby main in the world.
•  Falln - Considered one of the best Kirby players in the United States, with strong regional presence in SoCal.
•  MikeKirby - A top Kirby main from New York.
•  t1mmy - A Kirby player from Oregon, known as an early innovator of his metagame.
•  Y.b.M. - A Kirby main from Texas, known as one of the best Kirby players during his prime.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Kirby in SSE

Kirby is one of the main protagonists in the SSE. In the beginning, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into an arena, come to life, and have a friendly match. The player chooses the one they want to play as. After the battle between the two, the victor revives the fallen loser, and the two fighters celebrate and wave to the crowd when suddenly, the Subspace Army attacks Peach and Zelda, who were watching their match, and both come to their aid. After the brief battle, the Ancient Minister shows up with a giant Subspace Bomb that is quickly armed by two R.O.B.s. When Mario attempts to stop the bomb, he is ambushed by a giant cannonball and is blasted away from the stadium. Meanwhile, the two princesses are captured by Petey Piranha, and are thrown into separate cages. Kirby then faces off against Petey, but only one princess can be freed. After defeating Petey, Wario appears carrying a giant gun called the Dark Cannon, turns the princess Kirby didn't save into a trophy, and runs off with her. As Kirby and the remaining princess begin to leave, Kirby, seeing that the Subspace Bomb is about to explode, flees the Midair Stadium via Warp Star. However, they are soon chased by the Halberd and are forced to land on it. Soon after, an Arwing gets shot down, blowing both Kirby and the princess off the Halberd and onto a series of ridges. After climbing down from the ridges, Kirby sees/hears something and runs ahead, leaving Peach/Zelda behind. She is then turned into a trophy from behind by Bowser's Dark Cannon, and is copied by a Shadow Bug clone of Bowser. After a fight, Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi are turned into trophies, and are captured by an arm from a cargo drove by King Dedede, which also has Zelda/Peach, Luigi, and Ness's trophies. Suddenly, Kirby appears from behind and uses Final Cutter to sever the arm, and revives the pair's trophies in the process. When Dedede attempts to escape, Pit/Link fires an arrow at his cargo, slowing it down a little, and the five pursue Dedede to save their friends.

Eventually, they find a cave that Dedede's cargo is parked by, and after getting through, they find Dedede's hideout. Upon exploring his hideout they see a hole in the wall, and decide to enter it. They then see Bowser, who escapes to the Halberd after avoiding Mario and Pit's attacks. After the scuffle however, Kirby finds a mysterious badge that fell off Zelda/Peach's trophy.

Some time after that, Kirby and the others pursue the Ancient Minister in a desert, trying to stop him from detonating another Subspace Bomb. Despite their best efforts, the bomb still explodes, and they barely managed to escape it (Kirby flies on a Warp Star with Pit and Link on it while Mario rides on Yoshi). Kirby and the others then aided Marth, Ike, Lucas, the Ice Climbers, and the Pokémon Trainer in warding off the Subspace Army troops that had come to face them.

After defeating them, the Falcon Flyer, and the Halberd (now under Meta Knight's control) land in front of them, and they all join forces to defeat the Subspace Army. The Subspace Gunship, commanded by Bowser and Ganondorf, appears out of a large sphere of Subspace where the Isle Of The Ancients used to be, and after destroying the Halberd, tries to attack 4 smaller ships emerging from its wreckage. Fortunately, Kirby manages to save them by destroying the Gunship with Dragoon (suggesting that the Halberd and smaller ships were a distraction so he could launch this surprise attack), and follows the others into Subspace.

When they confront Tabuu, Tabuu unleashes his Off Waves that turn everyone, including Kirby, into trophies. However, Kirby is miraculously revived thanks to the badge he found at Dedede's hideout earlier, which he had swallowed prior to Tabuu's attack (when Bowser escapes with the Peach/Zelda trophy in his Clown Car). After going through Subspace alone and reviving some of the fighters along the way, Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy. Before he can do anything, Bowser appears and attacks Ganondorf's trophy in revenge for turning him into a trophy earlier, before throwing it aside. King Dedede then runs over to Kirby and hugs him before pointing the staircase to Kirby, and dragging Kirby up it. Kirby then helps the others fight Tabuu.

Playable appearances

• Midair Stadium
• Sea of Clouds
• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Wilds (Part II)
• The Canyon
• Entrance to Subspace
• Subspace (Part II)
• The Great Maze

Exclusive stickers

These stickers can only be used by Kirby, or a select few including him:

• Bonkers: [Weapon] Attack +16
• Cell Phone: [Slash] Resistance +4
• Dyna Blade: Launch Resistance +46
• Gordo: [Throwing] Attack +5
• Hot Head: [Flame] Attack +10
• King Dedede & Kirby: [Specials: Direct] Attack +21
• King Dedede (Kirby Super Star): [Leg] Attack +28
• Kirby (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards): [Body, Spin] Attack +22
• Kirby (Kirby Air Ride): [Arm, Leg] Attack +17
• Maxim Tomato: Maxim Tomato Effect +50
• Meta Knight: [Slash] Attack +32
• Meta Knight Ball: Launch Power +8
• Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack +5
• Starman: Launch Power +33
• Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack +4

In Event Matches

Solo Events

• Event 3: Pink Ball Repulsion: The player controls Meta Knight and must defeat Kirby before the platform reaches the Halberd portion of the stage.
• Event 10: All-Star Battle Regulars: Kirby is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents are starters from the original Super Smash Bros. game.
• Event 12: Sleeping in the Eggs: The player controls Yoshi and must put both Kirby and Pikachu in eggs simultaneously.
• Event 13: Dragoon Strike: The player controls Kirby, who must collect the three Dragoon parts and KO three Warios with the completed Dragoon. KOing them by any other means causes them to respawn.

Co-op Events

• Co-Op Event 1: Two Trouble Kings: Mario and Kirby must defeat Bowser and King Dedede on Delfino Plaza.
• Co-Op Event 21: The True All-Star Battle: Both players select a character and take on the entire roster on Battlefield.

Trophies

Kirby's main and Final Smash trophies can be obtained by clearing Classic Mode and All-Star mode respectively with Kirby.

Kirby

A round, pink ball of cuteness from a distant, peaceful star. He can swallow anything with his gigantic mouth, then spit it out as ammo. He has the handy ability to copy powers and use them as his own. His hovering ability lets him fly through the air with ease. He's so round, he's sometimes treated like a ball.

: Kirby's Dream Land

: Kirby Super Star (NTSC), Kirby's Fun Pak (PAL)

Cook Kirby

Kirby in chef's garb. When Kirby throws on his chef's hat, a giant pot appears in the center of the screen. Characters, items, and even long-distance weapons are sucked into the pot. Once they've simmered a bit, food items equal to the number of things in the pot appear. Characters in the mix get blasted straight up out of the pot.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• 

  Classic Mode trophy

• 

  Cook Kirby trophy

Alternate costumes

Trivia

• When Kirby misses with a dash grab, he enters an animation similar to when he misses an enemy with the Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star.
• Kirby's helpless animation is the same pose he takes when he falls a long distance in most Kirby games, and in the games this diving pose could damage enemies. Kirby uses this kind of helpless animation when copying and uses Meta Knight's Mach Tornado, Donkey Kong's Giant Punch, Ness's PK Flash, Lucas' PK Freeze, or using the Final Cutter and being moved off a platform while still in landing pose.
• Kirby and Mr. Game & Watch are the only characters that fully change their body color on their palette swap.
• Kirby's Wii remote selection voice clip is from his Melee taunt, instead of an original, new clip used in Brawl. This also applies to Samus, Peach and Ganondorf.
• Kirby is tied with Mario for being the most playable character in the Subspace Emissary, being playable in 9 levels.
• In the game's 2006 E3 trailer, Kirby is seen using his aerial Hammer animation from Melee, which was eventually changed to two horizontal swings in the final version.
• In Super Smash Bros Brawl, It is possible to cancel Samus's final smash by stone smashing her directly after she does her final smash.

External links

• Kirby's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Kirby Character Guide on SmashBoards
• Kirby's hitbox size of each of his moves
• Kirby's Moves - History Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by CrappyCaptureDevice (main video)
• (Kirby's hats) (addendum)