Kirby (SSBB)

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

“	A flying resident of Dream Land who can copy the moves and appearances of foes.	”
—Brawl manual description

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Kirby 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.

Kirby ranks 20th on the current tier list in the top of middle 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 and throw 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 use attack in his back aerial, solid edge guarding capabilities, 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), poor to mediocre aerials outside his back aerial, and generally poor matchups against top/high tier characters (most notably, being countered by three of the four best characters). Overall, Kirby has above average matchups, with 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 makes him a good choice for beginners to learn with. His multiple jumps also give him good edgeguarding potential. Kirby has above average reach in his attacks, 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 often 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 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 (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. All of 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 ledgeguarding.

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 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 edgeguarding 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, and it has powerful knocback, and the second hit is a semi-spike, making it useful for edgeguarding. However, it leaves Kirby vulnerable if he misses. Kirby's poor air attacks outside of his back aerial, combined with his slow falling speed, makes 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

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.

Attributes

• Kirby is overall faster, stronger, and has more range.
• Kirby is heavier, and has greater vertical endurance.
• Walking and air speed are faster.

Ground Attacks

• New dash attack is better, being multi-hitting, less punishable, and having better follow-up options.
• Up and down tilts now have IASA frames.
• Down tilt can trip, which has an inescapable grab followup if the trip occurs with the opponent close enough.
• Up smash's sourspot hitboxes are stronger.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial has greater damage and knockback.
• The amount of IASA frames in his neutral air has been significantly increased.
• The kicks in forward aerial link to each other more efficiently.
• Up aerial's reduced vertical knockback increases its juggling capabilities.
• Down aerial is more effective at meteor smashing opponents, with it being able to drag down opponents more efficiently, and with the introduction of the foot stool jump, can be easily combo'd into a move that sends the opponent down farther.

Grabs and Throws

• Kirby no longer loses all of his jumps after his forward or up throw.
• Forward and back throws can no longer be escaped from.
• Forward and down throw have significantly improved followup options, with them being able to put together highly damaging throw combos at low percents.
• Up throw is now a KO option at very high percents, being stronger and now ending on an platform above Kirby (thus putting him and the grabbed opponent closer to the upper blast line).
• Forward and back throws can no longer Kirbycide. His up throw can only Kirbycide on certain stages in very specific situations.

Special Moves

• Inhale can eat items and has slightly improved range with a vacuum, which also improves his defense on the ground and in the air.
• Swallowcide now KOs 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).
• Hammer no longer requires sweetspotting to be powerful. Airborne Hammer also functions differently, being two strong horizontal swings instead of a multi-hitting vertical loop swing, giving Kirby access to an aerial KO option and a semi-spike, as well as an anti-edgeguard tool.
• Hammer also reduces Kirby's falling speed when used in the air, improving Kirby's recovery options.
• Grounded Hammer has less horizontal reach.
• Final Cutter travels farther horizontally, and is also faster, improving its recovery capabilities. The meteor smash produced on descent now lasts for as long as Kirby falls, instead of just for the first few frames.
• Fewer frames were given in Final Cutter's turn around. Additionally, Kirby now becomes helpless when pushed off a ledge just before the end of Final Cutter's landing animation.
• Stone is significantly stronger, and produces an additional hitbox upon landing. There is also less ending lag upon cancellation.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			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 thrusts his back leg 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)	Crouches low and delivers a low kick. 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)	From the Yo-Yo ability. Kirby spins on his hands, while kicking with his feet. Hits multiple times.
Forward smash	↗		16% (clean), 13% (late)	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 does a split and spins around rapidly.
Neutral aerial			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.
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's spins while kicking 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 edgeguarding tool. Most useful for edgeguarding opponents recovering from below,
Grab			—
Pummel			1%	Punches enemy. Moderate speed.
Forward throw			8%	From the Suplex ability, Kirby flips and slams the opponent in a piledriver-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%	From the Suplex ability, Kirby quickly flips backwards and slams opponent head-first into the ground. Useful for getting opponents off stage or in the air.
Up throw			10%	From the Ninja ability, 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)	From the Suplex ability, 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.
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.

Taunts

When Kirby does a taunt, his copy ability gets discarded.

• Up: A "Kirby Dance" similar to his victory dances and in the Kirby games.
• Side: 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: Faces the screen and says his signature elongated "Hi", but in a lower tone than in Melee. This is the shortest duration taunt in the game.

On-screen appearance

Rides in on a Warp Star and crashes down.

Cheer

Kir-by!

Victory Theme

A cheerful cover of the "Stage Completed" music originating from Kirby's Dream Land.

Victory poses

• Spins, holds his hand up.
• Does some flips, holds his hand up.
• Skids to each side, holds his hand up.
  • All of Kirby's animations are variations of the Kirby dance, performed when he completes a level in his own games.

Idle poses

• Sleeps for a while, then shake his head and wakes up again.
• Hop a bit to look back, then hop again returning to normal position.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Kirby professionals (SSBB)

•  Chu Dat
•  Falln
•  t1mmy
•  Y.b.M.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

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.

Kirby in the SSE

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 Shadowbug 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 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, 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, 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

Alternate costumes

Kirby's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trophy description

Kirby's trophy in Brawl

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)

Trivia

• Kirby's shield stance is similar to his block stance in Kirby Super Star. When it is done with Mirror Kirby, he uses the orb shield just like the shields in Smash.
• 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. A similar trait is held for 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 movie revealed at E3, just before Meta Knight appears, Kirby is seen using his side special move, Hammer, in the air, but the animation is for the Melee version of Hammer, not the Brawl version.
• Kirby makes a squeaky noise when he goes in and out of a crouch.
• When Kirby hits a wall, lands on the ground, or does certain moves, small stars are emitted, similar to how they look in the Kirby games, thus giving authenticity to his origin.

External links

• Kirby's page at Smash Bros. DOJO!!.
• Kirby Character Guide at SWF
• 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)