Super Smash Bros. 4

King Dedede (SSB4)

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This article is about King Dedede's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see King Dedede.
King Dedede
in Super Smash Bros. 4
King Dedede SSB4.png
KirbySymbol.svg
Universe Kirby
Other playable appearance in Brawl


Availability Starter
Final Smash Dedede Burst
King Dedede (SSB4)

King Dedede (デデデ, Dedede) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was announced on January 10th, 2014 to commemorate the release of Kirby: Triple Deluxe in Japan.

He is once again voiced by long-time Kirby producer and the creator and director of the Super Smash Bros. series, Masahiro Sakurai, whose voice clips have been digitally altered from Brawl.

Attributes

King Dedede is the definition of a power-type character. He is large, the 3rd heaviest, has a slow walking speed and dashing speed, the slowest air speed, one of the lowest air acceleration values, the 2nd highest falling speed and above average gravity. He's also equipped with a wooden mallet, giving his attacks additional range.

King Dedede's biggest strength is his impressive survivability. His very high falling speed gives him the the greatest vertical endurance, and his weight alone gives him one of the best horizontal endurances. In addition, he is notoriously difficult to edgeguard and gimp. Despite his very high falling speed and extremely low air speed, he possesses five midair jumps. These help him stall his fall and cover long distances, as well as allowing him to edgeguard safely. His recovery doesn't end with his midair jumps. His up special, Super Dedede Jump, grants a very large amount of vertical distance and a good amount of horizontal distance. It also has super armor and is a meteor smash, meaning that any attempts to intercept it will end with the opponent getting launched.

Another advantage King Dedede has is his punishes. Almost all of his attacks deal high amounts of damage, and put opponents in a disadvantage. His most useful moves at that include, but are not limited to, down tilt, down smash and his grab game. The former two are very quick moves for a heavyweight, and can help him fend off opponents and set up edgeguards. His pummel is highly damaging, making it good for adding up damage. His forward and back throws can send opponents offstage, or KO at higher percentages. Lastly, his down throw can combo into up tilt and any aerial attack, making it very reliable for damage racking and giving him combos that most fellow heavyweights don't have.

However, King Dedede has numerous weaknesses. One of King Dedede's most prominent weaknesses is his polarized mobility. All of his stats work against him, as they give him very slow horizontal movement, hindering his ability to approach and combat spacing and camping. The latter problem is more serious, since he has nothing against projectiles. His very quick vertical mobility also leaves him very vulnerable to combos, and has a hard time escaping from them. This makes it very easy for other characters with reliable combos to rack up damage on him. But his most serious flaw is his underwhelming moveset. With very few exceptions, all of his moves are among the slowest, along with Shulk and Ganondorf. Missing an attack will almost always result in serious punishment from the opponent. On top of that, his moveset is among the weakest of all heavyweights, with very few moves being capable of reliably KOing before 80%. Finally, his only projectile, the Gordos from Gordo Toss, can be reflected by any attack that deals at least 2% damage, limiting their otherwise great utility and making them unsafe when used from a distance.

King Dedede is one of the characters that benefits the least from customs, having only three moves with utility that matches or surpasses that of the originals: Topspin Gordo, Bouncing Gordo and Rising Dedede. Topspin Gordo has consistent power and moves much faster, giving it much more range, but starts up slower and doesn't last as long. Bouncing Gordo is electric and allows for stage control and pressure, but is much weaker. Rising Dedede maintains its super armor while having a strong hitbox on the way up, making it impossible to interrupt his recovery. It also cancels immediately at the apex of the jump, making it able to grab the edge at anytime, but this removes its very powerful descending hitbox. All of his other custom moves have very situational advantages and are overshadowed by their disadvantages. Three notorious examples are Dedede Storm, Taste Test, and Armored Jet Hammer. Dedede Storm has much slower startup and ending lag than Inhale, removes Dededecide, and is a multihit move that cannot connect after 100%. It also has no strong hitboxes, making it unable to KO even well over 200%. Taste Test spits opponents out instantly, preventing Dedede from sending the opponent offstage, which allows them to exploit Dedede's infamous neutral game. Armored Jet Hammer offers super armor on charge, but causes recoil damage faster and is drastically weaker, with a fully charged blow being weaker than an uncharged hit by the default. It also has severe ending lag, to the point where one can jump from the top of Battlefield and use it, and then be unable to move until Dedede reaches the main platform.

Overall, King Dedede's weaknesses outweigh his strengths, and this has resulted in very low tournament representation.

Changes from Brawl

King Dedede has received many changes in the transition from Brawl to Smash 4, but is considered to be nerfed overall.

King Dedede's ground movement, survivability, power and attack speed have all been improved. Moves that had issues KOing due to being slow or prone to SDI, most notably up smash, up aerial and Jet Hammer, have been either sped up or given more knockback. The limited utility some of his moves used to have, such as down tilt and forward aerial, has been greatly improved due to altered hitbox placements. The changes to down smash and down aerial have also made Dedede's edgeguarding capabilities better. All these changes have served to improve his punish game considerably, due to him now possessing many new options he didn't use to have in Brawl. In addition, the new game mechanics have indirectly aided Dedede. The introduction of rage improves his high power and gives him even less trouble KOing. The removal of edgehogging has made his recovery even safer than before. Finally, the nerf to campable projectiles (most notably Blaster) has made Dedede less susceptible to camping.

However, the moves that were most pivotal to Dedede's playstyle have received noticeable nerfs. Waddle Dee Toss has been removed, weakening Dedede's ability to actively counter camping. Up tilt has much less knockback and is no longer a reliable KO move, even with rage. Down aerial can no longer be used as an anti-juggling move, due its slower startup and shorter duration. His grab game is weaker, since his grab range is shorter, his forward and back throws are both weaker, and his down throw no longer has set knockback. The nerf that hurt Dedede the most, however, was to the crux of his neutral game: his back aerial. Even though it is more powerful, it has much shorter duration and is much slower, eliminating its ability to space out opponents and removing his most reliable approaching tool.

Overall, while Dedede has been buffed in almost every regard, the drastical weakening of his neutral game makes it much harder for him to put his pressuring and punishing abilities forward.

Aesthetics

  • Change King Dedede has a more cartoonish and brightly colored appearance due to the new aesthetic used in SSB4, making him look reminiscent of his appearance in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, which visually makes his pupils smaller than they were in Brawl. Additionally, Dedede's model also sports a graphical effect that accentuates the fuzz on his robes and crown.
  • Change Dedede has even more exaggerated facial expressions.
  • Change The sound Dedede makes during his up taunt is now in sync with the animation, regardless of the direction he is facing.

Attributes

  • Buff King Dedede is heavier (112 → 119).
  • Buff King Dedede jumps higher.
  • Buff King Dedede walks slightly faster (0.95 → 0.98).
  • Buff King Dedede dashes faster (1.22 → 1.36).

Ground attacks

  • Buff Neutral attack now links into a finisher, making the move safer, more useful, and being able to KO around 150%.
  • Buff Forward tilt now hits multiple times with more damage (overall dealing 3% more if all hits connect) and has increased knockback, now being able to KO at very high percents.
  • Nerf Forward tilt has slightly decreased reach.
  • Nerf Up tilt is significantly weaker, no longer KOing until near 150%, and it has a sourspot added on the later portion of the attack that deals 2% less damage, instead of being strong throughout. It also has slightly less vertical reach.
  • Buff Up tilt has increased horizontal reach, especially in front of Dedede, that makes it slightly easier to land.
  • Buff Down tilt is now a roll that moves him forwards, that produces a significantly larger and longer lasting hitbox, as well as having decreased start-up, making it more useful and versatile.
  • Nerf Down tilt hits at a higher angle, however without any greater knockback, making it a less effective KO move at very high damages.
  • Nerf Dash attack now has a sourspot on the later portion of the attack that deals 3% less damage and decreased knockback. It can also miss if used too close to the opponent.
  • Buff Forward smash's sourspot is more powerful, dealing 3% more damage and increased knockback, though it is still drastically weaker than the sweetspot.
  • Buff Up smash deals slightly increased knockback, and is slightly faster in start-up and ending lag.
  • Buff Down smash now hits on a semi-spike trajectory, making it a much more effective KO move and attack in general, especially on the edge, despite dealing 2% less damage and slightly less knockback.

Aerial attacks

  • Buff Dedede has a new forward aerial, that is now a hammer swing from above, as opposed to from below. This new forward aerial has faster start-up and a much more favorable hitbox placement that makes it much easier to land.
  • Nerf Forward aerial deals 3% less damage and significantly less knockback, not being able to KO until damages well beyond 150% outside edge-guarding, and also no longer autocancels in a short hop.
  • Nerf Dedede has a new back aerial, that involves him swinging his hammer behind him, in a manner similar to his forward aerial in Brawl. This new back aerial has slower start-up lag and has no long lasting hitbox, losing the immense versatility and all-around usefulness Dedede's previous infamous back aerial had.
  • Buff The new back aerial deals 3% more damage and stronger knockback, making it more effective as a KO move.
  • Buff Up aerial's final hit deals much stronger knockback, making it much more effective at KOing opponents above, KOing below 130% regardless of Dedede's proximity to the upper blast line. It also has significantly reduced SDI capacity, making it much harder to escape.
  • Nerf Up aerial deals 7% less damage, though this nerf is overall overridden because of it having improved KO potential.
  • Nerf King Dedede has a new down aerial, where he slams his hammer below him. This new down aerial has much slower startup, and much smaller hitboxes without the long duration, losing the strong anti-juggling capabilities and general damage racking abilities Dedede's old down aerial possessed (as its maximum damage potential has been reduced from 17% to 15%).
  • Buff The new down aerial is a very powerful meteor smash, giving Dedede access to a new potent edge-guarding tool. The move also hits grounded opponents with powerful horizontal knockback instead of a meteor smash, giving Dedede access to a new powerful KO option onstage as well.

Throws/other attacks

  • Change Dedede no longer stumbles over when he misses a dash grab.
  • Buff Dash grab has slightly less endlag, making it less punishable when whiffed.
  • Nerf The reaches of all of Dedede's grabs have been reduced.
  • Nerf Forward and back throws deal less damage (12% → 10% & 16% → 13%).
  • Buff Up throw has less ending lag, allowing up air followups at lower percentages.
  • Nerf Down throw can no longer chain throw, removing one of the most pivotal aspects of Dedede in Brawl. It also no longer has set knockback, and deals 2% less damage (now dealing 6% damage).
  • Buff Down throw now throws opponents at a completely different trajectory, throwing opponents vertically into the air near Dedede. This makes the throw now an excellent combo starter up to mid-high damages, with guaranteed combos into up tilt and all aerials except down aerial, with the combo options varying depending on damage, rage, staleness, and the opponent's DI. It can even occasionally lead into a KO with up aerial if Dedede is able to read the opponent's reaction.
  • Change Down throw has an altered animation, with Dedede forcefully throwing opponents into the ground with an arm instead of sitting on them.
  • Nerf Dedede's intangible and very far-reaching over 100% ledge attack was removed, leaving Dedede with a significantly inferior ledge attack at high damages.

Special moves

  • Nerf The removal of grab armor makes Inhale slightly less useful as a defensive landing option, as trades will now result in Dedede getting hit instead of inhaling the opponent.
  • Buff Dedede has a new side special, Gordo Toss, where Dedede now takes out a Gordo and hits it with his hammer, bouncing it along the ground. While the Gordos are significantly weaker than the rare Gordos were in Waddle Dee Toss, they are still powerful yet consistent projectiles that can deal up to 14% damage with knockback that can KO under 150%, which makes them much more reliable and useful on average compared to the extremely weak Waddle Dees and Doos. The ability to bounce the Gordos in different trajectories also gives the move greater trapping capabilities. The hammer swing in the initiation of the move additionally produces its own hitbox that deals 12%, which can also hit opponents into the subsequently tossed Gordo for immense damage.
  • Nerf Gordos can be reflected by any hitbox that deals at least 2% damage, giving the move significantly more risk than Waddle Dee Toss if a Dedede player misuses the move.
  • Buff Dedede can now grab ledges during the rising portion of Super Dedede Jump as long as he's facing the stage, significantly improving his recovery's safety. The falling hitbox of Dedede Jump is also more powerful, and can now bury grounded opponents.
  • Change Super Dedede Jump falls faster.
  • Change Super Dedede Jump is now cancelled with up instead of down.
  • Buff Jet Hammer's swing has significantly improved horizontal reach and a much larger hitbox overall, especially if fully charged, allowing it to hit airborne opponents easier and now allowing to hit ledge hanging opponents (with the fully charged hitbox being able to hit any ledge-hanging character), which when combined with the new ledge mechanics, give the move newfound ability as an edge-guarder. The move is also significantly more powerful throughout all its stages, dealing up to 8% more damage fully charged and KOing below 50% near the ledge, while being able to KO well below 150% and potentially under 100% even when lightly charged. Fully charged Jet Hammer additionally deals significantly increased shield damage, to where it can nearly break a full shield, and holding a fully charged Jet Hammer stops damaging Dedede at 100% instead of 150%. Additionally, with the introduction of rage, Jet Hammer's recoil is now a double-edged sword rather than a detriment.
  • Change Jet Hammer produces much more intense lighting that visually lights up the surrounding areas, and Dedede now visibly sweats with a grimacing facial expression when using the move. Jet Hammer also produces a wind effect, though it is just purely aesthetic, and it has a different swinging animation when released without being fully charged.
  • Change His Final Smash has changed to Dedede Burst, a trapping Final Smash with average initial range, and KOing ability of a typical Final Smash, making it significantly more reliable at KOing opponents than his old Final Smash, Waddle Dee Army. However, Dedede Burst deals a fixed amount of damage, making it less damaging than Waddle Dee Army.

Update history

Outside of aesthetic changes, King Dedede has recieved some direct nerfs and one indirect buff. The nerfs are a weaker forward aerial, a stronger down throw, a more easily avoidable Final Smash and Gordo Toss being easier to deal with. The buff is the changes to shield mechanics, since Dedede's moves are now safer on shield due to either high damage, high hitlag or multiple hits. Overall, Dedede's pressuring abilities are weaker, but the safety of his neutral game is higher.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS 1.0.4

  • Nerf Forward aerial damage: 13% → 12%
  • Buff Down throw angle: 70 → 80
  • Nerf Down throw knockback scaling: 60 → 82
  • Nerf Minimum Gordo reflection damage: 3% → 2%
  • Nerf All Gordo hitboxes are smaller in radius by 0.4 units. Custom moves are affected as well.
  • Nerf Characters can air dodge out of and escape Dedede Burst.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.8

Moveset

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   4% A pair of hammer swings followed by a twirling attack that traps the opponent and finished with an uppercut swing. Can be used in a zero-death combo.
4%
1% (loop), 3% (last)
Forward tilt   2% (hits 1-4), 3% (hit 5) A spinning hammer poke. Very good range. Fourth hitbox can only connect if the move lands at the tip of the hammer.
Up tilt   12% (body), 10% (head) A short hopping headbutt. Dedede's head and upper body are intangible while the hitbox is active.
Down tilt   10% (clean), 6% (late) Dedede rolls forwards. Very fast start-up, can be used after most defensive options and attacks.
Dash attack   16% (clean), 13% (late) Dedede's trademark tripping dive. A slow and powerful KOing option, it is stronger than some of the cast's smash attacks, KOing at around 50% near the edge due to its exceptionally high knockback.
Forward smash   15% (early), 24% (clean), 6% (late) Dedede winds up and brings down the hammer. The strongest and second most damaging forward smash in the game, with almost equal KO power to match. Only Lucario's at full power is stronger.
Up smash   14% (hammer), 9% (body) A vertical hammer swing. Relatively slow compared to his up tilt, but less situational than in Brawl. Great vertical knockback if hit at the top of the arc or at the end, KOing at around 110%.
Down smash   13% A low spinning hammer attack. Dedede's weakest smash attack, but the head of the hammer is a semi-spike, making it one of Dedede's quickest and most reliable ground finishers, KOing under 100% near the edge.
Neutral aerial   12% (clean), 7% (late) Dedede throws his arms and legs out to perform a belly flop. Acts as a sex kick.
Forward aerial   12% An overhead hammer swing.
Back aerial   16% A rear-facing hammer swing from below. Can KO reliably below 130% and autocancels after a shorthop.
Up aerial   1% (hits 1-7), 5% (hit 8) An upwards-facing hammer spin. Very strong, surpassing Fox's, being able to KO below 130%.
Down aerial   15% (hammer head), 8% (handle) A single downwards swing. The sweetspot is a meteor smash only on aerial opponents. On grounded opponents, it deals high horizontal knockback, KOing at around 100% near the edge.
Grab    
Pummel   3% A headbutt.
Forward throw   4% (hit 1), 6% (throw) Dedede whacks the foe away with his hammer.
Back throw   4% (hit 1), 9% (throw) Same as the forward throw, just backwards. King Dedede's strongest throw, but doesn't KO until very high percentages (depending on the opponent's weight and DI).
Up throw   4% (hit 1), 5% (throw) Dedede throws the opponent above his head, then pushes them upwards.
Down throw   6% Dedede grabs the foe's head and brings them into the air, then plants them into the ground. Dedede's best way to rack up damage, scoring true combos into up tilt and all aerials (except down aerial) until mid percentages, and then into up aerial until KO percentages.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7%
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7%
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5%
Edge attack
Edge getups
  8%
Neutral special Default Inhale 5% (release), 10% (spit) Dedede sucks in opponents and can then walk around and spit them out.
Custom 1 Dedede Storm 2% (loop hits), 3% (outer hit) Instead of inhaling opponents, blows them outwards.
Custom 2 Taste Test 5% (release), 12% (spit) Inhales opponents faster than the default and the spit deals slightly more damage. However, King Dedede will spit the opponent out immediately instead of keeping them inside his mouth.
Side special Default Gordo Throw 10% (hammer), 14%/12.5%/11%/9.5% (Gordo) Dedede hits a bouncing Gordo forward. Its trajectory can be angled upwards, forward, or downwards. The Gordos disappear after 4 bounces. Additionally, they can be reflected by any attack dealing at least 2% damage. Of further note is that Dedede can hit opponents with the hammer swing used to serve the Gordo.
Custom 1 Topspin Gordo 10% (hammer), 11% (Gordo) Throws Gordos that don't go far initially, but fly forwards upon bouncing. Disappears after a second bounce.
Custom 2 Bouncing Gordo 10% (hammer), 6% (Gordo) Serves electric Gordos that bounce back and forth. Cannot be angled.
Up special Default Super Dedede Jump 15% (drop), 11% (landing), 5% (stars) Dedede performs his signature jump and launches upwards, rocketing down with a devastating stomp that buries grounded opponents on impact. Aerial foes hit by the stomp are meteor smashed. This move launches out stars after Dedede hits the ground, similar to Yoshi's Yoshi Bomb. Due to the stars that fly out after King Dedede hits the ground, this move can sometimes be difficult to punish, especially against characters that lack a projectile.
Custom 1 Rising Dedede 15% (clean), 12% (late) Instead of stomping, Dedede does damage during the jump and then falls into helplessness.
Custom 2 Quick Dedede Jump 10% (drop), 5% (stars) Dedede leaps faster and lower than the default. The stomp is also weaker.
Down special Default Jet Hammer 11% (uncharged ground), 10% (uncharged air), 38%/28% (fully charged ground), 27%/16% (fully charged air) Dedede charges up his hammer, which damages himself if he holds it at full charge. If released at full charge, he unleashes a very strong, rocket-powered hammer chop which can easily KO opponents below 50% near the edge. At 100%, King Dedede will stop taking self-damage.
Custom 1 Armored Jet Hammer 9% (uncharged), 24%/20% (fully charged ground), 22%/15% (fully charged air) Makes Dedede immune to flinching while charging, though the attack is significantly weaker, not KOing until 150%, and Dedede takes self-damage faster.
Custom 2 Dash Jet Hammer 7%/6% (uncharged), 18%/16% (fully charged) Charging the attack pushes Dedede backwards, while unleashing it propels him forwards at the expense of damage.
Final Smash Dedede Burst 10% (hits 1-3), 1% (hit 4), 15% (hit 5) Dedede violently inhales the opponents into place, smashes them three times with his hammer aflame, and shoots a bomb out of it, sending the victims flying diagonally.

Taunts

  • Up Taunt: Hoists his hammer above his head and pumps it up and down.
  • Side Taunt: Spins his hammer while looking at the camera, laughing.
  • Down Taunt: Dances in a circle while drumming on his belly.

Idle Poses

  • Taps his hammer on his shoulder.
  • Smacks his belly.

Cheer

De-De-De! De-De-De! Dededededdedede!

On-Screen Appearance

  • King Dedede is carried in on a palanquin by four Waddle Dees, then jumps off, scattering them.

Victory Fanfare

A flourished remix directly from Brawl. It is a remix of the short recurring theme that plays when Kirby completes a stage or defeats a boss, debuting in Kirby's Dream Land. It is shared with Kirby.

Victory Poses

  • Slaps his belly twice, and rests his hand on it as a Waddle Dee stands nearby.
  • Slams his hammer down on both sides of him, then looks at the camera.
  • Spins his hammer into the air and finishes with a pose.

In Competitive Play

Official Custom Moveset Project

Character Custom sets available
King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede 3112 3122 3312 3322 1122
1312 1322 2112 2122 2312

Notable Players

Alternate costumes

King Dedede Palette (SSB4).png
King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede (SSB4) File:KingDededeHeadBrownSSB4-U.png King Dedede (SSB4) King Dedede (SSB4)

Trophies

King Dedede
Ntsc He calls himself the King of Dream Land, but he doesn't have a lot of interest in ruling. He really loves to eat, so it's no surprise he's a heavyweight fighter. Despite his size and low speed, he can easily recover with his four jumps. His Jet Hammer will leave a mark on everyone he meets.
Pal Being a self-proclaimed king, Dedede clearly doesn't care too much about the whole "politics" thing. He's just a bit greedy. In this game, his weight and hefty hammer make him slow, but he can still jump four times in mid-air anyway, making it easy for him to get back to the stage. Fully charge his Jet Hammer for ultimate destruction.
Game Boy: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)
3DS: Kirby: Triple Deluxe (05/2014)
King Dedede (Alt.)
Ntsc For the Gordo Throw side special, King Dedede sends a Gordo bouncing with a hammer strike. It bounces off walls—or sometimes gets stuck in them. After a while it'll disappear. If an enemy hits one, it'll bounce back toward you. Use the special again to whack it back at them!
Pal For the Gordo Throw side special, King Dedede hits a Gordo with his hammer, sending it bouncing along the stage. It'll bounce off walls, or sometimes get stuck in them. Then, after a while, it'll disappear. If an enemy hits the Gordo with an attack, it'll fly back towards you. Use the special again to whack it back at them!
Game Boy: Kirby's Dream Land (08/1992)
3DS: Kirby: Triple Deluxe (05/2014)
Dedede Burst
Ntsc For Dedede's Final Smash, he takes a deep breath, pulling his foes toward him. Once he's gotten them right where he wants them, he'll unleash blows from his giant burning hammer. Topping things off is an explosive from the end of the hammer, sending enemies flying. Could this be worse for his foes? Yes! He's invincible the whole time too!
Pal For Dedede's Final Smash, he inhales fiercely to pull foes towards him. Once he's got them right where he wants them, he thrashes them with a giant burning hammer. Then, to top it off, he fires an explosive from his hammer, sending them blasting off. Could it get any worse? Well... yes - Dedede's invincible the entire time.

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