King Dedede (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)


 * This article is about King Dedede's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For other uses, see King Dedede.

King Dedede, also known as just Dedede (デデデ, Dedede), is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. King Dedede is a recurring villain in the Kirby series. He is an anthropomorphic, blue penguin-like being whose main weapon is his massive, wooden mallet, which has now been mechanized. King Dedede has been classified as a "Super Heavyweight", alongside Bowser, Donkey Kong, and Snake. However, he is capable of puffing up for multiple jumps, like Kirby and Jigglypuff. He was confirmed on October 25, 2007 on the Smash Bros. DOJO!! site. Dedede is voiced by the director of the game, Masahiro Sakurai, who also voiced him in Kirby 64.

King Dedede is currently ranked 8th on the Tier List due to his amazing chaingrab and powerful throws combined with amazing grab range, ability to Sacrifice KO, great edge guard game, greatest resistance to vertical KOs (a combination of being the fourth heaviest character and having the fastest falling speed in the game), great range, good recovery for his weight class, good Waddle Dee Toss projectial blocking, a few quick, hard hitting attacks, and having what could be considered one of the best defensive games, which is made better by being one of the most difficult characters to KO in the game.

Attributes
King Dedede has the typical attributes of heavyweight characters: high KOing power, slow mobility and attacks, high range, fast falling speed (the fastest in the game), and large size. His tilts and smash attacks, which are largely disjointed hitboxes, combine with one of the most versatile projectiles in the game, Waddle Dees, for devastating effect. Dedede's recovery puts together four mid-air jumps and a super-armored Up Special with great vertical distance (and a powerful meteor smash upon its descent, when not canceled). Even though his recovery is predictable due to the Super Dedede Jump's slow speed and inability to grab the ledge at all unless canceled, his overall recovery is much harder to gimp compared to other heavyweights' recovery. He is easy to hit offstage but he can still almost always make it back. Although he is the fastest faller in the game, his falling acceleration is not very fast so it is more beneficial than harmful. As such, this makes King Dedede less vulnerable to chain throws and allows him to pull off two bairs in a single short hop. King Dedede is also the fourth heaviest character, with the fastest falling speed, giving him the best vertical endurance in the game (noticeably longer than the second most resistant vertical KO character, Snake). He is also great at Momentum Canceling, Link is the only character in the game that has a more notable benefit from vertical momentum canceling (though Dedede's vertical endurance is still notably better). Even though his basic horizontal momentum cancelling is rather poor, the Super Dedede Jump can be used as a difficult but effective horizontal momentum cancelling technique (but because of King Dedede's very slow air speed and the fact that he can't use his jumps or aerials after, jumping is generally a safer Momentum Canceling in most cases). Due to the large amount of horizontal momentum it negates, it gives Dedede the forth best maximum horizontal endurance in the game. This, combined with his far and very hard to gimp recovery, can him a dangerously tough match-up for many characters that lack reliable KO moves with high knockback scaling.

Dedede is good at keeping pressure on the opponent, despite his very slow movement in the air and on the ground (third slowest dash speed and slowest air speed). Dedede has reach, power, favorable hitboxes, and attack speed mixed throughout his entire arsenal, with arguably his best attack, the back air, possessing all four attributes. Despite being a super heavyweight and having early KO moves, KOing can be difficult at times due to his KO moves either having slow start-up/ending lag, being forced to have the opponent in the air, being predictable, and/or having low horizontal reach. This can be one of his biggest problems, as almost every attack Dedede uses has some sort of lag. However, his up tilt, arguably his best finisher, has great vertical reach with a very large and long lasting hitbox, with great vertical knockback (it is the second strongest u-tilt in the game). While it is a great KO move in some situations, on platform less stages such as Final Destination, it can have difficulty KOing without setting up as its hitbox doesn't extend that far from Dedede's body. Despite this, he is excellent at edge-guarding and gimping. He is a versatile edgeguarder, with many edgeguard options. He can edgeguard with a bair or fair Wall of Pain, both of which are powerful aerials that reliably KO under 150%. He can gimp recoveries with thrown Waddle Dees, his forward tilt, and his down tilt. His forward smash is especially deadly on recovering opponents, often KOing any recovering opponent above 25%. Even his dash attack can be used for edgeguarding due to its hitbox having far horizontal reach and having long duration. A crafty Dedede can even fool an opponent into a kill at 40% by using his forward-smash, although this is risky as his forward smash (the strongest in the game) is extremely laggy despite its reach (which includes a shockwave slightly in front of the hammer). From a distance, Dedede can prod his opponent with his quick f-tilt, the furthest reaching standard attack in the game, or he can use his Waddle Dee Toss to toss living projectiles at the opponent, which are capable of attacking of their own accord and absorbing projectiles to defend Dedede. Waddle Dee Toss can not be properly reflected (excluding Gordos). The danger of the odd Gordo is also an excellent pressure, as they are extremely strong KO projectiles. Dedede can also peform Dededecide, or Regicide, easiest when King Dedede is offstage for punishing characters close to the edge or edge guarders, though these are not very useful used onstage because it gives the opponent a long time to escape from Inhale even when they are at high damage. Although Dedede can keep pressure on opponents well, he himself is particularly susceptible to projectiles (although Waddle Dees can block projectiles), air camping by characters like Wario, (though with his huge defense it can be hard to approach and get the lead), and meteor smashes (though he can recover from them easily if not KOd by them given his great vertical recovery) due to being a slow, large target. That means he can be tough to get close for damage without high damage risks because of his amazing grab game, but because of his very slow mobility and lack of a good enough projectile to be used to force or stop approaches it forces the opponent to camp very hard against him. As a result of the opponent being forced to camp, King Dedede matches tend to take a long time against many characters.

Where Dedede really shines is in his ability to transition defense into a powerful offense. With powerful throws and the one of the best chain throws in the game, many characters can be easily punished while approaching Dedede. His down throw can chain throw many characters regardless of damage percent due to having set knockback, and he is capable of infinitely chain throwing Donkey Kong, Samus, Mario, and Luigi (though in the last three cases, he has to pummel after 5 throws to refresh it so the Stale-Move Negation doesn't remove the infinite, and because of his very slow pummel, it is possible to mash fast enough to escape from the pummel until about 120%). He can also chain throw anyone weighing 87 (Marth or heavier) infinitely against a wall. Dedede's forward throw ends chain throws that have reached the edge with significant damage, with the added bonus of putting opponents into a recovery situation, where Dedede can begin utilizing his amazing edgeguard game which is deadly against characters with a poor recovery like Link and to a lesser extent, characters with a slow recovery like Snake. His back throw is very strong, both in knockback and in damage (16%, the most damaging throw in the game), and can KO at higher percents when performed from the edge. Dedede's grab game, which is augmented by the longest non-tether grabbing reach in the game and an easy shield grab, is also complimented by his excellent range all around. Dedede also has two very quick, powerful moves to get the opponent off him while in close, outside of grabbing: his horizontal-knockback down tilt and the aforementioned up tilt.

While a Dedede player must be wary of his weaknesses, in the end, he can use his excellent defensive game, survivability, range, power, pressure ability, and grab game to overcome them against most characters.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - A three part attack: first is a horizontal swipe, then a vertical swipe, and finally a repeating, indefinite hammer spin in the fashion of a drill. Can deal a large amount of damage, but the spinning part is easily DI'd out of. If the "Attack" button is held during the spinning part, the spin can be held indefinitely. Though its reach is good for a jab, it is arguably one of the worst jabs in the game as it has slow start-up (slowest start-up in the game among neutral attacks) as well as being rather slow to the second and third hit. Does 6% for the first hit, 5% for the second hit, and 1% to 2% for each hit in the "drill" portion.
 * Dash Attack - Trips and face-plants forward, like he does in several Kirby games. A good deal of starting and ending lag, but deals a large amount of damage, has high KO potential (strongest dash attack in the game). It is powerful enough to KO even under 100% (it KOs reliably around 115%). Even though it is slow, it has a massive hitbox (it covers Dedede's entire body and extend some in the front) and it has a long duration. Due to this, it can be used as a deadly edgeguarder and it punishes spot dodgers, as the hitbox often lasts longer than the invincibilty frames from the sidestep dodge. Does 16%.
 * Forward tilt - Extends his hammer forward and spins it. Has fast start-up with a long lasting hitbox but produces very low knockback. However, it has amazing reach, it has the farthest reach of any non-projectile ground attack. As such, it is useful as a "poker", good for a quick hit from a slow character. Does 6% with the initial hitbox, the subsequent hitbox does 4%.
 * Up tilt- Sets his hammer on the ground momentarily and jumps a little upwards, headbutting. It has surprisingly fast start-up lag with low ending lag. It has great vertical reach and a massive hitbox that covers Dedede's entire body. Due to this and its hitbox having a long duration, it is great for a spot dodge, rolling dodge and air dodge trapper. It has very high knockback scaling and is the second strongest u-tilt in the game (though without DI and momentum cancelling, Snake's u-tilt KOs most characters a 1% or 2% faster due to its higher base knockback). Is often considered on par with Snake's u-tilt for being the best u-tilt in the game, usually done immediately after rolling towards the opponent or to punish characters landing with an air dodge. Snake's u-tilt tends to perform better on flat stages such as Final Destination due to its good horizontal reach, which Dedede's lack and is a better out of shield option. However, Dedede's tends to perform better on stages with platforms from below such as Battlefield, as Dedede's has a longer lasting and wider hitbox, slightly better vertical reach, and the fact that Dedede's doesn't have a sourspot like Snake's does (though Snake's sourspot still has high knockback). In the end, whoever's u-tilt is better depends largely on the situation. Does 12%.
 * Down tilt- He extends just one of his legs and sweeps the ground with it. Has fast start-up with decent horizontal knockback, surprising reach, and like Dedede's other tilts, its hitbox has a long duration (though it is shorter than his forward and up tilts). Is useful for edgeguarding and it can be used to hit some characters out of his chain-throw, being a better chain throw finisher at high percentages than his f-throw on these characters due to the d-tilt's greater knockback and being more difficult to DI. Does 10%

Smash

 * Side Smash - Swings his hammer over his head at the ground in front of him. Creates a small shock wave that damages opponents just outside the hammer's range. Slowest start-up in the game for a forward smash (43 Frames) and needs to sweetspot to be powerful, but it has extremely powerful horizontal knockback when sweetspotted, has rather low ending lag compared to its start-up and has very long reach (which makes it difficult to punish). It has extremely high base knockback and knockback scaling, being the second strongest in both categories among forward smashes (only Snake's has higher base knockback and Ike's has higher knockback scaling). When it comes to KO percentage, King Dedede's f-smash is the strongest in the game, KOing reliably at 56% uncharged. It can also be used as a risky, but deadly edgeguarder, often KOing recovering opponents above 25%. It is significantly weaker when sourspotted, dealing half the damage and not KOing reliably until 157%. Fortunately, the sourspot's hitbox is much smaller than the sweetspot's hitbox. Does 25% uncharged and 35% fully charged when sweetspotted. Does 12% uncharged and 16% fully charged when sourpsotted. The "quake" hitbox at the end of the forward smash does 6% uncharged and 8% fully charged with extremely low vertical knockback, with its main purpose being to make the forward smash less punishable. Both the hitboxes of the sweetspot and sourspot have transcendent priority. On a final note, the sweetspot produces a much louder "thud" than the sourspot when landed.
 * Up Smash - Pulls back the hammer then swings vertically upwards from in front of him. It has powerful vertical knockback with average base knockback and high knockback scaling along with a hitbox that covers the area in front of and behind Dedede, as well as above him. However, it has slow start-up lag and even worse ending lag with rather average damage output for an up smash. When uncharged, it is weaker than his u-tilt as well as being much slower. As such, Dedede's up smash is often neglected and is not used often. The up smash KOs relaibly around 121%. Does 14% uncharged and 19% fully charged. The hitbox in Dedede's up smash does have transcendent priority.
 * Down Smash - Pulls back the hammer and then swings it horizontally along the ground. Slow start-up and ending lag for a down smash, though Dedede's down smash does not have the horrible start-up of his forward smash or the ending lag of his up smash. The down smash does have good horizontal reach with strong vertical knockback (it is weaker than the up tilt and smash however). It works well as a roll dodge and air dodge trapper as the hitbox is swept around Dedede and like his other attacks, it too has a hitbox with a long duration. Despite being the least powerful of his smash attacks, his down smash can be considered Dedede's most reliable smash due to it being much faster than the two smashes while having a favorable hitbox. Does 15% uncharged and 21% fully charged. Like Dedede's other smashes, the hitbox of the down smash has transcendent priority.

Others

 * Ledge Attack - Pulls himself up and as he is about halfway up, he quickly kicks out with his foot at the ground in front of him.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Slowly pulls himself up, and when he is most of the way pulled back onto to the stage, quickly swings his hammer over his head down in front of him.
 * Floor Attack - Quickly kicks to the side his feet are facing, then kicks in the other direction.
 * 100% Floor Attack - Slowly gets up and swings his hammer in front of him, then sticks his hammer behind him and spins it.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Sticks his arms out and legs back, attacking with his large stomach. Very fast start-up with a hitbox that covers Dedede's entire body and having a long duration but has below average knockback. Has properties similar to a Sex Kick, with the inital hitbox being much stronger than the subsequent hitbox. Does 12% with the initial hitbox and does 7% with the subsequent hitbox. Both the initial and subsequent hitbox has transendent priority.
 * Forward Aerial - Swings hammer upwards in front of him. Slightly slow start-up lag but it is generally awkward to use against grounded opponents, especially due to its noticeable landing lag. While difficult to utilize against grounded opponetns, it is very useful for edgeguarding due to its good top-to-bottom coverage, strong horizontal knockback, and low ending lag, which allows it to be used in Wall of Pains in conjunction with his bair. Due to Dedede's very fast fastfall and the fair's vertical reach, Dedede can fastfall while attacking with the fair to great effect while edgeguarding or to surprise opponents below him. Does 15%.
 * Back Aerial - Sticks a foot out behind him, kicking with it. Has very fast start-up with far horizontal reach, strong horizontal knockback, and a hitbox with long duration. It also has low aerial ending lag, which allows Dedede to be able to perform it twice in a single short hop. Dedede can string multiple bairs at low percentages and use it in conjunction with his fair in Wall of Pains. When it is not stale, it is also a reliable KO move, reliably KOing under 150%. It does have minor landing lag, but it is still difficult to punish. Arguably the best back air in the game and is often considered Dedede's best attack. Has properties of a Sex Kick, with the initial hitbox being stronger than the subsequent hitbox, though the subsequent hitbox only does 3% less damage with its knockback not being that much lower. Does 13% with the initial hitbox and 10% with the subsequent hitbox.
 * Up Aerial - Sticks his hammer above him and spins it. Multiple hits, good for racking up damage. Final hit deals decent vertical knockback. Has relatively fast start-up with good vertical reach though its hitbox is not that wide, making it rather easy to evade in the air. Does a minimum of 2% with a maximum of 19%.
 * Down Aerial - Similar to his Up Aerial, but extends his hammer below him. It also has more hitlag with each hit. Is surprisingly useful for racking up damage as it has rather fast start-up with low vertical knockback with the final hit, which leaves the opponent vulnerable to being followed up with another dair, a bair, a fair, or an uair. If Dedede uses his Dair when he's flying past the upwards blast line, the spinning sound effect will last the entire star K.O. Does a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 17%.

Grabs and Throws
Note: King Dedede has the longest non-tether grab in the game, which when combined with his weight and high traction, make him arguably the best shield grabber in the game, being even able to shield grab powerful attacks.
 * Pummel - Lays his hammer on the ground and headbutts them. Despite being a slow 3% pummel, only the first hit counts towards Stale-Move Negation. Does 3% per hit.
 * Forward Throw - Hits opponent with hammer. A fast throw with high knockback for a throw, though it is weaker than his back throw. Does occasionally KO at the end of his d-throw chain throw at very high percentages if opponents DI it the wrong way when trying to escape the grab. Does 12%.
 * Back Throw - Hits opponent with hammer behind himself. It is the most damaging throw in the game and is one of the strongest knockback wise. It is slower than his forward throw, though it is still rather fast. Works well for getting lightweights off the edge and it can KO at very high percentages when on the edge. Does 16%.
 * Up Throw - Hits opponent upward by sticking both his hands upward. Can set up a uair or a dair against heavy/fastfalling opponents at very low percentages as well as KOing in Sudden Death. But Dedede's up throw is often neglected and rarely used. Does 9%.
 * Down Throw - Slams opponent on ground and sits on top of them. Can chain throw everyone except Luigi (if there is no wall or if not using the infinite version) and the lightweights, on which instead it works as a tech-chasing move. Unlike other chain throws, it has set knockback, which allows it to work at any percent. This can combo into a forward tilt on everyone, a down tilt on certain characters, and into a Down Smash on Bowser. Can infinite chain throw all characters that are usually chain-throwable if there is a wall (like in Corneria). Does 8%.

Taunts

 * Up: Hoists his hammer above his head and pumps it up and down. Oddly, the sound is out of sync with the movement if he does it while facing left.
 * Down: Dances in a circle while drumming on his belly.
 * Side: Spins his hammer while looking at the camera, laughing.

Matchups

 * Note that the Samus, DK, Mario, Luigi, and Bowser matchups are dependent on whether the standing infinite is banned or not. These numbers are for when the infinite is not banned. For example, The Luigi matchup is said to be about even if the infinite is banned and the DK matchup is said to be 60-40.

Role in Subspace Emissary
It is revealed on the official website that King Dedede was involved in helping the takeover of the battleship Halberd by the Subspace Army. During this time, Dedede learns of Tabuu's Off Waves and spends the rest of the story preparing for them.

The first time King Dedede is shown, he uses his Waddle Dees to ambush an unsuspecting and cowardly Luigi and turn him into a trophy. Then, as Wario approaches on his Cargo carrying two trophies (the princess that was not saved from the arena and Ness), he tries to take the new Luigi trophy and is suddenly ambushed by a herd of Waddle Dees who throw Luigi into the cargo. King Dedede then steals the cargo with the trophies in tow. Later, Dedede rides past Mario, Link, Pit and Yoshi. King Dedede originally tries to steal Mario and Pit/Link and Yoshi as trophies, but Kirby rescues them and King Dedede rides off, trying to escape them. Seeing that King Dedede has apparently kidnapped their friends, the party gives chase to Dedede's hiding place; his castle. Once inside, King Dedede is seen treating the trophies with surprising kindness. He takes out two badges with his likeness on them and places them on Luigi and Ness. He goes to put the last badge on the princess, but finds he does not have enough, and with a reluctant sigh gives his badge to the princess, another of his moments of kindness. The badges' effects are not immediately seen, which may be confusing to some viewers (one might be led to believe that he may have done this simply to mark them as his property). As King Dedede looks proudly at his trophies, Bowser and his minions break open the ceiling. The falling debris knocks King Dedede out cold and buries him, Ness and Luigi under rubble. Shortly afterwards, two R.O.B.s arm and detonate a Subspace Bomb outside of the castle, trapping King Dedede and his friends in Subspace.

Eventually, Luigi and Ness are revived thanks to the Dedede Badges. Ness makes the connection that King Dedede was the one who created the badges and therefore revived them, so he revives the King. King Dedede's role in The Subspace Emissary, appearing to be evil at first but turning out to have good intentions in the end, is very characteristic of his roles in the Kirby games. Glad to see that they are okay, and that they revived him, King Dedede sets out with his two companions to save everyone from Subspace. Eventually they encounter Bowser's trophy, and King Dedede revives Bowser, but the Koopa King attacks him. King Dedede fights him alone and wins the fight, then revives Bowser again, but when Bowser tries to attack again, King Dedede stops him by batting the Koopa's nose. He then points out the Master Hand lying on the ground and the staircase leading upward, telling him that they should fight Tabuu instead of each other. King Dedede also finds his rival, Kirby (who incidentally had swallowed one of the badges earlier), but is actually happy to see him alive (giving him a big hug when he sees him, then literally drags him off to Tabuu's residence). While King Dedede is walking up a staircase, Wario attacks him (probably payback for stealing his ride). However, Wario backs off when he realizes that two characters he turned into trophies, Luigi and Ness, can aid King Dedede, outnumbering Wario. Wario then stops messing with them physically, but messes with them by riding his bike up, showing off the fact that he can get up there faster. Wario casually joins the group after they show him where Tabuu is. King Dedede joins the rest of the characters for the rest of the story.

Exclusive Stickers
The following stickers can only be used by a few characters including Dedede:
 * 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 Ball: Launch Power + 8
 * Nruff: [Body, Spin] Attack + 5
 * Starman (Kirby: Squeak Squad): Launch Power +33
 * Whispy Woods: [Weapon] Attack + 4
 * King Dedede (Kirby: Squeak Squad): [Throwing] Attack +30

Event Matches
Event 1: Two Trouble Kings - The player plays as Mario and faces the team of Bowser and King Dedede in single player and alongside Kirby in co-op.

Event 15: Hammer of the King - The player is a tiny King Dedede. With the help of two other tiny, CPU-controlled Dededes, you must defeat a giant, metal Dedede. Completing this event unlocks "King Dedede's Theme."

Co-Op Event 3: Fastest, Shortest, Sudden Death - The players control King Dedede and Yoshi. In 10 seconds, the player must defeat as many enemies as possible, while making sure at least one fighter stays alive. |Event Matches |Co-op Events

Potential banning of his infinite
Though the Smash Back Room doesn't specifically ban the short step infinite, many tournaments ban the short step chain grab because of King Dedede's massive grab range that allows him to shield grab many attacks. However, they always keep his running chain grab, which is not so extreme. Many tournaments ban it exclusively because other chain grabs aren't so extreme (the Ice Climbers for example rely on chain grabbing heavily and have poor grab range, there are also strict timing limitations for each character and percentage).

Trivia

 * When King Dedede gets a Hammer or Golden Hammer, he swings both his own hammer and the Hammer/Golden Hammer together, alternating swings for each hammer. While he will still swing both his hammer and the stick of the Hammer if the head falls off or both his hammer and a squeaky Golden Hammer, his hammer will not do any damage.
 * The in-game announcer in the JP version pronounces Dedede "day-day-day". In other versions, it is pronounced "dee-dee-dee".
 * When King Dedede inhales something big (like a player or a box), pause the game and look around his neck. There will be a gap between his head and his shoulder, which you can see the stage through.
 * King Dedede is the only antagonist to KO a fighter without needing the use of a Dark Cannon in the SSE. However, King Dedede is the only antagonist not to have entirely evil intentions in the Subspace Emissary. This is similar to most canon Kirby games, where Dedede often helps the heroes or has hidden goals, which appears to be harmful, but turns out to be helpful in the end.
 * King Dedede is one of the two characters who uses their Final Smash in SSE (when he steals the trophies of Ness and one of the princesses from Wario). The other is Diddy Kong.
 * Along with Snake, King Dedede was the first "Super-Heavy" Weight character in the top tier. Neither are currently in the S Tier, however.
 * His uncharged, sweetspotted F-Smash is stronger then a fully-charged Jet Hammer. The former KOs Bowser at 56% from the center of Final Destination while the latter KOs at 60%.
 * King Dedede is the only fast-faller in Brawl that can perform two aerials in a single short-hop by using his bair.
 * King Dedede's forward smash has the same amount of frames as Ike's and Snake's forward smashes. When compared to them, Dedede's forward smash has the most start-up lag but the least ending lag.
 * King Dedede, Mario, Ness, Diddy Kong and R.O.B are the only characters to wear their default costumes in team battles, when they are on the red team.