Kirby (Super Smash Bros. Melee)


 * This article is about Kirby's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For other uses, see Kirby.

Kirby (カービィ, Kābī) is a character in all three games of the Super Smash Bros. series. Announced at E3 2001. Although tier-wise he was the second-to-top character in original beaten only by Pikachu, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he became one of the worst, losing most of his power, combo ability, and speed from SSB. He is now second-to-bottom, ironically only ahead of Pichu.

Pros & Cons
The following list only applies to the Super Smash Bros. Melee version of Kirby.

Pros

 * Can copy other character's B-moves
 * Five mid-air jumps and floaty descent give good recovery distance
 * Lowest crouch in the game (can duck under most characters' grabs and attacks)
 * Small size, quick dodges, and low crouch enable good evasion
 * Large shield in relation to body size
 * Multiple jumps allow for more aggressive Edge-guarding
 * Can perform Kirbycides, which are extremely useful in certain scenarios
 * Good-midair evasion (due to slow falling speed when normal and fast falling speed when rock, especially with mid-air transformation)
 * Stone does not take damage, although it can be grabbed out of

Cons

 * KOing opponent can be difficult due to weak attacks; almost all of them have tiny sweetspots
 * Loses all jumps after U-throw, B-throw, F-throw, and Final Cutter
 * Back throw and forward throw can be intercepted
 * Light and floaty: Easily KO'd
 * High amount of hitstun makes escaping from combos harder, even though he is a floaty
 * Most attacks are either short-ranged or sluggish
 * Predictable, slow recovery
 * Susceptible to projectile spam and general Camping
 * Opponents can slip out of Kirby's throws
 * Up-B doesn't have good horizontal range
 * Hammer is extremely weak and punishable if not sweetspotted, which is hard to do as the sourspot is much larger than the sweetspot
 * Many slow moves
 * Poor combo ability
 * SHFFL'd Aerials are still slow
 * The previously "broken" Dair now has a grounded hit even when L-cancelled.
 * Last couple of jumps give barely any height

Changes from N64 to Melee

 * New Side B (Hammer)
 * New Dash Attack (Burning attack from Kirby's Adventure)
 * New Forward Throw (His old forward throw is now his up throw)
 * Stone can change Kirby into 4 objects, as opposed to one.
 * Can walk around after inhaling someone.
 * New Up Air. (Kicks upwards powerfully)
 * His Old Up Air is now his Neutral Air.
 * Huge decrease in Air Speed makes recoveries now very easy to gimp. (In SSB, he had the fastest air speed tied with Jigglypuff. Now he has the fourth slowest air speed tied with Ganondorf)
 * New Forward Air. (Kicks three times forwards)
 * Forward Smash has much more starting and ending lag (no longer fastest in the game)
 * Up Tilt has had a massive decrease in both speed and priority (and therefore usefulness).
 * Back Air has a slightly different animation which means there is almost no hitbox on Kirby's front now.
 * Dair lands differently and gives a small hit, even when L-cancelled. This makes it difficult to combo with.
 * Up B is shorter.
 * Slower, weaker, much worse combo ability and worse priority overall.
 * Back throw can Kirbycide.

Attacks

 * Neutral-A: Kirby jabs forwards with his hand.
 * Rapid A: Kirby rapidly punches forwards. Based on the Vulcan Jab from Kirby Super Star.
 * Dash Attack: Kirby runs forwards, on fire. Based on his fire ability in his games.

Tilts

 * Down-Tilt: Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast, decent ranged.
 * Forward-Tilt: Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forwards. Decent range.
 * Up-Tilt: Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards.

Aerials

 * Neutral-Air: Spins around, hitting with his limbs. Long lasting hitbox.
 * Forward-Air: Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback.
 * Back-Air: Kirby does a no-look kick backwards. Can be used in the Fence of Pain. Good knockback.
 * Up-Air: Kirby flips in mid air, kicking upwards. Great knockback, possibly Kirby's best kill move.
 * Down-Air: Kirby spins around, drilling downwards wit his feet.

Smashes

 * Forward-Smash: Kirby jumps forwards, kicking. Has high knockback.
 * Up-Smash: Kirby does a back-flip, kicking upwards. Has high knockback.
 * Down-Smash: Kirby does the splits, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback.

Grabs & Throws

 * Pummel
 * D-throw: Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet.
 * B-throw: Kirby flips backwards, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable.
 * F-throw: Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable.
 * U-throw: Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages.

Special Attacks

 * Side-B: Hammer
 * Neutral-B: Inhale
 * Up-B: Final Cutter
 * Down-B: Stone

Techniques
Kirbycide

Trophy descriptions
Kirby is the single most represented character in trophy format in Super Smash Bros. Melee. First of all, being a playable character, Kirby has his own set of "gameplay" trophies that are acquirable by completing any of the three Regular Match modes in the single-player modes with Kirby: Classic, Adventure, and All-Star.


 * Kirby (Smash Red)
 * "Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful." (B: Swallow, Smash B: Hammer)


 * Kirby (Smash Blue)
 * "Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique." (Up & B: Final Cutter, Down & B: Stone)

Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: The Kirby Hat series, with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the Trophy Lottery, but the last two are awarded once you've unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.

Finally, the character Kirby himself is depicted on some other trophies not related to gameplay: Ball Kirby, Fighter Kirby, and Fire Kirby.

King Kirby 90

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Omnigamer

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Trivia

 * Kirby's special moves from Melee are used in the game Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, through the use of the ability called Smash. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (Neutral Air from Melee, although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He gets the ability from Master Hand, who is a boss in the game.