Swallow

Swallow is the name of Kirby's neutral B attack in all three incarnations of Super Smash Bros., although Smash Bros. DOJO!! lists the move's name as Inhale. Kirby begins to inhale indefinitely, and if he successfully traps another character in his mouth, he has a choice to either spit them out as a star or swallow them copying their neutral B attack.

Kirby dons a unique hat depending on who he's inhaled, such as wearing Mario's hat if he swallows Mario. The copied special attack will sometimes be lost when Kirby is attacked enough, and can also be discarded by taunting. Inhaling another Kirby and copying will do nothing unless the other Kirby has already copied an attack and is wearing a hat. In SSB and SSBM, if a Kirby is wearing a hat, another Kirby is able to steal it for themselves.

Inhaling and spitting has been a trademark attack of Kirby since Kirby's Dream Land, but it was not until Kirby's Adventure was he able to swallow an enemy to copy their attack. It wasn't until Kirby Super Star that Kirby also had different hats that indicated the power he copied. A single attack was usually enough to make Kirby lose his copied power.

King Dedede appears to have a similar move as his Neutral B in his incarnation in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as Kirby was seen in a screenshot using a move similar in appearance to Swallow while wearing King Dedede's hat, suggesting that Dedede's Neutral B is similar to Kirby's.

Brawl Central have confirmed that Kirby will also copy the abilities from certain Items, for example, if Kirby swallows a Fire Flower he will become fire Kirby.

A list of hats and the power Kirby gets for each can be found here.

"Kirbycide" Applications

 * Main article: Kirbycide

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Kirby is capable of walking around the stage slowly while carrying them in his mouth. This allows for some forms of Kirbycide, wherein Kirby jumps off the edge with someone in his mouth and releases them at a distance or position from which they are unable to recover, forcing a self-destruct.