Kirby (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

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

Kirby (カービィ, Kābī) had been confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl since the first preview shown at E3 in May 2006. Of all the characters shown, Kirby appears to be almost completely unchanged graphically. It was speculated that Kirby's up smash may be stronger, his attacks seem to be quicker in general, and he is apparently somewhat heavier than before.

He ranks 14th on the Tier List-- which is significantly higher than his rank of 25th in Melee, above only Pichu--, thanks to his overall solid matchups, a good combo ability, a chaingrab with his d-throw, and being a solid character choice all around. Being near-even with Meta Knight has helped his rankings.

His Final Smash is Cook Kirby, which is reminiscent of the Cook ability seen in various Kirby games. In the games, Cook Kirby clashes his utensils, tosses opponents into a pot, seasons them, stirs, and finally, items pop out of the pot.

Attributes
Kirby’s signature ability is Inhale, which allows him to suck in enemies and take their standard special move. In the case that he swallows another Kirby, he will either take that Kirby’s ability if the opponent has one, or just simply swallow him and nothing will happen (aside from a little damage). He is also well known to have a total of five mid-air jumps, thus making recovery relatively easy. Most of his moves have a disjointed hitbox, which gives him more range than it would appear. His down special, Stone, turns Kirby into one of several heavy objects, sending Kirby hurtling down onto foes if used in the air dealing strong knockback and damage, and then staying on the ground in object form. If used on the ground, he will just turn into an object, and can still damage nearby enemies and has a horizontal knockback. This makes him invincible, to a degree. He can, however, be knocked out of with really strong attacks, or grabbed out of it. His side special, Hammer, is strong and acts differently depending on if it’s used in the air or on the ground. If used on the ground, Kirby will simply swing the hammer once, dealing good damage and knockback. If used in the air, he will get pushed forward a little and swing the hammer twice in a row. The swings are faster than the one on the ground and the first hit sents the opponent vertically and the second hit sends the opponent diagonally making this move a good finisher. His Up Special, Final Cutter, sends him upwards, but then he comes back down quickly bringing the opponent down with him. If he hits the ground at the end, he sends out a shock wave that damages opponents over a short distance. Altogether, Final Cutter can be used for a 3-hit combo.

Kirby also possesses powerful aerial and standard moves. Kirby's aerials are quick and strong. His Forward Air is a great Wall-of-Pain technique, and Back Air is a good finisher. In addition, Kirby has an excellent ground game, as all of his smashes come out quickly, and his tilts are fast. Kirby has incredible combo ability, able to take several characters up to over 50 or 60 percent damage, mainly because his throws can all start strong combos. He also has massive priority, joint with Mr. Game & Watch.

Kirby isn't without problems, though: he is floaty, lightweight, and rather slow. His killing power is rather good for a lightweight character, but he can have difficulty if his main killers have been used previously (smashes and Hammer). Kirby is a solid, easy-to-learn character.

Normal

 * Neutral Attack - Two punches, followed by a rapid flurry of punches that release shock waves. Similar to Vulcan Jab from his Fighter Ability.
 * Dash Attack - Spins on his hands, while kicking with his feet. Multiple hits, with last hit having some knockback. Break Spin from his Yo-yo Ability from Kirby Super Star. Has high priority and is useful for clearout.
 * Forward Tilt - A quick long ranged roundhouse kick. Can be angled upward or downward.
 * Up Tilt - Quickly raises one leg vertically from behind. A good juggling move, and a good combo starter.
 * Down Tilt - Crouches low and delivers a long ranged low kick. Good chance that it will trip opponents.

Smash

 * Forward Smash - Lunges forward and delivers a very long range jump kick that moves Kirby forward. High knockback and executes quickly. This is clearly derived from "Kirby Super Star", where a nearly identical move called "Spin Kick" can be used by Kirby with the Fighter copy ability.
 * Up Smash - Does a short somersault while doing an upward kick. Decent range, and High knockback. If not staled, can star KO Mario at 101% if it sweet spots and Mario doesn't DI.
 * Down Smash - Splits his legs apart spins around rapidly. One of the few moves that haves you attacking from both sides at the same time. Usually a vertical knockback, if the opponet is close to you and has good range. The hitboxes on the tips of his feet push opponents away as a semi-spike, which is very useful for edgeguarding.

Other

 * Ledge Attack - Flips over the edge and kicks.
 * 100% Ledge Attack - Gets up and then uses a move similar to his down smash.
 * Trip Attack - Gets up then spins around, kicking.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Aerial - Spins in place, dealing damage with his arms and legs. Has a long duration with multiple seperate hits.
 * Forward Aerial - Does three spinkicks with the last kick having good knockback. Kirby could do this move with his Fighter Ability.
 * Back Aerial - Quickly crouches in midair then kicks his legs behind him. High knockback and has Sex Kick properties. There is a sweetspot on this move, just on Kirby's feet tips as it comes out, which deal slightly higher knockback than the rest of his feet.
 * Up Aerial - Does a flip kick in midair similar to his Up smash.
 * Down Aerial - Kirby's famous Drill Kick, this move can spike, and Kirby can fast fall this move to lock opponents in the flurry of kicks to increase the spiking effect. Multiple hits.

Grabs and Throws

 * Pummel - A quick punch. Does 1% damage.
 * Forward Throw - "Pile Driver" from Kirby's Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby rises slowly in the air, while flipping, then slams the opponent down. Incredible combo potential. Does 8% damage.
 * Back Throw - "German Suplex" from Kirby's Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star. Quickly flips backwards and slams opponent head-first into the ground. Does 8% damage.
 * Down Throw - "Quick Stomping" from Kirby's Suplex ability in Kirby Super Star., called Fury Stomp in Ultra. Kirby throws his victim into the ground, and then stomps on them several times quickly. Meta Knight has the same throw, except his knockback is more horizontal and Kirby's feet stomp is quicker. Can chaingrab fast fallers, like the Space Animals. Does 12% damage.
 * Up Throw - "Air Drop" from Kirby's Ninja ability in Kirby Super Star. Kirby flies off the top of the screen, and comes back down violently in an explosion, like a Warp Star item. Somewhat average knockback. Meta Knight shares this move as well except without the explosion. Does 10% damage.

Taunts
Up Taunt- Does the famous Kirby Dance.

Down Taunt- Does his signature "Hii." in a lower tone than Melee.

Side Taunt- Spins around, then sticks out his leg saying "Pew."

Changes from Melee to Brawl

 * Kirby is rounder than he was in Melee.
 * Hammer in mid-air is now two full horizontal swings.
 * Dash attack is no longer "Burning/Fireball Kirby", and is instead his Break Spin from Yo-Yo Kirby in Kirby Super-Star.
 * Smash Attacks are much stronger.
 * Tilts and aerials do less damage, Fair/Uair/Dair have less knockback (Uair changed to a fantastic combo move).
 * Much better throws; does not lose his jumps after Fthrow and Uthrow, Fthrow can combo very well, Dthrow has less ending lag and can combo into Utilt.
 * Utilt and Dtilt have new interruptable As Soon As frames.
 * Higher priority.
 * Final Cutter is faster.
 * More Horizontal midair movement.
 * Inhale can now suck in items.
 * Hammer can help recovery because of the brief stall at the beginning.
 * F-Throw and B-Throw cannot Kirbycide anymore, neither could they be escaped from.
 * Hammer deals a bit more damage and always does a good hit when on the ground.
 * When swallowciding, every character is a "Zero Framer".
 * No longer regains all his jumps after a swallowcide.
 * Bigger, stretchier feet (more range).
 * Better combo ability.
 * Hammer no longer has a sweetspot (or a hitbox) at the back of the swing and is now very strong wherever it connects
 * Voice has a slightly different pitch for certain moves and his "Hii!" taunt sounds somewhat different (although his voice actress is the same).

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, 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 Pirahna, 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 sees that the Subspace Bomb is about to explode! Fortunately, they flee 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. After climbing down from the ridges, Kirby sees 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 infront 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 an attack that turns everyone, including Kirby, into trophies. However, Kirby is revived by pure gluttony, 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 is 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.

Trivia

 * Kirby makes a squeaky noise when he goes in and out of a crouch.
 * Kirby can exploit a glitch on the Pictochat stage, where by using his Stone move upon one of the corners of the stage where it begins to slant, it performs the move and causes damage to anyone who hits it, but will remain in one area and will shake continuously until the move ends or he is grabbed out of it. This is not a game breaking technique, but is useful with two-on-two battles if a player hits another in to it.
 * Kirby can also perform a new glitch on the Bridge of Eldin, the Final Smash Fail Glitch, where as the bridge rebuilds Kirby uses his Final Smash and it is negated. Then Kirby's eyes stay lit up as though he still has the Smash Ball. Kirby can then use his regular B attack while like this. No other Smash Balls will appear until Kirby is KO'ed.
 * Many of Kirby's moves give off small stars, similar to how they look in the Kirby games.
 * Kirby is the only character to have a different dash attack in every Smash Bros. game. In the original Super Smash Bros., he performed his famous slide tackle. In Melee, he performed "Burning Kirby" and in Brawl he performs Yo-yo Kirby's spinning maneuver from Kirby Super Star.
 * Kirby's Stone attack can be canceled out of and reused repeatedly, making hard to predict the exact landing point of Kirby while he's falling.
 * Kirby's helpless animation is the same pose he takes when he falls a long distance in most Kirby games, and in the games this diving pose could damage enemies. The only way to get this kind of helpless animation is using the copied Meta Knight's Mach Tornado, Donkey Kong's Giant Punch in midair, Ness's PK Flash in midair, Lucas' PK Freeze in midair, or using the Final Cutter and landing on a moving conveyor belts moving the opposite direction Kirby is facing.
 * When Kirby inhales an opponent when he has eaten Spicy Curry, the damaging flames dissapear.
 * If Kirby hits a spike as a stone, he won't be damaged.
 * Despite being the main character of his franchise, Kirby is the only Kirby character that isn't Top Tier. However, he has a good match-up against King Dedede and is one of the few characters to have a near even match-up with Meta Knight.