Kirby (Super Smash Bros.)

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

“	An 8-inch high creature from a distant star. He may look harmless, but using his Copy ability, Kirby becomes a formidable opponent.	”
—Super Smash Bros's instruction manual

Kirby
Universe	Kirby
Also appears in	Melee Brawl SSBWU/3DS Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Tier	S (2)
Voice Actor
Voiced by	Makiko Ōmoto

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros. He is known for being a small and light character with long-range attacks, as well as some strong moves and a great recovery.

Kirby ranks 2nd for his impressive recovery, comboing ability, somewhat odd KO power (unusual for a lightweight), and great range. However, he is lightweight, making himself easy to KO, and somewhat floaty.

Attributes

Kirby is a small, light, and somewhat floaty character. He is relatively difficult to combo horizontally and offstage, though is vulnerable to juggling and many vertical KO techniques (as well as not being too hard to KO horizontally either). His "signature move" is Vacuum, which allows him to use an opponent's neutral special move and copy their appearance.

In general, Kirby possesses quick yet powerful moves. Some of his moves are infamous for possessing high range and being able to space well, most notably his up tilt (which covers the range of more than one Kirby both horizontally behind him and vertically), as well as his forward and back aerials. This makes a Kirby playing defensively correctly rather difficult to punish. However, Kirby's defensive ability is hindered slightly by his average to below average movement speed, with average dashing and walking speeds, low air speed, and below average falling speed. Kirby's smashes are powerful, especially his forward smash, which is by far the best forward smash in the game due to being the most powerful, having quick startup (though it has a bit of ending lag), and being an excellent punish or panic option. Kirby's throws are also fairly powerful, with his good grab allowing him to utilize them efficiently.

Kirby's up tilt and forward aerial are especially useful combo moves. The former can easily chain into itself at lower percentages and lead into aerials, a forward smash, or a up smash, while the latter is a great damage racker, being a very fast multi-hit move with the first few hits having set knockback, allowing them to lead into the final hit easily. The move can deal over 20% damage, and if the final hit isn't landed, it sets up a jab that can jab cancel into a grab to rack up further damage.

Kirby has an excellent recovery and offstage game. He has five midair jumps, and his Final Cutter not only extends his vertical recovery even more, but allows Kirby to also move to the side while using it by tilting the control stick. While his recovery travels a spectacular distance (only rivaled by Pikachu's recovery), it is somewhat predictable, due to being on the slow side and Kirby's slow air speed. His aerials can be used to edge-guard or guard break easily, especially his down aerial, which is a strong meteor smash that can also drag opponents down at lower percentages due to being a drill attack. With Kirby's aforementioned excellent vertical recovery, it is also easy to recover from.

Kirby's main weaknesses are his light weight and floatiness, somewhat lack of reliable combo options outside the basic up tilt and forward aerial, and a lack of ways to KO onstage outside forward smash. He is additionally easy to juggle, being vulnerable to vertical combos from Fox, Captain Falcon, and others to a lesser extent.

Moveset

		Image	Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack				3%	Kirby performs two quick jabs, followed by a series of rapid jabs.
				3-4%
				1% (loop)
Forward tilt	↗			9-11%	Kirby spins and performs a horizontal kick. Has rather short range, but comes out fast. This move can be angled up or down for a 1% change in damage either way.
	→			8-10%
	↘			7-9%
Up tilt				11-14% (clean), 8-10% (late)	Kirby bends forward and kicks one leg vertically upwards. If this attack is used after an up special, Kirby's hitbox reach is increased by about 9%.
Down tilt				7-9%	Kirby crouches low and performs a leg sweep. Kirby's down tilt lasts a slightly longer duration compared to most down tilts in the game.
Dash attack				8-10% (clean), 6-8% (late)	Kirby dives headfirst onto the opponent. This attack is fast and good for comboing use, though shielding proves otherwise.
Forward smash				13-17% (clean), 9-12% (late)	Kirby charges forward with a kick attack. This attack can be angled up or down.
Up smash				12-16% (clean), 9-12% (late)	Kirby jumps and performs a flipkick attack.
Down smash				14-18% (clean), 8-10% (late)	Kirby spins, attacking with his feet. This attack launches enemies horizontally.
Neutral aerial				12-15% (clean), 8-10% (late), 3% (landing)	Kirby sticks one foot out in in midair. This attack is a sex kick, but contains a landing hitbox, unlike most sex kicks.
Forward aerial				19-20% if all hits connect, 3% (landing)	Kirby performs a spinning dropkick attack that can hit multiple times.
Back aerial				12-16% (clean), 9-12% (late)	Kirby performs a reverse dropkick attack that deals solid damage. A useful move for edge-guarding.
Up aerial				8-10% (clean), 6-8% (mid), 5-6% (late), 3% (landing)	Kirby spins vertically multiple times in the air.
Down aerial				Up to 30%, 3% (landing)	Kirby kicks downward in a drill-like fashion hitting multiple times. This attack can be used as a meteor smash, and can drag opponents towards the bottom blast line.
Grab				—
Forward throw				10-13% (throw), 8-10% (collateral)	Kirby holds the foe and jumps off-screen, then rockets back down to the ground, creating an explosion and launching the foe at an upward trajectory. When this throw is used below a soft platform, Kirby will land on the soft platform.
Back throw				12-16%	Kirby performs a backwards suplex, slamming the opponent behind him and launching them upwards and behind Kirby.
Floor attack (front)				5-6%	Kirby kicks on both sides while getting up.
Floor attack (back)				5-6%	Kirby gets up and does a spin kick.
Edge attack (fast)				3-4%	Kirby climbs back up and delivers a kick.
Edge attack (slow)				3-4%	Kirby slowly picks himself up and headbutts forward.
Neutral special			Vacuum	5-6% (Copy ability), 8-10% (spit out), 17% (spit out characters to bystanders)	Kirby Inhales the opponent. Once the opponent is inhaled, he can copy their neutral special move by pressing the special button or spit them back out as a star that can hit other opponents.
Up special			Final Cutter	6-8% (initial upswing), 2% (falling), 3% (landing), 5-6% (shockwave)	Kirby swings his sword upwards and does a leaps into the air before striking downward to the ground with a shockwave upon landing. The downward strike of the move can meteor smash enemies with set knockback. You can move left or right while Kirby is attacking.
Down special			Stone	15-20%	Kirby transforms into a heavy object and drops to the ground. While transformed, Kirby does not take flinch or take damage, but he can still be grabbed. The transformation ends whenever a certain amount of time has passed or if the object takes too much damage.

Taunt

• Turns to his right, stands on tiptoes, inflates, and says "Hi!" while waving his arms three times.

On-Screen Appearance

• Crash-lands a Warp Star into the ground.

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Character Matchups

Avg.

In 1P Game

Kirby appears as an opponent in the seventh stage of Single Player mode. The stage takes place in Dream Land and pits the player against a Kirby team comprised of 8 Kirbys. Each of the eight Kirbys sports a unique hat (with the exception of one, which will be normal Kirby, or one of the four unlockable characters after they've been unlocked) corresponding to each of the eight starter characters in the game. Except for the average and unlockable character Kirbys, they all appear in the selection screen order of the respective character whose power they copied. Keeping this in mind, if the player manages to defeat them in the right order (Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Fox, Pikachu, regular/random unlockable), they will be awarded the 25,000-point bonus Kirby Ranks.

Strategies

Extended Recovery

Kirby can maximize his horizontal recovery by pairing every aerial jump with Forward Aerial. This allows him to recover much farther horizontal distance. Kirby still gains some vertical distance as well.

Also, if combined with Jigglypuff's Pound, his recovery becomes the greatest recovery in the game. He has the highest vertical recovery in the game regardless, surpassing even Pikachu's double-upwards Quick Attack.

Down Air Up Tilt

Kirby's Down Aerial is used extensively for edge-guards. Its large knockback can destroy many characters (such as Captain Falcon, Mario, Luigi, and DK). It can also be comboed easily into an Up Tilt.

If the last hit of the move misses, then chaining Up Tilts, and finishing with his powerful Back Aerial makes for a great combo.

Character description

The 8-inch high Kirby hails from a distant, peaceful star. Like his simplistic appearance, he is an easily-understood character. True to his instincts, Kirby eats when he gets hungry and sleeps as soon as he grows tired. Nevertheless, Kirby remains a formidable opponent. In addition to his distinct flying and swallowing skills, he also has the ability to copy enemy attacks for ever-changing action.

Works:

• Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
• Kirby's Pinball Land (GB)
• Kirby Super Star (SNES)

Alternate Costumes

Kirby's changeable palette swaps in Super Smash Bros.

Trivia

• Kirby's Super Smash Bros. appearance is the only game where Stone turns him into one object. In later games he could turn into five different objects.
• Kirby shares quite a lot of his attack animations with Jigglypuff, such as his ducking animation and the Neutral Aerial.
• Kirby is the only character in Super Smash Bros. to have only two victory poses, as opposed to three.
• Kirby is the only character whose animation when selecting the character isn't a victory animation.
• When hit with an electric attack, Kirby's 'electrocuted' animation resembles one of his pained expressions in Kirby's Adventure.
• While other characters perform a victory pose when selected on the character selection screen in Super Smash Bros., Kirby uses an unique animation for this, being the only character to do so. This pose would also be used for one of his taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl onwards.
• Super Smash Bros. is the first media in which Kirby had a voice actor, contrary to popular belief that it was the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime.