Kirby (Super Smash Bros.)

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

Kirby
Universe	Kirby
Also appears in	Super Smash Bros. Super Smash Bros. Melee Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Availability	Starter
Tier	A (2)

Kirby (カービィ, Kābī) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros.. He is known for his great recovery, quick attacks, and surprisingly long-range aerials. His trademark move is Inhale, which allows him to suck in enemies and steal their Neutral Special Moves.

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's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Kirby is a small, floaty, and lightweight character. This means he is difficult to combo, but easy to KO (especially by a Star KO). His signature move is Swallow, which allows him to use an opponent's Neutral Special Move.

Kirby is also known for his amazing recovery (5 mid-air jumps, the fastest air speed along with Jigglypuff, and his Up Special Move, Final Cutter). His Down Special Move, Stone, makes Kirby difficult to juggle despite being light and floaty, but it leaves Kirby vulnerable when changing back to normal. Kirby has many high priority disjointed hitboxes, but his non-disjointed moves (jointed moves) have low priority. Kirby's attacks generally have surprisingly long range, high damage, and extreme speed.

Kirby also has good edgeguarding tactics, several Shield Breaker combos, and two spikes. Kirby can combo opponents to very high damage with the use of only a few moves (altough they can be escaped with DI). Kirby's main weakness is a campy Fox or Mario, followed by a Pikachu or a well spacing Jigglypuff. Kirby is also one of the best characters in teams, due to his easy combos and quick edgeguards.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack - Double Jab + Weak Rapid Punches. The first two jabs have short range, though the later ones have better range then most neutral attacks. 4%, 4%, then 1% per punch.
• Forward Tilt - Roundhouse kick. Rather short range, but fast. Can be angled. 10% damage.
• Down Tilt - Low kick. Kirby puts his foot out, with a slightly longer duration than most Down Tilts in the game. 9% damage.
• Up Tilt - Vertical backward flicking Kick. Extremely quick, filled with power and huge combo potential. 14% damage.
• Dash Attack - Slide Tackle. This move is fast, good for comboing use, though shielding proves otherwise. 10% damage.

Smash Attacks

• Forward Smash - Jump Kick. Fast, good range with long hitbox. Good power as well. This is the second most long-ranged Forward Smash in the game, only exceeded by Donkey Kong's. 17% damage.
• Down Smash -Spins with his feet flat on the ground with decent duration, this move knocks the foe horizontally with power. 18% damage.
• Up Smash -A fast flip kick that is very similar to Fox's, but with less knockback. 16% damage.

Other attacks

• Ledge Attack - Flips whilst getting back on stage. 5% damage.
• 100% Ledge Attack - Slowly picks himself up and slides forward, like his Dash Attack. 5% damage.
• Floor Attack - Kicks on both sides and gets up. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral Aerial - Extends body with feet out and arms out, making Kirby's whole body a hitbox. Sex Kick properties. 15%
• Forward Aerial - Forward Drill Kick. Not the best F-Air due to number of DI-able hits. 8 hits, 2%/hit, 6% on the 8th.
• Back Aerial - Kirby puts both of his feet behind him, making a viable move for edgeguarding. 16% damage.
• Down Aerial - Drill Kick. Spikes. When used on a grounded foe, if the move doesn't finish when Kirby reaches the ground, Kirby will land on the foe with some knockback, making Up Tilt follow-ups impossible, unless the move is L-Canceled or the move finishes just before Kirby lands. 3% per hit, up to 10 hits.
• Up Aerial - Aerial Spin. Does small knockback. 10% damage.

Throws

• Forward Throw - Jumps high in the air, similar to a warpstar, and slams down. One of the few Forward Throws that launch foes upward. 13% damage.
• Back throw - Performs a backwards suplex, slamming the opponent behind him. Sends the foe upwards and behind Kirby at an angle. 16% damage.

Special Moves

Kirby's Special Moves
	64	Melee	Brawl	3DS/Wii U	Ultimate
Standard Special	Inhale
Side Special	—	Hammer		Hammer Flip
Up Special	Final Cutter
Down Special	Stone
Final Smash	—		Cook Kirby	Ultra Sword
Fighter Ability	Copy Abilities

Taunt

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

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Character Matchups

Avg.

In Single Player

In Single Player mode, the player must face eight Kirbys in succession with each Kirby wielding the power (and the hat) of the original characters, besides Kirby and Kirby itself or a secret character's hat.

Defeating all of the Kirbys that appear in order will earn the Kirby Rank bonus, with a bonus of 25000 points.

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 edgeguards. 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.

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)
• Kirby's Adventure (NES)

Palette Swaps

Kirby's palette swaps in SSB

Trivia

• Kirby, Link, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi are the only characters who move their mouths in SSB. Link moves his mouth when hurt. Kirby moves his mouth with multiple animations. Yoshi does this when taunting, Donkey Kong does so when he taunts or charging up his Giant Punch, and Pikachu also does this.
• Kirby's Super Smash Bros. appearance is the only where Stone turns him into one object. Later games had as many as five different objects.
• When Kirby gets hit by an attack, his eyes become bigger.
• Kirby shares quite a lot of his attack animations with Jigglypuff, such as his ducking animation and the Neutral Aerial.
• Kirby's Up Aerial in later games was changed to his Neutral Aerial, while his Neutral Aerial in Super Smash Bros. was never used again.
• When hit with an electric attack, Kirby's 'electrocuted' animation resembles one of his pained expressions in Kirby's Adventure.