Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)


 * This article is about Banjo & Kazooie's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the characters in other contexts, see Banjo and Kazooie.


 * Banjo-Kazooie are Raring to Go!

Banjo & Kazooie (, Banjo & Kazooie), formatted in their reveal trailer as Banjo-Kazooie, are playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and are the first third-party fighters from Microsoft. They were revealed alongside during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2019 as the third downloadable fighters from. Banjo & Kazooie were released as part of Challenger Pack 3 on September 4th, 2019. Although they are a team, they are collectively classified as Fighter #73.

reprises his role as both Banjo & Kazooie, with his portrayals from across the Banjo-Kazooie series being repurposed for Ultimate in all regions.

Banjo & Kazooie are ranked 66th out of 82 on the current tier list, placing them in the C- tier.

Attributes
Banjo & Kazooie, like, are a tag team that fight together as if they were a singular character. Together, they are a heavyweight, and are tied with and  as the 18th heaviest fighter in the game. As Banjo handles the duo's walking, their walking speed is below-average, and their initial dash and traction values are among the worst in the game. Conversely, Kazooie handles the duo's dashing, in which she uses the Talon Trot to carry Banjo. In stark contrast to Banjo's walking speed, Kazooie's dashing speed is very fast; specifically, it is the 12th fastest in the game, and is only surpassed by among heavyweights.

With Kazooie hidden in his backpack when the duo are not attacking or dashing, Banjo has a relatively average height and a somewhat wide hurtbox, being rather short as far as heavyweights go. Kazooie, however, lacks a hurtbox of any kind outside of dashing and their up tilt. This means that all standard attacks involving her (other than up tilt) are disjointed. Similar to and, Kazooie's Feathery Flap grants the duo a second double jump. Additionally, they have a fast falling speed, high gravity, slow air speed, and average air acceleration.

The majority of Banjo & Kazooie's grounded arsenal makes use of moves from their first two games, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. The duo have a chooseable neutral attack: their standard neutral attack is a 3-hit combo that consists of Banjo using his Claw Swipe twice and then throwing an uppercut, whereas their neutral infinite consists of Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap. It should be noted that the hitbox of Kazooie's neutral infinite is large enough to sometimes hit opponents standing directly behind the duo. This can cause the opponent to be continually jabbed into the duo's rear, keeping them locked in the hitbox and causing both of the fighters to be slowly moved backwards, often amounting to extremely high percentages by the time they reach the edge of a platform.

Their forward tilt, Beak Bayonet, involves Banjo quickly thrusting Kazooie as a makeshift bayonet. Like Ridley's forward tilt, it can be angled and has a respectable amount of disjointed range, especially for its speed, making it useful for stopping predictable or vulnerable approaches. Their up tilt consists of Kazooie quickly propping Banjo upward in order for him to perform a stretch kick. Unlike most up tilts, it is strong enough to KO reliably, especially when it is used as a follow-up from their down throw. Despite its respectable power, its low base knockback and fairly low ending lag grant it minor combo potential at very low percentages. However, like 's up tilt, it has almost nonexistent horizontal range in front of or behind them. Their down tilt, Beak Barge, involves Kazooie thrusting her beak forward as Banjo slides belly-first along the ground. It launches at a very low semi-spike angle, making it a very potent edgeguarding and tech-chasing option, although it is laggy overall and has a meager damage output. Their dash attack, Banjo's Forward Roll, looks and functions very similarly to 's dash attack, but differs from his by having a noticeably stronger clean hit (which can function as a situational KO option) and fewer active frames.

Complementing their versatile tilts, Banjo & Kazooie sport very useful smash attacks. Their forward smash, the Breegull Bash, involves Banjo swinging Kazooie as a makeshift bludgeon. It is a slow, yet long-ranged and powerful move that serves as a notable example of Kazooie's disjointed nature. The duo's up smash is the Bill Drill, a spinning attack with Kazooie's beak that is fairly useful as an anti-aerial and out of shield option, and is a reliable follow up to the duo's burying down throw, as the move is deceptively fast with a 7 frame startup. Their down smash is an original move, a wing-slam from Kazooie on both sides of them much like Ridley, albeit weaker and much faster, making it a useful tool for catching rolls. Notably, their forward and down smashes, especially the latter, have long-lasting hitboxes that slightly penetrate the stage downwards, making them both deadly 2-framing tools at the ledge.

Banjo & Kazooie's aerial moveset also combines old and new moves. The duo's neutral aerial is the Twirling Wing Whack, a multi-hitting circular wing spin from Kazooie that functions very similarly to 's neutral aerial. This move has respectable combo potential, although its drag down follow-ups can vary due to the looping hits' launching angles. Neutral aerial is also reliable at scoring KOs offstage against vulnerable recoveries. Their forward aerial is a slow, but powerful overhand punch thrown by Banjo, much like and 's forward aerials. Its clean hit is strong enough to KO reliably while near the edge, and is almost always a guaranteed KO while offstage. Despite its power, forward aerial has the lowest amount of landing lag out of the duo's aerial attacks. When this is coupled with Banjo's paw being intangible during its active frames, it can be used to start combos at low percentages, cover the duo's approach, pressure shields, and edgeguard quite safely.

Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap is used as their back aerial; unlike the neutral infinite version, this version hits three times, similarly to Ridley's forward aerial. This move has respectable power, and is a good out of shield option as well as a reliable (albeit unsafe due to its lag) KO option offstage. Banjo & Kazooie's up aerial consists of Kazooie flapping her wings together in a scissoring motion, similarly to 's up aerial. Its minimal startup and ending lag enable it to combo into itself and, with proper timing, it can initiate combos very soon after the duo land on the ground. However, its minor damage output and knockback make it lackluster for juggling and almost unusuable for KOing. Beak Buster makes an appearance as their down aerial; it is a stall-then-fall attack that meteor smashes opponents during its initial frames, and has a fairly large hitbox upon impacting the stage.

Banjo & Kazooie's special moves are fairly versatile as well. Their neutral special is Egg Firing / Breegull Blaster. Egg Firing, activated when the special button is tapped, sends blue eggs out of Kazooie's mouth that are affected by gravity in a similar manner to 's Fireball, and acts as their primary edgeguarding tool and gimping option; the move also briefly stalls the duo's aerial momentum when used in the air. Holding the special button causes the move to transition into Breegull Blaster, in which Banjo wields Kazooie like a gun as in Banjo-Tooie's first-person shooter segments, with low damage but faster and constant projectiles, all while being able to move and jump freely similar to holding items such as the completed Daybreak parts. This can be used to pressure enemies in a similar manner to 's neutral attack, and even start ladder combos, though because the move is a "mode" that takes a moment to be entered and exited, it is often difficult to use in close proximity.

Banjo & Kazooie's side special is Wonderwing, which involves Banjo charging forward while Kazooie shields him with her magic-infused wings. It does high damage and knockback if it connects within the first half of the distance it covers, and its full-body invincibility that lasts through the entirety of the hitbox's duration allows it to out-prioritize nearly every other move in the game (exceptions include grabs and command grabs such as Buster Wolf). Wonderwing's duration and the size of its hitbox also allows it to act as a fantastic 2-framing option on the edge, as the duo will run in place at the edge for some time. Wonderwing can be an easy and effective way to brute force an opponent out of projectile camping, though this may backfire if the opponent is baiting the move or otherwise ready for it. It also functions as an excellent recovery option with its horizontal speed and distance and does not induce helplessness either. However, the move runs on a limited stock of five golden feathers that are not replenished until Banjo & Kazooie are KO'd, so its usage must be carefully considered; additionally, despite crossing up shields, Wonderwing's high ending lag and long-lasting singular hitbox make it fairly unsafe in any case where the opponent can see it coming.

Shock Spring Jump functions as Banjo & Kazooie's up special. It is a decent vertical recovery move that does not render them helpless and preserves their double jumps; it can be charged to increase its travel distance, and when used in the air, the Shock Spring Pad itself possesses a damaging hitbox that can be used to gimp some recoveries. Rear Egg, their down special, has Kazooie lay an explosive Grenade Egg behind them. It bounces in an unpredictable fashion due to its shape and launches opponents upward. The Grenade Egg also functions as an item; it is catchable and throwable despite its much shorter fuse compared to similar explosive-related attacks. All of these properties make Rear Egg an incredibly versatile projectile that can be used for edge trapping, comboing, camping, and neutral game control in general. Overall, their four specials have impressive utility with both physical and projectile options.

Apart from slightly above-average reach, Banjo & Kazooie have an unremarkable grab game. While each of their throws have vastly different functions, only in very specific situations are they useful outside of getting the opponent away from them (with the exception of their back throw). Forward throw is only really useful for putting opponents off-stage, with its awkward angle and high base knockback making it useless for combos while its nearly nonexistent knockback growth prevents it KOing. Up throw is useful for setting up juggles with up aerial, but has too much ending lag to actually have any true follow-ups. Down throw buries the opponent, leading into various guaranteed follow-ups at very high percentages, although it is generally inferior to 's similar down throw due to its burial's duration being shorter than K. Rool's.

The duo's only throw that is consistently useful is their back throw, which is one of their best KO options and is even capable of being used for follow-ups or edgeguarding in other situations. As a whole, Banjo & Kazooie's grab game is a high-risk, low-reward undertaking that usually only sets stocks when their opponent is at a very high percentage; at other times, the best that their throws can do is to rack up damage and put distance between them, only subtracting from their options for getting out of the disadvantage.

Alongside their grab and throws, the pair have other considerable weaknesses to balance their strengths. Outside of their smash attacks, Wonderwing, and offstage aerials, Banjo & Kazooie's potential to KO is somewhat limited despite their status as a heavyweight fighter. Most of their moves are unremarkable among their weight class in terms of power, and unlike other fighters with poor KOing abilities, Banjo & Kazooie have a very limited combo game. The duo's range is also unremarkable, despite Kazooie's lack of a hurtbox, which means that they will generally have issues trading blows with conventional swordfighters. Similarly to, Banjo & Kazooie have a wide hurtbox, and they are susceptible to combos and juggles due to their heavy weight, fast falling speed, slow air speed, low jump height, and lack of fast escape options. Their overall mobility is unorthodox; their excellent run speed is offset by their poor initial dash speed, which is tied for the 5th slowest, their high vertical recovery options are hampered by their low jumps, poor air speed, and fast falling speed, and their grounded mobility is hindered by their traction being tied with the 's for the lowest in the game.

Additionally, the duo's special moves, while strong, have significant flaws. Egg Firing has a slow firing rate on its own, and weak power when the pair transitions to Breegull Blaster; also, Breegull Blaster's eggs become weaker with repeated use, discouraging excessive use of the move. If the pair runs out of golden feathers, they lose access to Wonderwing, eliminating a potent move with plenty of offensive and defensive utility; Wonderwing is also vulnerable to grabs despite its invincibility, although due to its speed, an opponent taking advantage of this is relatively rare, and is notoriously unsafe on shield and on whiff, further punishing heavily its misuse. Rear Egg, while being a relatively potent combo tool, can be turned against the duo as opponents can grab it and use it due to its status as an item, as well as the fact that that a previously-laid grenade egg must explode or reach the blast zone before a new one can be laid, meaning the player must wait a while to try again if an egg misses an opponent. Shock Spring Jump requires slight charge time to make their recovery reliable, and it also does not have a hitbox outside of the Shock Spring Pad itself, making it vulnerable to aggressive edgeguarding.

Overall, Banjo & Kazooie are fairly unorthodox characters that can be considered to fall in the heavyweight trapper archetype, similarly to, and. As a result, their game plan is centered on maintaining stage control with the help of their projectiles, yet also being capable melee fighters who have access to a few strong finishers (the most notable of which being Wonderwing). However, Banjo & Kazooie's capabilities fall somewhat short next to comparable characters: Rear Egg is slightly inconsistent at controlling space due to its Grenade Egg's short fuse, Wonderwing is very easy to punish if it is mistimed or read, and the duo's overall frame data and KO power are unimpressive for the heavyweight trapper archetype, limiting their potential to act aggressively. As such, they are quite versatile fighters that can adapt to multiple playstyles even over the course of a single match, though they are more adept at turtling or more methodical playstyles.

Update history
Banjo & Kazooie were buffed slightly via game updates. The only noteworthy buffs they received were increases to the knockback growth of their up tilt and forward smash via update 12.0.0, which slightly improved said moves' already respectable KO potentials. Due to the other changes they received being strictly quality-of-life adjustments, Banjo & Kazooie's competitive reception has remained virtually unchanged since their release.

 

 

 

 

Moveset
For a gallery of Banjo & Kazooie's hitboxes, see here.
 * Banjo & Kazooie, specifically Kazooie, can perform 2 double jumps, both of which are based on the Feathery Flap. Aesthetically, Banjo's animation for the duo's backwards jump is based on the Flap Flip, although it also resembles a "recoil" animation from Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie that is usually seen when the player activates a point of interest below the duo or after hitting an enemy with a weak attack.
 * As opposed to Banjo & Kazooie's standard walking and initial dashing which are handled solely by Banjo, in the duo's dash animation he flips onto his back and Kazooie takes over the dash by performing the Talon Trot. Kazooie gains a hurtbox while she dashes, but her transition into the dash has no gameplay repercussions otherwise.
 * The majority of Banjo & Kazooie's moves are inherently disjointed, as Kazooie does not possess a hurtbox outside of the duo's dash and up tilt.

On-screen appearance

 * Banjo hops out of a dark Jiggy silhouette with Kazooie visible, and then the duo both bow twice. The silhouette, the appearance of which is accompanied by a slide whistle-like descending sound, is a reference to the cutout wipe seen as the player moves from one area to another in the Nintendo 64 games, and the bows refer to the second half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.

Taunts

 * Up taunt: Banjo stretches and Kazooie appears out of his backpack, yawning. Based on an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
 * Side taunt: Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack and the duo looks at each other, then Banjo strikes a thumbs up while Kazooie happily opens her wings. Based on their introductory pose in the opening sequence of Banjo-Kazooie.
 * Down taunt: Banjo bows twice, saying his signature "Guh-huh!" each time. Identical to the latter half of the animation seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie. Unlike the other two taunts, Kazooie is not present.

Idle poses

 * Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack, rests her wing on his head as she looks around, then retreats back inside. Banjo looks at Kazooie while she is out.
 * Kazooie playfully pecks Banjo on the head twice. Banjo rubs his head afterwards. It is similar to an idle animation seen in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

Crowd cheer
 

Victory poses

 * Left: Banjo throws a Jiggy in the air, catches it, jumps, and poses. This references his brief dance scene when he collects a Jiggy in Banjo-Kazooie. Afterward, Banjo gives a thumbs-up while performing his signature "Guh-huh!", similar to the beginning of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie.
 * Up: Banjo marches in place briefly before bowing twice, saying "Guh-huh!" both times, ending with Kazooie poking out of his backpack. The animation is almost identical to that seen when all 10 Jiggies in a world are collected or when a Note Door is unlocked in Banjo-Kazooie.
 * Right: Both dance around while playing their respective instruments, and then end in a pose referencing the ending of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie. Their poses are also identical to the ones they assume in their reveal trailer (save for Kazooie's expression).

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Banjo & Kazooie players (SSBU)


 * - Played Banjo & Kazooie from September 2019 to February 2020 and was considered one of the best Banjo & Kazooie players in the world, achieving notable placements at majors including 25th at and 33rd at . He has since returned to.
 * - Known for using multiple characters including Banjo & Kazooie and is considered the best Banjo & Kazooie player in Europe, regularly placing highly at British events including 5th at the superregional and 13th at the superregional . However since 2023 he has been focusing on other characters over Banjo & Kazooie.
 * - The best Banjo & Kazooie player of all-time, and the only solo-Banjo & Kazooie player to place top 8 at a major, doing so at.
 * - Known for being the best Banjo & Kazooie player in the United States's online metagame, notably placing 9th at . Offline, he also used Banjo & Kazooie to place 5th at the superregional defeating . However, since 2021 most of his results have been mixed with other characters, most notably.

Tier placement and history
Banjo & Kazooie were initially met with a mildly positive reception due to their strong and flexible moves (such as forward aerial, forward tilt, smash attacks, Wonderwing, and Rear Egg), their ability to zone and edge trap effectively, and their versatile recovery. However, the duo's flaws, including their below-average speed, problems with juggling and scoring KOs, fairly noticeable lag on their moves, and a barely adequate grab game, were also noted. This has led to Banjo & Kazooie garnering below-average results compared to the rest of the cast, although they had some notable success from players such as, , and ; also utilized Banjo & Kazooie at , although he promptly dropped them following that tournament. As a result, the early consensus posited the duo within the lower end of high tier at best and within the mid tier at worst.

However, by the end of 2019, Banjo & Kazooie saw a decline in both results and reception, with many players dropping the duo. Many players believe that they are only at their strongest in an online environment due to the input lag benefitting their most useful attacks. Conversely, others believe that Banjo & Kazooie fluctuate between the lower end of the mid tier and the low tier. Although Banjo & Kazooie are generally considered respectable fighters, their viability as a solo main has been questioned due to their best players often co-maining them or using them as a secondary. Despite this perception, has managed to consistently achieve success at major tournaments while using Banjo & Kazooie as his sole main ever since the early metagame. Overall, Banjo & Kazooie are ranked 66th on the current tier list, which posits them as lower end mid tier fighters.

: Perfect Partners
In reference to their status as a duo, Banjo & Kazooie fight against other notable duos in each Round. Rounds 1 through 5 feature music and stage combinations that reference various worlds from the original Banjo-Kazooie, with each of these Rounds playing a song from the series (regardless of what universe the stage originates from). The bosses of their route, Master Hand and Crazy Hand, also fit the duo theme and are always fought together (regardless of the difficulty).

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Banjo & Kazooie has  accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light
Due to their status as downloadable content, Banjo & Kazooie do not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, they are unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Banjo & Kazooie, they are immediately unlocked.

However, in 's reveal trailer, they are shown amongst the many fighters facing Galeem, which suggests that they too canonically face Galeem and Dharkon in World of Light.

Spirit
Banjo & Kazooie's fighter spirit can be obtained by completing. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 Gold, but only after Banjo & Kazooie have been downloaded. Unlocking Banjo & Kazooie in World of Light allows the player to preview the spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a fighter spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic. Their fighter spirit has an alternate version that replaces it with their artwork in Ultimate.

Trivia

 * Banjo & Kazooie are referred to within the game files with the codename "buddy", alluding to the fact that the duo is almost always seen paired with each other when they make appearances. Additionally, files that pertain to Kazooie specifically often refer to her with the codename "partner".
 * According to Masahiro Sakurai, Banjo & Kazooie were highly requested in the Super Smash Bros. 4-era Fighter Ballot, closely following the overall winner,.
 * Banjo & Kazooie were created by British video game company Rare Ltd., making them the first DLC fighter that was created outside of Japan. They were followed by, created by the Swedish company Mojang.
 * Coincidentally, both companies are subsidiaries of Microsoft.
 * The picture revealing Banjo & Kazooie's second alternate costume on Summit is a nod to Freezeezy Peak, the fifth level in Banjo-Kazooie, with the Super Launch Star in the image referencing the star on top of the Christmas tree in said level. The picture featuring their fifth alternate costume, also on Summit, might be another nod, with Banjo's white fur and the Polar Bear both referencing Boggy.
 * Not counting ports and cameos, Banjo & Kazooie's inclusion in Ultimate marks their first physical appearance in almost a decade, since the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, released in 2010.
 * It also marks their first physical appearance on a Nintendo console in 14 years since Banjo-Pilot was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
 * It also marks the second time that Banjo & Kazooie have crossed over with, the first being the aforementioned Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
 * In Banjo & Kazooie's battle portrait next to their damage meter, Kazooie leans in slightly closer to Banjo than she does in their full artwork, to fit both of their faces into the frame. The are the only other fighter with such an edit.
 * On their victory screen, Banjo & Kazooie's name will only take up one line in the American and PAL versions of the game while it takes up two lines in the Asian versions. Excluding, whose character name is changed to "Pikmin & Olimar" in the Japanese version, they are the only fighter with this distinction.
 * When KO'd by reaching 0 HP during their last stock in Stamina Mode, Banjo & Kazooie use a unique voice clip (uttered by Banjo) not taken from either their KO or high damage voice clips, though its low volume makes it difficult to discern. in all languages, in addition to  in the Japanese language, are the only other fighters with unique final stamina KO voice clips.
 * Additionally, their stamina KO voice clip unusually does not begin with a slight pause, an oddity shared only with Erdrick.
 * When Banjo & Kazooie successfully perfect shield an attack, Banjo assumes a flexing pose resembling both the Extra Life statues from Banjo-Kazooie and an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
 * Banjo & Kazooie,, , Hero, , , , and are the only fighters to use their walking animation when navigating through the map in World of Light.
 * As Banjo is the one who consumes food items, when Banjo & Kazooie dash while under the effect of Superspicy Curry, the flames shoot backward instead of forwards.
 * Oddly, the frantic expression caused by Superspicy Curry (where the character's pupils shrink and their mouth opens) applies to Kazooie as well as Banjo, despite Kazooie not eating the curry or breathing fire.
 * Banjo & Kazooie are one of the few fighters to receive a unique feature on their amiibo that is not taken from their official render, with Banjo's raised leg being supported by a large Jiggy.
 * During the brief time that Sakurai plays as Banjo & Kazooie in , Banjo's nose does not protrude out of his damage meter like it does in the released game.