King Dedede (PM)

King Dedede (known as simply Dedede in-game) is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He has received speed and combo buffs though suffering from a removal of his chain-grabbing abilities.

King Dedede ranks 34th out of 41 on the official tier list, near the top of the D tier. This is a large drop from his position on the Brawl tier list, where he is ranked 12th out of 38. In the official Project + tier list, he places 41th out of 42, placing in D tier.

Attributes
King Dedede is a character whose strengths lie in his offense. Every one of his attacks boasts speed, power, reach, or hitbox placement, giving him a powerful neutral and punish game. He also has great comboing ability, having combo starters such as his up throw and combo finishers such as his forward aerial. He also has superb camping abilities due to his aforementioned reach and hitbox placements, as well as his versatile Waddle Dee Toss. He also has a highly above average recovery thanks to his many jumps, the new airdodge physics, and his useful Super Dedede Jump. However, Dedede's biggest boon is his back aerial; despite it having less range than in Brawl, his higher air speed and the removal of hitstun canceling allow it to wall of pain better. It also maintains its minimal lag, long duration, power, and still has a favorable hitbox placement.

However, Dedede has numerous flaws, mainly in terms of defense. He is a very large target with slow mobility, making it easy to camp him out. He also has merely above average vertical endurance despite being a super heavyweight due to his average gravity and slightly above average falling speed. He also suffers from his recovery being somewhat predictable due to it mainly being linear. Dedede is also very easy to combo due to his aforementioned weight and size, as well as his gravity only being slightly lower than his falling speed.

Dedede overall fares worse in PM than Brawl as a result of the flaws created in the transition, as well as the significantly harsher environment which is no longer subject to his chainthrows.

Changes from Brawl to PM
King Dedede gained both buffs and nerfs from Brawl to PM. The buffs made him better offensively, but worse defensively, almost turning him into a glass cannon. Despite having been slightly buffed overall, he is considered to be worse relative to the cast due to the loss of his chain throw and many characters gaining new options to outclass his own.

Moveset
Up to date as of version 3.6.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:King Dedede players (PM)


 * - The best King Dedede player in the world. Ranked 6th on the SoCal Project M Power Rankings and 42nd on PMRank 2019, being the highest ranking Dedede player on the latter.
 * - Formerly the best Dedede player in the world, with his 29th ranking on the 2016 PMRank being the highest a Dedede player ever ranked on PMRank. He was also the only other Dedede player besides Dumshiny to be ranked the 2019 PMRank, ranking at 45th.

Notable tech
Labbing Discord Tech Post

Project M
Dedede's alternate costumes remain unchanged from Brawl. He obtained a costume based on his appearance in the Samurai Kirby minigame.

Project+
King Dedede gains additional color schemes and new team colors. His second green one has an obi featuring sprites of the Kirby series enemy Sparky, a light-blue and purple color based on concept designs for Parallel Dedede, and a black color scheme with an obi that features the eye shape of one of his possessors, Dark Matter. His Samurai Kirby-inspired costume also gains two additional color swaps. In 2.4, his Samurai Kirby-inspired costume receives visual touch-ups while also having him throw a Key Dee, a Waddle Doo as it appears in the aforementioned Sub-Game (with a yellow complexion to match the enemy Waddle Doos in Kirby Super Star), and a Blado.

Z-Secret Costume: Kirby 64 Dedede: Based on King Dedede's appearance in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which became the basis for his appearances in Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Extra details include the white crown-like fluff on his hat, his eyes and beak having a different shape, and the removal of his usual kimono. As of 2.4.1, the Waddle Dees he throws now resemble the individual character, the Waddle Doos he throws now resembles the transformed form of said Waddle Dee after being possessed by Dark Matter, and the Gordos he throws now resemble the versions from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards right down to the cyan spikes and wider eyes that look more cross-eyed than how they generally look in most other games.

R-Secret Costume: Shadow Dedede: Based on Shadow Dedede, an entity hailing from the Mirror World in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Extra details include the monochrome bull's-eye emblem in place of King Dedede's own emblem, blank eyes always in an angry expression, and a different colored version of the Super Dedede Hammer normally wielded by Masked Dedede in place of the king's usual wooden hammer.

Trivia

 * His original Z-Secret Costume was based on Masked Dedede, a form he takes on at the end of Kirby Super Star Ultra's Revenge of the King Sub-Game, and would later appear as part of his Final Smash, Dede-Rush, in Ultimate. The mask that was part of the costume appears as part of an Easter egg from 2.3 onwards.