Kirby (SSB4)

Kirby (, Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He was confirmed during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2013. Makiko Ōmoto returns as his voice actor with new voice clips, sounding more akin to his appearances from  onward.

Kirby is ranked 49th out of 54 on the current tier list, thus going into the F tier. This is a big drop from his placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 20th out of 38 characters, and is similar to his bottom-tier placement in Melee. Among his strengths are fast attacks for naturally-flowing combos, including up tilt, forward throw, and down aerial – the latter of which is also a great KO set-up attack – and good edgeguarding ability thanks to his versatile forward aerial and powerful back aerial. Kirby's multitude of jumps allow him to recover from long distances and mix up his landings. His small size also makes him difficult to hit, especially while crouching, and he can flexibly and efficiently KO opponents with his powerful smash attacks and back aerial.

However, this comes at the cost of poor endurance. Kirby is one of the lightest and floatiest characters in the game, and his recovery, despite its distance, is linear and predictable. Kirby's mobility and approach are very poor, as he is slow, floaty, and lacks an effective projectile. He also has poor reach in most of his attacks due to his small size and short limbs.

Attributes
Kirby is a small, short lightweight, tied for the fifth-lightest character in the game. Aside from his average dashing speed, his mobility is poor: he walks slowly and has low traction, while having the fourth-slowest air speed and falling speed, and the third-lowest gravity, but high air acceleration, being the 15th highest. His jumps are very low on their own, but he boasts six of them – tied with and  for the most jumps in the game.

Kirby is a simple character suitable for beginners, and this can be observed in the versatility of his moveset. Many of his attacks are characterized by speed and combo ability, with some outliers trading those strengths for raw power. His jab and forward tilt are both fast and effective close-quarter attacks, while up tilt is a highly versatile attack which combos into itself cleanly. Down tilt is weak, but its speed and Sakurai angle allow it to trip opponents consistently. His smash attacks are notably strong without being particularly slow, making them excellent finishing moves.

Kirby's grab game is similarly effective, as he boasts a fast grab, an effective pummel, and a set of useful throws. His forward throw can cleanly fit into any part of a combo and enables Kirby to set up long and highly damaging follow-ups, even a down aerial into a regrab. Back throw can KO on the ledge at high percentages, and up throw can KO even earlier off the top (especially if he lands on a platform with it. Lastly, down throw, while not especially useful overall, can rack up damage when no other throw can yield better results.

Complementing his six jumps, Kirby has effective aerial attacks as well. Neutral aerial's long duration and short landing lag allow him to protect himself when landing, while forward aerial is an excellent all-around attack for combos, edgeguarding, and KOing at high percentages. His back aerial takes that principle even further, being his fastest and strongest aerial. Up aerial is a standard attack for juggling and low-damage combos, allowing for many potential followups. Finally, his down aerial, while slow, is a multi-hitting spike with low landing lag and generally little risk, making it a great tool for both edgeguarding and setups on grounded opponents.

Kirby's special moveset has some interesting options. allows him to either copy the neutral special of any character he Inhales, or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. The latter can be used to Kirbycide or put the opponent below the stage, almost eliminating their chances of recovering. Depending on what character he copies, the gained neutral special has the potential to greatly improve his kit – whether from an effective projectile like 's Blaster or 's Fireball, or a massively beneficial and versatile technique like Monado Arts.

Hammer Flip is very powerful, especially when fully charged. Its slow speed, however, makes it very difficult to use outside of edge-guarding or after a shield break. Final Cutter is Kirby's recovery move and is decent at that, granting good vertical distance and decent horizontal distance, as well as decent protection during his ascent and descent. It also emits a shockwave upon landing, making it difficult to punish if not at point-blank range. Lastly, Stone causes Kirby to plummet straight down and ignore damage by any move that deals less than 30%. It is also very strong and can be canceled at any time, making it useful for playing mindgames.

However, Kirby has noticeable flaws. His most prominent weakness is his endurance. Being light and floaty, Kirby cannot endure strong hits at high percents. He is also very vulnerable to juggling, due to his aforementioned slow falling and air speeds. Rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will be launched even earlier, while he will typically not endure long enough in order to take advantage of it.

Kirby's poor mobility not only makes it significantly difficult for him to approach and pressure opponents, but also makes him susceptible to fast characters like, or those with disjointed hitboxes like and. In addition, his very long-distanced recovery is very slow, making aggressive edge-guarding and gimp-oriented moves, such as F.L.U.D.D. or meteor smashes, detrimental to him. Kirby's range is also mediocre at best, and his strongest moves happen to be his slowest, making it difficult for him to KO opponents outside of edge-guarding or without a set-up.

Overall, Kirby tends to run hot and cold, similarly to. He can inflict an impressive amount of damage if he gets close to his opponent thanks to his potent combo game, but doing so is difficult for him due to his poor mobility. As such, Kirby functions well with a bait and punish playstyle, although being unprepared for an opponent's approach can be hazardous due to his unimpressive survivability. Kirby has achieved average tournament representation and some degree of success:, and  have each won numerous local tournaments and continue to place very well at them in singles and doubles play, while  and  have collectively achieved a handful of notable results at regional and national tournaments.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Kirby has been considerably nerfed in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Most of his issues in Brawl were not only retained but worsened and he also suffers from new weaknesses. Kirby's already mediocre range has been reduced further, with his feet becoming smaller and several general nerfs to hitbox sizes. This makes it even easier for opponents to wall out Kirby especially with the cast having greater range overall. Kirby's air mobility as also taken a hit as his air acceleration is lower, and unlike most returning veterans, his air speed has been decreased, which hindering both his recovery and ability to escape aerial pressure. As with his transition from each new Smash game as well as with most of the returning veterans, Kirby's damage output has been decreased. Some of Kirby's moves have also seen changes which greatly hinder their utility, with forward aerial having more ending lag and no longer autocanceling in a short hop due to a combination of its autocancel window being unchanged and Kirby's higher gravity and lower jumps, and dash attack and connecting less reliably due to its much shorter range, but the attacks that were affected the most were down throw and aerial Hammer Flip, losing most of their previous utility: the former has lost all of its followup potential due to its more unfavorable angle and increased knockback, while the latter has much more startup lag and has lost its recovery and edgeguarding potential, as to it's no longer being a semispike and now stalls Kirby's horizontal momentum instead of his vertical momentum.

Smash 4's adjusted mechanics have both helped and hindered Kirby. The changes to hitstun canceling overall help Kirby, strengthening his ability to combo opponents. It does, however, make Kirby slightly easier to combo himself, especially due to his increased weight, fall speed and gravity. Without the ability to momentum cancel, Kirby's already poor endurance has been further reduced, although he had poor momentum canceling in Brawl, and his higher weight somewhat compensates for it. The inclusion of rage further exacerbates this issue, and while it improves Kirby's own KO potential, his poor endurance combined with his lack of a ladder combo or early kill confirm prevents him from making great use of the mechanic. The changes to aerial grab releases, however, now make him much less vulnerable to those kinds of followups.

Kirby has seen some buffs, however. His considerably faster dashing speed improves his approach, while some less reliable moves like Inhale and down aerial have been given new utility, with the former being faster and the latter connecting better due to using the autolink angle and its landing hit has less knockback and launches higher, making it better for combos, and forward and back throw are also more useful for combos due to the former's new angle and reduced ending lag, and the latter also has received KO potential thanks to its altered knockback, increasing its versatility overall. Other attacks, namely his up smash, down smash, back aerial, back throw and up throw, were given more KO power – and this can be better taken advantage of in the new environment of Smash 4, in the absence of momentum cancelling and the presence of rage. His Hammer Flip now can be charged, has more range, no longer has sourspots and Kirby can move and jump while charging the attack.

Overall, while Kirby still retains most of the strengths he had in Brawl including his solid combo ability and KO potential for his character archetype, his weaknesses were amplified and he gained new weaknesses most notably, his reduced range and aerial mobility. While the changes to the game's mechanics benefit him overall, they do not aid him as much as some of the other returning veterans. As a result, Kirby is significantly worse than in Brawl.

Ground attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Non angled:
 * Up angled:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Non angled:
 * Up angled:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Non angled:
 * Up angled:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Non angled:
 * Up angled:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up angled:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down angled:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Pummel:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Down throw:

Special moves

 * Hammer Flip:
 * Final Cutter:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Hammer Flip:
 * Final Cutter:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Hammer Flip:
 * Final Cutter:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Final Cutter:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Final Cutter:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Stone:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:
 * Ultra Sword:

Update history
Kirby was initially perceived to be a low tier in the initial release of the game, owing to his poor range, mobility, approach option and endurance. Likely as a result, he has been buffed via game updates. Update 1.0.6 improved up and down smashes' KO potentials; re-purposed down throw into a viable damage racking option; and decreased Inhale and Hammer Flip's ending lag. These changes were fairly minor however, with Inhale and Hammer only losing a couple of frames of ending lag, while down smash received a lower launch angle, which resulted in the move being worse at KOing with sufficient DI. Update 1.1.0 brought a few more buffs: neutral attack became more reliable, Inhale was made faster and forward throw received less ending lag and a more vertical launch angle, making it a much better combo starter. Kirby also slightly benefits from the new shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1, as they make down aerial's multiple hits and Stone's high damage output much more reliable at pressuring shields.

Update 1.1.3 brought about even more buffs for Kirby: his dashing speed was slightly improved and various moves saw an increase to their KO potential. Up throw in particular saw a substantial increase in knockback, KOing over 30% earlier, although Kirby's other moves only saw minor improvements to their knockback. Update 1.1.4 gave Kirby a miniscule improvement with hard tripping now grants Kirby 5 frames of invincibility. Lastly, update 1.1.5, buffed Kirby's smash attacks and all variations of Hammer Flip by slightly increasing their knockback. As a result, Kirby is noticeably better than he was during Smash 4's initial release, having better KO potential, a stronger combo game and having safer specials. However, he is still considered fairly weak, as most of his changes were not substantial and his weaknesses were not properly addressed, resulting in him continuing to struggle against a majority of the cast, especially considering the more substantial improvements other initial low tiers received, along with the introduction of and, who both had strong matchups against Kirby.

 1.0.4

 1.0.5  1.0.6  1.1.0  1.1.1  1.1.3

 1.1.4

 1.1.5

Moveset
For a gallery of Kirby's hitboxes, see here.

Tier placement and history
Due to the considerable nerfs Kirby received in his transition from Brawl, he has always been considered a non-viable character within the SSB4 metagame, even in spite of game updates noticeably buffing him. This has been due to his only success occurring at local tournaments, whereas his results at regional and national tournaments have been very sparse. Many smashers also took note of Kirby's overall poor matchup spread as characters like with large disjoints, and strong good kill power ( being a primary example) as well as zoning characters with effective projectiles (,, and  being good examples) do very well against him. These aspects culminated with Kirby being placed at 33rd on the first tier list as the 2nd highest low tier character.

Kirby did not fare well after the next updates as characters like, , , , and  who were initially considered to be worse than Kirby proved to not only become better than him, but proved to be very troublesome matchups as well due to them having excellent tools to prevent Kirby from approaching. The release of and  also hurt him since they too proved to be tough matchups for Kirby. This resulted in Kirby's already scarce results to become even worse than before.

Kirby would then drop to 41st on the second tier list, and eventually to 47th on the third tier list, with the latter drop being tied with and 's for the second largest between the second and third tier lists. However, later scored an upset by defeating  at Frostbite 2017 and placing 33rd at said tournament. Due to this, his tier placement has been widely debated, with some players believing he should be placed slightly higher due to niche matchups against much higher tiered characters, such as and. However, due to his continually sparse results after Frostbite 2017, Kirby has since dropped to 49th on the fourth and final tier list.

Since then, Kirby has failed to make a significant impact at tournaments as he hardly has any tournament representation outside of who never places high at supermajors. Meanwhile, characters lower than Kirby have all performed much higher with getting 17th at Smash 'N' Splash 4 and 2GG: Hyrule Saga while defeating  and ;  and  performing very well in Japan with the former taking  to game 3 as ;,  and  doing work with  in their regions with  beating ,  getting 17th at Umebura Japan Major 2017 while defeating  and ; and  using  as an effective secondary taking sets off of , ,  , ,  and even took  to game 5 with the character.

Due to Kirby's meager tournament results and his glaring weaknesses some smashers claim that he should be even lower due to his overwhelming weaknesses with ranking him as the 3rd worst character in the game, putting him below, ,  and even below , who is widely considered to be the worst character in the game, as well as  and  claiming that he's the absolute worst character in the game. Others, however, think that he is underrated and that he should be ranked relatively higher due to his excellent combo game, good kill power and great edgeguarding.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:Kirby players (SSB4)
 * - The best Kirby player in Europe. Placed 13th at, as well as 25th at and . Formerly ranked 24th in the French Power Rankings and currently ranked 6th on the Strasbourg Power Rankings.
 * - Co-mained Kirby and . Placed 9th at Pound 2016 and Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, and 25th at Get On My Level 2016 and UGC Smash Open. Ranked 6th on the Upstate New York Power Rankings.
 * - Placed 25th at Midwest Mayhem 8: North American Tour and 33rd at Frostbite 2017. Was formerly ranked 11th on the Michigan Power Rankings. Has wins over and.
 * - Considered to be the best Kirby player in the world. Placed 5th at KTAR XIV; 9th at KTAR XI; 13th at Glitch; and 49th at Apex 2015. Formerly ranked 10th on the New York City Power Rankings.
 * - Placed 33rd at CEO Dreamland and The Big House 7; 49th at Shine 2017; and consistently achieved high placings at Smash @ Xanadu tournaments. Formerly ranked 7th on the Kansas Power Rankings.
 * - Placed 13th at Olympus, 17th at Super Smash Con 2015, 25th at Glitch, and 49th at Pound 2016 before switching to Corrin.
 * - The best Kirby player in Japan. Placed 5th at Meikobura 2017 and 25th at . Has taken sets off players such as, , , , , and.

Solo Events

 * All-Star Battle: Regulars: Kirby is among the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents are the eight starter characters of the "perfect-attendance crew" from SSB.
 * Kirby's Crazy Appetite: Kirby must heal by eating food on the stage while three s try to hinder his progress. After some time, two more King Dededes will appear. Kirby will be at 100% on Easy, 125% on Normal and 140% on Hard, while the King Dededes will be at 50% on Easy/Normal and 0% on Hard.

Co-op Events

 * A Fairy Nice Trip: and  must survive against four Kirbys until reaching Fairy Land.
 * Food Fight: A damaged Kirby and King Dedede must defeat, , and Pac-Man.
 * Getting Healthy: and  must defeat Kirby and Pac-Man.
 * The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
 * Viral Visitors: and  must defeat four Kirbys.
 * Visiting Onett: and  must defeat Kirby,, , ,  and . All opponents are outer space-based characters.

Trivia

 * Kirby cannot copy custom moves. However, his side custom move affects his Copy Ability, as the attack changes to match the variant of Pikmin Throw.
 * Based on unused animations discovered via hacking, the ability to charge Kirby's Hammer appears to have originally been intended for Brawl.
 * Kirby has unused voice clips for all of 's neutral specials, suggesting that at one point in development he was planned to be able to copy Palutena's custom moves, or that Palutena's default neutral special move was undecided.
 * SSB4 is the only game in the series where Kirby's dash attack hasn't been changed, as his break spin attack from Brawl was retained. (In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it would revert back to his prior burning attack from Super Smash Bros. Melee.)
 * At a total of 80, Kirby has the most sound clips of any character, with his amount of clips being rivaled only by the Announcer.
 * Kirby's alt. trophy in has his gray alternate costume with blue eyes instead of gray eyes.
 * Kirby's blue alternate costume depicts the interior of mouth as retaining its normal coloration on the character selection screen and during his normal expressions. However, it appears blue while Inhaling.
 * Kirby's screen KO resembles his screen KO in Kirby: Triple Deluxe. His pose in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS more closely resembles his face's position in that game, whereas his facial expression in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U more closely resembles his expression in that game.
 * A glitch existed where if Kirby copied either, , , or , broke the Smash Ball, and performed a down taunt while in standby, his eyes would no longer glow. Interestingly, if Kirby copied the ability again after using the Final Smash or self-destructing (excluding Mr. Game & Watch), his eyes would be glowing. This was fixed in update 1.1.4.
 * During the development of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, Kirby did not emote in any way.
 * One of Kirby's official artwork poses in  is almost identical to his official artwork pose from SSB4, with the only differences being his helmet and a closed smile.
 * When Kirby uses any of his side special moves off-screen and is shown in the magnifying glass, Kirby's normal motion will be seen, but his hammer will not.