Super Dedede Jump

Super Dedede Jump (, Super Dedede Jump) is King Dedede's up special move.

Overview
King Dedede jumps extremely high, then crashes down, dealing damage during the descent and when landing on the ground. The jump can be angled by pressing left or right while Dedede is turning to face the screen before he actually jumps, but once in the air, pressing left or right only changes the direction Dedede faces when he lands. When King Dedede lands, there is a strong landing hitbox that can launch opponents up. Two s are produced around King Dedede when he lands, making nearby opponents flinch. These stars are projectiles and can be countered, reflected, and absorbed. It is an unusually decent recovery option for a character of his weight class.

Super Dedede Jump, while limited in movement, is very well-protected. During the first half of this attack (when he jumps into the air), King Dedede has super armor from frames 26-45, causing long attacks such as Smart Bomb to freeze King Dedede if he is hit during his armored frames. However, the jump at this stage deals no damage. In Smash 4, the ascent's armor was nerfed (26-32 with additional body intangibility on frames 22-25), but more was added to the descent (73-80). His feet also become intangible from frame 73 until landing. In Ultimate, further protection was added, with the ascent having invincibility from frames 18-24 with armor active 22-34, then the descent gets armor from 69-76 with foot intangibility from frame 69 onwards.

If Dedede hits an opponent as he's falling, it becomes a powerful meteor smash. If this move meteors an opponent onto the ground, and then Dedede lands on top of them, it has vertical knockback instead of the normal 45-degree angle. In Smash 4, Super Dedede Jump gained the ability to bury grounded opponents when landing on top of them, which can be used as a niche method to set up KOs. A common method of doing this is by burying an opponent near the ledge, and then cancelling the jump to grab the ledge, giving just about enough time for a move such as a down smash due to the strength of the bury. However, it still takes an enormous amount of time. It's also possible to use Super Dedede Jump as an edgeguarding move due to the strong meteor effect, but doing this is usually too risky to be used consistently.

The move can can be canceled before the descent by tapping down in Brawl, or up in Smash 4 and Ultimate. This allows the player to adjust Dedede's horizontal momentum and grab the ledge in situations where Super Dedede Jump would otherwise fail to do so. If it is done far enough from the ground, Dedede will suffer less landing lag as well. However, if it is done too close to when Dedede lands, he will become extremely vulnerable; instead of just getting up, he will fumble around for about a second and a half before getting up. If Dedede hits a ceiling while using the move, he will fall helplessly.

Unlike most up special recoveries in Brawl, this move does not auto-sweetspot the edge (though it does in Smash 4 and Ultimate during the upward swing of the jump). It can however snap to edges if the move is canceled close enough to them.

Amusingly enough, if this move is used under a low-gravity effect (through certain stages, such as Pirate Ship and Spear Pillar, or through Special Brawl options), Dedede comes down at a ridiculously slow speed and can travel absurd distances horizontally. This can also work while Dedede is standing on ink in Ultimate. By the same token, its utility as a recovery move is hampered by high-gravity effects, but it becomes much more difficult to avoid.

Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:


 * 1) Super Dedede Jump: Default.
 * 2) Rising Dedede: Deals damage on the way up, then falls helplessly. Dedede's helpless state operates the same as if he had canceled the standard version of the move, so he will suffer extreme landing lag if he lands too soon after the peak of his jump. Has super armor on frames 23-27.
 * 3) Quick Dedede Jump: A faster version of Super Dedede Jump that deals less damage and doesn't go as high. Has armor on frames 3-8 during the ascent, and 25-33 thereafter.

Origin
Super Dedede Jump is based on one of King Dedede's recurring attacks in the early games, since his debut in Kirby's Dream Land. Kirby could the Drop Stars and spit them back at Dedede, though Kirby can't swallow the stars in  Super Smash Bros. Brawl was also the first time King Dedede could use the move as a playable character. As of version 4.0.0 of , King Dedede can perform the Super Dedede Jump as a playable character.

Trivia

 * In Smash 4 and Ultimate, the sound effect of King Dedede landing when he is helpless appears similar to the percussion-like sound Dedede makes upon hitting a drum in the ' minigame, '.
 * Interestingly, the sound that plays while jumping is very similar to the sound made by zooming the map in .
 * Up until version 3.0.0 of Ultimate, King Dedede could use Gordo Throw backwards, before turning around with Super Dedede Jump to extend the horizontal momentum of the jump. This was referred to as "Gordo Boosted Up B" by the community before being patched out.