King Dedede

King Dedede ( Great King Dedede) is a character from the series. Following his debut in Kirby's Dream Land as a full-fledged villain, King Dedede steadily transitioned into both an antihero and Kirby's "arch-frenemy" by willingly allying with Kirby on a number of occasions for the greater good while maintaining their rivalry.

After making cameo appearances in Super Smash Bros. as a background character and in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a trophy, King Dedede transitioned into a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and has remained as such since then.

Origin
King Dedede is a rotund, blue, penguin-like bird who possesses an egocentric and selfish disposition, which is best exemplified by his status as the self-proclaimed king of. His signature attire consists of a red, regal coat with white fur trim and his personal emblem, a stylized version of his hand striking the V sign, embossed on the back. He also wears yellow mitten-like gloves, a red with a white fur pom-pom and gold crown-like brim, and a sash featuring blue and white trim with red and yellow tessellated triangles.

King Dedede is most often defined by his gluttony. He lives in a regal castle staffed by Waddle Dee servants, and he enjoys food to the extent of hoarding piles of it. This behavior, however, is contrasted by his incredible athleticism and ingenuity. Like Kirby, King Dedede is able to enemies and spit them out as projectiles (but he cannot copy a foe's ability like Kirby can). After his first defeat at Kirby's hands, Dedede underwent rigorous training to learn how to puff up and fly like him. Outside of this, Dedede wields a large wooden mallet as his signature weapon; this mallet is depicted in some games as having special features built into it, such as a powerful jet engine, or the ability to fire missiles or a chargeable laser.

In early Kirby games and spin-off titles, Dedede is depicted as the central antagonist. King Dedede's misdeeds, driven by greed, range from stealing food from the Dream Land residents in Kirby's Dream Land to stealing all the stars from the sky in . In other games, such as ' and ', Dedede's antagonism is not of his own volition; he is manipulated by a greater evil through mind control or possession.

In fact, a common misconception about King Dedede is that he is evil. He is merely selfish and mischievous, which renders him too benign to be an outright villain, especially compared to other Kirby antagonists. Beginning with , he began being depicted as an anti-hero, possessing a standoffish personality tempered by hidden compassion for others. This depiction is his most consistent portrayal in the series, especially as of .

However, Dedede's good intentions are occasionally misguided, or undermined by his self-centered nature; in Kirby's Adventure, he breaks the Star Rod (the power source of the Fountain of Dreams) to protect Dream Land from the villain known as Nightmare, but its inhabitants are unable to dream as a consequence, and Kirby later finds him nonchalantly bathing in the Fountain of Dreams' waters.

King Dedede's relationship with Kirby varies from a nemesis to a partner. The king believes himself to be Kirby's "destined rival". Kirby, on the other hand, bears no such grudge. While Kirby regularly foils Dedede's schemes, the duo also partake in friendly speed-eating contests in Kirby Super Star 's Gourmet Race sub-game, and Dedede even teams up with Kirby as a playable character in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and . In the anime series , he is much more malicious and determined to defeat Kirby, but he rarely succeeds due to his simple-mindedness. However, he retains a form of respect for Kirby, which he rarely shows.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, King Dedede is voiced by his creator, Masahiro Sakurai, who also voiced him in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. His appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series is primarily influenced by Kirby Super Star. However, there are additional details original to the series, such as his kimono-like robes and mechanically-enhanced hammer. His more elaborate robes would later make an appearance in ', while the idea of an upgraded mechanical hammer is seen multiple times in the Kirby series, starting with '.

In Super Smash Bros.
In Super Smash Bros., King Dedede makes a cameo in the background of. However, according to a page on Smabura-Ken (the game's official Japanese website), King Dedede, alongside Bowser and Mewtwo, was planned to be included as a playable character, but was cut due to time constraints. Aside from this, no other information is available.

In an official poll held on Smabura-Ken regarding characters for a potential sequel, Dedede placed fourth with 46 votes, being the highest ranked non- character.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee
Like in the original Super Smash Bros., King Dedede reappears in the background of Dream Land in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Trophy
King Dedede also makes an appearance as one of the collectible trophies that can be found through the Trophy Lottery.

As a playable character
King Dedede is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, making him the third playable character from the Kirby series following and. He wields his trademark hammer, swinging it in most of his standard attacks, like the, and has very powerful hammer-based attacks. His special moves are, Waddle Dee Toss, Super Dedede Jump, and Jet Hammer. Inhale is very similar to Kirby's trademark move, but King Dedede lacks the ability to copy abilities. Waddle Dee Toss lets him throw his minions at foes, sometimes producing not only Waddle Dees, but also more deadly Waddle Doos and Gordos. It is also possible for Dedede to throw out capsules containing items.

Super Dedede Jump is an effective recovery move, sending King Dedede high into the air, then crashing into the ground to damage foes. He can also cancel out of doing this. Finally, King Dedede mechanizes his hammer with Jet Hammer. The hammer's power is charged up by holding the special attack button, and then released for a mighty swing. King Dedede incurs damage after charging for too long, however. His dash attack, forward smash, Inhale, and Super Dedede Jump all come from Kirby's Dream Land.

Like other playable characters, King Dedede retains his core design, albeit greatly enhanced graphically; most notably, his usually-exposed girth (other than his patterned waistband) is now covered by fine robes of a similar color, making his overall wear resemble a kimono. Additionally, his alternate costumes not only change the color of his outfit but the design on his waistband, as well.

King Dedede currently ranks 12th on the tier list in C+ tier. King Dedede possesses a powerful chain grab that can perform infinites on most lower-tier characters, which is complemented by his fast and long-reaching grab. He also overcomes his poor speed through his high vertical endurance, boasts one of the best recoveries in the game, and has a strong aerial game (with his back aerial in particular being very useful).

As a playable character
King Dedede returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He has a more cartoonish look than his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, reminiscent of his appearance in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, and gained a new Final Smash called Dedede Burst.

King Dedede has seen a large fall from his previous tier list spot for Brawl, now ranking 52nd out of 55 characters for SSB4. While still maintaining his high power and disjointed reach with his hammer, he lost his effective chain grab, a technique removed from SSB4. This removes what made him so effective in Brawl. His back aerial was also changed for the worse, no longer being as versatile as it once was. King Dedede also has a new side special: Gordo Throw. Since he now throws only Gordos, the new move has consistent power compared to the random nature of Waddle Dee Toss. However, this new attack can also be a hindrance for Dedede, as the Gordos are easily sent back to him by reflectors or any attack that does 2% or higher. The combination of his large size and slow mobility also makes him vulnerable to combos and camping.

Due to his flaws heavily outweighing his strengths, Dedede is regarded poorly in competitive play despite some notably high tournament results from players like and.

As a playable character
King Dedede returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He once again features a new Final Smash called Dede-Rush, which features him launching an opponent into a steel cage, assuming his persona, and then attacking any trapped opponents with a barrage of missiles and his Jet Hammer. Unlike Brawl and SSB4, he is an unlockable character instead of a starter character.

Trivia

 * King Dedede's name is pronounced in two ways: the English, Korean, Dutch, and Russian versions read his name as "Dee-Dee-Dee", while the Japanese, Spanish, German, and Italian versions read it as "Day-Day-Day".
 * Additionally, the announcer does not say King Dedede's title in Japanese; he is simply referred to as "Dedede".
 * King Dedede uniquely uses two different announcer voice clips in the Chinese versions of Ultimate depending on the setting; the simplified version uses the English "King Dedede" clip, while the traditional version uses the Japanese "Dedede" clip like the rest of the roster.
 * King Dedede is one of the two playable characters to appear in every game of the series who was not playable in every iteration, the other being Charizard.
 * When counting both versions of SSB4 as the same game, Ridley also shares this distinction.
 * In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, the Hammer ability received a new move called Hammer Twirl, which is directly inspired by King Dedede's down aerial from Brawl in which he twirls his hammer below himself. Ironically, King Dedede's down aerial was changed in SSB4, which was released after Return to Dream Land.
 * King Dedede is one of the four characters to have a different Final Smash across every entry since Final Smashes were introduced; the other three are Pit, Zero Suit Samus, and R.O.B.
 * Ever since his debut in Brawl, King Dedede has had the worst air speed of any fighter.
 * King Dedede is also the heaviest Brawl veteran as of Ultimate, though Snake was heavier than him in Brawl.
 * If King Dedede is present when playing on Dream Land, the sprite of King Dedede in the background will not appear.
 * However, in Smash 3DS's Training Mode, it is possible for both of them to appear at the same time.
 * King Dedede is the only confirmed cut fighter from Super Smash Bros. who was not added in Melee.