King Dedede (SSB4)

King Dedede (, Dedede) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. His return to the series was announced in a Director's Room Miiverse post on January 10th, 2014, which also commemorated  being released in Japan on the same day. Masahiro Sakurai reprises his role as King Dedede's voice actor, albeit via a filter being applied to his Brawl voice clips.

King Dedede is ranked 51st out of 54 on the tier list, placing him at the top of the G tier. This is a significant drop from his high-tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 12th out of 38 and is tied with his later iteration from Ultimate as his worst placement in the Smash series. Dedede's primary strength is most of his attacks having large, disjointed range, courtesy of his hammer. In addition, he also possesses some very powerful attacks, such as his forward smash, down smash, back aerial and down aerial, with the latter two also functioning as good edgeguarding moves.

Dedede also boasts arguably the greatest overall endurance in the game, being the most difficult character to KO vertically, due to having the third highest weight and the second fastest falling speed, and also very difficult to KO horizontally despite being a fast-falling character with slow air speed, which is also due to his high weight and the fact that he boasts an impressive recovery, due to his multiple midair jumps and Super Dedede Jump.

However, King Dedede suffers due to the weakening or total removal of moves and/or mechanics that were important to his neutral game. The most notable examples are the removal of chain grabbing and his former back aerial, as well as his significantly worsened grab game, which has gone from one of the best to below average. Additionally, he retains his poor mobility and sluggish frame data from Brawl: he has among the slowest walking and dashing speeds, while his air speed, which was already the slowest in Brawl, has become even slower.

King Dedede's moveset also has among the slowest moves in the game, with only his down tilt, neutral aerial and standing grab being active before frame 9. These traits not only hinder Dedede offensively, but defensively as well; alongside his large size, considerable weight and fast falling speed, Dedede's mobility and frame data issues result in him being among the characters that are most vulnerable to rushdowns, combos, and camping, with only his moderate gravity enabling him to not be as vulnerable as other heavyweights or fast-fallers would be to them. Dedede is also no longer capable of camping himself due to his new side special, Gordo Throw, being reflected by any attack that deals at least 2%. Finally, Dedede suffers from disproportionately weak strength for a super heavyweight: his fastest moves fail to KO until very high percentages, whereas his slowest moves are among the most punishable in the game.

As a result of his glaring flaws, King Dedede's perception and results are both extremely sparse, although they are somewhat better in the European scene. While King Dedede maintains a decently sized playerbase that has brought about great advancements to his metagame, he was widely considered to be nonviable throughout SSB4’s competitive metagame, with most players considering him one of the worst characters in SSB4.

Attributes
King Dedede is the third heaviest character and, like, is the epitome of the archetypal heavyweight: he has a large frame, slow walking and dashing speeds (despite them being increased), below average traction, the slowest air speed, one of the slowest air acceleration values, the second fastest falling speed and average gravity.

Unsurprisingly, King Dedede's greatest strength is his impressive endurance, which is often considered to be the overall best in the game. His very fast falling speed gives him the best vertical endurance, while his weight and great recovery makes his horizontal endurance one of the best. In addition, he is notoriously difficult to edgeguard and gimp. Despite his very high falling speed and extremely slow air speed, he possesses four midair jumps. These help him stall his fall and cover long distances, as well as allowing him to edgeguard safely. His recovery does not end with his midair jumps. His up special, Super Dedede Jump, grants a very large amount of vertical distance and a good amount of horizontal distance. It also has super armor and can meteor smash, making it extremely dangerous to intercept, especially if the opponent uses an aerial attack.

His potent punishment game also supplements his great endurance. Most of his attacks deal high amounts of damage and can leave opponents vulnerable to more of his attacks. His most useful moves at that include, but are not limited to, down tilt, down smash and his grab game. The former is also very quick for a super heavyweight, and can help him fend off opponents and set up edgeguards. His pummel is highly damaging, making it good for adding up damage before throwing the opponent. His forward throw can reliably launch opponents off-stage, while his back throw deals very high damage. Lastly, his down throw can combo into up tilt, up smash and any aerial attack bar his down aerial, making it very reliable for damage racking and giving him combos that most fellow heavyweights do not have. He also has a plethora of very powerful moves, including his forward and down smashes, his up, back and down aerials, and Jet Hammer, all of which are capable of KOing easily if they connect. Because of these advantages, he is also one of the characters to benefit the most from rage, as it allows his powerful moves to put the opponent in a disadvantageous situation most of the time, and can allow him to initiate a comeback, which is further complemented by his endurance.

Another positive King Dedede possesses is his range. Unlike his fellow super heavyweights, his hammer grants a majority of his moves disjointed ranges and enables him to out-space opponents with poor range, such as and. Prominent examples of this are his forward tilt, all of his smash attacks, and all of his aerials except neutral aerial, but said move's poor reach is compensated for, courtesy of its decent KO potential when clean. It should be also noted that moves that do not utilize his hammer also have long duration, such as his up and down tilts, and the aforementioned neutral aerial, which can also make him difficult to punish if the opponent stands too close to him and mistimes its punish.

However, King Dedede has numerous weaknesses, to the point where they significantly outweigh his strengths. His most prominent one is his underwhelming frame data, which is among the worst in the game. This makes Dedede prone to punishment, and due to his vulnerability to combos and juggles, he will have to read his opponents more often than not to safely land a move. However, it should be noted that his moveset is among, if not the overall, weakest of the super heavyweights; very few of his moves are capable of reliably KOing before 80%, with such moves being nearly limited to back aerial, Jet Hammer, and forward smash, all of which are easily telegraphed and highly punishable, despite back aerial being able to autocancel from a short hop. His fastest moves are incapable of KOing until very high percentages, and his slowest moves are among the most predictable and most punishable in the game, with notable examples being forward smash and up tilt. These factors make said moves being easy to punish before or after they connect. While the fastest of his moves, his down tilt and neutral aerial, come out on frame 6, repeated use of them can render him a predictable opponent.

Another one of King Dedede's most prominent weaknesses is his polarized mobility. All of his attributes work against him, as they give him very slow horizontal movement, hindering his ability to approach and combat spacing and camping. The latter problem is more serious, as he has no useful counters against projectiles, with Dedede's projectile being ineffective and overall unreliable to combat camping altogether. His slow horizontal mobility leaves him vulnerable to getting juggled horizontally, while his very quick vertical mobility also leaves him vulnerable to combos, and he has a hard time escaping from them once he enters enough knockback, with a move that grants super armor, Super Dedede Jump, coming out way too slowly to render him invulnerable to heavy damage once an opponent gets a combo in. In turn, this makes it very simple for other characters with reliable combo games, such as and, to easily rack up damage on him.

Another flaw King Dedede faces is his approach. All of his attributes significantly hinder his ability to get close to characters safely, considering the aforementioned factors of the overwhelming start-up and ending lag on his attacks, fairly poor mobility regardless if grounded or in the air, and his noticeable nerfs from game updates, which have all decreased his already poor offensive game. Most notably, his grabs' drastically reduced ranges and the removal of chain grabbing are collectively considered to be his fatal flaw: they not only hinder his chances to rack up damage efficiently, but also almost completely remove his chances of reliably KOing his opponents or keeping his opponents at bay with his grabs.

His special moveset also faces some issues, as it is riddled with significant drawbacks. Gordo Throw is often considered his best special move, as it can be used for a KO option at high percents, can grant strong stage control if spaced and timed correctly, and can be used as a set-up into many other options if the opponent is sent toward Dedede. It can also aid his edgeguard attempts if the Gordo gets stuck on a wall or edge, allowing him to score a KO. Finally, it can be used to edge trap the opponent, giving them few options to retaliate and get back to safety. However, it has one major flaw, arguably enough to counterbalance all of the Gordo's benefits: it can be reflected by any attack that deals at least 2%, which can limit its otherwise great utility and stage control potential and renders it a risky move, even when used from a safe distance. As a result of this, King Dedede's neutral game is risky due to being committal.

Super Dedede Jump is an amazing recovery move due to its distance and super armor, but its use is almost limited exclusively to recovering. However, the move's landing induces high shield damage, average shieldstun, and emits stars upon meeting the ground, which can make the move surprisingly difficult to punish, despite the move's high endlag. Inhale can be used to pressure the opponent and possibly score a Dededecide, but it is telegraphed, laggy, and unsafe due to the removal of grab armor. Lastly, Jet Hammer is best used only when trying to punish an unsafe get-up attempt or when breaking a shield.

King Dedede benefits a fair bit from his custom moves. Topspin Gordo has consistent power and moves much faster, which allows King Dedede to force the opponent to react with little risk of his Gordo being used against him, due to its high speed. However, it does not last as long, and it removes almost all combos with the Gordo itself, as it cannot be used for traps, and moving the control stick barely changes its trajectory. Bouncing Gordo is considerably weaker, but it lasts much longer, and enables King Dedede to apply stage control and gives him more time to use Gordo combos. The Gordo's trajectory changes greatly when the player tilts the control stick. Rising Dedede covers more vertical distance, maintains the default's super armor, and can even function as an (albeit risky) out of shield option due to its hitbox while ascending. However, it cannot meteor smash, as King Dedede becomes helpless at the apex of its jump, which also makes it less safe, especially if King Dedede tries to land on the stage. Dash Jet Hammer does far less damage, but King Dedede dashes forward when he attacks, enabling it to function as a mindgame tool. It can also function as a viable horizontal recovery option, which can ameliorate his glacial air speed.

All of his other custom moves have very situational advantages and are overshadowed by their disadvantages, with Dedede Storm, Taste Test, and Armored Jet Hammer being the most notorious examples. Dedede Storm has much slower start-up and ending lag than Inhale, removes Dededecide, is a multi-hitting move that cannot connect after 100%, and lacks strong hitboxes, preventing it from KOing even well beyond 200%. Taste Test spits opponents out instantly, preventing Dedede from sending the opponent off-stage, which allows them to exploit his vulnerability. Armored Jet Hammer offers super armor on charge, but causes recoil damage faster, is drastically weaker to the point where a fully charged blow is weaker than an uncharged hit by the default, and has severe ending lag to the point where one can jump from the top of and use it and then be unable to move until Dedede lands on the main platform.

Overall, King Dedede's weaknesses heavily outweigh his strengths. Due to his very sluggish frame data, risky neutral game and poor approach, his optimal playstyle is a defensive combination of zoning as well as baiting and punishing. The prominence of his flaws has also resulted in very low tournament representation and a poor perception despite the decent size of his playerbase, as only, , and have managed to achieve significant breakthroughs in top-level play. However, outside of their efforts, Dedede has very poor tournament results.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
King Dedede has been nerfed significantly in the transition from Brawl to SSB4. Several of his moves have been heavily altered or changed entirely, which has resulted in both positive and negative changes to his playstyle, though despite his buffs, his nerfs are much more prevalent due to his worse frame data and the loss of many of the traits that made him a formidable character in Brawl.

The most notable positives that these changes bring are his new down tilt, new side special Gordo Throw, and his down special, Jet Hammer. Dedede's new down tilt has faster start-up and travels a long distance, making it one of his best defensive moves (out of shield, after a smash attack, etc) at the cost of its spacing potential. Unlike Waddle Dee Toss, Gordo Throw deals a consistent amount of damage, fairly high knockback, and can even be used to "pinball" opponents by using their tumbling momentum to Dedede's advantage by trapping them between a Gordo and Dedede due to the ability to angle a Gordo's trajectory, which improves his neutral game. Lastly, Jet Hammer has been noticeably buffed in terms of range and the recoil damage, and due to the addition of rage combined with his high endurance and weight, it is a much better move both onstage and for edge-guarding. As a result, these moves are more versatile than their previous iterations in Brawl. Some of the gameplay changes brought about by SSB4 have also helped Dedede. He is now less susceptible to projectile camping due to the universal nerf to projectile camping (although he still arguably has the hardest time against camping), and he can utilize the rage mechanic very effectively due to his considerable weight, which supplements his high power.

However, the aforementioned new move alterations and changes to gameplay mechanics have also brought drawbacks that drastically outweigh the aforementioned positives, despite having a less polarized moveset than Brawl. The most significant of these came with his new down throw. Dedede's grabs are slower and have less range making it harder for him to land a grab and when he does, the reward he receives has been greatly decreased. One positive change down throw received is that it now launches opponents vertically which gives it greater followup potential however, down throw no longer has set knockback making its followups percentage dependent and the removal of chain grabbing has heavily harmed down throw as it can no longer be used to (infinitely depending on the character) chaingrab opponents. While it is still a decent throw overall, it is nowhere near what his Brawl down throw was which was so powerful that it alone completely nullified certain characters.

Another one of Dedede's best moves which was changed for the worse was his back aerial. The move went from a fast, powerful, disjointed sex kick to a more powerful but drastically laggier and more difficult to land backward hammer swing. While the move is still decent, it is no longer one of the best back aerials in the game and one of Dedede's best moves. Up tilt was also noticeably nerfed as it is laggier, lingers for less time and has much less KO power. His new moves, despite bringing nice buffs, have also brought some drawbacks as well, such as his down tilt losing its KO power and having worse spacing capabilities, his new forward aerial no longer auto-canceling in a short hop (despite its faster start-up lag and more favorable hitbox placement) and being weaker and Gordo Throw being able to be reflected by any hitbox that deals at least 2%, which also hurts the previous anti-camping abilities the Waddle Dee Toss had in Brawl. Dedede's already terrible air speed was decreased even further which is especially poor as most other returning veterans had their air speed increased. Altogether, all of these changes have nerfed Dedede's approach potential. Lastly, the changes to hitstun canceling also significantly harm Dedede, as they weaken his endurance despite his increased weight and make him an easy victim of combos.

As a result of these changes, King Dedede is significantly worse than he was in Brawl as his overall frame data was nerfed and a lot of his moves were completely changed with his two best moves (back aerial and down throw) being changed for the worse and he is one of the few characters who suffered more from the changes to Smash 4's mechanics than he benefited from them. He was one of the characters to have been the most severely nerfed in his transition from Brawl, and despite having never been considered a strong character, Dedede was directly nerfed in patches receiving nerfs to his forward aerial, down throw, Gordos and his air speed. While this was somewhat balanced out with other top tiers receiving nerfs, other lower tiered characters had been buffed and DLC characters such as and (more importantly)  were added to the game, further worsening his matchup spread. Due to this, Dedede went from a polarizing high tier who heavily struggled against some of the top tiers but completely annihilated many mid and low tiers to a non-viable bottom tier character who loses to almost every character ranked above him and only slightly beats some of the characters ranked below him.

Ground attacks

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

Aerial attacks

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

Throws/other attacks

 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Floor attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Edge attack:

Special moves

 * Gordo Throw:
 * Super Dedede Jump:
 * Jet Hammer:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Super Dedede Jump:
 * Jet Hammer:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Jet Hammer:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Jet Hammer:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Jet Hammer:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:
 * Dedede Burst:

Update history
Despite his poorly regarded status, King Dedede has been nerfed in game updates. Update 1.0.4 weakened Dedede's forward aerial, which made the move even more punishable than already was. This update also strengthened his down throw, which makes follow-ups harder to perform, but adjusted its angle in order to make it less susceptible to DI. The most infamous of his nerfs, however, are to Gordo Throw. The Gordos have now become slightly smaller, and require even less damage to be reflected, which is now 2%. With this change, even rapid jabs and neutral attacks are capable of reflecting Gordos. Dedede Burst was tweaked to the point that it can now be avoided by air dodging.

On the other hand, King Dedede indirectly benefits from the changes to shield mechanics brought by update 1.1.1, as his moves are safer on shield due to their high damage outputs, high hitlag, and/or multi-hitting properties. Additionally, with the use of certain Gordo Throw setups or his fully charged forward smash, King Dedede can break shields or wear them down quickly. However, this does not properly compensate for his previously received nerfs.

Lastly, King Dedede was nerfed once again in update 1.1.4, with his air speed having been reduced to the point that it is now slower than Shield-boosted. As a result, King Dedede is noticeably worse than at the game's release, due to the large majority of the cast receiving major beneficial changes, while King Dedede has not received any similar changes.

 1.0.4

 1.0.8

 1.1.3

 1.1.4

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

Announcer call
''

Tier placement and history
Upon the game's release, players quickly noticed King Dedede's nerfs in the transition from Brawl, most notably the loss of chain grabbing, though some players argued that his buffs, as well as new and improved moves such as forward aerial, Gordo Throw, and down tilt, would compensate the nerfs in the long run. However, as the metagame progressed, King Dedede's weaknesses became more apparent, and players realized the changes to game mechanics not only significantly hurt the character, but that he had indeed lost more than what he gained from the transition. Despite good results from players such as and, with the former notably placing 17th at , expectations of him worsened as time passed. As a result, King Dedede was ranked 46th on the first tier list, confirming his status as a bottom-tier character.

Despite the great advancements brought to his metagame as well as decent results, King Dedede's air speed was nerfed in update 1.1.4. Although the nerf seemed minor, it made King Dedede the slowest character in the air, worsening both his neutral game and recovery. As a result, opinions on him declined even further, with many players considering him one of the worst characters in the game. This negative reputation led to a drop to 52nd on the second and third tier lists. Although due to the bottom-tier being abolished in the third tier list, he has since been reassessed as a low-tier character. He would see a slight rise to 51st on the fourth and final tier list.

It wasn't until the final year of Smash 4's active competitive lifespan when opinions on King Dedede finally saw a shift. , a King Dedede player from Japan, made his debut outside of his country, placing 17th at both and, notably defeating  in the latter. Although it may be the result of matchup inexperience, as ZAKI performed worse back in Japan, his results convinced several players such as that King Dedede was not the worst character in the game, due to King Dedede's improved representation compared to other low- and mid-tier characters. Nevertheless, King Dedede is seen as a shell of his former Brawl self and is considered non-viable in the competitive metagame.

Most historically significant players
See also: Category:King Dedede players (SSB4)


 * - The best King Dedede player in Mexico. Placed 5th at and 17th at  with a win over . Formerly ranked 19th on the Mexican Power Rankings.
 * - One of the best King Dedede players during the first few years of Smash 4, but has since relegated the character to a rare secondary pick. Placed 3rd at both and, 7th at , and 17th at  with wins over players such as ,  and . Ranked 1st on the British Columbia Smash 4 Power Rankings.
 * - The best King Dedede player in the United States. Placed 13th at both and  as well as 25th at both  and  with wins over players such as, , and . Formerly ranked 11th on the New Jersey Power Rankings.
 * - Co-mains King Dedede with and is considered the best King Dedede player in Europe. Placed 9th at  and 13th at both  and . Ranked 12th on the Spanish Power Rankings.
 * - The best King Dedede player in the world. Placed 5th at, 9th at , and 17th at both and  with wins over players such as , , and . Ranked 53rd on the JAPAN Power Rankings.

Solo Events

 * All-Star Battle: Brawl: King Dedede is one of the opponents fought in this event. All opponents debuted in Brawl.
 * Kirby's Crazy Appetite: As, the player must heal by eating food on the stage while three King Dededes try to hinder his progress.
 * : The player must defeat King Dedede, and.
 * The King Strikes Back: King Dedede must defeat Kirby in a Stamina Battle.

Co-op Events

 * Final Battle Team-Up: King Dedede appears as an opponent to be defeated.
 * Food Fight: A damaged King Dedede and Kirby must defeat, , and.
 * The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
 * Wrecking Bros.: and  must destroy the entirety of Wrecking Crew while King Dedede and Wario try to interfere.

Trivia

 * King Dedede has the longest star KO voice clip in the game. Its duration is so long that it can still be heard briefly even after the star KO. He and are the only two characters with this quirk.
 * If King Dedede is footstooled while performing his side taunt on the 3DS version, the taunt will be cancelled, but Dedede's mouth will stay open for the same duration as the taunt usually lasts.
 * Despite one of the tips for Dream Land (64) in Smash 3DS stating that Dedede cannot appear in the background when Dedede is fighting, it's still possible in the game's Training Mode for both of them to appear at the same time.