Kirby (SSBM)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in SSB in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Tier	F (26)

“	A puff ball that floats through the sky and boasts a variety of moves.	”
—Melee's instruction manual

Announced at E3 2001, Kirby (カービィ, Kābī) is a starter character in all three games of the Super Smash Bros. series. Although tier-wise he was the second-to-top character in Super Smash Bros. topped only by Pikachu, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, he became severely nerfed.

Currently, Kirby is ranked in the F tier at 26th place, at the very bottom of the tier list. Among Kirby's best attributes include the ability to perform Kirbycide and a rather good edgeguard game, especially when combined with his Fence of Pain (utilizing his back aerial). Additionally, Kirby has a very good defensive game, due to his small size and reliable tilts (his down tilt, for example, is good for spacing, and while Kirby is crouching, he can dodge most jabs). However, Kirby's overall power has been severely nerfed from the previous game. A majority of his attacks are considerably weaker and have smaller sweetspots, making Kirby's KO options now few and far between; whatever KOing options Kirby does have are slow and have poor range. Kirby also has awful approach options, due to a poor SHFFL and the lack of a good projectile without copying one by inhaling his opponent (granted said opponent has a projectile for his or her neutral special move), and went from having one of the best combo abilities in SSB64 to one of the worst in Melee. This, combined with a rather predictable recovery and an ease of being comboed because of his poor hitstun leads to Kirby having generally abysmal matchups against other characters, with seven very unfavorable matchups; despite this, and his last place ranking, he does have two favorable matchups against Bowser and Roy.

Attributes

Kirby's signature move is Inhale, which allows him to use opponents' neutral special moves. Kirby is also known for having five midair jumps (although the last couple of jumps barely give any height) and floaty descent, which gives him good recovery distance. However, his recovery is still slow and predictable. His multiple jumps also allow for good edgeguarding abilities and good midair evasion (due to slow falling speed when normal and fast falling speed with midair transformation). Kirby's small size, quick dodges, and low crouch (one of the lowest in the game) enable him to have good evasion. He also has a large shield in relation to body size, which makes him difficult to shield stab. Kirby is arguably the character most famous for his sacrificial KOs, Kirbycides. These are extremely useful in certain scenarios, but his back throw and forward throw can be intercepted. When Kirby is in stone form, he does not take damage (although he can be grabbed out of it).

However, Kirby has several significant problems. Many of his moves are slow, weak (almost all of his moves have tiny sweetspots), and short-ranged. He is easily KO'd due to being light and floaty (and he can't escape most combos because of these things due to having a high amount of hitstun when hit.) He has poor combo ability, his SHFFL'd aerials are slow, and his up special (Final Cutter) does not have good horizontal range. To add, if hit while using Final Cutter, Kirby loses all of his jumps. Also, his grab game is very limited. As aforementioned, his back and forward throws can be shaken out of in the midst of their execution (this negative feature is exclusive to these two throws), making it so they're only usable when the opponent has high damage. Furthermore, Kirby also loses all of his jumps from his forward and up throws, which are still very weak. Kirby has a very small wavedash, making wavesmashing difficult to use to Kirby's benefit. Lastly, Kirby's new special move, the Hammer, is extremely slow, weak and punishable if not sweetspotted, which is hard to do as the sourspot is much larger than the sweetspot. In the air, the hammer is even more useless unless the opponent is behind Kirby, where he or she could take the most damage.

Moveset

Kirby's aerial attacks.

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

Normal

• Neutral attack: Kirby jabs forwards with his hand, followed by a short series of fast punches. 3% damage for the first punches, then each punch does around 1%-2%. Based on the Vulcan Jab move he can perform with the Fighter ability in his main games.
• Dash attack: Kirby dashes forward with a fiery spiralling headbutt. Based on the Burning ability in his games. Uniquely, it can fall off ledges and platforms. 8% damage if it hits clean, or 4% if it hits late.
• Down tilt: Kirby kicks forwards while crouching. Fast, decent ranged. 10%
• Forward tilt: Kirby does a quick roundhouse kick forwards. Decent range. 10% normally, 11% angled up, 9% angled down.
• Up tilt: Kirby thrusts his back leg upwards. Infamous for its shield damage. 8% clean, 7% late.

Aerials

• Neutral aerial- Twinkle Star: Stretches out and spins rapidly in a somersaulting spin. Has a long lasting hitbox. 10% clean, 6% late.
• Forward aerial: Kirby kicks forwards three times. Last hit has medium knockback. 16% if all hits connect. If not L-cancelled, it also has a landing hitbox that deals 2% damage, and can stack up with the three kicks if timed perfectly.
• Back aerial: Kirby does a no-look kick backwards. Can be used in the Fence of Pain. Good knockback. 14% clean, 8% late.
• Up aerial: Kirby flips in mid air, kicking upwards. Great knockback, possibly Kirby's best KO move. 15%
• Down aerial: Kirby spins around, drilling downwards with his feet. 6 hits, 12% if all of them connect. Has a somewhat long start-up, but acts as a decent meteor smash. It also has a landing hitbox that deals 2% damage with horizontal knockback, and can stack up with the six hits.

Smash attacks

• Forward smash: Kirby slides forwards, kicking. Has below average knockback. 15% clean, 12% late.
• Up smash: Kirby does a back-flip, kicking upwards. Has high knockback if sweetspotted. 15% at the front, 11% up, and 7% at the back.
• Down smash: Kirby does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. Has decent knockback. 14%

Grabs & throws

• Pummel: A quick jab to the opponent, but contains more ending lag than most pummels. 3% damage.
• Down throw: Kirby throws the opponent on the ground, then stands on the opponent, hitting the enemy with his feet. Only the final hit does damage. Send enemies vertically afterwards. 8% damage.
• Back throw: Kirby flips backwards, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. 8%
• Forward throw: Kirby does a suplex, hitting the opponent on the ground. Can be used to Kirbycide. Escapable during the throw. 8%
• Up throw: Kirby jumps high up into the air, and comes back down, ramming the opponent to the ground by doing a suplex. Can be used to Kirbycide on certain stages. 10% damage. During the fall, it can also pass through soft platforms.

Special moves

Kirby's special moves

Neutral special	Swallow		Inhale
Side special	—	Hammer		Hammer Flip
Up special	Final Cutter
Down special	Stone

Taunt

• Waves and says "Hi!" If Kirby has an ability from an opponent while using this move, it gets discarded.

Changes from Smash 64 to Melee

Kirby was unarguably the most severely nerfed character from Smash 64 to Melee, and possibly the most severely nerfed character in all of the series. Below are the changes:

• His forward tilt deals 1% more damage.
• Up smash is a more reliable KO move.
• New up aerial is much more powerful.
• Back throw can Kirbycide.
• Can walk around after inhaling an opponent.
• Final Cutter can now grab edges while Kirby is facing the opposite direction.
• Kirby generally is slower, weaker, and easier to combo, while he also has largely reduced combo ability and less range.
• His already low air speed has been decreased even more, making his recovery much easier to gimp.
• Up tilt is slower, has less range (though still slightly disjointed), is a less reliable juggling and combo move, and can no longer be used for shield break combos.
• New dash attack is much more laggy and easier to punish, and no longer does extra shield damage.
• Forward smash has much more startup and ending lag, no longer being the fastest in the game, and is drastically weaker, going from the strongest forward smash in Smash 64 to among the weakest in Melee. It also no longer deals extra shield damage.
• Back aerial has a slightly different animation, removing the hitbox in front of Kirby.
• Down aerial lands differently and gives a small hit, even when L-cancelled. This makes it more difficult to combo with.
• Down aerial drill is slower, making the meteor smash less reliable for edgeguarding. The first few hits also no longer have high power, meaning the last hit must be landed to properly utilize the meteor smash.
• Final Cutter gains a shorter distance, which along with Kirby's lower air speed, further hampers Kirby's recovery. Both the hitbox while dropping and the wave are also weaker, and the wave no longer does extra shield damage.
• New forward aerial.
• Up aerial from Smash 64 moved to neutral aerial.
• New forward throw (his old forward throw is now his up throw).
• Stone can change Kirby into 5 objects, as opposed to one.

PAL differences

Like other characters, Kirby has received some changes in the PAL version of Melee.

• Weight increased from 70 to 74.
• Dashing speed increased from 1.4 to 1.5.
• Dash attack deals 1% more damage.
• Forward aerial has 2 frames less of landing lag (1 frame less of L-cancelled landing lag).
• Dash attack knockback growth decreased from 66 to 50.

In Competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Kirby professionals (SSBM)

•  Hack
•  KirbyRage
•  Omnigamer
•  t1mmy
•  Triple R

Tier placement and history

Kirby has traditionally always ranked very low on Melee tier lists; compared to Pikachu, Kirby's nerf from Super Smash Bros. was much more significant, removing many of the things that made him dominant in the original Smash Bros. and leaving him with considerably fewer options in both offense and defense; in addition to poor KOing power and a poor approach, Kirby is easily edgehogged and his light weight makes him easy to KO. Owing to Kirby's significant drawbacks, there have been only a few professional smashers that have picked up Kirby for serious play, with a large number of them failing to place even in the top 96 of large tournaments; while more prolific Kirby mains were active in the past, there exist few such professionals in present-day professional Melee, leading to a stagnant metagame for the character that has been unable to develop. As a result of this stagnancy and Kirby's numerous flaws, Kirby has consistently ranked as one of Melee's worst fighters, with some smashers even claiming that Kirby's potential is worse than that of Pichu, a fighter that injures itself with almost all of its attacks.

Kirby is currently ranked twenty-sixth on the current tier list out of twenty-six places, making him the least viable character in professional Melee.

In Single Player Modes

In Classic Mode

Kirby appears in a one-on-one, as an ally, on a team with Pichu, Jigglypuff, Pikachu, or Ice Climbers, in a multi-man battle, or in a metal battle. Kirby appears on Battlefield in the metal battle and on Icicle Mountain on a team with Ice Climbers. Otherwise, he appears on Fountain of Dreams or Green Greens.

In Adventure Mode

Kirby's sole appearance is on Stage 5: Green Greens. He first appears in a one-on-one fight then 15 Kirbys appear each possessing a copy ability. If the single Kirby and the Kirby team are KO'd in less than 31 seconds, the player must fight a giant Kirby.

In All-Star Mode

Kirby and his allies are fought on Green Greens.

In Event Matches

Kirby appears in the following event matches:

• Event 6: Kirbys on Parade: The player must KO three Kirbys each with 2 stocks while only having 1 stock.
• Event 16: Kirby's Air-raid: As Kirby, the player must defeat 10 other yellow Kirbys in 38 seconds using only Warp Stars. The yellow Kirbys are immune to pink Kirby's attacks.
• Event 28: Puffballs Unite!: The player must defeat 14 Kirbys each possessing a Copy Ability. Unlike Adventure mode, the Kirbys appear in groups of four instead of three.
• Event 30: All-Star Match 3: Kirby is the first opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Fountain of Dreams stage, and the player's character has 2 stock while Kirby has 1. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other three characters with the overall time and life they have: Pikachu, Ness, and the Ice Climbers.
• Event 36: Space Travelers: Kirby is one of the opponents Ness must fight along with Samus, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco in a 1 stock battle. Ness fights the first three on Fourside and the last two on Battlefield.

Ending images

• Kirbyclassic.jpg

  Classic Mode

• Kirbyadventure.jpg

  Adventure Mode

• Kirbyallstar.jpg

  All-Star Mode

Trophy descriptions

Kirby is the single most represented character in trophy format in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Being a playable character, Kirby has his own set of "gameplay" trophies that are acquirable by completing any of the three modes in the single-player modes with Kirby: Classic, Adventure, and All-Star.

Kirby (Adventure)

Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful."

• B: Swallow
• Smash B: Hammer

Kirby (All-Star)

Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.

• Up & B: Final Cutter
• Down & B: Stone

• 

  Classic

• 

  Adventure

• 

  All-Star

Kirby is also the subject of five trophies that can be considered its own trophy series: the Kirby Hat series, with information about the powers Kirby gains when he uses Swallow on each opponent. The first three are "normally collectible" trophies that can be found during normal play and in the Trophy Lottery, but the last two are awarded once the player has unlocked all the playable characters involved on those trophies.

• 

  Kirby Hat 1

• 

  Kirby Hat 2

• 

  Kirby Hat 3

• 

  Kirby Hat 4

• 

  Kirby Hat 5

Finally, the character Kirby himself is depicted on some other trophies not related to gameplay: Ball Kirby, Fighter Kirby and Fire Kirby.

Costumes

Kirby's palette swaps in SSBM

Trivia

• Kirby's special moves from Melee are used in the game Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, through the use of the ability called Smash. The moves he gets are Twinkle Star (neutral aerial from Melee, although in this game it has much more range), Hammer, Final Cutter, Stone, and Vulcan Jab. He does not, however, receive Burning, which is his dash attack. He gets the ability from Master Hand, who is a boss in the game.
• Kirby has the shortest taunt, followed by Mr. Game & Watch.
• Kirby is the only character in the entire Super Smash Bros. series that has had escapable throws.
• As the first nine hits of Kirby's down throw are meteor smashes, KO'ing an opponent with the move will earn the Meteor Smash bonus, even though neither the last hit nor the throw itself are meteor smashes.

External links

• YouTube:
• YouTube:
• YouTube:
• Kirby Video Archive
• The Competitive Kirby - t!mmy's Kirby Guide