Banjo & Kazooie (SSBU)

This article is about Banjo & Kazooie's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the characters in other contexts, see Banjo and Kazooie.

Banjo & Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	Banjo-Kazooie
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	The Mighty Jinjonator

“	Banjo-Kazooie are Raring to Go!	”
—Introduction Tagline

Banjo & Kazooie (バンジョー&カズーイ, Banjo & Kazooie), formatted in their reveal trailer as Banjo-Kazooie, are playable fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and are the first third-party representatives from Microsoft. They were announced alongside the Hero during the E3 Nintendo Direct on June 11th, 2019 as the third downloadable fighters from the Fighters Pass. Banjo & Kazooie were released on September 4th, 2019 and although they are a team, they are collectively classified as fighter #73.

Chris Sutherland's portrayals of Banjo & Kazooie from across the Banjo-Kazooie series were repurposed for Ultimate in all regions.

Attributes

Banjo & Kazooie are a duo that fights together as a singular character, akin to Duck Hunt. The duo is a heavyweight weighing as much as Snake and R.O.B. While their walking speed is below-average, and their initial dash and traction values are among the worst in the game, they have a very fast running speed, courtesy of Kazooie's Talon Trot, which is fairly uncharacteristic of their weight class. While Banjo is somewhat short for a heavyweight (having a relatively average size), his hurtbox is still fairly wide nonetheless, much like Wario. Outside of the Talon Trot and up tilt, Kazooie does not have a hurtbox, meaning that all standard attacks involving her are disjointed. Akin to Ridley and Charizard, the duo has two midair jumps. Additionally, they have a fast falling speed, high gravity, slow air speed, and average air acceleration.

Banjo & Kazooie's grounded arsenal makes use of the majority of moves from their first two games, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Banjo's Claw Swipe and Kazooie's Rat-a-Tat Rap comprise their neutral attack. The former serves as a 3-hit gentleman jab, while the latter is a standard rapid jab. It should be noted that the hurtbox of Kazooie's jabs is large enough to sometimes hit enemies standing directly behind Banjo. This can sometimes cause the opponent to be continually jabbed into Banjo's back, keeping them locked in the hurtbox, amounting to extremely high percentages. Their forward tilt, Beak Bayonet, is a quick stab with Kazooie's beak, functioning similarly to Ridley's forward tilt. Banjo & Kazooie's up tilt is an original move, being a powerful upward kick from Banjo. Their down tilt, Beak Barge, is a low-to-the-ground slide that launches at a very low semi-spike angle, making it a very potent edgeguarding option. Their dash attack is the Forward Roll, bearing similarity to Donkey Kong's dash attack.

Complementing their versatile tilts, Banjo and Kazooie sport very useful smash attacks. Their forward smash is Breegull Bash, a slow but powerful move that highlights a comical maneuver in their home game. The duo's up smash is the Bill Drill, a spinning attack with Kazooie's beak that is fairly useful as an anti-aerial and out-of-shield option. Banjo & Kazooie's down smash is an original move, being a wing-slam from Kazooie on both sides of Banjo, in a similar vein to Ridley, making it a useful tool for catching rolls. Additionally, it can 2-frame opponents on the ledge very easily.

Their aerial moveset also combines old and new moves. The duo's neutral aerial is the Twirling Wing Whack, a multi-hitting circular wing spin from Kazooie that is functionally very similar to Ivysaur and Piranha Plant's neutral aerial. Banjo shows off a haymaker punch in his forward aerial. Rat-a-Tat Rap makes a second appearance in their aerial moveset as a back aerial that hits three times, while Kazooie uses a wing clap move as their up aerial that hits twice. Beak Buster makes an appearance as their down aerial, being a stall-then-fall that meteor smashes opponents during its initial frames.

The pair's ground game is varied, with some attacks like forward and up tilt coming out fairly quickly and having long range, while their smash attacks are overall slower but have decent power. This is also true of their aerial game, as Banjo's forward aerial is powerful, but has 15 frames of startup and high ending lag, while Air Rat-a-Tat Rap and Twirling Wing Whack are faster and safer but suffer from high landing lag.

Banjo & Kazooie's special moves are fairly versatile as well. Their neutral special, Egg Firing, sends eggs out of Kazooie's mouth that are affected by gravity; the move also briefly stalls the duo's aerial momentum as well. Holding the button transitions into Breegull Blaster, where Banjo holds Kazooie like a "gun" akin to Banjo-Tooie's first-person shooter segments, with low damage but faster and constant projectiles, all while being able to move and jump freely; interestingly, Breegull Blaster's eggs deal vertical knockback at point-blank range, but on the other hand, repeated use of the move causes the eggs to deal less damage. Wonderwing bursts the duo forward without halting upon contact with opponents, and it does incredible damage and knockback if it connects, especially if hit during its initial frames, and its full-body invincibility that lasts throughout the entirety of the hitbox's duration enables it to outprioritize nearly every other move in the game, although the duo is still vulnerable to getting grabbed despite this. It also functions as an excellent recovery option with its horizontal speed and distance, and does not induce helplessness either. However, the move runs on a limited stock of five golden feathers that are not replenished until Banjo & Kazooie are KOed, so its usage must be carefully considered; additionally, despite crossing up shields, Wonderwing's high ending lag and long-lasting singular hitbox makes it fairly unsafe nonetheless. Shock Spring Jump makes an appearance as their up special, being a decent vertical recovery move that does not leave them helpless and preserves their midair jumps; it can be charged to increase its travel distance, and when used in the air, the Shock Spring Pad itself possesses a damaging hitbox that can be used to gimp some recoveries. Rear Egg, their down special, is a quirky move that gives them a strong defensive option when opponents are directly behind them, and the grenade egg is catchable and throwable. Overall, their four specials give them impressive utility with both physical and projectile options.

Banjo has a respectable grab game, using above-average reach to clinch his opponents. Each of the duo's throws have vastly different functions as well. Back throw is a useful KO tool near the ledge, much like Mario's back throw, and down throw buries the opponent, leading into various guaranteed follow-ups at very high percents, although it is inferior to King K. Rool's similar down throw nonetheless. Up throw can setup juggles, but its ending lag limits true follow-ups, while forward throw is mainly used to send opponents off-stage to setup edgeguards.

The pair is not without weaknesses, however. Outside of their smash attacks and Wonderwing, Banjo & Kazooie's potential to KO is limited, given their status as a heavyweight fighter. Some moves like neutral aerial and up aerial are extremely weak, and they have a limited combo game unlike some other fighters who also have problems KOing their opponents. Banjo & Kazooie have a wide hurtbox, and they are susceptible to combos and juggles due to their heavy weight, fast falling speed, slow air speed, low jump height and lack of fast escape options. Their overall mobility is unorthodox, with their excellent run speed being offset by their poor inital dash speed that is tied for the fifth-worst, their high vertical recovery options being hampered by their low jumps, poor air speed and fast falling speed, and their grounded mobility being hindered by the lowest traction in the game alongside Mii Gunner. Additionally, the duo's special moves, while strong, are also flawed as well. Egg Firing has a slow firing rate on its own, and weak power when the pair transitions to Breegull Blaster; additionally, Breegull Blaster's eggs become weaker with repeated use, discouraging excessive use of the move. If the pair runs out of golden feathers, they lose access to Wonderwing, eliminating a potent move with plenty of offensive and defensive utility; Wonderwing is also vulnerable to grabs despite its invincibility as well. Rear Egg is quite situational, and the explosion itself is not very powerful. It is also difficult to run backward to grab the grenade egg and use it as a throwing item, and opponents can grab it and use it against the duo as well due to it being an item. Shock Spring Jump requires slight charge time to make their recovery strong, which is brief but can leave them vulnerable, and it also does not have a hitbox outside of the Shock Spring Pad itself, making it vulnerable to meteor smashes and aggressive edgeguarding in general.

Overall, Banjo & Kazooie have a lot of specialized tools to accommodate different opponents and playstyles. Their egg projectiles can be used in a multitude of ways, and their recovery, while flawed, is fairly strong, with many different ways to get back onto the stage. Banjo and Kazooie can be considered to be a classic all arounder similar to Mario and Samus, in that they have no real clear or punishable flaw, but in contrast have no clear strengths or abusable abilities, as Wonderwing, while strong, is limited by its resource pool. Players must change their playstyle with the duo to combat their opponents playstyle, taking advantage with all the tools the duo offers. In short, Banjo and Kazooie are a jack of all trades and master of none character that has solid performance overall, but lack superiority over other characters. Their power then comes from the ingenuity from the player and how they counter their opponent. While they have seen very little representation at top levels so far due to their recent release, Tweek was able to place 5th at Glitch 7 shortly after their release, implying that the duo might be competitively viable, but to what extent is currently unknown.

Moveset

• Banjo & Kazooie can perform two midair jumps, both of which are based on the Flap Flip and Feathery Flap.
• Kazooie does not possess a hurtbox, and therefore acts as a disjointed hitbox for all attacks involving her. This excludes the duo's dash animation and up tilt, as she becomes a hurtbox during those animations.
• Banjo's initial dash animation has him sprinting a brief distance. His dashing animation has Kazooie transition into the Talon Trot, in which she carries Banjo on her back while running. Both animations are aesthetic and do not affect the function of the duo's dash, though Kazooie gains a hurtbox while the dash is active.

For a gallery of Banjo & Kazooie's hitboxes, see here.

Note: All numbers are listed as base damage, without the 1v1 multiplier.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Claw Swipe / Rat-a-Tat Rap	2.2%	A combination of the Claw Swipe and the Rat-a-Tat Rap. If the Neutral Attack button is held, Banjo will swipe 3 times. If mashed, he will swipe twice, leading into Kazooie's pecking flurry before finishing with an upward shoulder bash. The first hit starts at frame 4, making it the duo's fastest ground attack. The third hit of the regular neutral attack launches opponents vertically, which can allow it to set up juggles due to its reasonably low ending lag. Forward aerial is a consistent followup especially if opponents miss a tech on platforms, though this can be airdodged out of. Unlike other neutral attacks, Banjo will not repeat the first hit if the attack button is held down. If an opponent is hit extremely close to the duo while they perform their neutral infinite (around where Banjo's backpack is), they will be pushed back alongside the duo while they attack, allowing the move to rack up large amounts of damage if the victim does not SDI.
			2.2%
			3.7%
			0.4% (loop), 1.6% (final hit)
Forward tilt		Beak Bayonet	9% (beak), 7% (close)	Banjo takes Kazooie out of his backpack and jabs forward with her beak. Can be angled. Deals more damage and knockback at the beak. It has decent range and a quick startup (7 frames), making it a useful spacing option. Based on the Beak Bayonet ability learned in Banjo-Tooie.
Up tilt			10%	Kazooie lifts Banjo upwards while he kicks up. It is somewhat slow on startup for a tilt (11 frames), however it has impressive knockback, being able to KO grounded opponents under 150%. The move also has a fairly large hitbox above Banjo which can make for an effective anti-air, and despite its power it has fairly low ending lag, which combined with its vertical launch angle can allow it to set up for juggles. However, it has a very short horizontal hitbox, making it difficult to hit grounded opponents who aren't directly touching the duo. Unlike the duo's other attacks, Kazooie possesses a hurtbox during this move.
Down tilt		Beak Barge	6% (beak), 5% (close), 3% (late)	While crouching, Kazooie pokes her head out and pecks her opponent. Acts as a pseudo-crawl. It is a semi-spike with good range, and its low angle and decent duration makes it a good edgeguarding tool. It lowers Banjo's hurtbox to an even greater extent than his crouch, enabling him to duck under some moves like Wolf's Blaster shots. Conversely, its power and speed are poor, being the duo's slowest tilt attack at 12 frames. Is capable of crossing up against shields.
Dash attack		Forward Roll	12% (clean), 8% (late)	Banjo rolls forward into his opponent, similarly to Donkey Kong's dash attack. Hits on frame 9 and sends the duo a respectable distance, allowing it to punish distant attacks. However, it is equally punishable on shield.
Forward smash		Breegull Bash	16%	Banjo grabs Kazooie by her legs and slams her against the ground. Moderately slow (19 frames) and has high ending lag, but very powerful, KOing at around 100% from center-stage. Its hitbox is wide enough to hit aerial opponents diagonally above the duo. Based on an unlockable move from Banjo-Tooie.
Up smash		Bill Drill	1% (hit 1), 1.5% (hits 2-7), 3.5% (hit 8), 13.6% (total)	Banjo ducks as Kazooie drills with her beak facing upward, hitting multiple times. Powerful enough to KO at around 110%. It comes out decently fast (frame 9) and can act as a decent anti-air, though it has very high ending lag and mediocre horizontal range. Based on the ability from Banjo-Tooie, although here it is an upward attack as opposed to a grounded one.
Down smash			15%	Banjo slams a fist down while Kazooie slams her wings downwards to the sides, similar to Palutena's down smash. Both the front and back hits deal the same amount of damage and knockback. Hits on frame 13 and has the fastest interruptibility out of the duo's smash attacks, while having good power despite its speed, being able to KO at the edge at around 85%. As a result, it is the duo's most reliable smash attack for quick punishes.
Neutral aerial		Twirling Wing Whack	0.8% (hits 1-7), 4.1% (hit 8)	Kazooie rolls with her wings spread out. Functions similarly to Ivysaur and Piranha Plant's neutral aerials. Deals decent damage but has rather slow startup (frame 10) and surprisingly high landing lag for an aerial of its kind (15 frames). The looping hits can drag opponents downwards for followups, though this is difficult due to the move's aforementioned landing lag and the looping hit's unpredictable launching trajectory. Auto cancels from a full hop. Based on the ability used by solo Kazooie in Banjo-Tooie.
Forward aerial			15% (clean), 12% (late)	Banjo throws a delayed overhead with his fist, akin to Ganondorf's forward aerial. It's tied with down aerial as the duo's slowest aerial attack with 15 frames of startup, and has high ending lag. However, it has a slightly disjointed hitbox, autocancels from a short hop, has the lowest landing lag of Banjo & Kazooie's aerials (11 frames), and is very powerful, being able to KO Mario at 115% from the edge of Battlefield. It can be followed up from neutral attack, up throw or down throw.
Back aerial		Air Rat-a-Tat Rap	1.6% (hits 1 and 2), 4.8% (hit 3)	Kazooie pecks behind the pair 3 times. The first hit comes out on frame 8. Has good overall range and startup, making it a reliable aerial for edgeguarding. The first two hits use the autolink angle; however, it has extremely high landing lag (18 frames), making combos from the first two hits read-dependent. Auto cancels from a short and full hop.
Up aerial			1.6% (hit 1), 5.8% (hit 2)	Kazooie claps her wings upwards, functioning similarly to Sonic's up air. Hits twice, with the first hit leading to the second. Has a wide hitbox with good range, with the first hit being able to hit grounded opponents if performed while the duo are falling. Additionally, it is very fast in general, as the first hit begins at frame 7, while also being interruptible extremely early; this allows the duo to perform up to four up aerials while using their jumps, similar to Meta Knight's up aerial strings. Easily juggles into itself at low percents, and can even lead into other aerials such as forward air. However, it has very low hitstun due to its low damage, making the move easily escapable. Additionally, the first hit may occasionally launch opponents away from the second hit, and the move is extremely weak, having almost no KO potential even at high percents.
Down aerial		Beak Buster	10% (dive), 2% (landing)	A stall-then-fall where Kazooie dives downward with her beak. Meteor smashes at the start of the move, with the later hitboxes dealing horizontal knockback. The move has a very weak landing hit that has little use apart from granting minimal protection. The move lasts for an extremely long time, usually making offstage use an inevitable self-destruct, though it is possible to recover if it is used from high enough. It is mostly useful for returning to stage quickly, as the non-meteor smashing hitbox is unable to KO past realistic percents. However, the meteor smashing hitbox can be used for followups on grounded opponents at high percents, and can act as a powerful sacrificial KO offstage.
Grab			—	Banjo reaches out with his free hand.
Pummel			1.4%	Kazooie pecks the opponent's head.
Forward throw			5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Banjo butts the opponent forward while Kazooie kicks them in tandem. Very low knockback growth even at very high percents, making it mostly used for sending opponents offstage. Overall, it is the duo's least useful throw.
Back throw			11.4% (throw), 8% (collateral)	Banjo spins the opponent around three times and then throws them, similar to Mario's back throw. Nearby opponents will be knocked back by the spinning opponent. Acts as the duo's KO throw and is very powerful, KOing at around 105% at the sides of the stage.
Up throw			5.4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Kazooie pecks the opponent upward. One of Banjo's best throws in terms of combo versatility, allowing for more consistent followups when down throw would otherwise be ineffective, most notably at very low percents. Can combo into aerials. However, its high ending lag limits its true combo potential.
Down throw			5.6%	Banjo slams the opponent down into the ground, burying them. Works like other burying throws such as R.O.B.'s and King K. Rool's: it is ineffective and easily escapable at very low percents, but grants a read followup based on the opponent's reaction at mid-percents, and guaranteed followups at extremely high percents. Its follow-up ability, however, is somewhat limited if the opponent mashes well due to the low base burying time; generally forward and up aerials are the most reliable follow-ups.
Floor attack (front)			7%	Banjo kicks behind, then in front of himself before getting up.
Floor attack (back)			7%	Banjo kicks around himself before getting up.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Banjo claps behind, then in front of himself. Notably one of the only attacks to use a "slap" sound effect, with others being Peach's neutral attack and Jigglypuff's Pound.
Edge attack			10%	Banjo pulls himself up before performing an inwards swipe.
Neutral special		Egg Firing/Breegull Blaster	5.4%-3.8% (egg), 2.4% (Breegull Blaster, shots 1-6), 1.6% (Breegull Blaster, shots 7-12), 0.8% (Breegull Blaster, shots 13+)	For Egg Firing, Banjo gets down on all fours while Kazooie spits out an egg. These eggs will obey gravity, bounce off the ground and linger for quite some time (around the length of half of Final Destination) before breaking on their own, and become weaker as time passes. It is rather slow to fire, making the projectile mostly suited for stage control. If the special button is held, the duo will instead perform the Breegull Blaster, where Banjo takes Kazooie out of his backpack and uses her in a manner similar to a Super Scope. In this mode, pressing either attack button will cause Kazooie to quickly fire smaller, weaker straight-flying eggs that travel a third of Final Destination; subsequent eggs gradually deal less damage. These smaller eggs cause minimal flinching at long range and weak vertical knockback up close. Banjo can move and triple jump freely while in this mode, and can turn around (the latter is not possible while firing). Crouching or shielding will put Kazooie away. Due to the mechanics of this move, Egg Firing can only be done repeatedly if the player button mashes, since holding the button transitions into the Breegull Blaster.
Side special		Wonderwing	22% (clean), 16% (late)	Kazooie covers Banjo with her wings while they charge forward. It is only usable up to 5 times per stock, denoted by the amount of Golden Feathers above their heads; each successful use consumes 1 Golden Feather, and interrupting the move before the hitbox begins will not use up a feather. To compensate, it has a large amount of strengths: the move grants full invincibility from the start of the dash (frame 18) to the end, including immunity to almost all Final Smashes (that don't grab the opponent), the clean hit deals a high amount of damage, shield damage and knockback, and can KO at the edge at 60%, while the late hit is still powerful and can kill effectively offstage or catch options of edge-hanging opponents. It works very well as a horizontal recovery option, as it does not cause helplessness and travels an excellent amount of horizontal distance. However, the move is specifically designed to be out-prioritized by grabs, and grabbing the duo out of the move causes it to only deal 0.25x damage to the grabber. Its high startup and ending lag also makes it punishable if it misses or is shielded, which is compounded by the move's reduced shieldstun, especially on the late hit. If they attempt to use it without any feathers remaining, they simply stumble over; an aerial use will cause them to fumble in midair, and using it close to the ground will cause Banjo to land face first in his floored animation.
Up special		Shock Spring Jump	3% (Pad)	Spawns a Shock Spring Pad underneath the duo, launching them upward. The longer the special button is held, the more height they gain. Slows the duo's descent upon starting up if used in the air. Mid-air jumps and airdodges are still usable as the duo aren't put into a helpless state. In the air, the pad itself acts as a projectile after its use, like Sonic's Spring Jump, which can gimp recoveries; unlike that move however, a grounded Shock Spring Pad cannot be used again by opponents or the duo.
Down special		Rear Egg	9.22%	Banjo bends over, and Kazooie appears out of Banjo's backpack, firing a Grenade Egg from her rear behind the duo. The Grenade Egg has a fixed timer of around two seconds, and has a floaty, slightly unpredictable bouncing trajectory which varies based on where the egg lands when it hits the ground. Only one Grenade Egg can be fired at a time; if the move is used while an egg is already active, Kazooie will pop her head out from Banjo's backpack and shake her head profusely. Can be picked up, thrown and dropped like an item, similar to Hand Grenade. Grenade Eggs do very little knockback, although their short fuses allow for creative item play. Using the move in midair will stall the duo slightly and makes it easy to catch an aerial egg, and can be used to stall in midair much like Snake and his C4.
Final Smash		The Mighty Jinjonator	10% (initial hit), 54.3% (total)	The duo summons the Jinjonator statue in front of them, dealing damage to anyone it hits. A cutscene then shows the Jinjonator bursting from the statue while Banjo and Kazooie watch in awe, before the opponent is tackled multiple times by the Jinjonator, followed by a final tackle that is accompanied by multiple Jinjos. Notably, it can only hit one opponent, much like Dede-Rush.

On-screen appearance

• Hops out of a Jiggy silhouette, and then takes a bow. The silhouette is a reference to the cutout wipe as the player moves from one area to another in the N64 games.

Taunts

• Up taunt: Banjo stretches and Kazooie appears out of his backpack, yawning. Based on an idle animation from Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
• Side taunt: Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack and look at each other, then Banjo strikes a thumbs up while Kazooie happily opens her wings.
• Down taunt: Banjo bows twice, saying his iconic "Guh-huh!" each time. Based on the animation Banjo performs upon opening a Note Door or collecting all ten Jiggies in a world in Banjo-Kazooie.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's up taunt.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's side taunt.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's down taunt.

Idle poses

• Kazooie pops out of Banjo's backpack, looks around, then retreats back inside.
• Kazooie pecks Banjo on the head twice. A nod to their idle animation in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

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  Banjo & Kazooie's first idle pose

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  Banjo & Kazooie's second idle pose

Victory poses

• Left: Banjo throws a Jiggy in the air, catches it, jumps, and poses. Afterwards, Banjo gives a thumbs-up while performing his trademark laugh, similar to the beginning of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie.
• Up: Banjo walks in place before bowing twice, saying his trademark "Guh-Huh!" both times, ending with Kazooie poking out of his backpack. The animation is reminiscent of when the duo unlock a Note Door or collect all ten Jiggies within a world in Banjo-Kazooie, which is also the basis for their down taunt.
• Right: Both dance around while playing their respective instruments, and then end in a pose referencing the ending of Banjo-Kazooie's intro movie. The pose is also similar to the one they assume in their reveal trailer.

A remix of the jingle that plays when Banjo collects a Jiggy in Banjo-Kazooie.

• 
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In competitive play

Notable players

Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the Spring 2019 PGRU, which recognizes the official top 50 players in the world in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from February 1st, 2019 to July 7th, 2019.

•  Raito (#20) - Placed 13th at both Mainstage and Thunder Smash 3: Clash of the Pandas and 17th at Umebura SP 5 with Banjo & Kazooie in conjunction with Duck Hunt.
•  Tweek (#2) - Placed 5th at Glitch 7 using Banjo & Kazooie in addition to Pokémon Trainer. He has taken a set off Dark Wizzy with the character.

Classic Mode: Perfect Partners

Banjo & Kazooie's congratulations screen.

Banjo & Kazooie's Classic Mode comprises of opponents featured as a duo, akin to themselves being partners. The music and stage combinations reference the various worlds from the first Banjo-Kazooie game.

Round	Opponent	Stage	Music	Notes
1	Duck Hunt	Spiral Mountain	Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie	References Banjo-Kazooie's opening on Spiral Mountain. The appearance and specific color choice of Duck Hunt refers to their resemblance to Banjo & Kazooie themselves.
2	Rosalina & Luma	Tortimer Island	Treasure Trove Cove	References Treasure Trove Cove.
3	Ice Climbers	Summit	Freezeezy Peak	References Freezeezy Peak, with the Ice Climbers matching its polar climate.
4	Link and Zelda	Mushroomy Kingdom	Gobi's Valley	References Gobi's Valley.
5	Fox and Falco	Luigi's Mansion	Mad Monster Mansion	References Mad Monster Mansion. The color palettes of Fox and Falco are likely meant to resemble a wolf and a raven, animals that would appear in a typical "haunted" setting.
6	Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong	Jungle Japes	Donkey Kong Country Returns	References the Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie series' shared origins, both being created by Rare Ltd.
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand and Crazy Hand	Final Destination	Master Hand / Crazy Hand	Much like Banjo & Kazooie, Master Hand and Crazy Hand work together as a duo. Additionally, they bear a resemblance to Motzand, a disembodied hand who appears in Mad Monster Mansion.

Credits roll after completing Classic Mode. Completing it as Banjo & Kazooie has Spiral Mountain accompany the credits.

Role in World of Light

The message that shows Banjo & Kazooie's availability in World of Light

Due to their status as downloadable content, Banjo & Kazooie do not have a legitimate role in World of Light. Instead, they are unlocked for use in the mode after freeing 10 fighters from Galeem's control. If loading an existing save file that meets this condition prior to downloading Banjo & Kazooie, they are immediately unlocked.

Fighter Battle

No.	Image	Name	Type	Power	Stage	Music
73		Banjo & Kazooie	There is no fighter battle for Banjo & Kazooie, as they are a downloadable fighter.

Spirits

Banjo & Kazooie's Fighter Spirit can be obtained by completing Classic Mode. It is also available periodically for purchase in the shop for 300 coins, but only after Banjo & Kazooie have been downloaded. Unlocking Banjo & Kazooie in World of Light allows the player to preview the first spirit below in the Spirit List under the name "???". As a Fighter Spirit, it cannot be used in Spirit Battles and is purely aesthetic.

• Banjo and Kazooie.png

  1,337. Banjo & Kazooie

In Spirit Battles

As a minion

Spirit				Battle parameters							Inspiration
No.	Image	Name	Series	Enemy Fighter(s)	Type	Power	Stage	Rules	Conditions	Music	Character
1,338		Tooty	Banjo-Kazooie Series	•Diddy Kong •Banjo & Kazooie		3,500	Spiral Mountain	N/A	•Defeat the main fighter to win •The enemy shields often •Magic attacks aren't as effective against the enemy	Main Theme - Banjo-Kazooie	Banjo & Kazooie

Alternate costumes

Gallery

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  Banjo & Kazooie's splash art.

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  Celebratory pose at the end of their character trailer.

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  Using the Talon Trot running animation on Yoshi's Island.

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  Banjo & Kazooie jumping on Summit.

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  Banjo & Kazooie using Egg Firing on Garden of Hope.

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  Banjo & Kazooie hitting Falco with their forward smash on Great Bay.

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  Banjo & Kazooie, King K. Rool, Mario and Duck Hunt on Spiral Mountain.

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  Banjo & Kazooie about to be grabbed by Villager on Tortimer Island.

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  Banjo & Kazooie performing their side taunt on Spiral Mountain

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  Banjo & Kazooie running on the track of Big Blue.

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  Popping Villager's balloons with their forward tilt in Town and City.

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  Crouching with Duck Hunt on Windy Hill Zone.

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  Using Egg Firing, with Mumbo Jumbo visible in the background.

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  An alternate costume of Banjo on Summit.

Trivia

• Their reveal trailer is almost exactly like King K. Rool's trailer, where King Dedede uses a costume to fake out the Kongs, only to be attacked by the real King K. Rool. In this case, while King K. Rool was asleep at the Kong residence, Duck Hunt used a costume to fake them out, only for them to get attacked by the real Banjo & Kazooie.
  • Duck Hunt dressing up as Banjo and Kazooie may reference the perceived similarities between them, as they are both pairs consisting of a mammal and a bird. This is also referenced through their Classic Mode route.
  • The opening part is nearly identical, with the only difference being the addition of the Kongs fighting King K. Rool to the hand-drawn section.
  • This could also reference the fact that Rare Ltd. effectively contributed the designs of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and King K. Rool used in Super Smash Bros.
• Their introduction tagline is a reference to Rare, the company from which their video game series originated. Rare also rebooted the Donkey Kong series with Donkey Kong Country, which the setting of their reveal trailer is based on.
  • Despite this, only Microsoft is credited for their inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's copyright information under "Original Characters", as Rare is now fully owned by Microsoft. This is despite the fact that Atlus is credited separately from Sega (in spite of Atlus similarly being under Sega's ownership). While PlatinumGames are not credited for Bayonetta, the reason for this is that Bayonetta is owned directly by Sega rather than PlatinumGames.
• Banjo & Kazooie's reveal trailer holds several references to their home series:
  • The segment where they team up with Diddy Kong to fight Donkey Kong references the battle against Conga the Ape in the first level of Banjo-Kazooie. Donkey Kong is shown throwing an orange, referencing Conga's method of attack, while Diddy Kong represents Chimpy, a monkey who helps the duo defeat him.
    • Coincidentally, Donkey Kong had the ability to throw explosive oranges in Donkey Kong 64.
  • In another segment, Banjo is shown holding a Beehive and running away from bees, as a reference to the beehives in Banjo-Kazooie, which give the duo Honeycombs that restore their health when destroyed, and sometimes have bees flying around that attack the duo if the beehive is destroyed.
  • After Banjo shows off his Final Smash in the trailer, King K. Rool ends up crashing into the ground, leaving a hole where he landed, then being buried under a boulder. This is a reference to the ending of Banjo-Kazooie, where, after being defeated by The Mighty Jinjonator, Gruntilda suffers that exact fate.
  • At the end, Banjo is seen slowly walking up to Food next to an asleep giant Ivysaur, then consuming it and running away. This is a reference to an event in Banjo-Tooie, where in Mayahem Temple, they have to steal a Jiggy from the character Ssslumber by slowly walking up to it, in order to prevent him from waking up and protecting it.
• The picture revealing Banjo's pink alternate costume is a subtle nod to Freezeezy Peak; the most noticeable part is the Super Launch Star, which references the star on top the Christmas tree in the level.
• Banjo & Kazooie are the second third-party characters who fight as a team, the first being Joker and his Persona, Arsene.
• Not counting ports and cameos, this marks the first physical appearances of Banjo & Kazooie in almost a decade, since the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, released in 2010.
  • Their inclusion in Ultimate marks their first physical appearance on a Nintendo console since Banjo-Pilot, released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
• Banjo & Kazooie have the unique distinction of being the only third-party character in the game to have previously been a second-party Nintendo character, as well as the only third-party character to be created by the same company as a first-party character (Diddy Kong and King K. Rool). Banjo, in fact, debuted within the Donkey Kong franchise in Diddy Kong Racing; Kazooie was not playable, but she was mentioned in the instruction manual.
• Banjo & Kazooie are the first playable characters to originate from a non-Japanese franchise. While Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, and Dark Samus were also created by non-Japanese studios, they were done so for series that were first developed by Japanese developers.
  • They are also the first playable characters to be owned by a concurrent hardware competitor of Nintendo.
• Their stock icon is similar to their pose on the cover art of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
• Uniquely, when Banjo & Kazooie were listed on the official website, their page was initially grayed out and inaccessible, likely due to still being in development. This also occurred with Terry upon his announcement.
• Banjo's backpack, unlike in their home series, has a second flap at the bottom that opens up when Kazooie fires Grenade Eggs and performs the Talon Trot. According to original character designer Steve Mayles, he originally wanted to achieve this in the original game, but due to technical limitations on the N64, he was unable to add the extra joint for the backpack.
• Banjo & Kazooie are currently the only downloadable fighters in the game to not have a game on the Nintendo Switch, although at the time of his release, Joker fit this criteria as well, as he would not appear in another Switch title until the release of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers.
• So far, Banjo & Kazooie are the first downloadable fighter that have more than one midair jump, being able to jump two times in the air. Piranha Plant was initially planned to have two midair jumps, but was reduced to just one for the final release.
• Banjo & Kazooie are the only fighter that can force themselves into a tumbling animation without taking knockback, since if they attempt to use Wonderwing in the air without any golden feathers, they will enter an animation that can cause them to land in their knockdown state if they touch the ground.
• While most other characters have the announcer say "(character) wins!" at the victory screen, Banjo & Kazooie have the announcer say "Banjo & Kazooie win!". The "(character) win!" audio clip is usually reserved for the Japanese version, but it is used with Banjo & Kazooie because of their two-in-one nature. Ice Climbers and Rosalina & Luma also share this distinction.
• When KO'd by reaching 0 HP in Stamina Mode, Banjo uses a unique knockout scream that's not taken from either his KO or high damage voice clips. He's the only character who has this trait.
• Unlike Duck Hunt, Kazooie is not a part of Banjo's hurtbox; rather, she is treated as a disjointed hitbox (with the exception of Talon Trot and their up tilt). This means attacks that land on Kazooie will have no effect on Banjo. The in-game tips for Banjo make note of this aspect.
• Banjo & Kazooie are the only DLC Fighter so far without an alternate costume that gives them a different model, as Piranha Plant has costumes where its pot is replaced with a Warp Pipe, Joker can change into his school uniform, and Hero alternates between four Dragon Quest protagonists.
• When Banjo successfully parries an attack, he does the same pose as the Extra Life statues from Banjo-Kazooie.
• Banjo & Kazooie are the only fighter to vocalize while dashing.
• Banjo & Kazooie are one of three characters who do not use their dashing animation on the World of Light map, the others being Meta Knight and Inkling.
• Banjo & Kazooie and Hero are the only fighters that only appear as a minion puppet fighter. Piranha Plant does not appear in any spirit battles and the rest of the fighters appear as the main opponent.
• As of right now, Banjo & Kazooie are the only fighters of the Fighter Pass that don't stand with the other fighters from the Fighter Pass in the panoramic artwork.
• Due to Banjo & Kazooie's dash being Talon Trot, the flames of the Superspicy Curry shoot backwards (because it is Banjo that eats the curry, and Talon Trot has him being dragged behind Kazooie). They are the only character with this distinction.
• For unknown reasons, Banjo & Kazooie's rapid jab is so far the only normal move in the entire game to lack hit spark effects on hit.
• Banjo & Kazooie are one of the few characters that cannot experience helplessness under normal circumstances (apart from a red trampoline from Pac-Jump).