Kirby (SSB)

Kirby in Super Smash Bros.
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Starter
Tier	A (2)

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is a starter character in Super Smash Bros.. He is known for being a small and light character with quick, surprisingly long-ranged attacks, as well as some strong moves and a great recovery.

Kirby ranks second on the current tier list. His attacks are quick and strong, with a few moves capable of KOing under 100% such as his forward smash, and powerful edgeguarders, such as his down aerial (which is also a meteor smash). His back aerial, forward aerial, and up tilt are great ways to space against the opponent, especially the latter - Kirby's up tilt is considered one of the best attacks in the game and maybe even the series due to its huge disjointed range, very quick speed, good combo ability, and ability to easily break shields if used repeatedly. Kirby can also go offstage pretty safely, with his recovery granting a large distance (on par with Pikachu's), though it's a bit on the predictable side, along with it not being able to be utilized quickly. Kirby additionally has somewhat limited combo ability outside of up tilt and forward aerial on some characters, with his moves outside those two not stringing into each other too reliably. Kirby's main problem is his light weight and being moderately floaty, making him vulnerable to juggling and vertical KOs from characters with powerful vertical finishers, such as Fox.

Attributes

File:Kirbyending.jpg

Kirby's ending picture in Super Smash Bros.

Kirby is a small, light, and somewhat floaty character. He is relatively difficult to combo horizontally and offstage, though is vulnerable to juggling and many vertical KO techniques (as well as not being too hard to KO horizontally either). His "signature move" is Swallow, which allows him to use an opponent's neutral special move and copy their apperance.

In general, Kirby possesses quick yet powerful moves. Some of his moves are infamous for possessing high range and being able to space well, most notably his up tilt (which covers the range of more than one Kirby both horizontally behind him and vertically), as well as his forward and back aerials. This makes a Kirby playing defensively correctly rather difficult to punish. However, Kirby's defensive ability is hindered slightly by his average to below average movement speed, with average dashing and walking speeds, low air speed, and below average falling speed. Kirby's smashes are powerful, especially his forward smash, which is by far the best forward smash in the game due to being the most powerful, having quick startup (though it has a bit of ending lag), and being an excellent punish or panic option. Kirby's throws are also fairly powerful, with his good grab allowing him to utilize them efficiently.

Kirby's up tilt and forward aerial are especially useful combo moves. The former can easily chain into itself at lower percentages and lead into aerials, a forward smash, or a up smash, while the latter is a great damage racker, being a very fast multi-hit move with the first few hits having set knockback, allowing them to lead into the final hit easily. The move can deal over 20% damage, and if the final hit isn't landed, it sets up a jab that can jab cancel into a grab to rack up further damage.

Kirby has an excellent recovery and offstage game. He has five midair jumps, and his Final Cutter not even extends his vertical recovery even more, but allows Kirby to also move to the side while using it by tilting the control stick. While his recovery travels a spectacular distance (only rivaled by Pikachu's recovery), it is somewhat predictable, due to being on the slow side and Kirby's slow air speed. His aerials can be used to edgeguard or guard break easily, especially his down aerial, which is a strong meteor smash that can also drag opponents down at lower percentages due to being a drill attack. With Kirby's aforementioned excellent vertical recovery, it is also easy to recover from.

Kirby's main weaknesses are his light weight and floatiness, somewhat lack of reliable combo options outside the basic up tilt and forward aerial, and a lack of ways to KO onstage outside forward smash. He is additionally easy to juggle, being vulnerable to vertical combos from Fox, Captain Falcon, and others to a lesser extent. Overall, Kirby has above average matchups, only losing to Pikachu on Dream Land and arguably Fox on Hyrule Castle, with an even matchup against Mario on both stages.

Moveset

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

Kirby's up tilt, showing its huge disjointed hitbox.

Kirby's hitboxes while ducking.

Kirby's aerial attacks

Kirby in the Smash 64 instruction booklet.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Vulcan Jab	3%	Two quick jabs, followed by a series of very fast, very weak punches. The two jabs have short range, though the second has better range than most neutral attacks.
			3%
			1% per punch
Forward tilt		Roundhouse Kick	10%	Rather short range, but fast. Can be angled for a 1% change in damage either way.
Up tilt		Vertical Kick	14% clean, 10% late	Kicks vertically upwards, slightly behind himself.
Down tilt		Low Kick	9%	Puts his foot out with a slightly longer duration compared to most down tilts in the game.
Dash attack		Running Headbutt	10%	Crashes into his opponents. This move is fast and good for comboing use, though shielding proves otherwise.
Forward smash		Jump Kick	17%	Advances forward with a strong kick.
Up smash		Flip Kick	16%	A fast flip kick that is very similar to Fox's and Pikachu's, but with slower start-up and slightly less knockback.
Down smash		Spinning Kick	18%	Spins with his feet flat on the ground with decent duration, this move knocks the opponent horizontally with power.
Neutral aerial		Aerial Kick	15%	Extends body with feet out and arms out, making Kirby's whole body a hitbox. Sex kick properties. Useful OoS move, good finisher.
Forward aerial		Forward Drill Kick	20% if all hits connect	Does a drill with his feet in front of him. 8 hits, 2%/hit, 6% on the 8th.
Back aerial		Back Kick	16%	Puts both of his feet behind him, making a viable move for edgeguarding.
Up aerial		Twinkle Star	10% if all hits connect	Spins around. A Multi-hitting attack. This move would be his nair in later Smash Bros. games.
Down aerial		{{{dairname}}}	Up to 30%	Does a Drill attack with his two feetbelow him. 3% per hit, up to 10 hits. The move can be used as a meteor smash, and can drag opponents down, as well as being easy to recover from.
Grab			—
Forward throw		Jump Throw	13%	Jumps high in the air, similar to a warpstar, and slams down. One of the few f-throws to launch foes upward. Has very high knockback, but low knockback scaling, meaning that it does not KO until 120% for most characters. Sends the opponent to the side in the Japanese version.
Back throw		Back Suplex	16%	Performs a backwards suplex, slaming the opponent behind him. Sends the foe upwards and behind Kirby at an angle.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Kicks on both sides and gets up.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Kicks on both sides and gets up.
Edge attack (fast)			5%	Flips whilst getting back on stage.
Edge attack (slow)			5%	Slowly picks himself up and slides forward, like his dash attack.
Neutral special		Inhale	6% (copy ability), 10% (spit out), 6% (spit out characters to bystanders)	If Kirby inhales an opponent, he can either copy their ability (gains their neutral special move and a hat resembling them by pressing the B button; see here for a list of copy abilities) or spit the opponent out as a projectile by pressing the A button, dealing damage to bystanders.
Up special		Final Cutter	8% (initial upswing), 2% (falling), 3% (landing), 6% (shockwave)	Swings upward with his Final Cutter and falls down. The cutter can deal damage, and it also emits a shockwave when it lands. Used for recovery, along with Kirby's five midair jumps. Meteor smashes anyone below it with set knockback.
Down special		Stone	20%	Transforms into a stone. If used in the air, he falls down until he reaches the ground.

Taunt

• Turns to his right, stands on tiptoes, inflates, and says "Hi!" while waving his arms three times in the air. If Kirby has an ability from an opponent while using this move, it gets discarded.

In Competitive play

Matchups

International versions

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups

Avg.

Kirby has a great matchup spread overall, with his only disadvantageous matchup being against Pikachu. Kirby has favourable matchups against characters such as Fox and Captain Falcon due to his ability to gimp them easily, and he has great tools to get them offstage, such as his down tilt, forward smash, or forward/down aerials. The massive range of Kirby's up tilt also makes him a counter to characters who lack reliable approach options that can outrange it, most notably Yoshi. He is also able to escape combos from characters such as Captain Falcon due to his floatiness and multiple midair jumps. On the downside, Kirby is vulnerable to edgeguarding from characters such as Pikachu and Mario, and he is rather easy to KO vertically, making him less of a threat to characters such as Pikachu and Fox.

Japanese version

Super Smash Bros. (N64) Character Matchups (JPN Version)

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Kirby professionals (SSB)

•  KeroKeroppi
•  Kikoushi
•  Killer
•  Legendario
•  Lord Narwhal
•  Mariguas
•  Mew2King
•  Moyashi
•  Revan
•  Star King
•  SuPeRbOoMfAn
•  tacos
•  The Z

Techniques

Kikoushi (Kirby) edgeguarding Isai (Pikachu) with the Final Cutter

Inhale Sacrificial KO

Kirby can use his Inhale move on opponents and fall to the map's bottom blastzone for a sacrificial KO. However, Kirby can "spit out" his opponent under the stage (particularly useful on Dream Land) and then recover. Yoshi is the only character who is practically guaranteed not to be able to recover from this.

Final Cutter spike

The Final Cutter can spike opponents on the way down during its initial frames (approximately until the same height from which the Final Cutter was initiated).

In Single Player

Kirby appears as an opponent in the seventh stage of Single Player mode. The stage takes place in Dream Land and pits the player against a Kirby team comprised of 8 Kirbys. Each of the eight Kirbys sports a unique hat (with the exception of one, which will be normal Kirby, or one of the four unlockable characters after they've been unlocked) corresponding to each of the eight starter characters in the game. Except for the average and unlockable character Kirbies, they all appear in the selection screen order of the respective character whose power they copied. Keeping this in mind, if the player manages to defeat them in the right order (Mario, DK, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Fox, Pikachu, regular/random unlockable), he will be awarded the 25,000-point bonus Kirby Ranks.

Description

From the Game

The 8-inch high Kirby hails from a distant, peaceful star. Like his simplistic appearance, he is an easily-understood character. True to his instincts, Kirby eats when he gets hungry and sleeps as soon as he grows tired. Nevertheless, Kirby remains a formidable opponent. In addition to his distinct flying and swallowing skills, he also has the ability to copy enemy attacks for ever-changing action.

Works:

• Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
• Kirby's Pinball Land (GB)
• Kirby Super Star (SNES) (Kirby's Fun (mispelled as Fan) Pak in the PAL version)

From the Instruction Booklet

An 8-inch high creature from a distant star. He may look harmless, but using his Copy ability, Kirby becomes a formidable opponent.

Alternate costumes

Kirby's palette swaps in SSB

Trivia

• Kirby's Smash 64 appearance is his only appearance where his down special move, Stone, can turn him into only one object. In later games he could turn into five different objects.
• Kirby shares many of his attack animations with Jigglypuff, such as the ducking animation, neutral aerial and tumbling animation.
• While other characters perform a victory pose when selected on the character selection screen in Smash 64, Kirby uses an unique animation for this, being the only character to do so. This pose would also be used for one of his taunts in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• Kirby is the only character in Super Smash Bros. to have only two victory poses, as opposed to three.