Kirby (SSB)/Neutral special

Kirby swallowing Captain Falcon.

Overview

Kirby's neutral special is known as Vacuum (also known as Swallow in Melee and Inhale in later games), where Kirby opens his mouth wide open and then begins to vacuum, creating a vortex of wind. The move can be used for an infinite duration as long as the B button is held down and nothing interrupts Kirby. The move can be stopped by releasing the B button, or if Kirby flinches. Its main purpose is to suck up a nearby opponent. With an opponent inhaled and Kirby bloated by them, Kirby can't move around, and if he is in midair, his falling speed is increased. If Kirby does not do anything with the inhaled opponent, they will eventually escape in a few moments and Kirby will be knocked back. However he has various options that can be used.

The first option is that Kirby can copy an opponent's neutral special move while popping them out for 6% damage - performed by pressing the B button or by tilting the control stick down. This allows Kirby to use their said neutral special move in place of Inhale, and gains a hat resembling that character (for example, if Kirby copies Mario, he will be able to use Fireball, and gains a hat identical to his). However, Kirby can also lose the copied special move and hat by either being attacked enough so that a star resembling that ability drops out of him, being KO'd, or if he decides to discarding it by taunting. Note that if Kirby uses this option after inhaling another Kirby, he won't gain an ability or hat, unless the Kirby being inhaled has a copied ability; the inhaler would gain that ability while the inhaled Kirby would lose it. A list of copy abilities that Kirby can gain can be seen here.

The second option allows Kirby to simply shoot out the inhaled opponent, by pressing the A button. This deals 10% damage, and the opponent is sent in the direction Kirby is facing with decent range. This causes the spit-out opponent to become a projectile. Any bystanders hit by the spit-out opponent will be hit for 17% damage and decent to high knockback.

One infamous option that Kirby can perform is "Kirbycide", a Sacrificial KO. It involves Kirby inhaling the opponent offstage so they both fall down into the lower blast line, KOing the pair of them simultaneously. This technique can quickly remove a stock from both players as it forces Kirby to fall abnormally fast.

Inhale has little to no use in competitive play, as it is laggy, short-ranged, and Kirby has better options outside of in teams with Fox/Mario/Falcon players as it allows Kirby to use lasers/fireballs/use Falcon Punch (for recovery). Kirby can also triple laser if he absorbs a Fox so certain Kirby mains will purposely not finish a combo vs. a fox and instead do an up tilt to swallow to gain this unique method of combat.

Throw and Hitbox Data

This article or section may require additional technical data. The editor who added this tag elaborates: Star hitbox You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Grab

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			Clang	Effect	G	A	Sound
0	0	1%	0		0	100	0	145	0	0	240	200					Punch
1	0	1%	0		0	100	0	180	0	0	240	410					Punch

Inhale Throw

	Bone	Damage	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Effect
Throw		6%		0	100	0

Spit Throw

	Bone	Damage	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Effect
Throw		10%		0	100	0

Timing

Grab

Grab startup	20
Grab loop	21-
Animation length (from release)	19

Swallow

Damage dealt	1
Throw	8
Animation length	29

Spit

Damage dealt	1
Throw	7
Star hitbox	7-40
Animation length	27

Lag

Star

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Loop point

Prop event

Grab

Throw point

Kirby's moveset

Neutral attack (1 · 2 · inf) · Forward tilt · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial
Grab · Forward throw · Back throw
Floor attack (front) · Floor attack (back) · Edge attack (fast) · Edge attack (slow)
Neutral special · Up special · Down special