Kirby (SSB18)

Kirby (カービー Kirby) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. OC 2018. He is the fourth to be revealed out of the Original 8 (Following behind , and ). Kirby in total has the most highest jumps in which it would be less helpful to use his Up B to recover due to his fantastic jumping heights.
==Attributes==
As in previous installments, Kirby is a small lightweight, being tied for the fifth lightest character in the game. This is also reflected in his mobility, which is poor; he has a slow walking speed, average dashing speed, a slow falling speed, a low gravity, lowest air speed, below average traction and average air acceleration. Despite having the second lowest jumps, he can jump a total of six times, making up for that flaw.
Kirby's greatest strength is the versatility of his moveset. Almost all of Kirby's moves are characterized by speed, and those that are not have very high power instead. Neutral attack and forward tilt are fast and have decent range, allowing Kirby to quickly fend off opponents. Up tilt is notorious for its combo capabilities, being very quick and having the ability to consistently combo into itself or an aerial attack. Down tilt is very fast, with its very low power being compensated by the Sakurai angle, allowing it to trip opponents even at percents as high as 270%. His smash attacks have good range and high power while not being particularly slow, making them excellent at ending an opponent's stock. His aerial game is also powerful and all of his aerials have less than 18 frames of landing lag. Neutral aerial lasts for a long amount of time, and its very low landing lag grants Kirby a lot of protection and allows him to take full advantage of buffering. Forward aerial is powerful, chains fluidly and can allow additional follow-ups at low percents. Up aerial has vertical knockback, low landing lag and has a good amount of autocanceling frames, allowing many potential follow-ups. Back aerial has decent range, lasts for a decent amount of time and is Kirby's fastest and strongest aerial, making it a very good all-purpose aerial attack. Lastly, down aerial, though it has slow start up, drags opponents downwards before meteor smashing them, making it a deceptively powerful edgeguarding tool. In addition, it is an effective combo starter with guaranteed followups on grounded opponents.
His grab game is also useful. His grabs are either fast or have good range, making up for the lack of the other. Despite dealing little damage, his pummel is very fast, allowing Kirby to rack up damage quickly. His forward throw, notorious in Brawl for its highly damaging combo options at 0%, has been improved even further, now possessing follow-ups even at medium percents, including down aerial to re-grab. Back throw can be followed up by a back aerial at 0% on certain characters, tech-chase fast-fallers and KO at high percents. Up throw is his strongest throw and is able to KO almost all characters at 170%, or even earlier if it lands on a platform. Down throw, despite being near useless, can rack up plenty of damage when no other throw can yield better results.
His special moveset has some interesting options. Inhale is Kirby's signature move, allowing him to either copy the neutral special move of any character he Inhales or spit them out as a weight-dependent projectile. The latter can be used to Kirbycide or put the opponent below the stage, almost eliminating their chances of recovering. The former, depending on what character he Inhales, can give Kirby a small help (Unibeam and Spin Wheel). Hammer Flip is extremely powerful, especially when fully charged. Its low speed, however, makes it very difficult to use outside of edgeguarding or after a shield break]. Final Cutter is Kirby's primary move for recovery and is decent at that, granting good vertical and horizontal distance, as well as decent protection on the way up and on the way down. It also releases a beam upon landing, making it difficult to punish if not at point-blank range. Finally, Stone causes Kirby to plummet straight down and ignore damage by any move that deals less than 30%. It is also very strong and can be canceled at any time, making it useful for playing mindgames.
However, Kirby has noticeable flaws. As mentioned, Kirby has poor mobility, giving him significant trouble approaching and pressuring opponents. It also gives him trouble against fast characters (such as ) or those with disjointed hitboxes (like ). In addition, despite being very long, his recovery is extremely slow, making aggressive edgeguarding and gimp-oriented moves (such as F.L.U.D.D. or meteor smashes) detrimental to him. Kirby's range is also mediocre at best, and his strongest moves happen to be his slowest, making it difficult for him to KO opponents outside of edgeguarding or without a set-up. His most prominent weakness, however, is his endurance. Being light and floaty, Kirby cannot survive strong hits at high percentages. He is also very vulnerable to juggling, due to the aforementioned slow falling speed and slow air speed. The introduction of rage further compounds these issues, as Kirby will get sent flying even earlier, and will usually not last long enough to take advantage of it.
==Moveset==
Attack 	Name 	Damage 	Description
Neutral Attack 	 	2%, 3%, 1% (loop), 2% (last) 	Two quick punches followed by the Vulcan Jab from the Fighter ability. The finisher is the Smash Punch from the Fighter ability. Like most neutral attacks, it is an effective landing or out of shield option thanks to hitting on frame 3.
Side Tilt 	 	8% (base), 7% (tip) 	A spinning roundhouse kick. Can be angled and is quick, as it hits on frame 5.
Up Tilt 	 	5% 	Kicks behind him upwards.
Down Tilt 	 	6% 	A crouching shin kick. It hits on frame 4, which makes it fairly spammable. When coupled with its tripping potential, it can be a useful set-up option.
Dash Attack 	 	1% (hits 1-5), 4% (hit 6) 	The Break Spin from the Yo-yo ability. It is difficult to SDI out of the move and the last hit deals high knockback. Hits on frame 12.
Side Smash 	 	15% (uncharged), 21% (fully charged) 	A thrust kick. It deals impressive knockback, as it can KO uncharged from center-stage at 107% (no angle), 99% (up angle), 116% (down angle) when clean. It can also be angled and slightly moves Kirby forward. Hits on frame 13.
Up Smash 	 	15% (uncharged), 21% (fully charged) 	A backflip kick. Deals impressive knockback, as it KOs uncharged at 101% when clean. Kirby's foot is also intangible as long as the hitbox remains active. Hits from frames 14-19.
Down Smash 	 	14% (clean), 10% (late) 	A spinning split kick. It launches opponents upward and while it is Kirby's weakest smash attack, it deals respectable knockback and KOs uncharged at 112% when clean. Kirby's feet are also intangible during start-up and the clean hitbox of the attack. Hits from frames 10-22.
Neutral aerial 	 	10% 	The Twinkle Star from the Smash ability. A decent anti-pressure and out of shield option due to its very low landing lag, as well as a good combo starter at low percents. Hits on frame 10.
Forward aerial 	 	 	The Spin Kick from the Fighter ability. The first two hits deal low knockback, which makes it connect reliably with the third hit. Its low landing lag also allows the first or second hit to be used as a set-up into other moves. Can connect into itself for a pseudo-Wall of Pain in certain instances. Hits on frame 10.
Back aerial 	 	 	A double footed back kick. Functions as a sex kick, has very low start-up lag and good range due to its slightly disjointed hitbox. One of Kirby's most useful aerial attacks, as it is very good at edge-guarding and can perform a Wall of Pain. KOs at 131% when clean. Hits from frames 6-14.
Up aerial 	 	 	The Moon Somersault Kick from the Fighter ability. Mainly used for juggling or continuing a combo due to its low landing lag. Hits from frames 10-15.
Down aerial 	 	1% (hits 1-5), 2% (hit 6), 2% (landing) 	A diagonal corkscrew dropkick. An effective combo starter on grounded opponents and, due to the last hit being a weak meteor smash, it is a dangerous edge-guarding option, especially since its low ending lag makes it relatively safe to use off-stage. It can even lead into a footstool jump on fast-fallers and heavyweights. Hits on frame 18, and the start-up frames can be auto-canceled on landing, giving Kirby a very large window to safely land while tumbling.
Grab 	 	- 	Swipes to grab
Pummel 	 	1% 	A quick punch.
Forward Throw 	 	5% 	The Pile Driver from the Suplex ability. One of the best forward throws in the game due to its combo potential. It can lead into highly damaging combos, such as into a down aerial into another grab, depending on the opponent's DI.
Back Throw 	 	8% 	The Big Suplex from the Suplex ability. Can lead into back aerial at low percents on certain characters. Its decent knockback also enables it to KO most heavyweights around 170% while near the edge.
Up Throw 	 	10% 	The Air Drop from the Ninja ability. Because Kirby jumps up to perform it, he can land onto platforms above him after descending. This is his strongest throw.
Down Throw 	 	0.8% (hits 1-9), 1% (hit 10), 2% (throw) 	The Fury Stomp from the Suplex ability. In addition to damaging the thrown opponent, it can damage nearby opponents. Good for racking up damage and is Kirby's most damaging throw.
Neutral Special	Inhale 	10% 	Kirby opens his mouth and begins to drag everything infront of him in his mouth. If Kirby catches an opponent, he can either gain their copy ability or spit them out.
Side Special 	Hammer Flip 	19% (uncharged), 35% (fully charged) 	The attack of the same name from the Hammer ability. It is chargeable and, when fully charged, Kirby's hammer will ignite and gradually damage him. He can also slowly walk and jump while charging it, while it a fully charged Hammer Flip grants armor during part of the swing. When it is used in midair, Kirby will swing his hammer twice. When uncharged, it KOs at 127% while grounded and 162% in the air. When fully charged, it KOs at 37% when grounded and 71% when in midair.
Up Special 	Final Cutter	5% (ascent), 2% (descent), 5% (landing), 6% (shockwave)	The attack of the same name from the Cutter ability. It can meteor smash any opponents he comes into contact with upon descending. The sword also emits a shockwave upon hitting a solid surface, which is Kirby's only projectile aside from spitting out an Inhaled opponent. A good vertical recovery move and has decent horizontal distance when angled. However, it is extremely predictable due to its high start-up. Kirby cannot sweetspot the edge until he starts to descend, and if the platform beneath him disappears or if he is pushed off while he is still in the landing animation, he will be rendered helpless.
Down Special 	Stone 	18% (impact), 14% (shockwave) 	The Stone Change (while Kirby is on the ground) and the Stone Smash (while Kirby is in the air) from the Stone ability. Stone Smash has is rather strong, as it KOs at 108% and deals considerable shield damage, whereas Stone Change is slightly weaker. It can also be canceled in midair by pressing the special button, which can be used for mindgames. Kirby also cannot be damaged while he is transformed, although the form has a set amount of durability and he can be grabbed while transformed.
Final Smash 	Ultra Sword 	3% (stun), 5% (hit 1), 2% (hits 2-9), 16% (hit 10) 	The Ultra Sword Super Ability. Kirby takes out a gigantic sword and repeatedly slashes the opponent. If the move connects, he will rapidly move around them while slashing at them multiple times with a giant sword before finishing with a powerful slash from an even larger sword.
===On-screen appearance===
*Rides on a Warp Star and crashes it onto the stage.
===Taunts===
*Up: Shuffles to one side, then shuffles to the opposite side before spinning and then holding his arm up. It is almost identical to one of his victory dances in the Kirby series.
*Side: Spins repeatedly, then stops to balance on one leg and extend one arm and say "Eeu!" It is almost identical to the "preview" animation shown when he is chosen in the original Super Smash Bros.
*Down: Leans inward to face the screen and wave his arms while saying "Hi!"
===Idle poses===
*Hops to look off-screen, then hops back into his default position.
*Briefly nods off, then shakes his head and wakes up.
===Victory poses===
*Spins to turn his back to the screen and then briefly wiggles, does a front flip to face the screen, and then holds his arm up.
*Skids to the right, spins and then holds his arm up.
*Brings his arms down twice, does a cartwheel, and then holds his arm up.
==Trophies==
==Palette Swaps / Alternate Costumes==
==Trivia==