Veteran: King Dedede

Posted by venusbloom on

King Dedede from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Name: King Dedede

Universe: Kirby

Debut:

Element Alignment: Wind

Affinity: Neutral

Reasons for Fighting: Prestige

Availability: Starter

King Dedede returns to Super Smash Bros. 4 with his massive hammer, multiple jumps, inhaling ability, and his army of waddle-dees. King Dedede plays as both antagonist and (unintentional) protagonist in the various Kirby games. While some his plots are thwarted, in the end, everyone is happy in Dream Land.

Changes from SSBB to SSB4

Chain grab throws have been removed from King Dedede’s Down Throw. It does more vertical knock back and provides a little hit stun. Other than that, King Dedede remains still a powerful character that is not to be underestimated.

King Dedede’s Special B Move Set

  • B – Inhale
  • Side B – Waddle Dee Toss
  • Up B – Super Dedede Jump
  • Down B – Jet Hammer

The Final Trio

  • Final Smash – Waddle Dee Army
  • Final Melee – Megaton Hammer
  • Final Brawl – Mt. Dedede

Descriptions

Waddle Dee Army is King Dedede`s Final Smash. It has the same properties as before.

  • Beginning Animation: King Dedede holds up his right hand and with his left, blows a whistle abnd summons a horde of Waddle-Dees and Doos.

Megaton Hammer is King Dedede`s Final Melee. King Dedede`s Jet Hammer begins to glow and expels a massive amount of energy. Additionally, it grows 3 times it`s normal size without slowing down the wielder. King Dedede can attack with it and ar ebased on all of his hamemr attacks. However, they are tripeled in damage and knock back. As well, by pressing B, King Dedede can temporarily release a stream of energy that surrounds the hammer. It can then project itself in front of the hammer and deal damage that way. In a way, it comes a long distance oriented attack.

  • Beginning Cinematic: King Dedede taps his hammer three times and it starts to expand and gather energy.

Mt. Dedede is King Dedede`s Final Brawl. King Dedede places his hands on the ground, and from under the opponent. a massive castle perched on a tall mountain begins to rise up from the ground. It carries the opponent along with the castle and mountain. King Dedede then takes his Jet Hammer and swings and strikes the mountain. It then crumbles down and atkes the opponent with it. It does 72% damage.

Proposed Stage: Cookie Country

Proposed New Taunts

  • Right Side – Swings back and then does a golf-like swing with his hammer. He then laughs.

Proposed New Palette Swap

Winter King Dedede

Proposed DLC Costumes

Masked King Dedede (from Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra)

Crystal Shards 64 King Dedede (from Kirby 64 Crystal Shards)

Current King Dedede Move Set (Taken from the SmashWikia)

Changes are in BOLD

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal
  • Neutral Attack – A three part attack: first is a horizontal swipe, then a vertical swipe, and finally a repeating, indefinite hammer spin in the fashion of a drill. Can deal a large amount of damage, but the spinning part is easily DI‘d out of. If the “Attack” button is held during the spinning part, the spin can be held indefinitely. Though its reach is good for a jab, it is one of the worst jabs in the game as it has slow start-up (slowest start-up in the game among neutral attacks) as well as being rather slow to the second and third hit. Does 6% for the first hit, 5% for the second hit, and 1% to 2% for each hit in the “drill” portion.
  • Dash Attack – Trips and face-plants forward, like he does in several Kirby games. A good deal of starting and ending lag, but deals a large amount of damage, has high KO potential (strongest dash attack in the game). It is powerful enough to KO even under 100% (it KOs reliably around 115%). Even though it is slow, it has a massive hitbox (it covers Dedede’s entire body and extend some in the front) and it has a long duration. Due to this, it can be used as a deadly edgeguarder and it punishes spot dodgers, as the hitbox often lasts longer than the invincibility frames from the sidestep dodge. Does 16%.
  • Forward tilt – Extends his hammer forward and spins it. Long lasting hitbox but produces very low knockback. However, it has amazing reach – the farthest of any non-projectile ground attack, and is somewhat fast compared to other attacks of similar range. As such, it is a useful spacing move, especially on slower characters, but is generally unsafe at point blank range. Does 6% with the initial hitbox, the subsequent hitbox does 4%.
  • Up tilt- Sets his hammer on the ground momentarily and jumps a little upwards, headbutting. It has surprisingly fast start-up with low ending lag. It has great vertical reach and a massive hitbox that covers Dedede’s entire body. Due to this and its hitbox having a long duration, it is great for a spot dodge, rolling dodge and air dodge trapper. It has very high knockback scaling and is the second strongest up tilt in the game (without DI and momentum canceling, Snake’s up tilt KOs most characters a 1% or 2% faster due to its higher base knockback). Is often considered on par with Snake’s up tilt for being the best up tilt in the game, usually done immediately after rolling towards the opponent or to punish characters landing with an air dodge. Snake’s up tilt tends to perform better on flat stages such as Final Destination due to its good horizontal reach, which Dedede’s lack and is a better out of shield option. However, Dedede’s tends to perform better on stages with platforms from below such as Battlefield, as Dedede’s has a longer lasting and wider hitbox, slightly better vertical reach, and the fact that Dedede’s doesn’t have a sourspot like Snake’s does (though Snake’s sourspot still has high knockback). In the end, whichever up tilt is better depends largely on the situation. Does 12%.
  • Down tilt- Extends just one of his legs and sweeps the ground with it. It has average speed but fairly good knockback and pretty good reach for a down tilt, and like Dedede’s other tilts it has a long hitbox duration (though it is shorter than his forward and up tilts). Has decent edgeguard ability, particularly against characters with poor ledge sweetspots, though generally one of his aerials or forward smash is a more useful option. Does 10%
Smash
  • Side Smash – Swings his hammer over his head at the ground in front of him. Creates a small shock wave that damages opponents just outside the hammer’s range. Slowest start-up in the game for a forward smash (43 Frames) and needs to sweetspot to be powerful, but it has extremely powerful horizontal knockback when sweetspotted, has rather low ending lag compared to its start-up and has very long reach (which makes it difficult to punish). It has extremely high base knockback and knockback scaling, being the second strongest in both categories among forward smashes (only Snake’s has higher base knockback and Ike’s has higher knockback scaling). When it comes to KO percentage, King Dedede’s forward smash is the strongest in the game, KOing reliably at 60% uncharged. It can also be used as a risky, but deadly edgeguarder, often KOing recovering opponents above 30%. It is significantly weaker when sourspotted, dealing half the damage and not KOing until about 160%. The sweetspot produces a much louder “thud” when landed. Does 25% uncharged and 33% fully charged when sweetspotted. Does 12% uncharged and 16% fully charged when sourpsotted. The “quake” hitbox at the end of the forward smash does 6% uncharged and 8% fully charged with extremely low vertical knockback, with its main purpose being to make the forward smash less punishable. Both the hitboxes of the sweetspot and sourspot have transcendent priority.
  • Up Smash – Pulls back the hammer then swings vertically upwards from in front of him. It has strong vertical knockback with average base knockback and high knockback scaling along with a hitbox that covers the area in front of and behind Dedede, as well as above him. However, it has slow start-up lag and even worse ending lag with rather average damage output for an up smash. When uncharged, it is weaker than his up tilt as well as being much slower. As such, Dedede’s up smash is often neglected and is not often used. KOs reliably around 120-125%. Does 14% uncharged and 19% fully charged. The hitbox in Dedede’s up smash does have transcendent priority.
  • Down Smash – Pulls back the hammer and then spins it horizontally along the ground. Slow start-up and ending lag for a down smash, though Dedede’s down smash does not have the horrible start-up of his forward smash or the ending lag of his up smash. The down smash does have fairly good horizontal reach with above average vertical knockback (it is weaker than the up tilt and smash however). It works well as a roll dodge and air dodge trapper as the hitbox is swept around Dedede and like his other attacks, it too has a hitbox with a long duration. Despite being the least powerful of his smash attacks, his down smash can be considered Dedede’s most reliable smash due to it being faster than the other two smashes while having a favorable hitbox. This is occasionally his preferred ground finisher against short characters on platformless stages like Final Destination, where landing an up tilt would be difficult. Does 15% uncharged and 21% fully charged. Like Dedede’s other smashes, the hitbox of the down smash has transcendent priority.
Others
  • Ledge Attack – Pulls himself up and as he is about halfway up, he quickly kicks out with his foot at the ground in front of him.
  • 100% Ledge Attack – Slowly pulls himself up, and when he is most of the way pulled back onto to the stage, quickly swings his hammer over his head down in front of him.
  • Floor Attack – Quickly kicks to the side his feet are facing, then kicks in the other direction.
  • 100% Floor Attack – Slowly gets up and swings his hammer in front of him, then sticks his hammer behind him and spins it.

Aerial Attacks

  • Neutral Aerial – Sticks his arms out and legs back, body slamming with his large stomach. Very fast start-up with a hitbox that covers Dedede’s entire body and has a long duration but below average knockback. Minimal landing lag. Has properties similar to a Sex Kick, with the initial hitbox being much stronger than the subsequent hitbox. Both the initial and subsequent hitboxes have transcendent priority. Can fastfall the attack so the later hitbox hits the opponent, setting up well for other attacks like his grab or up tilt. Does 12% with the initial hitbox and does 7% with the subsequent hitbox.
  • Forward Aerial – Swings hammer upwards in front of him. Somewhat slow start-up lag and is generally awkward to use against grounded opponents, especially due to its noticeable landing lag. While difficult to utilize against grounded opponents, it is very useful for edgeguarding due to its good top-to-bottom coverage, strong knockback, and low ending lag, which allows it to be used in Wall of Pains in conjunction with his bair. Due to Dedede’s extreme fastfall and fair’s vertical reach, Dedede can fastfall while attacking to great effect giving it humongous range. Does 15%.
  • Back Aerial – Thrusts a foot out behind him, kicking with it. Overall a quick attack in both starting and ending, good horizontal reach, strong horizontal knockback, and a hitbox with long duration. Dedede can string multiple B-airs at low percentages and use it in conjunction with his fair in Wall of Pains. When it is not stale, it is also a reliable KO move, reliably KOing under 150%. It does have some landing lag, but is difficult to punish when properly spaced. Arguably the best back air in the game and is often considered Dedede’s best attack. Has properties of a Sex Kick, with the initial hitbox being stronger than the subsequent hitbox, though the subsequent hitbox only does 3% less damage with its knockback not being that much lower. Does 13% with the initial hitbox and 10% with the subsequent hitbox.
  • Up Aerial – Sticks his hammer above him and spins it. Multiple hits, good for racking up damage. Final hit deals pretty good vertical knockback. Good anti-air move. Somewhat quick along with good, disjointed vertical reach though its hitbox is not that wide, making it difficult to hit some characters in the air, though it is hard for floatier characters with poor aerial mobility to avoid it. Does a minimum of 2% with a maximum of 19%.
  • Down Aerial – Similar to his Up Aerial, but extends his hammer below him and is a bit slower. It also has more hitlag with each hit. It has decent start up and low end lag, along with low vertical knockback on the final hit, which sets up well for many of Dedede’s other aerials (including another down air) at low to medium percents. Also like up air, its long duration and fairly low end lag make it great at countering certain vertically oriented moves, like Metaknight‘s Shuttle Loop. If he uses his Dair when he’s flying past the upwards blast line, a glitch will occur that causes the spinning sound effect to last the entire time he’s being star KO’d. Does a minimum of 2% and a maximum of 17%.

Grabs and Throws

Note: King Dedede has the longest non-tether grab in the game, which when combined with his weight and high traction, make him the best shield grabber in the game, being able to shield grab even powerful attacks.

  • Pummel – Lays his hammer on the ground and headbutts them. Despite being a slow 3% pummel, only the first hit counts towards Stale-Move Negation. Does 3% per hit.
  • Forward Throw – Clubs opponent with hammer. A fast throw with high knockback for a throw, though it is weaker than his back throw. Does occasionally KO near the edge of stages if the opponent DIs poorly. Does 12%.
  • Back Throw – Hits opponent with hammer behind himself. It is the most damaging throw in the game and is also fairly powerful in knockback. It is slower than his forward throw, though it is still rather fast. Has KO potential at very high percents. Does 16%.
  • Up Throw – Hits opponent upward by sticking both his hands upward. Can KO easily in Sudden Death like most of his throws. Often neglected and rarely used. Does 9%.
  • Down Throw – Slams opponent on ground and sits on top of them. In SSBB, the Down Throw can be chain grabbed. This is changed in SSB4. It does more knock back at the same damage and provides a bit of hit stun while in knock back animation to allow King Dedede to combo into it. 8% damage.

Taunts

  • Up: Hoists his hammer above his head and pumps it up and down. Oddly, the sound is out of sync with the movement if he does it while facing left.
  • Down: Dances in a circle while drumming on his belly.
  • Side: Spins his hammer while looking at the camera, laughing.

Stage Entrance

  • He is carried by Waddle Dees in a sedan chair and he jumps off.

My Thoughts

King Dedede is a strong, unique character that, when in the hand ofba pro, he can be very hard to beat. However, that is the problem. King Dedede’s chain throw grabs can be very devastating and gives him an advantage against many opponents. That is why I removed his chain throw grab.

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