Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Character Profiles: King Dedede

For the last 20 years, the faces of Nintendo have clashed in the Super Smash Bros. series. We're now in 2019 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has brought back all of Nintendo's top characters, some of the most recognizable third-party names, and all-new entries to the series, where they'll battle it out once more.

The game may be out in the wild, but with so many characters to choose from, Shacknews remains committed to taking a look at each and every one of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters individually. And we are continuing to do so beyond the game's arrival date.

The final version is in the consumer hands, but these profiles should still not be considered final and can be updated at any time. Any guide that has been updated will be clearly marked.

Here's what we have up so far:
#01 - Mario
#02 - Donkey Kong
#03 - Link
#04 - Samus
#05 - Yoshi
#06 - Kirby (Updated 9/8/18)
#07 - Fox
#08 - Pikachu
#09 - Luigi
#10 - Ness
#11 - Captain Falcon
#15 - Ice Climbers
#16 - Sheik
#17 - Zelda
#19 - Pichu
#21 - Marth
#23 - Ganondorf
#24 - Mewtwo
#28 - Pit
#30 - Wario
#31 - Snake
#32 - Ike
#33, #34, #35 - Pokemon Trainer
#38 - Sonic (Updated 9/3/18)
#40 - Olimar
#42 - R.O.B.
#44 - Wolf
#45 - Villager
#46 - Mega Man
#49 - Little Mac
#55 - Pac-Man
#61 - Cloud
#62 - Corrin
#63 - Bayonetta (Updated 1/11/19)
#64 - Inkling (Updated 12/15/18)
#65 - Ridley
#67 - King K. Rool
#70 - Piranha Plant

Our breakdowns continue with another returning character from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, someone who eats loudly and carries a big hammer.

Who is King Dedede?

King Dedede is one of Kirby's biggest (in more ways than one) rivals. He's not pure evil, like some of Kirby's other adversaries. He's more of a greedy jerk. Dedede isn't even a real king, acting as the self-proclaimed king of Dream Land. He eats everything put in front of him and puts Dream Land through various hardships for his various selfish desires.

Despite Dedede's demeanor, he has fought alongside Kirby in the past. When faced by threats like Nightmare, King Dedede has offered to join Kirby in service of the greater good. After all, Dedede can't feast if there isn't a world left to feast in.

King Dedede's Moves and Fighter Overview

King Dedede is a super heavyweight fighter and having taken part in one too many Gourmet Races, he isn't exactly the fastest character out there. What he lacks in speed, he makes up for in pure power. And that power comes from his mighty hammer.

Dedede's hammer is a blunt instrument of destruction, able to KO at early percentages depending on the opponent. His forward-smash is one of the most powerful in the game, especially if it lands clean. Casuals might even consider forgoing certain items in favor of Dedede's hammer, just because of its range and sheer strength.

Here are King Dedede's special moves:

• Inhale (Neutral B): Dedede inhales his opponents and spits them out for moderate damage. With good timing, he can inhale certain incoming projectiles.
• Super Dedede Jump (Up B): Dedede uses his signature jump, dealing heavy damage on any character in his path or any character he lands on. It can be canceled, but don't cancel it too late, or he'll land with a lot of lag.
• Gordo Throw (Side B): Dedede sends out his powerful, spiky Gordos, which bounce towards opponents. They'll deal moderate to heavy damage, but can be bounced back easily, so be careful.
• Jet Hammer (Down B): Dedede powers up his hammer for a superpowered swing. At full charge, it deals exceptionally heavy damage and will often KO, even at around 50 percent. And if the opponent tries to block it, the fully-charged attack will break their shield. The downside is that he'll suffer recoil damage the longer he holds it at full charge.
• Dede-Rush (Final Smash): A new Final Smash, Dedede takes one opponent into the cage, where his Masked Dedede persona attacks them with his Jet Hammer and a missile barage for massive damage and an almost-assured KO.

King Dedede is not great in a one-on-one situation. But in chaotic four-player or eight-player smashes, he's a force of terror. Dedede can wipe out multiple opponents at once with his hammer and if left to his own devices, a fully-charged forward-smash is sure to KO at least one opponent.

On top of that, Dedede is largely improved from his Smash 4 counterpart. His tilts and smash attacks not only deal greater damage, but his forward-smash can also break shields frequently. Forward-smash does take some time to activate, so if you see a shielding opponent, consider using his improved back-throw, which now has greater KO potential.

Esports Observations

As noted, King Dedede is considered low-tier in competitive circles, because of his slow movement speed. His best option in competitive play is his Gordos, which are easily sent flying back his way.

That doesn't stop the VGBootCamp folks from trying him out and observing some of his more noteworthy changes. They try out his improved Inhale, which is capable of catching projectiles, along with a new back-air. But the character is largely unchanged from Smash 4, so this video sort of devolves into a tennis match.

Let's shift to some tournament footage and a look at one of the best Dedede players in the world, Canada's Dawson "Big D" Perron. Observe his defensive play against a fellow super heavyweight in Donkey Kong, as well as a master's class in Gordo edge-guarding.

So what happens when the pros won't analyze Dedede? We turn to the top amateurs. Washington D.C. Dedede main Soul Train has done extensive research into the character, with his Jet Hammer analysis proving the most fascinating. Here's a look at what he found:

Frame analysis on Jet Hammer. Like DK's Punch, it has a "9-wind" state, swinging anywhere in the ~30 frames before full charge...uncharged kills earlier than Full Charge. This move now HITS ALL LEDGEHANGS and HAS HEAVY ARMOR ON SWING, ya'll need to learn its use. (1) #SSBU_K3 pic.twitter.com/aJYiSiXJDn

— Soul Train (@ThatSoulTrain) December 17, 2018

(2) Jet Hammer hitbox comes out on frame 9, armor starting frame 1 of swing. To compare to Dedede's other kill options, by charge time:
- Charging for 10 frames kills sooner than Bair, .5 seconds kills sooner than Dsmash, and ~2 seconds = Full charge, which breaks shields now.

— Soul Train (@ThatSoulTrain) December 17, 2018

(3) I'm not saying this move is amazing or spammable. But it actually has insane pressure in ledge/trap situations where the opponent is forced to play defense. Practice reacting to options, and you'll get kills at stupid low %s.

— Soul Train (@ThatSoulTrain) December 17, 2018

Case in point...

A King DDD player named Mike just sent @fowskate to losers

Watch the rest of the event here: https://t.co/XilqDTa9o0 pic.twitter.com/Lcqsk9RoHJ

— Smash Studios (@SmashStudiosGG) December 29, 2018

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out now on Nintendo Switch. We're still going through every single character, so be sure to check back in often for more profiles. For more on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, be sure to check out our full walkthrough and guide.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?