Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Kirby series – 03 King Dedede 

Debut

In the Kirby series: Kirby’s Dream Land (1992)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)

Boxing Ring Title: Self-Made King

Theme Song: King Dedede’s Theme (Brawl)

King Dedede is a reoccurring character in the Kirby series and the self-proclaimed "King of Dream Land." Originally depicted as a villain, later games would portray him as a well-meaning - if slightly selfish - individual, becoming Kirby's "arch-frienemy." Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee, and a bunch of other various individuals serve underneath him.

In his debut in "Kirby's Dream Land," King Dedede stole all of Dream Land's food. Not only that, he also stole the five Wishing Stars, giving four of them to four of his henchmen: Whispy Woods, Lololo & Lalala, Kaboola, and Kracko. No one was willing to stand up to him... Well, no one except for a small pink puffball named Kirby. At the end of the game, King Dedede would battle Kirby on top of Mt. Dedede. Despite King Dedede's efforts, Kirby would defeat him, reclaiming the fifth Wishing Star and returning the stolen food to the citizens.

After that, a final scene with King Dedede plays, though what happens depends on the game mode. In the Normal Mode, King Dedede throws a fit before running off. In Extra Mode, King Dedede ends up sulking over his defeat before walking off, with Kirby following behind.

At some point after that, King Dedede would begin training himself to float in the air like Kirby, which he would master in time for his next appearance...

In "Kirby's Adventure," King Dedede manages to learn of Nightmare's plans to take over Dream Land by taking over the Fountain of Dreams and spreading his nightmares to the citizens. King Dedede manages to seal Nightmare away in the Star Rod, then proceeds to break it into seven pieces. He then gives six of the pieces to six of his henchmen - like Meta Knight - while keeping a piece for himself. After that, King Dedede decided to turn the Fountain of Dreams into his own private bubble bath.

However, without the Star Rod, people weren't able to have pleasant dreams, so Kirby arrived to investigate. Upon seeing King Dedede, Kirby assumed he was up to his old tricks and heads off to reclaim the Star Rod pieces. Once Kirby obtained the six pieces, he would fight King Dedede for the seventh piece. King Dedede would once again lose, allowing Kirby to restore the Star Rod. King Dedede would try to stop Kirby from placing it back on the Fountain of Dreams, but Kirby would ignore him. Putting it back in place, Kirby quickly learns why King Dedede was trying to stop him as Nightmare re-emerges! King Dedede quickly inhales both Kirby and the Star Rod before spitting them towards Nightmare. Once Kirby manages to defeat Nightmare, he apologizes to King Dedede, puts the Star Rod back in its proper place, and heads home to sleep.

In "Kirby's Dream Land 2," an evil being named Dark Matter arrives to Pop Star. Feeling angry and jealous of the close friendships that the inhabitants of the planet have, Dark Matter possesses King Dedede and destroys the Rainbow Bridges, before sending out little miniature versions of itself to possess certain inhabitants of Dream Land. Kirby and his friends learn of this, and they set out to not only stop Dark Matter, but also to find the seven Rainbow Drops.

At the Dark Castle, Kirby fights the possessed King Dedede. If all of the Rainbow Drops have been collected, then after defeating King Dedede, Kirby turns the Rainbow Drops into the Rainbow Sword as Dark Matter emerges from King Dedede to escape to the skies. Kirby gives pursuit, where he manages to defeat it after a tough battle. During the ending, King Dedede, along with the rest of Kirby's friends, are shown watching Kirby use the Rainbow Sword to restore the Rainbow Bridges.

The Dark Matter plot would be followed up on in "Kirby's Dream Land 3" and "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards." Notably, the latter game would be the first time players could play as King Dedede, but only in certain levels.

King Dedede also appears in "Kirby Super Star" where he's the main antagonist in two of the game's modes: Spring Breeze, which is a retelling of the plot of "Kirby's Dream Land"; and Gourmet Race, where he has a race with Kirby to see who can find and eat the most food.

In the remake, "Kirby Super Star Ultra", along with reprising his roles in Spring Breeze and Gourmet Race, he also stars in a new mode called Revenge of the King. In it, King Dedede wants - what else? - revenge on Kirby for defeating him in Spring Breeze and Gourmet Race. To get it, he steals the Wishing Stars yet again, rallies his forces, fortifies his castle, creates a new alias called "Masked Dedede", and sends Kirby his challenge.

At the end of the game, Kirby arrives in King Dedede's arena, where the King gives Kirby a hammer so that they can fight on equal terms. Despite his efforts, Kirby manages to defeat King Dedede again, flinging him out of his castle. King Dedede is then seen sadly walking through a desert, with his band of Waddle Dees - and Bandana Waddle Dee - following behind him.

"Kirby's Return to Dream Land" would be the first time King Dedede would truly be playable in the mainline games, but only for the second, third, or fourth player in the main campaign. "Kirby Triple Deluxe" on the other hand, would give King Dedede his own unlockable campaign called "Dededetour." Dededetour sees King Dedede heading off to stop Queen Sectonia from conquering Dream Land, exploring the various areas of her kingdom while fighting off the various hordes she sends after him.

Personality-wise, King Dedede is portrayed as egocentric and gluttonous. He views Kirby as his main rival and often battles him for food and other various reasons. Despite his egotistical nature, he's not really evil, and is willing to to help Kirby save Dream Land from bigger threats, if not confronting them himself. King Dedede also seems to have a fondness for wrestling matches, since he tends to be fought in boxing rings.

King Dedede also shows up in the animated adaption "Kirby: Right Back At Ya'!" Like in the games, King Dedede is the self-proclaimed "King of Dream Land" and tends to be rather selfish. Unlike the games, he's portrayed as more of a tyrant, and as such most of the citizens dislike him and try to ignore him. He's often seen hanging out with Escargoon, his right-hand man and only friend. (and even he isn't too fond of King Dedede) The show also gives King Dedede a thick Texan accent.

Throughout the series, King Dedede tends to order monsters from Nightmare Enterprises in hopes that one of them can "Clobber that there Kirby!" As the show goes on, it becomes clear that most of his ire comes from the fact that he's jealous of Kirby's powers and popularity among the citizens of Dream Land. Regardless, he slowly begins to change his opinion on the little pink spud.

In Super Smash Bros, King Dedede is a heavy-weight who has the ability to jump four additional times in the air! With his trusty hammer, he should have no problem clobbering his opponents and sending them into orbit!

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Inhale/Spit 

King Dedede opens his mouth to try and Inhale anyone in front of him.

Once he sucks up an opponent, King Dedede can then walk and hop around, though he’s somewhat slow and can’t jump very high due to the opponent in his stomach. Said opponent can also escape from him if he doesn’t Spit them out soon.

Pressing the Special Button or the Attack button will have King Dedede Spit his foe out as a star. The star can damage other opponents, and travels a certain distance before the foe returns to normal.

King Dedede can also use Inhale to eat nearby food and crates. He’ll even recover some damage by doing so!

King Dedede can also Inhale certain projectiles – like Mario’s Fireball – and spit them back at the offender, making Inhale act as a reflector of sorts.

If King Dedede inhales an explosive – like a Bob-omb – he’ll take damage, so be careful!

Inspired by one of King Dedede’s attacks during his boss fight in “Kirby’s Dream Land.” If King Dedede managed to inhale Kirby, he'd spit him out, damaging the little pink puff ball.

Side Special: Gordo Throw

King Dedede pulls out a Gordo and whacks it ahead of him! The Gordo will bounce three times before disappearing.

Depending on how whether you input the move like a regular attack or a Smash Attack, as well if you’re holding the control stick up or down, will change how far the Gordo flies. Neutral/forward covers a pretty long distance, up causes it to not go very far, and down’s distance is an in-between.

Opponents who deliver a powerful blow to the Gordo – or have a way to reflect it – can fling it back at King Dedede! Be careful!

King Dedede can also use Inhale on his own Gordo and Spit it out at lighting fast speeds if one wishes. It’s easiest to do with an angled up Gordo Throw. 

The move is inspired by King Dedede’s previous Side Special, Waddle Dee Toss, in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl." When using the move, King Dedede had a very rare chance to toss a Gordo instead of a Waddle Dee, or even a Waddle Doo. In other words, this move is original to Super Smash Bros.

Gordos are common enemies in the Kirby series, serving as dangerous, undefeatable obstacles. In “Kirby Star Allies,” King Dedede’s doppelganger, Parallel Dedede, utilizes Gordo Throw in an identical manner during his boss fight. 

Up Special: Super Dedede Jump

King Dedede takes a second to crouch before jumping up super high! During the crouch, you can angle the trajectory King Dedede will fling himself, but once he jumps, you're committed to it. As King Dedede is falling, anyone nearby will get flung towards the ground!

Once he lands, two stars will shoot out from King Dedede’s sides. These stars aren’t very strong, but deal decent damage.

As King Dedede is falling, you can cancel out of the attack by pressing the Jump Button. This not only lets him fall much slower, but it also allows you move King Dedede, making it easier to angle him where you want him to land.

If you cancel the jump when you’re too close to the ground, King Dedede will suffer a crash landing, leaving him open for an attack!

If there’s an impassable ceiling above King Dedede as he’s using Super Dedede Jump, he’ll bump his head and end the move early.

Inspired by one of his during his boss fight in “Kirby’s Dream Land.” King Dedede would jump into the air, and upon landing, two stars would pop out from his sides. Kirby could inhale these stars and spit them back at King Dedede to damage him.  

Down Special: Jet Hammer

King Dedede brings his hammer to his side behind him, revealing a jet engine inside the hammer. King Dedede will then forcibly swing the hammer in front of him.

If you hold the Special Button, King Dedede will charge the hammer. Once it’s fully charged, King Dedede will twirl around as he swings it, allowing him to hit people from behind!

Be careful! Once the Jet Hammer is fully charged, King Dedede will slowly take damage until you either release the button to swing, or if he gets attacked.

Inspired by Kirby’s Hammer ability in “Kirby’s Adventure.” The ability to perform the Hammer Flip attack with it would debut in “Kirby Super Star.”

Although he wields a hammer, King Dedede wouldn’t be seen using the Hammer Flip move until "Kirby's Return to Dream Land." 

Final Smash: Dede-Rush 

King Dedede starts by swinging his mallet in front of him, Whoever he hits get sent into a caged arena. If King Dedede hits more than one foe, than whoever is the closest gets flung to the caged arena, while the other simply get flung away.

King Dedede, now in his Masked Dedede alias, begins barraging the opponent with missiles from his hammer…

And caps the move off by performing Hammer Swing while rushing straight towards the opponent to smack them with his jet-powered mallet!

If King Dedede is unable to hit anyone with the first swing, the move fails.

Inspired by Masked Dedede’s boss fight in “Kirby Super Star Ultra.” During the fight, King Dedede attacks Kirby by launching missiles from his mallet, as well as performing the Hammer Swing.

Also inspired by King Dedede's boss fight in "Kirby Block Ball," which was the first game to show King Dedede firing missiles from his trusty hammer. 

Additional Notes

In the Super Smash Bros. series, King Dedede is voiced by Masahiro Sakurai, the person who created both the Kirby series and the Super Smash Bros. series. Cool, huh? This wouldn't be the first time Masahiro Sakurai voiced him, as he also did his voice for "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards."

King Dedede was originally planned to be included as a playable in “Super Smash Bros. 64,” but it didn’t happen. That being said, he still makes an appearance in the background of the “Dream Land” stage. Speaking of which, if you play as King Dedede on that stage, then he won't show up in the background.