KDL:Castle dedede

The last stage of the game that features a boss rush section with 4 doors that each have a picture of a previous boss. Entering a door leads to a short version of that boss' stage, ending with a door blocked by a special Gordo which will defeat Kirby in one hit. The Gordos can be destroyed by touching the impostor Kirby, but it's also possible to get into the doors while the Gordo is still there. Players can finish the bosses in any order they wish - although it's optimal to finish the Lololo & Lalala room first due to it being the closest room to Kirby's initial spawn point - before facing King Dedede for the final battle. Dedede has 4 attacks but only 2 of them (jumping and hammering) give out stars, further adding to the randomness of this already RNG-heavy run.

Castle dedede

Stage Directory

Green Greens

Castle Lololo

Float Islands

Bubbly Clouds

Castle Dedede

Normal Mode

Since the bosses for Normal Mode are comparatively easy (especially Kabula), runners are typically less wary of their health and can go for more aggressive strategies, such as damage boosting past the Gordos in the Whispy and Kracko rooms, which save a second each.

Gordo damage boost GIFs

Runners can also go for double hits in the Lololo & Lalala fight it they get favorable patterns. Before fighting Dedede, runners should check their remaining health and can choose to take a quick intentional death if they are low (especially if they are planning on doing double hits on Dedede, as doing them damageless - while possible - requires much more precise spacing).

Damageless Dedede double hit GIF

Doing the Gordo skips damageless was thought to be TAS-only until around 2022, but since then RTA-viable setups have been found for all 4 rooms. They are some of the most difficult strats in the run though, and are not recommended unless a runner doesn't have any other timesaves left to implement. For more information on Gordo skips and Dedede double hits, see the Movement & Tech page.

Gordo skip GIFs

Extra Mode

The bosses in Extra Mode are much more unforgiving and therefore most runners tend not to go for any Gordo damage boosts, although all Gordo skips can be performed in the same or a similar manner to Normal Mode. Taking an intentional death in the Dedede fight is a much more common practice in Extra Mode due to the aggressive bosses, including Dedede himself moving and attacking faster. There is some evidence that Dedede is more likely to give a jump attack when offscreen, so some runners try to bait him into jumping over their head so that he jumps twice in a row.

All Items

It might seem that there are no items in this stage, but in the current rule-set each impostor Kirby is required to be collected in this category, so Gordo skips are not allowed.