DK Frame Data *Throws Added*

Brawl runs at 60 frames per second and the timing of each move is basically divided into frames. Everything happens on a frame by frame basis. Everything happens n frames after pressing some buttons. The basic format I will use for organizing this is Name ...attacking frames/completion frame...(special notes). Invincibility frames are in green and super armor frames are in blue. The completion frame is the frame right before you can block or do anything else and the attacking frames are when the moves can hit. Here is a sample of what it will look like.

Dash Attack ...9-20/54...(Does a weaker hit on frames 12-20. Catches items on frames 1-5).

This move hits starting on the ninth frame after inputting the attack on your controller and will also hit on frames 10 to 20 if it has not already hit them. It ends on frame 54 so you can shield (which takes one frame) as soon as frame 55. Some things are mentioned separately in sentences for convenience.

If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms used you should see this thread.


1) Attacks
...i) Ground
...ii) Aerial
...iii) Specials
...iv) Miscellaneous
2) Throws
3) Dodges and Rolls
4) Items
5) Shieldstun and Frame Advantage
6) Grab Releases and Cargo Info
7) Other
8) Useful Tips

ATTACK DATA​

Ground Attacks​

First Jab ...5-7/24...(You can block after frame 24 from a single jab or you can press A for the second jab in the combo as soon as frame 9. Only hits really close to DK on frames 6-7)

Second Jab ...7-12/35...(Second hit in the jab combo by itself)

Jab Combo ...5-7, 16-21/45...(This is for AA combo done as quickly as possible)

Ftilt ...8-11/33...(DK fully extends arm on frame 9 so it only hits close to DK on frame 8)

Dtilt ...6-9/22...(DK fully extends arm on frame 7 so it only hits close to DK on frame 6)

Utilt ...5-11/38...(Hits on frame 5 very close to DK)

Fsmash ...22-23/54...(Hits on frames 8-9 from a charge release)

Dsmash ...10-14/55...(Dsmash only hits tall chars close to him on frame 10 which means that for MK and other short chars on the ground it hits starting from frame 11. His arms are fully extended on the second active frame. Hits on frames 8-12 from a charge release)

Usmash ...14-16/49...(Hits on frames 8-10 from a charge release)

Dash Attack ...9-20/54..(Does a weaker hit on frames 12-20. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Grab ...8-9/29...(All grabs last 2 frames. Credit for that bit of info goes to Ripple)

Dash Grab ...10-11/49...(Much less range than a standing grab)

Pivot Grab ...10-11/35...(A bit more range than a standing grab)


Fair ...25-29/59...(Has 30 frames of landing lag and does not auto cancel. Spikes on frames 27-29. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Dair ...18-23/54...(Has 31 frames of landing lag and auto cancels after landing on frames 1-2 or 50-54. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Uair ...6-9/37...(Has 22 frames of landing lag and auto cancels after landing on frames 1-5 or 26-37. Hits on frame 6 behind and above DK. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Bair ...7-16/31...(Has 15 frames of landing lag and auto cancels after landing on frames 1-6 or 31. Does a weak hit on frames 9-16. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Nair ...10-26/38...(Has 15 frames of landing lag and only auto cancels after landing on frames 1-9. The hit on frames 10-13 has very bad reach but it does 11 damage. The rest of the attack does 8 damage. Best forward reach on frame 17. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Jumping Aerials are 6+aerial. (A short hop and full hop Bair both attack starting on frame 13)

Double Jumping Aerials are 1+aerial. (A double jumping Bair attacks starting on frame 8)


Fully charged B ...18, 19-22/45...(Super Armor on frames 17-20. The first number is for the special hit behind DK. Has 30 frames of landing lag)

Uncharged B ...25, 26-29/59...(These are uncharged punches done as quickly as possible before you are charging. If you are already charging then the punch is really 18, 19-22/52. Has 30 frames of landing lag)

There is a 7 frame "charge lag" before you can start first wind-up, roll, or punch. Each wind-up takes 12 frames to complete and canceling the wind-up with shield takes 8 frames of "charge cancel lag" plus the amount of time left in the current wind-up. Getting hit in "charge cancel lag" does not make you lose your charge. Rolling cancels the current wind-up immediately but you won't get any charge from it. It would take 27 frames to complete a turnaround charge cancel with a single wind-up and 127 frames to fully charge the punch from no charge. There is no charge cancel lag on completing the tenth wind-up so a turnaround charge cancel is complete on frame 19 for the tenth wind-up.

Side B ...20-21/59...(Floats until after it hits if you are in the air. GFSC headbutts work on everyone except D3, Snake, Diddy, Pit, Toon Link, Link, and Fox. It can work on Ivysaur but only if he faces you and you B-reversal so that you go backwards while still facing him)

The formula for the how long they are buried is 96+D-5*N= frames of pitfall stun for grounded headbutts. For aerial headbutts the formula is 114+D-5*N= frames of pitfall stun. D is damage % the opponent has after the headbutt and N is the number of button inputs the opponent does. Grounded headbutts have 8 frames of hitlag and aerial headbutts have 10 frames of hitlag so overall the aerial headbutt gives 20 more frames of hitstun after factoring in the extra damage and hitlag. DK finishes grounded headbutts on frame 47 (with frame 1 being when the headbutt connects). DK finishes aerial headbutts on frame 49 since there are two more frames of hitlag. After breaking out pitfall stun the opponent has 11 frames of jump lag but some characters like Falco jump a lot higher than others making the jump lag harder to exploit. Even Falco can be hit by a charge release Usmash released right when he breaks out though.

Down B ...19-20, 30-31, 46-47, 57-58, 73-74, 84-85, etc./29 frames after the last even numbered slap...(The pattern is add 11, add 16, then repeat. Each slap is separated by a comma. If you stopped after the second slap it would end on frame 60)

Grounded Up B ...19-23, 24-28, 29-33, 34-38, 39-42, 43-46, 47-50, 51-54, 55-56/84...(Has SA from frames 10-16 )

Aerial Up B ...4-6, 12-19, 20-27, 28-35, 36-43, 44-51, 52-59, 60-67/84...(Invincible during the strong hit on frames 4-6. Grabs the ledge as soon as frame 8. Has 40 frames of landing lag)


Ledge Attack under 100% ...9-16/54...(Invincible on frames 1-7. Has up to 23 invincibility frames if done quickly enough after grabbing the ledge)

Ledge Attack at 100+% ...38-41/69...(Invincible on frames 1-41)

Get up Attack from DK's Back ...9-10, 20-21/51...(Invincible for frames 1-21)

Get up Attack from DK's Stomach 20-21, 24-25/49...(Invincible for frames 1-25)

Get up Attack from Trip ...19-20, 23-24/49...(Invincible for frames 1-8)




All throws tested on Mario. Throws take longer on heavyweights and have more lag. They take less time and are have less lag on lightweights though. For example on Jiggs Uthrow is 10/30 while on Bowser it is 17/52. Tosses (cargo throws) however are the same on all characters. All tosses do not refresh your other moves or stale and do exactly the same damage no matter what.

Grab Attack ...9-14/20...(It last 6 frames due to hitlag since you can't miss. If you input the next grab attack within 7 frames after finishing one it will not stale or refresh your other moves. When the grab attack is really stale it lasts one less frame because it has one less frame of hitlag. You can buffer Uthrow and Dthrow but not Fthrow, Bthrow, or Grab Attacks)

Bthrow ...15/39

Uthrow ...14/43

Dthrow ...41/58

Cargo Hold...19...(It takes 19 frames before you can move or toss anyone. You get cargo armor starting on frame 1 until they break out or you toss them. Breaking out of a cargo hold always deals 6 damage and does not refresh your other moves)

Ftoss ...13/39

Btoss ...15/39

Utoss ...14/29

Dtoss ...16/39




Spot Dodge ...2-23/30

Roll Dodges ...4-19/31...(Same for front and back. You can only glide toss out of forward rolls by pressing A during frames 3 or 4 of the roll. If it was pressed on frame 3 it goes half of FD. If it was pressed on frame 4 it goes a little bit further. Pressing A earlier than frame 3 doesn't really move you)

Air Dodge ...4-29/49...(Ends as soon as you land if you land before it finishes. The invincibility frames also end as soon as you land. You can cancel your air dodge with an item throw by pressing A during frames frames 1-4 of the air dodge. You can also drop an item within withing the same time period by pressing Z but it does not cancel the air dodge. Catches items on frames 1-5)

Ledge Grab ...1-46/23...(Can let go or do any ledge move after frame 23. If you do any those actions fast enough after grabbing the ledge you can take advantage of the leftover invincibility frames. You cannot regrab the ledge for 30 frames after you let go)

Ledge Roll under 100% ...1-18/49...(Has up to 23 invincibility frames if done as soon as possible after grabbing the ledge)

Ledge Roll at 100+% ...1-51/79...(Very easy to see coming)

Ledge Jump under 100% ...1-11/11...(Has up to 23 invincibility frames if done as soon as possible after grabbing the ledge. Edge hogs a bit longer than his ledge roll under 100% surprisingly)

Ledge Jump at 100+% ...1-22/22...(Has one more invincibility frame if done as soon as possible after grabbing the ledge)

Ledge Climb under 100% ...1-29/34...(Edge hogs the longest under 100%. A little faster than letting go and jumping to land on the stage)

Ledge Climb at 100+% ...1-55/60...(Edge hogs the longest over 100%)

Getting up from DK's Back ...1-23/29

Roll towards DK's Legs on Back ...1-19/35

Roll towards DK's Head on Back ...1-24/35

Getting up from DK's Stomach ...1-22/29

Roll towards DK's Legs on Stomach ...1-24/35

Roll towards DK's Head on Stomach ...1-14/35

Getting up from a Trip ...1-17/21

Roll Forwards from a Trip ...1-10/28

Roll Backwards from a Trip ...1-10/28




All of the data was tested using Diddy's bananas. The overhead throw was tested using a star rod.

Standing Item Pick Up ...7

Running Item Pick Up ...19

Aerial Item Catch ...1...(Done by pressing Z in the air close to an item. Works on thrown items too)

Standing Item Throw ...10-X/38...(X means the time it remains active is variable. Whether you do a regular toss or a smash toss the startup and ending frames are the same)

Dashing Item Throw ...6-X/39

Backwards Item Throw ...14-X/38

Upwards Item Throw ...15-X/38

Downwards Item Throw ...8-X/30

Aerial Item Throw ...10-X/37...(There are no smash tosses in the air)

Aerial Backwards Item Throw ...14-X/34

Aerial Upwards Item Throw ...15-X/36

Aerial Downwards Item Throw ...8-X/28

Aerial Item Drop ...1-X/1...(Done by pressing grab with an item in the air)

Item Overhead Throw ...7-X/27...(Done by pressing grab with most small items on the ground. Can't be done with Diddy's bananas.)




Stale moves impact how much shieldstun, pushback, and shield damage each move does. Keep that in mind. To find out frame (dis)advantage you would subtract the completion frame from the active frame you hit on and add the numbers shown below. This list isn't complete but it has most of the data on the relevant attacks.

First Jab ...1...(-9 frame advantage for combo and -18 frame advantage for blocking/anything else)

Second Jab ...2...(-26 frame advantage)

Ftilt/Ftilt Angled Down ...3...(-22 frame advantage close and -21 frame advantage far)

Ftilt Angled Up 4...(-21 frame advantage close and -20 frame advantage far)

Dtilt ...2...(-14 frame advantage close and -13 frame advantage far)

Utilt ...3...(-30 frame advantage close. Depending on how far away they are behind you frame advantage is in between -30 and -24)

Dash A ...3...(Ike will Fsmash you for your foolishness. -42 frame advantage)

Fsmash ...2...(1 when they aren't close. -31 frame advantage far and -30 frame advantage close)

Dsmash ...5...(-40 frame advantage close and -39 frame advantage far)

Usmash ...6...(-29 frame advantage)

Bair ...4...(Only the initial hit on frames 7 and 8 is taken into account. If they are blocking and you miss on frame 7 you won't hit them on frame 8 like 90% of the time. -20 frame advantage without landing and -11 frame advantage when landing immediately after hitting)

Uair ...4...(-27 to -24 frame advantage without landing depending on how late in the move you hit them. -21 to -18 with perfect auto canceling and a soft landing. If you perfectly auto cancel with a hard landing you get -24 to -21 frame advantage. -18 frame advantage when landing immediately after hitting)

Dair ...5...(-31 to -26 frame advantage without landing depending on how late in the move you hit them. -28 to -23 with perfect auto canceling and a soft landing. -31 to -26 with perfect auto canceling and a hard landing. -26 frame advantage when landing immediately after hitting)

Fair ...5...(-29 to -25 frame advantage without landing depending on how late in the move you hit them. -25 frame advantage when landing immediately after hitting)

Nair ...3...(Only the initial hit on frame 10 is taken into account. -25 frame advantage without landing and -12 frame advantage when landing immediately after hitting)

Fully Charged Punch ...9...(-17 frame advantage yet practically unpunishable due to shield knockback and recoil)

Aerial Fully Charged Punch ...8...(-18 frame advantage. Not as safe as grounded ones because there is no recoil and you often DI towards them)

Side B ...3...(-36 frame advantage but wrecks shields)

Aerial Side B ...4...(-35 frame advantage but wrecks shields even more than the grounded version)

Down B ...4...(-7 frame advantage on odd slaps and -12 frame advantage on even slaps if you continue. If not it has a -26 frame advantage)

Here is an example of how you would plug in the numbers.

Upwards Ftilt 9-33+4= -20. I used 9 instead of 8 because if you read the notes for Ftilt you will see that at a distance (when you should be using it) it hits starting from frame 9.




DK's ground break from a grab is the best in the game. If DK ground breaks out of a grab you get a free Ftilt or Dtilt on everyone except Bowser who has a crazy grab release. Bowser also has no grab release combos on DK from ground breaks. If you are close enough you could also grab them but usually you ground break too far away. In DK dittos though the DK that breaks out of the cargo carry can get a free grab.

DK gets an 11 frame advantage on Lucas and Ness from a cargo release. Since spot dodges are invincible as soon as frame 2, DK can grab them on frames 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 from when you regain control for a guaranteed regrab. Basically you get a 5 frame window to be a cheater and can finish the auto win with a down smash that is only guaranteed to hit on frame 11 from when you regain control. Buffering the grab or down smash makes these small openings a lot easier to exploit though. You can also buffer a grab in the opposite direction but it is a little tricky to do.

On most of the other characters I have tried, a cargo release (even in the air) gives DK a 1 frame advantage which isn't all that useful. If you cargo release someone in the air, depending on what their fastest option is in the air you can cargo release to aerial up b. If the fastest thing they can do is air dodge then it is guaranteed as long as they are close enough to get hit due to the one frame advantage (both start on frame 4). Aerial releases (when the opponent jump breaks) give you 21 frames of advantage usually. This means aerial release to fully charged punch is a true combo if they are close enough to get hit!

100+5*D-10*N is the formula for the cargo hold's duration in frames. D is damage % the opponent has during the cargo hold and N is the number of button inputs the opponent does. The cargo hold gets cargo armor on frame 1 (after pressing forwards so it's nigh instant) and you can start to move/throw on frame 20. Frame 20 is also when the formula starts. The secret method (which shall remain secret at least in here) reads as a constant button press every frame : (




Shielding 1-7+ (You cannot shield for less than seven frames but shielding a hit on frames 1-3 triggers a perfect shield. There is a three frame window to perfect shield an attack)

Shield Drop Lag is 7 frames. (No shield drop lag on perfect shields. No shield drop lag for up b and Usmash out of shield with tap jump on. You can also jump out of shield without shield drop lag)

All smash attacks can be charged for up to 60 frames.

Turning around by walking in the opposite direction you are facing takes 1 frame to do. (The turning around animation can be canceled by any action except another turn around after 1 frame)

Initial dash turns into a run as soon as frame 16. While running you can block, down b, neutral b, up b without needing to jump first, do a sliding standing grab instead of his awful dash grab, and turn around (not instantly like while walking though) which all cannot be done during an initial dash. Side b also slides a lot from a run but it will stop your momentum during the initial dash instead of sliding. During the first 5 frames of an initial dash you can Fsmash or roll. During the first six frames you can also do an initial dash in the opposite direction. An initial dash lasts 30 frames normally but after frame 15 you can cancel it into a run by holding the control stick forwards or another initial dash by tapping forwards.

You have a 2 frame window to cancel your shield into a dash grab or pivot grab. If you want to do running shield to standing grab you have to press grab at least 3 frames after shielding.

True pivots are basically canceling an initial dash into a turn around. The easier way to do this is starting a dash and after that pressing forwards then backwards on the gray control stick within 15 frames of dashing. This buffers a foxtrot and cancels it with a buffered turn around. If you are just dashing backwards then you did not let go of the control stick fast enough. If you just foxtrot once then you did not press back fast enough. With the hard way you have to be able to dash and press back for exactly 1 frame within 6 frames of starting the initial dash.

Air time is 42 frames for a short hop and 63 frames for a regular jump. You can fast fall as soon as frame 22 in a short hop, frame 31 in a full hop, and frame 29 in a double jump.

It takes 3 frames to platform drop. This means a platform drop Bair can hit as soon as frame 10.

A soft landing has 2 frames of lag and a hard landing has 5 frames of lag. A soft landing happens when you land falling slower than your max fall speed (not max fast falling speed) and a hard landing is after max fall speed.

You have 10 frames to buffer moves. On the ground holding right, left, or down will cancel anything you tried to buffer. While blocking you have to keep holding shield to buffer shieldgrabs or jumps.

When you buffer actions that end in 1 frame like double jumping and some other action like an aerial, both happen at the same time which makes buffered double jump aerials and specials attack at the same time as it would without the double jump. If you buffer a DJ Bair out of an airdodge for instance, it would attack on frame 7 (from when the airdodge ends) just like a Bair by itself.




This is just a primer for learning what you can do against certain moves. Mostly things like what to do if you block something. Let me know if you like these kinds of things and what type of moves should be next.

On any continuous jab combo you can shieldgrab or roll after the hit right before the infinite series guaranteed. Often times you can't do anything once they are in the infinite jab portion of the move so you should capitalize on the slight lag time before the infinite jabs. You can even jump out of shield right before the infinite jabs too.

G&W's Bair hits up to 5 times in the air and has an extra landing hit. If you just hold shield until you block the landing hit you only get 9 frames to attack him before he can block so all you can do is shield grab or attempt a footstool (good luck with that lol). If you see G&W doing a Bair right after short hopping, you can punish him with a down smash if you let go of shield after the fifth hit and you also have more leeway in going for the footstool. You can also punch if he won't land that close to you since the landing hit will whiff. Watch out for shield pokes on the landing hit since it attacks low.

Kirby's Dair hits up to 6 times in the air and has an extra landing hit. Blocking all of the hits leaves you with 12 frames to attack Kirby before he can shield so you can jab out of shield, shieldgrab, or footstool. It isn't worth letting go after the sixth aerial hit because after his short hop he will land almost right after you can move again. If you really want to you can let go of shield, then hold shield again to perfect shield, and then down smash but if they did not do the Dair early in the short hop you will get hit. Just wait for the landing hit then punish. If he gets behind you go for the footstool or Bair, but he will perfect shield the Bair if he blocks. With a low shield the landing hit will shield poke.

Fox's Dair hits up to 7 times in the air and does not have a landing hit. Depending on how low the last hit you block is you may not be able to do anything other than a shield grab or footstool. If you are lucky you can Bair or Dtilt out of shield. If not he can perfect shield both of those and jabs too. It is kinda random how low the last hit will be. A short hop Dair gives you 13 frames to attack him if he does the Dair as soon as he jumps. If he does a Dair after reaching about full hop height or higher you can Dtilt or Bair guaranteed since he will have slightly more landing lag.

Wario's Dair hits up to 7 times in the air and does not have a landing hit. If he short hop Dairs early and tries to hit you with the whole Dair, you can down smash him before he can block again and it has enough range to hit him if he tries to DI's away or behind you. If he does the Dair late just shield grab him but with a low shield you could get hit.

ROB's Dsmash hits 5 times. Just block all five hits and down smash or shield grab. You could Bair him or Dtilt too.

Diddy's dash attack hits up to 3 times. This move has a -2 frame advantage on block. This means it is safe on block and leaves him in your face. It is just a guessing game that's in his favor at that range. If you try to attack him (even shield grab) he can jab you before you hit him. Even if you perfect shield the last hit of the dash attack it's still safe. I would either shield grab or roll. If he has a banana then it is in your favor since he can't grab or jab so you can Dtilt, up b, shield grab, or keep blocking to see if he does anything punishable.

Marth's dancing blade (side b) hits 4 times unless they do the multihit variation which adds 4 more hits. No matter how fast he does it you can shield grab him after the third hit. You could also roll after the third hit if you are too far to grab. During the multihit version you can spotdodge after the first poke and have just enough time to punch him in the face with a fully charged punch.

Olimar's grabs are very tricky. His standing grab is 11-25/29. The worst thing you can do when in his grab range is spot dodging. DK is so big that spot dodging just gets you grabbed at the end anyway. To make things worse his grab takes less time than your spot dodge. Rolling towards him is much better because you move past the pikmin trying to grab you before the invincibility wears off. His grabs also take some time before they get maximum reach and have very poor vertical range. This means jumping is a good option towards the end of his grab range if you have good eyes or see it coming. Jab also works well at the tip of your jab range.

These are all extremely accurate numbers so you can be sure these are correct. If anyone wants to add to this feel free to do so.

Yeah I tested this all myself and it is SA. I have taken tipper fsmashes from Marth at high damage during up b and gone through it so I am sure it's SA.

Ripple said:

grabs are always 2 frames long in duration. can you find out when DK has heavy armor and not super armor during his transition from regular to cargo

Click to expand...

Actually I found out that it does not have SA. In my reply on the armor project thread you can see the details but basically it is like Yoshi's double jump armor but weaker. Attacks that have enough knockback to cause tumble/knockdown will knock you out of the cargo carry. It also applies when carrying items like Wario's bike. The cargo armor lasts until they break out (or forever with an item). I will take your word on the grab duration and thanks for the info.

itsthebigfoot said:

since when does cbk do testing?

and your right, the only reason i checked here is cause AiB is down. other than that its just to update the matchup thread.

mind if i borrow the frame data for other stuff? you'll get all the credit

Click to expand...

Sure go ahead I don't mind. Lol I thought Kenan and Kel was a popular show. That was also the biggest running joke in the show.

Ragnar0k said:

How does one Donkey Punch during a run? I can do the running down b but I've never tried a running neutral b.

Click to expand...

It is the same as a running down b so you just press b after letting go of the control stick. You can also b-reversal it to hit someone chasing you.

Now it is practically complete. I might add shield (dis)advantage later but for most attacks its like 2-5 frames less than the completion frame - the active frame you hit them on.

I guess the whole infinite cargo release debate is now settled. Please do not start any flaming in this thread though. Lol it took me a minute to find where this thread was now that its stickied. I didn't know threads could get stickied without a request.

Ripple said:

I asked McFox if he could sticky it. even if this thread doesn't get posts it is vital to DK players

Click to expand...

I didn't see frame data stickied in the other character boards so I also never bothered to ask. It's a good thing you got asked to get it stickied.

itsthebigfoot said:

anyone know if the aerial punch starts sooner than the grounded?

Click to expand...

It is just as quick in the air as it is on the ground. It has a different animation though so it kinda looks faster (and people seem to get hit more often). I'm posting from my Wii since my computer's motherboard died. Hopefully that will be resolved soon, but for now (especially with finals next week) this stuff is on hold.

itsthebigfoot said:

i guess the air punch hides it better

also, test dsmash out of the cargo on floaty characters like luigi and jiggs, cause in my experience they land on the frames that dsmash comes out

Click to expand...

I tested it out and it does not work on them. I remeber a while ago when testing the grab release stuff they seemed to land right before getting hit by the dsmash, but when I tested it out recently they seem to land at the same time everyone else does. What I also remeber about that situation was that they could jump before landing or do an aerial to hit you before you dsmash anyway. I was not able to reproduce this though. There was probably some trick to making them have a floatier release but I couldn't remember how to do it.

I tried the extra inch DI thing with both Lucas and Ness. It didn't really do anything from a cargo release.

New section up on the bottom