Zinger
Background
Any true DKC fan remembers the countless lives lost at the hands of these pesky wasps. Zingers are hands down the most
persistent enemy in the series, appearing in some form or another in all three games as the 'd
ick' enemy. They infest Crocodile Isle in colonies of massive hives, under the rule of Queen B and King Zing. Equipped with deadly stingers, Zingers are a force to be reckoned with, alone or in a swarm.
Personality? This Zinger is quite proud, resourceful, and aloof. After being bested by the Kongs, he has been itching at a chance to get back at the flea-bitten apes. Havig gained permission from his rulers to enter the Smash world, Zinger is eager to be a thorn in his foes' sides and to bring honor to the Zinger race.
Statistics
Aerial Movement ~ ~ ~ 10
Recovery ~ ~ ~ 10
Movement ~ ~ ~ 9
Attack Speed ~ ~ ~ 8
Priority ~ ~ ~ 5.5
Traction ~ ~ ~ 4
Range ~ ~ ~ 3
Power ~ ~ ~ 2
Size ~ ~ ~ 2
Falling Speed ~ ~ ~ 1
Jumps ~ ~ ~ 1
Weight ~ ~ ~ .5
Abilities ~ ~ ~ Crawl, Glide
Zinger's stats go from stellar to laughable really quickly. He is top-notch in aerial battles, but takes a long time to KO. Zinger is difficult to catch, but it's a good thing for him; Zinger dies off insanely early and is near defenseless on the ground. In fact, the only reason he should be down their is to bog his opponent down; his few KO moves are primarily aerial. Although the wasp can win a Brawl without so much as using a grounded attack, he'll find that messing his with opponent on the stage first can be a huge safety net for him.
Zinger can crawl at a moderate pace, and glide at a speed barely faster than Meta Knight. He has four below average aerial jumps.
Specials
Neutral Special - Mud Dauber
Zinger lifts his sting slightly, tossing a ball of mud the size of a Deku Nut a character width forward. The ball has minimal priority, but Zinger can sling the mud nearly as fast as Olimar can pluck Pikmin. Foes who hit the mud ball take minute damage.
For every three balls of mud that hits a foe within ten seconds, the foe loses
1/10 from their speed stat. For every five balls that connect within ten seconds, the victim becomes slightly more likely to
trip. Finally, for every seven balls that are landed in the same time frame, the opponent becomes unable to dash or jump.
Zinger can take advantage of these liabilities with his speed, preferably by bringing the foe airborne, or using another helpful ground move on them. Mud lasts for nine seconds on a victim, although they can shake it off early with spinning moves, i.e. Spin Attack or Whirling Fortress.
{ 2-3% }
Side Special - Honey
Zinger regurgitates a spurt of honey, slightly larger than a horizontal Pikmin, forward a character width and a half. Zinger has a lag similar to Peach plucking and throwing a Veggie, and identical priority to Samus' Super Missile. The honey sticks to whatever it hits for seven seconds. If it hits an opponent, all hitstun will
stack during this time frame.
Should a foe walk onto a patch of honey on the ground, they'll be stuck there for as long as a Headbutt bury. A stuck pig can't run or dodge; they must jump out to free themselves, which has double its normal startup lag. Zinger can either toss the foe up or follow them into the air when they jump. Since stuck foes stay immobile for longer, Zinger may wish to lob on some mud or another spurt of honey before his foe escapes.
{ 4-5% }
Down Special - Envenom
Zinger curls his sting under his torso slightly, as it turns green and pulsates. This takes about as long as Diddy pulling out a peel, and is not an attack. This little charge causes Zinger's next three sting-related attacks to deal
1.25 times their normal knockback.
Also, the next three sting attacks will cause a varying amount of
poison damage over a period of five seconds, the amount of which depends on the attack strength. Zinger cannot stack these power-ups, so use them wisely to assist with KOs or accumulate enemy damage.
{ 5 - 15%, depending on attack strength }
Up Special - Flight of the Zinger
Zinger's wings enlarge slightly and begin beating faster as a blur for the next twelve seconds. For this time period, Zinger can tap B and any direction to
hover around freely; the speed at which he does so is determined by how fast you mash the button. After twelve seconds, Zinger is left with nothing but his normal jumps, if you haven't used those yet. He can attack freely while hovering, being able to move about to better position himself for his upcoming move. Flight is an amazing recovery; he's bound to need it, seeing how easily he can be launched.
His wings are close-ranged, laughable priority hitboxes that deal multiple rapid hits. Potentially, Zinger could trap a fast-falling victim in the wingbeats and hover off the screentop for a KO, but even Ganondorf can beat this. Extremely risky business indeed. After twelve seconds is over, Zinger must wait for six seconds before using this again. This is your time to stack up mud or honey, before finishing business in the air with the aid of flight.
{ 1% per wingbeat }
Basic Attacks
Basic Combo - Bristle
Zinger buzzes ominously, as his spikes
extend from his body, with quite a bit of hesitation. The spikes don't have amazing range, but their priority is enough to defend Zinger from quite a few melee attacks. Anyone gullible enough to attack the spiked wasp take set damage and knockback. Of course, Zinger can just run into foes himself for the same effect. Extended spikes also contribute to a few other moves of Zinger's. Spikes last for five seconds before retracting.
{ 5-6% }
Dash Attack - Swarm
Zinger darts forward a character width, going around whatever's in front of him by entering the background briefly. There is minimal lag on either end of the move, but it is not an attack at all...yet. If Zinger darts around a foe once, then quickly does so again, he'll cause a cartoony cloud of parasitic underling wasps to
swarm around the victim for several seconds.
These pests deal multiple rapid hits to the victim, in addition to a bit of stun here and there. You can toss mud or honey onto a swarmed character or take them to the skies out of it. Smart foes will want to punish Zinger after the first dart to ensure they don't fall victim to his swarm.
{ 15-16% }
Tilts
Forward Tilt - Mandibles
Zinger opens his mandibles, clacking down three times rapidly. These pincers have surprising range, and impressive priority, due to their sharp nature. Each clack deals fair damage and low set knockback, meaning you can never land all three. Unless, that is, if the last move Zinger used was Side Special. In this case, the foe gets
stuck in Zinger's sticky pincers, getting hit by all three clacks before being knocked back.
{ 4% per clack }
Down Tilt - Zap
As simple as it gets; Zinger quickly turns onto his back, stinging forward a mediocre distance. Like all stinging moves, this tilt has fair priority. Multiple stings can be strung together with ease, especially if you
trap a victim against a wall. Because of this, this is one tilt you won't want to use with a venemous sting. Instead of chaining D-Tilts, you'll bounce your foe out of range. Stick to venemous Smashes.
{ 5-6% }
Up Tilt - Antennae
Zinger extends his antennae forward a bit rapidly, wiggling them around in his enemy's face weakly. The antennae deal three light hits to foes, resulting in a bit of stun. Chaining U-Tilts can build damage fine and all, but there is a more subtle use. You see, antennae serve as
sensors for insects. For Zinger, they alert him as to when a foe is ready to be KOed. After Zinger has poked a foe with his antennae, he'll flash red briefly when the foe's damage level is high enough for him to finish them off. In a FFA, he only senses the closest foe to him. Although competitive Zingers won't need this move's side effect, it can be helpful for casual Zingers used to Smashing foes away left and right...
{ 3-9% }
Smashes
Note:
Zinger can perform Smashes in the air. Peter Pan ripoff? Hardly. Zinger has
both aerials and airborne Smashes, aiding his aerial KOs significantly. Airborne Smashes are executed exactly the same as normal ones, although you may wish to use Flight to stay up and moving while charging; doing so won't interrupt your moves at all.
Forward Smash - Barb Barrage
Zinger flashes briefly, before spewing a stream of
barbs forward two character widths. The barb stream covers Olimar's height, trapping foes in multiple lights hits while carrying them away from Zinger. Barbs have lame priority, but the sheer quantity of them makes the stream nigh impossible to interrupt.
The last hit of the barbs deals a low set knockback, the charge only having increased damage. However, Zinger is always able to trap a mid-air foe in the barbs and let it carry them offstage to their doom. Onstage, this quick Smash is your go-to GTFO move. The knockback is increased slightly by using Basic Combo to enlarge Zinger's spikes.
{ 2-25% }
Down Smash - Paralyzer Cannon
Zinger turns onto his back, ala D-Smash, but rather than merely stinging, he
launches his pride and joy at opponents, a new one growing in its place. The move's charge increases the range, priority and speed of the sting; at maximum charge, the sting travels as far as Wolf's laser, with better speed and identical priority.
Foes jabbed by the flying sting take damage, in addition to a Paralyzer-esque stun. Instead of taking his prey back to his hive for food, Zinger should pepper the victim with mud or honey, or bring them into his aerial warzone. Foes paralyzed in mid-air don't fall until they become mobile again.
{ 9-14% }
Up Smash - Flight Pattern
Zinger merely hovers upwards Marth's height, before buzzing right back down. Boring, eh? Well, this move is a lot more intricate with the proper know-how. While charging, direct the Control Stick in a
pattern, and Zinger will follow the trail. You can move the 'trail' around at a moderate speed until maximum charge or the trail overlaps. Zinger maneuvers around your trail for as long as you please, until you drop out by dodging.
Zinger is a moderate-priority hitbox that KOs from
155-140%. If you're aiming for a simple KO, you'll need no more than the default vertical rise. By inputting a pattern, you open up several possibilities for aerial hell, not the least of which is forming a circular pattern to block the edge. Just remember that while charging in midair, you'll be limited to vertical Flight, due to you manuevering the trail, rather than Zinger.
{ 13-17% }
Aerials
Neutral Air - Spike Eruption
With one tap of the button, Zinger's spikes extend out, like Basic Combo without any hitbox. Upon a second input, barbs are shot out in a growing
circle around Zinger's body, extending out a moderate distance before vanishing. If your spikes are already stuck out from Basic Combo, it only takes one input to launch the barbs. These sharp pricks are a major aerial KO move; getting speared KOs at an admirable
120%. Only one set of spikes can be out at a time.
{ 5-6% per spike }
Forward Air - Berserk Pursuit
Zinger points his stinger forward a miniscule distance and begins slowly
honing in on the closest foe. Tapping B during Flight speeds up his honing slightly. If the angry hornet connects, he'll dig his sting into the hapless victim, dealing great damage and knockback that KOs around
110%. Zinger is best off using this close to a foe, as he can only hone for two seconds before dropping out of the move (cancel early by dodging). Maybe paralyze a foe or use the honey hitstun of another aerial before honing in for the KO?
{ 17-18% }
Back Air - Impale
Zinger performs an action identical to a faster Bowser B-Air, with slightly less range and priority. If he lands it, the victim will be
impaled by his back spikes. Zinger can now move at half speed with his opponent stuck to his back; foes can mash off with grab difficulty, but if Zinger's spikes are extended from Basic Combo, it will take slightly longer to do so. Tap A with an impaled foe to do a flip, hurling them off with strength enough to KO at
125%. It won't KO as early as F-Air, but is somewhat easier to land.
{ 9% impale, 8% throw }
Up Air - Insectile Loop
Zinger performs a fast manuever similar to Shuttle Loop, just with a much smaller actual loop. The wasp's underside has a close-ranged grab hitbox during the loop; connect and you'll
snare the foe out of the air before hurling them away from the flip's momentum. Zinger's sting has fair priority, and can interrupt edge-guarders nicely. The throwing movement is similar to B-Air; this time, it only requires one input, but is slightly weaker, KOing at
135%.
{ 10-11% }
Down Air - Kamikaze Sting
Zinger quickly extends his sting downwards a marginal distance and spins around like a top while
descending. His underside has decent priority at this time. By tapping the button, Zinger descends down Marth's height at a moderate pace; you can hold his descent for as long as you want. If Zinger stings a foe, they'll be impaled by his sting, as Zinger's descent speed doubles. Victims can mash off with average difficulty.
If you hit the ground with a foe in tow, they'll take knockback that KOs at
120%; Zinger suffers a lot of landing lag without a foe. Every second a foe is impaled, they take light gradual damage. Offstage, Zinger can descend down to the bottom blast line with an opponent, air dodge to cancel the move, and fly back up, leaving his helpless foe to perish. Onstage and off, this can be a great, albeit slightly situational, KO move.
{ 1-2% per second impaled, 14% landed }
Glide Air - Pincer Slash
Zinger
shreds his mandible jaws together powerfully, with Meta Knight-esque lag on either end (in other words, little to none). Enemies had better beware of this; it can KO just as easily as Meta Knight's G-Air. It's got slightly less range and priority, but when you consider Zinger has a slightly faster glide speed, the usability isn't diminished any.
{ 7-8% }
Grab / Throws
Grab - Landing
Zinger faces his belly forward while swiping with all six legs and clacking his mandibles, with a bit of lag on both ends. Should a foe touch either of these, Zinger will
land on the foe to grab them. The wasp's grab has low priority and less than impressive range.
Zinger can grab while airborne to perform his throws in mid-air. Aerial grabbing is best when used in tandem with Flight, to ensure you land the grab. Up there, their focus is gimping, as opposed to stunning onstage. Zinger can fly around when he's grabbed an opponent in mid-air, although foes will be able to escape with a bit more ease when the wasp is focused on flying. Without Flight, Zinger and his victim fall at a moderate speed.
{ 0% }
Pummel - Infect
What else could it be? Zinger daintily
pokes his sting into the victim he landed on. A very fast, weak pummel.
{ 1% }
Forward Throw - Pollinate
Zinger rubs his legs rapidly against the victim, brushing them with pollen, before pushing them forward lightly. This causes the victim to let out a massive
sneeze. This sneeze pushes the victim back as far as F.L.U.D.D., making them briefly dizzy afterwards. F-Throw is likely Zinger's worst aerial gimping throw; precise positioning is required for foes to sneeze their way beyond the blast line.
{ 5-6% }
Back Throw - Sharp Flip
Zinger performs a
'wrestling' move similar to Kirby's B-Throw, flipping over backwards to toss his victim. Just before tossing, Zinger bends his spiky backside into the opponent, launching them horizontally. Onstage and off, this is Zinger's best sans-gimp KO throw.
{ 7-8% }
Down Throw - Bee Drill
Zinger begins spinning around, identically to D-Air,
drilling his victim into the ground. His sting deals multiple light hits before leaving the foe in a brief Pitfall state...unless he's airborne. In this case, the first light hit spikes the victim with alright power. This, while not dealing much damage at all, is a foolproof gimp.
{ 2-6% }
Up Throw - Barb Laser
Zinger tosses the victim above his backside, before
firing up three rapid consecutive barbs into them. Foes cannot DI out of the three hits, but they can angle the upwards knockback of the last hit without much difficulty. Zinger should try to fly near the upper blast line to prevent this.
{ 3-9% }
Final Smash
Final Smash - Hornet Hive Horror
Zinger turns
red with anger and invincibility, buzzing to summon four
yellow drone Zingers. Each drone is the size of Zinger himself, circling their comrade at a moderate pace. Each has
30 HP, and if one is killed off, the others will tighten the circle in its place.
For fifteen seconds, any move you perform of Zingers will also be performed by the circling drones. Now, for each mud ball you toss, you'll toss four extra balls; the five wasps can easily overwhelm opponents now. Your minions provide a circling meatshield of defense, although even if they are all somehow KOed, Zinger remains invincible for the remainder of the super attack. Ah, it's good to be king.
{ Varies }
Playstyle
Zinger has a lot to accomplish during his time on the battlefield. He's one busy bee...er, wasp. His incredible speed gives him the chance to soar right into the fray and blister his opponent with sharp attacks. You'll really want to reconsider when taking this offensive approach, though. Unless you're facing noobs, the likes of whom find Link's Up Special overpowered, Zinger may very well be send flying with one solitary Smash. His beastly Flight enables him to soar all the way around Temple, if you do button-mash fast enough, but even the best lightweight recovery cannot prevent its user from early obliteration.
Or can it? Zinger uses Flight to cope with his defenselessness. Its mobility assists him in most aspects of the fight. Zinger's highest priority Smashes can be absorbed or shielded, and his projectiles, while fast, are next to useless to defend from nearly the whole cast, due to lame priority. Even his defensive Basic Combo is laggy to utilize. There is, however, a golden path for this small wasp to follow in battle, taking down the biggest bullies as a result.
Slinging mud does nothing to hinder foes' approaches, but a few balls splattered on their ugly mugs will have them bogged down and sliding like a penguin. Honey is harder to land without stunning your victim first, but it can be even more vital than mud at times. Stacking hitstun combined with Zinger's mile-a-minute antics? Sounds like a dream come true, eh? Zinger can now build the hefty damage he needs for KOing. Even if you miss, you'll create a little trap onstage for careless approachers. Of course, you can never rely on mere traps, but at least you'll have given Zinger a bit of breathing room.
The worst case scenario with these two projectiles is the opponent breaking through them. Zinger cannot tolerate any foul-ups if he is to survive until his aerial stage. Unfortunately for him, his projectiles' strength are marginal at best. You can't just breeze through with their speed, cleaning off a stock in one clean sweep. Zinger will have to use his godly aerial movement and a bit of creativity in order to successfully work his magic on rivals.
Damage-building is no easy task for Zinger, but as soon as you've gotten used to working Zinger's projectile tools advantageously, this phase tends to zoom past. Zinger can take advantage of a foe's speed decrease or trip with his blazing speed and fast moves. If a foe slips at your feet, zoom in and use a Dash Attack before your victim can react, or envenom your sting/enlarge your spikes. Smashes, while slower than Zinger's Tilts, can rack damage percents with ease, while not knocking the foe away too far. Once you've got the projectile phase down, damage-building follows easily.
When your foe's damage level has neared or passed
100%, it's time to shut them down. This is when your stage stunning should be focused on getting your foe up out of their comfort zone. Enable Flight, throw or knock the foe upwards, and go to town on them. Any of Zinger's aerials can KO an opponent once you've achieved your damage goal. Advanced Zingers will know when they can reliably KO, while beginners can check by using U-Tilt. Make sure you don't take to the skies until you're sure you can score a KO, though; it may be costly to wait out the six seconds after one full Flight.
If aerials are no-strings-attached KO moves, what purpose do aerial Smashes and throws serve? The answer...is gimping. If you care to go out on a limb (or further humilitate your noob friend/relative), you can set a lower bar for building damage. The damage you'll want to rack for a gimp depends on how far away from safety you wish to send your victim, which may vary depending on your victim's recovering abilities.
Antennae only sense the damage needed for a regular KO, so you can rely on these here. Once you want to go for the gimp, set your foe up near the edge before pushing them back off the stage. Use your move of choice, whether it be a spike or a move to push the foe back too far for a return. Unless he is utterly blasted past the boundaries, Zinger needn't worry about being gimped in return. Of course, no gimp can be performed without at least some skill, and while Zinger has more options than many characters, it isn't nearly as straightforward as a regular KO, and certainly not as recommended.
Zinger's aerial dominance is near second to none. Even Meta Knight and Wario can't remain in the skies for twelve seconds, remaining a threat all the while. Still, Meta Knight and Wario don't need to worry about using projectiles before damage-racking, or about being KOed at under
50%. Zinger takes dedication to truly master; players tend to either fly circles around opponents' heads, or flub miserably. Take some time to develop strategies in projectile usage, damage-racking, aerial KOing, and gimping, and you'll be well on your way to being top wasp.
Match-Ups
Vs. Saber - 60/40
Saber relies on spacing to outlast Zinger, but fails to defend against Zinger when he approaches from above with Flight. Granted, her wind attacks can blow back projectiles, but when you consider their speed (mud in particular), she won't be able to withstand a barrage of them. Saber should focus on screwing with Zinger via windy Smashes, which can be punishable, but effective. She can also improve her approaches when bogged down via Prana Burst. Early on, she'll want to apply Up Special as soon as possible; it puts more stress on Zinger during his ground game. It doesn't even matter that it decays her moves, seeing as how Zinger doesn't take much damage at all to die off anyways. Unfortunately for her, Saber shares Zinger's light weight, and unlike the angry wasp, she can't recover well. Her aerials can actually kill Zinger if he's careless; it's important to use stacked hitstun against Saber for a safety net. If Zinger neglects this, Saber can turn his aerial game against him. However, Zinger's mobility makes it easier for him to read Saber's mindgaming attacks, giving him a sizable advantage from the start.
Vs. Morton Koopa Jr. - 55/45
Zinger has no range, but can get up in Morton's face with ease, meaning the Koopaling has to bring down his pillars ASAP to prep his various moves. Once the pillars rise, Morton has few attacks with the speed required to defend from Zinger, although they do have vastly better priority. He'll find it beneficial to use D-Throw and eliminate Zinger's dash, although it won't keep the wasp from the skies due to Flight. Zinger has a much easier time racking damage on Morton than vice versa, but the KO phase branches off a bit more for both characters. Morton takes a long time to KO normally, due to his heavy weight, while gimping takes more effort, but is quicker. Zinger can both aspects, seemingly giving him a distinct lead. Morton can bring this match more down-to-the-wire, however; Zinger will have to perform near flawlessly to avoid Morton's damaging attacks that can KO him at silly percents. Due to Morton's adaptability, this is far from impossible. Either character can win this match-up; Zinger's dominating speed gives him a slight lead, but Morton is infinitely more durable, which keeps him in the running.
Vs. Super Macho Man - 40/60
Super Macho Man has better melee range than Zinger, so although the wasp will always reach him first, the arrogant boxer can defend without much issue. Although mud is a hindrance to Macho Man, it isn't a huge issue, when Zinger will have to stay in range of his punches to continue spamming away and eventually taking to the skies. He can still damage shield with decreased speed, after all. Zinger's shield is a rather important tool for landing projectiles, unless he's trying to do so from the skies, which is a much slower process. Chances are, Macho Man will break Zinger's lightweight shield at least once before he finishes the damage-racking stage. Although Macho Man is far inferior to Zinger in the sky, he'll more than likely have KOed the shield-stunned Zinger by then. Macho Man offers Zinger many chances of messing up, which gives a good player a moderate lead as the ripped boxer.
Vs. Fat Bastard - 20/80
The tubby scot gives Zinger a run for his money. His stunners don't exactly bode well with Zinger. Should the wasp approach from above, U-Tilt can bring him down to earth. On the ground, Up Special can interrupt Zinger's lightning speed. Even if Zinger accumulates enough damage on the fat fu...I mean, man, he'll have to be extremely cautious of that D-Air substitute. Zinger dies off incredibly early to Fat B
astard, even earlier than normal. There isn't much in his favor this time, except that if he somehow gets the obese lard offstage, he'll subtract a stock from the horizontally-recovering slob. Thaat is, if he can manage to push back a character even heavier than Bowser...
Extra Animations
Up Taunt - Melodious Hum
Zinger buzzes along to the background music absentmindedly. An even cooler addition to crouching in time with the music!
Side Taunt - Razor Jaws
Zinger clacks his mandibles together threateningly, making insect noises.
Down Taunt - Pride and Joy
Zinger turns onto his back a bit, extending his gleaming stinger forward proudly.
Entrance - Wasp's Nest
A hive appears onstage, with several tiny Zingers circling it. The hive shakes slightly, as buzzing his heard and Zinger flies out angrily.
Victory Pose #1 - Aerial Ace
Zinger performs several acrobatic flips in the air, shooting out barbs and posing afterwards.
Victory Pose #2 - Busy Bees
Zingers are time to haul honey. Truckloads of it. Zinger inspects three other smaller Zingers carrying honey into a hive, buzzing contentedly.
Victory Pose #3 - Melodious Obliviousness
Zinger obnoxiously hums along to his victory theme, seemingly oblivious to a swarm of bees chasing the losers around behind him.
Victory Theme - Bonus Room Winner
Does
this even need explanation?
Loss Pose - Broken Barb
Zinger lies on the ground, fluttering weakly and gazing mournfully at his bent sting.
