diff --git a/systems/input/controls_manager.gd b/systems/input/controls_manager.gd
index cd0da6e..296cc1d 100644
--- a/systems/input/controls_manager.gd
+++ b/systems/input/controls_manager.gd
@@ -27,6 +27,64 @@ func _ready() -> void:
 	_install_web_fullscreen_hook()
 
 
+# ── Active input device ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Tracks whether the player's last deliberate input was a gamepad or keyboard/mouse, so the
+# HUD can swap its ability-bar keycaps to match whichever the player is actually holding.
+# Mouse motion is deliberately ignored — the mouse still drives the camera regardless of
+# which device is moving the bull, so panning the camera shouldn't flip the hint away from
+# gamepad glyphs. A small deadzone on joypad axes avoids stick drift/noise doing the same.
+const _JOY_AXIS_DEADZONE := 0.5
+var _last_input_is_gamepad: bool = false
+
+
+func _input(event: InputEvent) -> void:
+	if event is InputEventJoypadButton:
+		if event.pressed:
+			_last_input_is_gamepad = true
+	elif event is InputEventJoypadMotion:
+		if absf(event.axis_value) > _JOY_AXIS_DEADZONE:
+			_last_input_is_gamepad = true
+	elif event is InputEventKey:
+		if event.pressed:
+			_last_input_is_gamepad = false
+	elif event is InputEventMouseButton:
+		if event.pressed:
+			_last_input_is_gamepad = false
+
+
+## Whether the player's last button/key/stick press was on a gamepad rather than
+## keyboard/mouse. Drives which glyph set the HUD's ability keycaps show.
+func using_gamepad() -> bool:
+	return _last_input_is_gamepad
+
+
+# Godot's joypad button indices are already Xbox-position-normalized — by SDL on native, by
+# the browser's Standard Gamepad Mapping on web — so this reads correctly for any controller
+# brand (a Nintendo pad's physically-labelled "A" is button 1 here, same as "B" on Xbox).
+const _XBOX_BUTTON_GLYPHS := {
+	JOY_BUTTON_A: "A",
+	JOY_BUTTON_B: "B",
+	JOY_BUTTON_X: "X",
+	JOY_BUTTON_Y: "Y",
+}
+
+
+## Xbox-style face-button glyph ("A"/"B"/"X"/"Y") for the action's bound joypad button, or
+## "—" if it has none.
+func get_joy_button_label(action: StringName) -> String:
+	for event: InputEvent in InputMap.action_get_events(action):
+		if event is InputEventJoypadButton:
+			return _XBOX_BUTTON_GLYPHS.get(event.button_index, "?")
+	return "—"
+
+
+## Ability-bar keycap label for `action`: the bound Xbox-style face button while a gamepad
+## is in use, else the bound keyboard key — so the on-screen prompt always matches whichever
+## the player is actually holding.
+func ability_key_label(action: StringName) -> String:
+	return get_joy_button_label(action) if using_gamepad() else get_key_label(action)
+
+
 ## Godot's built-in ui_accept (menu/button confirm) ships with zero joypad bindings —
 ## checked directly: only Enter/Kp Enter/Space. ui_left/right/up/down, by contrast, do
 ## default to the D-pad and stick, which is why gamepad focus navigation on a menu works out
diff --git a/ui/hud.gd b/ui/hud.gd
index ee010c5..5543eb8 100644
--- a/ui/hud.gd
+++ b/ui/hud.gd
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ var _hp_seg_fills: Array[ColorRect] = []
 var _bottom_col: VBoxContainer
 var _ability_bar: HBoxContainer
 var _ability_panels: Array[PanelContainer] = []
+var _ability_key_labels: Array[Label] = []
 var _bull_bg: TextureRect
+# Cached so the ability keycaps only get rewritten on an actual keyboard<->gamepad switch,
+# not every frame.
+var _showing_gamepad_hints: bool = false
 
 # Lobby barrel-smash reward — tally the barrels present on load; when the last one bursts,
 # throw confetti + a "WOooOoW!" and grant the bull two yellow bonus pips. Latched so it
@@ -257,6 +261,7 @@ static func _format_time(seconds: float) -> String:
 
 func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
 	_update_control_hints()
+	_update_ability_key_labels()
 	if _run_timer_label != null:
 		_run_timer_label.visible = Run.run_timer_started() and not _game_over
 		if _run_timer_label.visible:
@@ -469,6 +474,18 @@ func _update_control_hints() -> void:
 		_tab_hint.visible = not _controls_visible
 
 
+# Swaps the ability-bar keycaps between keyboard letters and Xbox-style face-button glyphs
+# (A/B/X/Y) as the player switches between keyboard and gamepad. Only rewrites the labels on
+# an actual switch, not every frame — Controls.using_gamepad() itself is cheap either way.
+func _update_ability_key_labels() -> void:
+	var gamepad := Controls.using_gamepad()
+	if gamepad == _showing_gamepad_hints:
+		return
+	_showing_gamepad_hints = gamepad
+	for i in _ability_key_labels.size():
+		_ability_key_labels[i].text = Controls.ability_key_label(_ABILITY_ACTIONS[i])
+
+
 # ── Damage vignette ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 # A full-screen ColorRect driven by damage_vignette.gdshader: transparent centre, red
 # toward the edges, alpha ("flash") tweened up on a hit and eased back to nothing. Built
@@ -902,7 +919,7 @@ func _build_ability_slot(idx: int) -> Control:
 	vbox.add_child(keycap)
 
 	var key_lbl := Label.new()
-	key_lbl.text = Controls.get_key_label(_ABILITY_ACTIONS[idx])
+	key_lbl.text = Controls.ability_key_label(_ABILITY_ACTIONS[idx])
 	key_lbl.horizontal_alignment = HORIZONTAL_ALIGNMENT_CENTER
 	key_lbl.vertical_alignment   = VERTICAL_ALIGNMENT_CENTER
 	key_lbl.mouse_filter         = Control.MOUSE_FILTER_IGNORE
@@ -912,6 +929,7 @@ func _build_ability_slot(idx: int) -> Control:
 	key_lbl.add_theme_constant_override("outline_size",    3)
 	key_lbl.add_theme_font_size_override("font_size",  14)
 	keycap.add_child(key_lbl)
+	_ability_key_labels.append(key_lbl)
 
 	return vbox