Kirby (character) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kirby |
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| Kirby character | |
Artwork of Kirby from Kirby Super Star Ultra
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| First game | Kirby's Dream Land (1992) |
| Created by | Masahiro Sakurai |
| Designed by | Masahiro Sakurai |
| Voiced by | Makiko Ohmoto (1999–present) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male (in localizations) Unknown (in Japan) |
| Home | Dream Land, Planet Popstar |
Kirby (Japanese: カービィ, Hepburn: Kābī) is a super cute and powerful character from a popular series of video games! He's the main hero of the Kirby games, which are made by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo.
Kirby first showed up in 1992 in a game called Kirby's Dream Land for the Game Boy. Since then, he's been in over 50 games! These games include action, puzzle, racing, and even pinball games. Kirby is also a playable character in every Super Smash Bros. fighting game. Besides games, he's had his own anime show and manga comics. Since 1999, Makiko Ohmoto has been his voice!
Kirby's special power is his ability to inhale (suck in) objects or enemies. He can then spit them out really fast like a projectile! He can also suck in air to float and fly over obstacles. His amazing Copy Ability lets him take on the powers of the creatures he inhales. When he does this, he often wears different costumes or changes his shape. Kirby uses these cool abilities to save his home, Planet Popstar, from bad guys like Dark Matter and Nightmare. On his adventures, he often meets his rivals, King Dedede and Meta Knight. In almost all his appearances, Kirby is shown as a happy, innocent, and food-loving character.
People think Kirby is one of the most famous video game characters. He's also known for being one of the cutest and most lovable! He's super popular with gamers in Japan. Many also praise him for being very versatile because he stars in so many different types of games.
Contents
How Kirby Was Created
Kirby was created by Masahiro Sakurai for the 1992 video game Kirby's Dream Land. Sakurai came up with the idea around May 1990 when he was 19 years old. He was working at HAL Laboratory at the time.
Designing Kirby
Kirby's first design was meant to be a simple placeholder. It was just a basic ball shape for the game's main character during early development. But Sakurai decided this simple design worked best for the character! During development, Kirby was called "Popopo." The first game was even planned to be named Harukaze Popopo (which means "Spring Breeze Popopo").
Later, the game was renamed Twinkle Popo. But when Nintendo got involved, they decided to change the name of both the game and the character. They wanted a name that would appeal to players in Western countries. The name "Kirby" was chosen from a list of ideas from Nintendo of America. Shigeru Miyamoto, a famous game designer, said "Kirby" was picked partly to honor an American lawyer named John Kirby. This lawyer had defended Nintendo in a big court case. It was also chosen because the strong-sounding name was funny when paired with the character's cute look.
Sakurai said he wanted to create "a cute main character who everyone will love." Satoru Iwata, another important person at Nintendo, added that Kirby was given a simple, round design so that anyone could easily draw him. People have said that "Kirby has a great design. He's expressive, iconic, instantly-recognisable, and easy for kids to draw."
In Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby looked white. This was because the Game Boy system only showed shades of grey. But Sakurai always wanted Kirby to be pink! The development team didn't know this at first. Miyamoto thought Kirby would be yellow, like other similar characters. But he thought pink was a more unique choice. In North American ads and artwork for the game, Kirby appeared white to match his in-game look. Miyamoto's pink color idea was later used for other players in some games.
In a YouTube series, Sakurai explained why he wanted Kirby to fly. He thought it would be unfair for players to lose a life just by missing a jump. He also thought about Kirby using his tongue to grab enemies, like Yoshi. But then he decided it would be cooler for Kirby to inhale and spit them out instead! For the second game, Kirby's Adventure, the team started with over 40 abilities. They then chose the best ones for the final game. Some early ideas included shrinking, creating blocks, riding a rocket, and an animal ability that involved scratching and biting.
Kirby's Voice and Personality
Shinya Kumazaki, an executive director at HAL Laboratory, said that Kirby is a "neutral" character. This means he's designed to show the player's feelings in the game. Because of this, he doesn't show strong emotions that might clash with what the player is feeling. For a while, starting with Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land in 2002, Kirby looked more serious in North American ads. But in Japan, he always looked cheerful. Kumazaki said the more "battle-ready" look was meant to appeal to more people in North America.
Kirby's round shape made it tricky to turn him into a 3D character. Tatsuya Kamiyama at HAL Laboratory explained that it was hard to tell which way Kirby was facing when seen from behind. This made it frustrating to aim correctly when inhaling and spitting out enemies. So, for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, they added a clever automatic aiming system to help players hit nearby enemies. Kumazaki said the "Mouthful Mode" idea came from asking what Kirby is and exploring his shape-shifting nature. The team wanted him to have amazing, inhuman abilities. He also explained that the main idea of each game is to make Kirby the hero. Even though Kirby is a pure, blank slate character, he doesn't have big goals or a strong sense of right and wrong.
Since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000), Kirby has been voiced by Japanese voice actress Makiko Ohmoto. She also voiced him in every Super Smash Bros. game, starting with the very first one in 1999.
What Makes Kirby Special
Kirby comes from a yellow star called Planet Popstar. He spends most of his time in a place called Dream Land. He has a pink, round body with small, short arms and big red feet. His body is soft and flexible. This lets him stretch or flatten, change into different shapes, open his mouth super wide to inhale enemies, or puff himself up with air to fly. Even though he's so stretchy, some parts of Kirby don't stretch. This helps him stay cute, like the space between his two eyes and between his eyes and mouth. Kirby is known for being innocent like a child and for loving food a lot! When he swallows enemies, he doesn't actually digest them. They just disappear and then show up somewhere else in the game world. Kirby's official height is about 20 centimeters (about 8 inches).
In a Kirby series encyclopedia, Kirby's gender is listed as "unknown." Sakurai, his creator, also wrote Kirby's profile, which says his gender is "unknown." He even joked once about whether Kirby could actually be female! Makiko Ohmoto, his voice actress, also said Kirby's gender is unknown. She just performs the character as "Kirby" without thinking about gender. The English manual for Kirby's Dream Land calls Kirby a "little boy." But the Japanese version uses a word that means a gender-neutral "youngster" or "young person."
When asked what kind of being Kirby is, Kumazaki said he is an "always-shifting and mysterious individual." Tadashi Kamitake, a producer at HAL Laboratory, said Kirby has a unique personality. But he's also like a blank sheet of paper because he can change into anything he sucks up. He explained that because Kirby has these two opposite sides, he can be an unstoppable superhero and also a friend.
Kirby's Amazing Abilities
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Kirby's most famous ability is inhaling enemies and objects. He can then either swallow them or spit them out with incredible power! He can also fly. The game Kirby's Adventure was the first to introduce the Copy Ability. This lets Kirby copy the powers of his enemies by swallowing them. This gives him many different powers, like breathing fire! Instead of finding power-ups, Kirby uses his enemies as power-ups.
Kirby Super Star made the Copy Ability even better by adding many different moves for each power. In that game, Kirby can even give up his current Copy Ability to create a "Helper." This Helper can be controlled by the game or by a second player. Kirby Star Allies (2018) has a similar idea. Kirby can create small pink hearts and throw them at enemies to turn them into allies!
Since Kirby's Adventure, the Kirby games have added tons of Copy Abilities. These give him many powers and costumes. For example, with Sword, he gets a sword and looks like Link. With Artist, his drawings come to life. With Needle, he wears a spiky hat. Kirby and the Forgotten Land made Kirby's skills even stronger. Players could upgrade his Copy Abilities multiple times, making them super powerful. For example, his Fire ability could become Volcano Fire and then Dragon Fire! The game's Mouthful Mode lets Kirby inhale large objects, like a car. He then takes on its shape and can use its functions!
Kirby's Game Appearances
Since his first game in 1992, Kirby has been the main character of the Kirby series. Most Kirby games are platform games, where you jump and run through levels. But his many games also include different types like pinball, fighting, racing, puzzle, and party games. In his adventures, Kirby has fought many enemies, including the main bad guy of the series, a recurring penguin named King Dedede.
Main Series Games
Kirby first appeared on the Game Boy in 1992 in Kirby's Dream Land. This was a 2D side-scrolling platform game. It introduced his ability to suck, swallow, and spit out enemies. He could also run, jump, and fly. Food items in the game acted as power-ups, giving him different abilities. At the end of each level, Kirby faced a boss, like Whispy Woods or King Dedede. Because the Game Boy screen only had shades of grey, Kirby looked grey instead of his usual pink.
A year later, Kirby's Adventure on the NES introduced his famous Copy Ability. It also added new moves like dashing and slide kicking. A new rival named Meta Knight also appeared. Kirby looked almost the same as before, but he was a bit shorter, pink, and had dark pink ovals on his face. He fought King Dedede again, but also had to defeat a creature named Nightmare, whom he accidentally set free.
In 1995, another platform game for the Game Boy was released called Kirby's Dream Land 2. In this game, Kirby was joined by three animal friends: Rick the hamster, Coo the owl, and Kine the fish. They helped him on his adventure. His in-game look went back to grey, and he was a bit taller than his NES version. But he was pink on the game's box art! In the final part of the game, Kirby fought a boss called Dark Matter, a creature that turned into a one-eyed black orb.
In 1996, Kirby Super Star came out on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This game was a collection of eight mini-games. One was Gourmet Race, where Kirby raced King Dedede to collect food. This was the first game to introduce "helpers" that could be controlled by the game or another player. It also gave Kirby different hats to show off his Copy Abilities. In 1997, Kirby's Dream Land 3 for the SNES introduced new animal friends for Kirby, like Nago the cat and ChuChu the octopus. Kirby defeated Dark Matter again, only to face a scary white creature with one eye named Zero.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000, was the first game to use 3D computer graphics. Kirby became perfectly round. His skills were upgraded, allowing him to combine two of the same abilities for stronger effects, or combine two different abilities to create a new one! Kirby's old enemies Dark Matter and Zero returned as new bosses.
In 2004, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror was released on the Game Boy Advance. This was the first Kirby game to have cooperative multiplayer for four players! Kirby could copy enemy abilities to move into new areas before fighting a boss. The game gave Kirby some new powers, like Cupid, which let him fly and shoot arrows with a bow. The 2006 game Kirby: Squeak Squad was another 2D platformer, this time for the Nintendo DS. Kirby could swallow multiple abilities and combine some of them to make new ones. By using Ability Scrolls, his powers could be upgraded to be even stronger. He could also interact with the environment, like cutting grass or melting ice. In the 2011 platform game Kirby's Return to Dream Land on the Wii, Kirby went back to the look and gameplay of The Crystal Shards, but with four-player multiplayer added. He used his usual copy abilities but gained some new ones, including Super Inhale, which became super powerful by shaking the Wii Remote.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe, released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2014, brought new copy abilities like Beetle and Archer. By collecting a Miracle Fruit, Kirby could turn into Hypernova Kirby, which allowed him to inhale much bigger objects! In 2016, Kirby gained new abilities and a mech suit called the Robobot Armor in Kirby: Planet Robobot, also for the 3DS. The Robobot Armor made Kirby stronger and could also gain copy abilities like Kirby. In 2018, the Nintendo Switch game Kirby Star Allies combined elements from older games, including Kirby's copy ability, dash, and sliding kick. It was made for four-player cooperative play, letting Kirby clear stages with his allies. With the release of the Switch game Kirby and the Forgotten Land in 2022, Kirby moved into a full 3D world. Along with new copy abilities like Ranger and Drill, the game introduced Mouthful Mode. In this mode, Kirby expands his mouth to fit around objects, taking on their shape and powers!
Spin-off Games
Kirby has appeared in many spin-off games that are different from the main series. In 1993, he became a pinball in Kirby's Pinball Land on the Game Boy. The next year, he was a golf ball in the SNES game Kirby's Dream Course, where players hit him around golf courses. In 1995, Kirby's Avalanche was released in Western countries. It was a puzzle game that rebranded a Japanese game for the Kirby series. Two more Kirby games came out that year: Kirby's Block Ball, which was like Breakout but with power-ups and bosses, and Kirby's Toy Box, a game released only in Japan that had eight mini-games like baseball and pinball.
Kirby appeared in the 1997 Game Boy puzzle game Kirby's Star Stacker, where stars are placed between matching blocks featuring Kirby's animal friends. In the 2001 Game Boy Color game Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, Kirby was rolled around a course to find stars while avoiding obstacles. The next year, he appeared in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, an updated version of the NES game. In 2003, he returned to the GameCube in Kirby Air Ride, a racing game where you steer Kirby around tracks and inhale enemies. Kirby Canvas Curse was his first game on the Nintendo DS. You used the stylus to draw a path for him, stun enemies, and use copy abilities.
In 2010, Kirby's look changed a lot! He went from a solid character to an outline of yarn in Kirby's Epic Yarn. In 2011, Kirby returned on the DS for Kirby Mass Attack. In this game, you controlled up to ten Kirbys by tapping the screen! A sequel to Canvas Curse was released in 2015 on the Wii U called Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. You controlled Kirby with the stylus on the game pad by painting paths and tapping him to dash. Kirby stars in a 2017 fighting game on the 3DS called Kirby Battle Royale, where he fights other Kirbys in different arenas. In 2019, Super Kirby Clash was released on the Nintendo Switch. Up to four players could play as Kirby to fight several bosses using different roles. The next year, Kirby Fighters 2 came out on the Switch. This was a fighting game with 17 playable Kirbys, each with a specific copy ability. In 2022, Kirby's Dream Buffet was released on the Switch. In this game, up to four players compete as Kirby in a race to eat the most strawberries!
Super Smash Bros. and Other Games
Kirby appears in every game in the Super Smash Bros. series, which was also created by Sakurai. He's always a playable character! Just like in his own games, Kirby can use his copy powers to take on the abilities and look of his opponents. He can copy characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Samus.
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby has a starring role in the "World of Light" story mode. He's the only one who survives a big attack from a villain named Galeem, while all the other fighters are defeated! Sakurai said that Kirby was the clear choice because his Warp Star (a flying star) gave a good reason for how he escaped. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008), Kirby's powerful Final Smash move is his Cook ability, which cooks opponents in a pot. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018), Kirby's Final Smash is an Ultra Sword attack.
Kirby has also made small appearances in several other video games. A pink Kirby character shows up in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. In 1992, he appeared in the opening scene of Arcana. He has also made a small appearance in the Pokémon Stadium games.
Kirby in Other Media
Kirby appears in his own anime show called Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (Japanese: 星のカービィ Hoshi no Kābī). It aired from 2001 to 2003 in Japan. The show was brought to North America and aired in the United States from 2002 to 2006, with 100 episodes. The anime is loosely based on the games, but with some differences. Like his game version, anime Kirby can't speak in full sentences and acts like a baby. He's described as a "Star Warrior," and his Copy Ability is powered by his Warp Star. The series starts with him crashing his Starship in Cappy Town on Planet Popstar. There, he becomes friends with Tiff and Tuff. In the story, he meets King Dedede, the greedy ruler, and Meta Knight. He also faces the main villain, eNeMeE.
Kirby also stars in several manga comic adaptations. The longest-running series, Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives in Pupupu, was published in a magazine called CoroCoro Comic from 1994 to 2006. It has been collected into 25 books, with over 10 million copies printed! It continued being published in 2017. The series was later published in English as Kirby Manga Mania.
See also
- Characters of the Kirby series
