Kirby


 *  “ It's time to draw Kirby!
 * Get some paper and a pen ready!
 * Now, let's go!
 * 🎵 First you draw a circle, 🎵
 * 🎵 Then you dot the eyes, 🎵
 * 🎵 Add a great big smile, 🎵
 * (Then add the arms and feet!)
 * 🎵 And presto, it's Kirby! 🎵
 * Did you draw me well? ” 

― Kirby, Kirby Drama CD)

Kirby (カービィ, Kābī in Japan) is the titular character and main protagonist of the Kirby series. He was created by Masahiro Sakurai and he made his debut appearance in Kirby's Dream Land, which was first released on April 27th, 1992 in Japan. Naturally, this marks April 27th as Kirby's birthday.

Kirby lives in a dome-shaped house somewhere in Dream Land (presumably in Green Greens), but where he lived prior to when he took back the food and Sparkling Stars from King Dedede in the first game remains a mystery. All we know is that he came to Dream Land on a Spring Breeze and that he has been helping the citizens of Dream Land and protecting his home planet Popstar ever since. Kirby has also managed to save the universe on numerous occasions, making him quite the powerhouse despite his undeniably cute appearance and youthful demeanor.

Why He's a Jolly Fellow

 * 1) Kirby's design, whilst somewhat simplistic, is appealing and does a great job at making him look adorable.
 * 2) Kirby has many innovative and creative abilities, like the power of flight and his trademark ability to inhale and spit out enemies with great force, or swallow them to copy their abilities. He would also gain new powers as the series went by, like the Super Abilities from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, the Hypernova inhale from Kirby: Triple Deluxe and the brand-new Mouthful Mode from Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
 * 3) *In some games, Kirby can even combine two different copy abilities to create a new ability, like in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
 * 4) He is the perfect balance of cute and powerful: it has been stated in in-game flavor text from Kirby: Planet Robobot that Kirby wields nearly infinite power, and most of the final bosses he faces and overcomes in his games are all-powerful deities whose power eclipses that of entire planets, stars, or even entire universes.
 * 5) Although he may be powerful on his own, Kirby never leaves his friends in the dust, and often can't accomplish his goals without them, allowing them to grow alongside him in terms of both power and their bond.
 * 6) No matter how little chance he may have of coming out of the aforementioned predicaments alive, he always manages to stay brave and self-confident, and remains a jolly fellow even after everything he goes through.
 * 7) Despite being still young, he's independent enough to live on his own, heroic enough embark on quests by himself, smart enough to tell good from evil and compassionate enough to give those who have tried to kill him in the past a second chance.
 * 8) While the anime makes him out to be a baby who needs to be told what to do, Kirby is actually a pretty clever kid, such as when he targeted weak points of the Halberd one by one in Kirby Super Star 's Revenge of Meta Knight, and has the same approach to the Access Ark in Kirby Planet Robobot.
 * 9) While he hasn't changed or undergone some kind of massive growth, that doesn't make him any less interesting, in fact, it's part of the core of his character, as a pure and incorruptible ball of positivity. His positive influence has changed the lives of many people in his world for the better, and has made countless friends and allies that will always have his back no matter what. Simply put, he's a paragon hero.
 * 10) *King Dedede. Initially starting of as a self-centered bully, he quickly learned and grew to appreciate others, and grew to become selfless instead of selfish, thanks to his experiences with Kirby, who he now has a sibling-like bond with after officially burying the hatchet with one final grudge match in Kirby Super Star Ultra 's Revenge of the King. Instead of being bitter or reluctant, Dedede is always glad to see his "destined rival," and will join him on adventures or picnics whenever they're not roughhousing, and he never would have come so far as a person if Kirby didn't snap him out of his early behavior.
 * 11) * Meta Knight. After failing his men in Kirby Super Star 's Revenge of Meta Knight, he became self-reliant, always rushing off to save the day all on his own without even explaining his intentions, which led to him being defeated and sealed in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and Kirby unintentionally freeing Dark Nebula in Kirby Squeak Squad. But after teaming up with Kirby in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Meta Knight has learned the value and joy of teamwork and comradery, being more open to work with others ever since.
 * 12) *Bandana Waddle Dee. Usually very unsure of himself, but being alongside legends like Kirby, Dedede, and Meta Knight, has made him more confident in his abilities, now being a strong and capable spear-wielding warrior who is described as everyone's idol.
 * 13) Makiko Ohmoto's performance is the perfect voice for Kirby, and does a great job at making him sound as adorable as possible.
 * 14) There are plenty media outside the games that represent his character really well, many of which Kirby actually gets to speak to show his personality better, such as the Drama CD (already linked above in his quote), manga, and light novels. The novel adaptation of Kirby's Return to Dream Land in particular is very notable, as it has Shinya Kumazaki, the current Kirby series director, heavily contributing to it, even having his commentary included.
 * 15) *Kirby speaking may seem off-putting to some, but it's not out of character for him, as Kirby is heavily implied to be able to converse with his many friends (how else is he supposed to communicate with them?), his have been thoughts put into words several times, such as in Kirby Mass Attack 's ending and several of his Copy Ability pause descriptions in various games, and he has already outright spoken before in Kirby's Epic Yarn 's cutscenes, albeit narrated.
 * 16) While he's less popular than some other gaming mascots, his legacy has lasted just as long, and he has definitely earned his place among them as videogame icons. In fact, they, as well as countless other famous faces in gaming, all owe their lives to Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 's World of Light.
 * 17) Kirby is super proud of you, and he understands that some days, things are hard but he believes in you and he knows you will do great! Just keep trying. You are Kirby's hero!

The Only Bad Qualities

 * 1) Kirby has been out-of-character at least twice in his games:
 * 2) *He was very badl y portrayed in Kirby's Avalanche/Kirby's Ghost Trap, becoming a rude, overly sassy and wise-cracking jerk, and in the first game where Kirby is portrayed in a negative light. Although that was a reskin of Puyo Puyo, so chances that it isn't canon are really high.
 * 3) *His portrayal in Kirby Squeak Squad is bad too, where he was totally clueless about the threat and only cared about his strawberry shortcake. Thankfully, it was only temporary and he reverted back to his normal personality in the later games.
 * 4) Ironically enough, he ISN'T the star of the show in Kirby Right Back at Ya!, being made into a cute marketable baby side character in his own anime, with zero agency and having to be told what to do like a Pokémon, in fact, Ash's Pikachu in the anime actually has more personality than Kirby does in Right Back at Ya!.

Trivia

 * The design of Kirby was actually a placeholder for the original protagonist of Kirby's Dream Land. However, the design was cute and easy for kids to draw, so they decided to stick with that placeholder design.
 * Kirby was originally named Popopo during the early stages of the development of Kirby's Dream Land, but eventually Nintendo decided to change the name and polled Nintendo Of America for suggestions as they wanted the name to appeal to kids outside of Japan. The name 'Kirby' was partially chosen to honor the late John Kirby, an attorney who defended Nintendo in a certain case against Universal, but it was also chosen because of the trend that cute characters normally have soft-sounding names in Japan, but the name 'Kirby' happened to have  harsh sounds  to it. Needless to say, the juxtaposition of a cute character with a harsh-sounding name felt amusing to some people.
 * In Japan, Dream Land is called Pupupu Land, which is similar to Kirby's original name. Additionally, the Popopo Islands, the main setting of Kirby Mass Attack, were named in reference to Kirby's original name.
 * It's commonly thought among fans that Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario, The Legend Of Zelda and many other iconic Nintendo franchises wanted Kirby to be yellow whilst Masahiro Sakurai insisted on him being pink, and that it's due to this confusion that serves as the reason why Kirby is depicted as white on the American box art for Kirby's Dream Land. This is actually incorrect, as Kirby was pink in various bits of concept art for the game, including some that were made back when he was known as Popopo! As for Miyamoto, he was pleasantly surprised to see Kirby as pink and thought it felt fresh considering how characters like Kirby would normally end up being yellow, citing Pac-Man as an example. In a nod to this misinterpretation, games from Kirby's Dream Course onwards would typically feature a yellow Kirby as a second player. The yellow Kirby seen in Kirby's Dream Course is named Keeby by the developers, though it is unknown if any other yellow Kirbys that have appeared since are also Keeby.
 * It is often presumed that only gender-neutral pronouns are used for Kirby in Japanese media and that the idea of him being referred to with he/him pronouns was something invented by the English localization team. However, there are some instances in Japanese media where Kirby is referred to with he/him pronouns, and his overall speaking style often tends to use masculine conventions. That being said, this doesn't necessarily contradict Kirby being a gender-neutral character. More info about this bit of trivia can be found here.
 * In some sources, Kirby is stated to have a fear of caterpillars. However, he is much more fond of butterflies and will try to chase them from time to time, making the former point of information a tiny bit ironic.
 * Due to Kirby not being able to read the letter given to him by King Dedede and Meta Knight at the beginning of Kirby Fighters 2 's story mode, fans jumped to the conclusion that Kirby may be illiterate. While it is a fun headcanon, it is worth noting that the description for Revenge Of The King on the Japanese website for Kirby Super Star Ultra suggests that Kirby can read, as he was able to read the letter from Dedede challenging him. With that in mind, it's likely that Kirby couldn't read the letter in Kirby Fighters 2 because of fancy handwriting.
 * Of course, Kirby has made various cameos outside of his series just like any other popular video game character; he appeared in the intro of the Super NES game Arcana, showed up as the cursor of EarthBound 's debug menu, appeared as an enemy named Anti-Kirby in The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening and appeared on a movie poster in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, among several other cameo appearances.
 * As stated in an obscure interview with Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby doesn't have any bones or teeth. Additionally, he also clarifies that Kirby's feet are (thankfully) not shoes.
 * In Japanese media, Kirby actually has a motto! The motto in question is  tomorrow's wind blows tomorrow , which as a figure of speech is roughly equivalent to the English phrase  tomorrow is a new day  . How fitting for someone as optimistic as Kirby.
 * Kirby temporarily became square-shaped for an April Fools prank in 2019. When the Kirby JP Twitter announced Kirby's return to normal, it was noted that Kirby may have inhaled something strange, and that something could very well have been Qbby, the protagonist of the BOXBOY! series, who makes a tiny cameo in the image accompanying that very tweet and, in a case of the ol' switcheroo, had become round as opposed to square around the same time. Kirby has also been depicted as being cube-shaped elsewhere, most notably upon copying Steve in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

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