Super Smash Bros. Fighters - Kirby series - 01 Kirby

Debut

In the Kirby series: Kirby's Dream Land (1992)

In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. 64 (1999)

Boxing Ring Title: The Pink Demon

Theme Song: Green Greens (for 3DS/Wii U)

Kirby is the main protagonist of the Kirby series. Kirby lives peacefully in Dream Land, a location somewhere on Planet Popstar, a planet that - as the name would imply - is shaped like a star.

 

In "Kirby's Dream Land," Kirby was living a happy life with the citizens of Dream Land. One day, the greedy self-proclaimed ruler of the land, King Dedede, and his various minions stole all of the citizens food, as well as the Sparkling Stars. Without the latter, the denizens of Dream Land won't be able to harvest food. Angry about this, Kirby heads off to reclaim both the food and the stars. Battling his way past Whispy Woods, Lololo & Lalala, Kaboola, and Kracko, and reclaiming the Sparkling Stars from them, Kirby would make his way to Mt. Dedede to battle King Dedede. Though his efforts, Kirby manages to defeat King Dedede, obtaining the fifth Sparkling Star. Kirby would the use the Sparkling Stars to turn into a giant hot air balloon, lifting King Dedede's castle into the sky and returning both the stolen food and the Sparking Stars back to Dream Land.

"Kirby's Adventure" would be the first game to introduce Kirby's famous Copy Ability, allowing him to use various abilities. In this game, Kirby has been having dreamless nights. It's not just him though, everyone hasn't had a dream in some time. Wondering what's up, Kirby heads to the Fountain of Dreams and finds King Dedede swimming in its waters. King Dedede tells Kirby he has stolen the Star Rod and broken it into seven pieces, keeping a piece for himself and giving the other six pieces to six of his top henchmen. After hearing that, Kirby decides to embark on a massive adventure to fix the Star Rod and restore everyone's ability to dream. Kirby also frequently crosses paths with Meta Knight, a mysterious swordsman who serves under King Dedede.

Reclaiming the six pieces, he heads back to the Fountain of Dreams to fight King Dedede. Defeating him, Kirby fixes the Star Rod and heads off to the center of the fountain to place it back in its proper spot, all while King Dedede tries to desperately stop him. Ignoring him, Kirby places it back in the center...

And from the Star Rod emerges an evil wizard named Nightmare, who flies off into the sky to spread darkness throughout Dream Land! Kirby quickly realizes that King Dedede sealed Nightmare away in the Star Rod to save everyone from experiencing nightmares! King Dedede inhales Kirby and the Star Rod and spits them where Nightmare is, where Kirby battles the nightmarish abomination. Kirby manages to emerge victorious in this tough battle, and returns the Star Rod back to its proper place, allowing everyone to have peaceful dreams once more.

"Kirby Super Star" would be the first game to have Kirby wear hats upon copying his foes, which has stuck ever since. The game doesn't really follow a single storyline; rather, it has six story modes to play, in addition to two subgames and a boss rush. Spring Breeze is essentially a remake of "Kirby's Dream Land." Dyna Blade involves the titular bird causing a rampage throughout Dream Land, with Kirby heading off to find out why. Gourmet Race involves Kirby having a "race" against King Dedede to see who can eat the most food. The Great Cave Offensive sees Kirby falling into a cave. Kirby has to find his way out, all while collecting various hidden treasures. Revenge of Meta Knight has Meta Knight deciding to take over Dream Land by force with his airship: the Halberd, so Kirby heads off to invade it and stop Meta Knight. Milky Way Wishes is the final story. The Sun and the Moon are fighting. A mysterious character named Marx arrives and tells Kirby to collect seven stars to summon the comet Nova so it can put a stop to the fight.

 

Kirby would go on various other adventures as well, such as the "Dark Matter Saga" which consists of "Kirby's Dream Land 2," "Kirby's Dream Land 3," and "Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards." There's also "Kirby's Canvas Curse," "Kirby's Epic Yarn," and "Kirby Star Allies."

Personality-wise, Kirby is a carefree  and friendly individual who loves to eat, laze about, fish, and sing. (though he doesn't do the latter quite so well...) When trouble occurs, he tends to be the first to respond to it. Kirby also tends to be pretty trusting, which some villainous characters use to further their own goals. Despite being a bit of a goofball, Kirby can take things seriously if the situation calls for it. Kirby can also be quite single-minded and stubborn at times, best shown in "Kirby Squeak Squad" where he immediately assumed King Dedede stole his cake and went storming into his castle, only relenting after he defeated King Dedede and found the real culprits. Kirby is also said to have good motor skills, and is a skilled technician.

Kirby also stars in the animated adaption "Kirby: Right Back At Ya'!" While Kirby's personality is more-or-less the same like in the games, its implied he's much younger here, and as such he's portrayed as a bit naïve, often needing guidance so he can save the day. In the first episode, Kirby is shown drifting through space in his starship until he crash lands near Cappy Town on planet Pop Star. Following a few shenanigans, Kirby decides to live there and makes close friends with Tiff and Tuff. He also shares his newly built house with a rather rude individual named Tokkori. Kirby often does his best to try and protect the kingdom from the monsters that King Dedede buys from Nightmare Enterprises. Despite King Dedede and Escargoon being quite antagonistic towards him, Kirby still shows them kindness, which slowly causes them to change their opinion on him as the show continues. Notably, the anime implies that the evil warlock Nightmare created Kirby's kind to be his greatest and strongest monsters, only for them to rebel against him and become part of the "Star Warriors," a group that fights against Nightmare.

 

In Super Smash Bros., Kirby has a variety of moves to help give him an edge, including his signature ability to copy his foes moves! (or at least their Neutral Special moves) Kirby can also hop an additional five times in the air, giving him aerial superiority over others, though he is quite light. Go forth and show them the power of a Star Warrior!

Kirby is also one of the twelve members of the "Perfect Attendance Crew". Kirby also tends to be one of the four faces of the series; Mario, Link, and Pikachu being the others.

Special Moves

Neutral Special: Inhale/Spit/Copy

Upon using the move, Kirby begins to inhale.

Once he sucks up an opponent, Kirby can then walk and hop around, though he’s somewhat slow and can’t jump very high due to the opponent in his mouth. Said opponent can also escape from him if he doesn’t Copy or Spit them out soon.

Pressing either the Special Button or down on the Control Stick will have Kirby Copy the foe he inhaled, gaining a unique hat or costume based on them, as well as the use of their Neutral Special move! There are some small exceptions when copying certain characters, such as Olimar, where Kirby will use both Olimar’s Neutral and Side Specials due to Olimar’s Neutral Special, Pikmin Pluck, being quite useless by itself for Kirby.

Kirby’s version of the foe’s Neutral Special move tends to be 20% stronger, though a select few are a bit weaker instead. One example would be Shulk’s Monado Arts, which will give Kirby slightly less powerful boosts compared to Shulk.

If Kirby uses Copy on another Kirby who has a Copy ability, Kirby will steal it from him.

Kirby will lose his Copy ability if he taunts or gets KOed. Sometimes he'll even lose it if he gets attacked.

Pressing the Attack Button will have Kirby Spit the foe out as a star. The star can damage other foes and travels a certain distance before the opponent returns to normal.

Kirby can also use Inhale to eat nearby food, crates, and certain projectiles. He’ll even recover some damage if he does so!

If Kirby inhales an explosive – like a Bob-omb – he’ll take damage, so be careful!

Inspired by Kirby’s main method of attack in “Kirby’s Dream Land,” where he can inhale enemies and either spit them out as a star or swallow them. Starting in “Kirby’s Adventure,” Kirby can copy certain foes abilities to use for himself. “Kirby Super Star” introduced the concept of Kirby wearing unique hats depending on the ability he’s copying.

Side Special: Hammer Flip

Kirby pulls out a hammer and swings it forward, flinging foes away.

If you hold the Special Button, Kirby will start to charge his hammer up, which will make the swing more powerful! While charging, you can move around and jump. At the halfway point of charging Hammer Flip, Kirby’s hammer will catch on fire. Once its fully-charged, the flames will start to slowly damage Kirby! You'd better quickly swing that mallet at your foes before Kirby takes too much damage!

Using Hammer Flip in the air will have Kirby swing the hammer twice.

Inspired by Kirby’s Hammer ability in “Kirby’s Adventure.” The ability to perform the Hammer Flip attack with it would debut in “Kirby Super Star.”

Up Special: Final Cutter

Kirby jumps into the air with a scimitar, dragging nearby foes with him. After which, Kirby will then start rocketing downward, once again dragging anyone nearby with him.

Upon hitting the ground, Kirby will fire off a blade beam, which can hit foes that are further away.

Inspired by Kirby’s Cutter ability that debuted in “Kirby Super Star,” specifically the final blow he would deliver to foes when attacking them with the cutter. 

Down Special: Stone

Kirby turns into a Stone. If used on the ground, not much else happens, other then that Kirby will be impervious to attacks, but not grabs. If used in the air, Kirby will come crashing down, damaging anyone in his path!

If used on slopes, Kirby will slide off of them. This could lead to him sliding off the stage if you’re not careful!

Kirby has a variety of objects he can turn into besides just a Stone, such as a Spiked Ball, a 100-ton weight, a garbage block from "Panel de Pon," a Thwomp from "Super Mario," and a Treasure Chest from “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”! Beyond visual appearances, they all function the same.

Kirby will return to normal after a few seconds, or if you press the Special Button again.

Inspired by Kirby’s Stone ability in “Kirby’s Adventure.” "Kirby Super Star" would be the first game where Kirby could potentially turn into other objects when using Stone.

Final Smash: Ultra Sword

Kirby equips himself with the Ultra Sword ability, and swings his sword forward! Anyone who gets hit gets caught in a barrage of slashes!

Nearby foes can also get dragged into the attack if they happen to get near Kirby as he's attacking his captured opponents, though they still have some chance of escaping the move compared to the ones who got hit by the initial swing.

If Kirby fails to hit anyone, then the attack fails.

Inspired by one of Kirby’s Super Sword ability in “Kirby’s Return to Dream Land.” Kirby can obtain it by finding and copying a “Super” enemy. In that game, the sword could also randomly turn into a meat cleaver, a wooden training sword, a fan, Meta Knight’s sword, or a large blue fish when Kirby uses it.

Additional Notes

If one counts all the Copy Abilities Kirby can get from his opponents in Super Smash Bros., Kirby has the largest moveset in the game!

Some elements from “Kirby: Right Back At Ya'!” have made their way into the games, most notably Kirby’s catchphrase “Poyo” which tended to be the main word Kirby would say when “talking” in the show.

During the development of “Kirby’s Dream Land” – which was under the name “Twinkle Popo” at the time – Kirby was not meant to be the protagonist. In fact, he was used as a placeholder for whenever Masahiro Sakurai – Kirby’s creator – made the real hero’s design, but as development continued, Sakurai slowly grew to love him and decided to keep him as the protagonist. Additionally, Kirby’s original name was intended to be "Popopo," though it was changed to Kirby after a man named “John Kirby” helped them out in lawsuit involving Donkey Kong, as well as the fact that the name was part of a list of names for Kirby.

One of Kirby’s alternate colors is a Yellow Kirby named Keeby. Shigeru Miyamoto – creator of Super Mario – wanted Kirby to be yellow, but Masahiro Sakurai wanted Kirby to be pink. Perhaps as a reference to this, a Yellow Kirby named Keeby would make his debut in the game, “Kirby’s Dream Course.” Yellow Kirbys also show up in other various games, but it's never been said if they happen to be Keeby or not.

Another one of Kirby’s alternate colors resembles a maskless Meta Knight. Could Meta Knight be related to Kirby?