

— Kirby • Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Kirby (カービィ, Kābī in Japan) (Born 1957) is the titular pink puff and main protagonist of Nintendo's Kirby series of video games named after him. The series has been running for two decades, and nearly thirty titles have been released under Kirby's name, most of which are developed by HAL Laboratory Inc. or published by HAL for co-developing studios.

Kirby has been featured in his own anime series, many manga publications in several countries, and even an educational video co-starring Mario. He has his fair share in Nintendo's merchandising from all his appearances, although many of them are only released in Japan.

Kirby lives in his dome-shaped home in Dream Land, a country on his home planet Pop Star. His adventures take him throughout Dream Land and occasionally into local star systems for various reasons, and he has saved his home land several times.

Character design


— Introduction • Kirby's Adventure

an early magazine scan of Twinkle Popopo





One of the earliest artworks on Kirby




KDL Boxart

US boxart of Kirby's Dream Land


Miyamoto's own preference of a yellow Kirby was not entirely ignored however, since whenever a second player plays a second Kirby, the color defaults to yellow.

Actor portrayal


The educational video starring Kirby and Mario called the Mario Kirby Masterpiece in 1993 is one notable title where Kirby was not voiced by Ohmoto. Mayumi Tanaka provides Kirby's voice instead.



HnK Kirby

Kirby in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Kirby is a small, pink, spherical creature with red feet and blue, oval shaped eyes with black pupils, and stubby arms. Kirby's cheek-blushes aren't introduced until his second game, Kirby's Adventure, in the form of two small, black lines. They weren't present in Kirby's Dream Land 2, and it wasn't until Kirby's Dream Land 3 that they start to resemble the pink blushes Kirby is known for.

Kirby's body is soft and flexible, allowing him to flatten himself or expand like a balloon. He is 20 centimeters (8 inches) tall,[4] and his weight is not known,[4] although several parts of the anime and the Super Smash Bros. series suggest that he is light enough to be easily carried.


With regards to Kirby's appearance on the box art of games and certain artwork, there is a phenomenon fans refer to along the lines of the "angry Kirby" look. For some undisclosed reason, although likely attributed to cultural differences and atmosphere at that time, Nintendo of America decided to depict Kirby's eyes as significantly sharper-looking than his usually benign expression on the US box art of several games, starting from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and including (in chronological order) Kirby Air Ride, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Kirby: Canvas Curse, up to Kirby: Squeak Squad. Kirby Super Star Ultra and Kirby's Epic Yarn are exempt from this phenomenon, although the trend continues into Kirby Mass Attack and Kirby's Return to Dream Land. The same thing happened for the promotional material for Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.

Age and Gender


Kirby inside his spaceship in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Kirby's age[6] and gender[7] were never directly stated, although he is called a "little boy" in the manual for the English version of Kirby's Dream Land, and is referred to as a "he" in subsequent games and in the anime. This is in line with the hint of romance between Kirby and Ribbon in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards where Ribbon gives Kirby a kiss in the good ending, which makes both of them blush in embarrassment. Chuchu's crush on Kirby in the non-canon manga also implies that Kirby is a boy. In the anime, where he more or less acts like a little child, Kirby's peers Tiff and Tuff sometimes call him a "baby" (in the japanese dubbed Meta Knight implies he's a baby when he tell Tiff that he's born 200 years too early) . Along with his high-pitched voice, it is implied that Kirby is young.


He's a pretty jolly guy.
— Tutorial description • Kirby Super Star Ultra
KSSU wink

Kirby in Kirby Super Star Ultra

Kirby is largely innocent, and has a cheerful demeanour and a positive attitude. He likes to help other people so much, sometimes he goes out of his way to do it; in the Dyna Blade sub-game of Kirby Super Star Ultra, he feeds Dyna Blade's chicks on his own (though expresses annoyance at Dyna Blade's chicks' constant noise-making before dragging them off to Whispy Woods to be fed by the constant dropped apples from the tree's branches) and teaches them how to fly. In the anime, he doesn't harbor dislike for anybody in particular, not even King Dedede or Escargoon who mostly cause trouble for himself, and mostly greets everyone he meets.


Don't eat it!
Kirby and Cake

Kirby's Strawberry Shortcake




Mike Abusement Park

Mike Kirby singing in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!


In the games, Kirby narrates the functions of certain Copy abilities on the pause menu in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, and Kirby: Squeak Squad. In Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, he gives short descriptions of various menu options when they are highlighted. The most in-game talking Kirby ever did was in Kirby's Star Stacker, where he explains the game's rules, along with brief gameplay descriptions if it isn't already explained by Dedede. Kirby says the names of certain attacks when he uses a foe's ability in the Super Smash Bros. series.



Mike Kirby in Kirby Super Star


In the anime

Kirby&#039;s House

Kirby's House

Kirby's personality in the anime is either very alike or very unlike his personality in the games. He retains some of his old traits, like his cute playfulness and tendency to do good, and reveals new facets of himself. He is shown to be very loving towards his robotic dog in Kirby's Pet Peeve and being very determined, like not giving up when fighting Meta Knight in Kirby's Duel Role.


Kirby Takes The Cake 9

Kirby in Kirby Takes the Cake


Other aspects



In Super Smash Bros. Melee, his trophy profile states that he is an "extremely skilled technician" but Kirby himself is never seen doing anything particularly technical.



MaxtomatoKAR Main article: Inhale

Kirby's signature Inhale.

Kirby's signature technique is his inhale, and has been performing it since Kirby's Dream Land. It is available in almost every standard Kirby platformer with the exception of Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby Mass Attack. Kirby: Squeak Squad's manual attributes this ability of his to his "powerful lungs", although all Kirby is ever seen doing is opening his mouth really wide and sucking up lots of air in the manner resembling a vacuum cleaner more than breathing. Traditionally, Kirby's inhale is unlimited in duration, but in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, he tires after inhaling for several seconds, and has to take a short break. Kirby's super inhale is also introduced in the game, where, after inhaling for about a second, it becomes more powerful and can suck up larger objects. The super inhale returns in Kirby: Squeak Squad, and becomes even more powerful in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, where he can suck up many enemies at once.

Copy Ability

MaxtomatoKAR Main article: Copy Ability

Cutter Kirby in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

After inhaling anything, Kirby has the option to either swallow it or spit it back out as a Star Spit attack. Starting from Kirby's Adventure onwards, Kirby gets a Copy Ability should the player choose to swallow an enemy with a special power. In Kirby's Adventure, copy abilities essentially let Kirby mimic whatever the enemy he had just swallowed, but in later titles like Kirby Super Star, each copy ability has multiple moves which Kirby can perform instead of just one or two.

In early games, having a copy ability does not change Kirby's appearance drastically, aside from his color changing to orange or cyan in Kirby's Adventure, or wielding a weapon for abilities like Sword or Hammer. Kirby Super Star is considered among the best Kirby titles, introducing a continuous Vitality system instead of the traditional six bars of life, among other things, but it is best known for introducing copy ability hats for Kirby, where most copy abilities give a different hat and makes Kirby look different, such as a burning headdress for Fire, a frozen crown for Ice, or a backwards baseball cap for Yo-yo and Wheel. While the hats are absent after their introduction in the games Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, both of which are incidentally not designed by Masahiro Sakurai, they have become a staple of the series, and make consistent appearances in later titles.


Knuckle Joe Helper with Kirby

Super Star also introduces the Helper system where Kirby could sacrifice a copy ability to create a Helper, an allied version of the enemy he had previously swallowed. The new Helper would be controlled by the game or a second player. This feature has not yet been included in later Kirby games, although it was included in Kirby Super Star's remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Since copy abilities are only introduced in Kirby's Adventure, in Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby uses the inhale solely for the Star Spit attack. There are certain power ups which he can collect, such as a Mint Leaf (Sweet potato in Japan) which lets him shoot out air pellets for a limited time, and Superspicy Curry, which has the same effect, but lets him shoot fireballs instead of air pellets. Kirby can collect food or other special items like lollipops that grant him beneficial effects such as healing or temporary invincibility.

Other techniques


Kirby performing the Star Spit

Kirby has a soft, flexible body. This allows him to be flattened or stretched, always returning to his original shape. He can inflate himself, making himself more buoyant, and he can flap his arms to fly. In most games, he can do this indefinitely. He can exhale to deflate himself and use the exhaled air as an attack. This technique is known as the air gun. In certain games, (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, the Super Smash Bros. series, and Kirby Air Ride) Kirby's ability to fly or float is limited.

When underwater, most of Kirby's copy abilities do not work, and he is largely limited to using the water gun attack unless he happens to have Sword, Hammer, Parasol, or a few other abilities which can be used underwater. Water gun works just like the air gun, but Kirby does not need to inhale beforehand.


Kirby performing the Slide attack

In all the games after Kirby's Adventure, Kirby can do a move known as the Slide Kick or slide attack while crouching as a basic attack that does minor damage. In Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and Kirby Squeak Squad, if Kirby does a Slide Kick facing down a steep incline, he will roll down and over any enemies in his way.

KSSU Kirby guard

Kirby guarding in Kirby Super Star Ultra

In Kirby Super Star and Ultra, Kirby has the guard move, which makes Kirby protect himself from attacks which the player knows can no longer be avoided, and sustain much less damage (or no damage) in the process. He can also perform the normal beam to revert helpers to an item state, which Kirby can inhale and reacquire the copy ability for himself.

Kirby Super Star and recent games have a feature where Kirby can share his food with the second player in a motion that resembles kissing. It became a popular topic to parody in the Japanese manga series, and the 4Koma panels have a running gag about Kirby and Bonkers kissing each other when one is at critical health. The Kirby Super Star Ultra booklet refers to it as face-to-face food transfer.

In the anime, Kirby is an astonishingly fast runner. In one episode with Kracko, he could run fast enough to skim across water and get over to the horizon within seconds. It is also explained in episode Beware: Whispy Woods! that whatever Kirby consumes enters another dimension.


SSBU Yellow Kirby See also: Kirby (species)

Kirbies in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror

Kirby's species has been a common topic of debate in his fandom. Unlike many other video game mascots, such as Link being Hylian or Pikachu being a Pokémon, Kirby's kind has never been given an official name, but fans commonly refer to his species as "puffs", such as puffballs or cream puffs, or simply as "a Kirby". While Kirby is the one given the most emphasis, he is not the only member of his kind. There is evidence of the existence of other members of his species from the similar-looking characters seen in the ending of Kirby's Dream Land and the remake Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star. While not officially confirmed, Meta Knight is a likely member due to almost identical facial features to Kirby aside from color and minor differences. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, players play different colored Kirbies in multi-player games. In the case of the latter, they are the result of Kirby being divided into four by Dark Meta Knight. In general, members of the species all look similar, but sometimes have different colored skin, eyes, and feet.


Kirbys in Kirby Mass Attack

When not referring to Kirby's species in the generic sense, the term "Kirbys" (occasionally "Kirbies") usually refers to only one character, who is none other than Kirby himself. Although he may be split into multiple separate entities, they are all part of him. In the English manual of Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, the term "Kirbys" is used at certain points to illustrate the feature of having four differently colored versions of Kirby active in the game simultaneously. In Kirby Air Ride, since the other colours of Kirby are separate individuals, and the term refers to all of them.



Kirby on the Halberd in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!





Kirby 64 ending




Bomb Rally artwork - Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land


King Dedede

MaxtomatoKAR Main article: King Dedede
Lucky little lump.

King Dedede - Kirby Super Star Ultra

King Dedede is Kirby's arch-nemesis, and there is a long-standing grudge and some sort of love-hate relationship between the two of them which is developed throughout the many games in the series. In the games, King Dedede is not nearly as stupid or narrow-minded as he is in the anime, but he does have his faults. Incidentally, many of King Dedede's pranks involve stealing something associated with stars; he stole all the stars from Dream Land's skies in Kirby's Dream Course, took one of Mr. Star's pieces for himself in Kirby Super Star Stacker, stole Dream Landers' Sparkling Stars and hiding them away, and broke the Star Rod in Kirby's Adventure and its remake, which makes for some sort of irony between Kirby and his relationship with Dedede since Stars are strongly associated with Kirby.

KNiD Dedede fountain

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land introduction


Ep93 Dedede Kirby

D'Preciation Day


King Dedede is a lot more hostile to Kirby in the Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. In the majority of the episodes, for some reason he tolerates Kirby's presence in his castle with Tiff, Tuff, Sir Ebrum, and Lady Like, but never ceases to think about new ways to get rid of the pink puff. It wasn't until near the end of the entire series in D'Preciation Day when he reveals that he has the same respect he has for Kirby in the games, where he weeps his heart out thinking he really got Kirby killed by going too far with his schemes to exacerbate the rivalry between the two of them.

Meta Knight

MaxtomatoKAR Main article: Meta Knight
— Meta Knight • to Kirby - Revenge of Meta Knight
Meta knight kssq

Meta Knight in Kirby: Squeak Squad



MetaKnight in kirby anime

Meta Knight in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!



MaxtomatoKAR Main article: Gooey

Gooey with Kirby in Kirby's Dream Land 3


Gooey was first seen in Kirby's Dream Land 2, but his role was minimal; he is sometimes found in a sack after a mid-boss fight and only serves to heal Kirby when eaten. in Kirby's Dream Land 3, Kirby can summon Gooey at any time like a Helper at the cost of 2 hitpoints and the CPU or the second player controls Gooey and helps him out, or he can swallow Gooey for the 2 hitpoints at any time, which makes Gooey seem like some sort of food to Kirby as well as being his friend.


MaxtomatoKAR Main article: Tiff
You better not be here for Kirby.


Tiff is a character only in the anime, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. She is the first person Kirby meets after crashing on Pop Star. Tiff was intrigued by the whole notion of a Star Warrior and the fact that one is coming to Cappy Town, but Kirby's initial impression wasn't quite what she expected. After Kirby saves her from falling to her death in a ravine, she quickly warms up to him.

Most of the time, Tiff is like an older sibling to Kirby although she refers to him as a friend, helping him settle into Cappy Town and protecting him from Kirby's other peers Tuff, Iroo, Spikehead, and Honey, who are often less considerate about his age and capabilities. She is the one who suggested building Kirby a house after King Dedede sabotages her efforts in finding Kirby a place to stay. As Kirby is too young to summon the Warp Star for himself, Tiff is the only one who can do it for him as she loves him the most.


Kirby Comes to Cappy Town

Kirby Comes to Cappy Town

She had suspicions that Meta Knight's agenda was in line with King Dedede's at the start, but it was proven to be false when Meta Knight saves Kirby and herself several times. For the most part, she values the explanation Meta Knight can give about Kirby's abilities and the Warp Star because of his background, but she takes issue with Meta Knight's harsh methods to improve Kirby's capabilities, which involve Kirby literally fighting for his life.



KAR Kirby Warpstar


Kirby stars in all the games in the Kirby series, most of which are platformers. He hails from his home planet Pop Star, where he lives in a dome-shaped house in Dream Land. He is the hero of Dream Land, which he usually has to save from whatever evil that attacks it, sometimes traveling to other lands or planets to do so. Often, near the end of the game Kirby gains a Final Weapon that he must fight the main villain with.

He features in several spinoffs including racing, pinball, Breakout, golf, falling-blocks games, and among others. He also cameos in many other games.



Kirby in the anime

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby is a legendary Star Warrior who was sent across the galaxy from an unknown location, meant to sleep in his space ship for a certain number of years before awakening to confront whatever evil there is. However, as Kirby's space ship nears Pop Star, it detects Demon Beasts of King Dedede bought from Nightmare Enterprises and warps towards it. This wakes Kirby 200 years too early, and since he does not yet know how to control his space ship, it crash lands on Pop Star, and Kirby is thrust into the midst of King Dedede and Escargoon's schemes and faces an impending invasion by Nightmare's army of monsters.

As mentioned previously, Masahiro Sakurai intended Kirby to be largely mute in the anime. In the Japanese version, Kirby usually only says "Poyo", although he sometimes says names and has a limited vocabulary. In The Meal Moocher, Kirby could say "kani" (crab). In "Shell-Shocked", Kirby could say "Nyūin" (hospitalized). In the English dub, Kirby could say "Name, Tiff", "Tuff", "Fololo and Falala", "Chilly", "Fofa", and "Dedede". Ohmoto's voice work for Kirby calling out the names of his attacks are removed in the dub.

Manga and Comics

Kirby stars in several manga series, none of which have been released outside Japan.[8] The longest running of these series is titled Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives In Pupupu (星のカービィ デデデでプププなものがたり), written by Hirokazu Hikawa (Japanese: ひかわ 博一) and published in May 1995.[9] Other Kirby manga are typically one-shot comedy 4koma (four-panel manga) based on the games, and have multiple artists. They have recurring themes and running gags despite having different creators.


In the Super Smash Bros. series

Kirby Colors SSB

Kirby's colors in Super Smash Bros.. Note that his green color is only available for Team Battles and can not be chosen for Free-For-Alls.

Kirby appears in all three Super Smash Bros. Games. He retains many of his abilities from his own series, such as being able to inhale his enemies and using many of his copy abilities from the Kirby series (like Fighter, Backdrop / Suplex, Crash, Stone, and Yo-yo) without having to copy them from enemies. Kirby's hovering ability returns modified, and enables him to perform six consecutive jumps. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, along with Jigglypuff and Mr. Game & Watch, Kirby is a character whose appearance hasn't changed from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

When Kirby inhales one of the other fighters, he can copy their standard B button technique and gains a hat that makes him look like that character, most of these abilities contain references to the copy abilities Kirby obtains in his games (for example: Bowser's Fire Breath works just like the Fire ability, the Ice Climbers' Parka looks like Freeze, and R.O.B.'s Laser richochets off hills just like Laser ability).

Kirby appears as a sticker three times, using his designs from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Squeak Squad.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

Kirby played a rather prominent role in The Subspace Emissary. In the beginning, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into an arena, come to life, and have a friendly match. The player chooses the one they want to play as. After the battle between the two, the victor revives the fallen loser, and the two fighters celebrate and wave to the crowd when suddenly, the Subspace Army attacks! Peach and Zelda, who were watching their match, both come to their aid. After the brief battle, the Ancient Minister shows up with a giant Subspace Bomb that is quickly armed by two R.O.B.s. When Mario attempts to stop the bomb, he is ambushed by a giant cannonball and is blasted away from the stadium. Meanwhile, the two princesses are captured by Petey Pirahna, and are thrown into separate cages. Kirby then faces off against Petey, but only one princess can be freed. After defeating Petey, Wario appears carrying a giant gun called the Dark Cannon, turns the princess Kirby didn't save into a trophy, and runs off with her. As Kirby and the remaining princess begin to leave, Kirby sees that the Subspace Bomb is about to explode! Fortunately, they flee the Midair Stadium via the Warp Star. However, they are soon chased by the Halberd and are forced to land on it. Soon after, an Arwing gets shot down, blowing both Kirby and the princess off the Halberd and onto a series of ridges.

Subspace kirby

Kirby's introduction to the Subspace Emisarry.





When they confront Tabuu, Tabuu unleashes an attack that turns everyone, including Kirby, into trophies. However, Kirby is revived by himself, thanks to the badge he found at Dedede's hideout earlier, which he had swallowed prior to Tabuu's attack. After going through Subspace alone and reviving some of the fighters along the way, Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy. Before he can do anything Bowser appears and attacks Ganondorf's trophy in revenge for turning him into a trophy earlier, before throwing it aside. King Dedede then runs over to Kirby and hugs him before pointing the staircase to Kirby, and dragging Kirby up it. Kirby then helps the others fight Tabuu.

Overall, Kirby has the most important roles in the story, mainly by saving everyone from Tabuu and Subspace. He's also the most-used character story wise.

Kirby's Special Attacks

Standard Special Move - Inhale

Up Special Move - Final Cutter

Side Special Move - Hammer

Down Special Move - Stone

Misc abilities

  • Kirby can discard an ability by taunting. The ability star is formed, but it quickly disappears.
  • Some of Kirby's regular attacks (notably the Vulcan Jab and the Spin Kick) are based on Fighter.
  • Kirby enters by crashing his Warp Star onto the stage, similar to his entrance whenever a new game is started in Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, or when he enters a new part of a level via Warp Star.

Final Smash

SSBU Yellow Kirby See also: Cook





  • Kirby's original name was "Popopo". The name of the Popopo Islands in Kirby Mass Attack is an homage to this fact.
  • Kirby makes a small appearance in the game EarthBound/MOTHER 2 as a cursor for the game's Boot Up Debug menu.
  • Kirby seems to be the only Star Warrior that has a copy ability.





  1. Nintendo Japan Q&A for Smash Bros.
  3. Zelda Informer, June 2011
  4. 4.0 4.1 Nintendo Japan
  6. Nintendo Japan Q&A for Smash Bros. page 104
  7. Nintendo Japan Q&A for Smash Bros. page 84