Kirby

Kirby
	; Official artwork of Kirby from Kirby Star Allies.
Universe	Kirby
Debut	Kirby's Dream Land (1992)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB; Melee; Brawl; SSB4; Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Kirby Air Riders (2025)
Console/platform of origin	Game Boy
Species	Kirby
Gender	Male (internationally); Unknown (in Japan)
Place of origin	Dream Land, Popstar
Created by	Masahiro Sakurai
Designed by	Masahiro Sakurai
Voice actor	Makiko Ōmoto
Article on WiKirby	Kirby

For fighter info, see Kirby (SSB), Kirby (SSBM), Kirby (SSBB), Kirby (SSB4), and Kirby (SSBU).

For the universe, see Kirby (universe).

Kirby (カービィ, Kirby) is the eponymous protagonist of the Kirby series. A round, pink creature hailing from Planet Popstar, he is best known for his ability to inhale enemies and copy their abilities, and uses these powers to defend his homeland from various threats ranging from his "arch-frenemy" King Dedede to outside evil forces such as Nightmare and Dark Matter. He was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who also created the Super Smash Bros. series. As a member of the "perfect-attendance crew", Kirby has been featured as a playable character throughout the entire Super Smash Bros. series.

Origin[edit]

Official artwork of Kirby from Kirby Super Star, depicting his original design. Kirby's current design debuted in Smash 64, and was integrated into the Kirby games with Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Kirby is a resident of the yellow, star-shaped planet Popstar, and the planet's consistent hero. His round, pink form is only 20 cm (8 inches) in height, though his dimensions are obviously enlarged in the Super Smash Bros. series. Living in the peaceful kingdom of Dream Land, he defends his home against foes such as his "arch-frenemy" King Dedede, and the malevolent, shadowy Dark Matter. Kirby is generally depicted with an innocent and easygoing personality, but he is also shown to be determined and heroic when the situation calls for it. While Kirby's species is left unclear, he is not the only one of his kind; multiple Kirby-like beings are known to exist, including Meta Knight, who bears a striking resemblance to him.

Kirby's demeanor is best described as childlike. He is often motivated solely by his instinctual needs to eat and sleep, and depending on his temperament, he may make brash decisions or allow others to take advantage of him. This extends to the point that he is occasionally compared to an infant, especially in the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime. His voice, reflecting his nature, is comparable to a toddler learning to speak: mostly incoherent babbling with a very rare short sentence. However, Kirby does show some intelligence that an infant would not possess, particularly in his combat skills and adaptability to the situations he comes across. Kirby is also perceptive of emotions, being able to tell what others are feeling and respond appropriately.

Kirby's trademark attack is his ability to Inhale forcefully, allowing him to swallow his enemies whole or spit them back out as star-shaped projectiles. Introduced in Kirby's Adventure was the option to copy a swallowed enemy's ability to fight back (known as a Copy Ability). He has a multitude of Copy Abilities that allow him to perform a wide variety of techniques, such as wielding a sword, breathing fire, or creating beams of energy. He can also float by storing the air he inhales, making himself large and puffy. While not appearing directly in the movie, his aforementioned ability to float is referenced in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Kirby began as an entirely different character that starred in Masahiro Sakurai's early Game Boy game in development, originally called "Twinkle Popo". During development, he used a placeholder sprite resembling a ball with a happy face on it. Sakurai eventually came to prefer this more simplistic design and decided to use it as the final character. Originally called Popopo, the little protagonist was eventually named Kirby, and the game itself named Kirby's Dream Land. The name was chosen from a list of candidates provided by Nintendo of America, who wished to give the character more international appeal; Shigeru Miyamoto thought that the contrast between the cute character and the name's "harsh" sound was humorous. The name was also chosen to honor John Kirby, the attorney who defended Nintendo during a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Universal Studios over the name of Donkey Kong.

Contrary to popular belief, Kirby was always intended to be pink, but the Game Boy's monochromatic palette led to initial confusion about his color scheme. North American marketing for Kirby's Dream Land depicted him as white, similar to the in-game graphics. Meanwhile, Miyamoto initially interpreted the character as yellow; as a result, the second player in later Kirby games is typically a yellow Kirby. His pink coloration wouldn't be seen in-game until Kirby's Adventure, the second game of the series, which also introduced the iconic Copy Abilities.

In Super Smash Bros.[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Main article: Kirby (SSB)

Official artwork of Kirby from Super Smash Bros.

Kirby makes his first appearance as a starter character in Super Smash Bros. Kirby is known for his great recovery, quick attacks which gives him a great combo game, his incredibly fast up tilt, and surprisingly long-range aerials, all of which place him high in the original game's tier list, placing 2nd only behind Pikachu. Kirby's trademark move is Swallow, which allows him to him suck in enemies caught within the vortex and emulate their neutral special attack.

In-game description:

The 8-inch high Kirby hails from a distant, peaceful star. Like his simplistic appearance, he is an easily-understood character. True to his instincts, Kirby eats when he gets hungry and sleeps as soon as he grows tired. Nevertheless, Kirby remains a formidable opponent. In addition to his distinct flying and swallowing skills, he also has the ability to copy enemy attacks for ever-changing action.

Works:

In Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Main article: Kirby (SSBM)

Kirby, as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

For Kirby's return in the GameCube Smash entry, he gets a redesign and has new attacks, including the Hammer as his new side special move. He is still a starter character and is still a floaty, lightweight character that can jump five times in midair. However, Kirby has been severely nerfed, losing most of his power, combo ability, and speed from Smash 64, while also being harmed by the game's faster mechanics overall. As a result, Kirby now heavily struggles to compete against the vast majority, with most of his foes able to shrug off his approaches by overwhelming him with fast attacks and speed or by camping him. These nerfs have landed him in the F tier, rendering him 25th out of 26 characters.

Trophies[edit]

Main article: List of SSBM trophies (Kirby series)

Kirby is the most extensively represented character in Melee trophies. In addition to having his set of three trophies earned through single player modes, there are five trophies named "Kirby Hat" that provide information about the powers he gains with his in-game inhale ability.

Kirby's Classic Mode trophy in Melee

Kirby

A denizen of the far-off, peaceful planet Pop Star, Kirby became a citizen of Dream Land after defeating King Dedede. Even though he's only about eight inches tall, Kirby is an extremely skilled technician. He has the unique ability to absorb the powers of his enemies, and his elastic body makes him a versatile adventurer.

Kirby's Dream Land (8/92)

Kirby's Adventure Mode trophy in Melee

Kirby SMASH: Kirby's small size lets him dodge many attacks, but his light weight makes him fly far when struck. Using his ability to inflate, he can jump five times. His Swallow attack creates wild combos; not only can he copy foes' moves, but he'll also put on special hats and mimic their voices. His Hammer is unwieldy but powerful.; B: Swallow; Smash B: Hammer

Kirby's All-Star Mode trophy in Melee

Kirby SMASH: Because of his light weight, Kirby is always in danger of being sent flying, but his ability to puff up and fly allows him to come back from amazing distances. His Final Cutter strikes on the way up and on the way down, and it sends out a beam of force upon landing. Kirby transforms into various objects and crashes down when he uses his Stone technique.; Up & B: Final Cutter; Down & B: Stone

There are also trophies depicting Kirby in various guises he has taken in Kirby games:

Fire Kirby's trophy in Melee

Fire Kirby

When Kirby swallows a fire-wielding enemy, he transforms into Fire Kirby. Not only does he breathe fire in this form, but he can also sprout flames on his entire body and damage enemies by crashing into them. Fire Kirby wears the bright red headdress of his enemy Burning Leo. The hat turns into a helpful weapon when thrown.

Kirby's Adventure (5/93)

Fighter Kirby's trophy in Melee

Fighter Kirby

Kirby dons a warrior's headband and becomes a fierce fighter when he swallows an enemy skilled at physical attacks. Fighter Kirby uses many colorful punching and kicking moves as he overpowers his enemies with his sparring skills. The Vulcan Jab is just one of the many techniques Kirby can use thanks to his copying power.

Kirby Super Star (9/96)

Kirby's Fun Pak

Ball Kirby's trophy in Melee

Ball Kirby

When Kirby swallows a ball enemy, he turns into a ball and can bounce off of floors and walls. It's tough to control, but well worth it for the strong attack power it gives Kirby. After his debut in Kirby's Adventure, Ball Kirby has popped up in several more Kirby games, such as Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Block Ball.

Kirby's Adventure (5/93)

Kirby Hat 1's trophy in Melee

Kirby Hat 1

Here's Kirby sporting several results of his Copy ability. In Link's hat he can shoot arrows, while Mario's cap gives him access to Fireballs. The Donkey Kong suit offers up a Giant Punch, while Samus's helmet allows Kirby to fire off charged-up energy shots. Finally, while wearing the Yoshi hat, Kirby can swallow enemies and turn them into eggs.