History Franchise / Kirby

* BorderOccupyingDecorations: ''Dream Collection'' features emulated versions of ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'', ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'', ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', and ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''. Because ''Dream Land'' and ''Dream Land 2'' were UsefulNotes/GameBoy titles, they're too small to fill up even a 4:3 monitor; consequently, playing these games brings up a specially-designed border depicting sprites from them against a pink backdrop. A baby blue version of this border is also used when playing ''Adventure'', ''Super Star'', ''Dream Land 3'', and ''64'' on a 16:9 display (as they were designed for a 4:3 one).

** Evident when playing the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem games in ''Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition''. While the series almost always uses A to jump and B to use Kirby's powers, in ''Super Star'' and ''Dream Land 3'' the buttons are reversed to match the traditional SNES control scheme.

* UpdatedRerelease: ''3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure'' on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, which adds 3D visuals and cleans up the slowdown issues and glitches of the original game.

* BonusBoss: These become more common as the series goes along, usually appearing in an extra mode.
** In ''Super Star'', The Arena has a unique enemy not fought anywhere else: [[ZeroEffortBoss Waddle Dee]]. Though it has higher health than average, it doesn't move and can be defeated by simply inhaling it. This particular Waddle Dee returns in ''Amazing Mirror'''s Boss Endurance mode, but in ''Super Star Ultra'', it's replaced with Bandana Waddle Dee, who has a plot-relevant role.
** ''Epic Yarn'' has the Combo Cannon and Reactor, the bosses of the BonusDungeon Halberd.
** ''Return to Dream Land'' has two. The first is [[spoiler:HR-D3]], who is fought after Metal General EX in Extra Mode, and by itself in The True Arena. The second is the surprise return of [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]], who appears exclusively in The True Arena.
** In Dededetour! in ''Triple Deluxe'', there's [[spoiler:Shadow Dedede]] as the penultimate boss, and then [[spoiler:Dark Meta Knight]] appears as the final boss, similar to the above example. However, rather than being inexplicable, this boss actually contributes to the series' overall storyline [[spoiler:by tying the events of ''Triple Deluxe'' back to ''Amazing Mirror'']].
** Meta Knightmare Returns in ''Planet Robobot'' has three of them, fought as a collective final boss. The first two are [[spoiler:clones of Dark Matter Blade and Queen Sectonia, created by Star Dream]]; the last one is [[spoiler:Galacta Knight, summoned once again]].
** ''Star Allies''' Guest Star mode misleads the player into thinking the final boss will be [[spoiler:a third reappearance of Galacta Knight, complete with his theme song and BossSubtitles. However, he's swiftly replaced with a new character: the enigmatic Morpho Knight, created through the apparent fusion of Galacta Knight and a butterfly]].

** In ''Kirby 64'', while on Dark Star or fighting [[TrueFinalBoss 02]], the pause-menu option to leave the current level is replace with "Tough it out!", which is functionally identical to the "Continue" option. Your only options here are to defeat Dark Matter or reset the game.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: TropeNamer. Since around the "formal" establishment of Treehouse (i.e around the time of ''Nightmare in Dream Land's'' release), Nintendo of America tends to brush angry eyebrows on his face for the game covers. Notable aversions include ''Super Star Ultra'', ''Epic Yarn'', ''Rainbow Curse'', ''Star Allies'', ''Forgotten Land'', and the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series; notable inversions (where Kirby is also angry on the Japanese box arts) include ''Triple Deluxe'' and ''Planet Robobot''. Incidentally, early Western advertisements showed a rougher, more hardened Kirby than one present on the original game boxes, and the Western-developed ''Kirby's Avalanche'' features a very sarcastic Kirby.

** The titular Forgotten Land from ''Forgotten Land'' is one of these as well. The entire game takes place in it and it's supposedly where the Ancients used to reside originally before leaving the place (and its wildlife) behind.

''Kirby'' is a multimedia franchise co-owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/HALLaboratory and originally created by Creator/MasahiroSakurai. The games star the titular Kirby, who is a [[KidHero young]], [[RealMenWearPink pink]], [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter blobby]], alien ...[[BuffySpeak thingy]]. He can [[VacuumMouth suck enemies into his mouth]] then [[EatingTheEnemy swallow them]], [[SuperSpit spit them out with incredible force]], or -- starting with the second game, ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' -- [[PowerCopying absorb their powers]] after devouring them. He takes the old maxim "you are what you eat" quite literally. Throughout most of his adventures, he journeys across Dream Land, a fictional country on the [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway distant Planet Popstar]], to protect it from alien invaders and other threats to his home.

** Kirby's trademark power is his ability to [[VacuumMouth inhale]] his opponents, [[PowerCopying gaining their powers]].

* BadPowersGoodPeople: Kirby's main power is to [[ImAHumanitarian swallow creatures whole and absorb their powers.]] While this seems like an evil power, it's not treated as such in game. Considering there is at least one instance of a character surviving being eaten by Kirby (Bandana Waddle Dee in ''Super Star Ultra'') this may be a [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] example.

** ''Kirby's Star Stacker'' (1998, Super Famicom; a planned international release was given the tentative title "Kirby's Super Star Stacker", but was canceled outside Japan; finally made availble outside Japan in 2023 via the Nintendo Switch online service)[[index]]

** ''Kirby's Star Stacker'' (1998, Super Famicom; a planned international release was given the tentative title "Kirby's Super Star Stacker", but was canceled outside Japan)[[index]]

In development, Kirby's design was originally intended to be a mere [[PermanentPlaceholder placeholder]] for the PlayerCharacter. However, Sakurai [[PermanentPlaceholder grew attached to the]] WaddlingHead, and decided to stray from the plan and keep him as the protagonist. He was initially known as Popopo, the star of ''Twinkle Popo'', but this was wisely rechristened from a list of name candidates. It helped that the lawyer who defended Nintendo in an important lawsuit from Creator/{{Universal}} involving ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was named John Kirby.

* KingKoopaCopy: While King Dedede started off a straightforward {{Expy}}, he turns into more of an AntiVillain later on. In his first game, he steals all the food in Dream Land, forcing Kirby to go to his castle and stop him. This seems to keep going into ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' where breaks the Star Rod from the Fountain of Dreams, preventing anyone in Dream Land from dreaming. But it turns out that [[spoiler:he only did that [[WellIntentionedExtremist to prevent Nightmare from getting loose]].]] Since then, he's bounced all around [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor the good guy-bad guy]] spectrum, from helping Kirby save Ripple Star from 0[[superscript:2]] in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' to leading a full on endeavor to gain vengeance upon him. He seems to have mollified into a [[FriendlyEnemy "frenemy"]] as Play Nintendo likes to put it. He may still butt heads with Kirby from time to time, but never to drastic extent and often goes out of his way to quell bigger threats to his kingdom and most of his grievous acts are only committed when he's befallen DemonicPossession. That said, the creators of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' are well aware of his similarities to Bowser: one of the first events in ''Brawl'' pits Mario (and Kirby in multiplayer) against Bowser and Dedede, referring to them as "selfish kings".

** Parodied in ''Dueling Analogs'' [[http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/2008/05/15/overeaters-anonymous/ here]], where ComicBook/{{Galactus}} and [[{{Transformers}} Unicron]] ([[PlanetEater yes]], ''[[PlanetEater those]]'' [[PlanetEater guys]]) come together for an intervention to get Kirby to admit he has an eating disorder.

** Plus, occasionally when using the stone power, Kirby will turn into a gold statue of another Nintendo character, such as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus Aran]], and [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Tom Nook]].

* JokeWeapon: Sleep Kirby. The "ability" freezes you in place for four seconds with no way to defend yourself, and you lose the ability afterwards. The only reason to even consider getting it is to see Kirby's sleeping face, which is pretty darn adorable. Copy Essences containing Sleep are usually used as obstacles, rather than powerups.
** In ''Battle Royale'', however, the ability is improved so that it's actually battle-capable (while still allowing Kirby to sleep). ''Forgotten Land'' subverts this further after forging the "Deep Sleep" variant, allowing Kirby to heal while asleep.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Mike Kirby weaponizes his own shouts, given that he's a DreadfulMusician.

* MusicalAssassin: There's regular enemy Walky (a living microphone), and an alarm clock miniboss named Mr. Tick-Tock. When Kirby inhales either, he'll be given the limited-use Mike ability. There's also the Bell ability, where Kirby wields 2 hand-bells and attacks with soundwaves from the bells.

In development, Kirby's design was originally intended to be a mere [[PermanentPlaceholder placeholder]] for the PlayerCharacter. However, Sakurai [[PermanentPlaceholde grew attached to the]] WaddlingHead, and decided to stray from the plan and keep him as the protagonist. He was initially known as Popopo, the star of ''Twinkle Popo'', but this was wisely rechristened from a list of name candidates. It helped that the lawyer who defended Nintendo in an important lawsuit from Creator/{{Universal}} involving ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was named John Kirby.

In development, Kirby's design was originally intended to be a mere [[PermanentPlaceholder placeholder]] for the PlayerCharacter. However, Sakurai grew attached to the WaddlingHead, and decided to stray from the plan and keep him as the protagonist. He was initially known as Popopo, the star of ''Twinkle Popo'', but this was wisely rechristened from a list of name candidates. It helped that the lawyer who defended Nintendo in an important lawsuit from Creator/{{Universal}} involving ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was named John Kirby.

* GameGourmet: From the start, Kirby already had a good choice of power-up foods: energy drinks that restore a bit of health, curry that gives him fire breath, sweet potatoes (or mint leaves) that let him spit air puffs, lollipops that turn him invincible, and of course, the full health-restoring Maxim Tomatoes. Many games starting with ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' additionally feature things like snowcones, oranges, pancakes, baby bottles, pea pods, pudding, corn, and lots more. One of the six main games in ''Super Star'' is even called Gourmet Race, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin all about that]].

* BladeOnAStick: Spear Kirby uses one, which he can use to [[JavelinThrower throw multiple spears]] or [[InstantFlightJustAddSpinning fly in the air by spinning it]]. Bandana Waddle Dee also wields one (in most appearances).

** Yo-yo Kirby seems to be based off of [[VideoGame/EarthBound Ness.]] The background for this ability even has the same background as ''[=EarthBound=]''[='s=] first menu screen. The ESP ability introduced later is more directly based on ''[=EarthBound=]'', directly referencing it in its description and moveset; its enemy is even named NESP. In return, the Debug menu of ''[=EarthBound=]'' has an icon of Kirby as the cursor, since HAL Laboratory helped develop it.

Besides games, Kirby starred in his own anime series, ''Hoshi no Kirby'' (the franchise's Japanese name, meaning "Kirby of the Stars"); Sakurai retained a lot of creative input on the show. It was licensed by Creator/FourKidsEntertainment, so naturally a lot of the darker elements from the Japanese version were {{Bowdlerise}}d out. The dub, [[MarketBasedTitle retitled]] ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', was still successful, managing to stay on the air for all 100 episodes. There are also many, ''many'' manga adaptations of the games, most of which are {{yonkoma}} that have not been released outside of Japan. Kirby is even has his own books, starring in a series of self-titled [[Literature/KirbyLightNovel light novels]] (mostly Japan-only) and a series of picture books called ''Literature/ItsKirbyTime'' (also Japan-only, but with web-exclusive localizations).

Besides games, Kirby starred in his own anime series, ''Hoshi no Kirby'' (the franchise's Japanese name, meaning "Kirby of the Stars"); Sakurai retained a lot of creative input on the show. It was licensed by Creator/FourKidsEntertainment, so naturally a lot of the darker elements from the Japanese version were {{Bowdlerise}}d out. The dub, [[MarketBasedTitle retitled]] ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', was still successful, managing to stay on the air for all 100 episodes. There are also many, ''many'' manga adaptations of the games, most of which are {{yonkoma}}, and most of which have not been released outside of Japan.

While Sakurai is often viewed as the head of the franchise, the reality is more complex. At least three ''Kirby'' games (''Kirby's Dream Land 2'', ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'', and ''Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'') were directed by Shinichi Shimomura. Shimomura's titles are slower-paced than others in the series, and various characters introduced in them (Kirby's animal friends, Dark Matter, Adeleine, and Ribbon) don't appear with major roles in other games prior to ''Kirby Star Allies''. Sakurai, meanwhile, has not directed a ''Kirby'' game since ''Air Ride''. Starting with ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', Shinya Kumazaki has taken the director role, and is well-known among ''Kirby'' fans for working to flesh out the series' background lore.

It should be noted that at least three of these games (''Kirby's Dream Land 2'', ''Kirby's Dream Land 3'', and ''Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'') were directed by Shinichi Shimomura. Shimomura's titles are slower-paced than others in the series, and various characters introduced in them (Kirby's animal friends, Dark Matter, Adeleine, and Ribbon) don't appear with major roles in other games prior to ''Kirby Star Allies''. Sakurai, meanwhile, has not directed a ''Kirby'' game since ''Air Ride''. Starting with ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', Shinya Kumazaki has taken the director role, and is well-known among ''Kirby'' fans for working to flesh out the series' background lore.