History YMMV / Kirby

** The fandom tends to use "lore" as shorthand for the descriptions in pause menus during boss fights (which first started appearing in ''Super Star Ultra''), due to them being the main source of exposition in the Kumazaki-directed games.

** As Bandanna Waddle Dee has become a BreakoutCharacter and has started to be pushed as the fourth main character, fan opinion has started to become divided on him. Some love him for his adorable design, his use of a spear to round out Meta Knight's sword use and King Dedede's hammer use, his relationship with King Dedede, and for being built as an "underdog story" who was able to train and be on par with Kirby. Others dislike him for his design being little more than that of a generic enemy and having less interesting abilities than the other main characters. His detractors also feel that his position as the fourth main character would be better given to other characters like [[TokenHeroicOrc Gooey]] or [[TokenHuman Adeleine]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Meta Knight]], [[VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand Magolor]], and [[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand Sillydillo]]. For more information, see those games' respective pages [[YMMV/KirbySuperStar here]], [[YMMV/KirbysReturnToDreamLand here]], and [[YMMV/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand here]].

* AudienceAlienatingEra: The interim between Creator/MasahiroSakurai departing from HAL in 2003 and Shinya Kumazaki stepping in as series director in 2008 is considered to be the series' weakest period. Due to the main team at Creator/HALLaboratory being tied up in multiple failed attempts to continue the series, ''Kirby'' would be farmed out to various [[BTeamSequel outside teams]]. The two mainline games released during this period would garner receptions ranging from divisive (''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Amazing Mirror]]'') to underwhelming (''[[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad Squeak Squad]]''), while the spin-off ''[[VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse Canvas Curse]]'' would largely be overlooked as an insubstantial TechDemoGame despite being fairly well received. Kumazaki would eventually take control of the franchise after this period, starting with the ''Ultra'' remake of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', then using the work on that game to put together a vision that would properly continue the mainline ''Kirby'' games with ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''.

** The series has a bit of a broken base concerning the quality of the games between ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''. This era saw the series dropping Kirby's recurring cast of friends (who wouldn't be brought back to the spotlight until ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'') and experimenting a lot with different gameplay styles, even within in the main series. Some fans prefer the more experimental titles and [[FanPreferredCutContent wish the canceled GameCube game had been released]], while others prefer the more refined style started by ''Return to Dream Land'' and enjoy the focus on new and recurring characters.

** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' has [[spoiler:its TrueFinalBoss be the evil half of a complete being who was behind everything in the plot, with the good half accompanying the hero through his journey]]. ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars F'' would feature a similar plot thread with [[spoiler:Preme and Puca]].

*** The early fansite "Kirby's Rainbow Resort" often called Meta Knight's anime portrayal "Señor Noodle Arms", referring to his inexplicable Spanish theming and notably exaggerated RubberhoseLimbs in the series.

** Meta Knight is often called "MK". The Japanese fans sometimes call him "Papa Knight" for his anime portrayal, i.e. being shown to care more for Kirby than in the games.

*** Having no traces of Meta Knight whatsoever.(His soldiers, The Meta Knights, do appear as random EliteMooks in ''Kirby's Dream Land 2'' but their boss is inexplicably missing in action)

* FanPreferredCutContent: There are a number of fans who wish the 3 cancelled mainline UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube games became a reality, with some preferring how they look over the game that did eventually get made, ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''.

** Many ''Kirby'' fans are fans of HAL Laboratory's secondary franchise, ''VideoGame/BoxBoy'', as they share elements like cutesy aesthetics and unexpected lore. It helps that both series were prominent on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and like to cross-reference each other. Fans of both also tend to like HAL's mobile title ''VideoGame/PartTimeUFO'' (which later made it to the Nintendo Switch), which contains its own references to ''Kirby'' and ''[=BoxBoy=]''.

** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' was one due to coming after the ToughActToFollow ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', and undoing many of the new mechanics from that game, such as multi-attack abilities, minigames, and a more elaborate BossRush. Instead, the slow-paced gameplay and Animal Friends from ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' made a comeback. This was because the games were made by different development teams. It also was overlooked due to the release of the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, and the "coloring book" art style. Now, it's seen as much of a classic as that game, especially due to it improving the ''Kirby'' series' MinimalistCast with Gooey and the Animal Friends, and being surprisingly DarkerAndEdgier than most games in the series. With its release at the launch of the Switch's SNES service, appearing on the console ''before'' Super Star, many people are experiencing the game for the first time without its more popular SNES outing to overshadow it.

** ''VideoGame/KirbyAirRide'' met a lukewarm reception [[OvershadowedByAwesome due to being sandwiched between]] ''VideoGame/FZero GX'' and ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'' Nowadays, it is considered a CultClassic and one of the highlights of the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube library, particularly for the City Trial mode. In fact, the Smash Run mode in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' was directly stated by Sakurai to be a SpiritualSuccessor to said mode.

** Whispy Woods, the series's usual WarmUpBoss, is almost always incredibly easy, even by Warm-Up Boss standards. Fans frequently depict him as an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who challenges Kirby in nearly every game, only to get [[CurbStompBattle crushed]] every single time (at least, when he isn't seen as a MemeticBadass, as mentioned above).

** Shinya Kumazaki stated during the ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' [[https://kirbydevpostarchive.tumblr.com/tagged/eu+en+robobo Ask-a-thon]] that [[NewGamePlus Meta Knightmare Returns]] and [[BossRush The True Arena]] are [[ForWantOfANail "what-if" scenarios]] and [[AlternateContinuity alternate storylines that aren't connected to the main story,]] which many fans have taken to mean the unlockable extra modes in general. Some would say it's a given because certain things happening in the extra modes would contradict what happened in the main story, while others lament that the events in those are too awesome not to be canonical. He did later clarify in a ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/25/kirby-forgotten-land-features/ interview]] that the ''Kirby'' series has [[LooseCanon no clear canon or timeline]], so elements of these stories can be considered canon; he believes having a concrete canon would limit the games' stories and settings, and focuses on [[CharacterDevelopment character progression]] and {{continuity nod}}s as threads that tie games together rather than a linear narrative. That said, this statement was also divisive, as while some fans enjoy that this means the canon is flexible, some would prefer for non-canon stories to be clearly delineated.