In the West, where the Kirby series isn't as well-known as it is in Japan, there are a lot of misconceptions that make a lot of fans angry:
- Don't call Kirby a girl just because he's pink. If you're lucky, a fan will just politely correct you. However, Japan's official statement is that Kirby has an Ambiguous Gender while treating him as male with the strictly male pronouns being due to localization.
- Don't confuse Kirby with Jigglypuff or assume that he's a Pokémon in general. You have green light at shipping Kirby and Jigglypuff though.
- Kirby has red feet; he doesn't wear red shoes. If you're not joking, fans will be quick to correct you.
- It's just a wild coincidence that Kirby has the same name as a brand of vacuum cleaner.
- Whatever you do, do not say that Kirby is evil, a monster, or the true threat to Dream Land, unless you're clearly joking in a friendly way. Unlike most misconceptions, where you'll usually be let off with a polite correction, the fans will tear into you. MatPat learnt this the hard way.
- Likewise, calling King Dedede or Meta Knight evil or lumping them in with other Nintendo bad guys will also get a lot of Kirby fans up in arms, as neither have been truly villainous (at least of their own accord) since the '90s. Even in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, King Dedede is little more than a nuisance (most of time, anyway), and Meta Knight is one of Kirby's allies in the show. The newer games treat them as Kirby's True Companions. This isn't helped by the two of them being portrayed as plain foes to Kirby in Super Smash Bros. due to Sakurai neglecting canon from the Kirby games he didn't direct, but even there, in the Subspace Emissary, their villainous build-upsnote were subverted, with Dedede's brilliant planning ultimately being one of the only two reasons that the Big Bad didn't winnote .
- King Dedede's name is not written in CamelCase; he's not "King DeDeDe." This error was made in some older media, but the current spelling has been consistent since the early 2000s.
- Don't say "Meta-Knight" or "MetaKnight" is your favorite character; you won't hear the end of it. The Meta-Knights are a group of swordsmen Meta Knight leads, and MetaKnight doesn't exist. Like Dedede, this error was occasionally made in older media, but has since been ironed out.
- Don't call Bandana Waddle Dee a "Hat Goomba" or otherwise claim he's just a generic Waddle Dee with nothing special about him. The series has gone out of its way to establish him as a unique individual, and fans are fiercely protective of him.
- Misnaming Copy Abilities is a great way to get slammed. Needle Kirby is not "Spike", Cutter is not "Blade" or "Boomerang", Spark and Stone are not "Electric" and "Rock", etc.
- Don't refer to a character by the Fan Nickname they had before they were translated from player's guides, e.g. "Shellatoss" or "Toss Tortoise" for Rolling Turtle or "Skainter" for Paint Roller.
- It's "Dream Land", not "Dreamland". The Google and YouTube autosearches are the worst offenders of this.
- Like Pokémon, Kirby can get a bit of Adaptation Displacement from some 2000s kids. The games and the anime take place in different canons and feature different characters and storylines, so please do not mix up the two. Some aspects from the anime have immigrated to the main series, but they're still not to be conflated.
- Relatedly, don't refer to Lololo, Lalala, or Nightmare by their 4Kids-changed names, "Fololo", "Falala", and "eNeME" when discussing the games.
- Don't assume that the theme for Gourmet Race is the official main theme of the series due to its use in the Super Smash Bros. games. While it reappears a lot, Green Greens is much more recurring, and popularly considered Kirby's theme song.
- Unless done in a joking way, saying or implying that Masahiro Sakurai still works on the series is a big no-no. He left after Kirby Air Ride (2003) and the position of General Director of the series was given to Shinya Kumazaki starting with Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008/09).
- Assuming that the series is nothing but saccharine cuteness will definitely show fans that you're unfamiliar with the series, as darker elements have been present as early as the second game, Kirby's Adventure. Kirby is famous for its surprisingly sinister villains and intricate storylines.
- Referring to Ado as male rather than female was a sticking point for a few years, though these days it's usually acceptable as fanon.
- In light of a certain character with the same name, Zero Two is not to be confused with Zero Two.
- Claiming that all Kirby games prior to Kirby and the Forgotten Land are the same game a la New Super Mario Bros. is a massive no-no and will show your inexperience. While the gameplay is similar, the games all have different stories and lore, varying level designs and aesthetics, new antagonists, and different postgame modes.
