Kirby

"Hiii!!"

- Kirby

Kirby is an inhabitant of Planet Popstar and the main and titular protagonist of the Kirby franchise. He has appeared in every Kirby game ever since the first title, Kirby's Dream Land. Kirby is a spherical pink creature, and is the most prominent member of the species of the same name.

Kirby lives in a dome-shaped house in the kingdom of Dream Land. The ruler of Dream Land is King Dedede, who frequently causes trouble, leaving it to Kirby to protect his homeland. Kirby's signature ability is inhaling items and enemies, after which he can either swallow or spit them out. In most games since Kirby's Adventure, Kirby can obtain a Copy Ability from an enemy by swallowing it.

Kirby's Dream Land
In Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby goes on a journey to retrieve the food and Sparkling Stars that King Dedede stole from the citizens of Dream Land. Kirby must make his way through five stages: Green Greens, Castle Lololo, Float Islands, Bubbly Clouds, and lastly Mt. Dedede, where King Dedede is fought. Before Kirby can fight King Dedede, he must fight the four previous bosses again—Whispy Woods, Lololo and Lalala, Kaboola, and Kracko―in no particular order.

In the ending, after Kirby has defeated King Dedede, Kirby inflates himself to the size of a massive hot air balloon and carries Castle Dedede back to the inhabitants of Dream Land. A hatch opens beneath the castle, and all the stolen food pours down on the inhabitants. The game then ends.

Kirby's Adventure / Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
In Kirby's Adventure and its remake Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby goes on a journey to retrieve and reassemble the Star Rod, which had been stolen from the Fountain of Dreams by King Dedede and divided into eight pieces. Kirby must work his way through eight levels, each consisting of a few stages and then a boss fight at the end. When Kirby defeats a boss, he recovers a piece of the Star Rod.

At the Fountain of Dreams, Kirby finds King Dedede, who has the last piece of the Star Rod. Kirby defeats him in a battle and then proceeds to put the Star Rod on the Fountain of Dreams, even as King Dedede pulls on Kirby's foot begging him not to. Kirby ignores King Dedede and places the Star Rod on the Fountain of Dreams, immediately resulting in a different villain, Nightmare, to emerge from the fountain. This reveals that King Dedede had good intention by hiding the Star Rod from Nightmare. King Dedede then assists Kirby by inhaling both him and the Star Rod and then spitting them high up into the sky to battle Nightmare.

In the ending, after Nightmare has been defeated, Kirby rides on a Warp Star within the clouds, with King Dedede slowly following behind him.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
In Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby goes on another journey when the rainbows connecting the Rainbow Islands have been stolen by Dark Matter, who also possessed King Dedede hoping to convert Dream Land into a dark world. Along the way, Kirby receives help from three Animal Friends—Rick, Coo, and Kine—each of whom he can ride after freeing them from a bag. Similar to Kirby's Adventure, there are seven levels, each having a couple of stages followed by a boss fight at the end.

The game has two endings, and the one that plays is dependent on whether Kirby has collected every Rainbow Drop or not. If Kirby has not collected all of them, the game ends after his boss fight against King Dedede. It shows Kirby, Rick, Coo, and Kine walking in the rain, presumably back home, even as the essence of Dark Matter looms them. If Kirby has collected all seven Rainbow Drops, they combine into the Rainbow Sword, and Dark Matter emerges from King Dedede's body. The true ending occurs when Kirby defeats Dark Matter. Kirby falls down from the sky with the Rainbow Sword, and he briefly closes his eyes. When Kirby wakes up, he reaches for the Rainbow Sword and uses it to soar in midair. The Rainbow Sword creates a long rainbow trail, and the game ends with Kirby disappearing into the horizon.

Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Kirby Super Star and its remake Kirby Super Star Ultra, there are six unique games starring Kirby.

In Spring Breeze, which is a shortened version of Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby has to regain the food and Sparkling Stars that King Dedede stole from the citizens of Dream Land. Kirby's adventure is roughly the same, although Castle Lololo was removed, and Kirby does not fight Kaboola. When entering Mt. Dedede, Kirby can immediately start fighting King Dedede rather than have to fight each of the bosses a second time. The ending is roughly the same as well, with Kirby releasing all of the stolen food back to Dream Land's citizens. Kirby then dances in victory while the inhabitants of Dream Land widely applaud him. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, there is a harder variation of Spring Breeze titled Revenge of the King, which is based on the Extra Game from Kirby's Dream Land.

In Dyna Blade, Kirby goes on a journey to stop a giant bird named Dyna Blade from destroying all of Dream Land's crops. Kirby must go through four levels—Peanut Plains, Mallow Castle, Cocoa Cave, and Candy Mountain—before reaching the fifth and final level, Dyna Blade's Nest, where he battles Dyna Blade herself. After defeating Dyna Blade, Kirby finds a few of her babies, the Dyna Chicks. In a cutscene, it is shown that Kirby takes care of the Dyna Chicks for a while, including by feeding them some of Whispy Woods' apples and showing them how to fly. The game ends with Kirby waving goodbye to Dyna Blade and her Dyna Chicks.

In Gourmet Race, Kirby and King Dedede race in three different courses to see who can eat the most food and be the first to cross the finish line. In The Great Cave Offensive, Kirby accidentally falls into a cave while he casually goes on a walk. He goes on a long journey to try and exit the cave, which is divided into four sections: Sub-Tree, Old Tower, Crystal, and Garden, while collecting up to 60 treasures along the way. After defeating the final boss, Wham Bam Rock, Kirby returns to the start of the cave and grabs on to a Warp Star, which then charges upward and busts open a rock that had been blocking the gap that Kirby fell into. The next scene shows a list of collected treasures while Kirby is floating through the air. This is followed by a congratulations screen, which shows Kirby happily sitting on all of the treasure that he had collected.

In Revenge of Meta Knight, Kirby infiltrates the Halberd when Meta Knight and his crew plan to take over Dream Land. Throughout the game, dialogue of Meta Knight and his crew members are shown on-screen, as they try to stop Kirby from thwarting their plans. Some time after boarding the Halberd, Kirby is thrown off-board by Heavy Lobster. Later, after defeating Twin Woods, Kirby uses a Warp Star to try and go back on the Halberd, but is shot out of the sky by the Combo Cannon. Kirby later manages to board the Halberd with the help of Dyna Blade, and he proceeds to the destroy the Combo Cannon. Kirby continues on to destroy both wings of the Halberd, destroys the Reactor, and defeats Meta Knight in a duel. The Halberd, having taken so much damage, begins to descend into the ocean. Kirby begins to ride a Wheelie to escape from the Halberd while Meta Knight clashes with Kirby once more in a last-ditch effort to try and stop Kirby from leaving. In the ending, Kirby and Wheelie escape from the Halberd and watch as it crashes into the ocean. The game ends with Kirby riding away on Wheelie into the sunset.

In Milky Way Wishes, Kirby goes on a journey to try and stop the Sun and Moon from fighting because it is interfering with the day-and-night cycle of Planet Popstar. Marx requests Kirby to seek help from Galactic Nova to end their fighting. Kirby has to travel through seven planets—Floria, Aquarius, Skyhigh, Hotbeat, Cavius, Mekkai, and Halfmoon—and in each planet, he must defeat a boss at the end to obtain a star from a fountain. With all seven stars, Kirby summons Galactic Nova, who allows him to have one wish, but just as Kirby is about to make his wish, Marx knocks Kirby out of the way and wishes for complete control of Popstar. It is revealed that Marx got the Sun and Moon to fight so that he could trick Kirby into retrieving the stars and summon Galactic Nova. Kirby is stranded in outer space, but the stars that Kirby collected form into the Starship. Kirby enters the Galactic Nova Nucleus to destroy the Galactic Nova from within. Kirby then has to engage in a final boss battle against Marx. When Marx is defeated, he is launched into Galactic Nova, who then explodes. Kirby uses a Warp Star to return to Planet Popstar, and the game ends with Kirby sleeping in his home.

Kirby's Pinball Land
In Kirby's Pinball Land, Kirby is introduced in his ball form, taking the role of a pinball. Kirby must play through three pinball tables that are owned by Whispy Woods, Kracko, and Poppy Bros. Sr. respectively, and each of them are fought as the boss in their own pinball table. After clearing all three pinball tables, Kirby can proceed to fight the final boss, King Dedede. Defeating him does not yield much of a reward, as the game has no plot, and Kirby can simply retry the three pinball tables again to aim for a higher score.

Kirby's Dream Course
In Kirby's Dream Course, Kirby returns in his ball form, this time substituting for a golf ball as he makes his way through eight different mini-golf courses. The game's plot involves Kirby going on a journey to retrieve the stars that King Dedede stole from the night sky. The objective is for the player to have Kirby fall into a cup at the end using as few shots as possible. He can even retrieve powers from an enemy to assist him in reaching the cup.

Kirby's Dream Course is the first game to introduce Kirby's yellow-colored counterpart, Keeby, who is controlled by the second player in 2P Game.

Kirby's Avalanche
In Kirby's Avalanche, Kirby competes against various characters in a game called Avalanche (which is actually just a game of ). Prior to each match, Kirby and his opponent have a brief conversation, and they show Kirby with a more arrogant attitude than in other Kirby games.

Kirby's Block Ball
In Kirby's Block Ball, Kirby once again assumes the form of a ball, this time in a -type game. The story involves Kirby going on a journey to Blockworld to retrieve the Sparkling Stars that King Dedede stole once again. Kirby has to make his way through ten stages before reaching the eleventh and final one, where he has to fight King Dedede. The boss fight only becomes accessible if Kirby clears the border line score for all ten stages. Otherwise, after Kirby defeats the penultimate boss, Brobo, he leaves Blockworld. As Kirby exits, his Warp Star crashes into a cloud, and he falls down to the ground. Kirby takes out a and carries on elsewhere while King Dedede's shadow looms over Blockworld.

In the true ending, after Kirby defeats King Dedede, the Sparkling Stars charge into Castle Dedede, which crumbles into the ground and reveals a water fountain. Kirby dances on the spout of water, and Kirby dances on it while the end credits roll. After the credits, the spout of water grows taller and launches Kirby into outer space, where he hits into a "The End" message.

Kirby no Omochahako
In early 1996, ten Kirby Sub-Games were broadcast over the Satellaview service as part of the Kirby no Omochahako collection. Eight of these Sub-Games are unique, and like many of the earlier spinoff titles, Kirby substitutes for a ball in all eight of them. The other two Sub-Games were Samurai Kirby and Megaton Punch, which are from Kirby's Super Star, a game that was released in Japan shortly after Kirby no Omochahako began its broadcast on the Satellaview service.

"Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland"
Kirby debuted in the comic "Super Mario: Mario im Wunderland". In this comic, Mario gets to Wunderland by accident, which is a strange land where a wizard, whose name is Crab is said to be able to fulfill desires. Among others, Mario meets Kirby in Wunderland, and mistakes him for a pillow. This annoys Kirby, and since he says he wants to look like Mega Man, he joins Mario on his way to the wizard. When arriving there, however, Kirby just says that he would like to not be a pillow any longer. The wizard then turns him into a toaster.

"Warios Weihnachtsmärchen"
In the story "Warios Weihnachtsmärchen," he is caged for unknown reasons in Wario's Bomb Shop and expresses his anger by commanding Wario to free him. The shopkeeper, however, paints him black and sells him as a "surprise bomb." When the buyer, Kid Klown, finds out about Kirby being the "surprise", both are angry at Wario. At the end of the story, they forgive him, as he gives some cookies to them.

"Super Mario in Die Nacht des Grauens"
Kirby makes one more appearance in the comic "Super Mario in Die Nacht des Grauens," featuring him as Mario's ally in the fight against Abigor. In this story, Kirby lives in a skyscraper together with several other Nintendo characters. In order to fight Abigor, who plans to take over the building, Kirby together with Mario and Link puts on some magic clothes and serums which turn them into aggressive ghostbusters. In this form, Kirby uses his Inhale and temporary fire breath abilities to fight Abigor's allies.

"Die Jagd nach dem Nintendo 64: Krawall im All"
Kirby's latest relevant, yet very minor Club Nintendo appearance was in the comic "Die Jagd nach dem Nintendo 64: Krawall im All." Kirby was one of the many characters to celebrate the Mario Brothers when they managed to find the then new Nintendo 64 first, before Bowser and Wario.

Mario Kirby Meisaku Video
Kirby appears alongside Mario in the obscure educational video Mario Kirby Meisaku Video; however, this video was merely a compilation of their non-intertwining adventures. In Kirby's Mario Kirby Meisaku Video segment, he helps a little lost dog find its mother, who was allegedly kidnapped by King Dedede.

Super Mario-kun
Kirby makes a cameo appearance in Super Mario-kun in volume 5. When Mario and his friends are being chased by Boos, Mario notices a circular character. This character, Kirby, helps Mario and his allies by swallowing the enemies. Kirby, however, shortly after gets scared by a Boo with worms on its face and runs away.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Kirby makes a cameo appearance in the original version of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on a poster advertising a movie known as Kirby Story, whose artwork featured Kirby riding a Warp Star through the air in the Yoshi Theater.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Since the 3.0 update of Mario Kart 8 and available from the start in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Kirby's amiibo is compatible. Placing it on the NFC sensor unlocks a custom Kirby-themed outfit for players to equip upon Miis. In fact, Kirby himself appears - merely as a picture - in the Mii Racing Suits menu; this picture stays right near the Mii suit design mentioned before.

Super Mario Maker
Kirby is one of the obtainable Costume Mario costumes in Super Mario Maker, unlocked by tapping the Kirby amiibo onto the Wii U GamePad. The sprite Kirby uses is the one from Kirby's Adventure. This costume also replaces the jumping, landing, and end-of-level sounds, all of which are also taken from Kirby's Adventure. The sound that plays when Mario obtains the costume is also the one that plays when Kirby gets a copy ability in Kirby's Adventure.

Super Smash Bros.
Kirby has been a playable fighter in every Super Smash Bros. series title since Super Smash Bros. Kirby is the second lightest fighter behind Jigglypuff, and both of them, unlike most fighters, have five jumps, with Kirby's his floating a. According to the Characters profile of Kirby, he is eight inches (20 centimeters) high, though his dimensions were heightened for this game in order to make him viable to fight.

Several of Kirby's attacks are based on the various abilities throughout the Kirby series: his standard special move is Inhale, which allows him to suck up any opponents into his mouth and either spit them out as a star or copy them, allowing him to use their standard special move; his down special is Stone, which allows him to slam the ground as a stone; his up special is the Final Cutter, one of the Cutter ability's attacks, which allows him to leap into the air and slice the ground; his standard attack is based on the Vulcan Jab, one of the Fighter ability's attacks; and his side smash is based on the Smash Kick, another of the Fighter's moves. Most of Kirby's grab attacks are all based on moves used by the Backdrop and Suplex abilities, though his up throw is the Air Drop attack used by Ninja. Kirby's up aerial is an original move known as "Twinkle Star", which would later be used in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror as an attack for Kirby's Smash ability.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Kirby is still a default character, but unlike Super Smash Bros., he is lighter and slower. He is also given a side special move, the Hammer, which allows him to swing the hammer once on the ground and spinning vertically in the air. In addition, his dash attack has been changed to the Burning ability. "Twinkle Star" is now Kirby's standard aerial; his up aerial is completely new, being the Moon Somersault Kick from the Fighter ability; his forward aerial is now the Aerial Spin Kick, also from the Fighter ability. His appearance was also altered, becoming smoother due to the GameCube's heightened graphical abilities. His pink hue is also slightly brighter.

In Adventure Mode, Kirby appears in Stage 5: Green Greens. The player must battle 18 Kirbys, each with a different copy ability from another character, though sometimes there will be a Kirby with no copied ability. In addition, by defeating every Kirby in under 30 seconds, the player can fight Giant Kirby as an additional opponent.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Kirby returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, along with his rival Meta Knight and archenemy King Dedede. His moveset has been somewhat changed; his Burning ability dash attack in Super Smash Bros. Melee has been replaced with a spinning kick similar to the Break Spin attack used by the Yo-Yo ability in Kirby Super Star, and the aerial Hammer swings horizontally rather than vertically. Kirby's Final Smash attack is called Cook Kirby, based on the Cook ability, debuting in Kirby Super Star, which draws in everything nearby for Kirby to cook it in a pot and release items while damaging enemies.

Stage 5 of Classic Mode always uses characters from the Kirby series, thus Kirby has a chance of appearing in it, either as an enemy or as a partner. Stage 15 of All-Star Mode is also Kirby-based.

The Subspace Emissary
In the beginning, a trophy of Mario and Kirby are thrown into an arena. The two come to life and fight. The player chooses either Mario or Kirby to play as. After the battle between the two, the winner resurrects the loser with a touch. The Subspace Army attacks the stadium, but Mario, Kirby, Peach, and Zelda oppose them. Mario is blown away by a cannon ball, and Kirby is ambushed by Petey Piranha, who has captured the princesses. Kirby then goes off against Petey. After either Peach or Zelda is freed, Kirby takes her for a ride off into the Sea of Clouds on his Warp Star before taking a hit and landing on the Halberd. Soon, an Arwing is shot down, blowing both the princess and Kirby off the Halberd on the ground below.

After the princess and Kirby land in a grassy area, Kirby runs away, leaving the princess behind. The princess turns around and sees Bowser with a Dark Cannon who immediately shoots her to transform her into a trophy. Kirby hops on King Dedede's Cargo and waits there.

After King Dedede collects the Link and Yoshi (or Mario and Pit) trophies, Kirby hops out. King Dedede then gasps and with his Final Cutter, Kirby destroys the large object that is holding the two trophies. Kirby quickly revives the two, and they all jump off the cargo. King Dedede turns around and leaves, but his cargo ends up blowing an engine from an arrow that is either fired by Link or Pit. Kirby, Mario, Pit, Link, and Yoshi become a team and go to save the other trophies (the other princess, Ness, and Luigi). They reach King Dedede's Castle, but they are still unable to rescue the trophies as Bowser escapes with the princess trophy in his Koopa Clown Car while the other trophies are buried under a large pile of stones. While Bowser steals the princess, the badge that Dedede had put on the princess falls. Kirby goes to inspect it and swallows it. The team then leaves because King Dedede's Castle is destroyed by another Subspace Bomb. After leaving, they reach a desert below the castle where they follow the Ancient Minister. However the Ancient Minister sends R.O.B.s out to stop them, and he sets another bomb. It explodes, however Mario hops on Yoshi and rides off. Meanwhile, Pit and Link hop on Kirby's Warp Star and fly off. They escape before the explosion can reach them.

Later, Kirby and the others find the Ice Climbers, Marth, Lucas, the Pokémon Trainer, and Ike fighting the Subspace Army and subsequently join the fight. All of the other heroes join up with them afterward. Near the end, when the heroes are all fighting Ganondorf and Bowser in Ganondorf and Bowser's large Subspace Gunship, Kirby ends up destroying the gunship. He comes riding a Dragoon and flies right in the villain's large cannon, destroying not only the cannon but the whole ship itself. Ganondorf and Bowser escape going in the large black hole in the sky. All the heroes follow them inside.

The heroes are all in Subspace itself. Kirby and all the others attempt to fight Tabuu; however, they are all defeated with his Off Waves. The badge that Kirby swallowed turns out to have the power to turn a trophy back to life. Kirby is brought back and goes off to revive Link, Yoshi, Peach, Zelda, the Ice Climbers, Meta Knight, Lucario, R.O.B., Solid Snake, and even Wario, who also had been working with the Subspace Army and ended up in Subspace earlier on. Soon Kirby comes across Ganondorf in his trophy form, but before he could do anything, Bowser suddenly appears and starts attacking Ganondorf, having been betrayed by him earlier. Dedede (who revived Luigi and Ness with the badges) then reunites with Kirby. Kirby, as well as everyone else, fights Tabuu a second time and are able to defeat him (with some extra help).

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Kirby returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. His Hammer is replaced with Hammer Flip, making it more similar to the move in Kirby Super Star. His Final Smash was changed to Ultra Sword, a Super Ability from Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Kirby's standard attack also gains a finisher in Smash Punch, an attack from the Fighter ability. Kirby's mobility is improved, but his attacks' damage output and knockback are decreased, while some of his moves are slower.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Kirby returns as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While many of his moves remain the same, Kirby's dash attack has reverted to his Burning ability tackle from Super Smash Bros. Melee. Kirby's down tilt is called Squish Kick. Kirby has received a significant amount of improvements over the previous installment, receiving higher mobility, higher ability to knock opponents back and damage in some of his attacks, reduced short hop timing and landing lag in his aerial attacks, and reduced startup or ending lag in some of his attacks.

In the World of Light adventure mode, he is the initial playable character and protagonist and the only character to survive an attack from Galeem, who turns everyone in the world into spirits and transports them to the World of Light, leaving Kirby to rescue them. According to Masahiro Sakurai, the presence of puppet fighters from Kirby in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Spirits modes is due to Galeem managing to analyze Kirby throughout the story.

Classic Mode route
At the start of rounds 1-6, multiple foods appear on the stage. By completing Kirby's Classic Mode route, it is possible to unlock Ness, Jigglypuff, Pac-Man, Zelda, Robin, Corrin, Lucas, or Palutena. Kirby's Classic Mode route pits him against characters known for eating.

Super Smash Bros. bios

 * Instruction manual: An 8-inch high creature from a distant star. He may look harmless, but using his Copy ability, Kirby becomes a formidable opponent.
 * Website: Kirby, the little pink puffball of fun, has come all the way from Dreamland to put his opponents to sleep with some nightmarish moves. He has the ability to swallow his opponents and take on their attributes. You can tell which persona Kirby has assumed by seeing which enemy's hat he has stolen.
 * 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
 * Kirby's Dream Land (GB)
 * Kirby's Pinball Land (GB)
 * Kirby Super Star (SNES)

Physical appearance
Kirby has a pink, spherical, body with small stubby arms and large red feet. His eyes are oval-shaped and are white (eye shine) at the top, black in the center and dark blue on the bottom (all black in early games) with rosy cheek-blushes near his eyes. Kirby's body is soft and flexible, allowing him to stretch or flatten and adopt different shapes, open his mouth really wide to inhale foes, or quickly inflate himself with air to hover in midair. According to Super Smash Bros., Kirby is 8 inches tall. Kirby's appearance has changed subtly over the years, becoming more rounded and defined, mainly in his face and larger blue eyes.

Kirby was originally colored white in artwork associated with the international release of Kirby's Dream Land. While Kirby was always depicted as pink in Japan, there was conflict between Masahiro Sakurai, who wanted Kirby to be pink, and Shigeru Miyamoto, who wanted Kirby to be yellow. Because of this, Nintendo of America decided to depict Kirby as white on the game cover art and other related artwork, therefore matching his in-game monochromatic sprites. Since the second Kirby game, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby has been consistently colored pink in other regions as well.

Personality
Kirby has a positive attitude and likes to help others, and there are several instances where Kirby willingly goes on a journey to save Dream Land. Kirby's age is never directly stated, although he is referred to as a "little boy" in the Kirby's Dream Land manual's Story section. Kirby is cheerful and innocent, and is often shown to have a voracious appetite. Kirby also likes to sing, although he is tone-deaf.

The same personality and nature is presented in the Super Smash Bros. games. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, one of Kirby's trophies describes him as being an "extremely skilled technician." Although Kirby appears cute and innocent, many commercials and ads have contrasted this with his extreme fighting skills when he takes on the abilities of an enemy.

Kirby is a character of few words and rarely speaks in-game. His dialogue is largely limited to appearances in some games' instruction manuals, and brief comments such as "Hi!" or "Poyo!" in games including Super Smash Bros. and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Despite his lack of dialogue, 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. Kirby gives short descriptions of various menu options when they are highlighted. The concept of Kirby being mostly mute is supported by Masahiro Sakurai's insistence that Kirby does not speak in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, although he does occasionally say the names of his special attacks and certain foods and sometimes repeats other words that he hears. In the Super Smash Bros. series, when Kirby copies a foe's ability, Kirby says the name of some attacks, such as Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch, Ness's PK Flash, Lucas's PK Freeze, Ryu and Ken's Hadoken, "Jump/Speed/Shield/Buster/Smash" when using Shulk's Monado Arts and Terry Bogard's Power Wave. There are some notable exceptions where Kirby actually does speak in-game, such as Kirby's Avalanche, Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu and Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Kirby sometimes acts in an impulsive or naive way, such as when he accuses King Dedede of interfering with the Fountain of Dreams in Kirby's Adventure, and then leaves to retrieve the pieces of the shattered Star Rod without receiving a full explanation. He also attacked Meta Knight in Kirby Squeak Squad for ownership of a chest that he believed contained a slice of his stolen strawberry shortcake. In reality, the Star Rod was going to be taken by Nightmare, who would corrupt the Fountain of Dreams and turn every dream into a Nightmare, and the chest that Kirby wanted contained Dark Nebula, a powerful being with evil intentions. King Dedede and Meta Knight were aware of these problems, and were trying to protect the world.

Abilities
Kirby's main ability is inhaling enemies and objects and spitting them out with incredible force. Both his mouth and body expand to allow him to inhale things much larger than himself. However, there is a limit to what he can inhale; excessively large or heavy foes like bosses can resist Kirby's inhale. Against these opponents Kirby must find smaller characters to use as ammo or intercept his opponent's attacks and send them back at them.

Kirby is able to hover like a balloon by inhaling a gulp of air to make himself more buoyant, flying slowly by flapping his arms. However, his only method of attack in this state is to spit the gulp of air, sending him back towards the ground. While in most games he can float indefinitely, he gets tired in some games such as Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Kirby Fighters Deluxe and the Super Smash Bros. series.

Warp Stars are Kirby's main method of transportation. By clinging to the side of a Warp Star or riding it like a surfboard, Kirby can move quickly through the air as well as between areas.

Since Kirby's Adventure, Kirby can inherit an enemy's primary attribute, called a Copy Ability, by swallowing them. In doing so, Kirby gains an ability, such as Fire from a fiery creature or Needle from a spiky creature. Kirby can only have one Copy Ability at a time and must discard his current one if he wishes to use another. If Kirby takes enough damage, his Copy Ability gets knocked out of him in the form of a star, but if Kirby is quick enough, he can inhale it again. The game also introduces a few other moves for Kirby including sliding, dashing, and using the Water Gun. In earlier games, Kirby was given only one move from a Copy Ability that replaced his Inhale. Kirby Super Star expanded upon the concept behind Copy Abilities, as the extra buttons on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System controller than a Nintendo Entertainment System controller or a Game Boy unit allows Kirby to use a few more moves. In games prior to Kirby Super Star, whenever Kirby has a Copy Ability, his appearance received minimal changes, such as his color changing to orange or snow white, or wielding a weapon for abilities like Sword or Hammer. Since Kirby Super Star, each Copy Ability gave Kirby a unique costume, such as Fire giving a fiery crown or Sword giving a floppy green cap resembling that of Link's.

Several Kirby games have unique mechanics involving Kirby's use of Copy Abilities. In Kirby Super Star, Kirby could get rid of his current Copy Ability to create a Helper, which is a friendly counterpart of the same enemy whom Kirby retrieved the Copy Ability from. The Helper could either be controlled either by the game or by a second player. This gameplay mechanic would not be seen again until Kirby Star Allies, where Helpers have been renamed to Friends, and Kirby can have up to three of them with him at a time. In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Kirby can combine two Copy Abilities to create new and unique ones. This returns in Kirby: Squeak Squad in a limited form, but only with Bomb and Sword which are both able to combine with Ice, Fire, and Spark. The ability returns again in Kirby Star Allies, which allows for a greater variety of combinations than Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, some Copy Abilities received enhanced versions called Super Abilities, which can destroy scenery and interact with the environment, although their use has a time limit unlike regular Copy Abilities. Similarly, in Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kirby can eat a Miracle Fruit to become Hypernova Kirby, temporarily enhancing his inhale ability so that he can also inhale massive objects.

As is the case with many platforming games, Kirby makes use of a variety of power-ups and items. In Kirby's Dream Land, before the introduction of Copy Abilities, Kirby could make use of a temporary power-up, such as a Mint Leaf, which enables him to shoot out endless air pellets for a limited amount of time (except for in the Kaboola boss fight), and Superspicy Curry, which allows Kirby to shoot fireballs from his mouth. In most games, Kirby can eat food or other special items like Maxim Tomatoes to recover his health. There are also Invincibility Lollipops which make him temporarily invincible. In Kirby Super Star, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Kirby can share his food with his companion.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Kirby's Final Smash is his Cook ability from Kirby Super Star, allowing him to briefly cook opponents, items and certain objects. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kirby's Final Smash is an Ultra Sword attack.

At the start of Kirby's Epic Yarn and its remake Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn, Kirby inhales a Metamato, and it transforms his entire body into yarn for most of the game. The game introduces a variety of forms, many of which are a type of vehicle, such as a Car, a UFO, or a Fire Engine. Kirby cannot suck up enemies in the game because air travels through his yarn body; instead he uses a yarn whip to grab enemies and turn them into yarn balls, which have a variety of uses including being thrown at other foes, attaching to buttons, and moving zippers.

Trivia

 * In Nintendo Monopoly, Kirby took the role of Virginia Avenue. He is worth $160.
 * Kirby has more trophies of himself than any other playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
 * In Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition, and Kirby: Planet Robobot, Kirby can obtain an ability called Smash Bros., which allows him to perform multiple moves from his Super Smash Bros. moveset, including all his special moves (with the exception of Inhale).