|
|
|
|
Kirby is pretty cute.
If you’re not already familiar with Nintendo’s iconic pink blob mascot, then there’s a lot to learn. You might have seen them pop up in several items we sell here at Tofu Cute and thought to yourself: “What’s the deal with that pink blob thing?” If that’s the case, worry not, because I’m a certified Kirby Expert (kind of), and I can let you know everything that you need to know about the charming pink sphere, Kirby. |
 |
Kirby was created in the early 90’s by Masahiro Sakurai of HAL Laboratory, an independent video game development company that is now closely associated with the iconic Nintendo. Originally named ‘popopo’, Kirby was designed to be the mascot of HAL’s flagship game for the then-upcoming Nintendo Gameboy hardware.
Early in development, there was only a placeholder graphic for the character that would go on to become Kirby. His spherical shape stems from this original placeholder design, which various designers at HAL found cute enough to keep around for the final design. Although his circular body was set in stone early on, the character went through a few different possible names and color palettes. Because the original Gameboy couldn’t really display colour, early artwork of Kirby depicts him in a variety of different hues until they eventually settled on pink.
Close to the end of the development of the game that would become Kirby’s Dream Land, the character’s name switched from ‘popopo’ to Kirby, a suggestion that came from Nintendo’s executives to have the character named after Nintendo’s lawyer, John Kirby, who had assisted the company in a lengthy lawsuit in the months prior.
Since the release of their first title, Kirby’s Dream Land, the rest of Kirby’s identity has been pretty much set in stone. With over 30 games in a variety of genres and over 38 million titles sold, it would be an understatement to say that Kirby is a ‘pretty big deal!’
|
 |
In his own universe, Kirby is a pretty unique figure. Although they’re fairly mysterious, especially because they don’t really say a lot themselves, there’s lots of small details about the character that have built up a profile of him over his long running series of video games. In principle, there’s only a few essential things you need to know about kirby:
1. He loves to eat
One of the most important aspects of Kirby is that they seem to have some kind of bottomless stomach. When Kirby eats a cake, or a watermelon or indeed anything else, it seems to disappear into some sort of magical void. Kirby is highly capable of swallowing things whole with zero consequence and seems to have a particular affection for eating large quantities of sweets.
2. He’s able to copy the abilities of others by inhaling them.
If you needed further evidence of the magic working inside Kirby’s stomach, he has a peculiar ability. Kirby can mimic the abilities of any living thing that they consume. This is pretty weird from a conceptual point of view, but it makes sense in the context of a video game. This power of Kirby's forms the foundation of most of the mechanics of the games he stars in, often giving him access to a wide range of weird and wonderful abilities that he wouldn’t have otherwise. Fire Kirby, Swordsman Kirby, DJ Kirby, Chef Kirby and many more are all identities that Kirby is able to assume using this strange power of his. But of course, with great power comes great responsibility.
3. They’re a hero
Kirby’s heroism is pretty funny, because it’s kind inherent to who they are as a character. Kirby is just so kind and cares so deeply about his friends (of which he seems to have many) that he’s always willing to turn his hand to whatever needs doing for the greater good. This often involves saving the whole universe, sometimes by accident! Kirby is a pure hearted creature who will always take the opportunity to do the right thing. And that’s exactly why he ends up saving the day so much.
|
 |
As an inhabitant of Dream Land, Kirby is usually joined by an eclectic cast of characters. Using our new Kirby gacha toys as an example, you’ll find Kirby joined by some of his most iconic pals. The first of these is Waddle Dee, the cutesy red creature who often accompanies Kirby on his journeys. Waddle Dee actually seems to refer to a species of creature that inhabits Dream Land, so there are lots of Waddle Dees, not just one!
Joining Kirby in this gacha series is Meta Knight, the fierce looking sword wielder. Meta Knight is Kirby’s ‘friendly rival’, and has appeared as both a villain and an ally in Kirby’s various adventures. It’s speculated that they’re the same species as… whatever Kirby’s species is, as various artwork of an ‘unmasked’ Meta Knight gives him a similar look to Kirby but with a dark blue colour.
The tree you see in this gacha series is actually one of Kirby’s long-time adversaries, Whispy Woods. They’re a sentient tree that is often employed to get in Kirby’s way and prevent them from saving the world. They do this by throwing apples and branches at Kirby. They’re a pretty rude tree.
There are also a variety of other Kirby characters that you may have seen before, such as Kirby’s large penguin nemesis, King Dedede or Magalor the hooded magician. Each game tends to add a new cast of characters to give Kirby foes to defeat and new abilities to copy using his magical powers.
|
 |
If you’re reading all this thinking that Kirby sounds pretty cool, you might be wondering where to start with the Kirby media franchise. The answer is simple: you can start just about anywhere!
The continuity between Kirby games isn’t super strict, so just about any Kirby title can be played as someone’s first. I personally recommend Kirby Star Allies on the Nintendo Switch, or if you’re feeling a bit more old school, you could play Kirby’s Fun Pak on the Nintendo Switch SNES classics service. Both of these games provide a good mix of things that you can usually expect from Kirby: fun platforming adventures in a cosmic landscape with lots of charm and wit. They also have pretty incredible music.
|
 |
Kirby is still enjoying plenty of success in 2022. Their next game, Kirby and The Forgotten Land, is releasing in March of this year. It looks to innovate upon the classic Kirby game formula by adding open-world elements and more abilities for Kirby to copy than ever before.
Kirby has appeared as a welcome addition in a range of non-Kirby Nintendo products, including the critically acclaimed franchise crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros, where Kirby is a series regular. Kirby is as tough as they are cute.
Kirby also continues to find his way into a range of merchandise like re-ment and gacha and much more. Kirby is a lot more popular in Japan than they are in the rest of the world, so it’s also no surprise that Tokyo is home to the first and only ‘Kirby Cafe’ - a themed cafe where you can go to find Kirby themed foods and a range of exclusive merchandise.
The most important thing that Kirby is doing right now, however, is continuing to exist. In the bleakly uncertain world of 2022, Kirby is exactly the kind of positive role model that we could all take some inspiration from. Even when times are tough, Kirby perseveres. We should all try and learn from him where we can.
|
 |
|
|
Kirby is pretty cute.
If you’re not already familiar with Nintendo’s iconic pink blob mascot, then there’s a lot to learn. You might have seen them pop up in several items we sell here at Tofu Cute and thought to yourself: “What’s the deal with that pink blob thing?” If that’s the case, worry not, because I’m a certified Kirby Expert (kind of), and I can let you know everything that you need to know about the charming pink sphere, Kirby. |
|
|
Kirby was created in the early 90’s by Masahiro Sakurai of HAL Laboratory, an independent video game development company that is now closely associated with the iconic Nintendo. Originally named ‘popopo’, Kirby was designed to be the mascot of HAL’s flagship game for the then-upcoming Nintendo Gameboy hardware.
Early in development, there was only a placeholder graphic for the character that would go on to become Kirby. His spherical shape stems from this original placeholder design, which various designers at HAL found cute enough to keep around for the final design. Although his circular body was set in stone early on, the character went through a few different possible names and color palettes. Because the original Gameboy couldn’t really display colour, early artwork of Kirby depicts him in a variety of different hues until they eventually settled on pink.
Close to the end of the development of the game that would become Kirby’s Dream Land, the character’s name switched from ‘popopo’ to Kirby, a suggestion that came from Nintendo’s executives to have the character named after Nintendo’s lawyer, John Kirby, who had assisted the company in a lengthy lawsuit in the months prior.
Since the release of their first title, Kirby’s Dream Land, the rest of Kirby’s identity has been pretty much set in stone. With over 30 games in a variety of genres and over 38 million titles sold, it would be an understatement to say that Kirby is a ‘pretty big deal!’
|
In his own universe, Kirby is a pretty unique figure. Although they’re fairly mysterious, especially because they don’t really say a lot themselves, there’s lots of small details about the character that have built up a profile of him over his long running series of video games. In principle, there’s only a few essential things you need to know about kirby:
1. He loves to eat
One of the most important aspects of Kirby is that they seem to have some kind of bottomless stomach. When Kirby eats a cake, or a watermelon or indeed anything else, it seems to disappear into some sort of magical void. Kirby is highly capable of swallowing things whole with zero consequence and seems to have a particular affection for eating large quantities of sweets.
2. He’s able to copy the abilities of others by inhaling them.
If you needed further evidence of the magic working inside Kirby’s stomach, he has a peculiar ability. Kirby can mimic the abilities of any living thing that they consume. This is pretty weird from a conceptual point of view, but it makes sense in the context of a video game. This power of Kirby's forms the foundation of most of the mechanics of the games he stars in, often giving him access to a wide range of weird and wonderful abilities that he wouldn’t have otherwise. Fire Kirby, Swordsman Kirby, DJ Kirby, Chef Kirby and many more are all identities that Kirby is able to assume using this strange power of his. But of course, with great power comes great responsibility.
3. They’re a hero
Kirby’s heroism is pretty funny, because it’s kind inherent to who they are as a character. Kirby is just so kind and cares so deeply about his friends (of which he seems to have many) that he’s always willing to turn his hand to whatever needs doing for the greater good. This often involves saving the whole universe, sometimes by accident! Kirby is a pure hearted creature who will always take the opportunity to do the right thing. And that’s exactly why he ends up saving the day so much.
|
|
|
As an inhabitant of Dream Land, Kirby is usually joined by an eclectic cast of characters. Using our new Kirby gacha toys as an example, you’ll find Kirby joined by some of his most iconic pals. The first of these is Waddle Dee, the cutesy red creature who often accompanies Kirby on his journeys. Waddle Dee actually seems to refer to a species of creature that inhabits Dream Land, so there are lots of Waddle Dees, not just one!
Joining Kirby in this gacha series is Meta Knight, the fierce looking sword wielder. Meta Knight is Kirby’s ‘friendly rival’, and has appeared as both a villain and an ally in Kirby’s various adventures. It’s speculated that they’re the same species as… whatever Kirby’s species is, as various artwork of an ‘unmasked’ Meta Knight gives him a similar look to Kirby but with a dark blue colour.
The tree you see in this gacha series is actually one of Kirby’s long-time adversaries, Whispy Woods. They’re a sentient tree that is often employed to get in Kirby’s way and prevent them from saving the world. They do this by throwing apples and branches at Kirby. They’re a pretty rude tree.
There are also a variety of other Kirby characters that you may have seen before, such as Kirby’s large penguin nemesis, King Dedede or Magalor the hooded magician. Each game tends to add a new cast of characters to give Kirby foes to defeat and new abilities to copy using his magical powers.
|
If you’re reading all this thinking that Kirby sounds pretty cool, you might be wondering where to start with the Kirby media franchise. The answer is simple: you can start just about anywhere!
The continuity between Kirby games isn’t super strict, so just about any Kirby title can be played as someone’s first. I personally recommend Kirby Star Allies on the Nintendo Switch, or if you’re feeling a bit more old school, you could play Kirby’s Fun Pak on the Nintendo Switch SNES classics service. Both of these games provide a good mix of things that you can usually expect from Kirby: fun platforming adventures in a cosmic landscape with lots of charm and wit. They also have pretty incredible music.
|
|
| |
Kirby is still enjoying plenty of success in 2022. Their next game, Kirby and The Forgotten Land, is releasing in March of this year. It looks to innovate upon the classic Kirby game formula by adding open-world elements and more abilities for Kirby to copy than ever before.
Kirby has appeared as a welcome addition in a range of non-Kirby Nintendo products, including the critically acclaimed franchise crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros, where Kirby is a series regular. Kirby is as tough as they are cute.
Kirby also continues to find his way into a range of merchandise like re-ment and gacha and much more. Kirby is a lot more popular in Japan than they are in the rest of the world, so it’s also no surprise that Tokyo is home to the first and only ‘Kirby Cafe’ - a themed cafe where you can go to find Kirby themed foods and a range of exclusive merchandise.
The most important thing that Kirby is doing right now, however, is continuing to exist. In the bleakly uncertain world of 2022, Kirby is exactly the kind of positive role model that we could all take some inspiration from. Even when times are tough, Kirby perseveres. We should all try and learn from him where we can.
|
|
|
|
|
