Kirby is a small pink hero who floats, inhales his enemies and copies their powers. He first appeared on Game Boy in 1992 in Kirby's Dream Land, a short, gentle platformer that Masahiro Sakurai designed at HAL Laboratory for players who'd never finished a game. That idea still runs through the series: Kirby games are easy to start and full of secrets for the people who want them.
The series has a famous double nature. Its world, Planet Popstar and Dream Land, is all cake, stars and sleepy Waddle Dees, but its final bosses are often strange cosmic beings with dark backstories hidden in the pause-screen text. This guide covers both halves: Kirby and his friends, the rivals and allies who drift between sides, the villains, and the copy abilities.
- Created by
- Masahiro Sakurai
- Developer
- HAL Laboratory
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- First game
- Kirby's Dream Land, Game Boy, 1992
- Home
- Dream Land, on Planet Popstar
- Kirby's voice
- Makiko Ohmoto
Kirby and his friends
Kirby's core cast is small. Most games add one or two new allies, and the ones fans liked tend to come back as playable characters or helpers.
Kirby
Star Warrior · Hero of Dream Land
Kirby is a cheerful, round traveller who loves food, naps and his friends, roughly in that order. He can inhale almost anything, spit it back out as a star, or swallow an enemy to copy its power. He rarely speaks, never holds a grudge and has saved Popstar, and sometimes the universe, more times than anyone can count. American box art often gave him an angry scowl, which fans still find funny.
- Voice
- Makiko Ohmoto
Bandana Waddle Dee
Dedede's loyal soldier · Kirby's best friend
An ordinary Waddle Dee with a blue bandana and a spear, he became a fan favourite for his bravery and was made playable in Kirby's Return to Dream Land (2011). He serves King Dedede faithfully but sides with Kirby whenever there's a real crisis. In Kirby and the Forgotten Land he helps the rescued Waddle Dees rebuild their town.
Gooey
Blob friend
Gooey is a dark blue blob with a long tongue who can do a lot of what Kirby can, including copying abilities. He first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and returns in many later games as a helper or playable character.
Rick
Hamster · Animal friend
A sturdy hamster who carries Kirby and doesn't slip on ice. He's one of the three animal friends from Kirby's Dream Land 2 who change how each copy ability works.
Kine
Sunfish · Animal friend
A sunfish who lets Kirby swim against currents with ease. Like Rick and Coo, he debuted in Dream Land 2 and returned in Dream Land 3.
Coo
Owl · Animal friend
A calm owl who flies Kirby through windy stages with ease. Coo is often the favourite of the three for how much he speeds up exploration.
Adeleine
Painter
Adeleine is a young artist whose paintings come to life. She was a possessed boss before becoming an ally, and in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards she helps the party by painting food. She's one of the few humans in Kirby's world.
Ribbon
Fairy from Ripple Star
Ribbon is a fairy whose planet is attacked by Dark Matter in Kirby 64. She escapes with her planet's great Crystal, which shatters in the attack, and travels with Kirby to recover the shards. The ending suggests she's quite fond of him.
Elfilin
Forgotten Land companion
Elfilin is a small, mouse-like creature who guides Kirby through the ruined world of Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022). He's warm and brave, and his true origin is the game's big reveal.
Rivals and allies
Kirby's two great rivals, King Dedede and Meta Knight, are both technically villains in their debuts. Over thirty years they've become something closer to difficult friends, and many games now make them playable.
King Dedede
Self-proclaimed king of Dream Land
King Dedede is a big, blustering penguin with a giant hammer, a red robe and the Waddle Dees as his army. In Kirby's Dream Land he steals all the food in the land, and Kirby goes to get it back. Since then he has been possessed, manipulated and turned into a monster by more dangerous villains, and has often ended up fighting on Kirby's side. He's vain and greedy but never truly evil, and the games clearly love him.
Meta Knight
Masked swordsman · Captain of the Halberd
Meta Knight is a mysterious swordsman with a mask, a cape that becomes wings, and a strict code of honour. He debuted in Kirby's Adventure (1993), tossing Kirby a sword before every duel so the fight is fair. In Kirby Super Star he leads an attempted takeover of Dream Land with his battleship, the Halberd, because he thinks its people have grown lazy. He's usually a rival who wants a good fight rather than a villain.
Magolor
Alien traveller · Former villain
Magolor crash-lands on Popstar in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and asks for Kirby's help rebuilding his ship, the Lor Starcutter. It turns out he wanted the Master Crown and its power all along. The Deluxe remake's epilogue follows him working his way back, and he's now a much-loved ally, with a theme park of his own in the remake.
Susie
Haltmann Works Company secretary
Susie is the chilly, efficient secretary of the corporation that mechanises Popstar in Kirby: Planet Robobot (2016). She's a boss, a corporate villain and later an occasional ally. Her connection to the company's president is one of the series' more surprising family stories.
Taranza
Spider sorcerer
Taranza kidnaps King Dedede at the start of Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014) on behalf of his queen. He's loyal to a fault, and after the final battle he becomes an ally, appearing as a helper in later games.
Villains and final bosses
Kirby's final bosses are famous for appearing out of nowhere. A game will spend hours on cakes and clouds, then end with a fight against a bleeding eye in space. These are the ones fans remember most.
Nightmare
Kirby's Adventure final boss
Nightmare is a cloaked wizard who corrupts the Fountain of Dreams so that Popstar's people stop dreaming. King Dedede steals the Star Rod to stop him, and Kirby misunderstands. The final battle in space, with Kirby wielding the Star Rod, set the pattern for the series' endings. Nightmare also returns as the main villain of the anime.
Dark Matter
Recurring dark force
Dark Matter is a shadowy entity that possesses others, especially King Dedede. It's the hidden villain of Kirby's Dream Land 2, returns in Dream Land 3, and attacks Ripple Star in Kirby 64. It often appears as a dark swordsman or a cloud with a single eye.
Zero and 0²
Leader of Dark Matter
Zero is the white, one-eyed core of Dark Matter and the final boss of Kirby's Dream Land 3. It returns as 0², a winged, haloed version, in Kirby 64. Both fights are remembered for their bloody, unsettling imagery, which is far darker than the rest of their games.
Marx
Jester on a ball
Marx is a playful jester who asks Kirby to stop a fight between the sun and moon in Kirby Super Star's Milky Way Wishes. Then he uses the wish-granting comet Nova to try to take over Popstar. His sudden shift from cute to monstrous is one of the most famous twists in the series.
Galacta Knight
Legendary warrior
Galacta Knight is a winged, lance-wielding knight said to be the strongest warrior in the galaxy, so dangerous he was sealed in a crystal. He was introduced in Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008) as a hidden boss and returns as a challenge in later games. His link to Meta Knight is hinted at but never explained.
Queen Sectonia
Triple Deluxe final boss
Sectonia is the vain queen of Floralia, obsessed with beauty, who sends Taranza to kidnap Dedede. She's a wasp-like ruler whose final form merges with a giant plant. Her story ends on a sad note for the friend who served her.
President Haltmann and Star Dream
Planet Robobot villains
Max Profitt Haltmann is the head of a corporation that invades Popstar to strip it for resources. His supercomputer, Star Dream, turns on him at the end and becomes the final boss. It's the series' most direct story about greed and machines.
Hyness and Void Termina
Star Allies villains
Hyness is the leader of the Jambastion cult in Kirby Star Allies (2018), served by the three Mage-Sisters: Francisca, Flamberge and Zan Partizanne. He sacrifices himself, and them, to summon Void Termina, a world-ending being that's the final boss. The Mage-Sisters later become helpers.
Morpho Knight
Butterfly reaper
Morpho Knight is a fiery knight who appears to claim the souls of the fallen. He debuted in Kirby Star Allies and returns in Kirby and the Forgotten Land as a hidden boss. His strong link to Meta Knight is another of the series' unsolved mysteries.
Leongar and the Beast Pack
Forgotten Land antagonists
The Beast Pack are animal fighters who capture Waddle Dees in Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Their leader, the lion Leongar, isn't what he seems, and the real threat behind them is tied to Elfilin's past.
Whispy Woods
The first boss
A grumpy tree who drops apples and blows air. He's the first boss of the first game and of many sequels, and has become a series mascot in his own right.
Waddle Dee
The basic enemy
Small orange creatures with no mouth and no ability to copy. They're Dedede's army and Dream Land's ordinary citizens, and they've become as much a symbol of Kirby as Kirby himself.
Waddle Doo
One-eyed enemy
A one-eyed cousin of the Waddle Dee who fires a whip-like beam. Swallowing one gives Kirby the Beam ability.
Gordo
Invincible obstacle
A spiky ball with eyes that can't be defeated. It's there to be avoided, and it has been since 1992.
Copy abilities
Copy abilities arrived in the second game, Kirby's Adventure (1993), and they've defined the series ever since. Kirby swallows an enemy and takes on its power, along with a hat. There are dozens across the games. These are the best known, with the game that introduced each one.
| Ability | First game | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Sword | Kirby's Adventure | A green Link-style cap and a blade; one of the most reliable all-round powers |
| Fire | Kirby's Adventure | Breathes fire and turns Kirby into a fireball dash |
| Stone | Kirby's Adventure | Turns Kirby into a heavy, invincible rock (or statue) |
| Hammer | Kirby's Adventure | Huge wooden mallet, borrowed from King Dedede's style |
| Parasol | Kirby's Adventure | Floats down slowly and blocks attacks from above |
| Spark | Kirby's Adventure | Surrounds Kirby with electricity |
| Beam | Kirby's Adventure | A jester's hat and a whip of light, from Waddle Doo |
| Cutter | Kirby's Adventure | Throws a boomerang blade |
| Sleep | Kirby's Adventure | Kirby falls asleep. That's all it does |
| Ice | Kirby's Dream Land 2 | Freezing breath that turns enemies into ice blocks |
| Fighter | Kirby Super Star | Martial-arts moves in a headband |
| Ninja | Kirby Super Star | Throwing knives and wall-clinging |
| Yo-Yo | Kirby Super Star | Attacks with a yo-yo, in a backwards cap |
| Mirror | Kirby Super Star | Reflects projectiles and creates clones |
| Water | Kirby's Return to Dream Land | Water attacks and surfing |
| Whip | Kirby's Return to Dream Land | A cowboy hat and a long-reaching whip |
| Leaf | Kirby's Return to Dream Land | Leaf storms, and a bush to hide in |
| Archer | Kirby: Triple Deluxe | A bow and arrows, Robin Hood style |
| Doctor | Kirby: Planet Robobot | Throws pills and potions |
| Spider | Kirby Star Allies | Spins webs to trap enemies |
| Drill | Kirby and the Forgotten Land | Burrows underground to attack from below |
| Ranger | Kirby and the Forgotten Land | A cowboy pop-gun with charged shots |
Kirby's Return to Dream Land also added Super Abilities, screen-filling versions of standard powers such as the Ultra Sword and Monster Flame. Kirby and the Forgotten Land added Mouthful Mode, where Kirby stretches over real-world objects, from a car to a vending machine, instead of swallowing them. The original Kirby's Dream Land had no copy abilities at all: Kirby could only inhale and spit.
Main Kirby games and where to start
- 1992 Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy): the short, simple original, with King Dedede as the villain.
- 1993 Kirby's Adventure (NES): copy abilities, Meta Knight and Nightmare all debut.
- 1996 Kirby Super Star (SNES): several games in one, including Revenge of Meta Knight and Milky Way Wishes.
- 2000 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64): ability mixing, Ribbon, Adeleine and 0².
- 2011 Kirby's Return to Dream Land (Wii): four-player co-op and Magolor; remade as Deluxe for Switch in 2023.
- 2014 Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS): Taranza and Queen Sectonia.
- 2016 Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS): a robot suit and the Haltmann Works Company.
- 2018 Kirby Star Allies (Switch): recruit enemies as friends, plus Hyness and Void Termina.
- 2022 Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch): the first full 3D mainline game.
For a first game, start with Kirby and the Forgotten Land or Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Both are generous to new players and full of extras for completionists. Kirby Super Star Ultra on DS is the best way to play the classic Super Star collection.
Outside the games, the anime Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (2001–2003) ran for 100 episodes and gave Dedede a scheming assistant, Escargoon, and added Tiff and Tuff, two children who befriend Kirby.
Why the cast works
Kirby is one of the purest examples of simple character design: a circle with eyes, feet and a blush that a child can draw from memory. The rest of the cast follows the same rule. Dedede is a penguin with a hammer, Meta Knight is a mask and a cape, and Waddle Dees are barely more than a colour and a shape.
- Villains get second chances. Dedede, Meta Knight, Magolor, Taranza, Susie and the Mage-Sisters all end up as allies. The series loves a redemption arc, even a small one.
- The real evil is far away. The final bosses are almost always outsiders, cosmic beings or corporations, rather than Popstar's own people.
- Cute and creepy sit side by side. The contrast between Dream Land and its final bosses is the series' signature, and it's why the boss lore has such a following. See our villain types guide for how these "hidden final boss" villains work.
Kirby, Meta Knight and King Dedede are all fighters in Super Smash Bros., which Sakurai also created. If you enjoy Nintendo's casts, our Super Mario, Pokémon and Zelda guides cover the company's other big worlds.
All Kirby character names A–Z
A–C
- Adeleine — ally
- Bandana Waddle Dee — ally
- Coo — animal friend
D–F
- Dark Matter — villain
- Elfilin — ally
- Escargoon — anime
- Flamberge — Mage-Sister
- Francisca — Mage-Sister
G–H
- Galacta Knight — villain
- Gooey — ally
- Gordo — enemy
- Haltmann — villain
- Hyness — villain
K–L
- Kine — animal friend
- King Dedede — rival
- Kirby — hero
- Leongar — Beast Pack
M–N
- Magolor — rival / ally
- Marx — villain
- Meta Knight — rival
- Morpho Knight — villain
- Nightmare — villain
Q–S
- Queen Sectonia — villain
- Ribbon — ally
- Rick — animal friend
- Star Dream — villain
- Susie — rival
T–Z
- Taranza — rival / ally
- Tiff and Tuff — anime
- Void Termina — villain
- Waddle Dee — enemy
- Waddle Doo — enemy
- Whispy Woods — boss
- Zan Partizanne — Mage-Sister
- Zero — villain
Frequently asked questions
What kind of creature is Kirby?
Nintendo has never given Kirby a species. He's simply Kirby: a small, round, pink traveller who lives on Planet Popstar. Fans often call him a puffball, which is close to how the games describe him. Meta Knight looks similar under his mask, but the games have never confirmed they're the same kind of being.
Is King Dedede a villain?
Sometimes. He was the villain of the first game, Kirby's Dream Land, after stealing all of Dream Land's food. Since then he has more often been a rival, a victim of possession by the real villain, or an ally. He's selfish and vain, but he cares about his kingdom and his Waddle Dees.
Who created Kirby?
Masahiro Sakurai created Kirby at HAL Laboratory for Kirby's Dream Land, released on Game Boy in 1992. Sakurai later created Super Smash Bros. HAL Laboratory still develops the main Kirby games for Nintendo.
Who voices Kirby?
Makiko Ohmoto has voiced Kirby since the 1990s, in the games, Super Smash Bros. and the anime Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Kirby speaks very little, so his voice is mostly cheers, "Hi!" and the sound of inhaling.
Who is the strongest Kirby villain?
Most fans point to Void Termina from Kirby Star Allies or Galacta Knight, the warrior said to be so powerful he was sealed away. Zero and Dark Matter are also strong candidates. Kirby beats them all, which is why fans joke about him being one of the most powerful characters in games.
Is Magolor good or bad?
Both, in order. Magolor is the friendly alien who asks for Kirby's help in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, then reveals he only wanted the power of the Master Crown. Return to Dream Land Deluxe added the Magolor Epilogue, in which he loses his powers and earns them back, and he has been a genuine friend since.
Which Kirby game should I play first?
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022) is the best first game for most people: 3D, generous, and full of the series' charm. For classic 2D play, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe is ideal, especially with friends.