Kirby.
What the heck dude?
How is a character so simple...yet so popular?
Kirby’s just a pink blob for goodness sakes!
Well...Circle.
Sphere?
Eh...depends on the game.
But look at this thing!
It’s like someone just took a cotton ball, dyed it pink, slapped on some blueberries
for eyes, added some clown shoes and tiny t-rex like cotton balls for arms and bada
bing bada boom - a world-renowned nintendo character was created.
But such a simple character couldn’t have been intended to be so simple, right?
Right.
This plain ball of a protagonist was created by video game director/designer/writer Masahiro
Sakurai when he was just 19 years old, working on the early development of Kirby’s Dream
Land...a game I think you’ve probably heard of.
The simple design of our lil’ buddy was actually created as a placeholder for these
early designs.
And it wasn’t until the game was in it’s final stages when this blob was cast into
the limelight and given his chance for stardom.
A chance to become the face of a game, and ultimately an entire franchise.
Along with his character design, his name changed from the start as well.
The initial main character was given the name Popopo.
And it wasn’t until after the change to the placeholder that the name Kirby was chosen
to replace it.
And while people aren’t completely sure why that name was chosen, what is known is
that the harsh consonant at the beginning of the name - Kirby...KRRRRbeeee….KKKKirby
- contrasted the adorably cute appearance of the character.
Maybe the name was chosen after the Kirby Corporation - a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners
which suck almost as hard as Kirby.
Or maybe the name was after lawyer John Kirby - Nintendo’s legal counsel when Universal
Studios sued Nintendo over the similarities between Donkey Kong and King Kong - a suit
in which Nintendo was ultimately proved innocent.
Neither hypothesis from within the Kirby fandom have been verified, but Miyamoto did say that
John Kirby was an additional reason why the name was chosen, but it wasn’t the reason.
A very interesting start for a character who has been described as one of the greatest
video game heroes of all time...according to wikipedia.
Hm...by whom? OH THOSE ARE JUST WEASEL WORDS!
AN UNSUPPORTED CLAIM!
Wikipedia, you sly, sly, conglomeration of information.
This great hero hails from the planet pop star.
A fitting origin for a protagonist who loves signing and is tone-deaf.
Wait what?
A singing character that is tone deaf?
Don’t worry, I didn’t misspoke.
In the anime “Kirby: Right Back at Ya!”, Kirby inhales Mike the Mic and begins singing
to his heart's content.
OH GOD!
KIRBY YOUR VOICE IS TERRIBLE!
It’s worse than Rebecca Black in that one song...
Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes afterwards
I don't want this weekend to end IT’s FRIDAY FRIDAY
GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY
Damn.
At least Kirby’s lyrics are semi decent, unlike SOME people.
..But back to it.
Kirby, who was described as a “little boy” in the english manual for Kirby’s Dream
Land, is a character of few words, and doesn’t speak much at all - outside of “hiiiii”
and “poyo” - and typically dialog boxes are used to function as Kirby’s speech.
Well, I guess Kirby does also shout out attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series, but never
goes beyond that.
This ties into Sakurai’s insistence during the production of the Kirby anime series,
that the character would not speak.
By keeping this ball of joy simple in both design and the way it talks, it creates the
perfect canvas for the player to relate to.
Almost like another character we’ve talked about before…..GET OUTTA HERE LINK!
YOU’VE GOT YOUR OWN VIDEOS!
So here begs the question that I’ve been thinking about.
We have a simple pink blob with clown feet and tiny arms like that Toy Story Dinosaur,
and yet, how is something so simple yet so popular?
It all comes...from his sucking ability he he he he
No but seriously.
Kirby’s ability to inhale enemies, eat them, and use their skills as his own makes him
the perfect protagonist that’ll never get old.
Kirby is essentially the Ditto of the Nintendo universe...but, better.
He can fly.
And spit out enemies to attack instead of swallowing them.
But most important is that copy ability upon eating an enemy.
Kirby didn’t have this ability in the first game, Kirby’s Dream Land.
Instead, he collected power ups like mint leaves and super spicy curry for different
attacks.
It wasn’t until Kirby’s Adventure came out a year later that the Copy Ability was
given to this cute flyer.
And even then, the signature appearance change that Kirby is known for wasn’t even around.
You know, the change when Kirby eats an enemy.
In the hat and face...uh...body?...you know what I’m saying.
Just the change when Kirby swallows an enemy.
It was just a slight color change at first.
But Kirby Super Star came out for the Super Nintendo a few years later with them signature
unique hats...and the rest is history!
Kinda sorta.
They’re not in every future game, but they were definitely a staple.
And these hats are where the true icon that is Kirby stands out.
Well...not just the hats...the abilities help too.
One of my favorite games to play as a kid was Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards...for the
Nintendo 64.
The fact that you could eat the enemies to steal their abilities was awesome, it sucked
me in.
You eat different enemies to deal with different situations and different bosses.
And it didn’t just stop there.
You could take that one ability, and combine it with each other ability.
Oh you have a single bomb?
LETS MAKE IT A DOUBLE!
Oh, you don’t just want bombs?
Let’s combine with cutter instead!
You could play through the game a different way every time.
And that’s the type of thing that has made Kirby so popular.
The fact that Kirby can eat and absorb the power of his enemies gives him enormous potential.
And it gives the developers literally limitless possibilities to work with.
You wanna give Kirby a machine gun?
Just make a machine gun touting enemy.
You want Kirby to have nunchucks?
Time to throw some ninjas in there.
You want Kirby to be better with puns?
Throw Sans into the game.
Haha, not really, but you get the picture!
The fact that Kirby is so malleable makes the simplicity of the base character a great
idea.
One that is easily molded based on the powers they possess.
It’s pretty brilliant if you think about it.
A fairly simple idea, that exponentially increases replayability of games, and gives developers
a perfect blank slate to work with each time.
You don’t have to build the environment around Kirby.
You can build an environment, and let Kirby adapt.
Because that’s what he does best.
Do you think this is why he’s so popular?
It’s just the conclusion I came to, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
And if there’s any Kirby games you think I should play, let me know!
Also, what’d you think about Kirby The Crystal Shards?
I loved it growing up, but I’ve talked to plenty of people who just weren’t a fan.
Oh - and while you’re still here, we want to give a special shoutout to our good buddy
Maikeru over at the Death Mountaineers.
He was the one edited this video and did a damn good job.
We’re a huge fan of his content, and he just released a video breaking down the pokemon
universe that’ll make you think about things...differently.
So go check it out!
It’ll blow your mind and melt your brain.
And as always, if you have any ideas on topics to cover or thoughts on this video, definitely
hit me up on Twitter or Instagram.
My name’s Ryan, and I’ll see you all next time!
Tootles!