Kirby

Kirby (カービィ Kābī?) is the main protagonist of Nintendo's Kirby video game series created by Masahiro Sakurai and developed by HAL Laboratory. The Kirby series is one of Nintendo's many well-known game franchises, spanning nearly twenty games since 1992. His first appearance took place in the 1992 video game Kirby's Dream Land, where he was portrayed by a two-dimensional sprite; since Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards for the Nintendo 64, he has made several appearances in 3-D. He has been featured in other video games from Nintendo, on Nintendo's merchandising, on comic books, and even on a television show. Kirby also appears in the Super Smash Bros. series.

Kirby is described in his games as a young male pink ball, who is a citizen of Dream Land (プププランド Pupupurando?, lit. "Pupupu Land") on the planet Pop Star. In the main game, he almost always has the same abilities; he can walk, run, jump, float, slide, and inhale, spit out, or devour his enemies.

Kirby often journeys across the planet Pop Star, defeating antagonistic forces such as the greedy King Dedede or the evil Dark Matter. On other occasions, he encounters the enigmatic Meta Knight. To defeat his foes, he uses his signature ability of inhaling large objects and spitting them out with great force. From Kirby's Adventure onward, Kirby was able to gain the abilities of the enemies he swallowed, better known as his Copy Abilities. In several games in the series, he obtains a mystical weapon during the climax of the battle against his enemy; this weapon is usually required to defeat the final boss.