Kirby's species

From Kirbypedia

Kirbies. Dream Landers. Puffballs. Many names, and very little known about just what sort of creature Kirby is. But let's look at the evidence and try to figure things out!

Contents

What we do know

Members of the species tend to look similar, except sometimes with different colored skin, eyes and feet.

So we do know is he's not alone- there are similar looking characters seen in the ending of Kirby's Dream Land and the remake Spring Breeze in Kirby Super Star. It's also generally assumed that Meta Knight is the same species as well, seeing as they're identical except for color.

In Kirby & the Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, different colored Kirbies appear as other players in multi-player games. In the case of the former, they are the result of Kirby being divided into four by Dark Meta Knight, and are basically just alternate versions of Kirby himself.

Another character appears that resembles Kirby but is yellow, known as Keeby. (In Japanese, キービィ, sometimes written as Kiiby. It's a combination of Kirby and kiiro, the Japanese word for yellow) He's a recurring character in Kirby's side adventures. His first (only?) appearance was in Kirby's Dream Course.

In the anime, aside from Kirby and Meta Knight, four others that appear to be of their race appear. Four members of the Galaxy Soldier Army and likely Star Warriors, Sir Arthur, Sir Nonsurat, Sir Dragato, and Sir Falspar. They resemble Meta Knight, wearing full armor and masks. (In the anime only, the only new information given about them is that they have a potential lifespan of hundreds of years, as suggested by Meta Knight saying that Kirby was meant to sleep for 200 years, and Meta Knight himself is implied to be much older. Again, this is only in the anime.)

So what do we call them?

They are commonly referred to as Kirbies, similar to how Yoshi in the Mario series is the name of both the species and character. However, Kirby has only ever been used as the name of one character, with his 'clones' in Amazing Mirror being called Kirbys or Kirbies.

Another common term is Dream Landers, a term used in the instruction manual for Kirby's Adventure. However, this also refers to anyone who lives in Dream Land, including characters like King Dedede.

The most neutral and least controversial terms for them are things like creampuffs or puffballs, referring to their soft, round appearance.

Star Warrior?

What we know without a shadow of a doubt is Kirby's race is not called Star Warrior, Warpstar Knight or any variation thereof. Star Warrior, which is a term found solely in the anime series, is not the name of his species or any other. It is a term used to describe a group of legendary warriors that consists of many different races.

The terms Warpstar Knight or Warpstar Warrior have only ever been used in advertisements, and have never appeared in any game or the anime.

An imposter, or or something more?

In Kirby's Dream Land 3, mysterious characters appear called Batamon. They look very similar to Kirby aside from a more flattened shape and different face, and are unique in that the player can never directly come in contact with them. They are always seen walking past walls or ceilings beyond Kirby's reach. Considering it is the only Kirby-like creature to ever be given a name, some say Batamon is a default name for Kirby's species, or a closely related one- or perhaps just an imposter such as Anti-Kirby from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.