User:Superbound/Sandbox/List of misconceptions

The following is a list of misconceptions regarding the Kirby series. Note that this list only encompasses the most common and notorious ones, and is not exhaustive.

Some misconceptions may overlap with the mysteries of the series; however, this page aims to primarily document information that is often assumed to be correct when in reality it's incorrect, and vice versa, while the mysteries page aims to report on certain aspects of the series that are left open, often on purpose.

Characters

Kirby

Being the main and titular character of the series, many fan misunderstandings surround Kirby.

Kirby's original color

While it is commonly thought that Shigeru Miyamoto wanted Kirby to be yellow, this is not the case. Rather, Miyamoto thought Kirby would be yellow when he saw his monochrome sprite, as other popular round characters around that time were usually that color (e.g. Pac-Man or Noobow). Further, Miyamoto wasn't the only one who thought so, as according to Masahiro Sakurai, many of the staff were also surprised by his choice of color.

Kirby's original name

Kirby's original name was Popopo, and "Twinkle Popo" was the name originally given to the game that would later become Kirby's Dream Land. The names are really similar, hence the confusion between the two.

The origin of the name Kirby

As Miyamoto revealed, "Kirby" was on a list of names the development team received when naming Kirby. Miyamoto chose "Kirby" in-part to honor John Kirby, a lawyer who defended Nintendo in Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd., as well as for the fact the name "Kirby" uses harsh sounds, which created a funny contrast with his cute appearance.

Kirby's main catchphrase

Kirby's main catchphrase is "Hiii!", not "Poyo". This confusion comes from Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, which famously had Kirby prominently say "poyo" in place of actual speech. However, only some spin-off games like Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby Mass Attack have Kirby say "poyo" (even then, only occasionally), and all these games have other references to the anime as well. In the games, Kirby's catchphrase is instead "Hiii", which he often says when waving at the player, other characters, and emoting. This is reflected on Kirby's Kirby Portal profile, which features him saying "Hii!", and can also be seen on the American Nintendo Store section for the Kirby series. In various officially-licensed manga series, Kirby has unique verbal tics, ranging from "Pu" (プ) in Kirby of the Stars: Moretsu Pupupu Hour to "Pepoh" in Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives in Pupupu and Kirby Manga Mania, and those are often conflated with the "poyo" catchphrase in fan-made translations. Interestingly, a few manga series did make actual use of "poyo" as Kirby's catchphrase, including (Ultra Super) Pupupu Hero and Poyo Poyo Kirby.

Kirby's vocabulary and speaking ability

Kirby is capabale of saying more than "Poyo". This is related to the previous misconception, although this one also applies to the anime. In the Japanese version in particular, Kirby often says words such as attack names, character names, and Copy Ability names, and also repeats words other characters say. These vocalizations were almost all cut or replaced with "Poyo" in most dubs of the anime, hence the misconception. It's also worth remembering that Kirby is depicted as a "baby" in the anime, whereas in the games, despite a similar appearance and mannerism, Kirby is not considered to be an infant. He is instead a silent protagonist in the vein of Mario or Link. Like those two, Kirby is capable of communicating with other characters using language, but the player is not privy to what Kirby says. This is most evident in the Story Mode of Kirby Battle Royale, where Kirby makes numerous gestures to signify him talking, and which other characters respond to as if Kirby said something comprehensible to them.

In other cases, Kirby's speaking ability (or at least his inner voice) is more directly alluded to. An example is how he talks through the narrator in Kirby's Epic Yarn, but he has also had direct dialogue as well, such as in the Japanese exclusive opening cutscene of Kirby's Dream Course. In particular, mostly in the series' early years, Kirby was often shown talking in promotional material, such as in the game manuals (for example, he explains the controls to the reader directly in the manual for Kirby's Dream Land), promotional videos for Kirby's Adventure and Kirby's Pinball Land, and the Japanese website for Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. 20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia explicitly points out that Kirby can talk, using the pause descriptions for copy abilities (which are written in first-person in several games) as an example. Finally, most Kirby spin-off media, such as manga series and the novel series, feature Kirby speaking normally.

Kirby's pronouns in Japanese

Kirby does not use gender-neutral pronouns in Japanese. Kirby is a gender-neutral character in Japan, but this misconception stems from misunderstanding how Japanese pronouns work, which is very different from how they work in English. Third-person pronouns are rarely used in Japanese, while there are dozens of first- and second-person pronouns. Japanese pronouns may reflect the speaker's gender (as well as age, social status, and relationship to the listener), but are not strictly tied to it. Kirby consistently uses the first-person pronoun ボク (boku) in Japanese media, and when necessary, is referred to by the third-person pronoun かれ (kare). These both have masculine connotations, but do not mean that Kirby is not a gender-neutral character. Relatedly, it is commonly said that Kirby was deliberately made gender-neutral in Japan to give him "universal appeal", but there is no source for this claim.

Kirby's feet

Kirby's red feet are sometimes mistaken for shoes due to being a different color from his body. The truth is straightforward: Masahiro Sakurai was asked on the official Super Smash Bros. Melee website if Kirby wears shoes, and the answer was that he does not. Likewise, when Shinya Kumazaki was asked the same question (relating to a piece of popular fan art depicting Kirby's feet as shoes), his response was that "the mysterious composition of Kirby's body is top secret". Manga series often depict Kirby's feet as shoes, but these are different continuities.

Kirby's internal structure

See also: Kirby's characteristics

There is a popular image of Kirby's skeleton circulating the internet that is often mistaken for official material. However, this is unofficial and merely an artist's speculation of what Kirby's skeleton could look like. Similarly to the above, Sakurai was asked on the Super Smash Bros. Melee website if Kirby has bones, and the answer was that he does not. The games have never depicted Kirby with bones, and have only rarely depicted Kirby with teeth in certain sprites in older 2D games. It is worth noting that several in-game animations (as well as scenes from the anime) highlight Kirby's boneless nature by showing just how much he can squish, stretch, or be contorted into all manner of shapes, far beyond typical "cartoon" aesthetics or gags. Manga series often depict Kirby with bones or teeth, but these are different continuities.

Kirby's height

Kirby is officially 20 cm / 8 inches tall. There are sometimes claims that mentions of this are "not canon", "outdated", "retconned", or "incorrect", to name a few, but Kirby's height is one of, if not the most, consistent of his characteristics, and has been reaffirmed multiple times for decades. The first known instance of Kirby being described as being 20 cm tall was in 1993, in an internal document from HAL that noted various things about Kirby and his world back then; that document was then posted in 2012 in the 20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia, and a translation of it can be found here. The first notable public mention of Kirby being 20 cm tall was in 1999, Kirby's in-game description in Super Smash Bros., that says "The 8-inch high Kirby hails from a distant, peaceful star." Afterwards, lots of different sources would reaffirm Kirby's height, including but not limited to Kirby's profile in the Japanese Nintendo Online magazine, covering Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Kirby Portal, Kirby's profile in 20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia, as well as in Chop Champs of Kirby Star Allies (where logs are 25 cm tall and Kirby is only slightly shorter than them).

As recently as 2023, Kirby's creator, Masahiro Sakurai, has reaffirmed that Kirby is 20 cm in a video in his Youtube channel. Kirby's current director, Shinya Kumazaki, is implied to be responsible for a Celebration Picture in Kirby Star Allies (2018) which has a sketch that says "20cmなので" ("Because (Kirby) is 20cm tall"). Based on this, it can be seen that Kirby's two main creators still consider Kirby's height to be 20 cm. While there are sometimes inconsistencies on how certain characters in-game are portrayed in height (one common example against Kirby's official height is Samus' appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3), it's important to note that size in-game is fairly often inconsistent (some examples being King Dedede's height compared to Kirby not being consistent between games, and Star Dream's size being fairly inconsistent across Kirby: Planet Robobot), as developers prioritize gameplay (in particular, in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, objects inhaled for Mouthful Mode are all around the same size, meaning that there are traffic cones and lightbulbs as tall as cars, all of which are only a bit taller than Kirby himself; obviously, that is simply the case for gameplay reasons); for instance, Samus' official height is 190 cm, which if correctly used in Kirby's Dream Land 3, would make Samus unnecessarily massive.

Moreover, while there is a sign in Kirby and the Forgotten Land that is often used to argue that Kirby is not 20 cm, as the text, if translated, says "MUST BE 90CM TALL AND LESS THAN 190CM TO RIDE", said sign is never used for any actual "ride" featured in the game, and instead this texture is used in generic props found in Wondaria Remains but ultimately disconnected from rides. On top of all that, said text is not even readable in regular gameplay, nor does the prop feature any measurement tool of any kind (unlike the case with Chop Champs and Kirby: Canvas Curse, for instance), showing even further that its reliability is questionable. With all this in mind, it's undeniable that Kirby is 20 cm, and any inconsistencies (such as in the Super Smash Bros. series) can be explained as being artistic liberties for gameplay purposes.

Kirby's relationship to Dark Matter

When this is expanded, make sure to keep the mysteries in List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

Kirby has no confirmed relationship to Dark Matter. (incomplete)

Kirby's age in the anime

Kirby is not 200 years old in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. This stems from a line of dialogue from the early episodes of the anime, in which the opposite is actually stated: that Kirby woke up 200 years too early to reach full maturity. He is an infant in the show, but his specific age is never specified.

Kirby's strength

Kirby has considerable power ("infinite" according to Star Dream's description), but this power is often exaggerated by the fandom to mean that Kirby can "casually defeat gods" by himself. This is usually not the case, as Kirby often requires a special Last Battle Ability and/or the help of friends in order to take on the most powerful foes in his adventures. It may be more apt instead to see Kirby as having "infinite potential", rather than just straight up being "powerful". Even in cases where Kirby is battling a formidable final boss with only his inhale and spit, story cutscenes often show how much effort this takes for Kirby to pull off, as he may be very tired or even fainted in the ending cutscene after the boss is defeated.

King Dedede

King Dedede's role

King Dedede is not evil or the main antagonist of the Kirby series. Even in early games in the series, King Dedede was shown to have a sympathetic side, and was often only doing something seemingly villainous for other reasons (such as breaking the Star Rod in Kirby's Adventure in order to seal Nightmare away). The only main-series game which portrays King Dedede as the primary villain is the original Kirby's Dream Land (and Spring Breeze and Revenge of the King by extension). It is far more often the case that Kirby battles King Dedede either due to a misunderstanding between the two or because King Dedede has been possessed by a greater villain (Dark Matter, Yin-Yarn, and Taranza, just to name a few).

There are two possible sources for this misconception. The first is that in many spin-off games, King Dedede is portrayed as either the main antagonist, a particularly callous villain, or both. However, many of them were going either off of the anime (where King Dedede is the main source of trouble and fairly heartless) or off of Kirby's Dream Land and little else. The second is the aforementioned portrayal of King Dedede in the anime, which in many circles of the fandom is more well-known than King Dedede's more noble persona in recent games.

(talk about novels and the manga here)

King Dedede's species

King Dedede is not a penguin, nor is he any other type of bird. The only real bird-like attributes he possesses are his beak and his ability to fly (the latter of which he only learned how to do after being beaten by Kirby in Kirby's Dream Land).

This misconception is understandable given King Dedede's superficial appearance, and many official sources have referred to him as a bird, mainly in older promotional material. In the end, the most that can be said is that he has some "bird-like" features.

Meta Knight

Meta Knight's role

Like with King Dedede, Meta Knight is not a villain in the Kirby series. The only time he genuinely appeared as one in any main-series game was in Revenge of Meta Knight, and there, his main goal was to take over Dream Land in order to end its "lazy lifestyle", not to become an evil overlord like Magolor originally wanted. Instead, it is usually the case that Meta Knight is an ally to Kirby and is either secretly or openly working towards his success. In Kirby's Adventure, for example, Kirby has to battle Meta Knight and his Meta-Knights repeatedly, but this is ostensibly so that Meta Knight can gauge Kirby's fighting ability, finishing with an honorable sword duel as a final test. In that same game, Meta Knight can be seen tossing Kirby helpful items such as Invincible Candy. If Kirby and Meta Knight are fighting for other reasons, like with King Dedede, it's usually either because Meta Knight is being possessed or there's a misunderstanding between the two.

Even in the anime series, it is shown that Meta Knight is one of Kirby's most stalwart allies, and only has to take on the guise of being Kirby's enemy to keep King Dedede from becoming suspicious. (insert information from novels and the manga here)

Bandana Waddle Dee

Relationship to the Waddle Dee from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

There's no official material confirming if the Waddle Dee from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is Bandana Waddle Dee. While some faint connections and references may point in this direction, HAL Laboratory has never made any official statement regarding the matter, unlike the case with Ado and Adeleine. More about this subject can be found here.

Keeby

Keeby's relationship to yellow Kirbys

It is not confirmed that all yellow Kirbys are Keeby, nor that Keeby is one individual. "Keeby" was simply a developer nickname for the yellow Kirby that appears in Kirby's Dream Course, and was not used in-game until Kirby's Dream Buffet. To this day, "Keeby" has only been officially used to refer to the yellow Kirby from Kirby's Dream Course. It has not been confirmed one way or the other if the nickname "Keeby" applies to all yellow Kirbys.

Dark Matter

Over the years, Dark Matter and its possible relatives has been a subject of many fan theories often mistaken as official.

Dark Matter and the "dark cloud"

Dark Matter, as an individual, only appears in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Kirby's Dream Land 3. He is often confused with an entity known in Japanese as "dark cloud", but erroneously called Dark Matter in English material. The dark cloud is used to take over Popstar and control its inhabitants by Dark Matter and Zero in Kirby's Dream Land 3 and by 0² in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, but is still distinct from them. The Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards trio also have their own names: Dark Rimuru, Dark Rimura, and Dark Rimuro.

Confirmed relatives of Dark Matter

The only confirmed relatives of Dark Matter are Dark Matter Clone, Zero, and Gooey. As stated by 20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia, any relation to other characters suspected by the fans — such as 0² and Dark Nebula — is unknown.

Adeleine

Adeleine and Ado

It is not confirmed that Ado from Kirby's Dream Land 3 is the same person as Adeleine. There is plenty of evidence for both sides of the argument, but HAL has avoided giving a clear answer in various occasions ever since 2012, with a statement present in the 20th Anniversary Kirby Pupupu Encyclopedia. See here for more exhaustive look on the matter.

Also, the Kirby Art & Style Collection does not confirm that Ado and Adeleine are the same person. This was a more common misconception before the book was translated into English, as it includes a notice that was sent to manga artists after the release of Kirby's Dream Land 3 relating to Ado, and the caption mentions that she looks similar to Adeleine. This was misinterpreted as a confirmation that Ado was redesigned into Adeleine, which the book does not directly say, maintaining the ambiguity of the matter.

Shadow Kirby

Shadow Kirby's personality

Shadow Kirby is not the "polar opposite" of Kirby in terms of personality. While it is a popular trope in fiction to have a character meet a "parallel" version of themselves with the opposite personality, there is no solid reason to suspect that Shadow Kirby is the complete opposite of Kirby, despite having notable personality differences. Instead, the most that has been said on the matter in the games comes from flavor text from Kirby Fighters 2 and his behavior in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. Notable traits include the following:

• Reclusivity (watching Kirby from the distance and popping in occasionally to see what he will do, or only helping Kirby indirectly during the fight with Dark Mind)
• Naughtiness (evidenced from several bits of flavor text in Kirby Fighters 2)
• Tendency to mirror opponents (evidenced from his battles in the Kirby Fighters series)

Despite these differences, Shadow Kirby is not considered a villain in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, nor can he be said to be cowardly, because he is clearly willing to fight Kirby and defend the Mirror World.

Squeaks

Spinni's gender

While not a common misconception these days, at one point in the English fandom, there was a belief that Spinni was considered female in Japanese. Naturally, this does not add up to begin with, as Japanese is not a heavily gendered language; not only that, no text in Kirby: Squeak Squad refers to Spinni directly, and in Kirby Mass Attack, the few times Daroach addresses Spinni do not use any pronouns in Japanese. Only in the Kirby novel series, Spinni has dialogue and uses the first person pronoun オレ (ore), which is overall masculine, but as mentioned previously, first person pronouns in Japanese are not simply just "male or female", and could be used by someone of any gender. Regardless, nothing points to Spinni being female in Japanese in particular.

Galacta Knight

Galacta Knight is a mysterious and powerful knight, with little confirmed information about his background.

Galacta Knight's canonicity

Galacta Knight is not non-canon. This is widely assumed by the fanbase due to Galacta Knight never appearing in the Story Mode of a main-series Kirby game, but it is a misconception tied to the idea that Extra Modes are non-canon, which is not the case (see #Lore).

Galacta Knight and the four heroes of yore

Galacta Knight is not confirmed to be one of the "four heroes of yore" mentioned in Kirby Star Allies. Some relation is implied by Aeon Hero (Dark) using an attack that wields weapons resembling spears of the heart, but any further extension of this is purely speculative with no basis in any official material.

Galacta Knight's relationship to Morpho Knight

Galacta Knight is not related to Morpho Knight. This misconception is largely due to a lack of context regarding Morpho Knight's appearance in Kirby Star Allies. Due to the vague phrasing of the English localization — saying that Morpho Knight was "brought into existence by [Galacta Knight] and reborn as a knight of doom through years of adversity" — some assumed that Morpho Knight was a reincarnation of Galacta Knight or that the shape it took was influenced by Galacta Knight's appearance. As Kirby and the Forgotten Land shows, Morpho Knight feasts on souls but does not cause them to reincarnate, and it takes on its knightly form regardless of who it subjugates.

Magolor

Magolor's relation to the ancients

(Incomplete)

Taranza

Taranza's gender

Taranza is not female. This misconception is not as common as it once was, as it is understood by most that Taranza is male, but as he is designed to be androgynous, it can be difficult to discern. Notably, the Brazilian Portuguese localization named him "Tarângela", derived from the feminine name "Ângela", which may indicate confusion on their part as well. Taranza is not female in the Japanese version either; he is specifically called a "mysterious man" (なぞの男) in the Special Page for Flowery Woods.

Taranza's Japanese name

Taranza's Japanese name is also Taranza, and not "Daranza". This was a simple mistake from early fan translations of the Japanese release that misread the katakana in his name, タランザ (the katakana characters for ta タ and da ダ are visually very similar).

Queen Sectonia

Queen Sectonia and Dark Meta Knight

While there are often assumptions that Dark Meta Knight corrupted Queen Sectonia, there is no confirmation or hints of that. All official material states that she was already beauty-obsessed and vain, and as she constantly stared into the Dimension Mirror, the mirror's power twisted her vanity into tyranny, which ultimately caused her own demise. Dark Meta Knight is not indicated to have had any part in it other than being physically trapped inside the mirror.

Joronia

Quuen Sectonia's name, before her transformation to a wasp-like appearance, is not confirmed to be "Joronia". The name, which appeared as one of possible nicknames for CPU opponents in Kirby's Dream Buffet with no further context, could just be a nod to her design inspired by female Joro spiders and the mythical jorōgumo. It is also not confirmed if Sectonia even had a different name prior to her transformation.

Susie

Susie's morals in the Japanese version of Kirby Star Allies

The Japanese version of Kirby Star Allies does not explicitly state that Susie has reformed and is no longer evil. This misconception stems from her Guest Star pause screen; these are generally written in first-person perspective in the Japanese version of the game. In the English version, her description states "she uses science to advance her mission—mechanizing new planets and peoples." In the Japanese version, this statement is instead, from Susie's perspective:「科学の力で 家族だんらん、幸せな くらしを ごていきょう… そんな理念の もと、ヤバンなヤツは くじょ、いたしますわ！」("We provide harmony in families and happiness in life through the power of science... based upon this ideal, I'll exterminate you savages!") While the nuance is slightly different, the Japanese description still states that Susie "has inherited his (President Haltmann)'s volition" (あの方の 意志をうけつぎ). This indicates that her quote about "harmony in families and happiness in life" is merely an extension of her usual behavior, using positive-sounding corporate-speak to mask her true intention (for example, see Clanky Woods 2.0 and its discussion of being cost-reduced and eco-friendly).

King D-Mind

King D-Mind's identity

When this is expanded, make sure to keep the mysteries in List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

King D-Mind is not Shadow Dedede and/or Dark Mind. (incomplete)

The Three Mage-Sisters

The Three Mage-Sisters' relationship

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

The Three Mage-Sisters are not related by blood, and it is left ambiguous if they are adoptive sisters or not. Their name can mean sisters both in the familial sense and in the religious sense of a sisterhood; in the Japanese version, the mages are referred to with the English word "sisters" (シスターズ) rather than any native Japanese word, which adds further ambiguity. While this was addressed on the Kirby Star Allies Channel as a "mystery" of the series akin to the relationship between Kirby and Meta Knight, the in-game descriptions for Soul Melter EX indicate that they were all disparate girls before Hyness took them in and made them into mages, something which is confirmed in Kirby Star Allies: The Original Artbook. This means they are not related by blood. In the artbook, it is further explained that Hyness raised them from childhood, and the fact that Hyness drops a baby bottle when being ejected from Void Termina could allude to this (though in actuality, it was chosen simply because it resembles Hyness in shape and color). However, the sisters do not refer to each other with Japanese honorifics that indicate familial relation, and in fact Francisca refers to Flamberge as "Ms. Flamberge" (or ルージュさん Rouge-san in Japanese) at the end of Heroes in Another Dimension, which would be an unusually formal way to address a sibling. Either way, there is no official answer regarding their relationship, as it is meant to be ambiguous.

Void Termina / Void

Void's resemblance to previous bosses and Kirby gave rise to one of the infamous misconceptions in the series.

Void's relationship to Kirby

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

Kirby has no confirmed relationship to Void. This misconception is one of the most infamous ones of the series, and is rooted both in the vagueness of various texts in Kirby Star Allies, as well as changes and omissions present in the English localization of said game. Void is a being that can become anything and is directly influenced by who first awakens him, as well as the type of energy collected. Hyness planned to revive Void as Void Termina, Destroyer of Worlds, and while he partly succeeded, Void was also influenced by Kirby and "started to feel something", and then resembled his face. Thus, Hyness's wish for Void to be revived as a "destroyer god" conflicted with the friendly influence he received from Kirby. As such, various pause descriptions depict both Void's evil and aggressive nature (as Hyness wanted him to be), as well as Kirby's own easygoing, bold, and friendly nature (due to Kirby's direct influence on Void as he was born). The latter is often misinterpreted as Void eventually going to be reborn as Kirby, but what is said in official media goes along more with Void being reborn as a more generic "friend". It is often misinterpreted because, in the English translation of Void Soul's Special Page, the wording of what Void can "rise again" as implies that there are only two possibilities, these being positive (often assumed to be Kirby) and negative (often assumed to be Dark Matter); however, the Japanese text does not directly mention positive or negative energies, and instead just mentions energy more generically, and says that Void can turn into "all sorts of beings".

Void's relationship to Dark Matter

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

Void is not confirmed to be the origin of Dark Matter, or to have a direct relationship with Dark Matter at all. This misconception primarily stems from Void Termina's Final Core bearing a great resemblance to Dark Matter and 0², as well as Hyness mentioning in his rant that "we [are] masters of a matter most dark", which may imply a connection but does not outright state anything, much less that Void is the origin of Dark Matter. Another common source of the misinterpretation is that the Japanese version uses the term "dark matter", but this is not meant to refer to the character or species. In the Japanese version, Hyness says that his clan worships "dark matter", the literal substance (やみのぶっしつ, written in hiragana); in contrast, Dark Matter's name as a character is written in Japanese as ダークマター (the English phrase "Dark Matter" in katakana). Likewise, the Japanese version states that Void is formed by the union of dark matter (again, the literal substance) with "dream", "soul", and "heart" matter, combined with chaos and infinite possibilities. In this case, the description uses the same word for "matter" or "substance", 物質 (ぶっしつ), and the same word for "dark", 闇 (やみ), though with furigana indicating that it is read as the English word "dark" (闇ダーク). The Korean and Chinese versions contain similar statements in both cases. While this is likely meant to allude to Dark Matter, it does not directly refer to it, and either way there is no confirmation that Void is the origin of Dark Matter or that it is related to Dark Matter at all.

Void Termina's status as a god

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

Void Termina is only called a god by Hyness and The Three Mage-Sisters, and is not officially confirmed to be one. Void Termina's Japanese name is "God of Destruction, Ende Nil", which was localized in English as "Void Termina, Destroyer of Worlds". The Japanese description of Kirby Star Allies (level) says this: "The being that Hyness calls 'God' doesn't have a heart heroic or evil — he was born only to destroy... and his name is 'God of Destruction, Ende Nil'. A being like that is no god, so don't pull your punches!" The Korean and Chinese versions contain a similar statement. Later, in an interview with Nintendo DREAM magazine, Shinya Kumazaki stated that because he was worried about confirming the existence of an actual god in the Kirby world, he decided to leave Void Termina's true nature ambiguous; he is a vessel for the energy of the dark hearts, and Hyness believes him to be a god.

Morpho Knight

Meta Knight's artwork from Kirby's Adventure (left) and the art that is often mistaken to be his early design (right). Note the differences in the amount of detail and art style between them.

The source of Morpho Knight's original design

Morpho Knight was not originally an early Meta Knight design. Morpho Knight was intended to be a boss in the cancelled Kirby for Nintendo GameCube. The confusion likely originated from the Kirby's 20th Anniversary Celebration Book, which puts early concept art for Morpho Knight on a page dedicated to Meta Knight without context or explanation (though, as the page also includes concept art for Dark Meta Knight, it is not unique in this regard).

Elfilin

How long ago Elfilin split apart from Fecto Elfilis

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

The Dream Discoveries Tour states that Elfilin split apart from Fecto Elfilis "30 years after research began" on Specimen ID-F86. This is commonly misinterpreted as Elfilin having split apart exactly 30 years prior to the events of Kirby and the Forgotten Land. This statement means the event took place at least 30 years before the message was recorded, which itself was likely some time before the new world's civilization left it behind, so it is unknown exactly how long ago the event took place.

Literalness of the word "halves" to describe Fecto Forgo and Elfilin

Elfilin and Fecto Forgo are not exact halves of Fecto Elfilis. While Leongar refers to Elfilin as Fecto Forgo's "missing half" in his dialogue prior to his boss fight, this is not meant to be taken as Elfilin and Fecto Forgo being literal halves of one being; it is more accurately stated in figure descriptions that Elfilin is "a small, compassionate soul that hid behind greater, invasive ambitions", comparatively a much smaller part of the whole that makes up Fecto Elfilis. By comparison, the Japanese text uses the term 片割れ (kataware), which can be translated as "fragment" in this context.

Lore

The canon and continuity of the Kirby series

The Kirby series does not have a single timeline or canon. This misconception usually takes the form of claims that certain games or events are "canon" or "non-canon", or that the series has a "main" continuity, which is not the case. The developers have explained that the series does not have a linear timeline and that the flow of time is fluid within it. They focus on "...providing new surprises while avoiding the establishment of immutable facts and settings that would constrain Kirby," but still retain basic unchanging ideas like Kirby and King Dedede's rivalry to keep the story grounded in familiarity. More detailed explanations of this subject can be found in the continuity page.

Intercontinuity across mediums in Kirby media

The anime, manga series, and novel series, are not the same continuity as the games: each is their own continuity. This is more self-evident if someone is familiar with the fluid continuity of the games alone (see above). Regardless, this is a common trend in multi-medium works, where events don't line up in different stories. (incomplete)

What galaxy the Kirby series is set in

The Kirby series is not confirmed to be set within the Milky Way Galaxy. This is a misconception due to the English name of Milky Way Wishes, which implies that the game (and thus, Popstar) takes place in the Milky Way. However, the Japanese title is "Wish Upon the Galaxy" and makes no reference to the Milky Way specifically; the manual for Kirby's Dream Land mentions that Popstar (unnamed at the time) is so distant that it is not visible from Earth, thus making it unlikely that it would situated in the Milky Way. The actual name of the setting of Milky Way Wishes, according to the description of the Starship, is the "starry path" (known as the "Milky Road" in Japanese); the galaxy that Popstar is located within does not have a confirmed official name (Gamble Galaxy likely does not refer to it).

The inhabitants of the Mirror World, and the counterparts of characters from Popstar

Many misunderstandings surround the Mirror World and the Dimension Mirror.

The inhabitants of the Mirror World are not all counterparts of characters from Popstar. The only entities confirmed to be counterparts of characters from Popstar are Dark Meta Knight, Shadow Kirby, and Shadow Dedede. Most of the enemies encountered in the Mirror World do not look any different from those encountered on Popstar, even those from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror that made appearances in later entries to the main series. In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Queen Sectonia was corrupted after staring into the Dimension Mirror, but is not stated to have created a Mirror World counterpart of her. In Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, Taranza has a dark counterpart - Dark Taranza, however he is summoned from the Black Mirror, which is not related to the Mirror World in any way. A Kirby JP Twitter game report for Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe also implies that Magolor has no Mirror World counterpart even when he is reflected via the Dimension Mirror, further supporting this, although it should be noted that since this claim comes from Magolor himself, its credibility is questionable.

The Mirror World and the number of Dimension Mirrors

There are two similar Dimension Mirrors in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, those being the "outer mirror" and the "inner mirror". In the opening cutscene, Meta Knight and the Kirbys both enter the Dimension Mirror to arrive in the Mirror World. This is the "outer mirror", which is a gateway that links Dream Land to the Mirror World, and vice versa. A common misconception is that the Mirror World is located within the "outer mirror"; it is not, as the Mirror World exists as a physical location in the skies of Dream Land. Later, Meta Knight is shown being sealed into an identical-looking Dimension Mirror within the Mirror World, which the Kirbys spend the length of the game repairing. This is the "inner mirror". It links to the area where Dark Meta Knight and Dark Mind are fought, which itself contains several Dimension Mirrors. In the ending cutscene, after defeating Dark Mind, the Kirbys return to Dream Land through the "outer mirror".

This is further shown to be consistent in Kirby: Triple Deluxe — Queen Sectonia is in possession of the "outer mirror" (which Taranza stole from the Mirror World), from which Shadow Dedede emerges in Dededetour!. Then, King Dedede enters the "outer mirror" to arrive in the Mirror World, and finds the "inner mirror", which Dark Meta Knight was sealed within. When Dedede re-seals Dark Meta Knight, this is the "inner mirror". While it is not stated, Dedede is presumably not trapped in the Mirror World and could still return to Dream Land through the "outer mirror". Note that both the "outer mirror" and "inner mirror" are only officially referred to as "the Dimension Mirror"; referring to them as "outer" and "inner" is merely in order to more easily distinguish them.

The continuity between Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby Super Star

Kirby: Triple Deluxe is not confirmed to take place directly after Kirby Super Star. This was just an example given by Shinya Kumazaki on the Kirby: Triple Deluxe Miiverse channel — "the opening cutscene starts in a way that could be picking up from the ending of Kirby Super Star, in that we see Kirby at home snoozing away in bed..." (emphasis added) — as a point of comparison for the game's opening cutscene. While it is generally safe to assume that later Kirby titles come after earlier ones chronologically, there is no defined timeline for the series.

The creator of the Sun Stones

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

Necrodeus is not confirmed to have created the Sun Stones. As above, this misinformation stems from a Miiverse post, in which Shinya Kumazaki theorizes that the Sun Stones could have been created by "someone who dislikes the sun", robbing Floralia of sunlight by turning it into jewels; he never specifically names Necrodeus. Necrodeus dislikes light and wishes to steep the world in darkness. However, the quote specifically focuses on sunlight, relating to Kirby: Triple Deluxe's recurring theme of stars and celestial bodies (i.e. the sun and the moon), rather than light in general. Furthermore, when addressing sunlight, it specifically mentions the sunlight of Floralia, and does not mention darkness as a factor at all. These aspects point to the quote more likely referring to Queen Sectonia, who is heavily associated with moonlight and jewels, and has a more obvious motivation to control the sunlight of Floralia specifically (to prevent the Dreamstalk from growing).

Gigabyte Grounds' relation to previous Kirby levels

There is no confirmation that Gigabyte Grounds is an existing sea from the series, but dried up. It is commonly theorized due to the name of "Dried-up Sea" that Gigabyte Grounds could be the dried-up remains of a previous ocean level, such as Orange Ocean, Secret Sea, or Onion Ocean. However, this has not been confirmed. Since Popstar's geography changes regularly from game to game, there is no particular reason to believe that any of these oceans specifically are the ones that dried up.

Why the new world's civilization left

It's unclear why exactly the ancient civilization that once inhabited the new world left it. (incomplete)

The species of the habitants of the new world

Despite the similarity, the new world civilization is not confirmed to be the human civilization.

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

There's no confirmation that the habitants of the new world were humans. While the new world greatly resembles our world, there is notably no depiction of human beings in any part of it (for example, there are no mannequins within the malls, and car advertisements do not feature any people riding within them), and the previous inhabitants are never referred to as humans. The name of the "simple" staff roll theme, "From Those Who Departed for Space", may imply that the denizens of the new world were humans (the game's staff themselves being "those who departed for space"), but this is unconfirmed. At most, the depiction of Neichel at the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival is the most compelling evidence, but this is itself a supplementary material that is not confirmed to be part of the games' continuity. Relatedly, within an interview in the festival's pamphlet, Shinya Kumazaki describes his thoughts on writing "Welcome to the New World!", which relate to the new world's similarity to humanity: "if there is a world, there will be civilization, and if there is civilization, there will be writing, signs of people, and language as well." (世界が あるなら文明があり、文明があるなら文字があり、そこには人の息吹があって、言葉もあるわけです。)

What the "land of dreams" mentioned by Leongar at the climax of Kirby and the Forgotten Land refers to

Some parts of this section need to be moved to List of mysteries; keep just the misconceptions here

It's not confirmed if the "land of dreams" mentioned by Leongar at the climax of Kirby and the Forgotten Land refers to Dream Land. In Japanese, Dream Land is called プププランド ("Pupupuland"), while Leongar's dialogue uses the phrase 夢の大地 (literally "a land of dreams"). While this can be considered a reference to Dream Land in the same way his mention of "this forgotten land" refers to the game's title, it would ultimately just be a reference, and not concrete confirmation that the "land of dreams" is Dream Land. It should also be noted in particular that the term "land of dreams" has been used many other times as well, although mostly in Japanese only. In Morpho Knight EX's Japanese pause screen description, a similar term, 夢の国 (which can also be translated as "a land of dreams") is used, and this same term is used in the Japanese version of "Welcome to the New World!"; in the English version of the song, this term is translated as the more general word "dreamland" ("A new dreamland. A place where you'll laugh and smile."). Another term with a similar meaning, 夢にまでみた大地, is used in the Japanese name of the song from Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, "The Long-Desired Land", which is 夢にまでみた大地は (The Land of Dreams is...) in Japanese.

Gameplay

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror's game genre

While Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is often called a Metroidvania game, it does not have all the characteristics of one. While it does have some of its traits, most notably its non-linearity, another important characteristic of a Metroidvania is progression tied to upgrades, which the game does not have. It is possible to reach the game's ending without Copy Abilities for the most part, and the only "upgrades" Kirby collects are Health upgrades, that are not necessary to further progress into the game. Therefore, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror is not a Metroidvania game by definition, but it is nonetheless the closest a Kirby game has been to a Metroidvania game so far, so it can be called "Metroidvania-like".

What abilities can perform the Hammer Super Jump glitch from Kirby and the Forgotten Land

The famous Hammer Super Jump glitch from Kirby and the Forgotten Land can be performed by any version of Hammer, not just Toy Hammer. Toy Hammer is a popular choice among players for performing the glitch (often being used in speedruns of the Colosseum), and can be useful for new players looking to learn the glitch due to its visual squash-and-stretch providing a decent visual for timing the glitch. However, every single version of Hammer can perform this glitch. (incomplete)

Game development

General

The developers of Kirby games

Nintendo is not the sole or primary creator of Kirby games. This misconception often exists due to the fact that Kirby games exclusively release on Nintendo consoles, and how closely the series is related to Nintendo due to that. In reality, it is HAL Laboratory that makes most games, and while it is true that Nintendo often assists with production and publishes the games, most of them are developed primarily by HAL. All of the games in the main Kirby series were developed at least partially by HAL (Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Squeak Squad were developed primarily by Flagship, but HAL was still involved), and HAL still has oversight on games created by third-party developers, such as Kirby's Epic Yarn (by Good-Feel). The only Kirby games developed internally by Nintendo were Kirby's Block Ball and Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble.

Masahiro Sakurai's involvement with Kirby games

Masahiro Sakurai has no involvement with recent Kirby games. Sakurai's last work on a Kirby game was on Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, as a "Special Advisor", and the last Kirby game he had full involvement on as a director was Kirby Air Ride. He has not been credited or known to be involved in any other Kirby game since. The current series director is Shinya Kumazaki, and he has been largely at the helm since Kirby Super Star Ultra.

Kirby Super Star

Spritework of some Kirby Super Star Copy Abilities, created on the NES as a prototype.

Kirby Super Star's original development console

Kirby Super Star was not originally developed for the NES. It was always intended to be a SNES title. This misconception stems from how an NES prototype for Kirby Super Star does exist and has been shown off. Masahiro Sakurai used his NES development tool to create rough concepts for Kirby Super Star — in particular, the size of the sprites and how they moved — because there was a waiting period before they received their SNES development tools. Sakurai explains this concept in more detail in this Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games video.

Kirby Star Allies

Kirby Star Allies' initial release state

Kirby Star Allies did not release in an incomplete state. There are many forms in which this misconception manifests, often alongside claims that content was withheld from the base game and added in updates due to a rushed development cycle. However, such claims have no source, and usually just come down to individual players' impressions. When asked about this, Shinya Kumazaki stated that the game has deliberately brisk pace so that everyone can reach the ending, even young children who have never played a video game before. In addition, he stated that Kirby Star Allies had updates in order to keep interest in the game, as well as to "keep long-time fans happy". While Dream Friends were part of the initial update plan, Heroes in Another Dimension was not, and was instead added in lieu of an extra planet for Story Mode because the developers "figured players might enjoy having an additional game mode even more". Moreover, HAL Laboratory staff have claimed multiple times that they only release games when they are complete and meet the company's high quality standards, so they would never release an incomplete game; this is the reason Kirby's Return to Dream Land took 11 years to develop.

The reason for Kirby Star Allies's level design

Kirby Star Allies's level design is not due to a rushed development cycle. In a similar vein to the above misconception, there are claims that Kirby Star Allies had a simpler and less busy level design, with less collectibles compared to previous mainline games, due to not enough development time. Once again, these claims have no sources, and in particular, developers have stated that the game had a simpler and easier Story Mode on purpose, as they felt previous Kirby games were getting more difficult for young children and they wanted to make the game more accessible like the first game, Kirby's Dream Land. Thus, judging from developer comments, it's safe to assume that Kirby Star Allies was simply designed like that consciously from the beginning, and even if it had more development time it wouldn't feature more complex level design.

Music

Conjectural music titles commonly thought to be official

There are plenty of conjectural music titles of Kirby music often assumed to be official, and it would be a massive effort to list them all. These are often playful names given to soundtracks of games with not many official names (most notably Kirby: Squeak Squad), as well as conjectural translation of official Japanese names of tracks that do not incorporate official English terms. Some of these originate from fan translations made prior to official English translations being released. Examples include:

• "Factory Inspection" instead of "Studying the Factory", the unofficial name being a conjectural translation of the song's Japanese name;
• "Grape Garden" instead of "Sea Stage", the unofficial name being completely conjectural and based on another misconception surrounding where that song plays;
• "Rainbow Route" instead of "Forest/Nature Area", the unofficial name being simply the name of the level the song primarily plays on;
• "Having Fun Outside", "Here Come the Squeaks!", and "Ultimate Squeak Battle" instead of "Prism Plains", "Squeak Squad Appears!", and "Vocal Volcano", the unofficial names being completely conjectural;
• "Looming Darkness" instead of "Another Dimension", the unofficial name being completely conjectural;
• "Another Dimension" instead of "Fly, Kirby!", the unofficial name being based on the level the song plays in, but in fact the name belongs to another song;
• "F-L-O-W-E-R-E-D" and "P-R-O-G-R-A-M" instead of "Fatal Blooms in Moonlight" and "Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection", the unofficial names being conjectural names based on "C-R-O-W-N-E-D";
• "Mind in a PROGRAM" instead of "VS. Star Dream", the conjectural name being based on the level the song plays in.

It should be noted that sometimes the earlier conjectural titles end up matching the later official ones (most notably, "Loud Locomotive", and most likely "Iceberg Ocean" as well), but these cases are exceptions.

Other

Dream Land

The correct spelling of "Dream Land"

Dream Land, the location, is always two words, never one (Dreamland). The word "dreamland" by itself is often written as one word, but this does not apply to Dream Land outside of rare instances where official material misspells it (i.e. "Return to Dreamland" being used in certain Miiverse posts and the Japanese name of the song "Return to Dream Land"). Moreover, while Eternal Dreamland parses it as one word, this is not referring to the location of Dream Land, but rather the concept of an "eternal dreamland" of endless sleep.

The name of HAL Laboratory

HAL Laboratory is always singular — it is not "HAL Laboratories". Though the company currently comprises two locations, it was only one when it was founded, so it has remained a singular "laboratory". Furthermore, the HAL is always capitalized (it is not "Hal"), though it is also not an acronym. The name has been variously suggested by Satoru Iwata to derive from the fictional supercomputer HAL 9000, or because "each letter put them one step ahead of IBM".

Number of Kirby manga series

There are multiple Kirby manga series. (incomplete)

Masahiro Sakurai's favorite Copy Ability

Masahiro Sakurai's favorite Copy Ability is not Beam. While it has been assumed that Masahiro Sakurai's favorite Copy Ability is Beam because it's normally the one of the first Copy Abilities obtainable, this is not the case. In a Twitter post from 2010, Sakurai listed Fighter and Suplex to be his favorite Copy Abilities.

Kirby spin-offs that are mistaken for main-series games

Although Kirby: Canvas Curse, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirby Mass Attack and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse are sometimes called mainline series games by some due to them being plaftormer games, and the mainline Kirby games being platformers, these four games are not considered mainline games officially, and are spin-offs. The developers consider mainline games to be the games that feature traditional platforming with Kirby's inhale and copy ability, and have "Kirby of the Stars" in their Japanese titles (as well as in Chinese and Korean). Neither of these are the case with any of them; they do not feature "Kirby of the Stars" in their titles, and none feature inhaling (and only Kirby: Canvas Curse features copy abilities). More information on this subject can be found on the Kirby (series) page.