How Kirby Went From an Unpopular Concept to a Nintendo Icon

[@foetidum]

Please never call kirby the king of suck again

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

"Kirby sucks and is made of wind" - The Quarter Guy

[@DaleTheSnail42069]

I mean one of the best vacuum cleaners on the market is a Kirby

[@gboogie3257]

Ikr that’s my Title

[@zedchillman2685]

The suck god

[@etherealdragon207]

(Dedede laughing)

[@stigmaoftherose]

A few things everyone should know about kirdy: 1. Kirby is a pink guy 2. Kirby is very cute 3. Kirby inhales his enemies and makes it later 4. Kirby is so happy that something he can because he's very cute

[@eugeniomorichon5624]

Also he's the name you should know!

[@Existant_one]

@@eugeniomorichon5624and he’s the star of the show!

[@randocalzone8772]

@@Existant_one And I need a "monstah" to "clobbah" him

[@reformedorthodoxmunmanquara]

What a triumph is that?

[@TheMentok]

You forgot that he loves food

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

The entire Kirby lore went from a cutesy, wholesome story of a pink ball who fights against a penguin to fighting against Eldritch entities and catastrophes that gives HP Lovecraft a run of his money and it all came from a butterfly.

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

While Kirby did flat out swallow and digest his enemies into his blackhole stomach in the original series of games, things would ultimately be changed by 2006 with Kirby: Squeak Squad, and Kirby: Right Back at Ya! half a decade before it. While it would never be depicted again, Squeak Squad introduced the mechanic of Kirby having a stomach dimension, where some items and Copy Abilities would be stored for selectable use via the touch screen. In other words, it basically canonized that Kirby's prey don't get digested. They are in a separate dimension inside of Kirby, only let out when Kirby wishes to remove them from his body through expelling a Copy Ability. When I really think about it, it's probably a fate worse than death.

[@RHVGamer]

kirby doesn't have a dimension inside of him, it's just his stomach that can hold like 5 items. whenever kirby inhales an enemy, they just reapper someone else. the whole pocket dimension thing is exclusive to the non-canon anime. quote from shinya kumazaki: director of the series since 2008: "Instead, we have this comical, funny depiction where the enemies poof. When an enemy or creature gets swallowed by Kirby, they may disappear but they do resurface somewhere else in the world."

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

@@RHVGamer Huh. Well, my mistake, then. Still scary, but thankfully not at all permanent... Unless ... what about Hypernova?

[@RHVGamer]

@@SmokeTheHorsehog not that scary. for example, bandana waddle dee gets inhaled/defeated by kirby in revenge of the king, and only a couple minutes later reappears to watch kirby and masked dedede fight. for hypernova, there's no reason for it to be different, since it's just a powered up version of kirby's inhale. the only one who died from that was sectonia, when kirby spit her laser right back at her, since if he didn't stop her she would have taken over popstar.

[@SmokeTheHorsehog]

@@RHVGamer what about Flowery Woods? Once she's sucked in, we never see her again.

[@RHVGamer]

@@SmokeTheHorsehog we just don't see it again because it's at the end of the game

[@tc6103]

kirby’s adventure is one of the most beautiful games i’ve ever played. the colors are GORGEOUS

[@TheMentok]

One of the best looking NES games in my opinion. They did so much to make it a drastic improvement over Dream Land

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Definitely one of the games that still holds up today, whether it's the NES or the Gameboy Advance remake.

[@scanchannel3259]

@@TheMentok One of? you mean the best looking NES game, Mario 3 be damned.

[@TheJadeFist]

I find it very hard to believe they picked the name Kirby for one of their lawyers vs Kirby vacuum cleaners... given the fact Kirby is a living vacuum. I've heard that credit before but come on, there's no way that's just a coincidence.

[@TheMentok]

I thought about mentioning the vacuums too but saw nothing that referenced them. My guess is that their American team added Kirby as an option because of the vacuums and the final decision was made in Japan for the reasons stated in the video. But that mostly speculation on my part

[@KasumiKenshirou]

@@TheMentok My guess (but I have no evidence) is that he was named after the vacuums but they came up with an "official" story about their lawyer. Very similar to how Tomy had a line of coin bank toys called Pac-Man that predate Namco's video game. (Both "Pac-Man" and the alternative spelling "Puck-Man" are written identically in Japanese.) You would put a coin in Pac-Man's hand, press down on it, and he open his mouth and throw the coin into it and close his mouth again. These toys came in yellow and various other colors. There was later a spin-off board game called "Pac-Man Game". (Well, not really a "board", but I'm not sure what to call it.) This game was released in the US as "Mr. Mouth" in the 1970s and into the 1980s. This had to have been what Namco based their arcade game on, but now they tell the story of a guy being inspired by a pizza with a slice taken out of it. Mr. Mouth was later changed to be a frog, and in Japan there was actually a Kirby version released.

[@Polina_Lozenko]

03:00 actually no. the inhaled enemies dont die. In an interview, it was confirmed they, after a short while after being inhaled/converted into a copy ability, they reappear somewhere on Popstar. yeah, the enemies dont die actually lol. Also theres no 'stomach'. It just a pocket dimension.

[@vicctretamaj]

Can’t wait for you to get more in depth with Kirby! Personally my fav series of all time. Will say, the Lore doesn’t REALLY start til around 2000, then kinda vanished for a while since Kirby has being handled by other companies. only to later come back in full force and tie like EVERYTHING together in the modern era starting in 2011. It’s a wild ride

[@TheMentok]

Looking forward to getting into the nitty gritty. I’m sure there have been a ton of lore videos already but I’m now taking this on to satiate my own curiosity 😂

[@legoworld246]

​@@TheMentokSo, a little heads-up about about the lore, because it can be easily missed. In every mainline Kirby game starting in Kirby Super Star Ultra (the DS remake of Super Star), some bosses (I don't remember exactly which) have descriptions that contain more information about the series lore if you pause the game during their fights. Starting in Triple Deluxe, *every* boss has a pause screen description. Bosses that transform and get a new health bar mid-fight tend to have different descriptions each phase, same applies with boss rematches in extra modes. In Forgotten Land the lore is contained in some in-game collectible figures instead. Also, both Return to Dreamland and its remake have a secret dialogue you can get from talking to a character after doing 100% on hard mode. Also also, some of the lore for Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot was not revealed in-game, and was instead told through miiverse posts. Also also also, and I may come across as an elitist for this, but Planet Robobot and Star Allies at points suffer from wonky translation syndrome, so you might want to be on the lookout for that.

[@castform7]

As a long time Kirby fan, it's always fun to see a new person hop in. It will be interesting to see what you'll find on your journey. As for the fabled lore, the only things I'll say so that I don't spoil anything is that it starts in the Wii era, is mostly subtext and *really* likes looking at the series at large.

[@TheMentok]

Good to know the starting point! Probably why I don’t recall this type of lore because I fell off the Kirby series around that time. I’m excited to see where this goes

[@Octo445]

Personally, I think saying that Kirby lore is deep is disingenuous, but it invites a lot of speculation and leaves intriguing questions. Not sure if the series ever plans on answering said questions though

[@allp1nk92]

Agreed I don't want anyone to play the games expecting super in depth lore the whole time, they're going to be very disappointed. The most they'll get is some pause screen lore.

[@XerxesTexasToast]

Correct! The depth is all fanmade. Source: I am a fan and I have been working on some of that homegrown depth for years. It leaves enough questions unanswered to get those gears turning

[@technocolossus]

I got Kirby's Dreamland for my 4th birthday - it was the first game that was all mine and I played the ever-loving hell out of it for a decade.

[@55twintv39]

4:04, 8:17 Such iconic tunes. 😊

[@PluckyInc]

I'm just thankful that Nintendo (seemingly) doesn't have any large hand overhung over HAL Labs. the series barely had any rough patches barring maybe the DS generation. though i'm slightly surprised at the overabundance of kirby games, especially the spinoffs and microtransaction games; though they're mostly skippable for lore followers...for the most part. i'm assuming HAL internally retains a lot of kirby material, if filenames, textures and model names mean anything. heck, the Kirby Wii Switch remaster even had some files from the cancelled Kirby GCN w/a few animations and whatever else, which probably meant they had source code.

[@mylam658]

Gotta love Kirby. He's my favorite lovecraftian demon alien. 🥰🥰🥰

[@reformedorthodoxmunmanquara]

Cherished Kirby ever since I first discovered the series. I adore the series so much that a lot of my character/creature designs are based off of the series.

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

Great deep dive into Kirby's history man! I still remember being a child and getting grossed out by a Kirby commercial featuring a fat dude eating everything in a buffet and ultimately exploding trying to be like Kirby lol. I also wonder if Akira Toriyama got inspired a bit by Kirby with Majin Buu since both characters are similar

[@TheMentok]

I vaguely recall that commercial. I have to remember which one that was though. 😭

[@TyGuy2462]

Pretty sure you're thinking of this Yoshi's Island commercial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGSZl4Gnj7Noosk

[@ShinGoji1987Official]

@@TyGuy2462 Yup that's the one, totally forgot it was a Yoshi one. Thanks for sharing

[@act_z9710]

This is what I've been waiting for. I'm so glad you're beginning to explore this series. Can't wait to see more, especially your reaction to the lore.

[@TheMentok]

Out of all the series I’ve covered so far, I know about Kirby the least so this is a passion project of mine for that reason 😂 Glad to see you’re looking forward to future vids!

[@pozzumgee]

Excellent research and presentation as always. I've gotten into Kirby a lot more recently, but missed all of these early titles, so it's nice to learn about them from a real life prophet. Keep up the good work!

[@TheMentok]

Thank you! I always love starting from the beginning. Always cool to see these humble beginnings and work up from there

[@gameyfirebro9645]

NiDL did remove some detail in some stages shockingly and lacked parallax scrolling in the backgrounds.

[@kamothe1]

The Nightmare in Dreamland jingle has lived in my mind for decades 😭😭😭

[@NeonSonOfXenon]

To add to the naming confusion about King Dedede, in French he's called King Dadidou

[@saltinefromindiana]

My boy's Kirby voice sounds like a coked out Elmo ngl

[@randocalzone8772]

Reminds me of Chugga's Magolor voice

[@billbruns1628]

Great information and quite entertaining presentation! Keep up the quality videos. I don't even really care about Kirby and I watched it to the end.

[@TheMentok]

Thanks for watching!

[@dlw9401]

He ain’t a puff to mess with that’s for sure, the amount of strength this dude has never ceases to impress me

[@crit2945]

this videos are really great i was just wondering if you could cover castlevania sometime seeing how u referenced it in some of your videos

[@nicholassims9837]

What makes King DeDeDE different from Bowser is that he can be more of an anti villain

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Nowadays, King Dedede seems to be no longer a villain anymore despite being mind-controlled by the main villains. Look how far he comes.

[@BrownOrion-z1f]

The white Kirby on the original Kirby's Dream Land box art is Void. Still sleeping in that summer breeze. Lost and forgotten to time after the blemishless switch for a rounder, pinkier starry eyed friend. No fr though I like that they're now just exploring Kirby's identity.

[@garmanarnarr]

Thank you very much! For bringing up Kirby!

[@luisvelasco4714]

LETS GO NEW MENTOK DROPPED

[@jeremyhall2727]

I needs to play those older games again. I remembered having so much fun with them. Thank you for explaining the storyline too. I love that kinda stuff. And the memes was funny. I don't remember if it was this video or the other kriby one...😂 But it was killing it. I watched them back to back

[@RHVGamer]

Very good video! I wish you luck with figuring out the lore in future videos, since there's a lot of misinformation out there

[@KasumiKenshirou]

The name DeDeDe makes a lot more sense knowing that Kirby was going to be called PoPoPo.

[@damiencouturee6240]

I played the original probably 100 times as a kid, it was one of my favorite games lol. I think its on switch online, maybe Ill play through it again tonight, ot only takes like 2 hours, probably not even that

[@bobchuseby]

Your Kirby voice is awesome.

[@toondreamer4438]

You know that's fan art right? 3:50

[@nolan92491]

it's also worth nothing that Arthur C. Clarke's HAL 9000 could have been named with the same "IBM Letter shift" method as HAL Laboratories, in order to avoid being sued by IBM for writing a book about a rogue IBM 9000 computer killing the crew of a space ship.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

Yes, I've definitely heard that HAL from 2001 was named by shifting the IBM letters.

[@choptop81]

The IBM thing is also why HAL 9000 is called HAL

[@undercomposition]

Kirby was always popular. Representing many of the best selling games. And Kirby's Adventure is one of the better selling games for the NES despite releasing in 1993.

[@zeallexandre]

17:50 Parodius

[@drewpool4537]

Sorry, but the only thing Kirby ever says is 'Puyo".

[@55twintv39]

6:46 Why are showing Sakurai with a middle finger?

[@pepe_ronii]

Well i'll be damned! Thanks Mentok!

[@XXIIXIIIXXXIXXXIX]

So at first he wasn't popular....so we gave him sucking powers and a HUGE mouth 😂

[@jordanwhite352]

PUYO!

[@NimhLabs]

Aaaaah... _THE_ Pink Shoggoth x3

[@adamolsen838]

R.i.p original kiby

[@zombiesouffle]

I never played Kirby until after watching the cartoon. I love kirby💖

[@Stotter123]

Who don't understand. Kirby is very cute. and kill people.

[@nicholassims9837]

What happens if Kirby inhales another Kirby ?

[@WeOnlyEatSoup]

Didn't realize the 2002 game was a remake!

[@TramiNguyen-oi3kp]

I love this Nintendo character!

[@rodrigomarcondes5857]

I love 2d platformers, but i was never a Kirby guy, i have no idea why, Kirby games are perfectly fine but they just don't resonate with me. It's not because they are easy, because i like easy games as much as hard ones, and it's not because it's cute, because i do like cute games, i just dunno why Kirby does nothing to me. I still have a lot of respect for it though.

[@lpstweetytv5242]

That's ok man, you just don't vibe with it

[@donovanmahan2901]

I think you might engage more with the platforming itself, known to be particularly easy in Kirby games due to being able to just say no to falling most of the time.

[@waleniyi2898]

They were actually waddle dee (good ones)

[@Needster]

i got jumpscared by ssgv5 dedede

[@GrumpySylveon]

KABBALAH?!?!? FREQUENT?!?!

[@etherealdragon207]

Your Kirby voice sounds like Yakky Doodle Duck.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Kirby Kirby Kirby's the one

[@ドラゴンリュー-f1x]

i love kirby

[@KirbyMasterArchives]

Kirby >>>

[@TheMentok]

There will be more Kirby soon ;)

[@fatboi1000]

My question should be: Why is Kirby popular with the ladies?

[@professoryeetus8955]

WD GASPER⁉⁉⁉

[@L0veKarma]

Dont worry In french we call him "DaDiDou" pronounced like "Dah Dee Doo"

[@GrumpySylveon]

I think they just….disappear

[@spencerdokes6056]

The thoat goat

[@ognurd9858]

3:03 Worry no longer as nowadays we know that what he sucks gets transported to another dimension, not his stomach… yeah, I’m not sure if that’s better…

[@magolor-3100]

No, they just poof back to where they were sucked

[@superjumpbros64]

Mmmm

[@zariaalhajmoustafa2573]

Question to you all the first time you seek Kirby did you think is a girl the first time I see Kirkby I think he's a girl maybe because his voice

[@poliwhirlking]

First Comment

[@XXIIXIIIXXXIXXXIX]

Na, I was 1 minute earlier 🎉

[@ronnieblazebot3778]

Calling yourself a prophet.. right. Easy don't recommend channel

[@TheMentok]

It's a long time inside joke on the channel for people who have been here since the beginning. I've seen two comments from you now so either you're hate watching or trying to get my attention. Relax and enjoy the history! Or you can always watch someone else. Either way, I hope you have an awesome new year, man.

[@ronnieblazebot3778]

@TheMentok sure thing man. It's clear the way you carry yourself lol. Second comment was once I started picking up on it. Not hate watching and won't be watching any more either. Prophet must have seen it coming lol