Kirby

Kirby,^(Series)[1] also known as Anti-Kirby,^(LA)[1] is an enemy exclusively found in Link's Awakening. In spite of their name and identical appearance to the titular main character Kirby of the Kirby series, it is not actually such, as these foes are corrupt, dangerous versions of him.^[1]

Characteristics

Despite at first appearing harmless and friendly like the actual Kirby, Anti-Kirbies are hostile enemies that are encountered in certain areas of the first floor in Eagle's Tower, the seventh Dungeon. They are described as "Kirby's evil twins" in the Nintendo Player's guide of the game.^[2] Its only attack is by periodically attempting to inhale Link into their wide gaping mouths, itself Kirby's signature move to defeat or copy his foes' techniques. If they manage to swallow the young hero, they will briefly hold him for a moment before spitting him back out and causing damage, similar to a Like Like. While Anti-Kirbies are not powerful (unlike the real counterpart), they are among the most resilient enemies in the game, as only a few items are effective against them and the Sword will merely bounce off of the enemy, rendering the blade useless. Anti-Kirbies can only be defeated with two well-placed Bombs, two hits from the Magic Rod, or four hits from the Boomerang. Unusually, the enemies will cause more damage onto Link simply by coming into contact with one than by being swallowed.

Trivia

• The appearance of Kirby as an enemy in Link's Awakening is among one of several guests featured from other Nintendo franchises in a The Legend of Zelda series title, including Super Mario. It is likely he was included by the developers in order to promote the character, as the Kirby series was relatively new by the game's release in 1993 (his first game, Kirby's Dream Land, on the Game Boy, was released only one year prior).
• Link encountering and defeating Anti-Kirbies, unlike the Mario enemies, is an early example of two chief Nintendo protagonists able to fight each other, although in this case, it's not technically the actual character.
  • However, in the Super Smash Bros. series, Link and the real Kirby are playable fighters and therefore can be chosen to clash in a battle.
• The Anti-Kirby in the original version of the game noticeably does not have the dark pink dots seen on its cheeks, unlike the genuine character. In addition, its eyes even in the Switch remake are plain black, making them distinguishable.
  • Ironically, the real Kirby had black eyes in his earliest appearances.
• In stark contrast to the Anti-Kirby enemy in Link's Awakening, the genuine counterpart is widely known as one of the strongest playable protagonists in Nintendo's history, if not the video game industry as a whole, among the likes of Link and Mario.
• Much like the real Kirby, due to the hardware limitations of the Game Boy, Anti-Kirbies first appeared as white, but on Link's Awakening DX on the Game Boy Color, they are pink.
• Although the word "Kirby" normally refers to the main character of the Kirby franchise, it is known that multiple other Kirbies exist as a species, which can be seen as early as Kirby's Dream Land. This confirms the ones Link encounters are these, simply gone rouge in Koholint Island.
• The Anti-Kirby in Link's Awakening are one of the few enemies in the Zelda franchise which the Sword is ineffective against.

  

• In the Kirby series, whenever Kirby copies the Sword ability, he gains a floppy green cap (except for Kirby's Adventure on NES) and many attack moves in direct reference to Link, such as the Down Thrust and firing Sword Beams when at full health. According to the booklet that comes with the game Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition released on the Wii, this was done as a way to "return the favor" for Kirby's guest appearance in Link's Awakening. Plus, his rival, Meta Knight, is also a sword fighter like Link.
  • In the Super Smash Bros. series, when he copies any version of Link, he gains his floppy green hat and uses the Bow and Arrow, although in the original Nintendo 64 game Kirby uses the Boomerang, instead. The Sword ability itself was also used as his Final Smash in SSB4 and Ultimate, known as the Ultra Sword.
• Despite official sources claim Kirby's height being only 8 inches tall, in Link's Awakening as well as his spin-off appearances such as the Super Smash Bros. series, he appears to be significantly larger - the same size as Link as a child due to his cartoonish physical proportions.
• The Anti-Kirby's model in the Nintendo Switch version uses a recycled design from the actual character's model used in Kirby Star Allies, as one of its headshapes is a leftover from the original model.^[3]

Nomenclature

Gallery

• 
  Link's Awakening sprite
• 
  Link's Awakening DX sprite
• 
  Anti-Kirby inhaling from Link's Awakening DX
• 
  An Anti-Kirby attempting to inhale Link in the Switch remake of Link's Awakening

References