Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

"He's more than you think, he's got maximum pink!"

Kirby of the Stars is an anime adaptation of Kirby, a Nintendo Platform Game franchise, better known in the United States by its dub title, Kirby: Right Back At Ya!. It was a joint production by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory (Warpstar Inc.). The anime was licensed by 4Kids! Entertainment, so of course, a lot of the darker elements from the Japanese version were Bowdlerised out, but the dub was still successful, managing to stay on air for all 100 episodes.

In the first episode, Kirby crashes into Pop Star and lands in the country of Dream Land. King Dedede does not like the newcomer and does everything he can to eliminate Kirby. His methods come in the form of ordering monsters from the mysterious Holy Nightmare Corporation (NightMare Enterprises in the dub) to fit whatever crazy schemes he comes up with. Along the way, Kirby befriends Fumu (Tiff), the Cabinet Minister's daughter, and her brother, Bun (Tuff), who help him to get settled in their village.

Kirby and his friends spend the episodes foiling Dedede's plans, battling the monsters he orders, undoing whatever damage he caused to Pupu Village/Cappy Town, and the series follows their day-to-day antics whenever they're not doing any of the above. The series is episodic in nature, although it has several sequential episodes.

In 2011, Nintendo released the Kirby TV Channel, a free downloadable Wii channel allowing Wii owners to watch a constantly rotating set of episodes from the entire anime (except for the undubbed episode 38).

Tropes used in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! include:
  • 0% Approval Rating: Dedede of the Stars (or Dedede: Comin' At Ya! in the dub) explicitly manages an approval rating less than 1%.
  • Accent Adaptation: Dedede's Foghorn Leghorn-like southern accent. Meta Knight is also a Badass Spaniard for some reason (many call him Señor Noodlearms because of it). Meta Knight's Spanish accent in the dub is possibly because of the vaguely Spanish-sounding theme that plays whenever he appears in the original Japanese anime. It might also be a Zorro reference.
  • Adaptational Villainy: King Dedede, to some extent. While his original self in the video games is also a petty but Laughably Evil antagonist to Kirby, he has more nicer moments and more times when he genuinely tries to help Kirby fight a more serious enemy than Dedede in the anime does.
    • Inverted in Meta Knight's case--while his morality in the games is somewhat ambiguous and tends to favor Honor Before Reason, his anime personality is more pragmatic and slightly more helpful to Kirby.
  • Adaptation Expansion: And HOW! Many midboss characters and even normal enemies from the games are fleshed out and given backstories.
  • Adult Child: Let's just say Dedede acts a lot younger than he is.
  • Aerith and Bob: The series finale gives us the names of four of Meta Knight's old comrades: Falspar, Nonsurat, Dragato, and... Arthur. Granted, the last is a King Arthur reference.
  • All Just a Dream: The two-part "Crisis of the Warpstar" ("Air Ride in Style" in the dub), in both versions.
  • Alternate Continuity: Word of God has it that this was never meant to be based off of the games, or to be an animated adaption of the games in the first place. Which explains the anime-exclusive characters, the original plot, and why most game characters have different works and roles. It is it's own separate universe from the games, written by Masahiro Sakurai himself.
  • Alternative Foreign Theme Song: See American Kirby Is Hardcore below.
  • Always Close: Averted. In the final episode, the Halberd attempts to retreat from Nightmare's fortress after realizing he is Nigh Invulnerable; the gate starts to close and they miss it by half a second.
    • Though the same episode plays it straight when the gang's time bomb goes off and destroys Nightmare's base the second after they all transport out.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Escargon/Escargoon. Nothing official has been said, but he has plenty of Ho Yay with Dedede, and in the original he even sings a song where he says "I love his Majesty" (although the word translated as "love" could mean "admire" rather than actually "have romantic feelings for").
    • His dub voice is obviously based on that of camp icon Paul Lynde, which doesn't help.
    • Gets even better in the Japanese episode where his shell breaks. Kirby even says "Poyay"
  • American Kirby Is Hardcore: Compare the original Japanese theme songs with the English version. In Japan, it's a cutesy little parade with a smiling Kirby being for the most part generally adorable (with a little bit of Nightmare Fuel thrown in for good measure, just so you know that the show isn't all happiness and smiles), and the second one compresses the standard episode plot into about two minutes. The English version is a quick beat full of monsters, Stuff Blowing Up, Kirby showing off his toughest powers, and putting on an angry face for most of the song, despite him spending most of the actual show being happy, hungry, or curious. Your Mileage May Vary as to which one is better, but American Kirby is definitely more hardcore.
    • In episode 5, Dedede uses a chainsaw to destroy Whispy Woods. In the dubbed version of it, he uses a laser chainsaw. Probably just Bowdlerization, but it's still Crazy Awesome.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In episode 40, Knuckle Joe releases monsters onto Cappy Town. They're seen throwing dishes and tear down the restaurant, shoving items off shelves at the Toy Store, and seen reading and not paying at the book store, which has no damage seen on the inside whatsoever.
  • Amusement Park of Doom: Dedede opens one in episode 31.
  • Arcadia: Dream Land.
  • Ascended to Carnivorism: The Sheepwolf.
  • As Long as There Is Evil: If there are bad dreams, then Nightmare will continue to exist.
  • Astral Checkerboard Decor: In Nightmare's lair, where he makes the Demon Beasts/Monsters.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: A common strategy used against Demon Beasts/Monsters.
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: Most of the dub's episode names and quite a bit of the dialogue.
  • Badass Spaniard: Dub Meta Knight.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: As stated in some flashbacks, it's implied that Holy Nightmare Corporation/Nightmare Enterprises invaded and took over other planets. Successfully.
  • Baker's Dozen: A special eight-minute short was released on the Wii Channel in Japan. It was dubbed and available on Nintendo Video for Nintendo 3DS, three years after its original release.
  • Beat the Curse Out of Him: In one episode, Escargoon gets posessed by a monster that makes everyone forget who he is, and Meta Knight was more than happy to suggest that Violence Is the Only Option.
    • In episode 19, Meta Knight tells the story of how his best friend was kidnapped by demon beasts and possessed, forcing Meta Knight to kill him. Later, Kirby fights and subdues Knuckle Joe for the same reason.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: Waddle Doo hints that this is the reason why the Waddle Dees follow King Dedede--once they're shown a little bit of hospitality, they'll settle down. This is also the reason why Sword and Blade chose to follow Meta Knight.
  • Berserk Button: According to Customer Service, try to train a certain fire-breathing wolf-like Monster of the Week and he'll burn you up with his fire attacks.
    • One look at Fumu-tan of the Stars and slowly, but surely, Fumu/Tiff takes her anger out on the Otakus who made it.
  • Big Eater: Take a wild guess.
  • Big Little Man: At the end, it turns out that Nightmare Enterprises' salesman, seen only chest-upward on a screen up to that point, has little more than feet beyond that.
  • Brown Note: Kirby's Mike ability is even more powerful than in the games. When he uses it, his own allies run for the hills, the Monster of the Week explodes, and massive property damage is caused.
  • The Caligula: King Dedede. His castle has his face displayed all over the place, the only thing he ever does as king is find ways to take advantage of the Cappies by heavily taxing them, and orders monsters from a nightmarish evil corporation to make everyone miserable, or just to beat Kirby.
  • Calling Your Attacks: Kirby combined it with Gratuitous English; this was removed in the dub.
    • Knuckle Joe does it too, even in the dub.
  • The Cameo: Escargoon, Max Flexer, Captain Doo, and Customer Service appear briefly in Kirby Mass Attack. So far, they're the only anime-specific characters to ever appear in the games.
  • Canon Foreigner: Tiff, Tuff, Escargoon, Customer Service, etc. The cappies are an interesting variant; they were minor enemies in the games, but here they lack their eponymous caps and fill the role of humans as townspeople.
  • Canon Immigrant:
    • Of all things: the spear-wielding Waddle Dees make appearances in Kirby Canvas Curse, Kirby Super Star Ultra and now Kirby's Epic Yarn. Bandana Dee even takes one up in his playable appearance in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
      • Bandana Dee's signature move in Return to Dream Land, twirling his spear like a helicopter blade to fly, originates from the episode where Dedede sells off his Waddle Dees in attempt to pay his debts back to Nightmare.
    • If inanimate objects count, then the design for Dedede's castle. Squeak Squad even features the monster transporter.
    • Anime Halberd also makes it to Squeak Squad.
    • Dedede's tendency to add -zoi to the end of his lines in the Japanese version of the anime is also used in the Japanese narration of Kirbys Epic Yarn. Kirby likewise says poyo during some events in Kirbys Epic Yarn and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and uses the word exclusively in Kirby Mass Attack.
    • Escargo(o)n, Customer Service, and Captain Waddle Doo have cameos in Kirby Mass Attack.
    • Water Kirby is an official copy ability in Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
    • Galaxia, Meta Knight's sword, has its pronged appearance (originating from the anime) in Amazing Mirror apparently and Super Smash Bros Brawl, and since then the Sword abilities have been able to shoot beams at full HP. As well, art for Meta Knight has had him carrying a pronged, golden sword, even if his sprite doesn't; often or not now, his sword is just gold. Additionally, the sword was first referred to as Galaxia in the anime and the name has been used since Brawl.
  • Casual Interstellar Travel: Via the Demon Beast/Monster transporter.
  • Cash Cow Franchise: Nintendo of America attempted to turn the Kirby series as a whole into one when bringing the anime overseas - but while the games and show remain popular, the only merchandise it managed to produce in Western markets was a handful of DVDs.
  • Catch Phrase: "Kirby, inhale it!" / "Kirby, suck it up!" and "Come, Warp Star!" / "Kabu, send the Warp Star!"
    • The original Japanese version has King Dedede's "Unforgiveable!" as his catch phrase.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The pendant that Knuckle Joe inherits from his father.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The animal friends only appear in a few other episodes after their introduction and have little bearing on the plot. This mirrors their in-game appearances.
  • Combat Commentator: Meta Knight always seems to be on hand to tell us about whatever new form Kirby's taken.
    • To an extent, Fumu/Tiff and Bun/Tuff as well, whenever Meta Knight isn't around.
  • Conspicuous CG: All over the place, especially during Kirby's transformation sequences. Hell, half the time Dedede and Escargoon are CG, and Kirby is almost always CG (after the first few episodes). Thankfully, Dedede's cape/robe manages to avert No Flow in CGI.
    • Lampshaded subtly in an episode involving different ways of animating.
    • Dynablade's appearance was completely CGI and with a more realistic style. Considering she's an almost-godlike being, the effect isn't jarring.
    • The show switched to an All CGI Cartoon with the Nintendo 3DS short, though considering that 2D doesn't translate well to 3D, it works.
  • Cool Airship: The Halberd.
  • Cool Car: Dedede's tank, which makes him look like some kind of a Third-World dictator, later replaced by a limousine equipped with hammers.
  • Cool Chair: King Dedede owns one.
  • Cool Plane: Kirby's Starship. It also converts into a Cool Car, which he uses in the Wacky Racing episode.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Customer Service.
  • Crack Pairing: In-universe--in one episode, Whispy Woods falls in love with a flower.
    • And in another, Kine, a sunfish, goes on a date with Fumu/Tiff.
  • Crap Saccharine World: Despite the ridiculously cute characters and peaceful setting, the backstory and Meta Knight's origin is a hell of a lot darker than you'd expect. Mostly Bowdlerised in the dub, but it's still there.
    • Plus the fact that there's an evil organization trying to terrorize Pop Star, and Meta Knight's almost the only one still alive who knows the truth. Everyone else is quite ignorant (including Kirby most of the time).
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Kirby will get the stuffing beaten out of him at the start of most fights, he's a baby and will do nearly anything to get food, even if it's clearly a trap, but once he inhales and copies something, you're flat out done for. In some cases he even one hit KO's his foes; this extends to Nightmare.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: The origin of Star Warriors - even though Kirby himself is supposed to be one, the exact details are never explained. Here's a rundown of what's given.
  • Cue the Sun: The series ends with a shot of all the characters looking towards the sunrise.
  • Cute and Psycho: Just like in the games, the Scarfies in Episode 56. They start out cute, then turn aggressive and attack everybody. Thanks to Hammer Kirby, however, they revert back to their original cuteness again.
    • Squishy in Episode 73 as well. It starts out as a cute little immobile piece of sushi in the form of a tiny squid, but after Kirby hiccups on it, it grows into a huge, hulking Kraken-like Demon Beast / monster with glaring yellow eyes and black irises.
    • Then there's Episode 95, where Kirby gets possessed by a Demon Frog and turns into Devil Kirby, a psychotic version of himself with red eyes and little demon wings. Then Dedede gets possessed and becomes a hulking, muscular psycho version of himself with the same features as Devil Kirby.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Meta Knight.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Early on in the series Meta Knight seems to be just a very stoic bystander with an ambiguous morality. Once his motivations are revealed in episode 4, you find out that he's really on Kirby's side.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Being an episodic series, almost every character in the main cast (and even some inanimate objects, like Kirby's Warp Star) had at least one episode dedicated to them.
  • Demonic Possession: A common tactic of the Demon Beasts/Monsters.
    • In episode 88, the replacement shell that Escargoon orders from NME turns him temporarily into a monster.
    • In episode 95, a frog monster possesses Kirby and forces him to harass Cappy Town.
    • In episode 19, we learn that Knuckle Joe's father was possessed by Nightmare, forcing Meta Knight to kill him. Joe himself becomes possessed later in the episode, but manages to fight it off.
  • Dressing as the Enemy: In episode 66, when the Pengi come to Pupupuland/Cappy Town, Kirby and co. make Pengi costumes in order to escape the jail cell they're held captive in.
    • Amazingly enough, not only did Fumu/Tiff, Bun/Tuff, and Kirby did this (with badly made costumes), somehow, Meta Knight made a much better costume, and even had the same idea, but took it a level above; he posed as a guard for them.
  • Dub Name Change: First the title, Hoshi no Kirby (often translated as Kirby of the Stars) to Kirby Right Back At Ya. Then, every single episode name. And then:
    • The main areas. Pupu Village became Cappytown and Pupupuland became Dreamland. The latter is done in the games as well, and so the change of Pupu Village to Cappytown isn't too far-fetched either, considering the whole town is populated mostly by cappies!
    • Fumu to Tiff
    • Bun to Tuff
    • Escargon to Escargoon. It's debatable if this even counts, since the spelling (at least) is so similar one could be taken as a typo of the other..
    • Holy Nightmare Corporation to Nightmare Enterprises
    • Nightmare to eNeMeE (though occasionally the show still called him Nightmare)
    • Lololo and Lalala to Fololo and Falala, losing a bit of the shout out to Eggerland
    • Lola to Fofa
    • Parm and Memu to Sir Ebrum and Lady Like
    • Borun to Bookem
    • Sato to Buttercup
    • Oosaka to Shiitake
    • Dakonyo to Kit Cosmos
    • A special mention to this trio of kids: Honey keeps her name, but Iroo and Hohhe are changed - Iroo becomes Spikehead and Hohhe is called Iroo!
    • Chilidog to Wolfwrath
    • Boukyakku to Erasem
    • Noseman to Honker Stomper
    • A ghost called Urameshiya in the original who appears to have no name whatsoever in the dub.
    • Meta Knight is originally Sir Meta Knight, but this is dropped in the dub.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: In the episode where the village kids collect figurines, some characters that appear as figurines are never mentioned again until they play a part in the Series Finale.
  • Eldritch Abomination: The monsters/demon beasts. Kirby himself is implied to be one of them turned good.
  • The End of the World as We Know It: Holy NightMare Corporation/NightMare Enterprises alters a meteor's path into a collision course with Dreamland just to eliminate Kirby.
  • Enigmatic Minion: Meta Knight, who works for Dedede, but even he doesn't trust him.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Escargoon's mother appeared in one episode. He was even willing to protect her from monsters! (Now if only we could've seen her more often.)
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Even if he's more of a villainous character than in the games, King Dedede still considers Nightmare to be an eviler force than he is.
  • Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: One episode has the characters going through a world of dinosaurs created by a mad scientist (actually a Monster of the Week and a Shout-Out to The Island of Dr. Moreau), with the added twist of the dinosaurs having the protagonists' DNA. On a general note, it's a parody of Jurassic Park, complete with a kitchen scene.
    • Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Two instances where dinosaurs breath fire, both justified. One occurrence is in Dedede's dream, and the other when Dinosaur Kirby attacks everyone. He inhales a torch and gets the fire copy ability.
  • Everythings Better With Ninjas: Episode 24.
  • Evil Laugh: Done very often by both Dedede and Escargo[o]n.
  • Evil Teacher: In one episode, Dedede makes a school and forces all the villagers to either be taught or be teachers. However, as a trick, a special cap, when worn, turned you into this.
  • Excited Episode Title: Many of the original Japanese episode titles.
  • Executive Meddling: The "Air Ride in Style" two-parter. In the original, these episodes (called "Crisis of the Warpstar") came close to the end of the series, and were supposed to be Kirby's training for the final battle. In the dub, they were stuck in the middle of the series in order to advertise the then-new game Kirby Air Ride.
  • Faceless Masses: The Cappies.
  • Famed in Story: Meta Knight, which amuses him. He finds it even funnier when he is made into one of a series of rare collectable figurines.
  • Fan Service: Fumu-tan of the Stars.
  • Flashback Nightmare: Noddys cause these.
  • Forged by the Gods: Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia.
  • For the Evulz: Dedede likes causing trouble and making other people's lives as miserable as he possibly can. Why? Just because he thinks it's fun.
    • King Dedede also heavily taxes the citizens of Cappy Town... just so he can buy monsters to quell his boredom.
    • Nightmare spends his time creating Demon Beasts / monsters and sending them to terrorize and conquer planets just because he loves doing so.
  • Fortune Teller: Mabel, though she admits that she's more of a counselor.
  • Freaky Friday Flip: In episode 9, done by the demon beast Kittari-Hattari. Much hilarious antics ensue.
  • Friendly Enemy: Not all the demon beasts/monsters are evil to begin with.
  • Fun with Acronyms: In the dub, NME (for NightMare Enterprises). It sounds like "enemy".
    • The localized series name, Kirby: Right Back At Ya, abbreviated as "KRBAY", sounds a lot like the name of the series' protagonist.
  • Genki Girl: Fumu/Tiff.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: The infamous Bouncy Tiff. One scene in the English dub featuring normal-sized Kirby on a miniature set added a reference to steroids (surprising, considering that 4Kids usually shies away from this kind of thing).
    • Though this isn't to say the dub wasn't edited down at all - the original seemed to have a lot more on the innuendo side.
    • Also, in episode 11 the food critic's book is entitled A Crock Of Shiitake.
    • One episode had a Shout-Out to Psycho. Yes, really.
  • Give Me a Sword: In episode 3, Meta Knight throws Kirby a sword before challenging him to a duel, just like he does in the games.
  • Granola Girl: Fumu/Tiff.
  • G-Rated Drug: An energy drink featured in episode 80 that had the effect of instant steroids.
  • Great Offscreen War: Which apparently wiped out a species or three.
  • Green Aesop: But handled in such a ham-tastic and Anvilicious way that it's more of a joke than an actual Aesop.
  • Gundamjack: In the "Crisis of the Warp Star" two-parter, Kirby uses Air Ride machines as a substitute for his broken Warp Star.
    • Also, in the finale, Knuckle Joe and Sirica hijack a Destrayer.
  • Happy Ending: In the 100th and final episode, Nightmare is defeated by Kirby through the use of the Star Rod, Nightmare's fortress is blown up by everyone through the use of a time bomb planted on the company's Demon Beast/monster transmitter, Pupu Village/Cappy Town has been rebuilt, and everyone happily goes back to their normal lives. And in addition, Dakonyo/Kit Cosmos appears to be staying with everyone in the village.
  • Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: In episode 48, a bunch of these go sightseeing in Pupupu Village/Cappy Town.
  • Heel Face Turn: Knuckle Joe. He even changes colour when he does so, reflecting how "helper" characters have a different colour scheme in the games.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: 4Kids' habit of reusing the same voice actors leads to Coo the owl sounding like Professor Oak (and Tuff sounding like Max), and the Mayor sounding like Dr. Robotnik.
    • Also, Sheepwolf from the episode "Sheepwrecked" sounds like Giovanni.
    • And you can't stop the Customer Service guy because he's voiced by Dan Green!
    • Italian dub? King Dedede is Franky and Meta Knight is Batman.
  • Heroic BSOD: In the episode "Sentimental Kirby"/"Kirby Takes the Cake", Kirby wants to play with everyone only to discover that nobody wants to play with him. When he goes to Tokkori to tell him that nobody is willing to play with him, Tokkori shows what a dick he is by telling him that nobody likes him. That's where Kirby's Blue Screen of Death comes in, as he packs up some of his stuff and runs away to the Valley of Kabu. What Kirby doesn't know, however, is that the real reason why nobody wanted to play with him was because nobody wanted to see him mess up their preparations for his one-year anniversary of crash-landing in Cappy Town, and he doesn't boot back up until Meta Knight and Tokkori remind him that everyone is really worried about him and they're all wishing for him to come back home.
  • Hero of Another Story: Before Kirby came along, Meta Knight was a high-ranking member of a La Résistance movement, as well as the last survivor of a previous war.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: King Dedede's plans to get rid of Kirby often comes back to bite him. In one episode, he orders pillows from Nightmare Enterprises to sell to citizens where they'll have nightmares that will make them attack Kirby; Dedede and Escargoon try the pillows out themselves. In another, Dedede eats some chips he ordered from Nightmare to use against Kirby, and ends up getting as big as a house.
  • Homoerotic Subtext: Oh so very much of it. Escargoon is heavily implied to have a man-crush on his boss in Japanese and English - the dub team picked up on this and gave him a Paul Lynde-esque voice that makes things even more blatant.
  • Honest John's Dealership: Customer Service... though really, the company is called Holy Nightmare Corporation. You'd have to be pretty stupid or determined to buy any monsters fr-- wait...
    • And in the dub, it's NightMare Enterprises-- which abbreviates (sort of) as N.M.E.
  • Human-Focused Adaptation: Seeing that Kirby can't talk, and the humanoid Tiff is pretty much Kirby's spokesperson, this was inevitable.
  • Humanoid Aliens: Discussed in the episode where Dedede learns to appreciate art. Tiff sees a painting of the Mona Lisa and is surprised by how it looks, meaning that humans are considered aliens to the people of Dream Land.
  • Hyperspace Mallet: Dedede often pulls his hammer out of nowhere as another tactic to "get" Kirby.
  • Instant Expert: Kirby, after he copies an ability.
  • Intentional Engrish for Funny: While all of the signs that appear in the anime are written originally in proper English, some blink-and-miss frames aren't as good.
  • I Own This Town: King Dedede, but the real person in charge of the village below his castle is probably the Mayor.
  • Ki Attacks: The Sword Beam. In the Japanese version Meta Knight explains it as "focusing the energy in your soul and letting it out in one attack", which was obviously left out in the dub.
    • Knuckle Joe and Fighter Kirby use Hadouken.
  • Kimodameshi: In a two-episode story arc.
  • Kodomomuke
  • Landfill Beyond the Stars: Customer Service makes Dedede's kingdom one when he forgets to pay his debts.
  • La Résistance: The Star Warriors and the Galaxy Soldier Army.
  • Last Starfighter: Kirby, one of the few remaining Star Warriors after the aforementioned La Résistance was wiped out.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: One episode features a book called Pappy Pottey and the Fool's Stone and a broom-themed monster disguised as J. K. Rowling.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the Japanese version, the Kirby Quiz episode had this exchange after a particularly tricky question:

Dedede: That question was too hard.
Customer Service: Now now, if you got up early every week to watch the show, you'd know these things!

  • Lethal Chef: Chef Kawasaki gets a bad rap in Cappy Town because of this. Cook Kirby inherits it.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Kirby tends to spend most of the time acting like a toddler, but once he copies an ability, he seems to have an instinctive grasp of it.
  • Library of Babel: Castle Dedede's library. It's highly unlikely that the king even uses it.
  • Lord Error-Prone: One episode features an Expy of Don Quixote, complete with fighting windmill monsters, except the chivalric novels are replaced with comic books.
  • Lost Wedding Ring: One episode ("Parm and Memu's Ring Story"/"The Thing About the Ring") is about Fumu/Tiff's dad trying to give his spouse her engagement ring, which he always lost one way or another every time their wedding anniversary came around.
  • Lovecraft Lite: The anime expands on this point from the games, since at the bottom line it's still about a Last Starfighter trying to overthrow the Evil Overlord and the Mega Corp by fighting their Eldritch Abominations.
  • Lucid Dream: The ending episode had Kirby falling asleep and just dream about a whole food realm...But it's a nightmare instead. The baby star warrior realizes that he can use his powers in the dream, too. Unlike earlier when he was awake.
  • Mega Corp: Holy Nightmare Corporation/NightMare Enterprises.
  • Monochrome Past
  • Monster of the Week: The Demon Beasts/Monsters from Holy Nightmare / NightMare Enterprises. At first, they're intentionally purchased by Dedede to attack Kirby, but later on, Dedede starts buying other items which are simply Monsters/Demon Beasts in disguise.
  • Mr. Alt Disney: One episode had Dedede teaming up with a famous cartoonist named Owalt Desinay (Dis Waltney in the dub) who turns out to be a monster in disguise.
  • Muggles: The cappies, and everyone else that lives in the village below Dedede's castle.
  • Mundane Utility: Most of the Demon Beasts/Monsters, but their main motive is always to kill Kirby and cause destruction.
    • Sometimes enforced by Dedede; once he summoned a dentist monster, but backed out when he was told it didn't use painkillers. He eventually got it to attack Kirby... but it could only do something like rip out teeth, which Kirby had none of.
  • Nebulous Evil Organisation: Holy Nightmare/Nightmare Enterprises.
  • Never Say "Die": In his own words, Dedede wants to "clobbah" or "get" Kirby, but not kill him, apparently. (Then again, that's not his intention in the Japanese version either.)
    • Then in one episode he does. So he thinks.
    • This was said, word for word in one episode.
    • Subverted in the backstory, and in the present in a certain way; 95% of the monsters do indeed die, but it's mostly from explosions, clean deaths, or disappearing off screen. Also, it's stated that Nightmare destroyed the Galaxy Solider Army, as well as plenty of Meta Knight's comrades, but it was never shown on-screen.
  • Nice Hat: Kirby gets one every time he transforms into an ability. Abilities that don't have hats in the games, like Crash, are given hats anyway.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the 4Kids dub, Lady Like sounds just like Eva Gabor, and Ted Lewis uses a Paul Lynde impression for Escargoon and a Foghorn Leghorn voice with George W. Bush-style illiteracy for Dedede.
    • One episode has a J K Rowling counterpart, and another has a Shout-Out to the Japanese soldier who was holed up on an island long after WW 2 was over.
    • The monster that gives Kirby and Dedede a forced workout (after they ate all those chips) was probably supposed to resemble Richard Simmons. If nothing else, it echoed his enthusiasm for exercise.
  • No OSHA Compliance: The factory that King Dedede builds in episode 28.
  • Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Said by a background character in the beginning of episode 10.
  • Off-Model: Parodied full-on in episode 49. Played straight in some other instances though, mainly with coloring issues.
  • Oh Crap: Even though he still wears the evil grinning expression on his face, Nightmare gets one once he sees Kirby take control of his one weakness, the Star Rod.
  • Only Sane Man: Meta Knight.
    • Tiff/Fumu as well.
  • Opposite Gender Clone: Dedede & Escargoon's female selves in an episode with a monster that split people into opposite-sex halves.
    • Lololo and Lalala are permanently set this way, since they're two opposite halves of the same being.
  • Out of Focus: Kirby. Tiff/Fumu has a tendency to upstage him, as she can speak coherently, and her personality is shown more than Kirby's.
    • Kirby is still the star for action scenes and comic relief.
    • It's amazingly subverted with Meta Knight; intentionally, Meta Knight usually takes two or three episodes of breaks, not appearing or even being mentioned, even if the plot would require Meta Knight just to give a direction to the heroes!
  • Oxygenated Underwater Bubbles: In the episode where Kine falls in love with Fumu, Kine blows a bubble to prevent her and Kirby from drowning.
  • Pain-Powered Leap: Near the end of the episode with the Dedede dolls in it, Tiff buries one of the said Dedede dolls in the ground to prevent it from menacing anyone, since the doll's movements are actually based on King Dedede's own movements. This results in King Dedede nosediving into the ground as well, but then a mole shows up and bites the doll, causing King Dedede to leap back out screaming in pain.
  • Parental Bonus: There are many references to old movies, popular culture and current events.
  • Portal Network: The Demon Beast/Monster transporter. In the final episode, the characters who left Dream Land on the Halberd use it to come back home after the Halberd gets destroyed.
  • Pilot Episode: Made to celebrate the release of Kirby Air Ride in Japan. It can be viewed here.
  • Product Placement: The three-part finale, as well as the Crisis of the Warpstar two-parter showcased various Air Ride machines from Kirby Air Ride
  • Readings Are Off the Scale: King Dedede's debts to NME.
  • Punny Name: Sir Ebrum (cerebrum) and Lady Like (ladylike).
  • Reference Overdosed: See Shout-Out below.
  • Reset Button: Lasting damage to anything in the show (especially Castle Dedede, which collapsed completely due to Mike Kirby twice) is usually undone and everything's normal by the following episode. There are a few key exceptions to this, however, such as the Series Finale.
  • Rope Bridge: In one of the Green Aesop episodes, King Dedede and Escargoon fall off one of these after Dedede stomps on it in frustation.
  • She's a Man In Japan: Galaxia's voice in episode 60 was male. For reasons unknown, the voice was female in the dub.
  • Shout-Out: Lots. Some are whole episode references to movies like The Blair Witch Project, Mothra, Jurassic Park, The Birds, and Frankenstein. There's even an episode where Mabel gathers a cult following and parts the sea.
    • A more complete list can be seen here.
  • Channel Within A Show: Channel DDD.
    • Dedede of the Stars and Fumu of the Stars as well.
  • Sigil Spam: Holy Nightmare/Nightmare Enterprises puts their logo on every product they can.
  • Slice of Life: This anime can be summed up as half Kirby kicking ass, half slice of the townspeople's life under an illegitimate monarchy, and a dose of subtle satire and social commentary.
  • Smart Bomb: The Crash ability, but unlike Mike, it kills only enemies, instead of destroying everything in sight.
  • So Bad It's Good: In-Universe. In the dub, Tiff calls Dedede's self-made cartoon (Dedede: Comin' at Ya, or Dedede of the Stars in the original) this. Fans have theorized this might also be a bit of Self-Deprecation on 4KiDS's part.
  • Spice Up the Subtitles: The fansubs done by Kirby' s Rainbow Resort.
  • Stock Footage: The shot of Kirby's Warp Star summoned from Kabu, which appears in nearly every single episode.
  • Storming the Spacestation: The three part series finale.
  • Strange Syntax Speaker: Kabu in the original.
  • Strictly Formula: Most, if not all of the episodes that aren't either two-parters or the finale will go as follows:
    • Kirby and his friends live their happy lives. Dedede acts stupid and orders a monster. Demon beast attacks. Kirby inhales and copies its power. Demon beast is defeated. Kirby and his friends return to living their happy lives. Still, even the two-parters and the finale still have the same exact sequence from 'Demon beast attacks' to the end.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Escargoon looks exactly like his mom. This makes even Meta Knight laugh.
  • Subordinate Excuse: The Waddle Dees only serve King Dedede because they want to return the hospitality that was given to them.
  • Sugar Apocalypse: The entire Series Finale.
  • Super Fun Happy Thing of Doom: This has to be the only reason King Dedede ordered monsters from Holy Nightmare. Doesn't help that a few of the soon-to-be gigantic enemies are pretty cute at first, and some of them are even Cute and Psycho.
    • The dub doesn't have this, of course...making Dedede look like more of an idiot in the process, if it was possible.
  • Swiss Army Weapon: A one-shot Action Girl character has a machine gun/sword/flamethrower/grappling hook/missle launcher. Seriously.
  • Take That Us: The "Mr. Alt Disney" episode tries to have Fumu/Tiff explain how bad it is to abuse motion capture and CGI over hand drawn animation...even though the show has tons of Conspicuous CG.
  • Take Up My Sword: A non-lethal example--In episode 26, Meta Knight falls unconscious and Kirby takes his sword in order to defeat the Monster of the Week.
  • Talking to Himself: Banjo Ginga as Customer Service and Nightmare in the original, Ted Lewis as Dedede and Escargoon in the English dub.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: The monster delivery system.
  • Theme Tune Cameo: Kirby sings the first opening when he transforms into Mike Kirby, a parody of it also shows up in the episode where King Dedede makes his own anime series.
    • The second opening appears as a ringtone for Dedede's cellphone in the Series Finale.
    • At one point in the original, Bun and his friends paint graffiti on Dedede's castle walls while singing the Ending Theme.
  • Terrible Artist: In one episode, Dedede recruits the entire cast to make an anime. Half the episode is actually an interesting insight into how cartoons are made, but once it's actually completed, Hilarity Ensues.
  • Theme Twin Naming: Fumu and Bun, localized as Tiff and Tuff (they aren't even twins!). Lololo/Fololo and Lalala/Falala may also be examples (also not twins, but two halves of the same being.).
  • This Cannot Be!: Sirica utters this when, to her horror, she sees Kirisakin appear in the Valley of Kabu and make its way towards her and Kirby and co. Escargoon also screams this in an earlier episode when he finally realizes that nothing is making Dedede stop acting nice and get angry, despite not knowing that Togeira took away his ability to get angry.
  • This Is Unforgivable!: King Dedede, of course, has this as his Catch Phrase.
  • Those Two Guys: King Dedede & Escargoon
  • Training from Hell: In episode 3, Meta Knight speed-trains Kirby to wield a sword... by beating the crap out of him and pointing out all his mistakes.
  • Training the Peaceful Villagers: Discussed in the Series Finale.
  • 24-Hour Armor: Meta Knight, Sword, and Blade sleep with their armor on.
    • And they're never seen taking care of it, either. It just magically repairs itself or something.
  • The Unintelligible: Blade Knight in the dub.
    • It seems the person doing the dub was trying to impersonate Ozzy Osbourne.
  • Vile Villain Saccharine Show: A trait inherited from the games. See Lovecraft Lite.
  • Voodoo Doll: The Dedede Dolls. Destroying one of them will actually cause King Dedede to fly up into space and past a planet shaped like him.
  • Wacky Racing: In a two-parter.
  • Wall of Weapons: Meta Knight has one in his room; they are Sword and Blade's former weapons, which they hold to remind them of the day they met Meta Knight.
  • Weakened by the Light: Exagerrated in the episode where the Mumbies appear--they're only active at night, but when the sun rises, they get vaporized when the sunlight hits them.
  • Weaksauce Weakness: In the finale, Kirby uses the Star Rod to reduce Nightmare to a scared, panicking coward and obliterate him, causing him to disintegrate. As the cute pink spud himself does so, Nightmare complains that the Star Rod is his only weakness and that he is helpless against its overwhelming stellar power.
    • Chilidog/Wolfwrath, one of the Demon Beasts/monsters made by Nightmare (and one of his most ferocious and powerful ones), also has one main weakness - naturally, since he's a fire monster said to be born in the Fires of Hell, his main weakness is water. Needless to say, once submerged in it, pretty much anything can finish him off. Kirby still slices it in half for good measure.
    • Pretty much the exact opposite of Wolfwrath above, the monster called Reizou/Fridgy will melt into a huge pile of water if he gets burned enough by fire.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Dedede's kingdom as a whole.
    • Kirby's Starship has a built-in monster sensor, causing him to crash-land in Dream Land in the first episode.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: While Kirby isn't Meta Knight's son, the latter sometimes praises him for getting progressively stronger. Less often, he'll show pride in Knuckle Joe or Fumu.
  • We Will Meet Again: A lot of the guest characters say this to Kirby near the end of the episode. Barely any of them come back.
  • Whip It Good: Meta Knight uses a whip once, to save Kirby, Fumu, and Bun from falling. It is never shown or mentioned again.
  • Who Writes This Crap?: Meta Knight's reaction to Dedede's homebrew anime script.
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The Sushi Shop.
  • Wise Tree: Kabu, although he's more of an oracle. For actual trees, there's Whispy Woods.
  • Wishful Projection: Tiff assumes that, when this legendary Star Warrior Kirby steps out from his containment pod, he will be a tall prince with a slender figure and a sword, only for it to reveal it is actually a pink puffball that can't even speak. This literally shatters her mental image.
  • You Fail Physics Forever: In one episode, Kirby prevents a planet-sized, sun-like meteor from crashing into Pop Star...by shooting a few cannonballs at it. What.
  • You Killed My Father: Both Knuckle Joe and Silica initially blame Meta Knight for killing one of their parents and come to Pop Star to hunt him down.
  • You Monster!: Knuckle Joe was consumed by hatred in his quest to avenge his father, which led him to do terrible things, such as trying to kill poor Kirby who wouldn't even fight back. That was more than enough reason for Meta Knight to call him a Demon Beast/monster. And that's not all - it's also possible to become a full monster yourself, as this was the perfect opportunity for Nightmare to turn him into a monster that could fire spikes at the cute pink spud.
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