Kirby

"Kirby Sucks Up The Competition!"

Kirby is the titular protagonist of the Kirby franchise, developed by HAL Laboratories and published by Nintendo.

Kirby is also a playable character in Nexed as a modded fighter, developed by VentureSonic.

Real-World History
Kirby was created by Masahiro Sakurai for the 1992 Game Boy release Kirby's Dream Land, originally intended to be a placeholder character design until ultimately being used for his simple appearance and appeal. He would become an important character to Masahiro Sakurai as a developer, as he acted as director for every subsequent Kirby game up until Kirby's Air Ride for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003.

Kirby's iconic ability to copy the abilities of his enemies wasn't brought about until the second game in the series, Kirby's Adventure for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This appearance also solidified the character's pink appearance, which was originally ambiguous from the greyscale nature of the Game Boy.

Gameplay Information
Kirby is intentionally designed to be easy to play. His multiple jumps make his gameplay very forgiving, and all of his normal attacks are intended to do what their attacks are meant to do. In addition to this, his ability to copy abilities allows him to remain versatile as it can be used to mix-up his options with whatever he ends up obtaining. His copy abilities vary in usefulness, from ranged options with projectiles or utility options with movement or protection.

Kirby's simple design is also his downfall. While some of his attacks make use of unique weapons, Kirby often struggles to approach because of his limited range and is inability to act out of certain attacks. Combos, while possible with Kirby and often simple to learn and understand, are typically unviable for Kirby at later percentages, making guaranteed kills less viable for Kirby. In addition the usefulness of his copy ability is dependent on the opponents he is fighting, which can be detrimental if Sleep is one of the copy abilities Kirby has access to.

Moveset

 * Multiple Mid-Air Jumps: Kirby can perform five mid-air jumps.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: Kirby sends a flurry of punches, which can be continued by tapping the attack button repeatedly. This is a reference to the Vulcan Jab attack from the Fighter ability introduced in Kirby Super Star.
 * Dash Attack: Kirby turns around and spins while upside down, dealing multiple hits. This is a reference to the Break Spin attack from the Yo-Yo ability introduced in Kirby Super Star.
 * Forward Light: Kirby performs a turn-around kick.
 * Up Light: Kirby performs an upward kick from behind him, that reaches just above his head.
 * Down Light: Kirby slides forward slightly while kicking. This is identical to his sliding kick move seen in almost every Kirby game.
 * Forward Strong: Kirby wields a hammer which begins to burn, as he swings upwards with it. This is a reference to Hammer Flip, an attack from the Hammer ability introduced in Kirby's Adventure.
 * Up Strong: Kirby performs a rising uppercut that has him come off the ground slightly. This is a reference to the Rising Break attack from the Fighter ability.
 * Down Strong: Kirby wields a sword and spins it around himself multiple times, dealing a multi-hitting move before sending the opponent away. This is a reference to the Spin Slash attack for the Sword ability, introduced in Kirby's Adventure.
 * Counter: Kirby wields a staff which he spins around to attack the aggressor. This is identical to the Staff Counter technique from the Staff ability, debuting in Kirby Star Allies.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: Kirby spins around with his hammer, making for a disjointed neutral aerial though with little follow-up potential. This is a reference to the Giant Swing attack from the Hammer ability.
 * Forward Air: Kirby performs a downwards sword strike. This is a reference to the Chop and Thrust attack from the Sword ability.
 * Back Air: Kirby performs a drop kick behind him. This is a reference to the Double Kick attack from the Fighter ability.
 * Up Air: Kirby sprouts red, green and yellow wings that come together above his head, sending opponents upwards. This move has a windbox to drag opponents up into it. While not referencing a specific attack from the Kirby series, the copy ability Wing is used here originating from Kirby Super Star.
 * Down Air: Kirby extends his feet downwards and spins like a corkscrew. A multi-hitting move with low knockback, but sending at a downward angle making it reliable for defending the ledge.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: Kirby reaches out and grabs the opponent with one hand.
 * Pummel: Kirby punches the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: Kirby punches into the opponent, sending them flying forward. This is a reference to the Arm Throw attack from the Fighter ability.
 * Back Throw: Kirby throws the opponent behind him. This is a reference to the Judo Throw attack from the Fighter ability.
 * Up Throw: Kirby equips a parasol and juggles the opponent atop it, before it tosses them upwards. This is a reference to the Circus Throw technique from the Parasol ability, introduced in Kirby's Adventure.
 * Down Throw: Kirby drops a smoke bomb on the enemy, sending them away. This is a reference to the Smoke Screen attack from the Ninja ability, first introduced in Kirby Super Star.

Stage Intro
Kirby lands on the stage from his Warp Star, it dissipating as Kirby spins and lands on the ground.

Taunts
Kirby has a unique mechanic where his current Copy Ability will be discarded upon taunting.
 * Kirby looks at the camera with one foot up and his opposite hand pointed upwards. This is a common pose Kirby pulls throughout promotional art.
 * Kirby spins around on the spot before posing on one foot.
 * Kirby turns to the camera on the edge of his feet, waving his hands at the camera as he excitedly yells "Hi!".
 * Kirby tucks his hands and feet in as he bounces twice. His general appearance is reminiscent of his appearance in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.

Victory Animations
Kirby's victory theme is a flourished arrangement of the Level Clear jingle from the Kirby series.
 * Kirby moonwalks to the left, twirls on one foot, jumps to the right on his face, bounces back up to spin around, before sliding to the left whilst squishing before rising up with his hand pointed up. This is based on his victory dance from Kirby's Dream Land.
 * Kirby bounces from left to right on nothing, lands and jumps backwards with his face down, strikes a pose when landing and somersaults to the right, then rolls back into place as he strikes a pose with one foot up and one hand in the air. This is based on his victory dance from Kirby Super Star.
 * Kirby jumps while leaning and stretching to the left and right, then dances with his hands, before moonwalking to the left, only to twirl back into place as he breakdances and teeters on one foot, striking a pose. This is based on his victory dance from Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Colors / Costumes
  Kirby's Classic design appears as an alternate costume, based on his design from Kirby's Adventure to Kirby's Dream Land 3. This design has smaller facial features, blush marks as opposed to cheeks, and a lighter color scheme.

As an alternate costume for Kirby, the Classic alternate costume has a few changes:
 * All of Kirby's sound effects are turned into their equivalents from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby's Adventure. If not applicable, then the sounds are just bitcrushed. The same applies to Kirby's voice clips.
 * With the Fire or Ice copy abilities, Kirby's color palette changes to red or blue respectively regardless of his actual color.
 * With the Classic alternate costume equipped, Kirby's victory theme is the original Level Clear track from Kirby's Adventure.

Gameplay-Related

 * Kirby's guard animation is based off the same technique in his original games.

Credits

 * WiKirby: Reference animations for Kirby's attacks.