The Lore of Kirby -- Designing For Friendship

I want to take a moment to thank all of our Guest Star Allies for this episode! Kirby isn't complete without friends, and this episode wouldn't have been half of what it was without you. While you're browsing, feel free to check out their content, links provided below! In order of appearance: Liam Triforce - youtube.com/user/Darkmario1LPs ZoomZike - youtube.com/user/ZoomZike Altermentality - twitter.com/altermentality Tarvould's Quest - www.twitch.tv/tarvouldsquest KingK - youtube.com/user/KingdomKlannad Princess Sue - youtube.com/user/ProjectPhoenixStudio Thank you all again, so much! Sincerely hope you enjoy(ed) the video!

reasons why kirby lore works: kirby is a friend his enemies need friends 2 + 2 = orb

Kirby games: fun, cute, easy, relaxing, and friendly Kirby lore: OK so basically Kirby is the reincarnation of a chaos god and is the brother of zero and there were these guys called the ancients that made the clockwork stars and.. ...youre not even listening are you

“void is the tragedy of a kirby without friends.” dude, i don’t feel emotion that easily, but that line was expertly delivered

This also explains why Gooey is good, even if he is made of the same substance that Dark Matter is; surrounded by positivity, he also took the form of a friend.

The genius of Kirby really is in the contrast. The lore and the big enemies are filled with tragedy and horror, and the past has innumerable mistakes and failures building to the point where dark entities rising to destroy, enslave or just plain conquer everything are plentiful. But despite this, the visuals are cheerful and the main character is happy, optimistic and full of hope. And despite all the doom and gloom hidden beneath the surface - the optimism and friendship always wins. It is one thing to have a happy go lucky world with a cheerful protagonist. But by making the undertones dark and disturbing, the central message of friendship and love prevailing becomes all the stronger. The lore is dark, but the world we experience is colorful and happy, because this is how Kirby sees it - how Kirby chooses to see it. This makes for an incredibly strong message for the entire series - it doesn't matter how tragic your past is; it doesn't matter how hopeless the situation seems. If you try to make friends, help them, and let them help you - you can make the world a better place.

Kirby is shaped like a friend. That seems like pretty good design to me.

i am a little embarrassed to admit that "kirby is shaped like a friend. kirby is YOUR friend." made me tear up

I just realized that, even though people complain about how easy the games are, that's part of what kirby is. Kirby makes the game easier, because to kirby, nothing is difficult when you're having fun.

I've seen a lot of kid shows that use "ThE pOwEr Of FrIeNdShIp" pretty much as a deus ex machina but kirby is the only one that nails it in my eyes, "friends let you take on a GOD OF DESTRUCTION" ("look mom 3mil likes on my youtube comment :D")

KIRBY IS A GOOD BOI AND WE LOVE HIM

In regards to the deep lore and drama, I feel the reason why Kirby has continued to succeed where others have failed is the fact that it maintains a balance between lighthearted fun and serious, deep, dark lore. It doesn't overwhelm you with constant drama and edge, nor does it annoy you with forced humor and randomness.

8:09 the fact that the clone dedede’s were alluded to be afraid of butterflies is so incredibly well thought out

I think Kirby's lore points to a very specific interpretation of the past in his universe. It's post apocalyptic. But not just *one* apocalypse. Every advanced and powerful civilization to ever arise in this universe is long dead and gone. Every path was explored. Every mistake was made. Every miracle has occured. And all that remains are the relics of a history so long dead and gone that only a very few scholars ever bother researching it. Every proud empire is long crumbled, leaving only the wildlife and happily ignorant stone age peasants to occupy the ruins. Kirby is very likely the result of the Last Mistake. Yet another powerful ancient civilization that died, leaving nothing but monoliths and reality breaking technology and magic and magitech, with but a very few survivors. Someone knowledgable enough to know that you can call upon Void, and shape it's birth into reality by surrounding it with positive or negative emotions. Perhaps the Last Mistake ended with some sealed evil that would eventually break free. Void is, ultimately, the most powerful of the entities. It is the world eater, the only thing that can destroy anything. It is also malleable. So these survivors of the Last Mistake, they created their own Crystal Heart, and every day, they came to it and offered it love, and hope, and generosity, and kindness, and forgiveness, and especially happiness. And eventually out of that heart came Kirby, the natural result of taking the emptiness that is the Astral Birth and filling it with all the most important simple good things that life has to offer. So Kirby values those simple good things in life. Happiness galore, peace and joy, and people to share that with. Of course, he is also an all consuming eldritch being, so if his own power is not enough, he will happily and without a care consume someone or something else's power and wield that. And the bigger the threat, the more power he will consume to wield. This doesn't necessarily have to be literal, mind, but Kirby's greatest power has always been his ability to gather outside forces around himself and use them to their fullest potential. But because it's Kirby, he feels zero desire to retain any of that power, and always just lets it all go, because the only thing Kirby lusts after is a tasty meal to share with a friend. So when it's all said and done, and the latest can of evil has had its butt thoroughly thrashed, he lets go of every tool and power he's gathered, calls his warp star, waves goodbye to his allies, and goes back to his little round one room house for a slice of cake or maybe a tomato. Also, if Void Termina is an Astral Birth filled with hate and negativity, and Kirby is one filled with love and positivity, perhaps Dark Matter is one that was never filled with anything. A natural Astral Birth that was born empty and alone and its desire to consume and drown out every star in darkness is its natural state as the metaphysical End.

With the mention of how dark and sad a lot of the boss' pause descriptions are, I'm a bit surprised Kirby's was never mentioned. "Kirby is super proud of you, and he understands that some days, things are hard but he believes in you and knows you will do great! Just keep trying. You are Kirby's hero!"

Here's what got me actually scared: In Planet Robobot's pause screen, it says that Kirby has infinite power. When you pause against Galacta Knight, it says he has immense power. Meta Knight got warned that freeing Galacta Knight could destroy planets as collateral. Galacta Knight is nowhere close to being as strong as Kirby and he needed to be sealed outside of time itself.

I just realized, Void Termina’s fight is a metaphor for loneliness, social anxiety, and making friends. As someone with the horrible thing (social anxiety), I can confirm that I’ve honestly started to gain more and more hatred for everyone since I keep feeling like everyone is watching me and criticizing me for every tiny flaw in my makeshift works. It’s hard shit, man. And the four emotions described- Hatred, Lust, Jealousy, and Greed- have really affected me. However, when someone just takes the extra step to see and to care, and be, a friend…? It’s confusing, but the greatest blessing of all. And it weakens that hatred, obsession, jealousy, and greed. It helps me gain that same soul, it helps me take the shape… of a friend.

I think the intro to Kirby's Adventure summed up Kirby's character in a few words: "First you draw a circle, then you dot the eyes. Add a big smile and presto, it's Kirby" That's essentially who Kirby is. A circle with eyes and a smile. He's so small and simple yet he overcomes so many perilous odds some can't even dream of. He also tries to help people all around him simply because he can. He does it all with an optimistic smile on his face ready for anything. Yes he's a simple circle with eyes, but he's also so much more at the same time. Just like his series and everything about it. Kirby's special, really special. He teaches so many things and does so much and the best part is he might just be unaware of it. He just wants to have a good time with some good buddies and that's pretty cute. Never change Kirby.

Kirby is like that friend you've literally been to Hell and back with, and yet he still stays the same lovable buddy you grew up with, motivating you to get through even the darkest of times.

"Ooops! Accidentally released the ancient evil eyeball man!" Best line ever