This year the Kirby series turns 30 years old! On April 27th, 1992, Nintendo released the first of what would be one of their largest series that came out; Kirby’s Dream Land. Since then, Kirby’s been on tons of adventures, through games, comics, and his own anime series!
Since it’s his 30th birthday this year and all, we’ve got to talk about how he came to be. Back when Masahiro Sakurai was creating Kirby’s Dream Land, the puffball we all know and love was meant to be a placeholder graphic. Just something to put in while they worked on the official protagonist. After a bit, Sakurai switched the place holder to being the final design because he thought it would work better. Even in name, Kirby was originally called Popopo, but was changed to Kirby after they looked through the roster of draft names.
They picked Kirby to honor the American lawyer John Kirby, who defended Nintendo when they were up against Universal Studios in a case back in 1984. Also, Miyamoto said it contrasted amusingly between the name and the appearance.
Going further, Kirby has been a key member of the Super Smash Bros. series. As both a fan-favorite fighter and a main character in many of the game’s story modes, Kirby takes a spot as one of the series key players!
We at Cobra Collectibles wish Kirby a Happy 30th Anniversary!