Kirby (series)

:For the character, see List of characters in the Super Smash Bros. series.
Kirby is a series of video games developed and published by Nintendo, centering around a pink, spherical character of the same name who defends his home planet, Pop Star, from those who would do it harm.
The Kirby franchise has had several crossovers with the Metroid series within its own games. Kirby and Samus Aran have appeared in every Super Smash Bros. series game to date together. Kirby is able to use his signature Inhale ability on Samus and Zero Suit Samus, and copy their Charge Shot and Paralyzer moves, respectively. When Kirby Inhales Samus or Dark Samus, their helmets will appear over his body; when Zero Suit Samus is inhaled, Kirby gains her ponytail, and when Ridley is inhaled, Kirby wears a Ridley hat.
Aside from references to Metroid in the Kirby franchise, there was at least one reference to Kirby in the Metroid franchise: The Shaktool's design in Super Metroid, and to a certain extent its capabilities, were similar to the Kirby enemy Heavy Mole.
==Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra==
When Kirby uses his Stone ability, he may randomly become a statue of Samus (although this is very rare). The Samus statue features her making her iconic Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid: Samus Returns crouching cover pose. Also, the Screw Attack (called the "Screwball") is a treasure in the Great Cave Offense segment of the game. In Ultra, the remake of the original game, the Samus statue and Screw Attack (now named correctly) are retained.
Screw Ball KSS.png
Samus statue KSS.png
==Kirby's Dream Land 3==
Stage 2, room 3 of the Iceberg level in this game features a magma-filled room containing six Metroid larvae as enemies. The Metroids cannot inhaled by Kirby, but if he eliminates all of them using Ice, Samus Aran will appear unmasked at the end of the level, and give Kirby a Heart Star (or a 1up if this has already been obtained). If Kirby does not defeat the Metroids, Samus will have her helmet on and will not give Kirby anything. The Metroids being vulnerable to the Ice power is a reference to their weakness in the Metroid series; cold temperatures (usually the Ice Beam). Samus removing her helmet is a reference to the better endings of Metroid games in which she removes her helmet and/or Power Suit if certain requirements are met.
Both Kirby Super Star and Kirby's Dream Land 3 are included in the Wii Kirby's Dream Collection compilation.
===Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M===
The Japanese strategy guide for Metroid: Other M features a timeline of Metroid releases and related games, including Kirby's Dream Land 3.
;Samus in the Kirby Series:"Kirby, who can inhale and copy anything... A well-known series in which Samus has appeared repeatedly. In Kirby Super Star, she appears as a stone statue that Kirby can transform into. In the remake, Ultra Super Deluxe, she appears yet again. In Kirby 3 stage 5-2, Metroids appear as enemies. Samus waits at the goal."
;Super Famicom "Kirby 3":"If you eliminate all the Metroids in level 5-2, Samus reveals her face."
;Nintendo DS "Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe":"Using the stone ability, you can rarely become a Samus statue."
==Kirby's Dream Land 3 Yonkoma==
An official Kirby's Dream Land 3 yonkoma comic features a cameo from Samus Aran, referencing her cameo in the game with unmasked Samus thanking Kirby for beating the Metroids. Kirby compares Samus to Ado, noting that they are both humans but look very different, with Samus having more realistic anatomy and proportions than Ado. Ado claims that it is the difference between adults and children, although her portrait of herself as an adult is still much more cartoony than Samus.Metroid Database on Twitter: "Samus cameo in this stupidly cute 4koma comic from somewhere back in the KDL3 days. Here's our translation."
==Super Smash Bros.==
===Super Smash Bros. Melee===
Aside from Kirby and Samus appearing together as playable characters in the game as well as trophies for both series being accessible, the Adventure Mode transition cutscene after the escape level depicts the (destroyed) Zebes as neighboring Pop Star, Kirby's home planet from the Kirby franchise. In addition, Kirby and Samus alongisde Captain Falcon from the F-Zero series and Fox and Falco from the Star Fox series were opponents for the Event Match "Space Travelers", with Ness from Earthbound as the playable character.
===Super Smash Bros. Brawl===
The trophy description for the Superspicy Curry from Kirby's Dream Land (erroneously stated as debuting in Kirby's Adventure), when commenting on the comical sight of anyone who uses the item breathing fire from its taste, alludes to Samus ingesting it.
===Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U===
Although there's nothing directly linking them in the game itself beyond both being playable characters in the game, Kirby and Samus did appear in their NES sprites for Kirby's Adventure and Metroid, respectively in Pac-Man's teaser poster, with Kirby in particular using his suction ability to suck in various dots in the Pac-Maze and Samus fleeing from Pinky. Similarly, Kirby and Zero Suit Samus from the same game appeared in Ryu's reveal artwork. The two also appeared in Charizard/Greninja's announce trailer as well as Bowser Jr.'s announce trailer, both times fighting against at least one of the focused-on characters. The two also appeared as silhouettes in Wii Fit Trainer's announce poster, as well as appeared in Mega Man's announce poster.
===Super Smash Bros. Ultimate===
In Spirit Battles, the X Parasite Spirit uses Kirby (in his yellow "Keeby" alternate costume) as a Puppet Fighter. This is most likely due to both characters being blob-like beings that consume other creatures and copy their abilities.
==Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition==
The game Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition features Kirby's Adventure as well as Metroid as playable challenges.
In addition, from July 24 to August 14, 2024, in order to promote the game, various icon elements were released each week. Week 1 had two icons from Kirby's Adventure, while one icon element depicted Metroid where Samus was about to grab a power up orb. Week 2 was largely similar, although Metroid got two icons during that time: one entailing Samus on an elevator lift, and the other depicting the Screw Attack on a Chozo Statue. Week 3's content was largely similar to that of prior weeks, although it had three icons dedicated to Kirby's Adventure, as well as Metroid having one icon dedicated to it (in this case, the eponymous creature). Similar to a similar promotion back in September 2022 for the NES Online module, it did not contain actual backgrounds/frames, mostly due to the icons directly incorporating both into them.
==Trivia==
*The Amurol Trading Card #5 of 14, which provides tips for Return of Samus, actually contains a tip for the Stage 4 Cloud Maze in Kirby's Dream Land. This is most likely an unintentional misprint rather than a deliberate reference.
*The overall concept of Phazon, including it being an infectious lifeform originating from space, and more specifically coming from a planet that's heavily implied to be sentient (Phaaze for Phazon, Dark Star for Dark Matter) and evil in design, was similar to the recurring Kirby antagonistic group Dark Matter.
*The design for one of the antagonistic characters in the series, Kracko, bears a slight resemblance to Mother Brain due to having a singular eye and a similar shape profile, including spikes. Although a notable difference is that Kracko was a living cloud while Mother Brain was an AI modeled after a human brain.
*Using Metroid-based amiibo figurines in Kirby and the Forgotten Land will supply the player with items, as with any amiibo figurines.
==Gallery==
Cloud Maze card.png|Kirby's Dream Land Cloud Maze tip on the Return of Samus Amurol Trading Card
File:Sbart jpback.jpg|Super Smash Bros.
File:Sbart jplabel.jpg|Super Smash Bros.
File:Supersmash.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Melee
File:All wallpaper.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Melee
File:SuperSmashBrosWallpaper1024.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Melee
File:Kirby.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:Super-smash-bros-brawl.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:5wwajl.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:Brawl poster.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:SSBB-chr1.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:Smashbrawlchar.png|Super Smash Bros. Brawl
File:SSB4 whiteboard.jpg|Early whiteboard drawing for Smash 4.
File:Kirby.png
File:Mario Kirby Samus Toon Link Battlefield SSB4.jpg|Pre-release screenshot.
File:Screen-1.jpg|Pre-release screenshot.
File:Illust-modal.jpg|Mega Man reveal artworkIllustration / Ryuji Higurashi（CAPCOM）
File:Illust-modal2.jpg|Wii Fit Trainer reveal artwork
File:Introducing Greninja 1.png|Samus and Kirby appear together in Greninja’s reveal trailer.
File:Introducing Greninja 2.png
File:Pac-Man Poster.jpg|Pac-Man reveal artwork
File:Bowser Jr. artwork.png|Bowser Jr. reveal artwork
File:Ryu art.png|Ryu reveal artwork
Kirby samus ssb.jpg|Kirby's Samus ability in Super Smash Bros.
Kirbysamus.png|Kirby's ability in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Kirby 071220n-l.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Samus)
Kirby 071220h-l.jpg|Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Zero Suit Samus)
File:Kirby Samus SSB43DS copy ability.jpeg|Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (Samus)
File:Kirby Zero Suit Samus SSB43DS copy ability.jpg|Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (Zero Suit Samus)
File:Kirby Samus SSB4U copy ability.jpeg|Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Samus)
File:Kirby Zero Suit Samus SSB4U copy ability.jpeg|Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Zero Suit Samus)
Kirby Ridley SSBU copy ability.png|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Ridley)
Dark Samus Kirby copy.png|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Dark Samus)
==References==
Category:Games
Category:Cameos & Crossovers
Category:Super Smash Bros.