Kirby’s whole thing is that he has a giant mouth and whatever he swallows he either absorbs her powers or transforms in. When he swallows Mario in one smashed fight he gets a red hat. More recently, when he puts a car in his mouth, he turns into a car.
It’s a nice gameplay idea, but it also raises questions. What if Kirby swallows a whisk? Or a hammer drill? What if he swallows something dangerous, or something shaped in such a way that its (presumably) viscous interior warps in a way that could harm him?
Or, most Important, what if he puts it hot in someone’s mouth? At least that last question was answered at GDC last week, and it was answered as clearly as possible by HAL Laboratory Executive Director Shinya Kumazaki tell igamesnews:
At the GDC you showed superheroes with Kirby. Are these personalized versions of Kirby? Or are they Kirby-inspired superheroes?
Kumazaki: This was for the audience to understand what kind of hero Kirby thinks of when he thinks of a hero. So it’s not personified.
A former colleague (Wired’s Megan Farokhmanesh) attended the GDC panel with me and was impressed by the superhero Kirby. She raised an important question: if Kirby swallowed a hot man, would he turn into a hot man?
Kumazaki: I think your friend may have noticed the muscle and power of the images depicted. I think Kirby’s skills would match that. And he would probably associate a hat with it. But his face wouldn’t turn into hot Kirby.
No sharp angles.
Kumazaki: Still round.
No sharp angles. Still round. But he has a hat. Not ideal-I was hoping for a “Handsome Thaddeus” effect– but it’s also probably what we should have expected given the history of the series and the characters.
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You should definitely read the full interviewas it also addresses similar burning questions like “Will Kirby ever fall in love?” and “If you cut Kirby open, what would the inside look like?”.
