“

Kirby loses some energy every time he bumps into an enemy.

”

— Tutorial from The Beginner's Show in Kirby Super Star

Damage refers to the state of being affected in a way that causes loss of health. In the context of the Kirby series, it defines how much health Kirby, another playable character, or an enemy loses when they are hit by something. Damage can also refer to the state of being hit, wherein the subject may recoil with a hurt expression, whether that causes actual health loss or not.

The following is a simplified list of every form of damage that Kirby or another playable character can take in the main series:

• Touching an enemy or stage hazard (in most cases)
• Being in the path of an enemy's attack
• Inhaling/swallowing poisonous objects such as Mariels, Capillers, or poison apple.
• Being caught in the explosion of an item or ability such as Stone-Bomb, a Balloon Bomb, or Timed Dynamite

This list does not include hazards that are immediately fatal, like bottomless pits or crushers.

Context of damage[edit]

Under most circumstances, an entity capable of taking damage will do so when it comes into contact with an area of attack (technically referred to as a hitbox) that is being generated by another entity. Most enemies, for instance, automatically have an area surrounding their bodies, which will harm Kirby if he gets too close to them without performing some kind of defensive action. When Kirby or another entity perform an attack, they temporarily generate a new hitbox that usually extends from their default body shape, allowing them to hit another entity without being hit in return. Most attacks or other forms of damage in the Kirby series are set to specific values, meaning they will do the same amount of damage every time.

In addition to this, performing certain moves, or even attacks, will cause Kirby or another entity to temporarily gain invulnerability to most hitboxes - an example being the Burning fireball attack, which leaves Kirby immune to most forms of damage while he is executing it. Picking up an Invincible Candy will cause Kirby to completely ignore sources of damage for a short time.

Taking damage[edit]

When Kirby takes damage, he is often knocked back, causing the player to lose control of him for a short while. How far he is knocked back and how long control is lost depends on the nature of the attack. Bumping into a Waddle Dee for instance, will only knock Kirby back a short distance, while an explosion from a Bomber might send him flying, and leave him down for long enough to fall into a bottomless pit before the player can save the situation.

In older titles, Kirby would always lose his Copy Ability if he had one when taking a hit, creating an Ability Star. In Kirby Super Star and its remake, as well as all games since Kirby's Return to Dream Land, this does not always occur, though certain impactful attacks (especially from bosses) are guaranteed to knock out Kirby's ability.

In most titles, the screen shakes slightly when Kirby takes damage, to amplify the impact of the blow. In some titles, such as Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby: Canvas Curse, the scenery briefly pixelates instead. This effect is also used when Kirby hits Meta Knight in his boss fight in Kirby's Adventure.

Kirby can mitigate most forms of damage by using a Guard. Doing this successfully will stop Kirby from being knocked back in most cases, and at the very least reduce damage taken.

After being hit, Kirby will be given a short time where he is invincible, allowing him to escape a dangerous situation before he is hit again.

When Kirby takes too much damage and runs out of health, he usually tumbles down off the screen. There are some games where Kirby merely falls down where he stands. In games that feature a lives system, the player will lose a life, and a Game Over will generally occur upon running out of lives.

Starting in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, there is a gameplay mechanic present which will cause Kirby (or other playable characters) to take less damage if they have less health. As a consequence, recovery items are more effective if used at lower health, as they effectively heal more there than otherwise. In addition, unless the character is very low on health, a fatal hit will only take a character down to 1 HP.

Starting with Kirby: Triple Deluxe, it is also possible for Kirby to be knocked off the stage, either hitting the screen, or being knocked into the background. Assuming he has any health left, Kirby will then reappear on the stage, roughly in the spot where he was knocked away. Kirby is also given the ability to dodge in addition to guarding, which temporarily gives him invincibility.

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  Kirby receives knockback from Toughness Waddle Dee.

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  Kirby attacks a blue clone in Kirby Battle Royale.

Types of damage[edit]

Ever since Kirby's Adventure, there have been several distinguished types of damage. For example, fiery attacks cause Kirby to get burnt, electrical attacks cause Kirby to get electrocuted, and icy attacks cause Kirby to briefly get frozen. These elemental types of damage generally cause the player to lose control of Kirby longer than standard damage. In the Japanese version of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, text is shown on the heads-up display that matches the type of damage Kirby has taken: あちっ！！ ("Hot!") for fire damage, ビリビリ！ ("Electrifying!") for electric damage, and ひゃっ！！ ("Cold!") for ice damage.

Starting with Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kirby's cries when he is hit are specific to the situation; for instance, when he's hit by a fire-based attack, he will yelp as if he'd been burned, and sometimes cry out「あちち！」("Hot, hot, hot!"). Underwater, his cries will be muffled. When hit by poisonous attacks, he'll sound like he's being choked.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe also introduces new types of damage. For example, when hit by certain crushing obstacles like Squeaky Hammer Machines, Kirby will be squashed paper-thin (which causes him to float gently down to the ground before returning to his normal state). When struck by Springy Hands or similar obstacles that come in towards the foreground, Kirby will be knocked into the "camera", which causes him to tumble off-screen before being returned to the field of play. The reverse can also happen if he is struck by something moving into the background. This will always cause him to lose any Copy Ability he had.

Enemies[edit]

When an enemy takes damage, they may be knocked back temporarily. Most mid-bosses and bosses are not interrupted while taking damage, unless hit by something particularly strong, or damaged enough to cause a new phase in their attack patterns to begin.

Some enemies are invincible, which means they do not take damage at all, and can only be destroyed if they are crushed or fall into a bottomless pit. Gordos and Shotzos are the most prevalent examples of these.

Special cases[edit]

One thing that makes Kirby unique is his inhale, which is not an attack in the traditional sense, as it doesn't actually deal damage. Instead it automatically bypasses the health of most enemies by turning them into objects that are swallowed or spat back out as Star Bullets. No other entity in the series is capable of doing this in turn to Kirby, with other inhales merely being a prelude to that enemy spitting Kirby back out or chewing on him to do him harm.

In the Team Kirby Clash games, use of the Revival Spell will cause any role using it (except Doctor Healmore) to voluntarily sacrifice a small amount of health in exchange for reviving a teammate.

Trivia[edit]

• There are examples of Kirby being put in the knockback state without actually taking damage.
  • In Kirby's Dream Land 2, when an Animal Friend is freed from a bag, the bag falls to the ground before the friend climbs out of it. If Kirby is standing under the bag when it falls, he will be 'hit' and knocked back without taking damage.
  • Any player characters hit by a Super Ability in Kirby's Return to Dream Land or Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe get knocked back but won't lose health. This also applies to Balloon Bomb explosions exclusively in Deluxe.
  • In Kirby Star Allies, explosions from the Big Bomb obstacles in certain stages deal knockback with no damage. The Bomb ability's Self-Destruct move in this game also doesn't deal damage to the user.

Gallery[edit]

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  Icon in HUD when taking damage in Kirby's Adventure

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  Icon in HUD when taking damage in Kirby Super Star

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  Artwork of Kirby taking damage from Kirby's Dream Land 3

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  Sprite of hurt Kirby from Kirby's Dream Land 3

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  Sprite of hurt Kirby from a fire-based attack in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

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  Sprite of hurt Kirby from an electric-based attack in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

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  Sprite of hurt Kirby from an ice-based attack in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

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  Icons for when Kirby takes elemental damage in the Japanese version of Kirby & The Amazing Mirror