Star Bullet Artwork of Kirby launching a Star Bullet from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. Details First game Kirby's Dream Land (1992) Latest game Kirby Air Riders (2025) Other game(s) All main-series games Kirby Air Ride Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition (New Challenge Stages) Kirby's Blowout Blast Kirby Fighters 2 Super Smash Bros. series User(s) Kirby, King Dedede, Chameleo Arm, Kirbys, Shadow Kirby, every rider in Kirby Air Riders Related Inhale

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A Star Bullet (otherwise known as a Spit Star, Spitting Star, Exhaled Star or just Star in shorthand) is a glowing star-shaped projectile that Kirby can spit out after inhaling an enemy or object (notably the Dropped Star left by bosses). It is his primary method of attacking without a Copy Ability, and deals a considerable amount of damage to anything that is vulnerable to it.

Overview[edit]

To launch a Star Bullet, Kirby must first inhale something. Instead of swallowing, the player must then press the same button used to inhale to make Kirby spit the object back out as a yellow star. It will travel at significant speed in a straight direction until it hits something, upon which it will shatter, pass through, or be deflected, based on the power of the star, and the nature of the thing it hits.

Star Bullets are capable of dealing a considerable amount of damage, more so in many cases than most Copy Ability attacks, but naturally, using them requires Kirby to inhale something first. Anything that can be inhaled can be shot as a Star Bullet, even Kirby's friends in Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby Star Allies. The trajectory of the projectile can be influenced by some environmental hazards or by hitting enemies at a certain angle, though this is a rare occurrence. Star Bullets are also useful for clearing away blockades and hitting switches at a distance.

If a Star Bullet is launched underwater or into water, its properties change somewhat. In some older titles, launching a Star Bullet underwater will cause it to be affected by gravity and fall down instead, including UFO Kirby's Star Bullets in Kirby's Adventure. For example, if a Blaster Bullet is launched underwater in Kirby's Adventure, it will fire in a parabolic manner. From Kirby's Return to Dream Land onward, a Star Bullet will travel slower in the water.

Blaster Bullet[edit]

Starting with Kirby's Adventure, Kirby can swallow multiple objects at once to create a more powerful star that can pass through enemies as it hits them. This is referred to officially as 貫通かんつう星型弾ほしがただん ("Piercing Star Bullet") in Japanese or a Blaster Bullet in English as described in Kirby's Blowout Blast.

Prior to Kirby: Squeak Squad, the Blaster Bullet remains the same if Kirby inhales more than 2 objects. From Kirby: Squeak Squad onward (except for Kirby Super Star Ultra), inhaling 3 or more objects makes the bullet even bigger and stronger, which is officially referred to as a ビッグ貫通かんつう星型弾ほしがただん ("Big Piercing Star Bullet" or "Big Blaster Bullet") in Japanese.

Dash damage boost[edit]

Kirby Super Star introduced a game mechanic that a Star Bullet can do more damage if Kirby launches it while dashing. This has been featured in main series games since Kirby's Return to Dream Land, but is absent in Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Damage value[edit]

The following table lists the damage value of the Star Bullet and its variations in some Kirby games. Notably, Kirby Super Star (and its remake), Kirby's Return to Dream Land (and its remake), Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kirby: Planet Robobot and Kirby Star Allies have the same damage scaling system, where a Star Bullet does 52 damage by default. However, games starting with Kirby's Return to Dream Land allow the Blaster Bullet's strength to grow considerably, reaching its maximum strength at 12 objects inhaled. The Star Bullet's power is increased in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, possibly to match the Powered Up ability stats, and the amount of inhaled objects required to reach the maximum damage output is much lower. However, its overall damage system is largely similar to the aforementioned titles.

Star Bullet damage in the Kirby series
Game	Star Bullet	Star Bullet (dash)	Blaster Bullet	Blaster Bullet (dash)
Kirby's Adventure Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land Kirby & The Amazing Mirror	10		25
Kirby's Dream Land 2	10		20
Kirby Super Star Kirby Super Star Ultra	52	60	60	70
Kirby's Dream Land 3	32		64
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards	1		2
Kirby: Squeak Squad	40		2 objects: 50 3 or more objects: 60
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Kirby: Triple Deluxe Kirby: Planet Robobot Kirby Star Allies Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe	52	60	2 objects: 60 3 objects: 65 4 objects: 69 5 objects: 73 6 objects: 77 7 objects: 81 8 objects: 85 9 objects: 89 10 objects: 93 11 objects: 97 12 or more objects: 100	2 objects: 65 3 objects: 70 4 objects: 74 5 objects: 78 6 objects: 82 7 objects: 86 8 objects: 90 9 objects: 94 10 objects: 98 11 objects: 102 12 or more objects: 105
Kirby Star Allies (Heroes in Another Dimension and Soul Melter EX)	78	90	2 objects: 104 3 objects: 156 4 objects: 182 5 objects: 208 6 objects: 234 7 objects: 260 8 objects: 286 9 objects: 312 10 objects: 338 11 objects: 364 12 or more objects: 390	2 objects: 114 3 objects: 166 4 objects: 192 5 objects: 218 6 objects: 244 7 objects: 270 8 objects: 296 9 objects: 322 10 objects: 348 11 objects: 374 12 or more objects: 400
Kirby and the Forgotten Land[1] Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World	80		2 objects: 120 3 objects: 190 4 or more objects: 300

In the main series 2D games that use the damage system from Kirby Super Star, if a Star Bullet bounces off of an enemy or boss at an angle, then the resulting bullet will deal only 40 damage, no matter what.

Game appearances[edit]

Kirby series[edit]

Star Bullets were first introduced in Kirby's Dream Land, where they were Kirby's only method of defeating most bosses. Since then, they have remained mostly unchanged throughout the Kirby series.

A few exceptions include:

• Some legendary items are also capable of firing Star Bullets, such as the Star Rod and the Triple Star Cane.
• UFO in Kirby's Adventure fires a Star Bullet at medium charge and a Blaster Bullet at max charge. Starting in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, it instead fires a Heat Beam and a Piercing Heat Beam, which are fundamentally similar and do the same amount of damage as their counterparts (though they have become weaker since Kirby: Squeak Squad).
• In Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra, Wheelie Rider can fire Star Shots in 2-player gameplay only. They are smaller in size and closer in range, but can be fired in 8 cardinal directions.
• In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Star Bullets have the color of the Copy Ability yielded by the swallowed object, instead of the traditional yellow. Additionally, if Kirby inhales an enemy and then immediately spits it back out, he will spit that enemy as a projectile instead of a star like in the other games.
• In Kirby Air Ride and Kirby Air Riders, Star Bullets have slight homing properties.
• In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Big Blaster Bullets can also pass through walls and destroy Metal Blocks.
• In Kirby's Return to Dream Land and continuing up to Kirby Star Allies, Blaster Bullets travel more slowly and can become much larger and stronger than before, reaching their maximum size and power at 12 inhaled objects.
• In Kirby: Planet Robobot, a special variation of the move called the Planet Buster is used by the Robobot Armor's Halberd Mode.
• In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Kirby once again spits out the enemies and objects he inhales unchanged in appearance, rather than always spitting out stars. This is even true if he inhales multiple things at once, which come out "orbiting" each-other until they hit something. In addition, projectiles Kirby spits can ricochet off walls, and will automatically seek enemies close to their flight path, with an auto target range of 40 degrees in Spring Breeze Mode and 20 degrees in Wild Mode.^[1]

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Kirby and King Dedede can inhale and shoot their opponents (or sometimes their teammates) out as star bullets, though they behave differently. They travel more slowly, always pass through enemies they hit, and the person transformed can revert back by button-mashing, or revert back normally after traveling some distance. The power of the star depends on the weight of the opponent spat out, meaning that an opponent like Jigglypuff would make for a weak star, while a fighter like Bowser would make for a very strong star.

Trivia[edit]

• Kirby can be seen firing a Star Bullet at King Dedede and Escargoon in the second Japanese opening sequence of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.
• The state in which Kirby can launch Blaster Bullets in Kirby's Blowout Blast is officially referred to as まんぷくカービィ^[2][3] (Manpuku Kirby, "full-stomach Kirby") in Japanese and "Full Belly Kirby"^[4] or "super-stuffed Kirby"^[5] in English.
  • This form of Kirby makes a cameo appearance as one of the Painter attacks from Artist Kirby and Vividria in Kirby Star Allies and Kirby Fighters 2.

Gallery[edit]

Artwork[edit]

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  Kirby's Dream Land 3 (with Nago)

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Screenshots[edit]

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  Firing a Star Bullet in Kirby's Adventure

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  Hitting Kracko with a Star Bullet in Kirby's Dream Land 2

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  Firing a Star Bullet at a Waddle Dee in Kirby Super Star

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  Firing a Star Bullet at a Rocky in Kirby's Dream Land 3

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  Spitting an enemy back at Acro in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

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  Kirby launches a Star Bullet at a Mirra in Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

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  Kirby chases after a Big Blaster Bullet he spat earlier in Kirby's Return to Dream Land

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  Firing a Star Bullet in Kirby: Planet Robobot

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  Firing a Blaster Bullet at some enemies in Kirby's Blowout Blast

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  Firing a Star Bullet in Kirby Star Allies

Other[edit]

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  Model of a Star Bullet from Super Smash Bros.

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  Model of a Star Bullet from Super Smash Bros. Melee

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  Model of a Star Bullet from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

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  Model of a Star Bullet from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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  Ice Kirby Nendoroid firing a Star Bullet

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  Kirby firing a Star Bullet in the book Find Kirby!! Full of Kirby

Names in other languages[edit]

Spit[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
English	Spit	-
Portuguese	Expelir Exalar[6]	Expel Exhale
Latin American Spanish	Escupir	Spit

Star Bullet[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	星型弾ほしがただん Hoshigatadan	Star Bullet
English	Star Bullet	-
French	Tir étoile	Star shot
German	Wurfstern	Throw star
Korean	별 총알[7] byeol chongal	Star Bullet
Polish	Gwiezdna Kula[8] Gwiezdny Pocisk[9]	Star Bullet (literally Star Ball) Star Bullet
Portuguese	Projétil estelar	Star projectile
Russian	Звездная пуля[10] Zvezdnaya pulya	Star bullet

Blaster Bullet[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	貫通かんつう星型弾ほしがただん Kantsū Hoshigatadan	Piercing Star Bullet
English	Blaster Bullet	-
Traditional Chinese	貫穿星形彈 Guànchuān xīng xíng dàn	Penetrating star-shaped bullet
Simplified Chinese	贯穿星形弹 Guànchuān xīng xíng dàn
Dutch	Doorboorkogel	Piercing bullet
French	Tir puissant	Powerful shot
German	Durchschlagstern	Piercing star
Korean	관통탄[7] gwantongtan	Piercing Bullet
Portuguese	Projétil potente	Powerful projectile
Spanish	Bala Penetrante	Penetrating Bullet

References