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From WiKirby, your independent source of Kirby knowledge.
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Tac (also referred to as T.A.C.) is an enemy in Kirby Super Star and its remake. He can empower Kirby with the "Copy" Copy Ability when inhaled. Tac's appearance consists of a dark blue robe with a green bag with wind-like lines to steal Helpers or Copy Abilities. He has cat ears and visible eyes, but it is unknown what the rest of his face looks like. In Helper to Hero, Tac appears to have a middle tan, white clothing, and a red bag. In Kirby Super Star and its remake, Tac can be used as a Helper by discarding the Copy Ability and is also playable in Helper to Hero.
Game appearances[edit]
| Tac's video game appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game | Role | Notes |
| Kirby series | ||
| Kirby Super Star | Enemy and playable character | Tac can be played as when recruited as a Helper. |
| Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom) | Cameo | Appears in the audience of Round Clear mode. |
| Kirby Air Ride | Enemy | |
| Kirby Super Star Ultra | Enemy and playable character | As this is a remake of Kirby Super Star, his role doesn't change. |
| Kirby Mass Attack | Enemy | Appears in the Sub-Game Kirby Brawlball. |
| Kirby: Triple Deluxe | Reference | Appears as a keychain. |
| Kirby: Planet Robobot | Reference | Appears as a sticker. |
| Kirby's Dream Buffet | Reference | Appears as a Character Treat. |
| Kirby Air Riders | Enemy | |
| Super Smash Bros. series | ||
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS | Smash Run enemy | Also appears as a Trophy. |
| Super Smash Bros. for Wii U | Smash Tour enemy | Also appears as a Trophy. |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Spirit | |
Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]
Tac appears as a common enemy in this game, who mainly attacks by jumping and running up to Kirby while attempting to steal his ability if he has one. Tac is able to run very quickly while also jumping, making it easy for him to get away after stealing an ability, though it is easily thwarted by tricky terrain and can be cornered into walls. It may also often be the case that Tac steals Kirby's ability, and then immediately falls into a bottomless pit or despawns if its off-screen for a few seconds, thus making the ability irretrievable; if it runs into a wall and cannot get over it in a short period of time, it will "blast-off" like a rocket and disappear when it reaches the top of the screen. Tac is also capable of stealing Kirby's Helper as well.
Compared to the Copy ability Kirby can use, Tac as a helper functions slightly differently; using Tac effectively allows the helper to copy and discard abilities at will, transforming into the appropriate helper when attacking an enemy with a copy ability that does not have limited uses. Additionally, every time Tac is able to copy an ability, the helper's health will be fully restored. His Steal attack is an extending grab rather than a flashing scanner like Copy's Analyze Beam, and it has much less cooldown, making it useful as a quick attack against enemies that cannot be copied; it can also be used underwater. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, it can be charged up to become Cat Magnum, which deals more damage (this is primarily useful against bosses). Lastly, Tac can also utilize a special Guard that makes him completely intangible. When guarding, only his face and ears are visible.
Tac does not appear in any of the stages of Spring Breeze, but several of them appear in the opening cutscene of the sub-game, assisting King Dedede and his minions in stealing food from Dream Land.
In Helper to Hero, Tac cannot copy abilities, so Steal and Cat Magnum always function as attacks.
In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Tac also appears on a card in Kirby Card Swipe.
| Copy Moveset (Tac) | |
|---|---|
| Skill | Button Execution |
| Steal | Y (B) |
| Cat Magnum (Kirby Super Star Ultra only) | Hold Y (B) and release |
| Discard Copy Ability | A (X) |
| Tac Hide | L/R |
Locations[edit]
Tac can be found in the following places in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra:
| Tac locations in Kirby Super Star & Kirby Super Star Ultra | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Appearance? | Stage | Appearance? |
| Green Greens | 
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RoMK Chapter 4 |
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| Float Islands |
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RoMK Chapter 5 |
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| Bubbly Clouds |
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RoMK Chapter 6 |
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| Mt. Dedede |
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RoMK Chapter 7 |
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| Peanut Plains |
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Floria | 
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| Mallow Castle |
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Aquarius |
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| Cocoa Cave |
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Skyhigh |
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| Candy Mountain |
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Hotbeat |
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| Trial Room 1 |
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Cavius |
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| Trial Room 2 |
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Mekkai |
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| Sub-Tree |
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Halfmoon |
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| Crystal |
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??? |
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| Old Tower |
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Purple Plants |
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| Garden |
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Illusion Islands |
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| RoMK Chapter 1 |
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Crash Clouds |
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| RoMK Chapter 2 |
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The Revenge |
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| RoMK Chapter 3 |
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Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom)[edit]
In the Super Famicom version of Kirby's Star Stacker, Tac can be seen in the audience of Round Clear mode.
Kirby Air Ride[edit]
Tac appears as part of a random event in the City Trial mode. Here, he appears in a number of set locations, usually underground, and runs about at random. When he appears, the Kirbys are tasked to find him and smack into him with their vehicles to cause him to drop items he'd 'stolen'. Once enough time passes, or enough items are dropped, Tac takes off using some sort of jet-pack, sometimes dropping more items as he does so.
Kirby Mass Attack[edit]
Tac makes an appearance in the Kirby Mass Attack Sub-Game Kirby Brawlball. Here, he occupies the top-right of the main pinball board and can attempt to steal a Kirby ball if the player activates a flipper as the ball goes near it. The stolen ball will be placed around the center of the board where it will be released. Tac only appears if Bio Spark was hit and can only reappear if the latter gets hit after Tac is used.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe[edit]
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Tac appears as one of the randomly-obtained keychains, depicting him as his sprite from Kirby Super Star.
Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]
In Kirby: Planet Robobot, Tac appears as one of the randomly-obtained stickers, using his artwork from Kirby Super Star.
Kirby's Dream Buffet[edit]
In Kirby's Dream Buffet, Tac appears as one of the randomly-obtained Character Treats, depicting him as his sprite from Kirby Super Star.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U[edit]
Tacs appear as an enemy in both Smash Run for the 3DS version, and Smash Tour for the Wii U version.
In Smash Run, he functions much like he does in Kirby Super Star, this time stealing stat boosts from players instead of Copy Abilities. Defeating him before he flees the scene gives back all the stat boosts he has stolen from a player.
In Smash Tour, he sometimes appears on the game board and award multiple stat boosts if a player manages to catch one.
He also appears as a trophy in both versions of the game.
Trophy information[edit]
| Name | 3DS image | Wii U image | Appears In/Related Games | American English description | British English description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tac | 
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SNES Kirby Super Star (08/1996) DS Kirby Super Star Ultra (09/2008) |
This zippy character appears in the Kirby series. In Smash Bros., he'll appear in Smash Run to try to steal your stat boosts from you. How much he steals depends on how much you've improved your stats. If you can catch him, you can get back whatever he stole. Don't give up! | This speedy little guy appears in the Kirby series. In this game, he'll speed up to you, steal your stat boosts, then flee. How much he'll steal depends on your stats. He's hard to catch, but if you take him out, you can get your stat boosts back, so you'd better chase after him! |
| This speedy little guy is from the Kirby series. In those games, he steals the ability Kirby's using and bolts. If you want it back, you have to chase him down and take it. In Smash Tour, they'll randomly appear on the board. You'll be rewarded with multiple stat boosts if you're quick enough to catch one! | This speedy little guy is from the Kirby series. In those games, he steals the ability Kirby's in the middle of using and bolts. If you want it back, you have to chase him down and take it. In Smash Tour, Tacs appear randomly on the board, and you'll be rewarded with multiple stat boosts if you're quick enough to catch one! |
- Red indicates exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS version.
- Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.
Kirby Air Riders[edit]
In Kirby Air Riders, Tac reprises its role from Kirby Air Ride as part of an event in City Trial. In this installment, multiple Tacs appear at once and can each be defeated for Patches. Tac also appears in a type of challenge in Road Trip, where the player must defeat a certain number of them within the time limit.
Gallery[edit]
Artwork[edit]
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Key artwork for Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Artwork for Kirby's 20th Anniversary, where Tac is up in the curtains above
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Illustration from the Kirby JP Twitter featuring Tac
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Illustration from the Kirby JP Twitter featuring Tac
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Sprites[edit]
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Kirby Super Star (as an enemy)
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Milky Way Wishes palette from Kirby Super Star (as an enemy)
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Milky Way Wishes palette from Kirby Super Star (as an enemy)
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Kirby Super Star (as a helper)
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Icon from Kirby Super Star
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Unused palette from Kirby Super Star
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Kirby Super Star Ultra (as an enemy)
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Milky Way Wishes palette from Kirby Super Star Ultra (as an enemy)
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Milky Way Wishes palette from Kirby Super Star Ultra (as an enemy)
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Kirby Super Star Ultra (Helper to Hero)
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Icon from Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Pause screen icon from Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Card from Kirby Card Swipe in Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Chameleo Arm Helper to Hero icon from Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Other[edit]
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Model from Kirby Air Ride
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Low-poly model from Kirby Air Ride
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Lowest-poly model from Kirby Air Ride
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Data-rendered model from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with his hands at maximum size
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Tac on the acrylic badges of the "Manners improvment signs" from the "Kirby Pupupu Train" 2017 events. The text says "Beware of pickpockets"
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Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | タック Takku |
Tac, "cat" spelt backwards; also possibly derived from「ひったくり」(hittakuri, "to rob or purse-snatch") |
| English | Tac | "Cat" spelt backwards; also possibly derived from "copycat" and "cat burglar" |
| Chinese | Tac[1] 喵客 Miāo kè |
- Miao Ke 喵 is the onomatopoeia for a cat meowing, and 客 refers to a guest. While this can be interpreted as an innocent meowing guest, there does not seem to be any real meaning behind why these characters were chosen. |
| Dutch | Tac | - |
| French | Tac | - |
| German | Tac | - |
| Italian | Tac | - |
| Korean | 타크 Takeu |
Tac |
| Portuguese | Tac | - |
| Russian | Так[1] Tak |
Tac |
| Spanish | Tac | - |
References
| Kirby series elements in Super Smash Bros. | |
|---|---|
| Games | |
| Playable fighters | |
| Stages | |
| Assist Trophies | |
| Items | Bomber • Dragoon • Maxim Tomato • Parasol • Sandbag • Star Rod • Superspicy Curry • Warp Star |
| Boss | |
| Smash Run enemies | Bonkers • Bronto Burt • Gordo • Parasol Waddle Dee • Plasma Wisp • Shotzo • Tac • Waddle Dee • Waddle Doo |
| Other | Copy Abilities • Final Smash • Trophies • Spirits • Stickers |