case in 1984 and that the harsh-sounding name contrasted amusingly with the character's cute appearance. Shigeru Miyamoto stated that 'Kirby' was chosen in honor of American lawyer John Kirby, who defended Nintendo in the Universal City Studios, Inc. The character was known as Popopo ( ポポポ) during development until the name 'Kirby' was chosen from a list of potential names. Sakurai switched to the placeholder design for the final character design when he believed that it served the character better. The character's design was intended to serve as placeholder graphics for the game's original protagonist in early development and thus was given a simplistic ball-like appearance. Kirby was created by Masahiro Sakurai as the player character of the 1992 game Kirby's Dream Land (1992). In virtually all his appearances, Kirby is depicted as cheerful, innocent and food-loving however, he becomes fearless, striking, and clever in the face of danger. Kirby has been described as one of the most legendary video game characters of all time by PC World. On these adventures, he often crosses paths with his rivals, King Dedede and Meta Knight, though Meta Knight can be seen as a hero, depending on the game. He uses these abilities to rescue various lands, including his homeworld of Planet Popstar, from evil forces and antagonists, such as Dark Matter or Nightmare. Kirby is well known for his ability to inhale objects and creatures to gain their powers, as well as his ability to float by expanding his body. Since 1999, he has been voiced by Makiko Ohmoto. He has also starred in his own anime and manga series. Since then, Kirby has appeared in over 50 games, ranging from action platformers to puzzle, racing, and even pinball, and has been featured as a playable character in every installment of the Super Smash Bros. He first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land (1992), a platform game for the Game Boy. Kirby ( Japanese: カービィ, Hepburn: Kābī, Japanese pronunciation: ) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Kirby series of video games owned by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.

Little old man characters video game