Since then, Kirby has appeared in over 50 games, ranging from action platformers to puzzle, racing, and pinball, and has been featured as a playable character in every installment of the Super Smash Bros. series (1999–present).

He uses these abilities to rescue various lands, such as his homeworld Planet Popstar, from evil forces and antagonists, such as Dark Matter or Nightmare.

[2] The character's design was intended to serve as a placeholder graphic for the game's original protagonist in early development and thus was given a simplistic ball-like appearance.

This was particularly problematic for ranged attacks, so for Kirby and the Forgotten Land a subtle, automatic homing system was developed to help the player target nearby enemies.

[15] Kumazaki said that the Mouthful Mode concept began by asking what Kirby is and exploring his shape-shifting nature, as the team wanted him to have inhuman abilities.

[18] Kirby hails from Planet Popstar, a yellow star, and spends most of his time in a territory called Dream Land.

His body composition has not been revealed, but Kumazaki stated that his animation is based on "a human running energetically, with the thighs, knees, and ankles invisible, but nevertheless accounted for".

[19] His body is soft and flexible, allowing him to stretch or flatten and adopt different shapes, open his mouth very wide to inhale foes, or inflate himself with air and fly.

HAL Laboratory producer Tadashi Kamitake said that Kirby has a unique personality, but is also like a blank sheet of paper, as he can transform into anything that he sucks up.

[31] Since Kirby's Adventure, the Kirby games have introduced a large variety of Copy Abilities, which grant him numerous powers and costumes, including Sword, in which he obtains a sword and appearance similar to Link, Artist, where his creations come to life, and Needle, where he wears a spiky hat.

[33] The game's Mouthful Mode mechanic gives Kirby the ability to inhale objects, such as a car, and embody its shape and function.

[35] Throughout his adventures, Kirby has been pitted against various enemies, including the primary antagonist of the series, a recurring penguin called King Dedede.

[37] Due to the Game Boy screen's limited colour palette, he appeared in grey rather than his typical pink hue.

Kirby is accompanied by three animal friends who aid him during his adventure named Rick the hamster, Coo the owl, and Kine the fish.

[39] His in-game appearance was returned to grey, and he was slightly taller than his NES incarnation, although he is pink in the game's box art.

[38] In the extended finale, Kirby battles a boss called Dark Matter, an entity that transforms into a one-eyed black orb.

He uses his usual copy abilities but gained some new ones, including Super Inhale, which is made more powerful by shaking the Wii Remote.

Kirby Canvas Curse was his first game on the Nintendo DS and involved the use of the stylus to draw a path for his movement, stun enemies and activate copy abilities.

[44] As in the main series, Kirby is able to use copy-based transitions to copy the abilities and appearance of opponents, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, and Samus.

[45] In Ultimate, he plays a starring role in the "World of Light" story mode, in which he is the only survivor of Galeem's massacre out of all of the other fighters.

Sakurai stated that, after a process of elimination, Kirby was the obvious choice due to his Warp Star providing a reasonable explanation for his escape.

In the story, he encounters King Dedede, the greedy, selfish ruler, and Meta Knight, and faces the overarching villain, eNeMeE.

The longest-running series, Kirby of the Stars: The Story of Dedede Who Lives in Pupupu, was serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 1994 to 2006, which has been compiled into 25 tankōbon volumes, with over 10 million copies being printed.

[61] Steve Watts of GameSpot felt that Kirby is one of the most versatile Nintendo characters, second only to Mario, due to his large catalogue of experimental games and art styles.

[62] The 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition lists Kirby as the 18th most popular video game character.

[63] GamesRadar+ listed Kirby as one of the most lovable blobs, calling him one of the cutest things to appear in a Nintendo game, yet also describing the way he defeats his enemies as "horrific".

[65] Due to his popularity with gamers, Kirby became the subject of a meme in 2017, which depicted him with realistic legs or feet, thereby transforming him into a grotesque character.

With the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee, Kirby's status amongst players took a nosedive due to his movement speed being drastically reduced.

[69] Bryan Lufkin of Wired described Kirby as a "true videogame icon", citing his enduring appeal as a cute, child-friendly character.

[71] To celebrate Kirby's 20th anniversary, his fans broke a Guinness World Record in September 2012 at Penny Arcade Expo for the most people blowing chewing gum bubbles at the same time.