Kirby is indisputably one of Nintendo's cutest characters, but one fan has transformed the adorable pink blob into something to haunt your nightmares.
From the photos of it posted on Reddit, the sculpture appears to be fabricated from two types of pink yarn, googly eyes and many, many thin tubes of metal. Comments on the images compare the monstrous Kirby to everything from a sandworm from Frank Herbert's Dune, to a pencil sharpener, to a sleep paralysis demon and even to Cthulhu.
Created by Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby first appeared in 1992's Kirby's Dream Land, and the character has quickly become one of Nintendo's most popular mascots. He has the ability to inhale foes, gaining their skills in the process, and to expand his body like a balloon in order to float. These powers make Kirby one of the most versatile video game characters of all time; as such, it is unsurprising that he has appeared in over 20 games that range from platformers to puzzle games to racing games to fighters.
Kirby most recently appeared in 2020's Kirby Fighters 2, which was directed by Tadashi Kawai, Yumi Todo and Jun Taniguchi and is a sequel to 2014's Kirby Fighters Deluxe. The game is a fighter that allows up to four players to choose powers based on the copy abilities from previous entries in the franchise. A new Kirby game, titled Kirby and the Forgotten Land, was announced earlier this year during Nintendo Direct. It will be the first 3D entry in the mainline series and is expected to release in Spring 2022.
Kirby has also appeared in several other of Nintendo's video game titles, most notably Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Other examples include The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, EarthBound and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
The monstrous Kirby is only one example of some recent fan creations that twist beloved Nintendo characters in dark and creepy ways. Twitter user Malin Falch transported Link from The Legend of Zelda into the hollow world of FromSoftware's Dark Souls, creating somber pieces of fan art. Similarly, another artist made an eerie fan illustration that capture the haunting showdown between Link and Dark Link in Ocarina of Time's Water Temple.
There have also been a wealth of fan theories that recontextualize the worlds and stories of Nintendo games. One Pokémon theory speculates that Ditto is a failed Mew clone and many Mario theories incorporate heavy concepts like drug use, revolution and Stockholm Syndrome.
Kirby can be seen in many video game titles that are available on the Nintendo Switch, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
Source: Reddit