Kirby (franchise)

Kirby is a franchise consisting of video games developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. Its main and titular protagonist is Kirby, a spherical, pink character who frequently defends his home planet, Planet Popstar, from those who would do it harm.

The Kirby franchise has had several crossovers with the Metroid series within its own games. Kirby and Samus Aran have appeared in every Super Smash Bros. series game to date together. Kirby is able to use his signature Inhale ability on Samus and Zero Suit Samus, and copy their Charge Shot and Paralyzer moves, respectively. When Kirby Inhales Samus or Dark Samus, their helmets will appear over his body; when Zero Suit Samus is inhaled, Kirby gains her ponytail, and when Ridley is inhaled, Kirby wears a Ridley hat.

Aside from references to Metroid in the Kirby franchise, there was at least one reference to Kirby in the Metroid franchise: The Shaktool's design in Super Metroid, and to a certain extent its capabilities, were similar to the Kirby enemy Heavy Mole.

Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Kirby Super Star and its Nintendo DS remake Kirby Super Star Ultra, when Kirby uses his Stone ability, he may randomly become a statue of Samus (although this is very rare). The Samus statue features her making her crouching cover pose for Metroid II: Return of Samus.

In The Great Cave Offensive, the Screw Attack (called the "Screwball" in the original version) is one of the sixty collectible treasures.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
Stage 2, room 3 of the Iceberg level in Kirby's Dream Land 3 features a magma-filled room containing six Metroid larvae as enemies. The Metroids cannot inhaled by Kirby, but if he eliminates all of them using Ice, Samus Aran will appear unmasked at the end of the level, and give Kirby a Heart Star (or a 1up if this has already been obtained). If Kirby does not defeat the Metroids, Samus will have her helmet on and will not give Kirby anything. The Metroids being vulnerable to the Ice power is a reference to their weakness in the Metroid franchise; cold temperatures (usually the Ice Beam). Samus removing her helmet is a reference to the better endings of Metroid games in which she removes her helmet and/or Power Suit if certain requirements are met.

Kirby's Dream Land 3 Yonkoma
An official Kirby's Dream Land 3 yonkoma comic features a cameo from Samus Aran, referencing her cameo in the game with unmasked Samus thanking Kirby for beating the Metroids. Kirby compares Samus to Ado, noting that they are both humans but look very different, with Samus having more realistic anatomy and proportions than Ado. Ado claims that it is the difference between adults and children, although her portrait of herself as an adult is still much more cartoony than Samus.

Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M
The Japanese strategy guide for Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M features a timeline of Metroid releases and related games. It mentions that in Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby can become a Samus statue via the Stone ability. It also mentions how in Kirby's Dream Land 3, the second stage of Iceberg features Metroids and that Samus is at the end, where she reveals her face if Kirby defeats all of the Metroids.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, aside from Kirby and Samus appearing together as playable characters in the game as well as trophies for both series being accessible, the Adventure transition cutscene after the escape level depicts the (destroyed) Zebes as neighboring Pop Star, Kirby's home planet from the Kirby franchise. In addition, Kirby and Samus alongisde Captain Falcon from the F-Zero series and Fox and Falco from the Star Fox series were opponents for the Event Match "Space Travelers", with Ness from Earthbound as the playable character.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, while there is nothing directly linking them in the game itself beyond both being playable characters in the game, Kirby and Samus did appear in their NES sprites for Kirby's Adventure and Metroid, respectively in Pac-Man's teaser poster, with Kirby in particular using his suction ability to suck in various dots in the Pac-Maze and Samus fleeing from Pinky. Similarly, Kirby and Zero Suit Samus from the same game appeared in Ryu's reveal artwork. The two also appeared in Charizard/Greninja's announce trailer as well as Bowser Jr.'s announce trailer, both times fighting against at least one of the focused-on characters. The two also appeared as silhouettes in Wii Fit Trainer's announce poster, as well as appeared in Mega Man's announce poster.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
In Spirit Battles of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the X Parasite Spirit uses Kirby (in his yellow "Keeby" alternate costume) as a Puppet Fighter. This is most likely due to both characters being blob-like beings that consume other creatures and copy their abilities.

Trivia

 * The Amurol Trading Card #5 of 14, which provides tips for Return of Samus, actually contains a tip for the Stage 4 Cloud Maze in Kirby's Dream Land. This is most likely an unintentional misprint rather than a deliberate reference.
 * The overall concept of Phazon, including it being an infectious lifeform originating from space and evil in design, was similar to the recurring Kirby antagonistic group Dark Matter.
 * The design for one of the antagonistic characters in the series, Kracko, bears a slight resemblance to Mother Brain due to having a singular eye and a similar shape profile, including spikes. Although a notable difference is that Kracko was a living cloud while Mother Brain was an AI modeled after a human brain.
 * Using Metroid-based amiibo figurines in Kirby and the Forgotten Land will supply the player with items, as with any amiibo figurines.