In general video game parlance, anEaster egg refers to a small hidden detail or secret left in a game by the developers which is not meant to draw attention to itself, nor in most instances does it greatly impact the larger game. For the sake of simplicity, an Easter egg will be defined here to be any detail within a game that meets the following characteristics:

• It is possible for the player to miss (or fail to notice) during regular gameplay, but has more meaning than just being a hidden room, item, or object.
• It is not required to seek out for any sort ofcompletion metric in the game.
• It has relatively little impact on the game itself.
• It is not areference to something outside theKirby series or something that merely ties into something else in the series (such asStar Dream being similar toGalactic Nova or the many cameo appearances ofRick,Kine, andCoo).

TheKirby series is well known for having small Easter eggs inserted into the games. To avoid unnecessary repetition, Easter eggs are subdivided into a "recurring" category, for those Easter eggs that appear regularly throughout the series, and a category for Easter eggs that only appear in specific games.

Recurring Easter eggs[edit]

Entering the moon[edit]

Starting withKirby's Dream Land, and moving onward through many other games in the series up untilKirby Star Allies, there is typically one or more secret rooms whosedoors are invisible, placed in front of background objects such as amoon in the sky. This trope first appeared in the stageBubbly Clouds. It should be noted, however, that in some of these games, accessing these hidden rooms is required for 100% completion, so not all of them can be counted strictly as Easter eggs.

HAL Rooms[edit]

Main article:HAL Room

Starting inKirby's Adventure and continuing on toKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, most main-series titles have hidden rooms where blocks or other elements are arranged to spell out the letters "H A L", in direct reference to the developer of theKirby series:HAL Laboratory. Each HAL Room has different criteria for how to access it, which is documented on the mainHAL Room page. HAL Rooms initially had no use aside from being a hidden Easter egg, but later games would hideitems andCopy Essences in them, along with special music.

Goal Game 30-Up bonus[edit]

Main article:Goal Game

In manyKirby games, starting withKirby's Adventure, there is a special hidden reward within theGoal Game. When playing seven times in a row, ifKirby lands on each successive platform from 7 all the way to 1, he will be rewarded with 301-Ups.

Goroawase[edit]

The termgoroawase refers to a form ofJapanese wordplay where numbers are read phonetically to spell certain phrases. An example ofgoroawase in theKirby games is the recurrence of the number 86 — typically inscoring mechanisms — as "eight" (ha) and "six" (ru) together sound similar to "HAL". For example, manyHAL Rooms are reached by waiting for 86 seconds in a certain room, three of theHeroic Missions inTeam Kirby Clash Deluxe award 86 Gem Apples upon completion, and the codename ofspecimen ID-F86 also refers to HAL.

Sometimes the numbers may be combined as part of a greater phrase: for example, 86555 ("HAL go go go"), which is the developers' intended high score forC-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise) inDedede's Drum Dash Deluxe and the score earned for defeatingVoid inKirby Star Allies'The Ultimate Choice, or 39860 ("thank you HAL"), which is the experience required to level 10 inTeam Kirby Clash. InMagolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler, the Magic Points needed to upgradeMagolor's Trickery to level 9 from level 8 is 5586, rather than a more round number. This translates to "go go HAL".

Othergoroawase puns include the model numbers forMecha Knight (M-7110,Naito or "knight") andDedede Clone (D-0030,Ōsama or "king").

HAL in names of entities[edit]

In addition to the above examples, HAL also references itself in the names of several in-game objects, places, characters, or other entities. Examples include theHalberd,Halcandra, theHaltmann Works Company, and the three companies inKirby and the Forgotten Land: "Holine", "Alivel", and "Lightron", whose first letters combine to form "HAL". Another example is the "Haltmann Works Company" attack used byStar Dream andStar Dream Soul OS inKirby: Planet Robobot, which shoots out "H" "A", and "L" as projectiles.

Level names spelling words or other patterns[edit]

Starting withKirby's Adventure, level or stage names can often be made to spell words or reveal other patterns when the first letters of each name are taken and then added together. Examples include:

• Kirby's Adventure -V,I,B,G,Y,O,R:ROYGBIV backwards.
• Kirby: Canvas Curse -R,A,I,N,B,O,W: "RAINBOW".
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land -C,R,O,W,N,E,D: "CROWNED".
• Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition (New Challenge Stages) -H,A,L: "HAL".
• Kirby: Triple Deluxe -F,L,O,W,E,R (ED): "FLOWER(ED)".
• Kirby: Planet Robobot -P,R,O,G,R,A,M: "PROGRAM".
• Kirby Star Allies -F,R,I,E,N,D,S: "FRIENDS".
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land -N,E,W,W,O,R,LD: "NEWWORLD".
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (Magolor Epilogue: The Interdimensional Traveler) -A,P,P,L,E: "APPLE".

"Perfect" screens[edit]

In a handful ofKirby games, starting withKirby's Dream Land 3, there are special screens awarded to the player if Kirby manages to complete aBoss Endurance without taking a hit (or if the player inputs a special combination of buttons). One of the more notable ones is inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards, where a screen is shown depicting Kirby wearing an outfit made from pieces of the various bosses in the game.

Hidden "whistled" themes in otherwise quiet rooms[edit]

In severalKirby games, there are areas which do not have overt theme music, often meant to build suspense. Many of these areas, however, have hidden musical themes which can be heard as a faint and slow "whistle" sound, as if coming from the wind itself. Examples of this include the entrance toNutty Noon - Stage 5, the boss room inSacred Square prior to battlingMeta Knight, and the opening woods inPoint of Arrival.

Colored music notes[edit]

Some games which feature aJukebox use a system of colored music notes to indicate which composer created each specific track. So far, this system has appeared inKirby: Triple Deluxe,Kirby: Planet Robobot,Kirby Star Allies,Kirby and the Forgotten Land,Kirby's Dream Buffet, andKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Examples of composers and their associated note colors include:

• Blue notes:Hirokazu Ando
• Red ormagenta (Kirby and the Forgotten Land only):Jun Ishikawa
• Yellow notes:Yuuta Ogasawara (first appearing inKirby Star Allies).
• Green notes:Yuki Shimooka (first appearing inKirby and the Forgotten Land).
• Orange notes:Megumi Ohara (first appearing inKirby's Dream Buffet).
• Lavender (first appearing inKirby's Dream Buffet) ormagenta (Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World) notes:Shogo Sakai
• Indigo notes:Tadashi Ikegami (first appearing inKirby's Dream Buffet).
• Purple notes:Yuki Kato (first appearing inKirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World).
• White notes: Non-HAL Laboratory composers, such asKiyoshi Hazemoto (first appearing inKirby's Dream Buffet).

Rainbow notes are used inKirby's Dream Buffet to represent theHAL Laboratory Dream Band.

Game-specific Easter eggs[edit]

The following are Easter eggs that only appear in specific games:

Kirby's Dream Land[edit]

• Whenpausing the game, after a while, Kirby will start todance in place. This has no effect on gameplay.

Kirby's Pinball Land[edit]

• InKracko Land, if Kirby breaks all of the stars that appear alongsideMr. Shine,Meta Knight will appear, accompanied by theMike scream sound effect and 77700 points. This only happens when revisiting the board after defeatingKing Dedede, and Meta Knight himself cannot be interacted with after appearing.
• InWispy-Woods Land, theTwisters at the top make jingling bell-like sounds when passed through. If Kirby keeps continually spinning through them, the jingling bells reveal the melody of theDrawing Song fromKirby's Adventure. At the end of the song, Kirby finishes off with theMike scream sound effect. If this is done after defeating King Dedede,Blade Knight will appear with the Mike scream, giving Kirby 77700 points. Blade Knight himself cannot be interacted with after appearing.
• InPoppy Brothers' Land, if Kirby frees all the Chicks without letting anyPoppy Bros. Jr. touch them,Axe Knight will appear, accompanied by theMike scream sound effect and 77700 points. This only happens when revisiting the board after defeating King Dedede, and Axe Knight himself cannot be interacted with after appearing.
• If different combinations of buttons are held as the title screen transitions to the high score table, the game will be affected in certain ways, each one associated with a cat appearing on-screen.
  • Holding Left, Select, and A or B shows a white cat on the screen and starts each stage in the bonus round.
  • Holding Right, Select, and A or B shows a black cat and starts each stage at the boss round. The same code works inKirby Brawlball, complete with a cat appearing.

Kirby's Dream Land 2[edit]

• InRed Canyon - Stage 5, there are two distinct Easter eggs. The first can be found in a dark room, where usingSpark-Kine will reveal a poster depicting a killer whale and the word "Orca". This may be a reference to the bossAcro, who would later appear inKirby's Dream Land 3, though this is not certain.
• The second Easter egg is hidden in plain sight in the final room of this stage. TheStar Blocks in this long vertical room form the shape of a crudely-drawn naked woman. This is not readily apparent unless viewed all at once.

Kirby Super Star /Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]

• During the battle withChameleo Arm, Kirby can swallow its paint blobs and use thePaintCopy Ability to change the boss's color.
• During the battle withHeavy Lobster,Kirby can obtain the Paint ability from one of the boss's attacks, and then use it to blind Heavy Lobster. This has minor effects on the boss's behavior, and inRevenge of Meta Knight, it causes some extra dialogue to appear from theHalberd's crew.
• Before the fight withMeta Knight, if Kirby waits for 30 seconds without picking up thesword on offer, Meta Knight will start the battle regardless.
• InKirby Super Star Ultra, there is an alternate version of the "Grand Opening" cutscene that rarely plays instead of the usual version, which has various cosmetic differences. After clearingMeta Knightmare Ultra, a version of the cutscene with Meta Knight (titled "Fly! Meta Knight" in theTheater) may play instead.

Kirby's Dream Land 3[edit]

• If Kirby comes back to a boss stage after defeating the boss and collecting all of theHeart Stars in the level, the boss will be friendly, since Kirby purged the area ofDark Matter's presence. Kirby can exit the stage immediately, or stick around to watch the boss's new behavior. In particular,Ado draws various paintings on her canvas: a strawberry shortcake, a diamond ring, and a pinkGame Boy.
• There are several areas in stages where elusive Kirby-lookalikes namedBatamon can be found, typically out of reach. One hidden room, inCloudy Park - Stage 3, allows Kirby to directly access one.
• When viewing thestaff credits after completingBoss Butch, the ending illustrations will be different from those in the main game.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards[edit]

• In thebad ending credits, an illustration can be seen near the end showing a figure with a smiling face that is not seen in the game up to that point. It is later revealed in the true ending that this figure was0², who briefly shows that same smiling face when first encountered inDark Star before changing to its real face.
  • This same face would later be referenced byVoid Termina's various final forms inKirby Star Allies.

Kirby Air Ride[edit]

• InCity Trial, there are two spots around the city that are hard-to-access, but have small flowers placed on them. These flowers are not seen anywhere else, and are purely decorational. One can be found atop the cliffs near the volcano, and the other can be found atop Castle Hall.
• Also in City Trial, there is a semi-hidden underground area under the forest where miniature models of various buildings in the city can be found, which are also decorational.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror[edit]

• In the background of the rooms leading up to the fight withKing Golem inMoonlight Mansion, there are stained glass windows that depict other bosses in the game which may not have been encountered by Kirby yet, includingMega Titan,Wiz,Gobbler, andKracko.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land /Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]

• On the title screen ofKirby's Return to Dream Land, after clearingStory Mode on a save file,Kirby will occasionally appear in a different color if the player returns to the title screen, either from the file select or viaGame Over.
  • In theremake, this event is more common, as Kirby can now appear with a different color upon booting up the game.
• InKirby's Return to Dream Land, if Kirby talks toMagolor eight or more times in a row, Magolor will get annoyed and ask Kirby to stop wasting time. He reprises this behavior inTeam Kirby Clash Deluxe andSuper Kirby Clash.
  • In thedemo version ofKirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, he instead comments that Kirby might be expecting him to say something "clever and/or insightful," but that he's "fresh out of words."

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe[edit]

• Each stage inDedede's Drum Dash Deluxe contains a hiddenkeychain in the background. In the regular stages, all of the keychains are a sprite of Kirby fromKirby's Adventure, while the secret stages have different characters in each stage.

Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]

• Within the various pre-rendered cutscenes, as well as the "Nendoroid More: Robobot Armor & Kirby" figurine, it can be seen that the user-interface for theRobobot Armor matches the Touch Screen UI shown to the player in-game.
• There areseveral hidden rooms in various stages which hold aCopy Essence for theSmash Bros. ability.
• InKirby 3D Rumble, the player can tilt the camera with the C-Stick of the New Nintendo 3DS. Doing so will reveal hiddenstickers stuck onto the stages. Additionally,King Dedede, the BattleshipHalberd,Galactic Nova andCastle Dedede can be seen by moving the camera into the correct positions.
• There is a small chance that the hologram of Kirby with headphones present in theJukebox may be replaced by an 8-bit Kirby sprite fromKirby's Adventure.
• The train car in the beginning ofStage 3 ofPatched Plains and the screen of the chamber whereSecurity Force is fought inStage 4 ofAccess Ark depict a set of numbers: 400-0111. This corresponds to the postal code for Ryuoshinmachi, Kai, Yamanashi, where the Yamanashi headquarters ofHAL Laboratory are located.

Kirby Star Allies[edit]

• Whispy Woods,King Dedede, andMeta Knight can bebefriended after being defeated in Story Mode. The window for doing so is brief, as it must be done before theKirby Dance cutscene begins. The latter two will join Kirby's party as if they were summoned through theDream Palace. Whispy Woods, meanwhile, will drop various kinds of fruit and other prizes; if he was defeated using Sizzle attacks, he will drop cooked foods instead of fruit.
• If Kirby waits long enough to grab the sword Meta Knight offers at the beginning of his fight (or simply flies up to the platform he's standing on), Meta Knight will angrily kick it away, with an alternate splash screen than his usual one.
• After completing Story Mode, various extra characters and objects can be found in the variouslevel hubs.
• There are several runes and symbols onVoid Termina's body that resemble other objects in theKirby series.
• Scattered throughout the stages in Story Mode are placards that feature the variousDream Friends added to the game. These placards also appear more overtly inHeroes in Another Dimension.
• At the end ofExtra Planet δ, when the "WE ♥ KIRBY" statue is rising, if the player is using a controller with HD Rumble turned on and is not in Handheld Mode, the controller will rumble the first verse of the"Green Greens" theme.
• After Heroes in Another Dimension is cleared with the Happy Ending, there is a small chance that the Friends featured in theTheater and theJukebox may be replaced withthe Three Mage-Sisters, using modified versions of their weapons as instruments in the latter.

Kirby Fighters 2[edit]

• An Easter egg exists in the options menu, where if the player waits86 seconds, an arrangement of theStage Begin andForest/Nature Area themes fromKirby & The Amazing Mirror will start playing.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land[edit]

• The alien text used for signs and other objects in the game is a cipher for English, and contains a number of hidden details. A few of these are Easter eggs that specifically reference HAL Laboratory and its founding year.
• Similar toKirby Star Allies, if Kirby rejects the sword that Meta Knight (orPhantom Meta Knight) offers, an alternate cutscene will play where Kirby dodges the knight's opening attack instead of blocking it with his sword. If Kirby successfully parries theUpper Calibur attack, Meta Knight will drop Galaxia, and if Kirby then picks up Galaxia, Meta Knight will be forced to replace it with a different sword (specifically, his original one fromKirby's Adventure), which remains for the rest of the fight.
• InNortheast Frost Street, the time on the clock tower is 4:27, a reference to the release date ofKirby's Dream Land in Japan (April 27th, 1992). Additionally, if Kirby activates a glowing spot on the clock, a total of 92Star Coins appear.
  • The mall's clock inAlivel Mall (Staff Side) is also stopped at 4:27.
• In the opening cutscene forLab Discovera, Morse code can be heard. If decoded, it spells "EFILLIN", which isElfilin's Japanese name.

Kirby's Dream Buffet[edit]

• Like withKirby Fighters 2, there is an Easter egg in the track "Kirby's Ultra-Gourmet Memories". After 86 seconds, the theme transitions from "Hidden Corkboard" to a chiptune medley of "Gourmet Race" and "I'm a Hungry Pink Puffball!".

• Gameplay mechanics
• Easter eggs