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Gabon
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| “ | This little bonehead's a real shocker! | ” | — N.M.E. Sales Guy describingGabon inScare Tactics - Part II |
Gabon is anenemy with the appearance of a small, mostly blue or purplish creature with orange feet, a yellow head and a face consisting solely of a pair of tiny, black eyes. Its head is usually covered by a large, hollow skull with three teeth and no lower jaw, hiding the foe's true face and giving it a more ghastly appearance. It first appeared inKirby's Dream Land 3, and it attacksKirby by throwing bones at him which bounce along the ground. If Kirby deals significant damage to Gabon or tries to inhale it, Gabon will lose its skull to reveal its true appearance. From here, it is rendered helpless, and will try to run away from Kirby. Inhaling Gabon will not yield anyCopy Ability.
Game appearances[edit]
| Gabon's video game appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Game | Role | Notes |
| Kirby's Dream Land 3 | Enemy | |
| Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards | Enemy | |
| Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition | Enemy | Appears in bothKirby's Dream Land 3 andKirby 64: The Crystal Shards, where Gabon has the exact same role. |
| Kirby: Triple Deluxe | Reference | Appears as akeychain. |
| Kirby: Planet Robobot | Enemy | |
| Kirby Star Allies | Enemy | |
| Kirby and the Forgotten Land | Enemy | |
| Kirby's Dream Buffet | Reference | Gabon appears on aCharacter Treat. |
| Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World | Enemy | Reprises its role fromKirby and the Forgotten Land, and appears inStar-Crossed World. |
Kirby's Dream Land 3[edit]
InKirby's Dream Land 3, Gabons make their debut appearance, being first encountered in the third stage ofSand Canyon and appearing sporadically throughout the rest of the game.
A primarily stationary enemy at first, a Gabon hops up and down in place and waits for Kirby to approach it. Once he comes within range, it begins throwing bones, which consistently fly in a pre-defined arc and vanish in a puff of smoke upon hitting the ground, sometimes bouncing a little before doing so. If one of these bones happens to hit Kirby, he loses half a point of health, but attacking the projectile - including an air bullet - destroys it.
In a similar manner to aCappy, if Kirby attempts to inhale a Gabon, he will at first only relieve it of the skull it is wearing, revealing its true form. An unmasked Gabon can still harm Kirby by touching him, but does not attack anymore and simply runs away until inhaled or otherwise defeated.
Apart from inhaling, Gabons can be destroyed without being unmasked first by any attack. Neither their headgear nor their body yields anyCopy Ability when swallowed.
Locations[edit]
InKirby's Dream Land 3, Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:
| Gabon locations inKirby's Dream Land 3 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Grass Land | Ripple Field | Sand Canyon | Cloudy Park | Iceberg | ||
| Stage 1 |  | | |  | | ||
| Stage 2 | | | | | | ||
| Stage 3 | | | | | | ||
| Stage 4 | | | | | | ||
| Stage 5 | | | | | | ||
| Stage 6 | | | | | | ||
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards[edit]
Gabons return inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards, again acting as uncommon enemies throughout the game's stages. First appearing in the third stage ofRock Star, they retain their basic looks and behavior from their debut appearance, but their skull bears a simpler look, possessing only two teeth and no nostrils. They also do not throw their bones nearly as high or far, making them only dangerous at a close range.
As inKirby's Dream Land 3, Gabons once more yield no Copy Abilities, are vulnerable to all attacks and and can be unmasked by attempting to inhale them, causing the helpless and sweating foe to flee. Like other ability-neutral enemies inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards, they do not respawn once defeated unless Kirby leaves the section.
Locations[edit]
Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:
| Gabon locations inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Pop Star | Rock Star | Aqua Star | Neo Star | Shiver Star | Ripple Star | Dark Star |
| Stage 1 | | | | | | | |
| Stage 2 | | | | | | | N/A |
| Stage 3 | | | | | | | N/A |
| Stage 4 | N/A | | | | | N/A | N/A |
Kirby: Triple Deluxe[edit]
InKirby: Triple Deluxe, Gabon appears as akeychain, using its sprite fromKirby's Dream Land 3.
Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]
Gabon returns as an enemy after a long absence inKirby: Planet Robobot. It functions similarly to its prior appearances: it tries to toss bones at Kirby and it will flee if its skull is inhaled. This time, its skull serves as armor when attacked and is broken when it takes enough hits, making Gabon function similarly to other armored enemies in the series likeShelt. Additionally, Gabon will toss bones towards Kirby from the foreground or background if the latter gets near it from a different plane.
Notably, a Gabon with no skull has only 1HP (for reference, aStar Bullet does 52 damage).
Locations[edit]
InKirby: Planet Robobot Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:
| Gabon locations inKirby: Planet Robobot | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 EX | Stage 7 EX | Stage 8 EX |
| Patched Plains | | | | | N/A | | N/A | N/A |
| Resolution Road | | | | | N/A | | N/A | N/A |
| Overload Ocean | | | | | | N/A | | N/A |
| Gigabyte Grounds | | | | | | N/A | | N/A |
| Rhythm Route | | | | | | N/A | | N/A |
| Access Ark | | | | | | N/A | | |
Kirby Star Allies[edit]
Gabon returns inKirby Star Allies, largely unchanged from itsKirby: Planet Robobot appearance apart from its background/foreground attack.
Locations[edit]
InKirby Star Allies, Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:
Kirby and the Forgotten Land /Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World[edit]
Gabon returns inKirby and the Forgotten Land and itsNintendo Switch 2 Edition, looking largely like it did inKirby Star Allies. Gabon can throw up to three bones in sequence, which bounce along the ground when they land. It also appears inStar-Crossed World, though unlike most enemies, it does not have a Crystal variant.
Gabon also has its ownfigure, though it lacks a description.
Locations[edit]
InKirby and the Forgotten Land and Star-Crossed World, Gabon can be found in the following stages:
Kirby's Dream Buffet[edit]
InKirby's Dream Buffet, Gabon appears on aCharacter Treat, using its sprite fromKirby's Dream Land 3.
InKirby: Right Back at Ya![edit]
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InKirby: Right Back at Ya!, a Gabon, although never identified by name, makes an appearance as amonster in the episodeScare Tactics - Part II. Here, theN.M.E. Sales Guy sends it into a haunted house to captureKirby after his andKing Dedede's initial plan to deliver the Star Warrior toNight Mare Enterprises fails.
Gabon's anime incarnation resembles itsKirby's Dream Land 3 appearance rather closely, but possesses visible arms and hands and a slightly different color scheme that gives it a purple body, olive gloves, copper brown feet and Thulian pink rings around its skull's eye sockets. Gabon fights Kirby by pelting him with large bones, rapidly hitting and seemingly overpowering the pink hero. Attempting to apply his usual strategy against monsters, Kirby proceeds to inhale and swallow one of the foe's projectiles, but — true to the games — does not receive a Copy Ability from it.
To help Kirby, Meta Knight instead chucks one of the torches hanging on the walls of the room to him, which he eats to acquire theFire ability. Using his new power, Kirby not only burns Gabon without further trouble, but also the entire haunted house, which collapses on top the monster's remains.
Gabon as it appears inScare Tactics - Part II
Gabon attacking Kirby using its bones in Scare Tactics - Part II
Fire Kirby defeats Gabon quickly by breathing fire on it in Scare Tactics - Part II
Trivia[edit]
- Gabon bears similarities to thePokémonCubone andMarowak, which likewise wear oversized skulls on their heads and throw bones at their opponents.
- The enemy's masked form also vaguely resembles theLittle Skull Mouser enemies fromSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and can be unmasked just like them.
- Gabon shares its name with the Japanese name ofSpike fromSuper Mario Bros. 3. WhenShinya Kumazaki asked for Gabon to be included inKirby: Planet Robobot, some staff were confused and assumed he was talking about Spike.[1]
- InKirby's Dream Land 3, if Kirby takes damage while inhaling a Gabon's skull, the latter falls down and floats a few pixels above the ground instead of entering Kirby's mouth, acting like a stationary enemy until destroyed.
Gallery[edit]
Model of Gabon fromKirby 64: The Crystal Shards
A Gabon inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards
A Gabon with no skull inKirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Sketch of Gabon along withYariko,Tick, andGalbo from thebad ending credits ofKirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Illustration of Gabon along with Yariko, Tick, and Galbo from the true ending credits ofKirby 64: The Crystal Shards
A Gabon inKirby: Planet Robobot
Meta Knightmare Returns credits picture fromKirby: Planet Robobot, featuringMeta Knight defeating a Gabon with a3D Laser Bar
An unmasked Gabon inKirby Star Allies
Gabon inKirby and the Forgotten Land
Gabon'sfigure inKirby and the Forgotten Land
Pixel GabonCharacter Treat fromKirby's Dream Buffet
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ガボン Gabon | From「骸骨」(gaikotsu, skeleton) and「坊」(bon, an affectionate term for boys), and/or possibly "bone" |
| Traditional Chinese | 骷髏怪 Kūlóu guài | Skeleton Monster |
| Simplified Chinese | 骷髅怪 Kūlóu guài | |
| Dutch | Gabon | - |
| French | Gabon | - |
| German | Gabon | - |
| Italian | Gabon | - |
| Korean | 가본 Gabon | Gabon |
| Portuguese | Ossócrate | Combination of "osso" (bone) and possibly "Sócrates" (Socrates) |
| Spanish | Gabon | - |
References
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