Gabon

Gabon Artwork of Gabon from Kirby's Dream Land 3, depicting the enemy's masked (left) and unmasked form. Details First game Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997) Latest game Kirby's Dream Buffet (2022, reference) Other game(s) Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Kirby: Triple Deluxe (keychain) Kirby: Planet Robobot Kirby Star Allies Kirby and the Forgotten Land Copy Ability None Enemy Info Card Similar entities Shelt, Anger Masker

“

This little bonehead's a real shocker!

”

— N.M.E. Sales Guy describing Gabon in Scare Tactics - Part II

Gabon is an enemy 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 in Kirby's Dream Land 3, and it attacks Kirby 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 any Copy Ability.

Game appearances

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	Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards are ported here, where Gabon has the exact same role.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe	Reference	Appears as a keychain.
Kirby: Planet Robobot	Enemy
Kirby Star Allies	Enemy
Kirby and the Forgotten Land	Enemy
Kirby's Dream Buffet	Reference	Gabon appears on a Character Treat.

Kirby's Dream Land 3

Sprites of a masked and unmasked Gabon.

In Kirby's Dream Land 3, Gabons make their debut appearance, being first encountered in the third stage of Sand 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 the pink hero 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 spitting something at the projectile — including an air pellet — destroys it.

In a similar manner to a Cappy, 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 any Copy Ability when swallowed.

Locations

In Kirby's Dream Land 3, Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:

Gabon locations in Kirby'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

In-game models.

Gabons return in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, again acting as uncommon enemies throughout the game's stages. First appearing in the third stage of Rock 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 in Kirby'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 in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, they do not respawn once defeated unless Kirby leaves the section.

Locations

Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:

Gabon locations in Kirby 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

In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Gabon appears as a keychain, using its sprite from Kirby's Dream Land 3.

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Gabon returns as an enemy after a long absence in Kirby: Planet Robobot. It functions identically to its prior appearances, trying to toss bones at Kirby, and will flee if its skull is inhaled.

Notably, a Gabon with no skull has only 1 HP (for reference, a Star Bullet does 52 damage).

Locations

In Kirby: Planet Robobot Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:

Gabon locations in Kirby: 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

Gabon's appearance in Kirby Star Allies.

Gabon returns in Kirby Star Allies, largely unchanged from its Kirby: Planet Robobot appearance.

Locations

In Kirby Star Allies Gabon can be found in the following levels and stages:

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Gabon returns in Kirby and the Forgotten Land, looking largely like it did in Kirby Star Allies. Gabon can throw up to three bones in sequence, which bounce along the ground when they land.

Gabon also has its own figure, though it lacks a description.

Locations

In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Gabon can be found in the following stages:

Kirby's Dream Buffet

In Kirby's Dream Buffet, Gabon appears on a Character Treat, using its sprite from Kirby's Dream Land 3.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Gabon Artwork of Gabon from Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. Details Debut episode Scare Tactics - Part II Ability granted None

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, a Gabon, although never identified by name, makes an appearance as a monster in the episode Scare Tactics - Part II. Here, the N.M.E. Sales Guy sends it into a haunted house to capture Kirby after his and King Dedede's initial plan to deliver the Star Warrior to Night Mare Enterprises fails.

Gabon's anime incarnation resembles its Kirby'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 the Fire 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 in Scare 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

• Gabon bears similarities to the Pokémon Cubone and Marowak, which likewise wear oversized skulls on their heads and throw bones at their opponents.
  • The enemy's masked form also vaguely resembles the Little Skull Mouser enemies from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and can be unmasked just like them.
  • Gabon shares its name with the Japanese name of Spike from Super Mario Bros. 3. When Shinya Kumazaki asked for Gabon to be included in Kirby: Planet Robobot, some staff were confused and assumed he was talking about Spike.
• In Kirby'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.
• Gabon is the only non-boss character who, while hostile to Kirby, is shown to explicitly bleed. This is only seen in the true credits sequence of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards after its skull is broken by a Yariko's spear, alongside a Galbo and a Tick also being harmed as part of a chain reaction.
  • Despite this, Zero, 0², Shadow Dedede, Dark Meta Knight's Revenge, Star Dream Soul OS, and Void Termina are similarly shown to explicitly bleed in their respective games.
  • The only other enemy to do so is Knuckle Joe, particularly his anime counterpart in the episode Masher 2.0.

Gallery

• 

  Model of Gabon from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  A Gabon in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  A Gabon with no skull in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  Sketch of Gabon along with Yariko, Tick, and Galbo from the bad ending credits of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  Illustration of Gabon along with Yariko, Tick, and Galbo from the true ending credits of Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  A Gabon in Kirby: Planet Robobot

• 

  Meta Knightmare Returns credits picture from Kirby: Planet Robobot, featuring Meta Knight defeating a Gabon with a 3D Laser Bar

• 

  An unmasked Gabon in Kirby Star Allies

• 

  Gabon in Kirby and the Forgotten Land

• 

  Gabon's figure in Kirby and the Forgotten Land

• 

  Pixel Gabon Character Treat from Kirby's Dream Buffet

Names in other languages

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"
Chinese	骷髅怪 Kūlóu guài	Skeleton Monster
Dutch	Gabon	-
French	Gabon	-
German	Gabon	-
Italian	Gabon	-
Korean	가본 Gabon	Gabon
Portuguese	Ossócrate	Combination of "osso" (bone) and possibly "Sócrates" (Socrates)
Spanish	Gabon	-