Gabon

Gabon File:KDL3Gabon.png Artwork from Kirby's Dream Land 3, depicting the enemy's masked (left) and unmasked form. Details First game Kirby's Dream Land 3 Latest game Kirby: Planet Robobot Copy Ability None Enemy Info Card File:Gabon (30).jpg

Gabon is an enemy that debuted in Kirby's Dream Land 3 and has since appeared in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and the anime, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. Its appearance is that 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.

Game Appearances

Kirby's Dream Land 3

File:KDL3SprGabon.png

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.

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 Template: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.

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Gabon is set to return after a long absence in Kirby: Planet Robobot for the Nintendo 3DS. It is unknown if Gabon will provide an ability here or not.

Anime

Kirby: Right Back at Ya! artwork.

File:KRBaYScrGabon.png

Gabon, shortly after being summoned.

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 2. Here, Salesguy sends it into a haunted house to capture Kirby after his and King Dedede's initial plan to deliver the Star Warrior to NightMare 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 Template:Colour 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.

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.
• 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.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ガボン Gabon	Gabon

References

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