New world
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The New World (also referred to once as the forgotten land) is the given name for the world on the other side of the dimensional vortex opened in Popstar which sucked Kirby, the Waddle Dees, and many other denizens of Dream Land in, and is the principal setting of Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It is a natural and relatively realistic environment chock-full of the ruins of a long-lost civilization (hereafter referred to as the "new world civilization") which have begun to be subsumed by the natural flora and fauna. Among these ruins, in addition to many familiar creatures from Popstar and other worlds in the Kirby series, roams a group of intelligent animals called the Beast Pack, who during the events of Kirby and the Forgotten Land terrorize and capture the Waddle Dees. Near the end of the game, Kirby pairs up with Elfilin to save the New World and Popstar from colliding by the whims of the main villain of the game.
Geography
The New World consists of naturalistic and realistic environments reminiscent of those on Earth, with little to none of Popstar's fantastical terrain. The biomes that Kirby visits include lush grasslands, tropical forests, craggy coasts, frozen tundra, a dried-up sea, arid canyons, and volcanic wastes. The former of these are found on a large singular continent (titled the Arrival Continent), while the latter are found on a separate landmass called the Forbidden Island. All of these locations are chock-full of the ruins of buildings left behind by the industrious new world civilization.
In addition to these areas, the New World is pocked with many dimensional rifts, mainly leading to a place called Treasure Road. In the post-game, another rift in Waddle Dee Town opens to a dream realm called the isolated isles of Forgo Dreams.
Locations
The New World can be broken down into several distinct regions, with locations within each region as follows:
| Areas of the New World | ||
|---|---|---|
| Area | Stages | Description |
| N/A | A tropical beachside which serves as the point where Kirby first entered the New World. A number of overgrown buildings and bridges can be found here as well. | |
| N/A | A small village where the Waddle Dees have settled, and where Kirby can return to in-between expeditions. | |
| A lush grassland filled with the ruins of an urban metropolis, a construction tunnel, and a shopping mall. | ||
| A balmy tropical coastal region with many high cliffs and filled with flooded structures and complexes. | ||
| A giant mostly-functional amusement park with an outer-space theme, runaway parade cars, and a house of horrors. | ||
| A frigid tundra filled with the flooded ruins of Victorian-era brick buildings and boulevards. | ||
| An arid zone which was once a balmy coastline and shipyard before it dried up, with impressive canyons further inland. | ||
| An active and unstable volcanic region filled with advanced industrial complexes. | ||
| N/A | A big and advanced lab complex atop Mount Redgar which houses the alien specimen "ID-F86". | |
Relation with Popstar
There are several details that suggest that the New World and Kirby's home of Planet Popstar are located in separate dimensions, and may operate on different time-scales. Regarding the spatial relation, it is notable that the only way shown to travel between these locations is by taking a shortcut through Another Dimension, as is seen in both the opening and ending cutscenes for Kirby and the Forgotten Land. In addition, during the battle with Fecto Elfilis, the alien threat has to open a giant rift through dimensions in order to pull Popstar through and cause both worlds to approach the Roche limit.
The time relation is a more subtle detail, but one that is nonetheless noticeable through certain interactions. For example, in the developer interview for Kirby and the Forgotten Land in the June 2022 issue of Nintendo Dream, Shinya Kumazaki explains that King Dedede "...spent several months before Kirby arrived in the New World...",[1] despite the implication that they were all sucked through the vortexes on Popstar at roughly the same time. This would also go to explain how, when Kirby did eventually arrive, Waddle Dee Town had already been long-established, and then destroyed just as he got there. One more clue in relation to this phenomenon comes from the ending cutscene for the game. When Elfilin closes the rift that Fecto Elfilis made between Popstar and the New World, he explains that this action knocked him unconscious, but he was saved by Clawroline, and only afterward did he create another rift to reunite with Kirby back on Popstar. From Kirby's perspective, this only took around ten seconds, while it must have been longer on Elfilin's end. All these clues together suggest that some form of time dilation occurs between Popstar and the New World.
Civilization
The new world civilization that had once inhabited this land built cities, factories, and other structures reminiscent of modern human structures, though with no concrete evidence of them actually having been humans. So far, only one resident of the former civilization has their identity concretely known — Neichel, the singer who performed "Welcome to the New World!". Little is known about how the civilization operated, but it had entities analogous to real-world corporations, in particular "Holine Corp." (automobiles and industrial engineering), "Alivel Holdings" (public development and recreation), and "Lightron Works Company" (lighting and electronics), whose branding can be found all over the world. Individually, these three companies built skyscrapers, roadways, concrete towers, sewers, shopping malls, shipyards, and power plants. Their most notable joint venture, however, was an extensive amusement park known as Wondaria.
Aside from this, the civilization of the New World was also highly accomplished in scientific research and development. In their chief science facility, Lab Discovera, they kept an alien life-form as a test subject. This alien life-form, dubbed "ID-F86", had at some point in the past attempted to invade the New World and subsume all of its natural wildlife into itself, but was stopped and contained by the new world civilization, who would soon develop advanced "planetary warp" technology from its studies of the creature. From there, all of the inhabitants of the civilization would eventually use this new power to ascend into a "land of dreams", leaving their world and all of its structures behind forever, along with the fractured alien specimen, who was kept in the "Eternal Capsule" in Lab Discovera. It is unknown what happened to them afterward.
Gallery
Kirby riding his Warp Star through the abandoned streets
Arch Mouth Kirby soaring into a wide vista containing an archipelago
Kirby getting a good view of the Wondaria theme park
Kirby at the mouth of "Blizzard Bridge" in the tundra
Kirby entering a shopping mall partially buried in sand
Kirby entering an active power plant in the middle of a volcanic wasteland
Kirby riding up the elevator to Lab Discovera
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Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 新世界 Shin sekai |
New World |
| French | Nouveau monde | New world |
