Rainbow Islands

Composite map of the Rainbow Islands from Kirby's Dream Land 2.

The Rainbow Islands are a group of islands on Pop Star and the main setting of Kirby's Dream Land 2. They are part of Dream Land and the home of Kirby in that particular game. The various islands are usually connected by a number of rainbow bridges, but said rainbows were stolen by Dark Matter prior to the game's events. To restore them, Kirby must collect the Rainbow Drops hidden away on each island and combine them into the Rainbow Sword, with which he can battle and defeat the perpetrator. After defeating Dark Matter, Kirby uses the Rainbow Sword to rebuild the Rainbow Bridges that connected the islands.

Despite being the central setting of Kirby's Dream Land 2, the Rainbow Islands do not make any significant appearance in any subsequent Kirby game. Their only subsequent appearance of note is in Kirby Battle Royale, where they appear alongside the lands of Kirby's Dream Land 3 as an Easter egg in the background of the Obstacle Arena for Slam Hockey.

Geography

Each of the seven Rainbow Islands are relatively small and rounded landmasses separated in roughly equal proportion by sea channels. Each island corresponds to a color of the rainbow, in a similar manner to the levels in Kirby's Adventure (though these colors can only be seen when playing Kirby's Dream Land 2 on the Super Game Boy, and are not ordered the same way as an actual rainbow). From west to east, the specific islands in this archipelago are as follows:

Island	Appearance	Color	Stages	Boss(es)	Description
1 Grass Land		Yellow	4	Whispy Woods	This grassy island is an open field with only a small number of hills, as well as a few small ponds. Whispy Woods makes his home here, and this island is also where Kirby will first encounter Rick the hamster.
2 Big Forest		Green	4	Nruff and Nelly	As the name implies, Big Forest is densely forested, with lots of tall trees. Its inhabitants live both on the ground as well as in the tree tops. Nruff and Nelly are encountered here, and Kirby will run into Coo the owl for the first time on this island.
3 Ripple Field		Blue	4	Sweet Stuff	The bulk of this island is submerged, leading to a lot of aquatic creatures like Blippers and Squishys being found here. It is also the home of Sweet Stuff and it is where Kirby will first run into Kine the sunfish.
4 Iceberg		Indigo	5	Ice Dragon	This island is largely frozen over, with very little in the way of vegetation and lots of slippery surfaces, making Rick's excellent traction on ice very useful here. Master Pengys are often encountered on this island, and it is also the home of the Ice Dragon.
5 Red Canyon		Red	6	Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright	A mountainous region filled with caves, hoodoos, and bottomless pits, Red Canyon is a mostly barren island consisting primarily of dry earth and rock. Mr. Shine & Mr. Bright reside here.
6 Cloudy Park		Orange	7	Kracko	The main part of this island consists of a gigantic volcano. However, most of its inhabitants have made their homes in the clouds surrounding it, including Kracko. Strong winds are common on and around the isle, which Coo alone has the power to fly against.
7 Dark Castle		Violet	8	King Dedede Dark Matter (two phases)	The large castle taking up most of this flat isle is the residence of King Dedede, as well as many of his stronger minions. Kirby and his animal friends are in for many fights with tough opponents as they storm the castle and wind their way through spike-lined halls and past crumbling bridges.

In the Kirby novel series

The Rainbow Bridges return.

In the Kirby novel series, the Rainbow Islands appear in Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands!. Before the events of the story, Pirika plants a seed of the Dreamstalk in the clouds above the Rainbow Islands to strengthen her puppet spell and pour it on all the residences of the Rainbow Islands when the cloud would rain. Worrying about the potion's nature, Gooey puts stones to block the potion from leaking, but also makes the rain stop in the Rainbow Islands. The rain stopping causes trouble to the residences of the Rainbow Islands, the ground cracks, rivers and lakes dry and the Rainbow Bridges that connect the Rainbow Islands begin to fade. Kirby, Rick, Kine and Coo go to try and return the rain.

By the end of the story, after Pirika's heart has been cleared, the rain returns to the Rainbow Islands, making everyone happy. The next day, Kirby and Waddle Dee see the Rainbow Bridges return.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	虹にじの島々しまじま Niji no Shimajima	Rainbow Islands
German	Regenbogeninseln	Rainbow Islands
Korean	Rainbow Islands	-
Brazilian Portuguese	Rainbow Islands	-

References

The Rainbow Islands
Click on any island