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Chef Kawasaki
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| “ | “Extreme feast? Eep! I’ll get cooking!” This chef goes on the hunt for ingredients beyond the edge of the world! He senses great deliciousness and must control his hunger until his culinary quest is done! |
” | — Guest Star Chef Kawasaki Flavor Attack Pause Screen description in Kirby Star Allies |
Chef Kawasaki, also known as Cook Kawasaki, is a Mid-Boss in the Kirby series and a character in the anime series based on it, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. He can generally be described as a large orange egg-shaped creature with a vaguely cat-like face who wears a chef's hat and apron. In the games, he attacks Kirby by throwing plates and cutlery at him, or may try to catch him with an extending soup ladle to cook him up in his frying pan. Defeating and inhaling him grants Kirby the Cook Copy Ability.
Chef Kawasaki made his debut in Kirby Super Star and has made numerous appearances and cameos since. His most notable appearance is in Kirby Star Allies, where he became playable for the first time, able to use many attacks that Cook Kirby cannot. He also appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Game appearances[edit]
| Chef Kawasaki's video game appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kirby series | ||
| Game | Role | Notes |
| Kirby Super Star | Mid-Boss | |
| Kirby's Dream Land 3 | Supporting character | Operates the What was that sound? mini-game. |
| Kirby's Star Stacker (SNES) | Opponent | |
| Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land | Opponent | Opponent in Quick Draw Sub-Game. |
| Kirby Super Star Ultra | Mid-Boss | Chef Kawasaki reprises his role from the original game. |
| Kirby Mass Attack | Enemy | Enemy in Kirby Quest Sub-Game. |
| Kirby's Return to Dream Land | Opponent | A robot based on him, known as Mecha Kawasaki, appears as an opponent in Scope Shot. |
| Kirby: Triple Deluxe | Cameo | Appears as a keychain. |
| Kirby and the Rainbow Curse | Cameo | Appears as a Figurine, and on the page 19 of Secret Diary. |
| Kirby Battle Royale | Cameo | An illustration of him appears in the background of Flagball. |
| Kirby Star Allies | Mid-Boss and playable character | Can be recruited after defeating him. |
| Super Kirby Clash | Reference | Appears as a sticker. |
| Kirby's Dream Buffet | Reference | Represented by a costume and color for Kirby, and also appears as a Character Treat. |
| Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe | Opponent | Opponent in Samurai Kirby Sub-Game. His likeness also appears as a Dress-Up Mask. |
| Super Smash Bros. series | ||
| Super Smash Bros. Brawl | Sticker | |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Assist Trophy | |
Kirby Super Star / Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]
In Kirby Super Star and its enhanced remake, Kirby Super Star Ultra, Chef Kawasaki (Cook Kawasaki in the original game) is one of the Mid-Bosses fought repeatedly throughout the game. He attacks Kirby either by extending his frying pan towards him, briefly cooking and thus harming him if he manages to catch him, or by tossing either one or three plates, which can be inhaled and spat back at him. When swallowed after his defeat, Chef Kawasaki grants Kirby the rare Cook ability, and is the only enemy in the game to do so. He also appears in the minigame Samurai Kirby as the third enemy that Kirby faces. Chef Kawasaki attacks with his frying pan as Kirby attacks with a pie. And in Kirby Super Star Ultra, Chef Kawasaki also appears on a card in Kirby Card Swipe.
Locations[edit]
In Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra, Chef Kawasaki can be found in the following stages:
| Chef Kawasaki locations in Kirby Super Star & Kirby Super Star Ultra | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Appearance? | Stage | Appearance? |
| Green Greens | 
|
RoMK Chapter 4 |
|
| Float Islands |
|
RoMK Chapter 5 |
|
| Bubbly Clouds |
|
RoMK Chapter 6 | 
|
| Mt. Dedede |
|
RoMK Chapter 7 |
|
| Peanut Plains |
|
Floria |
|
| Mallow Castle |
|
Aquarius |
|
| Cocoa Cave |
|
Skyhigh |
|
| Candy Mountain |
|
Hotbeat |
|
| Trial Room 1 |
|
Cavius |
|
| Trial Room 2 |
|
Mekkai |
|
| Sub-Tree |
|
Halfmoon |
|
| Crystal |
|
??? |
|
| Old Tower |
|
Purple Plants |
|
| Garden |
|
Illusion Islands |
|
| RoMK Chapter 1 |
|
Crash Clouds |
|
| RoMK Chapter 2 |
|
The Revenge |
|
| RoMK Chapter 3 |
| ||
Chef Kawasaki also appears as an opponent in The Arena and Helper to Hero, as part of "Mid-Boss All-Stars 1". He is not faced in The True Arena.
Kirby's Dream Land 3[edit]
The chef makes a brief appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3 as the operator of the mini-game in Iceberg (known as What was that sound?) that Kirby needs to win in order to acquire a Heart Star. The mini-game involves Kawasaki hitting a Gordo with his frying pan, which makes a unique sound when hit. Kirby then has to pick the Gordo that makes the exact same sound from a group of them that falls down.
Naturally, Cook Kawasaki appears again in MG-5.
Kirby's Star Stacker (SNES)[edit]
Chef Kawasaki is the fifth opponent faced in the story mode of Kirby's Star Stacker for the Super Famicom.
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land[edit]
In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Kawasaki only appears as the third opponent faced by Kirby in the Quick Draw Sub-Game, attacking with his pan.
Kirby Mass Attack[edit]
Chef Kawasaki appears in the Sub-Game Kirby Quest, in Chapter 1 - Stage 7. He has 100 HP and drops a Maxim Tomato on the Kirbys when defeated.
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]
Chef Kawasaki himself does not appear in the original Kirby's Return to Dream Land. Instead, a giant robot modeled after Chef Kawasaki, named Mecha Kawasaki, is battled in Level 2 of Scope Shot. Its attacks are largely based on various food items, as well as attempting to defend with its frying pan and ladle.
In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Chef Kawasaki reprises his role in Samurai Kirby, acting as the second opponent fought during the sub-game's single-player mode. A Dress-Up Mask bearing his likeness can also be worn, unlocked by completing card #16 in the Stamp Rally.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe[edit]
In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Chef Kawasaki appears as a randomly-appearing keychain, using his Kirby Super Star sprite.
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse[edit]
| “ | “Chef Kawasaki has a busy schedule, so he's only appearing in this game as a figurine. He rarely uses his frying pan and ladle to do any real cooking. He finds they actually work better as weapons. | ” | — Figurine description for Chef Kawasaki, Kirby and the Rainbow Curse |
Chef Kawasaki makes two appearances in this game. The first is a cameo in the 19th Secret Diary page, and the other is as a collectable figurine.
Kirby Battle Royale[edit]
While not appearing in Kirby Battle Royale himself, an illustration of him appears in the background of Flagball, presumably advertising his food.
Kirby Star Allies[edit]
Chef Kawasaki appears in Kirby Star Allies, providing the Cook ability like before, and being recruitable as a Friend. This marks his first 3-D appearance in the series.
As a Mid-Boss, Chef Kawasaki has largely the same attack patterns he had before. However, he has been made much larger, now roughly three Kirbys tall instead of only two. Once defeated, he can be recruited as a Friend by tossing a Friend Heart at him, which will cause him to shrink considerably in size.
The following is a list of attacks that Chef Kawasaki can perform as a mid-boss in Kirby Star Allies. Attacks or notes listed in italics indicate moves or variations only performed by his tougher version. All attack names are conjectural unless otherwise stated.
| Chef Kawasaki's attacks as a mid-boss in Kirby Star Allies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Description | Variants | |
| Jump | Chef Kawasaki jumps in place a few times. | ||
| Ladle | Chef Kawasaki moves to one side of the stage (left, center or right), digs through his apron to pull out a ladle and then throws it out around half of the stage length. Any allies that get hit by the ladle will be sautéd by Kawasaki for a few seconds before getting thrown out. They can escape quicker by rotating the Control Stick rapidly. | The tougher iteration of Kawasaki throws his ladle out to cover the whole stage compared to his regular counterpart. The ladle itself can be crouched under. The ladle cannot be guarded. | |
| Plateware | Chef Kawasaki pulls out some dishes, cups and/or spoons from his apron and then throws them at Kirby and the star allies. | Kawasaki can throw one or three sets at a time. His tougher variation can throw as many as five at once. | |
| Jumping Plateware Spin | Chef Kawasaki backs up to one edge of the screen and then jumps while spinning, throwing plateware as he spins. | He can throw as few as three to as many as 10. After losing enough health, he does this move twice in a row; the first jump high above ground and the second jump low to the ground. Kawasaki's jump in the second instance can be crouched under. | |
His regular variation attacks in a fixed order on loop as follows:
- Jump x3
- Ladle
- Jump
- Plateware x1
- Ladle
- Plateware x1
After losing around half of his health, he will abruptly switch to this pattern:
- Ladle
- Plateware x3
- Jump x3
- Ladle
- Plateware x3
His harder variation attacks in a fixed order on loop as follows:
- Jumping Plateware Spin
- Ladle
- Plateware x3
- Jump x4
- Jumping Plateware Spin
- Ladle
- Plateware x3
After losing around half of his health, he abruptly switches to this pattern:
- Jumping Plateware Spin x2
- Ladle
- Plateware x5
- Jump x4
If he is brought to this health threshold during his Jumping Plateware Spin in the first bit of the fight, he will immediately start the second instance of the Jumping Plateware Spin in the second phase attack cycle.
In some stages, Twin Kawasaki is fought and comes in two varieties. It can consist of one regular and one hard variation or two hard variations, both of which have the exact same attack order between the two of them unlike every other mid-boss twin.
As a Friend, Chef Kawasaki has an expanded move-set compared to Cook Kirby, and can use the Cook Pot and Souper Supper moves without losing the ability, though there is a cooldown timer on these moves to prevent their overuse.
The cooldown requires:
- 60 seconds in Story Mode and Guest Star ???? Star Allies Go!;
- 150 seconds in The Ultimate Choice.
Additionally in the lobbies of The Ultimate Choice, the Cook Pot and Souper Supper moves do nothing and the cooldown timer freezes to prevent further abuse.
When Kawasaki pulls out his pot, it is possible to cancel his attack before the cooking sequence starts by:
- Having Kirby or another friend collect a Rare Picture Piece or a Power-Up Heart;
- Leaving Kawasaki behind and forcing him to Space Jump before the cooking can start;
- Unfriending Kawasaki.
This immediately removes all enemies from the screen, but provides no food and does not cause the cooldown timer to appear.
| Chef Kawasaki moveset as a friend in Kirby Star Allies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill | Button Execution | Description | Damage (Star Bullet=52) |
| Ladle | B
|
Chef Kawasaki does a quick front strike with his ladle. | 16 |
| Up Ladle | ↑ + B
|
Chef Kawasaki does a quick up strike with his ladle. | 16 |
| Plateware | Dash + B in midair
|
Chef Kawasaki throws 3 parabolic pieces of plateware. | 16 (1st hit) 8 (2nd/3rd hit)
|
| Cook Pot | Press and hold B, and then release
|
Has the same effect as Cook Kirby's version. | N/A |
| Souper Supper | Press and hold B longer before releasing.
|
Fullscreen hot soup attack.
|
Damage is based on the distance (close/far) and the number of Friends put into the pot:
Damage is not affected by the multiplayer modifier. |
Locations[edit]
In Kirby Star Allies, Chef Kawasaki can be found in the following levels and stages:
Chef Kawasaki in Kirby Star Allies
Tougher variant of Kawasaki from Kirby Star Allies
Chef Kawasaki gives Kirby a good sauté as a Mid-Boss.
Kawasaki as a Friend pulling out his cooking pot.
Super Kirby Clash[edit]
In Super Kirby Clash, Chef Kawasaki appears as a sticker, using his Kirby Super Star Ultra artwork. His sticker caption says "Let's get cookin'!" and plays the sound of pot lids clashing.
Kirby's Dream Buffet[edit]
In Kirby's Dream Buffet, Chef Kawasaki is represented via a costume and color for Kirby to use. He also appears on a Character Treat, which uses his sprite from Kirby Super Star.
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
|
SmashWiki has more information about this subject here. |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Chef Kawasaki made a minor cameo appearance as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which took from his artwork from Kirby Super Star. Equipping this sticker in Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary boosts the fighter's launch resistance.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
| “ | He grabs opponents using his long ladle and mixes them into a pot! The unlucky opponent will continue to take damage as the chef cooks up health recovery items. You can then use his food to recover your health (just don't think about the recipe)! | ” | — Super Smash Bros. Ultimate official blog |
After being absent from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Chef Kawasaki makes a return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Chef Kawasaki appears as a new Assist Trophy. He can throw his plateware as projectiles. He can also grab fighters with his ladle, put them into his pot and cook them, dealing them damage and producing food items in the process. Chef Kawasaki also gives the summoner a piece of food just before he disappears. Given that Kirby's Final Smash in Brawl was Cook Kirby, this can be seen as a reappearance of that move, though now on the character whom it originated from.
Chef Kawasaki also appears as a spirit that can be obtained in World of Light. He is an ace-class support spirit who causes the host fighter to gain increased stats for a while after eating food.
He is not able to be summoned on the King of Fighters Stadium, Mute City SNES and Spirit Train stages.
In Kirby: Right Back at Ya![edit]
- Main article: Chef Kawasaki (anime character)
Chef Kawasaki appears as a prominent character in Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, where he is the town cook. While generally kind and obliging, he is usually portrayed as a very bad cook and very insecure about this fact, with Kirby being the only resident of Cappy Town who likes his food. He does have many regular customers, however, as he runs the only restaurant in town.
Although Chef Kawasaki and Kirby initially get off to a rocky start in their relationship, Kawasaki eventually becomes one of Kirby's strongest allies in the kingdom, perhaps to make up for his attempt to make Kirby into a meal for his master in The Big Taste Test. Whenever Kirby needs to gain the Cook Copy Ability to fight an opponent, Chef Kawasaki tosses him his frying pan to use for the transformation.
In the English dub, Chef Kawasaki is portrayed with a lisp, substituting 's' sounds with 'th'.
In the Kirby novel series[edit]
- Main article: Chef Kawasaki (novel character)
Chef Kawasaki appears as a recurring character in the Kirby novel series, first appearing in the very first novel, Kirby and the Dangerous Gourmet Mansion?!. He is similar yet different to his anime counterpart: he also owns a restaurant, but unlike in the anime, his cooking is universally praised, and as such his restaurant is one of the most famous of Dream Land.
He often appears in the novels as a supporting character, but he sometimes plays bigger roles, such as in Kirby: Uproar at the Kirby Café?!. In addition, he frequently appears in novels based on games where he didn't originally appear, such as Kirby Clash Team Unite! and Kirby: Big Trouble in Patch Land!.
Trivia[edit]
- Chef Kawasaki was created by a HAL Laboratory designer who loves motorcycles, so he is named after Kawasaki motorcycles.[1]
- Interestingly, in Kirby Super Star, when holding his frying pan, his sprites show him to have a thumb.
- Chef Kawasaki, naturally, has a prominent role in the Kirby Café storyline, where he is depicted as the restaurant's head chef.
- Chef Kawasaki is one of two single-use enemies that can be made into a Helper (Tac being the other one), albeit not in the same game.
Gallery[edit]
- Main article: Chef Kawasaki/gallery
Artwork from Kirby Super Star
Sprite from Kirby Super Star
Sprite from Samurai Kirby in Kirby Super Star
Sprite from Kirby's Dream Land 3
Artwork from the SNES version of Kirby's Star Stacker
Model from Kirby Star Allies
Chef Kawasaki plushie, manufactured by San-ei
NES sprite from the Kirby Art & Style Collection
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | コックカワサキ Kokku Kawasaki |
Cook Kawasaki
|
| Traditional Chinese | 廚師川崎 chú shī chuān qí |
Chef Kawasaki
|
| Simplified Chinese | 厨师川崎 chú shī chuān qí | |
| Dutch | Kok Kawasaki | Cook Kawasaki |
| French | Chef Kawasaki | - |
| German | Koch Kawasaki | Cook Kawasaki |
| Italian | Cuoco Kawasaki | Cook Kawasaki |
| Korean | 쿡 카와사키 Kuk Kawasaki |
Cook Kawasaki |
| Portuguese | Mestre-cuca Kawasaki | Master chef Kawasaki |
| Spanish | Cocinero Kawasaki | Cook Kawasaki |
References
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