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Kabula

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Kabula
KSSU Kabula artwork.jpg
Artwork of Kabula from Kirby Super Star Ultra.
Details
First game Kirby's Dream Land (1992)
Latest game Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (2023)
Other game(s) Kirby's Block Ball
Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom) (cameo)
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Kirby's Return to Dream Land
Kirby: Triple Deluxe (keychain)
Kirby: Planet Robobot
Kirby Star Allies (cameo)
Weakness(es) The Mint Leaf, Kirby Ball, Kirby's Starship, Scope Shot energy blasts, Robobot Armor
Theme music

Clip of "Shooting" from Kirby's Dream Land, often considered Kabula's theme

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The Starship comes just in time! Your foe is Kabula, sky lord! It's the king's flying fortress!
— Vs. Kabula Pause Screen Description in Kirby Super Star Ultra

Kabula, originally known as Kaboola, is one of the many main bosses found throughout the Kirby series. She made her debut in Kirby's Dream Land and was seen again in Kirby's Block Ball, but did not reappear afterwards until Kirby Super Star Ultra. Her overall appearance resembles that of a large blimp; although she originally did not possess a face: her modern appearance (starting with Kirby Super Star Ultra) depicts her with face paint resembling a feminine version of the shark face motif, a popular form of nose art dating back to German, British, and American pilots in World War II. Latched to her underside is a Blatzy-like cannon (originally a Shotzo), which projects small, black cannonballs.

Game appearances[edit]

Kabula's video game appearances  
Game Role Notes
Kirby's Dream Land Boss
Kirby's Block Ball Enemy and Boss Appears as an enemy in one area and a boss in another.
Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom) Cameo Appears in the title screen's opening.
Kirby Super Star Ultra Boss
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Cameo Appears in the background in the Scope Shot Sub-Game. Can be shot down for points.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe Cameo Two of Kabula's sprites appear as collectible keychains.
Kirby: Planet Robobot Boss Fought immediately after defeating C.O.G.S. in Gigabyte Grounds - Stage 4 and The True Arena.
Kirby Star Allies Cameo Appears in the Celebration Picture "The First Rival".
Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Hazard Appears if Booming Blasters matches take too long.

Kirby's Dream Land[edit]

KDL Kaboola artwork.png
Kirby's Dream Land artwork.

In her debut appearance, Kaboola is battled at the end of the Float Islands stage and later on appears in Mt. Dedede, where she attacks Kirby mainly by firing cannonballs, sometimes three at a time, and occasionally charging at him. Kirby must dodge both attacks or he risks taking damage. In the Extra Game, she shoots and moves faster.

Kirby's Block Ball[edit]

Kaboola appears as both the boss and pre-boss enemy of Stage 9 in this game. As an enemy, she is rather small, and can be defeated in four hits, conferring 5000 points. As a boss, she flies back and forth, and uses her cannons to attack the paddles. In this appearance, she has two cannons attached to her sides rather than one on her underside.

Kirby's Star Stacker (Super Famicom)[edit]

In the Super Famicom version of Kirby's Star Stacker, Kaboola makes a cameo on the title screen's opening animation.

Kirby Super Star Ultra[edit]

Kabula's image in The True Arena

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kaboola was renamed to Kabula. It is the first game where she has a face. She is also able to project Gordos, along with various other projectiles, such as Banzai Bill-like missiles and her normal cannonballs, and is now battled using the Starship. She is fought in the Mt. Dedede Sky stage in Revenge of the King, and is also one of the first six bosses fought in The True Arena.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land / Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe[edit]

Kabula approaching in Booming Blasters, in Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Kabula makes a minor cameo in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. In the background of the Scope Shot Sub-Game, Kabula can fly across the screen, and can be shot down for 800 extra points.

In Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, Kabula instead appears in the Booming Blasters subgame. If a minute and 15 seconds passes without a winner being decided, Kabula appears, and starts raining bombs down on the arena, which explode in a large area. This will continue until only one contestant remains.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe[edit]

In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Kabula's sprites from Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby Super Star Ultra appear as keychains.

Kirby: Planet Robobot[edit]

The flying internal weapon has been revealed. Who would've thought that the Kabula was acting as the power core for the research facility? Take out this flying security machine!
— Vs. Core Kabula
Core Kabula in Gigabyte Grounds

Kabula makes a surprise appearance in Kirby: Planet Robobot as the boss in Stage 4 of Gigabyte Grounds. Known as Core Kabula, she emerges from the core of a defeated C.O.G.S. and engages Kirby, who fights her with his Robobot Armor's Jet Mode. Core Kabula has two cannons, one on top as well as below, and also has a built-in third main cannon inside the blimp, which can shoot flames, missiles, and lasers. In addition, Core Kabula makes use of both the foreground and background to harass Kirby.

She can also fire cannonballs as usual, which can be destroyed with the projectiles of the Robobot Armor. Additionally, she can fire Gordos from her cannons in place of the cannonballs, which cannot be destroyed, and thus should be evaded.

The following lists all of Core Kabula's attacks in Kirby: Planet Robobot. All attack names are conjectural.

Attacks
Attack Description
Triple Cannonballs Kabula shoots three cannonballs at the same time from each of her two cannons. One cannonball goes forward, while the other two travel diagonally upward and downward, respectively.
Cannonball Barrage Kabula shoots one-by-one three cannonballs from her upper cannon, and three from her lower cannon, alternating between each cannon.
Kabula Missiles Kabula shoots three missiles resembling her from her front cannon in succession. She may shoot them from the top of the screen to the bottom, from the bottom to the top, or first one in the center of the stage, and then one each at the bottom and top of the screen. In this last case, the second missile is shot where Kirby currently is.
Flamethrower Kabula charges up her frontal cannon at the center of the stage, and shoots a large flame afterwards. She may do an extended version of this attack, in where she goes to the left side of the stage, shoot the flame from left to right, and tilt up and down while shooting the flame before stopping it.
Mixed Barrage Kabula shoots one-by-one three projectiles from her upper cannon, and three from her lower cannon, alternating between each cannon. The projectiles consists of cannonballs and Gordos chosen at random.
Spinning Tackle Kabula goes the front plane of the screen where Kirby can't attack her. She starts spinning, aiming at Kirby, and then quickly charges forward at him.
Gordo Barrage Kabula shoots one-by-one three Gordos from her upper cannon, and three from her lower cannon, alternating between each cannon.
Massive Laser Kabula charges up her frontal cannon to the front aiming at Kirby, and shoots a massive laser to the front.
Circling Cannonballs Kabula moves sideways around the stage between the foreground and background, repeatedly shooting cannonballs from her upper cannon while moving around.
Waving Laser Kabula charges all of her three cannons and shoots a laser from each of them. While firing the lasers, she starts moving up and down, and slightly rotates sideways, sending the lasers into the background and foreground.
Angled Cannonballs Kabula repeatedly shoots cannonballs from both of her cannons while tilting the cannons up and down, sending the cannonballs at various angles.

Core Kabula attacks in a fixed loop, as follows:

  1. Triple Cannonballs
  2. Cannonball Barrage
  3. Cannonball Barrage
  4. Kabula Missiles (from bottom to top)
  5. Kabula Missiles (from top to bottom)
  6. Flamethrower
  7. Flamethrower (extended version)
  8. Triple Cannonballs
  9. Mixed Barrage
  10. Mixed Barrage
  11. Spinning Tackle
  12. Gordo Barrage
  13. Gordo Barrage
  14. Massive Laser
  15. Circling Cannonballs
  16. Waving Laser
  17. Kabula Missiles (alternating)
  18. Kabula Missiles (alternating)
  19. Angled Cannonballs
  20. Spinning Tackle

In The True Arena, Core Kabula is battled as the seventh boss, along with C.O.G.S., using the same attacks as in Story Mode. Here, she starts the battle on attack number 11 of her attack loop, but from there, she follows the same loop as usual.

When fought in Story Mode, Core Kabula has 1600 HP. In The True Arena, Core Kabula has 1200 HP. The actual damage that Kirby deals to Core Kabula is based on the base power of an attack used by Jet Mode (see its moveset page for more information), with a 0.95x multiplier.

Kirby Star Allies[edit]

In Kirby Star Allies, Kabula makes a cameo in the Celebration Picture "The First Rival", where she is one of the many spectators of Kirby's battle against King Dedede. Despite the picture representing the original Kirby's Dream Land, she appears in her modern design, whereas all other characters in the picture use their original designs.

Music[edit]

Main article: Shooting

This track debuted in Kirby's Dream Land as the power-up music, playing when Kirby takes the Superspicy Curry or the Mint Leaf. Since then, this theme has been remixed several times for the boss battle with Kabula in her different forms.

Trivia[edit]

  • Kabula's original name, Kaboola, is most likely derived from "kaboom", the sound of an explosion.
  • There is a little-known enemy in Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble called Cloud Cannon which is similar in many ways to Kaboola, though much weaker.
  • After the redesign, the missiles that Kabula fires, as well as Kabula herself, bear a resemblance to Banzai Bills from the Mario franchise.
  • Even though Kabula is referred to as female, according to the manual for the first game,[1] she is called a sky lord in Kirby Super Star Ultra flavor text. "Lord" is often used to refer to males.

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Kabula[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese カブーラー
Kabūrā
飛行砲台カブーラー (Kirby Super Star Ultra)
Hikō Hōdai Kabūrā
Kaboola
Flying Fortress Kaboola (Kirby Super Star Ultra)
Traditional Chinese 卡鈽拉
kǎ bū lā
Kabula
Simplified Chinese 卡钸拉
kǎ bū lā
Dutch Kabula -
Canadian French Kaboola -
European French Boumbala
Kaboola
-
German Kaboola[2]
Bombetty
Kaboola
Combination of "Bombe" (Bomb) and the name "Betty"
Italian Kabula -
Korean 카부라
Kabula
비행포대 카부라 (Kirby Super Star Ultra)
Bihaengpodae Kabula
Kabula
Flying Fortress Kabula (Kirby Super Star Ultra)
Portuguese Kabula -
Spanish Kabula -


Core Kabula[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese コア・カブーラー
Koa Kabūrā
Core Kaboola
French Noyau Boumbala
German Nucleaboola Nuclear Kaboola
Italian Kabula Ka-bum Ka-Boom Kabula
Korean 코어 카부라
Koeo Kabula
Core Kaboola
Spanish Nucleokabula Core Kabula


References

  1. "Kaboola will have you scrambling to dodge her constant attack of cannon balls." --Kirby's Dream Land Instruction Booklet (North American print), page 18
  2. Der Offizielle Nintendo Super Game Boy-Spieleberater (Nintendo, 1994, pg. 55)