N-Z

N-Z Artwork of N-Z from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Details First game Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000) Latest game Kirby's Dream Buffet (2022, reference) Copy Ability None Enemy Info Card Similar entities Waddle Dee, Dark Matter

N-Z is an enemy character debuting and so far only appearing in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. It appears to be a black spherical creature similar in size to Kirby with pointy cat-like ears, white feet and small black eyes, vaguely resembling a Scarfy, though with no mouth. N-Z does not give any Copy Abilities to Kirby when inhaled and swallowed. There is a Mid-Boss variant of N-Z in the first stage of Pop Star which sits in place as smaller N-Zs spawn around it. N-Z also appears on the 10th Enemy Info Card.

Locations

N-Z can be found in the following levels and stages:

N-Z locations in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Stage	Pop Star	Rock Star	Aqua Star	Neo Star	Shiver Star	Ripple Star	Dark Star
Stage 1
Stage 2							N/A
Stage 3							N/A
Stage 4	N/A					N/A	N/A

Other appearances

• N-Z makes an appearance on a Character Treat in Kirby's Dream Buffet, using its artwork from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Connection to Dark Matter

Despite its unassuming appearance and relatively non-threatening presence, N-Z appears in peculiar locations in the game which imply that it is related to the main villain of the story: Dark Matter. Firstly, N-Z appears on every planet which Dark Matter has visited, but is absent from the four intermediate worlds which Dark Matter does not visit. Additionally, in Stage 3 of Ripple Star, N-Z appears continuously from a dark vortex in the uppermost room, just before Kirby proceeds to the next stage to battle Miracle Matter. Lastly, in the final level Dark Star - a world composed entirely of Dark Matter - N-Z is the only common enemy that appears there.

Gallery

• 

  Artwork from the Japanese guidebook for Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

• 

  Ripped model of N-Z from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

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  Screenshot from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

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  Big N-Z

• 

  Battle with Big N-Z in Pop Star - Stage 1

• 

  N-Zs in Ripple Star - Stage 3

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  N-Z is the only common enemy type found in Dark Star

• 

  Character Treat from Kirby's Dream Buffet

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	エヌゼット Enuzetto	N-Z
Chinese	恩之 Ēn zhī	NZ Transliteration of the Japanese name.
Dutch	N-Z	-
French	N-Z	-
German	N-Z	-
Italian	N-Z	-
Korean	엔제트 Enjeteu	N-Z Transliteration of the Japanese name.
Portuguese	C-Z	C-Z
Spanish	N-Z	-