Explortle

"This little creature is more delicate than it looks—it'll explode the second you touch it. It's not an easy life, but that's what it was born to do."

- Figurine description

Explortle is an enemy in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.

Physical Appearance
Explortle is a black spore with 11 bumps protruding from its body. It has tiny yellow lips and one glaring eye with a red iris.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Explortle appears exclusively in the stage Woodland Battle. It forms out of thin air when Kirby Tank approaches and hovers in place, sometimes moving side to side or up and down. When Kirby Tank shoots Explortle, it creates a large explosion. The explosion can defeat enemies and Metal Blockss in the vicinity; The player can use this to access otherwise unreachable items and score chain combos. Kirby Tank can also be damaged by the explosion, so he should ideally shoot Explortle from afar.

Sportle and Sportletini are related members of Explortle's species.

Etymology
Explortle's name is derived from the words explode, meaning sudden combustion, and spore, a unit released by fungi for reproductive purposes; these reference the enemy's behavior and appearance, respectively.