Mumbies

Mumbies is a floating disembodied mummy-like head that can't be inhaled. It is a longtime member of the series, being featured in a plethora of both main games and spinoffs. To date, Mumbies has appeared in Kirby's Dream Land, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby's Dream Land 3, Kirby's Pinball Land, Kirby's Block Ball, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition.

Its name is a combination of the words mummy and zombies.

Kirby's Dream Land
Mumbies first appears in Castle Lololo. Many of them haphazardly float around the interior of the castle alongside other spooky enemies like Boolers and Flappers. Mumbies cannot be inhaled, so Kirby must either avoid them or attack them using a puff of air.

In the Extra Game, Mumbies are replaced with the more aggressive Skullers.

Kirby's Pinball Land
Mumbies (called Mummy Ball in this game) floats around the bottom level of Whispy Woods' stage. When Kirby hits it once, one letter of the word 'Warp Star' will light up; when hit eight times, Mumbies will explode and the Warp Star will take its place. Should the player choose to hop on the Warp Star, he/she will be taken back to the course selection screen.

Mumbies earns the player 360 points when hit. In the colored version of the game, this foe is reddish-pink.

Other Games
In nearly all games Mumbies appears in after Kirby's Dream Land, it will follow Kirby around the levels. As usual, it cannot be inhaled. Two exceptions are in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby's Return to Dream Land, where they only chase him when his back is turned, much like the Boos in the Mario series.

Their card in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards is #78 on page 9/9.

Mumbies appears in the Item Challenge of Kirby's Return to Dream Land. It appears in the New Challenge Stages in Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition as well. It appears in the Normal Challenge.

In the Anime
Episode 84 of the anime, Mumbies Madness, featured Mumbies. It was found in a jar that King Dedede tricked Professor Curio into digging up. After Curio released it from inside its jar, the mummified ball then flew around Cappy Town at night, scaring everyone it went to see with its scary face. It even attacked Kirby; that was its true mission, which was to hunt down and assassinate Star Warriors. Interestingly enough, unlike its game counterpart, Mumbies is only active at night; every time the sun came up, it would retreat and go back to sleep inside its jar. Eventually, Bomb Kirby was able to trick it into clamping onto him with its teeth without letting go until the sun came out, at which point the sunlight burnt Mumbies to a crisp.

The Mumbies in the anime is shown to have sharp, jagged teeth, which they use to ferociously bite anyone they come into contact with. It also attack by ramming full force and by shooting dark blasts from its eyes. This tricky monster lives in a jar and is known to be full of surprises. Its eyes can glow many different colors, and if a victim look into its eyes when they're glowing dark blue, he/she will grow tired. Oddly enough, unlike in the games, Kirby was able to inhale Mumbies. It didn't give any ability, and the Star Warrior was forced to cough it back up. It is also revealed in the episode that there are multiple Mumbies scattered all over the universe, each one with the same goal of causing chaos. The Mumbies were probably created by Nightmare Enterprises.

Trivia

 * Mumbies' eye commonly alternates from yellow to red in from game to game. This was possibly explained in the anime, which shows that Mumbies can change the color of its eye at whim.