Kine

Kine is a fish. He is the aquatic Animal Friend that helps Kirby get through water stages. His name is derived from kai, a Japanese word for the sea. Kine also makes a cameo in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards as a statue while using the Stone Friends combo ability, and in Kirby Super Star Ultra as a statue when Kirby uses the Stone ability.

Appearance and Characteristics
Kine is a large blue fish, resembling a stylized sunfish. His body is shaped like a semi-circle, with tall yellow dorsal and anal fins. He has clam-shaped pectoral fins, and a yellow clavus. His eyes stare vacantly outward at his front above his gaping, thick lipped mouth, generally held open.

Kine is laid back and relaxed, typically not showing any emotion outside a blank expression. However, he is very sensitive and can be easily brought to tears when something upsets him.

In the Games
Kine first crossed paths with Kirby when Dark Matter originally attacked. Trapped by mini-bosses, he gladly returns the favor of being freed.

Kirby's Dream Land 2
Kine specializes in underwater travel. He is a strong swimmer and can power through even strong currents to allow Kirby to reach places no one else can. Kine allows Kirby to inhale and spit out enemies even when submerged. While paired with Kine, Kirby will hold his place within water and will not drift to the floor. Outside of water, however, he handles like the proverbial fish and can be awkward. Kirby's Copy Abilities are changed into the following, which typically fare better than other powers underwater, Especially the Burning ability, which isn't affected by water as much at other burning-based abilities:


 * Burning: Giant Fireball
 * Cutter: Sonic Wave
 * Ice: Freezing Over
 * Needle: Spiny Fish
 * Parasol: Parasol Shield
 * Spark: Light Bulb
 * Stone: Slippery Rock

Kirby's Dream Land 3
Between games, Kine was improved in terms of mobility. In addition to his strong water mobility, his size allows him to crush smaller foes when jumped upon. Enemies can still be inhaled and spit out as normal when submerged as when out of the water. When carrying Gooey, his tongue attack is still used in place of suction. Kine's vertical leap reaches four blocks, one higher than Kirby manages on his own. Also, Kine's land speed was increased, making him as fast as any other character. Additionally, when Kirby or Gooey separated from the fish, he would rocket them out from his mouth. In this game, Kirby's Copy Abilities are changed into the following:


 * Burning: Flame Rings
 * Clean: Plunger
 * Cutter: Sonic Wave
 * Ice: Freezing Fish
 * Needle: Spiny Fish (Virtually the same as regular Needle Kirby)
 * Parasol: Parasol Topper
 * Spark: Light Bulb(unthrowable)
 * Stone: Rock Dive

There is a female fish, Mine, who is Kine's wife.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
When the player mixes the Stone and Cutter abilities, Kirby is able to turn into statues of any of his past animal friends, including Kine. However, the Kine statue is useless, as it can only turn around. It will not even move(Besides turning around) in/under water

Kirby Canvas Curse
Kine is drawn by Paint Roller in Paint Panic.

In the anime
Kine has a few appearances in the anime Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. He has a crush on Tiff, mainly because she's near the shoreline alot. His first appearance was in the 2nd episode, where he bumps into Kirby as Kirby is swimming towards the surface of the lake, causing him to cough up his Stone Ability. He was tricked by King Dedede into revealing the location of the Rainbow Coral Reef to to him in exchange to be able to move on land. Dedede kept his promise... somewhat, as Kine was put into a giant fishtank on wheels. When Kine told Tiff that Dedede put him up to this in exchange for the location of the Rainbow Coral Reef, he found out that Dedede was going to destroy the reef to build a new castle. He was played like a fool, and so helped out when Kirby went into the sea to stop him. He also stopped Tiff and Tuff from drowning when their submarine was destroyed (by a torpedo shot from King Dedede's submarine) by creating large air bubbles. In the end, Kine still pines for his next date with Tiff. This would later turn into a running gag with the character. Kine is friends with Joe, who chase King Dedede and Escargoon away when their follies end up with them falling into the sea.

In other appearances, Kine helps Kirby in the water (or rather: out of it) normally when he was pushed or thrown into the sea. He always asks how Tiff is and when their next date will be. He once said he'd prefer helping Tiff out.