Needle

"Prick your foes with a thorny jab! Really stick it to 'em! Roll from a dash to bring the pain with a Rolling Needle!"

General Information
Needle is one of Kirby's Copy abilities. It debuted in Kirby's Adventure. It is a defensive ability, much like Spark or Freeze. With it, Kirby covers his body in many retractable spines. The ability impales any enemy that draws near, so in most cases Kirby can only be harmed by projectiles. In Kirby: Canvas Curse, Needle Kirby's body is not only spiky enough to heavily damage enemies, but can also grip tightly to walls and other such surfaces. In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, there is an attack where Kirby turns the needles on his helmet into one large drill, hitting enemies directly above him. He can also roll along the ground while covered by the needles and firing small spikes from around his body at enemies.

The length of Kirby's spikes vary from game to game. The most noticeable difference is between Kirby's Adventure and its remake, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, where the short spikes in the original were changed to being over twice as long.

In games with ability hats, Kirby is sometimes portrayed with a pinkish-red helmet covered in spikes and occasionally with yellow skin as well. His spikes are either pink or a bright metallic gold. In games without ability hats, the spikes come out of Kirby himself.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
Needle undergoes the greatest visual change in the anime. It retains the look from Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, with the helmet and yellow skin, and orange feet, but Kirby no longer turns into one giant spike ball (Spinning like one giant spike ball in the episode Flower Power). Instead, Needle is changed into a long-distance ability.

Kirby can launch the needles off the top of the helmet like tiny missiles, which he can then control. The needles 'grow back', but not always, leaving him defenseless at times. In the transformation sequence, a flash of red lightning forms his helmet and changes his skin color. Needles appear from the helmet, which shrink to their usual size seen in the games.

Other Quotes
"Spike anything! Ride rainbows!"

"Hands off! Here: pointy spikes! There: pokey spikes!"

"Lots of needles, just like a porcupine's, come out of Kirby! It's a great defense!"

Trivia

 * Needle Kirby appears as a Trophy & Sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The sticker uses his design from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.
 * In Kirby: Return to Dream Land, the Rolling Needle attack resembles Togezo's signature move, which was the first enemy to offer the ability.

Other Ability Icons
ニードル