Phan Phan

''"Third one's the charm! Get him, Phan Phan!" ''

                       -King Dedede, Kirby Super Star Ultra

Phan Phan is a recurring mini-boss in the Kirby series. It resembles an elephant head, but with two legs. It will attack Kirby by rolling into him, throwing him around, or throwing apples at him which are similar to Whispy Woods's apples. Kirby may inhale the apples and spit them back. When Phan Phan is defeated, Kirby may inhale it to get the Throw ability. In Kirby Super Star Ultra, however, Phan Phan gives the Suplex ability.

Phan Phan replaces Rolling Turtle from Kirby's Adventure. Rolling Turtle is quite similar, but more aggressive in its behavior. It's most aggressive form is the green sprite in Nightmare in Dream Land, but that is rather skilled than aggressive Rolling Turtle would also try to throw miniature turtles at Kirby instead of apples.

Phan Phan appears in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, in the Mustard Mountain, Candy Constellation, and Carrot Castle levels.

Phan Phan also appears in Kirby: Canvas Curse as a painting in Paint Panic.

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Phan Phan appears in Revenge of the King as a mini-boss. It is fought in Purple Plants and in The Revenge. In Purple Plants level, Phan Phan appears with its usual grey color, while in The Revenge, it has an orange palette color instead. It also appears in The True Arena along with Fire Lion, Mr. Tick Tock, and Grand Wheelie, and shares a life bar with them as part of a boss called True Mid-Boss All Stars.

In the anime


Phan Phan is an ally of Kirby in the anime, first appearing in the episode Cowardly Creature. It was first shown escaping from Nightmare Enterprises and scared everyone in Cappy Town. Surprisingly, Phan Phan was actually more afraid of everyone than they were of it. King Dedede attempted to attack Phan Phan but was stopped by Kirby. Kirby and his friends then showed him their kindness and Phan Phan was happy to befriend Kirby. They were later seen having fun playing at a pond. They were just doing so when Dedede showed up with Whippy, the training Demon Beast, who gave Phan Phan an electric shock, turning it evil in the process. Thankfully, after Whippy was defeated with Throw Kirby, Phan Phan was back to normal, and everyone welcomed Phan Phan to its new, permanent home in Dream Land. Phan Phan is later seen having took up residence in Whispy Woods Forest. Phan Phan's last appearance is in Cappy Town Down, as a cameo. It, along with Whispy Woods and the other wildlife, watched the Halberd's ignition.

When Phan Phan first appeared, it had a clown mask over its eyes. The mask had glowing, glaring blue eyes, puffy hairs, and a clown hat on top. Also, Phan Phan had a tail with a tuft of yellow hair in the anime compared to its game version. Phan Phan has also been shown to shoot spiked balls from its trunk, unlike its game version.

Name origin
Phan Phan's name may come from the "-phan" part of elephant, the animal it is based off of.

Trivia

 * As a reference to the original Kirby's Dream Land, Phan Phan ambushes Kirby immediately after he gets off the Warp Star, similar to how Poppy Bros. Sr. did in said game.