Whispy Woods

"Please don't tread on my roots, it would not be a wise decision."

- Whispy Woods

Whispy Woods (also known as Whispy) is a recurring boss in the Kirby series. He first appeared in Kirby's Dream Land and is a giant, immobile apple tree with a face and a branch-like nose. His attacks are to make apples fall on Kirby, blow air puffs, and occasionally shoot his roots at Kirby in some games. The only way to counterattack without a copy ability is to inhale apples and shoot them back at him.

Whispy is commonly regarded as being one of the easiest bosses in the series alongside King Golem and others. This is because he (in most cases) cannot move and has a shallow range of attacks. As a result, Whispy is usually the first boss to be fought in most of games he appears in. This also has made him one of the most iconic and recognizable characters in the series.

Physical Appearance


Whispy Woods really hasn't changed much over the years. His concept always remains the same from game-to-game; a light-colored, non-moving apple tree with a large bushel of leaves on his top branches. He also commonly has a short little, stub-like branch on his side, but this detail was absent in earlier games. His eyes and mouth are hollow circles and he has a pointy nose. He is also shown to have apples, little round spheres, or even small stars growing from his branches in some appearances (the most common, however, are the apples). He can also use these apples as obstacles in-battle which will roll across the ground after falling from his branches. Besides Apples, Whispy can also exhale vegtables such as eggplants and carrots in Kirby's Dream Land 3. Aside from dropping apples, Whispy Woods is also known for shooting out puffs of air from his mouth.

He normally has a rounded, cylindrical nose. However in some games, Whispy is shown to be able to sharpen his nose. If Kirby collides with the spike-like nose, he wil take some damage. If provoked, Whispy can also make his mouth and eyes appear jagged and sharp. This only occurs in the second phase of his fight in Kirby's Dream Land 3. This game was also the first, and currently, only, to allow Whispy Woods walk around and pursue Kirby.

In each individual game, Whispy's design is sometimes subject to change. In Kirby 64, Whispy's bark was plaid, he no longer had hollow eyes, and had a slightly more vibrant color pallet. In Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land and Kirby Super Star Ultra (which both used the same in-game model), which is arguably his most designed model to date, Whispy features ivy growing along his side and more textured bark. In Kirby Air Ride, Whispy's design was somewhat simplified to match the simplistic style of City Trial.

Kirby's Dream Land
Whispy's first appearance. He is the boss of the game's first stage, Green Greens. Whispy will try to drop apples on Kirby which Kirby must inhale then spit back, he also will spit air puffs which Kirby can't inhale. He later returns near the end of the game in Mt. Dedede when Kirby must fight all of the game's bosses over again. This appearance set the standard for his future appearances in the following games.

In Extra mode Whispy will move faster and also occasionally drop Gordos which roll along the ground and must be jumped over.

Though touching Whispy won't hurt Kirby, touching his sharp, pointed nose will take away two HP. This prevents Kirby from jumping while standing next to Whispy.

Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Whispy returned in this game as the boss of Vegetable Valley, having been given a piece of the Star Rod from King Dedede when Nightmare invades. In Kirby's Adventure, the battle against Whispy Woods is no different than the fight in Kirby's Dream Land, except now Kirby can enter the fight with a copy ability, making the fight much easier. Also, Whispy's nose will no longer hurt Kirby if he runs into it.

Because Whispy Woods is completely immobile during the fight and many of his obstacles can be dispatched before they hit Kirby, a loophole was promptly discovered and has thus become a popular strategy among fans. By coming to the battle equipped with the Spark or Needle ability, standing right next to Whispy and then by activating the ability, Whispy continuously takes damage and has virtually no way of protecting himself (his apples are taken out as soon as they hit Spark/Needle's barrier and the air puffs pass right over Kirby's head).

Kirby's Dream Land 2
Whispy is once again the boss of the game's first level, Grass Land. This time however he is fought in two rounds. The first of which has him wearing a strange mask that makes him unable to shoot air pellets at Kirby, but has gained the ability to shoot up his roots at Kirby like spikes. After being damaged enough, Whispy's mask falls to the ground and he returns to his same old tactics and is once again able to shoot out air pellets. Also, in the bonus game for world 1, Whispy shoots out apples and stars. Kirby has to collect the stars, but if he gets hit by an apple, he loses.

Kirby's Dream Course
In Kirby's Dream Course multiple Whispy Woods appear and serve as bumpers injuring Kirby and sending him bouncing off soon after. They can only be beaten with the Spark ability.

Kirby's Avalanche
Whispy acts as the third competitor that must be challenged in the Ghost Trap competition, following Poppy Bros. Sr. and preceding Kabu.

Whispy's dialogue is below.


 * Whispy Woods: "Please don't tread on my roots, it would not be a wise decision."
 * Kirby: "I feel like some apple pie!"

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra
In Spring Breeze (an enhanced remake of Kirby's Dream Land) Whispy once again is the boss of Green Greens and is fought similarly to his appearance in Kirby's Adventure.

In Revenge of Meta Knight (another of Super Star's eight games) Kirby encounters a variation of Whispy Woods called Twin Woods just after Kirby defeats the regular Whispy. The Twin Woods are conjoined twins facing each other that must be fought at the same time. They have most of Whispy's attacks as well as some new ones such as spinning to drop worms from their branches that Kirby can't inhale and trading sections of their trunk.

In Kirby Super Star Ultra, Whispy and the Twin Woods return the same as they were in the original. However, in Revenge of the King, an alter ego of Whispy is introduced. Known as Whispy's Revenge, this misanthropic oak is much stronger and adds several new attacks to the mix, such as purple apples that poison Kirby if he inhales them, purple caterpillars, and tornadoes instead of air puffs. A card of the plain Whispy is also found in the mini-game Card Swipe.

Kirby's Dream Land 3
Like in Kirby's Dream Land 2, Whispy Woods is the boss of Grass Land but this time he has been disturbed by King Dedede's mischef like all of the other bosses in the game besides Pon and Con. The format to beat him is slightly different this time because instead of just dropping apples from his branches, Whispy spits out various fruit and vegetables that Kirby must inhale and shoot back at him. Once again, Whispy's nose takes away Kirby's HP if he comes in contact with it. Occasionally Whispy may shoot out an air puff at Kirby.

After roughly four hits, Whispy becomes "angry" and begins to chase Kirby using his roots to walk across the ground as the screen starts to scroll automatically. Now Kirby has to run away from Whispy while fighting him. In his angry state the fruit Whispy spits out takes on a rotten and bruised appearance but can still be inhaled and spit out in the same manner as the regular fruit. Once again, another 4 hits will put an end to Whispy.

If Kirby gets all of the Heart Stars after fighting Whispy the first time, he will be cured of his anger and no longer attack Kirby if he enters the boss stage again. In Boss Butch, Whispy's arena looks as if it takes place in autumn.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
In Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards Whispy Woods is the boss of Pop Star, and is fought in an entirely different way from earlier games. Kirby travels a circular path around Whispy inhabited by three Whispy Wood Jrs. Whispy will drop apples that Kirby can inhale and spit. Whether he uses apples or a power, he must defeat the 3 seedlings.

After all three of them are defeated, Whispy becomes enraged and makes his roots travel through the ground and stab Kirby, still dropping apples all the while. Whispy can also spit air pellets at Kirby but they are extremely easy to dodge. To defeat Whispy in his second phase Kirby must quickly attack his roots before they burrow back underground.

Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble
Whispy Woods appears in this game with a friendlier role, appearing in some levels to teleport Kirby to a different part of the level.

Kirby Air Ride
In Kirby Air Ride Whispy Woods makes a cameo in the City Trial Mode, nestled around other trees in the small, peaceful forest in the West sector of the city. He doesn't attack any of the players in this game, and if Kirby rams into him with an Air Ride Machine into him enough times, Whispy becomes exhausted and shows his "beaten" pose from past games.

Kirby: Squeak Squad
Whispy makes a small cameo by showing up on the game's tile screen. He has no graphical enhancements, nor does the area he stands in (both which were taken directly from Nightmare in Dreamland). The majority of his face is obscured by the game's logo, however.

Kirby (Wii)
Little is known about Whispy's would-be role in the game, but the game's trailer revealed that he was slated to be a boss.

It is unknown if Whispy will be appearing in Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Other Games
Whispy is a boss in both Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Block Ball, fought using pinball flippers and bumpers to thrust Kirby at him while he uses his air pellets, apples, and Gordo to try to throw Kirby off course.

In the Anime


In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Whispy is an ally of Kirby, Tiff and Tuff and is the ruler of Whispy Woods Forest. He is shown to be wise, protective, caring, and even vengeful, at times. Dedede and his protegé, Escargoon, often times, try to turn Whispy to a pile of lumber, so they can clear out the rest of the forest. Whispy is often a step ahead of them, however, (and when he isn't, he relies on Kirby, Tiff, and Tuff). He always outsmarts them, and, somehow, avoids being cut down. He is adored by the many creatures of the forest, and is close with Acore, the oldest tree in the woods. Whispy one time sensed a threat to Acore and asked Kirby, Tiff, and Tuff to protect the eldery tree. Whispy is also shown to have a love of flowers, as seen the The Flower Plot, where he fell in love with Lovely whom tried to suck the energy out of him. He, along with Phan Phan and the other wildlife watched the Halberd's ignition in Cappy Town Down.

Smash Bros. Series
Whispy Woods also cameos in all three Super Smash Bros. games where he appears in the background of Kirby's stages Dream Land in Smash Bros. and Green Greens in Melee and Brawl. He interferes with the fight by blowing the characters around with a weak gust of wind, and in the Green Greens stage he also drops apples that can either be picked up and thrown or occasionally eaten to recover damage.

Strangely, the trophy for Whispy Woods' apples in Melee, as well as the trophy in Brawl, states that he doesn't actually grow his own apples, though this might refer to the apples that were shown on the trophy.

A sticker of Whispy appears in SSBB, utilising his design in Super Star.

Trivia

 * Though Whispy Woods does not appear in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, a boss named King Golem bears great resemblance to Whispy, except he is actually a stone pillar instead of a tree. He also acts similarly by dropping rocks onto the floor is a similar fashion to Whispy's apples.
 * Almost every episode of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! involving Whispy is about saving the trees.

Sprites
ウィスピーウッズ