Tornado

"Turn into tornado to spin fiercely and be invulnerable!"

- Kirby Battle Royale - Kirby's 25th Anniversary Copy Ability Poll

Tornado is one of Kirby's Copy Abilities. The ability first appeared in Kirby's Adventure and appeared in many games following, each sporting the same technique.

General Information
This technique is a distinctive one, as it allows Kirby to become a small cyclone at will. As a cyclone, Kirby is impervious to all attacks and instantly damages enemies upon coming in contact with them. This makes it invaluable during Boss Endurance modes, as Kirby is invincible to contact damage from bosses and can easily rack up damage by moving repeatedly inside them. The downside is, however, that the cyclone is difficult to control and the transformation fades in around 4–5 seconds, and up until Kirby: Squeak Squad, it couldn't break star blocks. This makes the ability ideal for both the field and for battle, but hard to master.

In Kirby's Dream Course, the ability functions much the same as in the platformer games, except without being able to gain altitude on its own. In Tornado form, Kirby will spin forward continuously for several seconds until his acceleration gradually decreases. However, because of the different focus of the game and the 3D field of play, the ability is dangerous to use and difficult to control. Holding the D-pad left or right will cause him to turn counter-clockwise or clockwise, respectively, but this is only reliable on regular flat surfaces. It is likely that Kirby will pass over or bounce out of the hole in Tornado form, so it is best used for covering distance and mowing down multiple enemies (or the other player in multiplayer mode). With its steering, it can also be used as a risky method of reversing a mistake or saving Kirby from falling off the course.

In Kirby Air Ride, Tornado reappears with a completely new function. Here, Tornado could be used as an extension of the regular spin attack. In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Tornado can also take on the elements that it passes through with the use of a Copy Scroll.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
Tornado is one of Kirby's most powerful abilities in the Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, being a master of one of nature's most destructive forces. If he eats things that spin, such as propellers, Kirby will acquire this ability. With the spinning tornado hat, he can fly through the air easily. In the transformation sequence, wind surrounds Kirby as he does an aerial flip. A tornado appears on his head and his visor forms onto him.

His main attack is spinning rapidly to form a massive pinkish cyclone that reaches all the way to the clouds. He can also spit smaller twisters from his mouth, or he can cause a medium sized tornado to manifest from the top of his hat, to pick up enemies and send them flying.

If he is in water, naturally the tornado becomes a water spout, which is useful in putting out fires.

Tornado is one of the few Copy abilities used in the anime that had a "utilitarian" use (i.e. did not use it to fight a villain), except once when he had to defeat Tornadon.

Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight's standard special move (Mach Tornado) has similar properties to this ability. As it's a standard special move, Kirby will be able to use it if he swallows Meta Knight. Tornado also appears as a trophy. Also, if Kirby's downward aerial is done, a somewhat similar attack to tornado will be unleashed, with Kirby spinning and attacking multiple times. Tornado Kirby also appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

Related Quotes
"Kirby when he inhales enemies that fly around like twisters through the sky. When in tornado form, Kirby can spin freely through the air for short amounts of time, clearing out groups of enemies. Tornado Kirby will continue spinning and bouncing violently off of obstacles until he comes to a stop. One drawback of Tornado Kirby is the control difficulty."

- Trophy description

"Who needs hats when you can have an actual tornado coming out of your head? That's our Kirby—always the trendsetter. And with the Tornado ability, he can go one step further, turning his whole body into a cyclone to go on a wild rampage. His rapid spinning isn't exactly easy to control, but that's all part of the fun!"

- Trophy description

Trivia

 * Along with Sword and Ice, Tornado is the fourth most commonly used Copy Ability in the anime, with five appearances.
 * Tornado is the only ability in Kirby Air Ride that is not mentioned in the tutorial.

Other Ability Icons
Tornado Tornado Tornade Tornado トルネイド Tornado 旋风