Warp Star

"Great for cruising and gliding. No real flaws."

- Warp Star's Flavor Text

The Warp Star is the primary mode of transport for Kirby in many of the games he starred in. It is a large, yellow star, usually seen to be floating, that flies Kirby to another part of a level once he gets on it. Sometimes a Warp Star is the only way to reach the end of the level; sometimes they allow Kirby to reach secret areas; while other times, they just provide a faster (and safer) way to get across. It has a tendency to violently crash land, destroying itself in the process.

In the Kirby games
Warp Stars can be found floating in many of the levels. Once Kirby touches one, he will ride it to another area of the level he is in. In most games, Kirby will hold onto the Warp Star and ride it from its side. Doing this allows up to four Kirbys to ride on a single Warp Star. It is possible to avoid a Warp Star, although it is advisable to catch a ride on it.

Kirby's Dream Land
The Warp Star appears once in all of the stages in the game (including Mt. Dedede where Kirby boards it in the stage intro to get into the castle). Each will allow Kirby to proceed to the next part of the stage.

Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Similar to previous games, the Warp Star serves as means of transport. However, at the beginning when Kirby is split into four, each Kirby has to share one star, but each Kirby gets his own star by the end of the game, which can mean that the Kirbys had earned themselves the title of hero in their own right.

Kirby can call the Warp Star at any time, although it can only return him to the Central Circle.

Kirby Air Ride
Initially, the Warp Star is the only Air Ride Machine available to Kirby. It has the most average stats out of the vehicles in the game and has no quirks, making it user-friendly and a viable choice for the beginning and average player. Many of the Air Ride Machines in Kirby Air Ride have low HP, thus the Warp Star can be considered quite bulky. Under the right player, the Warp Star becomes a fierce competitor since it can utilize almost every trick present in each Air Ride course. Its counterparts, the Flight Warp Star and Compact Star are available in their respective game modes.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby rides the Warp Star on top, instead of on the side. According to Meta Knight, it is the source of Kirby's power. Kirby cannot summon it himself - Tiff summons it on his behalf because she is the one who cares for and loves him the most. In the first episode of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby keeps the Warp Star in a small wallet, which was revealed when Escargoon was trying to repair Kirby's starship after it had crashed. After Kirby's first battle in Dream Land, Tiff hid the Warp Star inside the wise statue, Kabu. This secret was only shared with Meta Knight and Tuff. In the later stages of the anime's run, King Dedede and Nightmare Enterprises managed to damage the Warp Star, forcing it to repair/recharge whilst Kirby improvises using Nightmare's Air Ride Machines. They eventually found the Warp Star's hiding place in Kabu, which Nightmare's Destrayer promptly attacked, but it was promptly blown up by Crash Kirby. In it's final appearance, Tiff summoned it in Kirby's dreams to help fight Nightmare, but instead of riding it, Kirby inhaled it, resulting in the Star Rod ability. Kirby can steer the Warp Star by thinking, and is a very powerful object.

In the Super Smash Bros. games
In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Brawl Kirby enters a level by crash landing his Warp Star in a similar way to how he does at the start of Kirby's Adventure.

Starting with Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Warp Star is also a weapon that Kirby and other characters can use. When used, the character flies offscreen, then comes crashing down. The explosion can do some damage and can even KO Players with high damage percentage. In both games, the Warp Star's impact location could be controlled slightly to catch out players who try to avoid it. Like most Melee weapons, the Warp Star features as a Trophy.

The Warp Star appears twice in the Subspace Emissary, both times summoned by Kirby as a method of escape. It is used to escape the Midair Stadium with one of the Princesses he rescued from Petey Piranha (either Zelda or Peach depending on the player's choice) before the Subspace Bomb engulfs them. They later crash land on Battleship Halberd after the bomb rams them from behind, knocking Kirby off his Warp Star.

Later on, after Mario, Pit, Yoshi, and Link join Kirby he uses the Warp Star once again to escape a Subspace Bomb (Link also hitches a ride while Mario rides Yoshi and Pit flies).

Trivia

 * The Warp Star is the symbol used to represent characters from the Kirby series in the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * The Warp Star is drawn by Paint Roller in the Paint Panic sub-game.
 * The Warp Star apparently holds the Star Rod ability in the anime and gives it when inhaled, but it cannot be inhaled in the games.
 * A parody can be seen in the level "Moon Grove" from Drawn to Life, where the most common enemies ride stars in the same fashion Kirby rides his.
 * In the opening for Kirby Super Star Ultra, Kirby rides the Warp Star on top - the same way as he rides it in the anime.
 * Kirby has three different ways of summoning the Warp Star:
 * 1) Tiff calls upon it for Kirby and the Warp Star arrives. (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!)
 * 2) The Star on the Star Rod increases in size, and Kirby can hop onto it. (Milky Way Wishes)
 * 3) Kirby calls upon it on the phone. (Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby & the Amazing Mirror)