#needlous

Name: Needlous

Debut: Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Lovely little larva Creeping ‘cross the wood Stretching and contracting Like a little larva should!

Some things in this world are so lovely! So lovely they inspire you to write poetry! Needlous is the very lovely little larva of legend. Let’s Larva Learn!

But first, here’s a word from our sponsor, Togezo from Kirby’s Adventure! Togezo is sponsoring today’s post because it is desperate to regain any crumb of relevance. Togezo was the first Needle enemy in the series! And its design is about what you would expect. A nondescript little waddling thing with a spiky shell. Togezo was the main Needle enemy for quite a while! It got in multiple games and even got blue shoes in one of them.

But alas! Togezo was utterly replaced. Maybe they thought it was too similar to designs from other games. Maybe they just felt they could do better. Whatever the case, when Adventure was remade in the form of Nightmare in Dream Land, Togezo was gone, and Needlous in its place!

No disrespect to Togezo, but I think this was a good idea. Needlous is a much more distinct design! More concept to it than just “a spiky guy”, and fits the world very naturally.

(Though very strangely, Gimmick!, which released even before Kirby’s Adventure, has these two enemies that strongly resemble both Needlous AND Togezo! And this is not the only time Kirby enemies have been strangely similar to Gimmick! ones...)

It is based on the stinging hairs of many caterpillars, but taken to the extreme, becoming big ol’ stabby spikes!

Needlous is NOT, however, the only Kirby enemy inspired by this phenomenon! Here we have Capiller! Alright. I know. Get it all out. I know it looks unfortunately similar to a certain body part. But it’s not Capiller’s fault that it happens to resemble a Muppet’s eyes and nose!

Kirby has no qualms about eating sharp weapons, fire, toxic waste, ghosts, and more. But he HATES eating Capillers! I assume this is because Capiller (whose Japanese name translates to Hairy Bug) is covered in irritating hairs, even if they are not always depicted visually, and that is just too uncomfortable for even Kirby to eat. Everyone has their limits!

This, then, makes it very strange that Kirby can eat Needlous just fine, and even get the Needle ability from it! Two enemies, both based on the same thing, but executed quite differently. It honestly feels like an oversight, like they just didn’t consider the existence of Capiller when conceptualizing Needlous! Or maybe it was intentional and there is something else about Capiller that Kirby hates. Maybe the eyes. Yucky texture.

BACK TO NEEDLOUS enough not talking about Needlous on its own post! Needlous is not capable of extending its spikes like Needle Kirby is, but instead, curls up and rolls in spiky disc form! In Return to Dream Land, this move was added to Needle Kirby’s moveset, so you can feel more than ever like you are playing as Needlous! If you take many creative liberties with interpreting what is actually happening.

Isn’t this such a lovely creature? You should not pet any random creature you meet, especially not dangerous ones like fuzzy caterpillars, but maybe you could pet Needlous, since its spikes are so big that they are easy to maneuver your hand around. Or maybe not! It is still a wild creature, be careful in this hypothetical scenario!

Needlous!

The night.... continues..... with a bean. Needlous is great! A small spiky caterpillar. Needlous replaces the role of Togezo from the original Kirby’s adventure. Togezo actually reappears in Kirby Dream Course and Kirby’s Dream Land 3, so it’s interesting they would get replaced for any reason. Needlous would go on to reappear in Canvas Curse and Return to Dream Land, as well as Triple Deluxe (Edit: Needlous is not in Triple Deluxe, but the Needle ability is! Oops!) giving the Needle ability in each game. It’s a shame the Needle ability is absent from Star Allies, I would have liked to see what Helper they would have chosen. Needlous? Togezo? Tick?