Nothing is as cute yet powerful as Kirby is, and he would be nothing without his iconic Copy Abilities. These are Kirby's main power-ups that are obtained by inhaling foes and stealing their abilities. Each new game introduces plenty of new powers to play with, ranging from simple elemental ones to Kirby turning himself into a missile.

While Copy Abilities such as Sword and Cutter appear in almost every entry, some are only around for a single game. Many of the niche Copy Abilities either have questionable uses or interesting powers, which more than saddens us that they have only been in a single title.

For this list, we have excluded Mecha, Sand, and Ranger as these have all first appeared in recent titles and will likely appear in future titles.

Ball

Too Spherical

Kirby is one of the most round video game characters, with a spherical shape that anyone can recognize thanks to his cute pink face, but what if it was just his face? The Ball Copy Ability takes away Kirby's limbs and leaves him to roll and bounce around levels.

In the Canvas Curse spin-offs, Kirby is just a ball, but the Copy Ability goes unmentioned. Unlike those games, though, the Copy Ability is a nightmare to control, with Kirby's only form of attacking or jumping being to bounce around straight into pits and enemies.

Copy

Copping Copy Abilities?

As the name suggests, Copy is one of the most redundant abilities in the series that only really exists for gameplay reasons. The Copy Ability is able to copy any enemy's ability, which Kirby can just do normally anyway...?

In Super Star, where this ability appears, it does have reasons to exist. Since the second player cannot choose their own character, using Copy they can. Then, in Milky Way Wishes, Kirby is stripped of his power to obtain Copy Abilities normally, but Copy circumvents this.

Spider

Arachnophobes Look Away!

Kirby has become a whole host of animals in his games, from an insect in Beetle to a bird in Wing, but the most terrifying appeared in Kirby Star Allies. The Spider Copy Ability is a fun idea that, sadly, gets no love, just like Star Allies as a whole.

With Spider, Kirby can web up his foes and create platforms for him and his friends to use to reach even higher heights with ease. That last part may seem redundant considering Kirby has infinite flight, but these are a blast to use, and this is one Copy Ability that is super underrated.

Mini

Teeny Tiny Cuteness

What could be cuter than a regular-sized Kirby? An even smaller pink puff ball! The Mini Copy Ability only appears sparsely in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and does one simple thing: it makes Kirby shrink down and become even tinier.

While imagining a tiny Kirby is possibly one of the most adorable things this world could ever give us, in practice, this Copy Ability is just a hassle. In Mini form, Kirby cannot obtain any other Copy Abilities, meaning you have no attack, which can be awkward when enemies are around.

Metal / Steel Ball

Too Heavy For Its Own Good

Rock is one of Kirby's most recognizable Copy Abilities and, while it functionally doesn't do much, it is miles better than its ore counterpart. Metal is a Kirby Squeak Squad exclusive that makes Kirby super heavy and slow by turning his entire body into metal.

Something interesting about Metal is that it has seemingly returned under a new name in Kirby Air Riders with Steel Ball. This Copy Ability turns the player into a giant ball of metal, and this just so happens to be one of the very few powers of the Metal Copy Ability.

Poison

Toxic Power

This corrosive Copy Ability first appeared in Kirby Planet Robobot and, despite it being fun, it remains exclusive to this entry. Poison is an interesting elemental ability that surprisingly took over two decades to exist, and even then, the concept did not get the justice it deserved.

The main issue with Poison is that it is just a reskin of Water, with them both sharing animations and moves. This was likely done to quickly create a Copy Ability that fit with Planet Robobot's industrial theming. Despite this, Poison is more interesting than Water and deserves to come back.

Light

Completely Useless

There have been many questionable Copy Abilities across the series, such as the one-time use Crash, but none have ever been as useless as Light. Only appearing in Kirby's Adventure and its remake for a reason, Light has one niche use: to light up only two dark rooms.

This is pathetic even for this early entry, and it feels like the ability is just useless, as this could have been a level element, not a power-up. Forgotten Land would go on to have a spiritual successor with the Light Bulb Mouthful Mode, and it is executed much better.

Jelly

Pink Puff Ball Flavored

Kirby's Dream Buffet is a fun spin-off title on the Switch that sadly left a lot to be desired from its food theming, but its Copy Abilities are one of its best aspects. In this title, old Copy Abilities are re-imagined with a tasty food spin on them, as well as a new one in the form of the Jelly ability.

Jelly, as the name implies, turns Kirby's body into jelly, allowing him to slide across the ground and through certain obstacles with ease. With such a heavy connection to Dream Buffet's food gimmick, it's likely that Jelly will only return if this game ever gets a sequel someday.

Ghost

Inhaling Foes Wasn't Enough

Squeak Squad was ambitious with its new Copy Abilities, with one even being an unlockable that isn't really worth the effort. Ghost is a strange ability that allows Kirby to control enemies, but for most of them, their Copy Abilities end up being much more fun to use than possession.

Technically, Ghost has also appeared in the Kirby Fighters games, as when you get knocked out, you turn into a Ghost. Since this is not its own Copy Ability, it feels more like Kirby is a ghost rather than using the Ghost Copy Ability, and it isn't anything more than a cute reference.

Bubble

Deadly But Fun

While the Water Copy Ability has gone on to be one of the iconic elemental abilities, there was one that was introduced before it that wasn't as great. The Bubble ability has Kirby using a wand to blow bubbles all over his foes and trapping them inside a soapy grave.

While bubbles may sound like the worst way to deal with eldritch horror final bosses, Bubble is a utility Copy Ability that only works within Squeak Squad. By bubbling enemies, you can store Copy Abilities on the bottom screen of the DS and even mix them to get special abilities.