Kirby's buff now. For whatever reason, Nintendo's little pink puffball received a makeover that gave him a small purple hat and limbs that look like the Anchor Arms from Spongebob. Overall, it's a pretty funny sight.
This reimagined Kirby comes from Pokemon Sword and Shield Art Director James Turner. Aside from his professional career, he's known for his drawings that recreate iconic characters in unique ways, and this time around, Kirby seems to have ended up as his muse.
The art displays Buff Kirby in all of his giant-armed glory with five different poses. The first one sees Kirby relaxing in a sunbathing chair and using his massive arms to eat ice cream. The next has him doing a bodybuilder pose where he flexes one arm while stretching out the other. He doesn't do anything special in the third pose; he simply stands straight up while wearing his trademark smile. The last two see him testing out his strength with air punches and push-ups.
The images could have been universally disturbing, but for some reason, that's not the vibe most viewers get when looking at them. Maybe it's because this isn't the first time Turner has drawn Kirby in a weird style. It was only last month that he altered the character to have a tower-like design reminiscent of Gigantamax Meowth.
At this point, then, viewers are probably just used to his art style. Some followers have even considered the design to be just another transformation brought on by Kirby's copy ability. Considering the new little purple hat he now has on his head, it is a possibility. Though it's a wonder whom he could have absorbed to gain this physique as Waluigi is the only purple hat-wearing character that comes to mind, and he's far from muscular.
On the other hand, this is Kirby with arms that rival Johnny Bravo's, so maybe they still qualify as cursed images. Regardless, Turner will more than likely be revising Kirby again in the future, and when that time comes, he'll probably put another spin on the character, and whatever that new twist will be is sure to be interesting.
While viewers wait in the meantime, Pokemon Sword and Shield now feature Mewtwo as a Max Raid Battle, though, he can't actually be caught and used just yet. Sadly, Kirby himself doesn't have anything new going on with his games at the moment, but maybe that will change soon.