Whispy Woods

Whispy Woods as seen in Kirby Super Star.
Whispy Woods
Species	Tree
Eye color	Hollow
Debut	Kirby's Dream Land

Whispy Woods is a sentient tree that has served as a recurring boss character within the Kirby series. It was the first boss faced in Kirby's Dream Land and since then has traditionally been faced as the first boss in most other Kirby games.

Background

Whispy Woods is a large apple tree. It has three holes in its bark which function as its eyes and mouth, as well as a jagged branch acting as its nose. Whispy is known for two different types of attacks: it will blow gusts of wind at enemies and try to drop large apples from its branches on them. Kirby will usually defeat Whispy Woods by sucking up the apples and spitting them back at it. There have been very few variations on this basic attack pattern over the years. Little is known about Whispy Woods's personality or motivation. In Kirby's Epic Yarn, the tree was referred to as a "forest king" that has lived in Dream Land for ages and is constantly in Kirby's way.

Whispy Woods initially appeared in Kirby's Dream Land as the first boss faced at the end of Green Greens, and it was battled faced again at Mt. Dedede with other past bosses near the end of the game. In the Extra mode, Whispy Woods had faster attacks and would also drop Gordos. In Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Whispy Woods guarded a piece of the Star Rod and was fought at Vegetable Valley. Whispy Woods was the boss of Grass Land in Kirby's Dream Land 2, but for that battle, it initially wore a surgeon's mask as well as a pair of swirly glasses, and it attacked by protruding spike-like roots from the ground. Whispy lost the accessories once sufficiently damaged and reverted to its traditional attack pattern. It was also featured in that world's bonus level, where Kirby had to collect the stars that Whispy Woods shot out while avoiding the apples.

Whispy Woods also appeared in several of the sub-games within Kirby Super Star, including the remake of the original Dream Land known as Spring Breeze. In Revenge of Meta Knight, Whispy Woods was faced as a boss within the second chapter. This was followed by a battle with the Twin Woods, a variation on Whispy Woods that consisted of two identical versions of the tree on opposite sides of the screen. They could switch pieces of bark and drop worms as well as Gordos, but they could be beaten with the same methods as the original Whispy Woods, and only one would attack at a time. An autumn variation of Twin Woods appeared as the boss of Floria in Milky Way Wishes. Whispy Woods also had a minor appearance in the ending of Dyna Blade, where it was shocked when Kirby fed its apples to Dyna Blade's children. Kirby Super Star Ultra later had Whispy and Twin Woods as bosses in the new Helper to Hero mode, and Revenge of the King (a harder version of Spring Breeze/Dream Land) replaced Whispy Woods with a stronger, unhealthier version known as Whispy's Revenge. The Revenge version was poisonous, which was shown in its purple leaves. In addition to normal apples, it dropped rotten apples which would damage Kirby when inhaled, and it could also drop worms and create small tornadoes.

In Kirby's Dream Land 3, Whispy Woods was once more the boss of the Grass Land, except that it had fallen under the effects of Dark Matter's corruptions. In that appearance, Whispy spat out various fruits and vegetables that Kirby could shoot back at it. After being hit enough times, Whispy Woods became enraged and would uproot itself from the ground to chase Kirby around, with its roots functioning as feet. Its fruit also became rotten, and Kirby had to continue shooting the fruit at Whispy Woods until it was beaten. There was another variation in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, which reflected a 3-D environment. In that appearance, Whispy Woods was the boss faced for Pop Star and had three seedlings known as Whispy Wood Jrs. surrounding it. It once more dropped and was vulnerable to apples, but for this battle, Kirby had to defeat the Juniors first. That would enrage Whispy Woods and make it begin attacking Kirby with its roots in addition to dropping apples. Whispy Woods could not be directly attacked, and instead the roots had to be attacked.

It also appeared in Kirby's Epic Yarn at the end of Whispy's Forest, where Kirby faced it in Tankbot form with missiles, and the tree used its usual attacks. This game also contained enemies known as Twiggy Woods, which resemble smaller versions of Whispy. In Kirby Mass Attack, it was the boss of the Green Grounds and had several variations on its normal attacks in that it dropped spiked fruits that either shattered or bounced into the air upon landing. Whispy Woods would also extend its body to keep its face safely out of reach in the top screen, and the Kirbys would have to bring Whispy back down by destroying the individual segments, which sported mushrooms and sometimes spikes. The tree was also faced in the minigame Strato Patrol EOS. There were also two enemies based on Whispy Woods known as Whispy Woods Jr. and Whispy Woods Sr. (which was an older-looking tree with a mustache). In Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Whispy Woods was the boss faced at Cookie Course and guarded the Lor Starcutter's oars. Its attack pattern started out as the traditional one, but it grew larger after being hit several times and proceeded to drop various minor enemies from its branches. Another new attack was one in which Whispy would attempt to inhale Kirby's team and chew on them. Extra Mode featured a version of Whispy Woods that was nearly identical to Whispy's Revenge from Super Star Ultra. Another variation on that version appeared as the boss of the Smash Combat Chamber EX, one of the New Challenge Stages present in Kirby's Dream Collection.

In Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Whispy Woods was the boss of The Forest of Whispy Woods. For this battle, it had vines that produces spiked balls, and it also dropped mines while spitting out gusts of wind, and it could also summon Bronco Knights to protect its face. It could be damaged with Tap Dashes and Star Dashes. It later reappeared in Sky-High Whispy Woods, with a metallic version of its trunk and enhanced abilities, such as to summon Barampas. Its new trunk repelled Tap Dashes, and it could only be hurt by Star Dashes. In Kirby: Planet Robobot, it was modified with mechanical parts by the Haltmann Works Company and became Clanky Woods. It could move around on drill legs and could fire missiles. Clanky Woods was the boss of the first stage of Patched Plains, and it was battled again aboard the Access Ark. Meta Knight could also face a harder version of Clanky Woods in the Meta Knightmare Returns mode. When defeated in any battle, it would be rendered immobile and cried tears of oil. The standard version of Whispy Woods also appeared as a boss in the Team Kirby Clash sub-game and its spin-off version, Team Kirby Clash Deluxe. In the latter, it could be battled twice at The Ruins, with the second battle being harder.

Back in its normal form but possessed by a Jamba Heart, Whispy Woods appeared as the boss of of Fruity Forest in Kirby Star Allies. Its first phase was similar to traditional battles with Whispy Woods, but with some additional abilities such as summoning enemies and producing Burst Fruits. During the second phase of the battle, it would leap up to produce purple shockwaves. After defeating it, Whispy Woods would expel the Jamba Heart that was within. Kirby could also befriend Whispy by throwing a Friend Heart at it, which would cause it to drop food and point stars for Kirby. There would later be a harder rematch with Whispy Woods on Falluna Moon, followed by a battle with Yggy Woods, who was even more powerful than Whispy Woods and known as the "ancient king of trees". Within Heroes of Another Dimension, another harder variation of Whispy Woods known as Parallel Woods was featured. It was referred to as "an unholy incarnation" of Whispy Woods.

Minor/Puzzle Appearances

Whispy Woods was faced as a boss in both Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Block Ball, where it used versions of its usual attacks that were adjusted to match the game's respective styles. Within Kirby's Dream Course, multiple Whispy Woods acted as bumpers that could injure Kirby but were vulnerable to the Spark ability. Whispy Woods also appeared as the second opponent in Kirby's Avalanche, which is the only time it has had dialogue, where it cautions Kirby not to treat on its roots. In Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, Whispy Woods could teleport Kirby to different parts of a level. Whispy Woods also had a docile appearance in Kirby Air Ride, where it was found amongst other trees in the city's West sector in City Trial mode. In Kirby: Squeak Squad, Whispy Woods had its most minor appearance as a cameo appearance on the title screen. In Kirby Battle Royale, one minigame revolved around collecting apples from a pair of Mini Whispy Woods trees.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. games, Whispy Woods has appeared as part of the Dream Land stage from Super Smash Bros. and the Green Greens stage from Super Smash Bros. Melee, with both stages also appearing in the other games of the series. In both stages, Whispy Woods affects the stage by blowing winds across one side of the stage. In Melee, it also releases apples that either are healing items or can be thrown as weapons. It also appears as a trophy in Melee, a sticker (from Kirby Super Star) in Brawl, a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and an Ace-Rank Primary Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. When fought in a Spirit battle, the Spirit of Whispy Woods would possess two pairs of Kirby duplicates for a battle on the Green Greens area in which there were strong winds.

Other Media

• In the Kirby anime, Whispy appeared in several episodes as an ally of Kirby who ruled the Whispy Woods Forest. He was depicted as being elderly and wise.

Trivia

• In some of the few Kirby games in which it does not appear, Whispy Woods has been replaced by similar enemies that act as the first boss: a living stone tower called King Golem in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, and Flowery Woods in Kirby Triple Deluxe. Flowery Woods strongly resembles Whispy, but its description says that the relationship between the two is unknown.
• The only Kirby games in which Whispy Woods does not appear at all are Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Kirby: Canvas Curse, Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby's Blowout Blast. Additionally, among the games in which Whispy appears as a boss or enemy, the only games in which it is not the first boss are Kirby's Block Ball and Kirby's Epic Yarn.