Phan Phan

“	Third one's the charm! Get him, Phan Phan!”
	— King Dedede • Kirby Super Star Ultra

Phan Phan is a mid-boss in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. It grants Kirby the Throw or Suplex ability when inhaled, depending on the game.

Physical Appearance[]

Phan Phan is a large gray elephant-like creature. Its main body resembles the head of an elephant, with two large, floppy ears, two black eyes, three long strands of hair, two legs, and a long trunk that it uses to grab and toss Kirby. Phan Phan can also roll up into a ball and propel itself forwards or upwards with great velocity. Phan Phan has three pink toes and the bottom of its feet are pink with a single light pink swirly marking on both feet.

Games[]

Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land[]

Phan Phan replaces the similar but more aggressive Rolling Turtle from Kirby's Adventure. Its speed and aggression vary by color, with its most aggressive form being the hidden green variation in later stages of the game.

It will attack Kirby by rolling into him, throwing him around, and will throw apples at him, which are similar to Whispy Woods's apples. Kirby may inhale the apples and spit them back. When Phan Phan is defeated, Kirby may inhale it to get the Throw ability.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror[]

Phan Phan appears in the Mustard Mountain, Carrot Castle, Peppermint Palace, and Candy Constellation levels. It is noticeably more aggressive at Mustard Mountain than most of its other appearances. Other than that, Phan Phan's attack patterns remain largely unchanged.

Kirby: Canvas Curse[]

Phan Phan makes a cameo appearance in this game as one of Paint Roller's paintings in Paint Panic.

Kirby Super Star Ultra[]

Phan Phan makes an unexpected appearance in Revenge of the King as a mid-boss, along with the other Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land mid-bosses Fire Lion, Mr. Tick Tock, and Grand Wheelie. As Throw continues to be absent in Kirby Super Star Ultra, it gives the Suplex ability instead. Phan Phan's attack patterns remain unchanged, although it has noticeably higher health than in other appearances. Phan Phan, along with the other aforementioned Mid-Bosses, were sent to attack Kirby in The Revenge.

It is fought in Purple Plants, taking the place of Poppy Bros. Sr. from Spring Breeze, and is faced again in The Revenge. In Purple Plants, Phan Phan appears with its usual gray color, while in The Revenge, it has a red-orange palette color instead. It also appears in The True Arena along with the other aforementioned mid-bosses, and shares a life bar with them as part of a boss called True Mid-Boss All Stars.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya![]

	This section contains information that does not coincide with the main series canon.	(Similar)

“	No. It's very cute and cuddly, and it's got a name. We like to call it Phan Phan.”
	— N.M.E. Sales Guy • Cowardly Creature

Phan Phan is an ally of Kirby in the anime, first appearing in the episode Cowardly Creature. It was first shown escaping from Nightmare Enterprises and scared everyone in Cappy Town. Surprisingly, Phan Phan was actually more afraid of everyone than they were of it. King Dedede attempted to attack Phan Phan but was stopped by Kirby. Kirby and his friends then showed the shy elephant their kindness and Phan Phan was happy to befriend Kirby. They were later seen having fun playing at a pond. They were just doing so when Dedede showed up with Whippy, the training monster, who gave Phan Phan an electric shock, turning it evil in the process. Thankfully, after Whippy was defeated with Throw Kirby, Phan Phan was back to normal, and everyone welcomed Phan Phan to its new, permanent home in Dream Land. Phan Phan is later seen having took up residence in Whispy Woods Forest (all subsequent references to Phan Phan are removed in the dub, as Phan Phan was never introduced until the CW run of the show). Phan Phan's last appearance is in Cappy Town Down, as a cameo. It, along with Whispy Woods and the other wildlife, watched the Halberd's ignition.

When Phan Phan first appeared, it had a clown mask over its eyes. The mask had glowing, glaring blue eyes, puffy hairs, and a clown hat on top. Unlike in the games, Phan Phan in the anime has a visible tail with a tuft of yellow hair. Phan Phan has also been shown to shoot spiked balls from its trunk, unlike its game version. Phan Phan is also far larger than its game version, possibly the size of an actual elephant.

Etymology[]

Phan Phan's name is a reduplication of the "-phan-" part of "elephant," the animal Phan Phan is based on.

Related Quotes[]

“	I wish I knew why Phan Phan's so frightened all the time. I've never seen a monster act like this before.”
	— Tiff • Cowardly Creature

“	If all monsters were easy-going like Phan Phan, this galaxy'd be a lot better off.”
	— Tuff • Cowardly Creature

“	I can assure you we're not responsible, Triple D. The escapee was part of our "Young Monsters of the Future" program. The training facility is secure, but it looks like somebody found a way to break into our computer system and sent one of our horrible hopefuls free.”
	— N.M.E. Sales Guy • Cowardly Creature

Trivia[]

As a reference to the original Kirby's Dream Land, Phan Phan ambushes Kirby immediately after he gets off the Warp Star in Kirby Super Star Ultra, similar to how Poppy Bros. Sr. did in said game.
Phan Phan is one of the few monsters in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! not destroyed by Kirby or Meta Knight.
The orange alternate sprite in Kirby Super Star Ultra may be based on African bush elephants, that, like most elephants, often take mud baths. However, the soil in their habitat is sometimes a reddish color, making them appear somewhat red.
The blue alternate palette in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land bears a resemblance to the Pokémon Phanpy. Coincidentally, both characters resemble elephants and their names incorporate the "phan" in "elephant".
The green alternate palette in Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land is only found in the secret area in Stage 2 of Rainbow Resort. It is an equivalent to the magenta Rolling Turtle found in the Kirby's Adventure version of that stage.
Phan Phan is one of the three mid-bosses to be allied with Kirby in the anime, the others being Chef Kawasaki and Bonkers.
Mr. Frosty, Poppy Bros Sr., Fire Lion, Bugzzy & Phan Phan are the only Mini-bosses to change their copy abilities.