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Pon and Con block the way! Kitted out in sinister black armor, these combat-ready critters have got a gate to guard, and they aren't about to let the Star Allies through without a fight!
— VS Pon & Con • Kirby Star Allies

Pon & Con (called Pon Con in Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Raccoon & Fox in the instruction booklet[1]) are a boss in the Kirby series, debuting in Kirby's Dream Land 3. They are fought together in a tag-team. In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Pon & Con appear as friendly characters who live alongside other animals in Acore's roots, and make small appearances every so often.

While they are referred to as Raccoon & Fox in the English instruction booklet, Pon & Con are most likely intended to be a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) and kitsune (a fox, particularly the red fox) as well-known creatures of traditional Japanese folklore. Both creatures are known for being mischievous and the power to shape-shift. They were likely localized as a raccoon and fox, respectively, because foreign audiences would not be familiar with the mythology.

Physical Appearance[]

HnK Pon

Pon in the anime

Pon is a round pudgy raccoon with a creamy brown coat of fur and a light gray underbelly. He has small black hands, feet, and ears, although his hands and feet are sometimes absent in his in-game sprites and some official art. His tail consists of a round ball the same color of the rest of his body. However in Kirby Star Allies, his tail is long and striped, which makes it more similar to an actual raccoon tail. In the anime, Pon keeps the same basic design, except he has a different color palette. His fur is still dark brown, but his underbelly and snout are a pinkish-tan color. The anime incarnation of Pon is very similar to his in-game design, the main difference being that the anime version always has his feet showing. In the anime, Pon also has fingers on each hand.

HnK Con

Con in the anime

Con is a fox with bright yellow fur (slightly creamier in-game) and slanted eyes. He has yellow fur on his underbelly that extends to the tip of his snout. He has a blackish-brown button-shaped nose and a fluffy white and yellow tail. His body is round, but not nearly as much as Pon's. He has pointy yellow and white-tipped ears roughly the same size as his head. The outlandish color of his fur is explained by the fact that in Japanese mythology, kitsune are commonly portrayed with shimmering golden fur.

In Kirby Star Allies, Pon & Con both wear armor based on the Jambastion symbol. They both have black helmets that cover their heads, but Pon has black armor on his belly connected to him by four purple strings, while Con wears black shoulder pads and has white armor on his belly connected by two strings instead of four. Upon defeat, Pon has his eyes open even wider, turning them into circles, while Con's eyes are now open, appearing as ovals stretched in the direction of their line form.

The anime version is actually noticeably much different than his in-game appearance. Con's head and ears are much smaller and are now in proportion with the rest of his body, his tail is shorter and rounder, and his coloration appears more dull and has a somewhat green-hue as opposed to the bright yellow fur featured in Kirby's Dream Land 3. Like Pon, Con's feet and arms are always visible in the anime.

Games[]

Kirby's Dream Land 3[]

Image41

Kirby fighting Pon & Con.

Pon and Con are the bosses of Sand Canyon. They fight at the same time, similarly to Lololo & Lalala and Nruff & Nelly. The battlefield the fight occurs in consists of two layers of platforms and a ceiling above that periodically drops down spiked bombs. Oftentimes before Pon and Con appear, several smaller versions of the duo, Pon Jrs. and Con Jrs., march out into the open. Kirby can inhale these small little creatures and spit them back out at the real Pon and Con. The duo have no real form of attacking besides just running into Kirby, however, large spiked bombs drop from the sky throughout the battle that force Kirby to always remain moving. Pon and Con often lead Pon Jrs. and Con Jrs. behind them, so they are often protected from back attacks. When not trailing behind one of the actual bosses, their junior versions will sometimes venture out on their own.

If all the Heart Stars are collected for Sand Canyon after they are defeated, the spell from the sinister force controlling them will be broken, and they peacefully march around the arena along with the miniature animals whenever Kirby enters their arena again. In Boss Butch, Pon & Con fight in an ash-covered volcano area as opposed to the desert, and the screen that appears when Kirby loses in their arena shows one of their bombs on top of his head. The two make their last appearance during the credits alongside the rest of the game's bosses as they socialize with Kirby.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe[]

Pon & Con appear as their own keychain, as well as in the Boss Butch keychain.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse[]

Rainbow Curse Diary - Page 19

Pon and Con's cameo in the Secret Diary

Pon & Con appear on page 19 of Elline's Secret Diary, alongside several other characters. They are dressed in bow ties and bowler hats for a comedy special that is playing on the "junky old TV."

Kirby Star Allies[]

Pon & Con appear as the boss of Gatehouse Road, with the boss title of Dual Defenders, where they guard the gates of the Fortress of Shadows - Jambastion. The battle functions similarly to in Kirby's Dream Land 3, with a few key differences. The bombs dropped feature either the Sizzle or Blizzard element, creating a fire or ice spike upon exploding, respectively; the Sizzle Bombs are used throughout the battle, while the Blizzard Bombs only appear after Pon & Con get furious. These bombs take many hits to destroy from most attacks, but can be instantly disabled using their elemental weaknesses (Blizzard, Splash, Bluster, or paint for Sizzle Bombs, Sizzle for Blizzard Bombs). Bombs are dropped every other pass-through and are preceded by a Pon Jr. or Con Jr. peaking out from the ceiling from where it will be dropped; this Pon Jr./Con Jr. can be defeated to prevent the bomb from dropping at all. After becoming furious, Pon & Con gain the ability to dash quickly across the screen. Upon their defeat, the two bounce throughout their room before bashing their skulls on each other, breaking their armor; after this, Kirby must throw a Friend Heart at them, causing Pon and Con to become friendly again, at which point they open the gates so Kirby and his friends can advance. When Kirby (and co.) perform the Kirby Dance, Pon and Con dance along.

In Far-Flung Starlight Heroes, a similar, albeit stronger, duo named Goldon & Silvox is fought on Mareen Moon.

Pon & Con also appear in The Ultimate Choice. They appear in all of the default difficulties except for the lowest difficulty, Sweet Breeze. Starting from Fiery Showdown, Goldon & Silvox appear instead.

Etymology[]

Pon's name comes from the sound that the legendary tanuki (the creature that Pon is based on) makes as it beats its belly, ポンポン/ぽんぽん (ponpon). Con's name comes from the sound the kitsune (the creature that Con is based on) makes when it yelps, コンコン/こんこん (konkon).

Trivia[]

  • Pon & Con are the only boss in Kirby's Dream Land 3 to not have multiple phases. Whispy Woods uproots and starts walking, Acro destroys the ground and fights in the water, Ado makes paintings of various bosses before fighting directly, King Dedede becomes further controlled by Dark Matter, and Zero appears after Dark Matter is defeated in Hyper Zone (in addition to his eye detaching from his body later).
  • When Pon & Con are damaged in Kirby's Dream Land 3, Pon flashes green and Con flashes red. In Kirby Star Allies, when they open the gate after being befriended, Pon creates green smoke particles and Con creates red ones. This green and red dynamic is a reference to a pair of Japanese cup noodle variants, Green Tanuki and Red Kitsune.
    • This specific noodle flavors are also referenced in a Japanese Splatfest and, to a lesser extent, the Super Mario Bros. series with the Super Leaf power-up, albeit Mario (representing red) transforms into Tanooki Mario and Luigi (representing green) transforms into Kitsune Luigi.
  • In Kirby Star Allies, when Pon & Con roar, they use the roar of Pyribbit.
  • In Kirby Star Allies, a Waddle Doo sometimes appears in one of Pon & Con's groups.
  • Pon & Con currently hold the record for the longest absence until reappearance out of all the bosses in the series by 21 years between their first appearance in Kirby's Dream Land 3, and their return in the flesh in Kirby Star Allies.
    • According to the April 2018 issue of Nintendo Dream, Pon & Con were selected as "a boss that no fan would expect."

Artwork[]

Concept Artwork[]

Gallery[]

Sprites and Models[]

References[]

  1. Kirby's Dream Land 3 instruction booklet (pg. 34)
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