Squishy

“	An eight-armed Avalanche for you then, Kirby!”
	— Squishy • Kirby's Avalanche

Squishys (Squishy Squids in Kirby's Pinball Land) are squid-like enemies that have been around since the first Kirby game. They provide no ability when inhaled.

Although Squishy is a regular enemy in most cases, Squishy is actually a noteworthy staple in most spin-offs, such as in Kirby's Avalanche.

Physical Appearance

Squishy is a small white (or a light brownish-yellow in some games) squid with small beady eyes and eight tentacles. The two tentacles on either of its sides are noticeably longer than the six at the bottom, and are usually held upright at both sides of its head. It is near identical to the far more dangerous Squister, with the only difference being their coloration.

In the anime, Squishy's true form greatly resembles its appearance in the games, but is much larger. Its tentacles are thicker and more muscular in this appearance, and it is able to stretch them to grapple and hit its foes. As opposed to the small black eyes it has in the games, Squishy has glaring yellow eyes in a constant angry expression in this form. Prior to the fight, Squishy appears as a miniature version of its game design.

Starting with Kirby's Return to Dream Land, Squishy's appearance has been revised. The current design sports its classic brownish-yellow color with light blue markings on the tops of its head.

In Games

Kirby's Dream Land

Squishy first appears in Kirby's Dream Land. Their behaviour consists of swimming around and occasionally hopping out of the water. Once on dry land, they can walk around unscathed, a trait which separates them from other water-based foes. In the Extra Game, Squishy is replaced by Flotzo.

Kirby's Adventure and Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

Squishies reappear as enemies in Kirby's Adventure and its remake acting the same as before and they still give no Copy Ability when inhaled.

Kirby's Avalanche

Squishy appears as a boss in Kirby's Avalanche, in Stage 5. This is the dialogue that plays before the boss fight:

Squishy: "I know what your dream is! But King Dedede was saying-"

Kirby: "Go meddle in someone else's affairs, Squishy, I've got to get to the Dream Fountain."

Squishy: "An eight-armed Avalanche for you then, Kirby!"

Kirby's Block Ball

Squishy is featured as the boss of Stage 2 in Kirby's Block Ball. Here, it is able to extend its tentacles, a technique which it would later use as a monster in the anime.

Kirby Super Star and Kirby Super Star Ultra

Squishy reappears as an enemy in Kirby Super Star and its remake, acting the same as before. In Revenge of the King, Squishy is replaced by Flotzo once again.

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

Squishy appears as an enemy in Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, but appears only in one room in the forest of Moonlight Mansion, thus rendering it the most scarce enemy in the game. Squishy does not appear in the game after that point, not counting its appearance in the intro animation.

Kirby Mass Attack

Squishy appears in Kirby Quest, a sub-game in Kirby Mass Attack. It opposes the Kirbys alongside Sweet Stuff and Flotzo in Stages 21, 23, and 33. It uses recolored Squister sprites and animations for its attack. Squishy has 80 HP and can hit one Kirby with each attack.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Squishy reappears once again in Kirby's Return to Dream Land with a redesign: now it has blue spots on its tentacles and on top of its head and now it is of a yellow-ish color.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Kirby: Planet Robobot

Squishies reappear as enemies, with the same behaviour as Kirby's Return to Dream Land.

Kirby's Blowout Blast

Squishy first appears in Stage 1 of Level 2. It tends to jump forward and back rather than walk on the ground. Like most enemies in the game, scaled-up versions of it appear that can be Inhaled for a Blaster Bullet.

Kirby Star Allies

Squishies reappear as enemies in Kirby Star Allies.

Other Games

Squishy also appears as a regular enemy in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Kirby's Dream Land 3, they also appear in spin-offs such as Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble, Kirby: Canvas Curse, Kirby's Pinball Land and Kirby's Dream Course.

In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

“	This sushi monster's gonna clobber Kirby!”
	— King Dedede • Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Squishy appears in Kirby: Right Back at Ya! as one of Nightmare Enterprises' monsters, appearing in the 73rd episode Dedede's Raw Deal.

In this episode, King Dedede starts up a small sushi restaurant in Cappy Town, but this really ends up being a plot to defeat Kirby. The sushi restaurant expands from Cappy Town all the way through Kirby's house. Kirby ends up eating a small Sweet Potato, which prevents him from inhaling and gives him a case of the hiccups. Kirby hiccups on a plate containing a small version of Squishy. Enraged, the small Squishy grows into its true form; a hulking krakken-like monster with stretchy tentacles. Strangely, in the anime Squishy has electrical based attacks, similar to Master Green from the games. After Squishy hits him around and zaps him with some sparks, Kirby is scared out of his hiccups after Tiff yells at Kirby saying "Kirby, with those hiccups you'll never be able to eat again". Kirby then is able to inhale some of Squishy's sparks, making him Spark Kirby. After hurting Squishy with some spark attacks of his own, Kirby blasts Squishy into the air and unleashes one last huge spark attack. The mass of electricity collides with Squishy, destroying it and leaving Kirby with tons of sushi that rains down from the sky.

The giant form of Squishy, due primarily to its sheer size, faintly resembles the first monster Kirby faced in the series, Octacon.

Physical Appearance

First Form

In its first form, Squishy as the same looks to its in-game counter part, it is a small squid-like creature colored primary in white, it has small doted eyes, it is also very small in size.

Second Form

In its second form looks similar to its first form, the differences being that it now has large yellow eyes with black eye lids that are on a constant angry expression similar to the Ice Dragon's monster form, its tentacles are also thicker and the tentacles on both the left and right side become longer.

Powers and Abilities

First Form

Squishy doesn't have much in a way of abilities in its first form, the only thing that it can do is transform into its second form.

Second Form

In its second form however, Squishy displays a wide arsenal of abilities, despite being a water animal, it can move on the ground with ease thanks to its tentacles and utilizes its longer side tentacles for combat, wrapping around its victim, or rotating them for an ability to fly. It can also generate dark purple electricity from its tentacles and fire dark purple colored lighting balls or dark purple colored lighting beams.

Related Quotes

“	An eight-tentacled who is the master of meddling, Squishy is also quite an accomplished Avalanche player.”
	— The Cast of Characters • Kirby's Avalanche Instruction Booklet

Etymology

Squishy's name is likely derived from the adjective "squishy," referring to its soft, moist body. It may also be intentionally similar to "squid," the invertebrate that Squishy's design is based off of.

Trivia

Squishys look and act (to a lesser extent) much like Bloopers, a very common aquatic enemy from the Mario series.
Both Squishy and Flotzo appear in the anime. Ironically, Flotzo (known for being slightly stronger than its counterpart) is portrayed as being cowardly and weak. Squishy, as mentioned above, is a giant monster in the show.
Squishy's demise in the anime its similar to the one of Susshi: both monsters end up becoming sushi when defeated.
There are two Squishys in the first stage of Onion Ocean that jump straight up into the air from the water below. If the player manages to knock one of them onto land without defeating it, it will simply stand in place and jump straight up every few seconds. This is most likely because the AI of these Squishys was programmed specifically to jump and not to move about.
In Kirby's Avalanche, his AI is used by Sasoriman in Puyo Puyo.

If Kirby's rocket blasts high enough in Kirby Battle Royale’s Rocket Rumble mode, the player can briefly see a spaceship pass. This ship carries five Waddle Dees and is designed to look like a Squishy.