Kids that grew up playing video games on a Nintendo (NES) had Kirby’s Dream Land, or at least played it. Those kids from the early 1990s have grown up to get a killer range of Kirby tattoos.
Kirby, the bubblegum pink ball of awesome, makes a fantastic motif for nostalgic tattoos, with his big eyes, cheerful face and big red boots.
This icon of gaming can either be a solo tattoo or used in crossover style pieces of art referencing fellow superstar video game characters like Mario, Link from the Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong or even the upswept hair of Super Saiyan.
These tattoos of the beloved pink ball are a fantastic glimpse into bright nostalgic body art designs.
1. Arm
These Kirby tattoo designs use a variety of arm placements, providing strong opportunities to make the legendary star warrior shine amongst images and ideas linked to the game.
The most interesting Kirby ink in this group could be the almost American Traditional design of thick black outline augmented by pink and luminous green, or the rare black and gray rough sketch design – a cool point of difference amongst all the pink balls.
2. Colorful Video Game Tattoos
This group of colorful ink designs use Kirby’s video game heart to cool effect. Again, elements from Kirby’s Dream Land and resulting games are implemented, such as the bright rainbows and giant hammer.
3. Crossover Theme Tattoo Ideas
I love how the tattoo artist’s and subjects have augmented the central Kirby tattoo by utilizing elements from other popular manga, anime or video game concepts. I’m always here for a giant pink ball sporting hair straight out of Dragon Ball Z.
4. Floral Ink
Some art enthusiasts rock elements from the Kirby Dream Land, however others go for more universal tattoo themes. These ideas utilize a range of different flowers in their design opposing the pink Kirby character or an old school Nintendo Game Boy (Google it, youngsters!).
5. Food Tattoo Art
I dig food, so combining a legend like Kirby with some coolly etched food tattoos is bad ass from my perspective. I like how the artists have created cool food elements, such as waffle cones for the ice cream or different noodle bowls to balance the larger than life Kirby character in an interesting way.
6. Kirby’s Adventure Leg Tattoos
The creator of each leg tattoo in this collection have had a lot of fun bringing their visions to life. Whether it’s classic Kirby riding a gold star, the Chicano ‘vato’ style Kirby or a weird black ink linework version of the icon with the globe like body of Kirby attached to a pair of long, human like legs.
These tattoo ideas bring us back to a central theme to body art, get the ink you want, not the ink you think people would want you to get.
7. Mario Bros and Kirby Video Game Tattoos
Mario and Kirby are stablemates, similar style game characters integral to the popularity of Nintendo. Kirby crops up as a playable character – along with King Dede and Meta Knight – in the Smash Bros. Franchise. Both were created by Masahiro Sakurai.
Kirby also features on Smash Ultimate for the Nintendo DS and Wii U, where the pink ball can be used in story mode.
The subjects of these tattoo ideas have opted to either package the two super star worlds into one central theme, or mash them up completely.
8. Pixel Tattoo Models
Source: @titantattootn via Instagram
Source: @kelseytattoos via Instagram
Source: @ackyourself via Instagram
Instead of incredibly clean, simple lines, these Kirby tattoo designs feature individual pixels like an old television or video game would have.
A pixelated tattoo is a growing tattoo sub-genre and eye-catching way to show your dedication to all things retro.
9. Pokemon Series and Kirby Tattoo
There’s a popular corner of the internet where Pokemon and Kirby crossover with fan fiction, art, and in these instances, tattoos. While I’m not a Pokemon guy, the mix of Kirby with recognizable characters such as Pikachu is a pretty epic choice of artwork.
10. Sketch Tattoo Concepts
I like these Sketch tattoos because they remove the most recognizable part of Kirby, the pink color, and work in a nice array of black and gray concepts to bring the tattoo to life. I particularly like the sword over the shoulder idea reminiscent of cover art for an epic saga.
11. Small Creator Designs
A bright, cheerfully engaging design such as Kirby means there are lots of options for small sized tattoos, which give you the option to cover of show off with relative ease
The character’s bright pink spherical shape means Kirby can be used in small tattoo designs of all shapes, or more visible tattoo models such as hand, foot, or even neck tattoos.
12. Zelda and Kirby
Just as with Mario, Kirby and Link from Zelda are fellow star characters on Nintendo platforms. These ink ideas rock and roll with Kirby playing the role of Link in a variety of scenarios that those familiar with both video game franchises will get a kick out of.
FAQs
What does a Kirby tattoo symbolize?
Kirby is mainly a video game character as the star of the Nintendo franchise named after him. Kirby’s a tattoo reference for old school console gamers that have grown up looking to get a cool tattoo that takes a glimpse into the past.
He also pops up on other titles – Smash Bros, Super Mario Galaxy et al – from time to time.
These days there’s a wide array of Kirby adventure games, anime, merchandise, emoticon images and all sorts of cool stuff. Kirby tattoos look extremely sweet, particularly for designs showing off the icon’s bright pink color doing all sorts of cute things.
What can I add to my Kirby tattoo?
By nature of Kirby’s bright pink color and spherical shape, it’s not generally an image that stands alone as a tattoo. Pairing the neon hue with other bright colors such as rainbows and clouds works well, or other vivid colors as background shading, while white ink accents also work as a complement. The increasingly popular watercolor style also creates some stylish ink designs.
Where should I place my Kirby tattoo?
A bright, cheerfully engaging design such as Kirby means there are lots of options for small and medium sized tattoos. The character’s bright pink spherical shape means Kirby can be used in arm tattoo designs of all shapes, or more visible tattoo models such as hand, foot, or even neck tattoos.
Did you enjoy this collection of tattoos celebrating the legend Kirby? If you’re looking for more galleries focusing on playable character and adventure video game tattoos, click on the links below.