this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
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Today I Learned

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I honestly thought he was named after the vacuum company because he sucks up stuff like a vacuum cleaner does.

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[–] Godort@lemmy.ca 64 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

This case was absolutely wild too.

Universal was arguing that Nintendo infringed on their brand, as they have done with a bunch of companies in the past.

Those companies typically just adhered to C&D rather than fight it, but Kirby was sure he could win it.

Kirby spent the first part of the case arguing all the ways that Donkey Kong was different from King Kong, and then closed his argument by citing a case between Universal and RKO pictures(The studio that made King Kong), where they themselves had successfully argued that King Kong was in the public domain.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 27 points 19 hours ago (4 children)

So......RKO Pictures makes king kong. Universal pictures then gets sued by RKO, and Universal argues it's in the public domain.

Then universal tries sueing Nintendo to protect their IP. Nintendo then shows King Kong is in public domain.

Soooooo........if I make Danky Kang, as a new IP, who wants to bet Nintendo would instantly sue me?

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 2 points 3 hours ago

Make it a donkey instead of a gorilla.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Now Nintendo sues you if you call an ape in a video game "Kong". Probably.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

And then there's Chunky!......he's dead.....

One way to find out

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 4 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

The difference is that donkey kong isn't 100 years old and therefore isn't in the public domain.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 10 points 17 hours ago

Donkey Kong came out in 1980. I was born in 1983. My hair is grey, my back hurts, and I FEEL like I'm 100 years old. And in this country, we don't deal with laws or facts. It's all about how we FEEL.

Therefore, Donkey Kong is 103 years old.

[–] Zorque@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago

Neither was King Kong in 1980.

[–] SlicedPotato@feddit.dk 23 points 20 hours ago
[–] THE_GR8_MIKE@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

TIL there's a Kirby vacuum company.

And of course someone else already said this lmaoooo

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 5 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

TIL there was a Kirby vacuum cleaner company

[–] KuromiGirl04@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

Yeah, there is a US Vacuum cleaner company called KIRBY.

I don't know whether they're still in business or of they've gone defunct.

But yeah, Kirby is also a vacuum company.

And apparently Nintendo's cute little pink Blob being named Kirby like the vacuum cleaner is purely coincidental.

[–] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Those vacuums sucked... ...in a bad way.

They were very heavy and kind of awkward. They did have a lot of suction and utility but all of the add-ons/attachments made it stupid annoying to store and use.

[–] mercano@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

He’d be a ghost white character when he was named. Kirby’s first appearance was on the OG monochrome GameBoy, and he was white on the box art. He picked up his pink & red color scheme in his second game, on the NES.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 11 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

No, he was always meant to be pink and is depicted as such on the Japanese box art. The North American box art got it wrong.

[–] KuromiGirl04@lemmy.world -1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Okay but why does White Kirby look like that one Mario character? (I think his name is Boo/Teresa?)

[–] Andonyx@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Boos don't have feet. Ipso facto Kirby is just round, not a ghost.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 2 points 3 hours ago

A pre-death ghost, if you will.