Tiff (Kirby)

File:Fumuandbun.jpg

Tiff and Tuff

Tiff, known in the Japanese version as Fumu (フーム, Fūmu), is a fictional character in the Kirby anime series.

She is the lead female character of the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime and is voiced by Sayuri Yoshida in the original Japanese version and Kerry Williams in the English dub. In both the pilot and final version of the anime, she is a friend of Kirby. She is noted for sporting pale yellow skin, pale yellow hair, and green eyes.

Design

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Scene from the Kirby prototype anime

Tiff's first design shows her wearing no clothes at all, except for her hair braids, red ribbons, and the tiara on her forehead (which suggest Tiff was formerly going to be portrayed as a princess). Her eyes in this version are much simpler in design, reminiscent of Kirby's in his earlier designs.

The final version of the anime overhauls her design and gives her a single ponytail instead of two, held up with purple and orange clasps. She wears a full-body outfit that is pink on the top and green on the bottom, separated by a zigzag pattern, and wears orange shoes. Unlike her pilot design, her eyes are egg-shaped, but she often has an angry or sad expression in them.

Appearances

Pilot anime

A character very much like Tiff makes her appearance in the prototype 'pilot anime'. She is the first person Kirby meets when his Warp Star crashes and they become friends. This version has the ability to fly as Kirby does. As she and Kirby play they are spotted by King Dedede, who get jealous and try many ways to get rid of both of them. His attempts, which are reminiscent of those often done by the character Wile E. Coyote, all fail.

The similar appearance and color, in addition to her befriending Kirby, suggest this may have been an early design for the character. The name of this character is unknown, but it has been suggested she was a princess because of the tiara she wears. If she is one, then that means she's either Dedede's daughter, or part of a different kingdom other than Dreamland.

Kirby: Right Back at Ya!

Tiff is the daughter of Sir Ebrum (Parm (パーム)) and Lady Like (Memu (メーム)), and the sister of Tuff (Bun (ブン)). She lives with her family in King Dedede's castle.

Tiff is Kirby's biggest supporter, always trying to help him in his fights against Nightmare's monsters. Even though she is only a young child, she is very intelligent, with interest in topics like marine biology and chemistry. She's quite the environmentalist and is constantly trying to stop many of Dedede's plots to destroy nature for his own greedy goals. She mainly acts as a teacher to the younger children in town, and prefers sitting in the shade and reading rather than playing rough games and sports.

One of Tiff's less redeaming features is her short temper, but she's a good person. She's mature for her age, but she is still a child and has a rather idealistic view of things- she could also be seen as spoiled, since she grew up in a castle.

She is usually one of the only characters to show suspicion of Dedede's plots, but the Cappies usually don't listen to her until it's too late, regardless of how many times she's right. At times, however, Tiff can work up suspicion over Dedede's plans when they're revealed to be (almost) perfectly legit (such as when Dedede organized a cross-country race that was a mostly fair competition). She also has the ability to call the Warpstar for Kirby, since Kirby in the anime is too young to guard it himself. She seems to be friends with Meta Knight- who may see her as a rare source of intelligent conversation- and one time also trained with him in self-defense.

When Tiff first met Kirby, she was especially shocked, especially when he saved her from falling to her death from a really high cliff by flying and catching her. She insisted that Kirby couldn't possibly be a real soldier, but in the end when Kirby proved himself, she became one of his good friends.